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...Literally, or metaphorically?

Literally, sir. Came down from the mountains I think.

...Makes being outside dangerous.

...Ah.

Well, I dislike the cold, but somebody ought to make sure there's nobody vulnerable caught out in it. [sigh.]

People don't much believe in what they can't see... you can warn em but they'll just think your drunk.

I have... seen enough- and not seen, if you will, to know better.

[Ghost blinks at him a few times like he's looking at something particularly bright and then looks back outside]
Yeah. But I don't think you want to fight that thing. Maybe best to let it go back to the mountains when it's tired of here.

[The man appears to be overweight and middle-aged, slightly eccentric with his old-fashioned suit and rings on nearly every finger, but generally not someone dangerous. He also leans on a cane. He also, to those more sensitive to such things, is a sorcerer of not inconsiderable power.]

Oh, I don't want to, but I do feel an obligation to protect those who can't. Unless there's a way to be sure it will find nothing worth lingering for...

[Ghost is sensitive to everything, hence looking away. He doesn't want to see what this man carries and he's had just enough of a glimpse to know the depth and weight that comes with Power. To look longer would start to peel back the layers and show him more. But that isn't polite and he was raised by a Witch, his grandmother who most certainly taught him not to be rude and look where it's not invited]

I dunno if there's a way to be sure of anything, nevermind a wind with teeth... I could probably give it something worth hunting.

I have my bike... I'm a whole lot tastier than most out there tonight.

[Sorcerers and witches tend to have something of an understanding, at least, albeit one based mostly on avoiding each other. The man's dour expression softens, though. He assumes he's talking to someone who sees more than most, and doesn't expect to escape notice as unusual himself.]

You're younger than some things out there tonight, too, with more to lose. I may not be fast anymore, but I've driven off things with teeth before, and I should still be up to the task.

I got the same amount to lose as anyone else. Maybe less cause I know what's out there..

You think there's a way to get it to go back to the Mountains? It might just have gotten lost.

...There might be. That's a good thought. Can you tell what it might be drawn to?

[He has an apprehensive look on his face and tugs his hat down while staring and then frowning hard out the window, and for a while he is very still]

It's big.. as big as a house maybe. And its just... all turned around.

[He takes a deep breath and presses his fists to his eyes]

It wants its family and can't find them.

[He shifts his weight a few times, leaning on the cane, but patiently gives the boy all the time he needs. Such gifts are not to be rushed.]

That... sounds a little more difficult. Bait may not work, but showing it an open path home might.

It came from the mountains.

[He's already said that and has either forgotten he's said it, or it is important enough to repeat in earnest. He looks back outside and tucks his hands away into his coat]

We have to try to help it get home. Show it the way.

We...? [He smiles gently, and reaches a beringed hand for the boy's shoulder.]

I'll do what I can, but I'm not from here, and I have no way to warn others to keep in tonight.

[He blinks a bit owlishly and then glances away again, back outside]

I can do it. ...Maybe.

Somebody needs to warn them.

Be easier to bring this baby home... I'm a drunk and a stoner around here.

Is there a way to warn them that they need not know comes from you? [There's nothing judgmental in his tone.]

I... I dunno. ...Maybe if it were too dark out? Or.. cold?

[He's at a loss]

Maybe if they don't want to go out that's good enough?

...A thick fog, perhaps. A fog over the houses, with only one clear channel back up to the mountain. It may not be enough, but it's a start...

Fog could do it. Fog and... dark. Like all the stars have gone out and only lights in the house are left to keep all that dark out.

That might keep people inside.

That I can do, easily enough. I can only hope it will be enough to redirect more than just the locals.

Might work. Might work and be enough...

We can hope at least.

[He sighs and rubs at the space between his eyes with two fingers.] ...Are you do determined to come with me?

Well... you did say you weren't fast. Might need someone fast if things don't go easy.

[He grimaces a little, but to say he is not fast is an understatement.] Someone who... knows the area may be useful...

Yep. Guess that means I'm taggin' along.

[He sighs, but his smile is grateful, if a little resigned. He doesn't like to put anyone else in danger.]

...All right. Can you show me to a good vantage point?

Yup. I can do that. Follow me! [And after a breath, heads out into the cold wind]

[He follows, and in that it should be immediately obvious what he meant about not being fast. The cane is for balance more than support, but he has a rocking limp. He'll match the boy's pace, but depending how fast that is it may require some effort. At least he's well dressed against the cold, in three-piece suit, a long fur-collared coat, and gloves and hat.]

[It's probably those manners, having been raised by a grandmother that he keeps a good pace ahead, but no more. Leading the way without making it obvious he's making sure the older man to keep up with him while he searching through the night for the place he remembers which is on a hill and partially wooded]

Mountains are to the North of here...

[He pushes himself to go a little faster than his usual default, anyway, and tries hard not to trip on the uneven ground. Woods are a familiar setting to him, but he's lived mostly in cities since the old injury, and it's harder to pick his way now.]

Nothing like this has come down from them before?

Like this No. Not like this.

Other things though. Sometimes they pass through.
Stuff from the mountains usually stay in the mountains though.

Passing through... sounds harmless enough. I suppose people notice these things less than they used to.

Not always harmless... but better than them sticking around.

It sounds like this place could use some protection... [He's trying not to puff or pant, but also trying to move quickly. Too much time spent sitting in the library with tea and snacks, and not enough exercise.]

Miz Deliverance did what she could while she was alive. No one else has got that kind of power around here. The bad times here came and passed... Nothing quite so bad is supposed to happen. Not for a while anyway.

[Ghost gets to the highest point and turns around, looking around at the little houses. He smells the air, nostrils flared slightly before he pulls his coat around him tight]

Can you smell it?

[The big man (he's tall, as well as broad) climbs the last few steps up the slope and lurches slightly to a halt, breathing a little hard. He takes a moment to catch his breath and breathe in, but his senses aren't the same as the boy's are. Closing his eyes, he focuses, instead, one ring on his right hand glowing very faintly blue. There's something out there...]

Not... smell, no, but...

[Ghost's eyes snap to the ring which glows, but he glances away, towards the direction he can smell the thing in the wind.]

It's lost... [There's a tremendous amount of concern in his voice]
We need to help it go home.

[Much as he wants to protect the locals, Horvath can understand- and share a sympathy for the wild thing lost out here. There seem to be fewer of this kind of creature than there used to be, now. There's fewer sorcerers, too.

Once he's got a rough idea where it is, he braces his legs a little wider, and rests the cane against his hip so he can get both hands free. Lifting them, the ring glows brighter, but the air around them grows darker, too, a gentle but dark fog roiling up around them from his hands, and beginning to spread across the terrain to cloak the town. It grows to cut the thing with teeth off from the town, but a very wide channel remains open to the North, towards the mountains. He only hopes the thing will take the easy route, rather than fight its way through the fog to the village, or the quiet pulse of his own power.]

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