Hindsight is perfect, you know. I should have known that my penchant for hating drug lords would get me into trouble-- curse them all, I still hate them, despite everything that happened. I should have guessed that taking down one of the evil duo would bring the other down on me, in return. I definitely should have guessed that he would fight dirty and attack the people I love rather than confront me honestly. That would have saved us a lot of grief.

By us, I mean my sister and I. Kalaia and Keren-- I know, I don't look much like a Keren, do I? Don't even look like I'm female. Most people call me Tenat; that's my last name, and it suits better. Doesn't sound like a woman's name, anyway, so it goes well with the rest of me, which doesn't look like a woman. Don't look at me like that, do I look like I care that I look like a man? It's who I am, there's no changing it, so I sure as hell hope I'd have accepted it by now. Besides, out on the streets or on the force, it gets you more respect if people don't think you're a woman. Trust me, I've been there.

But anyway, I was telling a story. Here, let me buy you a drink, this'll be kinda long-- whatever you like. No? Well, whatever. Feel free to walk away whenever you get bored.

But anyway. I used to live in a different city on a different world, one that's so different from this one it's scary, but at the same time... parts of it are pretty much the same. I guess the underworld of any city is pretty much the same. We didn't have dragons back in Tanazira, though. No, we had cat-people and magic and some fancy tech, but no dragons. Don't look so shocked; not everywhere in the world has dragons, you know. In fact, I'd expect there are more places without than with.

As I was saying, I lived in this city called Tanazira, with my sister. My mother died from drug overdose when Kalaia, my sister, was still pretty young. My father died taking his revenge, or trying to, anyway. That's one reason I hate drug pushes so much, I guess: they killed my parents. That and I've seen what their products do to human lives, and non-human lives, for that matter. It's not pretty. --You aren't a user, are you? .... Good. Wise of you. Nothing personal, I ask most everyone that at some point, sooner than usual when I'm in a bar and have a few glasses in me, it seems.

So I hated drug pushers. Still do. I was on the police force, you know, one of the Battleborn-- that's what these diamonds on my forehead mean. It's a caste thing in Tanazira. It'd take ages to explain, just suffice to say I was born a Battleborn, a warrior, and all I've ever wanted to do was live that out. I was one damn good police officer, too. It was me and my mech all the way, taking out street thugs and helping put down unallowable riots and, and especially hunting down drug dealers.

What? Mecha? Yeah, almost all of us had them. Not a lot like the ones they have here, but close enough for the name to work for both kinds. We used ours more for battle than for carrying heavy things, really.

Where was I? Oh, hunting down drug dealers. I made something of a habit of taking any mission I could that had to do with them. Was known through the whole force for it, how I'd jump at it, even if it was dangerous, just for the chance to rid the city of some more of that scum. Got a bunch of medals for it and shit. Problem was, I did it a bit too much. Took down one of the "evil duo", a partnership between two powerful drug lords. Well, I tracked one of them, got a lead and tracked him. For three damn days I tailed that bastard, until I finally got my chance and I brought him down. Didn't really leave much of anything for questioning, but at least he was out of commission and not selling drugs to kids anymore.

That's when the problems started. Started getting anonymous notes saying someone was watching me, my apartment got trashed, random shots out of nowhere aimed to just miss me-- either that or the snipers they hired were worse shots than I am, and that's saying something. I figured someone was playing pranks, or just trying to unnerve me, nothing serious. But then it got worse. Patrols I'd be a part of would be suddenly attacked, for no reason except that I was in them, my mech would get vandalized every other day, and the messages got more threatening. I didn't know what they wanted, I didn't know who they were, so I had no way of stopping them other than do what they wanted: drop out of the force and never hunt another criminal again. Which, of course, I couldn't do. Even if I didn't want to make Tanazira safe, or safer anyway, I still needed a source of income, and all I know how to do, other than fix mechs, is fight.

Gods, I was so stupid. I should have anticipated it, should have guessed what would happen... Should have figured out who was behind it all. But I didn't, and one day when Kalaia was supposed to be taking a trip to the Amazon, she was attacked, instead. I wasn't even there, I didn't even know about it until afterwards when the general told me. Of course, I rushed home as soon as I found out, but it'd been long over by then. Kalaia came out of it all right, just a little shaken up-- who wouldn't be, cornered by three thugs and threatened with guns and knives? And poor Kalaia doesn't know a whit of battle-magic, or even protective magic, trusting little thing that she is....

Well. I could take the threats to me, I could take attacks on trained Battleborn, but threatening my little sister? Now that I couldn't take. I wanted to kill somebody, but I didn't have anybody to kill. When I got the next message, the next day, before I'd even decided what to do, it said that if I didn't make myself scarce, next time they would kill her. Yeah, I know, that's what it said. I knew who it was, at least-- he'd signed the note, that time-- but that didn't help me any. There was no way I could track down the most powerful drug lord in the city before she could get to my sister, and even if I could, his cronies would be looking for me, and they'd snuff me out before I got close enough to him to do any good.

What did I do? What the hell do you think I did? I made myself scarce. Very scarce. I left the planet, and I took my sister with me. We went through one of the portals hidden in the Amazon, and ended up here, with only what we could carry, and our whole savings. I was more lucky than you know that people here speak pretty much the same language as Tanazira, or we've be in deep shit. Even more lucky that Tanaziran money could be changed into your credits, or we'd have been stranded.

So yeah. That's my story. Not much of an ending, but hey, we're still alive, so it's not over yet, right? What do I do now? Nothing, really. Odd jobs. Repair jobs, mostly, nothing permanent or even well-paying. We're just barely scraping by and I'm bored as hell... but what can you do. At least Kalaia's adjusted well enough.

Here, let me pay for that refill, you've been a great listening while I bitch and moan. Dunno how people do it. Listen to other people bitch and moan, I mean. I'm a rotten listener. Get impatient and all.

Oh, yeah, I guess the story's got another chapter coming up, at least. Kalaia's got this bright idea to have us stand at those new hatchings, the ones for off-world dragons and all. Kind of silly, if you ask me, no dragon would look twice at an bitter old police-woman who's out of a job. Kalaia, maybe, but me? Nah. But I'll go, just to humor her-- and besides, maybe it'll help me get noticed by the people who hire on for the police force here. Not that I think they take people without dragons, but hey, I can dream, right?

Well... it's getting late. Thanks for listening. I should come out and get drunk with people more often. You have a good night, now.

Chapter Two

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