Naru was exhausted by the end of the first day practicing, falling on his side on the blanket Tobias had given him. His long feathers looked preened and pristine now, though the edges were still a bit frayed as if damaged from his malnutrition.

"You okay?" Althea asked from a short distance away, concerned that he was so tired. He looked better than before by a mile, but… the exhaustion in his eyes made her worry.

"Yeah… I will be." Naru said between pants for breath. "I went from not being able to do magic at all, to trying to illusion 6 other people at the same time. It's not easy." The guards had beat him every time he'd even given a spark of magic. It was difficult for him to even get over the initial use of it, nonetheless practicing.

"I'm sorry if I pressured you into it." Althea bit her lip anxiously hoping this wasn't too much for him.

"No, I'm glad I can try and help." Naru sat up to turn toward her as they spoke. "I know I'm slower than the others because of my tail, I bring the pace down a lot."

"That shouldn't matte-"

"It does." Naru cut her off. "We're going through human territory, and I slow everyone down. I can't have them capture the Kisa Prince and the Taria Prince. I'll just be glad when we're out of the human country." He sighed.

"Honestly… me too." She said softly. "I feel like I'm putting you all in danger because of my uncle."

"Your uncle?" Naru asked in confusion, not knowing where she was from.

"Ah… yeah… my uncle, the king." She said anxiously.

The silence that stretched between them made Althea tense further, as Naru seemed to be going through a range of emotions. Confusion, hurt, anger, fear, all fluttered over his face.

"You're royalty?" He finally said. "As in, the king that killed my family, the king that killed Toran's family? That king?" Naru said darkly.

Althea fiddled with her hair uneasily. "Yes, though I didn't know anything about that at the time. I was… sort of kept at home. In my room. All the time. I definitely don't agree with anything he did."

Naru seemed to relax a bit. "Well I know all about being stuck in a room." He joked softly.

Althea stared at him in shock at the joke until he held up his hands defensively. "What? If I can't laugh about it I'll cry and I'd really rather not cry in front of you." He said in defense.

"You can, you know. You went through so much. I don't think anyone would judge you for it." Althea said softly, making Naru fall into a thoughtful silence for a long moment.

"I don't think I'm ready for that, yet." He said in a wavering tone.

"That's fine." Althea smiled. "For now, turn around and I'll wash your back again."

Naru did just that, and Althea scooted closer to him so she could use some of her water to wash the blood off his back that had dried from the afternoon. Her touches didn't seem to make him flinch as much, though his shoulders were still tense as she brushed a soaked cloth gently over the areas.

"I hope we can find a family to take Peeps in." She said softly. "She said her house was burned."

Naru made an anxious sound. "Her parents may not have survived. But if she's from the region we can ask the animus on the other side of the human roads."

Althea went quiet for a moment as she thought of Peeps, glad that the little girl had thought to mention Naru. If she hadn't she wasn't sure they'd have found him. She couldn't imagine leaving him alone in that place. She looked over to the little girl to see her curled up on Xicro's lap as he sang softly to her. He seemed quite comfortable around kids.

"Are you nervous about visiting Varso?" Naru asked softly, as if trying to break the silence.

"Why would I be nervous?" She asked in confusion as she worked.

Naru glanced over his shoulder at her "they hate humans. Far more than your average animus."

Althea paused her movements for a moment, worry filling her expression. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"You should be okay, I doubt Toran will let anything happen to you. Maybe we can figure out a way to keep you hidden away while we're there." Naru said as he turned back around once Althea resumed washing.

Althea couldn't help a little smirk, wondering whether Toran would or wouldn't be so protective of her with other animus. With his apology earlier it could be, but… he was so hard to read sometimes.

The sun was starting to set by the time she finished, casting long shadows over them both as Toran was practicing his swordsmanship across the campsite. The familiar sounds of it were… oddly soothing to her. After all she'd heard the sounds of his practice in her dreams for years.

"He really is determined, isn't he?" Naru said after going quiet for some time. He was watching Toran, his eyes filled with a strange sadness.

"He definitely seems to be." Althea nodded, taking a blue sash out of her bag and wrapping it around Naru's chest. He jumped when she had to get close to him to reach around him, looking down at the cloth as it was tied gently at his side to avoid the knot rubbing against his wounds.

"What's this for?" He asked in confusion.

"So your wounds don't get too dirty again. I don't need it, I have another from that nice woman we met. Once we're able to safely stop at another village I'll get you some proper bandages. Maybe something to wrap your tail in so you're not preening all night after we walk, too." She said, patting his shoulder to signal she was done so he could turn around. When he did turn, he stared at her for a moment.

"Why are you being so nice?" He asked, though it didn't sound like he was wary, more just confused.

"Because after what you've been through, you deserve someone who will pamper you." She smiled softly. "If I can make it easier for you to heal, I will." She said, standing up and patting the dirt and grass off her skirt. Xicro called out in the distance that dinner was ready, and she looked back down to Naru. "Come on, let's get dinner." She said, walking in that direction.

Naru watched after her for a moment, still confused why she'd want to help him so much, but gave a small smile before he stood up shakily to follow after her. That hadn't quite been what he meant by his question, but it was nice to have someone care about him after being forgotten for so long. It made a little piece of him feel normal again.

——-

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Radica grumbled anxiously, looking over her blond haired illusion. Xicro was a rather tall man- since he was tall as an animus as well- with her black hair and his yellow eyes had translated to green.

"It's the best idea we have." He said, moving behind him to grab something and shove it down his pants. His tail was invisible in the magic, so it looked rather odd. "Don't forget to hide your tail. Don't want it brushing someone on accident.

"Well that's easy." Radica chuckled, being a lynx she had little more than a little bob of a tail anyway.

Naru had a face of concentration, sweat beading at his brow as he fought to maintain so many illusions at the same time. Tobias had refused to take on a human form altogether, so he and Soren were flying ahead and would meet them on the other side.

"Remember don't let anyone touch you. They'll still feel fur." Althea fussed as she made sure their outfits looked as presentable as possible, taking a step back and looking them all over with a sound of satisfaction. "I think that's it. Let's get going."

The group started through the hills toward the roads in the distance, looking like a group of humans traveling toward their destination, the only clue something may be amiss the brunette man in the back sweating slightly as he kept the illusion going.

Toran couldn't help but tense as they finally reached the road, the dirt path well worn by wagon wheels and hooves over the years. Even now a few humans were driving by on carriages toward distant lands, the driver giving them a little wave as they passed.

Xicro waved back to him, hardly able to believe that this was actually working. It was like they really thought they were just travelers in the land instead of enemy animus. He glanced back to Naru and the look of concentration he held, hoping he could keep it up long enough. The practice he'd done over the last few days had been exhausting for the avian, but he'd greatly improved in that time.

"It's not long." Toran said softly, though he tensed as several riders in full battle gear rounded the bend coming toward them. They must be guards traveling along the road to make sure it was safe. This was literally the worst case scenario.

Althea saw some of their features falter a bit, Toran's stripes appearing faintly and causing her to look back at Naru, who was panicking at the sight of the guards.

"Naru-" she whispered harshly, catching his attention to regain his focus. He still looked scared, but the illusion held as the guards passed by, the leader looking them over carefully before they moved on.

Toran let out a great sigh of relief, echoed by Naru's behind them. They continued on, reaching the final part of where the two roads met, the cross between the roads littered with signs pointing to different cities along the route and how far they were from that location. Sitting under one of the signs was a woman with a large brimmed hat, smoking a long pipe. Her arm was covered in tattoos, including one of a great owl with red eyes.

"Shit." Althea swore at the sight, knowing full well what that meant. "We need to go, we need to go now before she notices us!" Althea said, all but pushing Toran down the side road at a detour to try and not look so conspicuous. The rest of the group followed to try and look casual, Toran confused by Althea had suddenly changed the plan.

"What's wrong? Who is she?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"She's a seer! That owl tattoo is a seer symbol, they can see through illusion magic! Althea whispered back.

"Wait, what? That's a thing?!" Naru squawked in alarm, putting a hand over his mouth as he made the avian sound.

"Yes, now stay calm." Althea warned them, taking a path off the road that led toward the coast. It was still well traveled, but much smaller. There hopefully wouldn't be as much traffic to worry about.

She glanced over her shoulder to see that the seer had stood up and was walking in their direction, still smoking from her pipe as she walked. Althea swore softly under her breath, hoping it was just a coincidence, but there was no way she hadn't noticed them, now!

"Pick up the pace." She urged Toran, who nodded and made wider strides. Althea remained back with Naru who couldn't walk as fast with his tail. The woman was still walking behind them, but it was hard to see her expression because of the wide brim of her hat.

"Naru, we need to split from the others." Althea said quietly.

"But I can't maintain the illusion if they're too far away!" He whispered back frantically.

"Once they get to the forest it won't matter as much." She said, motioning to the line of trees in the distance. "But she'll catch up to us by then."

He made a small sound of panic, the others acquiring their traits faintly again before he resumed concentration.

"It'll be okay. I'm going to stay with you. Let me tell Toran what's going on." She said, patting his shoulder to reassure him before walking quickly to catch up with the Prince. "Toran, naru and I are going to split up. She's following us."

"Like hell you are!" He growled fiercely, the sound not entirely human. "You're not going off on your own!"

"And risk her catching both princes?" Althea glared at him. He opened his mouth to argue, but growled again when he realized she was right. It was too dangerous for him and Naru to get caught togethuer. Not when they'd just found what was likely the last of the Kisa Royal bloodline.

"Meet us at the far end of the forest by sunset. We should be able to lose her by then. If not… well, you know what that means." She said with a wavering breath. She knew very well that she would be treated just as poorly as the animus if she was caught.

"I don't like this." Toran growled one last time before nodding, agreeing to the plan. He, Xicro and Radica walked faster down the path toward the forest as Althea walked slower to fall back to Naru.