Round 1

Xio sat down, stunned. He was trying to dig down deep into his memory to remember how he got into this predicament. Just a few days ago, he went to a shaman for a reason he could not remember, and he woke up with almost no memory. It was a terrifying prospect, because he was lost no matter where he went, so his only hope was to travel randomly, and hope for a miracle in finding his answer. This wasn't what he had hoped to find, but deep down inside, he felt like he had scrubbed his life clean for a purpose, and that purpose was now clear. Somewhat. Idris had left him with an unusual set of instructions and a seemingly impossible and slightly nonsensical goal. However, having a purpose, in Xio's mind, as odd as it may be, was better than having no purpose.

"They're coming." Jarren said abruptly.

"Who's coming?"

"Sentinels. They're coming to kill us. I have to get back to my place and save my wife and son."

"What about me?"

"Do whatever you want. I wish you had never come here, this will be the end of me."

From outside, in the rain, a pack of cat warriors had already gathered outside. "Come out! We only want to talk!" the sentinel Captain yelled.

"Should we go?" Xio asked.

"It's a trick." Jarren replied, "As soon as we go outside, we die. Our only option is to get to the roof and hope for a place to jump onto that won't destroy our legs."

"Can't we hide?"

"No, the local psychic will find us if the sentinels don't first. They have excellent hearing, so even the slightest noise you might make will alert them."

Just then, a battering ram made from an enormous log slammed through the front door, smashing it open instantly. Reacting quickly, Jarren knew sentinels would come racing through the door, so he turned and dove towards the first sentinel, disarmed him and used his armblades to cut his throat. The doorway funneled the sentinels one-by-one to Jarren, and he used his superior fighting skill to cut down one after another as they came through. The bodies of the sentinels began dropping all over the floor, creating a rapidly-expanding pool of blood.

The Captain realized what was happening, and ordered his men back after losing about 20 of them, but still had plenty by his side. "We're going to burn the place to the ground." he said after some thought.

Inside, Jarren was panting and covered in blood and had a large cut across his left eye. "No help?" he asked, looking angrily at Xio. "I'm not a sentinel." Xio replied.

"Look at you. You're bigger than an average laborer, but from the way you talk, you certainly can't be an intellectual. Now, pick up a damn blade, put it on your arm, and be ready to die like a warrior."

"I don't know how to use this!" Xio lamented, picking up one of the blood-soaked blades.

"Maybe you won't die like a warrior, you'll die like a bitch."

Bewildered and terrified, Xio asked what to do, but Jarren already raced up the stairs. Xio dropped the blade and followed him. They went up to the roof and Jarren peered over the edge. "Shit." He said, "They're lighting a fire... we're going to burn if we don't jump." Jarren began going along the edge of the building to look for a safe place to jump down to, but no such place presented itself. "Great. We're going to burn." Jarren muttered, shaking his head.

"What if we go back downstairs and talk to them?" Xio suggested.

"Are you stupid?" Jarren snapped, "Oh, that's right. Your brain was erased, of course it is."

Jarren peered over the edge again, and this time, an archer fired an arrow right through his chest. Jarren made a guttural sound and collapsed, bleeding profusely. Xio, even though terrified, rushed over to Jarren's side and asked "Are you okay?"

Jarren groaned and struggled to speak. "Y...you asshole... I... have an arrow in my body... suffice to say... I'm not... okay."

"I had no idea this would happen. I feel really bad about this." Xio replied, trying to be sympathic.

"It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

"Well, you seemed pretty upset with me, so I just wanted to make sure you weren't blaming me for-"

"Shut up. If you get out of here alive, take care of my son. He is all I have left, he is all I have worked for."

"I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I just met you today, and raising a kitten is a huge responsibility, and I don't think I'd make a great father, so... uh..."

Then Jarren died on the spot and his eyes rolled back into his head. "I hate this place." Xio said, and went back downstairs, which was engulfed in flames, and just walked out the front door.

The sentinels stared at him as his walked forward out of the burning building and said "I surrender! I surrender! Take me to the Chieftain, I can explain this. I didn't do anything wrong." and he was immediately punched in the face and hauled away to the Chieftain's residence. Xio was thrown at the feet of the Chieftain, who sat on a very regal-looking chair. By the Chieftain's side was a brown cat, who was a psychic.

"I can explain..." Xio started.

"Silence." The Chieftain commanded sharply. "What did the prophet say to you?"

"He..." Xio started. He knew he would need to pick his words carefully, or the Psychic would reveal that he was lying. "He told me a bunch of nonsense. I don't really understand what he wanted."

The Chieftain turned to the Psychic. "He's telling the truth." The Psychic replied.

"Tell me, did he say the world was going to end?" The Chieftain asked.

"Yes, he did." Xio replied, and the Psychic confirmed that it was the truth.

"Have you ever met Idris or Jarren before today?"

"No, I swear I never have. I didn't come here to make trouble."

"Did you kill my sentinels?"

"No, Jarren did all the killing. I don't even have a drop a blood on me. Zero blood."

"What did Idris want from you?"

"He wants me to 'travel through time'. I don't even know what that means. It's some H. G. Wells shit."

"Did he tell you how to travel through time?"

"He said there was a machine that could make it possible, but I didn't believe him."

"Where is the machine?"

"It's broken. He said it was in pieces."

"Where are the pieces now?"

"I don't know."

"Do you intend to find the pieces?"

"No."

The Chieftain mused for a moment, and then said "At my side is a very powerful psychic, Sirara. She was sent here by Queen Ta herself after she was warned about Idris. She will escort you out of the city and into the wilderness, where you will stay in exile. If you show your face in any village or city, you will be taken in and executed. I'm doing this out of the great mercy in my heart, but if you should break your end of this deal, death will come down on you like lightning, is that understood?"

"Yes... yes sir..." Xio replied.

"Wait." Sirara said. "You owe a favor to someone. Who is it?"

"It's nothing, we should get going. I just want to leave this place." Xio replied.

"It's Jarren's son. He was given to you."

"Yeah, and I told him no."

"He gave his life as a warrior, and you are too cowardly to fulfill his dying wish? Why did the prophet ever want to see you?"

"I don't know. I wish I knew."