The rat peeked out from behind the rubble that was the ex-cabinet. Two humans were in the room beyond; the big male smelled tense & excited, the smaller female smelled tense & scared. Still, they were ignoring the rat - which was fine with the rat. It darted out like a small gray blur, hugging the wall.

From the other side of the room a cat was also watching the humans. The cat was equipped with a very good "small gray blur" detector, and noticed "dinner" as soon as it came out from behind the ex-cabinet.

As the cat moved it triggered a small rubble avalanche. The big human reflexively turned and fired in the direction of the sound. Masonry chips went flying. The cat, however, was long gone. The woman used the distraction to make her own hasty exit.

The rat also heard the rubble and saw the cat heading directly for it. The rat decided to leave, quickly.

And so began the latest instalment of a millennia old game, between a feline & a rodent. The man, finally realising the woman's absence slunk out of the room, beginning their own version of the game.

**

It took the woman three minutes to realise that her exit was cut off and that she was going to have to get past the man somehow. The man used this time to get himself into position to intercept her.

**

Huddling under a door jam, the rat took stock: the cat had gotten between it and its' preferred escape route. It could smell the cat nearby. Somewhere. To get to the next best safe haven it would have to cross the open ground of an empty room and find the small whole in the wall there.

It could hear and smell the woman coming down the hall. The man was coming towards the woman from a different direction. The cat was closer still.

Time to move.

**

The cat was in the hall, scanning for the rat. It too could hear both humans coming. The wise action would be to leave but hunger was a higher priority. It glanced up as the woman came into view, but refocused its' attention when a small gray shadow started moving across the room.

**

The woman rounded the corner and breathed a sigh of relief. At the end of the room in front of her was a window with a fire escape. She made directly for it.

**

The rat was halfway across the room when a small paper ball rolled into view in front of it. Startled, it changed directions - and got another surprise when it saw the cat was nearly upon it. The rat sped off, this time on a third tangent.

**

Half way across the room the cat almost had its' quarry when the prey suddenly changed directions. The cat scrabbled to keep up. Worse, the woman was getting in the way. The rat tore out of the room and down the hall, the cat on its heels.

**

Half way across the room the woman stumbled across a cat; she nearly tripped herself up avoiding it. Fortunately it changed it's direction at the last minute - if it hadn't she would have stepped on it and given away her position.

**

The rat sprinted down the hall, weaving it's way past every object in its' path. The cat was faster. The rat would have to slow it down. It spotted the male and ran straight past - very close to the man's legs.

**

The cat chased the rat down the hall. Suddenly the man was there - he was just too close and the cat became wedged between his legs. As the human fell on the cat, it had a perfect view of the rat disappearing in the distance. The cat was not happy.

**

The woman had made it to the window when a commotion erupted from somewhere down the hall. She could hear a man swearing, and what sounded like a cat howling. She opened the window and stepped onto the fire escape. As she descended, she realized it would be best if she left town - perhaps a visit to her sister in New York would do her some good.

**

Sometime after the commotion had died down, long after the footsteps on the fire escape stopped, and even after the front door had been loudly pulled open and slammed shut again, a shadow moved in the room.

The shadow stood up. He had been crouching too long. He picked up the sword that had been sitting in front of him, and placed it back into his long overcoat. He left the remaining balls of newspaper where they were; he hadn't needed them after all. With one last scan of the room, he walked over to the fire escape and left.

"Honor's Hand" is coming...