070 - Picking A Fight

[JasonPaul]

"Should we have really left the Freedom Fighters hanging like that?" Red asked her sister as she drove past the bloodshed and carnage going on around her on her motorcycle. "It might have been better to just get back to the One Nation camp first."

Blue shrugged her shoulders. "It's none of our business. All that matters is that we get to Columbus as Big Daddy ordered."

"I bet it's about this mess going on right now."

"No doubt."

Cincinnati hadn't fallen to One Nation yet, although anyone with a brain could see that it would only be a matter of time. One Nation outnumbered and outgunned the Ohio army, and the only surprising thing going on was that Cincinnati hadn't yet folded like a bad hand in a Texas Hold 'Em game. Soldiers were opening fire at will. Explosions were going on all around the felinefolk twins. It was chaos.

For the most part, none of the soldiers from Ohio nor One Nation would give Blue and Red any trouble as they drove down the streets of the city. The two avoided large groups of soldiers, and any time one or two soldiers tried to stop them, Red quickly silenced them with a few rounds of one of her Uzis. Given the amount of death going on in the city, no one seemed to catch on to their presence, although that certainly wouldn't last long. The two had to get out of the city as fast as possible.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't an option, as the two needed to refuel their motorcycles. Also, Red was hungry and complained constantly about it. With that in mind, the two stopped at an old gas station. Amazingly, they were still open despite the war going on around them.

Red refueled both bikes as Blue walked into the gas station to pay for the gas and some food. As she was pumping, she noticed a large number of One Nation soldiers in front of a Big Boy restaurant next door. They hadn't noticed her, and seemed more concerned with whatever was inside the restaurant. Red found that she could overhear the men as they discussed their next course of action.

"I don't know," one of them said. "I think we should leave it alone."

"She's taken out three of our men," spoke another. "We can't leave it alone."

"But we've already secured this area," the first said. "She's not doing anything, she's just sitting there. She says she's not leaving until she finishes her tea."

"She's been in there for three hours! This restaurant is closed," a third said. "Permanently. I say we gas her."

"No, we tried that," said the second soldier. "She kicked it right back at us."

"We don't have time to deal with her anyway," spoke a fourth. "The 15th is on the move north and we've got to continue the push. We can't waste any more time with her."

The second soldier nodded. "Fine. We'll leave her alone." And with that the group marched down the street, away from the restaurant and Red.

Blue had gotten back about this time and noticed the soldiers leaving. "What was that all about?" she asked her sister.

"Someone's in there," Red said, pointing to the building with the large Big Boy statue in front of it. "She's got those One Nation soldiers spooked."

Blue raised an eyebrow, then went back to her bike. "It's got nothing to do with us." Red, however, wanted to know more and walked toward the restaurant. Blue noticed this and spoke. "Where are you going?"

"I want to see who she is!" Red called back.

Blue caught up to Red. "We don't have time for this!"

"Come on, one little look?" Red asked. "Besides, I could go for a burger."

"But I already bought you some chicken strips!" But it was no use. Red had already entered the restaurant, and Blue unconsciously followed her.

Unfortunately for Red, she wasn't going to get that burger. The restaurant was completely deserted apart from two figures sitting at a booth. One of them was an odd girl who wore a dark blue hood that somewhat resembled a nun's habit with a matching dark blue dress, and had light purple hair and dark blue eyes. The interesting thing about the hood was that it had extra space at the top that was shaped like a cat's ears. That, combined with her feline eyes, clearly marked her as a felinefolk. After Red noticed the tribal crest on her right hand, she deduced that she was of the Mesia tribe, and judging from her state of dress, she looked to be a priestess. The second was much harder to make out, as they had their back turned to Red and wore a large brown hood and cloak to conceal themselves. The priestess noticed Blue and Red enter and looked up with worry.

"More company," she said in a quiet voice.

"One Nation goons again?" her companion asked. Judging from the tone of voice, Red could tell that it was a female. Red also had a hunch that it was this person that the soldiers outside were worried about.

"No," the priestess said. "They appear to be Kendou."

The hooded woman turned her head to look at the two. They got a better look at her then, albeit not much better. She had yellow feline eyes, meaning that she was also a felinefolk. The woman sized Blue and Red up and down, then closed her eyes and said, "Impossible."

"That's not nice!" Red said. "And how would you know if we're Kendou or not?"

The hooded woman turned her head back to face the priestess as before and spoke with her back turned. "Kendou women wear tribal crests on their right bicep, and I see no crests on either of you, except for those clothes you wear."

Red winced and tried to come up with a retort. "Th-that doesn't mean anything!"

"Of course it does," the hooded woman said. "Kendou women are branded with these crests at birth without exception. You two are probably just some alleycats that got lost."

Red closed her eyes, shuddering at the insult. The memories that she was forced to revisit back in the astral labyrinth were nagging at her mind, and she wasn't going to let this woman, whoever she was, mock her. "Well...we're exceptions! We are Kendou!" she shouted, desperately trying to come up with something. However, she only heard the hooded woman laugh at her retort.

"And are you actually using guns?" the hooded woman said in a mocking tone. "A Kendou doesn't use guns. A Kendou doesn't need guns." She took a sip from a cup of tea before continuing. "I don't know why you're pulling this charade, but if a real Kendou saw the two of you she'd tear you apart for making a mockery of her tribe."

Red was shocked at the woman's words, and desperately tried to come up with another retort. However, she didn't get the opportunity, as Blue, who was taking the woman's insults and responding with silence, had reached her breaking point. She too had endured great pain and suffering through the recollection of her memories at the astral labyrinth, and she wasn't about to let this stranger tell her who she could and couldn't be. "I'll make you eat those words!" Blue screamed as she suddenly pulled one of her butterfly knives from her boot and ran at the hooded woman with the intent to backstab her with it. She only caught her hood and cloak, however, as the woman leaped from her seat and backflipped, landing behind Blue, who quickly turned to face her opponent.

She was a felinefolk, all right. A red-haired, yellow-eyed felinefolk with shoulder length hair, a sleeveless green vest over a black halter top, black biker shorts, and white boots. On her right bicep was the crest of the Kendou tribe, although Blue noticed that it was incomplete. Around her neck was a gold crucifix. However, her most interesting feature was the two weapons she carried. A pair of longswords, one jade and one azure, with an intricate design that was unmistakable to anyone who had ever seen them.

Rahu, the Devourer.

Ketu, the Destroyer.

"Oh shit," Blue muttered to herself in shock as she stared down a living legend among felinefolk and realized she'd picked the wrong fight.