Wutai - Crossroads
Two roads in Wutai cross here; the main cobblestone road running
northward into the mountains, and a smaller road made of the same sort of
stone running from east to west. Nearby to the east, it stops in front of a
building bearing a small sign that says 'Supplies'. The streetlamps visible
elsewhere in the city are not visible here, or in any direction except back
south. To the west, it runs underneath a large cherry tree, towards the
outskirts of the city.

Crossroads stepped out of Wutai's supply shop with a sigh. It didn't look like this place was hiring either. She took a few steps from the building and leaned against the wall, pulling her soul gem out from under her shirt. "Stupid thing. If it wasn't for this witch and yoma fighting buisness I would still have a job." She muttered to herself, turning the gem in her hand. Its bright blue glinting in the afternoon light. Crossroads knew there was no point in blaming her soul gem, but right now she wanted to blame SOMETHING. Her gem and the responsibilities that came with it was an easy target.

Wutai itself seems oddly lacking in people for some reason this afternoon; the regulars came and went, and your standard-issue guards remain at their posts, but very few children or random families seemed to make themselves present. The sound of Buffalax came from a short distance to the west, but animals weren't people. It was a little strange.

The shop behind Crossroads suddenly issues a clattering sound from the windows, as the interior shopkeeper shuts the blinds a bit noisily. What was that all about? Talk about rude.

Crossroads steps away from the wall in surprise as she hears the clatter inside, soul gem dropping from her fingers to dangle at her neck. She blinks, wondering what the shop keeper's problem is. He certainly hadn't seemed angry with her when she had been inside inquiring about employment. She stares at the closed up building for a moment and eventually shrugged. Maybe he had an emergency of some sort and had to close shop early?

Crossroads begins again down the street in hopes that her luck at the next shop would be different.

All along the road, most of the shops are seemingly closing up for the day. Which is strange, considering the earliness of the day. Most shops are beginning to show blinds on the windows, and the doors do not open when pushed on. There is a strangely-eerie feel to the whole situation, but the town itself seems non-oppressive. Are they all afraid of something..?

Crossroads pauses in mid-step as finds the next place she was about to try closed up. She could come up with a potential excuse for one buisness, but two? Her lips press into a frown as she looks around, finding much of the same situation for all the other buildings nearby; Doors closed, blinds drawn. It was only now that she began to catch on to the lack of people in the streets. For a city, she would have expected there to be more. "Whats going on." She asked herself quietly. Slowly she turns back toward the building that had just closed and knocked on the door. Someone had to be there still, and maybe they could tell her why everything was closed and the streets were so empty at this time of day. She didn't think she had come here on some sort of weird holiday.

The sound of a sliding lock clicks open on the other side of the foor, and it creaks open just enough for a short, bald man to poke his head out, squinty eyes peering at Crossroads confusedly. "What on earth d'you want, lass? Make it quick, it's getting to be that time o'day again!"

Once the door is opened, Crossroads looks a little relieved to see some sign of life, but then that relief turns into confusion herself. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that time of day? I am not exactly a local here." She asked with a small smile, "It seems a bit odd that everything around her is closed."

"Yeh yeh, it's that damn eater. Been comin' around a lot lately, almost always in the later parts of the day. Comes and goes as it wants, gettin' into peoples' garbage, killing animals, and even sometimes people, too. The guards don't know what to do about it, so we all pretty much just hide away 'round this time of day, and it goes away on its own." The man seems genuinely scared, whatever it was, but seems to be at least trying to keep a grip on himself.

"Eater...?" Crossroads glanced around half expecting to see whatever it was the man was talking about walking down the street. Whatever it was, it didn't sound all that pleasant. It sounded vaguely like some of those scary stories travellers used to tell by the fires at night back in her own world. Stories of strange beasts coming out at night and terrorizing small towns and occasionally making off with a child or leaving behind ripped up livestock carcasses. They had mostly been to scare children into coming indoors at night. Or in some cases the culprit was something else entirely and made scarier by the imaginations of man. She had never believed these stories, but liked to listen to them sometimes. "So this thing is dangerous?" Crossroads had never heard of something like the monsters she had been told about coming out during the day, and the man as well as the rest of the town seemed genuinely scared.

The man just stares at Crossroads, before giving a snort. "Dangerous? What do you think? Would we all lock ourselves inside if we didn't think it was? Thing eats garbage, and animals, and we heard it takes people when it can get 'em, too. But that ain't the worst of it!"

"They say it never has the same shape, each time. Always looks like something different... or even someone! So you don't even know its around, until it's already here. THAT, little missy, is why we're all holed up in here. I suggest gettin' yet butt home before you wind up dead on the street!"

With that, he quickly closes the door again, accompanied with the sound of a clicking lock on the other side.

Crossroads realized shortly after the question escaped her lips that it was a rather silly one. Before she could ask anymore though the man retreated back inside and the door was closed. She stared at it for a moment before turning back to the street, wondering if anyone had tried to fight this Eater thing. Surely not everyone within the city was satisfied with just allowing this thing to run free through their streets. She begins heading eastward towards on her way to the southern gate. She thought briefly of mentioning this to Tyrranis. Crossroads knew he was always looking for a fight, but considering how dangerous this thing sounded and the fact that he was still on the mend from his last fight, she wasn't sure if it would be a good idea.

Alongside the road, noticeable as Crossroads goes on, is an upturned garbage can, its spilled contents half-laying in the road itself. A cloud of flies are buzzing around it in obvious excitement, and it might just be one's imagination, but the shadow of something's tail seems to slip beyond the backside of a house nearest this discarded trash bin.

If this shadow was, in fact, a figment of one's imagination, the fact that Crossroads' Soul Gem suddenly beginning to pulse and flash certainly was not.

Crossroads steps around the overturned trashcan feeling a sinking feeling down at the bottom of her stomach. The man had mentioned the thing liked to eat trash didn't it? She swatted at some of the flies that became disturbed by her passing too close, then turned her head towards an alley where she thought she caught a flicker of movement. Nothing seemed to be there though, at least not anymore. She took in a deep breath in order to try and calm herself. It was probably just a fly buzzing past the corner of her eye. Nothing more. Or at least that was what she was trying to convince herself it was.

The advancing of the late afternoon casts shadows in peculiar places as Crossroads takes a peek at what she thinks she saw, but her Soul Gem continues to flash a warning, most likely illuminating more prominently within these shadows. The flies buzz angrily as they are disturbed, but don't relent in their mealtime desires. A low growl issues forth from behind the house, sounding... canine?

Seeing nothing there Crossroads turns back to the street, taking only a single step before the flash of light from her pulsing gem catches her attention. Her heart seems to skip a beat as her hand goes to it fingers wrapping around it tightly. She lifts it up and looks down to find it reacting within her palm. Pulsing a warning that there was danger nearby. Crossroads' mouth falls open and a weak "No..." escapes her lips. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing. She was too far away from the others to expect any help. And she couldn't possibly take on whatever this was alone!

The low growl turns into an aggressive bark, as a furry snout gradually leans out from behind the house paneling The muzzle is attached to the brown labrador's head, the face of which is twisted and curled fiercely as the dog barks threateningly at Crossroads. Something seems a little strange, though... is this dog missing an ear? It seems to be completely gone!

All the while, Crossroads' Soul Gem flashes more and more urgently, warning her of the danger that is quite obviously nearby. But what was it indicating as the source..?

More movement and a growl. Crossroads lifted her head up, eyes already wide in terror at the predicament she had found herself in. "Niiice doggy." She said quietly taking a few steps backwards away from beast, glancing between it and her soul gem with an increasing sense of panic. She knew she shouldn't run from the dog or the threat her soul gem was warning her of, but it was taking every bit of her will power to keep her from doing so.

The dog continues to bark ferociously at Crossroads, but doesn't advance any further than where it now is. A nearby tree branch waves wildly as a gust of wind rolls over the area, lifting the shadow from the dog's face for only a moment; its eyes are irisless, completely black orbs set into its skull!

The 'dog' salivates profusely as it barks, which drips onto the ground in gross little splats. Crossroads' Gem continues to pulse in earnest, trying to get her to see what she may not already see, herself.

Crossroads is frozen still for a moment, the sudden gust of wind catching her off guard and making her hold her breath. It became quickly apparent that something was wrong with the dog as its eyes were that of a dead thing. Hand shaking, her fingers wrap around her soul gem and clutch it tightly. She forces her eyes shut, willing herself to transform. She feels the familiar weightlessness about her body and the soft touch of fabric lifting from her skin only to be wrapped again in clothes a moment later. The tranformation ended she opened her eyes.

Now fully aware of what it's facing off against, the dog isn't keen on delaying its intentions any further. With a vicious snarl, it leaps at Crossroads biting and snapping its dog mandibles! Its black, blank eyes show no signs of life in them, as if the dog was acting purely on some other force.

Crossroads had merely a second after her transformation to react to the dogs attack. Her mind scrambled frantically for a solution to save herself, having no idea how to avoid it. Her uncertainty caused her to split into two leaving one self standing before the charging creature screaming in terror while the other stumbles backwards, fingers reaching into her robes for the gun she kept hidden there.

In mid-leap, there is an awful sound that cuts through the air, the sound of leathery skin being ripped open as the dog's "back" suddenly tears apart, unleashing what appears to be a gray, scaled centipede of some kind! This new creature flies through the air as the dog "skin" crumples lifelessly to the ground, glowing a putrid green color as it latches onto Crossroads' chest!

This glow encompasses both of them for only a moment, and in that moment, the centipede disappears from sight, a swirl of green smoke that seems to seep into the chest of the new Crossroads. A ominous portent, indeed.

Crossroads frantically holds the gun up and takes aim, finding it difficult to keep her hands steady and shoot as the creature burst from the dogs body and latches onto her other self's. The scream of her clone as this happened rang out into her ears she didn't realize at first that she was screaming too.

The gaseous form this creature has filtered itself into attempts to pervade the very being of the Crossroads it has taken over, concentrating on taking over not just her body, but her mind as well; it's claiming her for itself, from the inside out!

Her other self continues shrieking, arms spasming and twitching even as her finger rake at her head and chest. "GET IT OUT!" Crossroads hears herself cry out to her, voice wavering as she pleads and screams for the other to take action. Her body giving a rather violent jerk as she falls over. Face starting to look stained "PLEASE! NO, STOP! PLEASE!" She rolls to one side and tries to pick herself up again, only to fail and fall forward with a groan. "Please..." She said weakly this time, tears running down her face.

Crossroads stares on unable to move or do anything as her clone slowly stops thrashing about and her pleading and begging slowly turn into soft crying wimpers, to no sound at all.

The 'other' Crossroads staggers to her feet, looking a little wobbly from the ordeal. She seems to take a moment to look at herself, as if gauging for what'd just happened. Then, she slowly turns around, coming to face the actual Crossroads, blinking similar eyes back at her. All in all, aside from the abruptness of the calming down, she looks... fine?

Then, without even batting an eye, 'Crossroads' reaches into the folds of her attire, and brandishes a familiar-looking gun, taking aim at 'herself', closing one eye in steadiness as she prepares to fire!

Even though her other self seems to be fine now, Crossroads certainly herself isn't after seeing what she just witnessed. It almost seemed surreal to her. Like this was just some nightmare she had yet to wake up from. The other Crossroads couldn't be fine, and this was confirmed when the girl reached into her robes pulled the gun out, leaving her starring down the end of the barrel. "Wha..." was the only sound she could manage to put forth.

'Crossroads' pulls the trigger without hesitance, and fires...! ...click. An empty cartridge. Damn that Crossroads for not remembering to reload her own gun. Just the same, and with a strange sort of calmness, 'Crossroads' fishes around on her person, looking for a spare magazine clip she seems to remember having, somewhere. All this right in front of the other Crossroads, without so much as a hoot for concern or consideration.

Just as she saw the trigger being pulled Crossroads snapped to her senses and realized she was about to die. With the sound that followed she flinched expecting pain to shortly follow, but rather than a loud bang there was only a click. Empty. Seeing this small miracle Crossroads runs for a safe place to take cover.

'Crossroads' calmly acquires the clip she'd been looking for, and slowly but steadily reloads her weapon, eyes looking at what she's doing but not really seeming like they're "seeing". She takes the gun and aims at a random house nearby, firing off a shot to make sure the weapon works as intended. -BLAMMO!- The bullet bites deep into the wood. Certainly -seems- to work. 'Crossroads' then looks up and around, attempting to locate where her better half could have gotten to.

Moments after the gunshot goes off, the sound of a door slamming can be heard from inside and house that was fired upon, and an enraged woman comes stomping outside, standing on the porch thereof as she glares menacingly at the Crossroads with the gun in her hand. "What in the sam hill is going on out here? Are you plumb crazy or somethin'?! You can't be firin' that around willy-nilly like that, you're gonna hurt someone!"

Crossroads ducks behind a tree and crouches down just as the sound of gunfire echos throughout the city. Crossroads fumbles for her spare cartridge and quickly tries to reload once it is found, shaking hands making the process difficult. I'm going to have to fight! She thinks to herself frantically, trying to mentally collect herself. I'll never see Tyr or Lora again if I don't find a way to get out of this alive! So I need to live! She stood up, pressing her back against the tree and squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. The sound of a woman's voice suddenly reaching her ears a brief moment later. "NO, STAY INSIDE!" Crossroads screamed at the woman leaving the cover of the tree and quickly taking aim at her other self.

'Crossroads' seems unafflicted by the scolding she was receiving from this other woman. More importantly, the other Crossroads herself DID seem flustered by it, and that was all she needed. However, to make a point, and perhaps drive a separate one home, she decided on something else.

Raising her firearm, 'Crossroads' leveled it at the woman standing on the porch, and with the same lack of hesitation as before, pulled the trigger and fired. Surprise overtakes the woman as she is hit in the chest by the bullet, eyes widening with shock that someone would actually SHOOT her without a reason! She staggers briefly, before crumpling to the ground. 'Crossroads' makes no further moves beyond this, gun still raised as it was.

Crossroads screams as she sees the woman's body hit the ground with a sickening thud, firing repeatedly at her other self though barely able to see where she is aiming as tears flow into her eyes and blurred her vision. Whatever the cost this thing needed to be stopped!

The first bullet whizzes through the air on one side of her head as 'Crossroads' has her attention diverted, starting to turn her raised gun toward her other self. She only turns a fraction, however, before another bullet rips into her shoulder, and she shrieks in pain, stumbling back; at this time, another bullet cuts through her throat, eliciting a gurgling type of noise from the aftereffect it causes. Finally, one last bullet hits her square in the chest, sending her toppling over backward!

At its demise, this 'Crossroads' abruptly disappears, its path now at its end. However, in its place, a familiar-looking gray centipede reappears on the ground, emitting small puffs of gray smoke. It looks somewhat flustered, swaying long antennae in the air as it tries to discern its own surroundings.

Crossroads continues walking towards her other self, shooting at the body of her other self even as it lays still on the ground and her gun is once again out of bullets and making a click... click...click sound each time she squeezes the trigger. As her other self fades away, she doesn't even flinch at the sight of the centipede as she reaches up into the air summoning forth her bow.

The centipede situates itself, apparently only just now realizing that its host has been eliminated outside of its own control. Scuttling about, it finds the source; the actual Crossroads, now looking over it. Small wisps of smoke continue to jettison out of... somewhere, on it. No actual holes or anything is visible, and it just seems to leak the stuff at random spots from all of its body. The centipede 'crouches' down, flattening itself out as it apparently prepares to pounce..!

Crossroads has an arrow already knocked and drawn by the time the centipede is ready attack again. And at the moment, with the amount of adrenaline running through her system made it so she couldn't concentrate on anything other than killing the threat that had taken over her other self's body. Without any hesitation she released her arrow.

The centipede pounces..! ..right into the arrow, which squishes through the bug's body with a gross -squelch- noise, flinging it back in mid-pounce and pinning it to the ground where the arrow strikes. It flails about with its body impaled on the arrow shaft, writhing around and making strange squeaklike-growls that come off as more of a hiss than anything else.

It squirms and flails on the wooden shaft for some time, longer than something probably should be going at it; this thing apparently refuses to die, even pinned to the ground by something stuck right through it!

Crossroads draws another arrow from the quiver at her back and shoots at it again. The scent of the insects fluids as they oozed from its body bringing bile to the back of her throat.

The second arrow pierces halfway through the first one, splitting the bug wide open at this point. It shrieks a small, buglike shriek, and finally goes limp... before absorbing into the ground, into silvery little particles that bubble and fume, dissipating completely within a few moments. Unfortunately, no Grief Seed seems to be left behind.

What IS left behind, however... ...is a very upset-looking couple of people, coming in from the northern road. A couple, it looks like, and a child. And more coming still behind them, apparently drawn in by the earlier gunshot. The immediate couples' faces are horrified as they noticed Crossroads with her bow, and the body of the woman on her porch nearby, but they say nothing immediately, letting their faces do the talking.

Crossroads looks up at the people with a mixture of worry and relief. She hurridly spoke to them, "That bug that was terrorizing everyone. It shot that woman. Quick, we need to get her some help. We need too... " She directed her gaze towards the woman and her voice trailed off. Her body lay still on the ground, not moving or breathing in the pool her own blood. "No...".

The first pair looks between Cross and the body, then at Cross again. The assumed father between the woman and child speaks angrily, as the others a little ways back come to join them nearby. "You're one of them, aren't you? It's YOU they want. You're the reason we have to deal with this, every time one of them creatures shows up. If.." He pauses, coming to terms with what's happened.

"If it weren't for you, we'd all be fine! It's you and that damn cat, takin' our lives out from under us! Why'd you even come here in the first place? Couldn't you find some other li'l hamlet to terrorize with your pretty little magic and your dark beasts of the night? We don't deserve this here!"

A couple of the men nod behind him, but the women all remain silent. One of them covers her mouth at the sight of the body; a friend, maybe.

Crossroads dismisses her bow with a flash and stands before the gathering men and women, "But... We help you. We fight them for you to protect you. I'm not here to terrorize anybody!" If felt like a weak argument, especially while she was standing near the body of a slain woman she had failed to protect.:

"Why, so you can 'ventually become one o' them? We ain't stupid!" "Yeah!" A couple of the women head toward the porch to more-closely see what'd happened, looking severely distraught. "We know how your kind works. Make a wish, live it up, enjoy your fancy-pants magic. Then what? What's left when you get tired of it? WE have to deal with the mess until ANOTHER of you comes along to clean up!"

The group seems to be getting a bit unruly at this point. Shouting and jeering can be heard from more than one or two of them, and a stone comes flying out from somewhere in the back, aimed haphazardly at Crossroads. However, at this same moment, an unseen hand reaches out to grab Crossroads' wrist, from behind, as a familiar voice speaks up, suddenly there. "We need to go, Crossroads. Right now."

Crossroads watches as the women move past her. "I'm sorry, I..." What could she say? There was really nothing that could be said or done to defend herself or the people that were like her. Her shoulders sagged as she listened to the growing crowd becomes more riled. With the stone thrown there is once more a sense of fear rising in her. She took a step backwards from the people only to feel someone take hold of her wrist. She turned towards the familiar voice, a sort of panic evident in her voice and expression. "Kyrk?"

"There's nothing more for you here. Nothing you can say to them. Your best bet is to leave and forget about it; the sooner, the better." Kyrk's face is grim to match his tone, as he attempts to half-pull half-guide Crossroads along with him, rather hurriedly, toward the south gate, out of range (heaven forbid more stones come in!) of the group.

Crossroads looks at the angry crowd as he says this and she simply follows without protest as Kyrk as he leads her away.

"I'll explain on the way back to Truce. I saw part of what happened.. and I have some questions of my own, rest assured." Kyrk heads on toward Truce, assumedly taking Crossroads with him, though at some point he assumes it safe to let go of her wrist. She was a big girl, and likely didn't need the guidance once away from the mob.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lete River - Roadway
At the bottom of a wide slope perpendicular to the canyon wall to the
east, the dirt road curves again, and heads southward. The road has wide
strips of grass and weeds on both sides, with a tall stony cliff wall to the
north, and a coarse, gravelly beach to the west. A sign has been
planted into the ground here.

Kyrk started out a bit hurriedly in their attempts to 'escape' from Wutai, but after clearing the city limits, Kyrk settled back and continued on at an even pace. He kept mind of Crossroads, however, ensuring that she was actually going back; after what had likely just transpired, anyone in her position would've also been pretty upset. 'Upset' being a lighter choice of terms.

Kyrk glances up toward the looming canyon ahead, and then back toward Crossroads, tipping his head to one side. "You'll be fine once you get home. You did well out there, but not everybody is as willing to understand your burden as the rest of us. This is just how it is, Crossroads."

When you had let go of her wrist, Crossroads followed behind him quietly. Her eyes cast down towards the ground. She did her best to keep up with him, but once the danger had passed her pace had slowed, her mind turning over the events that had just happened and only halfheartedly paying attention to you words. Understand of not, those people were right in some way. They were all just victims caught up in the cycle Kyuubey had created.

Kyrk heads on up the canyon, a straightforward approach toward Truce, which seemed to be his destination as well. "It might have been a lucky break that I came upon you when I did, if I believed in luck. I heard of some creature terrorizing the citizens there, and I figured I'd check it out while following a request from Kyuubey. It just so happened that you beat me to it."

You say 'I've never seen, what I presume to be, a Yoma like that before. It was nothing like the hulking beasts we're used to dealing with once the males contracts turn. It's unfortunate that I didn't get a chance to see it up close, it could've provided some valuable data for future encounters.'

Crossroads' eyes narrow a bit as she looks up towards you, pausing in her steps. After all of that all he could talk about was the yoma? Was that all he cared about? What about those people? What about the woman she failed to save? Her fingers curled into fists and for a moment she felt like running up and punching him for being so cold, but then she looked down again, realizing it would do no good. She once again started following him.

Kyrk is obviously unaware of this, and continues onward as such. "Every city is going to have its problems, unfortunately. We can't be there all the time for every one, and on occasion when we do arrive, it's too late. The populace will have their minds set where they want them, and we're the bad guys in their eyes. There's really not a lot we can do about it except admit that maybe we could've made a better choice, and then press on."

You say 'Otherwise, what can you do? You have your tasks, and you're required to uphold them. The fact that your group does their job as well as you do is noteworthy, but unfortunate that so few care. If you remember me saying so, we can only do what we can with what we're given, and hope to make the best with it.'

Kyrk stops after a moment, sliding one foot out to one side. He looks off in some random direction for a moment, then sighs, and simply continues on, apparently neverminding himself of whatever it was he was going to add. It likely wouldn't have mattered, he figured.

Someone paused again, looking back in the direction of Wutai, her hand drifting to her neck where her soul gem hung. She flinched as she touched it. Remembering the bullet going through her other selves throat and the mixture of air and blood that came from the wound. What had that felt like? Had some part of her still existed inside that yoma possessed body continuing to beg to be saved? Crossroads clasped the gem, letting her revert back to her normal self and pushing the picture from her mind.

Kyrk remains quite for a time, gradually traversing the rocky floors and ascensions of Truce Canyon on their way back to Truce, seemingly realizing that Crossroads wasn't going to have an opinion either way. She'd get better, though, he knew. She had people waiting for her at her home, people who cared. They'd make sure she recovered. These new experiences were always a bit much, firsthand. It takes a lot to get someone hardened enough to just blow them off.

Whether at the game for a year or eight years, there's always going to be things you didn't plan for. Kyrk only had the advantage of not being able to care. The others who fell into despair from such things had no such luck. He forgot sometimes what that actually felt like, and would've completely had Molly not been there to remind him, from time to time.

Crossroads wrapped her arms tightly about herself and shuddered. Eyes stinging as tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped at them quickly, dampening the sleeve of her shirt. She resumed after him again, feet feeling heavier with each step. She had fallen enough behind that she couldn't hear him talk anymore, or maybe he had simply run out of things to say. Either way, it didn't matter all that much to her.

Kyrk stops, on the home stretch of the canyon's decline, where Truce's northern gate is visible from the rocky ridges above. He turns, looking toward Crossroads as she trudges on, apparently waiting for her to catch up. "This isn't the end, you know. Just because one thing didn't turn out the way you wanted doesn't mean everything has to fall with it. You can't change how people think, but that also means you need to disregard the fouls and realize what good you're bringing. Think to yourself, Cro

You say 'Where would they be if you hadn't come along? Would more have perished? They blame you, but what more would they have had to look forward to if you hadn't arrived? Another day of the same fear. Though you can't save the world, you can save bits and pieces of it, a little at a time. This is why your job is important.'

Crossroads catches up to Kyrk as he seems to have stopped to wait for her. She wipes her face again and glances up at him briefly, eyes red and swollen. She doesn't pause a moment as she walks past him, shaking her head slightly. Sure, she had stopped a monster. But in the end if she didn't die in the process she would become one herself. It was just continuing the cycle, nothing more. The city might be saved for now but soon Kyuubey would find another person to full that area. And that fool would turn. And those people would be in danger again. Without Kyuubey and foolish people, these places would not be living in such fear. The people wouldn't feel helpless. How could someone who threw away thier emotions understand what that felt like?

Kyrk watches Crossroads walk on past, not bothering to say anything more as she does. Though he wasn't a psychic, he didn't need to be to understand the liklihood of resentment flowing through her brain at this time. She wasn't the first person to be forced into this situation, and likely wouldn't be the last. He picked up again after she was a short distance in front of him, changing the subkject as he did. "I'm going to be in the city for a few days. Kyuubey's asked me to locate someone and get

some information from them. Likely is it that you won't even notice me around, but I thought you should know, anyway." Kyrk didn't think this statement was really relevant, but what else was there? She wasn't going to say anything otherwise. He wasn't going to have just left her to that mob and risked making things worse than they already are, anyway. Sometimes you just had to pick the least-worse of two already-bad situations.

Crossroads doesn't look back or even look up from her continued gaze of the ground, but finally she says something. Her voice is guiet though, just a little bit above a whisper, "You can stay at our house if you need. There is an extra couch. It is the least we can do for the help you gave us." She paused for a moment, "And thank you. Not just for that but for showing up when you did." Crossroads' voice waivers as her throat tightens sob tries to escape, "I've never been more happy to see you."

"It was an unfortunate circumstance that we came upon each other, this time." Kyrk stops nearby, offering a small nod. "But as for the former, I won't impose. I have plenty of money for boarding at the Inn, and from what Kyuubey tells me, you have quite a houseful as it is. Your group continues to expand, and it is good that your trust extends beyond your own circle of comraderie."

Kyrk heads on again, walking past Crossroads toward the northern gate of Truce. "I appreciate the sentiment, however. It is good to know, from time to time, that my presence isn't just a thorn in your side, given our differences in mannerisms. I will do my best to stay out of your way, but if a situation arises while I am in truce, please don't hesitate to call on me. Unless I find you first."

Crossroads nods, not feeling up to saying anything more she continues the walk once again in silence, save for a sniff here and there as she tries to keep herself from crying any more than she already was.