"The girl isn't afraid of anything."

A man turned around, his eyes burning furiously. "What do I you mean she's not afraid of anything? Everyone's afraid of something!" He snapped.

A figure, shrouded in shadows, laughed coldly. "Even you, sir?"

The man froze. "Yes," he said eventually. "So obviously she must be afraid of something!" He added determinedly.

The figure shuffled a little in the shadows. "I heard her, sir, talking. I watched her say it. Of course...she does not know..."

The man looked more closely at the figure, his eyes narrowed. "Why don't you come out of the shadows?"

The shadows seemed to move as the figure shrugged. "I suppose that is my business, Alex."

Alex sneered and turned away. There was silence for a moment, the  the figure spoke again.

"She does fear...one thing..." It said slowly.

Alex spun around, his eyes wild. "And what might that thing be?" He asked, speaking so fast that his words almost blended together.

"Well, sir, she fears you."

***

Tiquail trotted along the path to Assero's little hut. She was planning to check in on her cubs...especially Ebony, considering the poor thing had been shot with an arrow. "Tiquail?" A deep voice called. Tiquail stopped in her tracks and turned to look behind her, discovering Shikira, his golden mane glowing in the soft light being emitted by the sun.

"Hello, Shikira." Tiquail said slowly. "And might I ask what you are doing here?"

Shikira shrugged. "You already have, haven't you? Even though I am greatly offended by this question, I figure that I should answer it." He said. Tiquail lashed her tail once. "I can't see why you would be even remotely insulted by this." She growled.

Shikira laughed. "But of course you can't! You were not asked the question, now we're you?"

Tiquail sneered. His tone was infuriating and ingaging at the same time, and though she found it hard to be angry, she did not find it hard to be rather annoyed. "Why don't you just answer the question and we can go on our separate ways?"

Shikira dipped his head. "Gladly, my dear. And I hope by separate ways you only mean for now?"

"And what does it matter to you?" Tiquail growled. Shikira seemed to grin. "Everything, my prissy little kitty."

Tiquail stared at him, blue fire snapping in her eyes. Shikira stared back, his eyes mocking.

Tiquail unsheathed her claws and held them an inch in front of Shikira's face. She glared at him coldly. "You know what these are, I assume." She said. Shikira's eyes flew from her claws to her face, though he didn't look remotely worried.

"I believe, my dear, that they are claws." He said calmly. Tiquail bared her teeth. "You're not finished with the description yet." She growled.

When Shikira continued to stare at her blankly, she finished for him. "They are claws that I can use to rip out your throat."

Shikira let out a shout of laughter. "That might not be a very good idea, my dear." He informed her. "It might be better for you to listen to what I have to say."

"Well, since it's taking you so long to say it, I get the feeling that it's not very important." Tiquail hissed, sheathing her claws.

"Well, once you hear it, your mind might be changed." Shikira purred smoothly.

"Just. Say. It." Tiquail growled through gritted teeth. Shikira opened his mouth to mock her more, or so that's what he thought he would be doing.

Instead, Tiquail unsheathed her claws again and slashed them across his muzzle. Blood spattered the bright cobblestone street.

Shikira turned to look at her, his eyes glowing with respect. "I'll admit, I didn't expect you to do it." He said calmly, using his tongue to lick some of the blood off of his muzzle.

"Don't underestimate me." Tiquail replied, sitting down and licking the blood from between her claws. Shikira shrugged. "Noted, my dear. Now, if I may proceed to explain to you why I have shown myself in the first place..." He paused, a devious gleam appearing in his green eyes. "It may surprise you to learn that it wasn't to get my whiskers torn off my face."

***

"Sparrow, I think I should try teaching you how to fight without a dagger now." Tony said, trekking up a hill with Sparrow trailing behind him.

"Why?" Sparrow asked, jogging to catch up. Tony looked over his shoulder and shrugged, his brown hair falling over his green eyes. "Because it's better to know than not to know."

Sparrow's mouth twisted into a frown. "I'm always going to have my dagger with me." She pointed out.

Tony looked forward again. "Yeah, that's what I thought too." He said quietly.

Sparrow stared at the back of his messy head. "What's that supposed to mean?" She questioned after a moment of silence.

Tony stopped walking. Sparrow ran into him and stumbled backwards. He flung out a hand and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She shot him an embarrassed smile, regained her balance, and shook off his hand, her cheeks going red.

Tony looked at the ground for a moment. "Do you want to see what happens when you barely know how to fight and you're caught unarmed?" He asked quietly, looking up again.

Sparrow tilted her head. "I mean...not if it troubles you..." She said, even though she was incredibly curious.

Tony laughed bitterly. "It's always going to trouble me, Sparrow, so I suppose I might as well embrace it...even though it's rather embarrassing." He added slowly.

Sparrow watched him lift up his shirt slightly. She let out a gasp of horror as she saw what was hidden there; a scar. A scar that was once obviously a deep wound.

Tony looked at it for a moment before turning his green gaze upon her purple-blue eyes. "Horrible, isn't it?"

Sparrow nodded vigorously. Tony smiled slightly and pulled his shirt down again.

"So now, I'm assuming, you see the importance of knowing to fight?" He asked. Sparrow nodded again.

Tony turned around to continue up the hill. "That's good, Stripes, because I don't want this to happen to you."