"How did you get that scar, Sotaa?"
Sotaa whipped around towards his young holder, a grin appearing over his face with this question. He zipped in close to the human, who couldn't help but pull back as the Wolverine hovered in front of his face, pointed claws pressing close.
"This one?" Sotaa asked, pointing to the notch in his ear, and the human nodded. "Good question, Jerome, that's quite an exciting story."
"My name isn't–" His holder began, but Sotaa cut them off with a wave of their claw.
He never bothered to remember any of his holders’ names, it always got them so mad when he called them something else, and it was absolutely beautiful to watch them spiral into frustration.
"You see I had this holder once, an absolutely pathetic little thing like all you humans are," Sotaa continued, running a claw through the notch of his ear. "Lasted about two seconds in a fight, and he fell over dead, leaving just me to fight our foe."
"A master swordsman with magic beyond even the Miraculouses, Annabelle," Sotaa said solemnly. "They were ready to destroy my Miraculous with an enchanted sword, and I leapt between them. The magic of the sword was so powerful that I couldn't even phase through it, and it nearly took my ear off."
"Whoa," the holder said softly.
"Well, I don't think you'll last any longer than that holder once we get thrown out into the field," Sotaa said, turning away with a flick of his tail. "It was nice meeting you though, Robert."
"You don't know that!" Their holder snapped, jumping to their feet. "We've been training for this! And my name isn't Robert!"
A grin was spread over Sotaa's face, drifting away, these new holders were always so much fun to mess with. They nor their partner had yet to even enter the fray but this was already turning out to be a lot of fun. Sotaa couldn't wait to see who they would be up against though, and just what kind of fighting would be in their future.
"Are you fighting with your kwami again?" A new voice groaned, and Sotaa peered at their holder's partner, Anjjel sitting on their shoulder. He grinned at his fellow kwami, perhaps his favorite to be paired with from his box. They weren't quite as fun as Olivv, but it was always fun to try to get under the feathers of the kwami of Mercy.
"Oh, like you'd get along any better with them!" His holder snapped.
"Heh, your kwami likes me better than he likes you, he was telling me all about the wild leopard that nearly ripped his ear off last night while you were sleeping."
"Well if you were awake you would have heard the story..."
"It was a sword that took his ear, you idiot!"
Sotaa felt a gust of air rush past him, and he looked to see the Quail kwami was flying up to him, a disappointed look in Anjjel's eyes. "Sotaa, not this again."
"Ah, what's the problem my feathered friend?" Sotaa cooed.
"They're supposed to be partners, they can't be fighting like this," Anjjel insisted. "Come on now, just tell them the truth about your ear instead of these tall tales."
"And why would I do that?" Sotaa asked, pressing a claw to his chest. "A good squabble between partners always works out for the best."
"...It makes it so they don't work together," Anjjel said with a frown.
A huge toothy grin spread across Sotaa's face. "And what better way to make sure the fight against this new foe lasts for a good long while than some internal Conflict?"
