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Alright, so needless to say, Atticus was getting a little annoyed with all the questions regarding Riyo's health. It didn't show. But that wasn't the point.

Time to make something up. And if Riyo was smart, she'd play along. "I have a hunch." He mumbled to Blade and removed his hat. "You see, her Father had something similar once..." Pulling it out of his a**? He sure was. And he did it with flying colors. Though, with someone who has no emotion, lying isn't difficult. "It's a virus that strikes out of nowhere. I'd never really seen anything like it. But it might have something to do with that... Stuff she can summon that shares space with her blood." By this time, he had his medical bag out and on the bed next to Riyo.

When Yuki came over and asked if there was anything they could fetch, Atticus simply waved his hand. "I should have what I need in my bag."

As he rummaged around, he continued to explain. "I don't know if it's fatal or not. Since it's never really gotten out of hand while I was around..." Then he held up a syringe. "But this should do the trick."

Oh, Riyo wished she had a third eye in this situation. Because she wanted to know what was going on around her. Besides the fact that Atticus was lying through his teeth without slipping up even once. Damn. She'd had no idea how good he was at it.

"She might regain consciousness in the next hour... Though I doubt she'll feel like moving." Now. What everyone else didn't realize was that the syringe was filled with sugar water. He always kept a placebo around for the occasional head-case.

Neko was so intent at looking at the small piece that he failed to notice Blade come up from behind. Quickly he dropped it back to the floor and stood up. "N..no nothing. Just some broken pottery." He glanced back over toward the group and at Riyo as Atticus explained the situation.

It seemed a little odd but its not like he had any other ideas for what might have went wrong. "So I guess we're staying here tonight." Despite how he sounded he was concerned about Riyo, but being here had him so on edge it was hard to focus on that. Taking a quick look around Neko decided on one thing to get him out of the small dark cottage. "I'm going to gather up some food for dinner."

Making sure he was equipped for hunting Neko started for the door casting one last glance over at Riyo. "Are you sure she will be okay?" He looked more at Atticus than anyone else since he would be the only one to truly be able to answer.

"Ah...sure," Neko nodded to Blade and only waited shortly for Atticus' reply before they took their leave. Silence drew on for a solid ten minutes after they left as Neko commenced tracking to try and locate some prey. Game in the area seemed to be rather scarce so he was picking up on little to nothing track wise. He would be lucky to stumble upon a chipmunk let alone anything worth eating. Probably a good reason why the cottage hadn't been in use for so long, there was nothing to really hunt in this place.

Stopping for a moment to examine some scattered foliage, Neko cast an awkward glance at Blade. Since they left Neko hadn't made an attempt to say a word to him, not that hunting was a good time to strike up conversation. You were more likely to warn and scare off your prey that way. Still, it was awkward silence the whole way, he really hadn't planned on this guy coming along.

Neko sighed and stood up rubbing the back of his head finally breaking the silence. "There's just nothing in this area." Of course, just as he said that something stirred in the brush not far off. It sounded rather large too so Neko was instantly on guard a knife drawn and ready to make a kill. Cat-like eyes drifted over the brush as he located the area of the movement and slowly made his way toward it motioning Blade to follow. With any luck they would have a decent meal for everyone in a short amount of time.

Coming up on the bush whatever was in it seemed to be struggling. Good, that would involve less of a fight on his end, though he had been looking forward to a little bit of a chase. Drawing back his hand Neko reached for the bush and pushed it aside ready to stab his prey but suddenly yelped and fell backward. "What the hell!?" Having nearly dropped his knife Neko did a double take to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

Stuck in the bush was a young woman tied and gagged struggling to get free. She had managed to stay fairly quiet up until that point but now she was uttering muffled words through her gag. "What the hell is going on?" Wasting no more time Neko stepped forward and started to undo the ropes around the woman's wrists. They didn't seemed to be tied all that tightly but it was possible she had been to weak to undo them herself.

Finally Neko removed her gag and watched her carefully as she caught her breath and taking in her recently gained freedom.

"Thank ye kindly," She said softly rubbing her sore wrists.

Confused Neko looked up at Blade before turning back to the girl.

"You're...welcome, but I'm sure you can guess the question that's on my mind."

"Why I be tied up in the middle ov nowher'?"

"Umm...yeah."

"Well, that be a simple question ta answer," The woman stood looking at both men with a smirk of satisfaction. "It's all business."

As if that was the cue line men began to drop from the trees all around Neko and Blade. There had to be no less than fifteen and all were heavily armed. Now even more confused than before Neko looked from the girl back to Blade. A simple hunting trip had turned into an ambush.

"Also an easy question ta answe'," One of the men closest to her held out a sword for her and she took it gratefully and eyed the two men in front of her. "We be slave traders so I imagin' ye can guess what yer in fer," The woman smirked holding out her sword pointing it at Blade as he held his weapon ready. "I would suggest ye put that pitiful thing away, boy. Unless ye want yer friends back at the cottage to suffer fer it." Silver eyes made their way to Neko as she pointed her sword at him next. "And ye too, Mr. Puss. I don want any heroics now."

Casting one last glance at Blade, Neko regretfully dropped his knife. There were far to many to fight but it seemed as though they weren't going to be killed. Better to stick it out and try to escape later.

"That's a good kitty." The woman smiled again. "Bind'em up and cage'em. Once ye're done with them go gather the rest."

The men in the group nodded their compliance as they advanced on Neko and Blade. Neko took a few uneasy steps back but was quickly snatched up and laid out on the ground. "Hey hey! Easy!" He growled as one of the men kneeled on his back as his hands were tied behind him. Despite not giving much of a fight they still weren't going to go easy.

(You can rp you being captured or trying to run or fight Blade. Up to you XD)

Once the dagger was thrown the men advanced as one. Swords, maces, and whips were drawn as they attacked Blade at once to subdue him. Apparently these men had no sense of honor when it came to one on one fighting. The dagger that was thrown merely grazed its target leaving the victim to take out his frustrations on Neko all the more.

"Hey, I didn't throw it!" Neko grumbled as the man stepped on his shoulder to keep him pinned to the ground.

The woman stood by watching the fight as she looked to Neko with a playful smile. "Yer friend is a bit feisty. He'll catch a good price."

"Tessa!" Another man emerged from the woods. "The others are still at the cottage, no one there suspects a thing."

"Good." Tessa looked back at the brawl before turning to her man. "Do yer best to get the others outside of the cottage and capture'em. Go now!"

"Yes ma'am." And like a shadow the man vanished back into the inky depths of the forest to go alert the other men to take on the cottage and its current inhabitants.

Blade had been half expecting everyone to jump on him the moment he attacked, seeing how he has dealt with these types of people a number of times in the past. But just knowing what they were like and what they may do would do little help for the most part.

The moment his sword was drawn, he managed to parry one strike and dodge one other, followed by a slash to one of the men. The odds were really against the thief, and his little streak soon came to a halt as a whip quickly coiled around his sword arm, keeping him from getting another strike in. He was about to send a fireball down towards the whip bearer, but something blunt came down hard on his back.

"Augh!" he cried out while staggering forward. Before he could recover from the blow, he was struck several more times, causing him to go down.

With a groan, he tried to get back up, determined to not let himself be captured here, but it wasn't hard to keep him pinned down at this points. Especially considering how he just got pummeled a few times with a couple of maces.

Once inside the cage, Blade let out another groan. The guys certainly didn't go easy on him, so he was in a considerable amount of pain right about now. While Neko sat up, he decided to remain on his side for the time being. He really wasn't too happy with this situation.

"No kidding..." he grumbled before letting out a cough.

Already, he was trying to think of what the best way to escape would be. The simplest would be to try to burn through the ropes right now, but most likely he'll be caught soon and get another round of beatings. As much as he didn't want to, he was going to have to wait this one out some. At least until his body wasn't numb with pain, and when things seemed to be more in their favor.

"Dammit..."

Hopefully, the others were fairing alright though.

And... to look somewhat on the brighter side of things. It didn't seem like they discarded his sword. If he lost that thing, he'd probably end up trying to kill a few people... tied up or not.