A New World

[Jayne]

Jayne was hoping Brandon's reaction would be at least slightly positive, but it was quite a bit beyond that. "That is beautiful!"

She blinked. "R-really?" He said some more stuff, but the psychokinetic got stuck at the very first part for some reason. "Aurora Bo- uhh... is that your girlfriend or something?" Jayne flashed a bashful smile, but her eyes quickly returned to the brotherly hum of the blade in her hand.

Her mind skipped a beat, true, but she was back on track when Brandon gave a rough yet surprisingly accurate technical description of her weapon. It did seem a very... guy reaction, which made her chuckle. "Sure, it's a lot of bolts and whistles, but what it's really for is..." She grasped the handle tightly and raised it up, pointing it at her new friend almost as an extension of her arm, and suddenly there appeared an odd glint in her eyes, smile growing thin.

Suddenly she thrust Lifesaver forward, stopping the tip of the weapon an inch from Brandon's nose and breaking out into a multitude of swings in every direction, the weapon leaving a short trace in the air as her elaborate movements began resembling something more of a deadly, beautiful dance with the beam of light often just skimming her smooth skin by insignificant amounts.

It was not just a swinging of the blade, her entire body moved in a lethal rhythm and only one slow swing would reveal to Brandon that her eyes were, in fact, closed. The movements grew quicker and more intense, a flurry of yellow light that was finished by a single-handed, powerful swing downward that stopped just short of the ground, eliciting a small gust of wind and dust outward. An immobility of several seconds was ended when Jayne blinked, the previous warm glow returning to her eyes as she seemingly awoke.

She gave Brandon a surprised look, mouth slightly agape, as she realized what she just did. The blade was retracted. "I'm... uhh... crap. I messed up, didn't I?" She didn't know all that much about Brandon's kind and the specifics of their behavior, but she was sure that pointing a most certainly deadly weapon at them was not considered proper etiquette. "I... uhh... I have a passion for this kind of thing, you might say. I sometimes become slightly absent-minded. I'm terribly sorry." Well that's just great, Jayne.

Her head suddenly snapped to one side, her eyes wide. "Someone's approaching... very quickly." The roar of motorcycles flled the air startlingly sudden. There could be anywhere between five to ten of them, as the setting sun inhibited vision. "They're not thinking happy thoughts."

[kihaku]

She brought the weapon up, and pointed it directly towards my face. Despite the obvious danger I was in, consider it from my point of view; the light of the Lifesaver lit up my face and hers, the hum of death just inches from my skin and hers, the deep orange glow shone in her eyes, complementing the gleam of vitality coursing through those expressive orbs.

She then commenced, eyes closed, to engage in an increadible dance with death that rivaled even the best swordsmen any era Earth's history could have offered. It was indescribable, but I'll try my best.

It was as if she had lost herself to reality. Just as a fish may swim through the water, reeds, and rocks with infinite grace, just as the bird may reveal the beauty in flight simply by being in the air, Jayne was now reveling in the simplicity and complexity inherent in her swordplay.

When she finished, she seemed to snap out of a trance, and immediately became extremly apologetic. "I'm... uhh... crap. I messed up, didn't eye?"

I simply shrugged. "I dunno, I've never practiced with one myself" Of course, I hadn't realized she was apologizing for nearly killing me.

"I... uhh... I have a passion for this kind of thing, you might say. I sometimes become slightly absent-minded. I'm terribly sorry."

When it hit me what she was apologizing for, I chuckled and waved it off. "Jayne, you've clearly got a lot of experience with it. In fact, you gave me chills of excitement when you pointed it at me at the start."

She suddenly perked to one side, almost like some sentry meerkat I'd seen on television once. "Someone's approaching... very quickly." I suddenly picked up the sound of a familiar engine I'd never thought I'd hear again: a motorcycle, several of them in fact. It surprised me that I hadn't heard them coming earlier from all the racket they were making now, but there was no avoiding the fact they were getting closer.

"They're not thinking happy thoughts."

With everything I'd seen in the last twenty-four hours, I wasn't about to doubt her empathic powers. Instead, I furrowed my brow and grabbed a fistful of stones, slid my arms through my jacket, and dropped them into my pocket. I hoped I wouldn't have to defend myself for again in such a short period of time, but I wouldn't put it past this planet to have its own form of hostile biker.

"That's fine, they may no know it, but we're not exactly helpless."

[Jayne]

"That's fine, they may not know it, but we're not exactly helpless." Jayne's head turned just slightly to the side when he said that and she smiled to herself. He was quite right.

The powerful engines had come quite close and were now circling around them, some thirty men strong, just outside the aura of light provided by Brandon's fire. They were like a shadowy dragon, circling their prey, roaring ferociously and snapping their teeth from the darkness. A black bike dove out from the cover of night to strike its target with a spinning chain, but he would not meet success as Jayne ducked at just the right moment even though he attacked her from behind.

Lifesaver's lightning-quick swings left three scars of light in the air, that quickly faded as the biker and his hog fell apart. Another one came, who had started his offense too soon to see what fate befell his comrade. The Psychokinetic simply stretched out her arm and a wave of distortion left her fingertips, violently breaking the front wheel off, and the driver was left doing cartwheels. With his bike.

Uncensored exclamations came from around them, just barely rising above the constant roar of the motors, but Jayne's cold gaze and stately form were untouched, the hundreds upon hundreds of hours of practicing swordplay giving her an unmistakable and well-known surgical precision with a blade and complete control over her own movements, bringing them to the absolute least necessary number. Even among her teachers Jayne was respected because of her prodigal skill, so how would these petty thugs fare against?

[kihaku]

I was almost shocked to see how many bikers had appeared all at once, shouting profanities and hurling phrases that sounded equal part insult and death-threat at myself and Jayne, two people who had been minding their own business. It occurred to me then that it had probably been my stupid fire that had drawn them to us in the first place, and I berated myself for not putting it out when Jayne's original warning had come.

I heard a roar behind me, and I whipped around just in time to see the Lifesaver blaze to life-

My blood froze in my veins and my mind ceased to work. Almost in slow motion, I saw the bike and its rider fall to pieces before me, and the realization that she had killed this man bludgeoned what had been left of my good sense. Struck dumb by body parts thudding and rolling across the ground, I almost didn't notice it when someone came roaring straight at me.

It was already too late for me to shout at him to stay back, his face hidden by a bandanna across his mouth and nose. Instinctively, I threw my hands up to my chest to defend myself, but a split-second before that, my Sight activated almost of its own accord. The end result of my fright and sudden powers flicking on was the instant conversion of every iota of Gravity acting on the rider and his ride into Motion.

Instantly, he was gone, and behind me I could hear the crunch of metal as several bikes collided. Whipping around, the world was an eerie mixture of colors as the bike I had worked my skills on crashed unceremoniously into three others, sending riders flying in every direction, and causing fuel from several tanks to begin leaking.

I found a sudden panic lodge itself in my chest, my breathing was becoming labored, and the scent of gasoline only caused my common sense to slip further out of my grasp. I fumbled in my pockets for the stones, grasped one, and used my power to send it flying like a missile, smacking a rider's helmet and causing him to fall off his bike like a kid still learning how to ride.

I aimed a little better, incapacitating several engines in the process. Of course, this left pissed-off bikers to deal with, but I was more concerned with-

I felt a sharp pain and heavy weight press against the back of my head. Lights burst in my vision, which had suddenly reverted back to my normal sight. I could sense more than see the tires of the bike just barely miss my face, and the sound of its rider calling a victorious run to his comrades as he waved what looked like a wooden tonfa above his head.

I smelled dirt in my nose, and I could taste blood in my mouth. My legs were numb, my mind was sluggish, and I had the sudden, overwhelming urge to just close my eyes and fall asleep. A voice screamed at me that I might have a concussion, and sleep was the very last thing I needed.

"J-Jaaaayne!"

My words felt slurred, my hearing was muffled, and I became aware of my arms and hands twitching as my brain began to shut down and check its neural pathways, sending me into spasms and making sure I could still use them. It was all I could do to not bite down on my tongue on accident, and I found myself on my back, the stars overhead now dancing crazily.

I had a sinking feeling, as I hovered on the edge of consciousness, that this wouldn't end well.

[Jayne]

"J-Jaaaayne!"

The Psychokinetic's head whipped to the side, Brandon was down, probably out, but that didn't stop another biker from trying to go right over him. Jayne, of course, would have none of that as she threw Lifesaver forward, it impaled the offender, taking him off his bike, which itself was picked up into the air and flung at the others, resulting in all the more swearing and noise of grinding metal. "You will not lay a hand on my friend." Her face and voice was sweet as honey, but the unmistakable killer in her eyes made certain nobody misunderstood her words for idle threats.

"Well, princess, that's a nice toy you've got there. Want to play?" The engines spluttered and coughed, then turned silent, and the unprovoked assailants entered the light of the relatively small bonfire. They were mostly cardboard cut-outs of the thug type, stereotypical gruff features and mean grimaces atop sturdy bodies that were clad in black leather and metallic accessories, memorable only for being entirely unmemorable. One stood out, however, a behemoth of a man in bright green leather (of course) that was far too tight (ugh). That wasn't all, though (hooray), as he appeared to have various mechanical enhancements. His lower jaw resembled the bucket of a backhoe more than anything, and both his arms seemed mechanical as well, sporting large blades pointing away from him on the sides and the length of his forearms. A massive piece of equipment covered the upper half of his body as well, perhaps an armor of sorts, but out of the bottom of it came a long lizard-like tail, also mechanical.

"No wonder you stay in the shadows, you look hideous." As could be expected, that didn't go over well and with a metallic roar the biggest guy (meaning he was probably the boss as well) ordered his henchmen to attack. Though reluctant at first, their courage was bolstered when they realized that they had her completely surrounded and outnumbered her by far. The guy was down as well. She doesn't stand a chance. What idiocy.

'Twenty two.' Three lunged forward, chains swinging, batons at the ready and momentarily all others followed suit, except for the head honcho, of course. Jayne leaned back and a chain harmlessly swung past her face, though the same couldn't be said of her energy blade and the attacker. A quick duck kept her skull from getting cracked in by two batons and a roll to the side saved her from getting shived, a single wide, sweeping swing ending three worthless lives. One biker thought yelling at her would help his chances of landing a hit, but when she thrust her palm almost into his face and unleashed a powerful, concentrated wave of Psychokinesis forward, his mind was changed. Into liquid, that is. A kick to the left debilitated another idiot, and three lightning-quick slashes freed four men from ever needing to use their rotting brain again. A bullet was parried by her blade and turned into three drops of molten metal, while with her Telekinesis Jayne picked a biker up into the air then smashed him back into the ground. Permanently, it would seem. Her movements were similar to the kata she had performed a while ago, but now it was as frightful as it was beautiful, a dance of death.

Quickly enough, Jayne stood amidst twenty two bodies, a faintly conscious Brandon and a fat guy twice her size, dressed in leather so tight, it might as well have been spandex. "Y-you little whore!" As is usually the case with not-so-bright villains, he attacked. A slight surprise was what seemed to be a jet-propelled engine built into the back of his breastplate (or maybe it was a jetpack), that suddenly thrust him forward with inadequate speed. He covered the distance of over twelve feet in no more than a second and attacked by thrusting his arm downwards, utilizing his three long, metallic fingers as a stabbing weapon, though Jayne parried it with nary an effort showing, despite the incredible difference in weight between them.

"What, you're going to stab me with a fork now? Good luck." Of course, it only enraged the boss who had lost all his underlings in less than a minute, killed by some broad and a snot-nosed punk. He bellowed in his rage, swinging and stabbing wildly with his weaponized arms and cybernetic tail, but no matter how he tried, this girl dodged every single attack, staring at him with those intense brown eyes, planting seeds of fear that would grow vines and break down his spirit.

The attacks kept coming, more out of panic and frustration now than anything. At least his titanium build protected him from that freakish blade, as proven when her parry did not go straight through him. He pushed his cyborg body to the limit, attacking faster than the average human could follow, but Jayne was anything but average. Nor was she human.

At just the right moment, she hit the giant's belly with her palm with just enough force to make him lose his footing and almost topple him backwards. Using this moment of lost balance she zipped to behind him, turned Lifesaver's intensity to maximum, then bolted at least ten feet upwards, followed by a powerful Psychokinetic wave that tossed both halves of the ogre's body, as well as the bodies and parts of his comrades far out of her and Brandon's sights.

She landed without a sound, retracted the energy blade and put it in its place, then looked to Brandon. Jayne walked up to him at a brisk pace, but in no way hurried, then knelt down beside his head and gently slid her arm over his face, subtly checking for serious injuries. There weren't, but asking was the nice thing to do anyway. "Are you OK?" She was a little surprised, not to say disappointed, that he had been taken out so easily, but she had to remind herself that not everyone had lifelong combat training. Brandon seemed pretty unfamiliar with combat, but, heck, fighting prowess was not everything in a guy. Honestly, Jayne had enough of that for the both of them.

She smiled to the young man kindly, a far cry from the chillingly efficient killer from a moment ago. Nobody had ever required her protection before, and it was a wonderful feeling... to be needed.

[kihaku]

In my mind, I was struggling against the dark waters of unconsciousness. The blow on the back of my head had been pretty vicious, but because I hadn't been anticipating it, probably saved my life. I've always heard that, if you tense in anticipation for some kind of blow or shock, you'll end up doing more damage than good. At the time, though, it didn't feel like there was any more harm that I could really do; my head was pounding like someone was jumping on it with nail-covered shoes, my vision was blurred, spinning, and probably upside-down, and I couldn't tell if my hands were clenched into fists or not.

I was vaguely aware of some fighting going on around me, but in my near-comatose state I couldn't really tell if it were all that serious or not. I felt vibrations through my back, once in a while I could feel a dull heat against my face, and a little shouting managed its way into my ears. All I knew for sure was that I was slowly regaining control of my body; feeling was slowly returning to my extremities, I could feel my tongue again, and I was almost able to make out blurred shapes.

I saw a flash of bright orange, and everything suddenly went dark again. I tried to sit up, praying to God that Jayne wasn't badly hurt, but I didn't even raise up a few inches before it was more than I could bear. I set myself back down with a pitiful groan of pain, stars bursting in my vision.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my face and I stiffened in wary surprise, until I heard a familiar voice.

"Are you OK?"

I could have cried, knowing that Jayne was okay, I would at least survive, and that things were going to be alright. I didn't though, it was embarassing enough that I had been taken out of the fight and it fell to Jayne to protect the both of us without crying at the first sign things were going to be fine.

"Y-yeah, I'll be alright."

I grunted as a sudden wave of pain washed through my head.

"ARGH-! But I won't be tomorrow, the headache is going to be such a bitch." I'm not quite sure why I felt the need to swear at that particular moment... maybe it wasn't so much a need as I just didn't really care at the time.

I opened my eyes and the sight that greeted me was certainly a welcome one. With her hand on my face, and the look of concern in her eyes, it looked almost as if she cared about me as something a little more than friends. I realize now that I shouldn't have read into it as much as I did but, as everyone knows, when you suffer head trauma, you don't always think or say the smartest things.

"You're really quite beautiful when you're slicing people in half."

[Jayne]

"You're really quite beautiful when you're slicing people in half."

"Th-thank you!" Jayne blushed at Brandon's comment, that wasn't really a compliment you get every day. All the more, she was glad he wasn't put off by the whole... you know... decaptitation and generally brutal annihilation of their attackers. Her kind would probably cheer and congratulate her for a job well done, but a more peaceful person like Brandon could disapprove, and she didn't want the relationship with her only friend on this... rather hostile planet strained so quickly.

Suddenly she remembered a vital piece of information and gasped. Forgetful as always. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she mumbled begrudgingly, and quickly proceeded to look something up in her pack. "A-ha!" she proclaimed triumphantly and pulled a small square piece of a linen-like fabric. "Here, this'll help. It's a special bandage used for healing training. My Psychokinetics mentor told me I have potential, so he gave me it to practice. Here, let me try." This wasn't her first attempt, far from it, but she was still a ways away from mastering healing without the Po-Shion, so this was good practice. And she would help Brandon. Everyone wins!

"Show me where you got hit," she said, then applied the cloth to the wronged part of her friend's head. "Ok, now, let me concentrate for a bit..." She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, focusing her many months of training to a single point of energy at her fingertips, that would then be dispersed via the cloth, and healing happens. It shouldn't matter whether or not Brandon was Psychokinetic, as the All (as implied in... well, its name) is found everywhere and in everything, even a human. 'Please work, please work, please work, please work!' she chanted in her mind as she gently, gradually released her power.

[kihaku]

When she blushed at my 'compliment,' I smiled and tried to relax, all the while not quite realizing that trying to put the moves on an alien female while suffering from a mild concussion probably wasn't going to get me very far. At the time, I didn't think that, in a society where war is a vast chunk of your hierarchy, getting knocked out of the fight barely two minutes in wouldn't earn me any points. Of course, I was a little dazed at the time, so it didn't matter to me either way.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Now, I wasn't quite sure what she was refering to, but I decided to make light of the situation anyway.

"You called?"

"A-ha!" Her glee was clear, so I tried to focus on what had made her so pleased. It looked like nothing more than a simple field bandage, so I wasn't too impressed at first.

"Here, this'll help. It's a special bandage used for healing training. My Psychokinetics mentor told me I have potential, so he gave me it to practice. Here, let me try."

"Eh... practice?" A little late, my hesitancy due to possible further injury resulting from inexperienced care arrived and made my head ache just a little worse.

"Show me where you got hit."

I pointed weakly to the back of my head.

"Ok, now, let me concentrate for a bit..." I closed my eyes, and with nothing else to focus on, I attempted to block the pain as best I could. Of course, it was nearly impossible to try and dull it any, but at least I was doing something positive. At first, nothing happened, but slowly, I began to feel the ache fade away, the stars floating in my vision gradually lessened, and complete sensation was being returned to my limbs and digits.

Eventually, I felt as if I'd only experienced a small migraine, the swelling on the back of my head nearly gone, and only the remembered ghost of pain lingering. I sat up, experiencing only a brief moment of dizziness from blood movement, and turned to Jayne with an almost dis-believing smile.

"Jayne, thank you. That's the second time tonight you've saved my life."

[Jayne]

"Jayne, thank you. That's the second time tonight you've saved my life."

Jayne let out a sigh of relief. Thank the All her Psychokinetic Healing worked on more than just rats and wounded animals, she'd been worried for a moment. "It's no problem. I like being useful." Jayne tilted her head to the side and smiled warmly.



--



Though the warm eve was a promising night, the further the sun sank below the horizon, the more chill was in the air, and Jayne, despite being a trooper, had instinctively, unwittingly moved closer to the only real heat source in the vicinity - Brandon. Right now she was hard asleep, curled up in a ball of desert beauty, head resting lightly on Brandon's chest, body pressed against his.

The morning light came quickly. The sun peeked over the horizon and in seconds the sky grew several shades lighter. Stars went out like candles in a draughty room. Only the moon and the western heavens remained as temporary reminders of the night that had come to an end.

Sleep had whisked away Jayne's anxiety and nervousness, which she'd had in abundance, as well as the mental and physical fatigue from a most eventful day.

The world around them was coming awake, nocturnal beasts giving their ventures a rest, and the early birds beginning their songs, which echoed in the misty plains indefinitely. The young Psychokinetic fidgeted just slightly, but remained nestled against her warm friend's side, eyes shut tight. Her dreams still held her mind.



[OOC] Sorry for the jump. And midget post. If you want to continue something of the previous eve, you're more than welcome to. I can parallel. [/OOC]

[kihaku]

"It's no problem. I like being useful."

I smiled even wider in response, and managed a weak chuckle. After a few more minutes and with the waters thoroughly tested, I got weakly to my feet and surveyed the area around us.

My heart sank; bodies lay around us, sprawled in undignified positions, bikes lay dead and cold, bits and pieces of both flesh and scrap metal were strewn about in random places. It was a somber moment, and though they had been our assailants, my deep respect for the dead overpowered my recalcitrance.

"We should bury them. They may have done terrible things, but no one deserves to simply... rot."

I took a few minutes to gather my senses and to test to see if using my Sight would cause any unforseen cranial problems. Fortunately, they didn't, so I cast about beneath me for a suitable spot. As I suspected, just a few feet beneath the topsoil was a layer of clay and sand, which would suit my needs perfectly.

I took a step back onto the roadside, and took a deep, calming breath. I could feel my tension and worry melt away as I exhaled, my mind cleared and instead filled with a vision of my goal. I held my hands out at a thirty degree angle, fingers curled like a pair of claws, and my brow creased as I concentrated with all my might on the earth beneath my mind's influence.

I didn't notice the rumble beneath my feet, but as I pulled my hands straight up, a huge mound of terra lifted with it. Grass and all, a section of earth crumbled in my mind's grasp as, by my best guess, a one-hundred and fifty square-foot area was transplanted a few dozen feet off.

My breath was labored, but I finally crouched down and attempted to catch it, all the while almost loathe to ask the question that danced on my lips.

"Jayne... *pant pant* Please help me... *pant pant* to collect the bodies and other pieces."

=============================================

It was many hours later that something woke me up, and several more seconds before I could recall that I was supposed to look for it. My hand moved to try and shift my body around, but it was halted when it came in contact with a lump of something unfamiliar to me.

I shifted my head, and stared for a few moments at the peaceful face tantalyzingly close to mine before I recognized my partner in crime. My hand had accidentally bumped against her back, her head rested on my shoulder with my arm underneath.

Our bid for rest had been unsuccessful at first, the both of us too cold and worn out for a good night's sleep, but the both of us under my large jacket had proved to be the perfect solution. I didn't consider the implication last night, but with her so close to me and my insecurities towards the opposite sex still firmly entrenched, it took all my willpower NOT to do something extremly stupid.

Even as all my inner voices of common sense screamed at me, I settled instead to simply rest the tip of my nose against her forehead. It wasn't too intimate a gesture, but then again it wasn't exactly something casual friends did. I really liked her, despite the show of killer instinct before, and she was the first girl I'd ever met that didn't think less of me for being a know-it-all.

It was... encouraging, to say the least.

[Jayne]

The young Psychokinetic gave a grim nod. Luukasians were always tought not to give the dead much thought, such unnecessary baggage would only weigh a warrior down. Instead, one should let the fallen lie, but this was not war, and Brandon apparently showed sympathy even towards their unprovoked attackers, and Jayne found it in herself to respect that.

"Sure, Brandon, I'll help." She stretched her delicate yet strong arms out with open hands. For several seconds there was silence as she attuned her mind to the All, and put her Psychokinetic training to work other than combat. Bodies and body parts were lifted up into the air one by one and quickly, carefully placed them into the large grave Brandon had dug. Seeing that using his power wore her friend out, Jayne also use her Psychokinesis to level the dug-up earth out. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

When she was done, she crossed her arms behind her back and bowed her head slightly, eyes closed. "In Life, we are the One in the All, in Death, we are swept up by the world, and made part of it. Fret not the embrace of the universe, but rejoice over your becoming its wave." Jayne could never properly memorize the farewell to the departed as it was taught in her childhood, but she had never forgotten the phrase her Philosophy teacher used to first describe death, and had adopted it as a sort of prayer for the slain and whisked away by the Inevitable.



--



A gust of particularly chilled wind sent an awakening jolt through Jayne's body and with a twitch she opened her eyes, only to look straight into Brandon's. The tips of their noses touched and Jayne froze, blinking once. "Uhh... good morning."

She felt the blood make a jolly trail to her face and a bashful smile widened her lips just slightly. What to do? What to do? Should she get up? Should she say something? Was it so bad? Truth be told, it was kind of nice... So she just lay still and let things run their course, meaning she rather Brandon do something.

[kihaku]

"Uhh... good morning." I cracked open my right eye and surveyed her face. Her smile was enhanced by the rose that graced her cheeks, and it caused me to smile in return. In that one, simple gesture of closeness, all of the stresses of last night seemed to just melt away.

"Good morning." I had been perfectly warm throughout the night, and at that distance I knew that my whispered breath would gently brush against her skin. I snuggled deeper into the warmth of my jacket, the tip of my nose inching a little higher along hers. Our faces even closer, I opened both eyes a little wider to study her face. After a few moments, I looked into her eyes and felt words slip from my lips.

"Jayne... you saved my life last night, a debt I don't think I'll ever be able to repay. Still, until I can find a way," I slid my warm hand over hers, and my thumb gently rubbed against her knuckles, "I promise to help you in all endeavors, and defend and support you in everything. If you ever have any needs that I can fill... I will do so without a second thought."

It was so close to a devotion of love that I was keenly aware of how it may have come across. Of course, my motives weren't as humble or altruistic as I made them out to be; Jayne was a beautiful young woman who was strong, intelligent, and braver than I could ever hope to be. She was as close to perfection as I could hope to find... but there was always the danger that she didn't feel the same for me. Hell, even I knew that I wasn't the catch of the day. Already shown to be weak, obnoxious, and unwilling to enter a fight, I might very well seem like the worst kind of person.

But... a guy can dream, can't he? So, in the end, I opted to pledge my allegience to her for as long as the debt between us stood. I hoped, for reasons all my own, the debt would remain for a long time.