<blockquote><div><cite>Kitts wrote:</cite>"Th-they...were...they wanted...to eat...they...were going to..." She chokes out between sobs, her words fractured and almost incomprehensible "T...they..."<br/><br/>Now, the trickle of tears turns into a flood as she sobs piteously against Ureck's stomach, her little four-foot form shivering as she unleashed her fear in those salty streaks that flowed so freely down her cheeks "Thank you...thank you..." She whimpers out inbetween sobs, clutching Ureck tightly, as if releasing him would make the terrible scene play out once again.</div></blockquote><br/><br/>For a moment, Ureck found himself taken aback by the mousegirl's sudden embrace, holding his arms up awkwardly as she cried into the cool links of his chainshirt. He wasn't used to such displays of gratitude, having done little to earn such things in his lifetime. In the back of his mind, he became dimly aware of how decidedly unheroic his existence had been so far, how little he had accomplished slaving beneath the Granger's influence. However, now that he was taking a stand he was finally making a difference, no matter how little it may be, and the thought caused a warm smile to cross his face.<br/><br/>"There there, it's okay. You're safe now," he said softly, wrapping an arm around Lara protectively as he patted the back of her head. His mind momentarily flickered to calling the small rodent to Lilium's attention, but...<span style="font-style: italic">Egh, now they're both going off. That tiger and orc must've tasted REALLY good. The only other time I've ever seen food do that to someone was...</span>Grimacing, he tried to banish the thought from his mind and figured it best to take care of Lara himself for the time being. "You're not hurt are you? I have some medicine if you need it." As an extra precaution, he cast a disapproving glare at any prospective predators still lurking at the scene, letting them know that an attack would not be worth their health or trouble.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">(Random alternate thoughts; not part of the actual post X3)<br/><br/>Ureck cast an apologetic gaze down at the mousegirl as she sobbed into him, letting a wry grin cross his face. Lowering a hand down to her head, he slipped a finger beneath her chin and, with a soft but firm nudge, brought her gaze up to his. His expression remained calm and genial, but a flicker of red broke his smile as his tongue drew across his lips.<br/><br/>"Don't worry," he said blankly. "Those big scary thugs have been taken care of. It's much better to have them out of the way so I can have you for myself."<br/><br/>With that, his grip around her small succulent form tightened, and his jaws began to part...</div></div></div>