Prologue
The wind blew softly through the dark night, gently ruffling the leaves on the trees. Somewhere in the forest, an owl hooted, then was suddenly cut off. Rustling of the tree branches signaled the flight of many birds, and the soft crunch of leaves indicated the presence of something. A figure moved between the trees, a limp body of an owl hanging at its side.
As the person made their way into the light of the moon, their facial features could be made out. Long, black hair, dark green eyes, and a pale complexion. Dark, black-coloured ears seemed to have sprouted from the girl's head, and not normal ears, either. More like cat ears. She also appeared to have a long black tail. Somebody readied a gun in the darkness, aiming at the girl. Her ears swiveled toward them, and the girl stiffened. Setting the owl by her side, she spun around, reaching into her belt and pulling a silver dagger from its sheath. She searched the darkness for the maker of the noise.
Before she could pinpoint the sound, somebody shot their gun and the girl flopped onto the ground, her hair draping helplessly across her limp arms. Somebody stepped out of the shadows and looked triumphantly at the blue-feathered tranquilizer bullet stuck in the girl's left arm. "Good job, Eren," he said gruffly. "Leave the owl. They're going to need something to raise their damn spirits after this."
Another boy limped out of the shadows. He had pale skin and shaggy black hair. His eyes were a dark shade of green, much like the girl's. The only difference was, neither of the men possessed strange ears or tails. The boy had a gun at his side, and he smiled nervously as he loaded another bullet into it.
"So, where's our target?"
The man jerked his head in the direction the girl had been heading in. "Always let them lead you to their homes," he instructed the boy quietly. "Though I highly doubt anybody will ever carry out a mission like this ever again." At that note, the man laughed stiffly, and Eren managed a very boyish laugh. The man stiffened. "What's the matter, Eren?" he asked tensely, then laughed again. "Not scared, are you? Come on, let your old man show you how it's done."
And with that, he headed off into the forest, Eren following quickly.
Eventually, the boy caught sight of a patch of white through the trees. The coloured spot twitched, then disappeared out of sight. The man nodded, and Eren followed him, slinking through the trees to where they had seen the white. Both of them stayed hidden in the brush, and peering through the branches of a bush, Eren could see two people, much like the girl they had tranqued earlier. The first was a girl with long silvery hair, white ears and a white fluffy tail twitching back and forth. She was sitting on the ground, and her tail was sweeping pine needles aside as it moved. When she lifted her head, the moonlight reflected off the girl's eyes, making them look like tiny blue chips of ice.
The second was a tall boy standing beside her, glancing around, hopping from foot to foot nervously. His eyes flickered from side to side, as though he thought that at any moment, someone might jump out of the bushes and shoot him. To Eren, that scenario seemed pretty correct. The boy had a think mop of dark brown hair. His ears were chestnut-brown with black tips, as was his tail. He clutched a sword in his hand, which he held as though even the forest might attack him. At the girl's side sat a crossbow, loaded and ready to fire.
So, these must be the guards of their camp. They looked fairly young, around sixteen, Eren's age. Somehow, he didn't feel right attacking these people. A lot of them were so young, like that girl they had tranqued earlier. But the man didn't seemed daunted by this fact. Without hesitating, he lifted his gun to his eye, staring down the scope to aim. "You'd better get that boy, Eren," he whispered, his voice a low growl. "If I miss that girl, she'll surely kill us both. Now, get ready!"
Slightly startled by the urgency in the man's voice, Eren lifted his own gun to his face, looking into the scope and aiming at the boy's neck. He certainly was a jumpy one, which made it hard to aim right, especially since Eren was completely new to this whole tranqing thing. But then the boy turned to look at the girl. He stopped hopping, just as Eren pulled the trigger.
The boy slumped to the ground just as the man pulled the trigger on his own gun, and the girl was tranqued as well before she could reach for her bow. Eren and the man slowly stood up and gingerly stepped over the unconscious bodies. Then the man turned around and winked at Eren. "No more guards, no more resistance," he said with a smirk before slipping beneath the arch of branches and into their camp.
Eren didn't pay much attention to the layout of their camp, but he did keep one eye open for more threats to their mission. There were none, but keeping an eye out did make Eren feel a lot more important to this mission.
They made their way through the clearing to a cabin near the far back. The man put a finger to his lips, signaling for Eren to be extremely quiet as they cracked open the door. Eren peered over the man's shoulder into the room, surprised to see only two people inside. The rest must have been in another cabin, or some other room, since there was a ladder going up into the ceiling and down to the ground on one wall.
The first person was a tall girl with long blonde hair and black ears. Moonlight reflected off her pale skin, making it silver. A window sat above her bed, wide open. Wind blew through the window and slightly ruffled the girl's hair, but she was too asleep to even notice it, it seemed. The second girl was much smaller, about two years old. She had deep mahogany-coloured hair and pale skin, like the other girl's, but she was curled in a tight ball. The man made no hesitation to creep up to the small girl and lift her gently in his arms, slowly unwrapping her from her sheet. Once that was all done, the man returned to where Eren held open the door for him.
After that, they both took of running into the woods. The first girl they had tranquilized was now walking slowly back toward the camp. When she saw them with the baby girl, her eyes widened, and she stumbled forward, trying to stop them. Eren pushed past her, racing after the man and out to where they had parked his car.
He climbed into the passenger's seat, buckled himself in, and then the man went roaring out of the clearing down the highway.
Behind him, the little girl was lying down on the seats, her little thumb in her mouth as though she had never left her home. In fact, she looked so innocent, and so peaceful, that Eren almost felt sorry for her. But then he remembered the faces back at home that were waiting for this valuable piece of information. His father, who had been so disappointed in Eren that he insisted he go on this mission; his mother who, despite being so kind, never really cared for him because of how much she wanted a daughter; the Boss, who the man worked for, but who would also someday be the boss to Eren. All those people depended on how safely this girl got back to the building.
Sunshine opened her eyes, gave them a rub, and looked around. The door had been swung open suddenly, unsteadily. In the doorway stood Midnight, her pitch-dark hair strewn carelessly across her face, the wind blowing strongly and pulling gently on her jacket. She was breathing heavily, as though she had run as fast as she could to reach Sunshine. Then the woman looked at her daughter's bed. Surprise lighted her gaze when she saw it empty, the sheet dropped upon it in a pile.
Midnight opened her mouth to speak. "S-sunshine," she panted. "There was a man. He shot me here, see!" At that, she pulled a blue-feathered needle out of her arm, and cringed at the pain. "When I got up, he had… well… he has Mahogany!"
Sunshine lept to her feet. She grabbed her sword off its hook and made her way to the door.
"Stop." Midnight put up her hand to halt the older woman. "I followed them. Both of them. The man and a younger boy. They got into a car and drove away. Fast than all the Air Group people combined! I'm sorry, Sunshine." She dropped to her knees, her eyes clenched tight, her breath ragged. "I tried." A tear sealed out and slid slowly down her cheek. "I tried."