[Video]

[flickerflash]

[She'd been waiting for hours to see if they'd turn up.

Just a little after dawn on the 25th a piece of smudged notepaper gets carefully tucked into Katie's journal, and then she tosses the whole thing into the hollow log she's sitting on out in the forest.

The video clearly picks up the message. It's not very long.]



   Gone fishing.
Everyones invited
   except Raine.
  No drowning.



[There won't be any replies. She's gone.]

Comments

[wise_maiden]

You're welcome. Take all the time you need. [It's better for her to finish snacking down here, anyway. Less chances of being seen and accused of holding out on food, for one. So she'll smile quietly but do her best to remain alert for any other sounds in the tunnels.]

[flickerflash]

[She'll finish up before she asks her next question; by the time she's done, the vague fog of leftover drugs is well on the way out, though she gives a quick yawn.]

Did I miss any school?

[You'd think it's normal to sit around eating lunches in tunnels. Really, she's wondering about why a school teacher would come to collect her.]

[wise_maiden]

No, not at all. We don't have class during summer, and it's still August yet. [Not to mention she needs to figure out if she has enough teachers to reopen properly, but that hardly concerns Katie right now.]

[flickerflash]

Oh. So-- [She frowns. What day was it when she left? Did she leave...? She's having trouble working this out, but Raine obviously wasn't surprised to find her here.]

What am I doing down here?

[Perhaps she just fell in. She vaguely remembers a ladder and a sprained ankle. And...something about skeletons and cursed treasure.]

[wise_maiden]

It's... complicated. Can you tell me what you do remember? I'll try to fill in some of the blanks, if I can.

[flickerflash]

Um...

[Really. She's unsure about this. Katie's frown gets deeper as she goes back through bits and pieces of memory, and only vaguely recalls people she's seen recently.]

I'm pretty sure there was a bad storm...

I think I was painting before that. With Jilly! She invited me to come paint with her. [But that feels a long way off.] Oh, but I know I've seen people since then....

[wise_maiden]

[There's something...

Hm. She wonders.]

I see... so when was the last time you remember seeing me?

[flickerflash]

[There's a longer pause. She's sure she has since the storm... why does it feel she's missing so much?]

The library...? [She sounds uncertain, but that feels right.] I think you had muffins.

[wise_maiden]

That's right... we had a long talk, there. You had a reason for being in these tunnels, so I promised to meet you here.

[flickerflash]

Oh, did I? [She frowns, but by the sudden relaxing of her posture it's clear that this is reassuring. She just can't work out what on earth she'd promise. A school teacher is not the type of person you take to explore tunnels with, after all.]

I'm glad you came, then. I don't think I'd like to have been down here too long on my own.

[wise_maiden]

I'm sorry I missed being here when you first woke up. The village is very busy and crowded right now.

[flickerflash]

[She shakes her head.] That's all right! Is there a festival or something?

[wise_maiden]

No, nothing like that. Another enclosure was attacked, and they sent the survivors in here until further notice. It's... very tense, actually.

[flickerflash]

What do you mean, attacked? [She blinks.] Are we going to get attacked?

[wise_maiden]

We're fine for now, but we don't know what will happen in the future.

[flickerflash]

Who did the attacking?

[wise_maiden]

The third party. Do you remember them, Katie?

[flickerflash]

[She shakes her head decisively, mouth pursing. The name does sort of ring a bell, but that's it. 'Party' makes her think of her dad and yelling at TV screens, but she doubts that's got anything to do with this.]

[wise_maiden]

We don't know too much about them, aside that they refuse to talk to us, only want to attack us. [There are other specifics too, that they've picked up recently... but given Katie's condition she doesn't want to overload her with details.] They had attacked our barrier in the past, but we were able to hold them off. But I don't think we need to worry about that right now.

[flickerflash]

But they attacked all these other people? [She frowns.] So they're bad guys, then. Aren't there good guys in town? They'll protect us, won't they?

[wise_maiden]

Yes, there are a lot of people willing to protect others around. We'll be all right. [Except when they aren't around. Katie's reasons for being down here in the first place are all too haunting. Anyone who'd hurt a young child, and worse, with no explanation...

She pats the girl's arm.] How are you feeling now?

[flickerflash]

[Katie's smile is dutiful, scrounged up to reassure Raine, but she really isn't feeling that bad. Much more awake now.] I'm doing very well, Professor Sage. We won't get into trouble if we leave now, will we?

[wise_maiden]

I want to wait a few more minutes to be sure. It really has been chaotic up there. Have you finished all your food?

[flickerflash]

Uh huh. [Just to make sure, she wipes at her mouth with a sleeve in case of crumbs.] Maybe we should sneak out when nobody's watching.

[wise_maiden]

That would be more ideal. Although... we've been having some difficulty with the electricity, so we may not be able to get you all the way to your house today. Would you like to stay at mine for a little while?