Alone...

Maggie was happy she had down a good job, and even more so when Tay said that the two of them could stay. She wouldn't be alone anymore. As Reese flopped down on the couch and closed his eyes Maggie watched Tay start to rant about his food. A bubbly giggle escaped her as she covered her mouth with her hand, bright blue eyes watching him.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Maggie went over to the counter across from him and flipped over a few pieces of food. "Where did you manage to find all this?" she looked up at him. "I never at any thing like this before." she admitted. A soft snoring came from the couch and Maggie looked over to see Reese already passed out. Shaking her head she looked back to Tay with a smile.

"Oh... I don't know if I ever said thank you. You know, for being so nice. Taking care of me and everything..." her cheeks flushed a bit.

"Ahh..she looks very angry.." Josephine felt a little frightened of the girl named Lenna. She looked mean, but as always, looks can be deceiving. She leaned against the door frame, making sure that she was supporting herself with the other leg. She looked back at the others, she was panicking a little. She hadn't been around so many people at once, it was beginning to overwhelm her. Her vision was beginning to get blurry again, she felt as if she were going to pass out any moment. "u-umm..Damien..?" Her voice was below a whisper, she was starting to loose her consciousness.

"Eh? Oh I um..I found it around.." Tay rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to explain how he had gotten all of the food that he had. Saying that he robbed a store wasn't exactly a topic he wanted to talk about. But what else was he supposed to do? Sure his family was right, but him being the way he was, he got no money whatsoever. And he was far too young to get a job to get money. There was also no way that he would rob a bank, so he figured sneaking food from the supply at the back of a store would be good enough. "Yeah, I found it!"

Tay nodded to himself, agreeing that he would stick to that story, that he had found it. But there was a good chance that Maggie would not believe him. Like she would believe that I just found all of this..Lets hope she does..

Lenna marched up to Damien, getting right in his face, not caring that she was shorter, and growled. "You stupid vampire! She should be resting! I not care if you panic or there is danger, then you take her out back door! Injured should not be where fighting might be! Ugh!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turning away from her friend. He really should have realized this sooner.

Opening her eyes, she took a step towards Josephine, and put a smile on her face. "Hello, sorry, I Lenna. I village doctor - I treated your leg. You no look so good. If you want, you come my house. I make tea. And get you clothes. I have some should fit you."

Mary pouted slightly. "I thought she was gonna hit him. She looked really angry this time. Haven't seen them actually fight in quite a long time."

Michael rolled his eyes at this. "You know she would never fight with him in front of strangers." He looked back at said strangers. "By the way, that guy there is Damien. Dunno who the other girl is, but it seems like they do, seeing as that's Damien's house."

Damien laughed coldly. Oh, I'm sorry for picking up their scent and being a bit worried. He said sarcastically. You do realize I think of other people besides myself, right? I knew you could handle yourself but what about Michael and Mary? He was starting to get pretty irritated now. His eyes flashed red. They're only kids. He said a bit quieter. He wanted to protect them, like he wanted to with his younger brother.

He continued on, but louder. I'm fine anyways. It's just a couple cracked ribs. You know that's nothing for me. I've been through worse. Oh, so much worse! The worst of it being this! He bared his fangs, and pointed to them. You don't know what it's like. ​He whispered.

Lenna sighed, held up a finger to the new girl indicating that she would just be a moment. She turned, walked right up to Damien, and hugged him, tucking her head right under his chin. She spoke softly, keeping her voice calm even if she couldn't keep the rumbling sound out of it. "I sorry. I know you can handle it, and I know you worry 'bout them, too. But I worry 'bout you, 'cause you family now. And you not the only one with lost stuff. I animal, stuck with human body now. You not only one with problems, but we help each other." She backed up and gave him a smile, then turned him around and shoved him lightly towards the new comers. "Now, you get them houses, and come back after. I get Josephine clothes, and calming tea, and then I cook dinner for everyone, ok?"

Josephine tilted her head. She was confused. Lenna actually seemed like a nice person. Which made her feel bad for thinking she looked scary. "err.." She just stood there with her head tilted to the side, her body hidden underneath Damien's hoodie.

When Lenna spoke of how she was going to take Josephine to her house, she had to admit that she was a little frightened. Not of Lenna herself, but of leaving Damien. This feeling was strange to her but she couldn't help but feel safe when he was around.

Josephine bit her bottom lip and waited to be led to wherever Lenna's house might be.

​Damien was a bit surprised by Lenna hugging him. After the initial shock though, he hugged her back. He sighed, feeling stupid and mad at himself. At least you can change back. He said quietly. They let go of each other. He rubbed the back of his head. I'm sorry. I over-reacted a bit. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that. He gave her a weak smile. You know me...


Then she turned him around towards the new people. He realized how odd that must have looked to them. He felt angry at himself for losing control. They're probably afraid of you know, idiot! He shook his head a little and blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed from his little episode. He sighed. Well...uhmmm...this is only my second time doing this, but since I've lived here the longest, I guess I have to introduce you to Teelu. I'm Damien. He smiled a little, trying to seem friendly. You've obviously already met Michael, Mary, and Lenna. We've been the only ones here for a while.

Lenna walked up to Josephine and knelt down to examine her leg, knowing that it must be incredibly painful for her to be walking around on it, especially considering how heavily she was leaning against the door frame. She could see blood seeping into the cotton covering the cut, meaning it would have to be changed when they got to her house. She looked up at Josephine's face, smiling a bit to show she meant no harm.

"Sorry in advance. You shouldn't be walking, consider it doctor's order." With that, she stood up, scooping the other girl up into her arms, one arm supporting behind her knees, the other under her shoulders. This was one reason she was glad she had some animal features in human form. She sniffed a bit, and peered at her closely. "You smell like bird. Damien said you shifter, too." She nodded, not really expecting an answer. Glancing over at her two charges, she saw Michael holding the basket of herbs, and gestured him over with her head. "Michael, you come. Mary, stay with Damien." With that, she started in the direction of her house, away from the group behind her with the yound wizard following closely.

Josephine's eyes widened a little as Lenna picked her up. Her face turned red a little. How can a girl be this strong..? She shook her head and went to go answer Lenna when she had mentioned that Damien said she was a shifter. "Ohh um, yeah I can shift into an owl.." She looked down at her hands and she was carried to Lenna's house.

She mumbled under her breath about how she hoped that she wasn't heavy. which caused her to blush more from embarrassment.

Lenna blinked in confusion, and looked down at the girl. "You not heavy. Well, you might be, but not for me. You saw me before, I leopard. I leopard first, spell made me human, too. I more leopard than human, so I have leopard muscles, and hearing, and sight, and smell. Growly voice, too. Sorry 'bout that." She smiled widely, showing her canines a bit, not even registering that they might scare the girl.

Michael walked beside Lenna, watching this new girl she hadn't seen yet. After Lenna was done speaking, he pipped up. "Hi, I'm Michael. The blond girl was Mary. Damien might have told you about us already. I like you're hair, by the way. It's dark! Damien's the only one with dark hair around here. Lenna doesn't really count, since the black in her hair is just her leopard spots. And yours is so long too! It's really pretty! I can help you with it if you need me to! Mary always makes me help her, since she has way too much hair but she doesn't want to cut it. And-" Here Lenna shot him a look to make him be quiet, not wanting him to overwhelm the poor girl in her arms. He blushed and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I talk to much. Mary always complains about that."

"Ohh, thank you.." Josephine blushed at Michael's comment and looked over at him. "You don't talk too much, Its pretty nice to make conversation with someone.." She giggled lightly to herself and rubbed the back of her head. It had been a while since people were so nice to her. She felt grateful and confused at the same time. Oh well, at least you know that they accept you..

Lenna shook her head, knowing that, if given the chance, Michael could talk for hours.

Michael smiled broadly, happy that this girl seemed so nice. "Really? You don't mind my talking? You're an owl shifter, so do you have any traits form your animal that you keep in your human form? The new guy, Hiroshi, he has cat ears, and he can hear pretty well, too. and Lenna has a whole list of things, but I suspect that's because she was a leopard first. And this other guy, Reese, who I litterally ran into in the forest, he's a bear, and he's huge! Though, that may just be him..." He trailed off, thinking about it. He shook his head, and looked back at the girl. "By the way, I'm a wizard, in case you're wondering. You won't find any 'normals' in this town. My sister's a witch. We both have specialties, but we also have this really cool family magic that lets us see aura's, so we can tell if people are normal, or not, and if not, what they are. We only really know what shifters and magic users and vampires look like right now. It's always active unless we focus on not using it, but it gives me a headache to do that." As he was looking at Josephine while he was walking, he didn't notice the door to the house until he ran straight into it. "Ow. Should have seen that." He gave a little grin and opened the door for Lenna to carry the new girl in.

Watching as how Lenna had stepped up toward the male named 'Damien' and another girl with dark long hair and had began to speak with them. Hiroshi's ears kept on twitching slightly on being curious about what to really do. He wasn't sure if he should approach them or if she should wait for Monika to say something before going. The hug that Lenna had given the male made things even more confusing then they already were to him. Scratching the back of his head on wondering what to do, the only thing Hiroshi could've really thought of doing was look over at the two kids who seemed to had thought that Lenna was going to harm the man. 'Nani ga...Okotte iru nodeshou ka? (What's...going on?)' thoughts kept on wandering around within his own mind.

Soon enough when the male named 'Damien' was pretty much forced to go forward by Lenna to help Hiroshi and Monika find a home or homes for the two of them. He couldn't help but just watch the male stand in front of him. Both his ears perking slightly toward the side as he heard the introduction come from the male in front of him. "I..am...Hiroshi..you, have..houses?" he had introduced himself toward the male, letting Monika introduce herself as well. "I...need rest...you explain..Teelu, later?" Once more, Hiroshi did his best to speak proper English toward Damien to see if he could get a little tour or explaination of the village later. Traveling away from his home after so long and not to mention, not being able to get some real sleep on a bed after so long. Hiroshi was eager to just lay down onto an actual bed.

"Any..traits..?" She thought long and hard about that question. She hadn't really known what she had looked like while she was in her owl form, just minor details that she saw in the water she used to fly over. She sometimes saw her reflection then. "Well umm..Since I have black hair and pale white skin..I'm guessing that all of me is black with white tips all over the feathers when I'm in owl form.." She blushed again, she wasn't used to answering questions about herself.

Her eyes widened a little as she saw Michael walk straight at the door, causing him to bang into it. "A-are you okay?" She tilted her head down at him, truly worried that he could have been hurt.

Michael walked over to the kitchen table, taking all the herbs out of his basket and starting to sort them later before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. I do stuff like that all the time. Lenna keeps a lot of bruise salve around 'cause of it." He grinned, unashamed of his clumsyness. He walked around the table, pulling out two chairs and facing them towards each other. The reason he did this was answered as Lenna sat Josephine down on one and propped her injured leg up on the other chair. He then walked over to the stove, turning it on while he filled the kettle with water, and then sat it on the burner.

Lenna took off her backpack, getting out her medical kit for the second time that day. She opened it up, getting out the gauze, medical tape and scissors, and disinfectant again. Suddenly remembering something, she looked at the new girl. "Josephine, you normally have high temperature? Some shifters do, I need to know."

"No I don't normally..I'm just really sick i think.." A while back when she was little, the doctor had told her parents that she had Leukemia, and wouldn't survive past 7 years old. Although, defying all of the odds, she made it and was presumed that she didn't have Leukemia anymore, but that didn't mean she was all healthy. In truth there was something in her body that was very wrong, causing her temperature to rise and then sink.

She leaned back on the char and looked at her leg that was propped up on the other chair. It looked like it had started to bleed again. She felt like she was about to throw up. The slightest amount of blood always made her feel that way. She sighed heavily and remembered odly enough of the times when people had called her 'perfect'. She frowned.. 'you're sadly mistaken..I am far from it..' She then looked back up at Lenna. She looked like someone she could trust, but she wasn't about to go telling her all of her history.

Mary tugged on Hiroshi's sleeve, and started pulling him along, completely expecting the others to follow. "We've only got a few houses completely furnished. We have to get what we can in town whenever we sneak in, but it's harder sneaking out the more we have. There's a couple down here that would probably be good for you two." She understood that they were tired, probably having come from very far away, if their accents were anything to go by. A good sleep and some food when they woke up would do them good, and Mary knew that Lenna would make more than enough for everyone, now that she knew there were so many mouths to feed.

Lenna nodded, feeling Josephine's forehead again, and feeling that it was still warm. "Tea will help, Michael making. You want pain killers? I might have to stich up cut again, if you ripped threads." She grabbed all her gear and another chair, placing all of the items within easy reaching distance on the table and setting her kit on the ground nest to the chair in case she would need anything else. She began to peel away the medical tape from the old bandage. "You might want look away if you no like blood."

"You find it? How lucky!" the thought of stealing never even occurred to her. With so little memory of anything before, the thoughts Of what she might have done in the past were long forgotten. Maggie smiled at Tay and wondered around his home a little bit looking at the things he had around. "I think I can like it here... It feels better than than any other place." her smile grew.

Then she looked down at her hands and her smile faded. She just hoped that she didn't have any episodes and ruin what a nice place this was. Whipping her hand on her dress he tried to whip the thought from her mind.

Reese snored again as his long arm fell from the couch and hit the floor. The impact caused him to jerk awake. Rubbbing his eyes he sat up a bit embarrassed. "I'm gonna go stretch my legs guys. I'll be back in a bit... You better behave." he gave Tay a wink the same way he used to pick on his brother before he'd get punched by the kid. Then he turned and walked out the front door before he reached up and stretched his arms up over his head.

Monika was less than enthusiastic in befriending new people. Her own philosophy suggested people would get to know each other as long as they were bound together and had the interest in poking their heads into others' affairs. There was no need to make effort introducing everyone formally, according to this carefree girl. Whining quietly about how tired she was, she followed the kid and Hiroshi.

They saw a few houses after some small walk. Monika entered one of the houses. Pathetically old and musty. Good grief.

Well, Mary being the smart little witch she is, she would probably be as good as me, if not better, at helping you guys. He set a hand on he shoulder. He found it odd that the other girl hadn't introduced herself. He had figured out the guy, Hiroshi, was probably Japanese, considering his name and accent.

Yeah, I assume it would be best if I showed you around tomorrow, not that there's much to show you. He gestured to the small town. Umm, so I guess you can have your pick of the few houses we have. Like Mary said, there's only two that has all the stuff you need. A fridge, oven, sink, couch, coffee table, Dining room table and chairs, a small bedroom, and a bathroom. Then, he thought he smelled someone. I'm probably just smelling these two, since they're new and it's probably throwing me off. He still felt a bit uneasy though as they walked.

"Right.." Josephine did her best not to think about the blood coming from her leg. She closed her tired looking eyes and rested her head against the chair. She took a deep breath and tried to think of different things. Like Damien? W-what? No! Idiot..Her cheeks turned bright red as she argued with herself. She hated when the voice inside her tried to tell her her own feelings. As if she didn't already know..Still, she was determined to deny it.

Tay's face turned bright red at Reese's comment. He new very well what Reese had meant and immediately got flustered "Ahh, shadap! (shut up)" Tay threw a sandwich in Reese's direction, aiming for his head as he walked out of the door. "Where are you going anyway? Its dark outside ya know?!"

Tay tilted his head and sighed, knowing that Reese couldn't have herd him. He then looked back at Maggie, his face burning bright red. "So, um..Your room is that way.." He pointed his finger down the hallway to the door at the very end, while ribbing the back of his head with his other hand.

Maggie looked down, her pale features burning red with Reese's teasing. She began to play with her hair nervously as Tay threw a sandwich at the man walking out. Slowly she looked back up to Tay, her cheeks still a bright red. When he pointed down the hall she looked, her shoulders dropping a bit. "Oh... Okay." walking down the hall she rubbed her arm, taking the direction as a sign that he no longer wanted to talk to her.

Slowly she pushed open the last door. It was a tiny room with a small bed tucked in one corner and a dusty dresser in the other. It didn't look like Tay had ever touched this room. Letting out a sigh she walked in and sat down on the bed, testing it's softness. Then she fell back to her back and ran her hands over her face, her golden hair fanning out around her on the bed.

Lenna carefully separated the medical tape from skin, peeling away the bandage. After cleaning the area and the wound itself, she discovered that the stitches luckily were still intact. The wound had opened a little, and that's why it was bleeding so heavily. After disinfecting it again, she covered it in a new bandage. Patting the other girl lightly just above the knee, she got up, packing her kit away and into her backpack again, slinging it over her shoulder once more. Moving past an open window to get to the stairs leading to her room, she could smell more fresh blood, again from someone she didn't know. She sent a cautious look to Michael and Josephine. "Michael, get her some of my old clothes. You know where they are. Stay inside." With that, she shifted and jumped out the window, scaling the next building so that she could run across the roofs.

Michael calmly took the kettle off the stove as it started to whistle, turning off the burner. He put a little bit of tea from a plastic bag into a tea strainer, setting it over a mug and pouring the hot water over it. He wasn't really concerned with Lenna running off randomly, used to it by now. He placed the mug of tea on the table next to Josephine, smiling gently. After running quickly upstairs to grab some sweat pants and a t-shirt that he thought would fit her, he handed them over to the older girl with a cheerful smile. "You know, it's ok to not be perfect. It's perfectly fine to be scared of blood, or to miss someone you just met."

Reese wiped the blood off his forehead and onto his tattered shirt. Rubbing his neck he wondered around in the dark not really sure what he was looking for... Until his stomach grumbled. With the literal appitite of a bear he could very well eat Tay out of hourlse and home if he wasn't careful. He needed to find some food, even if it meant shifting, not that he really minded that.

Hearing the sound of water he thought of fish and headed deeper into the woods. Everynow and again he'd mark a tree or so to keep track of where he was going and the way back. The sound of a waterfall made him lick his lips, fish tended to love those things. He could get a real meal. Picking up his pace he stopped when he heard an odd noise coming from up ahead. Was it one of those people he had run into earlier? "Hello?" he called out, hoping it wasn't a normal.

At the edge of the waterfall, a pile of clothes were placed neatly. Far enough away from the water that they wouldn't get soaked. In the waterfall, a young woman with long redish-pink hair was washing her hair. It was obvious that she was fully naked but the water covered up most of her girly parts and she continued to wash her hair.

She was humming a melody, and in some places, interpreted words so it came out something like "Soon you'll be, home with me, mmm mmm, Once upon a november~" She repeated those lines over and over, not really noticing that anyone was around.

Reese pushed his way through a few bushes as hea heard the sound of someone humming and singing. "Hello?" He called out again.

Stepping up towards the edge of the water he froze, he feet, next to the pile of clothes he hadnt noticed. Instantly his face turned a bright shade of red as he stared at the naked woman bathing in the waterfall. He couldn't tare his eyes away for a long moment until he finally blinked. Clamping his eyes shut he turned his head away and tried to turn around. "I-I-I... I'm so-so s-s-s-sorry!" He stammered.

But as he tried to turn around he tripped over his own feet and toppled head first into the cool water, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. Eyes snapping open, he bolted to his feet, gasping for the air the shock seemed to steal from him. Only now he was just a few short feet from her, and staring straight down at her. "Oh crap..." He breathed, the redness covering his face again as he turned his back to her, waiting for a slap, or a scream or something.

Leann's eyes shot open when she herd someone frantically apologize to her. For what she though. She turned around, her girly parts still hidden by the water, and her long hair. "Who're you?" Leann wasn't at all concerned that she was naked, and talking to a stranger. There were far worse things that she had been put through back when she was in the loony bin.

She tilted her head, the water continuously flowing off of her body. she hadn't seen such a large person in her whole life. "Are you a giant or something?" He looked pretty cute, it was when she realized this that she began to mentally freak out because she was naked. Plus, by that plash he man had made from tripping in the water, no doubt that her clothes had gotten drenched. She blushed and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest.