Heirot

Laya sat on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest as she sat by Neko. She rested her head on her knees, closing her eyes. What will they do when they don't find the unicorn? She knew it wasn't caused by a unicorn... if only she could tell them...

Then a thought struck her. What if the illness that was in the village got to them? What if they became ill?!

'This is a load of crap...' Neko glared at anyone she could set her eyes on. She wanted to curse, scream, kick, hit anything in her way, bite, scratch... anything! Of all the folk lore she had been told, she never knew a unicorn to do bad! (-cough-Adanis-cough-)

Kratos, meanwhile, was praying that Neko wouldn't say to jepordize their safety. Kratos' eyes searched the crowd, he felt his bindings for a loose end.

"This is ridiculus." he muttered under his breath. "If all of this is happening then they are wasting time hunting down the unicorn. They should be trying to find a way to counter the dark magic!"

"I had no idea it had gotten this bad," Telanis said darkly in response to Kratos's words. There was a deep regret and genuine shock in his voice. He had been gone only a year, and all this had taken place. But was he really capable of going this far? There had to be another cause... he couldn't believe it.

Laya yelped and looked down at her hand in the dirt, it was covered in ats. "Neko! Get up! Ants!" She said getting up and knocking off her clothes quickly, hissing and slipping at her hand and clothing.

"AIIIYAA!" Neko yelped and tried to get up. She started jumping and stamping while brushing off her clothes, but the jumping seemed more effective so she stuck with that. Of course, any male that was still present watched her with interest. Taking detailed mental notes of the way her chest bounced. When Neko finally realized what was going on, she started screaming curse words.

Hearing his sister's blasphemy, Kratos sighed despairingly. "If we die... blame Neko." It was supposed to be humorous in this...situation. But Kratos was thinking that if anything was going to get them killed, it'll be Neko cursing the entire village just because of some ooglers.

Laya thought she had all the ants off so she sighed and stepped away from the pole, looking over her burning hand. She looked around to see the villagers staring at her and Neko, mostly at Neko which she was thankful... but then again she wasn't because Neko could get unwanted attention that way.

Laya tried to fix her clothing to get it all straighting out. It was a few sizes to big and loose so she tied the ribbon around her waist tighter.

Tetsumaru just continued standing there, not really doing anything other than being on guard. He was using all of his focus to well, keep his focus. It was obviously quite an effort for him because every once in a while a glazed look appeared in his eyes as his senility struggled to regain control.

"What's going on here?" a man's voice was heard as a new form passed through the crowd. The group parted as a darkly beautiful man with long black hair walked between them and looked at the prisoners calmly. "Is it really necessary to tie them like that?" he asked worriedly.

Telanis stiffened at the voice and looked up sharply at its owner, tightly concealing the alarm in his expression. The long-haired man glanced at him along with the others as he surveyed the prisoners, but showed no special reaction to Telanis.

"They're allied with the unicorn. At least those three are," another villager explained from beside the man. "The other two men, I'm afraid may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I see," the black-haired man said solemnly. "I suppose it can't be helped, though it's hard to blame them for not believing what's happened. It's remarkable even here to believe one of their kind could do such a thing," the man said unhappily.

"That's just like you to be so accepting, Sir," the villager said gently.

"If they have to be arrested, we should at least allow the women to go inside," he recommended, looking from the three bound men to the ant-ridden women.

"You may be right," the villager said, assenting quickly to his advice. "I see no reason not to, and this may not be entirely their fault. Would you-?"

"Of course," he obliged, walking with a peculiar grace to Laya and Neko. His deep brown eyes seemed patient and gentle as he looked at them and said "Please come inside. There is food and fresh clothing if you wish it," he said gently. "I assure you your friends will come to no harm." A soothing aura seemed to surround this person.

Telanis eyed the man sharply, his brown eyes alight with intensity as he approached the two girls. What are you doing? he demanded mentally of the man.

Oh? Why is there a voice in my head? came the idle reply.

Laya looked at him warily for a moment, but his attitude and the kindness in his eyes... And he had a soothing presence... Rather like Telanis gave her a protective feel. She was having trouble with her ant bites. "Do you have something... that Neko and I could put on our ant bites?" she asked softly, glancing at Neko to see if she wanted to go with the charming man.

The man nodded apologetically. "Of course. I have ingredients inside." Though he was so gentle, there was also a confident presence in his voice that suggested strength rather than meekness. "Follow me," he asked, turning to lead them inside.

Laya hesitated a moment and looked back at Telanis and the others. She didn't know if they should go inside with the man. She glanced at Neko and then slowly followed the man in, glancing around at the inside.

She felt nervous for some odd reason, maybe it was because she didn't know this man to well. "Thank you," she said, staying close to Neko.

Neko had finally stopped having a fit and turned to the handsomely dark man that was taking her and laya inside. Neko, being a flirt, didn't object. Heck, she smiled at him and blushed meekly.

Kratos was watching them with anger boiling in his veins. "If he touches her..." he trailed off in his threat. It was either he couldn't think of the harm he'd do to the man, or that it was so painfull it shouldn't be put into words.

Telanis looked anxiously toward where the girls had been taken. "No, I don't think he'll touch them," he said, though he didn't sound any less concerned.

The man opened the cottage door and led them inside a spacious room with sparse, but comfortable furnishings. There was a couch in the corner, a small table with two chairs, a bed, and a fireplace that wasn't lit. "Make yourselves comfortable, if you can," he encouraged calmly, going into a cupboard above a small cooking counter. He removed a glass of herbs, some water, and a mortar and sat down at the table, where he began grinding the herbs and water into a paste. He seemed to trust the girls not to leave the room, making no precaution to keep them there as he worked on the ointment without a word.

Neko was still blushing. 'He's really cuute.' her mind kept saying over, andover, and over again. It didn't seem to have any stop. So, Neko tried to distract her mind.

"Uh, er, L-Laya." She failed. "Um, what do you, ah, think is going to, er, happen?" Curse herself for being such a guy liker!

OOC: exactly "guy liker"!! I couldn't think of anything better. =P

Laya said down on the couch looking out the window at the others, a tingle going all over her. She felt nervous, but why? Laya eyed the man closely, curling up on the couch and holding her legs to her chest.

She scratched her sores idly, which iched a whole lot thanks to those ants.

Laya looked at Neko as she spoke. "I don't know... I really don't know. I mean... anything could happen if they don't find the unicorn. I feel sorry for the poor creature." She said playing it up. "Being blamed for something he didn't do..."