The Disappeared

[Lord Dominator]

When the ranting started, Captain Tybalt let himself back out of the room. Dealing with grief-struck individuals was not a major part of his skill set. Better to leave that to Judy, who seemed to have opened that whole can of worms to begin with! As the ranting and raving reached a fever pitch, and Tybalt could even hear some manner of sobbing within the private room, the grizzled Captain rolled his eyes in exasperation. One word summed it all up, as far as he was concerned:

"Elves."

Back within the room, the Prince exhaled, doing his best to recover some manner of decorum. It wasn't like him to lose his cool so spectacularly, but, the pressure he had been under with the unexpected loss of his sister was... immense. At least Judy does not seem to judge him. Even his own people - no, especially his own people - would have looked on such a lapse as a display of unconscionable weakness.

"My thanks for your understanding." Rigalt said, straightening, and carefully brushing his hair back into place - not one strand can seem to have been ruffled when he leaves this room. "Perhaps, it is feasible that the human's allies won't be entirely useless after all."

Talk about your damning with faint praise! But he genuinely seemed to mean the thanking part - the arrogance? Well, that might just be for show. Still, composing himself took a few more moments, adjusting his clothing and making sure his voice was steady and could be trusted before he began to speak once more.

"I am not a fool, you realise." He said, "I understand that if the Guard could simply wave their hand and bring my sister back to me, they would do so. But..."

Sniffing, the haughty elf allowed himself to sit, pausing and positioning himself deliberately - so that he can look Judy in the eye more comfortably for the both of them. An attempt, perhaps, to bridge the gap that had been set up before his long explanation about the virtues of his sister. And what virtues they were! According to him, there has never been a more peaceful and loving soul in all the long and storied history of his people; neither of them were certain how they had come to be in this place, but both had resolved to do their best to keep their people safe. He, through force of arms, and she, through negotiation and outreach with the younger, more inexperienced races - with whom her patience was legendary where his was, quite clearly, not.

"You see." He said at last, "If I had been with my sister, she would never have been ... lost. But I was too proud. I thought myself too good to come to this hateful city of ignorant, pig-headed humans, and so she went with only a few of the more tolerant guards. It was, supposed, to be an easy journey, just an introduction and then return home, but... no. My incompetence in this is as much to be blamed as the guard of this city. Perhaps even more so."

He sighed deeply, and his head bowed. The weight he was carrying on his shoulders was crushing; this was not a problem that he could solve with violence, or shouting. The two tools in his repertoire which he used to solve most of life's problems. Nor did dancing feel like it would be of any great assistance. What was an elf to do?

"I had hoped." He murmured softly, "That they would find her in this place, that she had merely been delayed somehow, but, if she never came here... yes, I can help you. I can at least show you the route that she would have come. There might be, clues, of some sort, as to what might have happened."

His eyes hardened, then, and he was not just an injured man any longer - he was once more a Prince. His voice carried with it all the sombre warning that the seriousness of the situation demanded.

"But I should warn you. If someone has harmed her... be they human, elf, or the Gods themselves, I will not rest until their blood, and the blood of every living being that has granted them succour, has watered her grave."

If it wasn't for the deadly hiss in his voice, the fact that his knuckles are white with tension, it might be difficult to take such a melodramatic threat seriously. As it was, though, there could be no doubt that he meant it. Whoever, or whatever, had harmed his sister, would not live to be a threat to any other.

"Do we have an agreement, Police Officer Hopps?"

Well it... it wasn't exactly 'by the book' policing, but, crime and punishment was a little more lax out there in the wild and dangerous wilderness, wasn't it? The question was, could Judy swallow that and deal out the Law of the Sword .... or at least, string the anger-blinded Prince along in his quest for revenge.