At least they weren't far from the hotel. Dracothrope had ripped a bandage from the bottom of her shirt to tide her over until she got something more decent on it, and she hurried to do so, the kits keeping close to her and the hybrid xenodragon keeping a following distance behind. She wasn't happy with the looks that she was getting, when she was getting any at all. With everything that had just happened, she was still confused about what-all was happening... and why she had ever accepted a proposal like the one that Mortyrss had 'offered'. Well, there was one reason--that being that she'd prefer to stay alive, and hadn't had any other means with which to defend herself.

Still.

What would it mean if she tried to summon security, or more directly, reached Lha and hoped that the much larger dragoness would chase away the hybrid again? Would Mortyrss escape and attack again? She most likely wouldn't be put to death... capital punishment had been abandoned except in the most extreme cases... maybe Dracothrope was being paranoid, but having the creature attack twice was more then enough to have her imagining being followed for the rest of her (most likely short) life if she rejected said offer.

The walk was quick and tense and mostly silent, made difficult by Denique pressing as close to her leg as was possible, without tripping her up. None the less, they reached the hotel and made it to their temporary room with little trouble. Dracothrope fiddled in her pocket for the keycard she'd been given... let out a sigh of frustration when it wasn't where it ought to be, and began searching her other pockets.

In the meantime, Mortyrss loomed behind her and she was aware of every moment of it. It wasn't just the kits that had their hackles up! When the hybrid shuffled closer, Dracothrope was about to whirl on her, but that chitinous arm struck down--beside her, over the entrance-panel.

The door whushed open.

:: Dreadful, :: Mortyrss chided, flipping the card through the air at the much flustered humanoid.

"You shut up," Dracothrope retorted. She juggled the card for a moment as she tried to get a good hold on it, then angrily shoved the bit of magnetic plastic into her pants pocket. A stalker with dangerous intents and a thief! What else was this creature--wait, she didn't want to know.

Mortyrss remained a threatening presence in the doorway as Dracothrope and the kits slipped quickly through the door, more herding away from the creature out of fear then approaching the temporary place of respite with more peaceful intent. "We're back," Dracothrope called, hoping that Lha would catch on to her half-jittery tone of voice.

Lha, infact, had just wandered out of the back room, and before either Dracothrope or the kits could say anything more, she'd caught notice of Mortyrss in the doorway and, her throat producing a mighty roar, she shouted, ::GET DOWN!::

Denique, as on edge as he was already, pounced to the side of the hallway, burying his nose in against the commercial-grade carpet and throwing his fluffy wings over his head. Dracothrope was not so forceful--she backed up against the opposite wall, leery of having a dragon as fast as Lha barrel into her!

Mortyrss, well... she was not as fast as Lha, but in the time it took for the dragoness to propel herself down the short hallway, the xenodragon lowered her already hunched body even further down, her knife-sharp, foot and a half-long neck-spines jutting forward dangerously, ready to impale the dragoness that dared attack her. She wasn't going to back down this time. Before she knew it, Lha was at her--but instead of tackling her, like the xenodragon had expected, the white dragoness was slamming her head to the ground, pushing her entire body back with the force of her attack. Mortyrss hissed through her clenched-closed jaw, wings fanning briefly to steady herself as her scorpion-like tailblade rose up over her head to strike at her much larger opponent. :: You fool, :: the hybrid spat, her mind voice punctuated with shrill vocals, :: I'm not here to attack you; the humanoid led me here. :: Nevermind that she'd already staked out the place before she'd approached Dracothrope... it was the principle of the matter!

::What?:: the dragoness asked, at the same time rearing and swatting her tail away. Mortyrss hissed again when Lha replaced her free hand on the xenodragon's head with a hind foot, but Lha was continuing, ::Dray? True?::

Dracothrope, who was still lined up against the wall and was only beginning to peel herself away, cast a half-wary, half-guilty look in the direction of the spatting pair. "Yeah... it's true." She was thinking of the events in the elevator, if Lha was able to pick up on them. "She said..." Dracothrope paused, remembering the exchange as best she could, "she said that she wanted shelter, and that she'd offer protection and training of all things in exchange for it." Holding her arm again, the humanoid let her anger move her back to the center of the hallway, "not that I wouldn't have agreed to allow her to return with us if she'd just approached us civilly--"

Mortyrss hissed once more, pulling back now in an attempt to free herself. :: If I had approached you civilly, :: she admonished, :: You would not have fully understood my forewarning, little human. ::

Lha, blinking with more then a little confusion, released her grip on the hybrid, allowing the creature to right herself again. She watched warily for a moment, ready to pin the smaller xeno-hybrid if the need arose, but Mortyrss made no move to attack. Still not completely sure about the situation, the white dragoness none-the-less backed into the hallway again, her attention drawn to comforting a still jumpy Fidelan. She watched Dray and the newcomers, ready to intervene again but otherwise unobtrusive. If she wanted to get to the meat of this, she would rather observe the two than grill them for details.

Dray, on the other hand, was more then upset, now that the rush of fear was beginning to wash away from her. "You don't think so, huh?" she retorted, her wing-tines flared and her hands on her hips. "What do you take me for, some slack jawed yokel who can't think for herself?"

:: That's beside the point, :: Mortyrss parried, :: You have never been beset by trouble before, you act like you're invincible, but you can't live in your bubble forever. ::

"Yeah yeah yeah," Dracothrope replied, "You've given this schpeel before. Get to the point."

Mortyrss paused for a moment or two, her grave, alien face unreadable by those gathered before her. :: There is trouble brewing, :: she finally replied. :: Atu is on nearly the edge of the Nexus, as I'm quite certain you've realized. Therefore, it is safest to wait out the trouble here. :: She paused again, baring her fangs still further while Dracothrope and her group watched. Dray felt a tingle of fear run up her spine again, despite her firm resolve to remain skeptical of this maniac... :: Though I doubt that even this backwash planet will be spared. So, :: she swung her head, taking in all four of them. :: I come to you and offer you a warning, as well as an offer to help you protect yourselves. You offer me harbor until the danger is past. That is all I ask. ::

Mortyrss seemed to have a flair for the dramatic and mysterious, and Dray always had been rather easily swayed by emotional speeches... but... "What is this danger, if you're so worked up about it?" she asked, that little hard skeptical lump in the back of her mind taking control.

:: I don't know for certain :: Mortyrss replied, honestly for once. :: I came into contact with it, briefly, through the mindstream, :: She meant the mental communication net that all xenodragons and many of their spinoff hybrids used to stay in touch, :: I don't know how many others of my kind perceived it; it appeared to be connected only dormantly, until I began to pick at it. It wasn't my kind, pure or otherwise, and I sensed tendrils that were not the mindstream connecting it to elsewhere... :: her wings went into a half-mantle as she went over the experience again. :: It was aware of my snooping, whatever it was, and I was not successful in ascertaining its motives, but I'm certain that it's a powerful, dangerous force. And... :: here, even her voice lost a bit of its menace, replaced by a wobble of fear, :: I think it's discovered the Nexus. Thusly no world is safe. ::

"That's quite the story," Dracothrope said, forcing a dry tone to her voice to cover the quiver of doubt. "Alright, so assuming you're right, we need to find out more and to do something with the mass of dragons at the Ranch..." she paused, putting a hand to the chin of her long muzzle, "well, I'd meant to do that anyways. I guess... yeah, it's a deal for now. If this doesn't pan out, at least I'll get those sponsorlings to get their butts in gear. Lha?" She turned to the massive white dragoness, "Let's get another ticket and head home."