I used to run track and field back in high school.

It took me exactly one time to realize that, down in the very center of my being, next to the flaming fire of my heart and the cool mist that was my soul, that I hated running.

I hated it.

I wasn't bad at it.

But there was no runner's high for me. There was no montage music. There was no sense of accomplishment.

I ran. I had good endurance, and the desire not to lose. So I ran, even though I hated every minute of it.

Thanks past me. You actually did something useful.

Because when my two bestest friends in this whole wide world hoofed it, I was able to keep up. I felt my face go red, and I know I must have looked like a crazed kangaroo, with my sweaty and mostly loose red hair a terrible nest around my face, but I kept up.

I don't know what I was expecting, exactly, but I had thought naively that if they were dressed so politely, they would just politely speed walk. I was so young and innocent five minutes ago. Because despite Yu Ling wearing a full dress with a tight bodice and a loose A-frame skirt and Hawthorne wearing a heavy overcoat, a normal suit coat, and sturdy trousers, they both ran with the surety and confidence of runners in a marathon.

Why did we need to catch a train when apparently these guys went sprinting for fun?

The good news is that Yu Lin had let go of my arm so I could actually run with them. If someone was holding, it would be ten times worse. I had thoughts of trying to run away again, but I was firmly between the two, with Hawthorne in front with such confidence that I believed he could see out the back of his head, and Yu Lin right upon me, I don't think I could have given them the slip.

I think that Samurai guy had unnerved them.

I think that Samurai guy unnerved me.

I didn't have a sword. Why didn't I have a sword? I could have been Iseikaied with a loaded glock, a bunch of ammo, and gold. I didn't have those things, but still! No, I was iseikaied wearing my bathrobe.

The citizens of this steam punk world cleared the way at the sight of the Deputy Constables, allowing us to run without having to stop or move through the crowd. Seriously, no one asked them for help getting cats out of trees or anything.

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Maybe...these weren't normal police officers. Maybe this was more like a military thing, and I was unknowingly hanging out with super important people.

Wow. My two bestest buddies in this whole world may be super important. As they were the only two people I knew by name here, and I was more than convinced that this wasn't just some weird cos-play thing, that made them my besties.

I wonder if Samurai guy was a former lover of Yu Lin, and now that she left the Sects or whatever that was, he was still pining for her.

Or she was a lost heiress?

Or she had stolen the Sect Leader's dog.

I almost slammed into Deputy Constable Hawthorne when he stopped, abruptly.

Okay. I did slam into his back. But he was so sturdy that I didn't even move him an inch. Did you know that when you slam into a fancy British person, your nose doesn't just make the standard "Crunch" sound. No, it makes it, but with style and class. My nose went "Pardon me, crunch, I do apologize."

He turned back and stared at me, like I was an idiot. Well, I was running at full speed in a bathrobe and slippers in a steam punk world, so I probably was missing a few screws somewhere.

I almost had tears down my face as my nose stung. "What?" I asked, making sure it wasn't bleeding. It wasn't, but boy did that hurt. Was he made of bricks or something...

Then I realized I was in some other world and I literally had no basis for anything. He might literally be made of bricks. I couldn't take things for granted anymore.

"Miss, you do know that that's a Double J, flashing, correct?" He said, sounding even more fancy and British than before. Jerk.

I looked where he pointed. There was some copper emblem at the street corner, right where a stop sign or street sign would go on Earth, and it was...rotating to the right. It was a sphere, suspended over what did look like a street sign, and it was rotating.

How was it rotating? I didn't see any power source...

"I did not see that." I admitted, wishing I had cool accent too. Darn Standard Midwest American accent. I didn't even have the fun vowels of the Minasodians.

He made a dark, disbelieving face. "It means cross traffic doesn't cross."

"Nice to know. One Jay Walking was enough for me."

"Was that sarcasm?" He asked.

"She is clearly from the Country side, Reginald. You are too harsh. This is why you are still single." Yu Lin chided her partner for a minute.

Hawthorne blushed, just the tiniest amount.

The reason he was still single was probably because of Yu Lin.

The "Will they, won't they" was strong with this pair.

"You know, Yu Lin..." he said. Then he froze.

"What is it?"

"We have to Jay Walk." He said, and started to push forward.

"Hawthorne!" she called after him, grabbing my arm again (Painfully, I might add), and dragged me toward the street.

The mist in the middle of the road was different. Instead of pooling along the gutter in the middle of the street, it was rolling and waving, like the waves of storm tossed sea. Wow. If this is why no one Jay walked, I understood.

"Hawthorne!" Yu Lin cried out again, as he began to cross.

"We need to be on that train. He's still following us." he said, darkly.

I turned around and saw. The Japanese Samurai, with his kimono dark and a sword gleaming at his waist. It was drawn just an inch, but it seemed like light and color itself was spilling out.

Oh frick. This wasn't just a steam-punk world.

There was a magic swordman over there glaring at us.

"Time to Jay-walk!" I said, and me and my two friends broke the law.