Hikari smiled slightly and shook her head, "I know... I think you're right about that, you and Nero really seem to scare him sometimes, especially Nero." she sighed softly, "I would wager that it's usually the men who give him the most trouble, so I...guess it's kind of natural for him to be so wary of everything you two do. He's probably only calm around Celestine because he's so much smaller than he is." She smiled slightly, "I think he does kind of like you, though. I mean he has tried to do some nice things for you, hasn't he? I just really don't think he knows when to not take you seriously... I mean if I didn't know you were joking, I probably could have found that offensive, too. If you weren't listening right it did sound a little like you were implying that he was too stupid to know to take a bath without being told." By most dragon halves like Nanashi usually were considered to be stupid, mostly because most dragons considered Humans to be stupid and ignorant. Also many that were half human had some type of deformity or mental state since dragons and humans technically were never meant to breed, the turn out wasn't always pretty. Nanashi was actually a very rare case since he was so well developed and healthy. "I think he's still trying to determine whether or not you like him. It's probably not as obvious to him as you think it should be."

Celestine nodded weakly as he leaned against the wall tiredly. He just waited until he'd finally caught his breath, which took him about five minutes, before he finally reached up to take a hold of the rail and pull himself up again. His legs actually hurt a little when he tried to stand on them again; he felt more like he'd just sprinted 10 miles without stopping instead of just walked at a slug pace to the stairs and climbed halfway up them. He was really going to feel accomplished if he could make it the rest of the way to the end of the hall without help. After he finally got to his feet again he held onto the rail for dear life as he turned around and continued up the rest of the stairs at the same slow pace, but once he got to the top he practically fell sideways against the wall in the upstairs hallway since he'd run out of rail. even leaning on the wall he still found himself sliding down to the floor in exhaustion again. He just gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the wall in complete frustration; he couldn't even hit the wall hard enough to make a good bang. Really he didn't see why this was so hard, he'd been resting, the poison had pretty much worn off, but he was still completely zapped of energy. All he wanted to do was take a bath and change clothes, and he didn't want someone to have to hold his hand the whole time that he did it. He'd had enough people waiting on him for the past few days to last him a month, he just wanted to be able to do something himself and it was really pissing him off that it was so hard to do something so easy.

Kanone held up his hand when she said that she didn't ask him to remove the thorns. "Ah ah ah I didn't say that you asked, I said that you wanted me to. There's a difference. After I offered, you agreed, so that means you said that you wanted me to do it." he said simply. He rolled his eyes, "And what the heck were you expecting me to do, change clothes? I was about to go to bed myself, you know. Because he was asleep, I wasn't expecting anyone to come to the door yelling at me, so yeah he scared the hell out of me." he said simply, "Anyway, are we going to sit here and argue for the rest of the day or are we going to head back, because if we're just going to sit here, I think I want to push you back int he lake." he said with a laugh.

Nanashi sighed softly when he found himself behind the house and realized there was another one behind it before he could get to the woods. Oh well there was no one out so he didn't see that it would be much of a problem. He slipped quickly through the yard and into the trees and then sighed as he began walking. He wasn't too sure where he was going, he was just hoping that he'd stumble across an apple tree or one of those bushes that Celestine got those weird berries off of. He was only wandering around for about fifteen minutes before he found himself in luck. There was a skinny little apple tree up ahead. It wasn't that big, but it did have a number of small slightly small green and red apples on it. It wasn't the same kind that was at the house, these were more sour, but he didn't mind. He liked this kind, too. He walked up to the tree and reached up to take one of the ripe ones from a lower branch and looked it over for worm holes before he bit into it.

Kyran sighed softly. "I guess I never really gave much thought to how treating him like everyone else was going to effect him. I want to treat him like I do everyone else, but that apparently isn't going to work because he obviously isn't used to that." He shook his head lightly. "...I have to say I wish I had previous experience with half breeds because this is completely knew to me and it's quite uncomfortable not knowing how to talk to him, or treat him, or what to expect from him." He shut his eyes lightly. "I don't want to treat him differently, because of what he is... I really don't. But at the same time I'm not really seeing any other way to go about it because when I treat him like everyone else it comes off as me picking on him or making fun of him." He sighed again, softly and then opened his eyes. "...I don't know how else to make him see that I have nothing against him. I like the guy just fine, and he's nice to everyone; even the people he's meeting for the first time, even though he's practically mute when he meets new people. I, sadly don't see any way to get it through his head unless I came right out and said to him 'Hey, I do like you.' and even then I doubt he'd believe me right away." He shook his head with a soft laugh. "I think talking to Nanashi is harder then doing my job."

LaRae continued to stand quietly while she waited for Celestine to get back to his feet. She smiled faintly once he was back on his feet and headed up the stairs again. At least he was going to try and to the top on his own. She followed after him and then came to a stop once he had fallen against the wall. She sighed softly when he wound up back on the floor again. Thankfully he'd made it to the top of the stairs without any help. She could imagine his legs weren't easily cooperating with him, after all he hadn't used them in four days straight or even stretched them. She stayed on the steps just before the hall, just in case. She really didn't want to have him get to his feet and fall backwards down the stairs after all the work he did to make it upstairs. "...Don't get frustrated." She paused. "...It's not going to make anything easier and you'll just be upset and stressed out even worse." She said quietly. "Just rest for a moment, then try to move a little further. Little steps. You've got plenty of time.."

Aamori looked over at Kanone and shook her head lightly. "This is no argument compared to the ones I have with Celestine." She stretched a little and then glanced over the side of the boulder at her skort and holster and then looked back towards Kanone. "And you wouldn't push me in the lake, I'd end up taking you with me." She laughed softly and then turned to slide down from the boulder to pick up her skort. She slipped it back on and then picked up her holster. "So, why are you in such a hurry to head back?"

Hikari shook her head slightly, "I wouldn't expect him to be used to being treated like everyone else." she said softly, "But it's not really a bad thing to treat him differently because he is a dragon half, as long as you're treating him nicely. He's used to people treating him differently and being mean to him, that's probably what he's come to expect from people." She sighed softly and pushed her hair back over her shoulder a bit, "I just treat him with kid gloves. Be careful what you say and watch your tone. I'm not really used to being around a dragon half either, but he seems to respond well enough to that. I think he just needs a few kind words and a nice cuddle every now and then." she laughed softly, "Of course from you that may be a little weird." She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's like me with Nero, don't expect him to warm up to you all at once. He's easy to please. He was wagging his tail over bacon for pity's sake."

Celestine sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "...This shouldn't...be that...hard..." he said breathlessly. Honestly at any other time he could have already been in the bath for a good 15 minutes by the time he even got to the top of the steps today. He sat there for a moment and then finally started to try to push himself up again. Every time he tried to get up again it seemed to get a little harder than the first time. This time he couldn't seem to straighten his legs out all the way and nearly fell forward, though when he tried to catch himself and took a step his foot came down on one the front of his shirt tail and he tripped. That shirt was just long enough that he wouldn't walk in it when he was standing up straight, but the way that he was it was dragging the ground.

Kanone shrugged slightly when she asked why he was in such a hurry. "Eh, I don't know. There isn't too much to do around here. I mean we can stay if you want, it doesn't really matter to me, doesn't sound like I have anything to do. Mom wants me to go pick something up in the next two, but Celestine was about to throw a fit telling me not to go, so I guess I'm sticking around here so he doesn't have a stroke."

Nanashi stood by the tree quietly chewing on the apple. He hadn't really left the house because he was upset with Kyran he was just hungry and didn't want to take the last apples in the house in case someone else wanted them. Besides he just wanted to get out and get some fresh air. No one had bothered him around here, so he didn't see the harm in it. His ear twitched slightly when he heard something shifting in the leaves, and it was way too loud to be an animal. He turned slightly and froze when he saw three boys walking alone a small path toward the tree where he was standing. He hadn't realized that the tree was by a path, he was more interested int he fact that there were apples there. He tried to back away unnoticed, but there wasn't really anywhere for him to go, and his white coat and red hair stood out like a sore thumb in the brown and green of the forest. Had he been with the others at that party he would have recognized these three as the ones that had followed Celestine after he left and caused all of the trouble at the bridge. All three of them were Nanashi's size or taller and all but the quieter one were more muscular looking. His ears fell back slightly when he realized that he was too far away from the house for anyone to hear should anything happen so he just lowered his eyes and started to turn around to try to sneak back there again.

The boy who had actually started the trouble with Celestine before was the first to notice Nanashi, unfortunately for him. He really wasn't a fan of the fire clan, and the first thing he noticed was the absence of their obnoxiously large horns, so he knew this was a half breed. He hated those even more. He smirked when he saw that he was trying to sneak away and elbowed his buddy before he called out to him. "Hey, halfbreed, where do you think you're going?" he called as they came to a stop near the tree.
When they didn't get a response the other one spoke up, "Are you trying to ignore us?"

Nanashi sighed heavily. So much for that idea. He turned around slowly and looked at them, though his eyes never really went above their knees before he lowered them to the ground again. "...No." he said so quietly that they could probably barely hear him from where they were standing.

The one who'd spoke first smirked slightly and noticed the half eaten apple in his hand. "Aww did you want some apples?" he asked and then looked over to the friend that was nearly as loud mouthed and troublesome as he was, "Why don't you give him some apples?" he said with a smirk.
His friend then reached up and grabbed one of the little apples that wasn't quite ripe yet off of the tree right after his friend gave him the hint and chucked it at the half breed.

Nanashi was just about to open his mouth to speak when the apple slammed into his mouth, crushing his lower lip into his teeth. He yelped and backed up, dropping his apple before he put his hand over his now bleeding mouth. He hadn't even seen it coming until it hit him, of course that was probably because he was looking at the ground and not at them. That apple was almost like getting it with a rock since it wasn't ripe yet and was still pretty hard. He looked up then and backed up a little more when he saw them getting ready to start throwing more. He glanced back toward the village and then just made a run for it. If he could get back to the house he could just hide in there like he'd been doing since they got back. He felt another apple collide with his head right by his eye, which nearly caused him to fall, but he caught his balance and kept running. He felt another one connect with his back before he heard them behind him, but he had a good head start on them and he was a pretty fast runner.

Kyran nodded slightly. "I still don't like the idea of treating him any differently then anyone else and the whole kid gloves things is going to be difficult since he obviously isn't a little kid." He shook his head trying not to laugh. "I'm afraid I'd scare him even more if I got close enough to him to cuddle him." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head once she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm just finding it so strange that he's still distant. I'm just used to everyone warming up to me so quickly." He paused. "I wouldn't be good at my job otherwise..."

LaRae gave a small nod when she heard him say that it shouldn't be that hard. Well, it shouldn't normally but considering everything that happened it wasn't hard to believe that he was having this much trouble. She started to go up the last steps when she noticed him starting to try and get back to his feet. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed him nearly fall forward. She gasped quietly when he started to trip over his own shirt tail. She dropped the clothes she was carrying in the process of reaching out with both her hands to grab a hold of him. She caught him from behind after slipping her hands around his torso quickly. She pulled him back up onto his feet and tried to make sure that he had his balance; then started to remove her hands from him. "...Sorry..." She mumbled quietly after she'd brought her hands back to her sides. She still stood there behind him, just in case he fell again; Though her eyes had trailed over to the clothing she had to drop in order to keep him from smacking into the floor.

Aamori lifted her leg up and set her foot to the boulder while she started to put her holster back on. Once it was back on she looked back to him as she dropped her foot to the ground and adjusted her skort. "I don't need to stay here. If I did stay any longer it would be just for leisure." She paused and stretched a little before turning around and taking a few steps away from the boulder. "...Celestine throw a fit? That's a little more emotion then I think I could imagine him showing." She commented. "Did he tell you why he didn't want you to leave?" She asked curiously.

Hikari smiled slightly when he kissed her head. "Oh, I would believe it." she said with a slight smile, "I've known you for what...two weeks?" She leaned her head against him, "It's probably just safer in his mind to keep his distance." she said softly, "You don't get hurt as badly that way." She could really only just try to guess the way Nanashi thought, but she was pretty good at putting two and two together to come up with a decent answer. She didn't know how right she was, but she thought it sounded reasonable.

Celestine gasped when LaRae grabbed onto him, mainly because it hurt since his entire side was bruised. He bit his lip lightly and tried to regain his footing and at least remained standing pretty straight when she leg go of him. Once his legs were straightened out it was easier to movie, but being as he was having trouble getting all the way to his feet that time and had nothing to hold onto, it was really hard to stand up. "...Th..thanks..." he muttered quietly. He stood there for a moment with his hand on the wall before he glanced back to her again, a little surprised that she hadn't just let him hit the floor. Finally he started to move again, taking it slowly as he made his way down the hall. He was pooped and ready to sit down by the time he got there, but at least he made it to the bathroom door this time.

Kanone shrugged slightly. "No not really, he wouldn't say why, he just told me to humor him and stick around. I guess he had another dream about something, I don't know. I'm not worried about it, I just didn't want to hear him complain when I didn't listen." he said simply, "Half of the time his dream visions are just mixed in with regular dreams. He's not learned to separate them, so he kinda stinks at the whole dream seer business."

Nanashi ran as fast s he could until he broke through the trees and got back to Marius's house again. He only slowed once he neared the front of the house because he knew that Nero was still out there, and he didn't want him asking questions. Those boys were pretty far behind him so even now that he'd slowed to a fast walk he was well ahead of them; he'd learned to be a really fast runner over the years. He walked quickly up the stairs, keeping his head turned away from Nero as he opened the door so that he couldn't see the blood running down his lip and then closed the door quickly behind him with a heavy sighed. Once inside he just hurried for the stairs and started up, slipping into the first open bedroom at the top so he could get away from everyone. He saw LaRae with Celestine, but she was at the other end of the hall and seemed to be paying more attention to Celestine than anything. He just closed the door and went to sink down on the bed. This wasn't the room that he and Kyran had been sleeping in, but he didn't care as long as he could stay in there for a while. He just closed his eyes and stretched out on the bed face first with his arms crossed under his head.

Marius was still sitting in the living room, though he'd dozed off int he chair. He startled wake again when the door closed and watched as Nanashi scurried up the stairs. He blinked and then shook his head and sighed. That was such a strange boy.

The boys that had been chasing Nanashi came into the street ahead of the house not long after the door had closed and looked up and down the street. "Damn, where did he go?"
"I don't know, he has to be around here somewhere."
The quieter one of the bunch just sighed, "Oh well, I think we got him good enough anyway."
"We? You just stood there like a dunce until he took off. Ha ha that was so great, I plowed him right in the mouth."
"Yeah nice shot, you nearly made him eat it." the other one laughed.

Kyran sighed softly. "...Yes, I suppose so." He said with a nod. "I'll try and be more careful what I say to him... feel free to nudge me or something should what I say start to sound bad." He said with another sigh. "It's going to be a challenge trying to make nice with him while the rest of the world is mean." He commented quietly.

LaRae watched Celestine for a moment, when he didn't look like he was going to fall down she knelt down quickly and gathered the clothing from the floor. She didn't bother trying to refold it and then stood back up. She looked at him when he glanced back at her and then looked away briefly. She waited until he started moving again and of course was right behind him the whole way. She paused once he stopped by the door and looked at him again. Her attention was on Celestine for the most part but she had heard someone else come up the stairs. She glanced back down the hall just in time to see Nanashi disappear into the first bedroom. She quirked a brow slightly but turned her attention back to Celestine. She continued to stand there for a moment before she started to hold the clothes out to him. "...Here, you can take these from here... I assume?" She asked. She didn't mind carrying them in for him, but she guessed he'd rather do it himself.

Aamori looked back to Kanone for a moment and gave a slight nod. She was somewhat aware of how what he saw in his dreams worked. "He must have had a good reason for asking you to stay." She shrugged. "Just think... if you hadn't listened to him and had gone on to do what your Mother asked you to do, you would've missed seeing me at the lake again." She said with a soft laugh before she started walking back towards the bridge. She didn't bother looking back this time. "Well lets go. You were the one ready to leave..."

Nero like usual wasn't asleep, though he easily could be mistaken for being out cold. He glanced up finally and brushed his hair from his face as he watched Nanashi rather quickly get onto the porch and slip inside. Considering how he left earlier he was a little curious as to the change of pace. He shrugged lightly and then started to turn his head back down, at least until he heard the other boys coming from the side of the house where Nanashi had come. He shook his head and sighed heavily after hearing that they were looking for someone. Obviously, they were looking for Nanashi. At least he assumed so anyway. It wasn't like there was anyone else outside trying to hide from the three of them. He quietly started to get to his feet, and then made his way over to the steps of the porch and then just hopped down from them. He didn't bother moving very far from the steps, and stood there with his arms crossed over his chest loosely. "Let me guess, you're looking for a guy with red hair, a white coat and just so happens to be lacking a couple of horns." He said coldly as he peeked out from behind his hair. "You really shouldn't go picking on people if you don't know who their comrades are..." He commented as he stared at the boys.

Hikari nuzzled him gently again. "I will." she said with a soft laugh, "...Don't worry too much about it..." she said softly, "He needs time, that's all. Why couldn't come to like you?" she said with a soft laugh.

Celestine looked back to LaRae for a moment and nodded slightly. "...Yeah...thanks." he said softly as he took the clothes. He still felt awkward talking to LaRae and letting her help him but he wasn't in much of a position to turn her away. He nodded to her and then slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, locking it once it clicked, and then proceeded over to the counter to lay his clean clothes down. He had a lit of trouble getting out of his shirt, but finally he managed to get it tossed into the corner. He sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the warm water to let the tun fill up while he finished undressing and then he raised his legs enough to slip into the tub. He finally pulled the necklace over his head and laid it on the side of the tub before he shut the water off and got comfortable with his arms resting on the side of the tub and his head laying on top of them.

Nanashi really didn't move at all while he was in the room, he at most just tried to lick the blood away from his lips with his slender forked tongue. He had a tongue more like a lizard than a human. He sighed softly. He guessed he's just gotten too comfortable and forgotten his place. No one had bothered him since he'd become a part of this group, but then again he really hadn't given them a chance until now. It was his fault for wandering off on his own and he knew it. Things like this always managed to happen to him when he was on his own.

Kanone half smiled and shrugged. "I guess that's a one up." he said simply as he started after her. "...So when do you think you guys will be heading to Kairava?" he asked simply. He did like Aamori, even though he hadn't known her that long. It was probably just one of those fast crushes that people sometimes got, but he did hope that he'd be able to see her again sometime.

The boys turned around to look toward the steps for a moment, and the smaller one of the group backed up a little. As usual the one with the big mouth just had to open it, "And who the hell are you? It's just a stupid half breed, it's not like it should really matter to you now is it? His clan doesn't belong here and neither does yours."
"Um..." the smaller one started, but he knew his little buddies weren't going to listen to him when he told them to shut up before they got their asses stomped. This guy didn't look like he was playing around. Of course there were three of them and one of him, but even still he looked like he could pack a punch.

Kyran shook his head lightly. "Don't worry too much, coming from you?" He paused. "I think you worry about some things a little more then I do." He smiled softly and shifted slightly so that he could move away from the wall. He slipped past Hikari and started towards the hall. "Sorry to go moving like that, but I could stand to sit down." He said with a nod.

LaRae gave a slight nod and waited until he'd shut the door before she turned away. She sighed softly and then started to walk back down the hallway towards the stairs. She'd though briefly to say to Celestine, that if he needed anything to just yell or something but she thought that much was obvious. She paused before the stairs and looked over at the door to the room that Nanashi had gone in. She half thought to just keep going down the stairs but the way that he just went straight into the room without a word bothered her. She gave another soft sigh before moving over to the door. She stood quietly in front of it for a moment before she lifted her hand up and knocked lightly on the door with the back of her hand. "...Nanashi?" She asked softly from the door.

Aamori stretched her arms over her head a little and then glanced over to him for a moment. "...That should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it?" She paused. "As soon as Celestine is all better, we're probably heading out again." She turned back around and shrugged lightly. "We are working on a timed schedule after all... And we have four more territories after my own." She was quiet for a few moments before opening her mouth again. "Why do you ask?"

Nero continued to stare at the boys, mostly the two who hadn't taken a step back. He shook his hair from his face and then started to let his arms drop to his sides. "Ordinarily I might not care about a halfbreed." He paused. "But that one in particular is traveling with me, therefore you attack him... it's like attacking me." He commented as he started to reach down to his right pocket on the lower part of his pants. He pulled out his first spiked brass knuckle and then slipped it on his hand. He cracked his knuckle once it was on and then proceeded to remove his other from his left pocket, following the same steps until it was on too. He flexed his hands a little and then set them at his sides limply. "And as far as I am concerned your nothing but a group of cocky little boys who need some sense beat into them and you unfortunately have caught me on a bad day." He said with a hint of a fanged smirk.

Hikari laughed softly and nodded. "I guess so." she agreed. She did worry a lot and she knew it well enough, but she couldn't really help it. It was hard not to worry about some things. She blinked when he moved away and then smiled and nodded when he apologized, "Oh, you didn't need to apologize." she said with a soft laugh as she followed him down the hallway.

Nanashi sighed softly when he heard someone tapping on the door, but he didn't even bother to raise his head when he heard LaRae's voice. "...Go away, LaRae." he said just barely loud enough to be heard. He really just didn't want to be bothered by anyone right now and he didn't feel like talking because his lip was killing him. He didn't raise his head just in case she didn't listen and came in anyway. He didn't want her to see his busted lip, and he was starting to turn colors around his right eye where he'd been hit with the other apple, though he was unaware of that mark.

Kanone shrugged slightly in response to Aamori's last comment. "I dunno. I was just wondering how much time I had to pester you before I'm supposedly never going to see you again." he said simply, "Seems a bit of a shame that you couldn't even drop back by for a visit sometime or at least meet me halfway."

The boys stared at Nero for a moment, and the one in the back's eyes probably got about as bis as saucers. The other two looked a little unnerved but it seemed like the ringleader just didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "Nice hand decorations. What, you can't fight with your bear hands?" he jeered. "I'm not afraid of you."
"I'm leaving." the one in the back finally told the other two. He hadn't really done anything but run after the guy so he wasn't standing here and getting beaten up over his idiot friend's mouth.

Marius had sat there for a few minutes debating, but he finally stood up and started toward the front door. He had a feeling that he might have a slightly better chance of asking Nero what was going on than getting an answer out of Nanashi, and he was pretty sure that Nero was still on the porch. He opened the door and blinked when he saw Nero standing there talking to the village hoodlums. "What is going on out here?" he asked, and then took a double take. "Nero put those away!" he snapped at him. He didn't like a single one of those boys but he wasn't going to let another clan member bludgeon them with spikes. "What did you three do this time!?" he demanded as he stepped out onto the porch.

Kyran glanced back to Hikari briefly and shrugged very lightly. "...I couldn't help it. I didn't exactly want to move, but I did need to sit down." He said quietly, feeling the need to explain himself. He turned and headed down the hallway, straight to the living room. He hadn't really seen Marius standing in the doorway right away. He went over to the couch and then sat down and leaned back, making himself comfortable. Only now thinking to look over to the door. He quirked a brow slightly wondering himself what was going on now.

LaRae sighed softly when she just barely heard him tell her to go away. She might have listened to him if she hadn't been in a better mood after apologizing to Marius, and actually speaking pleasantly to Celestine. She wasn't sure if Nanashi was upset with her or anything since she felt like he'd been avoiding her but she did start to feel like there was no reason for him to be upset with her if he was. She lingered outside the door for a moment longer, debating on just walking away but she couldn't seem to talk herself into just leaving and going down the stairs. She sighed again and finally just reached down and opened the door quietly. She cracked the door open enough for her to slip inside and then shut it behind her. "...What's wrong... You don't normally tell me to go away..." She asked quietly; She hadn't really looked at him yet.

Aamori chuckled lightly. "Pester me? I guess you'd got a little while longer. I'm not really sure how long before Celestine is mobile again." She looked over to him. "And I'm not going to be staying in Kairava for too long, after we're done there we're moving on to the next territory. So I can't exactly take a break and come back to see you." She paused. "Or half way for that matter. Then once we're all done with this trip, I go right back into my training and I don't get a lot of free time from that..." She said quietly.

Nero half glared daggers at the obvious leader of the group. He didn't need to use any weapon to beat the boys down to size but he did prefer at least to try and scare them off before giving them a beating they probably wouldn't recover from easily. He was about to open his mouth to say something back but stopped when he heard Marius' voice. He didn't even bother looking back to Marius, rather he just started to remove his brass knuckles and slip them back into their individual pockets. Once they were away he rubbed his hands together lightly and then returned his arms to their crossed position over his chest. He hadn't really intended to beat the boys with his weapons, he'd have dropped them off his hands before touching any of them. Most of the time with instances like this he preferred to try scare tactics before anything physical. At least that appeared to work on the one skiddish boy. He sighed heavily and then finally glanced back over his shoulder at Marius. "They did something to Nanashi." He answered shortly before staring back at the boys.

Hikari smiled slightly and just grabbed his hand when he went to explaining himself. "It's fine." she said again. He was looking at him more than where they were going, so it wasn't until she'd settled on the couch beside him that she noticed the open door about the same time that he had. She blinked and then looked over to him for a moment before she leaned forward slightly to glance around him to see if she could see out.

Nanashi sighed softly again when he heard the door open and just tried to keep his face well hidden. He didn't want LaRae to end up getting mad again and going out to try to find whoever that was like she did at the festival. "...I just want to be left alone." he said quietly, his voice a little muffled by the way he was laying. He winced as he ran his tongue over his lip again. He was trying not to bleed on the sheets at least, but now he definitely didn't want to get up.

Kanone shook his head. "I knew that, I meant after this trip of yours is over." he said simply and then sighed softly. "...Yeah guess that kinda poses a problem then." he said as his eyes trailed to the ground ahead of them. "Heh, guess I could stand to do some training myself." he said simply, "I guess I just never found too much use for it, the worst thing I've had to fight off was the occasional hunter or a griffin if one came down the mountain this far and neither one has been too terrible."

Marius shook his head when Nero answered for the boys and then finally stepped off of the porch. He was still in his night robes and had no shoes on, but even still it was pretty obvious that he was more than just a little annoyed. "You three boys have been a pain ever since you were old enough to walk outside on your own, you two in particular!" he snapped at the two who hadn't tried to sneak off, "I have had it with the lot of you running around here and causing trouble wherever you go. If your parents can't do anything with you, I'm ready to. I'll not have you bothering my guests."

"He's just a damn half breed form the fire clan, what the hell does it matter? How were we supposed to know he was your guest anyway?"

Marius's eyes narrowed and he walked right up to the boy, grabbing him by the jaw. All of that sweet old grandpa had drain right out of is expression. "You watch your mouth. I don't care what he is or where he is from, he feels pain just like everyone else. You should have sense enough to know better than to go picking on the people who pass through here anyway, it is in no way, shape, or form your right to determine who does and does not belong in this village! I only wish I could say that I didn't think you were stupid enough to stand right in front of my house and pick a fight with an armed man on my doorstep, but you've already proved that you are." He shoved the boy back rather roughly by the jaw, "Now I want all three of your to get out of here, and I swear if I see your faces anywhere near this area again while these people are here, you three are going to like me even less than you already do!"

That at least shut the one boy up. He looked half scared by the time Marius was done yelling at him. Marius wasn't just made an elder because of his dream seeing abilities, he was very good with his magic as well. After that little exchange all three of the boys took off and disappeared rather quickly.

Marius just sighed heavily and turned around to start back toward the house, shaking his head. "...I'm sorry you had to put up with those three. They're nothing but trouble." he said simply, "But I would prefer that you keep your weapons in your pockets if there is a next time."

Kyran continued to sit on the couch, leaned back. He was still looking over at the door however. He was tempted to get up and go see what was going on. It didn't take him long to decide to just stay where he was sitting. He was being rather lazy today and really didn't feel like getting up from the couch since he had just sat down. He glanced over at Hikari finally, noticing that she was trying to see what was going on herself. He sighed softly. "I'm sure we can ask when he comes back inside." He said with a nod.

LaRae sighed hearing him say that he wanted to be left alone. She thought that was really strange coming from him since they'd practically spent every breathing minute around one another since they met. She lifted her eyes finally and glanced over at him. She didn't focus on anything more than the fact that he was laying with his face well hidden. "...You're being weird..." She started. "...It's not like you to be like this with me..." She commented quietly while glancing away.

Aamori glanced back to him and chuckled lightly. "Yes, you could stand to train. You got the crap beaten out of you by a girl, then got all pouty after picking yourself up off the ground." She shook her head a little. "And I train because I have to. Well, I don't mind doing it and I enjoy sparring but I'm not supposed to miss a single of training." She shrugged lightly. "I've very rarely had to use the stuff I've learned in real combat or to protect myself, but at least I am, theoretically prepared for battle. I guess that's better then nothing."

Nero still stood there without moving even an inch; His eyes still glued on the three boys. Though once Marius stepped down from the porch he did turn slightly to look over at him. He was a little caught off guard by the way Marius was talking. He was so used to him being rather soft spoken and nice but then again anyone could get mean when pushed too far. He started to look back towards the boys once the one started running off at the mouth again. He started shaking his head once Marius wound up taking hold of the boy by his jaw. He was still a little surprised by the way Marius was yelling at the boys, and even more surprised that he'd even grabbed the one like he had. He was pretty sure at this point he didn't want to go pissing Marius off; Though he wasn't too worried he did try and respect his elders as much as possible regardless of who they were. He sighed heavily once Marius was done with the boys and watched as they quickly disappeared from sight. He looked to Marius when he started back towards the house. "...I know trouble makers like them all too well..." He commented. A couple of the guys he had to work with were just as bad as those three, if not a little worse. So he was used to stuff like that. Especially the running off at the mouth. He nodded slightly to Marius' request about his weapons. "Of course." He paused. "I had no intention of using them to straighten those boys out. I was merely hoping to scare them off without having to get physically involved." He said with a sigh. "Believe it or not, I will try and avoid meaningless physical violence in other territories when I'm not on orders."

Hikari sighed softly and leaned back against the couch as well after Kyran spoke. "...I guess so..." she said finally. She couldn't really see what was going on anyway, but she could hear Marius shouting, and he didn't sound too happy, though she couldn't understand what he was saying from where she was.

Nanashi sighed softly and closed his eyes again. He didn't know what to tell her, he just didn't want to go explaining what happened right now. "...LaRae...just go..." he said quietly without raising his head. He could tell from her voice that she wasn't too happy that he wasn't responding to her like he normally did, but he really just wasn't in the mood for conversation right now. He was more ready to just go curl back up in the floor in the room he and Kyran had been sharing and go back to sleep for the rest of the day. One thing was for sure; he wasn't hungry anymore.

Kanone shrugged slightly. "You're never really ready for battle." he said simply, "Especially someone like you." She was depressed before over killing a few humans that would have done more than just that to her, and she nearly scrubbed all of the skin off of her hands because they had blood on them. "You can spar and train all day every day, but it just becomes so routine after a while, you may know exactly what you're doing but when it comes down to a life or death situation the rules change, you're not just practicing or playing anymore. I can kill something when I need to, but I can't fight worth anything when I'm not trying to hurt something seriously."

Marius smiled slightly at Nero and nodded, placing his hand hand on his shoulder when he got back to him. "I believe you. I just couldn't be too sure when I first came out. I've wanted to hit those boys with something for a long time." he pulled his hand back and then sighed softly, "It's just better if you don't look like you're ready to kill someone, I don't want too much trouble." He smiled slightly and then looked back to the door and sighed again and he looked to the front door again. "...I suppose someone should go check on him. He just came in and ran straight up the stairs." He said as he shook his head and started back toward the porch again.

LaRae looked back over at him for a moment after hearing him say, yet again, for her to leave. She didn't really want to leave since something was obviously bothering him, but she was getting the point. She was also already tired of hearing him tell her to go. She gave a heavy sigh and then turned around and placed her hand on the doorknob. "...Fine." She muttered shortly. She opened the door and slipped outside into the hall, making sure to shut the door behind her quickly. Once her hand fell from the knob she looked towards the stairs. "...I would've at least liked to know if it was something I did..." She uttered quietly as she proceeded to head down the stairs.

Aamori nodded slightly. She did know that the sparring and training she went through did become routine, but that was why it'd get changed up a little once it got that far. She actually was learning the basics with a couple different types of weapons before she left for the festival; But her specialty would always be pole arms and staffs. Just about the only training that never changed was the training that was for her magic and special abilities. She was at least prepared for the physical parts of battle, but when it came to it emotionally she was up a creek without a paddle. At least thinking about it a little now kind of explained why she just froze when she was in actual danger. She had the knowledge and ability to keep herself safe but she wasn't prepared to actually put any of that to good use. She shook her head lightly. She obviously had something that she needed to work on some more, or else she was afraid she'd just be in the way when it came to fighting and being in real serious danger. Everything was so much easier when you were just sparring for the fun of it, or for practice reasons. She looked back to Kanone and smiled faintly. "In case you hadn't known, I was actually trying to hurt you the other day." She commented. "Just not enough to have you turn sour on me."

Nero looked at Marius and laughed very softly, it was just barely audible. "I always look like I'm ready to kill someone." He shook his head softly. "But I do understand. I will refrain from causing you any trouble. And should those boys wind up back again, though I doubt they will. I think you scared the life from them. Well, I'll run them off if they're looking for trouble. I can at least do that without hurting any of them." He said with a nod. He turned and headed back onto the porch himself and stood off to the side of the front door. "As for Nanashi..." He paused. "It might be better if you checked on him. If I do it, I think I'll just upset him more and I'm not so sure it'd be right for someone who didn't know what happened to go check on him." He said with a sigh.

Nanashi lay there silently until LaRae closed the door again, then he raised his head slightly and looked over to the door. He'd find LaRae later and talk to her, but right now he was glad that she listened to him for now. He just laid his head back down on his arms again and sighed softly. He never really felt like being around anyone for quite a while after something like that happened, mainly because whoever he was around usually made it worse. He knew that LaRae cared and meant well, but sometimes he could stand a break even from her.

Kanone looked over to her and smiled slightly, "Well I wasn't trying to hurt you." he said simply, "...When I fight I fight to kill or at least incapacitate, if it's anything else it's just a game to me and I'm not too competitive." he reached over and put his arm around her as the bridge finally started to come into sight. That was probably why Celestine thought that Kanone was such a poor fighter, he'd never seen him really fighting, he'd only ever fought with him and he had to go easy on him...mainly because his mother would have killed him if he so much as crushed his pinky toe.

Marius smiled slightly at Nero's comment about always looking ready to kill someone. "Well that's fine if you want to run them off if they come back so long as no one gets hurt, including you." he laughed softly since he'd said that he scared them, "It's about time that someone did. I may be old but my bite is still worse than my bark." He sighed again when he was told that he could be the one to talk to Nanashi. "I suppose that I can..." he said simply, "But I barely know what happened, and he knows the people in your group better than he knows me." he said simply. "...Well I'll try anyway." He nodded to Nero before he finally stepped back inside the house and started to pull the door closed behind him. He looked over to the stairs as LaRae was coming down them and tilted his head slightly. "...Did you happen to see where Nanashi ran off to?" He thought she might since she was up there.

LaRae looked over to Marius as she reached the last step and came to a stop. She gave a heavy sigh after hearing his question. "...Yeah..." She paused. "...He's in the first bedroom..." She muttered. She moved away from the stairs and started to glance down the hall towards the kitchen. She thought about going to get something to eat but decided against it for now. She started over towards the front door. She paused near it waiting for Marius to move so that she could get outside. She had thought of something she wanted to do not that long ago and since she wasn't going to get to talk to Nanashi she figured she may as well occupy her time with something.

Aamori smiled a bit and gave a small nod. "I know you weren't trying to hurt me. It was obvious once we started sparring. You can tell when someone isn't confident in what they're doing." She said quietly. "...Unfortunately thanks to my brother I am pretty competitive." She looked back to him once he'd put his arm around her and smiled softly. "You know, sparring can still be a game without the intent to hurt someone. You just change your main focus to disarming the person if they're armed or pinning them if they're using fists." She nodded. "At least that's how my training started, I only added the intent to hurt the person I'm sparring against recently. I'd like to think my trainer would be happy that I actually hit you and caused you some pain... but then she'd just tell me that you weren't putting up much of a fight and that it didn't count." She said with a soft shake of her head.

Nero watched as Marius stepped back into the house and waited until he heard the click from the door shutting before he turned and walked back over to the side of the porch where he'd sat before. He just stood there and leaned his back against the house. Those boys really did remind him of a certain two that he knew; He shook his head with a sigh. He doubted those three would come back any time soon but if they did he wasn't going to waste time running them off since Marius did tell them not to be seen around here while the group was still here. Plus, he was a little disappointed that he didn't get to hit a single one of them for what they did, or the things they said.

Marius nodded slightly when LaRae told him where he could find Nanashi. "Alright, thank you." He said softly as he stepped to the side closer to the living room to allow her access to the door since she seemed to be waiting for him to move and he needed by her to get to the stairs.

Hikari looked over to Marius when he came back inside and was going to wait until he came back to ask him what was going on, but when he started asking LaRae about Nanashi she had to go ahead and ask. She knew that Nanashi said that he was going for a walk and since he asked LaRae where he was she guessed that he must cave seen him come back inside. "Marius, is something going on?" she asked, sounding a little concerned.

Marius looked over to Hikari and Kyran and sighed softly, "Not anymore, I was just going to go see if Nanashi was alright. He came inside and went running upstairs as soon as he got inside. Nero informed me that some of the boys had done something to him. I took care of them already." he said simply. He sighed softly and shook his head, "Not I just need to figure out what to say to him." he said as he pushed his hair back behind his shoulders again.

Kanone just smirked and shook his head. "Well I'm glad I make a good guinea pig for your trainer's amusement." He said as he moved his hand from her shoulder to her head and pushed her sideways. He let his arm fall back to his side and then shrugged. "...I dunno, I've just never found much amusement in fighting or sparring. As I see it, it's a need to know thing for survival, it was never meant to be fun. I suppose we could try again some other time if you wanted and I could try to disarm you as long as you promise not to break my spine." he said with a soft laugh.

Kyran had been pretty curious himself after hearing that Nanashi was back inside already. He wanted to ask too, if something was going on but like usual, Hikari had got the question out first. He listened quietly to what Marius said and then sighed. At least that explained why they heard Marius shouting outside.

LaRae started to move closer to the door as soon as Marius had stepped out of the way but she came to a stop for a moment after hearing the question that Hikari asked. She was facing the door and just listened quietly to Marius' answer. She gave a heavy sigh and then proceeded to open the door and slip outside. She assumed that what Marius said explained why Nanashi was acting the way he was. Though she didn't understand why he kept telling her to leave and why he wouldn't talk to her. It wasn't like she was going to go off and hunt down who ever it was that had done anything to him. There were too many people to go through and if she'd even bothered asking who did it, it wasn't like they'd admit to it. So it would've just been a huge waste of time. Though, had she seen who did it or witnessed it happen that would've been a while other story. She sighed again when she started down off the porch. She glanced over to Nero for a moment, thinking briefly about asking him if he knew specifically what had happened but decided against it; Mostly because Nanashi couldn't tell her himself. She shrugged lightly and tried to just ignore it for now. It was already done after all and Nanashi might talk to her about it later, at least she hoped. She didn't bother staying around the house for very long. Instead she started wandering around the back of the house towards the forest.

Aamori stumbled to the side after he pushed against her head. She threw her arms out absently to keep her balance, otherwise she'd have fallen right over while she stumbled. When she wasn't paying very much attention, it didn't take a whole lot to knock her over. She sighed softly having had to stop to regain her balance and then started after him again. "If it isn't any fun then you have no drive to improve. Then without improvement well... you can eventually be over taken because the things you fight against will improve where you have not." She commented. "I guess I just find it fun because it's something my brother and I can do together since I have very little free time. He'll take over for my trainer sometimes." She paused. "Then I'm competitive because I've never beaten him..." She muttered under her breath. She looked back to him and shook her head lightly. "I'll never ask again." She paused. "For one, I can't promise I won't break anything. Then I also see nothing beneficial in sparring with someone who turns into a grump after one hit to the back... Let alone you're afraid of hurting me.. so it's pretty much pointless." She said with a soft chuckle.

Nero lifted his eyes and looked over to LaRae when he heard the door open. He was a little surprised to see her outside, he thought she'd be glued to Nanashi considering what happened. He shrugged lightly and started to look away from her, at least until he noticed that she'd started walking around the back of the house. He thought to say something to her about those boys not being too keen on the other clan's being in the territory but stopped. He really didn't care if anything happened to her and if anything did he was pretty sure that she'd be able to take care of it herself.

Hikari sighed softly when she heard what had happed. She kind of half figured as much. She hadn't really thought about it when he first left, but it probably wasn't a good idea for him to go wandering off alone. "Oh..."

Marius turned back slightly and watched LaRae head outside and then sighed softly before he looked back over to Kyran. "...I really don't know what to say to the boy... you all know him better than I do." he said softly as he glanced a little unsurely toward the stairs. He really didn't mind going up, but he wasn't all that great at comforting anymore but Celestine because all you really had to do to him was put your arm around him and he was content, he didn't usually need to be spoken to.

Hikari smiled weakly and gently elbowed Kyran in the side. Maybe this time he could try again. "...Why don't you go talk to him, Kyran?" she asked softly. She was pretty sure that Nanashi already knew that she and LaRae cared about what happened to him so she thought she'd give someone else a shot to talk to him this time.

Kanone shrugged slightly, "I don't have to think something is fun to want to improve... my drive to improve is my responsibility to protect this town when and if I have to. And yes I do tend to get a little grumpy when I'm in pain I think everyone does." he said simply, "Anyway, that's fine, I don't really care either way." he said simply. Clearly he and Aamori had completely different views on the subject, and the conversation was starting to go in circles, so he was kind of trying to hint that he was getting bored with it. "So, you have a brother, huh? Older, I take it?"

Kyran shifted his attention briefly to watch LaRae leave. He was a little surprised that she left after hearing everything that he had. He kind of expected her to go back up stairs. But after thinking about it maybe she already tried to talk to him. He sighed softly and looked back to Marius for a moment. He wasn't really picking up on the subtle hints that kept being dropped. However after being elbowed in the side by Hikari, and hearing her he got the picture. He glanced over to her and nodded lightly. "You know... one of these days I'm going to get a bruise from all the elbows to the side and the nudges.." He said shaking his head lightly as he started to get up from the couch. He stretched his arms up a little over his head and then sighed softly. "...I'll go talk to him, see how he is." He said as he started around the coffee table and over towards the stairs. He didn't have anything against going to check on him but he was a little wary of saying anything to him after what happened in the kitchen. Once he reached the stairs he went straight up rather quickly taking more then one stair at a time. He sighed again once he made it to the top and looked over at the door that went to the room Nanashi was in. He stepped over to it and lifted his hand to the door and knocked on it before slipping it open and stepping inside quietly. He shut the door behind him and looked over to Nanashi laying on the bed. "...Are you alright?" He asked softly, rather concerned with how he was.

LaRae disappeared into the forest for a few minutes once she reached it. She didn't go too terribly far inside, but that was only because it didn't take her that long to find what she was looking for. When she came back out from the trees she was carrying a decently thick tree branch that clearly had fallen down from the tree it'd grown from and then a much smaller branch that she'd found too. She carried them back to Marius' house and then set the larger branch down on the ground as she held the smaller one. Her hand only glowed for a moment as she forced the small branch to shed a couple layers of bark until it revealed a small hand knife. At first the knife looked like nothing more then a carving from the wood but it was reinforced just as her Talwar was, so it was as sharp and as hard as a normal knife. She sighed softly and then sat down on the ground beside the larger branch that she'd brought. She set it in her lap and then began carving it with the knife she'd created.

Aamori sighed softly, gathering that he was ready to talk about something else. It was probably better that the topic change or else she may actually end up arguing with him about it to some degree. She gave a soft nod to his question. "Yes, he is older. Not by too much though. He's only two years older then I am." She answered.

Hikari smiled at him and laughed softly, "If you bruise from me tapping you with my elbow then I pity you." she said softly, giving his a gently nuzzle before he got up. She then glanced over to Marius and smiled slightly before she watched Kyran go to the stairs.

Marius smiled slightly when Kyran said he would go. "Thank you." He said before he started over to the chair. He would have gone himself if no one else had offered, but he was glad that Kyran went after Hikari gave him the clue. He nodded to Hikari and then sighed softly as he sank back down in his chair again. He was already ready for this day to be over so he could go back to bed.

Nanashi was still just laying there quietly. He barely even registered that someone had come into the room until he heard Kyran's voice, then he startled violently and lifted his head out of his arms a little before he remembered the voice and sighed. "...Yeah...I'm fine." he said quietly as he laid his head back down, turning his face away fro the door and closing his eyes. He hair fell into his face a bit with the way that he was laying now, but he didn't mind. He still didn't want anyone to see his face really, even though he knew he was going to have to come out of here before it had time to heal. "...I forgot where I was." he said simply.

Kanone half smiled, "So in other words...he's about my age, huh?" Kanone was 19 now, though he hadn't been that way for too long. "So what kind of guy is he, the kind I'd get along with or the kind I'd want to smack?" he asked with a soft laugh.

Kyran sighed softly seeing how Nanashi reacted. It wasn't really all that surprising but at the same time he'd hoped that he wouldn't unsettle him that easily. He stared over at the bed, and Nanashi for a moment before he happened to notice a chair in the room. At least he wasn't going to have to stand the whole time. "...I doubt you're fine." He paused. "You ran to hide up here, after all of that." He said as he walked over to the chair and sat down. He leaned back and then brought one foot up to rest across his other leg. "You don't need to go around talking like that, Nanashi." He paused. "I don't know exactly what happened, but Marius did tell us what little he knew." He sighed softly. "He had heard from Nero that some of the boys in this village did something to you. Well, Marius took care of the boys and I don't think they'll come around here while we're still here." He said softly. He was quiet for a minute, at least a little hopeful that he might feel a little better after hearing that Marius had taken care of those boys. Then again, that could easily be taken the other way too. He took a breath and then looked back over at Nanashi. "...Are you going to tell me what they did to you or am I going to have to check you myself until I find out?" He asked half jokingly.

Aamori nodded again. "Yes. Yoichi will be turning twenty here pretty soon." She shook her head lightly at his other question. "I couldn't really give you an accurate answer to that. But if I had to guess, I'd say you'd probably get along with him pretty well." She smiled slightly. "He likes to joke around quite a bit, even though he is halfway serious most of the time. He's pretty nice to everyone he meets, until he's had enough time to decide the type of person they are." She paused. "And I sometimes doubt he will ever have a steady relationship with any girl." She shook her head. "My damn brother flirts with every girl he comes across, even if they're already spoken for... Even so, I couldn't ask for a better brother."

Nero stared over at LaRae once she had come back and sat down. He watched what she was doing and then shook his head lightly while she sat there carving that branch down. That was going to take forever and he didn't want to stand there and listen to the carving noises. He pushed himself up from the house and wandered over to the front door. He stood there for a moment before opening the door and slipping inside. He moved quietly into the living room and stood off to the side after glancing around a little. He looked over at Marius and then shut his eyes lightly. "...Did you already check on him, Marius?" He asked quietly. He was curious since to his knowledge Marius was the one going to check on Nanashi and since he was sitting down here in the chair he assumed that Marius had already checked on him.

Nanashi sighed softly and opened his eyes again while Kyran talked. He at least knew what Kyran meant this time, so he didn't take what he said the wrong way, though he did shift positions a little uncomfortably when Kyran said something about looking him over. "...Don't." He said quietly. He didn't really like the idea of being examined, mainly because Kyran would fins a lot more than just what those boys did. "...They didn't do much... they were just throwing apples." he muttered quietly. "...I just wanted to go walk somewhere...I've been in here for days. No one's bothered me here...I guess...I got too comfortable..." He sighed and finally turned his head so that he could look at Kyran, though he was still trying to use his arms to hide his busted lip, so only his eye peeked over his arm, though even at that there was a definite blue shade developing around the outer edge of his eye. "...I'm sorry...I didn't mean...to cause trouble." He knew that Kyran was pretty big into the whole not starting anything in other territories thing, he thought that may have been why he came in here anyway.

Kanone laughed softly, "Sounds like a pretty decent guy." Honestly Kanone was almost the same way, though not quite as bad. He really only hit on the pretty girls or the ones that he'd known for a long time, but most of the girls around here seemed to see him as more of a brother or best friend than anything else. "I bet none of the guys are allowed to hit on you like that with him around, huh?" He said with a soft laugh.

Marius looked up when Nero entered the room and shook his head slightly. "...I told the other what was going on since Hikari asked. Kyran offered to go see how he was. I really wasn't too sure what to say to him anyway." he said with a soft sigh.

Kyran was relieved to hear Nanashi tell him what happened. He wasn't really wanting to go looking the guy over. He shook his head lightly after hearing what had happened. He didn't think the boys should've been picking on Nanashi in the first place, but he was glad that they'd only thrown apples. There could've been worse things thrown. He sighed softly. "You shouldn't have to be afraid of getting comfortable." He started and then paused. He was going to go on about how what those boys did was wrong, and that they shouldn't have picked on him. But that was all way too obvious and pretty much pointless. He looked up and over to Nanashi when he turned his head. He spotted the blue mark that was developing near his eye almost immediately though he didn't react to seeing it; Again, it could've been worse. "There is no need to go apologizing." He assured him. "You didn't do anything wrong and surely didn't provoke them to do what they did." He started to get up from the chair and adjusted his vest slightly in the process. "In the other territories, as I'm sure you know, if you're not from their clan you're a target." He sighed. "That's why there are people like me, who escort others. Unfortunately everyone not from the territories clan is liable to be attacked in some way, shape or form especially if they're alone... And you have it twice as bad as any of the rest of us." He shook his head lightly. "All I can say to avoid stuff like this is to go out with someone else. I don't care which one of us it is, but going out in these territories alone is a bad idea for any one us." He started to move a little closer to the bed. He stopped right beside it and looked down at the mark on his face a little more closely. "...That is going to swell some kind of bad." He commented. "I'll need to get you some ice..." He mumbled quietly, thinking to himself out loud.

Aamori glanced back to Kanone and half smiled before shaking her head slightly. "Yoichi doesn't let anyone close enough to me, to hit on me when I'm not confined to the training grounds." She said quietly. She was actually rather embarrassed to admit in any way that she was kept confined. She did rarely leave the training grounds, she had everything she'd need there. But once in a blue moon she'd get permission to leave and wander around the town but only escorted by her brother and or Hisako. She looked away. "One thing I think is kind of funny, Yoichi and I can be mistaken for one another easily if one wasn't paying close enough attention to us. We've got the same hair, horns and tail. Not to mention everything is the same colors.." She said with a slight laugh.

Nero opened his eyes after a moment and looked back to Marius. "That sure does sound like you took the easy way out." He said lightly. "If you didn't know what to say to him, you could've asked me to do it." He paused. "...Though, I think I may just have ended up scaring the guy more then doing any good." He commented. He glanced over to Hikari momentarily before turning his eyes back to Marius. "So what did you do to get her to be so quiet?" He laughed softly, it was barely audible just like before. "She rarely shuts up, even for five minutes." He meant nothing by the comments but he was still a little surprised to hear Marius talking without Hikari's two cents.

Nanashi again listened quietly to what Kyran had to say. In other words to gain any safety he was going to have to give up his privacy. He sighed softly and nodded weakly. He guessed he could do that. It was usually pretty nice having someone else around, but he really didn't want to get caught with just LaRae again because if someone did do something he didn't want her trying to get them back. That really didn't help matters. He looked up at him a little more when he came over to the bed and then finally started to raise his head again. His lips was still bleeding a little bit, mainly because he'd bitten it pretty hard, but most of the blood had gotten wiped off on his gloves. He only raised his head because he wasn't too sure what Kyran was talking about so he wanted to check his face. He moved his arm so that he could touched around his eye and he winced slightly when he found the bruise and then lowered his arm again with a sigh before he put his head down again. He didn't know why it seemed like everything seemed to want to hit in in the head lately. He was just going to have constant headache before it was over.

Kanone smiled slightly and shook his head head a little. "Haha I bet that would go over well if I ever did come to visit. Happen to see him out somewhere from behind and run up to give him a big hug." He laughed and shook his head. "Then probably get punched." He looked back over to her and half smiled as he reached over to her and put his arm around her, "So guess I'd better hit on you while I have the opportunity, huh?" He said with a grin as he pulled her a little closer. They were a little over halfway back to Marius's house by now anyway.

Marius smiled slightly at Nero and nodded, "Yes, I am notorious for taking the easy way out of things." he said simply, "I was trying to get you to go up before, but you said that it would probably upset him more. I thought I'd let someone who looked a little less ready to kill something go talk to him." He said with a soft laugh, playing off of what Nero had said about himself earlier.

Hikari blinked when Nero started talking about her silence and then looked over to him with a quirked eyebrow before she half smiled. "Are you saying that I talk too much, Nero?" she asked lightly. She laughed softly and then looked away again as she leaned back against the couch. "I had to run out of things to say eventually, didn't I?" She closed her eyes. "You know...now that I think about it...you really do always look ready to kill something. Do you just like scaring the bejeebus out of people?" she asked as she opened one eye to glance over to him.