Hotaru sighed a bit, wincing slightly when he flicked her forehead, "I was just trying to avoid giving you guys more trouble... Everyone already has enough people after them or messing with them to need anything else I have to add to the mix," she looked down, sighing, "Sorry," she whispered.
"It's rather sad that no one seems to realize the difference between being selfish and selfless," Mera muttered, glancing over towards where Alari was, "But we can't go back in to town. Our departure undoubtedly got everyone's attention. We need to head on towards the north, but at least until we're clear of the village, we need to travel under the cover of the trees."
"Do we need to be worrying about any of your friends finding us out here?" Hotaru asked as Mera released her.
"I'm not really sure how that's going to go. We need to be on our guard regardless. We're as likely to run in to bandits and thieves as we are any of the people we already have issues with," Mera said, putting her hands on her hips, "But what were you doing out that caused this to happen in the first place?"
Hotaru rubbed the back of her head, clearly hoping she wouldn't get asked.
"You were trying to feed, weren't you? That's how you got caught by the hunters and that ensued the rest."
"Yea," she fidgeted, "Figured I couldn't keep relying help with those gourd things, so I was trying to do it myself," she whispered, "They jumped me and it just went down hill from there." 
"Well, next time, we'll have to make sure you're more aware of your surroundings. You should know better than that," she said and Hotaru looked away, not liking that she felt she was being chastised like a child, "Let's go then," Mera turned and started walking through the woods.
Hotaru huffed before looking at Larel, "I really am sorry for worrying you. I really was just trying to keep things from getting more difficult for you two," she murmured.