Will shrugs at the others and turns to catch up with Matilda. He continues his conversation. "Supposedly Granny forgets the first creature she sees when she wakes up, although her memory of it returns each night when she sleeps, they say. If you're that person, you're invisible to her, I've heard. But me personally I seen her in the morning, and I ain't seen her forget nobody. So I dunno. But I seen her on her flying rocking horse, though. She flies all over Thither on it sometimes."

Ben:

”Well, crap!” exclaims Ben, chasing after Matilda.

Horatio begins to move after the two when he looks back at the rescued children. He looks down a moment as tears well up in his eyes, a knot of fear and uncertainty for his friends' safety. "Come on," he says in a broken voice. "Let's get you to safety." He fights back nausea and a desperation to run after the others as he tries to navigate the kids away towards the hideout. 

Matilda storms off in one direction (back toward Granny's house) with Will, followed by Ben, while Horatio tramps off uncertainly in the other, with the three children in tow. 

(Where does Titaani and Tiny want to go?) (FYI: Little's Oak's glade is about two hours walk from Loomlurch, although time and distance measure quite strangely and unpredictably here in the Feywild.)

(Wow I missed a lot! My apologies, I've been having tech problems)

Titaani seemed lost in her thoughts, playing with her new hammer and chisel. Her head snaps up sharply when she realises the party is splitting up. "What in the Feywild? Why are we separating?" She exclaims, horrified. "Tiny, follow Horatio. I'm going to ask my honorary sister what's going on."

With those words, the little gnome sprints after Matilda, while Tiny runs towards Horatio. 

" Ben, no. You need to look after the others."

" Fine...come then, but promise me you'll take Fluffy with you and get out of there if she comes back!"

" This place sucks....its broken Horatio, taken all the joy from Titaani, I'm.....I'm not right......so lets rescue as many folks as we can before we die...."

Titaani blinks away tears at Matilda's words. "No! We can't die! I...I won't let that happen!"

Horatio, Tiny, and the three kids head in one direction, while Matilda, Ben, Titaani, and the owlbear head in the other.

"Y'know, I don't need to go back there. You got this," announces Squirt, joining Horatio's group. "But if you need a guide to Yon, though, look me up! Rocky peaks, thunderclouds, and howling winds – Yon has it all!"

Not far from Loomlurch, it takes very little time for the party – sans Horatio, Tiny,  and the kids – to make their way back to the two root bridges. Both bridges are clear of traffic. From this distance, you can make out a little activity in the goblin market, but nothing near Granny's parlor.

~~

Meanwhile, Horatio and his companions spot another Wanted poster featuring Will's likeness. Naal translates, "Wanted: Will of the Feywild! This rapscallion vexes me. Deliver him to me alive and unharmed, and I’ll curse one creature whom you name.” It is signed "Granny Nightshade".  

As they continue to walk, Naal relates that he recently stole the kitchen key from Pincushion, the doll that oversees the work in the sewing room, and took an impression of it using a bar of soap before fastening the key back onto Pincushion’s belt. He wanted to create a copy of the key and then sneak into the kitchen to steal milk. 

" Will, point the way you little bugger."

" Fluffy, stay here and wait for us. Your too big to sneak in."

Tiny pulls down the wanted poster and chews it up into mush. He looks very pleased with himself. 

Ben:

Following Matilda, Ben draws his tiny magic sword and says, "If we are going to do this, let us go quickly.  Will, get us there quickly and quietly if you can.  If Granny shows up I will try and slow her down."

Horatio stops, "Wait, the key my friends just said they needed?"

Will pauses and explains. "If we get off the path here and go that way," he points to the right. "Sneak through the gully, through the swamp, and sneak past the Redcap Patch, we can maybe get into the kitchen again, if we can get the door open. Kitchen door is locked, so we have to wait for somebody to open it."

~~

Naal shrugs at Horatio's question. "I dunno. It unlocks the doors into the Kitchen. But does that unlock the doors out of the Kitchen? And besides, I ain't got the key, just a bar of soap with the shape of the key in it."

"Naal, can you give that to me? Squirt, can you get them to safety from here? If I can reach them before they are seen I can get them to wait and come back when we're better prepared."

(( If Naal and Squirt can accommodate Horatio will run like a madman to catch his friends... before it is too late. ))

"Sure," says Naal to Horatio, but then pauses. "But whatcha got for me? You know – give-and-get!"

"Sure!" cries Squirt. "Let's go, kids!" But Naal waits for Horatio's response, first.

~~

"Don't pick the Redcaps," Will warns. "Mishka escaped Loomlurch at least once before – that's probably why Granny has her chained up. There's more kids up in the mill right now - I could hear the looms going. But we gotta get through the kitchen first."

Titaani is still Tiny in size.

Horatio looms over Naal, "Are you freakin' kidding me, you already owe us for freeing you!" He realizes he's lashing out and releases his tension a moment. "Look, my friends are in danger, and they're in danger trying to fix this broken place. You live here, we don't. We're already paying for all the help we can get - in advance. Why does nobody get that?"

Titaani's focus alludes her, as she watches the world around her - it takes her a moment before she snaps her fingers. "Hang on a minute! Maybe I can fit through the lock, or underneath the door. I'm still pretty small from that lollypop I had earlier."

Ben:

"If all else fails, I can try and break down the door," says Ben in between long strides.

"Fine, fine," replies Naal to Horatio, and hands over a bar of soap with two impressions of a key in it, wrapped in a scrap of cloth. "But if you get into the kitchen just bring me back something good like some fresh milk or some other tasty treat." 

Horatio: Make a DC10 Dex Save to catch up with the party before they disappear into the scrub along the side of the path.

~~

Meanwhile, is the rest of the party following Will's plan to skirt around Loomlurch and the Goblin Market to the east and cross through the bog and the Redcap Patch to the kitchen?