[robopup24]

No money...?

Crap. Neither did Miana and Ferri. But the shellfish...it did taunt them...and they were hungry...perhaps? Nope. They would have to go on then. "Let's go then, Ferri." The Gyrophant slowly lumbered away. Dang, they would have to find some way to get some money then...

Ferri was extremely fed up. She was not going to give up on getting those delicious fish! Making sure that Miana and Kazi weren't watching her, the Ferrikoon's paw darted out and snatched a shellfish, her heart pounding.

After all, they wouldn't miss one lousy fish, would they?

[Mojave]

Kazi had turned to see what was keeping Ferri, and saw the ferrikoon hurrying after them with a fish in her paws. "Ferri!" She quickly ran back, picked her up by the scruff of her neck, and ran ahead of Miana before the stand owner could realize what had happened and chase them.

When they were a safe distance away, she put Ferri down and glared down her. "That was dishonorable. What if you had been caught?"

{40}

[robopup24]

Miana blinked as Kazi suddenly snatched Ferri up and ran off a good distance away. What just happened? The Gyrophant half-galloped up to them, just in time to hear the Khimera's scolding. "What did you do, Ferri?"

Ferri uneasily shrugged. "I don't really know. I just know we're hungry, and they had plenty of fish to spare, soooo...."

"You stole?!" Miana made an effort to keep her voice low. "Ferri, why do you have to be so...unpredicatable?"

"It's in my blood, I guess." The Ferrikoon huffily crossed her paws. "Look, we have some food now. Why don't we just get over what I did and just enjoy it?"

[Mojave]

Kazi would have liked to decline, but her stomache growled at that instant, and to deny food- food they couldn't very well return- was pointless. She sighed, "Okay fine. But just this once. I cannot make a habit of stealing." She picked up her share and moved off on her own a few feet away to eat in peace.

Once she was done, she lounged in the sun stretched out on her side with tails flicking peacfully. One eye was shut, the other a slit out of which she kept an eye on Miana and Ferri.

{41}

[robopup24]

At last! They got to feast!

Licking her maw in anticipation, Ferri hastily divided the shellfish and turned to Miana. "You wanna eat first?" The Ferrikoon held out a especially choice piece. Miana stared at it and slowly shook her head.

"You stole it." Her friend tried to ignore her stomach's protests. "I'm not eating anything that's stolen. You can eat it." With a small huff, she curled up, bearing her hunger.

Ferri showed no regret though as she eagerly wolfed down Miana's share along with hers. The Gyrophant muttered to herself in disgust, but did nothing to stop Ferri.

[Mojave]

Seeing Miana decline the meal, something funny went off in Kazi. Her... conscience? Yup. She instantly felt horrible for giving in to her primitive desire for food, regardless of weather it was obtained illegally. But.. the food was gone. She wasn't about to bring it back up, what good would that do? So, she turned herself over and sulked facing away from them. Her tails began to twitch in agitation now. Otherwise, she remained silent about the latest event.

{42}

[robopup24]

Ferri loudly smacked her lips. "That was the best food I've eaten in days!"

Miana was beginning to regret the fact that she had refused to accept the food. At least, her stomach was. It grumbled and whined as the Gyrophant moved about, demanding food. "She has no conscience, does she?" Miana quietly muttered to herself. She gave a sharp glare at the Ferrikoon who only sat there, looking rather...content with herself.

Miana noticed Kazi's agitated behavior and slowly trotted over. Really, she shouldn't get involved...but... "Is something wrong?"

[Mojave]

"Nothing really." She grumbled. "'Cept that... well.. I feel rather guilty. It was wrong to eat what was stolen. And you controlled your hunger... so I feel like a weakling giving into mine so easily. That's all." Her tails began to strike the cobbled streets, the blades at the tips slicing deep gouges into the stones.

It was then that Alexiel and Monima found them. "Hey!" Monima shouted to get their attention. "What's going on? What'd me miss?" Alexiel inquired.

A: 43
M: 43
K: 43

[robopup24]

Well, Miana was regretting her decision to refuse the food extremely well now. The Gyrophant gave a faint smile at the Khimera though and gently patted her on the back with her tail. She began to say something when the two Kuhnas popped up. "Hey Alexiel, Monima." Miana greeted them with as much energy as she could muster.

Ferri was much more hyper in her greeting. She flew around them several times and pipped up, "Nothing much really."

Nothing much. Ha. Ferri made an excellent liar. Mad at herself and Ferri, Miana huffily sat down, watching the Ferrikoon beginning babble away.

[Mojave]

Kazi rolled over to face the returned kuhnas. "So how did your search go?"

Monima giggled at Ferri's antics while Alexiel stretched and yawned. At Kazi's question, Alexiel shrugged. "Food's gonna be easy to get considering we can just catch what we want when we want. Supplies are the hard part. I'm not even sure what we'll need, considering we're not human." "What she means," Monima explained, "Is that the only supplies to be had are for human explorers. And, without hands, I'm not sure how we'd even get a tent up or a fire started. Unless one of you has magical abilities." She smiled, rolling her eyes. "But since we are the way we are, we should be fine."

Kazi stared at them all silently, her tails flicking idly behind her, no longer damaging the road. She looked away at the mention of them not having human forms- because she did. But none of them knew that...

Alexiel had been looking between them all while Monima spoke, and she pipped up in the resulting silence, "What's up, Miana. You look agitated."

K: 44
A: 44
M: 44

[robopup24]

The Gyrophant's head snapped up at Alexiel's question. "Oh, it's nothing really. Where are we traveling, may I ask?" Yes, finding supplies would be hard. As far as she knew, there were no supplies for a Gyrophant or Kuhna to use properly. Perhaps Ferri could, if a bit clumsily, but still...

"I wish I had a human form." Ferri sighed. Miana inwardly groaned. The fish had obviously gone into her head. "It would make blending in so much easier..."

[Mojave]

"Well... it could rain." Kazi mumbled in embarrassment. She should have known these two would see right through her. "And.. there's something I haven't mentioned. To anyone before."

"Let me guess, you hate the water?" Alexiel giggled. She recieved an agrieved growl from Kazi.

Monima rolled her eyes and just waited patiently.

"I have... a human form..." Kazi admitted. "But I don't tell you that so I can be the pack mule. If we get everything we'll need, we can distribute it and carry the load equally. And then I can make the camp so we'll be safe from the elements."

Alexiel and Monima simply blinked at her. This -was- news to them. And it made sense.

"Well... then let's go." Alexiel brightened once the news sank in.

"Yep, we know just what to get then. But.. could you change for us?" Monima inquired.

Kazi stood and shook herself. With a huff, she changed. It wasn't a flashy change, it was actually quite amusing. With a pop and some billowing smoke, her Khimera form was gone and she stood as a well toned, tall, and dangerous looking woman. The metal around her face had conformed to her facial structure and formed a mask of sorts with twin spires arching over her head. She wore a simple outfit of jeans and a sweater- that was speckled by small burn holes and slashes. Her hair was short, spikey, and a blue-gleaming black. She smiled sheepishly at her companions, waiting for their reaction.

K: 45
A: 45
M: 45

[robopup24]

Ferri's first reaction was to yelp in surprise and hide behind Miana. The Gyrophant was less agrivated and blinked. "Well...that was neater than...most other's I see..." Miana slighty flushed. "Ferri, stop clinging to my tail." She flicked her tail impatiently. Ferri stubbornly clung on. "Come on, Ferri."

Finally, if a bit reluctantly, the Ferrikoon let go. "Fine." She squeaked. She was a bit more scared of Kazi in her human form somehow...

[Mojave]

It was a mystery why Kazi didn't remain in this form forever. Like this, her hormones were balanced as she lacked gender specific organs, glands, and thus the hormones. Also in this form, the computer programming was dormant.

She smiled at Ferri as she sat down between Monima and Alexiel. "What's wrong, Ferri?" She teased kindly, "I don't have fangs in this form." She laughed.

Monima and Alexiel laughed as well. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder if anything gets under Miana's skin." Alexiel teased, a grin upon her lips.

Monima nodded. "Yes, me too. Though at the moment, I'm more surprised that we didn't know this." She was gazing at Kazi curiously. "And you're one to talk, Alex. You didn't show any surprise either. Have you seen her like this before?"

"Well... no.. but she did give us warning." Alexiel saw Monima's point, but with warning, she could handle anything.

K: 46
A: 46
M: 46

[robopup24]

"Who says I'm afraid?" Ferri shrilly said, her voice a bit too loud. The Ferrikoon turned away, pretending to examine the merchants' stalls. "Of course I'm not afraid! What is there to be...uh...afraid of?"

Miana blushed, a bit embarressed at their teasing. "Well...we'll see."
She nodded a bit at Kazi. "That solves one of our problems at least." She considered asking Kazi something before shaking it off. "Let's get ready then. Wherever and whatever we're doing is still a long way off."