I’d been having a pleasant dream about one of the last dinners I’d had with my dad when a hard flick to my nose woke me up. Opening my eyes, still blurry with sleep, I saw Natasha standing over me, her finger from the hand I’d injured last night still extended in front of my face.

“You’re very trusting, aren’t you,” she said.

Faster than I could fully think about what I was doing, my hand darted out from under my blanket to grab that offending finger. My move had taken her off guard. Hell, it had taken me off guard. I squeezed it once, causing her to wince and try to pull away.

“I try to be. You’re answers last night helped with that,” I replied, her hand still in mine. It was calloused and rough. I could just barely feel the cut from last night. Based on how swift and deadly she seemed with her knives, I pegged her as someone who practiced early and often.

“Could I have my hand back?” she asked, eyebrow arched in question. I could have sworn her neck was just the barest bit flushed.

“Sorry,” I apologized, releasing my grip.

I pushed the blanket to the side of the chair so I could stand. Natasha backed up to give me room, eyeing me as I stood up in front of her. Her hood was around her neck, and her hair was still messy from sleeping on the couch. I could just make out the tip of some sort of tattoo on her left shoulder, but as to what it was I had no idea. The elven woman had probably just woken up and decided to get me up too. In the rudest manner possible of course. She was just lucky I wasn’t the kind of person that woke up swinging.

“So what’s the plan for the day?” Natasha asked.

“I figured we could talk about that over breakfast,” I said while stretching my arms over my head. I motioned to the kitchen. “I imagine you are as hungry as I am after last night.”

“Yes, I am a bit hungry,” Natasha replied. She shifted from foot to foot. “But could I use your bathroom first?”

“Oh! Of course,” I pointed down the hall. “It is the door on the left. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.”

As she went over to the bathroom, I realized before getting started on breakfast, I should go check on the brothers. Going into my room showed both of them to still be asleep in my bed, roughly in the same positions from last night. They were clearly still breathing and seemed as relaxed as two people suffering from poision could be. The room had started to stink though, what with all the blood, sweat and smoke they had brought into it last night. Course I didn’t smell any better. I lifted my arm to see exactly how bad it was, but I couldn’t even bring my nose in close before I didn’t want to go any further. Yeah, ripe was an understatement. That settled it, I’d get Natasha started on food first then I’d go take a quick shower.

Mind made up, I stepped into the kitchen to take stock of what kind of food I had for breakfast. I would need enough for me, Natasha, and both Max and Franz if they were awake and well enough for it later. The fridge didn’t have much in it beside beer and a half finished gallon of milk, mostly because I kept my shopping list small and only went once a week. My pantry was in a bit better shape, what with a few different kinds of cereal and an almost empty box of poptarts. Unfortunately no coffee though.

Grabbing them all, I set them on the table. Going to the other side of the kitchen, I pulled out two bowls and a couple of spoons. I was just in the process of getting out the milk when Natasha came into the kitchen.

“Sorry,” I preemptively apologized, gesturing at the limited options. “I haven’t yet gone shopping to restock on food, so this is all I have.”

Natasha looked at the boxes with some interest. After a minute considering her options, she grabbed the opened box of Oreo O’s and poured some into one of the bowls. Grabbing her spoon, she took a big heaping bite.

“Wow!” Natasha said, visibly happy. “These are much better than the trail rations I brought with me to this world. What is this?”

“Oreo O’s. It’s a cereal.” I reached out and poured myself a bowl of them, then I added in some milk. Seeing her questioning look, I explained. “Though they are decent dry, I really like them with milk.”

Hearing my explanation, she added some milk to her bowl as well. Soon we were both munching happily, if a bit bemused on my part. A day ago I was preparing for a meeting with a rival gang. Now, here I am, eating Oreo O’s with a dark elf woman who tried several times to kill me yesterday. Life is strange. I ate another bite of my cereal.

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I finished my bowl and pushed it away from me, but Natasha decided to refill her own, this time putting a bit more milk in it. The dirty, baggy clothes still hid her form for the most part, but at the speed with which she was eating her cereal, I saw some brief glimpses of what looked like more tattoos on her forearms.

“I’ll tell you about them later,” she said, noticing my staring at her arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”

She nodded back, mouth full of food, apparently unconcerned. While she worked on finishing the second bowl, I took a few minutes to get my thoughts in order. I had several things I had to do today. First, I needed to learn more the cure to the poison that the brothers had, as well as what I needed to do to get it. Second, and maybe most important in the long run, I needed to get as much of an overview of the pending changes to the world as possible to prepare. After that I also needed to take Wilhelm’s ring to Karl, the Night Wolves’ bookie. Karl would need to decide on the future of the gang now that Wilhelm was dead.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Natasha said, interrupting my thought process. “Now that the world as you know it is ending, have you started giving any thoughts as to how we will be preparing for the change?”

“We?”

“Of course ‘we,’ I accepted the Blood Bond with you after all.” Seeing my considering look, she then got a bit defensive. “What? You thought I was just going to sit around then leave when it was convenient for me?”

“Well, no,” I said, though that possibility had certainly ranked up there with what she would do in my own thoughts. “But I didn’t assume you would be actively involved in preparing for it either.”

“Well I am,” she responded, putting her spoon down and leaning back in her chair, “and you can bet others of your race are likely already preparing for it as well. With this bond, I am fully with you now. That means I am at the very least against the other dark elves in this city. I don’t know about you, but I think a plan to keep on living would be a good idea.”

She wasn’t wrong. I had inferred as much about other people being in the know last night in my conversation with Henry. To have my concerns voiced so plainly though set me back on my heels a bit. And what was this about her being against the other dark elves now?

“While I do agree with you,” I said, leaning back from the table as well, “you raise a point I would like to talk about first. Why is it that you are against your kin? I thought you would be angry about your situation, or at the very least slightly upset about it.”

“Well you don’t know anything about dark elves.”

“So tell me then,” I encouraged her. “Tell me why you accepted the bond so quickly last night.”

“Alright, fine.” Natasha took a moment to gather her thoughts, then forged ahead in her explanation. “Without going too much into it, the clan I am a part of is, like most dark elf clans, broken up into competing power groups. Before my clan was given the opportunity to come stake a claim on your world, there was a bit of upheaval in our ranks. My father, and his faction, came out on the jagged edge of that upheaval. So one of the more prominent factions was put in charge of this incursion. I myself was sent along ostensibly as a representative of my father’s faction, but in truth I am here as collateral of sorts.”

“So it is politics,” I stated simply.

“Politics,” Natasha agreed, her tone conveying her distaste for her situation. “But it is a bit worse than that I feared. I’ve been here for weeks now, gradually getting a lay of the land for the other groups to begin making their moves. In that time I have begun having suspicions that I won’t survive until the formal enfolding of your world occurs. I’m not sure about any of their plans yet, but one way or another I’d be dead before the rest of my clan arrives.”

Despite my beating her yesterday, I knew she was a deadly fighter and it was mostly my quick reactions that had allowed me to survive. If she was that certain about things, and I couldn’t see why she wouldn’t be, then my taking her captive last night might have been the only real way for her to get out of her precarious situation.

“So that is why you aren’t angry about last night? I essentially did you a favor by taking you captive?”

“Yes,” she solemnly nodded, a bit subdued, “which is why I will be actively helping you for so long as the bond holds rather than just passively biding my time.”

“Even if it means I end up fighting the other dark elves of your clan?”

“Yes, even then I will be with you. Everyone else that came through the portal with me are a part of the other factions or mercenaries recruited for the opportunity here. I have no qualms about killing them if it comes down to it,” she gave me a wide fanged smile, “and I did promise to help you get the cure for your subordinates after all.”

“Friends,” I idly corrected her. Rather than lead in with another question, I took a minute to think over her situation. While I was sad to learn about the circumstances that had brought her here, at least now I understood why it was she agreed to the Blood Bond, and the extent of help I might expect from her. “Alright, since we are on the topic anyway, can you tell me more about the new existence my world is heading into?”

“Yes,” she nodded, the earrings in her ears jingling slightly, “I’ll tell you what I can, but you should know the Infinite Framework prevents me from saying too much about what is coming.”

“I understand. Just tell me what you can,” I said.

“Well, as I said before, the world as you know it is coming to an end. The architect of this change is not known, but those who have gone through the crucible to emerge on the other side have called it the Bountiful Heavens or the Merciless Hells, depending on their experiences through the process. For the majority of us, however, we simply refer to it as the Infinite Framework. Those it descends upon will have their existences quantified, as you have already seen, and pushed to grow in power for some unknown purpose.”

“That sounds a bit crazy. All of that for some unknown purpose?” I cut Natasha off before she could respond, “I’m not doubting you, I am just saying.”

“Well, if you want further confirmation, focus on your iHUD. You should have a flashing icon that will confirm what I have been telling you.”