"You have a...a…tail! But that would make you a genome, or at least part genome." She stammered, staring at the silver tail. "I am half genome on my father's side." He curtly replied, tone clearly indicating the subject wasn't open for discussion. Kura kept her weapon levelled at his throat.
"Where are my friends?" She demanded, the only indicator of her rage in the slightly trembling blade.
"Oh, the rats scurried off to find you. It's funny how, URGH!" He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"Gullible some people are?" Trent finished for him, holding a large, thick piece of wood. Kura grinned her thanks.
"So you didn't go to the castle to warn me?" She queried in mock offence. Trent laughed.
"I sent the other two to warn you to stay away, "he explained. "I stayed here to help you out if you missed them."
"You know I can take care of myself." Kura protested, flushing slightly.
"I know. I should've gone with them. It's torture to watch people clean this room up," he pretended to take a dagger to the heart. She rolled her eyes at his exaggeration. Trent Coral was the complete opposite to his father. As outgoing as his father was cold, Trent knew the lamest jokes and was an actor at heart. Which made him a valuable asset to the gang, as he would distract guards with his antics, leaving the others to slip in unnoticed. Kura flopped onto a cushion that lay on the ground (a stolen cushion of course).
"What'll we do with 'im?" She nudged Max's prone form with a booted foot. Trent shrugged.
"Kill him, turn him in for trying to hurt you - " Kura cut Trent off.
"Nuh-uh. If we turn him in, then my parents will know I snuck out of the castle again when I'm supposed to be meeting suitors." She shuddered.
"Maybe we'll torture him to find out who his employer is?" Trent mused. "But then again..."
Kura shrugged. "I don't really care what we do with him. Just no killing, please. It's not really his fault." She murmured. Max stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He saw the blonde girl he'd been told to get, and the youth with bushy red hair who'd hit him over the head. He'd pay for interfering.

"What do you mean 'she's not here'?" Queen Garnet cried in exasperation.
"We… quarrelled, and she got away." Alex hung his head to cover a grin. Kura had a knack for getting out of things she didn't want to do. His father, Prince Zidane saw the grin and chuckled softly. He'd taught his daughter well. Garnet threw her hands up in the air and moaned, "What did I ever do to deserve such a handful of a daughter." Zidane smirked.
"Must get it from my side of the family." He remarked airily. Garnet threw him a dirty look.
"I'll bet that you had something to do with this." She glared at him.
"Maybe yes, maybe no." He teased. Garnet threw another dirty look at him.
"They'll be here any minute now, what are we going to do." Alex slowly crept to the door. "Oh no you don't mister. You're staying right here." Garnet spotted him and pulled him into a chair. Zidane took advantage of her distraction and slipped out the window and scaled the walls down to the garden, much like his daughter had done minutes before. Garnet whirled around. "ZIDAAAAANE!"

Kura sat down with Trent at their table at the back of the crowded inn. "So Max is gonna be one of us." Trent said unbelievingly. Kura had outlined her plan to draft Max into the Metal Chocobos and Trent had objected to it most strenuously. "Aren't you forgetting the fact he's prolly trying to kill ya?" he growled.
"I know that." Kura raised an eyebrow. "I can take care of myself, ya know. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're tryin' to protect me." Trent scoffed at the idea.
"If I was, then you'd be in Daguerro, in a safe room, with nice padded walls and a fluoro pink straightjacket." He joked Kura thumped him on the arm.
"You promised me a black one last time." She pouted. They broke down into silent fits of laughter. The bar was briefly illuminated when the door opened. Trent saw who was coming towards them. He swore eloquently. Zidane was on his way over to the table, and Trent got the feeling that it was best he left. "Got to go Kura seeya later." He babbled and sped off. Kura twisted around in her seat to see who it was that made Trent leave. Spotting her father, she hunkered down in her seat, hoping that he hadn't seen her.
"Hello dear, I thought I'd find you here." No such luck. She looked up at her father and fixed her most charming smile onto her face.
"Hello father." She chimed. Zidane laughed.
"Your tricks won't work on me cherry blossom." he told her.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" She asked, crestfallen. Zidane nodded.
"Ohhhh yes. Your mother's worried sick about you." He told her sternly. "Plus there's the suitors you've yet to meet." Kura groaned at this and rose from her seat.
"Yay, what fun. Words just can't describe how excited I am." She dryly remarked. Zidane took her arm and steered her out of the bar. "Oops, wait here a minute. I've a message for someone and they must get it at once." She told her father. Zidane rolled his eyes.
"Another delaying tactic? All right, just don't be too long." Kura dashed back into the inn and pulled the owner aside. "Can you tell Trent to take care of the business in our room please?" She asked him. He nodded and Kura went back outside to join her father.