[Kitsumi]

Lae felt as if every bone in his body was being jarred when the man shook his face, obviously trying to rid himself of the little male kuhna. Instead, Lae simply dug his claws in tight, clinging to the man's face and feeling a sense brief of satisfaction at the idea of the scars the man would have to remember Lae by.

A bit thrown off by the constant shaking, Lae didn't notice the man reaching for the stick. He looked up, too late, and cringed, thinking that the stick was going to kill him. Luckily for him and everyone who would miss him, though, he was wrong. Nephele came to the rescue, pouncing at the man and giving Lae time to duck away from the stick. The man dropped the stick, unable to aim another blow, and Lae let out a small yowl of satisfaction.

However, his satisfaction was short-lived, as the man grabbed Lae and threw him across the room. He wasn't too badly hurt, but too winded and dizzy to get up and help Nephele. He could only watch, helpless, as the man grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Lae tried to get up, but collapsed back down.

His eyes widened as he saw the glow come from the necklace, and he felt a sense of relief as Nephele came towards him, unharmed.

"I-I'm ok." He said shakily. "Just a bit dizzy."

{4-1}

[jobiehanna]

Nephele noticed Lae's eyes widen as he looked at the necklace around her neck. "I'll explain it later," she said quickly. "I'm glad you're okay," she said with a small smile. She nuzzled him gently to show him how much she was glad he was okay. "But we need to get out of here," she said in a hushed tone. She glanced toward the door and she could still hear the man stumbling away. "Can you walk?"

[Kitsumi]

Lae nodded - he could wait for an explanation. He was about to ask her if she was okay, when she nuzzled him. He instantly blushed, and let out a soft purr. Immediately embarrassed, he blushed even more. "You're right, we should." He agreed. "I think I can." He slowly stood, wincing, but staying on his feet. "Alright, let's get outta here." Staying close to her, their fur brushing, he hurried towards the door, remaining close to Nephele in case there was more trouble.

{4-2}

[jobiehanna]

Nephele smiled as she blushed as well. It hadn't occurred to her what she was doing when she nuzzled him, she was just glad he hadn't gotten offended or anything. "Alright, let's go," she hurried beside them as they went toward the door. They made if through the door and headed down the hallway. The man was no longer in sight, so they coast was clear for now.

Nephele decided it was best to go back the way they had come, but wasn't entirely sure where they could go. What if they man had backup on their way? They turned the corner and rushed past the lady at the counter and finally made it outside. "Where should we go?" Nephele looked around desperately for a place to hide.

((Feel free to bring the man back in or anyone else in you think would help. I don't really care if you control him at all, since I just kinda made him up. XP))

[Kitsumi]

Lae followed Nephele, the whole time praying that they wouldn't be caught. They made it outside alright, but he was still a bit worried. The fact that he hadn't seen the man bothered him; he could have been anywhere! And Lae had a feeling that he wasn't going to let Nephele and him escape that easily.

"I don't know where we should go," he said. "But preferably somewhere with a lot of people. Is there a marketplace or something around here? Somewhere that tons of people gather?"

{4-3}

((Ooc - I probably will bring him or someone working with him in later on...for now I'm tired, sorry about the short post! I didn't get home until 3 am, and barely got any sleep))

[jobiehanna]

Nephele wasn't sure if there was a place with a lot of people or not. She was thinking a quiet place to hide, but maybe blending in would be easier. "Um, I don't know," she whispered. "Let's go see," she then guided Lae down the street, hoping to find a crowd, any size would do.

As they worked their way down the street Nephele began to hear what sounded like a gathering of people. 'this way," she said and went toward the noise. There, there were people and other pets milling about! It seemed to be a marketplace like setting, so Nephele quickly blended into the crowd.

Little did the pair know that there were eyes on them. Not only because of them knowing about the counterfeit money, but because of the necklace that Nephele wore. If they could get a hold of that, they would be unstoppable.

((That's alright. ))

[Kitsumi]

Following Nephele, Lae padded down the street. His eyes kept going from the left to the right, trying to keep on the look-out for the man or anyone else who might be after them. He started out walking slowly, but his speed began increasing, as he tried his hardest to get somewhere where he and Nephele could be safe.

As they walked, he heard the sound of many people, walking, talking, and laughing. He turned to look at Nephele, but she had already heard it, and began heading towards it. Sighing in relief, Lae began blending in with the crowd.

"I think we'll be safe here," he whispered to Nephele. If only he had known that people were watching them, and growing hostile...

{4-4}

((Ooc - once I get to level five with Lae, I'm going to bring in someone who'll help them, if that's ok with you))

[jobiehanna]

Nephele nodded happily to Lae. "Are you feeling any better?" She hoped the man hadn't hurt him too much when he flung him down. Nephele felt like it was her fault they had gotten into this mess. "I'm sorry I asked about the door," she said quietly. "I should've kept to my own business."

On the edge of the crowd a mean looking man with beady eyes watched the pair of kuhnas, careful to not loose them or else his boss would kill him. He was a rough looking man who was tall and skinny, but carried a baseball bat in his hand, waiting for the signal.

[Kitsumi]

"I'm fine," Lae said, trying to sound convincing despite the slow aching in his side. He thought he had perhaps cracked a rib or something of the like. Of course, this was the result of an over-active imagination; he was simply bruised, but it hurt enough for him to think that there was a cracked rib. "It's not your fault, Nephy." He said, nuzzling her gently. "I wanted to go too."

There were people all around them, and Lae suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. Even though he had been the one to suggest that they find a crowded area, Lae didn't like the fact that he couldn't tell who was around him.

{4-5 :: Level 5 Reached}

[jobiehanna]

Nephele smiled softly at the other. "Okay," she said. "But I have no idea what kind of trouble we are going to be in." She sighed and glanced around at the people in the crowd. All the faces were unfamiliar, the man they had encountered in that building wasn't in sight. Or maybe he was just good at hiding.

The man glanced around him, where was the signal? He listened intently, waiting, just waiting. His eyes were still trained on the pair of kuhnas.

[Kitsumi]

"Oy! You!"

A whispered voice caused Lae to jerk his head around, moving protectively in front of Nephele. Another kuhna stood there, a female, judging by her small size and slim build. Her eyes kept darting all around, and she seemed nervous about...something. "Can I help you?" Lae asked.

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Me? Need help? Yeah, that's a blimey joke, ain't it?" She shook her head. "No, but you need mine. See that bloke over there?" She pointed. "He hasn't taken his peeper's off of you for a single second. I'm pretty sure he's eying that pretty necklace your girlfriend has. If you wanna get outta here with your jewelry, not to mention your limbs, in tact, then you'd better follow me."

"She's not my-" On instinct, Lae started to correct the girl by saying that Nephele wasn't his girlfriend, but then her words registered. "Wait...are you serious?" He looked over at Nephele. "What do you think...can we trust her? How do we know she's not the one who wants the necklace?"

{5-1 :: 1-1}

[jobiehanna]

Nephele stole a glance over to where this strange kuhna pointed. There was a man over there, looking directly at them. A shiver went down her spine and she nodded. "She looks more trustworthy than that man does," she said. She was a little unnerved about the comment this kuhna said about her being Lae's girlfriend, but she kept her mouth shut and decided trivial things like that weren't really that important right now.

"I'm Nephele, and this is Lae," she said. "How can you help us?"

The man glanced away quickly when the kuhnas glanced over at him. Had they caught on? That just simply wouldn't do. He had to do something soon, but what could he do? WHen he looked back at the trio they were walking once more. Should he act without the signal?

[Kitsumi]

Chancing a quick peek at the man, Lae found that he agreed with Nephele. Even if this girl ended up not being trustworthy, she was a much better bet than the man was. "Ok," he said quietly, so that only Nephele could hear. "But at the first sign of danger, we run for it, ok? And if I have to create a distraction...get out of there. Don't stay behind."

The girl rolled her eyes again; apparently it was something she did rather often. "So, your mind's made up, eh? I'm Kirye." She grinned then, a mischeivous smile. "And I can help you because I know my way around this place like it's the back o' my hand, I do. I can help you's get away, or hide, if you want."

Lae nodded. "Yes, that'd be great. Can you just get us somewhere safe? Please? I'm Lae-Tzon, by the way. Call me Lae." He gestured to Nephele. "And she's Nephele."

{5-2 :: 1-2}

[jobiehanna]

Nephele nodded to Lae, "Of course," she said so that only he could hear her.

This girl seemed like she knew what she was talking about, Nephele just hoped she wasn't leading them astray like many people these days did. "So where can we got?" She wanted to get out of site of the man as soon as possible. Then she heard a bell ringing from a distance, why was there a bell ringing? It wasn't exactly on an hour, but rather just random chiming, then it stopped. "What was that?"

The man grinned evilly as the bell rang out. Now was his chance. The little group was still talking, he just needed to get close enough. He began to creep into the crowd, his eyes trained on the three. There were so many people, it was hard to get close, but he would be there soon, or else he would be in big trouble with his boss.

[Kitsumi]

Lae nodded discreetly at Nephele. Hopefully, if something was going to happen, she would focus on running and not on helping him.

"I can't tell 'ya where I'm talking you! Are you daft? I gots to keep my secrets hidden, see?" Kirye grinned. "You'll just have to follow me and hope I knows what I'm talking about." She winked, and Lae rolled his eyes. "Ok, we trust you. Could you please just get us out of here to somewhere that we'd be safe?"

When she heard the noise, Kirye's eyes widened and her muscles tensed. "That, girlie, was the signal that means we've got to go." She looked and saw that the man was coming towards them. "Ok, you two, go over there towards that man selling pecans - he's a friend of mine. I'll go distract the man for a second. While I'm talking to him, inch over towards that alley to your left, see? He won't see where ya go, and I'll join you in a second to get you somewhere safer." Without waiting for a response, she headed towards the man, leaving Lae to guide Nephele towards the pecan sales guy. "C'mon...we'd better do what she says."

Kirye, on the other hand, walked, smiling, up to the man. "Uncle Rufus! Why, I haven't seen ya face in about four years!" She hugged him tightly, knowing he'd hate that. "How ya been?"

{5-3 :: 1-3}