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Lisa eyes the water with suspicion, but shrugs and takes the bottle in her nervous hands.

She takes a sip. It doesn’t taste terrible, but the water’s strangeness makes her instinctively not want to swallow it. She holds it in her mouth for a moment before forcing it down, then nods her thanks to Helynah and sets the bottle aside.

Although Niskali has left her line of sight, she still seems very on edge. At least now she can properly speak.

“I’ve...” she finds that she can’t quite put into words why Niskali scares her so much. “He’s a dragon.” She wraps one arm around her torso, absentmindedly tracing the bumps of an old scar, not visible beneath her clothes, with her finger.

"He's a pentatheic," Victi corrects, "And a warpriest of the goddess Cryu-Dzien at that, based on the robe. I've never met him before, at least that I remember or care about, and I know nothing else about him. Those two facts, his species and his position, are enough to tell me that he's on our side all the way. They've got this whole thing about protecting the innocent and stuff, too. If he comes to talk to you, try not to freeze up, or, if you do, come find me. I work for the same goddess, so I might have ways of helping out."

For the most part, Victi's explanation confuses Lisa. She pauses, leaning forward to grab bandages, and tries to make sense of the alien terms the fox had just thrown at her. Pentatheic. Warpriest. Cryu-Dzien. Working for a goddess. None of it manages to calm Lisa more than it leaves her bewildered and more stressed than before. Her whole body trembles; tears well in her eyes. She bites her lip, remembering she'd earlier teased that boy, Adam, for crying so much.

And Adam's dead.

Tears that have little to do with her fear stream freely down her cheeks. Lisa drops the bandages and buries her face in her hands, sobbing.

Jaw hanging low, the feline wayfarer divulged himself to the scents of those who inhabits the room where creatures rest, recognizing Helynah's and Victi as well as her unsavory wounds and burns masked by a stronger, pungent scent that is quite alike with poultices only more concentrated. That made Bronze slightly flinch, his ears picking up the voices that fills him with mixed emotions of relief and awkwardness.

Rapier still out, sliding it back to its scabbard would only create noise, and he wanted to make the she-cat to make the first move while they are still in the dark and out of sight. He eavesdropped long enough. The Caracal flexed a finger and slid a claw out, tapping the ground beside Raven to catch her attention.

"Lisa?" Victi watches the chimera's emotional state suddenly collapse over the course of a few seconds. Her first thought is a brief annoyance that her healer isn't keeping on the job, then the second an amusement at how silly this all was. And then.... a third feeling: guilt for the first two.

This girl had tried to help, and honestly did a good job despite limited tools and alien resources. She'd been through way too much, and probably wasn't used to this. Heck, Victi was used to playing the monster to a certain extent, but probably nobody else here was that desensitized! They probably didn't get the same kind of thrill she did from surviving things like this. They wouldn't blow themselves up to buy time. That Victi had was probably almost as disturbing as finding out that you.... you.... had a doppelganger or something!

Aw crud.

She closes her eyes for a moment, and did the one thing she could do, and the thing she was pretty sure she actually needed and wanted to do at this point: She reached out, turning herself to be kneeling and facing Lisa, resting a hand on each of the girl's shoulders for a few seconds, hoping for eye contact. Then, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the sobbing form, partially prying Lisa's face and hands apart to bring said face to her slightly-blackened fluffy shoulder. "Lisa," she said, voice barely above a whisper, "I can't promise things will work out. What I can do is thank you for doing what you can to help make them work out. I can't say that you'll be safe by staying with me, but know that I'll do what I need to help make sure that as many of us as possible survive." It was a little cheesy, but.... well, it was true, at least. Hopefully counted for something.

She continued to hold on to Lisa, still-healing eyes closed for now. Hugging her.... hurt, honestly, there were some burns to the skin under her insulating fur that she hadn't accounted for earlier, mostly on her forearms. She didn't stop, though. She wasn't going to stop until Lisa asked her to or something tried to murder them. Even with that second one, she'd probably tell it to shut up, sit down, and let them finish having their moment first. Because darn it, she kinda needed this, too.

Based on what she has seen from the fox, Lisa half expects to be slapped or at least chastised for letting herself fall apart. When Victi gently rests her hands on her shoulders, her head jolts up with a startled gasp. Her eyes, bleary and red, lock on Victi’s. She braces to be further humiliated.

She doesn’t expect the hug.

She lets Victi pull her forward with nothing more than a confused squeak between sobs. As the fox whispers into her ear, her thoughts are racing. This is weird. Why? I guess I could use a hug. Yeah, this is okay. I think? She laughs, relieved and a more than a little hysterical, as she cautiously returns the embrace. Her fingertips brush burns hidden under the Victi’s once-ivory coat.

“H...hey, let me finish bandaging you,” she orders through a hoarse whisper choked by sniffles and quiet sobs. I must be impossible to understand.

The cat tears her eyes away from Lisa and Victi with a jolt of her head. She blinks. Her ears twitch. What? Oh, right.

She’d been watching the scene unfold with mixed feelings of relief, worry, awkwardness, and shame. She can't personally comfort her girl now, not after ditching Little and reappearing with some mysterious stranger in tow. Besides, she needs to scout out that room down the hall. She tells herself that she needs to make sure everyone is safe, but really, Raven can’t resist the need to satisfy her curiosity.

So said stranger will have to take the initiative and speak to the others alone. She flicks her tail toward Victi.There she is; go say hello. Her eyes drift toward his rapier. He might not want to, but Bronze should consider putting the weapon away. She suggests this by standing on her hind legs and miming sliding the blade into its sheath. She can only pull this act for a moment before falling forward into a low crouch.

Hopefully, he’ll get the idea. She once again turns her attention toward the evidence room and whatever lurks inside.

Liliath sighed where was the cat now? She then noticed Seo who acted weirder then usual . "Stay away from em creep!"she yelled. Seo did not , Seo crazy was holding a knife . Seo was so annoyed with the kid that she simply wanted her to die. So she stabbed Liliath twice . Liliath screamed of pain , she knew she wouldn't survive this. Liliath knew what to do , crawling or running away. So Liliath did she stood up with her last power and tried to run . She tried to find raven , but she couldn't see raven..

"I will, in just a minute," she replies, getting the general idea of what Lisa is saying, "But first.... look, empathy isn't something I'm good at, but that doesn't mean I don't have any or that I don't know how to care. It's a bad situation, but you're doing your best anyway. That, and I actually like you, so just.... I can handle waiting a little longer. You need this more than I need the bandaging."

((Welcome back! Time to get mean.))

The human part of Vincent feels a little guilty for leaving Seeker behind; the wicked creature was fond of it, and it just left her alone to eat then probably die.

But Vincent's human conscious is small and weak; its pleas rarely bother it and it certainly won’t bother it now. Seeker might be more resilient than she’d seemed. And if not, she must have had an excellent last meal. Those shrill screams were music to its ears. Now they've gone, leaving Vincent alone to crave more.

And more it will find; Vincent smells fresh blood, and like a hog to rotting scraps, it’s drawn to that pungent stench.

There! A small, prone form trembling on the asphalt. Liliath, lying in a growing pool of blood. While Vincent’s conscious curls up forgotten in the corner, its black heart somersaults with glee.

It sees her clearly, but she probably can’t see it yet. Vincent crouches, knowing exactly what to do.

In the form of Raven- small and black, with wide yellow eyes and webbing wrapped around its injured shoulder- Vincent sprints toward her. “Little!”

"Raven!"she tried to yell "It hurts , but maybe its good going to heaven . Cause Bella is there to so its good." "I don't wanna stay here , i wanna go home." she said soft "I did forgot to say goodbye to Lisa and Lisa is abetter version of my mommy so." "It is hurting ."she cried

W-What the—!?

Bronze furrowed his brows not in confusion but in disbelief. She should be the one greeting them and not him! His presence might make things more awkward especially with that one lady has tears streaming down her cheeks. Now that he confirmed that she was the other feline that Victi vaguely mentioned, he can't help but feel embarassment for his past actions back at the store. Now he felt frustrated at the fact that he could've helped them in their situation earlier than now, and even more because he knew that he's frustrated because he's overthinking.

The humanoid noticed Raven turn her attention elsewhere with him now completely ignored. Bronze groaned inwardly and sighed, standing up from his low crouch and sliding the rapier back to its scabbard, the toygun still in his left paw. "Hello ladies." Bronze stepped forward away from the shadows and placed his tight paw on his hip.

Without even opening her eyes, though slowly releasing her grip on the Chimera, Victi says softly, "Please find a way to prove that you're not the shapeshifter. I'm not feeling creative right now."

“Shh,” Vincent purrs. It lies by Liliath, looking directly in her eyes. Its face expresses nothing but gentleness, the beast’s true identity hidden as it pretends to comfort the dying child. And she is dying. Blood flows from a pair of stab wounds in her chest and pools around her pale form, staining Vincent’s paws.

“Shh...” it says again. Vincent presses its head against her cheek. Her body...so cold. It smiles. “I’ll tell Lisa goodbye for you, and I’d like to thank you, Little.”

“Thank you for getting yourself killed.” Its smile widens. “Now you won’t be a bother to us anymore.”

"What?" Liliath looked confused "You are not raven , raven isn't mean." "I can see Bella." she said smiling "I don't care you are here , raven is kind so you are not raven. I am going to my sister and thats only what matters." Liliath sighed "I do will miss the real Raven and Lisa but i will see them later." "I will miss my really family." then she closed her eyes and died

Helynah, who leaps to the defensive the moment Bronze makes himself known, levels her trident to his chest and studies him carefully. He seems nervous and more than a little flustered. She doesn’t think he has come to kill anyone, but she also suspects that someone like their current enemy would make an excellent actor.

So she tries to pick up Victi’s creative slack, but soon finds she doesn’t know anything about Bronze the shapeshifter absolutely could not. She opens her mouth to ask one question, only to close it as she thinks of another, then realizes that question wouldn’t work.

She sighs, frustrated. “Just- just tell us why you’re here.” She might have a vague idea of what an imposter might say to that, but again, the monster’s likely much more clever than she is.

The trident pointed at his chest could easily skewer him causing Bronze to gulp and take a step back, his arms in front of him in submission. Oh how the tables have turned. He remembers how he pointed his blade at Raven. This must be what she felt back in that alley. Exasperation.

"I heard the explosion. Quite alarming, really. Followed your scent-trail a while back 'till I confirmed that it led to this place." He explained, scratching the side of his face. He felt like that Helynah and Victi forgot about their first encounter and goodbyes. He decided to continue. "I found a.. well, a cat? In an alley that is. Black fur. Kind of like my ancestor or something. This place is weird so hell if I know." He shrugged, trying to compose relax himself in front of them.

"Yeah, you found Raven, good," Victi replied, suddenly returning to her usual tone and moving to face Bronze, "You seemed disturbed by the whole 'critter that isn't upright thing' before, so hopefully you won't get jumpy about it now. It's like you'd never encountered a normal quadruped before...." Her voice trailed off in thought for a moment.

"Anyway, did I not mention the omnicidal, omnimorphic shapeshifter last time?" she asked, coming back to focus, "Because the whole 'anybody you encounter could be a monster that wants to kill everyone' thing has been kind of a big deal recently. If you'd missed that one, the reminder that the entire town is apparently hostile is probably a good one, too. That explosion was me buying time to avoid suffocating to death in a room that locked itself and started flooding with fumes."

"Back to the shapeshifter thing, though, and the bit where we need to make sure it isn't murdering us," she continued, "I hope you understand that we need to check to make sure that... basically any lone person we encounter isn't it. Mind being generous and figuring out how to prove to us that you aren't? I get the feeling that you're not a fan of the 'cut off fur carrying your scent' thing."

She paused for a moment again, before finishing with, "We're pretty sure it can't mimic scent, from other encounters with it."

It tilts its head and lets out a little flustered “hmm...”

How disappointing.

Before the girl finally dies, it climbs onto her shoulder and whispers in her ear. “What do you really know about either of them? I wouldn't be surprisssed to learn they're relieved that they won't have to watch your back anymore.” Before it finishes, Liliath heaves a final sigh and her body stills. Dead. Just like that.

Vincent climbs off of the body and studies the trail of blood she’d left behind. Something else killed her. Not it, and not the town. Those stab wounds were inflicted by some other hand and Vincent it dying to learn who.

Still Raven, it follows the trail, leaving tiny paw prints beside the spatters of blood leading to the store.

Raven, knowing full-well that she’d kind of just tossed Bronze to a trio of paranoid she-wolves, slinks into the evidence room and meets the third-most bizarre creature she’d ever seen.

As she expected, Niskali is a dragon. Or, more like half a dragon? He’s slightly smaller than she expected and bipedal, hunching over some dying embers to roast the leg of- her eyes widen in shock -does that leg belong to Vincent?

She sniffs. What normally carries the sweet scent of nothing now releases the pleasant odor of roasting flesh. Her stomach growls; she hasn’t eaten for over a day, and so she briefly wonders if the dragon would be willing to share.

Focus, Raven.

She does...on the stained, white-ish robes that billow around Niskali’s form. Her sights narrow in on a particular spot where the fabric scrunches around his coiled tail. Raven instinctively crouches and prepares to spring with a waggle of her rear.

She’s going to risk life and limb to meet this brute sooner or later. Might as well make the introduction on her terms, and make it fun.

So she pounces, aiming for the impression of his tail-tip beneath an ocean of fabric.