"Her brother?" The old man looked at the pack rats, aghast. "I dont recall you bringing home a child. What has gotten into you?"


The pack rats chittered, shaking their heads. The old man frowned at them as they jabbered and bounced around, then looked back at her. "My subjects tell me they have not encountered anyone except you and your friend out in the Wasteland. Why do you think your brother would be here? And what was your question?"

She flinches, hugging herself. Ash would do so much better at explaining this, she barely even knew why she came, she didn't know how to explain any of this.

"My question was, who are you?" She says softly. She refused to tell him anything until she knew who he was.

"If your stupid little minions didn't bring him here, how do you know he's a child?" Kerri challenges, speaking for the first time in quite a while. He does have a point there- none of them had mentioned Ethan's age.

"Because a changeling must have taken his place, and they don't take teenager's places," he said to Kerri. Then he turned to Claire. "Ah." The old man settled back, lacing his hands together. "Now I understand. Machina has your brother, yes? And you are on your way to rescue him."

He continues to growl, traces of smoke starting to rise from his fur. He looks as if he might attack him.

She nods, suddenly standing next to Kerri.

(Ping)

He chuckled at their actions. "Worry not, children. I mean you no harm. But you would do well to abandon your plan to rescue your brother. Machina is too strong. No weapon can hurt him. Youd be throwing your life away."

This clearly doesn't assure him. He keeps growling.

She glances at Lin. "Do you know anything that might help us though?"