Yuki looked up startled at the sound of the curse's name. He should have recognized it sooner, as he'd read about only a few days before, and he had also read how to counter it. He did not, however, have enough energy to conduct the right spell. He looked fixedly at Micheal. Whether it was for his mother or not, that man had taken a great risk to stop the effects on the whistle, and Yuki was grateful for that. "I can do it, "he said, "but not at this very moment, not with the energy I have left." Finishing his statement, he felt a bit useless. His consolation was that he was still just a child, even if well-read.

Ani smiled at Yuki's response, she knew why he would volunteer to do it. She spoke softly as she bent down to brush some hair from his eyes, "Its alright, you have used alot of your strength keeping that shield up and taking care of Phineas....your mother is going to be very proud of you." She said smiling comfortingly.

Micheal didnt say anything, "Before we leave, we must free all the Catchers creatures." He said. "They all have a home to return too." He said afterwards. "Get the spell ready Ani, Ill be back..." And he disappeared behind the curtains. He also wanted to make sure the the guards took what was theirs, and only theirs.

"Um.. okay," Yuki said, flushing. He turned to look at the hound, who didn't seem to like Micheal very much at all. Something had probably happened to put the hound on edge behind those curtains that Yuki had missed. He pet the dog tentatively, wondering how he had come to be like this. A child's nightmare seemed the most likely. He also worried about Micheal, who seemed to be heading into danger. The guards were not here to help him, that much was certain. At the group didn't have the Catcher to worry about any more.

Turtle started at Yuki's touch. It had been a very long time since someone had pet him. It took him a few seconds to remember that he liked it. He wagged his tail happily, and it kicked up dust where it thumped against the ground. A few little maggots fell out of his fur as Yuki scratched his most itchy spots.

((Turtle is delightfully disgusting to write for. XD ))

Yuki blinked startled, but not startled enough to stop. It wasn't the dog's fault the maggots were there. As long as they didn't crawl into his sleeves he supposed it was alright. He had noticed that the dog had taken a few seconds to react, which made him wonder about a brain somewhere in there. Maybe there was a way to get the hound clean. He had to admit to himself, the thought was rather disturbing. The inside of the dog would probably have to be cleaned as well. The image of the Catcher was vivid in his mind. He stopped abruptly. This dog had been alive once. What had happened to it? Realizing how sudden his movement had seemed, he pet the hound again. At least there was something he could do to make the hound remotely happy.

[[LOL I bet. This seven-year-old of mine is going to have issues when he grows up XD; ]]

((He already has them O_o))

The little maggots quickly squiggled back to Turtle's rump and burrowed back into his fur. The dog himself leaned into Yuki's hand and let his mind wander to other things. He'd need to get his mouth put back together somehow. Damned impulsiveness, what a mess he'd made of himself. He wondered if any of his new friends could communicate with animals. He would have liked to explain himself somehow.

[[Too true XD I want to draw him so you can all see how GIRLY he is LOL His big eyes and long hair don't help his self-confidence.. XD;

Yuki continued to pet the hound, with an urge to hold his jaw up for as long as he had to until they found a way to keep it up there, where it belonged. He looked at Ani and asked, "Is there any way to fix his jaw? It looks rather uncomfortable the way it's hanging now. It also looked like a rather scary but funny smile, but Yuki didn't say that.

((I need to scan the drawings of Turtle... of course I can't draw scary worth boo, so he looks pretty friendly.))

Turtle grinned his funny smile and scratched briefly behind one of his ears, more doglike than usual as he bent to bring his hind foot to his head. Sometimes he really envied the human anatomy. He perked an ear at the noises backstage as acts were released. He didn't care anymore, it didn't concern him. The DreamCatcher was dead, and he had been captured as well. He knew that everyone would enjoy having their freedom returned to them.

[[I'm having trouble deciding on how to draw him though... just ha headshot, but I can't even do that XD;;

OMG it would be sad if the moment Yuki went for his jaw it just.. fell off... the image popped into my head XD;; ]]

Yuki listened along with the hound. There was the obvious sound of confusion, as well as relief. He wondered what Micheal had done. Just released them from their confinement and left them to their own devices? Let them know they were free? How many would come through the curtains, baffled? And here he was, still having trouble not pushing that jaw up where it belonged. It was taunting him.

A few ghouls came out from behind the curtain and spotted the small group of travelers. They shambled towards them, moaning hungrily.
Turtle sprang to his feet and stood over Phineas and in front of Yuki. Now he had two masters. He let a rumble grow in his chest (which was really just a ribcage) and released a menacing howl. Barking would require moving the jaw, which was pretty much just barely hanging on.
The ghouls realized it wasn't worth fighting the dog and instead directed their aimless meandering to other corners of the tent.

((I love lurking and watching people come on and off this forum in the little "current users" box thing.))

((Sorry, I was at class.))
Micheal watched as the guards moved the mutilated remains of the Catcher into a think cloth. They wrapped him up like a huge package, before the carried it outside to the carriage that awaited there. Micheal knew that they had been following him since he began his quest for the warlord. One came back in and went further into the room procuring a golden cage. A red bird with a long feathery tail that flowed out of the cage and nearly touched the floor perched on a bar in there. He watched as they left, the horses galloping away. satisfied that they had heeded his words, he walked into the back room. He used his good arm to pull apart the locks one by one on the cage. Going down the row at all the sorry looking, mistreated creatures that looked upon him woefully. He wasnt to going to force them to leave, he had opened the door, they can take the liberty upon themselves to step out and leave.
When he came back to the beginning he saw that some were already leaving, eagerly passing the curtains and the others out in the circus.

Ani moved over a little closer to the dog to see what she can do. She gently raised the dog's head upward, "Hmm...we can stitch it up with a piece of leather..." She said, "There is also the possibility of connecting back his jaw to the upper bone snout." She said thoughtfully. "But I fear that would be most painful for him..." She looked at Yuki, wondering what he was thinking, the way his eyes ran over the dogs body, "We can first give him a bath, a good scrub to cleanse him inside and out." She said with a light smile.

[[XD I stray into other websites a lot so sometimes I lose track XD;;

Oh, and I drew a headshot of Yuki.. I just need to scan it.. girly~ *cough*]]

Yuki turned pale at the sound of "insides". "Um... I would truly appreciate it if you didn't mention the 'insides' of things for a while, miss Ani," he said softly. "I had an eyeful of that over there," he added, pointing towards the curtains. He thought about her suggestion. The jaw hanging didn't seem to bother the hound at all, except for the fact that it was hanging there. "Maybe we can try connecting the jaw to the snout, and if it seems like too much, then we'll stop and try something else?"

Ani nodded at his request, not sure what he ment since she didnt see any thing that was left of the Dream Catcher.
"We shall try it out then..." She said standing up. She saw some of the creatures leaving the tent. They didnt hesitate, they fled. She wondered where they were going until she remembered that Micheal said they all had places to go, belonged somewhere.
She smiled in thought, she wished them all the best and hopefully that they find happiness once again. Rekindle the sheen in their eyes and hearts that they had lost to the Dream Catcher.

Turtle let them touch him. It didn't hurt. He actually didn't feel much pain anymore unless he wanted to, which he sometimes did just to feel alive again. There was only so much blood left in his body and he could direct it to where he needed it, so if he wanted to feel something he could pump it to his nerves. It was pretty convenient, although he had never given much thought to how weird it was that he could do that.
The dog's eyes widened at the mention of cleaning him inside and out. He desperately needed to find a way to tell them not to do that. He whined back in his throat and tucked his tail between his legs.

[[ Here's the girly child of mine XD ]]

"I don't think he likes the idea of being cleaned," Yuki said, noticing that the hound had done nothing when he had been touched for the purpose of re-attaching his jaw. "If only we could actually communicate with him, though. I'd like to know why he doesn't want us to."

((Aww he's so cute! X3))

Turtle was overjoyed that Yuki had understood him. He poked his dry nose into one of the boy's palms to confirm that he had hit right on the truth. He was also coming to realize that he had fallen in with good people, which was a happy change.

((Here's the pic of Turtle. Obviously he's actually much grimier and scary now. I sure suck at scary ^_^' :Turtledog ))

[[haha, thanks. I've been itching to draw him. Hopefully I'll do something more grand before I enter college XD

OMG Hi Turtle <3]]

Yuki smiled at the touch of Turtle's nose, glad that they were getting along. A different child of his age probably would have run away, but Yuki had understood that from the moment he was born there had been no hope of him being normal. Neither of his parents had been, ans so he wasn't expected to be. The only instances when he seemed a normal child was when his mother would tickle him without mercy or when his round cheeks would flush with embarrassment. He also felt more childish when he asked questions, but how else could he learn about what was not written in books. He stayed away from what he deemed "adult matters". He had no intention of looking into those any time soon. He had been lost in thought for a few moments when he realized something. "Maybe this isn't the best time to bring this up, but where are we going to stay?" He didn't think it would be easy for them to go into the nearby town at all, not after what the audience had witnessed.

Even though the question probably wasn't aimed at him, an answer instantly sprang mind. Turtle nudged Yuki's hand again, wagging his tail emphatically. He turned to lead the way, looking over his shoulder to make sure the message was getting across. He knew a place.
While the acts and prisoners of the DreamCatcher usually slept in cages or the magical space-defying wagon, the man himself had had a very plush and comfortable trailer. It was maybe a bit small for the whole group, but it would work in a pinch. The DreamCatcher kept it locked but, luckily, he used Turtle as his keychain. The key was chained onto one of the dog's upper ribs and tucked into a cut in his flesh that served as a makeshift pocket. The DreamCatcher was nothing if not creatively weird.

Yuki stood up to follow, looking back at his mother and Phineas worriedly before announcing he'd be right back. He went over to Turtle, who was surely trying to lead him somewhere, and waited for the hound to take him wherever it was he needed taking to. Perhaps it was the answer to his most recent question.

Turtle weaved his way through the backstage, which was now a huge mess of broken cages and overturned furniture, scattered chains and restraints. They reached the back of the tent, where the dog pushed open a flap in the cloth and revealed a colourfully painted trailer. It was nestled in the trees just on the edge of the clearing in which the tent was pitched, and looked very fancy. A huge padlock hung from the door and all the windows were shuttered and locked from the inside. Turtle had never actually been inside. He hoped that perhaps the thing also held a space-enlargening charm on it. The DreamCatcher WOULD do something like that, living in mansionlike splendour while his bread-winners shivered in misery outside.
Turtle sat on his haunches and scratched carefully with his back leg until the key came loose and swung freely from the chain attached to the rib. He looked up at Yuki, his permanent smile almost looking broader.
Hey, it was better than hiding it under the doormat.

Yuki had trouble deciding whether to be perturbed or amused. He compromised by feeling half and half of each. He took the key delicately, fearing a piece of Turtle might just come with the key as a special surprise. There had been enough surprises today, thank you very much. Carefully, Yuki opened the door to the trailer. It was much bigger inside than he had anticipated. Upon further thought, he realized that nothing less could be expected from a man as selfish as the Catcher. There was enough room for all of them, as the inside of the trailer was more like the inside of a large one-story house. There was only one bedroom, as the Dream Catcher would never have allowed anyone else in here. There was also a living room (with a stone fireplace, no less) and large couches. This felt incongruous as the Catcher wasn't someone to invite into his treasured trailer. Maybe each couch was a rare one and he wanted them for that simple fact. The only problem, it seemed, was getting his mother through the door. It wasn't a small door, but his mother's wings were more than "not small".

Turtle followed Yuki into the trailer and looked around, amazed. Such luxury was far beyond the scope of his experience, even in life. He put nose to floor and sniffed around the trailer, taking special care under every piece of furniture. No rats. No cockroaches. The dog felt a wave of jealousy overcome him. All this time he'd been plagued by small pests crawling through him at night and he had never though it possible to actually escape their little feet. And here, all along, the man he called master had been hogging the good life. He wished he could go back and be a little more vicious in tearing out the man's throat.

Yuki touched Turtle on the head gently. It was obvious that the Catcher had not treated him or any of the other creatures very nicely at all. Even past that permanent grin on the dog's face Yuki spotted clear resentment. "Let's go get the others," he said, not wanting them all to be in that horrid circus right next to a large hole. If there was anything to be done, which indeed there was after a disaster like that, then it was best to do it in comfort.

Turtle wagged his tail in agreement. He insisted doggishly that Yuki lock the door when they left, just in case someone else came upon the trailer and decided to stake it out as their own. It would be no good to get everyone into it only to find a ghoul in the closet.
Back in the tent, the hound sprang to Phineas's side then ran back to Yuki before running to Phineas again. He repeated this a few times in puppylike excitement over having found two new masters, and also in worry, as Phineas had still not woken and was looking exceptionally pale for someone with his dark complexion.

Yuki locked the door and turned the knob just to make sure he had done it properly. Satisfied, he went quickly to the tent so that Turtle wouldn't have to keep running back and forth. Yuki was under the impression that every move the hound made caused him to slowly loose a piece of himself. He looked over at Phineas, who looked rather pale. He was loosing too much blood. He turned to Ani once more. He felt like he'd been going to her often lately. "There's a safe place for us to say," he started, "but I think that before we all move Phineas should be taken care of. Moving him in his state is a rather bad idea..."