LAW OF TALOS POST HERE

I held my sword in my right hand as I edged towards the alley, wary of who or what might be waiting for me.

~Mrow~

My sword hung limp in my hand, a cat? Or more specifically a kitten as I was to find out. I had not thought that any creature such as this would even BE in this place all alone. I sheathed my sword and gently picked up the small kitten, wet and cold I dried him off with the inside of my coat. His coloring was gray and brown and he had clear blue eyes. Before I could say or do anything another sound, one of footsteps, was echoing off of the walls of the alley.

"Ahh, and I was going to have such fun with the little guy." I took a step back and watched as a man stepped out of the shadows. I once again freed my sword but also held the kitten to my chest. This must be a contestant. When the kitten mewed again and the stranger looked at it and grinned my eyes narrowed.

Rage filled me up like a glass if water, but instead of letting it spill out I directed it into the sword. The sword promptly became wreathed in flames and the stranger's eyes widened before he shrugged and took a stance. He asked for it.

This guy, there was nothing particularly special about him as far as I could tell. He fought well enough, I hadn't been able to land a single blow yet, and mind you this is only using my right arm because in my left hand I still held the kitten to me. This competitor was annoying though but didn't seem phased by anything, at least anything I had thrown at him so far, I wondered how long this would go on before my patience wore so thin that I transformed. How un-phased would he be then? I wondered.

"Come on girly, let's end this quickly eh? I have more promising battles to get to, I owe this one bloke a good whooping," he paused. "Not that you aren't all that bad, but you aren't all that good eith---" I sneered and shifted my eyes so I could see better in the growing dark and altered my muscles to aid in my speed. Running faster than his human eye could see I set the kitten behind a dumpster and in my slightly altered form, the animal parts I now possessed allowed me to communicate with the small feline.

"Stay here until I come for you small one." Its blue eyes blinked at me then it smiled, and anyone but me would have found that weird, but I wasn't quite normal either was I? Now with both hands free I reverted my muscles back to the norm but kept my enhanced vision.

"What th----" He had no chance to finish his sentence as I swung a ferocious blow toward his arm. He had blades attached to his arms that he fought with and my blow skidded off, it would have sent up sparks if my sword wasn't already in flames. "Not bad girly."

The battle went on for a while and he grew more and more tired, his movements growing more and more sluggish and his quips had stopped altogether. I kept him well away from the dumpster as we fought, but I had lost my concentration when I flung him aside after a particularly close call. He crashed into the dumpster and slid down to the ground. I wiped the sweat from my brow and my upper lip, unable to reach the bit that trickled down my back. He was finished, I thought. Then he raised his hand, and from it I heard a mournful mewing, which in my still slightly altered state was clear.

"Help!" My sword fell to the ground and I fell to the ground, landing on paws that were edged in white and claws that were as sharp as my sword. I snarled and bared my fangs, my ears flat against my head and the growl that tore through my throat froze the competitor in his place. My tail did not move an inch and when I crouched down I could feel the luxurious feeling of my muscles as I readied myself to spring. I roared at him in warning and watched in grim satisfaction as he placed the kitten on the ground.

I pounced and landed on him, not on his chest, I was much bigger than that, bigger than he was almost. I pressed my face close to his and breathed in his fear as he struggled to lift his bladed arms that were arrested under my immense weight. I did not want to spill his blood to the point of death, I didn't want to spill his blood at all if I didn't have to so I made my intentions clear with a jerk of my head. 'Get Lost!' And when a full grown tiger has you pinned with its face inches from yours, you do what it says.

Another person was nearby, but she did not smell human like the last competitor, nor did she smell afraid. Her words were wary and the tang of metal told me she was armed, but not with blades. She didn't seem as if she was going to hurt my little friend, she hadn't even touched him, and he did not sound as if he were in any danger. In fact he seemed to be very much at ease with the female. She wanted me to show myself, so I did, padding softly through the shadows to stand next to the kitten. She drew in a sharp breath and held her guns uncertainly, as if she was unsure whether I posed a threat or not. Looking from her to the kitten I extended a paw gently and picked him up as I shifted into human form, keeping my eyes enhanced.

The change was smooth and like fluid, almost like I blurred slightly as my form changed, my bones shrank and the fur receded. Her guns raised once again and I held the kitten to me and stared at her.

"Are you going to shoot me?" I waited for her to say something as I walked over to my discarded sword and returned it its sheath.

A friend? I don't know what she was talking about, she was the second person I had seen here yet, and I had very few attachments in the outside world with my parents gone and my being always on the move left little time for friendships or romantic ties. All of my childhood friends had become estranged from my life. Perhaps I would humor this girl for a while.

"Who are you? And why have you been looking for me?" I shrugged so that the sheathed sword settled on my back in a more comfortable position. I placed the kitten on my shoulder. "Can you hold on?" I asked it softly.

"Yes...thank you for finding me and taking care of me." It purred for a moment and I couldn't help thinking that this kitten may have been small but it was not as young as I had originally thought. The most down to earth kitten I had ever met. "Could I stay with you?" I smiled.

"Of course, Aneirin."

"I like that name."

The girl looked at this exchange curiously.

There was a big battle going on, much more productive than mine had been, but I did not know that teams could be made. I had never really been a part of one before but for some reason this was sending a cold chill down my spine. That guy with the bird, the inhuman guy with the unreal bird, he was the one giving me the chill. I wasn't sure about him, and that girl was fighting with him. From what it sounded like HE was the one who was looking for me, or rather, a red haired girl. I had no idea what was going on except that those two against those kids had a very large chance of winning, and even though it was two on two I wasn't sure though kids had a chance.

The maniacal grin on that guy's face was hair raising, those kids might not survive if he got his way, he looked fit to kill. I didn't know on which side I was to fight, did I have to pick a side? What if I just stopped the fight, broke it up, just long enough to get some answers.

"Don't." I look at Aneirin.

"Don't what?"


"Get involved yet." I stared at the kitten, who was this animal, or rather, what was it?

"I'm just going to get some answers." He dug his claws deep into the material of my coat as I jumped into the fray.

I would have made in time to stop the fight but i might have suffered dearly if Aneirin had not dug his claws into my skin causing me to stop mid stride as the explosion took place. The kids were safe, they ejected themselves and I felt a sweep of relief. But the fight wasn't done, instead of stepping in as I has planned, I found a seat far enough away from the battle on a pile of rubble and watched the outcome.