Mizu nods to Yarrow, "Yes."

Then he turns to Leeta, "I think that would be best. Though, if some of us would rather head straight to the StoneDog, I think only a couple of us would need to head after the girl." He doesn't want to leave any member alone, but he also doesn't think that having their entire group chasing this orphan would be the best course of action. "Either we find the girl and then meet this Crossheart, or we split up and those who head to the inn meet Crossheart while we search for the urchin." He's assuming that he and Leeta at least will be heading after the girl, but looks to the rest of the group to see if anyone else is wanting to follow. 

Whenever their actions are decided, Mizu will start walking in the direction Soma indicated, gesturing for whoever else is coming to follow. 

As Yarrow harshly replies to Rixi's suggestion, all he responded with was a small chuckle and a pat on his shoulder. "Daijoubu desu (大丈夫 です). Don't worry about it, man. There's no way in hell I'd recklessly smash down something that would mean so much to you. As much as you respect what we do, the same goes for me towards you. I promise I'm not that person who just does what he likes I swear on my behalf." But then as Mizu speaks, his light grin instantly morphs into a slight grimace when Mizu mentions Leeta finding the girl the two of them saw earlier; Since he couldn't picture what theu botj saw, maybe it was time to dig deeper.

"Who's... Who are you talking about?" He asks with a cold tone. "Is that the person you met when we first entered here?. If so I need to know who it is you found then, since I couldn't follow you both."

Leeta is about to answer Mizu when Rixian asks in a rather cold tone about the red-haired girl. What the heck was that? Wasn't he being very cordial a second ago? What's with this guy? If the fire genasi intends keep being this unfriendly to Mizu, he's going to find that the she won't be as patient as the water genasi is.

- Mizu means the red haired girl that a couple of the party saw upon our arrival, a few hours back. We tried to follow her, but we couldn't find her in that building, she vanished. And now that Soma has found her again, it would be good to go try and talk to her - Leeta begins explaining, patiently. But then asks rather bluntly - Why do you sound so cold all of a sudden, Rixian? What's the problem? You know you can come with us if you wish, right? - she then turns to the rest - And the same goes to the rest of course. Though it may be better if not a lot of us go check on the girl, as we might scare her off.

Mina shrugs.  "I'm up for either, but if you want less to follow this girl of yours, I can head to the Inn.  That's no problem."  She eyes Rixi as the halfling finally speaks out and Mina had been wondering the same thing.  He defintely seemed standoffish, but this was a bit much.

"I think fewer of us would be best," Mizu says to Mina. "Three would likely be enough, but I suppose it doesn't really matter."

Then Rixian speaks up, and Mizu blinks giving him a flat look, does he really not realize who they're talking about? After all, he was the first one to see the girl, and had followed him and Leeta when they went after her. Plus, he's still not sure what this guy's problem is. He flips back and forth from cold, to rude, to amiable for seemingly no reason. Not that Mizu really cares all that much. The guy keeps his distance and hasn't really said anything offensive. He doesn't expect everyone to like him, so if Rixian doesn't want to be friendly then whatever. As long as they can work together to get this done then Mizu can care less.

His eyes drift to Leeta when she speaks up on his behalf-- explaining the situation to the fire genasi and inquiring about his demeanor. After Leeta says her piece, Mizu fixes Rixian with a blank, if not cold expression, "Yes. Like Leeta said, I am talking about the urchin you and I saw upon entering this town." He scans their company, not really wanting to get into another conversation. Daylight is dying, and if they want to find the girl they'd better get on it before nightfall. "Let's go, whoever is coming." Then he starts walking, barely waiting only if someone needs to catch up. 

Rixi stares at the others before he realizes how cold he sounded, especially when Leetan picks it up for it him. Well sure, he is very concerned about the situation he got himself into right now, but... this was clearly too far even for himself. Now everyone's just about to give him unwantedn attention; And he knows how much he hates  drawing that onto himself. "Eheheh. Sorry. I uh..." I scratches his head before he reverts back to a soft smile. "I noticed that uh... everyone's... I mean with everyone trying to investigate what's going on; to me it just felt like the atmosphere just got serious and I thought I had to adapt to everyone's moods. Whenever someone around me just... you know... like right now when you're all trying to look for clues, I uh, I immediately adapted my mood to yours. As in... if everyone's looking serious, I may as well look like them too. I uh... I wasn't trying to scare anyone or anything, but I am serious in trying to figure this out too, even though I'm not good at investigating like you guys." He then takes a breathe before continuing; But... maybe he might be confusing everyone so he just left it where it was. He's not a talker at heart, but he always does try to find some common ground if he can rather than brute force. If only people understood outside the shifters knew how benevolent he can be under his menacing appearance. "But yeah in all seriousness, we should head off before we lose her again. I... Sorry if I caused a misunderstanding."

Also, he takes a glance at Soma again as she flies off and back onto Mizu during the walk. He has a soft spot for birds of all kind and would never dare to injure them even when they're against him, especially ones that has never seen before; so maybe that falcon could perhaps assist with controlling something else inside of him should she land on his shoulders again.

The halfling, not very convinced by Rixian's explanation, stares at the fire genasi for a couple of seconds, narrowing her eyes. Finally, not wanting to make a big deal - specially not in front of poor Yarrow - she just mutters:

- Hm! Fine. Let's go.

Then she turns to the rest:

- We'll see you at the StoneDog, okay? Good luck with that Crossheart guy! - Turnindg to Yarrow, she adds -Thank you for your time, kind sir. We'll keep looking for clues! Let's hope for the best for your master and the rest of the missing people - she smiles at the smith's apprentice, trying to transmit a little hope to him.

Then, without further ado, she just follows Mizu in search of the red-haired girl.

“StoneDog, that sounds good.  Mina, I’m not leaving your side.  Besides, first round is on you!  Hah!”  Kulogall belts out a laugh and starts walking, giving a little mock salute/wave to Mizu and Leeta, wishing them luck on their pursuit.  “Be careful, please.  I feel that we have just picked at the tip of this rose, there are definitely thorns waiting here for us.”  He takes big striding steps, smelling the air as he goes, trying to catch any whiff of the smell in the smith’s shop.  

Since he seems to have been given the ok to burn the rose, Yarrow uses the branding rod to destroy the plant. Within seconds of touching the white-hot iron it crumbles to dust. The young blacksmith nods farewell to the group, and heads out likely back to his own house.

Mizu, Leeta, and Rixian decide to follow Soma to where she spotted the girl. With Mizu following, the bird is easily able to locate the urchin slinking her way between buildings. She reports back to the genasi when the girl slips inside an abandoned building. Following the bird, you soon enter the abandoned section of town. The house in which the girl had entered sits one block inside the last block of houses. Past this last block, you can see the dense forest as well as an off road leading toward it. You can guess that following that road would lead you to the fairy's house, but as you know, with daylight dying there is no way you would make it there and back before dark. In fact, by the time you reach the house Soma has directed you to, there is barely any sunlight left.

Standing in front of the building, you immediately notice that there are flickering lights illuminating the windows. Judging on how bright they are, you would guess someone has lit a few torches inside the house. At first glance, the door looks to be boarded up, but upon closer inspection, you can see that the nails have been removed from one end of the board. So, it would be pretty easy to enter through there.

Mina, Kulogall, and Rowarin not wanting to overwhelm the orphan girl decide to go back to the Stonedog. The first thing you notice upon entry, is the fact that the loud dragonborn seems to be absent. ...perhaps that is for the best. If you look for him, the drow is absent as well. However, there are two unfamiliar faces in the room. Sitting at the table close to the fire is a heavily armored elven man and an equally armored human woman. The woman seems tired, and doesn't look around much. At the moment, she has her back turned to the party giving you a good view of her long dark brown hair. She doesn't seem to notice you. Instead she just picks at her food. On the other hand, the elf sees the party as soon as they walk in. He waves at you, smiling brightly.

Leeta is about to grab the board that will allow them to enter the building, but she stops mid movement.

- Should we check if there are other exits in the ground level, apart from this one? That kid will surely try to run away again if we make the slightest of noises. If this building is similar to the one we examined before, she may have prepared a way to escape in the roof, too, but let's at least check the ground level just in case, okay? - she thinks for a moment and asks Mizu - Can Soma check the rooftop just in case?

After saying this, she will go around the building trying to look for more exits, and she will welcome the Mizu and Rixian to do the same. Six eyes will definitely see more than two.

(Perception: 19)

As her eyes adjust to the dimness of the Inn now that the sun is starting to set, Mina is surprised to see the elf that was not there before waving them over.  She gives a quick glance to Kulogall, then shrugs and walks over.

"Good evening, how are the two of you doing?  I don't believe we've met?  We're new in town, my name is Mina."

Mizu nods and sends Soma to scout the area, flying around the house in a spiral that ends at the roof. 

Perception (Soma): 16

He also looks around, gaging the height of the building and looking for any potential escape routes. 

Perception (Mizu): 20

It strikes him then that they are treating this kid like a criminal, which she could likely be, but still... He isn't sure what to make of the thought, tilting his head in his usual manner as he briefly ponders what they are doing. It's for her own good, after all, considering the urchin is of fey heritage. How long has she been on her own? Does she even realize the danger she is in?

Kulogall strides up beside Mina, smiling and nodding at the elf.  “And my name is Kulogall.  How are you this evening?  Either of you need a beer?  Mina’s buying!”  He ribs her and lets out a little laugh.

Leeta quickly identifies one alternate exit/entry on the lower floor of the house. More specifically, there is a broken window on the right side of the house. Mizu on the other hand, is to lost in thought to notice anything other than the fact that this building has two floors, though the second is likely just a loft. Soma locates another open window on the second floor, though someone closes it soon after she flies by. It's not likely that whoever did so was suspicious of the bird, more like they are just closing up for the night.

"And I am Cassian Crossheart and this is Elenor Lorcraft." He says in a rather musical voice as he gestures to the woman across from him. She gives you a slight nod, but barely looks at you. "I'm doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances. Haha, I knew I'd never seen you three around here before. Here to help with the hunt I take it?" He turns his bright blue eyes to Kullogal. "Beer would be fantastic! Please, seat yourselves." He stands and gestures to his chair and the two other empty seats. Then he laughs as he grabs a spare chair from another table and moves it over, "Oh, you can't be serious my good sir! How could you so blatantly suggest that such a fine lady buy our drink? I will have none of that. Drinks are on me." He holds the chair and motions for her to sit, smiling brightly. Elenor rolls her eyes. Once you are both seated, he waves to the halfling waitress asking for drinks then returns to his chair. Elenor looks tense, hunching over her food and trying not to look at any of you, makes her look extremely uncomfortable with having three strangers sit so close to her.

- So, how do we do this, guys? - Leeta asks both Mizu and Rixian - We could use the first entry point we saw, while one of us - perhaps Soma? - could check the window, just in case they try to run through it. I don't know... I have a feeling we are going to spook her no matter what we do, that poor girl must be completely on edge with everything that is happening. And with good reason! 

Ah.. so this is the supposed knight and his squire that has come to help, thinks Mina.  She nods at the man and smiles, then turns and sticks her tongue out at Kulogall.  "See?  Now this is how you treat a lady.  No wonder you always have issues with them."  she chuckles a bit at this, but then makes sure not to take the seat next to the knight as he offers the three.

Turning to Cassian as obviously Elenor has no desire to converse, and after striking out earlier in the day with the drow she decides not to push it.  "Well, you must be quick cause you put a spot right on it.  Yes, we are here for the hunt.  Quite the strange story, we have only just arrived.  What do you know about the disappearances?"

She watches him to see how he responds to her questions, wondering if he is trying to hide anything, Insight  17

Mizu looks up at the window as if calculating how difficult it would be to get up there. As he looks he says, "Soma can keep watch, but she won't be much help if the girl tries to escape." He tilts his head, still eyeing the window, "I think we have the highest chance of success if we catch her unawares." He looks to Rixian, clearly skeptical about the paladin's ability to be stealthy. His Master definitely isn't the stealthiest--most armored types tend not to be from his experience. 

OOC: If the broken window is on the first floor, he may suggest that Rixian guard that exit. If not, he might consider climbing up there himself to guard the potential exit. 

- I can enter first, try to locate the girl and - with a little bit of luck - speak to her to calm her down. If you give me a few moments to enter, then you could follow me afterwards. Perhaps Soma could enter too? That way, Mizu, you will see how it goes. Because you're a sneaky little one too, right, Soma? - as she says this last sentence, Leeta softly caresses Mizu's familiar's head with her index.

(OOC: I'll leave a stealth roll in case Mizu/Rixian agree: 23)

(Power outage resolved, well, Aroc and Rynn you guys already know so...)

Rixi silently follows behind the two of them, but doesn't flare up indiscriminately much to the relief of the other two. Instead, he keeps his eyes peeled for any sign of danger along the way. When they reach the house with the broken window he sceptically eyes it from several angles that do not contain the broken glass. He eyes Soma tentatively. if the girl does jump out there is no chance that the falcon would be able to do anything to stop her. So maybe, if those two want to go in, he might cover the outside. Then again, his molten armoud might already get the better of both him and his decison making if he continues to think any further.

"You guys go ahead. I'll watch the window." Rixi bluntly says as he keeps his eyes fixated on both open spaces, alternating his gaze every now and then; He scoffs at the situation. Mizu and Leeta want to stealth so bad huh? If either Tenebris or Xenia were here they would have immediately done what Leeta said before the latter's words left her tongue. "There's a very good chance that if you startle her, she might jump out of there to get to safety. I may as well be the so-called safety net that both catches and traps her, like when someone jumps out of a burning building from 4 stories up."  

“Hah!  True….”  Kulogall takes a seat, smiling an odd smile at Cassian.  “What have you learned about this business?  Perhaps we can have a sharing of information, a discussion… for the greater good.  How long have you been here?”  Kulogall takes his ale and drinks deeply, setting it on the table with a satisfied look on his face.