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Niamh looked over at Tomoe, with honest concern on her face, once she and Xerxes had returned. This wasn't at all how this should have ended! They were supposed to catch the kids, and help the poor guy, not cause him to be... to be BANISHED. What a horrible idea. She leaned to Xerxes, and said "I just want to give him a hug, but... I don't know him at all, so he'd probably not like that. Maybe. But... I hate seeing some one so upset, and I wish I could help!" She paused, then looked at Naoki, pondering things.

Finally, after a minute, she spoke up. "Naoki... can I ask why you guys were running from Tomoe, and why he's... so convinced things will go badly?" She didn't want to ask TOMOE, with how upset he was.

Mahuyah's light had caught a glance of one of the kids, the bright pink and blue one, and then a rock was thrown and smacked the flashlight out of her hand. She chased it as it rolled along the ground, but by the time she'd picked it back up, the kid was no where to be seen. "Well drat..."

A whistle pierced through the woods, and Mahuyah turned her head to the sound, then looked over to Patches. "I guess that's the sign to go back?" She waited for her friend, then made the trek back towards the glowing green light of the lantern that Claire had set up before they'd all left. Once she'd made it back to the group, she noticed two things: there was only one kid there, and Tomoe was completely an emotional wreck. What in the world...?

She bit her lip, then looked over to Patches. "I'm going to go talk to the little one." She always was far more comfortable around children, and really enjoyed them, though she wasn't so sure if she'd enjoy the company of this particular one considering their most recent history out in the forest. However, she was worried, and while Tomoe was a wreck, Naoki looked tired but fine.

On her way over to Naoki, Mahuyah picked up some trail mix, bananas, and water. Once she was where the freshling was, she sat down near by and offered out some of the trail mix while she took a gulp of water. "Hi, Naoki, my name's Mahuyah. You were out there for a long time, from what Tomoe told us. Do you want something to eat?" She took another really large gulp, clearly very thirsty.

At Niamh's question Naoki just blinked originally. Wasn't it obvious? Their head tilted, nodding towards Tomoe.

"It's fun." He bluntly admitted, ears flicking slightly. "Everyone else is really boring. He isn't." He paused, frowning at the last question. It seemed to have slip his mind just how much trouble Tomoe was actually in. His eyes drifted back to Tomoe, ears flicking down. For a second, they just sat there, clearly considering what had just happened and now weighing the consequences as their shoulders slowly slumped. Finally, with a look of regret, Naoki looked back at the girl, ears low and tails curling around their feet.

"Because you aren't supposed to be here..." He admitted, looking down."They're already mad at him a lot. He's clumsy and we get away too much... I think... I think we did a bad thing."

His body deflated and Naoki sat there, sullen. Maybe this game had been a bad idea after all...

When Mahuyah spoke up he seemed grateful for the distraction, ears perking up instantly at the offer for a treat. Taking it delicately, the little child beamed brightly, tails wagging faintly as he chewed on the treat.

"Thank you!" He chirped, watching her with inquisitive eyes. Finally, lifting his hand, he pointed right at her ears, head tilting. "What are those?" Aaah yes, the bluntness of a small child. How wonderful.

When Tomoe was approached he barely registered it, only flicking one ear faintly. The familiar voice of Neptune arrived, and while he had decided he liked the grimm it didn't do much to soothe the growing panic. From his hunched over position, Tomoe simply weakly shook his head, taking a good 30 seconds to try and calm his breathing enough to respond.

"I-I can't. I-it's dangerous out there." That was all he managed before the last sentence seemed to do him in, a low and broken sob escaping.

He was done for.

Lady Aria Starstone

Kira of Flames

nepsah

Xerxes frowned at the situation at hand, the slight pain in his knees — from the scrapes he got from falling in the forest — all but forgotten for the moment. Seeing Tomoe broken down as he was made Xer regret how harsh he’d been on the other when they’d first shown up. He signed and ran a hand through his hair as he watched and listened to Niamh talk to the little kid. He debated on which of the strangers to approach, finally deciding that Tomoe was who he wanted to talk to.

He approached him carefully, not wanting to frighten the poor guy anymore than he already was. “Tomoe...I...I’m sorry about how I acted before.” Xer bit his lower lip. “My name’s Xerxes, by the way. My friend and I saw the other kid run by. I’m sorry we couldn’t stop them before they ran off to tell.” He pondered for a moment, shoulders sagging slightly. “Is there anything we could do? Would leaving the forest, and the barrier, before anyone else arrived make things better?”

Mahuya didn't miss the fact that Naoki seemed to suddenly understand what his actions had caused, and the look on his face said exactly how he felt about it. She smiled warmly at the child as he took the treat. "You're certainly welcome!" She took another swig of her water, right as he question came out.

It took a good deal of self restraint not to spit out the mouthful as she felt a giggle come out of her. She loved how blunt and curious kids could be, and she decided to show off her gills a little. "Oh, you mean these?" she wiggled the frilly things. "They're just for show, but they're a special trait to Nixie, which is what I am. Do you like them?" She wiggled them a little bit more for Naoki, then looked at his tails. "I really like your tails, they're very neat. Can you move them one at a time?"

She looked up as the other nightmare left to go comfort Tomoe. She would stay here with Naoki, she was really enjoying the child and was clearly much more comfortable here. Naoki clearly wasn't a bad kid, he just hadn't considered how his actions would effect others. Something that was typical in small children. She would probably talk to him about apologizing to Tomoe at some point, but maybe after the other had calmed down.

Tomoe froze when Niamh hugged him, sitting up slightly and holding his hands midair, eyes wide in surprise. He didn't know what to do, and it was obvious as he awkwardly sat there. The touch was enough to send him back into weeping, arms slightly lowering to allow the hug. He didn't have the energy to say anything in response, simply accepting the touch and allowing his body to lean into her for comfort.

As Xerxes approached he seemed to notice this time, eyes flicking up to watch them, fighting back his tears. It was evident he was trying to keep himself together, whether out of habit or to prevent frightening the others. It wasn't working very well, but hey, he tried. He squirmed slightly, gently placing his hands on Niamh to indicate he needed room, but not before giving a grateful squeeze to her shoulders. These people were far nicer than he was used to, and far nicer than he thought he deserved. At the apology given Tomoe quickly shook his head, a weary smile touching his face as an exhausted and hurt laugh escaped him.

"N-no. It's fine. I haven't b-been the easiest, o-or the most helpful." He paused to release a soft, shuddering sigh, head lowering to the ground. "P-perhaps that might help, but it might make things worse... too... depending on w-what Meimu says..." It seemed talking about the situation was helping him calm down, as if the honesty was therapeutic in a sense.

"I don't know what will happen to me, r-regardless. T-this... this is the worse thing I've.... I've ever done." With this, he slumped into himself, shame washing over the small man.

Claire, who had been watching the conversation, seemed to immediately snap out of focus when Nadinia spoke. "I try to be!" They chirped, flushing slightly at the compliment from the rather pretty Dryad. Their eyes flicked back to Tomoe and the group that had begun to gather around him. "I... don't know, honestly. I want to stay here for a bit and see if we can do anything, though. Maybe when he calms down a little we can brainstorm? Surely there has to be a way to help."

Naoki, who was busy being entertained by Mahuya, seemed to light up as she wiggled her gills. "Woooow! Can I touch?" His hands raised, gesturing with grabby fingers, but he didn't touch her without consent. He was at least semi-polite! At the question about his tails he practically beamed, wiggling each tail individually for her. "Yeah! I have a lot of them! Did you know that's super rare? Look, I can even wag them at different speeds!" Instantly he began wagging them all at different speeds, entirely delighted by the attention being given to him.

Tomoe nearly jumped when Zahneel came over, giving a faint smile in greeting to the kind teenager before his eyes drew to her hands. Magic? He knew some. Very minor magic.

"I... I can try. I have very little magic... but I was trained to heal minor wounds in case the children ever.... ever got hurt."

Niamh held Tomoe until he indicated he wished to be let go of, then she stepped back and looked at Xerxes, a helpless and sad look on her face. "Please... if we can do anything, let me know..."