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Nex shook his head, a sorrowful look in his eyes. Red understood in a second, she leaped up and ran back towards the town, staggering as she went. A fire was blazing in the distance.
"No......Ash..you didnt.... Not again......" she whispered in horror, her voice cracking.
Tears went down her cheeks as she staggered to the edge of the woods. The whole village was ablaze and Red could hear screaming and crieing. Children lost. Dead family memebers. Parentless children.
Red staggered towards the fire, the sounds overwhelming her.

"Ash...?" The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't put a face to the name. The flame consuming the town drew his attention again. And a familiar figure running toward it.

"Red!" He grabbed her before she coud get caught in the blaze herself. If they had arrived sooner--they might have been able to help. As it was, the buildings would be unsteady and ready to collapse. "We have to get out of here; you're in no condition to help anyone." If he had to, he was prepared to carry her back to her home in the woods.

She reached towards the fire, seeming somewhere else. All the sounds crowded around her and she collapsed to the ground, covering her ears. Red started to cry, forgetting completely about what Arien said, she jerked out the dagger an threw it into the fire.
"Ash!! Why did you do this again!!" Red yelled at no one but she knew Ash could hear her.
A small puddle of blood had already formed on the ground. Nex stared at Red, frightened because even he had never seen her this upset.

Arien growled to himself about stubborn women as he grabbed a thick blanket and wrapped it securely around Red. It wouldn't stop the bleeding, but it would hopefully calm her down somewhat and keep her from fighting him as he picked her up.

"Let's get home," he said, "where we can treat your wounds without worrying about dying in a fire." He glanced at the tiger. "I need your help to get me there."

Nex shook his head and trotted behind him.
Red usually isnt that way... Dont metion Ash..Nex sent the thought to Arien.
Red held onto Arien's shirt, starting to fall asleep. The whole days events crashing down on her.
Ash...i made a promise.. I intend to keep it... she thought before falling asleep in Arien's arms.

"Oh, then I won't," replied Arien softly. He adjusted his hold on Red to keep her from slipping as she fell asleep.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the house came into view. Dodging Bella's frantic attempts to get his attention, he finally laid Red on her bed. He grabbed a wad of bandage and then the salve from his pack and returned to clean up her wound. Hopefully she would stay asleep while he did it. The wound looked ugly as it was, although the tourniquet had done its job fairly well.

Red stayed asleep for quite a while. Nex was always at Arien's side, getting anything he needed.
Will she be ok? Nex said worriedly.

Arien hesitated briefly, as he finished wrapping yet another bandage around Red's arm. He'd been changing them regularly since he removed the tourniquet. "She's lost a lot of blood, but I think after a good deal of rest she'll be okay."

He yawned as he tied the bandage securely. "She isn't feverish--so that's good; no infection. And the wound is clotting. So assuming she doesn't move it around like she has been doing, she'll be fine. Sore, but fine." He yawned again, but kept his eyes open. Bella lay curled at his feet as he sat beside Red's bed.

Nex curled up next to Neo by the fireplace. Red woke up an hour later, she blinked and rubbed her eyes. Sitting up slowly, not using her injured arm, she looked for Arien.
"Arien?" she whispered.

Arien was sacked out on the floor, having rolled over in his sleep and fallen from the chair to the floor. Bella lay half over him, keeping him warm, and it was her stirring when Red spoke, that woke Arien briefly.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up stiffly. "Red?" He almost jumped to his feet, but remembered not to. He turned to face her, relief on his face at seeing her up, but worry n his tone. "How do you feel? Any pain?"

Red smiled a little.
"Not much. Nothing i cant deal with," she said softly.
Everything came back to her from before she fell asleep. She frowned and turned away. She looked out the window to see it was night time still.
"So...the town...it burned down.." she murmured.

Arien hesitated and then looked down. "Yeah." It had been a good thing he had stocked up on provisions. He recalled Nex's warning about not speaking about Ash and bit his tongue to keep from asking.

He gently pet Bella's head as she settled back down. "How long do you think your supplies here will last?"

Red thought about it.
"Month...and a half...maybe." Red said uncertainly.
She remembered how crazy she acted last night and blushed really red from embarrasment.

Arien looked up as much in surprise at the amount she had stockpiled before seeing her face turn red. He was on his feet not sure if she was about to turn feverish. "What is it?"

Red looked at him surprised when he jumped up.
"uh..n.nothing.." she said a little confused by his reaction.

He put a hand to her forehead, anyway, just to check. She didn't feel feverish. He dropped his hand.

"I thought...would you like something to eat? Drink?" he asked instead. His stomach, of course, chose to growl right then.

Red smiled and almost laughed when she heard his stomach.
"Well i can tell you are. So i will have whaTever your having," she said trieing not to laugh.

Arien grinned at her attempt not to laugh. "Very well, I'll go cook something up. You, miss, rest until I get back."

He headed for the kitchen, whistling some sort of non-tune, and made breakfast. He made some sort of porridge which he doctored with ample amounts of sugar, and for his own, a dab of Tabasco sauce. Then for good measure, some fruit.

He returned with the food--placing her portion next to her, careful not to mix them up. "Breakfast in bed. I'm jealous," he grinned and then tucked into his meal.

Red rolled her eyes and kept smiling.

When he got back with her food she ate it quickly then set down the bowl. She looked at Arien for a minute before smiling and looking away.
"The kitten!" she said with sudden realization.
Red jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. She slid next to Neo and Nex.

"Is fine," muttered Arien, following at a more leisurely pace. "And would you stop running around?! I just finished tending your arm all night. I'd like it to not reopen and bleed everywhere."

He shook his head as he leaned against the wall, watching Red with the tigers. Bella had followed at his heels, sticking close after his sudden disappearance.