When Orion broke the surface of the water jetting into the depths with bubbles surrounding him Danny tried to see if he was still wearing glasses and much to his horror saw so much more.  [i]NAKED! nakednakednakednakednaked. JesusChristwhydidhehavetostripWHYDIDHEHAVETOSTRIP, THAT MOTHERFUCKER. If we get out of this I'm going to strangle him...once he has pants on, that is.[/i] Blushing furiously the boy worried about August sensing his embarrassment and making fun of him. But that would require her to be down here. Which she wasn't. Because of him. Or so at least he kept telling himself despite the part in his head that gave him his danger sense saying otherwise. It was then that he felt the tickle of Kanoa's words in his ears as she gave them the word to head in. It seemed he'd have to contemplate his Freudian level aversion to being naked later. Besides Mary could always make fun of him in the mean time. Yeah, that sounded good. 

And so he swam forward until he was about a meter or two behind Kanoa, his wondering if they got their pants at the same place interrupted by a drastic change in temperature. [i]That's strange. There aren't any volcanic vents anywhere near this lake. Could this be due to the potion? No if it was, Kanoa would have told us, right? Of course...maybe...probably...not. Alright she hasn't been forthcoming with information but that isn't enough reason to stop us mid cave dive and ask her what's going on. Hell she's probably as in the dark about this as we are. Heh. In the dark.[/i]As much fun as an unplanned pun was, Daniel noticed an ethereal glow to the distance. Seeing it, Daniel knew it was similar to his own 'energy.' Well, as lithium was to Ununoctium or the Sahara Desert was to Alaska, but still, two different pieces in the same chess set. Analogies. As he climbed out of the water he held his body low to the ground, his feet moving quickly yet without sound, drawing his blade to the cho, ready to strike at any moment. And that's when she turned around.


"Ah, so you're trying to heal him huh?" Kanoa said. The fox heard her this time, and her entire body shivered as if a shock had gone down her spine. She leaped from the boy and quickly backed herself into a corner. 

"S-stay away! I'm a monster you know!?" She screamed, her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red. Kanoa looked to the fox, and then to the unmoving boy.

"Guys, talk to the Kitsune for a bit will you, I need to see if I can help this guy." She ignored the fox and leaned down to the boy's level. Feeling his neck, she felt a faint pulse. 

"I'm serious! I'll uhh, I'll suck your blood!" The fox screamed.

"That's vampires." Kanoa said.

"W-well I'll turn you into a frog!"

"That's a witch." Kanoa yawned and pulled the boy out of the water. She placed a hand over his chest and began chanting in a soft voice.

It was- SHE was just a girl. A girl with with several fluffy tails but still. [i]Who would have thought that a kitsune would look like a cosplayer? What are you saying Danny? You need to stay frosty. Remember what August said. This person no- this THING had drug that boy and kidnapped him. But she also tried to heal him.[/i] Daniel didn't like this. They weren't an order of gallant knights of to slay the monster. They were a bunch of scared kids that went off and found more scared kids. He wanted to go and help Kanoa heal the boy. He could perform  emergency first-aid all the way up to a tracheotomy (theoretically) but considering his track record he'd probably do more bad than good. And so he steeled himself and approached the gi- the kitsune, hand off his blade stopping until he was about a tail's length away from her. He had always been good with animals. Maybe it would extend to her. If it didn't- well at least he was close enough to her that his mass would block her initial assault giving the rest time to amount a defense of some sort but as he searched her eyes he dismissed the thought. While there was the very real possibility she was putting him under a glamour, his danger sense hadn't gone off, and it hadn't been wrong yet. 

And so he spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper saying. "You have no idea what you're doing. What was suppose to be a routine feeding fell apart when that boy was able to resist your powers. You panicked and had to use something stronger to keep him from running, telling stories. After all, someone like us might come along. But you used something too strong. Something that was eating him inside out. So you held onto him trying to fix what happened. You've been pushed to the brink trying to heal him, unable to get a proper 'meal' in case his dies while you're out recuperating. Tell me where I'm wrong." Offering his hand for her to take it Daniel's eyes softened. "We all know you're a good person who just slipped up. Don't waste the last of your energy fighting when we can all pool together to figure out how to help him. I'll even let you feed a little bit on me." He added, hoping the sign of good faith would keep her from going full blown Bundy. 

Closing his eyes, Daniel thought back to all the new age books that pervaded his aunt's store. Hindu manuskripts that mapped out the chakras along a persons spine and the thousands of 'veins' that the energy flowed. He recalled books about spiritual healing that involved one reaching into these points of swirling spiritual energy and letting it flow from yourself to an area that needs to whatever needs to be healed. And much to his surprise, found that it worked. And so, feeling his energy flow from his chest down into his left arm leaving it feeling warm and tingly Daniel clamped down on his excitement, on his fear, on his anger, on his wants. 

The same way his blood would sing to him of how to bend the world to his will so too did it tell him not to mold this energy. Only to trust himself. In his palm it felt like he was holding a swirling cyclone of hot air that as it grew, Daniel suddenly felt electricity between the two. And not as in the rom-com love at first site dopey mumbo-jumbo, but a sudden electro-static discharge accompanied by the smell of ozone. His heart thumping at the not-unpleasant sensations he was being bombarded with he opened his eyes and with a smile much more genuine said, "My name is Danny. What's yours?"