>< Chapter 2 ><

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.

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