Forest took his hand and replied, They won't get a chance to catch you or extract your DNA, I promise.
Tom responded by giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Thank you. The earnesty in her voice, the determination. From that alone, he knew he had put his trust in the right person. He knew that she could only do so much, but the fact that she was honestly willing to put in the effort to ensure his well being alone was a comfort to him. Even if she had called him Kitten. There was still a faint flush visible even through the fine, white fur even now from that. Yet he found it extremely difficult to hold that or the fact that she had driven home the fact that yes, he had indeed purred against her.
Aloud she said, "Archer? The tan one, not the one corrupted by Angry Manjew. Anyway, can you start working on getting things repaired? Hakuno, you're about to fall asleep on your feet. It'll be best if you go to bed. I'll make sure you're safe."
Archer looked around him at the damage. That was followed by a rather heavy sigh. "Consider it done. Though I wouldn't expect to get through this wreck quite as fast as I did the kitchen."
Hakuno, in the meantime, gave Archer a worried look. She didn't want to be separated from him.
It is as Forest said, we will ensure your safety. I will help her keep that promise. Hakuno's look of concern didn't fade, even with Tom's reassurances. Archer sighed and shook his head. "Master, do you really have such little confidence in me? I'll be fine. I'll be out of the way repairing the damage and reinforcing the walls anyway. I'll meet back up with you as soon as I can."
She didn't quite relax at first, but finally, after a moment or two, the worry somewhat slipped away from her features and she nodded. Her Servant gave her a quick nod in return before beginning to repair one of the vine ravaged walls.
Hakuno turned to Tom. "You'll protect me even after I still called you Mr. Kitty-kun?"
He tilted his head.
As irritating as that nickname is, I fail to see why that would stop me from aiding Forest in fulfilling her vow. So yes, you can be assured that I will do my best to keep you safe. Rin studied him with some surprise. Maybe it was Forest's influence, but this oddly heroic side wasn't something she had expected from the psychic cat man.
"In that case then, I'll go upstairs." Hakuno hesitated. "Though... should I stay down here?"
It is your decision. Though we can protect you either way.
"If you need a room, Kishinami-chan," Rin said, "you can stay next to mine. I'll give you the directions when you're ready if you choose to go upstairs."
Hakuno bowed to Forest, Tom and Rin before saying a quiet "thank you." The gesture surprised Tom, but he nodded at her in return. Rin just replied with a pleasant smile and a nod of her own.
Then she looked at Rin and said, "The wards on this house are pretty solid, but I don't think it would hurt if we had some more set up, do you? Think you could handle that? I have some casting supplies if you need them: gemstones, herbs, so on and so forth."
Rin's eyes brightened at the word "gemstones," but she tried to suppress her excitement. "Easily. Though it depends on what you want. Besides simply adding more wards, there's several other types of wards and bounded fields that could be set up around the complex. Is there something specific you had in mind?"
For a moment, Rin paused, then she looked up at Forest. "Garrison-chan's specialty is actually bounded fields, based on her file. We'd have to either somehow restore her prana or she's recovered it naturally, but with the two of us, ideally we could set up a magical security system even stronger than this one." Her eyes wandered to the damage the complex had suffered. "Given all the attacks tonight, I'd say it needs it."
Finally she looked at the smirking Dark Archer and sighed. She rubbed her forehead and said, "I trust you as far as I can throw you."
"I'm sure you could throw me pretty far," he said with a smirk that she found herself curving her hand into a fist for, "But I can go outside, make sure there aren't any more cameras and take care of any other spies here. I can also do a security sweep and take first watch."
She blinked and said, "You know, that's actually . . . yeah, go do that."
Rin was loathe to see him go, but it was necessary. She gave him a "don't be gone for long" sort of look, before her attention was drawn to the stairs.
"If he needs someone to go with him, I could volunteer." The red headed girl came down the stairs, nursing her head a bit. "I have a bit of a headache, and I'm not exactly in the
best shape, but I think I can kick the crap outta a few enemies if need be."
Ryoko made her way down so she was in view of everyone in the room. ...And then did a double take. "I-is that... Is that a Pokemon?"
Tom began rubbing at his temple with his free paw.
Yes, yes it is. His eyes met hers.
Ryoko, it's me. She stood there for a moment before those violet eyes and that intense gaze started to become quite familiar. ...Perhaps too familiar.
"W-wait a minute. So, that silhouette I saw the night I left... It wasn't just a trick of the light?"
He shook his head.
Ryoko ran her fingers through her hair. "That explains a lot," she muttered to herself. Collecting herself, she jerked a thumb towards the stairs. "Finn's fine by the way, from what I could tell. I heard the tap turn on in the room you guys were in earlier right as I was heading down."
Ah, Finn. I had forgotten about him. Tom found himself looking at Ryoko with curiosity, and the girl responded with a bit of a shudder.
It seems she hasn't forgotten the look I gave her earlier, he mused to himself. I will have to apologize in private later.
Even if it was not intentional, I went too far. "Sorry to ask that out of the blue. And it may sound a bit strange but, I need some blood. In quantity."
All eyes turned to the next newcomer. Or rather, newcomers. Ryoko couldn't help but wince. Jack had obviously seen better days. The girl with him was holding him up quite well, all things considered.
"Nessa?" Hakuno walked a little closer to get a better look. Visible relief was on her face. ...That only lasted a moment before she found herself having to look away from Jack's rather nasty wounds. She also noticed that Nessa had a distinctly pale pallor to her skin now...
Ryoko walked a bit closer herself. "I can't really speak for Miss Forest herself, but I would suspect that there are probably blood bags some place. I don't know how many of us could spare some drops, but we can figure something out."
Hakuno spoke up. "I-I could try giving some."
Rin shook her head. "You're in bad enough shape as it is, Kishinami-chan. I probably wouldn't risk it with you unless several of us were giving blood at the same time."
Tom spoke up. Ryoko couldn't help but look rather incredulously at him. All things considered, she didn't know how well the two vampires would take the sight of an a 6 to 7 foot tall talking psychic cat.
I believe the blood bags would be the wiser option for now. With how many attacks there have been, we will need all our strength.Rin found herself nodding in agreement. "If I need to, I can try giving a little blood, but I agree the blood bags might be the better option for now. Do you think you two would be able to hold out until we get some for you?"
Ryoko noticed that the new girl's gaze had shifted to the man skewered on the wall and was eyeing it with distaste.
"I think while we're all here, I don't think it'd hurt to explain what's exactly up with that guy. Because if he's a wall ornament, it's in somewhat poor taste."
He is a fae, actually. A powerful one, capable of regeneration once he touches the ground. If he is not suspended from the ground, he will recover and attack us again. He only attacked us not that long ago, intent on taking Forest's life. A certain Imbecile who is not currently present in this room ensured that we had to subdue and pin him again.Tom gestured towards the unconscious fae.
I assume we will arrange something more permanent once we get the chance. For now though, there he must stay. Ryoko blinked before turning to the two vampires. "You guys catch all that?" She began rubbing her temples again. "This has been some night huh? And it just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
Then she patted Tom's hand again and said, "Tom, you're with me." You might want to revert back to your human form, in case we're still being recorded.
If they have cameras within the complex as well, they would have captured footage of me already, he replied, privately.
And I may need my full strength if our enemy decides to strike again. However... Assuming that we are going outside, and the cameras are exclusively out there, then it may be wise to follow your advice. As such, I will err on the side of caution for now. His borrowed pjs, boxers, and his glasses floated towards him, the clothing folding over his arm while the glasses floated above his three fingered paw. With these articles recovered, he began to head towards an empty room nearby to change. As he walked, he shot one last private message to Forest, with a slight flush on his cheeks.
However, I will give you fair warning. If I am forced to change form later on, I fear that neither these boxers nor that these pants will survive the process.
