Fan Fiction ❯ Cloak and Dagger ❯ Everything has to begin somewhere... ( Chapter 1 )

* Author's note- Well, I posted this story on FF.net, but I think I like MM.org better. I'm still working on this, but it may take a while for me to update. I do write slow. Reviews would be a big help.*

Cloak and dagger

Kyle concentrated intently on his target, a piece of wood with a sloppily painted stick figure on it. He had two daggers, one in each hand, ready to throw. He aimed carefully before throwing both, one right after the other. They both missed. One hit the fence behind the board, the other striking barely an inch from Tama-neko, his cat. Tama roused from his nap to glare at Kyle.

"Sorry Tama." Kyle said as he walked over to retrieve the daggers. Tama watched him for a few moments before returning to his nap. Kyle fingered the daggers hoping to find some fault on which to blame his success rate on. Finding none, he sighed as he sheathed the dagger, and scooped up Tama-neko as he walked home.

As he was entering his town he looked over his shoulder to see a black figure approaching from the distance. He walked faster, strangers in these parts were not to be trusted. As he reached the inn his uncle ran, he stopped. He decided to look in and see if his uncle had any small tasks for him.

"Ah, Kyle. I could use some help." His uncle said merrily as Kyle walked in, "How are you coming along with those daggers?"

"Not good." Kyle winced. He placed the still sleeping Tama-neko on the bar and scratched the cat's ears. Tama began to purr loudly.

"That bad, eh?" His uncle said laughing, "Here, take this tray over to that table." He said pushing a tray across the bar to Kyle, indicating a table with a party of three. As Kyle took the tray over to the table, the door opened and in walked the cloaked figure he saw on the way to his uncle's inn. The stranger spoke only briefly with Kyle's uncle before getting a key and heading up the stairs to where the rooms were. Kyle finished serving the people their order and returned to the bar.

"Who was that?" Kyle asked as he approached his uncle.

"What? Oh, I don't know." His uncle replied.

"I thought you knew every one in these parts."

"Must not be from these parts." His uncle reached under the bar and fished out a rag. He handed it to Kyle, "Here, wipe the bar then clear the tables, I'll be in back preparing an order."

Kyle grabbed the rag as his uncle went to the back where the kitchen was. Tama-neko woke up when Kyle almost wiped him off the bar. He jumped on to Kyle's shoulder to escape the rag. When he was done with the bar he grabbed an empty tray for dishes and went to work on the tables. As he was clearing the dishes from a table, the cloaked figure came down the stairs to sit at a table in the corner.

"Kyle!" His uncle called from the bar.

"Coming!" Kyle called back as he hastily gathered the last of the dishes, earning a scratch from Tama-neko, who nearly fell off his shoulder in the process. Kyle grabbed the tray and hurried back to his uncle. He ducked into the kitchen to deposit the dishes in the sink before heading back to his uncle.

"Yes?" Kyle asked

"Here," His uncle slid a tray across the bar, "Take this order to the corner table."

"OK." Kyle took the tray and walked towards the cloaked figure, "Here you are." He said as he placed the tray on the table. The figure only nodded, Kyle was about to say something else when all the sudden the door burst open.

"KYLE!!!"

Kyle only managed to think Oh, no, before he was hit by something very small, going very fast. Before he knew it he was pinned to the floor, Tama-neko managed to jump from Kyle's shoulder to the floor in time to prevent from getting squashed by Kyle. Kyle thought he heard laughter from the table above him.

"Ack… hi, Sara." Kyle managed to gasp. His little sister Sara had him in a death grip hug.

"I've been looking all over for you!" His sister replied, letting him go. "Mom wants you, it's your turn to do dishes." Kyle groaned.

"Um, I'm kinda busy here, can't you do them?" Kyle asked as he got up off the floor. Tama gave a loud complaint before jumping back on Kyle's shoulder.

"Nuh-uh! I did them for you last time! I'm not doing it again!" Sara cried indignantly, then… "UNCLE!!!" and she shot off towards the bar. Sara nearly knocked him over when they collided, seizing him in the same death grip she had Kyle in earlier.

"Uh… Hi Sara…" Uncle managed to say.

"Kyle gets to help! Can I help too? Pleeeeeease?" Sara pleaded.

"Uh, sure. You can help me do dishes. You can dry and I'll wash."

"Awww… I want to do what Kyle's doing."

"Okay," Uncle shrugged, "You can help Kyle clear the tables."

"Yay!" Sara cried and abruptly ran to help Kyle. Kyle groaned. He handed her the rag and told her to wipe the tables while he cleared the dishes.

As they were clearing the tables, the inn's doors opened again, and in walked five men. They had an impressive arsenal of weapons, including maces, swords, crossbows, and even some daggers. They looked kind of beat up. Tama-neko gave them a threatening hiss. Suddenly a voice spoke up from the corner.

"You idiots are still following me? You'd think you would learn the first few times," said the female voice. It came from the cloaked stranger. She stood up and lowered her hood, earning a gasp from every one in the room. Her eyes had an eerie green glow to them, but that's not what had their attention, sitting on her shoulder was tiny dragon, a little bigger than Tama-neko, "I didn't kill your friend."

"You liar! We saw you standing over his body!" said a man with a sword in his hand.

"He was dead before I got there!" she retorted, "Besides if you had found him, you'd probably have raided the body."

"What? An honorable man, such as myself? I think not." He said indignantly.

"Uh-huh. And an honorable man, such as yourself, raids the villages you've pursued me through? You're nothing but a pack of bandits!"

"Why, you insult my honor! Prepare to suffer a slow and painful death!" He slid into a fighting stance, sword out.

"Oh look at me shake. Whatever shall I do?" She rolled her eyes, then closed them briefly. When she opened them, the eerie green glow was all that showed. She extended her arm, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent the sword flying into the wall. The lead bandit stared at it for a second.

"Uh… you get her." He said over his shoulder to one of his friends. Another man stepped forward, this one had a mace. He was about to charge her, when, suddenly, one of the guys next to him keeled over. There was a dagger in his stomach.

"Hey, Kyle. You actually hit something!" Sara cried.

"Actually… Um," Kyle confessed, "I was aiming for the guy next to him…" The cloaked girl laughed. The man with the mace changed direction and started to charge Kyle. Still laughing, the stranger stretched out her hand and the mace guy froze. With a flick of her wrist she sent him flying into the wall. He slid down to the floor, and didn't move after that.

The remaining two looked at each other nodded, pulled out cross bows and started to circle around her. With her distracted, the leader pulled out a dagger and turned towards Kyle. When the two with crossbows had her between them, they aimed and fired. At the same time, the leader charged Kyle. She dove, taking advantage of a major flaw in this maneuver, and the crossbow bolts flew past her. The crossbow guys, unfortunately, didn't dodge the bolts in time.

As they fell, the leader, seeing all his fallen comrades, changed direction. Instead of getting Kyle, he grabbed Sara. He put the dagger up to her throat, backing away from Kyle.

"No one move, especially you." He said, indicating the cloaked girl. He hesitated, glancing around the room, then picked up Sara and ran out the door. Kyle ran after him, but reached the door to see the bandit speed off, with Sara, on a horse. The cloaked girl went to the bar.

"I'm gonna borrow a horse, here." She put some coins on the bar and ran out the door to the stable area next to the inn.

"Hey! Wait!" Kyle shouted when she passed him on her way, "I'm coming too."

"Nuh-uh, it's dangerous. You'll get hurt." She said as she was putting the saddle on the horse.

"She's my sister," He started preparing one of his uncle's horses for himself. The cloaked girl suddenly turned to the dragon on her shoulder.

"Pyro, go after the girl, make sure she's safe. No fighting! Wait till I get there." She then abruptly threw the dragon into the air. It spread its wings and took off to where the bandit had gone to, "Fine," She said, turning to Kyle, "you can come, since its obvious I'm not going to convince you to stay, but I'm not responsible for you if you decide to be an idiot." She finished tightening the straps and jumped onto the horse. Kyle tucked a sleeping Tama Neko into his shirt, to keep him from blowing away on the horse, jumped on his horse and they sped off. Kyle's uncle was in the inn's door; he had a pack of supplies in his hand.

"Don't worry Uncle! I'll get Sara back!" Kyle yelled. As they rode past, Kyle grabbed the pack from his uncle's hand.

They kept the horses running, slowing only when they reached the dense trees of the forest. A sudden thought struck Kyle.

"You know, I don't even know your name, we never got the opportunity to introduce our selves. I'm Kyle."

"I suppose you could call me Xell." She said shrugging, "The dragon's Pyro."

"This is Tama Neko." Kyle said looking down at the still sleeping Tama, "Where you from?"

"No where."

"Where were you born?" Kyle asked rephrasing his question. Xell didn't answer; he tried again. "Where were you born?" She hesitated.

"I don't know." She replied softly.

"What?" Kyle said perplexed, "How can you not know?"

"I don't remember." She said, suddenly getting angry, and speeding up her horse. Kyle dropped the subject, not wanting to end up like one of the guys at the inn. They went on in silence until they came to a fork in the road.

"Which way now?" Kyle asked. Xell didn't even slow down. She went right for the left fork. "How do you know that's the right way?" Kyle asked.

"Pyro is this way." She said.

"If you say so." Kyle followed, still a little unsure.

* Author's note- So? What do ya think? You like? Not like? Want me to write more? Any suggestions? Please review!*