ORIGIN

Monoceros wasn't far away which meant her two bodyguards weren't either. She felt so much more confident about everything with those two around, she loved it! Being able to have huge creatures to watch out for her whenever she needed was the most perfect thing ever. So, as she roamed the tunnel collecting bits of this and pieces of that she had a pep to her step.

The vixen stumbled across a shiny metal something or other, a broken piece of sword it looked like. How wonderful! She could take this back with her to her little den and use it as a mirror. Right now the vixen peered at herself in the thing, eyeing her reflecting and admiring it. Boy, she was absolutely gorgeous! The perfect specimen of mongoose! Fang gave one of her most gorgeous grins which exposed that diamond fang of hers, it glimmered pink in the little mirror that she held up. Making her feel all the more pretty. Pink was a gorgeous color and she made it look all the more better. But... What was this?

She opened her mouth wider to see all of her fangs better. There appeared to be a piece of bug stuck between her diamond fang and her other teeth. Why had no one told her of this? The queen shouldn't be walking around with bug in her teeth! In annoyance she used one claw to pick at the tooth while she used the other to hold the mirror up so that she could see herself better while she worked on removing the offending item.

---

The cub moved through Tunnel J. By this time, his injured limb had healed up and was good as new. This meant that he was ready to do more exploring! Having remained discontent with leaving this place as it was, Usui was keen to travel here and his pace was quick at the moment, tail swishing out behind him. Occasionally, the cub gave a growl or a snarl, and let his voice echo back to him. It delighted the boy that he had grown a little in his tone. No longer was he the pipsqueak which had just emerged from its chrysalis.

Moving closer to the walls now, the boy cast his pale green eyes onto the walls of the tunnel. The same unfamiliar monsters loomed over him and brought about a sense of dejavu. He wondered if he would be able to get more pieces of armour here. Although they were broken, he might have been able to craft some things. Unfortunately, the boy had not brought his satchel along for fear that the raptors might come after him and it would weigh him down. All that he had was his bare body and limbs trotting along. At most, a set of teeth to grip onto some abandoned piece to haul back.

Not taking his chances, Usui cast his magic outward to sense if anyone was there. This time, he tried to project his magic towards the shadowy areas as well. Immediately, he sensed the presence of another. It was shiny, glittery and pink. The boy picked his way over the armour and saw a little brown mongoose – looking like the fisher cat but different – looking at herself vainly in the mirror. With a scoff, Usui spoke to her. "Admirin’ y’self?” Rogue, boyish tones rang out.

While she had been looking at herself in the makeshift mirror the vixen's magic had bubbled out from her, enhancing her eyesight and hearing. The pulse of a heart came beating back at her, letting her know that someone was nearby. A quick flick of her eyes let her know that a lion was approaching but she feigned indifference, not taking her eyes from the mirror until he neared. Besides, the leg was still in between her fangs. It would look distasteful if she was talking to a newcomer with that sort of thing in her teeth.

Finally, she speared it with her claw and was able to flick it away. Perfect! Her teeth were as good as new... more or less. The vixen said nothing at first, opting to let the boy talk first. When his young voice finally called out to her the mongoose gave a laugh before lowering her little mirror down and giving him a roguish look. "'A course, why wouldn't I be? When ya got looks like mine it's hard not t'admire 'em." With that she gave a sly wink and a toss of her forelock before turning fully to him. Mirror sat down in front of her so she wouldn't forget it when she left later. "Have ya ever stopped t'look at yourself in a mirror? Might like what ya see. I know I do... Could try the color myself." A flirtatious grin accompanied a slow color change from her reddish color to that of a paler one not unlike Usui's. "Just kiddin' around. I had a bit 'a bug stuck in my fangs. Had to get it out and couldn't do that without lookin' at myself first." She admitted truthfully. The vixen wanted to test the waters first, see how he reacted to her "joke". She even dropped the color change and returned to her original reddish hue.

"What's your name, Fluffy?" She asked. Fang always liked to ask for other's names first. It gave her a chance to give her own fancier one last.

---

The boy was astonished as the girl blatantly flirted with him. He felt a bulge in his throat and gulped, suddenly unaware of what to do with his oversized paws and tufts of fur. Was she…complimenting him? He flicked his tail uneasily, not sure how to respond to her words. The mongoose seemed to gloss over his flustered features though and rattled on about his colour. The boy lifted his paw to look at it, observing how the light cream hairs came up in fluffy tufts between his claws. He then shifted his paw away and lifted his head to look at the girl. She was his shade now! Usui muttered a "Oh wow,” not really certain he was going to compliment her since her reddish shade suited her better…somehow. He did not need a clone of himself.

"Ahhh…” he murmured sympathetically as she explained her previous actions. Well, it did make sense! No creature was so vain, right? With a chuckle, the boy would walk closed to the mongoose and tilt his head and flash his little teeth cordially. "Name’s Usui, ‘ts yours?” She seemed a rather fluffy thing, and he quite liked her, appearance-wise at least. Then, he sniffed around the room and decided to try his luck. Maybe, he might be able to gift her a little trinket as a token of…acknowledgement?

The boy concentrated his magic and the black jade cuff on his ear glowed a ghastly shade of black. He felt the pressure mount on all sides of him and some metal substances react to his will. Immediately, the boy dropped his control over the ones he perceived to be weaker and rustier, while increasing his hold on the good, shiny ones. Then, he pulled them all towards him. Bits of armour rushed from his vicinity and zoned in on the boy, clamping down onto his forehead, shoulders, feet and rump. It was in essence an armour of sorts. Usui grinned at the mongoose, then let go of his magic. It had taken its toll, and he felt a sudden loss of energy. Gathered around him were the following metal:

- A not so shiny “headpiece” for Usui’s forehead

- A couple of heavy metal bands to clamp around his legs

- One shiny metal arrowhead similar to the one Usui had already found from his previous exploits.

The boy looked at the mongoose, then gestured with his paw. "Be my guest, take what y’ like. A present.” He didn’t mind giving the smaller creature a small gift, it would have been selfish not to share. He grinned at her a boyish grin and waited for her to pick out what she liked and could carry home.

Fang watched with amusement to his reaction at her blatant flirting. The little guy was apparently shy of such actions, eh? How funny. She'd have to get him even more flustered to see what funny things he did or said. He even seemed astonished at her color change... Perfect! That's exactly what she wanted. Astonishment, amazement, flustered... All beautiful emotions and perfect ones to have when dealing with a queen like herself.

The boy stepped closer and the mongoose was able to get an even better look at him. A lion. That seemed like the right word, with tufts of fur growing around his neck and head area. It was even more than her own fluffy forelock and thick fur. Amazing and pretty in its own right. "Usui, eh? What a strong sounding name..." And she was at it again. Flirting again to see his reaction and for the sheer amusement of the action. "I go by Queen Fang since, y'know, I'm actually the Queen of Thieves." She looked up at him with her molten silver eyes, waiting to see his reaction to the fact that he was talking to royalty. Self-proclaimed royalty but still royalty all the same. After all, how many thieves were there in Origin? Not many that she had seen or heard of so apparently she had the right to call herself the queen. Especially when she was working on building her forces.

The little mongoose shook her head then, a grin playing upon her features. "Nah, ya know what, Mr. Fluffy-- ah, Usui. You can just call me Fang rather than 'Queen' Fang 'cause I think you're so cute." The little feliform giggled briefly before she noticed something. His gem... It was glowing with a strange darker color. It was then that she heard the sound of metal approaching. What was he doing? The mongoose's eyes glanced fearfully around them. Even though she tried to hide it by being bold and snarky the mongoose was actually afraid of a lot of things. The sound of metal coming towards them nearly had her snatched up the broken sword piece and hightailing it out of there but she stayed. Why? Perhaps curiosity because the lion hadn't seemed malevolent before so why should he hurt her now?

Her courage paid off because the metal that clamped onto the boy was armor which he promptly let fall to the ground with a clatter. Fang looked distinctly interested as she bounded forwards closer to the boy and his items, getting a closer look at the things. The vixen didn't dare touch them though, not until he gave her the okay. When he said she could have what she wanted her eyes locked onto his with surprise evident in her features. However, very quickly she leaned back and wiped that look off of her face. Replacing it with her classic smirk that she used to hide all of her emotions with. "Well, well, well, my friend, I think you an' me are on the same page 'ere." Really though, this lion had just become her favorite person next to her two bodyguards. She hadn't even had to do anything but compliment him and he'd just showered her with gifts! How easy was that! "I wouldn't expect less from a cute lil' lion like you though." With that she turned her attention the metal items. Inspecting them with a careful eye, an eye that was used to looking over things with great detail.

As flirtatious as she was the mongoose was not some silly girl out for the affections of a male. No. What she did she did it for fun and to reap the benefits of rewards. When she'd first flirted with Usui it had simply been to test how he would take it and if he would prove to be someone she could use. In this instant she realized that he was. He was certainly a useful person to have on her side if she wanted to have any sort of stock in Monoceros. As such she would try not to offend him and would try to keep up friendly relations so he would make it a habit to pop by every once in a while.

Quickly the mongoose looked over the items, examining them. She put her paws on the headpiece, looking over it, sniffing it before moving onto the clamps. It got the same treatment as the headpiece but then when the mongoose's eyes landed on the arrowhead you could see the silver glint in her gaze light up just a bit more. She hopped over to it and picked it up in her tiny paws, looking it over, prodding it, testing it. Then she lifted it up and licked it with her tongue, tasting it. Yes... This would work nicely.

All the time she had been doing these inspections of the arrow the gears in her head had been turning. The mongoose was particularly weak against other animals, most other animals, but what if she had something to level the playing field... Like a weapon. This would do nicely. Tie it onto a tough stick, dab some dangerous berry juice to the end and she had a weapon of choice. Yes. She liked that idea. Her choice was made.

The vixen turned to Usui and lifted the arrowhead up so he could see it better. "Think I'll take this. Maybe I'll use it to stare at my reflection again." Her voice was teasing, light, and carefree which was the same as her laugh when it came right after. She lowered the arrowhead again and looked up at Usui. "Now, ya got me this now perhaps I can get somethin' for you, cutie. Ya like jewels? Weapons? I can get things for ya if ya want... I did say I was the Queen of Thieves, after all." She winked, letting him know that today he'd made a good choice in friend.

---

Her name was Fang, but her title was Queen. The boy eyed the self-proclaimed Queen as she looked at him in surprise first, and then with a smirk. The boy huffed and shot her a neutral look though he felt deeply amused for he knew that this mongoose was probably egoistic and just did not want to show how happy and eager she was to see all the bits dangling in front of her. She also bunched the both of them together as being on the same wavelength, to which the lion raised a brow. Nonetheless, the word “friend” was pleasing to his ears and he grinned at her with an affirmative nod. She complimented him again, saying that he was a cute little lion, and the boy shuffled his paws nervously. "Um, just…lion will do,” he concluded.

She seemed to take a huge liking to the arrowhead which was similar to the one he had kept in his bag. The cub did not understand why she wanted to lick the metal thing but he just shrugged off the thought. Fang turned to him then, lifting the arrow head to let him see it. "Yeah take it, enjoy it,” he replied casually. She then called him a cutie. The boy scowled and glared at her. "Lion’s fine.” Enough with the cutie! It made him feel weird. She gave him the offer. Usui frowned as he thought. What did he want…slowly, his gaze went to the metal bands and he slid his right arm inside two of the rings. They looked rather nice on his arm and could shield him from damage. As they had been oxidized, they were unable to conduct electricity too! Maybe he could embellish it a bit with some stones.

"I know, F’ang! A pale green stone, the colour of my eyes.” Usui was not vain (at least not now since he hadn’t sprouted a mane) but he knew what fine taste and artisan colours were. A nice pale green stone would match his eyes and be an asset to whatever he wore. He sat on his haunches then and gazed at her, flicking his tail and secretly hoping she would stop embarrassing him.

She could tell that her flirtations were starting to fall on deaf on so when he finally drew the line and gave her that glare. That glare that did nothing but broaden her smirk she laughed and waved a paw, "Fine, fine. No need t'show your fangs at me, Usui. I've got plenty myself, y'know!" While she waited for the boy to reach his decision the mongoose took the arrowhead back to the piece of sword she'd found. She dropped it over the top of the sword and easily hoisted them both up. Heavy, but not unbearably so for the not-even-one-pound mongoose to carry.

"I know, F’ang!--" The mongoose's head turned to the lion as she made her way back over to him on two legs. Her silver eyes looked up into his as he highlighted what he wanted her to find. A green gem the same color as his eyes? The vixen rose up onto her tippy-claws, staring intently into his eyes. This time she wasn't flirting, she was committing his eye-color to memory which might be easy to see by the way she seemed to be searching his gaze. After a moment her intense expression vanished to be replaced with a carefree one as she was done examining his eye color. The mongoose lowered herself back down to her haunches. "Consider it done, my friend. I'll get ya a few gems that match your eye color exactly." That was a promise. The contract had been made and she would follow through on her half of it. Currently she had no gems that matched the color of his eyes but in the not-too distant future that would change.

"I know you've already got me this nice arrowhead here an' I'm certain if we ever meet again. Which I so sincerely hope we do," He didn't know how true that was. For now this arrowhead was for her but anything else the lion got her she'd probably keep it only to trade to get more valuable items. "I was wonderin', if ya could do me one more tiny lil' favor. Hmm, Usui? Since we're pals an' all." The tiny vixen put on one of her most sweet and innocent faces. Which meant certainly that she was scheming something. Though in this case it wasn't anything too terrible.

---

She shifted back to him with the miniature sword and the arrowhead he had gifted her, and the boy raised a brow. They seemed too heavy for her, but he made no attempt to move. Usui was more intent on observing the way she moved about. It was quick, and darting, and a whole lot less clumsy than he was due to her compact size. Perhaps he might mimic her sleek actions someday. Fang moved closer to him and the boy flicked his tail uneasily. Was she going to disturb him further? "Ummm…” he started in a coarse tone, and took two steps back, but she kept approaching, and he looked at her wide-eyed as she looked straight into his eye – but not directly into the pupil. It dawned on Usui then that she was observing his eye colour! The boy’s embarrassment fled, but it did not stop him from freezing up, especially since she was the first to stare at him like that!

Usui shuffled his paws and mumbled "Thanks,” once Fang was done with her inspection. He looked at her with a slight smile upon his lips as she brought up the topic of them meeting again. Though he remained silent, his expression conveyed that he knew this would not be the last time they’d bump into each other. For now, the boy was contented to know that he had met an ally. Fang spoke about one more favour – and the boy guessed at it. Rolling his eyes and giving a fake groan, he plodded forward and attempted to swish the sword and metal dagger into his own mouth so she wouldn’t have to carry it. "Let’ go,” he’d call in muffled tones, and wait for Fang to follow him out.

Fang had expected Usui to ask "what favor" before he went forward to pick up her items. The mongoose wasn't complaining though and she didn't stop him either when he tried to shuffle all the items in his mouth. "Don't swallow anythin'. I'm thinkin' sword and arrowhead wouldn't taste good in your gut." She laughed but there was a serious edge to her voice. Really, she wouldn't appreciate it if the lion went and killed himself. How would she get rare metal items then?

It wasn't until he'd gotten everything shuffled into his mouth that the mongoose rushed forward to stand in front of him. She held her paws up in front of him in a "stop" motion. "Whoa whoa! I'm supposed t'be leadin' you, Mr. Lion. After all, you don't know where I live... Besides," That grin returned. "That wasn't the favor I wanted but thank-you anyhow." The mongoose gave a snicker before going on. "What I was gonna ask is much less. Simply for you to spread the word that the Queen of Thieves has arrived." Help her reputation grow and perhaps it would send a few willing participants her way. If they wanted to they would come.

Now, the mongoose turned and dropped to all fours. "C'mon! Lemme show ya the way to Monoceros. Don't need ya goin' in all alone. The Fire don't like trespassers much." With that she dashed away, expecting the young cat to follow her.

---

The cub growled lowly under his breath as the little rascal continued to joke with him. He wasn’t intending to swallow anything! This mongoose should have more trust in his teeth. He continued to stalk away when she scurried and blocked his path, demanding him to halt in his tracks. The boy paused and looked at her with pale eyes, listening to what she had to say, after which the boy felt indignation grow within him. The scholar was not an errand boy for this creature! Just because he had given her a gift didn’t mean he would listen to all her commands. Nonetheless, Usui did not reveal any of his displeasure for he had chosen to help carry her baggage out of goodwill. He simply could not stand the thought of her lugging it a far distance while he stood by irresponsibility. And since he had already started this good deed, he would carry it out until the end.

"Lead the way,” he mumbled, boyish tones muffled by the things he were gripping onto (which by this time was starting to reek of lion saliva). Almost as a concession, he gave her words an afterthought and replied honestly. "If any’un asks, I’d tell ‘em.” It was a promise to her. If anyone wanted to find her, he would direct them to this girl. She began to lead the way with small chatter. The Fire? He did not know what that was. Now, his curiousity was perks. "Wha’ th’ Fire?” he called after her as he started to plod to the Monoceros with this little mongoose for company.
-Exit Usui-