We're On Our Own

Darien held a grin upon his face, seeing how much Nate was enjoying his performance. He grinned happilly, "Seems that you're enjoying that trick." He grinned, "Time for my second illusion." He began, a smile playing across the side of his mouth. He looked around then found something he could do. He smiled, "Watch this." He smirked just slightly, directing a few branches towards Nate. He was definately concentrating as he made the braches form into small people, and with the trick of his illusions made them look as if they were holographics, looking just like minature people umong the air, dancing in the form of a ballroom dance amoung the breeze and leaves. He broke a slight sweat as he had done this, trying to make best use of his powers to entertain Nate. The moment was reminding him of something similar a few years back. It was fairly similar as well.

Darien was only a few years younger than he was now. He was still in his teens, and was fairly interested in the mesmer works as he watched his father with interest. He was sitting on the steps of a building of some sort, watching his father perform with serene and grace, moving the breeze around him in a shifted motion having the leaves near by shift and move along with his weight and movements. Darien watched wide-eyed, watching as he began to flow with the wind as it seemed. Many men and woman clammered on by, watching in amazement as his father bended and shifted the air and leaves. Darien noticed his father take in the attention and began to put on a more difficult array of tricks. The stick illusion to be one of them, "Wow....father this is simply amazing." Darien barked happilly as his wolf ears twitched with excitement as well as a bushy, dark creamy tail behind him. He grinned, all fangs showing as he watched his father perform the illusion of a ballroom blitz.

"Of course it is son. It's the magic of a mesmer." His father chuckled out, shifting the twigs around, making the people move with it. The people had taken over the position of the twigs in the minds eye, making it seem all too real if you were a watcher. His fathers dark brown hair swirled around his own brown ears, twitching with the breeze and sensation as his tail swung happilly around his waist. Darien watched intently and curiously as he began to light sparks of bright yellow dust particals, giving the illusion of twinkling stars.

Darien watched with awe, "H-how...do you do that?....." He asked, his eyes widening as his father swirled a much more array of interest into the mix of illusions. His mind at a set, blinded by the illusions as he thought them to be real.

"Son, that's easy all...." His father had began, but quickly stopped, watching men in armor trudge by. The armor had made distinctive clinking sounds, giving off the hidden armor under their normal street clothes. He growled something under his breath as the mood of the illusion turned a bit downwards, having the moonlit sky and stars, turning into sparks of fire almost. As he noticed what he was doing, the illusion soonly and sadly ended without a finish. The crowd left shamed, feeling he could've done more. All that didn't leave were the men in armor, and they weren't too pleased by the ending. His father turned towards Darien, "Darien....I need you to leave, alright? I promise I'll catch up...but there's something I need to do. You hear me son?" He exclaimed in a stern way, "And hide your shapeshifter appearance." He ordered, then shooed him off, like Darien was a simple pedestrian.

Darien did as his father told with a very confused and hesitant look. He did as his father had ordered, and that had been to hide his appearance by poofing his ears and tail away. His fangs grew slightly smaller as well. He shuffled himself to a distance, but only far enough to where he wouldn't be heard or seen by the men in armor that were now approaching his father.

"What do you want men?" His father began, watching the men with an uninterested expression. His ears twitched slightly as his tail uneavenly patted across his back, brushing past his shoulder lengthed hair a bit as it did so.
One of the three men in armor scoffed slightly. His hair had been a dark red, to what Darien remembered. He mouthed something to the other two men and they tightly grabbed both of his fathers arms. One on each side, "You didn't perform to your abillity. It saddened us to see so." He lied, scoffling a bit.
His father winced slightly, feeling the men's grasp tighten from an unnoticed signal by the head man, "That's not it, is it?" He growled slightly, fangs pretruding from his mouth slightly.
The other men chuckled slightly, then without an audible tone by the first man, he mouthed something. The other men nodded obidiently, grasping onto his arms tighter, tugging him with them as they began to walk towards a narrow street in the darker part of the village.
His father tried putting up a fight, but it was useless as the red-haired man had punched him in the chest, giving him a blow to leave his on the uneasy side for a few minutes.

Darien watched in confusion and slight terror, knowing what was going to happen. He bit his bottom lip, forcing his legs to move as he hurridly ran towards the direction they all had been headed. He panted slightly, covering his mouth as he had not wanted to be givin away like that if they were near. He found himself in a small, narrow street. No sign of anything living except a few sewer rats. His eyes skidded the area, no sign of anything. He sighed silently, frowning as nothing came to sight. Darien began to take a step until he heard a few noises, some of the voices he heard with his father. He quickly followed his sneses and headed down one of the narrow side streets connecting to the one he had been on, slowly keeping to the shadows as he caught sight of the men.

"I told you, I didn't steal anything from the castle......" His father was saying. His voice sounded weak, but stern at the same time.
"Oh yes you did. We have sources telling us a mesmer had stolen something. Something of value to His Majesty." One of the men growled out as a slamming sound could be heard, and many coughs.
"I-I told you......it wasn't me!" Darien's father had yelled out as proud and stern as he could, then coughing as the splatter of something to the ground could be audibly be heard. It sounded like the splashing of paint to Darien.
Growls and mumbles could be heard afterwards along with many more slams, sounding as if something was being beat and many things were breaking by the sounds of it. Darien himself, found his knees buckling and his heart almost stopping as the sounds ceased. He had heard not a yelp, or anything. All that was heard was the breathing of some figures, plus something raspy and haste breathing into the mixture of their own. He heard footsteps and something drop. Darien stopped breathing for a moment as his back quickly shuffled towards the cold, brick wall. He had seen stenciled figures shuffle by, the stench of blood stinging as his eyes shut close, his breathing returning once he heard nothing else except the sound of short, raspy and haste breaths. Darien gulped silently, crawling out of the shadows and into the only lighted area, hesitantly walking near the stench of blood, smelling one very familiar scent, "Fa-father....?" Darien squeaked out, feeling a clog in his throat, feeling his knees begin to shake as he inched towards a very stained body. It was laying on the ground. The breaths coming from it was very haste and were slowing down very much as Darien inched closer. Darien trembled slightly, hesitant then finally falling to his knees, "Fa...fa.....father....n-no......w-why?" Was all he said, tears scaling down his face, dripping into the already formed blood around the now lifeless body.

Darien felt his heart sink as his eyes saddened. The illusion he was putting on for Nate slowly drifted to fit with his own mood. The people who were dancing were now all slowly becoming pained by something as the dacing was slowly stopping and the men and woman began to fall to a form of death. The wind around Nate stopped as the leaves fell. His expression turned cold as his gaze turned towards the ground, slowly turning around and walking forward, not looking at anyone in particular now. He wasn't expecting to remember the whole thing so vividly.

Maria only held on tighter when Matthew had done that. Her snarls becoming much deeper as she tried to avoid her snout being clawed by his paw. She winced just slightly as she felt slight cuts forming in her snout and side of her face. She growled something, letting his arm go as she backed up slightly, still in wolf form and ready to attack him again if he tried anything else. Her temper wasn't easilly controlled like his, and she was fuming furious at him for trying and doing what he had done. Maria continued her growling, glancing up towards Saneki once but continued her gaze back towards Matthew.

Randu winced heavilly, feeling like he would give up on walking. He tried his darndest not to though as he felt something warm trail down his stomach to his pants leg, falling to the ground. He noticed the blood was slowly making it's way down and he sighed, feeling pain in his chest, "Hey Se-Serifina.....do...y-you think......that I have internal...woundings if...I'm still bleeding?" He finally asked, feeling sweat roll down his forehead as he kept walking, feeling lightheaded, about to fall over as his knees began to fall weak.

Nate had caught a glimpse of the sadness in Darien's eyes before he turned away and his eyes turned curious. "Darien? Whats wrong?" he asked softly as he quickly walked to be standing next to him. He hesitated for a slight moment before he softly put his hand on Darien's shoulder. I wonder what happened...a memory maybe? he wondered, wanting to know what had cause Darien to be suddenly filled with such sadness. The only thing that came to his mind was some memory that may have suddenly come to mind, Nate had had that experience with thoughts of Elizabeth dying, he knew that look that Darien suddenly held in his eyes. I wonder what memory though... he wondered, settling on it being a memory.

Inu had heard Nate's question to Darien and he turned around, seeing the way Darien looked. Hmm...wonder what's going on there...well, least it means I'm not the only one with some kind of problem, he thought bitterly as he looked ahead again. He then felt his heart sink slightly. Aw, come on, Inu, have you really turned that cold? the question echoed repeatedly in his head, but it was almost as if it was Matthew saying it. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself, but he knew it was true. I should show some sympathy, how cold have I gotten? Just from being a servant for a few years...come on, I gotta still be myself somewhere, he thought, but he wasn't even sure of it as he had the thought.

Matthew growled for a moment, but started to back off slightly, not wanting to fight, he'd just been trying to see if his theory was correct. He started to nurse his paw where Maria had bitten him, then turned and growled slightly. Although...I haven't had a good fight in a while, this could be just what I need, he thought with a slight grin as he started to walk towards her again, completely ignoring Saneki, who could be easily injured if he lunged if he didn't calculate the distance well enough, she was that close to the fight. Damnit, what if that vampire...crap...well, if I go near her to even move her out of the way, I open myself up for an attack, he thought coldly, then starting to walk towards her nonetheless, his hackles raised and a deep snarl escaping his throat. He crouched low to the ground, then lunged at her, trying to get a grip on the scruff of her neck, but he'd miscalculated, as could be expected and his body ended up slamming again Saneki's, sending her to the ground with him, a few feet away. Damnit... Matthew thought, growling slightly as he winced, forcing himself to his feet and stumbling slightly. Well...to be expected...I haven't fought another werewolf in a while. Fought people, yes, but werewolves, no...not since...not since Inu and I would playfight. Then, there was that real fight, not too long before... he thought and he felt his heart sink as he remembered Inu, someone he hadn't thought about in a while, the memories flooding back. He'd been walking towards Maria, but had suddenly stopped, looking at the ground, remembering the last night he'd seen Inu.

Him and Inu had just made up after their first fight, that hadn't just been an arguement, it had eventually turned into a tooth and claw fight. One of their friends had heard the snarling and had quickly come to stop the fight. Matthew had snarled at Inu once more, bleeding from a wound to his shoulder from Inu getting a firm grip on it, but Matthew had left some claw marks on Inu's chest, in return for a deep gash to his own chest. At that snarl, Inu quickly returned it, but deeper and more determined, clearly the better fighter of the two. Matthew did nothing more than just turn his back and stalk off towards the small building that was the house that he and Inu shared since shortly after they met, but it was technically Matthew's. Inu started to follow him, since there were two seperate rooms, his and Matthew's, but he figured he wouldn't even get inside. He snarled slightly, then walked off in the other direction.

It had been a few days, days that they'd each needed to cool down, and Inu was now at the door, waiting for MAtthew to answer. Matthew had been hesitant, but finally opened the door, and they both started apoligizing at the same time, but stopped. "Hehe...guess we really need each other, huh, Inu-kun?" Matthew had said, grinning slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to hide his blush, but the attempt was unsuccesful. Matthew saw that Inu had the same blush on his face, along with a soft smile and his grin turned to match that smile. "So...we make up and never talk about this again?" he asked after a few moments of silence behind him as he grinned again.

Inu laughed slightly. "Hey, it works for me," he said, shrugging slightly. He'd been about to say something, but Matthew had hugged him and given him a kiss, causing Inu's blush to deepen, seeing a slight blush on Matthew's face as well. Inu grinned slightly. "So, can I come in now? Get back to my room?" he asked, the grin on his face still, but he recieved a slight slap on the back of his head from Matthew.

"Didn't even ask me how I got through it. It was so hard to not just come and look for you and apoligize and you make me wait days and worry!" Matthew said, but it was clear the tone to his voice was fake and he was just joking away, but he had a stern look on his face, but it didn't last long as he laughed sligfhtly, then stepped out of the doorway, doing a mock bow to let Inu inside and recieved a slap on the back of his own head as Inu walked past and into the room. He grinned as he stood up straight, rubbing the back of his head slightly, shutting the door behind Inu. What Matthew hadn't noticed was a trail of footprints in what appeared to be blood leading up to their doorstep, and Inu had taken his shoes off in his room as soon as he entered it. When he walked out, he hadn't noticed bood on his shirt, though. "Inu, your cuts still bleeding from that fight?" Matthew asked curiously, knoowing that they shouldn't be, since his weren't and they were a lot worse.

"Huh? That? Oh, no, someone picked a fight with me when I was on my way over," Inu admitted, shrugging slightly, trying to put an innocent look in his eyes.

Matthew sighed slightly. "Inu-kun, you really need to control that temper of yours," he muttered, shaking h is head slightly, but he didn't say anything else about it, seeing the begging, sweet, innocent look in Inu;s eyes and he smiled slightly.

A few hours later, during which, they'd been mostly talking to and teasing each other, there was a loud pounding on the door. Matthew looked up curiously, glancing at Inu, who just shrugged slightly, having the same confused look in his eyes that Matthew did. Matthew hesitated, then stood up and walked to the door, opening it, surprised to see a royal guard standing in the darkness of the night. "Oh, sir, can we help yyou?" he asked, surprised that he was there. Inu had stood up and walked up behind Matthew, looking just as surprised as he saw the royal guards.

"We're here regarding the death of the young princess, Elizabeth," the guard began, his eyes going to Inu, then to a dog that stood next to him, a bloodhound, who was intently focused on Inu, a slight growl escaping its throat. The guard made a slight motion with his hand, indicating something and the guards behind him quickly pushed past Matthew and grabbed Inu, slamming him against the wall, his arms pinned back roughly, and he was uinable to free himself, no matter how hard he struggled.

"What are you doing?! You can't come in here and do that to him!" Matthew barked, growling, ready to turn into a wolf.

"We have orders to capture the one who killed Elizabeth, and, from the bloody footprints leading to the door and the dog that has identified that man as the killer, we have every right to," the guard said, sounding bored with the explanation. MAtthew glared coldly at him and a snarl escaped his throat as he quickly slipped into his wolf form and lunged at the two guys pinning Inu to the wall, quickly killing them and several guards started to head for him.

"Inu-kun! Get out of here! I can take care of this, you run!" Matthew managed to bark out, quickly trying to get guards out of Inu's path. He saw hesitation in Inu's eyes, seeing he didn't want to leave MAtthew. He let out a snarl, its meaning clear and telling Inu to hurry, then he managed to say, "I love you.". He watched Inu's eyes fill with pain and watched him run off through the newly clear path, then MAtthew quickly went back to keeping the guards there. [i]He'll be safe, if it means risking myself, I'll do it, he thought firmly, quickly lunging at a guard who was about to go after Inu, letting out a snarl. Things seemed to be going well enough, Inu was out of sight and Matthew was keeping the guards at bay. Suddenly, in an instant, things turned around as Matthew felt a sword pierce through his back and he let out a loud, involuntary yelp and a whimper as he fell to the hard ground next to the house. No! Damnit!! Inu will be back, there's no doubt he didn't hear that yelp, MAtthew thought, wincing as he tried to force hiimself to his feet, but he fell once more, also recieving a blow to the head from some kind of blunt object. He'd already slipped back into his human form and his eyesight was blurry, but he saw a large, wolfish shape run into the scene. "Inu..." he said quietly, closing his eyes as he just listened to the sound of Inu attacking the guards get fainter. He suddenly heard some yelps from Inu, then a thud and he faintly felt the soft touch of Inu's hand caressing his cheek.[/i]

Matthew felt himself flinch slightly as the memory overcame him, but he still didn't move from his spot. Saneki was watching him curiously. He stopped....why? she thought curiously, but was more ticked off from being knocked to the ground the way she had been and she started to force herself to her feet, but stumbled slightly, quickly regaining her balence.

Serifina looked at him and thought about it for a moment. "It could mean that, but I'm not entirely sure. I mean, the type of wounds they are, and how fresh they are relatively..." she thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not sure, it could be somewhat normal for those wounds," she finally said. I hope its just that, nothing internal... she thought as a worried look entered her eyes. She tried to hide it quickly though, hoping that Randu hadn't noticed it, but she wasn't sure. I don't knwo if even Aunt Shikaku would know that....no, she might know, but she could also say that we need to wait and see how it heals up, she thought, debating something in her head.

Darien looked like he was going to say something as his mouth slightly opened, but he quickly shook his head, forcing the same expression as always back, "N-nothing darling. Why you ask?" He asked, blinking slightly as he looked towards Nate, as he tried to play the innocent card. He didn't feel the need to explain everything. His mind was so tangled with different feelings, he felt that explaining would have him spill a whole lot of other things. He just decided to keep this to himself. Darien scratched the back of his head slightly, "Anyways, sorry about the performance. I'll redo it for you later......Alright darlin'?" He said with a nervous laugh, sighing slightly to himself as his gaze went from Nate to the ground again. He had a slight blush on his cheeks, but nothing more since he tried to block out certain emotions for the time being.

Maria growled slightly, seeing how he had knocked Saneki to the ground. She had noticed him stop as well. Her snarling growl cooled down just slightly, but she still kept it up as she watched Matthew closely. She was baring her fangs, ready to lunge if he tried anything else. She was just thinking him lucky that she didn't just lunge at him now while his guard was down. For knocking over Saneki as he had missed herself. She glanced back over towards Saneki, seeing she was okay, then returned her glare back towards Matthew, making sure the other men wouldn't interfere at the same time, watching them carefully as well.

"B-but...." Randu began quietly, then shjook his head slightly feeling extreamly lightheaded as he felt something rise in his throat. The same feeling when he had spit up all that blood. He groaned quietly, closing his eyes tightly for a brief moment, then reopening them, concentrating on the ground. He felt like he would burn holes into the ground by how hard his gaze was. He only looked up when it came to walking in the right direction, but that would be it. His hand still remained on his blood drenched shirt, staining his hand in blood. He wasn't sure that this bleeding was good, but like Serifina told him, it was probably natural for his wounds.

"Alright," Nate said after a moment's hesitation, nodding slightly as he looked at him. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again after a moment, sounding slightly concerned as he looked at him, not moving his hand from Darien's shoulder. "Come on, I know that look, something's wrong," Nate said, talking about the look that Darien had had in his eyes, often feeling that look overcome his own eyes, anytime that he thought of his sister for too long, that look appeared in his eyes. Now his eyes held a concerned, caring look, showing that he just wanted to help Darien.

Inu glanced back at them for a moment and sighed slightly. "Nate, if you know that look, then you should know what it means and what feelings it comes with. It means that he doesn't want to be questioned about it, but that was also made clear enough by his response to the question the first time you asked it," he said as he looked forward again, his tone of voice flat, holding no emotions. You think he'd know that. He's probably had a bad memory come back to him enough, and there's no way he'd have told anyone in the castle. He wouldn't have trusted any of them, Inu told himself, staring straight ahead in silence, his eyes downcast, making him glad he was walking in front of Nate and Darien.

Matthew shook his head and resumed his growling once more as he faced Maria. Calm down, this could be the perfect chance to work on fighting, he told himself, then glancing slightly at Saneki, but quickly looking at Maria again. This could also be a good chance to test her temper and control when that last nerve of hers has been stepped on, he thought, weighing the choice of working on fighting, or testing strengths and strategies. He finally settled on the latter and he quickly ran something through his head, watching Saneki out of the corner of his eyes closely. He kept the growls going as he started to approach Maria, starting to circle her to the point where he could see both her and Saneki in the same field of vision. He kept up his growling, crouching low to the ground, as if ready to lunge, but instead watching Saneki as she stood up. He let out a snarl, then lunged as if going for Maria's throat, but missing his target purposely and landing on his feet, stumbling only slightly, but was now closer to Saneki than Maria was. A slight smirk appeared on his face as he glanced at her, then at Maria. He seemed about ready to lunge at Maria once more, but instead lunged towards Saneki. Time to test speed and reaction time... he thought as he perfectly hit his mark. He'd caught Saneki by surprise and easily pinned her to the ground. Matthew wasn't intending to harm her, so he tried to keep his claws from digging too much into her shoulders as he held her down with ease.

Damnit.... Saneki thought bitterly as she tried to get one of her arms free, but found it unsuccessful. He just had to be a werewolf, the one thing I cannot fight against, she thought, silently sighing to herself, then hoping that Matthew wasn't going to actually hurt her, knowing he could if he wanted to.

Strategy training, thats where its at...good thing my damn enclosure was...is...so close to their military's training grounds, he thought somewhat bitterly, then felt a slight shudder go down his back. Good? Wow...can't believe I just thought that...the things that happen to you there, damn soldiers. They had no right to beat me, even if a higher up saw 'em, they just walked on by, they find me inferiour(sp?).... he thought, feeling his muscles tense beneath his fur as he suddenly seemed to freeze once more, more recent memories flooding his mind.

"Get up, you bloody dog," a soldier growled, kicking Matthew, who was laying on the ground, he'd been sleeping when the soldier came over to him. Matthew let out a slight growl as he looked at the soldier, but seemed to have no will to fight in him, or the strength to. It had been a little over a year since he'd been brought in, and he still didn't know the fate of his beloved Inu, assuming him dead. In that year, he'd been fed just enough to keep him alive, and only barely at that, Matthew could barely stand at that point. That malnutrition that caused him to be in that state had not been helped by the frequent beatings that he recieved from the soldiers on the training grounds. Matthew hadn't moved from his spot, and he took the time to see how many soldiers were there, spotting four. Right then, the first soldier roughly grabbed him and dragged him to his feet. "I told you to get up," he growled, then tossed him back to the ground, the three other soldiers grinning as Matthew winced. "Now, lets try that again. Get up," he growled.

Matthew, not finding strength to do as he was told, and his nerves breaking in an instant, growled out, "Up yours." He said nothing more and didn't move at all from where he was laying on the rough, hard ground. Not more than five seconds later, the soldier had dragged him to his feet, one hand on his sword as he glared Matthew right in the eyes, seeing the look that showed that he didn't care at all about what he'd just said.

"Its simple enough, are you soldiers really as dumb as you're made out to be? Up. Yours. Do you need me to explain what that means?" he said, his voice somewhat hoarse, but just as cold. [i]I've put up with this for a year, thats long enough, he thought firmly, watching without so much as a flinch as the man unsheathed his sword, slamming Matthew against the wall and holding the edge of the sword against Matthew's throat, pressing down to the point that it cut just barely into the skin, but enough to let a few drops of blood start to drip from it. Matthew seemed unconcerned and uncaring about the whole ordeal, waiting, almost with open arms, for death. Come on, you idiot, just kill me already! he thought.

Just as the soldier was about to do just that, he was stopped by one of the others. "Hey! We have to leave him alive. There are orders for that, you can't kill him," he said. Matthew felt his heart sink as he watched the first soldier glance back at the other, then at Matthew again, doing nothing for a moment, then moving his sword from Matthew's neck, quickly making a gash in his chest instead and releasing his grip, letting Matthew sink to the ground as pain exploded through his chest. The man kicked Matthew once, then they turned to leave.

"You bastard," Matthew said to the soldier, wincing slightly and glaring at him as he left, feeling the pain in his chest as the wound continued to bleed.[/i]

Matthew started to remember other moments like that, tensing up more with each one, unable to keep focused or force himself back to what was actually going on, remaing frozen, but still pinning Saneki down. Matthew was now defenseless though, making him a perfect target.

Serifina watched him the entire time, but she said nothing as she did so, despite how much she wanted to. She wanted to ask Randu if he was okay, wanted to help him, but still felt like she could do nothing. What can I do? The only thing I know about wounds, internal damage and such is only stuff that I've overheard Aunt Shikaku talking about, and I know nothing of what any of it actually means, she thought, letting out a slight sigh as she found herself feeling defenseless once more. She turned her gaze to the ground eventually, following Randu in silence.

Darien sighed silently, looking from Nate then towards Inu and back. He felt a warmer feeling for Nate as he heard his words, watching his expression. A very slight, soft smile played on the corners of his lips just slightly as he sighed a bit, "Thanks for caring...." He said quietly, reaching up and placing his own hand on Nate's for a brief moment, then lowering his own hand back down onto his side, "But just as Inu had said.......I don't really prefer to talk about this." He said quietly, his smile lowering into a slight frown as he lowered his head a bit, shuffling his arms together as he folded them across his chest with a pained motion.

Maria's snarl returned with an even stronger growl as she slowly padded towards Matthew. She glanced towards Saneki, making sure he wasn't any position to hurt her if she lunged. Seeing he wasn't, a slight smirk appeared on her muzzle, her fangs pretruding from her mouth as she bared fangs, arching the small of her back down low, raising her back just slightly as she gained position, lunging towards Matthew, knocking him down with Maria on top, pinning his paws tightly to the ground. She lowered her head slightly, snarling deeply as she motioned that she was about to crunch down on him if he moved. She had a perfect position to snap at his vunurable neck.

Randu finally made way towards his home, finding it the same as he had left it when the vampire broke into his home. He sighed slightly, feeling pain rise in his chest as he walked up the stairs with a slight tremble, opening the already unlocked door. Randu glanced around, feeling hesitant as his eyes widened slightly. He could still smell the blood from yesterday, and could feel the cold, dead feeling of bodies around, "Serifina.....j-just don't go in the living...r-room...." He said quietly, knowing she wouldn't want to see dismembered bodies in her condition. Randu gulped slightly, walking into the house silently as he headed towards a small, narrow hallway, walking towards a medium sized door, which had already been opened. It showed a small, really nothing room. The only things that were inside was a small bed, a few pictures and a few pairs of clothes. Randu sighed shakilly, wincing as he felt pain rise up again. He took a deep breath, then walked inside, going through some shirts and pants, finding which ones he'd keep and put on.

Nate was silent for a moment, then nodded just slightly. "Alright," he said in a quiet tone, looking at Darien for a moment, then looking straight ahead. I can understand that, I guess... Nate thought, knowing that he'd never actually told anyone about how he would feel whenever he thought of Elizabeth. He never actually moved his hand from Darien's shoulder as he managed to once more get lost in thoughts, starting to give himself a headache as most of his thoughts had no relevence to the other thoughts as he tried to focus on multiple things at one time. Crap...really gotta stop thinking about this stuff...I can't guess whats wrong, so why try? he thought bitterly as he rubbed his head slightly.

Inu didn't say anything, but heard what Darien said and sighed slightly. Wonder what his memory is... he thought, but he soon pushed it out of his mind. He walked forward in silence, staring at the ground as his thoughts started to drift their focus to Matthew again, and he didn't try to force them away for once. He let out a slight sigh and rubbed his head slightly, then lowered his hand down to his side again. Whats the use of trying to keep the memories at bay? Nothing will stop them from coming now... he thought, letting the memories flood his mind, the only ones he tried to keep at bay were those of the night everything had gone downhill.

Matthew winced as he hit the groun and felt his paws get pinned down. Damnit! he yelled in his head as he gave Maria a cold glare, knowing it was his fault that she'd been able to tackle him and pin him down. Damn...I choose the best times to have memories flood me, don't I? he thought sarcastically, cursing himself for the way he'd frozen up, therefore leaving himself defenseless. Matthew let out a slight growl, bothe growling at MAria and himself. Damn...why am I thinking of Inu now? I know he's dead, so why torture myself this way? he wondered bitterly, wanting to try and free himself, but knowing he would be stupid to attempt it. Yeah, she has a perfect postion. She could kill me if I move at all, he thought bitterly, watching her. Come on...now would be a good time to freeze again!! Maybe she'll get off me... Matthew thought, trying to claw in his mind for a memory to cling onto and lose himself in and he finally found one.

Meanwhile, at the same time, a strong memory had suddenly overcome Inu, seeming to fill up his entire being and he stopped walking without even realizing it. Nothing was in his mind or conciousness except that memory, and he was completely unaware that Matthew was having the same exact memory at that moment.

Matthew and Inu had yet to get that close to each other, though it was unbeknownest to Inu that Matthew wanted to be closer than the distant friends they were. Inu felt they were fairly close, but nothing more, even though he had a feeling sometimes that he wanted to be more, but thought it was nothing and tried to ignore it. Matthew had never tried to become closer, feeling he'd end up doing something stupid and causing Inu to hate him, or be disgusted, or something, it was a frequent worry for him. Inu knew nothing of those worries, or of what Matthew was planning to finally say later that very day. Inu did have his own problems, though. The feelings that he got of wanting to be closer to Matthew began to increase, along with some tugging at his chest when he was around him. Inu was also noticing a difference in Matthew's behavior, seeing how he seemed to be nervous, somewhat jumpy almost whenever he was around. He couldn't understand that yet, but Matthew knew he would later.

The two of them were walking in almost complete silence, one of them occasionally throwing a question out, getting a short response. Matthew seemed nervous once more and was staring at the ground, not looking at Inu at all, his hands at his side. Inu had his hands in his pockets and was looking straight ahead, occasionally glancing at Matthew out of the corner of his eyes, watching him curiously. There was still silence for a few more minutes until Matthew finally broke it. "Hey, Inu...you wanna go to the waterfall? To train?" Matthew asked in a rushed tone, it taking a lot for him to keep from stuttering as he said it, even more to keep himself from blushing.

Inu looked at him curiously. "Matthew, you despise training," he said, lifting an eyebrow, somewhat suspicious of what made him suddenly want to go to the waterfall. He watched as Matthew just shrugged slightly, but said nothing more. "Sure, if you really want to," Inu said, watching as Matthew nodded slightly. He let out a slight sigh and shook his head slightly as they started walking in the direction of the waterfall that Inu frequently trained at. 'Whats gotten into him recently?' Inu wondered, glancing at Matthew a few times as they finally reached the waterfall.

When they reached it though, Inu seemed to instantly forget, a grin spreading across his face as he looked around, seeing several trees with claw and bite marks from the training and a couple trees that had been knocked over, young, smaller trees. Inu grinned and took a deep breath, then quickly slipped into his wolf form, starting off by running over to a strange grouping of trees that he usually used for testing agility, trying to run between them, doing different manuavers(sp?) and such each time, but several trees were somewhat battered from him not moving fast enough and ramming into them. He quickly darted through the trees, managing to not hit any of them head-on, but he hit his shoulder slightly on one at the end with a fair amount of force. He winced, but tried to shake it off as he walked away from that area, then went to another area for a different type of his training.

Matthew was sitting off to the side, by the waterfall, sitting on the grass, one knee pulled up to his chest, while his other foot was hanging in the small pond at the bottom of the waterfall. He was watching Inu in silence, his eyes darting to follow his every move as he waited for Inu to finally get tired and need a break. Finally, after around an hour, Inu walked panting away from the area he trained and over to Matthew, turning back into his human form. "Heh. That was good excercise for today," he said, grinning slightly as he glanced at Matthew. "I still don't see why you won't train," he added.

"I just don't find much enjoyment in it," Matthew said simply, shrugging slightly, staring into the water, not saying anything after that. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Matthew tried to work up enough courage to finally say something to Inu and took a deep breath and let out a slight sigh. "Inu...c-can I tell you something?" he asked in a quiet voice, looking at Inu for a moment, then at the ground.

Inu looked at him with the same curious look he'd given him earlier that day, an eyebrow raised. "Sure...what is it?" he asked, watching him and waiting in silence for a response, but none came at first. "Matthew, what is it? You can tell me anything," Inu said.

Matthew nodded slightly and let out a somewhat shaky breath. "Alright. Well, we...we've known each other for a while and...we're not really...that close, and...I-I feel like we could be...closer, I mean. And...and I want to, because when...when I'm with you, I feel...good..." he was saying, then sighed slightly, realizing what he was saying made no sense whatsoever. "Inu, what I'm trying to do here is...I'm trying to..." he began, then paused for a moment. "I'm trying to tell you I love you," he said in one breath, then let out a slight sigh.

It took Inu a minute to figure out what he'd said, since he had to decipher the words and seperate them from each other, but when he finally realized what had been said, a look of shock overcame his face. "Y-you're i-in l-lo-love with..me?" he asked, sounding surprised, and stuttering out a few incoherant sentences after that as he looked at Matthew, who just nodded slightly, and watched Inu for more of his reaction. "T-to be honest, I-I wasn't expecting that. Not in the least. But...I've been...feeling that way for the past couple of weeks, for you," Inu said quietly, smiling softly at Matthew. Matthew looked at him and smiled back, a deep blush covering his face.

Serifina was silent as she walked into the house, looking around some, but stopping right inside the doorway and just staring at the ground for a minute, waiting for him to return. After a minute though, curiousity overtook her as she thought about what he said about not going into the living room. I wonder why though.. she thought curiously, glancing in the direction he'd gone to see if he was on his way back yet. When she saw that he wasn't, she silently started to walk to the living room. The only sounds were her breathing and an occasional creak on the floorboards. When she walked into the living room and she saw the bodies, she stopped, shocked as she let out a gasp, bringing one hand up and putting it over her mouth. She looked at the dismembered bodies and felt her stomach doing flips as she felt ready to throw up. She wanted to leave the room, but she found herself frozen to the spot.

Darien glanced towards Nate, feeling like he should tell him. He sighed slightly, rubbing his forehead then lowering his hand as he stood a bit straighter, watching Nate for a moment. A very slight blush appearing, but he shook that off, "W-well......taking in that you only care darlin'.....I think it'll be better to talk about my thoughts. It'll help clear my mind...I suppose that is." Darien said quietly, then fell over, noticing Inu had stopped walking and he walked right into him, "Hold that thought..." He mumbled then pulled himself together, standing up. Darien rubbed his head slightly then looked towards Inu, "Sorry about that...but, what's wrong Inu?" He asked confused, scratching the back of hs head, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Maria kept her growls stable, not ever taking her eyes off Matthew as she kept him tightly pinned. When she noticed he wasn't going to move she finally gave up pinning and slammed her own paws on his, then lept off him, still growling a bit, glancing towards Saneki, returning to her human form, "Are you still wanting to fight mutt?" She growled, glaring towards Matthew as she wiped the very slight blood on her face. She had a few cuts on her face from his clawing. One on the bridge of her nose and a few on both sides of her face. They were slight, but still stung. She kept her eyes glued towards Matthew, growling slightly to herself as she kept her hands clenched into fists.

Randu sighed shakilly, throwing a few pairs of clothes over his shoulders then standing up shakilly. Wincing as he stood. He took a few breaths to calm himself down, which worked mostly. He sighed, feeling a shot of pain in his chest then began walking out of the room and back up the narrow hallway. He glanced around for Serifina, wondering where she had gone. Randu scratched the his head slightly, wincing as he did so as he looked through some rooms quietly, "Serifina?" He finally called, looking towards the living room. It was one of the only other rooms he hadn't checked. He trembled slightly, and hesitanly walked into the room feeling the reaking stench of blood and death. He kept his hand firmly and weakly on his stomach, about to become sick as he sensed the feeling, eying the dead bodies first with a shudder, almost falling over. Randu gulped, his eyes widened. He noticed a figure and glanced towards it shakilly, seeing it was Serifina, "S-Serifina, I told...you not to go in this....r-room...." He stuttered as he kept himself from getting sick, seeing the dismembered and cut open bodies of his parents.

Inu didn't say anything for a minute, until the memory finished and he shook his head slightly. It took a moment to regain composure, but he'd heard Darien's question and he glanced back at him. "Huh? Its nothing, I'm fine," he said quietly, quickly looking ahead and at the ground in silence. That was weird. I mean, I know the memories, but even last night, they didn't cause me to completely stop what I was doing, he thought, feeling a slight tug at his chest from the memory, though he tried to ignore it. That day...how I wish I could be back at that time, I didn't appreciate what I had and now its gone, he thought bitterly, looking straight ahead.

Nate had stopped just before running into Inu, looking at him curiously. "Inu, it can't be nothing, you seemed as if you weren't even in the present," he said, but he already knew what Inu's answer would be, or that he just wouldn't respond at all. It turned out to be the latter, since Inu completely ignored him, lost in his own thoughts as he quickly forced himself to start walking once more. Nate sighed slightly, glancing at Darien, then watching Inu for a moment, shaking his head slightly. What is with Inu? Last night he was crying and whimpering in his sleep, now this... he thought, letting out another slight, silent sigh.

Saneki had stood up silently, finding herself shaking slightly. Crap...damn werewolf... she thought bitterly as she watched Maria and Matthew in complete silence. Her mind wanted her to focus her gaze on Matthew, in case he tried to do anything else, but her eyes kept finding their gaze on Maria. She finally managed to force herself to look away, shaking her head slightly. Come on, Saneki...you have to relax, she told herself firmly, letting out the slightest sigh as she watched Matthew.

Matthew didn't say anything, or move at first, but he finally found himself back in the present and he winced slightly and heard Maria's words. He slipped back into his human form, wincing as he looked at his arm where Maria had bitten him and he glared at Maria. "You're calling me a mutt?" he scoffed, but said nothing more as he walked past Saneki, not even looking at her as he walked back to where the men were waiting impatiently on their horses. One of them muttered something and Matthew growled slightly at him, a bitter, cold look on his face and in his eyes. He muttered something to one of the men, then turned and started to walk past Maria. "Come on, lets leave these two lovebirds alone," he muttered, trying to annoy both Maria and Saneki. "Lets find the prince so we can get this over with," he growled.

Serifina said nothing for a few minutes, trying to force herself not to throw up, realizing that she was shaking. Her hand was still over her mouth, and she finally forced herself to lower it as she looked away from the sight in front of her and at Randu, her eyes filled with horror. W-why..why d-did I have to come in here...wh-why di....damn curiousity... she thought, her eyes darting back to the sight and she had to lean against the nearest wall, still shaking. After a moment, Serifina took a deep, shaky breath as she managed to stand up straight and she started to walk towards Randu, but she still wouldn't say anything, for the fear of throwing up anything left in her stomach.

Darien sighed, shaking his head slightly as well. He rubbed the back of his own neck slightly, thinking for a brief moment, then lowering his hand, motioning for Nate to follow along, "C'mon Nate. Let's go." He said quietly, hoping Nate forgot about asking him about his memories. Even though he said that he'd tell him, he didn't truly feel like spilling out thoughts. Darien sighed slightly, lowering his head as he began walking slowly, following Inu as he kept his gaze focused onto the ground, feeling the pained memory come back even stronger, and much vivid. Like he was witnessing the whole scene all over again, but this time, like he was actually there, facing his memory, 'Father.......Why did you have to die? Why couldn't you have escaped...I know you could have......' He thought with a pained expression as he forcibly kept his shapeshifter appearances from poofing up on him. He really didn't want to explain he was part shapeshifter and not part werewolf.

Maria was growling deeply when she heard him speak. She just barely kept herself from charging back towards him. She knew it was true for herself. She did care deeply about Saneki, but still wasn't going to say anything. She kept her glare on Matthew, keeping him in her visual for a moment as she watched him walk past her on his horse, with the rest of the brigade following like lost pups. She growled slightly, snarling a bit then tried calming herself as she lightly touched the cuts on the side of her face ond bridge of her nose. Sighing, Maria glanced towards Saneki, "We'll wait till there scent is a bit off, then we'll continue on." She said calmly, like nothing happened. She felt a tug on her chest and sighed slightly, a slight whimper forcing its way out of her throat as she sighed. She perked herself up, covering her mouth, glancing towards Saneki, then walking towards a few trees, leaning on one of them, the back of the tree facing Saneki, "My god......why did I just whimper!?!?!" She growled, slamming her head back into the tree, closing her eyes with annoyance.

Randu bit his lower lip slightly. He wasn't able to rid the smell nor sight from his eyes. He just felt like he was glued to the spot, being forced to remember what he had seen before. He felt pained by the whole ordeal again, feeling like he wanted to just run out again, but forced that away. Randu gulped slightly, finally closing his eyes, and turning his body away from facing the scene, "C'-c'mon.....le-lets get out of here...." He said quietly, his hand remaining on his stomach still as he began taking steps out of the living room. The floorboards creaked slightly as he stepped on them. Randu made his way out of the room, heading towards the door and unwillingly looking back, feeling that this wouldn't escape his mind for a long time. He sighed, feeling a shot of pain, then opening the door, leaving it open for Serifina as he slowly walked out, his head lowered as he made his way to the front of the house.

Nate silently started to follow, then remembered that Darien had been about to tell him what was on his mind. Nate, who was walking a few feet behind Darien, opened his mouth and started to say something, then found no words coming out. He closed his mouth and let out a slight sigh, turning his gaze to the ground, his hands in his pockets as he followed in silence. I shouldn't push it, if he really wants to tell me, he will... he thought, glancing at Darien for a moment, then at the ground once more as he walked. He let out another slight sigh and let himself get lost in whatever thoughts his mind pushed on him. Those thoughts slowly started to turn to recent memories, recent feelings, then started to drift further and further back in their time frame, until one finally jumped out at him that stayed in his mind, replaying repeatedly.

Nate had just run away from what he'd seen, feeling the fresh tears run down his face as he quickly ran into the castle, panting. The image of his sister's maimed body was the only thing in his mind, whenever he blinked, he saw it there on his eyelids. [i]W-why..? Why did this happen? he thought, not bothering to wipe the tears from his face. He finally caught his breath as he hid behind a statue, in case anyone came by. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from the entrance he'd used a few minutes prior. It sounded as if they were dragging somebody inside, and, at first, he seemed to be silent, then there was suddenly sounds and signs of a struggle, as if he'd just woken up to what was going on. Nate chanced a glance out from behind the statue, hearing, but not understanding, the muffled growls and protests of whoever was being dragged. He saw two guards dragging a beaten and bloodied man who, despite his injuries, still seemed able to put up a fair fight against them. He didn't see his face yet, but the young man seemed strangely familar to him. He finally saw his face as the young man turned his head, his brown eyes full of both fury and pain as he recieved a blow to the back as they tried to get him to stop struggling. The Nate in the memory recoginzed him as the man he'd seen when he first saw a mesmer, but the Nate viewing the memory seemingly off to the side recoginized him as a younger version of the man walking in front of him. The Nate watching seemed confused, since he didn't remember this part of the night, he remembered running into the castle, then nothing, never knowing the one who'd killed his sister. Nate watched as the younger Inu was dragged into the throne room, where the king was waiting. He listened to the following conversation in shock.

"Your Majesty, we've tracked down the one responsible for killing the young princess. He's been denying it, but there were tracks of blood leading to the house he was in with another male, but the dog with us identified him as the one who killed her," one guard said, still trying to control the struggling Inu. He growled something into Inu's ear just before the other guard hit him with something square in the center of his back, causing Inu to wince, let out a hiss of pain and fall to his knees, his hands tied together behind his back. Inu growled slightly, gritting his teeth as he looked up at the guard with hatred filling his eyes.

After a moment, Inu managed to force himself to his feet, looking the guard who'd said something to him directly in the eyes. "I bow to no one," he growled out, earning himself another blow to the back, but he forced himself to stay standing. "And I didn't kill the girl, you have a false trail," he snarled out, then let out a slight yelp as he recieved a blow to the back of his neck, then to his back directly afterwards and he finally fell once more to his knees. He gritted his teeth once more, staring at the ground and listening in silence to what was being said to and about him.

Nate didn't believe a word of what Inu was said about not killing his sister. He was silent as he leaned against the wall, slidding to the floor as more tears slid down his face, not even bothering to hide behind the statue. He didn't see as one of the servants, one who'd always assumed that it was him who snuck around causing problems, not Elizabeth, and who seemed to have a grudge on him, walking towards him in silence, a stern look on his face as he saw that Nate had been listening in on the conversation being held in the throne room. Nate finally saw him, but it was only for a moment before he felt something slam against his head, then nothing.[/i]

Nate felt the shock fill his eyes as this previously forgotten part of that night filled him as he continued to stare at the ground. What? B-but..but how? Inu killed her? he thought in surprise as he glanced at Inu, pain and shock in his eyes. B-but...wh-why have I never remembered that? Why was that memory just triggered now? Why... he thought, but he said nothing as he looked at the ground again.

Inu was lost in thought again, thinking about the memory, but he started to try and force his focus to other things, such as sensing if anything was around them, along with how close they were to the next village, but he said nothing at first. Suddenly, though, he stopped for a moment, then glanced back at Darien and Nate. "Hey, I think we have company," he said, then was silent, listening for any other sound that might be made near them.

Saneki had looked at her in surprise, hearing the whimper faintly. Did..did she just whimper? she wondered, still surprised as she glanced in the direction that Maria had gone. I wonder if... she began to think, thinking of what Matthew had said before walking off, knowing that it was somewhat true, for her it was, but she didn't know if it was for Maria or not. She hesitated for a moment, then started to walk towards the trees to where Maria was, hesitating several times as she did so. Calm down, Saneki, don't be so nervous about this... she thought, but was unable to get herself to relax any as several thoughts went through her mind. She felt the tug at her chest as she thought about Maria, and she stopped walking for a minute, taking a deep breath as she tried to relax herself once more and she finally forced herself to walk forward until she saw her. "Maria...?" she said quietly as she started to walk towards her.

Matthew walked in silence for a few minutes, thinking about Inu, then looking ahead once more as he forced those thoughts away. Calm down, focus on your mission. If this is done right, you may be able to get away from these idiots before this is over... he thought as a determined look entered his eyes as he looked ahead. He finally stopped, a slight grin coming onto his face as he caught scent of something. "We're getting close, seems like they stopped in this area for a while, probably overnight, but they've moved on. They can't be too far, though..." Matthew said, then slipped into his wolf form, wanting to get the capture over with in the quickest way possible, despite any consequences there may be to it.

Serifina just shakily nodded, forcing herself not to look back as she walked out of the room and finally out of the house and over to where Randu was. She finally couldn't hold it in though, and walked over to the side of the building, throwing up several times, then finding herself feeling lightheaded, since she'd probably thrown up anything left in her stomach after the previous night. She leaned against the building for a moment, then glanced over at RAndu, finally gaining her composure once more and walking over to him. "I'm sorry, I should've listened," she said quietly.

Darien hadn't been paying attention, but had heard what Inu had said. His head raised slightly as he glanced about, "I don't....hear anything out of the usual..." He said quietly, his voice showing how unsure his senses were as his eyes trailed the scenery to the side of him. His mind was focused still on the night of his own fathers death, and was lingering on the last bit of memory of the night. He bit his lower lip with a sigh, then regained composure to try and sense whatever was in the horizon nearby. Darien heard footsteps, matching that of a wolves. He carefully glanced back towards Nate, "Hey darlin', why don't you walk in between the two of us? I don't want you getting injured now without me knowin' of it before it be too late." Darien said quickly in a slur, not really caring how he particularly used his wordings this time. He slowed his pace, stopping then walking behind Nate, keeping a few feet away from him as he cautiously glanced about.

Maria sighed, not opening her eyes, rather keeping them closed to avoid looking towards Saneki and feeling the tug on her chest. It was quite hard though, since, she could visualize what she looked like in her mind, and what she was doing. Maria groaned just slightly, opening her eyes then looking towards Saneki, "Yeah?" She asked calmly, forcing a blush from crawling onto her cheeks away. She folded her arms against her chest, keeping her back pressed against the bark as she glanced back towards the area the men had come out of, taking in the scent quietly. She had the feeling they still weren't far enough away from them and sighed slghtly feeling another whimper wanting to crawl back up her throat. Maria shut her mouth quickly, keeping in the unwilling whimper. She hated to show how weak she was. She was reminded of an incident back when she did have a love once before, and her weakness almost had gotten her killed.

"Maria? Come on out! We need to hurry to the square!" A female voice called from outside the floral shop. The woman was about the same age as Maria was back then. She was sixteen years old and had dark, brown hair that reached below her waist. She wore more tomboyant clothing and had had dark, yellow eyes. She wore a black sun hat with black triangle tips sticking out. She had a long black shirt on that dropped past her waist, covering the top area of her long, dark blue pants, "Maria! Hurry it!" She called, becoming impatient.
"Heh, I'm coming! Gosh the world isn't going to end if I don't hurry." Maria called from the floral shop, hurrying out as her red hair bounced behind her with the light colored green dress she wore. She was less of a tomboy than she had been now.
"You wanna bet Mari?" The female giggled slightly, rolling her eyes then taking Maria's hand, "Let's go." She said quickly as she tugged on her arm, hurrying with her into a large square filled with many people.

"Why are we here again?" Maria asked, not really ever sure why they were here.
"Well....I figured it would be interesting. You've never seen a parade before anyways." She grinned, many fangs showing as she smiled.
"Oh my.......You so rock Felay!!!!" Maria squealed happilly, grasping the female known as Felay in a tight embrace.
"Anything for you." She smiled, returning the hug then releasing her as she looked about, standing on the tips of her shoes, "Hey....I think I see it!" She grinned widely, lifting her arm up and pointing towards a large group of performers.
"Where? I can't see it Fel." Maria sighed, trying to stand as tall as Felay had.
"It's.......it's........over there." She was trying to say, mumbling slightly as more crowds of pedestrains came over, pushing Maria and Felay.
"We'll never be able to see it, eh?" Maria sighed, shrugging slightly, "It would be cool if we could." She said quietly, her hopes being raised then dropped.
Felay frowned slightly, glancing towards Maria then the ground, "Hey....I think I have an idea. Turn into your wolf form. I'll join you by turning into my cat one. We'll make it over there. Don't worry, trust me." She grinned, fangs showing as she smiled towards Maria. Her eyes glistened slightly with the enthusiasm.

Maria was hesitant. She glanced around, "Er-......o-okay." She said quietly, glancing around, "Let's get out of this crowd first." She said quickly, grasping Felay's arm, taking her with her out of the growing crowd. She slowly turned into her wolf form as Felay joined her, turning into her cat one. Felay's fur was painted a pitch black. It was like velvet. She took the form of a small house cat, "Now...how do you expect us to get into the crowd?" Maria had asked in a growl only audible to Felay.
Felay glanced around, then a smirk appeared on her mouth slightly, "This way." She mewed taking off fast down a small street nearby, Maria following close behind. She took her to a higher up street which lead towards the King's place. She took a sharp right turn, entering the King's courtyard, "This way."
Maria was hesitant, following slowly now as they began to creep towards the steap hill that showed a perfect view of the parade, "Ar-are you sure?" She asked in a quiet, whimpering tone as she sat beside Felay on the cliff, not returning to her human form.
"Am I sure? Of coure." She smirked, returning to her human form gently brushing her hand in Maria's red fur.
Maria's tail began to wag happilly, her hesitation disapearing until she heard a few twigs behind them break. Her tail stopped as she looked back, seeing many guards walking about the courtyard. Her hesitation returned with worry. She glanced towards Felay, seeing that she hadn't sensed the guards, "Fe-Fe-Felay....." She began, whimpering slightly as her voice hadn't been audible to Felay.
"Yeah? You enjoying the parade?" Felay asked quietly, leaning her head on Maria's warm fur with a content sigh, enjoying it herself.
Maria glanced back, feeling that this wasn't good. The guards were basically right behind them. Her tail swished about nervously as she glanced back and then towards Felay, "Felay...." She mumbled in a slight whimper as she poofed back into her human form. Felay's head fell from her fur onto the grass.
"Ouch...." She laughed slightly, "Aw, well. This view is much better." She laughed, feeling carefree.
Maria watched Felay with a nervous reaction then glanced back again, "Felay. I don't think we should be up here. W-we're g-going to get caught..." She whimpered, shuffling to sit on her knees as she stared down at Felay.
"What are you talking about? 'His Majesty' and his goons won't be back here for a few more hours." Felay mumbled, yawning slightly as she shuffled her arms behind her head, grinning up towards Maria.

A few twigs snapping was heard behind the two, as well as the shuffling of bushes. Maria glanced back, seeing the movements of bushes, not seeing any of the guards, "Felay.....we need to get out of here now. Please? I don't want us to get in trouble for being up here without permission of the king." She said quietly and in a whisper.
Felay sighed, pushing herself to sit up, "Fine. Let's go." She said quietly, poofing back into her house cat form. Maria followed her example, turning into her wolf form. Felay glanced around, now smelling something strange about who was present around them, "You may be right." She said quietly in a small mew. Her ears perked up, trying to listen in to where the scents she sensed were coming from. Maria joined in with her.
"I don't hear them.......let's go." Maria said quickly, not wanting to wait around for whatever was here. She began to slowly walk, keeping her stomach low to the ground, her tail swishing around slightly as thesounds from the bushes stopped.

A few men walked out slowly from the bushes, all fully armored holding blunt objects in their grasps. One slowly crouched near Felay as she walked behind Maria carefully. Felay hadn't sensed the man. Her senses had been quite off. Maria on the other hand had sensed them. She turned around sharply, feeling something slam into the back of her head. She howled out in pain, wincing alot as her front paws doubled over, having her fall over in a wince.
Felay watched as Maria fell and began hissing, lowering her ears back as she crouched back, about to lunge. She didn't notice the man behind her as she was tightly grasped in his steel gloves, "Got 'ya." The man smirked, holding onto her tightly.
Felay yelped out in pain, wincing as her teeth gritted together. Her claws scratched against the man's armor with no prevail. Felay unwillingly transformed back into her human form, wincing as she was yelping out, kicking back at the man with no luck.
Maria winced, feeling another blunt obhect slam down onto the small of her back as she tried to pull herself together. Maria howled out in pain falling back down. She whimpered slightly, gaining left over strength as she forced herself to stand shakilly, snapping at the man who had Felay in his grasps.
Felay winced, opening one eye as she watched Maria, "Get out! Scram........go on......" She whimpered to her, struggling to break out of the man's grasp.
Maria whimpered slightly, not wanting to leave Felay to the hands of the men. She knew the men hadn't seen her human form yet, and what Felay wanted was for Maria to only be safe. She whimpered slightly, backing just a bit until she felt another blunt object slam into her back again, causing a deep gash to form. She winced, whimpering out loud, "Fe-lay...." She stuttered out in a whimper.
"Mari...." Felay whimpered, wincing as the man slammed her onto the ground. She hissed silently, kicking back at the man while trying to reach over towards Maria.
The men only scoffed, "What weak, and pathetic creatures." One had laughed as he watched the other two slam and whack objects they carried at the two girls.
Maria's vision became blurry as she noticed blood trickling down her back and creases of her mouth as she remembered how deserately she fought to keep herself in her wolf form. All she remembered was Felay yelling at her to wake up and get out of here.

Maria remembered waking up. Her body was stiff and her back was badly cut and bruised. Maria winced as she somehow shuffled herself to sit up. She felt lightheaded, lifting her hand onto her forehead, feeling around her head as she felt a bruise on the back of it. Maria glanced around, cautious and seeing if Felay was with her and where she was. Finally, she noticed she was in her own room as her blurred vision returned to normal. She felt hesitant of calling out, but did so anyways, "F-Felay?...." She called, no answer, "F-f-father?" She gulped, calling out. She heard a shuffling noise and a tall man walking towards her.
"Maria? Huh. So you did live." He scoffed, wiping his hands on some sort of cloth.
"Li-lived?" Maria stuttered, not sure what he had meant by it.
"Yeah. The guards told me that you were still breathing. Brought you back here. I thought you were dead." He mumbled, averting his eyes off her, like he was completely disgusted by her face.
Maria felt pained by the way he said this. Like he didn't care. He seemed so calm by it, "A-and....what about Felay? The other woman with me?" She asked, bringing courage in her voice to ask.
"That damn neko? She died by the hands of the Kings royal guards. It was a pleasure to hear how she died. She died trying to save you....my pathetic blood." He snorted, rolling his eyes as he threw a towel down at the ground, stalking out of the room as his heavy boots clunked against the floorboards till his sound seeped outside.

Maria felt her heart nearly stop. Her eyes were widened with fear as she grasped her shirt, panting slightly as she felt herself regain concsiousness to remind herself, this was real. Maria shuffled out of bed, seeing she was still in her previous clothing. As she tried walking she felt her knees grow weak and buckle as she tumbled over, "No...this....this isn't true....." She said quietly in a panted breath, feeling her lip quiver slightly, "He always lies...." She said quietly to herself as she pushed herself up, regaining strength as she hurried on out, getting herself outside. She saw the sky cloud up, looking around. She noticed there were no sight of the parade. She knew it had lasted days, "How....how long was I out?" She mumbled quietly, trying to pick up Felay's scent. No avail. She felt her heart leap again. She glanced about, remembering where Felay had been living. She forced her legs to move as she ran down a narrow street, huffing as she finally reached the door. She pounded her fist on the door.
After a few moments of silence, she pounded again. There was nothing. She glanced near the window, rubbing the slight debri off the windows, looking through. She saw not one light, nor one being. Her heart melted right there on the spot. She gulped, panting slightly as she looked around, seeing someone she knew who had knows Felay. She hurried her legs towards the man nearby, "H-hey......d-d-do you know...where Felay is?" She asked in a quick motion.
The man glanced towards her, putting his pots down then gently laying a hand on Maria's shoulder, "Mari.....she-she died a few days ago by falling off the cliff near the parade grounds. You know that, right? Weren't you at her funeral?" He questioned, being told a lie about her death as he described it to Maria.
Maria gulped, feeling sick as she shoved his hand from her shoulder, "You lie!" She screamed, running towards the cemetary to prove how wrong he was.

Maria had reached the cemetary within minutes, huffing deeply as she looked around, seeing many caskets that were shaped into the ground. She looked around then noticed a fresh one. She forced her legs towards the area and felt her heart pound with each step she took. As she reached the area, she felt weak, falling to her knees as she read the inscription on the casket top.

'Felay Minuhiu: 16
A beloved friend and daughter who died of suicide.'

"S-suicide?" Maria stuttered, feeling the top of the casket as she lowered her head ont the top of it, crying deeply, "Those bastards!" She cried out, screaming as she draped her arms across her chest, pulling her knees to er face as she sat there, crying.

Maria took a deep breath, her eyes widened just slightly, "Felay..." She murmered quietly, enough to where Saneki couldn't hear. She felt a slight tug on her chest as she gulped slightly, keeping back involuntary whimpers, though, a few escaped her throat slightly. She held back tears as she leaned her head back against the tree, like she hadn't whimpered at all. She took haste breaths, feeling the memory so vivid, 'Why....why do I remember this now!?!?!? She bitterly thought.


Randu trembled slightly, feeling that he would throw up himself, but kept the feeling down. He glanced towards Serifina with a shaky sigh, "It's...alright, honest." Randu said quietly, sighing slightly with a shot of pain, "Le-let's head back...unless there was somewhere....you-you'd want to go....." He said quietly, looking towards the ground as his hand remained on his stomach. He felt like he would just spit up blood or just throw up anytime soon. He sighed slightly, not feeling pain as much as the thought of his parents dead, lifeless bodies were incrested onto his eyelids whenever he blinked or shut his eyes.

Nate hadn't been listening to either of them, still lost in his thoughts, glancing at Inu occasionally as he thought about what he'd just remembered. H-how could I have never remembered this? he wondered, still feeling somewhat in shock, but saying nothing. The memory replayed several times in his head, focusing on all the little details, though he was trying to push the memory away. He suddenly realized something as the memory played through once more and he focused on Aaron, the servant who he'd seen at the very end of the dream and realized finally why he'd never remembered. His fists clenched slightly as his gaze focused on the ground. Damn bastard... he thought bitterly, finally looking up, not sure if his thoughts were about Aaron or Inu at that moment. He looked at Inu for a moment before he realized that Darien was now walking behind him and he glanced back for a moment, then looked ahead once more. I need to stay focused on whats happening now, he told himself firmly, not having heard what Inu or Darien had said.

Inu had glanced back at them right at the moment that Nate had looked at him and Inu was surprised to see the sudden bitterness and hatred that filled his eyes and looked ahead quickly. What the hell was that about? he wondered for a moment, then shook the thought away, not seeming too concerned by it, since he'd recieved that look from too many people to name and it didn't bother him much anymore. He sensed the steps of a wolf nearby, and seemed to also sense several horses following behind it and he almost stopped walking as he realized it. Horses following it? I have a bad feeling about this... he thought, glancing to the side, in the bushes, for a slight moment, then looking ahead quickly as he thought about it, sensing how close they were.

Matthew padded along as quietly as he could in the bush near the area where the three were walking, a slight smirk on his face as he caught scent of how close they were. As he walked, his thoughts became focused on what was ahead, capturing the three, along with managing to get away in the probable chaos, and he became a little careless in the silence he was trying to walk in. He snapped several twigs and almost tripped on something, then quickly stopped walking, trying to get himself focused once more, also praying that the group of three hadn't heard the sound made and stood in complete silence, the only sound coming from him was his breathing as he listened for their movements. Man, I'm an idiot...relax, stay focused, they can't know you're following until its too late, he told himself, but found it hard for him to stay focused, since he didn't care much for what was going on, but told himself that this could be his chance to get away from the prison he was forced to serve as he lived, barely, in its haunting shadows.

Luckily for him though, right after the first twig snapped beneath his paw and Inu was alert, just barely hearing it before Nate suddenly went off on him, anger and hatred in his eyes. "Why did you kill her?!" he shouted, catching Inu by surprise. He looked at Nate, who'd stopped walking, as Inu had. Nate had hatred in his eyes, and he seemed to almost be on the verge of tears. I've been traveling with...with the one who killed Elizabeth...the one who... he thought, remembering how her body had been, how unrecoginzable she had been and he finally felt tears come to his eyes as he clenched his fists, looking at the ground for a moment, then at Inu again. Inu had said nothing, still seeming surprised by what Nate had yelled. "Answer me!! Why did you kill her?! Why did you kill Elizabeth?!" he yelled at Inu, glaring coldly, with a look in his eyes that had never been there before.

Inu finally seemed to come to his senses and he glared coldly back, walking up to NAte. "I didn't kill your sister, damnit!" he barked, clenching his fists as well. "I had nothing to do with her death! I have killed before, but not her!" he shouted, seeming ready to slam Nate against the nearest tree. "And why are you just accusing me now?! Just going to take advantage of protection until its not useful?" he growled out.

Nate glared. "I was never told that you killed her, I heard it myself, I've never remembered what I heard until now! And if you ahd nothing to do with it, why did all signs point to you?! Your footprints, your scent that the dog tracked, everything! How can you deny it after all that proof?!" he shouted, ignoring the tears that were now starting to stream down his face. His eyes had turned from holding pure hatred to having a pained look to them as well as he waited for Inu's response.

Inu glared, not noticing the pained look, but was silent for a moment. He finally lost it as Nate shouted something else and he roughly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, slamming him against a nearby tree roughly, causing Nate to wince. "I didn't kill her, and even if I did, what makes it any different than the deaths all the guards at your palace cause. Are any of those justified? There's nothing wrong with those," he snarled, then punched Nate in the stomach roughly, letting go of his collar, turning around as Nate quickly tried to catch his balence, wincing as he did so. He coughed a few times from the punch to his stomach, then regained his composure.

Nate winced, then glared at Inu. "I have no control over that. I don't ask for those people to be killed. I don't want them killed, but its not in my control yet, thats part of why I wanted to leave," he growled, watching Inu stop walking, clenching his fists once more, standing completely still for a moment, then turning around and walking back over to Nate, grabbing him roughly by the collar of his shirt once more.

"Its too late, your words mean nothing," Inu snarled, glaring at him, seeming to want to tear him apart.

Saneki had heard her whimpering and hesitated, then let out a slight, silent sigh. "Maria...are you okay?" she asked, not looking at her as she felt the tug on her chest whenever she did. Her gaze was focused on the ground as she waited for Maria's response, not saying anything else. Relax, SAneki...stop thinking about that, she told herself quickly, trying to relax still. She finally looked at Maria, her eyes having a somewhat concerned look that she tried to keep masked, but found it impossible to do so, more focused on keeping her thoughts focused and away from where they were straying often.

Serifina shook her head slightly. "N-no, lets head back," she said in a quiet, shaky voice, looking at the ground for a moment as she let out a slight sigh. She looked at Randu again, still feeling a little lightheaded, but saying nothing about it, trying to get herself to relax, taking several deep breaths. Why did I have to look? Why couldn't I have just listened to him? she wondered, rubbing the back of her head slightly, then saying nothing as she started to walk in silence away from the area, not even really paying attention to where she was going.

Darien had stopped walking and was watching the whole dilema. He was very confused, watching the two yell random things he didn't understand to one another. Darien remained quiet, not moving from where he had stopped walking. He just decided to listen, and try to not interfere though it pained him to watch Nate. He felt that he was going to jump in and attack Inu, get him away from Nate, but didn't know whether whom was right, "What exactly are.....they talking about?" He murmered quietly, watching them. He glanced back, sensing a wolf and many horses, "What the?" He mumbled, looking around then back towards Inu and Nate, "Why are you two fighting?" He asked confused, blinking slightly as he kept his senses hightened, glancing around. He could've sworn to have heard the breaking of twigs earlier.

Maria closed her eyes for a brief moment, sighing slightly as she glanced towards Saneki. She was reminded of her past love so much in her. Maria groaned silently, pushing herself off the bark, "Yeah. I'm okay." She said quietly, mostly calm as she kept her blush away, no matter how much she was willing too. Maria looked towards Saneki, sighed once then started to motion herself away from the tree, "Let's go. Their scent traveled a bit up, we can follow without being taken in by the werewolf." She said quickly, trying to ignore any subject that Saneki may think about when Maria had protected her.

Randu sighed, following behind Serifina slowly, not saying anything. He figured if he said something, she wouldn't really want to reply to it. So, he kept his mouth shut, following shakilly behind, 'Yeah.....I think I will go on with leaving tonight. She needs to get out of this village, and train her own powers.....without having to drag me with her. It'll be better if I wasn't here. I caused all this to happen. I should've just died with my parents....' He thought bitterly, his eyes staring into the ground with much hatred and sadness. He felt that he could burn holes in them with how much force he was using in his stare, but then averted nonetheless, sighing slightly, not speaking still. He kept his thoughts to himself, looking up towards Serifina, frowning slightly as he didn't say a word. He thought it was better he not know till he left.

Inu hadn't heard what Darien asked, blocking out anything except what he was saying to Nate. "You think you have it bad? Unless you've had something to do with incest, you don't know what it really feels like," Inu growled at him, slamming him against a tree once more. "I did nothing, and...and Matthew certainly didn't do anything! Yet, your guards insisted on bringing me to the edge of death for wrongly accusing me of something, and they brought him his death when they'd already stated he had nothing to do with it. Now, I didn't know your sister, and I didn't kill her, but right now I can't decide whether to applaude that person for making you royals know how it feels to suffer the wrongfull death of someone close to you or to rip them apart for what they caused me and Matthew to go through," he snarled, his grip on the collar of Nate's shirt tightening as his fangs showed slightly in his anger, his other hand clenched into a fist as tears started to stream down his own face.

"I don't control who they kill! If I did, I wouldn't have let them kill anyone they didn't need to," Nate growled, flinching slightly when Inu seemed about ready to punch him, but he held back for a moment. "Whoever Matthew is, if he was fighting them, they killed him in self defense, and to capture you!" he seemed about ready to say something else, but stopped himself as his eyes darted to Inu's fist. He thought for a moment, then looked at Inu again as a thought raised in his mind. "Inu...did you get in a fight or anything with anyone that night?" Nate asked and watched Inu as he hesitated, then thought.

"Yeah, I got in one with some girl on my way back to Matthew's. It wasn't Elizabeth, her face was cloaked, she looked no better off than anyone else in that area. She was being bitchy with me, and I got in a fight, I don't know if I killed her or not," Inu said simply, lowering his fist for a moment, but only slightly as he saw anger fill NAte's eyes once more.

"That was Elizabeth! She'd left the castle, she had a cloak over her arm, one she'd gotten from one of the servants!" Nate barked. He was about to say something else, but as soon as he'd said it, Inu punched him in the stomach once more. Inu winced from the force at which Inu did so, then looked at him again, glaring. "I'm guessing you put up a fight when they tried to bring you in?" he muttered, watching Inu nod slightly. Nate looked away from Inu and was silent for a moment before finally saying, "I'm surprised they didn't kill you." He'd been about to add something else, but he finally seemed to strike a nerve with Inu.

"Thats it!" he barked, roughly dropping Nate to the ground, glaring coldly at him. "You just don't understand this, you bastard!" he barked, then slipped into his wolf form, his teeth bared as he walked up to Nate, anger in his eyes as he glared down at him. Hm...he's really going to face this, he thought as he looked into Nate's eyes, surprised to see no fear in them. He said nothing and there was no expression on his face as he raised his, about to claw into Nate's neck.

Matthew could faintly hear the yelling and felt somewhat relieved as he started to walk, still trying to be careful, just in case, but he felt better going on. He felt that any sounds he made would be masked by the yelling he could hear. My God, what is going on with them? he wondered, then heard a familar voice yell something. Damnit, where have I heard that voice? Great, thats going to be bugging me all day now, thats just freaking great, he thought bitterly as he continued to walk, then shook the thought from his head. Focus here, deal with personal crap later, he thought, taking a deep breath, then trying once more to keep silent, no longer hearing yelling, only some one-sided snarling and growls.

Saneki hesitated, then walked up to her and, without even thinking about what she was doing, put her hand gently on Maria's shoulder. She felt a strong pull at her chest as she realized what she was doing, but still didn't remove her hand as she asked, "Are you sure you're okay?" Her voice was soft and gently, showing how much she cared at that moment. She felt another tug at her chest, but she held her feelings back, or at least she tried to. Calm down, Saneki. Why did you have to do that? she asked herself, even though she already knew the answer to the question. Because you care... she thought, letting out a slight, silent sigh to herself, still trying to calm herself down, but finding it impossible.

Serifina glanced back at Randu, forcing herself to think of anything but the night before and what she'd just seen in the house, and she found her thoughts darting to him. Why...how...how is it I feel this way? After such a short time, how is it that I feel this way for him? she thought as she looked ahead again, her eyes focused on the ground. And...why cna't I stop thinking about him? He wouldn't feel this way for me after as short of time. And I'm the reason...I'm the reason he almost got killed last night, its my fault, she thought bitterly as she kicked a rock on the ground in front of her, her eyes following it until it finally came to rest against a building. She glanced over at the building silently, but said nothing.

Darien stopped glancing around. He wasn't listening to the two much, trying to interpret who was near by instead. he looked towards Inu and Nate, cursing slightly, "Crap." He murmered poofing into his wolf form. His fur was a dark color with blonde markings all around his fur. He almost fell over at first, since, he hadn't been in this form for a long time. He sighed then ran up in between Inu and Nate, growling towards Inu slightly. He didn't want the two to fight. He knew Nate could get beat and torn just like that since he was mere human, "What the hell are you doing?!" He barked at Inu, growling slightly as he stood in front of Nate, his tail swishing heavilly against the grass.

Maria stopped, feeling her a tug at her chest as she glanced back towards Saneki, "Are you sure you are? Your voice toned down for an odd reason." Maria smirked slightly, trying to ignore the subject. She hated to be mean like this, but really didn't feel like she had too be nice. She knew there was no possible way for Saneki to like her. She sighed slightly, shrugging Saneki's hand off her shoulder slightly, taking a few more steps as she folded her arms against her chest, "C'mon. We need to keep going before I loose their scent." She mumbled, walking slowly down the path that Matthew and the men had gone down. She slowed her pace, enabling for Saneki to catch up.

Randu frowned a bit more as he looked towards Serifina, feeling that he was going to miss something if he decided to leave her like that, without telling her anything, 'I could right her something......' He thought, feeling a sharp pain in his stomach, rising up into his chest. It felt warm, like a tug towards Serifina. He felt guilt rising up in him as he thought more about wanting to leave her this night. He felt that he was going to tear himself even more for doing this. Randu sighed, looking away as he followed Serifna's gaze silently.