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"Fiend! Leave this place before I turn that tail of yours into a real worm!"
An agitated, tenor-pitched male voice broke the silence of the female's world and there was the sound of a scuffle before a strange pair of foes rolled into view. One was a huge, dirty, ugly rat, larger than his growling and barking opponent. The other... Well, he looked like an otter and sounded like an otter, but he was much too small!
Figaro was indeed a small otter, somewhere in size between one of the minis that were almost everywhere and the normal otters that lived in the Oasis. But in the Caves of his homeland, size didn't matter much and he had in fact been the largest of his brothers, so he knew no fear of things larger than he. Especially not some ugly rat like what he was going up against.
"I said lea-" he began again when the rat sunk yellowed teeth into the flesh above one of his front paws.
"b*****d!" the small otter swore in surprise, pain, and anger before returning to the battle with a renewed fervor, finally getting a hold of the rat's nose in his teeth and shaking like a wolf. The rat clawed its way free and took off, shrieking.

Battered and bleeding, Figaro flopped down, breathing heavily.
And then noticed the winged female.
"Oh good gracious! I'm so sorry, lady! I didn't see you there!" he apologized profusely, bowing low.

Figaro shook his head in denial, for he had every reason to apologize.
"Oh, but there is! A male should never fight in front of a lady, it isn't safe," he insisted and looked down at the crimson staining the white fur on his paw as it dripped down. It hurt like hell, but he was good at hiding it.
"Oh, no, it's nothing, really," he added, trying to hide the bite. His slanted, yellow eyes watched her brightly, his whiskers turned upwards slightly with his small smile. He was always told he was quite a charming little fellow.

Figaro chuckled.
"I've been told that, thank you, lady," he replied to her compliment and reluctantly offer his paw to her. The gash was badly torn up, but not so deep. He and Jaydin could see the very thin layer of fat and the muscle beneath. Of course, it was difficult to see due to matted fur and blood.
"Forgive me, I am used to my sisters. They were quite put off whenever my brothers or I got cut up, so it is a habit," he added with a small shrug as he smiled up at her.
"Your wings are lovely, lady," he complimented and then tried to recall her question. "Oh, the rat. Nasty thing, wasn't it? I caught it going after some of those otters smaller than me. It smelled of strange things, so I imagine it came from far away, though I can't place where. My life has been quite sheltered."

Figaro chuckled again, showing no outward appearance of the sting the female's ministrations were causing. A warrior learned to ignore pain, where he came from.
"Is that what they're called, then? I wasn't quite sure, really. You may have already guessed I'm not from around here. I'm rather surprised at the diversity of the sizes of you... uh...forgive me if it sounds negative, outworlders. At home, we were roughly the same size. Out here, everyone's big, small, or somewhere in between," he ran on for a bit as she tended to him paw. This female seemed quite nice. She reminded him of his mother, in ways.
"Look at me, you must think I'm horribly impolite! I've completely forgotten introductions!" he exclaimed suddenly, and did his best to force himself not to yank his paw from hers as he attempted another bow.
"I am Figaro deConti, youngest son of Emilio, of the Holt Cinerea," he introduced, his head bowed over her paw. He carefully raised his other paw so that he could take the one that had been dabbing at his injured one, turn it back-up, and give it a quick, formal kiss.

((I would like it known that this would have been done sooner, but I went searching through hundreds of pages looking for that blasted name. XDD ))

"It's nice to see such different otters and other creatures and whatnot," Figaro replied, letting her paw slide from his. He smiled broadly at her smile, warmed over her smile and her paw and the polite dip of her head. He swelled slightly at her compliment and nodded his head.
"I do believe I've heard of this Mistress Ching. I take it you are one of her... what was the term... Lady in waiting?" he asked, tilting his head to one side/

Figaro tilted his head a bit, smile not wavering, but his eyes dropped a bit. Poor thing, it sounded like she didn't have many to talk to.
"Oh, I'm certain they're just dazzled by your beauty. How could you ward off other males? You're sweet and pretty and any male would be proud to spend mere moments in such fine company," the small male replied, his smile charming and sincere. The warrior had a habit of being overly blunt sometimes, which had sometimes been a problem. Females often found him overly flattering, but his brother closest in age to him often told him he envied him, that he wished he could be so cool with saying nice things to females. It was quite confusing.
"Not exactly. I traveled down in the early fall. In truth, I've actually never experienced these cold temperatures. Where I come from, it's mostly warm."

"Well, they're just young and immature. Some of the greatest pleasures can come from sitting and talking with good company," Figaro replied, sitting down and giving his paw a careful lick.
"My older brother used to say that. I found it more of a bother. The females I knew back home used to think I was overly flattering and tended to only like my company in moderation," he replied, chuckling.