Ash sat on the edge of a fountain, waiting for Mikhail and Alexei to arrive. The message Mikhail had sent her was cryptic, even for the old Gargoyle, and her curiosity was making her impatient. A couple of small children went running by her, shrieking with glee as a Fae with short indigo hair had to jump quickly to one side to avoid them. He frowned and shook his head before continuing on his way. The swirling tattoos that covered the right side of his face and vanished into his shirt briefly attracted her attention, but she wasn't able to see them clearly and he was quick to lose himself down another pathway.
She finally caught sight of Mikhail and Alexei, and popped up to wave at them. They had to wait a few moments for the area around the fountain to clear. A dark blue haired Fae was standing a few feet away staring into the water. He held a small coin to his lips briefly, then threw it in and walked away.
Mikhail stood in front of her, feet planted and arms crossed. Even after the lecture he'd given her during the Festival, he still looked a bit annoyed with her. Ash fidgeted a moment, wings raising and lowering slightly as she tried to decide what to say.
"I don't know why I'm surprised anymore. You never take anything seriously for long, and you always have to be flashy. That stunt during the Festival had you written all over it. And don't think I didn't hear about that missing bridge." Grey eyebrows scrunched as he pinned Ash with a pointed look from his dark brown eyes.
"Lighten up a little Gramps! The bridge isn't going to hurt anyone, they're only mortals. No one is going to figure out it was magic. And that..." Alexei paused and glanced to see if anyone was paying attention to them before dropping his voice slightly. "that 'stunt' was pretty cool. At least the delivery part." His grey eyes sparkled with the laugh he was wisely not voicing, light brown hair blowing slightly in the breeze.
Ash started to perk up again, then caught another look at Mikhail and drooped once more. "I already said I was sorry! I just got so mad. That little twit didn't have the brains the Gods gave a flea! He never noticed I was following him. He almost walked into multiple patrols. He tried to open the window with a crow bar! And he was pretending to be me! As for the bridge? I was bored. No one will miss it anyway..." She pouted and twisted the toe of one shoe through the dirt.
"That isn't the point! Him being an idiot means he would have been caught without your help. I sent you that warning so you would track who was behind the threat. Not track someone the guards could have found. We still have no idea who put out that order. Not gender. Not species. If the kidnapper was that stupid, what if that was just a ruse? What if the girl was never in danger, and it was something to get everyone's concentration somewhere else for a while?"
Ash stared at the older Gargoyle a moment in surprised silence. "But what could they have been doing? I haven't heard of anything important going missing. No deaths besides the usual stupidities."
"I know. And that's what worries me. Everything went back to normal too quickly. We haven't heard a single word about anything that even tangentially might be related. It's like nothing ever happened. Alexei and I will keep listening and let you know if we hear anything. But YOU need to pay heed as well. Use some of that focus I know is in that head of yours. I have a bad feeling we missed something important."
Mikhail reached out and grabbed Alexei by the arm and started walking away. The younger Gargoyle looked back over his shoulder and grinned with a roll of his eyes at Ash. "Bye! See you again soon I hope!"