"Here," Sorrel said, placing a bag of coins in Sophie's palm. She raised her eyebrows and looked up at him. "Don't make that face. I've made plenty lately. Get yourself that dress you've been ogling or those nice new boots." Sophie grinned and hugged him from the side.

"Thank you," she hummed, before skipping forward to catch up with Mira. She looped an arm through the young girl's. "I'm sure this pales in comparison to the big city festivals."

"Actually, I kinda like it more. Seems more inclusive, and involved," Mira said. She was a little nervous about being out since the problem of the bounty was still a thing, but she had the others here.

Michael threw the grunt against the wall of the alley, pressing his arm up against his throat. After a few more hours, they'd finally caught one snooping in the shadows just on the edge of the Inner Circle. "Big mistake," he growled.

Henn stepped up beside Sorrel, holding out an open palm. "Alright, we're all getting a cut right?" He asked, unable to maintain a serious face for the joke as he asked it.

Sol was looking the opposite way as Michael held the vampire against the wall, his drawn sword resting on his shoulder as he watched to make sure nobody interfered in any way.

As he made his way to the mess hall, Luger's warpath was suddenly blocked by a massive bird-like form. "Ey, Luger! Hungry as ever, I see!" Aleks laughed. "Or just in a hurry to go see someone?"

Reyna said to the group "Lon and I could eat" 

---

Rosaline headed to the war room as Dane was there. Dane asked "Mi'Lady, where do you want us to begin our investigation?" 

"I want you to investigate the whereabouts of vampires who fit this vague description that was given to you in my report from Atir herself. ." Rosaline stated as she kept herself calm. "I need a list of our kin who match that have faulty alibies." 

Dane stated "That's going to take time, and some will not like being accused." 

"That is why I have you heading this investigation and why I've made this investigation public to the Island. I don't want this end up personal" Rosaline said calmly. 

Luger commented "Oh ha ha," he then said "OH Wanna hunt with me today? It's been forever since we've done one together, and I'm craving a challenge. I smelled an elk the other day. They're always fun to chase." 

Kylee looked at Eleanor, unsure as to what to do.. However, she took a deep breath and gently nudged her to wake her up. Eleanor was her responsibility. She just hoped that Eleanor understood that while she was waking up.

“I don’t wanna get up,” Eleanor groaned.

“Well the whole pig isn’t usually done until later in the day,” Sorrel chimed in.

“Bakery?” Mira suggested.

The vampire nervously looked between Sol and Michael as the latter tilted his head with raised eyebrows. “How high up does this go?” Michael asked.

“Leonius’s dad is in charge,” the vampire stammered. “He’s…unnatural. He forced his way into being the Hand of the King. Leonius’s crew knows the most.”

"For lunch?" Zephyr asked. He only ever went there for small snack orders, if ever. Grain-based foods were far from his favorite things.

"Yeah, they got some good options there, if ya got the money." Henn confirmed to Zephyr, who seemed confused by the concept. He had only ever thought of the bakery as a place for bread and sweets, neither of which he frequently ate.

Sol continued keeping his eyes and ears open, not wanting to risk anything or anyone interrupting this. They finally got some info, even if it's base level.

"Nah nah, you can chase all you want man, I'll be scoutin' from above, I'll catch whatever you don't." Aleks replied with a confident smirk of his beak.

Kylee said "Sorry to say, but it's not a dream." she took a deep breath "My name is Kylee, I am your sire, the one who...turned you into one of us, at your request." 

Luger had a drooling thought as he said "You think if we follow him enough we can see if he's in a heard and try to get em all at once?" thinking about that idea

Dane stated "Your majesty, I suggest you stay here" 

Rosaline paused at that "General Dane, I have to..." 

"My Lady, with all due respect," Dane stated "You are not an investigator, you are our ruler. You've done enough for this investigation, allow the professionals to take over." Rosaline began to object but Dane continued "You have to worry about the new fledgling, making sure we have enough blood, finding a way to break the barrier, worry about diplomatic relations with our lycanthrope kin, and many other pressures of ruling. It would be in your best interest to let me take charge from here. I promise I will not fail you." 

Rosaline bit her lip a bit, but realized Dane had a point. She needed to focus everywhere. "Okay, be careful." Dane nodded and left the room as Rosaline could only hope. 

---

Reyna beamed at the thought of a meat pie. "I can buy us all one if you want, I still have some money left before I escaped." 

"Yeah they're like, individual pies, enough for a person," Mira said. "I'll buy my own."

"We can fend for ourselves," Sorrel agreed.

"Good enough for me," Michael said, gripping the vampire by his shirt collar and tossing him into the sun. He stumbled into the beam and his face distorted in pain before he burst into flame and crumpled to dust.

"At my request?" Eleanor asked, confused.

"Sounds like a plan then." Henn spoke to the group, heading that way without further prompting.

"Think you know who he was talking about?" Sol asked Michael once he was done.

"Yep, let's get it." Aleks agreed, ready to go.

Reyna followed with the group looking at Lon who was just wagging his tail in bliss. 

---

Kylee asked "Do you prefer Ellie to Eleanor? I want to make this as comfortable as possible." 

Dane headed out, heading to the temple. He would get to the bottle of this..the horrors of war flashed in his head. He would not let the island fall to that again. 

Luger stretched a bit as he walked outside the gate. He sniffed a bit after he did so, twenty meters south, his big buck elk....there's a few other elk nearby. Nothing crazy, but if they struck fast enough, Aleks and him would have plenty to bring back to Castle Jezelda. He knew his job, the old scare and group tactic on the ground. He backed up and got on all fours and began to sprint, as his skin started to shed turning into fur, his face bursting out as he let out a monstrous howl heading straight toward the prey he wanted so badly. He couldn't play with it like he wanted to...not yet...but soon...soon...

“Haven’t ratted me out at all have you?” Sophie asked quietly as she nudged Zephyr with her shoulder.

Mira approached the display case, noting the pies towards the end. “What all meats do you have?” She asked as the baker approached.

“It’s game pies, kinda depends on what the butcher gives me,” the baker said with a shrug.

“I go by Ellie,” she said. “I…don’t know why, but Eleanor doesn’t sound right.”

"I haven't, no." Zephyr answered in slightly-hushed tone, taking a moment to assess if that was a joke or honest question. "You know I keep my word."

"Alright, my kinda meat!" Henn grinned, already fishing out his coins "I'll take one f'er sure."

Aleks stayed high in the sky for the moment, not wanting to alert the herds below to his presence until it was time to strike.

Reyna approached after the others and said "Can I have 2 game meat pies, please?" looking at Lon who was wagging his tail as he knew what that meant. 

---

With Dane investigating, that did mean she had enough time to look at the barrier again. She wondered to herself why that monster would put up a barrier in the first place, she looked down and wondered if the Nosferatu sent her the response yet. It was still early, but who knows. 

With his power, Lueger played the part of an entire wolf pack, chomping near, but not at the Elk as it lead it away with a bellow, it was a heard of 10, not to big but not a bad harvest if they were quick enough.  Lueger moved to another side quickly to make the heard move to the direction that was needed, and moved the other way to keep em going until they were there, right where Aleks and Lueger wanted them. With a mighty leap, Lueger landed in front of the massive elk who started to dig into the ground, as Luger smiled. This is going to be fun. 

"Then I know where we are going to start the tour." Kylee semi joked, as she waited for Ellie to get up. After that, she lead Ellie to the dinning hall where there was nothing but cups on the table. There was sound of some kind of liquid being filled up as Kylee said "It should be ready in a minute," politely pulling up a chair for Ellie to sit down in like it was a normal place to eat. Though, truth be told to herself, the smell of blood in the air did make herself thirsty as well. She heard that there was a nice catch, a fully grown moose, that should be a good introduction for Ellie and a nice drink for herself.