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As he glanced off to the side, he noticed Riyo storming off into the distance. Rubbing the back of his neck more, he let out a sigh once again while wondering if he should give her some space or see if he could possibly make things better. Considering the way things have been going, he felt that he'd probably end up infuriating her more.

Still, Blade wasn't sure if it was a good idea for her to go off on her own right now. As he was about to go off, he heard a familiar voice from behind. A quick look over his shoulder told him that it was Mitsu and Neko, returning to the group. He gave a small wave to them before looking back over towards the direction Riyo had gone off.

Better see if he could catch up before she got too far. Though, as he wandered over by the forest, he still didn't see her ahead. Frowning a bit, he heaved a third sigh, not quite thinking to look up at the moment.

"Should have just kept my mouth shut..."

Hanse watched, for moment, the short bout of chaos he caused, and smirked. He turned slowly towards the direction the sun had risen, and began to walk. His wings shifted slightly as they positioned themselves more comfortably around his shoulders, more relaxed, but more free to move quickly. He didn't turn his head as he reached the end of the village, nor did he intend to look back to see if anyone tried to follow him.

Yuki's attention had gone to Neko and Mitsu as he'd heard the wolf girl shout, and he smiled lightly at the girls having their happy little reunion. However, his smile faded when he noticed the absence of Riyo as well, and he glanced around a moment. He was about to go and seek her out before he overheard Neko.

When Yuki looked at his fellow feline, to say that he glared might have been too vague a term. "You." He said firmly, as though that one lone word could threaten his life. "You are never leaving me alone with these people ever again." He'd pointed an accusing finger at Neko at his approach, "As far as I'm concerned, all of this is your fault." All of what? He apparently wasn't going to clarify, because it was then that he had turned to walk away in search of Riyo.

"Hanse was sleeping here when we found this place last night." Hitsu explained, "We woke him up a couple of times... I think he's a little moody." Then, she'd apparently finally remembered that she still had Hanse's cloak. She looked around for him, to notice the dragon walking off toward the tree line. She dashed over to where they had had their breakfast, snatched up the cloak, and rushed to catch up with Hanse. "Wait, Hanse!" She called, "You've forgotten this!"

Yuki groaned to himself, but tried to avoid butting in. The dragon, from the look of it, seemed to enjoy harassing him and not his sister. He could only assume that she'd be fine for at least a minute or two while he looked for Riyo. He discovered Blade, who had apparently turned up nothing. Atticus was also nearby, so that must have meant that Riyo was as well. A bit of movement caught Yuki's eye, and his gaze shifted upward. She was there, in the tree. "Riyo?" He stepped closer, cautiously. She'd been frightened too, and he didn't much care for being lashed out at even though he was guilty of doing the same. "Come on down, Riyo..." He tried to sound as little demanding as possible, "They didn't mean anything hurtful by it."

Atticus, who'd been standing under the tree, puffed away at his cigarette without words for a few short moments. "What's got you so pissed off?" He asked, as if he didn't already know.

Riyo, without moving an inch, gave a scoff. "How about I ask the questions." She started, tail giving an agitated sway. "Why didn't you save me, Atticus? And furthermore, why are you here now?" She'd been avoiding him all this time. Ever since she woke up in the morning. She hadn't wanted to ask... But it was necessary.

Unfortunately for her, the only answer she received was a big cloud of cigarette smoke as the man puffed away at his cancer stick.

Then Yuki showed up. The unexpected voice had made her tail flinch, but nothing else. She let out an exasperated sigh and let her body fall limp against the tree trunk. "Whether there was meaning behind actions or not doesn't mean they can't have a negative affect. Good or bad intentions don't really matter... And ignorance is a much worse excuse." She would know. It wasn't like she hadn't done one of the worst deeds defined by society times ten.

Atticus folded his arms and let the two converse without a word on his part. He wasn't about to butt in and get drilled by more questions from a pissed-off feline.

"... And you don't have to try and protect me from anything." She mumbled as if it was an afterthought. She wasn't trying to sound ungrateful or anything of the sort... The fact was, at the end of the day, he had family that needed to be taken care of. Friends that almost considered him thus. And for anyone like that to sacrifice even a drop of blood to save her from loosing a limb... Felt so wrong. Unworthiness. She believed that was the word.

"I can take care of myself."

Turning as he heard some voices nearby, Blade saw Yuki, Atticus by a tree. A quick look up into its limbs showed that Riyo here as well. He watched and listened to them for a moment before glancing away. The thief felt that he had gotten himself too involved with these people right now anyway, so he remained on the sidelines.

It can't be a good sign to have pissed someone off twice within 24 hours of meeting them.

Having felt bad for causing so more problems than anything, the thought that perhaps now was a good time to take his leave. So after watching them for a little longer, he shrugged and started to walk along the edge of the woods, on towards the next town.

Yuki frowned, and sighed softly. She was going to remain angry, from the sound of it, though he could only hope that some form of forgiveness was present in this new persona of hers. He would have apologized for Hitsu, had he not been a bit irritated himself with her descision to show amusement rather than concern. Of course, she never was one to realize a situation was dangerous unless it was unavoidably obvious.

"I'm sorry, Riyo." He said, for himself rather than the others. It was her last statement that had gained it, and he honestly felt a bit foolish for assuming that she would need... Or want his assistance. She wasn't the same as she had been, and from what he had seen the previous night, she likely held enough confidence for herself and more. Who was he to say she needed his help? He wouldn't offer it on his own, then. Not if she didn't want him to... "I won't butt in next time." He replied, "But know that I will be here if you decide that you do need me..."

Her calls had gone without a real response, and Hitsu had slowed not long after she'd passed the treeline. Once she'd finally stopped trying to follow after Hanse, she sighed and watched him begin to disappear as he got further into the forest. She frowned, wondering why he hadn't stopped like she'd wanted him to, and looked to the cloak in her arms. Well, if he was going to be that way, she supposed that he didn't want it back.

When Hitsu had backtracked the short distance to where everyone else was, she spied Blade walking alone. "Where are you going?" She asked, curious rather than demanding.

No arguments? Really? She looked back at him with a bit of surprise, raising one of her eyebrows. Furthermore, why was he sorry?

She let out another sigh and smiled. Not a twisted smile, but a soft one. One like she used to sport before. Maybe with a little more maturity behind it. Let him think that she was just being cocky about herself. She wasn't about to tell him the real reason, because she didn't want some long speech about self-worth.

"Sounds like a plan." She said before she pushed herself off the branch and landed on her feet with the grace expected from felines. Looked like her anger had faded out much quicker than one would've expected. Quicker than Atticus would've expected, at least.

He watched the two for a moment, finishing off his cigarette and saying not a word. Only observing. That was what he excelled at, after all.

He smiled once Riyo had hopped back down to the ground, though inwardly had expected her to be upset for much longer. He wouldn't complain, of course, because they needed to continue forward. Especially now that Neko and Mitsu had caught up. "Ready to go?" He asked Riyo, though he looked to Mitsu for a response as well as she ran toward them and proceeded to make it obvious she'd missed her. "Glad to see you're feeling better, Mitsu." He said quietly.

He'd looked up to see Neko standing off by himself. He left the girls to their hugs and approached him, though his smile faded as he did so. "What did the doctor tell you?" He asked once he was close, speaking quietly as not to bring questions from the others. "Or was it too early to tell?"

"To the next town?" Hitsu repeated, frowning. "Why is everyone leaving without us?" She really was beginning to think there was something wrong, first Hanse had run off without a pause and now Blade was trying to leave too. At his statement that he didn't want to outstay his welcome, she looked saddened. How could one outstay their welcome when they were all technically going to the same place? "Did we do something wrong?"