Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Soul Calibur. Namco does.
"Hunting prey is more than just attacking. You need to be wait for the right moment to strike and strike quickly," Anne Marie explained.
Tira nodded her head. She began her journey with the black she-cat two days ago. So far, Anne Marie taught her how to hunt for food and what is best to eat in this forest. The wounds on Tira were healing rapidly and didn't seem to bug her as much anymore.
"I'll show you," Anne Marie whispered.
She walked behind a rock, her paw steps soft and quiet as she moved. Once behind the rock, she stopped and crouched low to the ground. Tira watched from behind a near by tree not far from where Anne Marie was.
Anne Marie closed her eyes. She lifted her head up and sniffed the air. She tilted her head back down and her ears perked forward.
Then, she darted frontward and pounced on something Tira couldn't see. Anne Marie trotted over to Tira with the body of a mouse in her jaws. The rodent was hanging limply in the she-cat's mouth.
"Wow!" Tira exclaimed. "You make it look easy!'
Anne Marie dropped the kill onto the ground.
"Since you are bigger than me, you can hunt things such as deer or elk." Anne Marie sat with her tail over her front paws. "But do not try hunting wolves, badgers or bears. Those things can kill you."
Tira rolled her eyes. "I know that already."
"I was just saying," the she-cat purred. "Okay…now I want you to try. Try something small for now, like a rabbit or something."
"Ah man…I wanted to try something bigger than a dumb ol' rabbit," Tira complained.
"This is practice, young one," Anne Marie reminded. "Rabbits are quick so you must be ready to strike as soon as you can."
"Alright! I get it."
Tira crouched down and crawled over to the rock Anne Marie hid behind before. Anne Marie stayed where she was at and observed Tira.
The girl, with her ring blade in hand, sat up onto her knees. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest. A gentle breeze blew and ruffled Tira's hair a little bit. Then her focus paid off and she heard the sound of footsteps, very light footsteps. She opened her eyes and saw a white rabbit with one black ear in front of her. The rabbit had it's back to her. Tira quietly got closer to the animal. It didn't even notice her presence. The girl used her blade and slashed the rabbit's back. The rabbit was alive, but paralyzed. Anne Marie ran towards the paralyzed critter and bit down on its neck. The rabbit fell to the ground and lay dead on the forest floor.
"Hey! I wanted to finish it off!" Tira whined.
Anne Marie let go of the rabbit and looked at Tira with her pale blue eyes.
"You did pretty good. Your stalking and focus abilities are outstanding. But when it comes to making a clean kill, you are not good there."
Tira cocked he head. "Clean kill? What's that?"
Anne Marie chuckled. "It's when you kill a target with an attack that gives off little or hardly any blood. When you are hunting you don't want a lot of blood noticeable. Other predators and scavengers could sniff it out and follow us. Then we have a problem."
She pointed to a blood stain on the grass with her tail. The blood spot was fairly large and looked fresh.
"That's the blood from the rabbit. One slice from that weapon of yours can cause a lot of damage."
Tira looked down at the ground, eyes clouding with disappointment. The black she-cat walked over to the girl and rubbed her head on Tira's leg.
"Cheer up," Anne Marie reassured. "You did good for your first time. You can try again. This time, try to make that your weapon just barely slit the preys throat or their spinal cord. Then, it will either die of paralysis or loss of blood and oxygen."
Tira nodded and went back to the back of the rock. Anne Marie moved to a near by tree and sat behind it, poking her head out a little so she could see Tira. Tira was on her knees. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of nature.
When Tira heard light foot steps, she opened her eyes and saw a brown rabbit, six feet away, eating some grass. She waited till the rabbit turned its back to her. She crawled over to the rabbit without making a single noise. Tira got her weapon ready. The rabbit turned around. Tira quickly slashed the rabbit's throat. The rabbit shrieked and fell to the ground. It took one last gasp for air before it laid lifelessly.
Tira looked at Anne Marie and had a smile on her face.
"Nice kill!" Anne Marie said as she walked over to Tira. Her pale blue eyes sparkled with joy. "You hunted very nicely today. Let us get the kill and eat. I'm starving."
Tira nodded and got the two rabbits. Anne Marie took the mouse that she caught earlier. The two walked into the forest until they saw a nice clearing. The sun beginning to set.
The two spilt the kill evenly. Tira had one of the rabbits, Anne Marie had the mouse and they each had half of the other rabbit.
After the meal, Anne Marie cleaned her paws. Tira was watching the sun set in the sky.
"So..." Anne Marie said snapping Tira out of her daze. "What have you done with your life so far?"
Tira looked at the she-cat, completely caught off guard by her question. Anne Marie was laying on her stomach, her paws slightly in front of her chest. Her pale blue eyes gazing intently at Tira. Tira took a deep breath and began telling her story.
"Ever since I was a child, I have been an assassin,"Tira said looking into Anne Marie's eyes.
Anne Marie eyes widened with curiosity and surprise. "An assassin, eh?"
Tira nodded. "You see, I was with an underground association known as the "Birds of Passage". I was taught how to use my weapon and killed countless people."
Tira paused for a second. "Then...the evil seed rained down and the leader went insane. He died and I was free."
"Were you happy when you found that out?" Anne Marie asked.
Tira shook her head. "I couldn't adjust to being a normal person. I killed the family that took me in. I just couldn't give up killing."
Anne Marie looked deeper into the girl's violet eyes. "Then what?"
"I heard about the Azure Knight, Nightmare. I was overjoyed when I heard about him. I offered myself to him and the evil sword. He accepted."
"Isn't he the guy you ran away from? Why did you escape?"
Tira waited a moment. She looked down at the ground.
"I don't know. I just...it was like something told me to run away."
Anne Marie felt sympathy for the girl. 'She's been through so much...kind of like me.' She thought to herself. 'Maybe we're not so different.'
Tira looked up at Anne Marie, her violet eyes sparkling.
"Tell me. What did you do?" Tira said, excited to learn about Anne Marie's past.
"What?"
"You know...what happened to you when you were a kitten. Like for example, you can tell me how you got that scar on your right eye."
Anne Marie's ears went back and her eyes filled up with a mixture of sadness and anger. Tira was confused by the she-cat's body language.
"I...do not wish to say," Anne Marie said quietly. "My life...is just...very complex."
Tira looked disappointed. 'Ah man! I wanted to hear what happened to her.'
Then, the Gloomy Side's words flashed back and echoed in her ears. 'The cat can not be trusted...'
A breeze blew and Anne Marie's ears perked forward. She sniffed the air and stood up.
"What is it?" Tira asked.
"I smell a town near by," Anne Marie answered. "It will probably have an inn so we won't have to sleep on the hard ground."
Tira cocked her head. "How do you know?"
"The wind carried the scent of a town," Anne Marie replied.
"How far is it?"
"Maybe only a quarter mile. But we need to hurry. Its almost night fall."
Tira nodded and stood up. She picked up her ring blade, which was laying right next to her, and set it on her shoulder.
Anne Marie looked at Tira. The girl nodded at the she-cat. The she-cat nodded back. Then, she-cat looked forward and darted off into the direction of the smell. Tira ran behind Anne Marie until the two reached the town Anne Marie scented.