Enemies in the Midst

Damien tapped Leila's breast, motioning to their left. "Feyweed, I would recommend veering West for a mile or so, if you get eaten so do all of we." He said seriously as he looked up to the giant fairy, very comfortable on his breast, almost falling asleep. "No, must stay awake."

Elliot heard some commotion as he rolled his eyes, growing progressively more irritated as he bit his lip hard, rocking back and forth as people tended to stay away from his, leaving him by himself at one side of the bag when he snapped. "WHAT'S WRONG IS THERE SOMETHING ON MY FACE YOU FUCKHEADS!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, the other men looking rather defensive, afraid he was going to leap at them. "Now clam the fuck down before I really give you something to be frightened about!"

Leila nodded, "Thanks Damien, to the west it is." She did as Damien suggested and headed westward. She glanced down at the cyborg nestled in her bra and couldn't help but smile a little as she saw him fighting sleep. While she knew that he had a job to do and it would be better for everyone if he remained awake, she couldn't help but like it. In Leila's eyes, someone falling asleep while being carried by her meant that they trusted their lives with her 100% of the way. She was just about to pet Kira again when she heard a commotion coming from the bag. Carefully lifting it up, she peeked inside. "Is everything alright in there?"

"Just fucking peachy." Elliot said as he looked up to Leila, shaking that off as he held his head. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that....." He said sadly as the men were staying away from Elliot. Elliot looked normal but it was obvious he was in distress, his eyes were bloodshot, 2 veins were visible on his face as he relaxed, trying to rest his eyes. "I am just, extremely agitated, and of no fault of anyone here, it is my own doing. You are a good job Leila, I am sorry for cursing at you."

Damien frowned lightly as he heard Elliot, now knowing if she should tell anyone, it might disperse them if they became to frightened. "When we got good distance I will have you walk Northeast straight to the village, it should be clear then." He said softly to the fairy, it was strange he felt so safe, he was always on edge, but tucked in here he felt completely safe from everything, and he was not frightened or worried about Leila, he trusted her, and she trusted him, at least he believed she did.

Joseph's heart raced when he was almost crushed by the finger, laughing lightly as he listened to Rurei and Kira's conversation, he wanted to get a better grasp on both of them, glad he was still equal in size to Rurei, it made it easier to spend him with his friend.

"Mostly I work as a mechanic of sorts from a place called Safe Harbor," Kira answered. "Truth be told, I avoid going outside as much as I can. I'm both lazy, and I don't like many people."

"Oh you don't like the out doors?" Rurei asked surprised, the idea was so strange to her. "At times I wish I didn't like the outdoors either haha. Life certaintly would be safer for someone my size if I stayed in doors, with someone big who I trusted. I can't resist the adventure now though. I've become quite addicted to traveling new places and meeting new people. Hahaaha I'm glad you went on this trip though, or else we might have never met."

Leila shook her head. "No, it's alright Elliot. You don't have to apologize to me."Being as careful as she could, the fairy unshrunk Elliot and scooped him out of the bag. "I'll be honest, you look a little tired to me...why don't you get some rest." She slipped Elliot into her bra on the other side of Damien. "You just close your eyes, relax, and try to rest." With that done she slipped her hand back into the bag and continued to stroke random people. She also nodded to Damien. "That sounds good to me." The fairy altered her course as Damien suggested.

Elliot blushed hard when he was tucked into her bra, smiling lightly, feeling the tension melt, knowing it was temporary, not looking forward to nightfall as he rested his head against the softness of her breast, falling asleep with no effort as he had his squeezed her skin softly. He forgot what it was like to have someone look out for him like this. He liked Leila a lot, he decided he would never hurt her, no matter how much he needed more power, she was off limits.

Damien smiled as he looked up to Leila kindly. "Be on guard tonight okay? Especially since we be in a village, around others, it is going to make everything more dangerous." He said softly, motioning to Elliot, sure he was asleep as he sighed softly. "He won't be himself tonight, we will have a find a way to deal with it......"

Leila seemed a little confused and lowered her voice so as to not wake Elliot up. "What do you mean by that? I don't know many Humans or Nekos who would attack a group with a Fairy in it...why do you think it will be dangerous? And what exactly do you mean Elliot won't be himself? And don't try to avoid it Damien. If something happens that puts people at risk, as the guard I need to know so that I am prepared for whatever happens."

Damien bit his lip nervous, nodding, making sure Kira, Joseph and Rurei wouldn't hear him speak as he looked up Leila with a serious expression. "Elliot, is a well, he is a werewolf." Damien said quietly, looking to Kira with a serious expression, knowing he had to warn her, he couldn't let then stay in the dark about it. "Tonight, you know....."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kira answered to Rurei. "As people go, most of you guys aren't that bad."

It was pretty much as close a compliment to which she felt comfortable getting. She had an image to uphold, after all. Her mind wandered as she watched Leila tuck 'that guy' in against her other breast so he could sleep. She felt conflicted about the nagging feeling of jealousy she got from it; she didn't know whether it was being tucked against a giant boob or the nice relaxing snooze for which she yearned, but the possibility of it being the former made her uncomfortable. Then again, she did have that whole gender bias. Maybe liking girls was just part of who she was destined to be?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Leila and Damien whispering about something. Facing forward, she made sure to act inconspicuous as her left ear turned to get a better listen. Unfortunately, if Rurei continued conversation with her, she wouldn't be able to hear what they said as well.

(Please don't let that influence your post, Saen, just go with the natural flow, please. Or throw a wrench into what Kira's doing for fun, either way. Just don't do me any favors in character based on out of character information. >.<)

(I say! Xo how dare you impude my honor sir! I am no power gamer X< I stay as best I can in character I wouldn't do something just to get my charact more info! XD hahaha anyway here we go ^^)

"I'm glad we aren't that bad Kira haha." Rurei laughed taking that as a compliment better than her thinking that they were bad. "What type of things do you make Kira? Anything for Tiny use? I actually like contraptions! hm?" Rurei said notcing the ear closest to her adjust itself. "Hey Kira I've been meaning to ask a neko when you move your ears is it a willing action or involuntary?"]

"Elliot, is a well, he--"

And then Rurei spoke up again. Fuck. Well whatever, not like it could be helped.

"'Least now I know I was right to be suspicious," Kira thought. She knew she'd have to really be on guard now. It was beginning to look like she'd lose another night of sleep.... -.-

"First," Kira began in answer to Rurei, "Limit one question at a time. Respectively: no, most of my stuff is for use by me and anyone my size; and it depends. It's usually a reaction to something happening around us, but we can also control them for things like facial expressions."

Leila looked down at Elliot with a small smile. 'That poor human.' She thought to herself. 'He must have it hard, knowing that he has to turn into a werewolf every time there's a full moon. Knowing that he's a threat to all of his friends when it happens. Or worse, he might not even know about it.' She came out of her thoughts, glanced at Kira, then looked back down at Damien. "Don't worry, I will make sure he doesn't hurt anyone. I may not have a way to immobilize him with magic, but I can certainly shrink him down and put him some place where he won't hurt anyone. I feel horrible for doing it though, even if it's for the best."

Leila glanced at Kira again. "We should tell her you know...she deserves to know as much as I do. Actually, if you don't mind I would like to tell her." The fairy suddenly giggled quietly. "This does explain why Kira doesn't like Elliot thiugh. I mean, if it were up to her those two would be fighting like cats and dogs."

Damien, against Elliot's wishes but going on what he knew was right nodded to Leila. "Kira does deserve to know, we shouldn't keep this a secret, it affects everyone." He said seriously, looking into her eyes with an understanding expression. "We can't hold secrets, especially one like this."

Joseph got curious, touching one of Kira's ears with a small chuckle, petting it happily. "So soft!" He said happily.

"Okay I'll lay off the questions for now." Rurei said being satisfied for now and realizing she had been ignoring joseph. "So you like neko's ears joseph? haha."

Leila turned to Kira, Joseph, and Rurei. "Ok guys, Damien just told me something important. Now, there's no reason to worry when I tell you this and it would be best if Elliot doesn't know that we know about this, so please don't say anything." She lowered her voice. "It seems that Elliot is a werewolf. Now tonight will be one of those nights he transforms, so we will have to be ready. I plan on taking care of him tonight, so there won't be anything to worry about. I'm gonna shrink him and put him some place safe that he can't escape from. But you guys deserved to know." The fairy smirked. "The upside of this is that we now know why and Elliot seem to fight like cats and dogs Kira." She giggled softly to herself.

Kira had to hold it in. The laughter. The ticklishness. Fuck that accursed uh...curse! Closing her mouth tight to try to help her keep from laughing, she made the ear Joseph was touching flutter back and forth, trying to get him to back off.

She then listened to what Leila had to say.

"A werewolf, huh?" she thought. Well, Leila was right - the irony wasn't lost on her, though the most she would show for it was a smirk.

"Okay, sure, werewolf, but that doesn't explain his weird purple powers. Also, if that soldier guy we lost back before the river had been torn apart by a werewolf, there'd have been a lot more evidence," Kira responded quietly. She turned her gaze down toward Damien. "Explain that."

Damien's eyes widened when she mentioned the missing man, then narrowing as he stared up at Kira. "It isn't something that should concern you. I don't mean to be rude, I like you Kira.......but it is his curse, not ours to judge. His magic is native to our homeworld. It is not meant for combat, but he adapted it for such, as a result it kills him while he uses it. So to survive he has to feed off others energy. That is why we have a few mages with us, they always have more to take...." Damien said looking into her eyes hard, grinding his teeth, perceptive neko......

Joseph laughed as her ear fluttered, but that isn't what made him stop. He looked down silently when Leila spoke. He was sure she would be able to keep them safe, she was a fairy, and even as a werewolf he was still a human. Joseph though of Elliot as less dangerous as a werewolf even. He kept petting Kira's ear, not even noticing it.

"No offense to you Damien." Rurei started becoming oddly serious. "I think it is our concern, we travel with him and he is guiding us. Its his responsibilty to keep us in the loop and not use us. Like with Samantha. As long as you're confessing why not also own up to using as bait with the river? If we were the scouting party then how come you and elliot were there so fast?" Rurei wanted answers for these things even though she acerted her acusation as fact it was still only a hunch.

"If you recall when Leila was attack I was the first to rush to her rescue." Damien said seriously as he looked to Rurei. "We did use you as bait, that was the point of you being a scouting party, you make sure the path is safe for the rest of us. We would not have let any of you die if we could help it."

Leila thought for a moment. "Say Damien, the magic thing you were talking about, where Elliot has to absorb people's energy. What can you tell me about it? Because...if Elliot can feed off a person's energy without killing that person, I would be happy to offer myself to him. I would have to know as much as possible about what he is doing and what would happen to me first though."

She looked at Rurei with a shrug. "He's right you know. We're the scouting party, and part of our job is to be the bait and warn everyone else. Surviving isn't in the job description, it's more of a possible benifit. Our job is to keep everyone else alive, find the best route, and warn everyone if we run into danger."

"I don't believe he has tried. But I am sure it is possible, the amulet can also give him that energy to, if you cast size shifting spells and he absorbs it though the amulet." Damien said seriously, looking back to Leila, glad she seemed to take their side. "So there may be no need to actually drain your energy forcibly."

"So you just let him toy with people's lives?" Kira retorted accusingly. To her, it just seemed like such a jerk-ass thing to do, bringing people along to act as living batteries. "Is that why you guys pushed so hard to keep me around? So I could give up my life whenever that jerkwad needed a charge?!"

Kira's anger didn't let her ignore the nagging at her ear, either, and she told Joseph to back away from it lest he lose both his arms.

"We kept you around for your skill, our intent isn't to allow Elliot to fight, make it unnecessary for him to fight." He said softly, looking to them with a calm expression.

Joseph stopped, obviously more frightened by Kira then Damien or Elliot.

Rurei became silent. Leila was against her point of view so she saw no reason to try to press it further. She resigned herself not to trust Elliot or Damien though. Kira was also someone the tiny thought she could trust, though the neko seemed very blunt at least she was honest and if she wanted to harm Rurei probably wouldn't try and lie about it. She looked toward Joseph, she smiled unknowingly thinking about how the man who was part of the group that planned to sell her was far more trustworthy that Leila was now empolyed to.