A pair of striped tails thumped against the cold, hard ground as Riko glared at Feldspar through slitted eyes. She couldn’t help thinking that even the magical construct should know better than to reveal her weakness to a complete stranger, especially to an unstable and unpredictable species such as humans. Even when she had lived among humans and protected them, it was human bandits that were the biggest threat.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“I think <i>this one</i> is a little too forthcoming,”</span>she grumbled still glaring at the golem.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“Don’t reveal weakness to people you don’t know. Right now, the human’s target is also our enemy, but what about his next customer. What if <i>we</i> are <i>their</i> target? Don’t get me wrong. I like the guy, and I certainly think we can help each other out. I’m just saying don’t blindly trust someone you’ve just met. And I’m not Miss Riko. I’m just Riko. If you must be formal, you can call me Misses Callahan, but I still prefer just Riko.”</span><br/><br/>Her words to the boy who just arrived were soft and almost motherly.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“I’m glad to see you’re well, Mako. I was worried about you.”</span>She had never had children of her own, and she considered Mako as close to a son as anyone could be, especially since she still had a soft spot for humans. She also thought it might be fun to let Cress think he was a girl. Hopefully, nobody would spoil that.<br/><br/>Next, she picked up one of the swords that a skeleton had dropped on the ground and lightly tossed it in Kogasa’s direction.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“There, that should cover the human’s debt,”</span>she said, her voice now dripping with sarcasm,<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“but let’s be honest, I think you look better now than you did before he hit you. Anyway, once we’re out of here, you can loot all the treasure you want. Just try not to ruin our best chance to escape.”</span><br/><br/>She said to Cress,<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“Like I said earlier, we have a common enemy, I would like to team with you, and I hope the others will as well. But only if you’ll treat us as equals and not as damsels in distress. We may weakened as Feldspar said, but we’re not helpless.”</span>She gave a small chuckle as she added,<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(201, 94, 22)">“That’s assuming the Lady of Winter doesn’t kill you first.”</span>If nothing else, she thought he should recognize that name, although she hoped Aira wouldn’t kill him.<br/><br/>She transformed into a tiger cub again and brushed up against Lilith’s feet and gently purred. She remembered that action had always helped Daniel to relax, though admittedly, she didn’t know if it would work on Lilith given that she wasn’t human, but she thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. Of course, she knew her magic would quickly run out again, and before it did, she disappeared into the darkness, returning to her windowsill to retrieve her clothes.