Chapter Twenty-four

I Want to Tell You a Story

"Absolutely not."

"Not fo' that long, come on, give 'er a chance! It ain't gonna hurt 'er, I promise!"

Ryu crossed his arms and stared down the shaman princess sitting on the trunk of a snow covered fallen tree. Her gray eyes were windows to the turbulence inside. Yeah, he was a dragon. She'd get over it. "Nina will not fuse with you, ever."

"What's tha prob wit' Shy wantin' ta help out?"

"Wondering whether this trick of yours will invoke the Kaiser or not is one that comes to mind!" Ryu growled at Gray, "If you're not going to exercise common sense, I can deal fine traveling with Nina on my own!"

"Whoa, bro, I ain't lookin' ta fight!"

Nina came up behind the dragon, "Calm down, Ryu, they're only trying to help."

"The Kaiser never helps!"

"It was just a suggestion!"

Shyloh stood. Gray reached for her. "Wait! We still goin' afta them, ya can come wit!"

"Why is the entire world tagging along with us?" fumed Ryu to Nina in old Wyndian. "Gray's one thing, but these others? What if the dog starts barking at a bad time? What if the shaman rats us out the second we get to another town?" He was aware after he mentioned Gray's name that the big cat was eying him in between his begging for Shyloh not to return to her village.

Nina's gaze hovered over them. "Can we afford to have any of them leave now that they know what I am?"

Ryu scowled and turned to Shyloh with a snort. "You, shaman, you're coming with us." Yellow orbs darted from her to Kittah and back, "You too, Gray's sister."

The shaman met his glare defiantly with her head held high and her jaw squared. "Caleb, please let your friend know I take orders from no one."

"That's uh...well he..." Gray scratched his head, shifted his gaze. "I ain't...uh...really in no position ta tell this guy what ta do."

Shyloh's alarmed eyes darted around, "You people can't keep me hostage! My mother will be back in the village tomorrow and when she sees I'm gone she'll have an army riding your tails!"

"Wasn't ya gonna leave wit that bandit anyways witout tellin' no one? I said we's still goin' afta them bros! Ya ain't gonna find no one else mo' capable than this group ta do it! Why don't ya jus' come along?"

"I don't have to do anything I don't want to, and I sure as hell won't be ordered around by this monster—" Ryu appeared before her bone blades crossed in front of her throat. Gray and Kittah started.

"Bro! Whoa, whoa, hey, heyheyhey, stop, she's 'aight, she's 'aight! "

"Ryu! Stop!"

Most of the blood drained from the shaman's already pale face when she looked up at him. He curled back his lips, made sure he showed as much of his teeth as he could. There went the rest of it. "I said you are coming with us."

Gray swallowed and yanked Ryu back by his shoulders, "'kay I ain't havin' none o' that-ooof!" Ryu retracted his blades the moment he was touched and an elbow went into Gray's gut. The gray cat staggered back, fighting to regain his breath.

"What part of 'Nina is the godsdamn Angel of Death' is hard for you to understand the importance of?'!" snarled the dragon at him, "I never said you could tell your little girlfriend!"

"Bro I-" Gray wheezed.

Nina stood between them. One of her hands rested on Ryu's chest. He was surprised at the resistance when he tried to step forward anyways. She shot him a disappointed glare, then looked at Shyloh who was trying her best not to show how frightened she was. Her face was firm, but she was a leaf in a storm. "He won't hurt you, Shyloh, I promise."

"Do not promise anything until you know how tight her lips are," Ryu spat darkly for only Nina to hear.

"We can't have you running free with knowledge of my my whereabouts. You have to understand..."

"She ain't gonna tell no one, right, Shy?" Shyloh hesitated. Gray pressed, "C'mon now Shy..."

"I wasn't kidding about my mother. Keep me and she'll come no matter what I wish," Shyloh said through chattering teeth, cutting her eyes at Ryu.

The dragon tossed his head, laughing sharply, "Better hope she doesn't."

"We are not killing the leader of the shamans!" hissed Nina at him in their language, "Prince Vahn was enough! We need to stay as inconspicuous as possible now!"

"Hard to do with this circus!" he retorted, "I'd be easier just to-"

"No."

"Fine. I'll spare her mother but the army gets no plea," Ryu said for everyone.

Nina quickly glanced at Shyloh's ghastly expression then growled back at Ryu, "That's not helping!"

"What do you propose, then?" was his gruff response.

His mouth dropped open when she pulled one of her earrings out.

The Black Wings burst through the back of Nina's shirt into the sky, casting their cursed shadows upon Shyloh's awestruck face. "What the hell are you doing?!" Ryu grabbed her hand with the jewelry and tried to force it up to her bleeding ear. He winced when she pinched the lobe between two fingers. "Put them up right now, did you forget how close we are to people?'!" She slapped her hand away from his infuriatingly easily. He reached again. This time a hand on his chest sent him back a few steps. Oh no, he wasn't having that.

Amber snapped to him before he could retort. "I've got this, Ryu. Trust me."

I think you should, whispered her soul, sprinkling that annoying magic of hers that made some of the things Nina said impossibly inarguable.

Biting back venom, he set his concentrations on the area around them. If anyone came near, he would know. "You've got five minutes." His voice was little more than a growl.

Nina plopped down in front of Shyloh on folded legs. Owlish orbs gray as the clouds above them took in the wings of the dreaded Raven Princess with tears brimming their outer corners. "I know. Their aura is much more eerie in daylight if you can believe it. It seeks to possess any and all light that comes near, like it can never get enough. Maybe that's where the prophecy comes from. I remember the first time I laid eyes on them, I looked just like you do right now." The grays came down and for the first time gave Nina the respect of a meet. "Shyloh, I want to tell you a story."

She told the shaman everything. From Ethan to her friendship with Chasta, to her arranged marriage to Vahn. She talked about her life before the wings, the terrible turns it took even before the black monstrosities behind her shattered it into sharp, vengeful pieces. She told of meeting Ryu, of Vahn's uncouth advances, her execution, the crystal dragon destroying part of Wyndia to save her. The Assassin's Guild. Ethan's betrayal. Ivory, her first intentional kill. The faeries, Chamba, Zeth, Vahn's plans to make her his pet, Chasta's maddened confessions... Told why she had no choice but to defend herself again by doing the unthinkable. Told of the Kaiser's thirst for chaos, of the little boy who'd saved her time and again with a few stolen glances at Ryu. She told of Drogen's salvation. Of the fate that accompanied her if she lost to the dark dragons.

"Gray's right. They are going to die by our hand. We don't have any other choice. If revenge is what you want, we're the ones you want to be with."

When she was done, Ryu realized five minutes had long since passed, but it was no longer of importance; he understood from the looks on Shyloh and Kittah's faces that she knew exactly what she was doing. Kittah had been sitting beside the Wyndian with her hand clasped in hers since the Vahn part. Wolfie's head rested on one of her knees. "Yes, Ryu and I have something terrible inside of us, but we harm only out of self defense. We're good people. Just some not so good things have a tendency to happen to us." Nina smiled wearily. "I didn't ask for these wings, like Ryu didn't ask to be born with the Kaiser. Please understand our plight. We just want to be ourselves again. No world destruction, no battle for all the world's light. I rather like the sun and I'd like to let everyone else continue to enjoy it as well."

"She be back. That I kno'," Gray said watching Shyloh disappear into the forest.

Kittah was still beside Nina. She watched the Wyndian fix her earrings and take the wings back into her body in wonder. "Guys like Vahn be dirt, Nina," the cat girl said softly when the whole thing was over. "Some 'friends' of me an' Caleb's...afta he left they...they woulda...had Wolfie not been 'round..., " Her big blues narrowed, "One o' tha reasons I don't care much Yuistel be in ruins."

"Kittah..."

"Ya'll ain't gotta worry none 'bout me. I ain't sayin' a thing."

Ryu paced around where Gray was sitting. "Hey bro...I uh... Sorry I told ya business... I ain't a blabbermouth like that, it's just...well ya kno' it's Shyloh." Gray said, then blinked and suddenly turned to his little sister. "Wait, what tha hell did I jus' hear ya say? Who? Who botha'd ya like that back in Yuistel?'!" he cried jumping up.

Ryu snorted. He needed to work off this anxiety. "I'm going into the forest. Contact me the moment you see the shaman again," he said to Nina.

"Caleb it don't mattah, it ain't a prob'lem no mo'!"

"It was that Shawni guy huh? I ain't neva liked none o' tha looks that creep gave ya! Was it 'im?'!"

"Want some company?" Nina asked the dragon, ducking out from between the quarreling two.

"Not yours," he answered firmly, falling into the shadows. He turned his back on her disheartened face and darted into the forest.

Do you have to always be so obnoxious?

Ryu didn't answer the voice, he scampered up a tree to a branch and kicked off of it. He landed on the tree beside it, kicked off again. Landed on the next, kicked off again. Land, kick off, land, kick off, he was a silent shadow flitting nimbly through frost bitten limbs.

He slid to a stop where he landed next. A scent other than ice and bark. Two bucks wandered around kicking open hard snow, attempting to graze on the grass underneath, oblivious to the terror poised above them. No, he didn't want to think about it. He didn't understand it, it angered him. He dropped down beside the startled pair and twisted up for one's throat.

He didn't think about women. Why? What use were they for him? Lovers were crutches. He would have nothing of it.

Fangs pierced flesh through short coarse fur. There it was, that warm delicious goodness.

So why did he feel that godsdammed way when she looked at him?

Blood splashed the back of his throat, he pulled the whining creature down to the ground, trying to immerse himself in the frantic heartbeat dancing onto his tongue. Its partner scrabbled away.

I forgive you.

His fingers had twitched. He had had the urge to run them over her cheek, to push her hair back so he could see her better...

He snarled and snapped the animal's neck.

Ryu's wild face was covered in blood when he got back to the others, noticeably shaking up Shyloh who had made it back after all. Nina laughed nervously. "He just...well he...ahh he...just don't...pay attention to him right now..." she glared at the dragon. Why would he not clean himself up?'! He shrugged her off and sat down near Gray. "It's alright, Shyloh, please continue," she coaxed.

The shaman woman cleared her throat regally. Ryu picked up a canteen and splashed its contents on his chin. Red water stained the snow. "A-as I was saying, I contacted my mother and told her I was leaving for awhile. I told her about Yuistel and the attack on Lhan, and that I was accompanying Caleb for revenge for Ishal and I wasn't taking no for an answer."

Gray snorted, "Oh really? What'd she hafta say 'bout that?"

"She didn't like any of it, but even she admitted yours were the safest hands I could be in if I was going to be such a 'rash little tart'."

"Damn right!" he pumped a fist into the air.

Shyloh to Nina after sighing at him, "You should know she's sent some of our best men out looking for you. She herself is getting back from a meeting with the wolf clan leaders devising plans on how to flush you out. Soon she'll head out to consult the other leaders about the dragons. I didn't have any luck getting anything more specific out of her."

"Not a concern," said Ryu.

"You're mighty confident, dragon. Wolves are fast and my people are quite capable."

"Nina and I are faster and better."

"You don't know that!" Shyloh huffed.

Gray raised his paw half halfheartedly. "I uh...do." he winced at the daggers her eyes shot into him.

"I'm more worried about the Assassin's Guild than anything else," said Nina pacing. She was tired. The sun was almost up and they were going to have to start walking again. "Gray, you're the AG encyclopedia right? What should we anticipate?"

Gray cocked his head thoughtfully, tail gliding back and forth over a frozen puddle on the ground behind him pushing leaves this way and that. "Hmm there's Zeth o' course. Ya'll kno' 'bout Ivory... Jaxx Roman is theys leader, 'e prob won't come unless there's no otha choice. 'E's tha fastest draw in tha world. We got me Pa, an' I'll have that covahed when it happens, lemme see who else," He held his chin in his hand, made an 'Aha!' motion after a moments thought, "Pheobe Skylark. She be a tricky one, can make copies o' herself outta some kinda magikal smoke an' you cain't tell no diff'rence. She be a vet'ran memba of tha AG, like me Pa. I'd be wary o 'er." His brows furrowed. "Lucas Astaguard. Some'bitch can control tha damn weatha! Heard 'e makes weapons outta 'is magic too, I dunno what we gonna do against that bro." Ryu leaned in, smirking with interest. Nina found she was doing it as well. "Lesley Darkmeadows. Shaman name, though nobody 'members what 'e looks like or what 'e's done. 'e's been off tha radar fo' years. Ah..." he hit himself on the forehead, "Oh an those otha two...I can't 'memba theys names. I kno' one was a gal. Theys kno' how ta use all them fancy influential spells, make ya do whateva theys want! Theys prob be tha most dangerous, but I'm sorry I dunno much 'bout them like what they look like or anythin'. Peoples like them ain't make tha papas cuz theys good at keepin' themselves hidden. Theys a few like that."

Influential magic. "I really wish your father would have told me you were this stubborn, I would have had those people enchant my entire castle," she remembered Vahn saying on that roof. So AG members were responsible for his courtyard phenomenon. Okay, she'd felt their magic before, she'd recognize it again.

Your nose will win against apparition woman and your elements will counter the weatherman. Anything else, I have your back.

Nina nodded. She knew he did. "Thanks Gray, that helps a lot."

Ryu gathered up his things. "Sun soon. Time to move."

Gray, Kittah and Nina followed suit. Shyloh's gaze darted to each of them, "We're traveling? No one's had a good night's sleep!"

"We take advantage of the daytime. When the sun sleeps we sleep," said the dragon.

Shyloh hurriedly picked up what bags Gray didn't get for her and followed the crew, fur covered boots crunching over ice encrusted leaves.

They took a back road detour that didn't lead them by Yuistel and by the end of the night they were already almost to the edge of the forest because it ended up being a shortcut. Tomorrow they would venture into the desert. Ryu and Nina left to hunt for dinner after helping to set up camp in some trees. Kittah went for a walk with Wolfie. Shyloh and Gray stayed behind, tending to soup boiling in Nina's cooking pot.

Gray lifted his eye patch and rubbed the orange fur underneath. They had been sitting watching the brew bubble shrouded in an awkward silence for too long. "Listen, Shy, I'm sorry I butted inta ya life agin," he said, mismatched orbs immersed in the crackling flames below the pot. "I guess ya made an' impression on me, ya kno'?" he smiled and leaned back on his large paws. There were no stars this night. He sniffed the air. Snow was due at any moment. "I'll tell ya, theys be a lot o' girls in Chamba. Ain't a night go by one didn't ask me ta take my winnin's fo' tha night -I was rollin' in it in tha city by tha way, lemme tell ya I had a system- an' spend it on 'em an' they'd make sure I had a really good time too." Shyloh's pale hands folded in her lap. "I ain't gonna lie. Sometimes if one had long hair and a lot o' piercins an' I'd have a lot ta drink, I'd accept. I had ta. Anythin' ta get ya outta me mind, but it ain't neva worked, only made it worse," he sat back up and scratched his head, couldn't look anywhere near her. "It's hard, Shy. I still love ya jus tha same. I kno' ya wasn't eva in love wit Ishal. He was ya friend, an' a good one too, but he was nevah ya husband."

"You're right, he was my very good friend," Shyloh said softly, slender fingers intertwining, "and in the years we were together, I may have grown to think a lot more of him than you would like to know. We were trying for a child."

Gray didn't flinch, instead uttered a short intake of breath that transformed into a nervous laugh. "Heh heh...I guess ya had ta, huh? Heirs n' all..."

"My clan is important to me, Caleb, you more than anyone knows that, but it wasn't just that."

"Sorry. I guess I'm jus' a fool."

Shyloh's features softened. "No Caleb...you just don't understand..."

He growled, "Ya damn right, I ain't undastandin'! I want to be the one lyin' in ya bed at night fightin' witcha on whetha we wanna try fo' a lil' one o' not!" He forced himself to look at her. Tears shined in the firelight on her porcelain face. He pressed regardless," I 'memba a time when ya didn't care 'bout nothin' but us. 'memba we used ta talk 'bout family too? I kno' we was kiddin' an' all but I was in yo' bed a whole lot-"

"Uh...yeah...ummmmmmm...Caleb...Shy?" the two looked back at Kittah looking uncomfortable cradling something in her arms. Wolfie circled the cat girl, whining. "I uh...hate ta intarrupt but Wolfie an' I kinda found this kid out in tha snow..."

Ryu was ignoring her. He was still calling her Nina when he had to talk to her, but for the most part, he was as emotionless as a real shadow bounding along beside her. She should've known this would happen. It was always one step forward, two steps back with him.

Give him time.

"There," she heard him whisper. She landed on a branch beside him. Chins brushed frosty bark. Below, a bear that hadn't yet made it back into its cave to hibernate for the winter stood tall on its hind legs and with a menacing growl fell back into their tree. They held on so the vibrations of the animal scratching his back against it didn't throw them off. He turned to her. "Throats yours today."

On a creature this large? She wiped her mouth against her forearm. "Are you sure?," she asked with a lip bite. Was she ready? It had been more than a week since he'd let her have a jugular and she completely agreed with his reason for keeping her from them. Last time, she blacked out soon after she tore flesh and woke up in Gray's arms staring at Merybel reattaching one of Ryu's forearms back to his elbow.

"Take it," he said, muscles noticeably tensing, "I want to see how well you handle it."

Alright, a training exercise. She'd do it. Anything to better herself before facing the brothers. She took a deep breath and dropped through the branches.

Anything to impress Ryu.

The bear barely finished a grunt of surprise before she landed on him, sliced both its incoming paws off with her blades and tore at its throat with her jaws. Moments after she felt the flesh rip she jumped out of the spray of blood. Nope, not yet, her heart, gods her heart was beating so fast! She landed and licked the crimson dripping from her lips, used her forearms to get the blood off her face and neck and ran her tongue all the way up them. She lapped at it, couldn't stop! She needed more... Her eyes darted to the bear twitching in red snow. Pupils dilating, she slunk back towards it. Ryu was in front of her. "That's enough." His hand gripped her shoulder. "Come, you're a mess. Hey. Nina." he snapped his fingers. She blinked, looked up at him. It took her a second to register his concerned face. "Follow me."

They reached a frozen puddle and he kicked a scale covered foot through it. "Use this." When she pursed her lips at the muddy water he sighed, "I'm not allowing you to consume any more it off yourself and I'm not so sure I feel comfortable doing so for you, so I suggest you wash off here."

Nina choked on her own saliva. She couldn't stop her mind from conjuring embarrassing thoughts she knew his soul was horrifyingly witnessing.

"Hurry up, I don't like the way its making him stir." He was right. Despite her humiliation, the Kaiser's excitement threw a tremendous thirst into her throat with each breath she took of the crimson covering her. This was the strongest she'd felt him since that day...

She plunged her hands into the water and splashed the cold, dirt smelling liquid onto her face. Red swirled in the puddle. Ryu knelt down beside her, helped her remove her shirt. Thank goodness the blood that did manage to get on the tank she had on underneath was too little to hinder her. He wet his hands and ran them through the side of her hair where she had turned and taken the brunt of the spray. "I don't get it," she said, hoping talk would divert his attention from the goosebumps infecting her skin when his fingers would brush over the nape of her neck as he combed, "How did those dark dragons find us? What's going to stop them from simply warping in on us again whenever they feel like it?"

Ryu scrubbed her ear, tapped the earring on it as a 'hello' to Merybel probably. "They know where we are because she knows. I'm sure it's easy to track ones own curse." Nina wiped down her arms. Made sense. Ryu tilted her head. Calloused thumbs dragged across her jawbone. So many damn bumps... "There isn't anything we can do to stop them. They're going to come when they want to come."

"How are we supposed to make it to Drogen then? They aren't going to let us!"

He leaned in close, squinted at a stubborn spot on her throat. She swallowed. "They will if I convince them going to Drogen will make you stronger."

"What? How?"

Yellow eyes met hers, shifted quickly when they did. "The details aren't so clear at this moment."

She frowned. "That's...reassuring."

He shrugged and went back to the spot, getting close enough for her to feel his concentrated breaths. He stopped after a few scrubs. "Your hearts going crazy again, are you really that worried?"

Warmth flushed over her. "N-n-no! I mean, yes! I m-m-mean..." She grabbed his wrists, turned her head from him, "I...I got it...okay?" she said politely, yet firmly pushing him away.

He hesitated. Her heart did spins in her ribcage wondering why. Finally he stood. "I'll gather the bear and make sure I cauterize its wounds. You finish up, alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

His footsteps faded, she splashed more water to try and extinguish the fire burning her cheeks. Not again! When he called her by name for the first time she thought she would faint, and then his face when she told him she forgave him for waiting so long to acknowledge it...

No man had ever given her a look like that before, though she knew its kind well. It was one she had always wished would come from Ethan.

Water ran down the palms of her hands, trickled down her chin. It wasn't from Ethan, yet it hit her harder than any look her old companion could have ever given her.

She didn't know how to deal with that.

Ever the romantic, huh?

Gods, his soul! "Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you don't understand at all, that's not what I meant to think at all you gotta believe me!" She covered her mouth. Eyes wide as the moons behind the clouds above went to Ryu walking to her with the bear on his back and a brow full of questions.

Mercifully, he asked none on the way back to camp. He seemed to be having his own struggles.

"Oi, Nina! Ryu! Come 'ere!" Kittah called to them, waving her arms when they came in view of her. Ryu threw a frown Nina's way and she knew he didn't approve of the yelling. They hastened their pace. "I'm sorry I yelled, really," Kittah said to them both, guessing Ryu's annoyance, "but we sorta got an' emergency here!" She pointed to a blanketed bundle lying across Gray and Shyloh's laps.

Nina stepped forward and gasped. She fell to her knees before it. "I-Izzie!'?" No. It wasn't Isabella. The girl the blanket held had about the same color hair as her sister, but the eyes fluttering open were a bright sea green color. The girl dove at Nina and flung her arms around her. Wolfie circled them, growling. Kittah tried unsuccessfully to pull him back.

"Help me!" the girl cried, burying her head into Nina's neck. "Hide me from the bad men!"

"She keeps going on about these 'bad men'," said Shyloh, wrapping the blanket again around the child's trembling shoulders, "We haven't seen anyone around and we haven't been able to get anything else out of her. She starts to talk and it shakes her up so badly she faints."

Nina pulled herself from the girl's vice-like grip. "Calm down, alright?" Strange. Her heart was calm. Why was it calm if she was just attacked? Wolfie whined. He was really nervous." Tell me what happened to you."

The child sniffed, wiped her eyes on the sleeve of a dress made from the colorful, mismatched patches of many others. "Bad men...killed Mama an' Papa... even one o' my b-b-big brothers an' he had a biiiiig axe!" she sobbed, "I bit one an' kicked one down there an' r-ran when I could!"

Kittah knelt down beside her. "How old are ya, hon? What's ya name?"

"Eight. Remy," said the little blonde with a trembling lip.

"Where are you from, Remy? What are you doing all the way out here in the forest?" Nina asked. This was ridiculous. Eight year olds couldn't be this good at acting...right?

"Oasis Springs," the girl mumbled, sniffling and looking up with big doe eyes like she was reading her mind.

"Tha oasis in tha middle o' Shyde? Ya serious lil' gal? How tha hell'd ya git ova here?" Gray cried.

The girl looked up at Nina. Button nose, just like Isabella. "I w-w-was staying in Synesta with Mama, Papa, Tandle an' Dex." Tears filled her eyes again. "I woke up and M-m-m-mama was on the floor beside me... I shook her so much but she didn't wake up... I-I screamed an' I saw the men. Five of them, all wearing black scarfs around their heads! Th-They stabbed papa an' Tandle! Dex told me to run...so I did!"

Gray's eye widened. "Straight from Synesta? Like ya ran all tha way thru tha Frostlands?'!"

"Frostlands?" asked Nina. She remembered learning something about it...

"Tha pola' desert I was talkin' 'bout!"

"When the gods were warring long ago, your Goddess cast a mighty blizzard on a large chunk of land between my people and Shyde as a display of her power. To this day it hasn't stopped snowing over that icy wasteland," said Shyloh, gently patting the girl's head. She tucked a loose strand of her long hair behind her little ear. "How did you manage to get through all of that unscathed, little one?"

"I took the bad men's sandcruiser. I-I made it all the way here but I...crashed..." Remy swayed and fell onto Nina. Wolfie grabbed onto one of the girl's long sleeves and pulled so hard he ripped it.

"Wolfie! Stop!" Kittah cried, gathering him up.

Nina stood with the girl dangling in her arms. Something felt off, but she couldn't ignore the sandcruiser, what a find! "She can sleep in my bag-"

"We don't need any kids, Nina," said Ryu in Wyndian from behind her, staking sticks with large chunks of bear meat over the campfire. He took a spare stick and stirred the pot in the middle. Firelight illuminated his glower.

"But we do need a sandcruiser. If we can find it and it's not too damaged we can shave days off our journey. Besides, maybe someone in Synesta knows her and we can leave her there." His jaw hardened. She turned to the others. "Do any of you happen to know anything about machines?"

Gray raised his hand. "I do sorta...but I ain't neva messed wit no sandcruisa if that's what ya's gonna ask. But hey don't look like that, I'll try, ok? I ain't gonna pass up a good oppertunity like this!"

While Nina tucked in Remy, Kittah joined her in the tree where her sleeping bag was too. "Hey uh, thanks fer decidin' ta help 'er. She was so buried in tha snow when I found 'er I almost tripped ova 'er!"

"She reminds me scarily of my sister," said Nina, holding the girl close and getting in the bag. Her dragon skin would keep her warm. "'Lil bugger looks almost identical to her. I don't think I could've refused if I tried."

Kittah smiled. "Ya really ain't bad, is ya?"

"I agree. You are mighty benevolent," said the head of Shyloh's animal pelt, bringing over their share of the meat and soup. Their branches were low enough the shaman could reach up to them. When Nina tore into her meat, she noticed Shyloh look away. "for such a monster."

"Oi dun call 'er that, she can't help it," said Kittah, making a face and stirring her soup, "I imagine it be like not bein' able ta turn off Beast Tiga. Like all tha time ya's got that fightin' energy in ya, but ya ain't got no 'propriate way ta vent it. Ryu be tha same way."

Nina swallowed and blinked at her. "Kittah, that's exactly how it is."

Shyloh sighed, "Well the Angel of-"

"Shh!" Nina hissed glancing warily at Ryu chomping down on his food with Gray. Hopefully Gray's robust laughter would cover anything up. "Please don't say anything like that in front of Remy. I don't want to have to fight with Ryu over whether it would be better to 'take care of' her or not."

Kittah spit out her soup. "He would...to an innocent child?'!" Shyloh whispered excitedly back.

Nina knew he'd relent in the end, but butting heads with him was always exhausting. He did not like to be told what to do. "It's complicated," she said honestly. Suddenly Wolfie's head popped up from inside of her sleeping bag. "Wh-what the?'!" she cried, almost knocking her head back on the tree's trunk.

"I dunno what's gotten inta 'im? E's been actin' crazy ever since we's found Remy." The dog whined and wriggled between Nina and the little girl. "Mebbe...'e's jealous?" Kittah laughed. "Guess e's taken a shine ta ya, huh Nina?"

Nina listened to the dog's almost painful sounding heartbeat with mixed feelings.

"Yeah. Maybe."

A/N: Yay thanks to everyone still reading and checking out my artwork! I swear I'll get to coloring this story's cover sometime...