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Description

For Alukard's assignment, he was to meet a new member of the BHs. Echidna isn't the NEWest...but she's still fairly new. So there's that.

16 EP (assignment art), + 10 EP (2,601 RP words) = 26 EP to Alukard

10 EP to Echidna

Echidna © Scorpio1995
Alukard © OneLifeRemaining

Art Replay: colorslive.com/details/2330210

Echidna
Is this the place?
She can't be too sure, the only coliseum that she ever set paw in would have cheering crowds and fellow gladiators, both friend and foe alike. But this one is different. Smaller, more quiet, more barren. It's different enough to be alien and unnerving.

Echidna the leopard, set out by her Master as he works on more commissions, peeks into the arena. Both her eyes widen and one working nostril flare to get as much sight and scent possible, since the silence is almost as deafening as applause.

Alukard
Alukard was training hard. Since he had been released from his re-training in the arena fighting for his life, he refused to let himself slack off now, when he was so close to becoming a full hunter. Along one wall of the training coliseum, ledges stuck out. Alukard pushed himself to leap fearlessly from one ledge to the next. Once upon a time, he had been afraid of heights. Now though, he was brave enough to face them.

He clenched his teeth and drew a breath, pushing off the ledge with powerful back legs and grabbing up at the next one with even stronger arms. He pulled himself up and paused to take a breather. He was about half way up the wall now.

Echidna
The round eyes had spot the moving bright orange against the more pale cream stone. It's a cat! But which one? It looks stripy from this distance. But it also looks like it's clambering along provided ledges. Is it a captured cat that's using this arena as a means of escape?

Better go find out. The leopard paces over to the older feline.
"Hello!" she exclaims, now having to crane her head up. The back buckle of her leather collar digging into her back.

Alukard
Alukard was readying himself to leap again when a voice called from below. He peered down from the ledge to see who had spoken. Leopard. Female. Alukard sighed. I suppose I can take a break. He decided. He turned from the higher ledge and leaped down to a lower one. He descended further until he was a couple lion lengths from the coliseum floor. He sat and looked down at the other feline.

"Good after-morning." He nodded curtly to the stranger. "What brings you to disturb my training?"

Echidna
Echidna steps back for the arriving tiger, excited on the new face. She hasn't seen him before, particularly in the Coliseum fights. But he certainly proves he's no pushover, being able to scale the wall with ease. Is this cat annoyed? Sounds so, let's find out further.

"Good after-morning!" The leopard answers with zeal. "Sorry for the disturbing. Is this the place to train in?"

Alukard
Alukard nodded again to the newcomer's question. "Indeed it is." He confirmed. "This is the training coliseum. All the obstacles and training objects in this arena are free to be used by hunters and hunter apprentices." The older tiger paused, slightly curious if he was right on his hunch of her being an apprentice. "I assume you are one or the other?"

Echidna
"Yep! I'm an apprentice." Echidna nods, almost too harshly. "Are you a Bounty Hunter? What's your name?" The younger feline couldn't help it, this is one of the very few cases she can interact with another who is not her father, Master, nor a hostility who would want to claw her a new cleft.

Alukard
Alukard flicked his ear. She reminded him of another young apprentice...a younger version of himself, when he had first joined the hunters.

"Alukard." The muscular tiger answered, and with a single bound, leapt from his ledge to the arena floor, causing little puffs of dirt to be cast up by his paws. He shook his pelt. "I'll be a full hunter soon."

Echidna
"Th-That's a great name!" Echidna gasped out as she staggered back from the landing tiger. "It looks like you're already a Hunter! That's so cool!"
Although, the leopard had to look away to cough out the intruding dust from her ever-open jaws.

Alukard
The tiger shrugged in response to the younger feline's excitement. "It's what I was born for," He stated simply, then added. "And you, too." He couldn't find it in him to crush her joy in any way, as others had done to him when he had been like her.

"So what do they call you?" He asked, wondering what this leopardess' name was.

Echidna
"I am?" She ponders aloud. Well, her father is an experienced gladiator, yet he had never shown any interest of Bounty Hunting. Not sure why. But, upon the question, "They call me Echidna. Master said my name's the brother of bonkers!" Her tail lashes side to side as she paws the ground, almost unable to keep it all in.

Alukard
Alukard wasn't sure what the leopard meant by what she said about her name, but cocked an eyebrow at her excitement. "Well, Echidna, since you seem to have energy to spare, how about we do a little training?" The tiger suggested. Let's see what you've got.

Echidna
Right now? But he's a big veteran tiger, definitely showing the scars to prove it. Then again, would he teach her something new?

Echidna raises her hackles. "Why not?" She growls, happy for a challenge, yet the claws had not been let out.

Alukard
"Alright!" Alukard lashed his tail, and bounded off towards the center of the arena to get away from the wall. "Begin when you're ready." He called.

Echidna
No sooner as the word "ready" leaves Alukard's jaws, Echidna stalks over to the tiger. Pupils contracted, jaws clenched in a hushed focus. She's silently giving the rival the first move, as she always had done during her short Coliseum career.

Alukard
Alukard waited patiently for Echidna's attack. She was taking her time it seemed, so Alukard began to circle her, sizing up her strengths and weaknesses while he waited for her first move.

Echidna
He's playing the waiting game as well. Echidna lets out another husky growl as she circles with Alukard. A few more paces, then she suddenly lashes out at the tiger's hind legs with unsheathed paws. The studs on the braces just about to reach the orange fur.

Alukard
Alukard leaped forward to avoid her strike, feeling her claws or armor brush through the fur on his hind legs. The tiger turned with a snarl to attack the leopard with outstretched arms and naturally extended claws.

Echidna
Echidna had leaped coincidentally enough, yet she kicked her legs too far back and felt the sting of tiger claws. She rears up to grab at the orange mass, this time with no claws of her own.

Alukard
Damn! Alukard thought with frustration as the jaguar leaped from his path, leaving him with only a little bit of her fur between his claws. At the corner of his vision he saw her rear up to attack him. He would have had just enough time to dodge the attack, but rather decided to hold his ground and let the jaguar's attack land. He was interested to see what she would do once she thought she had him.

Echidna
He's standing his own instead of dodging again. Good! Echidna thrusts, with all of her force, with paw pads the Alukard's ribs, to knock him to the ground. It's similar to kneeing someone in the spleen.

Alukard
Alukard braced himself for impact, and a moment later the smaller cat rushed into his side in an attempt to knock him off his feet. Although it left him slightly winded, Alukard had size and weight on the younger apprentice.

Alukard leaped head first at the leopard who was recovering from her own attack, aiming a headbutt at her shoulder.

Echidna
The leopardess did get headbutted, but sidesteps and regains composure quickly. The tail lashing and jaws panting, she halts and faces the tiger head-on once more. In some of the Coliseum fights, the foe would be at least winded longer than Alukard had been. What can she do?

Alukard
Alukard half hadn't expected his headbutt attack to hit, and so was ready when Echidna sidestepped. He turned the headbutt into a somersault and popped back up on his feet to face the leopard. She was already wearing out, Alukard realized by her breathing. He wasn’t quiet to that point, although his heart had begun to beat harder. While they took pause, Alukard let out a breath.

"Not too bad, for a new apprentice," He smirked, fangs glinting.

Echidna
The leopard is panting due to her compromised nose more than exhaustion, but her shoulder can still feel the headbutt. She gazed in wonder on the somersault.
"W-Woah!" She gasps, collapsing into a sit. "How did you do that? Do they teach you that as a Hunter?" She then briefly licks her front paws. What was that tiger made of? Rock? He was certainly beyond her in skills, that's probably why she never saw him before in the Coliseum.

Alukard
Seeing the leopard apprentice sit, Alukard realized their tussle was over. He shook his pelt to make his fur lie down flat again and shake off some dirt, then sat. "You'll learn all the cool moves eventually." He promised, and licked a paw. He caught her eye. "Some of them you'll learn on your own."

Echidna
Imagine that! Being able to do backflips and shatter muscle with a well aimed he- oh, wait. That bulge. Nevermind. But still, that backflip! And is he implying there are even more? What is there to learn?
But that doesn't mean she's completely clueless, and she wants to show something off.
"Mister Alucard? Can some moves from the Coliseums can be used here as well?" Echidna pipes up. "It's that I'm more used to cats aiming for my face. They always aim for my face."

Alukard
Alukard stopped licking his paw and naturally, glanced at her face. There was a tear on her lip that left a deep scar; apparently he wasn’t the only one here with abnormal mouth problems. But at her question he let out a chuckle. "You fight to stay alive. You fight how you train. Thus, when you train, wherever you are, you may use whatever methods you need to in order to win. As bounty hunters, that's our goal. Win." He paused. "Granted, you should always keep in mind who you're fighting. If you're training with one of our own, you'd better not break any bones. Not unless you want to be on Captured cleanup duty for a month." He smirked. The cages where the captured empire cats were held were rarely cleaned, and usually only ever by a human. But humans always had a trusted feline with them when around such rouge cats. And whatever hunter had to go with that human was sure to have a bad day, being spat on and defiled by the empire cats in their cages...And of course, with a human there, there would be nothing an angry hunter would be allowed to do to the captured cats in retaliation.

Echidna
Echidna listens with pricked up ears. To win, sounds simple enough. At least those painful months in the Coliseum would count as some experience.
"They break our bones!?" she wailed. Are there more rock-like cats like Alukard? "And we get sent to clean up captured cats? What do we do to them that causes such a mess?"
But the leopardess does know that those captured cats have their hearts to their wild Empires, and that is where they came from.

Alukard
Alukard met Echidna's eyes with a serious face. "Our enemies will stop at nothing to protect themselves. If they have to seriously injure us or kill us, they won't hesitate to. The life of a hunter isn't an easy one. But it's rewarding if you're strong enough to survive it." He paused to let the feline ask another question.
"The captured cats live in their own filth now. Every once in a while their cages need to be cleaned out to avoid them contracting illnesses that can be passed to humans and hunters alike. I'll warn you now, it's no fun time."

Echidna
"No fun time, got it." The younger cat nods. She kneads at the sand, claws barely peeking out from the paws. Yet her exposed teeth are sore already from the brisk winter air. "Mister Alucard? If our enemies protect themselves, and so do we; what should we do if there's a bit where we can't protect? Like a gap in the armour?"

Alukard
The tiger sighed and laid down on his stomach. He was starting to feel as if he were this apprentice's mentor. "Well, if your armor doesn't protect all of you, you have to learn what parts need the most protecting. You learn how to pay attention while fighting to make sure you don't expose those places." He paused, thinking of an example that might better explain what he meant. "Like, you naturally wouldn't want to expose your stomach while fighting, right? When you wear your armor, an opponent will always aim blows for places where you are exposed. So you get hit there more often. Eventually- probably after getting too many wounds in the same places- protecting those weak spots while you fight becomes second nature. Does that make sense?"

Echidna
"It does, sir!" Echidna huffs out, kneading even the air. "It's like defense in some parts, and offence in others. Like those shields Master sometimes make. He puts a spike at the centre while curls the rims, so it's stabby at the centre as offensive and defensive at the edges!"

Alukard
Alukard nodded. "Exactly. Is your Master a blacksmith?"

Echidna
"He has done blacksmith things, yes. But he makes mostly pots, though." Echidna nods. "Pots that tell stories."

Alukard
Alukard nodded. He was aware that humans loved story telling about as much as feline cubs did. "Cool." He stated simply, and the talk of masters reminded Alu to look up at the sky to check the time. The sun was farther along than he would have expected, and he did have somewhere to be. He got to his paws and shook off any remaining dirt from his pelt. "Well," He said with a breath, readying himself to leave the training coliseum. "It's been nice meeting you and all, but my master will be wondering what's become of me."

Echidna
Echidna followed the tiger's gaze to the sky. It's that time already?! It certainly doesn't feel like it.
She then makes a hurried bow, nearly whacking her own maw against the ground. "Yes, sir! It's been great to spar and talk with you, mister Alukard!" And he was right, both of their masters would be worried. "I hope we get to meet again!" she cries enthusiastically as she races out of the coliseum, on the way back to the more familiar villa. That first trip to the training ring hasn't been bad at all, and has already learned so much!

Alukard
"Hmm" Alukard nodded to her bow; a respectful gesture he wasn't used to receiving. Before the tiger could say another word, the apprentice had raced out of the coliseum. He shook his head lightly and followed behind a bit more slowly. The apprentice had a lot to learn yet, but with her enthusiasm that was so much like his when he had been her age...He knew she wouldn't have much problem fitting into the Bounty Hunter's ranks.

The brightly colored tiger stepped out of the arena, shadows consuming his fur as he headed home. In the sky, the sun was nearing the horizon; it would start to get dark soon, and the sun would set again on another day in the city of Massilia.

Description

For Alukard's assignment, he was to meet a new member of the BHs. Echidna isn't the NEWest...but she's still fairly new. So there's that.

16 EP (assignment art), + 10 EP (2,601 RP words) = 26 EP to Alukard

10 EP to Echidna

Echidna © Scorpio1995
Alukard © OneLifeRemaining

Art Replay: colorslive.com/details/2330210

Echidna
Is this the place?
She can't be too sure, the only coliseum that she ever set paw in would have cheering crowds and fellow gladiators, both friend and foe alike. But this one is different. Smaller, more quiet, more barren. It's different enough to be alien and unnerving.

Echidna the leopard, set out by her Master as he works on more commissions, peeks into the arena. Both her eyes widen and one working nostril flare to get as much sight and scent possible, since the silence is almost as deafening as applause.

Alukard
Alukard was training hard. Since he had been released from his re-training in the arena fighting for his life, he refused to let himself slack off now, when he was so close to becoming a full hunter. Along one wall of the training coliseum, ledges stuck out. Alukard pushed himself to leap fearlessly from one ledge to the next. Once upon a time, he had been afraid of heights. Now though, he was brave enough to face them.

He clenched his teeth and drew a breath, pushing off the ledge with powerful back legs and grabbing up at the next one with even stronger arms. He pulled himself up and paused to take a breather. He was about half way up the wall now.

Echidna
The round eyes had spot the moving bright orange against the more pale cream stone. It's a cat! But which one? It looks stripy from this distance. But it also looks like it's clambering along provided ledges. Is it a captured cat that's using this arena as a means of escape?

Better go find out. The leopard paces over to the older feline.
"Hello!" she exclaims, now having to crane her head up. The back buckle of her leather collar digging into her back.

Alukard
Alukard was readying himself to leap again when a voice called from below. He peered down from the ledge to see who had spoken. Leopard. Female. Alukard sighed. I suppose I can take a break. He decided. He turned from the higher ledge and leaped down to a lower one. He descended further until he was a couple lion lengths from the coliseum floor. He sat and looked down at the other feline.

"Good after-morning." He nodded curtly to the stranger. "What brings you to disturb my training?"

Echidna
Echidna steps back for the arriving tiger, excited on the new face. She hasn't seen him before, particularly in the Coliseum fights. But he certainly proves he's no pushover, being able to scale the wall with ease. Is this cat annoyed? Sounds so, let's find out further.

"Good after-morning!" The leopard answers with zeal. "Sorry for the disturbing. Is this the place to train in?"

Alukard
Alukard nodded again to the newcomer's question. "Indeed it is." He confirmed. "This is the training coliseum. All the obstacles and training objects in this arena are free to be used by hunters and hunter apprentices." The older tiger paused, slightly curious if he was right on his hunch of her being an apprentice. "I assume you are one or the other?"

Echidna
"Yep! I'm an apprentice." Echidna nods, almost too harshly. "Are you a Bounty Hunter? What's your name?" The younger feline couldn't help it, this is one of the very few cases she can interact with another who is not her father, Master, nor a hostility who would want to claw her a new cleft.

Alukard
Alukard flicked his ear. She reminded him of another young apprentice...a younger version of himself, when he had first joined the hunters.

"Alukard." The muscular tiger answered, and with a single bound, leapt from his ledge to the arena floor, causing little puffs of dirt to be cast up by his paws. He shook his pelt. "I'll be a full hunter soon."

Echidna
"Th-That's a great name!" Echidna gasped out as she staggered back from the landing tiger. "It looks like you're already a Hunter! That's so cool!"
Although, the leopard had to look away to cough out the intruding dust from her ever-open jaws.

Alukard
The tiger shrugged in response to the younger feline's excitement. "It's what I was born for," He stated simply, then added. "And you, too." He couldn't find it in him to crush her joy in any way, as others had done to him when he had been like her.

"So what do they call you?" He asked, wondering what this leopardess' name was.

Echidna
"I am?" She ponders aloud. Well, her father is an experienced gladiator, yet he had never shown any interest of Bounty Hunting. Not sure why. But, upon the question, "They call me Echidna. Master said my name's the brother of bonkers!" Her tail lashes side to side as she paws the ground, almost unable to keep it all in.

Alukard
Alukard wasn't sure what the leopard meant by what she said about her name, but cocked an eyebrow at her excitement. "Well, Echidna, since you seem to have energy to spare, how about we do a little training?" The tiger suggested. Let's see what you've got.

Echidna
Right now? But he's a big veteran tiger, definitely showing the scars to prove it. Then again, would he teach her something new?

Echidna raises her hackles. "Why not?" She growls, happy for a challenge, yet the claws had not been let out.

Alukard
"Alright!" Alukard lashed his tail, and bounded off towards the center of the arena to get away from the wall. "Begin when you're ready." He called.

Echidna
No sooner as the word "ready" leaves Alukard's jaws, Echidna stalks over to the tiger. Pupils contracted, jaws clenched in a hushed focus. She's silently giving the rival the first move, as she always had done during her short Coliseum career.

Alukard
Alukard waited patiently for Echidna's attack. She was taking her time it seemed, so Alukard began to circle her, sizing up her strengths and weaknesses while he waited for her first move.

Echidna
He's playing the waiting game as well. Echidna lets out another husky growl as she circles with Alukard. A few more paces, then she suddenly lashes out at the tiger's hind legs with unsheathed paws. The studs on the braces just about to reach the orange fur.

Alukard
Alukard leaped forward to avoid her strike, feeling her claws or armor brush through the fur on his hind legs. The tiger turned with a snarl to attack the leopard with outstretched arms and naturally extended claws.

Echidna
Echidna had leaped coincidentally enough, yet she kicked her legs too far back and felt the sting of tiger claws. She rears up to grab at the orange mass, this time with no claws of her own.

Alukard
Damn! Alukard thought with frustration as the jaguar leaped from his path, leaving him with only a little bit of her fur between his claws. At the corner of his vision he saw her rear up to attack him. He would have had just enough time to dodge the attack, but rather decided to hold his ground and let the jaguar's attack land. He was interested to see what she would do once she thought she had him.

Echidna
He's standing his own instead of dodging again. Good! Echidna thrusts, with all of her force, with paw pads the Alukard's ribs, to knock him to the ground. It's similar to kneeing someone in the spleen.

Alukard
Alukard braced himself for impact, and a moment later the smaller cat rushed into his side in an attempt to knock him off his feet. Although it left him slightly winded, Alukard had size and weight on the younger apprentice.

Alukard leaped head first at the leopard who was recovering from her own attack, aiming a headbutt at her shoulder.

Echidna
The leopardess did get headbutted, but sidesteps and regains composure quickly. The tail lashing and jaws panting, she halts and faces the tiger head-on once more. In some of the Coliseum fights, the foe would be at least winded longer than Alukard had been. What can she do?

Alukard
Alukard half hadn't expected his headbutt attack to hit, and so was ready when Echidna sidestepped. He turned the headbutt into a somersault and popped back up on his feet to face the leopard. She was already wearing out, Alukard realized by her breathing. He wasn’t quiet to that point, although his heart had begun to beat harder. While they took pause, Alukard let out a breath.

"Not too bad, for a new apprentice," He smirked, fangs glinting.

Echidna
The leopard is panting due to her compromised nose more than exhaustion, but her shoulder can still feel the headbutt. She gazed in wonder on the somersault.
"W-Woah!" She gasps, collapsing into a sit. "How did you do that? Do they teach you that as a Hunter?" She then briefly licks her front paws. What was that tiger made of? Rock? He was certainly beyond her in skills, that's probably why she never saw him before in the Coliseum.

Alukard
Seeing the leopard apprentice sit, Alukard realized their tussle was over. He shook his pelt to make his fur lie down flat again and shake off some dirt, then sat. "You'll learn all the cool moves eventually." He promised, and licked a paw. He caught her eye. "Some of them you'll learn on your own."

Echidna
Imagine that! Being able to do backflips and shatter muscle with a well aimed he- oh, wait. That bulge. Nevermind. But still, that backflip! And is he implying there are even more? What is there to learn?
But that doesn't mean she's completely clueless, and she wants to show something off.
"Mister Alucard? Can some moves from the Coliseums can be used here as well?" Echidna pipes up. "It's that I'm more used to cats aiming for my face. They always aim for my face."

Alukard
Alukard stopped licking his paw and naturally, glanced at her face. There was a tear on her lip that left a deep scar; apparently he wasn’t the only one here with abnormal mouth problems. But at her question he let out a chuckle. "You fight to stay alive. You fight how you train. Thus, when you train, wherever you are, you may use whatever methods you need to in order to win. As bounty hunters, that's our goal. Win." He paused. "Granted, you should always keep in mind who you're fighting. If you're training with one of our own, you'd better not break any bones. Not unless you want to be on Captured cleanup duty for a month." He smirked. The cages where the captured empire cats were held were rarely cleaned, and usually only ever by a human. But humans always had a trusted feline with them when around such rouge cats. And whatever hunter had to go with that human was sure to have a bad day, being spat on and defiled by the empire cats in their cages...And of course, with a human there, there would be nothing an angry hunter would be allowed to do to the captured cats in retaliation.

Echidna
Echidna listens with pricked up ears. To win, sounds simple enough. At least those painful months in the Coliseum would count as some experience.
"They break our bones!?" she wailed. Are there more rock-like cats like Alukard? "And we get sent to clean up captured cats? What do we do to them that causes such a mess?"
But the leopardess does know that those captured cats have their hearts to their wild Empires, and that is where they came from.

Alukard
Alukard met Echidna's eyes with a serious face. "Our enemies will stop at nothing to protect themselves. If they have to seriously injure us or kill us, they won't hesitate to. The life of a hunter isn't an easy one. But it's rewarding if you're strong enough to survive it." He paused to let the feline ask another question.
"The captured cats live in their own filth now. Every once in a while their cages need to be cleaned out to avoid them contracting illnesses that can be passed to humans and hunters alike. I'll warn you now, it's no fun time."

Echidna
"No fun time, got it." The younger cat nods. She kneads at the sand, claws barely peeking out from the paws. Yet her exposed teeth are sore already from the brisk winter air. "Mister Alucard? If our enemies protect themselves, and so do we; what should we do if there's a bit where we can't protect? Like a gap in the armour?"

Alukard
The tiger sighed and laid down on his stomach. He was starting to feel as if he were this apprentice's mentor. "Well, if your armor doesn't protect all of you, you have to learn what parts need the most protecting. You learn how to pay attention while fighting to make sure you don't expose those places." He paused, thinking of an example that might better explain what he meant. "Like, you naturally wouldn't want to expose your stomach while fighting, right? When you wear your armor, an opponent will always aim blows for places where you are exposed. So you get hit there more often. Eventually- probably after getting too many wounds in the same places- protecting those weak spots while you fight becomes second nature. Does that make sense?"

Echidna
"It does, sir!" Echidna huffs out, kneading even the air. "It's like defense in some parts, and offence in others. Like those shields Master sometimes make. He puts a spike at the centre while curls the rims, so it's stabby at the centre as offensive and defensive at the edges!"

Alukard
Alukard nodded. "Exactly. Is your Master a blacksmith?"

Echidna
"He has done blacksmith things, yes. But he makes mostly pots, though." Echidna nods. "Pots that tell stories."

Alukard
Alukard nodded. He was aware that humans loved story telling about as much as feline cubs did. "Cool." He stated simply, and the talk of masters reminded Alu to look up at the sky to check the time. The sun was farther along than he would have expected, and he did have somewhere to be. He got to his paws and shook off any remaining dirt from his pelt. "Well," He said with a breath, readying himself to leave the training coliseum. "It's been nice meeting you and all, but my master will be wondering what's become of me."

Echidna
Echidna followed the tiger's gaze to the sky. It's that time already?! It certainly doesn't feel like it.
She then makes a hurried bow, nearly whacking her own maw against the ground. "Yes, sir! It's been great to spar and talk with you, mister Alukard!" And he was right, both of their masters would be worried. "I hope we get to meet again!" she cries enthusiastically as she races out of the coliseum, on the way back to the more familiar villa. That first trip to the training ring hasn't been bad at all, and has already learned so much!

Alukard
"Hmm" Alukard nodded to her bow; a respectful gesture he wasn't used to receiving. Before the tiger could say another word, the apprentice had raced out of the coliseum. He shook his head lightly and followed behind a bit more slowly. The apprentice had a lot to learn yet, but with her enthusiasm that was so much like his when he had been her age...He knew she wouldn't have much problem fitting into the Bounty Hunter's ranks.

The brightly colored tiger stepped out of the arena, shadows consuming his fur as he headed home. In the sky, the sun was nearing the horizon; it would start to get dark soon, and the sun would set again on another day in the city of Massilia.