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Jack stopped, remembering the last time he stepped in this town..

..he was burning it to the ground.

Oakvale looked much better now, the houses and stores were rebuilt well from what he could see. The damned guards hadn't come and lit the lanterns yet though. Jack snorted, lazy humans. With a wave of his hand he lit the rest, fire sprouting from the wicks as he called it forth. Brushing his hands on his pants, Jack headed down the hill, passing two stores that seemed to be on fire every time his golden eyes glanced at them. The black haired man quickly got to his destination, the beautiful beach with light brown sand, in perfect view of the ocean. If only people could stop their puny lives for a moment to see what beauty lies right beside them. Jack sat down on the cool sand, watching the moonlight wash over the waves.

This, this was what he would miss when the world was turned to hell. When HE turned it to hell, Jack thought sadly. The ocean, the sky, the grass, the sand. It was all so peaceful, silent, almost untouched by humans.

Jack's castle wasn't close enough to let him see the ocean, and he had almost forgotten what the fresh air smelled like, without it being coated in a thick stench of blood and sacrifice. Murder, malice, blood, swords, clashing and slicing. Loud and oh so fucking obnoxious. Always brought him to wonder why he lived at the arena. Jack sighed, the peacefulness of the ocean was just starting to lull him to sleep when-

"Meow."

Jacks eyes shot open, surprise and annoyance darting across them.

"Meoow."

He looked to the side, seeing a small gray and white speckled kitten sitting there staring at him intently.

"Me. Ow."

Annoying little animal. He had it clear in mind to flick it across the beach, but somebody might think something's up if they see some guy punting a kitten out into the sunset.

"Meow!"

Jack closed his eyes, ignoring the kitten, much to it's distaste, and tried to doze off once more. Another annoyed meow had him wondering if it would really be all that bad sending the cat's furry tail to infinity and beyond.

Jack propped himself up on his elbows and gave the kitten his most sarcastic glare.

"I'm sorry, am I in your spot?"

"Mee. Yow."

"Bugger off." Jack mumbled, laying down again, ignoring the kittens pleas for body removal. All seemed to be quite for a few moments, nothing but the small lapping of the waves, until something warm and fuzzy plopped down on his chest.

Jack glared at the inferior animal laying on his chest, to see it giving him the smuggest look you could ever imagine.

"You're quite the cocky pussycat, aren't you." Jack growled at it, only earning a yawn in reply. The small kitten laid down on his stomach, curling up in a tight ball and fell asleep.

Jack felt his eye twitch. Was HE, the Jack of Blades, last remaining survivor of the Court and Champion of Champions, let this tiny, inferrior, minty smelling beast sit on his stomach as if it were king?

Well, the kitten WAS warm, so the fearsome Jack of Blades set his back against the soft sand again and let the furry little kitten lay there. For now. At least until he kicked said furriness to Timbuktu... Or Hook Coast.

"Cute cat."

Jack peeked open his eyes, a shadowy figure blocking out the sun. Jack sat up, the speckled kitten writhing in surprise as it fell off his chest. He looked out at the sea, the waves were more violent now, crashing against the dock threateningly. Men carrying boxes on the dock wobbled and stopped to look out at the sunkissed waves for a moment.

"Damnit." Jack muttered, jumping up with the cat in his arms. He wasn't supposed to sleep for that damn long, cursed cat and it's... Cuddliness...

Jack turned to leave but stopped, noticing the furry beast in his arms. Wind blew through his black hair as he stood there, trying to figure out what to do with the kitten. Jack turned to the blindingly blonde haired woman beside him, seemingly just now noticing her. Confused shown in her eyes, and slight concerned as she stared at him.

"Here." Jack said, keeping his face emotionless, and shoved the kitten in her arms, turned, and ran like hell, leaving the woman and cat to wonder what on earth his problem was.


Jack sighed into his pillow. The day had been severely boring. A couple of stuck up guards and heroes trying to complete the fights and become the Champion. And dying, I might add. They failed. So badly. Worse than...

Well, they suck is the gist of it.

Jack gave his pillow another sigh and turned his head towards the open window, light striking in his eyes. Behind his eyelids he saw a shadow fall over him and quickly disappear. Jack shot up and grabbed his sword from the side of his bed, pointing it at the intruder.

Which was nothing.

No one.

He wondered if he'd been seeing things as he laid back down on his bed. He couldn't sense any power in his room, accept for the outrageous amount flowing off of his own body. No threat whatsoever. Jack rolled his eyes and turned over to fall back asleep. Sleep must have had a grudge on him that day, for none came. Nightmares and horrible memories filled his head. Replaying in his eyes over and over. Jack sat up, slamming his hands down over his ears, trying to quiet the agonizing screams of the Knight and Queen.

Jack rolled out of his bed, slowly heading to the bathroom to take a shower. Showers usually calmed him down, at least for a few moments. He stopped in front of the mirror on his way to the shower, wondering for a moment, what he actually looked like. Of course he had seen himself before, but it's surprisingly easy to forget when you have the picture of a mask burned into your mind. Three to be exact. Jack turned and stared at his own reflection, trying to recognize the man he saw. Black spiked hair covered his forehead and traveled down to his mid neck, a few small wisps falling beside his golden eyes.

He wasn't the Jack of Blades. He was just a man with weird eyes and a powerful sword. Jack smirked to himself, it sounded like something the Knight would try to insult him with.

'You need a fucking haircut is what you need!' The memory of the Knight jokingly yelling at him echoing in his head. It was actually one of the nicer memories, much better than the ones of growing up in the Void. And much much better than the memory of trying to spar with a severely pissed off Queen.

Screams inside his head wiped the smile and memory clear from his mind. Jack winced, clutching his head.

'They were annoying, arrogant, loud! They deserved to die.' Jack told himself, trying to drown out his fellow member's screams of pain echoing continuously in his head. 'They were foolish, dying at the hands of Black. They didn't try hard enough. I'm glad they're gone. They deserved it. They deserved it. They...'

"They, didn't deserve it." Jack whispered to the empty room. He fell to his knees, silent tears escaping his tightly shut eyes. "They were arrogant, merciless, loud. But they were my family. They didn't deserve to die that way. They didn't."

Jack clutched his hair, gloved hands debating whether to rip it out in frustration or burn something. Finally the voices gave him a rest, the painful echoes coming to a slow stop, never quite ending but silent enough to ignore.

He stood, not bearing the risk of looking at his reflection, and shattered the mirror with his fist. Blood and glass showered the bathroom tiles, staining them. Jack simply turned on the shower and stripped, stepping in when it was warm enough. His thoughts were plagued by his first breakdown since the death of his... Family? They hurt him, purposely, used him as a punching bag on more than one occasion. Jack remembered almost killing the Knight when he had finally gotten sick of it and fought back. It was an accident, but being sorry doesn't stop the flow of blood.

Jack sighed to himself as he stepped put of the shower. Dusk had fallen, the sun no longer shining on the bloody tiled floor.

For once Jack cursed his unique ability. As Jack had found out in an experimental sparring session with the Queen, soul possessing was his unique own ability. It made him proud to have something that the Queen and Knight didn't. And he showed his pride daily, taking over the body of the Knight on more than one occasion, much to the Knight's resentment.

Jack dressed himself, his eyes darting out to his balcony. Perhaps another small journey to Oakvale would ease his mind? Jack gave his empty room a search, his eyes darting to a familiar mask. His mask. It lay upon his new dresser, courtesy of the maids, along with the similar masks of the Knight and Queen. He looked at them, and then the balcony, where his so called freedom awaited. Another sigh echoed through the room, only reminding him of the emptiness.

Jack smiled as his boots hit grass, the wind rustling his dark hair as he made his way towards the ocean. The fresh air smelled nice, and although memory made it smell burnt once he stepped into town, he brushed it off.

"Meow."

Jack froze, instantly recognizing the mewling. Turning, he saw the same furry beast that annoyingly sat on his chest throughout the previous night. The kittens unique minty smell tingled his nose, filling what was once doubt with knowing. This most certainly was the very same kitten.

"You."

"Meow."

"I strongly dislike you, cat."

"Meow."

Jack sighed. He obviously wasn't getting anywhere, quite literally. So he moved on, ignoring a very unhappy kitty. Speaking of which, said kitty growled and followed the large man, trotting under his feet.

The Court member made his way along the path towards the beach, feeling the company of the speckled gray kitten the whole way. Suddenly it's presence disappeared, bringing Jack to a sudden stop. Turning, he saw the kitten crouched a few feet away, staring into a dark alleyway with it's ears flat against it's head and a bushy tail starting to appear. Jack raised an eyebrow at the kitten before sighed again, and slowly sneaking back to see what the kitten was staring at. Curse his curiosity. Peeking around the corner, he saw two large men standing over a small slouched figure on the ground.

"Just empty it out dude!" The first man growled out.

"Shhhh! The guards will hear us!" The man's accomplice whispered, shaking a large drawbag presumably belonging to the person on the ground.

A thin, silver sword fell out, clattering against the ground with the rest of the bags contents.

"Woah. Check that out Dean." The second man said.

"Holy cow, Martin, we can get a bunch of money out of that!" The first man said.

"Shhhh! Dumbass! Stop being so damn loud!" The man presumably named Martin threateningly whispered at the now named Dean, who didn't seem threatened at all, by the way. Probably because of the three foot height difference between the two muggers. Martin snatched the sword up, the beautiful carvings on it shining in the full moon. A small red jewel sparkled at the hilt, glowing like the eye of a demon. It seemed familiar to Jack, although for the immortality of him, he couldn't figure out where from.

"Put my sword down. Now." The figure on the ground grumbled at Martin and Dean. The female voice sounded dark and horribly threatening. She picked herself off the ground slowly, obviously injured. Silver hair shone in the moonlight, falling down slim shoulders and just brushing the moist earth. Blood trickled down her arm, creating a small pool at a dip in the ground.

Jack's eyes narrowed to slits, this woman was injured badly, she couldn't take these large men on no matter how hard she tried. He turned and started walking off to the beach. The kitten stared at him, appalled that he would walk off and leave an injured girl. Jack continued on his quest, ignoring the cried of protest from the little kitten at his feet. Suddenly the little animal stopped right in front of his foot, tripping him. Putting one hand on the ground, he easily shifted his weight and flipped over the kitten. Jack stood from his crouched position and brushed himself off, glaring at the minty smelling animal.

"Bad cat."

"Mrrrow!"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "I don't know her. Why the hell should I help?"

The speckled kitten hissed at him, the fur along her spine standing to attention. Jack simply smirked at the young animals attempt to look threatening and gave the streets one last sigh.

A swift kick to the head threw the girl a ways away, making the world spin around her. These men had her supplies, her food, her money, her sword. The guild master wouldn't be very happy if she lost her sword, even if it was evil. It was a gift, a family heirloom, it was precious to her. And even if it killed her, she was going to get her sword into safe hands. Suddenly a dark, mocking voice rang out through the alleyway, before darkness finally overcame her, her emerald green eyes looked up to see a man standing there, golden eyes shining threateningly in the dim light.

"What gentlemen, taking a young woman's things while she injured and helpless. You should be ashamed."

Jack's words were followed by the whisper of the wind between the trees, the slight quiver of the ground beneath their feet, and the ruby glow of the fire entwined between his fingers.