The moon shined an ethereal light over the clearing in the forest, it's blue tint disturbed only by the veils of shadows cast by the towering trees. Hiding within the darkness was a young man, his body covered with a tight black skinsuit, a red symbol of a single eye resting upon his chest and shoulders, a large teardrop running its way down to his stomach and forearms, the only things breaking the monotony of the color. Even his face was cloaked in a black scarf, covering all but his piercing eyes. Strapped to his back was a quiver with an assortment of different arrows, and next to that a wooden bow. On his side was a small dagger, wedged between his thigh and a strap encircling it.
He had briefly exposed his mouth to bite the flesh of an apple, his eyes trained on where the woods ended. The forest was over a bit of a foothill, giving him a clear viewing of the valley below. Cutting through the green of the plains was small rocks jetting up from the ground beneath them, and a forked path of exposed earth, a sign in between designating where this paths lead. Off in the distance the boy could faintly see the royal castle, towering over a small town leading into it. He felt uneasy being so close to the town, having never seen it in person until this day. But that was hardly his focus, as his mind was on his target.
Hearing the faint stride of a horse's footsteps approaching, he dropped his apple and hid himself further behind the tree. Reaching for his bow and a single arrow, he drew it and took aim at the intersection of the forked path, and from there waited. The sound of the hoofs hitting the floor below became clearer and clearer, the muscles in the young boy's arms tensing as he pulled back on the bow's string as hard as he could manage. Finally, his target was in sight. A large brown horse with a rather regal looking white saddle, carrying a rather muscular woman with long, grey hair. She was adorned with striking cobalt armor, a golden triangle and a blood-colored bird emblem resting upon the front. The bottom half of her face was concealed with a red scarf, ending just below her deep red eyes, its ends stretching all the way down her back.
Accompanying her was a young woman resting against her back. She was blond, parts of her hair bonded together by blue wraps, and wore a long, decadent pink dress, A parting in the front revealed a white undershirt, sporting the same symbols as the woman she was with.
Taking one final sigh, resolving himself to his actions, he let loose his arrow. He felt the strain of his muscles leave him all at once as he watched it flow across the wind, spiraling towards its target, before finally meeting its resting place upon the horse's side. With an exclamation of pain, the horse jolted, throwing the two women off of its back before darting away from further danger. The older woman managed to roll the moment she hit the ground, before finally barrelling onto her feet in a crouched defensive position. The younger girl was not so lucky, and found herself thrown against one of the small rocks, her head colliding with the hard surface. She didn't seem to be quite out cold, but we clearly shaken and groggy from the impact.
"Who goes there!?" The grey haired woman exclaimed. The young man ducked further behind the trees, hoping he had gone unnoticed.
Silently, she drew a nimble, curved blade she had concealed behind her long scarf, and began scanning the horizon for her attacker.
A hefty sigh left the man's breath as he clutched the bow tight in his hands, his eyes briefly closing as he gathered his thoughts. Carefully he pulled another arrow, this one with a red tip, and began to draw it on his bow. Suddenly, the arrow's tip burst to flame as a heated light illuminated his surroundings. He had silently hoped his target wouldn't notice this until it was too late. He whirled around from his only covering, and as soon as he was turned to face the clearing, let fly the flaming arrow.
The heat began to intensify as the arrow was consumed in a ball of fire, its heat so scorching the grass below it blackened from its presence. Seeing the ball of fire in the corner of her eye, the woman managed to react barely within time, swiping her blade into the flame and splitting the arrow in half. Flames lit her sword for but a passing second as smoke rose from the edge of the blade. Unfortunately, she realized her true mistake too late. Turning her attention to her younger companion, she had noticed that the split arrow fragments had set the valley ablaze, the one to the left inching its way towards the maiden. On instinct, she raced for the young girl to try and save her from the flames, but found a piercing cold around her feet, and found herself unable to move. Another arrow had been fired, this one creating a thick layer of ice around the feet of the young boy's target.
Hastily, she began chiseling away at the ice with her blade, before a thick fog of smoke suddenly surrounded her. She could sense the boy's presence, and hastily swung her sword to where she believed her target lied in wait. He thrust his dagger against the sword, and due to her rather uneven position was easily able to knock her off balance. Her sword fell to the wayside as the ice cracked beneath her and she fell to the ground. The smoke cleared as her attacker stood above her.
"I won't let you take her!" The woman exclaimed as she reached for her sword, finding it missing. She turned her attention back to the young boy, who seemed to have already grasped it while she was falling and was now holding it to her throat.
"I'm not here for the girl." The man informed her as he pointed to his left eye, the same teardrop emblem on his clothes tattooed around the socket.
The woman simply scoffed. "So you're one of them…"
"I take it this woman is important?" The man changed the subject.
"I've sworn my life to protecting her and her family. If you touch her, You and your entire clan will be wiped off this earth." The woman said, an angered hiss leaving her tone.
The boy simply scoffed in bemusement. "Threats from someone in your position? Interesting…"
"I promise you, it's far from idle words." The woman continued.
Sighing, the man quickly drew his bow and let loose a blue arrow in the girl's direction, extinguishing the flames with glaciers of ice, before seamlessly switching back his attention to his target. "Come with me and this will be the end of the maiden's involvement."
The grey haired woman looked over at the girl. The child was visibly over the older one's situation, squirming hopelessly and pushing against the rock in a pointless effort to gain the leverage needed to rise to her feet, but seemed hardly able to keep consciousness, desperately struggling to move as her body and eyes visibly protested her effort.
The woman nodded compliantly. Satisfied, the young man roughly pulled his target to her feet and began to leave. Seeing a rather large source of light behind him, however, he turned to see the young maiden, propped against the small stone and wielding the red arrow, which was once more lit aflame.
Shaking his head, the young male simply tossed down a round ball, which erupted in smoke. She tossed the arrow to where he stood, but once the smoke cleared it was made apparent that was no longer where him and his captive were.
"N-no… No!" The young girl struggled to cry out. She raced to where the two once were in hopes of maybe seeing where he went, but the effort proved too taxing as her mind lost focus and her eyes faded in sight, until she finally collapsed, unconscious.