I Can See My Breath.

Rud shivered on the bench as another cool stream of air passed by. How many days had he been in this city? How could he be sure that his family hadn't moved from here as well? How did he look now? Like a tramp? Like the pampered little goody-two shoes he was brought up to be? How could he have known the fun life would be the most harsh? Like always, questions but no answers. He felt again for his few things to make sure they were still there. His sword, three pairs of jeans and four shirts.

He sighed heavily. Rud swore he could see the faint mist of his breath in the light of the nearby lamppost. He was also quite nearly frozen. His only source of heat was his chest and armpits where he tucked his hands in to keep them from falling off in the cold. He tried to make his body as small as humanly possible to keep the heat trapped. The fetal postion. Rud didn't give a damn who saw him like that. He occasionally heard some faint whispering, but he was sure that it was the wind.

"Mom..." He sobbed, silently. "Where are you?"

Jacob walking along the path of Central Park, wsa thinking heavily on how the mission was gonna go to rescue Amunet. He already told the Boss about it, and everyone was getting prepared. But how could he be truely ready to face such an event. He had his sword on his hip hanging off a black jacket and a button shirt with some black jeans and sneakers.

He noticed someone speaking out here in the cold weather. He steadily moved towards the voice. He saw a young man about his age in a fetal position shivering, he had some stuff with him a sword Jacob noticed. Jacob rushed over to him quickly and took off his jacket to give him. "Hey what the hell are you doing out here! Its freaking freezing " He said kind of loud. Jacob felt that there was something about this guy that was off, but not the bad kind of off but the good one thats what Jacob thought.

In the middle of his pitiful moaning, Rud heard a loud voice. He ignored it at first, but then almost instantly sat up as soon as he realized the person who had called out was right in front of him. "Nani?" Rud had accidentally spoke some Japanese. He went red in the face. "I-I mean, w-w-wha-wh-w-what's up?" He looked around sleepily, still shivering. Rud then saw the jacket the man was holding.

"T-thanks, b-but I'm p-per-f-fectly alri-ight." Without making it totally obvious, Rud inched his hand towards his sword. He had noticed the man's sword and was almost totally panicking. Was he here to kill Rud? Was this guy a comrade of that thief four years ago? It wouldn't matter if he were shaking in fright or not. The shivering from the cold shrouded almost every other movement of his body.

"Nani? Nooooooo names Jacob nice to meet you too. Listen I know you mist likely dont trust me right about now but I really gotta get to the chase. I have an offer for you, If you come with me you will have your own bed clean clothes somewhere to bathe and wash and you'll be safe...eeehhh sorta. But I only hope you can use that sword of yours, I mean no harm to you but I need help and from the looks of it you need help aswell. So how about we just help each other out." Jacob said still holding his jacket towards him, with a grin.

Jacob knew nothing about this guy, he didnt even know if this guy could use that sword. But he went for it anyway, the guy looked pretty pathetic at first glance. But there was something about him, that Jacob could see that would be a big help. He only hoped this guy would take him uo on his offer.

Rud wondered what kind of person this Jacob was. Was he one of those sex slave-traders who found people in need of help and acted nice at first then went and sold the people they 'befriended'? Was he actually going to give him the things he offered to Rud? Or was Jacob in need of someone to smuggle drugs? Rud closed his eyes tightly then opened them. He looked at Jacob from head to toe. He seemed okay. "It d-dep-pends on what I'll be do-doing..."

Rud didn't want to do that kind of stuff. Sounded interesting and thrilling, but he didn't want the consequences. AIDs, dieing and/or jail time. There'd probably lots of all that in both the drug and sex trades. He stared expectantly at Jacob. Rud sighed as he saw the jacket still extended out. What an insistent guy. He took it and wrapped himself in it. It was sort of warm. After a moment, Rud stopped shivering. "Thank you Mister Jacob."

Good! Haha." Jacob said with a wide smile patting him on the back a couple of times. "Aaaannnddd you will be killing...things. Demons mostl, vamps that have gone out of line were-wolves that have also gone out of line. But mostly you will be fighting...alot. So I hope you can fight, you dont have to kill anyone, but I just hope you can use that sword of yours." Jacob would help him up, and get his stuff.

"Uggghhh dude your clothes are rancid, screw I'll just give you some of my clothes you'll be styling in no time." Jacob said dumping his clothes in the trash, he kept the sword though and tossed it too Rig.
"Come on I'll take you to base to get cleaned up and stuff, then after that were on to our mission which would your first one. I'll explain more in the car, we need to hurry...cause you smell awful." Jacob said waving his hand to Rig to follow him to his car.

Rud stood silently, in shock, with the sword in his right hand. The man had tossed out Rud's clothes and was ordering him to do stuff! The nerve of this guy... Well, he had been offered a nice place and new clothes... Was Jacob in some gang? And, Rud was supposed to fight? With the rival gangs Demons, Vamps and Were-Wolves? Rud had no other choice other than to freeze to death. Normally, he'd have gone with the option of dying, however there was almost no one who could beat Rud, so if this guy turned out to be hostile, Rud would be able to take care of this guy no problem.

Rud jogged after the guy silently. "Oi! Wait up!" What was this guy going to explain? Was he going to have Rud kidnapped? Questions layered upon questions in his head. Rud frustratedly shook his head furiously. Nothing of that would happen if he could help it. And he could. "Where's your car, Mister Jacob?" He kept a firm grip on his sword. He'd be ready to defend himself.

"Right over there." Jacob said pointing to his black camaro. He walked over to it and pressed the button on his keys to unlock it.

"You seem pretty nervous, listen I work for an orginaztion called X-Cution who hires people or other beings of certain talents. We are not killer's well we are but we have good reason. We are goverment approved and what wedo is not illegal but we can not get out of line. Let me ask you something before you get in the car cause your holding that sword mighty hard. Are you confident you can kill me?" Jacob asked with a straight face looking at him right in the eyes.

Rud was a little taken aback from this statement. Was the American government corrupt? Approving of an organization which kills people? Beings with certain talents? Mutants? Messed up science experiments? Then, Rud saw Jacob's car. A Camaro? Wow. Maybe it'd be alright to hang out with this guy for a while. Then, Rud thought about the question and spread out his legs, making sure his form was perfect. "Very confident. Did you know, I've only lost two fights in the last four years, since I started fighting." Rud smiled for the first time that day. First time in weeks, actually. "The name's Rud. Come at me."

As he concentrated on his favourite style, Rud noticed for the first time that this Jacob person could be a worthy adversary. "I'll give you three free hits on me." Rud supposed that he should get used to this stranger's style before going on the offensive.

Jacob gave him a wide smile. "Thats good to hear!! Maybe some of your confidence will rub off on Amunet. But now isnt that time to be fighting trust me there will be plenty of more chances to fight someone. But right now its best if we keep moving. If you would please." Jacob said gesturing to the passenger seat of his car so Rud can get in.

Jacob seemed pleased to have met Rud and found him, he grinned at this. Hopefully Rud would serve as a worthy ally. Jacob got in the car and started the engine, it was a loud roar. The car came to life it had seemed. Jacob rubbed the steering wheel and gave it soft hushes, looking at him one would think Jacob is insane. "So Rud any questions? you have better ask them now cause you wont be getting them later."

Rud was thrown off balance when he realized they weren't going to fight. 'Awww... I wanted to too...' He grunted, got back up to his feet and opened the car door to see that Jacob was purring to the car. Rud stood there for a moment, then hopped in thinking, 'He's probably the type who thinks of their ride is a living being... Wonder if he's named it? Should I ask? Naah. That'd be rude...'

Did Rud have any questions? Was this guy serious? Rud had billions of questions. And those were only from the moment Jacob had arrived. Rud shut the door when he realized it was still open. For a while, he just stared out the windshield, making it seem like he wasn't going to ask any questions. Then, without looking at Jacob, Rud asked, "Are you a Slave trader? Well, if you're not, are you a drug smuggler? A gangster? What are the Vamps? A rival gang? What about these Were-Wolves and Demons? And why has the government approved of sword wielding gangsters? Have you named your car?" Rud blushed at the last question. He hadn't meant to say that. It simply came out on its own.

"No im not a slave trader, gangster or a drug smuggler. Vamps is a short term I use to call vampires. Were-wolves and demons of course you should know about them, they exist and some cause alot of trouble. The goverment approves of us because we protect people from the harm that most demons cause. And no I havent named my car, but thats a very good idea and I just might do that soon." Jacob answered all his questions in order as he asked them keeping his eyes on the road.

"But more into detail I am a X-Cutioner. We help protect the people from harm as I said before it may seem curropted trust me it just might be. But in the end we do what we have to do, to ensure safety of others. You will also become a X-cutioner isnt that awsome!!" Jacob said smiling heading towards X-Cution.

Rud finally turned to Jacob, looking at him hard. Could he be telling the honest truth? Was he talking about the blood sucking vampires? Like, the whole 'I veel suck your blood!' Dracula thing? Demons like Satori, Satan, and Asura? And Were-wolves? Real ones? Rud decided that Jacob was just yanking his chain and didn't ask more questions about those. There was something else on his mind.

"Uh, Mister Jacob? Can I ask you something? Is killing things all I have to do or is there something more... More specific?" Rud knew that if someone found another person randomly on the streets, they wouldn't recruit them for just anything. There would have to be a main cause. Jacob had mentioned something about saving people, however, Ryd sensed that wasn't everything.

"Well as of right now you will be joining me on a mission to save a friend of mine, I know its kinda fast but she doesnt have alot of time left. You wont always have to fight sometimes hopefully there are negociations comprimises to do. Not all demons are evil not all vampires want to bite you. But some do quite get out of hand and sometimes you can no longer talk. You get what I mean." Jacob said pulling into X-Cution, he went and drove into a metal garage like door and parked his car.

He got out and stood by his car for a while. "Ok uummm just follow me and I will take you a seperate room so you can clean and get ready. I'll just give you some of my clothes, after that we are on our way to a pretty dangerous mission. You ever been to No man's Land?" Jacob asked begining to walk towards a door.

So demons, vampires, and were-wolves are all real? It was a rather strange thought. Rud nodded in response. He did understand what Jacob meant. As Jacob parked the car and got out, Rud opened his own door and got out as well. He made his way around the car. He walked up behind Jacob, sword in hand, the tip pointing down. He wondered what this 'No Man's Land' was.

"Nope. What is it? Isn't it like some place in a battle ground?"