[i]...and she was leaning against a wall, arms folded in front of her, narrowed eyes watching the dark silhouette steadily make its way up the road.[/i]

The villagers did not know why the foreign woman had appeared in their hamlet, nor did they ask. True, she was female, unarmed, and armored only in wool and silk- but her thick, tattooed arms and cold stare were answer enough for most. A strange kind of thug, alright, but the rule remained the same: stay away, mind your own business, and you probably won't get hurt. 

[i]Probably.[/i]

As with any rule, there are exceptions. Like that big man in black, walking up just now. He was only passing through, not even stopping on the way, and yet his arrival triggered a change in the muscular woman. She had been still, solid as a rock, but now her burly arms unfolded. One reached behind her, and emerged holding a long loop of steel chain weighted with a small block of metal at either end. The other swung at her side as she stepped out from her resting place, her eyes never leaving the man in black. As he came within thirty feet, she planted her feet in the middle of the street, straight in his path.

[b]"You are the Cat Skull?"[/b] Her voice was deep, her tone bored. The chain in her hands clinked as she unwound it, one weighted end now dangling from her right hand. If her expression was any indication, she didn't much care whether her question was answered one way or another, or even at all. He looked tough enough. He would do.