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Within the old, crumbling structure, something had acknowledged them drawing near. The days that had passed had allowed the fox that had pursued them to find himself ahead of their path rather than traveling behind. Kitwana had rested only as long as was needed without ill effects, stopped to eat only once or twice within the day. It had paid off well, and he'd been gifted with two days' rest within this cottage. Ruined as it was, it was much more comfortable than the open forest.

In fact, he had been drawn to this place. It had called to him, welcomed him with open arms, and he had graciously accepted.

Long before they were within sight of the cottage he had smelled them, heard them. Even when he could not, he had patiently waited. Convinced fully that they would arrive in due time. It was here that he would finally meet them all, face to face. His search would come to an end tonight. The foxen's muzzle curled lightly as he smiled.

"It seems as though you were correct, my Lady…" Kitwana murmured softly, as not to be heard so easily by those he could hear disturbing the foliage outside. "He has finally arrived."

Riyo watched Neko as his disposition changed out of nowhere. What was that? That... Feeling...

As everyone was following close behind, she couldn't help but take a short pause to figure out just what that had been.

Of course, when she realized everyone was leaving her in the dust, Riyo sped up, Atticus quietly following close behind.

How strange... Her own feelings on this place. It reminded her of her village in a very small way, but there was nothing tainted about this place. Her hand softly touched the rough texture of the house. She couldn't decide whether to smile or frown. "What a nice little home. Tucked away in the forest where no one can disturb it. Away from the fuss of the city. Away from... The disturbances of people. Gentle silence. Serene silence..." She walked around the house as she spoke, imagining just who might've lived here. "An empty silence if anything, now..."

Atticus stopped and watched Riyo examine what he considered a wreck of a house. "Just looks like a run-down shack to me..."

Neko stood for the longest time staring at the structure in disbelief that it was still here. The little cottage he had called home for the small part of his childhood. When Atticus made his comment Neko only shot him a short glare but said nothing. It was only true that this place was run down from lack of up-keep and care, but hearing him speak of it in such a way made his skin crawl.

Hesitation aside, Neko finally stepped toward the entrance of the house. It had been years since he had entered his previous home and though he didn't expect much to be left a certain sense of calm washed over him. At least....until he reached the door. His eyes settled on the one thing he knew beyond all else shouldn't be there. Raising a hand he pointed at the fox.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" He sounded angry, troubled. As if this person was trespassing in his current home. "You shouldn't be here." Neko had no idea who this guy was but he didn't care as he advanced into the house.

Mitsu followed quietly behind Yuki and Hitsu. She hadn't picked up on Neko's change of mood before he walked off but the air of worry was present. What was up? She wondered. As she approached the cottage she seemed to be in awe of the little place. Despite its worn down appearance there were still signs that it had once been loved and cared for. One the side of the house there were pebbles boxing in a small section were some flowers still grew, bright red flowers.

Having followed Neko closely, Tobi wasn't far behind him when he entered the cottage. At first, when Neko let his displeasure be known, Tobi had started to growl. Someone in his pack wasn't happy so he was going to back him up. That was, until, he spotted Kitwana. The fox's appearance seemed to sooth him and instantly Tobi let out a happy yip as he approached. Maybe he seemed, familiar?

At Atticus's rude comment, Riyo sent a glare his way just in time to catch Neko's. That was it. She understood the feeling. But she didn't say anything.

Instead, she looked over to where Hitsu was as her ears picked up something about flowers. Her eyes caught the red and were immediately drawn to them. Almost like a bird to a shiny object.

Riyo smiled and crouched in front of them, a delicate hand reaching to touch the petals. "How lovely." After all, red was her favorite color. She wouldn't pick them though. To pick a flower was to sentence it to death. And, oddly enough, that was not something she wanted. The picture her mind made of them was enough.

"Riyo dear, you're missing something." Called a voice from behind. She glanced back just in time to see the man standing there. "Honestly, I thought I taught you better. You should know not to judge a book by it's cover." By book, he meant house. And by the metaphor, he meant it wasn't empty.

While Riyo was busy frolicing in the flowers, Atticus decided to follow Neko (with some distance inbetween) into the 'run-down' shack, as he so affectionately called it. And, after seeing his little outburst at the stranger, Atticus also knew just what was up. He stood just inside the doorway and observed, as he usually did.

Tobi excepted the attention readily sitting by Kitwana's side. It was comforting to see someone familiar after all this time.

Neko listened to the fox speak, his expression never changing, at least not until the creature mentioned his name. Anger quickly shifted into shock his eyes widening as he stopped dead in his tracks and took a step back. How did he know his name? He had continued to say 'we' and that he had help, but there was no one else in the room as far as Neko could see. To confirm this Neko took a quick glance around to make sure there was no one hiding. Not that there was much to hide behind. The room was a mess from the years of neglect but all that really remained was an old table, two chairs, and the old bed off to the far side of the room.

For a moment, Neko thought he might have seen someone sitting on the bed, but as soon as he looked in that direction the image was gone. An illusion perhaps? "Who are you?" His voice cracked a little as he continued to stare off into the room trying to catch the image again. It must have been a trick of the mind or maybe....

"So you've met some of us....and been following us?"

Mitsu seemed fascinated with the flowers as well, taking a gentle finger and stroking the petals. They were the deepest red she had ever seen, like fresh blood. "Amaryllis," Mitsu said softly not really knowing why she knew their name. For some reason it felt like a faint memory even though she knew she had never seen them.

Neko was only half listening to what the fox was saying. Everything that he said seemed to lead Neko to believe he had been the one behind the kidnapping. He had met the girls, so he knew what some of them looked like, from there he had somehow managed to follow them and learn about the others in their group. So of course this b*****d would know that one was missing if he was the one responsible.

The last part seemed to be nothing short of a threat and Neko found his anger welling up again as he approach the anthro. "So you say you met some of our group, the girls to be more precis. And you followed them to us." Neko scoffed as he stepped up to the fox preventing escape. "Of course you would know where Poke was if the b*****d who took her works for you. Is this some sort of sick joke? You take Poke back at the last town and then track us all the way to this point to wait for us here? Who's helping you do this, I want answers!"

Mitsu heard the yelling and looked up from the forgotten garden toward the door of the house. "What's going on?" She stood and approached standing behind Yuki and peered around to see what was going on.

Around the cottage, the group split somewhat. The girls more or less remained outside, examining some red flowers, while Neko and Atticus had gone in. Out of curiosity, he followed the two, stopping at the doorway to look inside. And it seemed that it wasn't quite as abandoned as he initially thought, as a fox-man stood there.

And judging by the way Neko had been reacting to everything, he seemed to be more than familiar with this place. It made him wonder a thing or two, but not wasn't really the time to ask such questions.

The fox was an interesting character, if not a bit suspicious. While he couldn't be certain if he could be considered a friend, he also couldn't say the same for if he should be considered an enemy. At least not at this point.

"Neko, hold on. Don't start jumping to conclusions yet..."

Looking over the cat's shoulder, he stared at Kitwana. It didn't seem that he had anything to do with Poke's abduction, but if he was able to learn of what was going on, they may as well try and get that information out of him.

"What did you see in these dreams you mention?"

lets do the time warm aggaaiinnnn

The morning brought a dull light to the snow covered place. The sun rose and revealed nothing but bleak grey and white. At least it wasn't snowing for once.
Poke had hardly slept. The coat and blanekets hardly kept her warm on the frost bitten ground, and every so often she woke up with a fright expecting that man to be there with his mocking grin, or someone else sent to take her back. Thankfully it was dawn now, but it hardly erased her fears.
She held her bag open and looked through it for some of the food provisions she was given, and took out some bread and cheese. She ate the food without tasting it, not caring about what shun was up to.
Thinking about him now brought a whole new set of questions. What if he decided to take her back while traveling? Looking at the road she found that doubtful now. Not many people would be deserate enough to go back through the road just to gain some extra dough, right after they just walked through it.
There was still the pressing matter that he had been assigned to take each of her group back to the facility. As far as she knew he was still going to do so. If that was the case, wouldn't him bringing her back sign some one elses death? She shuddered horribly. No, it wouldn't come to that, she'd make sure he wouldn't get anyone else.