• Closed • The Mystery of The Missing Mousers

[Mab Prell]

Ymiden 63rd, 721 Arc

The gate creaked making its chain clink when Mab passed. Drawing her hooded cloak closer around her hunched shoulders Mab glanced behind her into the darkness she left in her wake. Her torch cast a foot of light around her, but beyond that anything could lurk… she fretted. A snuffling sounded to her left making her jump and drop the torch, snuffing itself on the moist mud. Darkness eagerly launched itself at her form without the torch to forbid it. Mab gulped.

Without the brightness of the torch to taint her eyesight within a few moments of freezing fear she was able to pick up the numerous torches at the base of the tree. The great tree looked all the larger in contrast to the small flickering torches at its base. Tripping and stumbling Mab launched herself toward the safety of the light. Though she could see nothing she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder. Something is following me…I can hear it! she panicked as she burst into the gathering a little out of breath.

“There she is!” Charlie, a blonde boy that worked with Hafrein, announced.

“A little out of breath there, ay’?” An elderly woman Mab didn’t recognize teased. Sixteen and still afraid of the dark and the sound of your own footsteps Mab? She chided herself, ducking her head in embarrassment and settling in a billow of skirts into a crook of a root.

“Sorry…I-“ She rushed to explain.

“No worries – let’s just get started.” Charlie waved his hand in her direction to silence the excuses. Everyone reached into their lunch bags to haul out their lunch. Stomachs, including Mab’s, grumbled at the sight. Mmm….mashed bruised mashroot and leftover pineapple chicken. Mab licked her lips, only to grimace at the taste of dirt. Wiping her face with her sleeve to clean off the dirt as best she could she sent a silent thanks to her mother for the delicious meal before forking the sweet buttery mashroot into her mouth. The group was silent for a time as they settled into their lunches. Charlie’s interruption could have been interpreted as annoyance or frustration, but Mab couldn’t help but smile into her meal. They waited for me… The thought made her smile a sense of belonging more comforting than light or cloak combined.

At night the Menagerie stilled, only a few people roamed its lengths and animals were silent silhouettes. A skeleton staff remained on site that among other tasks, monitored pregnant animals and conducted repairs that were difficult to complete in the frenzy of the day. The night shift had become Mab’s favourite shift – despite her fear of the dark. At night everyone working gathered for lunch under the tree to share gossip, stories, and news around town. The quiet comradery reminded Mab of Darbytown.Tonight, a heavily muscled Scalvorian was the first to speak. Wiping meat juices from his beard he cleared his throat to draw the groups attention.

“Mab, Gisel-” He nodded at the elderly woman Mab hadn’t recognized, “-knows the cat you referred to as Timothy as well. The big orange tom you fed at the wood pile on lunches. Timothy sleeps in the hay bales and would walk with her during the early morning goat feedings.”

“Oh.” Mab’s heart twinged. So he really had just abandoned their routine.

“Mhm,” Gisel nodded, “and I haven’t seen him in about 20 trials either. You know – I’ve heard a lot of people’s cats have gone missing recently. My friend Natalie’s cat Whiskers likes to sit on the porch while she’s at work and one day he just wasn’t there.”

“I wonder if there’s a fox about in the city…” Charlie suggested. I was worrying the same thing! Mom just told me to stop worrying about some stray cat no one wanted… “…My neighbours cat went missing last season, as well as the white tom on my street.”

As the conversation continued almost everyone knew a cat that had gone missing since Ashan. Some seemed content to just assume a fox, more brazen than most, was out and about in the city while others seemed more concerned. The conversation shifted to other news. Mab however grew silent and contemplative as the group moved on. She couldn’t help but fret about Timothy, and what could have befallen him.

Maybe no one has noticed how many cats have gone missing? Maybe it’s not even more than usual. Mab knew that stray cats sometimes just went missing: roaming too far, hunted, freezing, any number of deaths could happen. But, that other cat, the one who didn’t wander all that far went missing…

Perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree and there’s nothing afoot here…but just in case there is…The Mystery of the Missing Mousers…sounds like a job for Private Eye Prell

Hey Shl! Very excited for my first collab thread. Please let me know if I make any errors (even the small ones) with any lore or etiquette or anything. I didn't want to assume you'd be on the night shift so I thought you could either join here or you could explain how YOU hear about the missing cats and we could meet up in the second post when run into each other while investigating.

[Shl'Drei]

Staying in the dorms didn't leave much room for fooling around, no that the tamer would want too. Shl'drei struggled enough without adding partying or trouble making to his list. Though, being that he worked at the menagerie things were bound to be hectic and or chaotic if not both. He still wasn't all that confident in his skills, but he definitely felt he had a better understanding. But recently, he'd been feeling some anxiety- the rumors spread to the dorms and then his coworkers were talking about it.

From what he could tell, pets were disappearing all over Scalvoris town. He tried not to eavesdrop, more so due to his own worries, but he couldn't help but catch bits and pieces of information. At some point, he'd felt relived when he realized the disappearing pets all seemed to be cats. He quickly shook it off as that wasn't fair to the people who were losing family members to something or someone. Guilt set in, but was quickly washed away with a nagging need to help out. But what could one man do? And he didn't have the faintest clue why it was happening or when the next strike would be. It seemed like the cats weren't being taken too frequently, but they were going quick. There had been a lull in activity, possibly the reason why the rumors stopped, and then it was back again with a vengeance. Shl'drei couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Someone else had noticed the pattern, he was sure. Though every hand seemed too busy, and the case too small. Shl'drei had always told himself he wouldn't get involved with the unknown- at least, not anymore. The unknown always found a way though- Lyah had come to him and asked that he kept an eye out for a certain stray she'd been feeding that hadn't returned. She was anxious and visibly shaken which meant it was serious. The unusually uninterested woman had let her stone cold face morph into worry. That was all Shl'drei needed and all it took to get himself squared.

A friend needed help. A friend was hurting and he could possibly do something. The early trial sun was the first thing to wake him. He realized at some point he would've helped anyway- he couldn't imagine losing Leora or Sek like he had Liam. No one needed to go through something like that and no one would anymore if he could stop it. He washed his hands of his hesitations and put the day aside to investigate. If by some miracle he could get some help, he wouldn't say no, but his first task was to talk to someone who had a cat that went missing. He went door to door for a bit, but his luck was short as no one owned a cat or had any interest in helping.

"Excuse me, have you seen a gray and black tabby around?"

OOC

This took so long, oh my gosh I'm sorry. I wasn't really sure how to move but I think I was just having a bout of writers block so I tried some things and came back! Assuming Shl'drei is talking to Mab or someone else is fine, or if you don't want to meet that way you could skip over it! I'm super happy I get to write with you