"Eh? Oh, yes! Right!" Beist shook himself out of his startlement at the crossbow planting itself in the doorframe next to him and followed Leni through the storefront and out into the alley. The two men were scrambling back, Pretzels still held in one of their hands. Maybe that was why the serpent hadn't come back to report what was going on out here this whole time. He could find out later. For now, he and Leni had to get out of here along with all the animals! The canine-bear hybrid followed behind as he stepped out and right onto some broken glass.

"Ow, ow, ow! Wait!" Beist winced as he felt the stabbing pains in the bottoms of his feet. He stopped and quickly turned around, looking down at the creature. He didn't want the poor thing to walk across the glass and hurt itself. He was already carrying every other animal from the place, why not make it all of them? He picked up the bear-canine like it was a small dog and held it in his arms as he ran.

"Oh don't worry about Pretzels. He'll be fine. In fact, I'm sure he'll enjoy this." Beist said to Leni and he glanced back over his shoulder at the white serpent and waved a hand toward it. Beist wasn't worried at all about the serpent's safety. That was only a little manifestation of the Quetzalcoatl spirit inside him, not even a real creature. It'd be fine even if it died and just return to Beist soon enough. There wasn't a whole lot of time to explain that at the moment though, so he just hoped Leni would take his word for it.

In the masked man's hand, the serpent suddenly started to grow larger, longer, and thicker. The wings spread out and the hard scales dragged across the ground, pushing shards of glass around. The tiny little snake grew into a massive serpent, over thirty feet long and three feet thick. The men looked up in horror as Pretzels cackled maniacally.

"Oh, this is going to be fun! You're going to wish you'd never had the audacity to grab this majestic being in your grubby little hands." Pretzels hissed happily for no one around to understand as he stared menacingly down at the man who had grabbed him.

---

Ginma's Familiar
Polymorph- Anaconda

Leni-Aura looks behind her; once Beist shows signs of complying, she releases him and bounds over dented cages and broken shelving which had scattered across the floor— mostly due to her aggression in trying to fend off these strange men without outright killing them… she has a feeling Beist may not appreciate that, despite the fact that they probably deserve it. The men outside stagger when she bursts through the door, palm catching on the lightning bolt crackling in the cobblestone, she pushes between them with a massive leap ⁽¹⁾ and knocks one flat on his ass before spinning to face the shop.

Nimbus glides through the broken window, tucking his wings close to his body to avoid snagging them on the remnants of glass, and Beist is soon to follow— albeit, more slowly. While Leni-Aura can easily jump the glass, Beist is not quite as lucky. Leni-Aura looks apologetic, but she keeps the blade of her spear pointed towards the men who still remain inside, and the two who’ve been pushed out. Once Beist has gathered up the… the thing, in his arms, Leni-Aura starts to back away.

She does a double-take, brows furrowing when she realizes that Beist is leaving Pretzels behind. “What about your snake!?” She calls, bewildered that he would even think to leave the tiny creature behind; she looks sharply back at the men, paws tangling as she starts to back away.

He’ll… be fine?

What does that mean—?

“A-ah…” Leni-Aura’s hazel eyes widen when the tiny serpent shifts; and the sight of a predator that large makes her very heart flutter. She scrambles on the cobblestone in her rush, bounding quickly after Beist.

She sees what he means now.

She had been under the impression that Pretzels was a normal snake, but clearly, there is something not quite normal about him. She catches up to the beast man with ease, glancing sidelong at him with Nimbus gliding off to the side of her. “You are covered in them,” she remarks, as if it wasn’t clear, “You got all of them?”

Beist gave a slight chuckle as he rushed alongside Leni. "Yes, I believe I have them all. They were certainly eager to climb aboard and be taken out of there." He said before wincing from the pain in his feet. He was leaving a trail of blood behind with each step. With a free hand, he grabbed a small bottle of red liquid from a pouch on his waist and drank it. Immediately, he sighed in relief as the cuts from the broken glass closed. That was much better.

They reached the end of the alleyway and Beist turned left. "My wagon is this way." He whispered to Leni as they made their way through the street and then looked shyly away. "Leni, would you mind continuing to assist me? I'd like to finish helping these animals, but, well, I've clearly gotten into something a bit over my head, haven't I?"

From his arms, the canine-bear let out a soft "Gror" and Beist suddenly looked down in surprise and embarrassment. "Oh, yes. My apologies." He stuttered as he finally put the creature back down, very safely far away from the broken glass.

From within the alleyway, the distant sounds of shouting and hissing could be heard. Pretzels was keeping the guards busy and sounded like he was having fun doing it judging from the distant laughter that only Beist could hear.

---

Minor Health Potion

Leni-Aura looks over her shoulder, noting the blood left behind in each thundering step Beist takes; she feels a little bad, a tiny flicker of guilt. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so reckless fighting within close quarters; maybe she should’ve just killed those guys outright, it would’ve saved them a lot of broken glass and noise. She blinks, turning direction quickly to follow Beist down the alleyways.

She slows to a walk, chest heaving from the exertion of a rapid escape. “Mm,” she agrees, following after Beist with a hop. She perks her ears, looking at Beist when he looks away from her; she looks away for a moment, lifting her head and ears to listen for the sound of hissing far in the distance. A weight falls against her back, but she doesn’t need to look to know that it’s Nimbus who has perched close to her.

He tucks his wings against himself, chittering quizzically at the canine-bear as Beist lets it down. Leni-Aura glances at it as well, tuning out the sounds of shouts in the distance. “I do not think I could leave after seeing… well…” Her ears lower, and she looks away; she wonders if the canine-bear had been this way before, or…. What was it? How much had it changed, if at all?

What was the point of it?

“I will help.”