The two sat by the fire, both keeping an eye for movements.
“You know,” Skorpeon tapped a finger on his steel cup. “I really don’t know how smart it is to be sitting by a fire when we’re being hunted.
“Why are you tapping like that?” The Doctor glanced at Skorpeon’s paws.
“It’s what I do.” Skorpeon shrugged, “Ever since I started my Junior High orchestra class, I’ve been tapping rhythms.”
“But why THAT particular one?”
“What?”
The Doctor sighed, “One two three four. One two three four. It plagued a… friend of mine to the point he tried to kill all
humanity because of it.”
Skorpeon stopped, “Sorry. It’s just been a force of habit.”
“How did you come across it?” The Doctor took a sip from his mug.
Another shrug from the Fox. “I don’t know. I was a Violinist in the orchestra. The Violins and Cellos were placed near
percussion, so I picked up a fair amount of rhythm. Other than that…”
Both sighed, relapsing into silence.
“Did you hear that?” The Doctor turned his head, “That noise.”
Skorpeon shrugged, “It’s just a squirrel.”
“Why do people always say stuff like that?!” The Doctor leapt up, his cup clattering into the fire, “’It’s only a bird!’ ‘It’s
only a Squirrel!’ No! It’s really an interdimensional shapeshifter that’s ready to disembowel you and use your eyes for Pool
Balls!”
Skorpeon shook his head, “No, it’s a Squirrel. See?” He pointed a paw at the small creature, curious to the newcomers.
The Doctor sighed, “Oh. Sorry. Been around to many thin-headed humans.”
“’Sal right.” Skorpeon picked the squirrel up. “No harm done.”
“How did you know, though.” The Doctor locked eyes with Skorpeon, “You seem to know when things will attack where.”
“Nah,” Skorpeon gave the creature in his lap another nut, “I can just tell what they plan to do. I can sense their
intentions.”
“How?”
Skorpeon looked up, lips curled back in a grin, “The Shadows. My natural element.”
“Right.” The Doctor drew a blank, “And how--”
Skorpeon stood, allowing the squirrel to chatter off into the shadows, “Take, for example, telepaths; they can read
thoughts, control minds, and even change memories.
“Also take the tele-kinetics; they can create physical forms and pseudo-realities based on the thoughts around them.
“Then there are elemental users; we can utilize a single element that can describe us, and tap into the energies and
actions of our surroundings.
“The sensing of intentions taps into the innermost energies from living creatures. If you say, ‘let’s kill Hitler,’ then I will
sense your intentions of killing him. But if you say, ‘I love Rose Tyler’, I may be able to read intentions that may not be safe
for children.”
“And how does that coincide?”
“Simple: If you plan something, I’ll know. If you say something, I’ll figure it out. If you even THINK about doing something,
I can pick it up.”
“And you get that all the time?”
“Mmm hmm.” Skorpeon nodded, “I can even tell if there is a certain lavender Unicorn hiding in the trees above us,
trying to blend in and see what we’re up to.”
“And is there?”
Skorpeon grinned holding a finger up, “Shimmah!”
“WAUGH!” Twilight fell from the tree, right onto a black patch of water.
“What are you doing Twi?” Skorpeon didn’t even look back at her, “I told you to stay with Dragen.”
She sighed, “She’s with Miles and Fluttershy.”
The Fox turned, “And what do you plan to do Twi? I told you, we are hunting MURDERERS. Blinking murderers. You
are not safe!”
“Skor.”
“I want to see if you are going to be okay!” Twilight’s eyes started to brim, “I don’t like it when you go off on your little
missions.”
“Skor.”
“I understand love.” Skorpepon took her face in his paws, “But you need to stay away in safety. I can’t have you running
about here. One touch and you’re dead.”
“Skor!”
“Yeah!” Twilight set a hoof on Skorpeon’s chest, “That means for you too!”
“But I have a way to get back.”
“Skor!”
“But still, what if one of these days you find you can’t Apparate?”
“I haven’t had a wand for years now. If I wasn’t going to be able to Apparate, it would’ve happened YEARS ago.”
“SKOR!”
Twilight sighed, “But I still worry.”
The Fox pulled her into a hug, “Don’t.”
“SKORPEON!”
“WHAT?!”
“Look.” The Doctor was pointing at a statue of a Pegasus that was holding it’s hooves to its eyes.
“Ah, hell.” Skorpeon shoved Twilight behind him. “Do. NOT. Blink.”