Three days later, Sparrow was following Tony through the small community of Trails. It was a beautiful place, with its gleaming white buildings and multicolored walkways.

Sparrow was impressed by Tony. He walked with a certain air of confidence, as though he owned the place. He was lean and quick. His steps were quiet, making no sound on the ground.

Walking behind Tony, Sparrow felt like an elephant. Her steps were loud and pretty clumsy.

"Where're we going?" Sparrow asked, doing her best to pick her way silently through the streets. Tony glanced back at her, his eyes glittering. "I thought we could try the forest today."

"The forest?" Sparrow felt a hint of fear at that. According to Tiquail, the forest was a place where magic mixed with creature. These creatures were quite unlike the friendly wild cats that roamed the community.

Tony smirked. "Scared, Stripes?" He mocked. Sparrow scowled at him. Stripes was the nickname he had created for her. Why? Because of her hair.

"Either way," Tony continued, "There's beauty in nature everywhere, despite the darkness enfolded in it. Only the ones who wish to find it will find it."

Sparrow smirked. "Where'd you get that one, O Wise Owl?" Tony shrugged. "My beautifully complex brain, I suppose."

Despite her fear, Sparrow followed Tony to the edge of the forest. It was so dark that she couldn't even make out the separate tree trunks.

Tony walked into the forest and disappeared. Steeling herself, Sparrow took a deep breath and glanced once more at the sunshine. She probably wouldn't be seeing it for a while.

"Are you coming?" Tony called. Sparrow shivered at the way his voice echoed. "Yeah!" She yelled back, her voice trembling slightly. She heard a snort. "You are such a pansy." Tony said.

Anger bubbled up inside Sparrow. There was no way she would be called a pansy by such a stick of a boy. "I said I'm coming!" She snapped.

A soft chuckle followed her words. "Of course you are. Tiquail was right when she said you were brave."

Sparrow stepped into the forest. She blinked a few times to try and adjust her eyes to the darkness, but it was a waste of time.

Something brushed against her shoulder. Sparrow spun around and flung out her hand. Nothing but air.

When she turned back around, she found Tony staring at her, his eyes glittering. "Quick...but not quick enough." He whispered. "In this forest you have to be ready to move. I hope you're a fast runner, Stripes."

Sparrow winced. She was anything but a fast runner. She ran more like a lopsided kangaroo, and that was sugar coating it.

Tony started walking through the forest. Sparrow followed close behind him, jumping at every sound she heard. Every once in a while Tony would turn around and smirk at the look on her face.

"There's no reason to look at me like that!" Sparrow snapped the fifth time Tony turned around. Tony chuckled softly. "You've got one fiery spirit, Stripes." He said.

Sparrow felt her cheeks grow hot. "Fine, if that's how you would consider it." She muttered. Tony smiled. "You're pretty cute when you're embarrassed, you know that?"

Sparrow's cheeks reddened further. "Let's just go," she muttered, turning away from Tony.

Sparrow followed Tony in silence. Tony didn't say anything for a while either. Sadly, the silence made her think about everything else in the forest. She couldn't help herself, so she looked in the bushed and trees. Everything had an eerie glow to it, despite the almost complete darkness.

And that's when she saw it.

A pair of yellow eyes glared at her from the bushes. Sparrow scrambled closer to Tony, looking down at the ground as she went.

And what should she discover on the ground?

Paw prints, of course.

Sparrow squeaked. Tony glanced sideways at her. "What's wrong?" He asked, his hand floating to his pocket, where he kept a small knife. Sparrow pointed at the bushes.

The eyes blinked. Something started to stalk slowly out of the bushes.

Tony gasped and Sparrow's hand jumped into his. The creature was...different. It had the eyes of a cat, huge and yellow with sideways pupils. It's face was half-cat half-dog, with a flat muzzle and floppy ears. The body was a dog's chest, and a cat's behind. It's tail was long but sharp at the end.

The creature opened its mouth to reveal two rows of teeth, two on the top, two on the bottom, like a shark's. One row was canine and one was feline.

The animal was also huge, the size of a dog. But it was thin, sleek, and agile looking, like a cat.

"What is that?" Sparrow whispered, watching the animal as it padded toward them, it's body low to the ground.

"That, Stripes, is a dimidium genus." Tony replied. "What the crap does that mean?" Sparrow snapped.

"It means half breed, and there are a ton of them. Not all of them look like that, there are all sorts of them."

"Comforting," Sparrow muttered, twisting her hair around her finger. "Next time why don't you tell me that they sleep under my bed."

"Well, they do that too." Tony said thoughtfully. Sparrow slapped his arm hard. Tony hopped away.

"Not the time for jokes!" Sparrow scolded. Tony held up his hands. "Whatever you say, Stripes."

Sparrow heard a weird sound behind her. It was somewhere between a hiss and a growl. Turning around, I discovered the dimidium genus staring at her. Its yellow eyes glowed threateningly. Despite the ferocity it was showing, it made no move to attack.

Tony slowly drew his knife out of his pocket. The blade glittered, even though it was totally dark in the forest. Sparrow figured it was from the magic the small weapon contained.

"Don't come any closer." Tony warned the beast. The dimidium genus made its odd sound again, baring its teeth threateningly.

"Back away slowly." Tony told Sparrow. Sparrow nodded and began to step carefully backward. Tony followed her, situating himself so if the beast made any move to attack, he would be there to protect Sparrow.

"Keep it up." Tony said. Sparrow nodded and continued doing what she was doing. The creature seemed to be relaxing as it watched them retreat.

Just when Sparrow thought they were free, the creature roared. It sprang at Tony, claws glinting and teeth bared.

Sparrow screamed as the dimidium genus landed on Tony. Before she could do anything, the beast sank its teeth into his neck.

Blood flowed freely from the wound. The creature lifted its head and showed off the fresh red on its teeth, before turning to Sparrow.

Fear gripped Sparrow's heart as the creature leapt. Blinding pain shot up her leg. Sharp claws tore into her chest.

The pain was overwhelming. With a stuttering breath, Sparrow lost everything.

Dimly, she wondered one thing:
Was she dead?