From heel to toe, her body moved. A soft growl ringing out left the girl frozen in her tracks. "Hck!" A soft, hush yelp(or hiccup) escaped her tightly pressed lips. With shoulders rising to touch her ears, the girl slowly turned, teeth chattering perhaps from fear, or maybe from the cold. Violet eyes trailed up to see the monstrous creature. It was a bear, a nice, fully grown female, teeth exposed as it moved face-to-face with Martyr. Wide amethysts were peering right into coal for a moment while the girl took in the situation. "O-oh, n-no, M-missy..!" Martyr said, wiggling her finger at it. "I'm very s-sorry y-you h-hurt y-your p-paw, and I w-was v-very h-happy t-to f-fix y-you up, b-but that d-d-doesn't m-mean y-you g-get t-to c-come home with m-me.." The girl said, in a shrill, scolding tone. "V-val w-was v-very m-mad t-the l-last t-time I b-brought an animal h-home, and I'm n-not d-dealing w-with that again.." The bear seemed to shrink down with something of an oversized whimper to the girl. "D-d-don't y-you g-give m-me those eyes, it's n-not g-gonna w-work. Y-you b-belong in the w-woods...Y-you g-g-gotta find y-yourself a b-boy b-bear and h-have lots of little c-cubs w-with him..." Martyr nodded to her statement, as if she knew all about the bear world. Oh yes, Martyr was totally half bear. Another whimper. "I d-don't even think y-you'd fit through t-the f-front d-door.."

"So let me get this straight..."Minoko took a quick sip from the beer in her right hand. She really hated Katan for only grabbing beer, since beer was one of the only alcoholic drinks that Minoko genuinely disliked, but it was still better than nothing. "You were dicking around at the inn and met Martyr, who's this self-healing stuttering pretty girl?"

Shut up Min, beer is wonderful, and you clearly have poor taste. "You got it."Katan tossed an empty beer bottle into an alley, hopefully not managing to hit any homeless vampires. Another beer was pulled out of the six pack than he was carrying. "I don't know why you sound so pissed about it. Open?" He held his bottle out to Minoko.

The cap of Katan's beer bottle began to glow pink. Using her ki, Minoko removed the cap and tossed it off into the vampire-ridden alleys. "I'm not pissed. It's just....I know her. Sort of. She used to date that crazy lesbian who tried to kill me." The pair turned a corner. "Why the hell were you..." Minoko trailed off. After all, there was a bear not too far away from her now. "KUMA!"

"Thanks." Katan examined his bottle. He still wasn't quite used to this whole 'Minoko having powers' thing. "Small world, huh. What's a kuma?"The American was oblivious, as always.

"Kuma! Kuma!" She turned to Katan and repeatedly pointed at the bear.

"That's a bear, Min."

"KUMA MEANS BEAR!" Minoko's arms started to glow a brilliant shade of pink. She really didn't want to start fighting wild animals, but getting mauled by a bear was pretty much the stupidest way to die in Rhy'Din.

"Haha, right. So that's why the bear in Tekken is named Kuma..." Katan looked over the creature, only to notice that there was a woman standing in front of it. "Martyr" Hey, Martyr!"

Well, technically, they were married. Everyone makes mistakes....Martyr seemed more afraid of the woman screaming than the bear staring her in the face. A soft snarl escaped the bear's mouth. She didn't necessarily like people, more as she developed an attachment to the too-nice immortal. Martyr, had almost glanced back to Minoko and Katan, but had her attention turned back to the snarl. "H-hey, d-don't y-you t-take that t-tone of g-growl w-with m-me, Missy?" Martyr scolded the animal, wiggling a finger in the bear's face once more. Then she spun around at the sound of her name. The bear seemed to sulk at the scolding, and the loss of Martyr's attention alike. Its head hung softly, or perhaps it was hiding behind the girl. "Uh' Oh! H-hello, K-katan!" The girl shouted, squinting through the dark.

"You don't remember me?" It took her a moment to realize that was an entirely absurd question. Martyr had no reason to remember her. They had never been formally introduced, and the only reason Minoko recognized Martyr was because of everything that had happened with Mayu. "Sorry. I just remember you...from around the inn."

Truth was, Martyr didn't even remember Mayu....Or anyone. Save for Leoni, which she didn't really remember as much as was reminded....Dark tresses of mocha fell in front of her face as the violet orbs squinted at the woman. "N-no, I c-c-can't s-say I r-recognize y-you..." Martyr whispered. "I'm s-sorry.." Looking defeated once again. The bear snarled lightly at the two, and Martyr's finger shot up, poking her in the nose. "D-don't y-you even t-think about s-starting w-with m-me r-right n-now, m-missy!" Martyr pointed accusingly, receiving a submissive, 'Aroo....' from the bear.

Katan pointed at the bear. "Hold that thought. Guys, I'll be back in a minute. Salmon run. Min, guard the beer." The half empty six pack was placed next to Minoko. Katan chugged down what was left of his beer before throwing away the bottle and running back the way he came.

...Seriously, Katan' Minoko let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever you say." Her left hand fell to her side and the plate followed, now shielding the beer from marketplace goblins. Minoko was trying to think of a specific night that she had seen Martyr way back when. "Oh, there was that night where the inn was destroyed! That was before I met Mayu and Toby, but I remember seeing you guys there." The immortal would have to remember that one.

The girl tilted her head, "M-mayu"....T-toby?" Poor Minoko, she'd probably already heard enough. "O-oh, w-well...Uh?" Her voice began to shrink in volume with every lyric. "W-well...Uh....F-from w-what I understand...I think I um....W-well, what I m-mean is....I m-might h-have um...D-died." Yeah, that was it. "I d-don't know everything ab-bout it, b-but um...I know I d-don't r-remember a l-lot of p-people.." Nod-nodding her head. The bear seemed to give Minoko the stink-eye.

No. Please, not again. That made four people whose memories had recently been wiped. Minoko looked somewhat nauseous up until Martyr mentioned dying. Death seemed like a perfectly valid reason for memory loss. "Yeah, I had heard that..." An image of a scythe appeared in Minoko's mind. "But it's great that you're back. I don't think Katan has a lot of polite friends." She smiled faintly.

Watching the bear nuzzle Martyr gave Katan a sense of motivation. He wanted to be nuzzled, dammit! "Okay....I'm going to take a chance with this." Katan took a few steps closer to the bear and held out both of his salmon filled hands. This time his gaze expressed a very simple message. 'Please, Miss Bear, don't eat my hands.'

I was walking down the Market Streets. When a man walked up to me, handed me a fish. Said, 'we gone be friends b*tch'. I took it, and THREW IT ON THE GROUND....The bear sang in his head as he watched Katan.

The bear lifted its nose, growled at Katan, and then snatched a few fish from his hands. After that, she seemed to sulk away, and move off to her own little area to eat. Martyr's eyes were shut, so she wasn't sure if she needed to fix Katan's fingers. Which, luckily....Katan was totally with the right girl!

Katan's face lit up like a little boy's on Christmas. If he hadn't been avoiding making loud noises then he probably would have started to cheer. Instead, he simply turned to Martyr and Minoko. "I feel so accomplished." Katan's starry eyes looked to the morning sky. "I think I can die happy now."

That's when Martyr's attention was snatched. She'd been busy trying to look at his hands, you know, to see if they were...there. When he mentioned dying, Martyr's head shot up. "W-what? W-who's d-dying!" H-hold on n-now, I think I c-can f-fix this! W-where d-does it f-feel like y-you're d-dying!?"

"B-bad b-bear! B-baaaad b-b-bear!"

"No, no! I'm fine! You're a good bear, the best bear!" Katan frantically looked from Martyr to his beloved animal. "See, Martyr?" He held up his fishy hands and showed both unscathed sides. "No one's dying. I said that I can die happy, like I'm really content right now. Y'know?" He smiled sheepishly.

These two really were quite the pair. Minoko's dark eyes glanced down to her metal plate. She wanted to know where it was, just in case the bear did decide to eat Katan after all.

"O-oh..! G-good...I m-mean...I'm...W-well.." Her cheeks flushed lightly and said it all. "Oh, d-dear...I s-should m-make s-sure y-you're r-really d-dying b-before I f-freak out..." The bear moved to the smell of the fish, which ultimately led it to Katan's hands. Sniff, sniff....Gawm! The bear attempted to eat the hands.

Predicting bear movements would have to be added to Minoko's list of talents. When the bear started to mosey on over she lifted the plate back up with a flick of her hand. The bear began to sniff, and then....Block! The shield shifted into place between the idiot and the animal. "Martyr, could you...?" Her panicked tone indicated that it was time for Martyr to bring the newspaper out.

Newspaper" It was on her to-do list....Martyr's arm transformed into that wonderful metal talon. She was ready to beat the bear into submission. "Oh, b-but I d-don't r-really w-want t-to h-hurt h-her.." Martyr contemplated out loud as the bear bit into metal, got grumpy and then started raging, snapping past the block, but missing. "B-bad b-bear!" The girl yelped, and then brought the organic arm to smack down on the bear. Yeah, it didn't look as cool, her arm seemed kind of limp, as if she smacked her with a wet noodle. It was enough to make the creature's nose twitch, and send her backing off and pawing at her snout with several sneezes and grunts. "Y-you m-may n-not eat K-katan, h-he's m-my f-friend..!" Martyr yelped. "Oh, b-but I g-guess if y-you're r-really h-hungry..." Cue sad bear eyes...."W-wait! N-no! N-no eating K-katan!"

"No....No eating me..." Katan had quite gracefully fallen onto his as* after the bear tried to eat his hands. The American now looked to be on the verge of tears. He was in so much pain that he didn't even notice Martyr's metal talon. No man could focus on an organic limb after his heart had been broken. "Why, Bear"! I thought we made a connection!"

It was a shame that Martyr hadn't been able to know Katan for at least a week without finding out that he was a big baby. Looking to her friend, Minoko surprisingly started to feel bad. Without moving the shield, she lowered herself to the ground and started to rub Katan's back. "It'll be okay. I'll get you a bear for Christmas." A trained bear.

The bear huffed at him. How can he get angry when he was the one with fishy hands" It was just cruel. CRUEL! Martyr's eyes settled in on Katan, her head tilted to the side. "Aww, she's j-just h-hungry, K-katan....She d-doesn't know any b-better.." The eccentric immortal said softly, as she neared the bear. "H-here y-you g-go y-you c-can h-have this arm.." Offering it out to the hungry bear.

That's an excellent point, actually. Katan will need to bring hand sanitizer next time. "Martyr, I'll buy more salmon! Don't get eaten!" He watched the immortal with horror filled eyes. This was exhausting. Loving a bear was a roller coaster ride of feelings. Why couldn't Katan just have a horse like everyone else?

Those violet eyes widened. "B-but....She w-wants an a-arm...I'd r-rather her eat m-mine than y-yours..." The bear looked onto her as if it was the greatest gesture in the world. Cue googly eyes....Then Martyr was lifted up, and scrunched in her powerful grasp. Eyes bugged out, copious lips expelled the air from her lungs in a painful grunt. "B-b-bear...h-hug..."

"NO, MARTYR! IT WILL DEVELOP A TASTE FOR HUMAN FLESH!" Katan sprung to his feet. He charged towards the bear that he used to love, grabbing Minoko's shield on the way. Katan clearly hadn't thought this through, but maybe if he rammed the bear just right something less terrible would come from this development.

If Minoko had anything to say then she would have said it. Katan's stupidity had left her entirely speechless. Still sitting on the ground, Minoko exhaled slowly and thanked the nexus that the idiot had grabbed her shield. A left hand was held out and then drawn back over Minoko's shoulder. The metal plate followed suit and pushed Katan right back onto the cobblestone.

Not momma bear, nooooooo! The bear saw Katan coming, its eyes widened, ears perked and soon she was trying to protect Martyr from the blow. Both of them seemed to close their eyes tightly, the bear squeezing poor Martyr's ribs until they cracked. "Bleh!" Blood spitting from her mouth, her little legs kicked as a signal to be put down, and then her bones would straighten themselves up, and organs would heal. "Mn..."

"Sh*t, I didn't mean to hit him that hard..." One look at the American told Minoko that he was out cold. She let the metal plate fall to the ground and began to lightly slap Katan's face. "Wake up! Hey! I don't want to carry you home!" She frowned. Irises that actually looked brown in the morning sunlight wandered over to Martyr and the kuma. "Martyr, are you okay?" The blood was noticed, but she still wasn't sure if that actually meant there was a problem.

Gulp! Swallowing the blood that had pooled in her mouth. "Y-yeah." A soft chime erupted from her arm as the metal seemed to disappear. "Is....is h-he okay?" Martyr's violets seemed to widen at the sight of Katan. "Oh n-no...This is w-what h-happens w-when I m-make f-friends..." The girl whispered, pulling another forty dollars from her pocket and handing it to Minoko.

Watching Martyr's arm transform was something that Minoko found entirely fascinating. Martyr really had a wonderful power, and it was a lot easier to appreciate that when Minoko wasn't worried about being cut into tiny pieces. "Yeah, he's fine. Don't worry about him. It's my fault..." Minoko smiled sadly and ruffled Katan's shaggy blonde hair. "I'm too rough on him."

It took a few moments for Minoko to realize that Martyr was trying to give her money. "Oh! Um, no thanks! He's fine, and if he isn't it's nothing that his sister hasn't seen before."

"O-oh, L-lyric! ...R-right?" Martyr asked, kneeling beside Katan and running her fingers through his hair. Her touch was soft, and gentle. "D-d-do y-you m-mind if I t-try t-to w-wake h-him up?" Martyr knew by Val's reaction to her healing him, that it hadn't always been something that people appreciated.

"Yeah, that's her. Did Katan get drunk and start saying how proud of her that he is" I've seen him do that before." After hearing Martyr's question, Minoko scooted back in an attempt to give the healer some more room. "Be my guest."

"H-he t-talked ab-bout h-her.." Martyr nodded. "I w-would l-love t-to h-have a s-sister that I c-could b-be p-proud of....B-but I'm p-plenty p-proud of m-my d-daughter..." Those eyes began to brighten up, until they were completely silver, matching the glow of her hand that touched his head. Soon, a pain would overcome the girl, who grinded her teeth with discomfort. "Mm.." The girl sighed softly, as she soon sat down. Not a good idea given her sore bottom. But soon, any bruising would run its course too quickly, and she'd be right as rain.

"I'm a twin, and I'm very proud of my sister....I think it would be more fun to have a daughter, though." Minoko spaced out for a moment, thinking of her sister and her niece, but Martyr's silver eyes brought her back to reality. The color gave her chills. It made her remember that ruined apartment and the person that she simultaneously missed and despised.

It wasn't long before her eyes faded back to violet, and shut for a moment, shaking off some imaginary chill. Katan would feel a warmth in his head, if he woke up, his brain and body repaired anew. Though, Martyr was busy with the loopy effects of having a concussion. "Ooooh....H-hey..." A soft chuckle as her body swayed, eyes she'd swear should be swirlies danced around. "W-where d-did the b-bear g-go..?"

Now concussion free, Katan shifted from a state of unconsciousness into a relaxed sleep. Incomprehensible mumbles came from under his breath.

Hearing the mumbles, Minoko looked over her friend and quickly decided that it was safe to wake him. "Hey, Katan, Martyr fixed you!" She started to shake his shoulder. Minoko wasn't entirely sure what Martyr had fixed, but the immortal had certainly done something. "The bear" Umm..." Minoko's eyes shifted upwards as she began to search for the furry creature.

Martyr would totally take this opportunity to go ahead and squeeze Katan's cheeks together and get just a little too close to his newfound fishy face. "H-hey....W-wake uuuup..." Martyr mumbled to him, her chiming voice practically in song.

The squishy face had done it. Eyelids fluttered open to reveal his blue-grays. "Martyr" You're okay' Where's the bear?" He didn't sit up just yet since he really didn't want to head-butt Martyr, but Katan planned on having a serious talk with that bear.

They would be seeing some waaaaay too close vibrant violets peering back at him. The girl's head drooped, her hands fell from his face stretching the skin of it a bit before falling away and the elasticity of the youthful skin would bounce perfectly back into place. It didn't stop her forehead from bumping lightly into his as the loopy girl collapsed down. "Mm....She w-went b-bye b-bye." A wave for the bear that wasn't there. Then her hand would fall.

Seriously, where the hell had that thing gone" Minoko rose to her feet and kicked at the metal plate. "Do you two want to get out of here" We can go to my inn or..." She watched as Martyr pulled at Katan's face. "I can walk you two home. I'm sure you both could use some rest."

Those lazy, violet eyes trailed to the girl standing above her. "M-minoko....I w-w-would f-follow y-you into b-battle a m-million t-times..." Her face still pressed against Katan's. Was she drooling" Yeahhhh, she was drooling. Sorry Kay.

Minoko let out a soft laugh. "If you say so, Martyr. Now c'mon, let's get you home." Both of Minoko's hands were held out to the immortal. She took a quick glance at Katan and confirmed that he was still too frightened to move.

Too frightened to move indeed. Katan had already caused Martyr pain three times in the brief period that they had known each other. At this point Katan was going to start treating her like she was made out of glass, even though it was quite the opposite.

Martyr's hands moved up to claim Minoko's, and the off-balance little princess practically fell into her after she got to her feet. "O-oh...I f-feel f-funny..." The girl whispered, then looked at Minoko. "I w-will n-not f-fear, I h-have the p-princess of m-metal on m-my side." Holding her head high on that one. "L-let's go l-lay d-down somewhere....L-like...R-right h-here.." Pointing at the ground.

The Asian did the best that she could to steady Martyr once she was back on her feet. "I'm the princess, huh' Then you need to come with me on princess duties. No lying down!" She glanced at Katan and then nodded her head towards Martyr. A questioning look followed.

Katan nodded to Minoko and immediately jumped up from the ground. "Can you walk, Martyr" We're going to get you home, and I can carry you if you'd like."

Poor Martyr, she was going to be so embarrassed about this later. Her head rolled towards Katan. "Oooh, the P-princess's Knight in S-shining Armor!" The thing chimed, leaning quite a bit of her weight onto Minoko. "Y-you n-need t-to r-rest, m-mister...Y-you h-hit y-your h-head, I k-know, b-because I f-felt it.." Pointing to her own head, and then looking at Minoko. "W-we h-have R-royal P-princess d-duties t-to attend t-to." The girl charged forward in a stammering mess.

"Is that the right way...?" She hurried over to retrieve their six pack, since the Minoko code meant never leaving alcohol behind.

"Yeah, it's fine. We'll figure it out." He smiled at Minoko before starting to chase after Martyr. "Take a left! Princess duties are to the leftttt!"

Katan guided, Martyr obeyed. Dark, too-messy locks swayed behind her as she made her way home. Occasionally she'd stumble, fall down and regenerate...But that was a normal day for Martyr. It wouldn't be long before she made it home, spending the day with her friend, and making a new one in the process.