Batari walks in echoes and shadows

The savage's mind worked around the words spat at her. They had said it like it was some kind of insult; but Batari could not comprehend how it could be. Self-centered. She had not heard these words before, but it seemed self explanatory. Self was her, and centered, meaning middle... She was the center... Batari WAS the center. Batari was also the top. The wolf seemed like it was bout to leave without her allowing it to do so, and this annoyed Batari. Her body had tensed in anticipation to strike at a wolf that would dare to turn away from her before she bit it do so.

Then a question came. Alliance? "All-eye-ance" Batari repeated the word aloud, experimentally. It sounded cumbersome, and foreign. Batari was not familiar with this word; but that was nothing new. There were a lot of words she was unfamiliar with... 'I' for instance... though to be fair she had heard that one, just didn't seem to grasp how to use it in her savage mind.

"What is this Alleyeance? Batari does not know this. You will teach Batari!" she growled. Batari's pride was great and in danger by admiting there was something she did not know. However the threat was not that great, for words were not something the strong needed to be familiar with. Kill or threaten until you get what you want, or get it yourself. Communication served little purpose. The lizards were simple creatures, who rarely spoke to one another, so their language was a simple one without many words.

Batari might understand the concept of an alliance, if it was explained to her properly; but the word for such a thing was unknown to her. Lizards rarely had a term for this, they had truces where they would stop hunting each other to seek out Batari, or stop hunting Batari to seek each other; but these were extremely rare.

Batari sat and waited for the word to be explained to her, ready to bear her fangs and attack if it seemed the wolf was mocking her.