[SpringsSong]

Alana, Spirit Kuhna

Alana gently finished wrapping the lamb's-ear leaf around Milos' wounded paw.  She bent the stem a little so that it would stay in place, but she wasn't entirely sure that it would stay.  "This should work as a bandage sufficiently... at least, for now." She said.  "Normally, I don't use plants to bandage people's wounds, but... What medinical things I have, I left back at the Center." She said, remembering the bag she had left just behind the couch in there.  She sighed.  "How does your paw feel?" She asked.

{43}

[Redd]

Milos

Milos bent down to sniff the leaf on his paw. "I have never heard of plants being for medical purposes..." Milos said.
His mind wandered back to the few things he had left at the breeding center. His proper lockpicks, a small dagger, a grappling hook. Some of the few tools of his trade.
He knew they would eventually have to go back for them.

"My paw? It will be fine." He sighed. "I remember last time they came at me... They actually shot me last time. But are you alright? I didn't mean for this to happen."

<33>

[SpringsSong]

Alana chuckled as she said, "I'm just a tad shaken up, but it's not so bad as what my mother and I have gone through.  My mother had to escape with my stepfather, barely alive, from a demon, and I had to fight someone who is like an uncle to me when he tried to take back his daughter when she said she didn't want to learn Dark Magic." She shrugged.  "However, I've never been shot at before, so that... is something I never want to have to deal with." She said, shuddering.  "At least we are all right now, yes?  At least, for now..." She added hesitantly.

{44}

[Redd]

Milos nodded. "Yes... at least for now."
They wouldn't give up on finding him, he betted they were still outside the cave, searching the area, looking for him.
"We both have left stuff at the breeding area. Soon, we are gonna have to go and find it." He said, looking worriedly outside.

Many of his friends chastised him for being risky and living his life in a whirlpool of fear, but like he listened.

<34>

[SpringsSong]

Alana nodded.  She felt so idiotic for leaving her bag there; it had some valubles in it.  "At least I can afford to lose a Plush Fenling plushie... I honestly didn't like the guy that gave it to me." She said.  "However... the little pocketknife... that cost Lady Fire a fortune in and of itself.  Poor girl went and bought a little pocketknife with gold and silver accents..." She sighed.  That would have been her gift to him; had they not had to flee for their lives.

And now... they had three sons and a daughter of their own.  "How... how do you think the children will turn out?" She was already afraid that one of her two Revelate sons was turning out to be like his father, but her Darkflame son and Calamikuhna daughter... oddly enough, images almost like her.

{45}

[Redd]

Milos' ears flicked.
that cost Lady Fire a fortune in and of itself...with gold and silver accents
Nah... I am not that harsh, to steal something from a girl I just bred with.." He thought to himself.
We'll go back, soon enough...

"I don't really know, I mean, you have three, and one of them was sent to a better home, and I haven't really contacted the guardians of it..." Milos said.
Another example of how he shirked from responsibilities.

"So... seeing as we are stuck here until our pursuers leave... what should we do?" He asked, stretching out comfortably over the rock.

<35>

[SpringsSong]

Alana thought for a moment.  "You thought that Zar would be better off with another family?" She said, her ears drooping slightly.  For another couple moments, she thought.  "Sable can take care of herself.  Verno spends most of his time keeping Onyx out of trouble... Onyx likes to pickpocket." She said, chuckling.  "But... Part of me does not want to go back to my home... at least, not for a while." She said.  "I'd rather stay here with you." She said quietly.

{46}

[Redd]

"Lets face it though, I am not a good father... and Krypto obviously thought it was for the best." Milos said, trying to lighten the words that he had previously spoke.
Milos smiled as he listened about his chlidren. "I think I have been a bad influence with Onyx." He joked.

Milos blinked. "I feel honored... that you would rather stay here... after what I put you through." He said quietly, moving closer to her so she could hear him.

<36>

[SpringsSong]

Alana coughed slightly as she said, "An influence, yes.  I can't say if it's bad or not yet.  At least Verno's there to keep him in check." She said.  "I am more worried about Sable, though.  When I mentioned her half-sister's names, she froze when I said Mayonaka.  'Wait.  The Strategist is my sister?!' She asked in disbelief.  I just stared at her, unbelieving.  My own daughters..." She sighed.

"And I am honored that you would want me to stay around, simply for my own good.  Any other thief would push me away for my own safety, for my own good.  And I know that most thieves would not give me a gift so pricey." She said.  "...at least, they wouldn't let me keep it for myself.  They'd be back for it." She said.

{47}

[Redd]

"Really? What would she hold against them?" Milos asked, slightly concerned. "I have never met them, but why would she not like them?"

"But, I am unlike other thieves, and anyway, you are beautiful Kuhna, and that is a treasure in itself." He said gently, fondling with her ear. "Don't worry, I wont be asking for that back, you can keep it. It looks better on a girls neck anyway."
It was true, why should he worry about giving away possessions, when he is giving them to a beautiful kuhna such as her?
But.. he knew... things like this need to come to an end. Once this was over, Who would know if me ever see her again. The possibility of asking her to be his lifemate crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, she had already said she loved someone else, how could she truely love him?

Ah well... thats life I guess, you win some, you lose some....

<37>

[SpringsSong]

Alana offered a tiny smile.  "It's... some complicated story involving fifteen Kuhnas.  It was rumored that two Kamo Kuhnas, two Trikuhnas, three Ancient-born Kuhnas, and one of every other main type of Kuhna--totalling to fifteen in number--had all been slayed save for one, and any Kuhna of an original species that enters Fire's household is one of those Fifteen.  My daughters, Sable and Mayonaka, are two of those Fifteen."

She sighed.  Her head drooped as she recalled how she had felt when Re'elkiin left her.  Now... she was dreading merely the farewell of her latest breeding partner.  Tears started to form in her eyes, her right paw fiddling with the necklace and her tails lay flat and lifeless on the floor.  A single tear hit the cave floor as she looked up, her emerald oculars wet with sorrow.

{48}

[Redd]

Milos nodded. "Ah, I see.. That makes a little more sense now."

Milos looked over at Alana and noticed that she looked upset.
A single tear fell from her eyes and hit the cave floor.
"Hey, whats wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked, concerned. He moved closer to her and put a paw on her shoulder.
Weird... he was genuinely sorry for her. That was something he had never felt before.

<38>

[SpringsSong]

"I-I-I don't know..."

Alana's voice was shaky.  She honestly unsure of why she was crying.  She had always been an emotional one, and it often got the better of her.  She always had a big heart, like her mother...

And in this instance, it was her complete and total downfall.

"I-I-I don't know... I-I just... I don't..." She stammered.

{49}

[Redd]

"Heeey.. come on... listen... close your eyes and take a deep breath.. just calm down.. then try to tell me whats wrong." Milos said, pulling Alana into his arms and embracing her.
Milos, a thief and a counselor? What was the world coming to? He mused.
Maybe she was upset for the same reason he was. Maybe... he hoped she was...
Milos swatted those thoughts aside. Comforting a distraught Alana was his main concern now.
<39>

[SpringsSong]

Alana did take a deep breath, but her body shook as she took in this breath in tiny little gasps.  She breathed out, and tried again to take a deep breath--this time, managing to get one in fewer gasps then last time.  The third time was even deeper than the other two, and she finally seemed relaxed.  Whether or not she actually was relaxed was another matter.  However, when she moved to sit up, she groaned in pain.  On her back appeared a fresh wound--far larger than a wound that a bullet could produce.  In a weak voice, Alana hissed, "Foul spirits... torment..."

{50}