If it weren't for her loveable dragon licking her awake, the girl would've been still asleep.
"Okay, Okay Shadow I'm awake" the girl grumbled as she was being licked awake by her dragon.
She rose from her large sleeping bag and gave a yawn and a stretch. Then Shadow barked with sass.
"Okay, just be patient with me, I know I have to walk you, At least let me do my thing okay."She zipped the sleeping bag and looked at her surroundings.
The apartment was pretty empty but had a few things. There was a blue cooler for her food. Her messenger bag sat near the window she enters and exits next to a big dark green backpack. There was also a black electric guitar in the corner right by the door to the bathroom. Then there was a large broken glass she used for a mirror. Then the girl crawls over to a small piece of cloth on top of her sleeping bag. It was light pink, yellow, and white and she snuggled it. Shadow then tilted his head
"This is my…. Blanket, I don't know what I would do without it." She said still hugging it. Shadow still had a look of confusion
"Not that it's important to me…" She cleared her throat putting away the blanket. The girl then went into the bathroom and washed her face and looked in the mirror. Her tired face stared back at her and she looked behind her and she saw a small drawing hanging nearby the shower door. It was a stick figure drawing of a man, a woman, and of course herself. She sighed through her nose in melancholy. Shadow noticed this and whimpered.
"Don't forget about me Mr. and Ms. … I hope you're coming back like you promised"
She got a bunch of clothes to change in. She looked in the mirror again. She was dressed in all black. The shirt was short and the jeans were ripped and destructed. She puts on a black beanie and sunglasses. Then a leash was dropped by her boots. She sees Shadow looking down at the leash and back up at her
She couldn't help but give a sassy smile at him
"Impatient dragon you… Come on and don't drag me this time" She strictly tells him.
She puts the leash on a choker that she stole on him and She sneaks out of her apartment
"Wait I don't understand," Ian said eating breakfast in the morning "You saw someone stealing food"
"Yes, Ian she was stealing food and some other supplies, pay attention," Laurel tells him.
"Maybe she didn't have any money and couldn't afford it," Barley said with pancakes in his mouth
"Normally people would steal money and candy, not supplies, maybe she's using them for something, I don't know" Laurel replied shrugging her shoulders.
Then Colt came to the table.
"Okay, I talked to a few officers, there are a few places that she's stolen from, a pawn shop and a few more grocery stores and well, it just doesn't make sense as to why she would steal from there"
"Maybe she needs food, I mean why else unless she has a family" Ian fired back
"Stealing cereal boxes, hot dogs, and… personal stuff?" Laurel spoke
Then Colt's walkie went off
Bronco we have a situation at the New Mushroomton Mall
"Gotta go, duty calls," Colt said leaving the table not before giving Laurel a quick peck on the lips, leaving his new wife and stepsons to discuss the girl further.
"Good boy Shadow," the girl said as Shadow finished urinating on a bush
"Come on, we gotta go back"
Shadow gave the girl a steady walk and he began to walk toward a large crowd
"No Shadow, I said back" but Shadow didn't listen and kept trying to pull her toward the crowd. Then she pulled back
"I said back...you want treats" Shadow turned towards her and barked "yeah you want treats, let's go back and get some treats" She walked the excited dragon back to the apartment and she gave him the treats as promised.
As soon as they got back, she let shadow inside, got the bowl of food, and allowed him to chow down on it. She got the cereal from yesterday and she started to eat herself some breakfast too. Then she heard something coming from outside
She peeked out of the window and she sees two men, an elf and a cyclops with black suits on them. They were walking and they had a conversation which she didn't hear. So the girl then slowly sneaked out and followed them. She spotted something in the elf's back pocket. She gently grabbed it from the pocket and ran back to the apartment. She took a closer look and that something is a large red gem. Its blood-red color glowed in the morning sun and it felt like glass in the girl's blue hands.
"What do you think this is Shadow?" She held the gem closer to the dragon so he can take a sniff but she pulls away.
"Be careful Shadow, we don't want ever this is to break"
"Uh oh," a voice said. She ran to the window again and saw the two men again.
"I told you not to put the ruby in your back pocket, ugh you're so clueless sometimes," said the cyclops.
"I can't put it in my front pockets either, they're too small" replied the elf.
The girl then leaned in but she didn't know that she was still holding the gem. It gave a red light shining on the cyclops face and he looked up and saw her. She luckily ducked away so he couldn't get a good look at her. The cyclops then squinted
"What, what do you see" the elf tried to see what he was looking at but he didn't see the girl.
"I think I might know who took the gem… come on," the cyclops said leaving.
"But the boss will kill us" the elf cried.
"I know, but we can catch whoever took the gem and bring them to the boss and have him deal with it" the cyclops left with the frightened elf following close behind.
The girl then peeked up slightly to see if the men were gone and they were. She then closed her window and drew the blinds again.
"This is a ruby" She whispered to herself. Shadow slowly crept closer to his owner
"Shadow, do you know what this means" the dragon tilted his head "This means our money trouble is over, we don't have to live in this apartment anymore….I mean I have to wait for Mr. and Ms. to come back" the dragon tilted his head and whimpered
The girl then retrieves the picture she drew from the bathroom and brought it to her pet
"I mean, this picture doesn't do them any justice but that's Mr. and Ms. I'm not allowed to call them… call them...forget it" the girl then puts away the picture and crouches down and sits on the wall. Tears brimmed in her eyes which she roughly wiped away. Shadow then comforted the girl by curling around her and She had a sly smile and she rubbed her dragon's belly and played with him
Meanwhile, the two men then entered a large building. They were met with nods of the other men and women in black suits. They reached the end of the lobby and took the elevator. It went to the highest floor of the building and they walk slowly towards a large red door with golden knobs. The elf and cyclops then braced themselves and the cyclops knocked on the door
"Speak your names," A voice said. It was through an intercom
"It's us boss" the cyclops replied
"Us who"
The men look at each other "It's Smith and Axol sir." the elf replied
"Enter in" the door slowly opened to reveal a large lively room. It was covered in white walls and the drapes were a beautiful red as blood. The gold was coated on edge of the walls while the white and red contrasted it. The men approach the desk where a large black chair has it's back turned to them and it turned around to reveal that their boss is a faun with a black fedora covering one of his horns. He also wore a gray fur coat and a maroon suit and a black tie. When he smiled, there was a noticeable gold tooth on the left side of his mouth
"Ah gentlemen, good to see you" the boss purred
"G-Good to see you too boss." Axol the cyclops stuttered
"Now have you gentlemen have my ruby..."
Things grew silent and the men looked at each other and back at their boss with fear in their eyes.
"Where's my RUBY?!" The boss now yelled slamming his fist on the desk, scaring the duo before him.
"B-B-Boss we can explain" Smith the elf whimpered.
"Says you, your the one who had it in your back pocket-" Axol reprimanded.
"SILENCE, You lost my ruby, I oughta wring ya-" the boss ranted.
"Now wait a minute boss, I may know who has your ruby," Axol replied.
The faun calmed himself down a little "Explain…."
"Well we'll Smith and I were talking, the figure took the ruby, and then a red light shown from the window of an apartment building and we saw someone...Now I didn't get a good look at them but it was an elf with half blonde half blue hair and the elf was blue." Axol described.
The boss furrowed his brows a little. He then got up from his desk and tread slowly towards the men, making them nervous.
"Go back and find this person, and send a few people with you too," the boss said.
The men bowed to him and did as they were told and three more men followed them out.
Later on, The girl then began to play her guitar in her apartment. The tune wasn't too shabby but she could get the hang of it if she practiced.
Shadow gently howled along with the tune. All the girl could do was smile at him and she tried to howl along with him but she laughed because she thought it was silly. She puts away her guitar and petted her dragon
"You are a silly dragon you know that" She coos at him and rubs his belly
Suddenly, She perked up worriedly when she heard cars coming. She turns off the lights and she peeked through the blinds. She saw 3 black cars and saw two familiar guys. They were the same guys that had the ruby and she saw two more cars alongside the one that the men came in
"Shantar's talon, they must be after the ruby" She whispered. She quickly glanced at the ruby which was sitting on top of the blue cooler and she looked at her green backpack
"I can't stay here and wait for Mr. and Ms. We gotta go Shadow," the girl said. She grabbed her green backpack and packed her clothes, She also packed the ruby in there too. She also ties her blanket tightly around her wrist like a bracelet. She reluctantly looked at the drawing of her and the couple on the shower door. She looked at it for a while and she sighed. Then she heard the ladder being dropped from the outside. She took Shadow and hid in the shower, where she luckily saw her large dagger
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" one of the guys asked holding the ladder down
"Don't worry about it, I'm positive I saw someone here," Axol called back climbing
"This place is abandoned, there's no possible way someone could live here-" Smith spoke climbing after him
"Look, I'm telling you what I saw, and if you would've paid attention, you would've seen this guy too."
As soon as they reached the top, they immediately opened the window and entered the apartment.
"Geez, it's dark in here," Smith said. They tried to navigate the apartment but it was too dark for them to see. They decided to split up to find the light in the apartment. Smith went into the bathroom where the girl was hiding. He looked around, getting a good look at everything, and found nothing.
Then suddenly the girl came from behind Smith and slits his throat. Hearing Smith's choked screams, Axol rushes in to save him but then Shadow rushes in and attacks the cyclops, buying the girl time to throw her dagger at the cyclops heart. He pulled out his gun and many shots were fired before he was out.
The men from outside hear the shots they begin to rush in the apartment one of the men going from the window and the other two by the door. The girl luckily grabbed shadow, her dagger from Axol's chest, his car keys, and the picture on the bathroom and tried to take the window ledge but that was blocked by one of the men who she is face to face with
"What the… a girl"
"Hi," she said before pulling the ladder up and pushed it down quickly, knocking the man off of the ladder, knocking him unconscious. She climbed down the ladder and got in one of the black cars and began to drive it
"Okay let's get out of here," the girl told the dragon, who yipped. She stepped on the gas before the other two guys could catch her.
She hoped that no cops would catch her. It's bad enough that a bunch of people were after her because of a gem she took. She looked at the road and she saw that the sun was setting. She grimaced and looked away from the road. She knew she couldn't go back to the apartment, it was too risky for those guys to find her again. All she could do was stay away from people and stay in the shadows but she knew that wasn't going to last long.
Then a large honk of a horn made her go back into focus and she saw a large truck coming straight towards her. She swerved the car just in time before she crashed into the truck but inside she crashes inside a store. The front of the car went into the store while the rest of the car hung outside. Luckily, the airbags saved both the girl and Shadow. The luckier thing was is that the store was closed and no one was hurt
"Well that's one way to get in," She said dizzily. She stumbled out of the car with her backpack and with Shadow. As her vision began to focus again, she saw that she was in a clothing store. She looked all around and there were clothes hanging on shelves and other miscellaneous items in need for herself. She smiled slyly
"Let's get down to business" She went around the store. She steals a bunch of clothes, finds a bunch of candy in the front of the racks nearby the register and on a pair mannequins, she sees a pair of silver boots with black laces and bright red high-top sneakers.
"Cool," She said smiling, taking the pair of shoes in glee.
She then spots a dressing room from afar and began to try the clothes on with Shadow following close behind. She went into the room and she decides to change clothes from her all-black attire. She changed into a burgundy hoodie, a ripped gray shirt, and black jeans with the ripped knees. She still kept on the boots. She looked in the mirror and her eyes glowed from Hazel green to red with dragon slits and back to its original pigment. She puts on a part of dark sunglasses and peeked out to see if the coast was clear. Thank goodness it was. She got the clothes that she stole and found a navy blue backpack so she can switch her stuff and the ruby in and left her other clothes in her other bag.
"Thank goodness the ruby is in good shape", She thought
She realized she felt that something was missing.
Then police sirens went off from afar.
"Shantar's talon, come on Shadow, we gotta go," the girl said running from the store in the back way.
The police came. Sure enough, there was Colt Bronco, Spector, and Gore.
"Oh boy, This was a nasty crash" Gore commented
"Let's look around to see if we can find anything" Spector replied getting serious. The three cops took a good look at the store with their flashlights waving around. Gore with into the dressing room the girl was in and found her bag
"Hey Spector you might want to check this out" Gore called. The cyclops cop came over and say what the faun was looking at and saw the backpack
"Now who in the Zadar would leave their backpack here?" Spector questioned.
"I dunno but this is finders keepers."
While Specter and Gore were talking about the bag, Colt looked around the store some more and then something caught his eye. It was a familiar pink, yellow and white cloth that he picks up
The girl now finally realized what she left behind on the way to the street.
"Oh no, my blanket" She whispered frantically. She gently raced back with Shadow following closely behind. She peeked and saw that the blanket was in Colt's hands
"What the?" Colt whispered
"Augh" She groaned quietly. She peeked again and saw that the other cops were looking at it too.
"What is it," Gore asked.
"I don't know, I'm probably going to take it down to the station to get some fingerprints DNA on it, and whoever's cloth it belongs too might've broken in here" Colt answered.
"Alright, We'll take it back to the station, go back to Laurel and the boys, take good care, Bronco," Spector said leaving with Gore.
Amidst eavesdropping, the girl facepalmed herself.
"How did I not know I left it, Augh" She groaned angrily" Shadow backed away from her a little because he hated seeing his owner mad.
"Shadow, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself...It's okay, All we gotta do is follow the police to the station, break-in and get my blanket back. She walked back toward the street She looked around the street for a bit and spotted the alleyway
"The alleys are my best bet, I can't risk anyone seeing me especially at night" Shadow the curled at her leg and whimpered
"I know, but I know I can't go back to the apartment, not with those trolls after me...I especially can't use my name...I need a new name for myself let's see…" the girl thought about a new name for herself
"How about...Arrow...What do you think…" Shadow barked 3 times
"Well, Arrow it is, Come on Shadow, We can't catch up to them by the car, we just have to go on foot, I promise I'll carry you half of the way. The dragon yipped happily and licked her face
"Okay okay, let's go" Arrow chuckled
Arrow and Shadow then walk toward the alleyway without getting spotted by anyone.
"I just realized something, Arrow rhymes with shadow" the dragon licked her face a little and barked happily.
The duo then continued off into the night. All Arrow knew is that she wouldn't rest until she got her blanket back and getting away from those crooks who were after the gem or mainly her.