Black Cat

Chapter 1: The Meeting

A/N (Before we begin this story, I'd like to say that everything I write is solely for fun. If there are mistakes I am sorry. This story is free reign. No copy righting. You can use it for anything. So, with that out of the way, let's begin.)

It was a day like any other for Black Cat. He wandered the street full of apartments and checked their trash cans for food. The houses with dogs he would avoid as they all seemed to hate him and would split his ears in half with their incessant barking.

The season was beginning to get colder and the leaves were falling from the trees. He sneezed a few times as his nose only got redder. He rubbed it with slightly watery eyes and approached the next trash can. He wasn't really paying much attention to whose house it was due to feeling very distracted today. It was very unlike him, but he suspected it was the low temperatures and moved on.

On the next trash can, he opened the lid with a slight clang and heard the door to the house behind him swing wide open. The door slammed against the side of the house and his attention was immediately brought to it.

"How many times do I have ta' chase ya' outta here until ya' go away for good!" She screamed with all her might, her angry face appearing suddenly and making him realize his mistake. * Ugh....Carol. I forgot this was her house. * He thought to himself, flinching when she had yelled. "You're lucky I don't call the cops! Now scat ya' stupid kid!" She threatened, waving her phone in the air.

Black Cat's eyes widened as this happened and he falls over himself trying to get away. The last thing he wanted was to get tangled up with some cops.

Quickly, he ran away about a block before he looked back at her with very alert eyes. Carol shivered when she made eye contact with him and slowly put her phone to her chest. Her heart felt as if it had halted for a moment while she stared at him. Then she muttered under her shaky breath, "...I swear that boy has been nothing, but bad luck."

Black Cat watched as Carol shook her head and slowly walked back inside with an almost shuffle due to her aging body. The door shut quietly once she had left, leaving a silence in the air as if nothing happened.

Turning around, Black Cat began walking down the street to get somewhere safe. His steps were heavy and slow while he made his way only two more blocks before a blur of a figure zoomed only inches from his face.

Stumbling back a bit in surprise, he saw the person fly through the air and land firmly onto the street with a surprisingly heavy impact. They were kind of laughing to themself as they looked behind themself and breathed heavily like they had been running for a while.

It only took him a second to realize that this was a teenage girl, and at the same time, the girl looked down at him.

"Oh, who're you?" She asked curiously, ignoring the completely speechless look on his face.

Having fallen on his butt trying not to get hit by her jump, he sat there feeling dumbfounded. Black Cat then tries to find the words to respond.

"That-That's what I should be asking!" He begins, trying to regain his composure. "What were you running from and who are you!?" He asks with his voice firm and eyes becoming sharp, making the girl look a bit surprised.

Her eyebrows furrow as she thinks for a moment before deciding that she should give talking to him a try. "The name's Luna! I uh...I sorta got in trouble with a few guys that were guarding that fence over there." She confesses, pointing behind her with her thumb.

Staring at her with a confused expression that you'd get from looking at a baby snake trying to fight a mongoose, Black Cat tries to find a response. Eventually, the long pause makes the atmosphere around them sour like old milk when no reply was given to her.

After a few long moments of silence, Luna breaks out into a cold sweat and desperately tries to think of a way to remedy the situation.

"W-Well..." She begins again, taking a step forward and holding out her hand. "What's your name?" She asks, praying that he would at least respond to her question.

Surprised a bit by the sudden question, he tenses up. He then looks down at her hand and hesitantly starts to reach forward. Even though his surprisingly small hand almost reaches hers, he doesn't really make it before retracting it, and says in a small voice, "My name. Is Andri."

Luna smiles as he introduces himself in a shy way and decides to put her unshaken hand on her hip. "It's nice to meet you Andri." She says cheerfully with a soft look in her eyes, making Andri feel a little less tense.

With the icy feeling between them thawing a little, Luna starts to think. She taps her chin and squints her eyes while looking at the dirt-covered boy in front of her. "What are YOU up to anyway? I mean, I did tell you what I was doing, so you do owe me a proper exchange of information right?" She says, leaning forward and accidentally getting into his personal bubble.

Not being willing to speak, the corners of his mouth pull down into an unpleasant frown and he scrunches uncomfortably. His eyes then turn away and he stands up to back away a bit. The aura around him turns stale, making the air feel almost frozen in time.

When this happened, Luna could tell something wasn't right. She felt herself tense up and her pulse quicken. Nothing seemed strange about her question...so why?

As she tries to figure out what she did to cause him to shut down like that, she backs out of his personal bubble. Worrying, she scrunches her arms up and grabs her necklace tightly. Hesitant to ask him more about what he was doing, Luna decides to speak one last time in an attempt to get out of this awkward situation.

"Well, that's alright." She begins abruptly. "You don't have to tell me. I'll have to keep movin' anyway." She says with a more forced smile.

This gets Andri's attention, since she had less of a cheery air about her. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest for icing her out like this, but he wasn't going to tell her anything. There was no way he was going to risk getting reported. So, with this, he remains silent and lets her slowly turn around and leave without another word.

Shifting his footing a bit, he looks down at the brown plastic bag that he was carrying. Dread flows through him like a wave once he thinks more about what he has to do...He then looks at the next house with a dead eyed stare and walks towards it with heavy feet.