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Ayame blinked at Zahneel. Did she... just bow? His mind fumbled back to when Tomoe did it. She must have seen, and not only that but she took that chance to learn. For a second, Ayame looked impressed. Perhaps even proud. Yet, her tears did not go unnoticed, causing Ayame to make a move as if to approach before freezing. He couldn't help her. He needed to keep his distance from these strangers, especially now that they were leaving. So, instead, he leaned against the tree again, eyes drifting to focus to the side as he tried to ignore his own concerns.

Tomoe's ears twitched as he heard Zahneel approach, leaning into the hug gratefully. When she removed herself he raised his head to address her. At first, a false smile touched his face, though it immediately dropped the second her tears came into focus. His face morphed, finally displaying the actual pain he felt as his own eyes welled into tears, mouth tightening as he tried to fight back a sob. He leaned down for her to reach his ear properly, automatically accepting whatever strange item she was trying to insert into his ear without question. His eyes locked on her, body shaking faintly as her words continued to slice at his core.

He wasn't going to see her again.

That realization hit him hard, edged on with the music that seemed to just echo his own thought. He had only met her for a day, yet truly, deeply, he cared about her. Neptune, Rei, Zahneel, and the others had become special to him all in the span of 24 hours, and now knowing that not only would he never see them again but couldn't even if he wanted to broke him. Tomoe's hands accepted the music player, tightening his fingers around it as he stared blankly at the device.

That was enough to break him.

Tomoe let out a strained sob, clutching the device against his chest tightly. His tails curled around himself for comfort. As Zahneel retreated he slid himself out of view from the others behind the tree, allowing himself to crumble to the ground. The small man curled into himself, head hidden with arms that rested above his knees. He hadn't turned the music off yet, allowing himself to properly become enveloped in its sound.

Tomoe has hidden behind the tree and can no longer be seen.

DaisyMilk

Tambre couldn't help but grimace. Yes, technically, it had been what she wanted, to leave this place so she could go back to her children, but she wasn't about letting others hurt because of things she had done, or even because of their own foolishness (at least until all resources had been exhausted). She hated being the one to bring this up, but she took a look at the Elders, "What is Tomoe's fate? Is he still to be executed?" She hadn't wanted to anger the elders further, and she knew she didn't have nearly as many ties to the boy as the others did, but she couldn't let him suffer for their mistakes either.

Niamh stood at the edge of the group, near to Xerxes, watching all of this. Her eyes were huge, and sad. This wasn't, in her mind, at ALL how this should have gone. This was supposed to be a happy trip... And now her heart was breaking. They had a new friend and they couldn't SAVE him, they couldn't! She wanted to grab him, and run into the circle WITH him, but... She wasn't a mage, she had no great powers. These Kumiho seemed to be strongly magical. What could she do? When Tomoa fled behind the tree, making it so she couldn't say good bye... She began to actively cry. Her wings wrapped around her, and she just silently stood, shaking with tears pouring down her young face.

She'd never known pain like this in all of her life, and she felt like it was breaking her. "Tomoe... Tomoeeeeee!"

Nashira was... pleased to have Bebe agree they should sleep beside each other, and smiled fondly as the younger student admitted she was indeed chilly. She'd invite Harley to sleep near as well, content to let any of her friends sleep beside her. This did not seem like a night one wanted to be alone, after all.

In the morning, The elders waking them came as no surprise, but it was far too early for this. She sighed and followed suit with the others in gathering up everything to head out. She took some fruit with her for the hike, but didn't pay much attention to what anyone was saying. She was, instead, lamenting that they wouldn't be allowed to stay and study the forest and the kumiho. She was deeply saddened that this couldn't be further researched. Of course, she was displeased that Tomoe couldn't join them at the academy...

That gave her an idea. As they stood at the barrier, preparing to leave, she looked at Tomoe as he fled to hide, then to the elders and priestess. She approached Nogoro (He seemed the more level headed of the elders) as she took out a notebook and wrote something on a piece of paper. "Here." She offered it to him. "If in the future you and your kin decide to explore the world again, I hope you will come to the academy." She had written directions and the address for the school. Her name was also included, should they want to seek a familiar face. "There were a great many things I had wished to talk with you and your people about." She wasn't sure how to finish that thought. What was their magic like? Their alchemy? What sort of literature did they have? What sort of ceremonies did they have? Festivals? Celebrations? Her thirst for knowledge wanted to blurt all this out at once. "I hope one day we can sit and have a discussion like civilized people." As opposed to the ruckus everyone had caused the night before.

Nagoro watched the others, quietly contemplating what the council had discussed the night before... These outsiders had grown terribly attached to Tomoe, quite literally overnight, but they could not let him leave. Hallowed Grimm or not, it was a risk they were not willing - and not able - to take at the moment. He was drawn from his thoughts when Nashira approached him with a piece of paper. His teal eyes focused on the litch for a moment, then down at her paper before he reached out to take it.

"I see." He examined it- having no knowledge of what any of it could mean. These names were vaguely familiar as names, but not as places he had ever seen before. They had old maps - pre-war maps of what Above and Below looked like, but they were likely not reliable any longer.

His ears pinned back slightly at the mention of civilized people, as if they were not civilized or something- but he held his tongue. She was still a child, honestly. Her word choice was poor, but her intention was likely not to be offensive. He simply nodded and tucked the paper into one of the pockets inside his sleeves.

Looking back to Tambre, he realized he hadn't answered her question. "Tomoe's fate is up for further discussion. For now, he is in our custody." He assumed that would be fine enough of an explanation for them- death was not imminent, anyway. It wasn't completely off the table, but at least there were other things on it now.



Lural


Koiasi

Salem sighed and watched as the sun rose and light started filtering into their house/cottage. He hadn’t slept at all, but it wasn’t like it was that much of a surprise. He had mentioned that he didn’t, not when he was in a strange place with people whose intentions he didn’t know. He stayed silent following behind everyone and frowned. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being spelled, but he knew it was only a matter of time until he snapped if the Kumiho kept him there in the village. He did nudge Samhain in the hopes that his other self would wake but he was just met with a wall of refusal. Ah well it wasn’t like he hadn’t been out in long stints before.

He made sure Dublin was safe in his bag again and followed behind samhain’s group of friends watching to see how they were doing. So he was in the perfect place to notice the look on Nagoro’ face when Nashira gave him expressions. The land and landmarks would have changed since the war and if they were holed away up here.

He wasn’t happy with the answer about Tomoe’s fate, or more accurately Samhain wasn’t but he also knew that yelling and demanding and keep bringing Tomoe up wasn’t going to help the other male. He hoped that Tomoe’s people would make sense and one day Samhain could see the boy again. He had a feeling Lace would absolutely adore the other male. He looked back to his bags and finally turned towards the elders pulling out his maps he had brought along for the trip.

“I hope that you guys do join the outside world. I think you would have a lot to add to it, and I know that a lot of us here where fascinated by what we did see. I would love to maybe one day come back and study healing techniques with you. I know Nashira gave you directions but you probably don’t have an updated map. You can have my two, one is an updated map of below and the other is what I hope is a more updated map of Above,” Salem said surprising even himself as he held out the maps for the elders to take. “Just in case your people do decide to join the outside world. "

The night itself had not lent any relief to Rei.

The morning, less so.

A goodbye had not been in her thoughts, nor had she thought about going back. She had hoped that something would happen to allow the worlds to combine. Something that would mean everything would be okay.

Instead, she was frightened. Scared. Upset. And when at last it was time to go and Tomoe hid...She did nothing.

Her face was blank, expressionless. Her tail dragged along the ground and she remained silent as everyone else talked. Occasionally she glanced towards the tree where Tomoe had hid behind, and to the elders, then to the pack of friends she had made.

There was nothing else she could do, but be silent. Still.

"...Goodbye." Was all she whispered in Tomoe's direction, but the word had no real emotion or thought behind it.

It was just a word.