A small black cat padded on though the concrete jungle. It's eyes were glazed, and it left a small trail of blood behind it as it pushed onward. The cat winced, it's face scrunching up in pain. It shook it's head, narrowing it's forest green eyes. It moved forward, although it was in immense pain. The cat seemed to be looking for something.

In the distance, the cat saw a strange unnatural light. It quickened it's pace as it came closer to the light. The cat stopped in front of a small gas station. It took a deep breath, preparing to go inside. It took a step, and another, until.. THUMP! The cat walked strait into the glass! It blinked slowly, and then tried to enter again. THUMP! No use. It craned it's head towards the glass, it's eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, something large approached the small cat. It looked up at the creature towering above it from the other side of the glass. The fur on it's back stood up. It unsheathed it's claws. The creature crouched down. It was then that the cat realized that this creature was nothing more than a mere human. It's fur smoothed out. The human put her hand up to the glass and sighed. " Hey little guy.. you're in pretty bad shape, huh? " The cat stared into the human's eyes. It gave off a threatening demeanor. The human seemed unfazed by this, though. The human stood up and walked over to the glass doors. As she pushed the doors open, the cat took a small step back. The human walked towards the cat, her arms outstretched.

The cat's eyes widened with fear. It hooked the human's hand with one of it's claws. The human didn't back off. Her hand brushed against the cat's neck fur. It snapped it's head around and bit her. She shook her hand, but the cat wouldn't let go. Her eyes widened as she saw scarlet drops of blood drip onto the ground. She grumbled something under her breath. She seemed angry, and anything with common sense would let go, but the cat didn't. It gave the human a look as angry as it's. It bit down harder onto the human's hand. She tried to pry the cat's mouth open with her other hand. When that didn't work, she grabbed the cat's tail. She yanked on it as hard as she could. With a yelp, the cat unhinged it's jaws. The human let out a sigh of relief.

She quickly took off her jacket, and held it in front of the cat. It backed away from the jacket, and before long, it was trapped in a corner. The human grabbed the cat with the jacket. The cat hissed and wiggled, but to no avail. It finally gave up and allowed the human to carry it away.

I waved goodbye to a few of my friends as I walked out of the main building. Today was physical training, and I was exhausted. They definitely don't go easy on us, that's for sure. It's for the best, though. I pulled my water bottle out of my bag. I personally think that water is pretty underrated. You don't ever really realise how important water is until you actually need it. I downed a few gulps as I walked to the old gas station on the corner of Wilcox and Cameno. The stuff they sold there was pretty cheap. Along with that, the gas station manager is pretty cool too.

When I finally arrived at the gas station, my legs felt as though they were about to fall off. I stared at my relection in the glass doors for a few seconds before pushing them open. The doors creaked as I pushed them open, and then the small bell at the top of the door jingled. The store manager, who was sorting scratch off lottery tickets, raised his head. He greeted me with an enthusiastic smile. " Hey Savanna! How's the day been treating you? " I sighed, and then smiled back at him. " The same as always, I suppose. " I sighed once more. " How have sales been, Mr. Enriquez? " I asked, sitting down on one of the bar stools in front of the counter. " Business is going well. " He had a dazed look in his eyes. I could tell that he wasn't speaking the truth, but I dropped it.

He put a coke bottle on the counter in front of me. The condesation that the bottle left on the counter told me that it was cold. I grabbed hold of the bottle, and as I twisted off the cap, I asked the store manager, " How much for this? " He raised an eyebrow as he watched me practically chug it. " You already know that it's free, what's the point in asking? " He chuckled, and I swallowed. " Just making sure, I guess. " I made a goofy smile at him, and he made the same goofy smile right back at me. The store manager and I are pretty close. Many believe that people get along much better with other people in close age range as them. I'd beg to differ. Take me and the store manager, for example. Me, at the age of 18, and him, at the age of 53 running on 54, have a friendship greater than most.

We spent a while talking. Maybe an hour or so passed, and it had gotten dark. Mid conversation, we heard a bang on the glass. We stopped talking and looked over towards where the sound came from, but saw nothing, so we continued our conversation. " And that's when commander J.D. slipped and almost did the splits. It was really funn- " THUMP! I was stopped mid-sentance by the same noise as before. This time I decided to check out the noise. I walked up to the glass and crouched down slowly. I was a bit suprised to find a small black cat. It's forest green eyes met mine. It's fur was matted, and it seemed to be hurt. " Hey little guy.. you're in pretty bad shape, huh? " I bit my tounge. I knew that I didn't have the time nor money to take care of a cat, not to mention that there are no animals allowed in my small apartment. Still, a part of me couldn't stand to see this poor cat in this condition and not help it.

I put my hand up to the glass, and then stood up. I walked towards the glass doors and pushed them open. As they creaked the cat stepped back. " It's okay little guy.. " I mumbled under my breath. I reached out towards the cat to attempt to take it home, and what do I get? I get scratched, that's what. I tried again. I was almost there when the cat bit my hand. " Can't you see that I'm trying to help? " I grumbled angrily. The cat wouldn't let go of my hand. It was beginning to bleed, and I started to wonder if this cat had rabies. I hope not. I attempted to pull the cat's jaws apart. No luck. It only bit down harder onto my hand. I thought of the second best thing. The tail of a cat is pretty sensitive. I grabbed ahold of the cat's tail, and I felt it flinch. And then I yanked it as hard as I possibly could. The cat let go of my hand with a yelp of pain. It was asking for me to do that from the moment it first scratched me.

Even if this cat had a nasty attitude, I still couldn't leave it here. I slipped off my jacket and held it out in front of me, forming a kind of wall. There was no way that I'd try to handle this cat bare handed again, not until it learns how to behave itself. The cat backed away from the jacket, and I grinned. I had trapped it against a corner. I froze, and the cat eyed me suspiciously. Wait for it.. I suddenly grabbed it with the jacket, holding it up to my chest. I could hear the cat hissing. It wriggled in the jacket, and occasionslly I could feel the cat's claws prick through it. As I carried it out of the gas station parking lot, it seemed to calm down. Time to go through the horror of taking this little devil home.

I held my jacket up to my chest as I walked down the seemingly empty street. The small cat inside of it gave me a bit of warmth. Arizona can get pretty cold at night if it's the right time of year. And luckily for me, we only have a few more weeks until winter. Hurray. I'm not the biggest fan of the cold weather, but I prefer it over the blazing heat, that's for sure. The streets were dimly lit by the occasional street light. It was kind of creepy, but I shook off the sickly feeling in my stomach. I just need to get to the car rental place. I think it's supposed to be somewhere around here.

The cat wiggled a bit in the bag. I ignored it. I walked a bit further and then stopped. I pulled out my phone and opened google maps. As I typed in the name of the car rental shop, I heard faint footsteps behind me. Before I could turn around to see who was there, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I entered a cold sweat. Who was this person? Is it one of my friends playing a prank on me?

I attempted to turn around, but the grip on my shoulder tightened, and I stopped. According to the size and grip of the hand, the person was probably male. The person spun me around to face them. Their appearence shocked me. They were male, like I had expected. He had dark brown hair, stunning hazel eyes, and wore crimson, almost medieval pooking armor. " Give him to me. " The man ordered, his peircing eyes meeting mine. " What do you mean? " I replied calmly. I wasn't going to show that I was actually afraid of this strange man. " Give me the one who goes by the name of Wren. " He commanded once again. " Wren? Like the bird? " I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty confused right now. The man sighed. " Foolish human. There. " He unsheathed a sword and rested the tip of it on my jacket. " Give him to me. " " The cat is what you want? " I wouldn't let him have the cat, not without knowing what he'd do with it. Not to mention that this guy has a sword. " Indeed. Give him to me now. " I furrowed my brow. " No. "

" It's either him, or your life. Choose wisely. " He adjusted his grip on his sword. I was shocked. Is this guy serious? He seems serious, and he has a sword.. As I started to think of the possible horrible outcomes of this encounter, the cat wiggled out of the jacket without me noticing. Next thing I know, I look up and see the man swinging his sword at the cat. I jumped forward, trying to stop him from hitting it. I was too slow. But fortunately, so was the man. The cat had swiftly moved out of the way of the blade. I let out a sharp sigh of relief before shouting, " Stop trying to hurt that poor cat, you freak! " The man turned to glare at me angrily and in those few seconds, the cat had jumped onto him. It bit and scratched him. The man grabbed the cat and threw it onto the concrete with strong force. The cat wasn't finished, though. Somehow, the throw didn't seem to affect the cat, aside from a few more small scratches.

The cat ran at the man, a certain gleam in it's eyes. It seemed confident now, as if it knew it would win this battle. I was frozen in place, watching this bizzare fight. The cat continuously attacked the man in his blind spots, it's tail held high as the tides changed, and it was now winning the fight. The man let out a frustrated huff before turning towards me, an almost insane look in his hazel eyes. He took a step towards me, now ignoring the cat. Both me and the cat were staring at him now.

He suddenly broke into a run, the arm carrying his sword outstretched. I turned the other way and ran for it. This guy might have been fast, but I was faster. I guess all that training did pay off in the end. I looked back and saw the man close on my tail. I could faintly see the small black cat running after the man as he chased me. I was starting to run out of breath. I needed to think fast. I quickly spun around and ran strait towards the man. Suprised, he didn't have time to react. I pulled the sword out of his hand and threw it. Then I did something that I would never do to anyone in any normal situation. But this was everything but normal. I grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. He stumbled backwards as I let go of his arm, falling into a bed of cacti. He screamed in pain as I grabbed the sword off of the ground and ran.