{-Llewel-}
He half-expected Bezyu to try to make evidence, given how she was treating everything else. But she simply helped, pointing things out to the rest of them as if this was really what her focus was on. He would’ve asked about it, honestly, were it not for the fact he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. Once they had the opportunity to be alone, though, he had a feeling she would be a bit more open.
They came back together after a couple of minutes to look over everything they found.
“Seems like a bunch of random stuff,” Tinath remarked. “As far as I can tell, the piece of paper doesn’t say anything interesting, that footprints near the other entrance was just as generic as the others, and that cloth was purposely ripped.”
Zetai glanced at the twins. “You guys know how to get away with something without leaving a bunch of clues behind, don’t you? Or does everyone take something like there’s a quest to get it back?”
Llewel, almost, considered being offended that she even suggested it. “Of course not. We knew how to not get caught.”
“Either this person had no idea what they were doing, or they’re trying really hard to get us to follow them…” Myr agreed in a mumble.
Bezyu, for a moment, had a rather sheepish smile. But when she shook her head, it was gone, and she made sure that they wouldn’t be able to think much of it. “Either way, it seems that we have what we need. I recognize some of these—they’re from an… old friend, if that’s really the kind of thing he can be called.”
“Were they stuff he had the last time you saw him?” Reynneak prompted.
“I believe so.” The way she paused before saying it, though, gave more of the impression that she hadn’t expected that kind of question. “Where were the footprints, again? That’s likely the direction he left in.”
Tinath gave a wide gesture in that direction and Bezyu took the lead in walking over to it.
Bezyu nodded to herself. “Alright. Let’s see where this can take us. It’ll likely be away from the temple, so do you have everything you’ll need? A caravan should be resting nearby if any of you need something or would like to take a short break. I know this is turning out to be a bit longer than expected.”
There was a mutter of understanding, but not much else. Knowing that there was no opposition, Bezyu led the way back out of the temple. Despite the complete lack of any supposed understanding of where they were supposed to be going, she was pretty confident… aside from the fact that she looked a lot more anxious to be out in the open.
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It became more and more apparent, though, that they were far from any “standard” path. There were players, of course—but, from the looks of it, they were all hunting for one thing or another. None of those parties paid them any mind, though, no matter how strange Llewel thought it was that they were out there.
Eventually, they reached a campsite.
“I’m sure we’ll find more information here,” Bezyu said. “The area is a bit bigger, so it’ll be quicker if we split up. The twins and I can look over here. Would you three mind going there?”
Zetai nodded. “Sure. We’ll come and find you if we see anything interesting.” With Bezyu’s small smile of thanks, the players walked off.
Llewel saw little point in beating around the bush. “So, are we going to talk about why we’re out in the middle of nowhere, or pretend like it isn’t worth mentioning?”
Bezyu sighed. “I’ll admit, there’s nothing out here. This camp is used for something else, but it’s not the one where we’d find anything.”
“Then… why are we out here..?” Myr asked cautiously. “What else is going on?”
“Quite a bit, if I’m being honest.” Bezyu motioned for them to follow her, at least so then they looked like they were investigating. “I’d say it’s not worth troubling you with all of them, but it’s likely too late for that. I’m sorry for dragging you all the way out here…”
“Well, it’s not like there’s not a way you can make it up to us,” Llewel pointed out. “Tell us what’s going on. All of it.”
She kept her eyes on the ground. “It’s not safe in the city for the two of you right now.”
“Why not?”
“Casrane heard something—how they intended to find you and do… something. Our leading theory was that they were simply attempting to follow you until you’d left the view of most of the players. We decided, instead, to try to throw them off your trail by bringing the five of you out here.”
“Couldn’t you have told us this sooner? If the players knew, they’d probably be more than willing to help. They could’ve headed off in a completely different direction and Nankohm wouldn’t be able to find us that way.” Never mind the fact that he hated even considering the idea.
“We’ve decided that this wasn’t something to trouble the players with. This is our battle, in a way—one that they cannot help with.” She seemed to consider it, before adding, “There were a few more things she wanted to take care of before she was confident in telling them.”
“So she’s doing something all on her own..?”
Bezyu looked like she liked it just as much as he did: not in the slightest. “It’s more like I couldn’t convince her to bring someone with her. She thinks if she faces this alone, then she’s the only one who will be found breaking any rules. If she could’ve been convinced otherwise, I would’ve done it by now—in the two years that she’s been trying.”
They were in silence for a moment before Myr glanced over to where the players were. “It looks like they’re coming back, but they don’t have anything.”
“They aren’t going to.” Bezyu knelt down near a box and picked up a small trinket beside it. “This has been placed right here for us. From here, we can find our ‘thief.’”