An almost white form lay on the ground in front of Pirarah, partially curled up, one arm clutched protectively to a blood-splattered shirt. It was completely still, with not even a breath to break its stillness, and no emotion to disturb the feeling of quiet desperation that hovered around it. There was another beside it, more colorful, splashed with orange, black, and much newer splotches of red along with its white, and just as motionless.
      Pirarah took a step back, and a soft splash made him aware that he was standing in a puddle of blood. His sense of smell came next, and that liquid slashed into his nose. It seemed to be attacking his stomach, it wanted to spill its contents like broken skin, overwhelmed by a sense of sickness. Sound crawled into his ears at last, and the voice he heard brought his eyes snapping away from the corpses on the ship's deck.
      "You made them that way. They were not even within my abilities to save...." Kanini's eyes were a cold yellow, empty of motherly warm or forgiveness.
      "I'm... sorry..." He had to try, anyway, to say those words that were not truly within his own abilities to speak.
     "Unfortunately, that means nothing to them now," she padded forward softly, blood splashing around her feet, too, as she walked forward between what remained of Saburo and Koii to stare down at Pirarah, and just as his voice had contained nothing beyond regret, her eyes were empty of all but accusation. "Get away from here. From them. From everyone. It's the best thing you can do."
      He knew that. However, knowledge was nowhere near sufficient to keep hearing the facts laid out by someone else from being painful. He imagined it was little compared to what those two must have experienced before he killed them, but even that detached notion sliding across his mind could not stop him from mentally begging for it to be otherwise. It hurt too much, but he had taken this pair away himself, and so it was only fitting that he leave the rest behind.
     "I said, leave," Kanini snapped, apparently dissatisfied by his moment of thought. He started in fear when she rushed at him suddenly, pushing him back, and cried out when there was no ship to stumble back on. He feel to the sea, then the surface was behind him in an instant, and he found that his breath had already escaped his lungs, leaving him to flail helplessly for the surface. The water continued rushing around his body mercilessly, however, tugging him down further into the currents of his own abyssal mind.

******

         Nagogo stood in a Pekoponian alley as the sky dumped diamond-drops of rain, unfortunately seeming to have riches to spare. Pirarah slept before him, tucked between a set of trash cans. He scrabbled against a wet newspaper that had plainly been meant to serve as a blanket, but the weather had caused it to fail in that duty. It was restraining his limbs instead, and though he had managed to largely shred it, it continued to cling with persistent heaviness. The little lad was whimpering and twitching in more slight ways along with his struggles, held within the bowels of some nightmare, and the older hybrid sighed, "'Ere, lad, c'mon."
         Nagogo knelt, carefully picking the newspaper pieces off and flinging them into a lumpy pile. Once the boy was freed from the paper's grip, he pulled a tarp from a small bag he had carried with him just for it, and scooped Pirarah up securely in it. They were both already drenched, even under their hats, but he would do what he could to prevent his brother figure from being subjected to further pelting from nature.
        "Nngh..." Pirarah shuddered, struck by the cold as Nagogo's shifting woke him from his uneasy substitute for rest, the nightmare draining in clarity from his mind, but he could still remind far more than was pleasant.. He looked up at Nagogo with an exhausted, ill gaze, not appearing to recognize him. However, he did indeed know who was holding him, and attempted to flee, trying to push Nagogo's hold loose. That strongest point from his nightmare remained, that he could not be with anyone, or he would hurt them again. He could not allow his older brother to take him back to the ship, not if he also wanted them to be... safe. He could live with the cold, and the hunger, and anything else, they just had to be alright.
      "Hey, stop squirmin', lad. Makin' it difficult, y' are, and we've all been worryin' 'bout you... Runnin' off like that. 'T wasn't smart," Nagogo delivered his reprimand in the most soothing voice he could manage. Pirarah did not cease his fight so readily, though, keeping silent and shoving at the eel's arms. He only tightened his grip in response, shaking his head. "Nah, we want y' back too much, t' let you off,  lad. Y're our crewmate, after all. Y'don't need to fear an'thing, I got ya." Pirarah just shook his head, refusing to meet Nagogo's eyes anymore, it was more than he could take. Nagogo strode quickly from the alley, ignoring Pirarah's continuing escape efforts, they were too weak to matter. It made him sad, in a way, to see his little lad like this, but the important thing was to have them both out of rain as quickly as possible. Other details can be dealt with later, and he doesn't intend to spend any great amount of time on them, its all simple in his mind. Pirarah needed food, rest, and someone to cheer him up. Nagogo could give that. It wouldn't be a problem. As they hurried through the streets, Pirarah was lulled by the motion and his relative dryness. He kept sleep at bay, but he found that escape was certainly far from him soon, and nestled into the tarp out of something like reflex, sinking into the safe, tucked-up feeling.
      When Nagogo finally arrived at the ship, not even the rough journey up the ladder could knock Pirarah from his half-asleep state entirely, though he did begin to shift again as he was taken across the deck and through the door to Kanini's office. The last time he could recall seeing her, the first occasion that came to mind, was his nightmare, and it made his breathing gain speed out of panic, but Kanini herself did not seem to be present.
      "She went out t' look fer y', too," Nagogo explained, setting Pirarah down and unwrapping the tarp. The smaller hybrid swayed where he stood, blinking rapidly, working to clear his head without much success. Before he could recover his intentions to run away again properly, he found himself picked up off his unsteady feet, and tucked under the thick covers of Kanini's bed. Warm and soft, he felt as if he was lying on something that matched a cloud's appearance in fluffiness after days of pavement, and he almost felt he was melting into it.
     "There. That's much bett'r, in'nit?" Nagogo smiled, splitting his snout, and made sure the lad was alright for the moment before settling in Kanini's chair to wait. Pirarah did not reply, not even by movement, but it was... better. He was not anything close to happy, but he was comfortable and, even though there was that part of him that stayed terrified of how this would end, back with people who would bother to make sure he was kept that way whether he had a right to it or not. His slowed breathing and the internal and external warmth soon led him into a blank sleep, as he once again curled up into a small ball, but now, at home in his correct place.