Jackal his behind a dumpster. his heart was racing but his eyes were wild and bore a wicked grin. In his palm was a handful of cash. "Where did he go?!" Yelled one thug, armed with a baseball bat. "In here!" Shouted another, darting into the dark alleyway with his knife drawn. Jackal snickered silently and waited. Footsteps raced, and at the right moment the first thug found his face bashed by a trashcan lid. Jackal, on the other end, lifted the lid and slammed it over his head, knocking him out. 

The other thug tried to swing at him with a baseball bat, but jackal dodged. However he made an error, and slipped onto his back. The thug was about to bash him in, but he suddenly burst into flames. The thug screamed into the empty street trying to put himself out. Jackal could see a black shadowy dragon whisp to his side. He stared at the beast for a good while, the thug didnt say anything about this monster either. Jackal got up carefully, and started backing away. The dragon continued to follow him, not aggressively,however. It lingered near him like a gentle breeze. He would hold his hand out carefully to the beast, staring at its white empty eyes, and the dragon stared back, shrinking and morphing into a more serpentine form, then coiled up his arm and mounted onto his shoulder. Jackal was both suprised and confused by this apparition-like creature, and unsure of what to do with it. He looked at his surroundings, an empty alley al around him.

[i]Where did you come from? [/i] he thought.