LaRae was for the most part baffled by the look she received. Though after giving it a little more thought she could only assume that it might have had something to do with what Celestine had said before. It was pretty obvious that the guy had an outright dislike of her and her Clan. She only wished that she had known more on why he was like that, what could have possibly happened to him when he was younger that made him hate her kind. Unfortunately when they argued the other day, Celestine didn't give very much insight into the topic. He'd only brought up that thanks to her kind it didn't take much for him to become unconscious. She heaved a heavy sigh and decided to try and forget about it for now. There was no point in racking her own brain to try and figure him out. By the time she'd finally talked herself into ignoring the look she received she had noticed that Nanashi had looked back at her. She gave a small smile and started to follow after him.

Kyran didn't have too much to say once they started walking. He didn't want to take any chances bringing up a topic that could set Celestine off again. It was nice though to have him calmed down already. He couldn't help thinking that Aamori's slip and fall from the cliff was like a blessing in disguise. It served more then he would've normally thought possible. It cleared the air between most everyone, Celestine and Aamori got a chance to make up and then to top it all off Nanashi made good use of himself, perhaps even proving a little bit that he wasn't completely useless. Though, he never really thought that Nanashi was useless to begin with. If someone can be taught, then they are by no means useless. His attention was snagged when he noticed that Hikari was trying to catch up with him. He smiled softly and looked at her for a moment before turning his eyes back to following Celestine.

Aamori gave a soft sigh of relief when she noticed that Hikari had dropped the subject and was trying to catch up to Kyran. Ordinarily she might have done the same thing and hurried to catch up with Celestine. Though she had decided against it, at least for now. After everything that has happened the last thing that she thought she should do was go gluing herself to his side as if nothing at all had happened. She tilted her head a little towards the ground as she walked, straggling a little behind Kyran and Hikari. Her eyes barely lifted from the ground, she was focusing more on where she was placing her feet. It was obvious that she could be a little clumsy so she was trying her best to keep herself from tripping. It probably wouldn't take much to trip her up with the sandals she wore.

Nero didn't start to follow the others until LaRae finally got her feet moving. Of course he took up the rear as usual and he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder every once in awhile. He muttered quietly under his breath as he followed the others and lifted his arms then crossed them over his chest; His tail swaying side to side clearly from agitation.

Celestine lead them onward in silence, only speaking when and if he was spoken too and remaining quiet for the most part. It seemed the close they got to where he was leading them the shorter what few responses he gave became as if his mind was constantly elsewhere. Throughout the day he lead them further and further into the forests, breaking once just long enough that they could find something to eat. He again showed them a good variety of the fruits that grew around here, though he had forgotten to mention that they would probably want to peel the milshal berries before they ate them, of course he guessed they figured that out on their own. When they stopped to eat all he did was nibble on a small piece of tarka and wait for them to finish.

He then led them onward until dusk where he finally stopped at the edge of a decently sized clearing. "...We'll stop here for now..." He said simply. Honestly they weren't but another couple of hours from their first destination, but he really just didn't want to bother with it tonight. He just walked over to a tree and hauled himself into it without another word to anyone and just turned his gaze skyward as if he wished that he could just fly off and not look back. He knew how close they were, they could get there before it was too dark to see where they were going anymore if they tried, but he didn't want to try.

Hikari had been pretty quiet today as well, and kept glancing back to Celestine. It was almost as if she picked up on his uneasiness and just felt awkward breaking the silence. When they stopped to eat she was one of the first to bite straight into one of the berries and made a point to warn the others that hadn't already taken a bite that they might want to get rid of that peel first. She still had a bad taste in her mouth for nearly an hour after that little gambit. When Celestine finally decided to stop for the night she was a bit relieved. The ground here was by no means even and there were plenty of roots to step over and it was a little hard on the legs. "Celestine, how close are we?" she asked once he was situated int he tree, but he didn't seem to hear her...or if he did he didn't respond to her.

Nanashi just kept to LaRae as usual, though when it came time to eat he was more interested in the more familiar fruits like apples than the ones specific to this region. He kept up a little small talk with her when she felt like talking but otherwise stayed quiet. He glanced around a bit when they stopped for the night. He looked at Celestine for a moment, looking almost worried for him with the way he was acting, but he finally walked over to sit under another tree. He just wanted to know why Celestine acted like going to this town was like going to his own funeral.

Kyran like most of the others didn't speak much while they were walking; Not even a peep really, even when they finally stopped for something to eat. However a brief smile had crept onto his face at the reaction from Hikari biting into the berry. Once they were off again he was still rather quiet, though that was mostly because his mind was else where. He hadn't thought about it previously but he had hoped that Nobu had been smart enough to wait out the storm on his way back. He had an uneasy feeling that Nobu would've tried to press through it just to get back in a timely manor. Nobu was fast, and quite nimble but he wasn't superhuman; A storm like that could easily wreak havoc on the creature. He lifted his head a little when he heard Celestine say that they would stop here for now. He gave a soft sigh and glanced around for a moment, looking the area over. He decided to just go off to the side and sit down a little aways from where Celestine had planted himself. He remembered, thankfully to remove Mati and Ajara before he sat down; He set the twin blades down beside him then he brought his legs a bit closer to him so he could begin to remove his boots. The terrain here was a lot different from what he was used to, but he'd manage well enough as long as he took care of his feet.

Aamori unfortunately had a little trouble even with just walking in this territory. She was pretty sure if she was having issues here then she'd no doubt have trouble in Medini. After all that territory was bound to have even worse tree roots then the ones she was trying to get around here. She'd nearly fallen on her face a few times just because the straps on her sandals got caught on something while she was walking. By the time they got to stop for food she was ready to throw her sandals out and walk barefoot. Though she knew she couldn't very well walk any distance without something on her feet. She wasn't all that hungry and only picked at a berry while the others ate. Once they started off again she went right back to being quiet and trying her best to keep herself from falling on her face. Then entire time she couldn't help hating the fact that she could be so clumsy. She gave a soft sigh of relief when she heard that they'd be stopping for the night. She watched for a moment to where Celestine was going, then her eyes followed Kyran. She'd heard the question that Hikari asked, and looked back at Celestine as if waiting for him to answer her. She had a pretty good hunch he wouldn't, though everyone probably picked up on that too. She sighed again, she was almost positive that she knew where they were going. Given the mood that Celestine was in and his lack of speaking she didn't bother going to sit near the tree he was in; Rather she walked over towards the center of the clearing and plopped herself down on the grass. She'd looked around briefly and sighed heavily tilting her head down a bit; Disappointed to see yet another area they'd be stopping with no water readily available.

LaRae didn't eat a whole lot either once they stopped walking and took a break for food. She'd practically kept herself full of food the entire time they were at Kyran's so she wasn't too hungry at the moment. Once they started out again she still kept any talking to a minimum. She was rather preoccupied with the surroundings. She'd been enjoying all the foliage, especially since there was a lack of it in Radha. When they finally stopped again, for the night this time she didn't bother being concerned with the way Celestine was acting. She might have cared more if the guy hadn't treated her so poorly and hadn't spoken bad of her Clan. When Nanashi moved over to sit beneath a tree she followed but stopped just short of where he'd sat and laid down on her stomach in the grass.

Nero of course kept to himself the whole trek. Even when they stopped for food, he'd stood with his back to the others and kept an eye out. He didn't even stop long enough to eat anything. Though he had slipped a berry or two into his other bottom pants pocket as soon as he got the chance. He'd started to get a little uncomfortable after noticing that the presence that had been following them changed a slightly. It wasn't quite as noticeable now and it definitely seemed a little more swift in it's movements. He turned slightly and started to follow after the others again when they moved out. Again, walking with his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his eyes constantly turning to look behind him. If one was paying enough attention to what he was doing they might think he was being a little paranoid. When they finally came to a stop for the night he grumbled lightly under his breath and stepped over to a tree right near where they had stopped and rested his back against it. He wasn't ready to go alarming any of them, but the thing following them was starting to get a lot closer and quite quickly.

Hikari walked over to sit beside Kyran once Celestine had decided to ignore her question. She sighed as she sat down and started to remove her boots as well and then lightly leaned against Kyran's side. She was pretty tired already and half ready to go to sleep. Since he hadn't been with them long, she barely noticed Nobu's absence, so she forgot to even inquire about it. After a moment she looked up to Celestine again and sighed softly. "Celestine...where are we going?" she asked softly.

Celestine's ear twitched slightly at Hikari's question. He clearly heard it this time, but he still didn't offer an answer. Finally he brought his gaze back down to earth and glanced over to her for a moment. "...Home." he said simply before looking off through the trees again. He said the word almost as if it were foreign to him, like he hadn't thought of the place as home in forever. What was home if there was no one to come home to? Sure there were people there who knew him, relations even, but none of them could ever come close to comparing to his real family. He sighed again as his ears laid back slightly. He probably looked almost pitiful to look at when he had that forlorn expression in his eyes. He really didn't want to go back here, at least not yet. He wasn't quite ready, but he guessed for time's sake he'd have to.

"Oh..." she said softly. She looked at him for a moment and then laid her own ears back slightly. "I see..."

Nanashi turned his eyes away from Celestine long enough to watch LaRae lay down in the grass. He smiled slightly and gently rested his hand on top of her head for a moment before letting it slide down to her cheek. He then pulled it back to rest in his lap as he drew up one leg and propped his other arm on his knee. He glanced back to Celestine and then sighed softly, barely registering what had been said. All he gathered was that they must be going to Celestine's home town and he wasn't too thrilled about it.

Kyran glanced over at Hikari when she sat down next to him and then gave a soft smile when she leaned against him. By this time he'd removed his boots and his socks and set them next to his blades. He was trying not to move too much since she was leaning against him, but he'd brought one of his feet up into his lap as best he could and started to rub the sole. His ears twitched slightly at Celestine's reply to Hikari's question. He was a little surprised to hear him say the word 'home', considering the boy had been living on his own for a couple years. Not to mention the way it came out of his mouth. He just sighed softly, not bothering to say anything about it. Clearly it was an uncomfortable topic and he wasn't about to inquire any further then Hikari already had.

Aamori sighed softly and began removing her sandals. Of course she'd not been far enough away that she couldn't hear what Celestine said in response to Hikari. She already knew the answer to her question, she was a little taken back by the fact that Celestine actually called the place they were going 'home'. She could only gather that the fact he still called the town home, meant he still had some connection to the place or the people there. She didn't look back at Celestine, or any of the others for that matter and finally just laid herself back on the grass stretching out a little. Hearing Celestine say where they were going only brought back some of the bits and pieces of the dream that he'd shared with her. She'd been able to put it behind her for the time, and think about other things but given the way he said 'home' it all came flooding back.

LaRae merely smiled softly when she felt Nanashi touch her head then her cheek. She gently rubbed her head into the grass; She acted as if she'd never see it again. Though, not every territory had nice foliage that reminded her of home. She still wasn't paying very much attention to Celestine, though she couldn't avoid hearing the way he said 'home'. She gave a heavy and lifted her head for a moment to turn it the other way. She thought for a moment, curious to know if the thing that happened to him when he was a child had something to do with his home town. If that was the case then it would explain his tone and his actions. She sighed again and proceeded to rub her cheek against the grass again. She doubted that she could get any answers to her questions and now, certainly wasn't the time to try asking Celestine about it.

Nero continued to stare off the direction that they had come from. He momentarily moved his hand to brush his hair from in front of his face and then rested his arm right back where it was previously; Crossed tightly across his chest. The presence he was feeling had increased it's speed yet again and by the feel of it the thing would be here in mere moments. He turned his head for a moment to look in Kyran's direction. "...When did you say Nobu should be back Kyran?" He asked in a rather cold, stern voice. He then started to turn his eyes back to look in the direction he felt the presence; Though just as he was turning his head his eyes barely caught glimpse of something purple shooting past him and into the clearing. Almost immedatly he pressed himself off of the tree and turned towards the clearing, rather alarmed until he saw the thing come to a stop not too far from Aamori. He settled down slightly when his eyes rested on Nobu. He felt silly now, for getting so worked up over Nobu. But that certainly wasn't the presence he had felt before, the one previous to this one was a lot stronger. He started to go back to leaning against the tree but happened to notice that it didn't look like Nobu had the relic. He quirked a brow slightly and just shook his head before moving back to lean against the tree.

Nobu had darted right past Nero leaving a smaller then usual wake of dust. Clearly he wasn't moving as fast as he normally would, but at least he was back now. He'd come to a stop near Aamori, startling her half to death. He stood there for a moment before inching closer to Aamori and sniffing her, then shaking his head lightly. He moved away quickly when Aamori started to reach out to touch him. Putting a couple feet of distance between him and her; Almost like he was scared of her. He then glanced around, pausing for a moment in Kyran and Hikari's direction and then again in Nanashi and LaRae's direction. He then walked over to Hikari and paused, sniffing her then shaking his head. Of course moving away again rather abruptly just in case she tried to touch him. He then started to move over towards LaRae finally and stopped just shy of her feet and then sniffed her too. He had four tails, and they each shot up and stood on end as if he'd found what he was looking for. He stood there for a moment before his tails dropped back down. He then moved a little and sat down acting like nothing had gone on.

Kyran was just about to answer Nero's question when he too caught glimpse of the purple blur that shot into the clearing. His eyes focused on Nobu but he quirked a brow and watched what Nobu was doing. He was a little confused as to why Nobu was sniffing the girls and fleeing afraid of them touching him. After all he had been around all of them before, and every one of them had touched him to his knowledge. Something was obviously up, especially because Nobu had a job he was to be doing and there was no relic anywhere in sight. Not to mention usually by now Nobu would've been resting with his head on top of the blades. "Hmm..." He shifted his glance back towards the blade momentarily before looking back at Nobu. Clearly in order for Nobu to be here a day early he would've had to go through the storm, so maybe the storm screwed a little with Nobu? He wasn't entirely sure. "Nobu... Come here." He said motioning the canine over to him.

Nanashi smiled slightly at LaRae and watched her snuggle into the grass and then glanced to Nero when he spoke. He nearly startled when Nobu came rushing into the clearing and watched as he went around to all of the girls and started sniffing them. When he stopped by LaRae and let his tails soot up he tilted his head slightly in confusion and then watched him walk away. "Huh... that was peculiar..." he muttered under his breath.

Hikari shook her head slightly and just continued to rest her head against Kyran's arm. She glanced down to his feet when he started to rub the soles. "Do your feet hurt?" He asked softly, though about the time she asked, Nero spoke over her. She looked over to him and tilted her head slightly before sitting up straight when Nobu came charging into the clearing again. She'd only barely noticed the canine's absence and thought he had probably just wandered off somewhere, though apparently he was supposed to have been doing something. When he came to her she tilted her head slightly and watched him sniff at her and then hurry away from her. "...What is he...doing?" she muttered when he went to LaRae.

Celestine turned his attention to Nero when he mentioned Nobu and sighed. He had barely even noticed that Nobu was gone and quite honestly couldn't say that he cared too much. When Nobu came rushing back into the clearing he watched him run around to each of the girls and sniff at them before moving away. He shook his head slightly and finally slipped off of the branch, landing in a crouch below it on the ground. He looked at Nobu for a moment and then sighed. "What are you doing, Nobu?"

LaRae didn't move much when Nobu had come into the area, let alone when he went around sniffing the girls. She did finally roll over onto her back and then sit up a little before looking over at the creature. She looked Nobu over for a moment before quirking a brow and glancing over at Nanashi. "...Doesn't he have an extra tail?" She asked quietly; Mostly because she didn't want to feel silly for being wrong. Maybe the canine did really have four tails and not three like she was remembering.

Nobu didn't respond right away when Kyran told him to come. He just sat there staring at him. Though his ears laid back a little when he heard Celestine ask what he was doing. His attention shifted over to Celestine and he clearly hesitated in saying anything back to him, rather he just kept quiet. His ears twitched slightly when he heard the comment that LaRae had made. If he had eyes clearly he'd have been showing a worried expression as he tried to wrap two of his tails together tightly to make it look like there were only three.

Aamori had by now sat upright again and was staring curiously at Nobu for a moment before her eyes trailed over to Celestine when he came down from the tree. She sighed softly and finally just laid right back down. She was kind of curious to know why Nobu had gone around sniffing people he already knew, let alone only the girls but she figured she'd know sooner or later considering how many of the others were already inquiring about it.

Kyran looked at Hikari with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm not sure..." He said quietly. He was surprised that Nobu hadn't come when he was asked to. Usually he was really good about listening to what he was told. He shifted his glance back over to Nobu and then started to stand up. "...Something isn't right." He said quietly, by now having noticed the same thing that LaRae had. Nobu didn't have four tails, he only had three. Now that he thought about it a little more, Nobu was a little slower then he usually was and he even looked a little smaller, and more slender. The size differences weren't too noticeable, but since Kyran had lived with Nobu for so long he knew the creature pretty well. He focused on Nobu again and gave a small sigh. "Nobu, come here. Now." He said again sternly.

Nobu rather slowly turned his attention back over to Kyran when he commanded him again. He just stared at him like before and didn't budge. In fact he turned up his nose and looked away. 'Stupid boy... I don't come like that obedient mutt, Nobu...' He muttered in a rather feminine voice. Though if you didn't have the gift you wouldn't be able to hear what was said. After he said that he turned his attention over to Celestine briefly. He'd nearly forgotten that the boy had asked him a question that the others hadn't heard, so he'd probably have heard what he just said. Of course he hoped that wasn't the case, the last thing he needed was to be found out so easily.

Nanashi looked over to LaRae for a moment and nodded and then glanced back to Nobu. He saw the forth tail, even though he was trying to hide it. He also noticed the way that he kept turning his nose to at Kyran and ignoring him. "...Yeah...somethings up..." he said quietly.

Hikari blinked when she saw the way that Nobu was acting. "...Are you sure that's Nobu?" she asked quietly. "...He looks...different." she did notice the extra tail, now that she looked again, and he did seemed a bit well...just off in general. She didn't know exactly what it was, but even besides the tail he seemed different to her. Of course she couldn't point it out exactly since she hadn't been around Nobu that long.

Celestine narrowed his eyes, also noticing the extra tail and the way that the creature was trying to hide it. He knew for certain that his suspicion was correct when he heard the animal speak in his mind. "This is a girl...this isn't Nobu." he said as he stared at the creature. He glanced back to Kyran for a moment and then back to the creature. "What are you doing here? Who sent you?" He demanded silently. He never took his eyes off of the large purple creature. He somehow had a feeling that wasn't even her natural color. It looked almost fake if you stared long enough and with the way she wouldn't let anyone touch her that definitely didn't help the case. Whoever this one was she did a poor job of pretending to be Nobu.

She growled lightly a bit peeved that Celestine had been able to figure her out so easily. Though, she too could be to blame for slipping up and speaking mentally when she was told not to. She turned up her nose yet again, though this time in response to Celestine's demand. She had no intention of telling him anything, especially who had sent her. She was supposed to do a simple infiltration, gather some information and then return before the real Nobu got back. She hadn't been informed of what to do should she be figured out, so she was sitting there still. Maybe the others wouldn't believe what Celestine was saying.

Kyran gave a heavy sigh and crossed his arms over his chest lightly before glancing down at Hikari. "...It isn't Nobu." He said just about the same time that he'd heard Celestine say the same thing, and comment that it was girl. He'd noticed nearly every difference between Nobu and this fake, though he hadn't quite thought it was a girl. He then glanced over at Celestine with a quirked brow. "...How exactly do you know it's a girl?" He asked before looking back at what was supposed to be Nobu.

LaRae nodded slightly, something was definitely wrong. She was a little surprised to hear Celestine say that this Nobu was a girl. Before wondering how he knew that she wondered if creatures like Nobu could even be girls. She looked back at the creature and noticed that the tails that had been wrapped together had rubbed some of the purple color away. She quirked a brow seeing a slight golden brown color rather then the purple. She got onto her knees and crawled over reached out to grab one of the tails that was starting to lose it's color. She tugged on it to pull it out from behind the creature since it was hiding the tail to begin with. She pulled on it a little harder as she looked up. "It's not normally purple..." She commented quietly before starting to remove her hand. As she did the chalk-like paint was now on her hand rather then on the creatures tail.

She let out a horridly loud yelp when she felt someone pulling hard on her tail. She was extremely sensitive when it came to her tails. Her head snapped around, and before LaRae could completely remove her hand from the tail she'd sank her fangs into her arm while growling heavily.

LaRae yelped as soon as she was bitten. She hadn't expected to get bit since Nobu had been so nice, she kind of expected all of the creatures like Nobu to be nice. She also hadn't thought she pulled that hard on the canines tail. She started to tear up a little when she tried to pull her arm away from the canine. She clearly wasn't going to let go easily and every time LaRae tried to pull away the creature only applied more pressure. "That hurts!" She cried. "...Let me go!" Even with the pressure she continued to try and pull her arm away. She panicked slightly when she saw her blood coming from her arm. The damn creature was going to break something soon if she couldn't get free. She bit her lip when she realized the creature wasn't letting up, even when she stopped fighting it. She couldn't help but start fighting it again, trying to pull her arm free. On top of it she'd moved a little so that she could lift her leg up to start kicking the canine as hard as she could.

Gesa still didn't let go even when LaRae had started to kick her. After a couple hard kicks though she stumbled to the side a little but didn't release her arm. She'd had every intention of breaking it clean in half, though she couldn't help remembering at this point that she was told not to cause any harm to this girl specifically. Unfortunately she could care less, when the arm was broken she'd stop.

Celestine looked over to Kyran when he questioned him and nearly rolled his eyes. "You can check yourself if you want." he said simply rather than answer his question. He wasn't even going to go there. He side glanced to LaRae when she started toward the Nobu imposter's tail. "I wouldn't--" he started but before he could finish the creature had already yelped and turned on her. "...do that..." he finished lamely with a heavy sigh.

Nanashi's eyes widened slightly when the other canine clamped down on LaRae's arm. He'd noticed the change in her color as well about the same time that LaRae had but he thought it safer not to touch the thing. When LaRae started to struggle and kick at the creature he moved forward and grabbed her shoulder.s "LaRae, stop you're making it worse!" he said when the creature didn't let go as she struggled. He tried to get her to stop moving and then tried to grab the creature's jaws and pry them open, at least enough for LaRae to get her arm free. He wasn't quite as strong as a dragon but he was still nearly half as strong as a dragon would be in its true form, or he could be when he put his mind to it. "Let go!" he told the creature as he tried to pry her off.

Hikari stood up quickly when LaRae was bitten, but she stayed where she was. She didn't know what to do with the animal while it had a hold of her, but she knew that she would need to do something with it once it let go. It looked like if the thing kept up LaRae's arm was just going to snap.

After a moment Celestine stepped closed and grabbed the creature by the nap of the neck and pulled back. "Release her..." He said in a low, almost growling tone. "I can do a lot more than transmit words into your mind. Don't make me demonstrate." he told her. Honestly, he wasn't sure how well he could do what he was threatening, but he imagined he could transmit sound just as well as words if he tried. either way, it sounded good.

Gesa loosened her grip on LaRae's arm slightly when Nanashi started to pry her off. Given a little longer she'd probably have let go all together just to get the taste of his hands and LaRae's blood from her mouth. Her mouth had been pulled open enough that LaRae was able to start slipping her arm free; Though the second that Celestine grabbed her by the nape of her jaws clenched shut on LaRae's arm again, only in a different spot. She did that solely from reaction of being grabbed like she had. She growled right back after hearing the remainder of what Celestine had to say. 'I've been at this telepathic trick a lot longer then you've been alive boy. You can't threaten me with something I'm better at.' She muttered. Regardless, by this point Gesa had picked up on a very faint whistling sound, her cue to back off. The sound would be incredibly hard for the others to hear, but Gesa being the creature she was head it loud and clear. Her ears perked up and she started to release LaRae's arm slowly. '...Looks like my Master is going to let her keep her arm... What a shame...' She added lastly before letting go of the girls arm completely. She turned her head for a moment to stare up at Celestine, then yanked her neck free from his grasp. Any hair that would've been pulled from her neck when she got free by now had turned into nothing more the dirt. She lingered for a moment before turning up her nose and dashing off.

LaRae had stopped fighting just as Nanashi told her to and sat waiting for the moment to be able to pull her arm back. She started to when the canine started to loosen her grip, though the instant that she clamped down again she let out another cry as she felt the fangs dig into another part of her arm just a little further down from before. Once her arm was finally free she pulled it close to her chest and held it there tightly. She'd been bitten before by other smaller animals but there was something different about that canines fangs. Even though she wasn't being bitten anymore it still felt like it and even burned a bit.

Kyran watched what was going on with that other canine. He didn't bother going over to see if he could help out because both Nanashi and Celestine had already started to help. He just shook his head lightly when the canine finally let go of LaRae's arm and then took off. He sighed heavily. "...I should've known better..." He said quietly. "...Nobu was a lot like that before I started taking care of him." He paused. "They apparently start to take after the person who's caring for them, given time."

Aamori had barely moved at all during the whole mess, though when Celestine had walked over and took hold of the creature she'd stood up and watched. She was worried for LaRae and well, for Celestine and Nanashi too. If that creature was angry enough it could probably have easily bitten either of them. She was tempted to try and help but she wasn't so sure that she could do anything to help that wouldn't put anyone in danger. She was relieved though when the creature finally let go of LaRae and started to leave. She finally got her own feet in gear and wandered over to stand next to Celestine. "..."

Celestine pulled his hand down to his side when the creature jerked free of him. He kept a nice hand full of hair, but he did feel it change when he lowered his hand. After a moment he raised his hand and opened it, looking at his now purple palm and the hand full of dirt that he held. "...Dirt?..." he muttered as he let it fall from his hand. He looked back to LaRae again and knelt down for a moment, reaching out to her arm. He didn't concentrate on who he was tending to, just the fact that she was bleeding and he wanted to see how badly. He took her hand and pulled her arm out a bit and looked at it for a moment. "...Seems like you should know this thing better than us... someone is following you." He said quietly, "Or at least sending that thing to follow you..." He had just barely heard the whistle right before the creature had mentioned her master, though that was mostly just because his ears were so sensitive. He finally looked back to Hikari and released LaRae's hand. "This is your department." He said simply as he stood again and started to walk away. He looked back the way that the creature had run off and leaned his hand against a tree, trying to clean it on some moss from the bark.

Hikari nodded to Celestine when he said that it was her department Of course she knew that sh needed to come over there and heal something. She held her hand out to LaRae and waited for her to let her see her arm. "Here, let me see." she said softly. She was a little surprised at Celestine, but she decided not to say anything about it.

Nanashi stayed pretty quiet once the creature left and Celestine started talking to LaRae. It didn't take him long to think of someone who would do that. He looked back to LaRae and wiped the paint from his hands into the grass before placing his hands on her shoulders lightly. "...Are you alright?" he asked quietly, more or less whispering it into her ear.

LaRae was a little hesitant when Celestine knelt down and reached for her hand. She hadn't wanted to move it, just hold it tightly against her chest until the pain dulled. Once he'd grabbed her hand and pulled her arm out to inspect it she winced and didn't move again. She'd glanced away while he looked over her arm, though when he mentioned someone following her; Her eyes shot back over and she stared at him for a moment before giving a heavy sigh. "...I've never seen that creature before in my life." She nearly muttered. "And there isn't anyone following me." She stated as she pulled her arm back to rest it to her chest once again. She was lying, though when she wanted to lie she was pretty good at it. "If there was someone following us, how do you know it's after me specifically... And not someone else." She said quietly turning her eyes down towards her arm. She knew who was following her, she'd never tell any of them though. The last thing she needed was any of them knowing her personal business. She sighed again heavily and looked at Hikari when she came over and asked for her arm. It still stung and she was a bit hesitant to let her look at it, as per usual she didn't like having to get help from others. She looked at her for a moment and turned her eyes away before letting her arm fall from her chest then extend it for Hikari. She then glanced over at Nanashi when he touched her shoulder and asked if she was alright. She merely nodded her head lightly. She was as alright as one could be after being bitten. Though now she was wondering just how far away Renzo was and why he sent that thing out here instead of himself.

Nero for the most part had stayed glued to the tree he was leaning against even while the creature had bitten LaRae. He didn't even look in her direction until he heard Celestine mention that she was being followed. Of course hearing her deny it made him shake his head lightly and push himself off the tree. He moved a little closer to them and looked off to the side, at no one inparticular. "...Someone's been following us since Kyran's house. There's at least two. That creature, and probably the one commanding it." He paused. "That creature only recently started following us, the other has been behind us for awhile. Even through the storm." He commented. "Even the best tracker would have trouble catching up to us after that storm, especially since we flew a good distance. Some how, that person and creature has a way of finding us easily." He said lastly. He hadn't intended to divulge the information that he'd collected but since Celestine had announced what he already knew, he felt it best to share.

Kyran looked over at Nero when he started talking of this person and creature following them. He moved a bit closer himself and stared at Nero almost angrily. "You've known all this time and haven't told any of us?" He paused. "Don't you think that was important information that we all should've been aware of?" He shook his head and sighed heavily. "At any rate, we know now."

Nero turned his dark eyes to glare at Kyran. "It wasn't worth sharing with you unless I knew for sure." He commented coldly. "Why rile everyone up with unconfirmed information?" He paused. "Just be glad I even shared what I knew. It isn't my job to make sure you all know what I know and it isn't my fault if you all didn't notice the presence like I did." He scoffed before turning and walking back over to the same tree as before and sitting down on the ground resting his back to it.

Celestine looked back to LaRae when she asked how he knew they were after her specifically. "...Because that creature only showed interest in you." he said bluntly. "And I gather it's someone from your clan behind us since I can't think of anyone else that would have something that can turn to dirt in your hand." he reasoned. He looked a little irritated now as he glared back through the trees. He clearly wasn't too happy about having another earth dragon here that he couldn't see. He glanced over to Nero when he started to talk and then sighed when Kyran started on him. "It's not like it matters now. We know there's someone there..." he sighed. "There are other ways to track people...aside from the traditional method..." he muttered. He guessed LaRae must have something on her that would give away her location.

Hikari sighed as she listened to everyone else snip at each other. She gently took LaRae's arm and looked over the bites before placing her hand over them. She closed her eyes and let the faint white aura take over her hand as she started to heal the bites. She could have used the stuff that Kyran's uncle had given her but she didn't want to waste it on something like this. This was fairly easy to heal and didn't take a whole lot out of her so she thought she'd be better served saving that for something bigger. She opened her eyes again once she was finished and smiled weakly at LaRae before shaking her head. "Don't get into an argument, you two..." she said to Kyran and Nero when she heard the way they were talking to one another.

Nanashi sighed and watched Hikari heal LaRae's arm and then side glanced to Celestine when he said that there were other ways of tracking someone. He looked to LaRae again and gently slid hand hand down over her back to cover the mark there, though her hair already had it well hidden. He tilted his head slightly at her and raised a brow as if asking her if that was how he did it. He was clearly trying to be discrete in asking, so if she didn't catch it, he wasn't voicing the question. She may have already told him the answer to that, but he just wanted to confirm.

LaRae sighed heavily after listening to Celestine. For the most part she just wanted to ignore what ever he had to say, though that was mostly because she was afraid of getting angry and telling everything that she knew. She hated the fact that she knew who was following them, why and how. She looked at Hikari briefly when she finished healing her arm, returning the same weak smile. "...Thank you..." She said quietly. She then looked over at Nanashi when she felt his hand on her back. She noticed the way he was looking at her and gave a soft sigh and a gentle nod. She couldn't remember if she'd told him previously, but any of the elders or elder appointed men could track anyone with a mark on their back like hers. It was a pretty easy task and there was no way to hide the signal. Once she got the chance she wasted very little time in getting to her feet and moving away from everyone else without a single word. She pretty much walked directly across the clearing to the opposite side and stepped just inside the tree line and sat down. She glanced around momentarily before pulling her hair around in front of her, exposing her back and the mark completely. She lifted her hand and slid it over her shoulder to touch her back, just to run her finger tips over the edge of the marking. She had half hoped that there was some way to tell when Renzo was using the mark to his advantage. She gave a heavy sigh when she felt nothing, it just felt like a bare back.

Kyran lowered his eyes slightly and just dropped the subject. He didn't need to go arguing with Nero, especially since the guy had a point. He glanced over at Celestine, a little curious since tracking wasn't really his forte. "Other ways?" He paused. "Like what?" He inquired. He was a bit curious now mostly because he thought it nearly impossible to be able to track someone as easily as this person following them was. Also, why was someone following LaRae anyway? Just by the way that she moved away from the others made him think she knew something more then they did.

Aamori watched for a moment when LaRae got up and moved away. She thought of following her to talk with her, but she left so suddenly and without a word; So she thought better of it and would leave her alone for now. She gave a soft sigh and sat down where she was, staying quiet for the time being just listening to what everyone else was saying. At the moment she didn't really have anything to contribute to the conversation.

Celestine sighed softly when he looked over to Kyran again. "...Magic." He said simply. "There are marks that can be placed on someone that can be used to track them...though I'm pretty sure that the marks are for more than that. There are probably other ways that i don't even know about." he said with a shrug. "Ask her, she's the brain here." he said simply, nodding toward Hikari. "I'm sure she knows more on it than I do."

Hikari watched LaRae walk away and then sighed when she heard Celestine say something about asking someone else. It took her a moment to realize that he meant her. She stood up again and dusted herself off. "Well, Celestine, I'm glad that you put so much faith in my knowledge. Unfortunately, I know about as much on that subject as you do. The kind of mark you mentioned is the only other method that I know of, and I didn't even know those could be used for tracking. How did you learn that?"

Celestine sighed and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Intuition?" Honestly he couldn't even remember where he heard that. He'd heard someone talking about it at some time, but he couldn't remember who or where. For all he knew it could have been a dream that he heard it in, though with him those were nearly as accurate as a lie conversation.

"Right..." she said in a no nonsense tone. She shook her head and dropped it. Obviously he didn't care to tell her how he knew.

Nanashi sighed softly when LaRae nodded to him and then lowered his hand. He watched her get up and walk away from everyone else. He started to get up but like Aamori he decided that it was best to just give her a couple of minutes. He waited until Celestine and Hikari had finished yapping and then stood up again slowly and started toward where she'd gone almost timidly. He paused about halfway and looked ahead as if trying to debate with himself whether or not he should go on. He already knew everything that was going on anyway, or at least he thought he did. Finally he continued forward and stepped around the tree slowly. "...LaRae...are you alright?" he asked quietly. Obviously, he was no longer referring to any physical pain.

Kyran just stood quietly listening to Celestine and Hikari. He'd never heard of any markings that could do such things so of course he was skeptical. He glanced over at Hikari for a moment with a curious look on his face. "Since both of you know of these markings, have either of you ever seen one? Would you know what it looked like if you saw it?" He paused and looked from the corner of his eye in the direction that LaRae had gone, along with Nanashi now. "Could she have one?" He asked quietly.

Nero's ears perked up slightly at mention of this 'marking'. He too had never heard of such a thing, so of course after hearing them talk about it he too was curious now. Especially if that girl had one on her somewhere. If she did, that was like a constant beacon of their location and he didn't like the idea of someone always knowing where they were. He stood up and moved a littler closer to the others again so that he could hear better. If he heard that girl had a marking on her he'd probably end up searching her for it to see if there was some way to keep it from giving them away.

LaRae startled slightly when she heard someone coming near and quickly threw her hair over her back to hide the marking. She relaxed a little when she saw that it was only Nanashi. She glanced up at him for a moment and then lowered her eyes again. "Yes. I'm alright. It doesn't hurt anymore." She said quietly. She knew he probably wasn't referring to the pain but she wasn't exactly wanting to talk about Renzo and her marking at the moment. At least if she could avoid it.

Hikari sighed. "I...I've seen drawings of some." she said simply. She knew that LaRae would be furious if she told him that she'd seen a mark on her, so she was trying to avoid telling him either way. She didn't want to lie if she could avoid it, but she wasn't going to tell him. "...Now how would I know, Kyran? Honestly, you know that I'm not the one you should be asking." she said as she crossed her arms.

Celestine shook his head when Kyran asked if he knew what one looked like. "No, I've never seen one... but I do know they probably don't all look the same." He shrugged when he asked if she could have one. "...I suppose she'd about have to...if she doesn't whoever is behind us is just one hell of a good tracker." he said simply.

Nanashi nodded slightly and sat down beside her. "...Oh...well that's good...that wasn't what I meant, but..." He offered her a weak half smile and wrapped his arm around her gently. "...Just making sure..." he said softly. He knew she probably didn't want to talk about the mark or Renzo, so he didn't ask further. He already knew why he was following her, he wasn't sure what else she could tell him about it.

Kyran listened to what Hikari said and gave a slight nod before turning his eyes towards Celestine as he spoke. He nodded again slightly once he heard everything. "I suppose it would make sense that they were all different." He said lightly before glancing back over at Hikari. "It was a simple question whether or not you thought it possible for her to have one... A simple yes or no would've sufficed. And you answer me with a question..." He paused. "...Do you know something I don't?" He asked with a quirked brow.

Nero stood there silently while they spoke amongst one another. Though when he heard Celestine say that if the girl didn't have one then the person following was a good tracker. He scoffed. "No one is good enough to get through that type of weather on just their own skills." He said simply. Obviously he was leaning towards LaRae having that marking they spoke of. He only listened for a few moments longer. When Kyran started asking Hikari his question he'd turned and stepped away from them and started off towards where he saw LaRae go to. He'd find out one way or another. When he neared the tree she'd gone to sit behind he rounded the opposite side that Nanashi was on and stared down at LaRae. At first he didn't say anything, just looked her over for a moment. He didn't see anything out in the open so he'd have to ask. "Do you have some sort of marking on you..." He asked rather coldly and straight to the point.

LaRae gave a very faint sigh followed by a small smile. "I know." She said quietly. She shut her eyes gently and tried to relax a little. She was upset that Renzo sent that creature but there wasn't anything that she could do about it. The only other thought at the moment that plagued her mind was when did Renzo come into possession of a creature like Nobu and did that mean that he had the same weapons as Kyran. She tired to ignore the thought for now and started to look over at Nanashi, though her eyes never made it that far. She looked up at Nero a little surprised to see him near her. More so surprised at the question that he asked. Her eyes went wide for a second after he asked; How did he know of the marking? She thought the only people who knew were Nanashi and Hikari and she was positive that neither of them were going to go telling on her. She lowered her eyes after that and sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about Nero. A marking? Like what, a scar or something? I'm sorry to disappoint you but I've got no such thing on me." She of course was lying outright. She knew exactly what he was asking about.

Nero watched how she reacted and bit his lip when she couldn't look him in the face and tell him that. "Right." He said simply before reaching down and taking hold of her upper arm and pulling her to her feet. "If you don't have any such marking on you, then you won't mind if I check." He muttered yanking her closer to him so he could inspect her. He didn't release her arm, knowing she'd only move away. He started by checking her arms, even under them. When he found nothing there he moved to her torso and lifted up her shirt a little checking there too. He let go of her shirt as soon as she smacked his hand away. He just stared at her for a minute. "Don't worry, I'm not going to go removing your clothes." He muttered as he proceeded to check a few different areas that he thought might hold a marking. He was just about to call it quits before turning her around, of course he had to let go of her to do so but he quickly clamped down on her shoulder while he moved her hair to expose her neck. He'd thought lastly to check the back of her neck and shoulder blades. His eyes worked down her back of course with her hair out of the way he now caught glimpse of what looked nothing more then a tattoo. He couldn't see all of it because part of her shirt covered it a little. He quirked a brow and pulled down on the back of her shirt so that he could see all of it now. "...And here I thought you said you were clean." He commented before letting go of her shirt. He didn't let go of her just yet however. "I won't bother asking you what this is. I doubt you'll tell me the truth, so we're going to have someone else look at it." He muttered giving her no time to fight back. He still held tightly to her shoulder and started to push her out from behind the tree and into the clearing. He'd pretty much ignored Nanashi, especially since his business wasn't with the guy. Once he had her out into the clearing he pushed her forward a few steps finally letting go of her. "One of you who thinks they can identify one of those markings, come look at her back."

Hikari gave Kyran a look and then sighed and shook her head. "I probably know a lot of things that you don't Kyran." she answered simply. "Either way, why don't you try asking LaRae about it rather than me? I'm in no position to go telling secrets that aren't mine to tell." she said simply, trying to give him the hint that yes she knew but she wasn't going to tell. LaRae hadn't gone telling everyone her real name or status; not that it really mattered now since all but two knew, but even still she wasn't going to go telling on her. She blinked when she realized that Nero had walked off and then looked over to see him just as he went around the tree where LaRae was sitting. "Oh great..." she muttered quietly when she heard his voice, though from here she could barely understand what he was saying.

Celestine watched Nero walk off and then sighed. "...Well looks like someone's going to ask." he said simply. He doubted LaRae would be honest with any of them if they asked, except maybe Nanashi. He was fairly sure that Hikari knew already, but there was apparently no point in pushing her for an answer.

Nanashi smiled weakly to LaRae and leaned his head against hers for a moment. When Nero spoke he startled and sat up straight, pulling his arm back. His ears laid back a little when he heard the question that he asked LaRae. He was silent until he pulled her to her feet and then he stood up as well. "Nero, leave her alone!" he said when he started looking her over. He almost blushed for LaRae when Nero started to pull her shirt up. "Nero!!" He growled quietly in agitation. The guy was completely ignoring him like he wasn't even standing there. "Err..." He glanced to LaRae again when he started to push her back out into the open with the others and then sighed in defeat as he trailed a little ways behind, giving Nero a pretty sour look.

Hikari looked at Nero when he pushed LaRae toward them. She sighed and shook her head. "Honesty, Nero, do you have to be so rough?" she asked as she walked over to LaRae. She gently put her hand on the girl's shoulder and sighed, giving her a slightly apologetic smile. It was pretty obvious that she was standing between a rock and a hard place here. She wanted to be truthful, but at the same time she didn't want to betray LaRae's trust. She was kind of hoping that LaRae would just say it and let her off of the hook bu she didn't ask her to. She glanced back to Nanashi for a moment and had to suppress a laugh. She was pretty sure if looks could kill Nero would be in pretty bad shape right now. "...LaRae...you know what he's talking about?" she asked quietly.

Kyran turned to look at LaRae when he heard what Nero said. He shook his head lightly. He couldn't believe that Nero had gone and done that and now he was for the most part interrogating her about a marking. He sighed and started to walk over towards LaRae. Once he got over stepped next to Nero and stared at him. "...You didn't need to put her on the spot like this." He said simply and quietly. He started to turn back to stand near Hikari but paused and looked at Nanashi. Judging by the look on his face Nero mustn't have been very nice about asking. He continued over to Hikari and looked at LaRae waiting to hear an answer to the whole marking business.

LaRae had stumbled into the clearing being shoved by Nero the whole way. She was of course rightfully angry at him for all of this. The last thing she wanted was to be put on the spot about her marking. Though, she was pretty sure that no one really knew the extent of a marking, so maybe she could talk her way out of this and get the marking passed off as just a tattoo. She looked up at Hikari when she felt her hand on her shoulder and sighed softly. By look she gave, she was positive that Hikari hadn't said a word about her marking. She also knew Nanashi would never tell, so someone else in the group had to have some rudimentary knowledge of such markings. Her eyes trailed off to the side for a moment while she thought, but soon enough they'd rolled right back over to Hikari to answer her question. She hesitated of course between lying and trying to cover it up, or telling the truth. She was afraid of letting anyone else know, especially because if any of them knew it was what Nero was inquiring about them she'd have to eventually tell everything that the marking could be used for, and the downside to when she got too upset. She didn't want that to be used against her. When people knew she was usually treated with kid gloves, if not completely ignored and deemed a hazard. She looked at Hikari and couldn't help but try to lie her way out. "I told him already that I don't know what he's talking about." She paused, being stubborn as usual. "I personally think he's lost his damn mind, along with the lot of you if you're all going to go thinking that a simple tattoo on my back is this 'marking' thing you're looking for." She looked away from Hikari, off at nothing inparticular. She couldn't look at her and lie like that, especially knowing how hard it must have been for her to not say anything.

Nero was still ignoring Nanashi. The last thing he wanted was to listen to that guy, that little runt. He was going to figure out one way or another if that mark on her back was truly a marking like the others spoke of or not. He didn't say a word to either Hikari or Kyran at first, he just stood there with his arms crossed. "...If you don't like how I do things then someone else should've got the nerve to ask her about it rather then stand around doing nothing about it." He muttered. When everything went quiet again for a short period he gave a sigh and was about to open his mouth to say something, but LaRae had already started talking. His eyes narrowed when he heard her denying it again, claiming it was only a tattoo. By the way she acted when it came to it he really doubted that was just a tattoo. He stepped a little closer to her again. "I haven't lost my damn mind." He muttered quietly. "But ya' know you could lose a lot more if you're lying." He said practically in a whisper near her ear as he reached up to grab her hair. He took a hold of her hair and threw it over her shoulder then clamped down on her shoulder again so she couldn't get away. Then he proceeded to move his other hand to pull down on the back of her shirt again exposing the 'tattoo' as she called it. "So, which one of you is going to tell me whether this girl is telling the truth, or lying?"

Aamori had been quiet for the majority of what was going on, mostly because she could care less. Though she was alarmed when she saw Nero man handling LaRae like that. But she knew she couldn't do anything about it other then complain. She wandered over when Nero had exposed her friends back. She just stared at it for a moment and then moved to look at LaRae's face. LaRae was biting her lip, rather hard at this point. She sighed softly, clearly LaRae was upset and couldn't do anything. "...Nero just let her go." She said quietly. "She said it was just a tattoo, is her word not good enough for you?"

Hikari sighed softly when she heard LaRae deny it again. Of course she was going to try to pass it off and make things even more difficult. That girl had no idea how hard it was for her to lie to people she cared about, at least over something serious. "I see..." she said shortly. She still had her hand on LaRae's shoulder lightly, though she could just barely heard what Nero said to LaRae. She narrowed her eyes at him then and looked down at the mark on her back when he pulled her shirt down. After a moment she smacked his hand away from LaRae's shirt. "That's enough, Nero! What does it matter at any rate what the thing is!? Whoever is following us isn't hurting a thing back there, there's no need to keep pestering the poor girl!" she snapped at him as she put her arms protectively around LaRae's shoulders and pulled her away from Nero where her back was hidden against her chest. She gave Nero a pretty mean look as if she was daring him to try to lay a hand on LaRae again. "And don't you dare threaten her again! She has no more incentive to tell you her business than you did to let us know that someone was following us in the first place!" She told him, obviously extremely pissed at the way that he was handling LaRae. As calm as she usually was, she could tend to get extremely protective of people. She had a strong almost motherly instinct to her someone was getting pestered that way, she could tend to get pretty aggressive, at least verbally.

Celestine looked at the mark on her back for a few moments, at lest before Hikari went off on Nero. He sighed and crossed his arms. "...That is one strange looking tattoo... If that's all it is, why choose a design like that?" he said simply. "As much as she's denying it, I think she's lying." He said bluntly. "She wouldn't bother denying it so harshly if she wasn't. Not to mention she should be able to look at at least one of us while she says it." He glanced to Hikari and tilted his head slightly. "...But then you already knew it was there. You had to have seen it earlier when you were helping her get dressed after you and Aamori bandaged her wings. Right?"

Hikari huffed quietly and glanced over to Celestine. "Yes I saw it, but it's not as if I took a magnifying glass to it and studied it. I was a bit preoccupied with more important things." she said rather coolly. Obviously, she was no longer in her usual happy-go-lucky mood.

Nanashi just stood there silently, gritting his teeth together slightly. He was glad that Hikari was taking up for LaRae, because he didn't really thin he could. Nero could just backhand him and be done with it, and probably would if he said anything to him. He didn't like the way him or Celestine seemed to be accusing her of something when she had no control over the thing on her back.

Nero scoffed and practically turned up his nose at everything Hikari was jabbering about. He didn't really care what she had to say. However he did grumble when she smacked his hand away. He was starting to get annoyed with his hands being smacked. He turned his head away to keep himself form glaring at Hikari. "The person following us hasn't done anything yet." He muttered. "That person could just be sitting waiting for us to put our guard down and then what?" He paused. "And if she's got some stupid marking on her back that can give away our location at any time, then I think it's important that we all be aware of that. If it's magic based then there's no telling who could find us if they wanted to." He let his eyes trail back over to Hikari and LaRae finally. "...I don't like the idea of traveling with a 'Look we're right here!' Signal either..." He muttered. "Seriously... It isn't like the job we were given was one approved of by every single dragon out there. Not many approve of us seven having to work together and if she's got that marking then it's a total give away of where we are at all times. We'd practically be sitting ducks." He paused and sighed heavily. "But then again you probably think everything fine and dandy don't you Hikari, like nothing bad can happen because an Elder gave us this task. That stupid paper Kyran was given won't keep every single dragon off of us. If that was the case there wouldn't be anymore war." He spat now turning his back to them. He felt like his breath was wasted on them. Being trained the way he was he was always thinking about the things that could happen. So of course he'd thought about others wanting to attack them. And knowing that someone had the nerve to follow them all the way from Kyran's only made him uneasy. Then that creature being sent out here, long story short Nero probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

Kyran sighed heavily after hearing the exchanges between Hikari and Nero and all the while LaRae looked like she was just trying to bury her head. He did have to agree with what Celestine had said; He too thought she was lying about it just from how she was trying deny it. He continued to just stand there and keep his mouth shut. He half agreed with some of the things Nero had said and then agreed with some of what Hikari had said. The last thing he wanted to do was go voicing his own opinion and chance the wrath of either of them, particularly Hikari.

LaRae had shut her eyes tightly once Hikari had taken hold of her. She could feel it already; She was slowly starting to get upset with all the pestering and bickering over the stupid mark on her back. She'd tried to drown them both out and just take a few deep breaths, anything to suppress it. Finally she got fed up with everything and she couldn't even think of something else; She tried and failed miserably. She bit her lip nervously and pushed herself away from Hikari gently before glaring at the lot of them inuring about her marking. "Stop it! All of you." She paused and took another deep breath. "I'm sick of this. Yes, I was lying. I know what all of you have been talking about. Yes, the damn tattoo on my back is a cursed marking. Yes, It can be used for tracking and by anyone with enough magic ability." She spat angrily. "And here, let me answer any further questions just to shut the lot of you up!" She paused. "I got the mark when I was thirteen. Elders from my Clan plant these stupid things on children who can't mature into their full powers; The weak." She paused, now staring bitterly at the ground. "If your an orphan like me and or have trouble harnessing your full power then you're gifted one of these on your body when you come of age. You are then given a small number of years to harness your full abilities... Or else they kill you. The only way to tell the level of control is by the size of the marking. It grows when you lose your control and shrinks when you learn your control. As you can tell by the size of mine, I'm lacking in the control department." She spat, her tone only getting worse as she continued. "These markings can be used much like a leash, any dragon with a powerful enough knowledge of magic can make the marking react. In which it literally burns into your back, leaving the marked relatively defenseless for an undetermined amount of time." She bit her lip again. "And even if by some miracle I could learn to control my powers and make the mark disappear I will always have a scar of the damn thing as a reminder... Oh... Did I mention the part about markings that can make a cursed person demolish a whole town without their knowledge just from getting too upset?" She lifted her head finally, her eyes full of nothing but anger and pure hate after such a subject. "Are the lot of you happy now? You know everything I know!"

Hikari huffed at Nero and shook her head. "And what if not everyone approves? Are you paranoid to think that someone is actually going to try to kill us for doing what we're told?" she asked bluntly, "Why don't you reserve judgment until judgment is called for? You don't know what whoever is behind us wants. Beside there are seven of us, surely to god no more than that would come if they did attack." She looked down to LaRae when she pulled away from her and started shouting at everyone. Her ears laid back slightly as she listened and the anger faded from her eyes. She looked almost ready to cry for the poor girl. she knew what the mark meant, but she couldn't believe the way that the earth clan handled thought who couldn't control their powers well enough to suit them. "LaRae..."

Celestine kept his arms crossed, listening to everyone talk. He looked at LaRae as she exploded on them with an unmoved expression. Had she been from any other clan he may have been able to find more sympathy for her pitiful tail, but it was because of her people that he was an orphan as well. And now that he thought about it, the dragon that had clobbered him in the head had the same kind of mark on his chest. He looked away from her once she was finished, looking a little distracted. "Happy enough..." he said in a distant tone. His mind already somewhere else. He didn't want to have her coming anywhere near his village now, but he knew they couldn't leave her behind. "...I think we're going to be changing course in the morning..." he said simply as he started to turn back toward the tree he'd been in before. He wasn't about to put his town in danger again by taking her there with another one following them.

Nanashi stood there silently, his ears lowering the longer that LaRae went on. He waited until she was finished and then slowly stepped forward. He hated seeing that look in her eyes. He walked over to stand beside her, opposite of Hikari and gently put his hand on her shoulder as he looked down at her with those overly concerned eyes. He didn't want her to get upset...well for a lot of reasons, and it looked like she was already well on her way there. He glanced at Celestine when he said that they would be changing course. He sighed and shook his head then looked back to LaRae. Calm down... he thought, just wishing she could hear him without everyone else hearing him, too.

Kyran listened quietly to LaRae's long winded explanation. Of course his own ears laid back and he felt terrible for wanting to know so badly. Knowing what he did now he could see where she wouldn't want to go broadcasting about her marking. He gave a heavy sigh and turned his eyes away. He wasn't really sure what he could say to try and make up for the pestering and prodding; Sorry just didn't seem like it would be enough. He finally decided to just go sit back down near his blades without saying a word. He'd just barely focused on what Celestine had said; Only registering the part about changing course. He didn't think any on that subject. Whereas he might have asked why, if he didn't feel so lousy. Once he made it back over to his blades he sat down and kept his head lowered.

Nero didn't bother turning back around when Hikari spoke, he just ignored her comments. He didn't even budge when LaRae finished speaking. He'd ignored the tone of her voice and managed to keep a blank stare plastered to his face the whole time. She did definitely answer any questions that he might have asked. He gave a small sigh and didn't say anything, what could he say in response to that? He was at least happy the girl confessed, though after hearing it all he wasn't so sure he needed to know all of it. He did pretty the same thing Kyran did and walked away from them and sat down under a tree a good distance from them.

LaRae crossed her arms over her chest after hearing that Celestine wanted to change course. Of course she figured it was because of her, considering he decided this out of the blue after she told everything about her marking. She still had that angry look in her eyes, even after Nanashi had touched her shoulder. She glared at Celestine as he made his way back to the tree he was sitting in before. "Don't bother changing your course..." She muttered. "It's obvious you don't trust me in your village Celestine, so don't worry. I won't follow you." She added moving away from Hikari and Nanashi. "It's just like back home... I'm a hazard to everyone and I always will be. I get it." She muttered before looking away from him and off in the direction that Renzo's creature had come from. "When you're all done here and need help when you get to Medini feel free to look for me if you think you're safe around me." She spat before walking off towards the tree line. She paused once she reached the edge of the trees not bothering to turn around. "I suspect some of you might try to stop me from leaving. Don't bother. I'll make you regret following me." She said angrily before she started walking off again.