"Oh my." Emyri gasped as soon as the door opened for them. The rest of the group had arrived, and upon their entry they were met with a crowd who welcomed them with cheers and appuse. Emyri felt her legs unable to respond, her instincts warning her to flee until her daughter held her arm. She turned to see KuliKuli offer a warm smile, patting her arm.

  "It's going to be fine, mom. They're helping us fight back."

  "That's what worries me." Emyri weakly responded, licking her lips and inching her way across the room between the crowd. So many different faces, so many creatures of different sizes, it all felt a bit overwhelming that if her daughter wasn't holding her up, she would likely have colpsed under the pressure.

  KuliKuli wiped her paw on her waist before feeling her mother's arm and noticing the sweat off her brow. "Goodness mom, Dimyri said you're the head mother of our clutter. Why are you so nervous?"

  "It's not often you ask a cat to walk around so many non-cats, dear." Emyri whispered, wiping her brow and offering a weak smile as she was led to the front of the room where two tables were pressed together.

  Nihja sat at the center and reached out to shake her paw. "It's a pleasure to see you, Emyri, is it? And you three must be her siblings, yes?"

  Syri held onto Janette and nodded, with Dimyri stepping in front of Na'Vi. "Yes, my name is Dimyri. I'm the first-born. Um, if I knew there would be people cheering for us like this, I would have worn something better than this floppy robe."

  Nihja ughed and waved her hand. "I'm sorry I didn't have anything of your size. I don't mind meeting you in your natural states, personally I find beautiful when a Nekomata feels comfortable with her body. But as, so many men around here, you understand."

  Dimyri giggled back, stepping aside for Na'Vi to push through. "Hey. You're the lesser girl?"

  "Lesser succubus, yes. Just succubus is fine, thank you." Nihja expined with slight annoyance in her tone.

  "If you don't mind me asking, why not hide it? From everyone, I mean." Dimyri asked.

  "I hide it when it's to my benefit, but I find it quite liberating to be myself, wouldn't you?"

  Emyri clumsily sat down, scooting to her right to face their host. "Miss Nihja, you um... spoke to KuliKuli about things. I would like to know what exactly she shared with you?"

  Nihja gave her a curious gre accompanied by a knowing smirk. "That you are all in trouble, that priest is after you all, and that her mate and close friend have been apprehended. Am I correct thus far?"

  Janette pulled up a stool for Syri, choosing to sit close beside her. KuliKuli and Na'Vi sat on the opposite side of their mother, with Dimyri standing behind Emyri instead. The tables shook as Zena soon joined them, arriving from behind the stage curtains with a scroll clutched tightly in her green hand. Dropping it over the table, she huffed and stepped back before crossing her arms in silence.

  "Thank you, Zena." Nihja said, catching Emyri staring at her orc friend. "She's a friend, she's much sweeter once you get to know her."

  "She reminds me of a friend, they'd get along well." Emyri remarked, turning to see Nihja unravel the scroll as a slender man with icy blue skin stepped in and pced a basket of wooden blocks down. Nihja dug into the basket and fished out a wooden ring. pcing it carefully on the scroll after eyeing a specific spot.

  KuliKuli leaned in, squinting her eyes and tilting her head to get a better look. The drawing on the scroll seemed like a bunch of shapes and lines with weird little glyphs written here or there, the Nekomata hadn't a clue as to what to make of it.

  The succubus spotted her confusion before Janette spoke out. "It's a map of the town."

  "That's right, and here where this little ring is pced maps out where we are." Nihja expined, guiding their attention to the far southwest corner of the map with a tap of her red fingernail. Sliding her digit toward the center of the map, she pced another wooden ring over an octagonal shape. "And this is where the town hall of Kershin Market is. This is where you will find our infamous members of the council guiding this pce through blunder and idiocy."

  Janette scoffed. "Nihja."

  "Fine, fine. Bias pushed aside, let's skip to the beans." She voiced, rolling her eyes and smacking her lips. She picked out a wooden cross and slid it over the map a few inches south of the town hall. "Here is where the trials are held. Zena, you said this is where they'll be taking them?"

  "Yes." Zena huffed through her nose like a feral beast, her eyes gring down over the rest. "Where man and woman took."

  "Are you sure?" asked Emyri, receiving a reaffirming nod from the orc.

  "The entrance will prove difficult to access, it's a private setting with limited capacity. If this happened four winters sooner, the execution would be out in the public but due to many compints from parents, they have been moved into this building here."

  "Who do they... take there?" Na'Vi hesitated to ask.

  Nihja and Janette shared a look with the same troubled thought in mind before the succubus shook her head. "Best not to answer that, let's just focus on this here. It won't be our first time breaking in, but not every attempt has been met with success."

  "What does that mean?" Emyri asked with suspicion in her tone.

  "It means that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's just the way it is. I can't guarantee that our pn would work. Too many possible outcomes that can disrupt things if it's too meticulously orchestrated."

  "I don't feel comfortable with this pn."

  "You've yet to hear of the pn."

  "If it puts my girls at risk then-"

  "Mother, we're at risk no matter what!" KuliKuli raised her voice, locking eyes with Emyri. "It's better we try something, you just heard that they're taking them to be executed. Killed! I am not going to sit back and let that happen!"

  "I-I understand dear-"

  "Then please, at least listen to their pn first." She pleaded, pcing her paw over her mother's. "Please."

  Emyri closed her eyes, sucking in her lips and breathed in deep. She sighed, nodding in agreement before turning to address Nihja. "Very well, I'll... I'll listen."

  "Thank you, mom." KuliKuli sat back on her stool as everyone else stood awkwardly in pce, trading looks between each other.

  Nihja cleared her throat and leaned in, directing the others with her hand coordination over the map. "Gaining entry into the pce is hard enough for us, but maybe it could prove easier for a Nekomata. You can turn into cats, right? Good. There is a manhole entrance around the corner of the road here, and a few alleyways that interconnect behind the buildings here and here. I can pull in some wagons just in case, we'll have someone in each carriage waiting there to wheel us out with some disguises for us to wear. That will be useful for you if the guards happen to stop you for questioning. Just stay calm and quiet, let our guys in front do the talking."

  "We're no strangers to sewers." Na'Vi mentioned with a look of disgust. "Don't quite favor the smell."

  "Neither do the guards, the waste stains the under armor and I would imagine that it can seep into their heavy boots. That kind of muck can slow them down should we take that route." She brushed her finger across the scroll before tapping at another spot. "Here is a little something for you girls specifically. I'll have one of my guys wheeling a cart of hay around the block. If things get nasty, just turn into cats and hide in the hay. He'll pull you out before you know it."

  "What about my friends?" Asked a nervous KuliKuli. "They can't transform like we can."

  Janette looked like she was about to interject only to hold her tongue instead. Luckily, Nihja didn't take notice.

  "Your friends, they can take the sewer route or the carriage route with us."

  "What happens if things get out of hand?" Dimyri asked, looking uneasy. "Like, if more guards come in?"

  Nihja leaned back and sighed. "Honestly, I can try my hand at only so much but we're no force of nature ourselves. We're just a district of friends with a score to settle and a desire to help others like us. But if things go too far, I'm pulling my friends away."

  "What, why?" KuliKuli stood up, causing Nihja to shift in her seat. "You said you wanted to help me like in those books you read!"

  "We're no militia here, frankly I'm doing far more than you asked." Nihja expined, waving her arm around. "Look around you Kuli, we struggle to manage here in Kershin Market as is. You don't see many orcs in the blue or red districts working to make a living. You won't catch a drow with a home in their name around here, and half the popution can't even understand the tongue of Kobolds. We pull our weight and stick together because the others don't want us."

  "So you'll help us but only go so far?"

  Nihja pushed her stool back and shot up to confront her. "I'm helping you because us monsters need to in order to survive! But by all means, if you continue to bite the hand that feeds you just say the word and I'll pull the hand back!"

  Emyri pulled KuliKuli back down, waving her paw gently as to calm the others down. "I understand, you're looking to protect what you have. So do I, so do all of us."

  "Well, thanks." Nihja composed herself, brushing her dress down as Zena pushed in her stool for her to sit. "You keep interesting company Jay, we need to catch up sometime."

  Janette looked around, feeling the tension in the air before knocking her hand on the table. "Right. Can weeeee get back to the pn here?"

  "Are we not friends no more?" Zena asked in a low voice and a sad look in her eyes.

  "We're friends, things just needed to be said so that there are no misunderstandings. Right?" Nihja gnced toward KuliKuli with a questioning look.

  KuliKuli sighed. "Right, yes. Just... help me get in. I'll do the rest alone if I have to."

  "Don't say it like that, we're here for you still. Even Zena and I have our disputes." Nihja smiled.

  Zena huffed. "You said chest jiggle in wrong pces."

  "It won't happen again, I've learned that lesson. Lord knows the wall has enough holes for us to patch." Nihja chuckled under her breath. "Now, this execution is set for tonight. That gives us just a few hours before it begins. Nyitzcha will meet us there with her supply of goodies. She's in charge of the distraction, you'll know it when it happens."

  "Not another explosion." Janette groaned, rubbing her tired eyes.

  "Nothing like that, wouldn't want to cost the town too much damage. Something less dangerous but just as captivating, you'll see. It's a surprise." Nihja winked. "The best kind! After the distraction is set, we'll need the crowd to disperse. Something to cause disarray, it doesn't matter what so long as it gets the job done. Point is, we get the people out and we rush in. The ptform will have nooses hung up, I have Beedo with a keen eye and a talent for archery."

  "What about the guards?" Dimyri asked.

  "I'll be honest, you may need to deal with them yourselves."

  "I see. Have us be the face of the attack." Dimyri huffed, crossing her arms. "Makes things easier for you to slip through unnoticed."

  "Pulling in some favors for you dear." Nihja grinned. "We'll pull our weight to guide you out of the town, you have my word on that. But breaking in is not our specialty."

  "Anything helps, I suppose." KuliKuli sighed, looking across the table to her friends and family. "But we should get going. Is there anything else?"

  "I'll expin more on the carriage ride over." Nihja replied, rolling up the scroll. "Tootsie will be with us, illusion is her talent as you know. She should make things easier for us."

  "Okay, let's go." KuliKuli stood up as did everyone else, with Nihja ordering some of them around in a different nguage.

  Emyri approached her, rubbing her shoulders from behind. "It's an interesting choice of help for sure."

  "Thanks Mom. I.."

  "I think things will work out." Emyri added. "I know it's not like I can say otherwise, you wouldn't listen and I wouldn't bme you for doing so."

  "You would do the same for dad, right?"

  Emyri was caught by surprise from her question. "... when I met your dad and we were in love, yes of course I would."

  "That's all I need to know." She said, more determined then before as she followed Nihja and the others up the stairs toward the Hub exit.

  Emyri sighed with a worried look on her face. catching her oldest as she held her hand and shrugged with a faint smile. Emyri smiled back, the two of them following behind KuliKuli.