Hikari smiled weakly when Celestine asked her not to kiss him like he was a little kid and then shook her head. "...I'm sorry." she said softly. She looked even more concerned when he fell over, but just shook her head and let Kyran get him. She knew that the poison must be affecting him by now as well. She finally made herself turn around and walk back over to where LaRae had fallen. She knelt beside her and gently placed her hand on her head for a moment while she tried to figure out how to go about this. "Hmm..." After a moment she finally took a hold of her shoulder and rolled her over, looking down at her to see if she was even still awake at all. She didn't really know if she could carry LaRae all the way back in her arms so she just grabbed onto her arms and gently pulled her up into a sitting position before she stood up without letting go of her and pushed her legs apart with her feet before she crouched down in front of her and released one of her arms while she turned around backwards. She then reached back to get her other arm and pulled them both over her shoulders and around her neck as she leaned forward a little. "Hold on if you can..." she said quietly as she let got of her arms now that she was resting against her back. She then hooked her arms under LaRae's knees and stood up with her, though she was almost a little off balance at first. She sighed and glanced over her shoulder to LaRae. She was a little heavy, but at lest she could pick her up without too much trouble. She finally glanced around and blinked when she saw Aamori walking around looking at the ground. What was she doing? "Aamori...come on it's time to go." she said softly.

Celestine didn't put up any kind of fight when Kyran picked him up, he just hung there limply with one arm draped over his stomach. He would have told him that he wanted his sash back, but it was bloody and ripped now so it didn't really matter. It probably wouldn't really matter before much longer anyway; nothing would. He nearly rolled his eyes at Kyran's comment. "...Oh...shut......shut up..." he muttered quietly. He sighed quietly and leaned his head against Kyran's shoulder, closing his eyes. He was starting to sound a little winded when he spoke as if speaking was some great effort. He just took a few deep breaths and then coughed quietly. "...W...we...should.....go...." he said quietly, slowly raising his arm from his middle to point back the way they'd come before just letting it fall to the side. All of them were taking in even more poison with every breath, this was the central area where it was all coming from in the first place. It would still take a while to start taking effect on anyone, but the longer they stayed here the more likely they were going to start to feel something before they got out of here.

LaRae was still awake, just barely. She was trying to keep herself awake as long as possible. She was quiet while Hikari moved her around so that she could pick her up. She'd have tired to help her but she could move any part of her body at the moment. Once she was on Hikari's back and was asked to hold on if she could, she tried to move her arms at least to try and wrap them around her neck loosely but all she managed to do was make her finger curl a little. "...I-I c-can't..." She mumbled quietly.

Aamori was still wandering around searching for that ribbon when she heard Hikari. She lifted her eyes up from the ground briefly and was about turn to look back at her but her eyes jerked back for a moment when she finally spotted the ribbon on the ground while she was looking to Hikari. She walked over to it and knelt down picking it up quickly. She then tied it around the top strap to her holster so that she wasn't going to be carrying it in her hand the whole way. She smiled slightly once the ribbon was secure and then started to hurry back over to Hikari. She hadn't really gotten too far so it didn't take her but a few moments to get back over to her. She smiled weakly when she looked at LaRae on her back and then looked to Hikari. "...Sorry, we can go now." She said quietly.

Kyran laughed softly when he was told to shut up, at least Celestine had the energy to do that much for the moment; Though it did sound like it was getting harder for him to speak. He glanced back down at him for a moment when he said that they should go and nodded. "Don't worry, we're leaving." He said before he started to walk back towards Hikari and the other girls. When he reached them he didn't stop walking, he continued past them obviously in a slight hurry to get out of here. He did glance to them briefly. "Hikari, if you need me to slow down at any point just let me know."

Hikari smiled weakly and glanced back to LaRae. "It's alright...I've got you." she told her softly. She glanced over to Aamori and then looked down to the ribbon with a half smile; she'd seen it in Celestine's hair earlier. She nodded to her when she said that they could go now and then glanced to Kyran with a nod as she started after him. "I think I'll be fine." she said simply as she booted LaRae up a bit to get a better grip on her before she got too far into the woods.

Celestine just sighed softly and nuzzled his head against Kyran's chest weakly, trying to just get comfortable and make the best of the situation. He swallowed hard and side glanced toward Aamori as Kyran started past her. He was really starting to feel like a sloth, even breathing felt like too much effort on his part. His head still ached and his vision was continuously blurring and doubling on his. His hands and feet were growing numb, and it was slowly creeping up his limbs to the rest of him, and his hands and feet were already getting cold to the touch. He tried to pull his arm back up to rest across his stomach after a few minutes, but he couldn't seem to make it move. He almost panicked when he realized that he was losing his fine motor skills. His eyes widened slightly and he tried to move something else, curl his fingers, wiggle his toes, something, but he couldn't even curl his big toe. "...K-kyran..." he choked quietly. He was partially only speaking to make sure that his voice still worked. Celestine could safely say that he wasn't afraid of death, but the prospect of dying scared the hell out of him and the realization that death was a very high probability right now was really starting to unravel his nerves.

LaRae continued to rest against Hikari's back. She felt silly having to be carried, period. But she certainly couldn't walk herself. She tried to move her head a little and found that she couldn't even do that. She was officially mentally kicking herself in the ass for using so much energy. She'd even managed to use her energy on a different scale all together because the roots that she'd made come up from the ground were at least doubled in their usual size. She blinked slowly a couple times while she relaxed a bit. "...T-thank ...you..." She mumbled lastly, sounding extremely tired.

Aamori looked over at Kyran when he started to walk past and then her eyes fell down to Celestine. She turned her head away slightly after seeing him and then started to walk after Hikari once she started moving. Even though he was alive, she still couldn't help feeling that it was her fault that he was hurt in the first place. If she'd just moved away like Kyran had afterwards then the outcome may have been different. Even now she wasn't even sure why she just stood there. She gave a heavy sigh while she stared at the ground, following after Hikari.

Kyran had been trying to get out of this forest as fast as possible. Though he kept to a brisk walk rather then a run like he would have, if he wasn't being followed by the girls. He glanced back over his shoulder every so often just to make sure they were still behind him. He knew that they needed to get out of here and find someplace to take Celestine. He wasn't really sure where to go though. If they had been in Radha he'd have just gotten Taro to look at Celestine but he wasn't in his territory so he really wasn't sure where to go. He looked down at Celestine again when he heard him choke out his name, he briefly thought of asking where he should take him. "...What is it?" He asked. He couldn't tell that Celestine's hands and feet were cold, and he certainly couldn't tell that he'd lost the ability to move them.

Hikari glanced back to LaRae again and half smiled. "Don't mention it... Just rest." she said softly, "You did good, LaRae." LaRae had done a whole hell of a lot more than any of the rest of them could. They could have been there all day trying to get through her scales or before one of them could stroke at her underbelly. She glanced back to Aamori for a moment and then shook her head slightly. She could guess how Aamori was feeling right about now; she hadn't been too happy when Kyran jumped in front of Nerian's attack for her either, but of course Nerian wasn't poisonous, so that probably made it even worse on Aamori.

Celestine was quiet for a moment. He felt like he wanted to scream or cry or...he wasn't really sure what he wanted. "...N-nothing....n-never...mind..." he whispered quietly. There wasn't anything that Kyran could do besides carry him, really. He really didn't want to just lay there with nothing more to concentrate on than the fact that he couldn't move his arms and probably wouldn't be able to move much of anything pretty soon. "...Will....you...talk....to me...?" he asked quietly. He really didn't care what about. Kyran could start spouting off about the weather for all he cared, he just wanted something to listen to.

LaRae finally grew too tired to stay awake and shut her eyes after hearing Hikari tell her to rest. She'd finally just given in and passed out.

Aamori continued walking with her eyes to the ground. She was still being quiet too, of course. She hadn't even noticed when Hikari glanced back, though she probably wouldn't have acknowledged it anyway even if she had seen her. She absently started to fidget with the end of the ribbon that she tied to her holster, eventually she just tugged it lose and started fidgeting with it in her hands.

Kyran looked at him long enough to hear him say never mind and then looked back ahead of him to where he was walking. He glanced back down for a moment when he heard what he asked. "...Uh.. sure.." He said quietly before lifting his eyes again. He wasn't really sure what to talk about, he guessed Celestine didn't really care about the topic but nevertheless he was still unsure. He was quiet for a minutes before he settled on something. It wasn't much of an interesting topic though, but it was the only thing he could think of at the moment. "...I do apologize ahead of time for not thinking of anything better to talk about." He paused and gave a soft sigh. "My sister really hates my job." He commented. "It keeps me away from home for weeks on end, even a month or two depending on the clients. Minako tries really hard to be accepting of it though. Since she was old enough to start learning how to cook she'd try and make this meal that our mother always used to cook for us. It was my favorite thing that our mom made. Minako has attempted to cook it every time that she knew I was coming home..." He paused and shook his head lightly. "She's never been successful. It's been so terrible that Nobu even stuck his nose up to it."

Hikari watched Aamori for a moment before she looked ahead of her again to watch where she was going and then sighed softly, just trying to keep up with Kyran and not drop LaRae. Since she wasn't holding on to her she was trying to lean forward a little so that she was in less danger of falling off of her back. She blinked when she heard Kyran talking about Minako and wondered what brought that on. She couldn't even hear Celestine's voice from where she was; he was too quiet.

Celestine didn't really care what Kyran chose to talk about, so he just nodded his head weakly when he apologized. He listened silently to what he said and let out an almost nonexistent laugh when he said that Nobu turned up his nose at Minako's cooking. If whatever she was cooking had meat in it, he had a feeling he knew why, but then again she could be one of those people that could even ruin a fruit salad. He slowly tilted his head up a little to look at him, though all he saw by how was a blur of color. He wanted to comment, but he could barely even concentrate on half of what he said, he only gathered bits and pieces. He was trying his best to stay awake since he was half afraid of going to sleep but he'd already managed about all that he could. He refused to close his eyes even to blink, but the poison bad already numbed his arms and legs and rendered them useless, now it was working on other parts of him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could fight it; he was already struggling to make himself keep breathing, mostly because the air was only poisoning him further while they were in this forest. He finally spoke again, his voice barely even loud enough to be heard, ".....Please....don't....w-worry.......Sonia....." he whispered. That was the only request that he really had; he didn't want to be taken back to Sonia like this. He would have loved to go to Marius, but he would be unconscious or posibly even dead before he got there.

Kyran had some more he could talk about when it came to his sister but be paused and looked down at Celestine again when he just barely heard him speak. He had thought briefly that taking him back to Sonia might have been a good idea, but now that Celestine had asked not to worry her he had to think of somewhere else. He was quiet for a moment while he thought, only to think that Marius would be the next best bet. He gave a light sigh as he glanced back down to him for a moment. "Don't worry. I won't take you there." He said softly. He was starting to notice the air was beginning to be easier to breath, they mustn't have been too much farther from the end of the forest. He turned slightly then stopped to look back to Hikari. "...He's steadily getting worse." He paused. "As soon as we're clear of this forest... I'm going to rush him back to Marius." His eyes shifted slightly to LaRae and then back to Hikari. "I trust you can get everyone rounded up and headed back to the village?" He asked before turning back and continuing to walk again.

Celestine let out a quiet sigh of relief and then leaned his head back against Kyran again, trying to just relax. He guessed the fact that he was about out of it was obvious based on what Kyran said to Hikari. He didn't really know how bad he looked, but he felt horrible.

Hikari looked back to Kyran again when he turned and paused for just a moment when Kyran stopped and looked back to her. She looked at Celestine for a moment and then nodded to him when he asked if she could get them back. "Yes, of course." she said quietly when he asked if she could get them back. She was pretty sure she could at least find her way back to the village once they were out of here.

Celestine was able to stay awake at least while Kyran walked, but by the time they reached the ropes again he couldn't move at all. He was still breathing shallowly, but that was the only movement that came from him. His eyes were still open, but they were so glazed over that he couldn't really see much of anything around him, though he could still hear what was being said. His head started to slip away from Kyran and fell back, hanging limply off to the side. He felt the panic rise in him again and tried to say something to Kyran, but all he managed was a gasp.

Kyran passed the roped trees soon enough and stepped out into the area where they'd originally started from. He paused for a moment and looked around at Nobu, Nanashi and then Nero. He started over towards Nero but paused again when he noticed Celestine's head fell back. Seeing that only worried him more then he already was. He knew the trek back took them roughly two days of walking, he hoped to be able to cut that time at least in half if he flew; Maybe even shorter if he really pressed himself to fly at his fastest. He continued over towards Nero and looked down at him for a moment before he knelt down, propping Celestine against his leg long enough to slip the swallow from his shoulder with his hand now that it was free. He set the weapon down on the ground expecting Nero to get the picture; He wanted him to carry it back for him. He then stood back up after taking hold of Celestine again, though he made sure to hold him so that his head was propped up a little rather then letting it lay limp. He didn't bother saying anything and then started walking back the way they had originally come, at least until he got to a decent enough opening in the trees that he could fly out. He then paused only long enough to extend his large wings, then flapped them so hard to get airborne that he stirred up a large puff or dust. He cleared the trees easy enough then started back towards the village as fast as he possibly could.

Aamori had looked up from the ground and the ribbon she was messing with long enough to peek over at Celestine before Kyran had turned around. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes were right back on the ground. When they finally made it out past the roped trees she'd started to retie the ribbon to her holster again. She side stepped out from behind Hikari and watched as Kyran got ready to leave. She wanted so badly to say something, anything, but she couldn't get herself to say anything. She choked every time she started to open her mouth to say something. She sighed heavily when she saw Kyran had extended his wings and watched as he left. She was glad that they had someone in the group who could move as fast as he could, she just hoped that Kyran could get him to help fast enough.

Nero lifted his head when he heard someone step out of the denser forest. He'd dozed off himself a couple times but for the most part he'd been awake keeping his eye on Nanashi. He looked over when he saw Kyran coming closer to him with Celestine in his arms. He quirked a brow slightly and thought about asking what happened but when the swallow got set down in front of him he just kept his question to himself. It was obvious just by looking at Celestine that something bad had happened to the guy and Kyran was going to take him somewhere. He gave a slight nod of his head as Kyran started to leave and then he got to his feet dusting himself off slightly.

Hikari hurried to keep up with Kyran the best that she could, though by the time they'd hiked all the way back LaRae was starting to get pretty heavy. She fell behind him a little, but she never let him get out of her sight, and she kept glancing back to Aamori to make sure that she wasn't losing her; she knew those sandals were probably giving her hell in there. She stopped a little ways away from the ropes and watched as Kyran started to take off and then sighed softly. Good luck... she thought as she watched him leave. She knew that he was fast, but from the look of Celestine she still didn't know if he would be fast enough. The boy's eyes already looked useless, the only way that he could tell that he was still alive was because of his breathing. Once Kyran was gone she sighed and finally started over to where Nero was and sighed. She didn't bother to put LaRae down...mainly because she didn't want to pick her back up again, and she wasn't about to ask Nero to carry this one. "...How is he doing?" she asked quietly, glancing over to Nanashi.

Nanashi was still asleep, but he was doing much better now at least. He was breathing fine, though when he woke up he was probably still going to have a headache and sore throat for a while.

Celestine didn't move at all, not even an eyelid when Kyran put him down. The only think that he could make work right now was his lungs, and that was almost a strain. His head just fell against Kyran's chest again when he picked him up again and tried to support his head.

Kyran wasted no time at all in picking up the pace of his flying. He could fly at some pretty amazing speeds if he really tried to. Once he started moving faster he glanced down at Celestine for a moment before shifting him slightly. He wasn't so sure that Celestine could move too much but he didn't want to take the chance of having the air smack him in the face. At high speeds the air smacking into one's face could be so sudden and unexpected that it'd make you lose your breath if you weren't paying attention. At least that had happened to him a few times which was why he tried not to fly this fast that often.

Nero looked up and over to Hikari when she neared and asked her question. He looked at LaRae on her back for a moment before looking down to Nanashi. "...He's been asleep since we got out here." He paused. "He doesn't appear to be doing badly right now." He turned his eyes back to Hikari. "...And what happened to her?" He asked referring to LaRae. His eyes eventually trailed over to Aamori, she sure looked depressed which was unusual for her. He wasn't even sure he wanted to ask about her.

Aamori wandered over with Hikari when she started towards Nero. She only stayed there for a moment before she moved more towards Kyran had taken off from. She stood there quietly with her hands at her sides and stared up through the trees where they'd left from. Right now she was wishing that they weren't so far from the village. She was going to hate the following hours since she wouldn't know how Celestine was.

Celestine easily went in whatever direction that Kyran moved him. It was a good thing that Kyran thought to turn his face away from the wind; he was having enough trouble breathing as it was without the wind's help in making it even harder. He knew that they were in the air and that he was headed back toward Marius's house, and that was all he cared about. He'd rather have him holding him that to burden Kyran. He already wanted to apologize for being such a pain, but he couldn't find his voice anymore.

Hikari nodded slightly in response to what Nero said about Nanashi and then glanced back to LaRae. "She's alright... She just overexerted herself." she said quietly before looking back to Nero. "She killed the hydra... It's scales were too hard to our weapons to do much. Celestine was bitten after he pushed Aamori out of the way... LaRae used her roots to put it in a choke hold and stab it until it let him go. She used all of her energy." she said in a quiet, almost monotone voice. She was obviously still a little distracted. Normally she probably could have made the explanation a lot longer, but that was actually a pretty short answer compared to the way that she normally chattered. "We need to start heading back." she said quietly.

Nero gave a slight nod to Hikari after she went into a brief explanation as to what all had gone on. Well that explained everything, even a bit as to what was up with Aamori. He nodded again when he heard her say that they needed to start heading back. He then moved over closer to Nanashi and knelt down, he didn't bother trying to wake him to see if he could walk himself. They obviously were going to be in a slight hurry so it was going to be easier and faster to just pick him up. He took hold of him and as gently as he could slung him up over his shoulder again, making sure to cross his arm over his legs again. He still hadn't bothered to check to see if he'd woken the guy up or not. Frankly he didn't care. He then moved to the side of the tree and took hold of the spetum before turning back to Hikari. "...If Aamori would come over here and carry the swallow, then we can leave now." He made sure to say loud enough that she could hear him.

Aamori was still standing there staring up, at least until her ears twitched and she heard what Nero said. She gave a heavy sigh and brought her eyes down before turning around walking back over to them. She figured the least she could do was carry the weapon since everyone else's hands were full. She walked straight over to it and knelt down so that she could pick it up. She stretched her hand out to grab it and hesitated for a minute before she finally just grabbed it and stood up right again.

Nobu had already gotten to his feet and wandered over to the group by the time Aamori had started to pick up the swallow. He'd listened in on all the conversation since they got back and was prepared to leave himself. Once he reached them he just stood there for a moment looking up at all of them. He stood for only a moment longer before he started walking past them headed back towards the village.

Nanashi was still out of it when Nero pulled him, though he groaned and opened his eyes slowly when he found himself hanging upside down again. His head was pounding and it wasn't helping too much that he was upside down. He tried to raise his head slightly to see what going on. He cleared his throat quietly and looked down to Nobu since that was about the only thing that he could see more than their feet. "...What's...going on?" He asked in a still hoarse voice. He didn't know why he was being carried again, he was pretty sure that he could walk if someone had bothered to get him up. Of course he wasn't going to whine about being carried, but he did wan to know what was going on.

Hikari looked over to Aamori when she walked over and took the swallow and then glanced down to Nobu before she looked to Nanashi. "...We're heading back to the village." she told him as she started to go after Nobu. She sighed softly and lowered her eyes to the ground ahead of her as she walked. She was worried about Celestine as well, she was probably going to be until she could get some news on how he was doing. She glanced back to make sure that Nero and Aamori were coming as well and then turned back around again.

Nero watched when Aamori came over and picked up the swallow and then heard Nanashi's question. He started to follow after Hikari when she started off. He was quiet for a moment before speaking, directed towards Nanashi. "...Since you're awake, let me know when you're ready to do the walking yourself."

Aamori stood there quietly until she watched Nobu walk off, then Hikari and finally Nero. She gave a light sigh and turned to follow after them. She was trying to keep her mind on anything other then what had gone on just earlier. She was finding it harder and harder to focus on anything but that, especially since she was very worried about Celestine.

Nobu continued walking, only pausing briefly once he got a couple feet going to see if the others had followed him. When he saw them he turned his head back and continued walking. He'd seen how bad Celestine looked when Kyran carried him through, and he was pretty worried about him too. He would've probably taken off running after Kyran when he left but he didn't want to leave the rest of them. Not to mention he was aware that he couldn't run as fast as Kyran could fly.

Nanashi groaned again quietly. "...You can....set me down whenever you want..." he said quietly. He wasn't too sure how fast he would be, but he didn't really want to make Nero carry him for too long if he didn't have to. The last thing he wanted to do was bug Nero and get him mad at him.

Hikari was quiet as she walked, hurrying after Nobu as quickly as she could with the extra weight on her back. She was just trying to be careful not to trip over anything while she walked since she knew if she fell on her face right now it wasn't going to be just her nose that she busted. She looked back over her shoulder again when she heard Nero speak and then sighed softly before she continued forward. "...Just out of curiosity.... would it be any easier or faster if we just flew?"

Nero paused almost immediately when Nanashi said he could put him down whenever he wanted. He shifted his hand with the spetum in it and then stabbed it into the ground so that his hands were free and then reached up and pulled him down from his shoulder. He then set him down on his feet; He was a little less concerned about being gentle with him since he was awake. Once he had set him down he reached over and pulled the spetum from the ground and then stepped around him and started walking again. He looked over at Hikari having heard her question. "Flying would be easier, and faster of course." He paused and shrugged lightly. "...But the last time I checked one of us has a little trouble in that department."

Aamori came to a stop when Nero did and watched for a moment as he set Nanashi down. She stood for a moment, at least until Nero stepped around Nanashi and started walking again. She just looked at Nanashi briefly before she started to follow after Nero once more.

Nanashi took a step back when Nero set him back on his feet and raised his hand to his head for a moment, rubbing his temples. "...Thanks..." he croaked before clearing his throat. He watched Nero start around him and then finally turned around to follow after them once Aamori passed him, though he stayed almost right beside her. He sighed heavily when he heard Hikari's question. He barely felt like walking, let alone trying to fly.

Hikari glanced back to Nero and sighed softly, "Yes, and we have one unconscious... but I really don't think that Aamori wants to wait another two days to know how Celestine is and neither do I..." She sighed softly, "I could change forms and carry everyone that needed a ride." she said simply. "Of course I would have no gripes with you riding as well, but I somehow have a feeling that you'd rather not." She was clearly pretty impatient to get back to the village if she was willing to go through all of that just to get there faster.

Nero gave a slight sigh after listening to Hikari. He couldn't say he was in all that great of a hurry but at least two of them were along with Nobu. "...If you'd really rather do that, then I'm not going to stop you." He said with a slight shrug. Though he wasn't too keen on having to look at her giant sparkly dragon form. She was hard enough to look at in the sun as it was. He glanced away briefly. "...And for everyone else's sake, if they all go along with this then I will go quietly." He was actually against taking a ride from any light dragon, but considering the reason behind it he'd be able to go along with it. Just this once.

Aamori wasn't too thrilled at first to have heard the mention of flight, though she was a little relieved to hear the following offer of Hikari changing forms. At least that way she wouldn't have to strain her own wings trying to keep up with them, well, she'd have to stay in the air first. She briefly glanced over at Nanashi having noticed that he practically beside her. She started to open her mouth, to ask him how he was feeling but stopped when she couldn't even get that to come out of her mouth. She gave a small sigh and lowered her eyes back to the ground while she waited to see what they were going to be doing.

Nanashi glanced over to Aamori when it looked like she was about to say something and then tilted his head slightly when she didn't make a sound. He could tell that she was pretty down just by looking at her, so he just reached over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder lightly for a moment before he pulled it back again and looked back to Hikari again.

Hikari nodded slightly. "Alright then..." she said finally as she stopped walking. She looked back to Aamori and Nanashi for a moment and tilted her head. "Is that fine with you two?" she asked simply. She didn't really see why anyone should have a problem with it, once they were on her back she would be doing all of the work. "...I'm just going to need someone to hold her for a few minutes...and my bow."

Nanashi looked at Hikari for a moment and sighed softly, giving her a slight nod. "...Okay." he said quietly. He had no quarrel with the plan...other than he wasn't so sure about touching a dragon in it's true form, but since it was Hikari he...guessed it would be alright...maybe. "...What about Nobu?"

Hikari just sighed. "...I guess if someone could make a trip...."

Aamori lifted her eyes momentarily when she felt Nanashi's hand on her shoulder briefly. She just glanced over at him and then looked back over to Hikari and gave a slight nod once she stopped walking. She didn't have any gripes with the plan, so long as she wasn't having to wait two days to see how Celestine was doing.

Nero came to stop once Hikari had and then stabbed the spetum into the ground again before walking over to her. He didn't say a word while he put his hands on LaRae and started to pull her off of Hikari's back. Once he'd taken LaRae from Hikari he shifted her slightly and then slung her over his shoulder. He might have carried her in front of him, but he didn't really want to be that nice. Let alone she was unconscious so it really didn't matter how he carried her. He then held his hand out waiting for her to hand him her bow. "Your bow."

Nobu hadn't noticed right away that the others had stopped walking. It took him a moment but he'd glanced back seeing they'd stopped and turned around walking back over to them.

Hikari's eyes widened slightly when she felt LaRae falling away from her back, "Oh!!" she tried to grab onto her better until she realized that Nero was taking her and she wasn't falling. She sighed softly in relief and then looked over to him again when he asked for her bow. She slipped the bow over her head and then handed it to Nero. "Thank you." she said simply before she started backing away from the lot of them into an area where there were a few less trees. "...And you might want to turn around, Nero." she warned him before she closed her eyes and opened her wings. Her entire body began to shine with a brilliant white light as she lifted nearly a foot off the ground. Her body then began to shift and extend and her clothes seemed to just vanish in the light. Her arms and legs shortened and her hands and feet lengthened into clawed toes as scales overtook her now snake-like body and fine white hair with a touch of silver sprouted all the way down the length of her back. her wings grew in size and she curled up slightly on the ground as the shine faded. She sat there looking at the others with those bright shining eyes and let out a soft, cooing sound when she was ready for them to get on. She laid her head down on the ground and sighed softly. The blue gem was clearly visible in the center of her forehead like this, and her scales as well as her crystal-like horns were shimmering in any light that filtered through the trees. She groaned quietly. Trees... this was going to be fun trying to get in the air. She already wished she'd thought to change after she was in the sky rather than before.

Nanashi squinted when Hikari started to change and then looked away, only because she was too bright to stand to look at for long. When he heard her make a sound he looked back again and stared at her, a bit aw struck. She was a beautiful creature even in this form, though he still wasn't too sure about riding on her back. Dragons in their true form tended to make him extremely nervous. They had really big mouths and really sharp teeth. Hikari wasn't quite as big as most dragons were in their true form, probably because she was more long and slender than anything. Even still he caught himself taking a step back whereas he meant to take a step toward her.

Nero took the bow from her as soon as she handed it over and just as she said he should turn around he did. He already knew he stood a good chance of being blinded if he watched, or attempted to rather. He gave a light sigh when he heard the noise she made and then turned slightly to look back at her. He still had to lift his arm slightly to block his eyes from shimmering. He certainly wouldn't be able to look her dead on in that form without some sort of shield over his eyes. He glanced back for a moment to look at Aamori and Nanashi and shook his head lightly when he noticed that Nanashi had taken a step back. If he was stepping back at just the sight of Hikari then he could only imagine how he'd have reacted if he had changed forms instead. He shrugged lightly and then shifted LaRae's weight a little while he tried to hold onto her, the bow and then pluck the spetum from the ground as well. Once he had everything he moved closer to Hikari and stretched out his wings for a moment before flapping them hard enough to get him up off the ground and onto her back. He touched down gently, regardless of all the extra weight. He then knelt down for a moment, setting down the weapons long enough that he could slide LaRae from his shoulder. He laid her down and then picked up the weapons again and held onto them while he glanced back towards Aamori and Nanashi waiting for them to hurry up and get on Hikari's back.

Nobu watched when Hikari changed, he was probably the only one who didn't have to look away. Though that was only because he didn't have eyes. Once she had changed and Nero had already gotten up onto her back he started to move a little closer to her, trying to think of how to get onto her back without aid from someone else. He only had to think about it for a moment before he saw her tail and thought that would work. He wasted very little time in dashing towards it and running straight up it lightly, and onto her back. He slowed down a little once he was up and walked over to where Nero was and sat down.

Aamori turned her head away when Hikari started to change forms and then glanced back when she too heard the sound she made. She stared at her for a moment. She'd never seen a light dragon in their dragon form. Well, she hadn't seen any other dragon forms except for water dragons and that was mostly because she lived a relatively sheltered life up until this trip. She smiled weakly and then it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. She thought Hikari's dragon form was really pretty, though she thought her dragon form was prettier. She glanced over when she noticed Nanashi had taken a step back. She turned slightly and reached out to grab his arm to keep him from going back any further. She just looked at him for a moment. She wanted to tell him it was alright, that Hikari wasn't going to bite him but again she couldn't get the words out. She couldn't explain what was wrong with her voice right now but no matter what she wanted to say it just wasn't coming out. She finally just let go of his arm and then started over to Hikari. She paused when she reached her and then outstretched her wings. It wouldn't be that hard to get up onto her back, thankfully. It took her a couple tries but she managed to get herself up off the ground and onto Hikari's back as well.

Hikari waited patiently for everyone to get on though when she glanced back to Nanashi she sighed softly and then turned her head to look back when she felt something running up her tail. She chuckled slightly when she saw Nobu running up onto her back; her laugh sounded almost like little bells. She watched Aamori get onto her back and then looked back to Nanashi again and let out another of those soft cooing sounds before she laid her head down. Come on, I'm not going to hurt you.... She thought he knew better than to be frightened of her.

Nanashi looked down to Aamori's hand when she grabbed his arm and then watched her walk over to Hikari. He swallowed hard when he saw her looking at him again and finally took a timid step forward. He walked up beside her slowly and then just stood there looking completely unsure about the idea of touching her. Most dragons weren't one to give rides anyway, and Hikari was a royal no less. He was half wondering if he would get in trouble later if someone figured that out.

Hikari softly when she realized that he was just standing there and turned her head again to look at him, slowly so she didn't scare him. She gently nuzzled her head against him and purred softly trying to coax him into trusting her and just getting on. Apparently being half dragon didn't tame any fear of dragons that he might have had, of course she guessed he probably had good reason to fear dragons in this form.

Nanashi stiffened when she nuzzled him and then relaxed when he heard her purring. He looked over to her and lightly placed his hand on the bridge of her nose before he backed up slightly and opened his wings and flapped them a couple of times before he lifted into the air and touched down on her back, kneeling down beside Aamori. He sighed heavily once he was situated and folded his wings again before looking down as if he couldn't believe that he'd just done that.

Hikari finally looked around, trying to find an opening in the trees big enough that she could fit through. She let out an annoyed grumble that probably could be easily translated to 'I hate trees!' and then started to weave around until she found a good opening. It was a good thing that she was smaller than some dragons, because most of the openings were small anyways. she let out a soft cry to tell everyone to hold on and then opened her wings and flapped hard a few times. It was hard enough for her to take off without a running start in this form anyway, but all of the extra weight wasn't helping a whole lot. Finally she managed to get into the air and shot up through the trees, closing her eyes and she broke through a few branches. Once she was over the trees she shook her head and glanced back to make sure that she hadn't lost anyone. She grumbled again as she started forward. 'I could have made things so much easier if I'd gotten up here first...'