Such a Bedraggled Kitty... (Open, Random Social)

‘Dark and Stranger?’ Just hearing that alone caused Cypher to take pause as his yellow eyes looked around. He saw what looked like a…well, like a cat girl, waving in his direction. He thought for a moment of just ignoring her and continuing on his path, but disregarded that rather unflattering idea. He was dark, he had taken a path that many would condemn him for, but he wasn’t a completely heartless jerk.
He stared at her for a moment, his eyes locking on hers for a moment, before he looked up at the two closest two her: a rather large man and a slim fighter. He then simply nodded before slowly walking up toward the group.
“Greetings. I am actually looking for Lhusu Mines. Do you, perhaps, know the fastest way to get there?” he asked softly, his voice gentle, almost like a breeze before a storm. There was that hint of power in his voice. Not really danger, but certainly a good dose of confidence in his voice.

((Okay, since Warren hasn't shown up in a while, and this *is* posting catch-as-catch-can... I propose that we keep going, unless you guys want to call an end to the thread so we can start up a new one...))

Mairi giggled, still bouncing slightly in place. She tended to do that a lot since she had a lot of energy to spare. Part of it was being Mithra. Part of it was simply being Mairi.

The man, though, looked interesting, and Mairi tilted her head to the side, her ears perked up and twitching as she turned the brass cog over and over again in her hand. She was going to keep the cog, probably end up putting it in the storage room beside the Blitzball that was signed by the Al Bhed Psyches and the sword she'd gotten from the bottom of that lake that time. She was always picking up souvenirs from places as she passed by.

He was looking for the Lhusu Mines. She grinned at him. "I know the mines. I was wanting to see them. I heard that glowy stones could be picked up there and I love glowy stones." She tilted her head to the other side and glanced over at her brother. "Can he come with us?"

((OOC: yeah lets continue. Hopefully Warren comes back soon! ^.^))

Lar turned his attention away from Warren and looked over the stranger. His attire placed him most likely from not around here.. but he didn't seem to be of any threat. He was a confident man though, something Lar respected. The man asked about some sort of mines, he had never heard of them, he hadn't heard of a lot around here actually, but luckily Mairi seemed to know exactly where they were going. He was relieved that he didn't have to try to explain to another person how dreadfully lost he was.

Lar smiled to Mairi, as she asked if the newcomer could join them to the caves. If there was any risk there, numbers would be the key to a safe adventure. "Sure, Kiddo. If he wants to, he's more than welcome to join us. The extra help is always nice to have.". Lar looked around at the 4 of them. He trusted Mairi, but he was concerned about the other two. Hopefully they were as trustworthy as Mairi. Just in case if anything happened in them in the caves, he could rely on them all. He would make sure to keep an eye on the two newcomers in the meantime, and not let down his guard until he knew for sure if he could trust them all, even if he thought it was a bit over the top, better safe than sorry, Lar figured.

Cypher watched the young girl continue to bounce in place, his face neutral as she mentioned that she did know the way to the mines. However, before he could simply ask where they were located, she had turned over to the leaner of the two males and asked if he could come along.
‘Come along?’ he thought, keeping his face blank as his mind raced a few thoughts.
‘This is a supposed dangerous mine, with a creature on the loose that is attacking and killing miners, and a child is going to be heading into such a place?’ he thought, wondering if, perhaps, he had been given a false lead. It wouldn’t have been the first time, but still, he had asked several people at the terminal and they had all agreed that there had been something happening down at the mines.
He turned and locked eyes for a moment with the other male she had been talking to and quickly sized him up. He wasn’t one he would want to fight if it could be avoided, that much was clear to Cypher. He seemed almost as confused about the mines as Cypher was, but looked much like the others here with his clothing. ‘Looks can be only skin deep’ he reminded himself, before realizing that even the fighter was talking about Cypher joining the trio into the mines.
He mentally sighed and weighed the situation in his head as his eyes closed for a moment. He could tag along, and find the mine faster, or he could leave the trio and find the mine on his own, but that would take additional time that he didn’t quite have. Every moment wasted was another moment another hunter could take the mark. He knew he wasn’t the only one on this hunt. And just how much should he say about the hunt he was on? He never knew, the man could be on the same hunt as himself, and that could prove troublesome.
‘I’ll see how things play out, and go from there,’ he thought, reopening his eyes and staring straight at the male.
“It is always safer to venture in such a place as a group, it would make it harder to be snuck up upon,” he said softly, voicing his desire to join up with the group. This was going to be odd…he hadn’t worked with anyone since the Crusaders…and that was a good seven years ago before he made squad leader. Still…perhaps it would be in his best interest to start interacting with people again.

Mairi grinned happily as the decision was made. "Yippee!!" she cried out as she took her brother's hand and started pulling on him so that they could get moving. "Come on, I wanna see the pretty rocks!! I heard they get all glowy from the inside and I've never had rocks like that before."

She paused slightly. "Well, other than the petrified jellyfish they called sunstones... but those were a gift from the little fuzzy people. I had someone make a necklace out of them 'cause they were so pretty and they glowed stronger when someone wore them against the skin. Heat made them glow."

She shrugged, then, getting back on topic after the momentary distraction. "Come on!! Please?" She grinned at their new friend. "My name's Mairi. I'm from Vana'diel. This is fun!!"

She started to pull them down the street towards the mines in her excitement.

Lar smiled awkardly as he was dragged down the street by Mairi, along with the stranger. He looked at him and gave him an uneasy smile. "Sorry... she gets really excited quickly. Especially when there's adventures ahead." he said to the man apologetically. He had never heard of the mines, truly had no idea of which way to go, but that didn't seem to matter. Mairi seemed to know exactly where they were going, and sometimes, it was just easier to be led along.

Lar did have an interest about seeing the glowing rocks Mairi spoke of though. Never in all his days did he think a type of rock would be interesting though. "They... glow?", he asked curiously, "they must be quite magical then... wonder why they're like that.", he said almost to himself, as he was expecting himself to reveal the answer. Alswo there was a lurking concern about these caves. If this man was searching for the caves, obviously there was something there... most likely, judging from his appearance, something dangerous. And that did not sit well with Lar's conscience. "I feel I already know the answer, but just how safe are these mines?"

“From Vana’diel, you say?” he asked softly, staring down at the young feline. “I have a friend, who comes from that land…Her name is Emerald,” he said softly, before staring up at the male as the little cat girl seemed to be leading the way towards the caves.
“Hm, it is nothing.” He simply said to the statement about her being hyper about an adventure ahead of them. He could already tell the little girl wasn’t average, and if she came from Vana’diel, than he shouldn’t be underestimating her. She wasn’t Emerald, but from what he was told of that world, it was in constant battles.
“Tell me Mairi, what else do you know of these glowing stones?” he asked, having never seen or heard of such a thing. He heard of stones that allowed one to cast magic, stones that turned into magic, but glowing stones located in a cave? He shook his head and mentally smiled…he wasn’t acting like he usually did, which was fine…this was a new world, no one knew of his past, and he didn’t have anything here to remind him of it…why shouldn’t he start over? He followed behind the group with a slight ease of weight in his shoulders.