Potest Esse Nur Unus: Part 5
For the next few weeks, Duncan trained Cat in the ways of Immortals. Franz was right, she was good with a sword. Exceptional for someone her age. She had been trained well, and at times, he was envious. She was ready for battle if it came time for it.
Both Duncan and Anne thought it would be good for her to go out now that the rain had stopped so she could meet some kids her own age. For some reason, she never got along with other girls. She had always kept to herself and her best friends were her dad and his swords.
One day Cat decided to go for a walk on the River Seine. Her father often trained her on river banks, and she would sometimes go there to think things through. Franz also use to take her there and show her things through a different view. Now it was mid-spring, and the banks were beautifully filled with flowers. She sat on the edge of the bank rocking back and forth, skipping an occasional pebble across the water. Then for the first time, she got the buzz.
Since she had been around Duncan, she had only experienced the buzz a few times from Duncan and she had become use to that. But this one was so powerful, she knew it had to be from a powerful person.
She didn't turn around until she heard the crushing of rocks under someone's feet. There standing by her was the man she had seen fighting Franz on the Eiffel Tower. She began to panic, because she forgot the Number One Rule. Her saber was on the wall crossed with one of Duncans' practice sword.
"At last we finally meet, my young one." Jayden said as he drew forth his sword.
"Don't call me young one!" Cat snapped, "I know who you are, and I know what you did."
"Yes, it was a shame I made the mistake of killing you when I had the chance. But now's my chance to correct that mistake."
"You wouldn't fight an unarmed person would you?"
"You forget that I take the heads of unarmed children everyday. Prepare to die, and don't worry it won't be painful. At least not for me."
Jayden lurched forward with an attack to her neck, and Cat did the only thing she could think of- she jumped in the river to drown.
An hour later, Duncan and Anne came home from an afternoon of shopping, when Duncan realized Cat wasn't there. Not only was she no where to be found, her saber was still placed on the wall. He had warned her many times never to go anywhere without it.
Duncan began to wonder if Jayden had gotten to her. Both he and Anne searched the barge and saw no sign of either her or of a struggle. "I'm going to look for her." he said to Anne.
"I'll go too."
"No, stay here. She may call or come back. We're probably just over reacting." he said and walked out the door.
Duncan walked around the places Cat often talked about. She was not at the Paris Opera House or the Eiffel Tower so he tried down by the river. He was about to give up, when he got a buzz. It was faint, but he recognized it immediately. He turned around just in time to see Cat climbing on to the banks gasping for air.
He ran over to her and helped her up. "Are you ok?"
"Sure," she said "if you like swimming the fish. Speaking of fish," she said shaking out her shirt as well as two tiny fish. "I hate when guppies mistake me for a fish bowl. Or worse yet, fish food." Cat knew she had made a mistake that Duncan was always warning her all the time about, so she had some humor to the situation.
Duncan laughed, and the two walked back to the barge where Anne was waiting. When she saw the two coming down the barge, she ran out to meet them. "What happened to you?" she asked.
"She decided to entertain some fish." Duncan said laughing.
"I'm going to get some dry clothes if you don't mind, I don't want to get sick again." Cat said as she walked into the barge.
"Is she Ok?" Anne asked.
"She had a run in with Jayden, and she wasn't prepared. So instead of losing her head, she jumped into the river. The one bad thing about being Immortal is we can't swim." Duncan replied.
"Duncan, this isn't funny. She could've been killed."
"She wasn't. It's over. She's assured me she'll never go out anywhere without her saber. She made a mistake. We all make mistakes. It's part of life."
"But you guys can't afford to make mistakes, especially you, Duncan. You've made the mistake of losing me once, I don't want you to do it again."
Duncan put his arm around her and said "My mistakes are in the past and I've learned from them. And I will not intentionally loose you again. I love you too much."
"I love you too."