We're selfish aren't we...? All because you seem to know what you're doing, and we didn't want to be alone. Korai's wings had lowered at his revelation to Krinn, his body pretty much hugged the ground. He was embarrassed and still scared that Krinn would leave, but at the same time, he was morose at the thought of holding Krinn to them against the elder wolf's will. And Kenji wasn't exactly easy on you, and... You're not mad that we didn't let you leave, are you? I know you don't really want to be here... He was starting to cry, but he couldn't stop just yet, he had to get it all out before he lost his nerve completely. I know you don't want to be here, but if you leave, can you at least say goodbye first?

Merisa had awoken to the sound of wings and the slightest clatter of the dinner tray. Now, as she stayed against the wall on the floor, she watched as the little dragon baby lay before Krinn, crying for all he was worth. She didn't know what was going on, as she couldn't hear what Korai was saying to Krinn, but she did know that Krinn isn't the one that made the dragon start crying. It must have been something he'd said to Krinn. Shifting her tail so it wasn't cramped into the corner, she relaxes again, and watches to see what happens.

~X~

His new bath didn't take nearly as long as the last one, and he was clean and smelling fresh in no time, even though his skin was wrinkled and his fur was matted funny. The blue fur on his chest and stomach had darkened, stained by the black NyteFyre blood. It was a dark blue, more appropriately colored to his black fur, with a slightly indigo look to it. Interesting. Goes good with the lighter blue on the tail. He was looking himself over completely in the full length mirror that was in the bathroom opposite the tub. Tail, legs, wow, the hair on my head is still hair, but everywhere else is fur? Very interesting... Though the hair does mix in with the fur... I wonder if I'll lose the hair when the change is completed...? He was dried and dressed moments later, and heading down to the lobby to order food for their breakfast.

"She would kill me...." was what the sleepy Yuzo mumbled in response to his dream before the Great Dragon had left it. But as time in the dream world was perceived differently than that in the waking world, his answer was already hours off from when he had heard the question. But that was just how dreams worked. Having talked himself awake, or at least awake enough, the prince moved his bright green eyes to the window behind barely open eyelids. The sun wasn't even in the sky yet and already he felt it was too bright for him. However, he forced himself awake and slowly dragged himself to the showers after grabbing his new clothes. He didn't say a word to anyone or maybe he didn't register the fact that they were there. His mind was still foggy from the vestiges of sleep and Yuzo wanted nothing more than to return to that comfortable bed. After closing the door behind him, he turned to the tub. It seems whoever had used it last left some stray fur to line the insides of it. No matter. He rinsed it off before getting in himself. Hot or cold, being immersed in water always had the same effect on him. Now he was awake and alert. He sighed contentedly and finished up after about fifteen minutes. After putting on the blue-green and gold clothes that Kiyoshi had given him, he left the bathroom, ready to start the day.

"Nothing will happen to us because you're with us, Krinn. Alderan basically said as much. He said the 'game', or whatever, was with you." Merisa knew she should have kept silent, let them keep thinking she was still asleep, but she wanted to apologize too. "We just wanted to protect you from him, and elves can't do much against a tiger, but another tiger might have stood a chance..." She wasn't crying, but her voice did sound sad. Not for what she gave up, nor for what was lost, but for what happened after. "I'm not sorry that my actions progressed this change, Krinn. Sure, I'm not an elf anymore, but I'm not a monster either. And I'm not stopping this quest for the stone. I am sorry for not trying to stop Kenji sooner though. I know you could have fought back, but I don't understand why you didn't."

Kiyoshi was also awake, just listening from where he lay on the bed to all the separate voices in the room. I don't belong here with them. Why did I try to enter their lives like this? I'm not going to do anything but bring bad luck to them. No one wants a NyteFyre around. He turns to face the door, looking away from the window or the ceiling, judging the distance and whether he had the strength the make the leap. They were nice, I don't want them to be hurt because of me. Just because the Great Dragon thinks I can help, doesn't mean I really can, he's just a dragon like any other. He doesn't know the future any better than I do...

Korai crawls next to Krinn, curling up beside him for comfort. I don't want you to go. You're my friend. He was still crying, but a little easier now, hiccuping every now and then.

~X~

"You caused a horrible ruckus last night, dog."

"What were you thinking by beating the crap out of that man??"

"Did you really think we would let that slide, freak?"

"Gentlemen, please don't harass the Inn's guests..." The innkeeper's voice was drown out in the various calls to war that surrounded Kenji in the lobby. "Sir, please put down the sword..."

"Silence pencil-neck!"

"It was your inn this freak tore up, and you're defending it?"

"You have pretty fur. I want it."

Kenji, of course, had gotten himself into trouble. Again. He'd gone down to order some food for himself and the others, a variety of meats ranging in how they were cooked, as well as fresh fruits and garden vegetables for Merisa and Yuzo if they wanted them, and a bowl of little fishes for Korai, should he want them.

"Please, gentlemen. They've already paid more than enough for any damages and food when they checked in." The innkeeper surveys the 'damage' caused by Kenji, not hardly seeing more than scrapes and other things that are easily gotten rid of. "You're all doing more damage now than what he caused last night. Please stop?"

Kenji was backed into the stairwell, his hands up in a gesture of 'harmless', not that the angry mob was listening. "Guys, come on, it's not like any of you got hurt. It was an argument between my friend and I. Everything--" Anything else he was going to say was cut off by a random dagger being thrown into the wall just inches from his head. "O-kay... So you're not listening. I'm going to start running for my life now, alright?" He doesn't wait for an answer, not expecting one, and takes off up the stairway once more.


((I'm totally loving the 'wysiwyg' posting options. Very cool. Side note: What, you thought Kenji would be able to do something without causing a lot of trouble?))

"Looks like you guys were having another intense heart to heart." Yuzo said, having noticed Korai was crying again. He hadn't heard the conversation they were having before but could only guess it was about yesterday's events. "Where's Kenji?" he asked, looking around the room. Soon, his ears picked up the sound of someone running up the stairs. It was faint at first but the scuffling kept getting closer and closer. The Water Dragon turned his eyes towards the door and looked to the hallway past Krinn. He had his suspicions but didn't dare take them seriously.

Kenji, who's ears were burning for seemingly no reason, wasn't merely running up the stairs, he was yelping every time he looked behind and saw a human there, or whenever an arrow or knife whizzed by. Once on the top floor, he bolts through the door, doing his best to barricade it quickly, and tears off down the hall. The angry villagers pounded on the door that was tied shut by a sheet from a maid's cart that was sitting near the exit.

"Run! RUN! Gotta run! Grab your stuff, we gotta run!" He was in the door, nearly leaping over Krinn and Yuzo in his panic. Snagging Korai, he plops him on his shoulder, picks up Merisa and holds her in place till she's standing on her own, and runs into the other room for the sword and anything else they might need, not that he finds much. "Run! Time to run! Come on guys, we gotta go!"

Merisa, who was trying her best to not burst out laughing, watches Kenji as he runs around like a wolf with a bramble in it's tail.

"Does that mean I should get up?" Kiyoshi was sitting up on the bed, looking between Merisa and Krinn, since Kenji was moving too fast to focus on for too long. As he sat up, he grabbed the dragon healing band before it fell, holding it out to Yuzo. "I think this is yours. It's too big to belong to the green dragon."

Said green dragon was doing his absolute best to cling to Kenji's shoulder, his tears and hiccups forgotten, as he tries effortlessly to stop the rampaging elven wolf. Kenji, what's wrong??

"Thanks." Yuzo said, taking the headband from Kiyoshi and hastily tied it back around his forehead. He watched as Kenji ran around in a frenzy before hearing Krinn telling them to lock the door behind him before facing the wolf-elf's pursuers on his own. "Wai-" started but gut cut off by the closing door. "Just don't kill anyone alright?" he called out in the end. He hoped Krinn didn't have any intention of eating the enemies when he meant breakfast. "Where should we go Kenji?" he asked, turning back to the pack leader.

"Go? Run!" He was reduced to stupid answers in his panic. "Must run, must go, gotta run now!" While it was unlikely that Kenji would ever have instincts of a wolf, he was on ease like a cornered wolf would be, only instead of getting violent, he's panicking.

"KENJI!" Merisa couldn't stand the frantic bouncing around that Kenji was doing. She'd grabbed him by the shoulders, pinning him effectively to the wall while poking him in the forehead with her tail tip to accentuate her words. "Calm down and tell us what we are running from!"

"Angry mob followed me upstairs. I went down to order some food, hoping I could make a deal with the innkeeper, but they were down there waiting for me. More than twenty of them, all armed to the teeth..." His panic had broken, his eyes shooting around the room in a new type of panic. "...where's Krinn...?"

He went downstairs. Korai, who was grateful that Kenji wasn't bouncing around the room like a pup stung by a bee, was perched happily on Kenji's shoulder, trying not to cut the clothing he wore.

~X~

"Why you insolent little~"

"~pretty mouthed boy~"

"~teach you to hide~"

"~criminal of the law~"

"~mob justice doesn't solve~" The innkeeper had followed them up the stairs.

"~a lot of good against~"

"~a pretty pelt of my own!"

They were all talking at once, most demanding that they be allowed into the room to tear apart the black/blue wolf, some demanding a piece of his fur, and the rest simply looking for a fight.

"We should probably back him up..." Yuzo suggested, already moving towards the door. But before he could reach it, he heard the unmistakably angry yell of Krinn's voice. "Then again, maybe he's already got things covered....?" he added, blinking before turning to Kenji. "Your call leader." He grabbed his staff by the doorway and prepared himself for whatever decision was made. Fight, flight or both, he'd already made up his mind to stick with this odd pack.

"Boy, who in hell you think you talkin to? We look like bunch of chicks to you?" It was the one who'd made the 'pretty mouth' comment. He was licking his lips as he approached Krinn, towering over him as he raised his arms to bring down on Krinn's shoulders. He had a thick 'out woods' accent, like that of a person who only went to town once a month and then only to trade services for money or fabric. "Ought teach y'lesson, whelp."

The rest of the angry mob had pushed forward again, all but pinning the foul breathed hick against Krinn, pushing them into the wall.

~X~

Kenji looks around the room, looks at the ceiling, then looks at the walls as best he can from where Merisa was pinning him. Reaching up, he snags her tail mid-poke. "I have an idea. I'm thinking they need to make this room bigger, if you get my meaning."

"You want to dig into the wall opposite of the bathroom? Are you nuts? We'll fall out the side of the building." Kiyoshi was off the bed, tapping and knocking the wall to either side of Kenji. "Wait, it's hollow back there."

"You can't tell me I'm the only one that remembers what the innkeeper said. We were put at the end of the hall, furthest from the stairs for a reason." He was still holding the tiger tail in his hands, but it wasn't a fierce grip he had on it.

Pulling her tail from Kenji, Merisa looks into the bathroom and then to the other room. "Can't we just open the window, hide in the other room and let them think we jumped out the window?"

"It would be easier than destroying the room..." Yoshi was poking the wall as he spoke, not really paying much attention to what he was doing to the wall.

Kenji shakes his head. "The innkeeper said he'd put us here because of the stairs to the roof. You've been in the hallway. There's no stairs to the roof out there. I think they're behind this wall." He pats the wall he was still leaning against. "We just have to get to them."

"What about Krinn, though? We can't leave him..." Merisa was looking to the door now, fretful about leaving the cursed wolf behind.

The agonized scream was nearly drown out by the angered shouts of the rest of the mob. The only reason that weapons weren't thrust into Krinn was because of the pervert in front of him. If nothing else, the town took care of their own, and stabbing them repeatedly just to get to an abusive youth wasn't the way to care for them. Of course that idealistic crap would probably prove to be their downfall.

The perv's other hand, that had been on Krinn's shoulder, reaches behind him to hit anything he could reach. Had he been able to think clearly, he would have grabbed something and pulled, but he was merely thinking of survival at that point. When the agony moved from his shattered arm to his shoulder, he screamed again, the pain clearing his mind like coffee never could. He reaches for anything his questing hand can grab, and pulls, hoping to do the 'pretty boy' some form of harm.

The mob surges forward again, redoubling their own efforts at trying to attack the cursed wolf all at once. Had any of them considered letting one person go forward at a time, they might have had the room to attack and wear down the cobalt-haired male. Instead they all thought the same simple word with no clear way of figuring out how to make that one word come true: "Kill".

The sounds of a sword being drawn could be easily heard to the side of Krinn, the blade tip appearing from seemingly nowhere as a gangly man steps out of the crowd. "Now listen here, son. I never much gave a damn about that fool, drunk scum he was, but y'can't just go around killing people like that."

In all honesty, the guy couldn't use the sword he held, having never learned. If one looked at the blade, they'd see how badly chipped the blade is, evidence of misuse. Holding the sword with too straight an arm, he was jabbing the tip at Krinn, trying his best not to get too close, having seen what the not-so-pinned male did to the 'drunk'.

Across from sword-boy, another male steps out with a knife in hand, and leaps at Krinn, trips over the fallen drunk with the broken neck, and impales himself on the sword.

"How can you defend that walking rug?! He was beating the snot outta you!" It was a burly man, someone who looked like he did nothing but manual labor day in and day out ever since he was old enough to walk. "Come to think of it, how was he beating the tar outta you, yet we can't lay a hand on ya and survive..."

The innkeeper, who was hidden behind the angry mob, finally manages to push his way through to where Krinn was standing. "I'm so sorry for all of this. I tried to stop them downstairs. I tried to explain to them that you paid more than enough for any and all damages, but they wouldn't listen."

The innkeeper's eyes widen briefly before taking on a slightly humored look, as though he were enjoying a private joke that he'd just thought of. "Very well, I'll inform the maid staff to avoid this floor until your party has departed. I thank thee for your business. Please consider leaving one of their coin purses, as the wife would like a new scarf these coming holidays." With that, he bows and disappears in the throng of morons, dodging reaching hands that meant him harm at his comments.

The guy with the sword glares at Krinn, yanks his sword from it's impromptu sheath, and leaps over the bodies before him, bringing the sword down. Being the inexperienced moron he was, he clearly forgot that he was in a hallway, not a field. He was reminded quickly when the blunted scarred blade bounced off the wall above Krinn's head, knocking the attacker back from the force. He lands on the upraised knife held by the impromptu sheath to the sword that caused his death.

The burly man groans and looks away from the recent addition to the dead on the floor. "That hound has fur, boy. How can that pup be your brother?" He shakes his head, not thinking that what he was saying could be seen as insulting. "Hounds belong in collars. Move aside and we'll tame your dog for you."

"I'll handle the wall, you guys get Krinn." Yuzo said, trying his best to ignore the cries of pain emanating from the stairway. None of the voices were the wolf's but he still worried. Pouring himself a bucket of the now ice cold water, he turned to the three. "Make room please, I'll need as much space as I can get. My dragon form isn't exactly as compact as Kiyoshi's" he said with a small smile. In his natural serpentine form, he would be about 44 feet in length and six feet in diameter. His change would be quick so he would have to get up and out to the rooftop after busting through the wall if he didn't want to damage the hidden stairs.

Kiyoshi steps in front of Yuzo quickly, holding his hands up. "Please, prince. Allow me. It's the least I could do for you all, and my claws are sharp enough to cut the plaster quickly. I know you wouldn't want to risk accidentally crushing one of your friends if they aren't out of the way fast enough." He bows his head, knowing he had no right to ask the royal dragon for the favor, even if he felt it was better suited for the lowest dragon in the room to do the manual labor.

Kenji, who was focused on the door, pulls Merisa into a far corner, just in case Yuzo went dragon too quickly. "I feel like I should go out and help him."

"But then they'll attack you, and he's the better fighter." She winces when Kenji shoots a scathing look at her, but she still looks at Kenji with worry clear in her eyes. "We'll get him when he's done. I get the feeling we don't want to see him now anyway."