"Sparrow, what are you doing?" Tiquail asked sharply. Sparrow tilted her head. "Saving Tony, of course."

Everyone stared at her. This was definitely not the answer they had been anticipating.

"How do you expect to do that?" Tiquail's voice was stiff. Sparrow narrowed her eyes as the snow leopard continued. "You can't kill him. The poison has to kill him."

"Sparrow why are you not trying to kill us?" Dot asked timidly.

Sparrow found this question so amusing, she actually laughed. "Why would I want to kill you?"

Everyone exchanged confused looks, making Sparrow a little afraid. Had something happened?

"You got shot with one of the poison darts, child." Tiquail said quietly. Sparrow widened her eyes and reached a hand up to her neck. Sure enough, her hand made contact with a feather.

She yanked the dart out of her neck and dropped it to the ground, confused. "Odd..." She murmured. "I don't have any impulse to kill you all."

Tiquail opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by a particularly loud groan from Tony. Sparrow spun around and marched up to Tony, her face set.

"Tony, look at me." She whispered, touching his shaking shoulder gently with her hand.

Tony looked up. His hair clung to his sweaty face. His green eyes were pained.

Sparrow swept his wet hair out of his face. She smiled at him, or as much as she could while she was holding back tears.

Tony didn't return the gesture. His face was screwed up in pain. He bent over and let out a groan as a fresh spasm of pain made him shiver. Pity swept over Sparrow, making her let out a soft sob. She wanted to be strong for Tony...but her heart was breaking in two.

Sparrow quickly wiped a tear off of her cheek. She wasn't sure what had made her say that she was saving Tony. She just had a feeling, something deep in the pit of her stomach.

She gently placed her hand on Tony's head. Silver wisps of light started swirling around the two of them.

This wasn't like the light that had thrown Marley off of Sparrow. This light was soft, almost caressing. Tony looked up at Sparrow again, the pain in his eyes slowly subsiding. "How?" He croaked.

Sparrow smiled. She gently lifted her hand off of Tony's head and helped him to his feet.

Tiquail, Sparrow's friends, and their mentors stared at Sparrow and Tony with new respect. As Sparrow gently lead Tony over to them, she could almost sense their unease.

Tiquail's stunned blue eyes flickered between Sparrow and Tony. She let out a soft, determined growl, as if he had just made up her mind about something, and flicked her tail at Sparrow. "Come with Me, child." She ordered.

Sparrow exchanged a confused look with Tony before following Tiquail down the hill.

"What is it?" Sparrow questioned innocently. Tiquail shot her a look, one that suggested she didn't believe that Sparrow didn't realize what was wrong.

"No one, as long as I have lived here-and that has been over a century-oh yes, child, over a century-" The snow leopard added when she caught the incredulous look on Sparrow's face. Sparrow looked away, her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. "-has been able to do this type of magic." Tiquail continued.

"What makes it so bad though?" Sparrow asked, her voice slightly resentful. "Well...things have been rather consistent here Sparrow. It's the way it's supposed to be. Tradition. It's something we live by."

Sparrow, still not seeing the problem, tilted her had and looked at Tiquail once more.

"We don't know what this magic really is, Sparrow." Tiquail explained patiently.

Sparrow raised her eyebrows. "'This magic'-" she began heatedly, making air quotes. "-is healing!"

Tiquail's ears flicked slightly. "Of course it's healing, but what if it has side effects?"

"Listen, I know Marley seems a little messed up-"
"And with good reason, child, seeing as she experienced something she never should have."
"That's beside the point! Tony's okay!"
"For now, but we cannot tell the future."
"Why are you so determined to criticize me!?"
"I'm not criticizing, Sparrow, I'm merely pointing out the consequences."
"I didn't-I don't-I-WHAT CONSEQUENCES COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE TALKING ABOUT!?"

Sparrow could feel the heat rising in her face along with her voice. Tiquail, despite the fact that she was being scolded by a thirteen-year-old, remained icily calm.

This only filed Sparrow's fiery attitude. She clenched her fists. "Why don't you trust me?" She asked, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

"It's not that I don't trust you it's just that-"

But Tiquail's reply was cut off as a small bundle of fur streaked across the grass.

***

Tiquail recognized this cub the second she saw her huge amber eyes. "Ebony?" She asked as the little cub pulled herself to a stop. Her fur, which was light brown with darker brown stripes, pulled to a stop. She was holding a rolled up piece of paper in her mouth, which was now rather slobbery.

"It's a message for you." Ebony explained in her tiny, squeaky voice. "Assero sent me to give it to you. She found it in the street."

Tiquail purred softly. "Thank you, Ebony. Is your mother far?"

Ebony's tail tip was quivering. "Nope. We were taking a walk right over there," she flicked her tail to the right, "and she saw the note. She wouldn't let me stray far, anyway," the cub added grudgingly.

Tiquail twitched her tail. "She does this with good reason, Sparrow just got shot with a dart-"

Ebony let out a little "eep" and jumped about a foot in the air. "Why aren't you trying to kill us?" She asked Sparrow.

Sparrow, who was still looking rather huffy, swallowed and smiled as kindly as she could. "That's what we were trying to figure out."

"Is that why you were yelling?" The cub asked, though she looked like she regretted it a moment later, when she saw the looks on Tiquail and Sparrow's faces.

Tiquail sighed. "I'm sorry if you heard us, Ebony. Go back to your mother now."

Ebony pressed her ears against her head, and opened her mouth as if to argue, but, after receiving a stern look from Tiquail, she turned and waved her tail in farewell.

Tiquail let out another heavy sight before unrolling the paper with her paws. She scanned it quickly, then looked up, shock written on every inch of her face.

***

"What?" Sparrow asked sharply, catching the horror in Tiquail's wide, blue eyes.

Tiquail's whiskers quivered. She flicked her ears nervously and slid the note over to Sparrow who picked it up and squinted at the small handwriting.

Sparrow,
I know where you are, and I know you're probably busy. I miss you though, I didn't want to lose you, I tried to protect you, but my efforts were wasted. Wasted as they were on your father and sisters.
Everything has been taken from me. Everything.
So, if you must, get yourself killed like your father and your siblings. Get yourself killed "for the greater good" as they put it.
Get yourself killed, an take this burden off of my shoulders for good. Rip me apart.
I can make my decision now at least, since everyone I loved has left me.
Don't bother writing back, it'll only make things worse.
Goodbye,
Mom