located

The more and more that Sarah was away, the more and more frantic the "villainous chaps" became to find her.
There might be many humans on earth, but there is only one Character Queen.

How they would love to just leave her behind and get a new one.
If only more had her power.
If only more were capable.

But to them, she is becoming more of a curse than anything.
They want their revenge, yes, but at what cost?

At the end of the day, is she even worth it?

They just hoped she hadn't been captured again by the elves of Mirkwood. . .
or else their only chance would be lost.

Completely out of their element, the four fiends were indeed lost.
They had hoped the spiders would be nearby to get high enough and track her down.

But it appeared the arachnids were absent without the scent of their queen.

More proof that without the Character Queen, time spent in a very foreign land would be most unpleasant.
Sarah seemed to know a great deal of this place.
That knowledge would have been useful.

The four were becoming desperate. Well. . at least the three.
As per the usual, Joker kept mostly to himself.

But the Master called out for her.

Moriarty called out for her. . . in the form of "Darling", "Dear of mine" and "Sugar boo", ending with "Please come out to play".

Bane called out to her.
Out of the four, he was the most concerned over her disappearance.

Somehow, in some way, the young Demens girl had made an impact on the militant.
He now had a slight care as to what her outcome may be.

Perhaps it was the genuine kindness she showed him.
. . .
or simply recognizing that she understood him when most did not . . or would not.

Every once and awhile, the Joker would give out a single call, then immediately go back to his silence.

The Master looked back at him with well-placed suspicion.

The Joker had been acting strangely the entire time he knew him.

Why he had even bothered to come still puzzled him.

He wasn't much of a help at all.

The Joker noticed the gaze.

The Master didn't mean to prolong it, but he mistakenly caught the clown's attention, and caused him to look at the Timelord with fire slowly starting to burn in his cold, dark eyes.

The Master looked away as if it was nothing.

He knew that look he received all too well . . . but in his heart, he knew . . . the Joker was hiding something.

The party gave a few more shouts, then went silent as they continued to walk aimlessly through the forest.

Until the Master, Moriarty and the Joker were ceased by their masked companion.

"Stop!"
He calmly raised a hand to signal the halt.

He bent down to his knees, staring at the ground, his brown trench coat fluttering with the gentle breeze.

The three crawled around him to see what he found.

They each looked around at their environment; they had stopped at some sort of stream, it seemed.

Bane delicately laid his fingers atop the small wet rocks leading to the grassy land.
But he also felt the dirt in between.

He took a deep breath.
"She's alive . . ."

The others stirred.

"These are her tracks . ." He continued, looking back at the water.

He pointed.
"The water carried her body here . . ."
he looked back and stood, starting to slowly go forward, head pointed to the ground.

The others followed.

"She arose . . . and stumbled . . ."
He followed the short trail.
". . . her steps have more impact . . she ran."

The Master slightly - slightly - rose his brows.
"The question is . . from who . . or from what?"

"Knowing Sar-ee, she was running at something."

"She isn't one for running away . . ." The Joker said in the background.
". . Unfortunately."

Such disappointment.

Bane looked on ahead, holding on to the same tree Sarah had.

"She's alive . . . she's alone . . . she's here."