Colin's posts

"Well, I can give you a lift." Lindsay offered.

"And I can get you something to eat as well." he told her further.

"You'll just need to trust me, even though that may be a very difficult task for you right now." he then said.

"But I assure you that I mean you no harm. I just want to help. You shouldn't have to be out in the cold, hungry, with nowhere to go." he reasoned.

"Nobody should." he added.

"But it is your choice." he finished, extending his hand towards her, in a mostly symbolic, but also literal, gesture.

"See, that can't be any way to live your life." the man responded.

"Look, let me introduce myself." he said.

"Name's Lindsay." he told her. "Yes, it's an old-school and pretty outdated male name, but... well, it made sense at the time." he assured her.

"Maybe I can help you find somewhere warm to stay." he said further.

"And perhaps get you something to eat. I'll bet you're also hungry." he guessed.

"....excuse me?" the man asked.

"Nowhere to go?" he asked her.

"......hm." he then mumbled, scratching at his chin.

"That can mean a number of things." he commented. "Could mean you literally have nowhere to stay, not even a shelter or orphanage... but it could also mean that you do not wish to return to where you can stay, for whatever reason or reasons you may have." he said further.

"But I am not here to prod into your mind." he went on.

'Well, not YET, anyway...' he added mentally.

"Still, it's unacceptable that you have nowhere to go." he commented. "You don't seem to have proper garments for being outside, and the weather is getting colder by the night." he said further.

"Might I ask what your immediate plans were, when you got to the east end?" he asked her further. 'Or did you even HAVE any?" he then inquired.

The man just sighed, and got a down a bit lower, so that they were closer to eye-level.

"I can tell." he said.

"You are in NO condition to be going ANYWHERE on your own power." he commented.

"And you're not sure if you can trust me." he then said further. "After all, you have no idea who I am, and for all you know, I could be just like those two, wanting to snatch their prey from them." he went on, gesturing to the two unconscious males.

"I have no way to prove to you that I am trustworthy. All you have is my word. And that's... probably not worth much, all things considered." he then admitted.

"But please, let me help you." he went on.

"Wherever you need to go, let me make sure you get there safely."

"....the east part of the city?" the man asked.

"Sweetie, we're hard in the west part of the city. About as west as you can get." he told her.

"If you need to get to the east of this city, then you're headed in THAT direction..." he went on, gesturing down the road. "...and you'll be walking for the better part of the night AND day." he warned.

"And there are some REALLY not nice stretches of road along the way... in terms of company, that is." he warned her further.

"Are you sure I can't help?" he asked.

"Even if I can't give you a lift to where you need to go, can I at least call you a cab?" he asked further.

"Where?" the man asked.

"The parking lot out back behind Dunlar Stadium." he told her.

"There were some MMA fights going on, and they ran pretty late." he went on.

"You need any help?" he then asked her.

"It's clear that you're not supposed to be here, nor do you WANT to be here." he added.

When she looked around, she saw the two men that had thrown her into the trunk. They were unconscious on the ground, and had been beaten pretty badly, it seemed.

But they were still alive. Just in really bad shape.

"What happened?" the man asked her.

"Why did they have you in that trunk?" he asked her further.

"And what are you doing out so late? Shouldn't you be home?"

"Quit it!" one of them said, banging on the trunk in response.

"There's no-one here, anyway! Nobody'll hear you!" they said.

"Huh?" she then heard. "What the? Who are-hey!" they exclaimed.

"Hey, you can't-" she then heard the other one say... before she definitely heard sounds of a struggle, a scuffle, and then a bit of an outright fight.

Then there was silence for a moment, before she heard a click and a thunk... as the lid to the trunk was lifted, allowing pale moonlight to stream in, and the crisp air to reach her once more.

She also saw that the one that had opened the trunk was a very large man with heavily toned muscles. But he seemed to have a gentle expression, as well as distinct red hair.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Shut up!" she heard a voice growl from outside the darkness.

"It's your own fault for getting wrapped up in our business!" they said.

"Even though I'm pretty sure it was accidental..." she heard another voice commented.

"Doesn't matter." the first voice responded.

"She saw too much, and that's bad for us." they went on.

"So she needs to disappear. Nobody'll miss her, anyway." they then reasoned.

"Maybe we can ask Casey." Vincent suggested.

"Doubt it." Ash responded.

"She's been a runaway for so long, she's probably lost track of her sister. And odds are it was so long ago, any info she would remember would be so out of date, it'd be borderline useless." he added.

"Hm." Vincent mumbled.

"A fair point." he admitted, as Ash started to fill out the papers.

Ash's eyes widened when he heard that.

"THE Madison Kiczys?" he asked. "Strongest known necromancer to have ever lived?" he asked further.

"Well, ONE of them." Vincent corrected him.

"But yes, THAT Madison Kiczys." he confirmed.

"Oh, wow..." Ash muttered.

"No wonder her necromancy is so strong already." he commented quietly.

"Hm?" Vincent muttered.

"Eh?" Ash asked.

"Wha... how did you know that?" he asked her. "All I told you was her first and last name." he said. "Do you know her or something?" he asked further.

"Who is the child?" Vincent then inquired.

"Casey Kiczys." Ash answered.

This caused Vincent to freeze in place, his jaw almost agape now.

Ash raised an eyebrow when Cass said what she did.

"Wow. That IS quick." he said.

"Ash? YOU'RE the one adopting?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah." Ash replied.

"Never saw you as the type, to be honest." Vincent admitted as he handed Ash the folder.

"Never thought I was." Ash agreed, accepting it. "But she's a hard-luck case, and I'm a sucker for that." he admitted back with a shrug.

"Fair enough." was all Vincent responded with.

Vincent accepted the folder, and nodded.

"I'll be sure to keep you updated." he told her.

"...actually, it'll be unavoidable." he then said. "This will more than likely go straight to you." he laughed.

"Bye for now." he finished. He then disappeared from where he was, appearing in the teleport pad room of the guild, to which he then made his way to Cass's office, and knocked on the door.

"It's Vincent!" he called in.