"Well yeah... I mean so maybe sometimes you surprise me, doesn't mean you're not my friend. Would be a pretty stupid reason not to consider you a friend," Haku answered back, wondering why he even had to explain it. There was also the small fact that T'charrl was likely his only friend, but he left that out, not wanting to make it sound bad in any way. "Hey, sometimes is better than never. And if you keep working on it then it will be all the time, right? You can do this." He had to, he didn't even want to think about what might happen if the powers weren't mastered. Surely no one would really hurt him right? He wouldn't let anyone hurt his friend, for whatever that was worth, an imposing fighter he was not. "What if you tried a sort of... Oh what's it called... That thing where you sit really still and think. Why don't you try that? I mean its not really sleeping, but maybe that would help? I've seen people around the base doing it and I've tried it, though I think I'm doing it wrong. That way you won't really be asleep though right?"

-----

Their surprise attack had more than done the trick, three guards laid out in a matter of seconds by Sasha and Ricken. With Kiton handling the final one they had effectively rendered that guard obsolete, now they only had to question the remaining man. Perhaps Kiton wasn't terribly familiar with how interrogations worked but generally having the person conscious helped. "Uh, good job, but can you not choke him?" Sasha asked, smiling slightly as she gestured for the man to be set down. When he was he tried scrambling away, whimpering as Ricken grabbed him by the shirt and threw him back against the wall, a foot slamming next to his head to make sure he didn't go anywhere. Giving Kiton a grateful smile she walked over to the man, crouching down before him and rolling her eyes as he began to plead for his life.

"We're not going to kill you, relax please. We're only asking you a few questions," Sasha explained, reaching up and pushing Ricken's leg away to give the pirate some space, "We were told you have some hostages here, we're just looking to free them, that's all. No one has to die in this place, and we're going to try avoiding that at all costs. But we're going to need your help to do that, okay?" Watching the man nod frantically she smiled, relaxing a little as she stood up. "Good, now please, if you know where they are tell us, we won't hurt any of your friends either, at most they'll be knocked out. You're doing a good thing helping us here."

The pirate nodded again, stammering incoherently at first before clearing his throat and pointing down the road. "T-That way! They're back in some big s-stone building, about 500 meters from here. C-Can't miss it, should have some more men o-outside," he got out, frowning as he shook his head, "And these people a-aren't my friends, I'm just trying to make a q-quick haul, need money. C-Couldn't care less if you killed them to be honest."

Ricken scowled hearing that, reaching down and smacking the back of the man's neck to knock him out. "That's why I hate pirates, there's no loyalty there. Just after money without any regard for what happens to others," he mumbled, placing his hands on his hips, "But at least we know where the hostages are now. These four should be out for a bit, we can probably go take care of that and deal with rounding these guys up later. Kiton? Next time try not nearly breaking their neck, not exactly a safe way to restrain someone."

"He did fine Ricken, cut him some slack," Sasha quipped in annoyance, glancing at the four men thoughtfully before going into the building, returning moments later with a cord she'd found. Pulling them all together she managed to just get the cord around them, tying it securely to bind them, albeit temporarily. Should do well enough to keep them from running off until they returned at the very least. "Next step I suppose is go find that building, and figure out how we're getting those people out," she mused, looking at Kiton carefully for a moment before smiling, "Any ideas? I want to see how you'd handle this."

----

"You did... Well everything else anyways. I never saw you change into this before. It was like a shark only... Well on land. And in water, and underground," Yumi muttered as her brow knit together, trying to think of a better way to describe it, "Aito might know more, but it was new to me. I've seen your cat form, and I've seen the lizard form, but I've never seen this. It's not your fault if a new form came out, and honestly that new form probably saved your life." Having reassured Viral he wasn't going to change they began moving back out of the forest, towards their temporary home and no doubt into the waiting arms of June. Again Viral began to grow panicked, seeming like he was running from something despite safely being in her arms. Sighing when Viral asked to be put down she reinforced her hold on him, cradling him against her chest and giving her friend a stern smile. "I wish you stupid men would just let someone help you for once. No I'm not letting you go, I'm making sure you get back safely. And to do that I need to carry you, so clam up and enjoy the ride."