[Marley]

Kalver had only seen the steep drop into the mud bog a moment before he was able to dig his heels into the ground and keep himself from tumbling down the slope, not much like Noah who'd kept running and stumbling after Kalver, his hand leaving the grip of the kitsune. Of course he was worried about injuries and he'd made sure that Noah was alright first before he took off once more. As long as the neko wasn't dead, they'd be able to handle any injuries after they got these humans off their tails. Whether this was a human grudge thing or not, there was enough reason to believe that maybe this group of idiots were simply pissed that Kalver had stolen. That was how he made his money though, it was the only way he could make money really; most places didn't want to hire kitsunes and recently, nekos had been getting the stream of rejection that kitsunes were receiving as well. When the world wouldn't give you any way to provide for yourself, you kind of had to find something that would work. Stealing and thievery weren't legal, sure, but it got Kalver decent money, sometimes more than the humans would make in a month of work. The way things were were definitely backwards but the humans looked to be so hellbent on their ways that Kalver had doubt anything would change anytime soon.

Kalver was able to elude the angry humans by tucking himself under the slight hole beneath a boulder in the woods. It was sticky and wet but it proved to work well as he listened to the group rush past him not too soon afterwards. His feral golden gaze narrowed at the humans and he half wished they'd get lost out here themselves. It would serve them right. The kitsune shimmied out from under the boulder and dusted himself off, turning back towards where the mud bog was and beginning back in that direction. He didn't like to get Noah involved in the skirmishes between he and humans but the neko always found a way to put himself smack dab in the middle of all of it and Kalver could only play along and make sure he was safe.

He didn't honestly know what Noah's parents looked like but from what Noah had told him offhandedly, Kalver had made it his mission to keep an eye out for any pair that might resemble his parents. He didn't announce it to Noah as he didn't need the neko getting excited only to get his hopes crushed when they didn't find them, or worse. That wasn't anything to be worrying about tonight, still. Kalver just needed to get back to him and make sure he was alright, and then maybe they'd find a hotel in the town over or something to stay the night at.

Noah, on the other hand, was still in the bog waiting, wondering if he should try to find a way out and back to Kalver. There had been times where Kalver had left him for extended periods of time by himself, and even though the kitsune promised he'd come back it was only natural for Noah to wonder if he truly was. The kitsune could ditch him at any given time, he wasn't obligated to look after Noah. Noah was grateful every time Kalver did come back; he knew some others would just leave him high and dry. Occasionally it felt like Kalver wanted to do that from time to time but he was stuck with Noah for now.

Noah might have made his leave from the bog if it wasn't for his ankle. Hopefully it was just sprained, but Noah had sprained his ankle before and this felt a lot worse. He knew Kalver would make him use crutches if his ankle was broken and he hated those things, but they weren't new to him.

Splaying his hands out in the mud, his mouth curling down in discontent as the wet soil made a noise at the pressure, Noah pushed himself up onto his feet, carefully placing his weight onto his good foot. He tried wiping more of the mud from his clothes but it only seemed to make the situation worse, the mud on his hands mixing with that on his shirt. He eventually just gave up the prospect and stepped back to look up at the incline, wondering how he'd be able to climb out of the pit before he heard a voice from behind him. He swiveled on his feet, ears now perked and attentive as Noah tried to prepare himself in case those humans had found their way down here, but instead of an angry mob he was met by two others instead - one that seemed to be a human and the other a similar neko, except they were a cat.

Noah swallowed thickly and edged a little closer to the slope of the bog. They might be friendly but it was a bit odd how these two were down here at the same time he and Kalver had been chased. Were they with the group? "Are you with those humans?" he asked tentatively, his grimy tail sitting still behind him. "I told my friend to give the stuff back b-but... I don't know, if you need the money I can pay you." Bargaining would work, possibly. He was really wanting Kalver to show up right about now.