Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mizu shrugged and scratched the back of her head with an embarrassed grin. "Yeah. Don't worry about our dad showing up out of nowhere, or anyone else for that matter. No one else comes this way in the forest, and this place is pretty well hidden. Dad only comes if we're with him, but he always tells us if he's heading out here if he's alone."

Daichi glanced around for a moment, getting a bad feeling, but he continued through the barrier and stood by the only entrance just in case something happened.

Tenmei and Higure glanced at each other from their hiding spot, then turned to Koroshiya once Kumori, Mizu, and Daichi were all on the other side of the barrier. "Now?" Higure asked. "Or later?" Tenmei finished.

Daichi looked at Kumori for a bit, and seeing his cat ears reminded him of his own ears. He could really use them right now, and suddenly they were back. due to the fact he was standing with his back to the entrance, his ears were facing back to listen to the outside. "Just... a feeling..."

Mizu looked at her brother and sighed lightly, knowing how he got whenever he had one of his feelings. "He's just a little nervous. He gets like this a lot," she explained quietly to Kumori.

Mizu nodded and held the door open for Kumori. Daichi hesitated, but he followed in after them. Mizu sat down in the middle of the floor on a carpet even though there was perfectly good furniture right there in the room. "So... you might want to start from the beginning," Daichi said, sitting on one of the chairs.

Daichi and Mizu listened intently to the story, taking in almost every detail easily, especially the names Koroshiya, Tenmei, and Higure. "Well, I think that might be everything," Mizu said, not exactly sure since this was all news to her. Daichi remained quiet, staring out the window with his ears pricked up for any sounds outside.

Daichi shook his head at Kumori. "It's alright. You're too important to get caught by hunters, and your shoulder is still healing. I'll have a better chance of getting away." "B-but Daichi-" "Mizu..." The siblings looked at each other for a bit before Mizu sighed and nodded. "Alright..." Daichi patted his sister's shoulder before heading out of the cottage, stepping through the forest barrier but stayed close to the entrance with ears pricked up. Mizu waited inside with Kumori, staring out the window to keep an eye on her brother.

Tenmei and Higure remained perfectly still as they saw Daichi come out, narrowing their eyes at his ears. "It's not Kumori... But he's been changed..." Tenmei said, her voice barely above a whisper so even Daichi couldn't hear her, but Higure and Koroshiya could.

Mizu hurried to Kumori's side, resting a hand on his shoulder to keep him from charging just yet. "Just wait. He'll give a signal if there's trouble..."

Tenmei and Higure nodded in unison, then moved away from Koroshiya's side. Tenmei secretly climbed up a tree and took a sniper rifle off the sling from her back, aiming carefully from about fifty yards away. Higure took his pistol and aimed as well, exactly thirty degrees from the entrance and Daichi yet only thirty feet away.

Daichi remained silent for a few moments, his ears pricked up. Suddenly he looked up into the trees directly at Tenmei and growled. He jumped off to the side to dodge the bullet. He put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and let out a loud whistle before being shot in the shoulder. This one was a tranquilizer. It wouldn't take much time for it to take effect, even after Daichi pulled it out of his skin. Dammit... he thought, his mind starting to get fuzzy.

The whistle was the signal and Mizu hurried out of the cottage, heading through the barrier. She saw Daichi was shot but she only thought of it as a bullet shot like Kumori earlier.

Seeing Mizu come into sight, Higure and Tenmei each took another shot: Tenmei aiming a normal bullet for Mizu's leg while Higure aimed another tranquilizer at Mizu's shoulder, since he had already hit Daichi.

Daichi gritted his teeth as Tenmei and Higure came out of hiding, cornering them at the barrier entrance. He was leaning a little to the side, struggling to stay awake. "M-mizu... Ru-un..." Mizu shook her head and took a defensive stance by her brother and Kumori. "There's no way I'm leaving you..."

Tenmei and Higure merely smirked, Tenmei daring to take a step towards them. "Of course you're not, kitty. You're gonna stay right here with us and your brother there..."

Mizu gritted her teeth at Tenmei, growling as her cat ears and tail appeared. Suddenly she felt an impulse to slash at the open air towards Tenmei. A slash of water that looked like claws flew through the air and nailed Tenmei directly in the chest, sending her flying backwards.

((is it ok i did that? *points to Mizu and her ability in the last little paragraph thingy*))