Ummm.... are we starting?

PS. Thanks for clarifying! just wanted to make sure. Impersonations are really not okay. 

Jean-Ralphio McGuff says nyftw. New York for the win? I see he's a Yankees fan then... how sad :(

-Ash-

"So, what's our plan first?" Sebastian asked, cutting straight to the point.

Everyone looked to Ash. "I dunno man, I'm just here for emotional support. Ask Zander or something," he shrugged, grinning at them.

Ash looked around. Macy was talking to Demi about something, and she was nodding along excitedly. Jeannie was sleeping. Bradley and Leilani were debating vigorously. Azi was talking to Caston and Zander, but none of them were responding. Sebastian looked a little impatient, and Iyara was studying a map.

"Um, guys?" Demi asked shyly.

The low murmur stopped, and everyone turned to look at Demi. She smiled nervously. "I think Caston has something to say," she said.

Caston gulped. "U-um, me?" he said, barely a whisper.

"Yeah! Caston, have you got any ideas for how to find the kids?!" Ash asked.

"I-I guess we could search the forest in increasing radiuses?" Caston said.

Dead silence. "Ehhhhhh, what does that even mean?" Macy asked.

"Caston means that we should first search the forest area surrounding our town, and then we should keep going farther and farther away until we find them," Iyara said shortly.

"Well, that certainly sounds like a good plan," Zander said, "are there any other suggestions?"

---

Sorry if I controlled a little too much, I haven't RPed in a long time :p. 

Iyara’s POV

Everyone nods and goes off to gather things. I say, “I’ll go ask for the hounds,” and run off in that direction. Were you to snappish with them earlier? wonders my brain. You do want to make friends after all. Ug. No! I’m just in this for the kids, and then I won’t ever have to see them again. Spirit whines and bumps her head against my leg like she knows what I’m thinking. Maybe she does.

Demi's POV~

I walked with some of the others to go get supplies. This is going to be an adventure! I thought, I really hope we can find those kids! We went to my log cabin home first, and I ran inside and grabbed a couple extra blankets and some food and coins that I had been saving up. Then we ran over to the store and bought some bedrolls, more food, more coins in case we passed someone along the way, gauze, bandages, rope, and some other medical supplies. After we made sure we had everything we could possibly need, we ran back to the place we said we would meet.

~Leilani~

I volunteered to go get the weapons, along with some of the other people. The only ones I knew were Sebastian and Azi, but only from seeing them around town, the girl I didn't know at all. 

We walked in silence for a few minutes, and eventually i couldn't take it anymore. I hate silence. I've never gotten used to it. So I started a conversation, or tried to, anyway.

"So! When do we leave?" I said to no one in particular.

"As soon as we can," said Sebastian, not looking at me. "We have to get to them, or else it could be too late."

"Sebastian's right," said Azi. "This is serious. But there is an upside! I've heard there's a Ki-rin living in the Woods. They're really rare, almost never seen. And Dragon-cats...but those are more dangerous."

"We just need to get in and out," Said Sebastian. "We can't spend our time looking for creatures."

Azi frowned. "But it's an opportunity! I-"

"Oh look! We're here!" I burst out. I got the feeling if they had kept talking, a fight would have been inevitable. The girl hadn't even said anything yet. She just hung back, sharpening her two swords on a whetstone. 

As we entered the armory, I heard a deep voice greet us.

"Leilani! Azi! Sebastian! Macy! How are you?" It was Ersi, the blacksmith. He seemed to know everyone and was always super friendly. He would've made a good performer, in my opinion. "I'm guessing you're here for weapons for your big journey?"

"Yep!" I answered. "I don't know what exactly we'll need, but we'll figure that out." 

After an hour, we had a pretty sufficient stockpile of weapons. It turned out that Macy and Sebastian were surprisingly knowledgable in the subject. We ended up with three crossbows, two lonbows, five swords, two daggers, and an axe. We also purchased a net and tranquilizers, per Azi's request. I hoped it would be enough.

Some people already had weapons of their own, like Macy's swords, so it may have even been too much. Ersi gave us a discount, thankfully. All of that would've cost a fortune otherwise. 

We carried the weapons back to the stables and waited for the others to arrive.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

If there are any weapons you guys would rather have, feel free to change it; I wasn't really sure so I just put in a bit of everything. 

Bradleys POV

"I'll just go get some weapons, like swords and stuff." I said, walking to the town.

"I gotta find out what we're gonna do about those kids. I mean, did someone take them? I dunno, maybe they found a wild animal that looked like a domestic one, and followed it so they could return it to it's owner?! WHY DID THOSE KIDS DISSAPEAR?!?" I screamed as I was walking.

Suddently, my head ached like crazy! "Another headache. Bradley, you NEED to stop screaming in the middle of no-where if you want these to stop." I said to myself.

I got the weapons and walked back to the meeting place.

"Bradley, why were you scremaing?" Ash asked me.

"Sorry, man, I was just wondering why in the whole wide stinkin' world why those kids would leave!" I told him, handing him the weapons.

"I need to rest! Those swords were poking me like crazy!" I said, falling onto the floor.

Ahs looked at me curiously. "You ok?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just let me stay here for a few... hours. Then I'll be fine." I said, still laying on the floor.

How was that?

Jeannie~

Jeannie woke with a start. The rest of the group was debating hotly on how to begin. Oh, Alana… why did it have to be you? Jeannie felt like crying, but she couldn’t. 

Not now. 

She was the youngest on this team, and sure everyone thought her a nuisance. She, Jean-Elisabeth Lucas, was determined to pull her own weight. The last thing she’d heard was something about radiuses, which she wasn’t entirely sure were. Either way, though, it would go faster on horseback. She was about to speak up, but Zander beat her to it. 

Jeannie hadn’t met him before, but she knew he and his siblings owned an inn and also a stable. Everyone could ride, which was hardly surprising. Horses were the main form of transportation in this village. “If any of you own a horse, it’s probably boarding at the Lucas barn,” Jeannie said, to no one except herself.

She realized that everyone had probably already gone to do what Zander said. Jeannie sighed. “See? You can’t just fall asleep during meetings or you are going to get left behind. Great first impression you're making here,” she berated herself.  For some reason she felt close to tears again. Swiping at her eyes, she slowly walked back to the Lucas barn, her home- and Seafoam’s. 

Jeannie hurried faster, until she was running, and laughing, somehow. She would show them. “Go, go!” the birds encouraged her, and she yelled in delight. As she passed, a villager looked at her oddly. Jeannie, subdued, sighed. Back to square one. 

Finally, she made it. She grabbed a few first aid materials (a roll of gauze, rubbing alcohol, and a roll of tape) plus several water bottles and several non-perishable snacks and stuffed them into the embroidered blue satchel she was carrying. Her fingers brushed up against the orange and brown horses galloping around the hem and she blinked back tears. She remembered making the bag and its twin on a Saturday afternoon with Alana…

She shook it off, hurrying to the stables, not wanting to be late, though she was likely to be first. Seafoam was the "fastest and bestest," in the words of her seven year old self.

When she reached a dapple grey mare, she quickly slipped a halter on, stroking Seafoam’s muzzle. “C’mon, girl,” she whispered, and led Seafoam out of the stall. Tacking up, Seafoam for once took her bit without a fight, proving she knew the mess the world was in right now. 

Jeannie didn't even want to admit that was an exaggeration. The world was a mess! There were three missing children! Her cousin was missing! Didn't that matter to anyone? She took a deep breath. 

“Come on, girl,” Jeannie said softly, leading the mare by the reins, and Seafoam followed her, looking longingly at the bins full of feed. “Oh no you don’t.” Seafoam looked at her reproachfully. Jeannie just shook her head and mounted. As soon as she was in place, she squeezed Seafoam’s sides, digging in with her heels. “Trot?” she asked. Sometimes she needed to tell, but sometimes a question was sufficient. This was one of those times. 

Seafoam set out with a will, and soon they came to Zander’s sort-of rendezvous point. Which was really only the stable/inn for people to grab horses. 

Embarrassingly, Jeannie was the only one who showed up already mounted. She could feel her cheeks coloring as the assembled group turned to stare. Finally, a boy, (older than her, though that was a given) nodded. “Hmm. Guess I won’t need to grab so many horses after all,” he said, confirming her thought that she recognized him as Zander. 

Jeannie would’ve nodded, but she was temporarily distracted. She dismounted, patting the dapple-grey mare’s shoulder as she went. “What’s Bradley-” or at least Jeannie thought that was who he was- “doing on the ground?” she asked, frowning.

“No idea,” Ash (she thought) said, sounding worried. “He’s been like that since the two of us got back.” Jeannie deftly attached a rope she’d been carrying to her horse’s bridle and tied the other end to a hitching post. Stepping closer, she scrutinized the boy on the floor. He was groaning slightly. Rummaging through her satchel, she found a water bottle. 

Feeling desperate, Jeannie promptly dumped the whole thing on his head.

-Ash-

"Hey, Bradley, you good?" Ash asked, juggling some apples he had picked up.

"Ehhhhhhhhh . . . what?!" Bradley exclaimed, jolting awake.

"Must have been the ice-cold water that did the trick! Bradley, you went completely lights-out!" Ash laughed, sticking out an arm.

Bradley took Ash's arm, and stood up unsteadily.

"Guys, we don't have time for chitchat. We need to go now," Sebastian said, frowning.

"Don't be such a downer dude," Azi said, climbing up onto the horse, "we can talk and do things at the same time."

"I'm just giving the situation the amount of respect it should have," Sebastian said stiffly.

"Don't worry, we'll find them!" Demi reassured.

"No, Sebastian's right," Iyara said, "we need to leave before night falls, to get in as much searching in the daytime. Let's ride."

Ash hopped on his horse, an old mare with droopy eyelids.

Macy galloped ahead, racing past Ash and everyone else. She let out a whoop. "We're gonna save these kids!" she yelled.

"Yep!" Ash called.

They rode into the darkness of the forest.

--- 

Demi's POV~

As I got back, someone had already brought horses. A dark brown stallion trotted up to me.

"Hello Callisto! Ready for the journey ahead?" I whispered to my horse. He had been a gift from my father when I was nine and I loved him with all my heart. I mounted Callisto and grabbed the reins. I took a deep breath. We were going to find those kids, no matter what. 

I looked around at everyone and noticed that a boy named Bradley was startled awake by a girl (the youngest in our group I think), pouring water on him.

"Must've been the ice-cold water that did the trick! You went completley light's out man!" said a boy who I think was Ash.

"We don't have time for chitchat! We need to go now." said another boy.

"Don't worry, we'll find them!" I said, trying to keep things calm.

A small crowd had gathered to watch us go off, and we waved before taking off. Then with last final goodbyes to any family or friends, we left into the Woods. There was a small path, which was used for trading with the neighboring villages, but it didn't go on forever. What will happen when we have to walk on foot? I decided to speak up.

"What will we do when this trail ends and we are forced to walk on foot through the trees and thorns?" I say.

"Let's not worry about that now, this trail goes for a while, at least a week or so, until we'd have to think about that," said Zander.

"Ok, sounds good. Well...why don't we introduce ourselves? I personnally don't know many people's names but I've seen most of y'all around the village," I suggest. "I'll go first: My name is Demi Alder, and this is my horse Callisto! Some of you might know me, I am the doctor's daughter and I work at the infirmary sometimes! Ok, anyone want to go next?"