August 3, 2010
We were too late. The city was nothing but rubble. London was now nothing but rocks, and we slowly waded through the destruction. Bloody bodies lay all around us.
"This is the best condition I've ever seen London in," quipped Chette. I told her to get serious. There was dust everywhere from the fallen buildings and it was difficult to see. Suddenly, I smelled something sweet.
Incense...?
I told Chette to turn off her barrier. If there was burning incense nearby, there had to be someone alive to burn it. I rushed ahead. I saw an obscure figure in the dust, on one knee. His hands appeared to be folded, as if in prayer. As I got closer I saw that some of the rubble was laid neatly in a circle around the figure, each of the rocks about the same size as the other. The smell of the incense was strong. Finally the dust cleared enough as I got very close, and I was able to make out who the person was.
His fur was white.
I jumped back, knocking into some rubble, but the tiger paid me no heed. He was muttering some incoherent language quietly to himself. I held my right hand out like a gun and charged my energy into it, so my hand glowed blue. I'd take him out with one shot. I fired, and the street broke into pieces, and more dust flew up. I turned away and started to walk back.
"You should know better than to turn your back, fox boy."
He suddenly had me in a headlock, his claw at my throat. "Fox against tiger, is it? Not exactly the most natural pair. And yet, I think we all know who'd win."
"Why did you destroy this place?" I asked, shouting.
"Ssh," he said. "You should have a more respectful tone with those who are more powerful than you. If you wish to know," he snarled, his claw now pressing at my throat, "then I'll tell you in the afterlife."
I quickly pulsed my energy all around my body. The force of the blast threw the tiger into the side of a ruined building. I quickly held my hand out again and fired three more blasts at him. But when the dust settled, he was gone.
"Geez. You can't do anything right." Chette was behind me. "I'm not going to have to save you every time, am I?" She had apparently activated her barrier, hiding my position.
"What'd you do that for? I had him!" I said, a little indignant.
"Pfff. Look around you. Do you want the rest of this city to crumble? We should be looking for survivors, dumbass, not killing more people!"
She had a point. We spent the rest of that day looking for anyone who had survived, but did not find a single one. I convinced Chette that we had to find my attacker before more cities got destroyed. She agreed. She put her hands up and suddenly I was being pulled, walking, running, to another place, destination unknown.
