Author's Note: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaa! Oh man, I'm so ashamed of myself for laughing at the poor guy.
Once everything had calmed down, Anya apologized. "Sorry about that." She said sheepishly. "It was just my first time seeing one of you, and I was wondering if the tails were real." Mai sighed. "It's alright, but next time ask me before you do that." She said. "I think we should get started with the introductions." Teriko suggested. "We just met each other, so we have to do that." Anya nodded in agreement. "I'll start." She offered. "I'm Anya Aura, my family owns the Aura Farm." "Nice to meet you, I'm Teriko." He said. "And I'm Mai." She finished. Anya smiled at them. "Pleased to meet you." She said happily.
"So what is Aura Farm?" Teriko asked curiously. "We raise livestock so we can sell their products at the market." Anya answered. "We make sure they're well cared for, and nothing goes wrong." Anya sighed sadly. "But unfortunately, we had some trouble on the way here." That alarmed Cress. "What trouble?" She asked. "We left at the usual time." Anya explained. "It takes about half an hour to get here in the caravan. Well we were just halfway there when we were attacked by some goblins." She sighed again. "My guards Eli and Weiss managed to drive them off, but they were seriously injured, and are being treated at the hospital as we speak." Cress clenched her fist. "Damn those monsters." She said angrily. "How could they do that to you guys?" She stood up and looked determinedly at Anya, who stared at her in surprise. "I'm not going to let this happen again." Cress said. "My friends and I will accompany you on your way back. When do you leave?"
Anya recovered from her shock. "In a few hours." She answered. "But-" "No 'buts' about it." Cress interrupted. "You're my best friend, I can't let you go off by yourself when monsters attacked you. Besides, Eli and Weiss need to be avenged." A tear leaked out of Anya's eye, and she brushed it away. She smiled at Cress. "There's no way you're backing out, right?" She asked. Cress nodded in confirmation Then Anya turned to Teriko, who gave her a thumbs up. "We're with Cress on this one." He said, and Mai nodded. "We'll keep you safe." Cress promised. Anya looked gratefully at all of them. "Alright, rest up and we'll leave in a few hours." She said.
Teriko lay on the floor, while Mai sat on the bed. He was thinking about how to protect someone when he didn't even know how to fight. All he knew was the pretend swordfighting he did with his friends back home. Man…he worried about his parents. They probably noticed him missing from his bedroom and looked for him. He could imagine his mom crying over his disappearance, and his dad thinking he ran away. His friends would wonder where he was… "What's wrong?" Mai asked, and he was torn from his thoughts. "What?" He asked. "You're crying." She pointed out. Teriko noticed the tears and brushed them away. "I just miss my home, that's all." He said.
Mai sighed sadly. "At least you have a home." She said, then flopped back and curled up on the bed. "I was treated like I was a monster. I never really had friends until I met you guys." Her tail wound around her. "I'm an outcast even among my own kind." Teriko sat up and looked at her in surprise. "You're telling me even your own family treated you that way?" Mai nodded. "Well, my mom at least cared for me, but she died a year ago." She said. "I was eventually fed up with the treatment, so I ran away a few days ago."
As she said this, Teriko got up and approached the bed. He slowly sat down beside her. "You at least have us now" He said comfortingly. "It doesn't matter if the rest of the world hates you, so long as you have a few people to stand by your side." Mai smiled bitterly. "Everyone, even you, would hate me if they knew what I was." Teriko tilted his head. "What do you mean?" "They have a reason to hate me." Mai explained vaguely. "This…" She sat up and put a hand over her shoulder, as if to grab something. "Is part of the reason." She finished. Teriko's eyes widened as light slowly started appearing on her back.
They were interrupted when the door opened, and the light faded. Before it was fully opened, Teriko fell over in panic, pushed Mai down onto the bed, and she yelped. Cress, with Anya behind her, stepped into the room with a bag of treats in hand. "Hey guys!" She said happily. "Check out we-" She saw the scene in front of her and stopped. "What is it Cress?" Anya asked curiously. She looked over her shoulder and became shocked at the sight.
Teriko was on top of a blushing Mai in an awkward position, and both were looking at Cress and Anya embarrassedly. There was a moment of silence between them, then Cress got angry. She let go of the bag, summoned her crossbows, and pointed them at Teriko. He sat up with a scream and put his hands up. "It wasn't what you think it is, I swear!" He said hastily. Cress ignored him. "You sneaky, treacherous, and dirty little ba-" There were screams echoing outside once again as Cress fired at the innocent boy, and more passerby looked at the shop, wondering what could be going on in there.
