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Chapter 11—Blood's First Fight—

Rachel's P.O.V….

We headed down the hall back toward the cargo bay that we saved James in. I was still pissed at Wren and personally I thought I was in full right to be pissed. She was taking all her anger out on me and I didn't need it. She had changed my mood totally. At least I had James there to comfort me. Right now he was holding my hand and giving me comforting looks every now and then. Once we got a ship and escaped, I was going to ask Wren just exactly what her problem was.

I stepped through the cargo bay doors and stopped. Two dozen guards were standing there, talking. I stopped suddenly, jerking James back. All of them looked at us. "Here we go again." I muttered.

"Get them!" one guard shouted pointing at us and the rest charged at us.

I let go of James' hand quickly as one threw a punch at me and missed. He hit the wall instead. Another one brought his blade at my face and I ducked. The sword still ended up slicing a few pieces of my hair off. "Oh geez!" I said and scrambled to the side as the blade came down once more. I didn't let him recover and kicked him in the groin. His sword fell to the floor and I kicked it away. I then kicked him in the face and knocked him out cold. As soon I had finished him off, another guard took his place.

Wren's P.O.V….

There were guards in the bay. I watched as Zim dodged to the side to avoid getting nailed with a kick. He danced out of the way with a practiced grace that I could only envy.

My attention shifted as quick as a heartbeat to a guard that was in front of me. I groaned and dodged a punch. Everyone was in battle, but as soon as one guard was out, another one took its place. "Man don't you guys ever give up?" I muttered and dodged yet another punch. I threw my own punch and heard a crack as I broke the woman's nose. I then kicked the side of her head and she went down.

Two other guards took her spot and I groaned again. I backed up to dodge their punches and backed up into someone. I turned my head and saw that it was James. "Sorry about earlier," I said and deflected a double punch somehow. Dumb luck seemed to be on my side at the moment.

"That's okay. Everyone was just a bit too tense," he replied and blocked a flying kick to the head.

"Question. If they have weapons, why don't the use them?" I asked him.

"I have no clue," he answered and moved away. "But, do you really want to jinx us?"

I heard a clang of metal on metal and heard the shrill sound of something skidding across the floor. I looked down and saw a sword at my feet. Apparently James had one too. "Ironic, isn't it?" I asked.

"This is gonna be good," he replied ducking while picking up the weapon, an evil smirk crossing his face.

I smiled as well. I looked up and saw that the two guards had seen the blade on the floor too. They went for it, but I slammed my pawed foot on the flat of the blade and it flipped into the air. I caught the hilt on the second flip and flashed it at the guards while crouching into a very cliché martial arts move you see on those old 70's movies. "Come and attack me. But I warn you, kitty's not in a nice mood. And when kitty's not in a nice mood, things get ugly, very ugly, very fast."

"Oh look. She has a sword. Do you know how to use it, kitten?" one asked with a sneer.

"You'd better hand that over to us, kitten. You might hurt yourself on it if you don't," the other added with a chuckle.

"And you," I started and swung the blade. It sliced the air. I only saw it enter the one side and come out on the other side of the guard's neck. "Might just lose your head. And never call me kitten. You don't have that honor."

The second guard looked at his companion and watched his buddy's head roll off his neck. "How? Wha?" he asked startled someone like me had accomplished that feat.

"I am your worst nightmare," I answered, grinning evilly the pupils of my eyes dilating and contracting sharply. The guard looked from me to James who was already slicing his second enemy apart. I followed his gaze for a second then looked back at him. "Except for him. Now he may be the ultimate nightmare, but you get him if you get past me." He looked shocked and started to inch away as I snarled and gave a hiss. I didn't let him leave. He fell to the floor in a puddle of blood.

I saw Rachel fighting off someone. I also saw James helping her so I shrugged and blocked a blow with my sword. My vision grew hazy and everything sort of blurred together. The guard who had thrown it got a good chunk taken out of his arm. Then he saw that there was blood dripping from the blade down to the hilt and down to my hands. It was splattered all over the front of the sheet I was wearing and a smear across one cheek. My tail lashed furiously and a snarl graced my lips. Then he looked around at his beheaded comrades. He glared at me and struck again, this time getting a chunk taken out of his other arm. He backed away and soon we were both in a fast paced dual. He was no match though, and as his head turned to my left, the blade followed it and his head fell from his shoulders. It landed with a squishy thunk on the floor.

The sound of the battle around me quieted down as I took out one last guard with a fury I didn't even know I had. I grinned with demonic pleasure. The cloth swirled about me as I turned around. The body fell backwards, headless.

I turned to Rachel, James and Zim. They were staring at me in disbelief.

"Whoa," I thought blinking, looking at the sword in my hand, "What the hell just happened?" I looked about me a little confused as time seemed to rush to catch up with me like someone hit rewind the fast forward. I looked down and saw I was standing in a pool of blood. Dropping the weapon in my hand I took a few steps backwards. My usual black, blue, and purple pawed feet were dark shades of a gruesome red. The front of the sheet I was wrapped in was stained and covered with blood as well as my hands where the blood had dripped down the blade and hilt onto my hands.

I staggered backwards a few more steps before I tried turning. I got wrapped up in the sheet and fell onto my butt in the blood that pooled on the floor. 'I never thought I could kill like that. It felt so good but... I lost myself to the sword. Why did I do that? Why did I let the haze of battle claim me? James did the same thing, yet he had a reason. He did it for Rachel, his love, for their lives, but I didn't have a purpose. I cared nothing about my life. I did it for the pleasure of killing toward the end. The pleasure of killing...Will it happen again?' I felt numb and remembered the vacant look in the eyes of the dead. I shuddered and sat there, not feeling anything. Willing myself not to feel anything. Not feeling anything was better than feeling the sick glee that raged inside me during the battle.

Zim, Rachel, James, and Rouk crept over to me unsure how I'd react. They didn't want to spook me into attacking them. Gingerly Rouk dropped to the floor and slowly leapt to my shoulder. She draped herself over my shoulders and gave a soft, sad, knowing coo in my ear. Zim gave me a look that said everything. In that brief look they conveyed so much. Eyes as haunted as I expected mine looked at the moment.

Rachel and James ignored the blood around me and the blood that covered me. They each took an arm and helped me up taking most of my weight between them.

"Rachel, why don't you go and find us a ship. Zim can help me with her," James said as he slid an arm around my waist. Rachel gave him a puzzled look. "Go," was all he said, "Please. We'll try to clean her up a little while you find a ship."

Rachel turned and moved off farther into the hanger, a little put out by what James said. Zim came to my side to replace Rachel. He put an arm around my back while James kept an arm around my waist. I shivered a little, but walked with them when they moved.

The only way James could follow Rachel was the tracks she left from the blood on the soles of her shoes. We followed Rachel's bloody shoe print tracks deep into the cargo bay and away from the field of death that was behind us.

Bah, sorry about this chapter. There was not much I could do with it that wouldn't add a bunch of useless story. I just felt that adding anything else to this chapter would be putting a strain on it. I did try to fill it out with what it could be missing but I just couldn't and wouldn't push it. This is still one of my favorite chapters though. It does show Wren isn't a killing machine but also not afraid to defend herself as well. Anyway, onward!