Lonely from their years of humidity and quiet as the trees they came from ;;

The fool kept right on grinning, denying the oooooo, busted! look that flashed briefly in her eyes. The grin never wavered when Tick Tock advanced, although those eyes took a turn toward manic. A matching set they made, white and black. Electricity shivered into life, its fine filaments obvious in the dark as they arced around her. It hissed, and those grinning teeth ground against themselves as Tick Tock drew close. Something raw slid into her mind as those brown, wild eyes of hers stared into Tick Tock`s. She leaned in close to catch Tick Tock`s words, and the two looked for the world as if they shared a secret.

But Tick Tock moved on, and an honest laugh bellowed from Kitty`s gut. And she met Tick Tock on the other side as the black Queen spoke again. Her grin now sheer and full of laughter. Happy despite Tick Tock`s blatant threat. She was happy because Tick Tock had bested her at her own game.

"I'm Kitty. To be honest, I'm usually everyone's pain in the ass." Long gone was any concern over Lore's sensitive hearing. Likely she knew all the words. If she didn't, the Jungle was as good a place as any to learn. Her statement, true though it was, probably did little to alleviate Tick Tock's worries. Kitty had no plans to return to the Sisterhood. Had toyed with the idea in the past, but never for long. She had given up all ambitions. The Sisterhood may call her a Sister, but she was no longer within their ranks.

"I don't know you, but I like you."

Rogue, she found, had a nice ring to it. And she thought it might be what she wanted, but she didn't know yet. She never knew. She played things by ear--or, as others liked to call her head-first style of crashing, 'flying by the seat of her pants.'

So, 'like' was a good thing for Tick Tock. Kitty was less inclined to spite the mare.*

*Unlike certain other mares -coughViriaruscough-

And now she looked beyond Tick Tock, to where Lore watched. Her mad eyes glittered in the dark.

"Do you like the jungle, Lore? Do you trust your sisters?"

Children, Kitty thought, were very good mirrors for some situations. Lore might think the question odd and the answer obvious, and Lore might think Kitty strange for asking--but lets be honest: strangeness was Kitty;s calling card.