Oh goodness, this was a lot of people. This was a lot more than she had expected when she told herself that it would be fine to go to the festival being held in Tokyo. With her traditional clothing on, she for sure felt very out of place, alien even, compared to the other people around her. Girls her age were dressed up so differently than her, with their thick make up and high heels and short skirts. She pulled at her full-body clothing piece, unsure if it was the right option to wear somewhere like this.

Seeing that there was a large seating area by the main stage, she b-lined it over there with the intent to get away from the crowds. Once she arrived, she realized that there was a rainbow haired girl that seemed to be talking softly on the stage, instructing those below her on how to make a flower crown. At the foot of the stage, there was a variety of beautifully colored flowers, all picked from the local gardens, to decorate their crown with. They were given some twine, and were instructed to pick as many flowers as they wanted.

This was right up her alley! Living so close to the forest, she often tried to figure out different uses for the things around her. Being able to make a flower crown for Harukor could be so funny! With a beaming smile, the girl slowly but surely would walk forward, looking around to see if there were others that wanted to partake in the activity too.

⥋ Orange and gray attus.

"A pretty name, miss." It felt only right to call her miss, since the girl did feel mature enough to at least be the same age as her, if not a bit older. She was elegant to Chiharu, with deep dark hair that seemed to be a silent night. Her red hair was the one thing that was hard to blend into the natural forest with hair that looked like fire. Chiharu had thought to dye her hair a more appealing color for hunting, but her father was a bit against trying to ruin such a unique color of hair for no good reason.

"This is my home, a little away from where I found you." She was concise with her words, careful not to overload her with unneeded information. "I am not sure where the people are that attacked you are." Even though she was almost killed by them, she felt that they were truly after Kaida and not herself. "I would assume that they are still in the forest, getting picked up by their men or something." She wasn't entirely sure who they were, but she was sure that they wouldn't just leave them in the middle of the forest if they were so sure that they were going to capture her.

She'd shake her head in a confident no. "The path to my house is far from where we were. Only people that know the forest would know how to get to it." A pause, a smile. "I promise you that. I would not bring you to an unsafe place. You protected me, so I will protect you."

⥋

Chiharu was able to get most of her food from things that she or her father did themselves. Vegetables, meats, fruits; things like that were the staples of their diet that they were proud to be able to do themselves. When it came to baked goods, neither of them were well versed enough to say that they could do that on their own as well. They could make the very basic of basics, but anything that required advanced materials was better to leave to a professional.

That was the very reason for her outing today. She was to go and grab some pastries for her and her father, because they tried to spend some one-on-one time at least once a month doing something that the other wanted to do. This time- it was a night to watch some movies that Chiharu had wanted to, while eating good pastries! A simple request, but not something that they did often.

Putting her hands idly in front of her, she swayed on the balls on her feet as she waited in line for her turn. People littered the little joint, with people being solo and with others alike. The smell of freshly baked sweets was an easy sell to bring people together. With a grin on her face, she looked down to the little list on paper she had of all the things that she needed to get for tonight; the girl only hoped that she could say them right and didn't totally butcher the names of some of these foreign named desserts.

⥋ Blue and black attus. Hair tied with red ribbons.

"If it's too much, I can carry it." Chiharu would glance at her father, trying to give a reassuring smile. He wasn't old by any means, but he also wasn't as nimble as she was. Carrying most of their supplies with him, she was tasked to carry a much lighter bag for their travels.

They had been travelling for a bit, but not long enough that she was worried that they couldn't make it home before nightfall if they had to. When you were so close to the forest, it was vital that you knew how to get back home, or to make a temporary one from the dangers that lurked around you, watching. Her eyes were fixated on watching the solemn bird fly past them, to looking back to see their house slowly disappear in a crowd of trees. Times like these with her father had become a bit more rare, but still frequent enough that they weren't nostalgic.

Stopping to see tracks, her eyes flickered at their presence on the ground before them. "I'm not sure. I have not met anyone with feet that big." She thought back to the girl she met, and two a few others that had graced the forest around her house. None of them would able to make steps like that, nor would they still be this fresh. "Perhaps it is what we are looking for, or someone in search of it alongside us?" It was her only true guess, but it was as good as any given the total lack of information they had on the creature they sought. "It couldn't hurt to follow it, at the very least. I'd like to know if we are to get ambushed if we light a fire ahead of time."

⥋ Red attus.

Chiharu felt like she was strong, but she wasn't that strong. Carrying the girl did quite a number on her, and she found herself having to struggle to actually move her as she wished she could have. It was sluggish but calculated, as she didn't want to accidentally drop her even as it seemed that she stirred in and out of sleep and tranquility.

By the time that they got to her house, she swore that she put on some weight just in sweat alone. It was no matter, as Chiharu would place Kaida in her bed and gently place a handwoven multi-colored blanket over her. Checking her forehead, Chiharu would move to place a cold towel on it, slowly looking over her body to see if she had any visible wounds or if there was anything stuck into her from their fall.

"Hm... I hope a pretty lady like you isn't hurt... I wonder, are you the beast I saw earlier?" Chiharu spoke, not expecting Kaida to be awake, let alone reply to her. "Ah, it was so majestic. Those people will rue the day they dare to defile something so sacred, I swear." She'd shake her head, before leaning over Kaida to open up the window to allow some fresh air. With a sigh, she would get up from the stool she'd placed down beside her and move to the wardrobe a few paces away. Without a care in the world, she would start to unwrap her attus in hopes of changing it out for a cleaner, non-dirt version.

⥋ Gray attus.

She had bitten off more than she could chew. Chiharu wasn't any strong warrior like her father. She wasn't going to make people intimidated by her with a simple look; she knew these men would rather pity her than actually harm her. Still, she wasn't going to give up on this beast and let it get used for a trophy. She'd stand her ground, no matter how small she was.

With her unmoving it seemed that they got bored of her. This was it, she was going to die protecting a beast that may not even know that she was doing all this for them. She was going to know that whoever found her have to tell her father that she died protecting an animal that she knew for five minutes. Still, she had no regrets.

Just then, it seemed that the beast could hear her worries. She was given the chance to escape with it, and she took it. Moving over, she'd grab onto whatever she could and pull her close. Chiharu would clutch onto whatever, and pushed her body against the beast as she felt it slowly lift off into the sky. Below her was the ground, and she knew that no amount of her strong hair would save her from a fall like that.

It was exhilarating as she felt the wind slap at her face and mess up her red hair. The beast had saved her, and itself, but she could tell that the tranquilizers were still having an effect on them. They'd barrel downwards, with Chiharu holding onto dear life as she tumbled to the ground. She'd hit a tree with a gasp, getting shocked awake out of the fear of dying to know that they'd made it. Taking a few seconds to look around, she saw no beast, but a person? She'd blink once, then twice; was she a transformation? Another glance around, and no beast was in sight. She shared the black features of the dragon, like its hair and clothing.

With a gulp, she would go over and poke her cheek with her broken bow. Was she alive? Was she just unconscious? After a few moments of no response, Chiharu would sigh and move to try and pick her up. With a lot of effort, Chiharu would do her best to lift the girl onto her back and slowly take her back to her place.

⥋ Gray attus.