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Riyo kept her eyes on Neko's face as he walked. "Nyuu... " She whispered to herself. Honestly, she didn't see why he continued helping her. She had a feeling that it would end up being a big mistake on his and everyone elses part. She wasn't exactly sure why her thoughts had turned so... Pessimistic lately.. But there was something in her gut that continued to scream 'You fool.'

She looked at Mitsu as they stopped and stared at all the flowers she had. Why was everyone picking flowers? Had she missed something? Should she be picking flowers? Her ears subconsciously twitched at all the questions her mind was thinking up. She barely even noticed that Neko had moved her slightly. "Nyuuuuuuuuu...." She mumbled as her head plopped against him. The real question was, who cared about all these questions? She didn't want to think.. Thinking hurt. Thinking about things she shouldn't be thinking about hurt. Thinking about... Things that weren't important. But who decided on the importance of questions? There she was, doing it again.

"Curiosity killed the cat, my dear." That hauntingly familiar voice whispered in her ear. She didn't look. She knew the man was right next to them. Watching her. Studying her... Always with that big grin. "A good question to ask would be when will the next act begin?" Riyo's eyebrow raised. Next... Act? What was an act? She wondered that to herself as her eyes grew heavier. "Maestro, don't you know that your audience is dying for you to give them an encore?"

Yuki was glad to see the imp release its hold, and with a little 'persuasion' it took off into the plant life and was gone. He stared at where it had vanished for a second or two, before looking back to Poke as she examined her leg. "We'll have Neko take a look at it, we need to find the nearest town, so Riyo can get a proper rest." He approached and took the flowers from her when she offered them, and offered an arm to her. "Can you walk? Or will that leg slow you down?" He could tell how bad it was from here, he'd let her be the judge.

-----

Something didn't feel right, Hitsu could feel the tension. Why did Neko and Yuki seem so worried? Was Riyo worse off than even she was letting on? She was conscious, so that had to be a good sign... But, this sort of thing was far from her area of expertise; That was Neko's work. "What if we take the main road? We could get there faster that way. If we keep cutting through the forest, there's no telling if we're going to miss something or not." Not that she knew how far they were from said road, but she'd certainly noticed it when they'd left the last town. Yuki had said it wasn't safe, but how could a road be dangerous?

Riyo's head weakly turned to Mitsu as she heard her call. Her eyes looked weary. "Better.. Nyu?" She asked quietly as the flowers were laid upon her.

"It's as if they're giving you a funeral, Riyo." The man said as he laughed a little bit.

Riyo stared at the flowers. Such pretty things. But what caught her eyes most were the roses. They were breathtaking. Her pupils slitted like they'd done a few times before, though her eyes still seemed quite tired. "You know..." She began to speak, her hands shifting from under the flowers to pick up one of the roses. Her index finger gently caressed the thorns until it broke the skin. "These flowers... Take me back to simpler times... When I was a meer rosebud." There was a pause as a trickle of blood escaped her mouth. Talking obviously wasn't helping her condition much. "The thorns were always there... But when the flower finally blossoms... What a site it is to behold. A masterpiece, a true work of art... As the flower feeds upon the tears of the sky..." Her eyes then looked toward Mitsu once again. "Soon..." She spoke, then coughed into her hand. "I will convey to you that story of my childhood. Of the bird torn from the sky..." She gently sat the flower back down on top of the others and rested her head. "Dear Mother... I loved..." Were the last words to escape her lips. She was knocked out cold.

Yuki nodded, "Alright, then. Let's get moving." No sooner could he take a step, his sister emerged from the trees. His brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to scold her for not doing as she was told. Before he'd uttered a word, however, Neko and Mitsu appeared close behind. Knowing now that she had been with the others, he questioned them all instead. "Are we ready?" He hadn't caught the dog's scent here, at least not as strong. It lessened his worry, but he still wanted to get out of here and into the presumed safety of a town.

Hitsu had approached Yuki first of all, leaving Neko and Mitsu to catch up a few steps behind. She had the urge to mention that they hadn't eaten yet, it seemed a shame that she'd gathered so much that would now go to waste, but she said nothing of it. "I think so... Can we take the main road? We can get there fa-"

"Absolutely not." He said flatly, "I'm not going to let us make ourselves easy targets." He veered his glance away from her; An attempt to ignore her saddened expression. Yes, it might have made it easier, but it was too risky. He took note that Riyo had lost consciousness, and frowned. He sighed, "But, in this case the fastest route would be best..." He could only hope that the rest of them wouldn't end up in danger as a result.

Riyo hadn't moved through the whole trip. Her breathing became a bit raspier, and every once in awhile she let out a cough, but otherwise she was as quiet as a lamb.

Her dreams, though slightly disturbing, were nothing like what they had been previously. They were simply disembodied images. Small frames of memory. Thoughts, questions.. Simple, yet complex ideas.

Every once in awhile, a raven flew overhead. Whether it was the same as before was a mystery... But it seemed to be keeping a close eye on the group.

“We’ll just use the gold that Mitsu had,” Neko replied. He didn’t bother to ask though Mitsu had clearly heard and didn’t seem to mind. At least she didn’t protest the matter. Instead she turned her gaze toward Yuki giving a short nod before looking back at the massive crowd of people. Why were there so many people? And this place was so huge. Buildings towered over the streets, it was like nothing she had ever seen before.

“Come on this way,” Neko gestured toward the right as he moved along through the crowd. In a short matter of time he had found an Inn, nothing fancy but well enough for shelter for a couple of nights. With a bit of haggling he had managed to get a couple of rooms for a decent price for two nights leaving them plenty of money for food and supplies.

Upon Neko’s request Mitsu took hold of one of the room keys since his hands were full while the other one was handed to Yuki. From there they made their journey upstairs where Mitsu let them into the first room and Neko placed Riyo down on one of the beds. “There,” He stretched his arms a bit, they had started to cramp being held in the same position for so long. Taking the room key back from Mitsu Neko got to work preparing the medicine for Riyo for when she would awake.

“I’ll stay with Riyo and make sure she’s okay. Why don’t the rest of you go find something to eat,” Neko suggested. It would take a while for him to crush up the flowers into a proper medicine and there was no reason they needed to wait on him. Besides, it would be best not to leave Riyo alone for more reasons that one. Neko was starting to get an eerie vibe from her and every once in a while he got an odd feeling as if something or someone were following her, surrounding her, but he couldn’t see it.

Yuki had accepted Neko's suggestion, and ushered the three girls out of the room with him. They'd bring Neko something back. Riyo too, encase she were up to eating. "If we get separated, I want everyone back at the inn before dusk." He instructed, looking between the three in turn. "I'm sure it's just as dangerous after dark here." Of course, he worried not about feral animals or demons; He worried about the people around them.

"Alright." Hitsu replied, with full intentions to stay close. This many people around, and she felt somewhat claustrophobic. She didn't want to get lost. Matter of fact, she tried to keep hold of the sleeve of someone else, in order to keep from any of them getting separated whenever they had to go through a more congested area.

They could smell food being prepared before they neared the tavern, and once they had Yuki paused outside the door. He looked across from it to the shops there. A few small ones, perhaps within one they could find something to eat. If not, he'd have to resort to the tavern. The girls, however, he'd rather not go inside. He turned to them, and offered Hitsu some of the money he had been holding for Mitsu. Holding, of course, was a term used loosely. "I'm going to go inside and ask for directions." He said, gesturing over his shoulder. "You three go and have a look around here, but don't go too far." The inn wasn't horribly far, so at least there wouldn't be a long trip back when the time came.

Once Hitsu had taken the money and stepped away, Yuki went inside. The strong scent of smoke made his eyes threaten to water, and he suppressed a cough. He paused alongside the door a moment, gazing into the tavern at the inhabitants, as he tried to adjust to the atmosphere.