The incident between Wufei and I passed without comment from anyone else, namely Duo. The laughing boy didn't say a word about it to me. Perhaps...No. I had to focus on what was necessary now. I had to focus on getting a job.

I soon discovered that getting a job was much easier said than done. Everyone was suspious of any human who claimed to be a refugee from earth. I say human because...well... ...mutants were known to exist and perhaps the only beings that could or rather should have been able to survive through Earth's death. Each shopkeeper or supervisor stared at me suspiciously before shaking their head and silently turning back to work. Even those who were obviously short-handed would mumble something about foreigners and turn away not even acknowledging either Duo or I.

After the 10th rejection I think Duo finally got the idea that it wasn't going to work. A strange expression had crossed his face and he gestured for me to follow as he left the shop silently. Warily I followed but once out in the bustling square I lost sight of Duo. Now it wasn't his fault and I'm certain it wasn't my own. Duo could weave through the people as if he were made of water, ever homing in on one goal. I however had never cultivated that ability. In short...I got lost.

And yet.........looking back on it perhaps it wasn't quite an accident. But I shall leave that for later. I had wandered around for quite a while in the drizzling rain before finally admitting I would be unable to find either Duo or a way back to my new "home". I ducked into a sheltered alley to catch my breath. Fate, or chance, or which ever it is that dictates life, decided then to throw me into the middle of a strange fight. No more than a second passed before, from out of the dense shadows, a body slammed up against me. Instinctively I spun it behind me and tensed nearly imperceptibly. The same deep gloom that created the body spawned three more figures, all single mindedly charging at the slight body crouched behind me. It was if I didn't even exist. A feral smile crossed my face as adrenaline filled my body. They would learn not to ignore me, if they lived long enough.

A slight step to the side and a downward jab sent the first figure sprawling never to move again. Yet still the other two did not acknowledge me. I moved quickly, repeating my action before they could come much closes to the body I was protecting. Two down, one left. The last figure paused seeming, for the first time, to figure out that there was another fighter here. It was for just a moment but it was for long enough. Almost before I consciously thought of what I wanted to do I found my body moving. It was as if watching a movie, seeing myself move several steps forward and the glint of a knife flying through the air. My knife was the only weapon I carried only, mostly due to the fact the customs officials saw it as so archaic that they forgot the deadly accuracy with which it could be thrown. It found its mark, buried deep into what should have been the figures skull. At any rate the figure fell, and I turned to see who it was that I had saved.

He, or she, stood up slowly, scanning the shadows. "What are you?" His voice, for it was male in timbre, sounded strained, fear and stress leaking into the words. He spun around, as if I had somehow been able to get behind him. "Where are you!?!" His voice shook. I stepped closer to him, my footstep sounding hollow on the pavement. "I'm right here."