Crimsen frowned, watching the neko jump and easily land on his feet, from a fall that would break his bones. He unfurled his leathery wings that looked like part of his clothes when folded up, and glided down to where Lovett stood. "I am impressed, Your... I mean Lovett," he said with a smile. "Come now, we aren't safe just yet." They were on the outskirts of the slums, next to where crime was an everyday thing. As they walked away from the city, the went past several huts which were broken and falling apart. The smell of rotten meat assailed Crimsen's nostrils as they past a corpse, possibly a wolf that had starved to death.

He led Lovett through these huts, knowing that sooner or later they might bump into a wolf. Sure enough, the last house they passed was occupied. The wolf emerged as they passed, its rotten teeth making drool drip from its muzzle as it lunged forward to grab Lovett. Crimsen pulled out a blade and cut off its paw, turning to face it as it howled in pain. Blood squirted everywhere and Crimsen laughed, stabbing the wolf through the chest. "We must go..." He could hear others coming to investigate the noise.

Dusting his hands free of the dry dirt, Lovett watched Crimsen glide down gently, a more controlled fall than his own had been. He'd never seen someone with wings, and it was beautiful. Large, leathery things that he'd originally thought to be an addition to the clothes he was wearing, some form of cape or cloak. Smiling gently back, he crept after Crimsen, keeping as near as possible without overcrowding the other creature, Vladis as he called himself. When a heavy, decomposing odor reached them, Lovett pressed a hand over his nose and mouth and tried not to breathe at all.

He heard it first, the shifting in the hut near them, and as soon as the ragged, feral wolf lunged he spun away, but couldn't avoid a stream of blood that splattered onto his exposed arm and left cheek. Shaking his head, he backed away and into Crimsen and heard shuffling and shifting, more wolves coming to see what the commotion was as they darted off and away from the dead one.

They managed to escape the slums without any more violence, finding their way through a rocky wasteland and to the cave Crimsen had called his home as he had spied on the city. He easily found his way into the depths of the cave, which was hidden from the outside by several large boulders. The only way to see it is if you were looking for it. He used his echolocation to find his gear, sighing as he rested upon a chair and looked up at Lovett.

"I can light a fire, if you wish. I am sorry if my noises are hurting your ears. I have learnt to keep it to a minimum around your kind... We... We are rather blind." Vladis were built for the shadowy night and could barely see at all in the bright world of the day. They used echolocation to find their way around the world and basic eyesight, which could only see a few colours. "You must have so many questions, Your... I mean, Lovett..."

Lovett kept barely a pace behind Crimsen, more or less clasped against the creature that had saved him not long before, and then again just a moment ago. He couldn't pause to wipe the blood off his skin and it felt heavy, like a parasite clinging to him. As they left the slums behind at last, finding their way to a quiet little place among boulders that hid the entrance to the cave from view. He blinked, letting his eyes adjust and show him the interior of the cave. When that noise---echolocation screeches that were so high they felt like glass in his ears---came at him again, Lovett grimaced and shook his head.

Settling on the ground near where Crimsen was, he blinked. "I can see, it's okay." He replied quickly. In the dark, perhaps Crimsen would take his mask off. "I do... have questions. So many questions---you have no idea..." Sighing, Lovett wiped the wolf blood off his face and grimaced. The stuff felt almost diseased. Maybe it was; or maybe it was his contempt for the wolves.

Crimsen slowly took off the gas mask he wore over his face, placing it carefully on a flat rock next to him. He hoped his appearance wouldn't scare Lovett. A lot of nekos he had rescued were afraid of his face. His nose was pushed back like a Bergu's, his sharp fangs protruded slightly and his blood red eyes were small. His pointed red tongue went across his lips as he eyed the blood on Lovett. "Ask anything you want. We will be leaving for the mountains at night."

He pulled out a packet of red liquid from his pack he had stashed in a small hollow in the wall of the cave. "I have food if you are hungry," he mentioned, draining the weak blood from the packet.

Lovett shook his head, getting onto his hands and the toes of his feet and creeping forward. There was the mysterious face behind the mask, and it was very odd. Different. He smiled, feeling that it was almost involuntary. "Oh my... You're rather peculiar." He said, and his tongue felt heavy as he spoke, slurring his words slightly still. A good amount of alcohol still remained in his bloodstream and he could still feel it working on his brain. "Very cute, though. Are those... fangs?" He took another step and stumbled into the wall to his side, sliding down into a sit to wrap his tail around him. "Ooooh my... That's bllllood, isn't it?" He licked his lips, but didn't pull his tongue back into his mouth. It was flat, like that of a cat, and slightly rough. "It looks... um... watery..." He made a face. "Doesn't it leave you hungry still?"

Crimsen smiled, trying not to laugh at Lovett's drunken state. Unfortunately the only cure for it was time. The poor neko would have to sleep it off. He nodded, licking his lips as well, eyeing Lovett's tongue. He might be thirsty. He pulled out a bottle of water from his belt, handing it to Lovett. "It's just water. You need some fluids."

"And yes, it was blood. I need it for energy. This stuff is weaker than what we usually feed on, yes. It gives me enough, but still leaves me thirsty." He leant against the cool wall and focussed on the cave entrance, keeping an ear out for any sounds of approach. "My kind eat meat, like yours do. Sometimes we like to have fruit for its sweetness."

Lovett squinted at the bottle, taking it and drinking whatever was inside. Water, he was told, but then, he was always told that. Nonetheless, he was surprised when he discovered there was no bitter taste in his mouth, and he smiled. "Ooooh... That's nice... No more... poison." He laughed, leaning down to set the bottle aside and falling over. "Yeah? Well..." He twisted onto his back and stretched. "Sooo... if you need any blood, I got it." He muttered.

The world was starting to do its dance, tilting here and there when he least expected it. He curled up on himself and turned to face the wall, closing his eyes tightly. Sleep. Sleep would take care of this sickening feeling. He curled his tail around himself and pressed his cheek into the smooth wall, eroded over time by water that had dried up long ago.

"I will once you aren't intoxicated," Crimsen muttered, watching the neko curl up to go to sleep. He put his gas mask back on, picking up a blanket from his pile of supplies and draping it over Lovett as he stepped cautiously from the cave. Even though Crimsen preferred the darkness of the cave, Lovett needed something to eat when he woke up. He moved over the rocks, keeping alert in case someone had followed them. He heard wolves howling in the distance, probably because they had found the slaughtered body of Eren. Served the disgusting creature right. It enraged Crimsen to think about what Lovett had to go through. He didn't even know there were others like him.

He found a hardy bush nearby, and saw rabbit tracks leading to a hole. He stayed low as he sighted a rabbit leaving the hole, striking fast to grab it and breaking its neck immediately. Pleased with the meat he had found, he took the rabbit with him back to the cave.

Closed off, Lovett slept and dreamed. At the forefront of his memory, manifesting in his dreams, was one of his many baths. He didn't hate water, but he hated the stuff when it was too hot. And Eren did love heat. He'd not allow Lovett to bathe alone, because he wanted to make sure every square inch of his skin and every strand of hair was scrubbed, gleaming and knot-free. He'd sit on the edge of the rounded basin and use a soft brush, pressing Lovett to his front and scrubbing his skin, running long claws through his hair to push soap and a gentle, conditioning wax through.

Lovett jerked awake when it got to be too much, and he struggled under something heavy. A blanket? He twisted around and sat up quickly, gasping and feeling a rush. Where was he? It was cool and had an earthy smell. He was in his day clothes, and had a pounding in his head that almost made him see stars. When it rushed back, Lovett felt dizzy, and he fell back against the wall as someone appeared. The mask. What was his name again? He blinked and squinted to try to remember. Crimsen. Yes, that was it. The Vladis. He blinked hard, feeling heavy, a headache pressing on his temples and making him woozy. "Uggh... I feel... not good..." He tilted over, curling back up on the blanket and working his hair out of the tight braid, allowing it to flow freely.

Crimsen frowned. It would take a few hours for the hangover to disappear. Some food and water would help the neko. "I caught some fresh food. I just need to wake up a smokeless fire..." He was certain that they were safely hidden from the wolves, and they needed fresh meat.

He skinned the rabbit easily with one of his blades, saving the cooling blood for later. Even though he preferred the sweet blood of nekos, he would be able to live on the rabbit's blood for a long while. He found his flint and woke a fire on some dry grass he had saved in his pack. The type of grass was found in the mountains, and it made a warm fire that didn't make too much smoke. He found a stick to spit the rabbit, his mouth drooling at the smell of cooking meat that entered his mask.

As the rabbit cooked, Crimsen dug back into his pack and found some more of the bitter root that he had given Lovett before. He handed it to the sick neko. "It will make you feel a little better, clear your mind."

Lovett offered only a small grunt in reply, not quite listening to what Crimsen was saying. Something about food, but he hurt and didn't feel quite good enough to eat for the time being. Closing his eyes to everything, he pressed a hand over his eyes and breathed out gently. Freedom was a curious thing. He wasn't sure if he liked it yet. Perhaps if he saw where he really came from, he'd love it more. Unless power became too much of a burden for him. What if he wasn't a good leader, like Crimsen seemed to think he was? Perhaps they wouldn't like a neko like Lovett making important decisions. After all, he had been used by wolves, taken advantage of, a slave in every sense of the word.

He watched the fire through his fingers, finally making himself sit up and shake away the slight dizziness that still clung to him. When something was given to him, he squinted to look at it and immediately recognized it as the bitter, awful thing that made him ill not long before. Just looking at it made his stomach muscles ache, and he dropped it, hissing violently. "No! That thing... No." Backing away, Lovett crawled onto a several-feet-deep lip of the cave above Crimsen's head and curled away. "I don't need it... I have a very fast metabolism, it'll work its way through soon. Without that thing."