As he drank the warm coffee the transition from curious calm to near shivering with energy was gradual but also rather quick. Badger knew things were about to become fun when he suddenly spoke.

"Wowthistastessogood. Yousaidthiswascalledcoffee? Ican'tbelievehowawakeIfeel."

The words flying from his mouth only paused when he had to take a breath of air, or sip from the drink, and his eyes were wide like a frightened rabbit. Even when he brought the mug up to his lips he stared out from the top of its rim with what looked like dinner plates. Badger thought she could see a high strung mole nibbling happily on a grub overlaying the boy for a split second. Laughing hard enough she had to lean against the chair next to her she reached out and took the mug and what remained of the drink from him. In truth he had reacted much worse than she had anticipated.

"Whatdidyoudothatfor? Giveitback! Iwasn'tfinished!"

Despite being a little worried about situation she couldn't help but laugh harder at his mouth moving a mile a second. All that she needed was to find a way to give him a higher pitched voice and he would sound like an angry chipmunk! It took about a minute of her laughing and holding him back with a palm to the side of his face before she managed to catch her breath and get a few words out.

"Guild. Hall. Report?"

The words were halting as she forced them through but she managed to be heard as he suddenly stopped struggling. Furthermore, even though it shouldn't have been physically possible, his eyes went even wider when the meaning of words finally registered in his fast moving thoughts.

GASP! "Ohno, Icompletelyforgot! Thanksbye!"

She thought he was quick in normal circumstances but he was like the wind for it seemed less than two seconds after he finished saying his goodbye she heard the door shut behind his fleeing form. Now it was time for her eyes to go wide in surprise before she and the few remaining patrons busted out in hearty, stomach hurting, laughter. A few moments later she flicked a few tears from the corner of eyes and moved back to the kitchen.

"Oh my, have fun today Cloudcrest."

Her words were mostly to herself, though they weren't meant to be hidden from others, and then she disappeared into the back with a naughty grin on her face. Meanwhile Ethan didn't so much as run than fly through the streets as he headed toward the guild hall. In on instance he moved passed a street stall so quickly that he caused the flags hanging from its cross beam to flap back and forth. By the time the merchant, who had been leaning down to pick something up, lifted his gaze to identify the noise Ethan was gone. Confused he looked around for a few seconds, making sure nothing was missing, then with a shrug went back to work.

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Ethan made it to the corner adjacent to the guild hall in record time though he came to a skidding halt after rounding the building, the growing cluster of bodies in the courtyard nearly shoulder to shoulder. Following everyone's gaze he could see a commotion near the steps and just managed to make out Katarina, on her knees, clutching at Cecelia who was kneeling down at the top of the stairs. He wasn't sure as the view was fleeting but they both seemed to have concerned looks on their faces. Any remaining affects of the caffeine were instantly gone and began to make his way through the crowd as quickly as he could without pushing people aside. By the time he made it to the steps Katarina, Cecelia and some of those on the steps at the time had gone inside.

After he managed to get inside he was able to guess where the pair had gone based on the lingering line of people heading toward the rooms to the right of the receptionist desk. Moving quickly he got to the partially open door of the room first when he caught the last part of one of Katarina's tear filled statements.

"... and then they took them!"

Hardly anyone had seen him approaching due to his size and their attention on the situation in front of them and before anyone could stop him he stepped into the room with a worried look of his own. He knew something terrible had happened when she looked at him with an expression that screamed for help instead of her normal sarcastic greeting.

"They were taken Ethan! Please help!"

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes and nose were bright red from near hysterical crying. Hair and clothes wet with sweat clung to her body in different areas, signs she must have run the entire way here. They? Ethan wondered to himself before everything clicking.

"You mean the kids at the sanctum?!" He blurted out loudly in shock, despite himself, and quickly covered his mouth. The damage had been done though and he could hear a ripple of murmurs outside. Lorelle who had been coming toward them with several wet towels and water entered the room and placed them on the table. She quickly returned to the hallway to head off the commotion that would soon follow. Back in the room Cecelia, absent of her normal fawning over cuteness personality, instructed Ethan to close the door behind him before sitting down next to Katarina.

"Here, take a drink and then tell us what happened. Take your time so we can get all the details possible."

Katarina took the mug of water into her shaking hands before bringing it up to her quivering lips. She managed a few sips while Cecelia wiped the girl's forehead and cheeks with a cool towel before offering a warm one for her nose. It took about a minute before Katarina managed to get herself to a point where she was simply sniffling with shaky breaths. While Cecelia figured she had been able to discern as much from Katarina's earlier pleas hearing the words leave the girl's mouth still sent a wave of cold dread over her entire body.

"The children at the orphanage, they were kidnapped this morning."