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She was indeed confused when he shortened his ears and made his tail disappear, but she said nothing of it at current. Her attention from this was drawn away when he spoke to her, and she had become hopeful at first. He said he was going to help her, but he didn't sound very happy about it. Then, he tried to grab her by the arm. Or, would have, for no sooner could he make his hasty advance she had given a shriek and scrambled backward from his reach and turned to run.

It was certainly a good thing that he meant her no harm, because running didn't take her far. She'd barely gotten ten feet away, and looked back to see if he was chasing her. In her neglect to watch where she was going, her foot caught on an exposed tree root and sent her to the ground. She did manage to catch herself from fully hitting the dirt by thrusting her hands out in front of her. That didn't say much for her twisted ankle, or the scrapes from the fall. Then, there was more crying.

The child had curled up on the ground after her fall, as though in doing so she would be hidden from the stranger since she couldn't run. Though, when she heard his footsteps she lifted her head to look at him. She was shaking, likely afraid that he was going to catch her, but instead he spoke softer than before and walked away. In mixed curiosity and confusion, he crying slowly subsided as she sat herself up to watch him look through her basket of flowers. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, trying to dry the tears but since her ankle still hurt she didn't stop crying entirely, but at least she wasn't hysterical about it anymore.

It wasn't until he had returned that she had acknowledged his comment on how clumsy she had been. "You scared me, it wasn't all my fault." She pouted, pursing her lips in protest. Nothing more was spoken for several minutes as he tended to her minor injuries, with only the occasional small noise of discomfort if something ached or stung. Once he had finished, she examined his work silently for a moment or two. Then, she looked up to him and smiled a little. "You're not a mean man like I thought you were, you're nice." She nodded to this, "Thanks, Mister." She didn't know his name, so Mister would have to do well enough for now. Her attention returned to her ankle, and she tried moving it just barely to see what a difference he had made.

When he corrected what she had called him, she stared for a moment. Then, she gave a quick nod. "Neko." She repeated. "Okay. I'm Hitsu." He told her to be careful, and she stopped moving her ankle and tried to hold it perfectly still. It didn't work very well, and she soon decided to just let it relax.

Neko suggested that they leave, and Hitsu wasn't about to protest. Though, once he'd scooped her up she began to squirm. She wasn't afraid, or uncomfortable, and her reasoning was soon revealed as she vainly reached toward the ground. "My basket! I have to get my flowers!" She squealed, as though he'd ignore her and leave them behind if she didn't sound desperate enough.

His protesting had fallen on deaf ears, as she clearly would hear nothing of leaving the basket or flowers behind. Hitsu calmed a little once he turned around, and was quick to snatch the basket up by the handle as soon as it was within her reach. His instructions were met with a nod, and she wrapped one arm tightly around the basket and one around the handle to be sure it wasn't going anywhere. Then, she'd looked up to see the scary beast that had spotted them. There was probably no surprise that she screamed.

He'd told her to hold on, and she clung to the front of his shirt for dear life as he ran. Of course, she clung to the basket too, like it was just as important as her own well being. "What is it!?" She shrieked once they'd stopped moving for a moment. It was probably a good thing that her eyes were tightly shut, or else she probably would have had great protest to the fact that they were no longer on the ground.

There had only been one occassion in which Hitsu had opened her eyes, and that had been when they'd nearly fallen. She'd heard the horrible sound of the falling tree, screamed and just as quickly had buried her face in Neko's chest to keep from seeing it all.

Once they had finally come to a halt for the final time, her death grip on him finally loosened and she looked around. She blinked for a moment or two, as though not believing that she could actually be home. "We made it!" She shouted, and squirmed in his grasp to be let down. Apparently, the fact she'd twisted her ankle had been forgotten and she wanted to walk herself. "Come on, I'll show you where our house is!" The girl added, waiting to be released so she could lead him.

Her squirming calmed a bit when he lowered her down, and she took a slow couple of steps before looking back. "It only hurts a little bit." She stated, hastily reaching out toward one of his hands with the full intent to lead him along that way. When she did start walking again, she had a barely noticeable limp. However, after they'd moved a little ways into the village, even that began to go away.

The little village wasn't very crowded just yet, though soon enough the sun would begin to set and the market would be packed with people coming to look for food for a late supper or to gather supplies for the following days. However, within the people that were wandering about, one somewhat elderly tabbycat woman looked very distraught as she hurried along her erratic path through the village. At least, as well as the poor old woman could hurry. Once Hitsu had seen this woman, her pace sped up and she soon shouted at her, all the while still trying to drag Neko along. "Gertrude! Gertrude, I got flowers!"

The old woman gave a startled cry, or what could be assumed as one, and quickly hobbled over to them. Hitsu's basket of flowers, unfortunately, were not her concern. "Good gracious, child! I've been looking everywhere for you!" She scolded, looking at her sternly. "You don't wander off like that, you could get lost! What would you have done if you couldn't find your way back home? Your brother would have had my head!"

"But I did get lost!" She explained, the scolding apparently not sinking in like it should have. "Neko found me, and helped me when I hurt my foot, and brought me back home!"

Gertrude listened with raised eyebrows, before finally looking up to this hero of Hitsu's. "I've never seen you around here before, boy. Who are you?" She tried to lean up close, to look past his hair. That, or her eyes just weren't as good as they used to be.

The woman seemed completely unphased by the fact that Neko didn't appreciate her invading his personal space. "A little young to be on yer own, ain't ya?" She pried, before finally drawing back to return her attention to the little girl who had clearly escaped her care. "You're mighty lucky he found you, if I were you I wouldn't be telling Yuki where you were when he did." She turned her back on them, and started to move away, apparently in the direction of either her own home or Hitsu's.

Hitsu watched Gertrude quietly, and began to follow after her with Neko in tow even as he tried to hint that he'd much rather leave. "Yeah! Thank you for bringing me back home, Neko."

"I expect he can stay for dinner." Gertrude called over her shoulder, "You hungry, lad?"

"Uh-huh." Hitsu replied to him, "He's out hunting right now, but he should be home soon."

"He's around your age, I reckon." Gertrude commented, "Got long hair like ya, too. I don't understand you young ones, the boys are growin' their hair as long as the girls nowadays..." She muttered on, incoherently.

Their walk to the house wasn't a long one, and once they'd gotten there Gertrude opened the door for them both and motioned them in. "Get cleaned up now, and we'll get the vegetables started while we wait on your brother to come home." Hitsu had run to the kitchen basin to simply wash her hands, and Gertrude looked pointedly at Neko. "You too, child. You look like you've been rolling in the dirt with the boars."