[Mission] All That Glitters Is Mine | Luca

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Luca was not a skilled tracker in any respect. Surely, there were others who might be better cut out for a task such as the one before him. He knew this. But with the sudden influx of refugees— one he had been personally responsible for— people were busy, and there was only so much he could do to help with the process of getting everyone settled. Better that he make himself useful elsewhere, which was why he was here now; to find items that had gone missing throughout Haven and, gods willing, to ensure no more were taken.

Presumably, that meant finding the thief first, but all he really had in the way of doing so was a set of faint tracks to follow. It wasn’t much to go on, but given how utterly massive Arecia was, the trail was far better than nothing. He’d just… have to be careful not to get lost. Or to be found by something less than friendly. Having traveled the woods many times before, that was something he could at least do, surely.

Before Luca had even taken his first step, though, a sudden noise had him whipping around to the left, staring startled into the underbrush as all manner of small creatures scattered around him. Already, his imagination had begun to fill in the gaps for what could have disturbed even the insects in the area, and suddenly being out here alone seemed like an even worse idea.

“H-hello?” the zero magi called, tail twitching nervously. Whether he got a response or not he would take a moment to look between the tracks, and the area the noise had come from. He wasn’t especially keen on going to investigate, but maybe the noise had been something important. And the tracks weren’t really going anywhere…

Swallowing hard, Luca began to edge toward the source of the sound, careful not to lose sight of the space where the trail was, if he could help it.

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Silence. Not an especially foreboding one, but silence nonetheless. Drawing in a steadying breath to quell his nerves, Luca edged forward, stepping carefully through the undergrowth until his eyes detected movement ahead.

There ahead of him was a fox— an odd one, yes, but still a fox. Sort of. That explained why the smaller animals had been so disturbed, at least. It seemed this one had been on a hunt, and had successfully caught its prey. Luca sighed at that, admittedly relieved that he hadn’t stumbled upon anything overtly dangerous. Hopefully. It wasn’t hard to tell that the being he had found was some sort of spirit, and those could be quite dangerous under the wrong circumstances, but this one at least didn’t appear to be hostile. Skittish, perhaps, but not hostile.

Although that in itself presented another problem. Before he had time to even muster a greeting, the fox had swallowed its meal and started to run off with something else it plucked from the ground. Something that appeared shiny, unless his eyes had deceived him. His instincts willed him to follow, but there were still the tracks behind him, waiting to be investigated, too.

But there was little time to deliberate, and he knew where to find the tracks now. If all else failed, he could always return to the spot and start the search anew. So, before the strange fox could disappear entirely, Luca took off after it, calling out as he ran. “Please, wait!” As he went, he tried to project a sensation with his Sympathy, to communicate through emotion where words might fail him; I mean you no harm, I just want to talk.

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Though it was certainly not for the first time in his life, Luca was quite grateful that he was a good runner as he dashed after the fleeing fox. It meant that despite his hesitation, he at least didn’t lose sight of the creature as it darted and wove between the trees ahead. And while discouraged that his attempt to reach out hadn’t had much effect— though he did just catch what seemed to be a moment of hesitation— the zero magi did his best to keep up.

Eventually, it seemed his persistence might have paid off as the fox slowed to a stop in a small clearing. Grateful for the opportunity to catch his breath, Luca stopped as well, a short distance away from where the fox had taken up its perch. But as he caught a good look at what the fox had been carrying, he momentarily forgot about the minor exhaustion. A necklace of some sort, shiny and silver, and not unlike the items people had described as missing.

Rather than jump to any conclusions just yet, however, he looked curiously back up to the fox, blinking as it spoke. “Ah, w-well, I…” Luca began mumbling, almost bashful. “I’ve… had practice… That wasn’t important, though. Not like his reason for running after the fox in the first place was.

“I… I wanted to speak with you,” the young magi answered, straightening up at last. Choosing his next words carefully, he added, “There’s… well, items have been going missing around Haven. Or— they’ve been taken, really. And I volunteered to help find them…” Luca paused, drawing in a breath. Get to the point. “I wanted to ask if you knew anything about it. If you’d seen anything, or…”

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The new voice and sudden appearance of another entity made Luca jump, letting out a startled squeak. Where once was one fox, now there were two… then three… four… five… six. For a while, the one on his shoulders held the most of the magi’s attention, and most of his time was spent staring at all the new arrivals to the clearing while they talked amongst one another. Truth be told, it was tempting to try petting the ones that got particularly close… But, he reminded himself, these were no mere foxes, so his hands ought to be kept to himself.

Giving an experimental twitch of his tail for the two who seemed interested in it, he turned his gaze to the gray fox that had settled against his leg. “Not like yours, no. Not nearly as pretty.” A small, tentative smile worked its way onto his lips, while he carefully turned over one of his hands for the grey one to sniff at. Curious, he put his Empathy back into use too, stretching his emotional senses as much as he could to see if he could get a read on all the new arrivals.

“I… hm,” he murmured, tilting his head as he considered his next answer. Things were beginning to come together on the mystery of where all the “shinies” had gone, from what he could tell. “I do like shiny things, yes. I actually came out here looking for some, like the one your friend has there.” Luca nodded toward the brown fox, with the necklace dangling from its muzzle. “You see… some people in Haven have had their shinies taken. I volunteered to help find them and bring them back.”