Chapter 4

Sabriel walked into her apartment after a long day of getting ready for her next job. Stealing something like the Sagasu, a priceless jewel, wasn't what one would call a 'piece of cake'. The Sagasu No Tama was given to the local museum a few years back by an archeologist. She slowly slumped through the living room to get to the kitchen so she could finally have some dinner.

After having some Ramen noodles, Sabriel went to her room, on the other side of her living room, to change. After changing to some loose pajamas she down on the floor in the middle of her living room and turned on her CD player, wanting something soothing. She grabbed the remote and switched to disk five, the sound of the ocean. After sitting Indian style with her eyes closed for a while, she started doing her yoga routine. You could call it her nightly routine, if you really wanted to. It calmed her nerves and helped her relax. She also did yoga right before a big job, like the one she was planning on doing tomorrow night. Sabriel sat Indian style for a few minutes before running her plans slowly over in her mind. Once she was sure everything was ready she stood and went to bed.

Elric sat in the living room of his large apartment looking over information he'd found about the Sagasu, thinking that that would help him with the tip they'd received a few days before. No such luck. Who ever sent the tip must know the person that plans to steal it, or, how did they catch wind of something like this? If they consort with such a person, their most likely a thief as well, right? This and many other thoughts ran through his head and it was getting hard to concentrate. Throbbing pain in his temples made him look up from the jumble of papers strewn haphazardly across the coffee table.

Elric sighed as he slowly stood; another headache was on the way and he needed some pain reliever before it hit him full force. He slouched down the hall- one hand on the way for balance and the other was gripping his forehead- towards the kitchen. He leaned haphazardly against the doorway as he reached for the light switch. The lights overhead were dormant for a few more seconds before they flickered and beat heavily down on his unsuspecting eyes. Elric flinched and raised a hand to protect his sight. He sighed again. 'I hate this place,' he thought irately as he slouched over his medicine cabinet.

"Mew?" Elric jerked at the sudden sound, and then relaxed quickly. It was only Mew-mew. His brother had given her to him saying he "needed something to keep him company, seeing as human beings aren't his forte". His niece named her. Elric actually felt sorry for the cat, what a ridiculous name.

When Elric's brother, Asren (Ah-thren), got the cat it was about a month old. The mother had died so the old woman, the owner, was giving them away. Patrice, his niece who was five at the time, thought it was funny that the only sound the kitten made was "Mew mew mew mew." Itreminded Elric of his neighbor growing up, their dog would stand on their front porch at odd hours of the night and bark incessantly. He wanted to name it "Gretchen" in honor of the mutt, but Patrice would not allow it. She specifically stated that the kitten had to be named "Mew-mew" and that he wasn't allowed to change it. Poor thing; how humiliating.

But, Mew-mew had stuck with Elric through the thick and thin. No matter how many times Elric had to do an over-nighter at work or how many times they moved Mew-mew had never been sick, or stopped eating or any of those other cat-like things.

Elric pet the cat lovingly and it started to purr. Mew-mew rubbed against her master's body as he walked around the kitchen getting all items necessary for taking medicine, i.e. pain reliever and a cup of water. When Elric sat at the table, the loyal animal jumped up on to it and rubbed against him some more. He placed a hand on her back and began to pet her again.

"Well Mew-mew, looks like it's just you and me tonight."

"Mew?"

"Yeah, I know. How pathetic, right? I've resorted to talking to my pet cat."

"Mew." Elric sighed as he stood, picking up the animal, and walking towards his room. 'Maybe I'll actually get some sleep tonight.'

A/N I know it's kind of slow now, but it should pick up within the next few chapters. Please review if you have any questions or comments.