"Dessa."

Rosa's harsh voice was the first thing the siren heard the next morning...well, that and the sound of someone being shoved to the ground next to them.  She heard Doug give a small snort, signalling that whoever it was bumped into him.

She ignored that fact and looked up at Rosa with weak, tired eyes.  

Rosa's glare was as cold and harsh as ever.  "Come."

She tugged Dessa's chain, beckoning her to follow.  Obediently, Dessa leaped to her feet and followed.

She was led to a private tent — one usually only used for private meetings — and forced to sit down.

"Now.  You remember the offer you were given before?"

"T...to join the gang."

"Yes.  Do you have your answer?"

Dessa paused for a moment.  She wasn't sure.  She wasn't completely sure she wanted to join, but at the same time, she knew that death was the penalty if she didn't.

"Well?" Rosa sounded rather impatient.

It felt like hours were passing by.  Sweat dripped down Dessa's face.

"...I..."

Rosa slowly pulled out one of her pistols.  "You have ten seconds."

Dessa's heart was pounding now.  

"Ten..."

"I..."

"Nine..."

Tension was in the air.

"Eight..."

Dessa almost couldn't breathe.

"Seven..."

Rosa's glare remained steady.

"Six..."

Their eyes met.

"Five..."

Rosa's finger tightened around the trigger.

"Fo-"

"OKAY!"

Rosa stopped and lowered the pistol slightly, her expression not faltering.

"...I have my answer."

"And what is it?"

Dessa hesitated and took a deep breath.

"... I'll join."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doug gave muffled barks and Orchid whined and paced as they both stared at the unconscious Cory in front of them.  He had a muzzle on — similar to Doug's, but smaller — and his hands were chained behind his back.

Finally, after a few moments, Cory groaned and slowly woke up.  His vision was blurry.

"...wh..whaa..?"

Pain surged through him.  He was almost unbearably hungry, making it hard to focus.

Doug gave another muffled bark and gently nudged Cory.  Orchid jumped around a little before licking Cory's face.

"Pff...stop, that tickles." Cory said, trying to move his hands to gently push Orchid away.  He paused when he noticed they were chained.

"..great.."

He barely managed to sit up.  He felt like he was underwater.  He managed to rub his eyes with his shoulders.

Doug gave a concerned whine and nudged Cory one more time.  Cory opened his eyes again and paused, then perked up.

"Doug..!"

He was about to hug his longlost friend, but then remembered the chains and paused.  "..where are we?"

He looked around.  The light of the day faintly peered through the tent.

He flinched away.  It surprisingly hurt.

He tried to remember what happened last night, but it was all blurry.  All he could remember was red...

The blood moon.

There was a blood moon last night, and he hadn't gotten much blood.

"No wonder I'm so hungry..." he muttered to himself.

He laid back down on the ground weakly.  Doug whined and curled up next to him, shortly followed by Orchid.  His mind drifted back to the others.

His thoughts were all focused on two things:

Were they okay?

When would they come rescue him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasai stared down at the camp once again.  She had decided to let the group stay and rest today due to the events from the previous night.

Breeze was with Sasha, recovering in her tent.  The fact that Cory had bitten him both infuriated and hurt Kasai.  She loved both of them with all of her heart.  Cory was her boyfriend, and Breeze was like her son.  She wasn't sure how to stay mad at Cory, but at the same time, she wanted to slap him across the face for even daring to hurt poor Breeze.

She could feel her anger welling up inside of her.  A few blue flames flickered off of her skin.  She thankfully noticed and caught herself, her anger almost completely replaced by fear.

She was a ticking time bomb, and she was going to explode at any second.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sasha's gentle voice.

"Kasai?  Breeze is awake.  He said he wants to see you."

Kasai looked over and nodded.  "I'll be right there."

Sasha nodded before going back inside the tent.

A few minutes later, Kasai came in and slowly went over to Breeze, kneeling down next to him.  He looked up at her, his tail wagging slowly.

"T...thank you for saving me last night."

"Of course."

Kasai gently stroked Breeze's fur, ignoring the feeling of his bones bulging out of his skin.  She carefully traced her finger over the broken bones, making Breeze flinch and whine in pain.

She jerked her hand back.  "Sorry."

"Please don't touch it there..."

Kasai nodded and moved her hand to a different spot.

"Sasha, when do you think he'll be fully healed?"

"Best case scenario, at least a week." Sasha noted.

Kasai flinched at that fact.  Her rage boiled up inside of her again, but she forced herself to calm down.

"Then either my plans will have to be either delayed or changed."

"What were your plans?"

"Well, I thought we could distract the smugglers, while Breeze goes down and frees anyone who may be trapped."

Breeze flinched again at that statement.  "B-but you'd get h-hurt with that plan!  A-and if I got caught, I-I'd-"

"You're underestimating me.  Trust me, I know how to keep them away from you."

"B-but Kasai-"

"No buts, Breeze."

Breeze simply just whined.  Kasai gently stroked him again.

Sasha gave a simple nod.  "That does seem like a logical plan, but with Breeze's condition, it most likely won't work now.  And we can't afford to waste too much time, because either way, the gang might move on eventually anyway, which will force us to move, and Breeze won't be able to handle that.  If anything, that will make him worse."

Kasai sighed.  "Well then, we'll have to change the plans then."

"Maybe half of us could distract the smugglers, while the others go free the prisoners?"

"That works."

Sasha and Kasai both nodded.  Breeze whined again.

"Please...whatever you do, be careful..."

"Don't worry, Breeze, I will." Kasai said gently, getting up.  "You just rest for now."

Breeze sighed and nodded, slowly closing his eyes. 

Kasai looked at him one more time before slowly walking out.