Tiquail froze, the weight of Ainnya heavy on her back, and twitched her ear. She could have sworn she heard a sound, like something dragging itself through the undergrowth.

Yes, because at the time, that was exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Did you hear anything?" She asked, tilting her head towards Marielle. Marielle shook her head, looking confused. "You do know that I am a human, right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Tiquail growled. "You do know that attitudes make me want to slash throats, right?"

Marielle fell silent. Tiquail pricked her ears, listening harder for the sound of movement. After a minute of silence, she determined that it had only been her imagination.

They trekked for another few minutes before Marielle spoke again. "I'm assuming you're aware of who did this."

Tiquail stopped walking and swallowed a rather sarcastic retort. "Since you've made it a point already that my senses are much more heightened than yours, I don't understand how you could ask such a question." She answered, her voice low enough to convey her annoyance.

Marielle shrugged. "It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And I was saying this because I was wondering if you could tell me."

Tiquail stared at her for a few minutes, then began walking again. "You could have made it a bit clearer." She said.

"But you're considered to be so wise, O' Great Snow Leopard."
"Funny you could be so bold when your fate is hanging in the balance."
"You said you wouldn't be the one to determine my fate."
"Unless this dear cheetah on my back dies, in which case, I will be the one to make that decision."

Marielle twitched, her hand flying toward her belt on instinct.

Tiquail snarled. "I'm sure your dear dagger would do much against such a seasoned fighter." She said sarcastically, her voice cold.

Marielle sighed.

Tiquail took a deep breath. "You certainly know which buttons to push." She hissed, quickening her pace so Marielle practically had to run to keep up.

"I tend to push them on accident, actually." Marielle admitted. Tiquail shrugged. Ainnya's body tilted dangerously on her back. She grit her teeth and awkwardly tried to readjust it.

"Do you want help?" Marielle asked, watching Tiquail struggle. Tiquail grunted. Marielle raised her eyebrows. "What does that mean, exactly?" She asked.

"Help." Tiquail growled. Marielle's facial expression didn't change. She kept her eyebrows raised and assisted Tiquail in readjusting Ainnya's body.

"Thank you." Tiquail muttered. "I can't hear you." Marielle sang.

Tiquail unsheathed her claws.

Marielle cringed. "Okay, okay. I'll stop."

Tiquail sighed again.

They continued to walk in silence. They were halfway over the next hill when Tiquail froze, her ears pricked. She had heard something. A howl.

"Marielle, could you watch Ainnya's body for me?" She asked stiffly. Marielle looked surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Just watch her." Tiquail answered, knocking the cheetah off of her back, crouching low, and taking off in the direction she heard the howl.

She ran through the forest, dodging trees and roots and shrubs. She kept her ears pricked, and heard the howl again, this time much closer.

"Hello?" Tiquail called, her fur bristling. She stopped running for a moment and pricked her ears, straining to hear anything.

There was a weak whimper off to her left. She twitched, her chest heaving.

This couldn't be right. There were no dogs in this part of Trails. Of course, there were dogs in other parts, but they only strayed this way in the case of an emergency.

And this dog was hurt. As the wind began to blow towards her, Tiquail detected the scent of blood. She stiffened.

After a moment of staring in the direction the scent was coming from, the snow leopard gathered her guts and began walking towards the canine in distress. Fear clawed mercilessly at her heart. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

As if she didn't already have enough to worry about, now some stray dog was coming to her for help when she clearly had enough on her paws.

Grunting in frustration, Tiquail crouched low and began to stalk, all of her hunting and fighting instincts kicking in at once. This could easily be a trap, she realized. Another attempt for the dogs to take over the cats.

She growled and poked her head around a bush, catching sight of the dog. It was a Doberman. Her shoulders were heaving and she was laying on the ground, panting. She looked up at Tiquail with huge brown eyes. "Help." She croaked, her voice ragged.

In that moment, Tiquail realized that this was no trap. This was serious. This was real.

She bounded up to the Doberman and noticed an arrow sticking out of her flank. There may have been a piece of paper attached to it at one point, but the shaft was broken and completely shredded.

"Ferago." Tiquail said simply, gently poking at the dog's flank. Ferago let out a small whimper. "Help." She repeated.

Tiquail twitched her ear. "We have a problem, my dear." She said quietly. "You see, Ainnya is already in critical condition, and she needs my attention as well. I'm not quite sure how we are going to do this."

"I can drag myself back." Ferago hacked, feebly attempting to get to her paws.

Tiquail shook her head and pushed the dog down softly with her paw. "No, no. We can't have that either." She paused for a moment, thinking. "It's possible, if you so agree, that I can carry you back to the spot I came from. After that, my human friend...who is not a born Ancient, mind you...can bring you somewhere we can heal you."

Ferago's ears pressed against her head. A look of contempt came over her face, and she sneered slightly, showing off her sharp white teeth. "I suppose...if that is the only option." She agreed stiffly.

Tiquail nodded once. "I hope my human friend can carry you back...she is a bit...ah...weak in the arms, shall we say?"

Ferago growled quietly. Tiquail smirked and shouldered the Doberman onto her wide shoulders, then padded back the way she had come, following her own scent.