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Frightened, Hitsu could only stare at Mitsu when she was looked to for support. Was it supposed to be a question on if they'd be found? She shook her head slowly, burying her face in her hands. "I don't know, Mitsu." She replied in little more than a whimper. She wasn't good at dealing with bad news, and it seemed to be piling up quicker than she could manage to process it all.

Gritting his teeth, Yuki stepped over to the both of them and laid a hand gently on each of their shoulders. "Don't worry about those things right now, alright?" He doubted it would do much good, but if they could get moving again it'd be a start. "Whatever happens, none of us are going to give up without a fight." He would have tried to smile, but even he was bothered by the fox's words.

He slowly looked to everyone in turn, and sighed softly. Yuki tried to coax the two distressed girls toward the door as he addressed everyone present, "If there really is someone after us, we need to keep moving."

Since her voice was unable to reach the one she wanted to talk to the most, Neko's mother reached out to the only other person she knew that had seen her. Though she was unseen by the others in the area she looked at Riyo with soft eyes, bright blue like the sky on a clear day. "Please...stay the night. You will all be safe here." Gesturing toward the cottage her smile saddened. "I know its not much, but there is a roof and a fireplace. It will keep you warm and dry for the night."

Hearing a thud behind him, Blade turned around to see Riyo on the ground. He wasn't sure what just happened, but as he looked at her, he saw a line of red from the corner of her mouth, causing his eyes to widen a bit. That wasn't a good sign.

"Neko, hold on... I think something's wrong with Riyo."

After a bit of hesitation, he stepped over to where she laid, crouching down by her to see if she was alright.

"Riyo?" he asked while nudging her a bit to see if he could get some sort of reaction out of her. She seemed pretty still right now, and the blood coming from her mouth made it seem like she was pretty bad off.

The girl had seemed fine earlier, so he wasn't sure what was going on. Just from looking at her, he could only guess what was happening to her. So furrowing his brows a bit, he glanced over at Atticus and motioned him to come over. If anyone, the doctor in the group should be able to diagnose her, if not treat her as well.

((Edited my post a bit since it kinda sucked a lot.. >.>; ))

Atticus was quick to make his way over when he noticed Riyo was laying on the floor. He kneeled down on one knee and began inspecting the 'unconscious' girl.

'Oh s**t. Atticus... What do I do?' She thought to herself, running though her options as quick as she possibly could.

'Ooooooh, that's quite a predicament.' A voice called back. 'Mr. Birdy is sure to blow your cover. You know how much he dislikes our company...'

As her mind rushed for ideas, Atticus placed a hand on her head gently. Well, she was a little warm...

He then reached for her arm to feel her pulse, quickly noticing that, concealed under the sleeve, it was bleeding. His eyes narrowed slightly, though he made no attempt to show anyone what he'd just found. Instead, he whiped off his fingers before retracting them.

She'd done this to herself. It was all one big act. He knew it. But why? To the best of his knowledge, she probably wasn't doing it for attention...

The angel side said to go with it, the devil side said to blow her cover. Hmmm.

"A spontaneous collapse like this could be something serious. The blood leaking out of her mouth could signify a number of things, but I can't be very sure as of now. I suggest staying here for tonight, as much as everyone seems anxious to leave."

Riyo was amazed by what she'd heard. Either he was a terrible doctor, or he was actually doing something nice for once.

[I thought Riyo was inside already? I'm lost, so I'm just going to pretend I know where everyone is right now. D; Just a little ways outside?]

Hitsu hadn't moved initially, but when her brother had given her the idea that she'd either walk or be pushed she went, blubbering something about how the fox wouldn't lie and other such things that Yuki had already tuned out. Several seconds after Yuki had tried to usher she and Mitsu further from the cottage, however, he heard his sister give a startled shout.

He jumped, released her and she ran free back to where those behind them had gathered around Riyo. "What happened!?" She'd only seen her hit the ground, but it didn't take long for her to notice the blood. She whimpered worriedly, chewing on her lower lip as she hoped that this wasn't a sign of the first of many bad things to come. She'd been fine just a minute before, what could have gone wrong?

Yuki wasn't far behind, appearing just as concerned. Atticus had stood to give his diagnosis as Yuki came to a halt, and inwardly he was a bit irritated at the fact that they'd be lingering here for so long. He didn't say anything against it, it made sense in this case after all.

Then, he looked to Neko questioningly. "She was fine a few minutes ago, did something happen while you two were outside?" It didn't sound like he was trying to accuse him of anything, but clearly if something out of the ordinary had happened, Neko might have been there to see it since Riyo had obviously followed him and brought him back to the house.

This was much more difficult than she imagined. Effectively, 'playing dead'. When Blade lifted her off the ground, she wanted to react, but had to let her body drop, stay limp. It was... Awkward. But even worse, everyone's worry echoing through the area... Coupled with the fact that things hadn't been exactly stable before her little stunt...

She wanted to jump back up and shout 'Hey! Look! I'm fine! Stop being worried!' Then again, they'd probably turn from worried, to angry. And then everything she'd been doing would be in vain... So, this was best.

Atticus followed behind Blade with a sigh. "If I can figure out what it is, no doubt I can cure it." Why was he still playing along? He could just say yes and probably not be questioned about it. At all. No 'well how can you cure it if you don't know what it is?' Because most of what he said went in one ear and out the other anyways.

When Riyo was placed upon the bed, Atticus went about as if he was still examining her. And when he was really close to her face, noting that Blade was at a small distance, he whispered "You owe me." Just loud enough for her ears to pick up.

Owe him? Well, she was grateful that he had played along... But would it have been worse for him to call her on it... Than owing him? She wasn't sure what was worse...

poop

Mitsu looked at Hitsu questioningly, worry etched in every corner of her expression. "Do you think she'll be okay?" She followed behind the feline and took a seat behind her looking over the bed at Riyo. There was no saying what could have happened but Mitsu only hoped Riyo would be okay.

Silent, Neko gave no reply to Yuki's words. He only looked away and stared back at the road. It was like fate was pulling him to stay here no matter the cost. "All right, I can take a hint." He murmured to himself as he too entered the house.

Making his way into the small living area Neko began to brush through the remains of the cottage as everyone else fussed over Riyo. There wasn't much he could do for her that Atticus couldn't do so he would leave it to the doctor while he explored forgotten memories. Fingers traced along the edge of the table as he felt the bumps and scratches from repeated wear and tear. Eyes drifted to the counter by the window and Neko could almost remember seeing his mother there happily preparing food for dinner.

The remains of a broken vase caught his attention and Neko knelt down to inspect it. It had been one of his mother's favorite things. Something so simple and practically useless, but she adored it. He would often hear her say it was a way to bring life and color into the house, if only for a little while. And true to that Neko could remember it always being filled with flowers no matter the time of year. His mother would collect them and dry them during the summer and fall months, and display them in the winter.

Picking up a piece of the broken porcelain, Neko ran his finger across its surface to remove the dust and reveal the pattern underneath. It looked as though it had been dropped while the house had been rummaged through and there wasn't much left to be salvaged. The paint was dulled and chipped but the lace like pattern was still visible even after all this time.