Third Times The Charm! [Private: Ikari/Ryo]

Ikari Yamashiro! Kitsune extraordinaire...! Taking... Taking a nap in the middle of the forest. House or no house, this silly fox still enjoyed to nap in the forest despite the potential dangers it might cause. In the fox's dreams, she tossed and turned as her dreams turned from pleasant to... Less so. Inari's words whispered in her ears...

Ikari snapped awake and scrabbled at her surroundings. She had even gotten on all fours like a fox, her ears standing straight up, tails perked and at the ready as her kitsunebi gently emerged from popping sparks. But... Nothing. Just a dream... But what was real was Inari's warnings. Always telling her not to sleep outside... Maybe she had a point, Ikari wasn't as powerful as her past incarnation after all. But! It wouldn't completely stop the Kitsune!

Being wide awake as she was, Ikari decided it was for the best to get up and get moving for the day. Staying still now simply wasn't ideal, even if the prospect was alluring. While Ikari trudged around the forest, her keen nose caught the distinct smell of hollow. Yuck... stinky things. Ikari pinched her nose as she tried to ignore the scent. But, her nose caught one last smell before she had closed it up with her fingers. A much more pleasant familiar smell, a smell she hadn't smelled since... Since...

Ryo! Ikari's ears perked up again, the Kitsune suddenly shifted into a fox that was bigger than a wolf; about four feet at the shoulder. The woman, now fox, sniffed at the air with urgency before she sprinted off in pursuit of the scent that led towards Ryo. The last time she had seen the woman, they had some very tasty barbeque... And Ikari wanted to make sure she was safe. Ikari sprinted as hard as she possibly could to make sure she could reach Ryo. She had no idea if she was in true danger, but she knew the woman was tough. All she had to do was get there...

During Ikari's sprint over to Ryo's general direction, she heard the sounds of trees being shattered and branches breaking, along with the tell-tale howl of a hollow. On top of that, she felt Ryo's reiatsu briefly flicker as the woman slammed into that tree trunk. Ikari poured on the speed, arriving in the clearing just before the hollow would have a chance to strike at Ryo. As the hollow struck for the dazed and injured Ryo, Ikari leapt onto the snake hollow and bit into the area where its head met the rest of its body. Her weight as an overlarge fox was more than enough to drag the hollow off course and, instead, bite into a nearby tree. That wasn't the least of its issues, however, as Ikari soon channeled electricity into her teeth and shocked the hollow for all it was worth.

The Kitsune bit in hard, using her feet to claw at the hollow while it got shocked to shit. Eventually, the hollow obtained enough reason to shake itself and toss Ikari off like it had tossed Ryo off. However, Ikari left with a chunk of it's flesh in her mouth. She spat out the disgusting gobbet of flesh after she had tumbled away from the hollow. With the Kitsune recovering with abnormal speed, she noticed the hollow moving towards Ryo again. She charged recklessly, shifting from Kitsune to human mid sprint. She summoned a blade in her hand and leapt in front of Ryo and the hollow. She cut at it's face in order to draw it's attention. Once she had its attention, Ikari left behind a decoy that made rude gestures at the hollow. While it was doing that, Ikari leapt up into the air and bore down upon the hollow.

With a silent yell, Ikari came down upon the hollow's head and slashed through it's neck. Killing blow or not, Ikari soon followed up with a strike that would cut the hollow's head in half. However, Ikari's landing was poorly executed. She landed and rolled poorly, cutting her leg with her own sword in the process. It wasn't a bad cut, but Ikari didn't even notice it as she discarded her katana and rushed towards Ryo. With the hollow fading behind Ikari, the fox woman clapped her hands together, as if praying, and then extended them towards the red-head before her.

A pink glow emitted from Ikari's hands that soon enveloped Ryo. She wasn't fatally injured, but injured enough that Ikari had to expend a fair deal of energy to stabilize and also bring Ryo back to her senses. That healing would remove just about every wound from Ryo's vital areas. Afterwards, however, in her haste to save Ryo, Ikari found herself woozy... She clutched her head, the world spinning around her... Before she fell forward onto Ryo, seemingly unconscious from her efforts. Indeed, Ikari's leg gently oozed blood, but it wasn't going to kill her. Instead, she was in a state of exhaustion from expending too much energy to heal Ryo... Luckily this Kitsune is very soft!

Ikari faded in and out between consciousness. Frankly speaking, her state wasn't bad in a sense. She was simply, exhausted, and a bit of rest would do her wonders; food too. But, Ikari wasn't exactly prepared at the moment to just go have a meal. The Kitsune was on the precipice of falling into a deep slumber when she heard Ryo stir. Ah... Good. She was fine. That bit of news did help Ikari force herself to stay awake. However, when the woman began pushing on her, Ikari could barely even make a noise of protest. What happened next, however...

Ikari blinked slowly as she felt Ryo's hand upon her chest, her brain a little slow on the upkeep. It's not like Ikari minded the touch, but she definitely didn't react to it like anyone would expect. Frankly speaking, Ikari ignored the rather accidental groping and casually moved on from it. Albeit, that didn't mean she wouldn't tease Ryo. As Ryo spoke, the Kitsune's ears twitched somewhat in response to the queries, and a gentle groan from the Kitsune helped add to the idea of her being awake. Eventually, Ikari mustered some energy to shift herself so she could look at Ryo.

"Should... Should take a girl to dinner first, Ryo~ I'm... o-okay? I could use a nap... and food... and a nap. My leg hurts..."

Ikari also felt like saying something about having Ryo use those strong arms of her to carry the Kitsune to safety; because she couldn't walk very well thanks to her exhaustion. The Kitsune was barely able to shift herself before she rest heavily against Ryo, looking up at the woman with droopy eyes. She didn't really have the energy to talk all that much, or that well, but what she said earlier was clear enough. Drink, food, and some sleep would do wonders... Ryo would just need to help out the exhausted fox.

When Ryo moved to push Ikari off of her, the Kitsune whined in obvious protest. Sure, her stare before may have been considered scary, but Ikari had seen wayyy spookier from Yuukinan. But, right now the Kitsune was more worried about the fact that the woman whom she had been laying on had effectively pushed her to the ground where Ikari didn't move much at all until Ryo asked if she could climb on.

The kitsune tilted her head so she could see Ryo. The woman was kneeling down so Ikari could climb on her back. Did... Did Ryo not understand that Ikari wasn't faking things here? Moving was hard right now! Another short whine escaped the Kitsune as she did her best to move and sit up. Her efforts weren't... complete in vain, but it took far too long just for Ikari to climb on to Ryo's back. Once she was settled upon the woman's back, Ikari rest her cheek against the woman's shoulder, wrapped her legs around Ryo's waist after she stood, and struggled to stay awake.

"Don't... Don't let me... fall... I won't be able to stay awake... Thank you, Ryo...~"

If Ikari wasn't so damn tired, she would show her appreciation. As it was, however, once Ryo started moving towards that nearby village, Ikari's eyes would close all the way and she would swiftly drift to the land of dreams. Whenever Ryo needed her to wake, all she had to do was say her name or shake her a few times. Ikari was, by nature, a light sleeper. Due to Ikari's exhaustion, she may be sleeping a little bit heavier than usual, but otherwise the Kitsune was holding onto Ryo surprisingly well in her sleep. She'd have to thank Ryo properly later... For now, staying awake was for those who hadn't used all their energy to save a red-head beauty.

Ikari slept like a baby the entire time Ryo was carrying her to some sort of village where she could get the Kitsune treated. Ikari's slumber was so deep that she didn't do much more than snore a few times here and there. Frankly speaking, probably the only time that was a bit dicey was when Ryo tried to get Ikari off her back. Not only would the Danava not wake, but she wouldn't let go of Ryo easily without some form of persuasion. But, if Ryo just said 'let go' to Ikari, she would loosen her grip despite the fact that the kitsune was almost completely asleep.

With some time, Ryo would eventually be allowed to visit the seemingly comatose Kitsune. Her leg had been bandaged up and the Kitsune had still managed to sleep nearly the entire time. Whenever Ryo came into the room to visit her, it took about ten minutes, unless Ryo tried to rouse her, for the pink-haired woman to rouse herself from her slumber. Her tails twitched and bounced as she sat up in her bed within the local hospital. Her pink gaze was confused before she looked towards Ryo and smiled warmly at the woman.

"I'm glad you're not badly hurt, Ryo~ And thank you for carrying me here. I uh... Got a little overzealous healing you, I suppose~"

Ikari rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, it seemed that nap was enough to help her feel much better. However, the Kitsune's stomach growled in an obvious desire for nourishment. Ikari let out a tiny sigh as her face became a little bit rosy. Assuming the doctor's here would let Ikari go, she really wanted to go get some food. She was fine aside from her exhaustion and hunger.