[GrayGriffin]

The single figure walked slowly down the road. He was quite a handsome man, with his dark red eyes and shaggy black hair that almost covered them completely. He strolled along rather quietly, only pausing occasionally to converse with the small figure crouched on his shoulder.

"So what is it, Mr. Holmes? Do you know? Do you think it's really a ghost? If it's a ghost, how will we handle it?"

"Patience, little Watson," laughed the man. "We'll have to go and investigate. That's what we're for." He took out a piece of paper from his pocket. "The village should be just up ahead." Sure enough, as they rounded a corner, the village appeared in front of them. It looked almost ghostly in the misty evening, but the many lights that were on cut through the fog.

"C'mon, Watson. Let's get going. We have an appointment to keep."

[1, 1]

[OOC: The language Watson speaks is quite old, and almost extinct. His vocal cords are most suited to this language, and Holmes seems to be the only one who understands it.]

[Moofius]

((Sorry this took so long. x___x;;; And also if the setting doesn't suit you I can change it or delete it and you can write your own for it. X3;;))

Unlike the original Holmes the village this one met was modern. Vinyl siding on the houses, sleek cars in paved driveways and along paved (not cobblestone) roads. But the village itself was a bit of an oddity in this day and age. It was quite small, no Wal-Mart to be seen. Small, locally owned places were on the main streets of the actual town and in small pockets here and there an old world charm had been kept; mostly to attract tourists.

One such place was near the bay, the original villages source of income. The town had grown away from fishing and into tourism though. Old boats were kept out of the water permanently for the use of museums and other "historical" landmarks and such.
Along the road that traveled flush against the piers (some new, for the modern botats and what fishing was still done, some old for the sake of the tourists) were old town houses akin to those of Mr. Holmes and his mysteries written about in tales of fiction but this was no tale of fiction.
"Mr. Holmes?"

She was rather young and if it wasn't for the very business like look on her face she would appear out of place on the foggy street. The seriousness of her expression seemed to be magnified by the bone straight black hair that hung behind her and fell to a length that was yet unknown to the two before her. An educated guess would place the hairs length at somewhere between "long" and "very long".
Strong violet eyes met the mans as she offered her hand.
"My name is Avani. I was told by the one who asked us here that I would be working with you, though I only just found out. If I had known..." and she trailed off. What would she have done differently? Probably nothing.
"But I guess we can make proper introductions inside." Avani said and smiled, only showing a slight bit of embarrassment in the way her lips curled, "Lets go inside then." she said before turning around and heading up the rather steep steps of the old town house before her. It seemed a slight bit more run-down then the others on the street (but that could have just been the light, or the fog playing with the reality of the world around them); the stairs squeaking and groaning under foot.

(( Yah~ Do we even have an idea of who hired them? XD! ))

[GrayGriffin]

(Well, I thought it would be a semi-elderly Tricky whose daughter was supposedly taken by the Bandol. Actually, he fell in love with her, and she with him, and they decided to elope. However, she was killed, and he returned to her village where his love had lived, and each night thinks of her, and the rock where she used to sit and talk with him.)

Sherlock nodded and continued walking. "That seems like a good idea. Our employer seems to be a fisherman of some sort. Apparently his only daughter was a victim of the ghost, or creature, or whatever it was. He naturally has a strong enmity for it-a personal hatred."

"Oh wow! That's so exciting and interesting! Is it a grumpy old guy?" demanded Watson.

"He probably would be, seeing as he lost someone he cares about," replied Holmes, then looked up. "Oh! Sorry Avani, you probably can't understand what Watson is saying. He's simply asking if our client will be a grumpy old man. He's pretty excitable, but good at searching small places and observing things if he can calm down."

[2, 2]

[Moofius]

She listened to them, er, speak. She only understood one half of the conversation though but politely didn't say anything until she reached the top of the stairs where there was an old door which had once been red but the paint was now faded and peeling in some places.
"Oh, that's quite alright. It's a pleasre Mr. Watson." she said, polite smile intact, "I'm not exactly an investigator, I suppose that's your job. I'm here more for the paranormal side of the investi- Mr. Smith!" Avani said, stepping back from the door which had opened behind her. Inside was either a tricky who's fur had gotten a bir dirty or a sad tricky who's fur had lost some of it's colour. It was rather hard to tell but, with that frown, one would assume the latta.

"So yer th'eh investigators are ye'? 'Ome in, I guess...Lans sakes though, wipe yer feet! Hooliga's thes days. Break d'ah holy motha's hart ee' woud."

[GrayGriffin]

(I actually thought of him as more grumpy, but I guess this is okay too. Not trying to be insulting, just mentioning a fact.)

Holmes nodded. "Yes, it is chilly." He stepped inside, the little Drakel chittering on his sholder. He seemed to be saying how it wasn't cold, wasn't cold at all.

"You have fur," whispered Holmes.

"But you have fur too! Why don't you change?"

"Have you forgotten? I cannot change, little one. Not here."

"But why?"

"I cannot tell you now, no..."

[3, 3]

[Moofius]

(( You're welcome to RP him too, seeing as he's a non-player character. oPo Sorry for the wait, not really getting anything at all from your posts to work with. ))

Avani shrugged, smiling at the two "investigators" the smile saying, 'sorry about him'. Avani schuffed her feet on a mat that had either had the "welcome" long worn off or it had never held the words which seemed more appropriate considering the old mans.... dispossition.

Avani had already been here awhile and had grown somewhat accustomed to the old mans harsh words. Besides he was rather kind to her because she was a woman. As much as that bothered her she tried not to show it, being polite as she was raised to be.

The group was lead to a sitting room that smelled of old man, dust and the passing of many tides. The old man too the biggest, comfiest, lived in seat. It was his preferred seal. Avani sat in a cushiony, fluffy flowery chair that had been the mans late wife's.
"See' where yee li'k but naowt on tha' chair tha!" He pointed to a chair, rather non descript but comfy looking. It looked as if it had been unused for some time, "That is mah dau'ers so dun yew dahr toout'it."

[GrayGriffin]

"I'm sorry," said Sherlock, wiping his feet. They weren't that dirty, were they? Watson chittered happily as he clung to his friend's head. The Tricky glared up at them.

"Cahn' ye shawt th't inf'rn'l critt'r up?"

"I'm sorry," said Sherlock. "But he is my assistant. He acts hyper sometimes, but he's really quite good at searching for clues. Now, what did you want to talk to us about?"

"Mah dau'er and ta inf'rnal critt'r tha' took 'er, tha's wha'!" he snapped. "Twas a Band'l, alw'ys a sin of b'dl'ck. Tuk 'er awa', it did. And naow tha critt'r bahk! Ah want ye to fin' it and bring 't here. Ah'll tak it from thar!"

[4, 4]

[Moofius]

Avani frowned with her eyes but her smile still remained, "I do not want to speak for Mr. Sherlock or Mr. Holmes here, but I do not think we can legally give the bandol to you. As well we are investigators which does not mean we will find and captiure this bandol. We search for the truth and the facts. At least, that is what I understand...?"
Avani often helped ghosts to the land of the dead, or helped the living find peace with dead friends or family. This, an investigation, was new to her.
"If we find your daughter though we'll bring her back as this is where she belongs, of course. The bandol... Not so much."

(( Fail. xDx ))

[GrayGriffin]

"Ar' ye tallin' me ye canna' let me haf justis fer my dau'er's kill'r?" demanded the Tricky, drawing himself up to his full height, which remained unimpressive. Nonetheless, the fury that suddenly gleamed in his eyes caused the detective and his assistant to draw back.

"We have to follow the laws of justice," replied Sherlock, as calmly as possible. "Besides, we are merely here to investiagte. I do not know if we could capture the Bandol."

"You could, you could!" squeaked Watson. "Just turn into your big doggy Baskerville form and you can go ethereal and chase it!"

"Shh!"

"Weill, do yer bes', then," replied the Tricky, sounding peeved.

[5, 5]

[Moofius]

Doing her best, going beyond the call of duty, Avani did these things often and had almost paid with her life.
"You can count on us to do everything within our means to get to the bottom of this and have justice served either by the local athorities or ourselves. When we're finished the truth will be known, right?" Avani said, posing the question to her two new partners in crime... solving. They seemed competent enough, if a bit strange.

An annoyed, slightly unimpressed grunt was all the tricky had to say to that but it did little to dampen Avani's spirits.
"Ah... We have rooms at the towns hotel. We should get some rest and begin our investigation tomorrow; the two of you must be tired from the travel."

(( Yey, five posts! 8D ))

[GrayGriffin]

Sherlock looked up. "I am not too tired," he said. "If there is a Bandol, I feel it would be more likely to appear at night." He was, after all, a Baskerville, and therefore perfectly capable of functioning at night. "As much as I would like to rest, I feel we must at least scout out this problem."

"Want sleep!" complained Watson. "So tired! Wanna go to the hotel!"

The young man sighed. "It seems like Watson has different plans. Very well then, we will rest for the night."

"Lorisa..." the voice whispered softly. A pair of beady black eyes rose out of the water, followed by a sleek black nose. The bandages wrapped around the creature's body remained dry, even as it continued to rise, until it was looking at the rock. She used to sit there and sing with him...

[6, 6, 1]

[Moofius]

Avani smiled, "We could go by the site now, but it could be dangerous at night, we are on the coast and that offers danger even to a seasoned sea men. For those of us with less then well practiced sea legs it could be very dangerous." She smiled, "We can check out the scene tomorrow, start an investigation and then once it gets to be later in the day we can return to the scene and what we find, right?" She stood up from the old flowery chair, smoothing out her clothes.
"Mr. Holmes, Watson, I can take you to the hotel if we're all done here?" she asked, looking towards the tricky, then the investigator and his partner.

(( Sorry for the wait! ))

[GrayGriffin]

(I assume it's a typo, but Sherlock Holmes is his full name. The Drakel's name is Watson.)

"Alright," Sherlock agreed. Watson cheered, nearly toppling off his shoulder.

"A'right, but I expec' ye ta be her' by tha crac' o' don tomorrer," replied the Tricky, still curled up in his chair. "Ye're inv'stigat'rs, so inv'stigat'!" He plopped off the chair and waddled away. "I'm goin' ta bad. See yersel's out."

"Well," said Sherlock. "I guess we'd best be going." He stood up, Waston chittering about warm baths and beds and comfy sleep all the way.

---

The Bandol paused. There was...a disturbance. Something new. Something that might not want him here. He shuddered, but continued to the shore. He would remember her...no matter what tried to stop him.

[7, 7, 2]

[Moofius]

(( Typo to the max. xD Haha, thanks for catching that. X3 Feexed it. o3o ))

Avani nodded to the tricky, she'd be here early of course. Even though she had a bad feeling about the whole thing (Not that this was dangerous, but it probably wouldn't go smoothly or as expected) she was also very eager to help solve the case. Avani was a little embarassed to admit it, but she was almost giddy; she'd never solved any sort of mystery before and she'd never worked with a detective.

Leading the way back down the hall and out of the house Avani only spoke to Mr. Holmes once they were outside and away from the tricky. Their client did not take critism well, so she wanted to know what the detective really thought of the case so far.
"So? What do you think so far? Do you really think a bandol got his daughter?"

[GrayGriffin]

"I don't know," admitted Sherlock. "I don't disbelieve the fact that Bandols can steal souls, but I think it would be unusual for a Bandol to actually take the victim away. From the folklore I heard, they generally leave their victims dead or empty shells, waiting to be discovered. It may be that she merely wished to escape her father's overbearing prescense, or eloped with a lover."

"So many questions!" added Watson. "But we should start at the shore first! Maybe we'll find some sea creatures that know what happened!"

"Watson's saying that we can ask around the shore where she disappeared," explained Sherlock. "Maybe some of the water creatures will know things."

In the background, a strange howl rose into the air. Waton's fur stiffened and bristled, as he spun around.

"Whassat?" he hissed.

"I...don't know," replied Sherlock.

---

He had to howl. He had to sing. It was the song they had sung. No one would ever know it was him; he always ran away before they came. But he had to sing. For her.

[8, 8, 3]