She didn't exactly sneak away she just kinda...slid away with no one paying attention...more of like a curious everyone was having a conversation oh cool something's happening over there...walks away.

yeah i know but why is she talking to us now
is she back or something

The mysterious stranger I'm referring to is LG's character, not your guys mysterious stranger.

Talking a deep breath and gripping the rifle with his life, Pitre hurried towards the deeper reaches of the forest. His eyes wide and his heart beating with excitement, this was the first time he felt a pure adrenaline rush in months. Nothing provided a challenge like this before, and he was set to overcome it and survive. The forest never lasts forever, it would clear eventually, and he knew at that point they would be safe. As for now, he only could focus on what was coming up ahead and keep his ears open for the cry of the deer.

"Where am I headed?" Ivan repeated aloud. His thoughts suddenly drifted off for a moment. New Moscow was the only city he knew of, but it was just torn to pieces. How was he supposed to survive on his own in this unfamiliar world? Apart from gaining companions, there was really no other option. The sounds of restless beetles snapped him back to reality.

"... Where am I headed?" He repeated as his face paled. "I haven't got a clue! Away from these things, I guess!"
He turned to the others, waving his arms like an excited child. "Hey, hey, we need to... Uhh... Not get killed somehow! Any ideas?"

Ivan waited about half a second before continuing. "Alright then! No ideas is fine too. If there's a manhole or something around here, that would be great, 'cuz the angry gentlemen behind the force field wouldn't be able to get us. I don't know, are they male or what? I have no idea. I don't mean to offend them or anything, they're already mad enough I think!" Due to being in a state of absolute panic, the man was unable to continue his epic speech. Ivan looked at his companions expectantly, his eyes darting from one to the other.

s*** was flying way too faster than Frank liked. First that stupid doctor starting a civil war of sorts, which was absolutely mental by the way, and now goddamn beetles. If they were the small kind he could crush in the palm of his hand he wouldn't mind but these things were taller than he was.

He heard the exchange between Ivan and the newcomer Lucas. They needed to get out. Trisha wandered off on her own too so he'd like to at least ask if she was going his way before skipping town. Ivan was of course a mental, using his shield to keep the beetles at bay for now but that wouldn't last indefinitely. Lucas was a bit of swordsman, probably a visitor to the area as Frank didn't remember seeing him before. That or he's too stressed out to remember. It was understandable when attacked by man-sized beetles.

"Ivan, Lucas follow me. Stay close, so you don't have to shield that much, come one, let's go get Trisha and leave now."

Just a Pitre had assumed, the forest did eventually thin. The tall conifers dwindling to the occasional appearance and the gaps between the trees getting wider and wider. The forest had also grown brighter, despite it being the night, the tall trees no longer blocking the rays of moonlight as it fell upon Anya and Pitre.

Obediently Anya had held onto Pitre, though at times it had been difficult while he ran from the men who were screaming. She had taken notice that many people seemed to be screaming lately. Even more so than when she lived in the Odin District. Screaming in New Moscow, screaming in the woods, screaming everywhere. It was quite silly in her opinion, but she never said anything regarding her opinion. She solely made sure she held onto her bunny tightly so that it would not get left behind with the screaming.

Pitre had slowed to a walk, as he realized that he was no longer in danger of being attacked by the red deer that had ambushed the bandits that had been after them. Within his view he could see where the forest literally ended and after that a long stretch of relatively featureless plains in the distance. Of course there was the occasional tree, and slight incline of a hill in the distance, but otherwise it was relatively flat and remarkably dull.

"Where do we go now?" stated Anya in a hushed tone while rubbing her eyes and hanging onto his back with one arm quite deftly.

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KP, Thai, Doc, can continue without my further narration >.>

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Waiting for LG to continue with Trisha and Patrick

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Team Elias and Arthur where you at?

Alrighty then. I wanted to give Green Mage a chance to respond if she wanted to, but I guess not.

Relaxing his tensed grip on the rifle, Pitre released it and allowed it to swing back to his side again. His arms rose and he lifted Anya off his back and pulled her into a piggyback.

"The road knows, my pauve ti bete," he replied, gazing off at the expanse lying before him. He was unsure whether they would ever find a non-threatening settlement to rest. He had no desire to waste his energy killing trash. Perhaps he would have to settle down and raise the child himself, as he suddenly felt protective of her, as if he were a mother bear and Anya were his cub, and would not allow anyone else to take her from him. It was as if he degraded from a man into an primitive ape and now felt obligated to care for the young he discovered.

((Oh, well, I couldn't really say much but otherwise:))

Patrick listened intently on Trish's explanation. She seemed annoyed at what he said, although he wasn't sure on what. It was just a riot, there wasn't any real reason to hide it, was there? "I still don't get that "abomination" line though." he said. "There was also something about my kind being a menace.." he put his fingers on his chin, very confused on all of this.

"Trisha..." Ivan repeated. "Uhh, who's Trisha? OH! That girl!" He looked around frantically, but couldn't find a trace of the dark-haired woman he'd met minutes before. "Where did she go? Oh God, is she okay? Why did she leave? You don't think the beetles got her? Where did Hadrian go? Don't the beetles see him up on the roof? What has he been doing this whole time?"
His mouth was like a machine gun, firing stupid questions into the air at rapid speed. With each passing second, Ivan was freaking out more and more, which led to more questions, which led to fewer answers, which led to more panicking, repeat until satisfied.

Ivan was running at the mouth faster than he could. That was an achievement Frank thought to himself. Now wasn't the time for panicking though. Walking sternly up to Ivan, he grabbed his collar and gave him a good slap.

"Snap out of it! Now follow me."

Ivan looked absolutely bewildered, as if the slap had reset his brain. After gathering his thoughts, he shrugged and sauntered after Frank.
"Is Lucas coming too?" He asked, and as usual, didn't wait for an answer. "Do you think Hadrian is going to be alright? How are we going to find Trisha?"
The young man forgot about the beetles as they fled, Ivan jovially chattering the whole time.

Matthias let out a humorless chuckle as the child spoke again. This woman's every attempt to conceal what actually took place here was being undermined by the boy's blunt honesty. It was almost amusing, but the hunter was in no mood to be entertained. There was something much larger going on than this strange young woman wanted to reveal, and her insistence to lie to his face was rather infuriating. However, from what the child had said, the Matthias parsed that there had probably been some sort of falling out between the mentals and non-mentals. Being on the receiving end of the word abomination, the boy was likely a mental himself. Though he was strictly off-duty at the moment, Matthias made a mental note to capture him later. After what the boy was putting this woman through, he doubted she would mind much.

"Fine. Have it your way." The hunter conceded. For some reason, this woman was insistent that he not know the truth. "But know this. Until my curiosity is satiated, I'm going to have to stick around. That means I'm not leaving until I know what happened between the mentals and non-mentals, and why." Matthias narrowed his eyes threateningly, as if he would be able to see into the woman's mind if he stared intently enough.

Lucas followed after the man, as he seemed to be saner than Ivan was. Ivan was chattering excitedly, far to fast to be able to understand except for a word here and there. He looked over at Frank, who was walking over to Ivan. He grabbed his collar, and slapped him, surprising Lucas. It didn't seem to have hurt him; if anything, it seemed to have helped calm him down.

"Is Lucas coming too?" Lucas turned toward Ivan, who had already forgotten the question and had started asking a billion others. After a few minutes of that, Lucas decided to ask a few questions of his own. "If I may ask, who is Trisha and Hadrian? Are they others from your group?"