Disclaimer: Despite putting it on my wish list for Santa, I do not own Darker than Black :( Enjoy!
Part I: That Day Under the Red Sky, the Savior has an Amber Glow
"Pai! Where are you? Pai!" Hei called out, constantly checking his front and his back. He slowed to a stop, and continued calling for his sister in all directions. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a ball of grass moving closer to him. He ran to hide behind the nearest tree.
No later than a second after Hei took refuge had the grass ball started glowing blue. The blades of grass that made up the ball shot out in all directions, hitting the trees like daggers. Hei took another look around him but just before he got up, he saw a portion of the flash in the distance.
Pai, he thought. He immediately began running in that direction. As he got closer, the number of bodies increased. None has any visible injuries, just the frozen expression of being electrocuted to death. Hei knew he was on the right track.
He could see a clearing in front of him. A young girl with black hair tied up in a pony tail stood in the middle of it. Though her back was facing him, he knew that it was undoubtedly his sister. As he ran up the small hill, another grass ball came into sight. It was crawling towards her. Hei sprinted up the hill.
"Pai!" Hei yelled. What came afterwards happened simultaneously. Hei jumped towards his sister. Pai slowly turned around. The grass ball lit up. Grass blades were sent flying, missing Hei by a hair as he flew over it and knocked down his sister to shield her from it. The attack had not lasted more than a few seconds.
Hei instantly threw his readied knife in the direction where the ball was most likely thrown from. He heard it stick deep into the tree. Pulling back the wire for retrieval, Hei slightly frowned.
"Thanks, Onii-chan," Pai said, still on the ground. Hei stood up, and lent her a hand.
"Let's rest for a bit," Hei advised her, checking the surrounding area. Pai nodded in agreement, and Hei flew them off into a secluded part of the picked up a few branches off the ground and threw them into a pile for Pai to spark to life.
"Onii-chan, are you okay with such a small fire?" Pai asked. Hei looked to the side. "It's alright, he won't bother attacking now. He needs a break, and time to make a plan too."
"I'm fine," Hei replied. "Did you get the entire group?"
"All of them except for that grass-throwing one. His ability made it hard to come in close contact with him."
"GB-598, he takes small objects and changes their velocity and sharpness when he throws them. He can use that bomb technique more than once at the same time," Hei summarized.
"Onii-chan, use your wires to bring him into my range. I'll create an opening." Pai looked at her brother with cold, yet sad eyes. "I will finish it from there, so Onii-chan... you won't have to kill again today."
Pai took out a bottle of water from Hei's bag and offered him some before he could say anything. Hei stared at his sister. Her expression remained the same, and she looked downwards. He gripped the bottle firmly but took it from her hand gently.
"Thanks," Hei said, not sure which part he was exactly thanking her for himself. Pai had taken out some bread and ate it as she looked the stars. Hei joined her, and for a while, the two of them just sat there like that; eating and drinking as they stared at the fake sky.
The mystery of the new sky had put Hei in a trance. He labeled it as a fake sky yet did not know if that meant it was a good or bad thing. Before he could ponder on it anymore, he felt his sister's head fall onto his shoulder. She had fallen asleep. Hei carefully eased her into his lap and stared at her child-like face. It was at times like this that he wondered if she was paying off her contract, or if she was actually just tired. He contemplated this all while she slept, not thinking about the sky again for even a moment.
"Good morning, Onii-chan," Pai greeted a few hours later. "Did you see a shooting star?"
Hei looked at her, partially startled. "I wonder.... I wasn't paying attention. I was just looking in that direction." Hei handed her the water and bread. Shortly afterwards, they cleaned up and headed back towards the clearing where they last saw GB-598.
Pai caught a glimpse of a shadow moving through the trees and ran after it. Hei readied one of his wires in one hand. In the other, he latched his knife onto the other. Hei crouched slightly, preparing himself for even the smallest opening. Pai had returned, she was not too far in front of Hei now. No doubt GB-598 had widened the gap for safety. She was after all, the Black Shinigami.
"He should coming from 10 o'clock," she mouthed. He then caught a quickly moving shadow and threw his knife in the direction where it would appear next. Suddenly, thin, blue glowing blades pierced the knife, sticking it to the ground. Instinctively, Hei threw his remaining hook at the shadow. Nonetheless, the contractor had another blade on him and did the impossible - with deadly aim he sliced Hei's wire in half.
Hei did not have time to counterattack. At the same thing, the contractor did not have enough time to aim and kill Hei; Pai was running towards him. As he spun to defend against Pai, he threw another set of glowing grass blades at Hei. Hei managed to dodge them, but one caught the edge of his shirt, firmly anchoring him to a tree. Meanwhile, Pai and GB-598 exchanged knives and electricity before even coming in contact with each other. Pai leaped, aiming for his head. In a split second, the contractor managed to get down and kick upwards at the airborne Pai. She went flying, hitting the tree next to Hei.
"Adios, Black Shinigami," GB-598 taunted as he grabbed a handful of grass from the ground. He immediately aimed at the two siblings, giving them barely any time to react. But they didn't even have the chance to use it.
Suddenly, an extremely strong, sucking wind blew right in front of Hei and Pai. When the two opened their eyes again, the area between them and GB-598 was reduced to just plain, empty ground. They were saved. But by who?
Just then, the two saw a young girl with red hair. Her green eyes focused in a different direction. GB-598 has barely dodged her attack to stay alive.
"The devil Carmine joins as well..." he growled. She raised her hand to attack once more. He ran in the nick of time to avoid another vacuum.
Carmine looked around her to try and locate the grass contractor. A series of blades came at her front the side, but she effortlessly destroyed them. Then, from the other side, the contractor came flying, landed right in front of her, and with blades of grass wedged between his fingers, was about to kill Carmine at point blank.
Then, he disappeared. Hei and Pai stared at Carmine in disbelief. Carmine rubbed the skin under her neck.
"What that you, Amber?" Carmine asked emotionlessly.
Hei and Pai followed Carmine's gaze. A green-haired girl appeared from behind a tree. GB-598's body was a few feet away from her. She twirled a piece of grass with her fingers, which reflected an amber glow of its edges.
"Nice to meet you, Hei, Pai," the girl greeted, ominously.