FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

There were murmurs moving around the office that Sarah worked at that something big was about to happen. She had dismissed them as rumors, not worthy of her time.

She had been working in the office for the past few years, and every so often, rumors would pop up and then die off. That day was like any of the other ones. Nothing ever happened, even though they were assured that whenever something did, they would be told to go to work for once.

As it was, all they did was sit around in their cubicles, surfing the net. She wondered sometimes what the company even did, but knew better to question it. It was a good deal, and she did not want to ruin it.

She was a mouse, white in color with dark brown eyes. She had once been called beautiful by onlookers, but that was years ago. She was in her mid-thirties now, and her youthful appearance had given way to the passage of time.

A phone on her desk rang. It never did that. Once her heart had returned to normal, she picked it up and answered with, "This is Sarah. How may I help you?"

"Your presence is requested upstairs. This is not voluntary." The voice was deep, and almost made the phone tremble. It was over, and then she heard the dial tone, as if she had picked up the phone to dial out.

Shaken, she quickly headed to the elevator. She had heard of individuals heading to the top floor every so often, and then they departed on their jobs. They always came back, though, so that helped ease her tension.

It was a tall building, but without any special features that made it discernable from the other buildings, except that it was the only tall building in the area. The location was not necessarily remote, but it was unknown why a company would decide to have their headquarters there.

The lights were bright and the elevator music was soothing. It reminded her of the ocean, and a decal on the side showed a whale and some fish.

When it reached the top floor, it stopped, gave a small chime and urged her to leave. She walked forward, confident that whatever awaited her, it would not be an issue. She had always been a hard worker and she always got the job done in her time before the company. This time would be no different.

The window near the last room on the end showed a sunny sky and the view below. The roads could be seen, and all the little cars that traversed along it, like ants on the ground, looking for food.

A tingling sensation coursed through her. Somewhere nearby she would receive her assignment, and she would have to leave for a while. She thought of the fish back home that she kept as pets. Hopefully it was a local job. She had no idea what it even would be.

She had picked a good day to dress up. She had been walking around in professional business attire even though she usually came in something more casual. Something about that day told her it would have been a good idea.

There was a plaque on the second-to-last door that read that it was the executive office. What was the last door for? She pondered it for a moment, but decided it was best to just do what she came there to do. She knocked on the door loudly, but on the last knock, the door opened.

A black cat with bright violet eyes stood there, a bored look on his face. She had never seen him before. Was that the face of her boss? It could not be. There would be no way that he would open the door himself.

"Come in," the cat said. He disappeared behind the door as he held it open for her. She took a few steps into the room, turned to him to thank him, but he was gone.

Panicked, she looked around, and noticed him by the ornate desk at the end of the room. There were white, plain walls to each side and behind her. A large screen was propped on the wall, turned off for the time being. The room was mostly empty except for a comfortable looking chair sitting in front of the desk.

The desk housed several screens, wires jutting off to the side. Behind the monitors she could see a large figure. That must have been who had summoned her. The cat invited her to move forward with a wave of his paw.

The lights were not on all the way, but enough that the room was lit enough. Not quite as bright as the office on the ground floor, but still bright.

She made it to the seat and saw the face of the one who owned everything she saw before her.

Blue, shimmering scales covered his body. Four horns came from his head, and wings from his back. There was a yellow under his neck that traveled further down. His eyes were a rich green, and a smile had played across his face. She was not sure why, but she was intimidated. She wanted to shrink away at that very moment.

"Please, Ms. Masters, sit down. That's what chairs are for," the dragon said with a soft chuckle.

Sarah gulped and did as she was told. The monitors seemed to fall away when she looked at the dragon, so that there was nothing obstructing their view. She stuttered, "Y-y-you called for m-me, sir?"

"Yes," the dragon said. "You can just call me Syz, though. I prefer it. And this handsome fellow is Maximillian."

The cat spoke up, "Just Max is fine."

Sarah trembled at the situation. She had no idea what she was so frightened, as she had never reacted this way before, but for some reason everything about the dragon made her recoil.

The cat noticed. "You need to work on being less intimidating, Syz. Look at the poor thing, she's scared to death. Just let me do the talking."

The dragon puffed out a small bit of dark smoke from his nose. "If you insist." He then leaned back in his chair, pulled out a manila envelope from his desk, tossing it toward the cat. "You seem to think you can do better."

Max's chest puffed out. "Oh, I know I can." He took the envelope and placed it next to him. He then began to pace back and forth, staring at the mouse.

"Ms. Masters. Sarah. Can I call you Sarah?" the cat asked, his voice like velvet.

She blushed and said, "Th-that's fine, Mr. Max."

"Just Max is fine; I'm not your boss," the cat said in response. His fur was as dark as night and seemed to shimmer in the dim lighting. Something about him Sarah fancied, but she pushed those feelings away.

"Now, could you be a dear and check to see if the information in front of you is correct?" the cat asked her.

She just then noticed a piece of paper with her name on it. Masters, Sarah, no middle name. Her address. Her number. Her birthday. 5'8" in height, brown eyes. It even had the start date of her employment. Everything seemed to be in order. That was, indeed, her.

"It's all correct," she said. It looked like an employee file, and all the information was easily obtainable. She thought nothing of it.

"Very good. Sometimes things get messed up, and we can't have that happening this time," Max explained. "This is the first time we'll be starting a major project, and we can't have it ruined by silly clerical errors. Since it's the first major job, you are in a very special and unique position. You have been selected based on Syz's vast knowledge, and some of my own investigations." The cat puffed out his chest at the last part, proud.

"What... do you need me to do, exactly?" she asked, confused.

"That's simple," the cat said. "We need you to rescue someone."

"Rescue someone?" Sarah asked incredulously. She looked at the two of them, her fear replaced with confusion. She laughed, thinking it was just a joke, but they looked back at her with unwavering conviction. There was no joke. "Surely there's someone better suited for the job. What can someone like me do?"

"There is no one better suited for this job," the cat said, his gaze fixed on her eyes, never shifting. "While the job is that you simply need to rescue someone, it really isn't that simple."

A remote appeared in the cat's paw, and he clicked it. The monitor on the wall turned on, and it was connected to one of the monitors. The dragon had already started a slideshow.

"This will be your target," Max said. He clicked a button, and the image of a mouse appeared on the screen, except it was difficult to fully identify just who it was based on the image. The picture had been taken from far away, and the mouse was curled up in a cage, open to nature. The only identifiable objects were a bowl, some hay, and a makeshift toilet.

"Took the picture, myself," the cat said proudly. "No one else has ever been close enough to get an image... well, no one that isn't involved in their operation."

Sarah did not know the mouse. Mice were not very rare in the world, so it would have been surprising if she did, but it was not to be. She did not see why she had to be the one to rescue him, though.

"Now," the cat said. "He is located in an arena based off in this tropical jungle." He clicked the button a map expanded to show where the jungle was. It was a remote part of the world where supposedly no one explored, but judging by the images she was currently seeing, she knew now that that was not the case.

"This arena is used for illegal fights between anyone that they've bought, traded, or captured. He was, unfortunately, caught at an early age and has been made to fight since then," Max continued. He clicked to a newspaper article about a missing child. The investigations had ceased only a day later; the reason was unknown. Another article where the parents of the missing child were found dead. Poison.

Sarah suddenly felt very ill. The job was becoming more and more dangerous the further he explained it. She wanted to just let them know that she quit and would be on her way, but for some reason, she could not speak, or even move.

"So you might be thinking to yourself," the cat said. "How did this little mouse survive all this time in an arena? I forgot to mention that these fights are to the death." He clicked the remote again, and an aerial view of the arena popped up. In the center was a small figure, and surrounding it, streaked unevenly across most of the arena ground, was red.

"He's a special mouse. He can handle his own in a fight. In fact, I don't think they'll ever find anyone close to beating him," the cat said.

"So... so, why does he need me?" Sarah finally managed to ask.

"I'm glad you asked," the cat said with a smile. He clicked the remote once again, and a video popped up.

It was a video immediately outside of the cell. It was night, and the moon was bright enough that they could see the mouse huddled in the corner. The audio indicated that he was crying and shivering, trying to stay away from the cage's bars. He was clearly frightened.

A twig snapped, and he turned around, quickly asking, "Who's there?" He then began to try to recede into the wall, doing anything to escape, but he was stuck. The video ended.

Sarah looked at the cat, who had his chest puffed out. It must have been a habit, she guessed. "I assume you took that video?"

"Very good," Max said in response. "As you can see, he's very scared. He can't break himself out, and we're unsure why."

"Why don't you rescue him, if you were that close?" Sarah asked. It should have been an easy task if the cat was able to get that close.

Max's facial expression grew dark. "Believe you me, I've tried. Nearly died each time."

"How am I supposed to rescue him if the security nearly kills you, too?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"It's not the security," Max said. "The security is garbage. No, he nearly kills me." He clicked the remote again, and it showed the mouse, his face not one indicative of fear, but of rage. In his paw was a short blade, and he was rushing toward the source of the picture. "There's something special about that mouse that remembers something special about me. If I get too close, it kicks in. Sort of like a memory, sort of like trauma. I can't do it, so you'll have to."

Sarah shook her head. "There are definitely others that are better suited for a rescue mission. The most I've ever done in my life was run a half-marathon. Why pick me?"

The cat nodded toward the dragon. "This one is on you, Syz."

The fur on the back of Sarah's neck tingled, and she slowly looked over at the dragon, who had an amused expression on his face. The blue glint in his scales seemed to shimmer, and something seemed to be living in those eyes.

"You've got a bit of an anger issue, don't you, Ms. Masters? We've got it down in your profile. Your psychological evaluations have always shown that you have been a bit... aggressive." The dragon gave a small grin and a puff of smoke escaped from his nostrils.

It was true. She always had an issue controlling her anger. She had lost several boyfriends because they had been afraid, lost her last job because she exploded at the manager. She had been kicked out of many a bar.

"It's that anger that you have to harness, Ms. Masters. It will give you the courage no one else will have to do what must be done. Anger is the trigger. It is the key. Your target only fights when he's angry, after all." The dragon closed his eyes and sat back in his chair.

"Right," the cat said. "Obviously, we're not going to send you there without the proper equipment and training. Your training will start from now on and will last until needed, or if a critical moment comes, whichever is sooner. We don't know when they will decide to get rid of him. Time is ticking."

Sarah gulped. "Training? What kind of training?"

The cat glanced at the dragon, and then back to the mouse. He gave a tiny smile and she could swear she saw his eyes flash. "Combat training, of course. It's not safe over there."

Before she could refuse, the cat tossed the envelope onto her lap. He said, "That's for you. Don't worry about your living accommodations. That's been taken care of. We've packed some clothes for you, and I can always get more. Your fish, while they look delicious, are being taken care of until your assignment is complete. From here on out, there is only one goal, and that is to rescue the target. We will begin your training immediately."

She felt her body tense up, and she took the envelope. As if moving on her own, she stood up and followed the cat, who had been walking toward the entrance.

The further away from the dragon, the more control she had over her body. Once out of the room she protested, "I can't do this, there's no way. You have to find someone else."

Max gave her a blank look. "There is no one else. You have been chosen specifically for this job. No one else can do it."

"And if I refuse?" she said, arms crossed.

The cat's expression became grim. "You don't want to know. If you think you have anger issues, you don't know Syz. That dragon has put a lot of time and effort into this. You don't want to disappoint him."

The weight of the words convinced her. She gulped and continued to follow the cat, until she remembered that she had no idea where they were going. She voiced her concern.

"We're going to the training center," Max explained. "It's a pretty plain building, really. Has everything a gym would have, and a track, but more importantly, a giant, empty room. You'll be training with me, every single day, until you can beat me."

"Beat you? No offense, but you don't look all that tough," Sarah remarked. She had beaten up some guys at the bar before, twice her size. She could probably take the cat on right at that moment and be perfectly fine.

The cat looked back at her with a grin and an odd glimmer in his eyes. The violet in them seemed to glow. "You'll have plenty of chances to prove yourself, don't you worry. The wide open space is more for your safety than mine.

"There's also a range where you will hone your marksmanship. You will train with various weapons. If you can't beat me," Max told her, "You won't stand a chance against the mouse if he decides to go berserk. Even on my best day I could never beat him."

"You've fought him?" she asked. When had he gotten the opportunity? Had he participated in the arena?

"A long, long time ago. I'm much older than I appear," Max said. He continued toward the elevator and held it as she followed him. They took it to the ground floor and went on their way to exit the building.

There were murmurs throughout the building, slight glances at her, a couple waves and well wishes. They had no idea what she was going to be doing, and that was probably for the best. Still, it filled her with dread.

A car awaited them outside the building. She got in first and waited for him to also get in, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Panicked, she looked around as the car began to move. "We have to wait for Max," she insisted.

"He'll meet us there," the driver said. It was another black cat, except female, and she had white patches in her fur. Her paws and eyebrows were white, and her eyes were a bright orange.

"Are... are you two related?" Sarah asked.

"No ma'am," the cat said. They drove in silence.

-

The training center was only about twenty minutes away, but it was further from civilization. They had to veer off and take a dirt road to get to it, and it ended up being what looked more like a warehouse rather than a gym.

Sarah closed the door and turned to ask, "Do you know where I'm supposed to meet Max?"

"Behind you, ma'am." The driver pointed.

Sarah turned around and there was Max, not even a few feet in front of her. Surprised, she swung as a reaction. As if in slow motion, she watched her mistake progress, slowly toward the cat's face. It was certain to make contact.

But it did not. Just before, the cat seemed to get further away, and all she managed to hit was air.

Max waved to the car, which drove off, and then said, "Now's not the time for that. Let me explain the area to you."

He walked away, unfazed. He pointed to the large warehouse and said, "That's the only building here, obviously. Everything we need is in there, or can be obtained. The first portion of it is the gym. The track isn't really an official track, per se, but basically it's the perimeter of the building. It's about three quarters of a mile per lap."

He continued walking toward the building, and then turned around. Sarah was still standing where the car had been, still trying to figure out what had happened. He waved at her and said, "It'll be easier to explain it if you come over and see it."

Sarah shook off the feeling of disbelief and moved forward. Something was odd about that cat. She should have hit him, but she somehow missed. She had never missed anyone before, even if in error.

She caught up to the cat, and they moved inside.

The interior was vastly different than the exterior. It was air conditioned, the ceiling extended pretty far, and every piece of gym equipment she thought she would need was available, as well as a set of weights and bars. They even had sanitizing gel and wipes and towels.

She followed the cat to a hallway. A door led to the next hallway, where a door on the side read "Laundry Room". Another door and they were in a fairly long corridor, with four doors on the sides, and one at the end.

"Each of these rooms," the cat said as they continued walking, "is a large sparring room where you'll learn to fight. There are four of them in case the others become inoperable."

They walked through the last door, which led to a tiny corridor that ended in a T. "The showers and restroom are on the right; the bedroom is on the left. Your bags are already in there. If you need anything specific, just write it on a piece of paper so that you remember, and then let me know. I will not be sleeping here, just as a favor, really. I know how much everyone loves their privacy." Max turned around and walked back to the long corridor and prompted her to follow.

Sarah followed him quickly. In truth, she was relieved that she would get her own room, but at the same time, she was a bit frightened at the prospect of being in this large building by herself. She had not seen a lock on the door, and it was not exactly incapable of being found. Anyone could wander in haphazardly and find her there all alone.

They went into one of the sparring rooms. It was exactly as Max had said it was: a wide, open room.

They went to the center of it, and the cat turned around. Sarah paused, confused.

"Try to land a punch on me," Max said. He had a bored expression on his face.

For some reason, it irked her. She said, "Are you really sure you want to do this, kitty cat?"

The cat shrugged. "I mean, you're probably right. It's most likely a waste of time for me. You'll be at it all day and never get any closer-"

She swung at him, but did not connect. He somehow was too far away once again.

"-to the target," he finished.

"How are you doing that?" she asked, puzzled. She thought she would use the moment he would start explaining his superiority to counter and catch him off guard.

"I teleport," He said simply. There was nothing further.

She lost her chance that she assumed she would have. Instead of dwelling on what he said, she continued swinging, chaining punch after punch, even a couple kicks, but nothing was working. He was dodging everything without even a look of stress.

And then he was gone.

Before she could act, she felt it. A knife at her neck, the cat behind her. She felt it like electricity, and a shiver ran through her spine. She cautiously moved her paws to his arm, and then gripped it, but it was gone before she could even grasp anything.

He stood about ten feet in front of her, twirling the knife around in his paw. "This will keep going on forever at this rate."

Frustrated, she leapt at him, but he was gone. She turned around and there he was, staring at her, still with the bored expression on his face.

"Are you ready for me to attack yet?" he asked her. She gave him a scowl in return.

He disappeared, and then she felt him. A fist to her side, and then a foot to the other side. She was launched, and then there he was above her. She braced herself.

A hail of punches all thrown at places she could not defend in time.

She fell to the floor, and it stopped. She opened an eye and saw the cat, facing away from her, an arm behind his back. She slowly climbed back onto her feet, bruised all over, and yet he was unscathed.

"We'll be doing this every single day. Eventually we'll incorporate weapons. Until then, stick with the gym and the punching bags. Breakfast and dinner are at 6. Lunch is at 12. It will be in your room. I'll be back tomorrow while you get adjusted." Max waved a paw without looking at her, and then was gone.

Sarah punched the ground in anger. She felt the pain, but ignored it. She was just frustrated. He had made her look like an idiot so easily, and there was nothing she could do.

She went to the gym portion of the warehouse. This would be her life. If not for the mouse, to wipe the grin off of that cat's face.

And so she trained.

-

Every day ended up being the same.

Sarah would wake up with the breakfast already at her desk. The first few times bothered her, but she realized that it was just that the cat was teleporting the breakfast to her. A few bouts and she figured out that the cat could teleport himself, as well as objects, but not her. Maybe not anyone.

Every sparring session ended with her being frustrated. She had been struck hard enough that she had vomited what she had consumed quite a few times, but it only strengthened her resolve.

She ran and ran, she lifted, she pressed, she squatted and did whatever she thought would help make her stronger and faster.

She requested a few things, and he brought them to her. The clothes were adequate, so she was covered on that aspect, but some of the soaps were not to her liking. It was just a personal taste sort of thing.

A few weeks of sparring and she was introduced to the marksman range behind the building. There were various types of rifles and pistols and shotguns and automatic weaponry of dubious origin. Ammo was abundant, as was oil and rags and tools to clean the weapons.

The cat taught her the proper ways to fire the weapons, the proper ways to hold them, to aim, to breathe, to pull the trigger. Her shots were all over the place at first, but he assured her she would get better. And she did.

The days passed by without much notice, living in a warehouse. She had not even realized that she had shut out the world outside until it was too late to reconcile. She was far too motivated to get better. Far too angry.

Day after day she was improving. She was learning when the cat would strike, where he would strike, and why. She was slowly able to predict his movements, but she could not keep up with him yet. She nearly landed a few blows, catching only fur.

It was not enough for her. She got faster. She needed to.

Something about being a mouse was always a point of ridicule in her life, and this was only another stepping stone in proving all of them wrong. She had been given the opportunity, so she took it.

She was not really angry at the cat after a while. What he had said before was true and she now saw it. She was mostly angry at herself for having been so weak. How could that other mouse be saved if she could not even defend herself? How could he rely on her?

Weeks were gone. Months passed. It was still not enough.

The constant training was putting a strain on her, and she nearly fell unconscious a few times in the middle of the fights. She still pushed on, resolute that one of these days, she would get him.

She was getting closer and closer to her target, and the cat noticed this. Perhaps she was not a waste of time, after all, though he never really thought so.

The marksmanship training continued until she no longer missed any of the targets, and then it continued until she hit the targets in the bullseye. She hoped that she would never have to use these skills, but it was good to train them in case she did. She could control her own actions, but not the actions of others, after all.

Eventually they began to move, but that was not an issue for her.

She was getting stronger, day by day. Faster. Her instincts were sharper. It was as if she was preparing for war, and judging by the nature of the assignment, she might as well have been.

It took another few weeks before she managed to finally block a hit from the cat. She swelled with pride, but it was short lived, as the punch was followed by several others. She did her best to dodge, but it was as if they were heat-seeking missiles and she was the sun.

Still, it was a step in the right direction.

She managed to catch herself in the mirror one of the slower days. She hardly recognized the white mouse in front of it. She had become so skinny, but not emaciated. She could see the muscles building on her. She looked like one of those gym fanatics she had seen before while she had been wasting time in the city. A little bit of her youth seemed to return to her, though she was only getting older.

Another couple weeks and blocking the cat's blows had become much more common. Every single time she did it, she could feel her anger well up. She had been so slow before. She had been so weak. This was easy, and she was so incapable that she wondered just how she could have wasted her life before. Blocking was fine, but it was not enough for her. She blocked one of the cat's punches with her own.

Max had recoiled that day, shaking his paw a little. There had been a grin on that cat's face, and perhaps a small bit of pride. His eyes had begun to glow from that day onward. She wished he would teach her that.

From then on, they trained with melee weapons. It caught her off-guard at first, but she adapted. Knives, swords, machetes, knuckles, staves, chains, whips, maces, flails, and every other weapons he could ever have imagined, somehow the cat procured. She was taught to use them, and to defend against them. As he told her, the enemy would not be unarmed. In fact, most of them would have rifles instead of a sword.

Still, it was a good practice to have, to be able to use whatever she found. An improvised weapon was sometimes better than no weapon at all, but from all the training she had been doing, she did not mind either way.

The larger weapons were a bit awkward for her at first, but she got used to them eventually. She did not really like them, though. She preferred the smaller, lighter weapons, as they felt more like an extension of her fist. The combat knives, the knuckles, even a dagger sufficed. The larger weapons were easier for the cat to dodge, as well.

She fought every day, trying to prove her worth, and it was working. She could see his movements, predict them, react accordingly. It was for fear of pain before, but now that the cat carried a weapon, it was for fear of death. Metal clanged against metal on a daily basis, and she lost more than just a few hairs.

She could see him get faster. The glow in his eyes brightened, and suddenly, she was no match for him once again. She gritted her teeth those days, and cursed him for being such a cheater. If only he could stand still, she would have a chance at winning.

As she learned, no one played fair in combat. Every movement held purpose, every motion and swing had a destination. There was no time for wasted efforts or wasted energy. She had been so sloppy before, she now knew.

Several more weeks had passed before she got close to the cat once more. It would not be much longer before she would catch him and wipe that grin off of his face.

-

After a particularly difficult sparring session, the cat stayed to talk to her.

"Sarah, the time is drawing near. You're very close to as ready as I'd like you to be. You should decide now what weapons you would like to take with you," the cat told her.

"Don't chicken out now, I've almost got you!" she remarked.

Max's eyes flashed, and suddenly she found herself encased in concrete bricks, an opening at her face so that she could see him. He said solemnly, "Don't forget why we're doing this. It isn't so you can try to beat me. It's so you can rescue your target."

The mouse scrunched up her eyebrows in anger. If he had been able to do this all along, then her chance at victory was merely an illusion. She slowly said with venom in her voice, "Let me out."

The bricks disappeared. She found that her fists were clenched and shaking. She spat out, "You've just been toying with me, haven't you?"

The cat gave a bored look. "I've just been doing what I needed to train you. It's true, though, when you deal with someone like me, it may seem a bit unfair. We weren't meant to fight anyone normal, after all."

"Normal?" she asked, as if offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, there are certain individuals out there like me, with certain abilities. You've seen how I can teleport," the cat explained. "Their abilities are different, and some are much stronger. You're just a normal mouse, but I don't mean any harm by it. You've done outstanding work to get this far. I thought it would take another few months by my original estimate."

Her anger abated and gave way to pride. She had been working so hard, and the compliment, while not what she had been wanting, was nice. "Fine. When do I go?"

Max checked his phone. "Another week, I would say. I'll be assisting you on the assignment until we get close to the arena. After that, you're on your own. You'll have the latest model for a bulletproof vest, as well as whatever weapons you think you'll need. Overall, this is on you. If you think you need something, let me know, and you'll have it."

She chuckled. "How about an army?"

Max shrugged. "I've considered it, but it would be too much for the target."

"I was joking," she said, waving a paw at him. She sat down on the floor, stretching her legs out.

"I see. Well, when we're going to leave, I'll tell you everything you'll need to know about the target. The other reason we picked you is because you're what Syz would consider his weakness. You're a white mouse with brown eyes, female, a bit older. You're about what his sister would be, had she not been killed," Max said. He began to walk toward the wall.

"His sister?" she asked. She thought about another white mouse about her age. "Who killed her?"

Max responded casually, "The same ones that are keeping him captive. I'll tell you all about it later, don't worry about that. Part of helping him will need you to understand him. Anyway, I'm out until it's time to leave. We'll go by helicopter. I hope you're not afraid of flying."

Before she could ask any other questions, he was gone. She threw a shoe at where he had been standing.

-

The rest of the time he had not appeared. She continued to train in the gym, but she kept it at light exercises. The big day was coming up and she did not want to be tired out, but at the same time, she did not want to get soft.

She figured she would need a combat knife, at least. It had become her favorite weapon, though throwing knives were slowly gaining popularity. She had not had much experience with them, though, so she ruled them out. Some brass knuckles might have been acceptable.

The week felt much slower now that the cat did not appear. She wondered where he had gone, but figured that he felt she was done with the sparring. All she could do now was practice, so she did.

The punching bag could only take so much before it was used up. Max was not there to replace it, though, so she had to move on.

They had torn through two of the rooms and nearly moved onto the fourth. The weapons definitely accelerated the deterioration of the rooms' condition.

However slow, the days still passed.

-

The day before they would leave, he appeared again. At first she was surprised, thinking he would be there the next day, but it made sense if he would be briefing her on the situation and if they would be preparing to leave.

He brought a large table with him and a couple chairs into the sparring room. She had been in there to stretch, but she accepted his sudden existence.

He grabbed the file that had been originally handed over by the dragon, seemingly from the air. She had wondered where it had gone, and now it appeared before her. "Open it," he told her.

She did as she was told. There was a red string that held the envelope closed, looped around a plastic portion of the envelope. She unraveled it and took the papers out, spreading them across the table.

There were maps and images of the arena, as well as the surrounding locations. Guard posts, tents, huts, even a small village nearby. There was a helipad and runway for more affluent attendees. A dirt road was also included on the map.

"The data is a little outdated, so here's a new map," Max told her. Her map disappeared, and instead a new one was in her paws, showing more guard posts and the expansion of what had been once a smaller village.

The arena map did not change, it seemed. The mouse was still in the same area, a cell facing the interior of the arena on the western side, closest to the village. There were numerous other cells, but they would not worry about those.

She put the map on the table and studied the different pictures that came with it. There were pictures of the guard posts, the arena from various angles, and old pictures of the village.

Max took a marker and drew a line on the map. "We'll be taking this route. It's possible that one of the locals might become hostile when you get to the arena. That will be for you to handle, because then you're on your own, and I'll be activating a distress beacon. The army should be there to extract you two afterwards."

"Distress beacon? You mean we're not just taking the helicopter back?" Sarah asked incredulously.

Max shook his head. "I can't be anywhere near the area, and the helicopter is only there to drop us off. Too dangerous for the pilot to stick around. Besides, the backup forces should be welcome. Just make sure you don't look threatening, and make sure your target doesn't engage, otherwise you don't get a ride home."

The mouse gulped and nodded. She looked at the map and studied their path. It was not a straight line, but rather they were heading around the perimeter of the village, hopefully out of sight of any inquisitive eyes. Once they got to the east end, they would infiltrate the arena, and then it was time for her training to pay off.

"I forgot to mention," the cat said. "You have only a night to do this. Once that beacon activates, you need to get in, get your target, and get out. You could wait for forces to rescue you, but if that happens, the target may activate, and then there will be no saving anyone."

"Activate?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, right. I was supposed to tell you more about him," Max responded. He cleared his throat. "So, let's get you acquainted with the mouse you'll be saving."

The cat pointed to a picture depicting the mouse huddled in a corner of his cell. "His name is William Reeds. He is, as of a few days ago, twenty-two years old. He was captured in his town at the age of five, still somewhat new to the world. His parents and sister were killed as well as the rest of the village before they had found him. We're not entirely sure what happened, but we know he first became active around that time, and all of the troops deployed to the area were killed. Somehow, though, they captured him. We're still trying to identify their method."

"Did... he kill all the soldiers?" she asked.

"Yes," the cat said as if it were not an important piece of information. "He's fully capable of doing it again, but it's not something he wants to do. He's afraid, and that's what's keeping it dormant, we believe. The fear isn't important, itself, but keeping him from getting angry is. Anger seems to be the trigger for his ability, or perhaps it's when he senses danger. Either way, when his abilities kick in, he's unbeatable. You will never see such fighting prowess."

"Okay, so as long as I keep him calm... wait, he's not going to attack me, is he?" Sarah asked, the nagging thought finally brought to surface.

"Well, I can't guarantee that he won't, but as long as you make it known that you're not an active combatant, you should be fine." Max shrugged and walked down the table.

A familiar shiver ran up Sarah's spine. She went to the end of the table that the cat had gone to, and noticed a bag with several items sitting outside of it. She knew now that the bag had not previously been there, but had been teleported there by the cat.

He told her, "You'll be bringing this with you. There are some rations that you can take with you, as well, as well as some canisters filled with water. Your vest is on the other side of the table. Did you decide on what weapons you were looking to bring?"

Sarah nodded. "Combat knife. Probably a few in case one breaks. Hopefully I won't need them."

The cat shrugged. "It's possible they might have some visitors in the area, and they have their own bodyguards. It's up to you, though. I suggest a rifle, but if you insist on being boring, so be it."

Sarah snapped at him, "I don't need anything other than my knives, okay?"

Max sighed. "As long as you get the job done."

She began to pack the food and water away in her bag, as well as a few items she could use to camp out in case it took a little longer for the army to reach them. It was not a very large bag, so she fitted it with what she could.

She walked over to the body armor that had been promised. It looked like a sleeker design for a bulletproof vest, and indeed it felt lighter when she put it on. It did not feel as constricting as she thought it would have been. It worried her.

"Are you sure this is going to be okay?" she asked, prodding the vest.

"It'll be more than okay," the cat remarked.

She shrugged, still not really convinced, and attached the knives to her vest. She put on a jacket over it, not so much to conceal it but to keep warm. She saw some boots and cargo pants, which she took her liberties with.

"So anyway, this mouse might be a little shorter than you. His fur is grey, as you can see by the picture. It's hard to tell, but you two share the same eye color. If no one knew that his family had been killed, you two might seem related," Max commented. "Because of the nature of his isolation, his vocabulary might be a bit limited, assuming he did not learn it from somewhere else."

Sarah heard him, but she could not think of any way to comment on it. It was a tragic story to her, and she did not want to say it out loud, but at this point, she would have done the job without having to be told to do it.

And so they prepared.

-

Midnight came quickly. The cat did not wear anything special with the exception of some ear muffs, which he had also provided to Sarah. Helicopters tend to be noisy, he told her.

She also received some night-vision goggles. It would be a night operation in a place that had no artificial lights.

When the helicopter arrived, it was as if to prove him correct. It was dark out, and she was told to duck on approach. Afraid to have her head chopped off, she did as she was told.

It would be a long trip, as they were a considerable distance. It would take nearly a day for them to finally make it to the dense jungle that she had trained so hard over the past several months to enter. It was finally time.

She wondered how the helicopter was flying forever, but she realized that Max was refueling it. She desperately needed to use the bathroom, but knew that she could not. She simply had to hold it until the pain was excruciating. Why were they unable to just take a plane, she wondered.

When they landed, she immediately headed off to the woods to take care of what she needed to. Throughout all of the fights before, she had gotten used to holding it when she needed to, as thoughts about it often ended up with her getting pummeled.

She returned as the helicopter was departing. She realized that the clearing was not all that large and was definitely not made for the helicopter's purpose. They had been lucky to find such a spot.

"I'm pretty sure that the helicopter has at least alerted them to our presence," Max said. "They're not that dumb to not have any eyes on the sky."

As he said that, a loud noise came from somewhere in the jungle. They looked at the sky, watching the helicopter. A missile hurdled toward it.

Sarah panicked, but then rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had really seen the missile at all. She looked at Max and asked, "What'd you do with it?"

The cat shrugged. "It'll probably crash into the ocean once it runs out of fuel. Pretty safe place, I'll say."

It was a useful talent to have, Sarah had to admit. They took their leave of the landing site, as it was sure to have visitors soon.

The cat took out a compass and gave it to Sarah. "Just in case," he said. He was not using one, but he knew where they were headed. He was probably checking when Sarah was looking elsewhere.

As they drew near one of the guard posts, Sarah ducked behind a tree. She turned her night-vision off since the guard post had floodlights that lit up the area. It was her time to shine, it seemed, much sooner than she had wanted. She steeled her nerves and took out a combat knife, ready to do combat. She did not see the cat anywhere.

She slowly moved out of the tree's cover, and then saw the cat standing at the guard post. The two guards that had been posted there, a boar and porcupine. They were lying still on the ground. She had not heard any scuffle.

She approached and whispered, "What did you do?"

Max gave her a bored look. "I moved a bunch of sand into their lungs."

"What do you need me for, then? What have I been doing training all this time if you could just kill everyone here?" she said, a bit annoyed.

The cat picked up their radios and turned them off. "Remember, Sarah: this isn't a place or time to go around testing your skills, trying to prove yourself. This is a rescue mission. I'm doing what's easiest so that we don't run into problems."

Sarah gritted her teeth, but she agreed begrudgingly. She wanted to at least see the fruits of her labors.

"I'll be back in a moment." The cat was gone.

Suddenly she felt very lonely and very vulnerable. She looked around and hid next to a tree in case anyone came around and saw the guards lying on the floor. She took a rifle that once belonged to them, just in case.

The cat returned after a few minutes, however. He said, "All the guard posts are clear. The silence should attract the guards in the arena, so we should be able to pick them off at that point. Then, hopefully, you won't have any issues getting to the target. And... hold on."

She heard a buzzing noise, and then realized that it was the cat's phone as he pulled it out. How did he even have signal there?

"Give me a moment, someone's blowing up my phone," he said. He attempted to respond, it seemed, but message after message popped up, seemingly endlessly. "Okay, screw it. I'll be back in a moment. If the guards come around, you know what to do."

He was gone again. She could hear the sounds of the jungle, and the longer she waited, she heard everything clearer and clearer. She climbed one of the trees, taking her knife out and killing a large spider on the way up it.

She could hear twigs snap and some hushed voices on their way toward her location. She saw some figures slowly approaching, though the only discernable features were their flashlights, attached to what she assumed were weapons. Her heart began to race.

She wondered where the cat had gone at such a crucial moment. There were too many guards at the moment to take them out from where she was situated, at least until a couple of them wandered off. They spoke in a language she could not understand. Several of them, when they got closer to the floodlights, were boars. They looked like they might have been native to the area.

She held the rifle tightly and aimed it at them. She hoped that they would not spot her from where she was hiding.

She realized that none of them had any sort of night-vision capabilities. She aimed her weapon, readied herself, and went with the plan she had just formulated.

She fired at the floodlight, immediately garnering their attention, but they did not know her location. She turned on her night-vision goggles and saw them fumbling around, looking in every direction with the flashlights on their weapons.

She quickly began to pick them off. It was a lot easier than she thought it would be, since they remained stationary, though every few sweeps they would come close to identifying her location. The ones that were nearest to finding her she killed immediately.

One of them shouted something she did not understand. Apparently he had been watching where the bullets were coming from. The lights shined on Sarah, and she immediately slid down the tree and ran deeper into the forest, a little blinded by their flashlights.

She dove into a bush when she felt she was far enough. She turned the light on and discarded the rifle a little bit ahead, hoping it would serve as a distraction. She pulled out a knife, prepared for combat. She could hear them getting closer. Their steps were careful and deliberate now. They spotted her discarded weapon and headed toward it to investigate.

When she saw that the guards were in front of her, she stood up silently and snuck behind the last guard. She readied her knife, and then put her arm around him, stabbing him in the chest. Her other arm grabbed his rifle and began to fire upon the other guards.

She could feel small thuds hitting the body in front of her. The bullets did not make it past him to her, and she moved along with him, continuing to fire at them, using him as an improvised shield.

She discarded him as soon as she found cover, and ran off once more. Her chest was heaving, and though not particularly physically exertive, she was afraid. She had gotten her wish of proving herself, and she no longer wanted it.

She made her way back to the guard post on accident, and she heard voices from all sides. They had cornered her. She grabbed the rifles on the ground, turned the lights off, and hid in the actual observation tower.

They converged on her position, and one of them spotted her. She squeaked unintentionally and hid behind the poorly made wall, trying to evade the hail of bullets directed at her. She could feel a couple hit her back, but they did not penetrate the armor. Still, they felt painful.

She waited until they had to reload before returning fire. She managed to take a couple out before she had to hide again. The walls were not made for bullets, however, and the observation tower was beginning to buckle.

Just a little more, she thought. The next time they reloaded, she would take the rest of them out. Just a little more.

A little more was not what she had, though. The tower fell, and she fell with it.

She cried out in surprise and pain under a bunch of debris. She slowly began to pick herself up when she heard shouts. She then heard the gunfire and braced herself.

Nothing came, though. She looked up and saw the black cat, standing over her. He had his goggles off at the time and the glow in his eyes was vibrant. She thought she could see a small grin on his face. The guards were dead.

"What... happened?" she asked.

"You did really well without me, Sarah. Your training has paid off. As for these guards, I returned their bullets to them," he explained.

They stood up, and her leg cramped a little, but it was otherwise uninjured. She moved to the side, away from the debris, and began to stretch it out. "I wish I could do that."

"If you could, you wouldn't be able to finish this mission," Max reminded her.

"True," she conceded. When they were done recovering, they cautiously began to move to the arena. They heard more guards approach, but when they were a little nearer, they collapsed, gasping for air.

"Cheap," she remarked.

The cat glanced over at her. "It's effective, though. Just focus on the task at hand, we're nearly to the village, so we're going to have to take a wide route around it. There are some lights on near it, so don't get too close."

Almost as if the village heard him, she began to see lights off in the distance. The trees were not as dense in the area. They changed their direction and continued along the village's perimeter, though far from prying eyes.

She could see some guards wandering the area in the village. She was correct in her assumption before about the boars being native to the area. She even had seen some women and children that had woken up from the gunfire. She wondered if any of the ones she killed happened to be the father.

"Just a little further," the cat whispered, snapping her from her thoughts.

She voiced her concern, but Max assured her that the guards, while native to the area, were taken as children and raised solely for the task of being a guard. It was how they kept control of the area.

She was unsure if that made it more or less acceptable, but she did hate the ones that owned the arena a bit more.

The village began to disappear from sight, and then she saw a giant stone construct in front of them. There were large pillars, and a wall that looked like it had seen better days. There was an overgrowth of vines all over the walls and pillars.

"This is it," the cat said. "We're on the east side. After you climb that wall, that's it. I'll activate the beacon, and then you've got only a few hours to get him out of there. Are you ready?"

Sarah took a few deep breaths, and then said, "Okay. I'm ready."

Before they could act, though, they heard an announcement come from the arena. "Do not worry about the gunfire, everyone. There was a rogue guard on the loose, but he's been taken care of. Instead, turn your gaze to the arena, as our featured fight will begin shortly."

"Oh shit," Max said. He disappeared.

Sarah looked around and saw him standing on top of one of the pillars, looking into the arena. He tossed a vine down to her and she climbed up quietly.

He gave her some binoculars and said, "Look. He's about to fight."

She used the binoculars and watched the scene play out.

-

A small grey mouse had been shaking terribly since they forced him out of his cage. He looked utterly terrified of the environment, of the cheers, of the jeers, and of his opponent, who had been bragging on the other side of the arena. His opponent was a large rhino with body armor that resembled the scale mail of old. He had a sword and shield, and the mouse had nothing.

The rhino's attention moved to the mouse, who had been looking for a place to hide the entire time. It looked like it would be a slaughter, but the crowd was cheering the entire time.

A sword fell from the stands, landing near the mouse. He picked it up, trembling still, knowing full well from experience that he needed something to defend himself with. Once his paw touched it, the crowd went wild. They really only wanted to see one thing.

The rhino laughed at him, confident in his abilities. Max commented that the rhino had probably never seen the mouse fight, or he would not be laughing. He would not have even agreed to fight.

The rhino made his way toward the mouse, swinging his sword in a gaudy flourish to intimidate him. It worked, as the mouse fled to the corner of the arena.

When they finally got near each other, the rhino swung his blade half-heartedly, an obviously bored expression on his face. The swing was sure to hit.

The sword, however, stopped. The rhino, confused, looked at the mouse, expecting to have hit some rock or something, but instead saw that the mouse had stopped the blade with his paw, gripping it just before the sharp end of it could cut his paw.

The mouse's head was downcast and his demeanor was different. He was not shaking, and he no longer seemed afraid. His face was concealed.

The rhino leapt back, taking his blade with him. The leap was a considerable distance, nearly halfway through the arena. He took up a defensive stance, finally realizing what kind of situation he had put himself in. Finally, the rumors that he had once heard sunk in.

The mouse took an odd stance that made the crowd scream with excitement. He had the hilt of the sword by his head, the sharp end of the blade pointed at the rhino, though the tip of the sword nearly touched the floor. It looked like a defensive stance, so Sarah was unsure of what he would do with it.

He dashed forward, and in less than the blink of an eye, he was at the rhino. Sarah had never seen anyone move so quickly, and he left behind a trail in the dirt from where he moved. The ground was cracked where he once stood.

The rhino had no time to react. The mouse twisted his body so that the sword was from his back, the hilt on his shoulder. He used the twisting motion and his shoulder to swing in an arc so that the sword was in front of him, away from the rhino. Instead of stopping, though, the sword continued, and the mouse spun with it, the sword going in the exact same path as it had once gone, except from the initial strike, there was no longer any armor in that area. He had slashed the rhino twice in less than a second.

Sarah could not believe what she had seen. The timid mouse had gotten serious and the fight ended so quickly. Now he just stood there, the blood from the rhino spraying on him a little before he collapsed.

The mouse's frightened demeanor came back as the crowd yelled louder than before. He dropped the blade and tried to hide. The gate to his cage opened up and he retreated inside it.

"And there it is! His signature move! You've seen it here, and see it next week again!" The announcer went silent, and the crowd began to dissipate.

They stood there on the pillar waiting for everyone to leave.

"Are you sure I need to rescue him?" Sarah whispered to Max.

"Absolutely," the cat responded. "You saw how scared he was. Once threatened, he lashed out. We need to make sure he's doesn't feel threatened anymore, for his sake and for everyone else's."

When they were sure that everyone was gone, they went back down. Max teleported some steps so that Sarah did not have to use the vines to get by. They went over what she would have to do.

"I'm going to remove part of this wall so that you can get in and get out. I can cover the opening on this side with vines so that if any patrols come around, they won't see it, but there shouldn't be any left. On the inside, however, they might notice the small opening and report it. If that happens, you'll have to defend until the reinforcements come in. I suggest avoiding that, since your target may feel he's threatened and end up activating." Max waved a paw, gesturing at the wall, and then a tunnel appeared.

"Shouldn't you make the interior entrance something small so I can crawl through it instead of making it conspicuous?" Sarah asked. She had put on quite a bit of muscle, but she was still fairly lean. From what she had seen before, the other mouse was not that much larger, looking a bit starved. At least a tunnel that they could crawl into should suffice.

"I suppose I could, though it would slow down any speedy retreats. Just try not to get caught, I suppose," Max said.

She heard something in the tunnel, like a rock dropping onto the floor. She then saw several vines and pieces of foliage cover the entrance to the tunnel. The cat had delivered on his promise.

"Okay, if you're ready, the operation is about to start. I'm going to put the beacon where we landed earlier so they have a spot to land, as well. I wish you the best of luck, but if you had paid attention to any of the training, you won't need it." The cat's eyes glowed a little, and then he disappeared before Sarah could respond. She was on her own now.

She went into the tunnel careful to move the vines so that they would just reset back to a covering. It only needed to be a cover for a little while longer. The tunnel was dark, but she still had her night-vision goggles on, so she had no issues with it. The tunnel was perfectly smooth on all sides. She realized that she was directly under the stands.

Judging by the architecture that she had seen from the outside, either the arena had been ruins that they had repurposed, or had been built recently to resemble as such. If anything, it was sturdy. She readied a combat knife as she neared the exit. There were still some lights on from the floodlights that had shone down earlier.

She turned off her goggles and slid them to the top of her head, no longer needing them at this exact moment. The tunnel was easy enough to navigate without them since it was a smooth, straight shot from point a to point b. They could run down along it so long as they put a paw along the wall to make sure they did not veer accidentally in the dark.

The tunnel lead into part of the stands. The cat had taken her advice and made it so that it was only large enough that you had to crawl through it. Crouching and standing were not options, so that would at least slow down any pursuers if any appeared.

Before exiting the tunnel, she looked around. The stands were empty for the most part, but there was a large podium where they would make their announcements. There were still a couple figures moving around on the inside, but she could not see just who they were.

She took her binoculars and inspected it. A lion and a tiger, both in business suits, laughing and chatting, though the mouse could not figure out what they were laughing or chatting about. They did not seem to be concerned with anything other than their conversations. They did turn toward the arena once or twice, though, but luckily the mouse was a small object hidden in darkness. They did not spot her.

If she left the tunnel, though, they very well might. She looked around to see if there were any guards. There was one guard patrolling the interior of the arena and was on approach. There were no other guards, most likely because they could no longer spare any.

She felt that that was her ticket to move by without drawing any attention. She waited for him to get closer and backed up into the tunnel so that he did not see her.

She first heard the thud of his boots against the ground, making her heart race. She gripped her knife and prepared herself, in case she was found out. She saw his boots come into view, and when in front of the tunnel, they stopped.

She held her breath, ready to slide forward and attack if she needed to. He had just paused, and she had no idea what he was doing. She wanted to move forward but did not want to draw any attention to the tunnel, or he would fire into it.

She began to sweat nervously, and her muscles were tense. Part of her wanted to move, part of her wanted to stay still. Luckily, the latter was winning. She gulped, accidentally audibly.

It was just as the guard was turning away, luckily. He said a few things that she did not understand into a what sounded like a radio by the static. She heard other voices coming in through the radio, all saying something short and then cutting out. Perhaps they were just asking about their situation. It made sense to her.

When the check was done, the guard turned back to his original position and continued on his patrol. She moved forward slowly, a soft drag against the floor that was quiet enough to not betray her presence. She took the binoculars and checked the podium. The lion and tiger were still chatting away, but they were not looking. Their backs were turned to the arena. Now was her chance.

She slipped out of the tunnel silently and moved as quietly as possible toward the guard. It was another boar, another native to the area. She gritted her teeth and made a quick stab at his neck. She used her other arm to grab onto him so he did not move too much.

She felt him trying to grasp at the knife but she held his arms to his side. She felt his chest tense up as he tried to cry out, but something was blocking it. She realized it had been her knife.

She felt something warm spread across her paw and knew exactly what it was. She resisted the urge to panic and move away, even to vomit from the situation, and kept her paw there. She could feel him begin to tremble and shudder, desperately trying to free himself, and then he began to get weak. He went limp.

She removed the knife and dared not to look at how much blood had been spilled. Instead, she caught him before he fell and began to move forward, the same pace and movements he had done, except now she was using him as a visual block from the podium. He was heavy, but not all that heavy for her. She had worked with weights greater than him.

Still, he was a dead weight, it was an awkward angle, and she had to maintain it. It was tiring work, but she slowly made her way to the other side of the arena, holding onto the guard that had once been just making his rounds.

When they were out of the line-of-sight of the podium, she set the guard down. There was blood that had spilled all the way down the front of his jacket. His weapon was still slung over his shoulder. She finally inspected her knife and her arm.

It was completely covered in blood. She tried to clean what she could off on his uniform, but it had dried a little. She shook it off and walked further into the arena, ducking around the corners in order to maintain her stealth.

She did not see any other guards. She tried to remember the map and the layout of the arena. She could have jumped into the central area and gotten to his cage that way, as the cat had done before, but it would be difficult to escape that way, as they could not climb back up into the stands. It was better to come from the other side of his cell.

Somewhere around the main lobby there was supposed to be a set of stairs, so she looked for them. She spotted some movement outside, so she attempted to avoid putting herself out in the open by ducking behind a desk, behind a table, or behind anything that she could find on her way toward the lobby.

The lobby was supposed to be at the entrance of the arena, and she knew it was getting close. It would be facing the village, however, and that made it all the more dangerous.

Sarah could feel her heart racing the entire time, and her breathing came quickly. She took a moment to try to calm herself, but the situation was getting the best of her. All the training was fine, but it did not really prepare her mentally for what she was doing. It was not long ago that she did not even have an escape from under any rubble, but she had been saved once. She decided it was best not to press her luck, though.

It took a while, but she finally found the stairs. She had wondered where it was at for what seemed like forever, but it was only because she was under duress. The entrance had been on the same side of the lobby as she had hidden, and was actually next to her, but she had been looking in the wrong spot the entire time.

She cursed under her breath for her simplicity. She descended the steep steps of the stairs, jumbled together and very difficult to navigate. She paused every so often to see if she could hear any noises, in case there were other guards. She thought she heard some noises so she slowed down so that her steps were quiet.

Her time was ticking away. She knew she needed to hurry, if to at least have a buffer time to get through the place with William.

She saw a light flickering off below, as if from a lamp or candle. She made her way slowly and noticed familiar looking boots. There was at least one guard in the area, and usually when they did something like that, he would be considered the jailer and would have the keys. She needed to eliminate him or at least incapacitate him.

She looked around the stairs for anything to throw and distract the guard. There were some pebbles, so it would have to do. She picked one up and tossed it, hoping he would not see the origin. Luckily, he did not.

He stood up and grumbled something incomprehensible. She snuck down silently and began to stalk him, staying off to the side so that her shadow did not betray her position. It was working, slowly, until there came a whistle from a cage in the back. One of the prisoners gave her a catcall, which attracted the guard's attention.

He turned around, noticed her, and was about to say something but she quickly jabbed him in the stomach, ribs, and once in the jaw. Her blows came quick, and while keeping him busy, with a smooth motion she drew her knife, and in that single motion, sliced his throat open. Using the momentum, she spun and swept his legs, causing him to fall with a heavy thud on the ground.

She remained motionless as the guard struggled, but his movements began to slow, and then stop altogether. She sighed and felt somewhat annoyed with what the prisoner had done. She had planned to just put the guard to sleep, but her position had been compromised.

She heard quick footsteps behind her, and as she turned, she saw another guard round the corner. She tossed the knife at him in reaction and hoped that she had practiced enough that the handle was not the part to hit him.

The knife sunk into his shoulder and he cursed in a language she still did not understand. He aimed his weapon in her direction, but she was already upon him, kicking the weapon away, and taking the knife from his shoulder, thrust it into his gut several times. The guard's knees buckled and he vomited blood before collapsing. The prisoners cheered and gave her compliments she did not want at that time.

She urged them to be quiet, but it did not help. There were always those that did not listen. She gave up and searched for the mouse's cell, which should have been one of the first ones from the staircase. She spotted him huddled in a corner, afraid of the altercations that had been happening.

She approached his cell and said, "William, I'm here to get you out." Her voice was hushed, afraid of alerting more guards.

The mouse in front of her was on the far end of the cell, near the bale of hay that she recognized as his bed. There was a bucket nearer her end, with what she assumed was waste. The situation did not seem all that pleasant. She felt a bit of anger build up within her for the owners of such an awful place.

He was still shivering. The candlelight did not do well to really illuminate his cell, so it was difficult to see his face. She remembered that the cat had told her that she looked like his sister, so maybe she could use that as a bargaining chip to gain his trust.

She took out a flashlight that she had looted from one of the guards' weapons. She shone it on herself, her face, and then a bunch more catcalling came.

She saw as the mouse stopped shivering and crawled closer to her. It was working, she thought to herself.

"Jess?" he asked. "Is that you?"

She thought about lying to him, but someone as dangerous as him, she had better not risk it. She responded, "No, my name is Sarah. I'm here to save you."

"How do you know me?" the mouse asked her. He was skeptical, it seemed. That made things difficult.

"It's someone else's job to know," she said. "It's my job to get you out of here. And everyone else, too." The last part was only somewhat true, as the army would actually free everyone else.

"You can't get me out," he said. "The master won't allow it." He began to shudder again, retreating back into the dark.

"The master? And how did you learn to speak so well?" she asked him. She assumed she would be dealing with someone with the mind of a child, but he seemed to have grown up.

"They taught me," he said. She could see his arms move out to gesture toward the rest of the prisoners. "And the master... he's the one that captured all of us and kept us here to fight."

"Well, the master's reign is over, starting now, okay?" Sarah told him. "We're going to get out of here, everyone, together."

"But there are so many guards out there," he said with a whimper. "We won't make it."

Sarah said, "Most of them are dead. There might be a couple more, but we'll definitely make it. Just trust me."

She turned around and said, "I'll be right back." She went to search for the key. She thought that the first guard might have it, but she also thought that he was the only guard. She figured she could just shoot at the locks, but they were solid metal on her side, while the side facing the arena was wood. She wondered if she should really just have gone down through the center.

She dug through the guard's pockets and could not find anything resembling a key. She found some gum, a phone, a radio, his weapon, some extra magazines, and some odd objects that she could not quite identify, though they looked organic.

She asked the surrounding prisoners if they knew where the key might have been, but no one knew. She cursed her luck and ran around the prison. It encompassed the entire arena in a circle under the stands.

She found one more guard and quickly eliminated him. No sign of a key, though the prisoners seemed to be very pleased. They also had no idea where the key might have been.

Sarah returned to the mouse and said, "I can't find the key. Do you know where it is?"

"The master keeps it on a necklace," he said, trembling.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said. "Okay, be back in a little bit. Do you know where he is?"

"I don't know," she heard through his sobs.

She shook it off and headed back up the stairs. She had noticed a very large room on the top floor of the arena that she assumed was storage, but it might have been a private room, possibly for the owner. It made sense if he would just stay there for the night and fly back later, partying the night away Hopefully there would not be anyone other than him.

At the top of the stairs she noticed another set of stairs that went up. There was a door in the way, though, and she was sure that it would be locked, probably to keep the guests out.

She looked around cautiously, but there was no one around. She slowly made her way across the lobby and near the door. It was as she feared: locked.

She cursed and wondered what options she had left. She did not want to grab a weapon and shoot the lock off as that would alert them to her presence. She supposed she could remove the hinges, but she did not have the proper tools for such a thing.

She took her knife and ran it along the door crack. When it reached the handle, it got stuck on something. She forced it down and the door came loose. She was thankful that they did not think to deadbolt the door. She unlocked it and went inside, closing it behind her quietly.

As Sarah ascended the stairs, near the top she slowed down when she heard some voices. They were speaking another language, so she could not understand them. It was not the native language of the boars that she had encountered, though. She popped her head out to see them.

It was that tiger and lion that she had seen from the arena. They were in professional business suits, chatting and laughing, drinking wine and watching something off in the corner. Unfortunately, the lion was facing her, but at least she had not been spotted. His attention was on the corner, but as soon as she came up the stairs fully, she would be noticed.

When she popped out, she would have little time to act. She gathered the throwing knives that she had thought she would not need. In her paw she held three of them, while in her other she had a combat knife. She gulped used the reflection on her knife to see that they were still ignorant of her presence.

She breathed deeply, but quietly. She tried to calm herself down and steel her nerves. She did not know who the master was, but she had to eliminate both of them to get the key. Leaving one alive would compromise the mission. She counted to three, continuing to watch them through the reflection, and then fully climbed up.

She tossed all three of the knives at the lion, who, as she predicted, noticed her as soon as she stood up from the stairs. At first, there was surprise, and then anger, and then horror as he realized that knives were speeding toward him. He did not have time to react, and they embedded themselves into his face, causing him to fall instantly, unmoving.

The tiger turned as she had been rushing toward him. He dodged her first swipe, but the second one caught his arm. She heard his snarl as he clutched his arm.

He pulled out his own knife and braced himself to fight. He looked like he knew what he was doing, which the mouse did not like at all.

She pulled out the rest of her throwing knives and threw it at him, of which he jumped out of the way. He snarled, ready to attack, but she was already there. She wiped at his paw and caused him to drop his knife. She kicked him between the legs, causing him to crumple. Using the momentum of him keeling over, she grabbed his head and brought his face to her knee.

He fell backwards, a paw holding onto his crotch, the other holding onto his face. Blood spilled from his nose, and he said something that resembled profanity, but he could hardly speak, and his voice sounded high pitched.

She leapt at him and plunged her knife into his chest. He kicked her away and she was sent flying back a few feet, but she landed just fine, having practiced such things with Max before. She told herself she would have to thank him when she got back.

Her knife was still in his chest, and as he pulled it out, blood poured out endlessly. He realized what he had done and dropped the knife, clutching onto his chest, falling to his knees. He gave her one final, furious gaze, before falling to the ground. A puddle of blood began to form around him.

Sarah heard a loud scream from the corner that they had been so fixated with. She saw two minks, mostly nude, and a pole. They had been dancing for the owner and his friend, apparently, but now they were scared.

There were cuffs on their legs, one for each mink, so that they could not escape. Sarah casually tossed her knife at the lion's corpse, to which it stuck. She began to inspect the bodies.

The tiger had a wallet with several forms of identification that showed he was a high ranking official of a different country. There was a ton of paper money that she did not know if it was worth anything or not, as she did not really know that country very well and had no idea how their economy was doing. She found a bottle with a viscous liquid, slippery to the touch, which she assumed was lubricant. Another knife was hidden in his coat.

He had a phone, to which she ignored. She was not here for espionage. She did not find any keys, though.

She inspected the lion. He had a wallet, but there was not much in it, except money. She ignored it, since she could not just throw money at the locks to unlock them. He also had a bottle of the liquid, as well as a packet of very dusty rocks that she understood to be a drug.

He had a necklace on, which she removed. She gingerly removed the knives from his face and took them back. She thought she saw something pink come out of one of the knife wounds, to which she ignored, lest she vomited.

The necklace had a locket which showed the picture of a lioness and very similar looking lion. The pictures were old, so she assumed they were either his parents or grandparents. She also found a large metal key attacked to it. She detached the key and put the locket back on the lion. She was not going to loot him for something so sentimental.

She grabbed the rest of her throwing knives, which had gone into the wall. She picked up her combat knife and put it back into its sheath. The minks were shuddering in the corner, afraid of her.

Sarah took the key and unlocked the braces on their ankles. She gave them a sort of opening gesture with her arms, and then with her fingers made a figure of someone running. They understood.

She went back down the stairs, slowing down cautiously when she reached the bottom. She unlocked the door, and then she heard small footsteps above her. It was the two minks. They came down noisily and she shushed them. Fearing for their lives, they acquiesced.

The mouse opened the door slowly and checked the surroundings. She had not been gone that long, so it was not like too many would have appeared randomly to antagonize her. She did not see any guards or villagers, and truly not any living souls in the area. She opened the door a bit further and gestured for the minks to come out and told them to stay quiet and hide, that rescue would be coming soon. They understood and ran off, though if there was any safer place to hide, it was probably in that office. They most likely could not stand the sight.

She locked the door and closed it behind her, in case someone might want to try to go up there to check on the arena's owner. She quickly made her way to the other stairwell and nearly flew down the stairs, still a little cautious toward the end. The bodies were there still, unmoved, except for when she searched them.

She ran over to the mouse's cage and unlocked it. It slid open noisily, and she winced, but she gestured for the mouse to follow her.

He sat in the corner, shaking from fear. She turned to the neighboring prisoner and asked, "Is he always like this?"

His neighbor nodded. He was a jackal, a bit past middle aged. He had a crutch, since one of his legs was missing. "Yeah, he's always shaking from fear, until he tires himself out. Then he's asleep, only to repeat the same thing the next day."

Sarah bit her lip. She began to hate this place the longer she stayed in it and the more she found out about it. She continued to urge the mouse to escape with her, as time was running out, and he needed to be safe.

Eventually he began to head toward her. He was still shaking fairly violently, but she took his paw and pulled him along. They headed in the opposite direction of the exit, though. She began to unlock all of the cells as she went along. They cheered for her, causing quite a commotion. She thought to use it as a distraction.

When they had released all of the prisoners, there had been quite a crowd around the stairs. They all awaited their savior and celebrated her return. She ignored them for the most part and pulled the mouse along.

It was too late to remain inconspicuous. The sounds that the crowd was making would attract the attention of the remaining forces. Sarah picked up a rifle and held it in one paw, while the other held William's paw. She told the crowd, "Now is the end of this place. I have killed the supposed master and most of the guards are dead. The army is coming soon to rescue us. There remains just one more thing: torch this place. Make sure no one else will ever have to relive this pain."

Her words were met with cheers, and so she ascended the stairs. She reached the top, no longer needing to slow down and be silent. The entrance, however, was met with a hail of bullets.

She fell back a little and covered the mouse with her body. The body armor would at least save them from some stray bullets that would ricochet down into the stairwell, or at least she hoped.

A bullet grazed her arm and she bled a little. The pain was inconsequential, though. She had been much more injured in the past, just from sparring with the cat. She gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath, waiting for an opening to return fire, but none came. They were reloading in turns so that they could fire a constant stream of bullets.

She felt a paw on hers that held the rifle. She looked over and saw the mouse, who spoke to her.

"Let me have this for a moment," he said. He was no longer shaking, but instead was very calm, and she detected a hint of anger in his tone. One look at his face confirmed it.

She nodded, unsure of what to do now that he was like that. She felt a bit of fear at first, thinking that if she said no he might kill her, but he did not show any signs of aggression toward her.

He took the weapon and she watched him squeeze past her. He went into the line of fire, but his body was twitching ever so subtly. None of the bullets were actually hitting him. He put the rifle to his shoulder, and then moved out of the doorway. She heard his rifle firing for just a moment, and then everything was silent.

Cautiously, she moved up to investigate. The mouse stood there with the rifle, the muzzle of it smoking slightly. She asked, "Did... you get them all?"

His demeanor changed from the serious expression to a frightened one, and then to one filled with pain and regret. "What... what did I just do? Why does this keep happening to me?"

She ran over and held him to comfort him. "Shh, it's okay. You're okay now. Just drop the rifle and we'll get out of here." She did not want to tell him just how scared she was, to have something so close that could kill her without a moment's notice.

He nodded, blinking away a few tears that had started to form. She felt bad for him, but the sooner they were out of the area, the sooner he would get better. She pulled him over to the arena stands. She saw smoke coming from the bottom of the arena, and she heard a small explosion. The prisoners were doing exactly as she had hoped.

They passed by the guard she had used as a shield earlier. When William saw it, he cried out in surprise and fear. She comforted him once again and continued to lead him to the tunnel. She did not realize that the guard had left such an impressive trail of blood, but there was no one around to follow it.

The tunnel was small. She had no idea if it was still safe, so she turned on her night-vision goggles and checked quickly. There was no one in there, luckily. She urged the mouse to move into it, and then she followed him.

They exited the tunnel and she led him around by the paw, making sure he did not trip or get lost. The sounds of the ensuing riot were loud, and a lot of noise was coming from the village. The villagers were scared, but the guards that ran to reinforce those attempting to quell the riot were not. She could hear them rushing toward the arena, and then gunfire. She heard some screams, from both sides.

"Don't worry about that, we need to get you to safety. They'll be fine," she told the mouse. "It's nice to meet you, William, by the way."

The mouse stammered out a "thank you" but mostly kept quiet.

She was glad. If they made too much noise, they might attract the villagers, and then she would have to fight again. It seemed like a constant battle just to move around the area without running into someone, but hopefully the prisoners were handling the situation well enough.

They made their way around the village, heading toward where the beacon would have been. They met no opposition for the time being, though they still had a little longer to go. They passed a few guard posts where the bodies had been moved, probably from a patrol. Their weapons had been taken.

She tried to remember exactly where they need to go, remembering the map and the earlier events where she had trudged through the terrain. She found the collapsed guard post and realized that she was getting close to where they needed to be.

It still took them quite a while to find the clearing that housed a small, blinking object. She sat down on the edge of the clearing, holding her rifle. She told the mouse to sit next to her, and then she wrapped a blanket around him, one that she conveniently found in her bag, though she did not recall packing it. She brought out some water and gave it to the mouse, as well as some for herself.

"Thank you for saving me, even though I don't really know anything about you. Why did you save me, anyway?" William asked her.

"It's my job, so don't worry about it," she replied. "I have to keep you safe. Still, after what I've seen, I would've done it even if I wasn't told to. That was just an awful place."

William began to shiver again. She offered him something to eat, to which he accepted.

"Are you sure you're not Jess? You look just like her...." William was staring at her, munching on a bit of beef jerky that he had been given, surprised at how good it tasted compared to the gruel that they usually ate.

She sighed and patted his back. "I'm sorry, I'm not. But if you need a sister, you can have one, okay?"

She thought she saw him smile a little from that, but from the darkness, she could not really be sure if she saw anything other than him slowly munching on the beef jerky. She shrugged it off and they waited in silence for the reinforcements to get there.

They ignored the sounds of explosions and cries in the night. At least, Sarah ignored it. William had fallen asleep against her. She wondered how often he was able to do such a thing. He was finally safe now, so he was able to get some rest, and that seemed like a mission complete.

She stared up at the sky. Any time now, she thought.

She saw a flash of something red, and it had come from the mouse next to her. A small red picture appeared in the air, and she tried to figure out what it was. She waved at it and through it, but it did not waver.

It was a small flame with lines around it. She wondered what it was, perhaps some new technology she was unaware of. The mouse beside her snored a little, and it cracked.

And then it shattered, and then it was gone. Confused, she stood up and looked around, but saw nothing. She sat down, her chest heaving a little, panicked, but thought nothing of it. She slowly sat back down so she did not cause the mouse to wake up.

And so they waited in silence, or as silent as faraway screams and explosions could be.

-

She could not sleep. She watched the area, paranoid that one of the guards would wander their way, but no one did. The yells died down, as well as the explosions. She thought she heard something in the distance, though. A helicopter?

It was getting closer and closer, until she saw a spotlight shine where the beacon was. A helicopter landed as several more flew past it toward the village. Several dark figures came out of it, orders were issued in a language she understood, and they moved out. She called out to them, though in a disarming voice.

They turned to her and pointed their rifles in her direction. She held up her arms and said, "Don't shoot! I'm not one of them!" She mostly feared that it would cause the other mouse to go into a rage, though.

"Stand down, stand down," one of them repeated. They dropped their aim and one of them, someone looking like they had a bit more authority, walked toward them.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Sarah Masters, and this is William Reeds. We're awaiting rescue," she said. As soon as she said her name, though, he had already begun speaking rapidly into a radio.

She heard that they had found their package and would be loading up.

"You've just given us the easiest job in the world, ma'am. We're the team that was sent here to extract you. The rest are clearing the village of hostiles and rescuing the other prisoners. Just load up on the helicopter and we'll be heading off," he said. He then ordered his troops to get back into the helicopter.

She woke the mouse by shaking him gently. "Hey," she said softly, though in a loud fashion, as the helicopter was drowning her out. "It's time to go. You're safe now; you'll never have to go through anything like that again."

The mouse smiled at her and followed. They ducked and hopped into the helicopter that had room enough for three individuals, but they were only two. They might have expected Max to be there, as well, but he was not.

The helicopter departed, leaving behind the scenes of destruction, the burning arena, and the cheers and cries of joy from the former prisoners.

-

The flight took not nearly as long as the previous flight that she had taken to get to the jungle. She was grateful for that. The helicopter had landed near a base that was owned by their army, and there, they escorted the two into a passenger jet.

She no longer had to hold anything in, as she could just use the restroom on the jet. They were given food, water, and a blanket. She was treated for any injures she sustained, which was just the graze. She had her arms examined, as well, since they were covered in blood, but the blood was not her own.

William was not examined as thoroughly, because he looked uninjured. It seemed to be the truth in any case, as according to him, he had never really been injured in a fight. The firefight with the rifles proved that.

They gave him a few vaccines, of which he did not like very much, but they assured him it was better to do it now than later. He complied.

Their flight was short, much more so than she thought it would be, and a car took them back to where they needed to be.

-

Sarah was glad to be back on the soil that she recognized. It was not a very long trip, but to her, it felt like an eternity. The city was peaceful, at least for the most part. No one was trying to kill each other, or forced to try to kill each other. William looked like it was the first time seeing such things, like tall buildings and amiable citizens.

She remembered the giant, dull building that she once worked at, and was glad to return to. She brought the mouse along with her as they entered the building. She expected to hear cheers of praise and welcome-backs, but there was no one on the ground floor. She wondered why that was, but shrugged and moved on. A lot of time had passed, and they could have moved on.

They walked to the elevator and rode it. She felt like she felt going up the elevator the first time. She was nervous, but she was proud that she accomplished her task.

On the top floor, on the second to last door, she knocked and waited.

William asked, "What's in here?"

Sarah smiled at him. "The one who told me to save you."

The door opened, and behind it was a very tired looking black cat. It looked like he had just woken up. He yawned and beckoned them in, letting the door swing open a little more. They walked into a well-lit room.

The cat was already at the table, and the large figure that had been behind the desk was now standing in front of it. Sarah closed the door behind them.

They walked forward at the cat's behest.

The dragon held out a large blue claw and offered Sarah a handshake, and one to William as well. His face did not betray any of what he was thinking.

"Welcome back and well done," he said to them. The air seemed to crackle when he spoke. "Your mission is accomplished and you are due for your reward. William will be taken care of, so you do not need to worry about that, Ms. Masters. Now, tell us, what is it that you would like?"

Knowing what the cat was capable of, she could have anything she wanted. She thought of the possibilities, but there was something that she had been thinking about ever since heading into the jungle to save the mouse. She did not want to do this simply for herself.

"Do you think, Mr. Syz, that I could continue to watch over him?" she asked, a little surprised in herself for even asking.

The dragon shrugged, his blue scales shimmering in the light. "If that is what you desire. We will accommodate you, though. You'll be given a house, adequate funding to lead a comfortable life, and access to your normal work benefits. You don't need to come to work anymore. Your job is done."

"That... that's a bit much, don't you think?" she commented.

"All the riches in the world, Ms. Masters, could not come close to compensating you for the job you've done," the dragon said.

William spoke up finally and said, "You guys know I'm right here, right? I don't have any say in this?"

The dragon looked at him and his face softened. "You most certainly do. You've led a pretty awful life. What would you like?"

"Well, first of all, to know what's going on. Part of me still thinks this is a dream," the mouse said.

"Of course," Syz responded. "You've been rescued by Ms. Masters here, on our behalf. I'm sure you know that you tend to get a bit violent when threatened or angry, and it's no coincidence."

William looked taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Syz gave him a sad look. "I'm afraid that's my fault. I once had several... allies."

"Knights," the cat corrected him.

"Right, knights. For great power, they traded their mortality. When they died in the war, they were reincarnated. I did not know, though, that the reincarnations could not control their powers," Syz said. "It is regrettable that you have had to suffer because of it."

Max said, "I would have saved you earlier, but every time I got close, you would attack me. We had to get someone else to do it. Sarah was deemed to be the most appropriate for the job, as she most closely matched you."

"Matched me?" the mouse asked. He did not look like he was believing what they were saying. "And why aren't I attacking you now?"

The cat shrugged. "Not sure about why you're not attacking me, honestly."

The dragon gave a smile. "The bond has already been broken, that's why. As much as you distrust us, you trust Ms. Masters. You feel safe around her, like you never have before. Perhaps it's because she desires so strongly to protect you."

"To protect me?" William asked. He looked at Sarah, who looked back with a gentle face. Maybe the dragon was telling the truth.

"Yes," Syz responded. "So what is it that you would like? Ms. Masters has offered to help take care of you, and we will also assist."

The mouse paced back and forth, unsure about what he truly wanted out of this situation. He had only until recently lived a life of fear and oppression to be freed and told he could have anything. It sounded too good to be true. "I think I'll stay with her for now until I figure that out," he said after a long moment's thought.

Sarah felt a little relieved. She thought that he might deny her request, but at least this seemed like a decent compromise. That way, if she continued to protect the mouse, she would not be sucked back into going on another dangerous mission.

"Very well," Syz said. He looked over at Max, who understood from a glance. The cat was gone. "Head down to the parking lot. A car will be awaiting you. And Ms. Masters, I assure you, your fish are still alive and well."

Sarah had forgotten about her fish. She felt a little guilty, but nodded at him.

Mostly, she wanted to leave that room. Once the cat was gone, she no longer felt safe. She took the mouse by his paw and retreated, heading back toward the elevator, and then the exit. As the dragon had said, there was a car.

The same driver as before. Perhaps that was her sole purpose in the company.

Wordlessly, they were driven to a remote location, far away from civilization. Unlike their previous drive, this one did not have a warehouse at the end, but a very large house, almost like a mansion. An expensive looking car was parked outside of it.

The black cat was waiting for them.

They exited the vehicle, which left immediately. Sarah sighed, as it seemed everything was beginning to repeat itself. She walked up to the cat and said, "What's the deal now?"

Max gave her a bored expression. "Nothing. This is your house now. That's your car. All of your belongings are inside, except your fish, which I could not transport. I just needed to come here to rearrange some things. This is goodbye, Sarah. You've done us proud."

"Goodbye? Are you leaving so soon?" she remarked.

"Yes, unfortunately. There are matters to which I must give my attention. I wish you the best of luck, but if you ever need to contact us, you know where the company is located and what our number is. If you don't remember, it's in a card inside the house." Max turned around and gave a wave. "There's also a change of clothes inside in case you want a shower. I can't imagine the vest and dirty clothes are all that comfortable." And then he was gone.

Sarah sighed. She turned to the mouse and said, "Should we go see what the house is like, then?"

William nodded. And so into the house they went.

-

Everything in the house was ready for them to live out their lives in peace, probably designed that way to try to counteract the battles that they had witnessed, like a sort of reparation.

They found themselves sitting on the couches in the living room, staring at the news which depicted footage of the arena on fire. The events of the day past had been spread to the rest of the world, and it was finally over.

Sarah looked over and asked, "What are you going to end up doing?"

William responded, "I don't know. I've been pinching myself this whole time, hoping that it's not a dream, but none of it feels even real. It feels like... I don't know. It happened so fast."

She nodded, agreeing with him. "I know what you mean."

He then sheepishly asked, "Did you mean what you said back there? That... you'd be my sister?"

Sarah shrugged, smiling at him. "Sure. I've never had a little brother before."

The mouse came over and hugged her, and he finally let go of the emotions he had bottled up to survive.

Through the sobbing, she tried to calm him down. "Shh, shh... it's okay now. You're safe. Big sis is here."

And so she was.

-

Epilogue:

Syz walked around his office, waiting for the black cat to return. He had a box set out on the table, several indentations on it with transparent marbles set in them. There was one that glowed a bright red, and the insides of it seemed to dance and swirl around.

Max appeared, his usual bored look on his face. His eyes were glowing with a bright violet.

The dragon said, "We've done it. We've gotten our first one."

The cat nodded. "It took a while, but yes. It was worth it. We can't waste time on celebrations, though. We have to prepare for the next one. Do you know who it is?"

The dragon looked at the ceiling for a moment, lost in thought. He then spoke, "We'll see when they manifest themselves. For the time being, just remember what we have left, and prepare for that."

With a wave of his paw, the cat dismissed the idea. "There's no way I can prepare for everything. I need a little more direction than that. Either way, once you figure it out, send it to my new secretary. You know of him, I think. Gregory Hardy."

"Must be nice," the dragon commented. He sat back down as the cat disappeared, reminiscing. He looked at all the marbles, a little sad that only one had been lit up.

He picked up the red marble, which looked like it was churning on the inside. A symbol of fire with lines surrounding it appeared in the middle, and then swirled into obscurity. His eyes glowed a little, and he saw all the sorrow and pain that went along with what the marble housed.

"You're finally free."