Pitre thought about the offer, but decided not to take because he did not feel comfortable around the men and could not bring himself to accept it. Even though Anya was excited over the prospect of riding the beast, he did not believe he could trust them with her. He was smart enough to realize that anyone suspicious of him like they obviously were would take her away from him to 'protect' her. He was not tired and could carry the girl if she was.

"I trust you as little as you trust me," he uttered in response. He did not want to look down at Anya, afraid of seeing her disappointed, but she could not have everything, even if she was as underprivileged as she seemed. He weathered times like this, and she would have to as well in order to survive.

Pitre lifted her up into his arms and cradled her.

"Sorry, pauve ti bete, you can play with the beast later. Rest for now."

Filling in the blanks from Trisha and Ivan, Frank surmised that the person they were talking to was the musician from that brief scare early, before the beetles. ((Back at around page 7))

"Not much worse than usual Mr. Er, Hadrian was it? Ivan did mention your name once. Kinda sticks outs in this city. Don't look like you're from around here. Where'd you come from? I'd rather be there than here so Maestro, if you please, lead on."

He turned to the others.

"A man of music can hardly be a brute, I think it'd be best to follow him for now anyway. And if you won't, well I'm not going to try and take you with me. It'd be nice to know more places than just good old Moskva."

Having had a good look at this Hadrian, who, even in the moonlit Muscovite chaos, was calm and could only lead Frank to believe he had worldly experience. Distant and cold were his eyes and Frank felt the gaze most unnerving from someone so young. Was it because he felt Hadrian knew more than he did. Frank couldn't decide whether this was fear or jealousy.

Ivan made a face like a dejected puppy after hearing what Hadrian had to say about him. After all, the two of them watched a swarm of bugs destroy the capital of western civilization together from atop a building -- if that's not friendship, then what is?

He was just about to voice this concern when Frank turned to him and spoke. "A man of music can hardly be a brute, I think it'd be best to follow him for now anyway. And if you won't, well I'm not going to try and take you with me. It'd be nice to know more places than just good old Moskva."

"Yeah, I don't have much of a choice," Ivan said. "I've never been far from New Moscow."

Anya pouted, disappointed that she would not get to ride on the big furry dogs, but as she Pitre cradled her gently, she felt as if she hadn't slept in months. She yawned softly and snuggled deeper into Pitres arms with her tiny arms wrapped around her scruffy bunny in a vice grip.

Kayde shrugged. It made sense, and his good deed, or at least his good gesture was done for the day. He climbed back onto his dog after which Austin gently nudged the side of the dog with his legs and the small group headed forwards at a casual pace. Anya slept, while Austin rode in silence as Kayde discussed with Pitre the nature of their settlement.

"We're a relatively small group, nothing at all like New Moscow" he said in a friendly manner "We're a mix and match of people though most of us are descendants of a people called Kostroma or something" he rubbed his head "Eh, I was never good at history..." he said with a laugh "There's a clinic, a small market and a school. I'm sure your little girl will enjoy it there!" He looked down at the sleeping girl fondly and she stirred slightly.

Within an hour they were on a worn dirt road heading towards a small collection of buildings made of pine wood.The tallest buildings were two stories tall, though one structure in particular, a building with five domes that looked to be made of solid gold, stood above the rest.

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Trisha looked at Frank with a shrug and held onto Patrick's hand and followed Hadrian. He seemed so sure of himself, she literally could sense the confidence he was emanating. It made her want to trust that he truly knew a way out of this mess.

"Umm...sir...Mr. Hadrian?" she was going off of what Frank said, and he seemed to know things about people so she assumed he was right. "Where do you intend to go? I just think we should all be sure we want to go...wherever it is you're going." A wall shuddered from an impact with a Bolsho Beetle "...Then again...wherever you're going surely must be safe than here."

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OOC: Elias/Arthur

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OOC: Where you at, LG? (Last seen fallen on ground off of Bolsho Beetle. Did you stay or did you go?)

Matthias quickly caught up to Patrick and Trisha, who had apparently bumped into three others. The clowns that had lead the other beetle to their location were among them. Well, two of them, at least. With any luck, they would know what had happened in the city. He would have to ask them, but that could wait until they were somewhere more secure.

Arthur started to continue his walk along the path, as the group had created a new plan. Just as he was about to take his first step, a voice resonated through Arthur's head shouting "Get out of the way!!". Arthur looked back curious only to see a large stampede of wild horses charging at the group. Panicking, Arthur quickly grabbed Elias out of the way and brought both of them to the ground, hopefully out of the way of the stampede. He placed a shield around both of them, protecting the pair from the horses. The booming sound of the stomping kept pulsing through Arthur's ears, as he slowly became more and more exhausted from sustaining many hits on his barrier.

"I will not die, I will not! I will not let this man die with me." Though Arthur in his head.

Pitre gawked at the settlement, surprised by its magnitude. He was not expecting something permanent, just a few tents that could be moved whenever possible. He never received any formal schooling in his childhood, but he was content with that because he expected his life to mostly revolve around the wilderness, not civilization. However, he debated whether Anya would benefit from any sort of schooling. Sure, he would teach her what he learned living in the wilderness, but what about what he could not teach her? Should she have access to what he could not?

Though, before he planned too much, Pitre wanted to decide whether this was the place to stay and if he could cope with being around so many more people than he was used to.

"Take me to who runs the camp," he commanded.

"I suppose you've answered your own question then, we're going some place much safer." Hadrian mummered to Trisha as he took a turn into a wrecked alley way. "You'll just have to watch your step, the way out of this place has become a tad bit treacherous." he added as he stepped over a pile of rubble blocking his path. Carefully navigating the alley ways Hadrian guided the group over, against, and under multiple obstacles. The walls of the narrow network Hadrian had chosen for their escape were unassuringly swaying and cracking apart, though this did not seem to mind Hadrian who had his mind set on reaching a pre-determined destination he had spotted from atop the tower. "We're almost there, just a little more of this and we'll have reached our end."

Trisha, once again dragging Patrick, she found that the meek boy needed a bit of her mental supply of courage as they walked through dangerous walkways and precipices. By no means was the journey simple. There was a variety of obstacles some ancient, others relatively new from the various disturbances by the Bolsho Beetles. She couldn't help but freeze momentarily every time she thought she heard the large humming sound of a Bolsho Beetle. She could not wait to leave the Kremlin Ruins, though a part of her was sad that they were leaving. This was her home. It had always been her home. She had no idea what was to become of her.

To her relief, the sound of buzzing slowly seemed to grow quieter as they got farther and farther from the Bolsho Beetle swarm, and the troop found themselves on the track. One direction led through a bunch of coniferous trees heading to the north, another path heading north eastward towards mountains, and yet another path heading directly east.

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The horses ran with reckless abandon; unfortunately for India, and Tanya they did not move out of the way of the horses and they were trampled violently to death. Despite continuously running over the individuals, they did not stop, and the bodies were dragged into a ditch piled upon each other. Eventually the herd of horses ran by, though a scrawny black foal cantered slowly and laid down on the ground, exhausted. The horse looked behind himself and then looked over to the side where Elias and Arthur had escaped safely.

"I cannot run" spoke the horse into their minds "They've left me to die..." The young foal attempted to get up, but its frail legs led to it collapsing yet again.

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Austin nodded his head in the direction of the building with the golden domed rooftops. "His name is Jebediah, but everyone here calls him Zeb, he should be seeing a few people right now, you're not the first straggler we've picked up today. I heard people were running from one of the cities." he shrugged "I always knew nothing good would come of living in the city...I just hope we don't get to big.." he nudged the side of the dog with his legs and Austin and Kayde walked off to a moderately sized barn.

Pitre grunted and nodded in appreciation over the directions and headed toward the great dome. He thought about the actions he was taking, but mostly pondered why he took Anya under his wing. He had lived alone in the wilderness for years and he finally was breaking out for a small girl he never knew a few hours ago. And now he was settling down! What was next, marriage? Would be truly be happy being tied down by his decisions, or was he acting selfless without grasping why he would even do such a thing. He could just leave the girl here and run off, but deep down he knew he could not. He was bound by obligation and took the first steps into the building, cementing his feet into a role he never thought he would ever play in his lifetime.

Without any further words between them, the sullen troupe began their march through the mountains. Elias had not taken ten steps before a piercing cry assaulted his mind with a desperate warning. The voice had not entered through his ears. Rather, it had risen above the perpetual low hum of others’ thoughts that Elias had been trained to keep in check. “How bizarre,” he mused. It did not occur to him that the warning may very well have been directed at the four of them until an obviously distraught Arthur took hold of his arm and dragged him off the path. Elias hit the ground hard, recovering just in time to see a crazed mare about to trample them. Before the hooves could do their deadly work, however, the mare crashed against an invisible wall and its course was redirected.

“So the boy is a mental,” thought the old Spaniard. “I should have guessed.” Arthur was straining to maintain his barrier, and with each hit sustained he looked more and more desperate. Elias could hear the panicked thoughts running circles around the boy’s mind. "I will not die, I will not! I will not let this man die with me." Filled with compassion, the elder began feeding subtle, encouraging thoughts to the younger; “You are strong, you are able. You will survive.” Elias began to pray silently. “Lord, sovereign creator. I thank you for your protection in this hour. Please, extend your hand to the others, keep them from harm.” As he spoke, his eyes searched the thundering heard, hoping for a glimpse of their traveling companions. The sight that met them was far from comforting. Underneath the endless march of mad hooves, the mangled remains of two bodies could be seen. “Oh Lord,” he prayed again as he suppressed the urge to vomit and tears formed on his cheeks. “Please receive them into your kingdom.”

The stampede passed, a scrawny black foal bringing up the rear. As it reached the weary travelers, it collapsed, near death. What followed, Elias would remember for the rest of his life. The horse looked directly at the two of them, its deep black eyes locked to theirs. Words came forth not from its lips, but from its mind, clearly destined for the humans it faced. “I cannot run,” it pleaded. “They’ve left me to die...”

It was all the elderly mand could do not to faint, assured that the voices has finally driven him insane. Instead, his mouth hung agape as he stared back at those eyes, far too human to belong to a wild animal.

so like

Don't look at me, no one has posted besides Whim and Brik.

((shrug))

Matthias made the short trek mostly in silence, trying to gauge what he could about the new party members. They were relatively quiet as well, however. The looming threat was enough to shut even the flappiest of gums, he supposed. The group navigated the ruins of the Kremlin painstakingly, taking care not to alert any nearby beetles, but the danger was mostly behind them. The party eventually escaped the crumbling remains of the Kremlin and found themselves at a crossroads, paths branching off to the north and northeast. Matthias was naturally drawn to the forest, but he highly doubted any of the others would find that plan appealing. It would be best if he could find out what happened at the capital and ditch the others before they could drag him somewhere he didn't particularly care to be. Trisha wouldn't oblige him, but maybe one of the other three would. One of them had to know something.

"So, what was with all the ruckus back there?" He inquired, addressing his new travel companions. "Some kind of conflict?"

((Ah excuse me, just have Pat along quietly,))