There is a distinct sort of pleasure that so seems to emit from the deviant at having his tail referred to as 'perfect'. That very sentiment seeming to please him decidedly. Another crooked grin working its way onto his features as that veritable purr rises within his throat in clear satisfaction at having another recognise just how good his tail was. Tobias himself long having believed that it was, quite possibly, the best tail in all the world. The lanky leopard often inclined to believe that anything he achieved was perhaps the best that had ever been done. Self-esteem, so evidently, hardly an issue for the boy. At least not any longer. Those months he had spent with Tetradore, chained to the wall of Risques bar and beneath the ownership of the vampire woman, had perhaps been the closest the young man had ever come to losing that humanity entirely. Those fragile wisps that remained, somehow, having restored some measure of sense to the deviant, even if his hold upon reality so often seemed tentative at best. His and Tetradore's escape from that bar having repaired much in their lives and so returned some measure of humanity to Tobias in turn. At least enough to show intrigue in the kitten rather then the outright violence he might once have responded with to any request to touch that tail.

The ready agreement of the child to see those very people who could 'make her dead' seemed to delight the boy all the more. That adventure of sorts prompting his simple insistence that he would protect her. Tobias assured he was the best protector of all things that needed protecting. His very reputation within the west alone enough to prompt most of those unsavoury characters to leave the pair be all the same. Tobias content to lead the way through those streets then with Maeve following close beside him. The lanky man so forced to slow his lengthy stride to allow the Fae girl to keep up as they headed toward the dockyard and harbour. Tobias long having learned near every road and street and alleyway within that territory he called his own.The boy expertly guiding them onward then and toward the ocean and cargo ships that rested atop it, bobbing along that surface like toys- at least until they got closer. Those very 'toys' growing larger and larger with each stride. Tobias, for all his fear of water, having become decidedly atop home alone that foreshore and amongst those deck hands and fisherman the frequented the area. The West was hardly known for its upper class crowd. The majority of those who frequented it nothing more than cheap labour, Were creatures, drug dealers, hit men, modern sellswords or any other wanton criminal or boy skipping school. Tobias, for all he was, seeming to blend near effortlessly with that very crowd. Tetradore and himself having earned the ready respect of the West they ruled over if only for their own prowess in the fighting rings that governed. The young man and te Fae child unhassled as they passed.

Tobias paused suddenly at that road then, his hand abruptly held toward Mauve. The Leopard so clearly of the opinion that the hands of kittens need be held near roads. These were the rules. He was sure of them. Tobias remembering them well from his lessons with Nadya even if he had not been permitted to see his own children in more months then he could count. Those lessons, it seemed, remaining ingrained. Tobias so readily having come to believe any kitten near any road was required to hold a hand regardless of age. Mauve, fortunately, hardly seeming to argue that very gesture before fitting her hand with his own and allowing the tall young man with the Leopard tail to lead her across. That command to be silent uttered a moment later as he released her hand only to skulk along beside the wall of the harbour. Tobias ducking down below it, his ears flattened to prevent them from poking over that aged stone and mortar before his own head peeked just over the edge. The girl child gestured to do the same as Tobias gestured to that crowd of Hunter's below as they worked to unload that ship. He had known they were here since they arrived several hours ago. Hunters within his territory a decidedly displeasing thing and yet even Tobias, with all his own power and the power of the pack behind him was....unwilling to take on so many. The hushed whispers of the girl beside him drawing his dark gaze to the violet off her own. That she did not know of Hunters was a curious thing. Yes. Very curious. Those garbled, halting words falling from his lips.

"They....are.....Hunters. They kill all...that are....like me and....like you. Only humans....are safe. It is.....their job......to make dead. If they find.....you they will kill....you. Always."

His head nodded again as if to confirm what he said. Tobias, perhaps, so unknowingly passed on one lesson in life the girl might surely remember for the rest off her own and indeed one that might save it. Hunters were something to be avoided at all costs. Tobias scowling at them all the same before those words rose softly to his lips again.

"I...do not like....them here....no....not....near pack. That is....where...my pack live. Me and my brother Tetra and.....my mate, Birdie and.....Pretty and Hen-ry....and...Mirrrrrra and sometimes.....Reeegan. My...sister....Naddy used to.....live with us but.....now lives with....the Horse. My....kittens are there too....with the Horse."

Tobias' hand lifted to point to that near giant floating cargo ship at the far end of the harbour, the name of that boat painted across the side 'The Ark' as infamous as the West itself though indeed it was unlikely the Fae girl had ever heard of such a place. Tobias eyeing Maeve for several more moments then.
"Where is.....your pack?"

That Fae did not have 'packs' had never truly occurred to him. Tobias assured near all families functioned in the same way his own did. The lanky deviant paused suddenly once more. The sounds of those Hunters below having ceased. Tobias growling softly within his throat, his head peering over that wall again. Two of the Hunters from that group nowhere to be seen.

"Come.....is time....to go."

Those words were no sooner free from his lips then Tobias moved skulk away from the wall, gesturing for Maeve to follow, only to hear the sound of footsteps on gravel. The leopard boy paused mid-skulk. That leopard tail and ears suddenly disappearing as if to hide just what he was from view. That pair of Hunters facing them now as Tobias' pivoted in turn, his hand beckoning Maeve to come to his side once more as one Hunter nudged the other. Tobias so evidently well known to them. The pair eyeing the Were almost cautiously and yet the Fae child was clearly of more interest. Fae, after all were rare things. Valuable things. One of those Hunter's crouching down then to bring himself more to the young girls level. "Hey Sweetie, where are your parents? Why don't you come over here and we can go and find them, eh? You don't belong down here with men like that. He tells lies that one. He'll hurt you. Come on now." His gaze was cast near pointedly toward Tobias then, the other Hunter's arms folded behind his back and yet even the deviant boy was near assured some sort of weapon rested within his hands. The fae child worth far more to them alive and yet Tobias himself a thorn in the side of the Hunter community that would surely be better off gone. That ready growl rising within the Leopards throat then. Both those Hunters hesitating at the sound. One of the men hissing that warning at the other. An agitated Tobias, after all, was a significantly different beast to the one content to play with a child. That crouching Hunter content to try one more time, gesturing for Maeve to come over once more. Tobias' own voice stuttered from his lips then to stop her.

"Make....you dead....if you....go."

The warning was for the kitten alone. Tobias assured she would understand that very assurance he was making that to approach those Hunters would hardly end well for her. Tobias beckoning then for Maeve to come to his own side. His dark gaze fixated near curiously on the men before him. The boy having ceased to blink for several moments yet. The very air tense then- both parties so seeming to wait for the child to choose just whose side she was on.

madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push