The dog didn't like the sound of Yuki's pronouncement. He felt totally useless in regards to stopping bloodflow, but he could do something else. Turtle lay down and shuffled himself into a shape around Phineas, trying to keep the boy warm by directing his blood through his body to create heat. He set his head down onto his paws carefully, trying to not knock his dangling jaw off.

((my, what pathetic fall-apart characters I have. Phineas can't even go 10 pages without somehow destroying his clothing all over again.))

[[but they're so cute~ >w< ]]

Yuki looked for something he had dropped on the floor. Once he was sure it was there, he simply left it there, as there would be no use for it just yet. He contemplated stopping Phineas' blood with magic, but then remembered it wouldn't help and discarded the idea. Se sat down between his mother and Phineas once more, becoming a bit more anxious now that he had time to think.

((I'm just mean.))

Phineas' immunity to magic was definitely more of a curse than a blessing lately. Once the DreamCatcher discovered that he could do whatever he wanted to the boy and have him look good as new the next day, he had used the advantage to test out all his magical equipment. There were very few traces of these experiments, as only the secondary effects were not magical and thus not reversible. Thus turning into a dragon and back was part of the immunity, but ripping out physical stitches was not. Magic could probably be used as a temporary fix, but once the effects were reversed the healing would have to be done by conventional means.
Phineas' breathing was having trouble stabilizing itself. It would be light but steady and then it would stop. Seconds later a ragged gasp would indicate the start of another of these cycles. It was as if the dragon was trying to decide between living or just giving up.

Turtle curled himself more tightly around the inhuman master, trying desperately to generate more warmth than he already was.

[[Aw, meany >w<;; but I keep looking at it so I can't be all that much better, if at all XD; ]]

Yuki grew more nervous, and when the light brush of a feather startled him, he nearly jumped into a standing position. His mother had woken up, but she had yet to move much. He watched her carefully, in case there was any need for him to stand up. There was none, it seemed.

Shan was afraid to move for two reasons. The first one was that her body was showing signs of going against her if she tried. The second was that she did not know if she was safe. Of the past fiasco she remembered almost nothing, only that when she had tried to move, the result had not been pleasant. She remained still, taking in her surroundings. It was quiet. Not even the aggravating ringing of the whistle was there to strengthen her slowly oncoming headache. She spotted Yuki from the corner of her eye, and knew it would be safe to stand up. Her son was no fool. She pushed herself into a sitting position with great caution, and remained sitting for a good deal of time before finally standing up. Her body screamed at her, but she would not listen. Not yet. She needed to reassure herself of her ability to perform even the simplest of physical tasks.

Warily, Yuki asked her, "Should you be doing that?"

"No," she replied. "But I will be fine." She looked him over for some moments. "What about you? Are you hurt?" Aside from a few cuts Yuki looked fine, but wasn't physical damage she was worried about.

"I think I'll be fine. But..." Yuki felt awkward and embarrassed, even though he knew he shouldn't. "Can I talk to you about it later? I feel tired."

"Of course, dear," Shan said, walking to him and touching his cheek softly. she knew he would be honest with her. After a few quiet seconds she was startled by a soft but still audible gasp. She spotted the source and felt her heart sink like a rock in the air. Oh god... She was afraid to ask what had happened to Phineas. It was almost as if she were seeing him for the first time. Something about his body told her he had given up, but she wouldn't accept it. She never did. She knelt very close to him, taking notice of the hound. That was the extent to which the thought about the hound. A few seconds at most. She touched the young dragon's head tentatively, as if he was in the same condition in the hound was. "Phineas..." Wake up, please... "Phineas." She called to him, but something inside her was terrified. She didn't even understand why she expected him to wake up with his injuries so obvious.

Turtle watched in fascination as the angel woman awoke and arose. He watched her intently, his maggots writhing in his chest nervously. He was supposedly a hellhound, and this woman was... a heavenhuman... as it were. Something about that made him feel like they couldn't possibly be friends, but he desperately wanted to try. Plus he'd learned not to make enemies of people who could split the earth with their voices. That would just be stupid on his part.

Though Phineas did not wake to Shan's touch, his breathing steadied and stayed that way. He was still cold to the touch despite Turtle's attempts to warm him.

((Sorry it took so long, I went out shopping with my sister... because I got the apartment!!!! XD yeeeeee!))

[[AWESOME~ what did you buy? >w< << I'm always curious about those kinds of things >w>]]

Shan closed her eyes for a moment, feeling herself swoon for a few moments, then becoming steady again. She felt feverish and slow, and her muscles and head were aching. Opening her eyes again, she sat looking at the hound. The same question Yuki had thought about lingered in her head, although not as clearly. She was grateful to Turtle for his efforts, but Phineas was still too cold for her to be at ease. She laid down again, tired of holding herself up. She closed her eyes and held him to her. There was not much else she could do for him in her present condition, but if there was something, she would try it.

((a doormat and some bathroom accessories. I tried not to splurge too much... watching the SAW movies with my sister now. XD! sick.))

Shan's feverish temperature seemed to help. There was a subtle change in Phineas' state, as if he had relaxed, even though he hadn't seemed tense before.

Turtle stood and circled around the pair anxiously, taking a second every lap or so to nudge Yuki's hand.

[[XD If I have money, I'm bad at holding back owo;
I can't handle movies like that ._. *hides*]]

Shan's fever was the result of her body working many times harder than usual to help her recover from the effects of the dreaded whistle. Her body would go past 108 degrees Fahrenheit eventually, but this could not kill her. For an angel high temperatures meant a body that was working overtime. As her body was recovering though, Shan's mind would not be doing as well. Her body was focused on one task, and thinking was not it.

Yuki looked from his mother, to Phineas, to the nervous Turtle. His mother's face was flushed, he noticed. With white skin like hers it was difficult not to tell. It have her the appearance of a stubborn child, but he knew it was a good sign. Phineas looked better too. He was more relaxed, when Yuki had not even realized he had been tense before. The hell hound looked as nervous as he did and more, and Yuki wondered whether he too should be nervous. He touched the dog on the snout to slow him down a bit. Yuki's fear that Turtle would fall apart was always on the back of his mind.

Turtle was holding up just fine. He looked much more delicate than he actually was. He grinned hugely at Yuki and gazed at him with canine adoration before continuing his pacing.

((GAH! MeneEVENT! XD Super excited! What a great weekend so far! All that's left is going into the city with Moni :D yaaay Seattle))

[[Sorry if I'm slow today. Event crazy I will go LOL
I love the purple everywhere LOL]]

Yuki smiled, but not completely relieved. The amount of guards was diminishing slowly as bot Ari and Kira took them down and caused their strange but comforting disappearance. He supposed he would have to tell them how the Dream Catcher died, and he wasn't sure he was willing.

((Where IS everyone else?! hellooo? *echoes* it's getting pretty two-sided in here O_o))

As the DreamCatcher's residual magic started to dwindle, the tent was starting to droop more and more from its nonexistant pole. Even if it collapsed suddenly it wouldn't hurt anyone, as the cloth was made of finest elvish silk, water and sound-proof. Even a scrap of the cloth would fetch a pretty penny in any town. The dreams and nightmares that were escaping never realized that they could secure overwhelming wealth because they had never really thought to cast a favourable eye towards their giant billowing prison.

[[I don't know o.e; I'll stop myself from posting so we won't leave them behind XD;; ]]

[[lol, not really sure what I should do at this moment... XD]]

Twisting to avoid being struck, Ari jabbed the arrow on hand into his opponent's eye and winced as blood and brain matter oozed out of the wound. He shoved the point of the weapon to finally kill off the creature, and sighed in comfort as it disappeared from view before him. The haunting image of the creatures' deaths would follow him for months, he was sure, but it was ... necessary. I'm not justifying this, the young man thought to himself and walked towards where Phineas, Shan, and Yuki were gathered. "Back to normal, I see." He said in greeting as he smiled wanly Yuki before taking a closer look at angel and dragon. His glance was nothing but wariness as it slid past Turtle - of course even with battle fever running through him, it was hard to forget how the hell hound had charged him at the very beginning of the fray, its maw agape and aiming for his throat.

"Is it safe for him to be so close?" He whispered to Yuki, nodding subtly towards Turtle. "And how are they doing?" At the soft rustling of cloth Ari looked up, just in time to catch the the top of the tent toppling down. A frown crossed his face, as he thought that this really wasn't the moment for them to have yet another emergency. Tightening his palm with a grasping motion, he gestured upward and sent pillars of air up to support, or at least slow, the fall of the tent. I wonder what this is made off... he pondered as his wind left him to brush softly against the elven silk and keep it in place... for now, at least.

[[wo-hoo! someone else! XD Hi fai~ LOL ew the eye XD]]

"It is safe," Yuki reassured Ari. "With the Dream Catcher dead he has no reason to attack us. Actually, he's been quite helpful. He found a place for us to sleep. We should really get out of here soon," he said, watching the tent collapse. As if getting his mother and Phineas out wasn't difficult enough, the tent decided to test their will. "As for these two... I can't say they're doing well just yet, but they're better than before. Mama is probably really hot to the touch, but she can't get herself out of here. She's going to be difficult."

Turtle eyed Ari warily. The guy had shot at him, which the dog did not appreciate in the least, but since he was a friend of Yuki and apparently Phineas, Turtle would give him a second chance. The dog knew he wasn't exactly friendly-looking. Plus it was in his nature to be overly trusting, this proved of course by his association with the DreamCatcher in the first place.

Inside Phineas' very still little body there was a war of emotions raging. His despair at the "death" (according to the DreamCatcher) of his friends was refusing to give up its position as king of all his thoughts. Though he had seen them, doubt lingered, tugging down on his soul, trying to keep him from being disappointed again. Hope was fighting a vain battle against insecurity, who insisted that if they were alive, they would no longer accept him now that they had seen the monster he truly was. Hope knew better and refused to stop fighting. Pain and anger had teamed up to weaken optimism and love, which cowered in a corner, having been neglected through the recent months. And while all this was going on, exhaustion, stealthy as a thief, whispered into the heart of his consciousness that everything was in vain and it would be best to just let himself slip away in his sleep-a luxury rarely given to dragons, even in their old age. When his heart cried out against this whispering shadow's suggestions, the exhaustion soothed him and forced pity on him, insisting that he would regret not taking his chance for a quick and painless escape from life while he could.
From outside his mind nothing seemed so tumultuous as that within.

((My internets been knocked out since friday..cause of my phone line. The guy came today to fix it so here I am. ^^ Though I might not be too alert since Im going to be hosting a thread in the event section and will be going event crazy as well. XD))

((well either way, if you post here you get stars... *bribes* I can't do event artwork while at work... they would totally notice. T_T ))

((Im actually lost in what I can do with either characters.. XD Give me a moment to think on it.))

[[I'm trying not to post because I feel like I'll leave someone behind. I don't want to leave someone behind DX; ]]

((and here I am, scurrying around waiting to see what happens. XD God I love this RP.))

[[lol, everybody feels so insecure about posting now!!! Me included. XD]]

Keeping an eye on Turtle, Ari carefully crouched down by Phineas's side. "What happened to him exactly, Yuki? One moment he was there and next I looked, there was a half-dragon rampaging around in the ring." He grasped Phineas' hand in his own and gently called the young boy's name. "Phineas dear, can you hear me?" It troubled him that one who was normally so lively could be so steal. The rustling of cloth only reminded him that they really needed to get out of here.

"Where are the others? I can only carry one of them, and I doubt that you'd be able to carry even Phineas's weight - no offense or anything." Ari said with a quick smile to Yuki, his eyes scanning their surrounding once quickly. "I wish Michale was here... I bet he'd know what to do." Despite what he feelings and opinions he might have about the man, it was hard to question his authority when matters concerning angels came up.

[[I'm just trying to wait for someone other than Steff or myself..We've both been itching to post :XD ]]

Yuki smiled politely. "No offense taken," he said, grabbing hold of his staff and the nearly abandoned package. "But I suppose I should tell you I am the one who brought him here. My magic is still strong enough to carry him, although my body may not be." It had been his physical limitations that motivated Yuki to practice his magic in the first place, but he wouldn't go into details, as it was definitely not the proper time. He looked at Phineas curiously. "I'm not sure exactly what happened. It looked like he was forced to transform, but when I found him, he was... back already. And the Dream Catcher was dead."

He looked up at the tent. Being the shortest member, Yuki did a lot of looking up. "We should really get out of here before there is even more trouble. Getting them out of here will be hard enough as it is." He tested out his magic, and satisfied that he had enough energy left, he stopped so that he wouldn't consume more than he had to. "I think you should take my mother before I lift him up." Lifting Phineas away from Shan would be just a bit too difficult for him under those conditions.

Ani had was silent in the group. She was mentally calculating all the things she needed to grow, and what she had to make the serum for the curse that inhabited Micheals hand. She was just thinking and mentally putting it all together. She knew she was missing something, in a second she had unlatched the leather bound book that was always on her back. She carefully flipped through the yellow, thin aged pages. A couple pages later, her fingers ran across the page as she found what she needed. Locking the book again, she nodded to herself. "Ill be outside, I need to grow the ingredients to banish the curse from Micheals body." She said looking at everyone, they needed to leave from here as well. The place looked like it would collapse any second.

Micheal watched as the last of the creature had left, before he returned to the rest of the people. He looked at the gang of them as he came out. He could not lift his arm any more, he could feel the coldness climbing up the elbow. He didnt show any sign in his face though that he was in any pain and distress. He walked past them, "We should get outside, the tent is going to collapse.." He said looking behind him at them. "What are you waiting for?"

((YAAY Postings have happened! We don't have internet in the apartment yet T_T. Nice to see you all back here! *scratches the aforementioned itch*))

A loud, slow groaning noise came from the corner of the tent opposite the group. The seats there looked like they were rippling, doing the "wave" without an audience. As if in slow motion, the structure sunk to the ground, giving rise to a cloud of dust. The next section of seats began to groan. The whole circus was decomposing itself. Since the magic had been produced by the DreamCatcher, it could not stand without him. His trailer, thankfully, had been made of magic and was purchased from a special magic trailer dealer.

((Step right up, see the gas mileage on this baby, 600 square feet on the inside, the size of a volkswagen beetle on the outside, step right up ladies and gentlemen, step right on up.))

[[I hope you get internet soon >w< ]]

Yuki created a platform under Phineas and lifted him a few inches above ground. If the seats weren't a cue, he would not know what one looked like. He looked at the hound, who was once gain ready to lead him out, this time with more company. His mother made no sign to show that she was at all aware of the collapsing setting around her.