𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐍𝐄𝐘'𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐘

𝟏.𝟐 | 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫

SHAWN WALKED DOWN THE HALLS AFTER LEAVING THE INTRODUCTION MEETING. His teal eyes contained golden flecks expressing how irritated he was. He constantly looked over his shoulder with an unnecessary amount of paranoia. Despite the contrary, it felt as if every pair of eyes in the hall rested on him solely. Memories of the past flashed across his mind in bursts. Pain. A mark not soon to be forgotten. Fear. A pair of terrifying, glowing, yellow eyes.

He did his best to tear the thoughts from his head, but as before, running didn't solve any of his problems. Yet, he ran anyway. His clouded mind overwhelmed his senses to a point where they couldn't even process what was in front of him. He and a small figure collided with one another and landed in a heap upon the ground. He lifted his hair from his face revealing the scowl beneath while meeting a similar expression directed at him. Relying on his predatorial senses, he could tell the girl before him was of prey descent.

He finally addressed her with a snarl, "Watch where you scamper, Mousey... you might make some unpleasant enemies."

She stood dusting herself off and returned his snide comment with a sneer, "Like who? I doubt I would call you much more than an annoyance, Kitty."

He remained calm on the exterior, but within, he was raging. "I've come to realize heroes don't seem to understand this, but I might as well remind you that real villains don't find themselves upset over the names they're given by others."

"I'm no hero," she contradicted, crossing her arms defiantly with an expression to match.

"Sure... keep telling yourself what you'd like, Mousey," he said while a malicious smirk formed at his lips.

He could see he was slowly getting to her as her face turned a shade of crimson. "I'm serious, I'm not going to tolerate being defined as one of those goody-two-shoes stereotypes."

Shawn looked the girl over. "Who're your parents? Mice I presume since you have been responding to that title."

She raised an eyebrow, assuming he had changed the subject altogether. "I never knew my mother, but my father is Octavius; otherwise, known as Gus."

She suddenly understood what he was implying and turned around, crossing her arms as a grin flashed across his face. "Just as I had presumed, the daughter of a mouse; furthermore, the daughter of a hero's sidekick."

"And your point being?" she asked despite knowing the answer to come.

"You were born with the title 'hero' wrapped atop your pretty little head with a bright, pink bow," he says with a chuckle, providing humor to the situation.

"Well who are your parents?" she whipped her head around and snapped,"A pair of helpless kittens no doubt about it."

"That's cute, Mousey," he said with a chuckle. "Try Shere Khan."

He noticed the fear of her expression only lasted a second before a haughty look replaced it. "He's pretty cool, I guess."

"Shere Khan is one of the most fearsome predators you could ever encounter." He scoffed as his face twisted with distaste. "You guess."

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I mean whatever floats your boat."

"Oh, so what makes a villain great in your opinion?" he asked with a high level of personal annoyance.

"A plan that works for starters," she answered with a smirk, seeing that she was beginning to return the favor of getting underneath his skin. "I mean even Lady Tremaine got along further in her ploy than your father."

"Back off, Mousey," Shawn snarled. "The way you're headed it's going to be one short game of cat and mouse."

"If we're judging one another on family experiences, I doubt I have much to worry about," she said with a smirk. "I mean your father couldn't even catch a kid, what makes you think you'll catch anything?"