Giovanni braced himself against the thick trunk of his hiding spot as soon as he anticipated the crash, marveling at the massive displays of power both of them displayed. It turns out Venenzio really might not have been hyperbolic in the least in his description of them.

When the noise finally settled back down into silence, Rhea's grim demeanor broke. "Roo," she enunciated, turning to face her younger sister. "What happened, where were you?"
"Moira spotted one off the trail." Roo said quietly, "And I got lost trying to rein it back in."
"Saul un'smilt." her sister shook her head, one hand on her hip and the other pressed against her forehead, before she thought to wipe away the blood running down her face. "I nearly had a heart attack. I though something'd happened to you!"
"I was fine."

In the meantime, the third quiet sister - Qwikty - sank into a squat and placed one palm flat upon the ground. In response, the earth in front of them began to fold into the glacier like one might fold an egg into dough. The sound wasn't nearly as cacophonous, though it did elicit a strong and consistent rumble that rolled through Giovanni's bones.

Roo sat down beside Qwikty, then seemed to think better of it and laid down on her back. "I'm going to be sick."
"It's been a long night. We should head back."

Giovanni hung back, interested to eavesdrop now that actual explanations might crop up. Roo had promised him one, but he didn't really expect her to just hand him the truth.

"You should head back, Rhea." Qwikty urged over her shoulder. "You're bleeding everywhere."
"How bad is it?" Roo asked from the ground. Rhea wiped the blood off on her skirt. "It's a surface cut. Don't worry. But I'll start heading back. You'll be alright?"

Both girls chimed in agreement, so Rhea went striding off through the trees, shoulders slumped in exhaustion.
Things were dull for a bit. Roo caught her breath while Qwikty turned the earth, but then Roo sat up. "I should get going too. Will you be fine by yourself?"
"Things are better in the morning." The other one said vaguely, focused on her task. "Go ahead. I'll see you back at the Hold."

Roo dusted off her skirts and picked a few leaves out of her hair before setting forth through the trees.

Giovanni considered lingering, but it seemed that the remaining Lumanlisc had tasked herself with roiling over the soil until the evidence of their deeds was no more. He slunk around the clearing from shadow to shadow, set on tailing Roo and Rhea.

Things were fairly uneventful for most of the journey. Roo made her way through the trees, oblivious to him. At some point, a small snuffle sounded at her feet and she leaned over to pick up a familiar rabbit. "Hello Moira. You're getting lots of carrots when we get home."

But then above, the cry of a crow sounded. Roo paused, looking towards it, her expression pinched with worried confusion.
A glint appeared in the shadows near to Giovanni, but on closer inspection, revealed Venenzio. He offered his partner a stony nod, which Giovanni knew was a cover for deeper unease.

Giovanni glanced towards Roo as if to explain his current objective. The night was getting longer-- if they didn't return by daybreak they'd have other problems-- but the opportunity before them was too good to pass up.

Roo advanced again, moving more slowly and cautiously this time. They were nearly at the gates to the Hold, and the crow's cries only grew more frantic as she neared.
Then shapes appeared between the trees in front of her and she froze as neatly outfitted guards stepped into her path. "You-- why are you here?"
"Surprise visit." The one dressed most casually said, advancing towards her with an icy expression. "And clearly a good thing, too."
Roo backed up but he just moved faster, grabbing her by the arm. "You're in a world of trouble, Lruia."
"Let go of me!" she tried to pull away, eyes wide and voice desperate, but he simply dragged her along.

An interesting turn of events. Who held this amount of command over the Lumanlisc sisters themselves? It had to be someone big. Could it be that the Lord himself was here? Giovanni exchanged a look of intrigue with his partner.

She dug her heels into the ground, struggling ferociously as her captor continued to pull her through the trees. Moira, who'd been hanging on for dear life, catapulted out of her arms to smack into the man like a large, furry bullet. He yelled and grabbed at it, and Roo went running in the opposite direction, only to almost immediately be snagged around the waist by one of the trailing soldiers and thrown back into line. A yelp escaped her mouth as she slammed against a tree trunk, the breath leaving her body, but she didn't even have a second to recover before someone else had her by the back of the head and continued shoving her forward.

Venenzio watched the drama without much of an expression, simply nodding towards the man holding Roo. Clearly he was of some importance. While the yelling and general ruckus happened below, he dared to hiss in Giovanni's direction, "We need to go back."