Chapter One: Running

"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."

- Unknown

"Forgive me if I seem blunt but I don't think this plan will work." a Quarian male hissed to the human female beside him. The female's lips lifted upright into a half-sincere smirk as she hacked the door before her. Without batting a single lash she quietly whispered back

"Must you always doubt me? How many times have we done this? Seven, eight times and not once have we been caught. Have a little faith in me, Kier."

The Quarian simply grumbled behind his mask and continued to keep a look out for any who passed them by. In the middle of the night in a rural part of a city it had been pretty silent but when you were attempting to break into somebody's house you could never be too sure. Of course if the two were caught they had a backup plan: run for the hills with guns blazing. Well, with one gun blazing considering the only real weapon they had was Kier's assault rifle. Not that he had any aim with the thing but it was still better than nothing.

"Gotcha! Come on Kier, we're in." The female stated as she unlocked the door only to slip inside with Kier following closely after. Shutting the door behind him, he regretted how dark it had become.

"Rel, are you sure we should be doing this? I've got a bad feeling about everything."

Relba stopped midstep to turn and face her cautious companion. From behind his mask she could see his eyes glow luminously with doubt and anxiety. Sure he would complain every now and then about how he was unsure of some of the jobs they would do but never had it been this bad before. Flashing her golden-hued eyes in his direction to meet the soft flow of his own, she began to reassure him.

"Kier, honey, I promise nothing will happen to you. We just need to find it and we'll be on our way. Now before something does happen to you let's get going."

Kier only held his words though as she gently touched his arm in hopes of furthering that reassurance. Nothing could change the doubt holding him however, not even Rel's sweet attempts. Still he pushed himself forward though and followed his female companion closely. Despite the fact he fumbled in the dark he managed to dodge the little tables and random objects in his pathway. He may have been a cowardly sour puss but he did have grace on his side, which had been surprising.

Nevertheless the duo had broken into a wealthy man's house in order to retrieve something of theirs. The man, Terrence Miller, had taken the papers to the orphanage in which she and Kier had grown up in. The Asari who used to own the little place had grown sick and went back to Thessia to live out the rest of her days. Miller had the right amount of credits to buy the place but Rel would have no part of it. Even though they had kicked her out at the age of eighteen she wouldn't let the scumbag corrupt her home. There was something sinister about the man that she couldn't put her finger on and even after she would figure it out, he couldn't be allowed to own the place. Not even over her dead body.

"Where do you think they are?" Kier questioned while they past a desk.

"How often do people keep papers anymore?" Rel replied as she stopped in front of a desk to begin rummaging through it. Kier only stood behind her to keep a lookout for any signs of trouble. To both their dismays however, Relba had found nothing even remotely similar to their deed.

"Damn, it looks like we have to head upstairs." Relba said in a mock frustrated tone with a smirk curling her red lips upward "I wonder what we'll find."

"I think I may know where he's keeping it." Kier commented as he moved in front of her. The Quarian was quite resourceful when he hadn't been so nervous. He had always been like that though. When things began to look grim he would always have something up his sleeve that would see them through. He was the main reason they were still alive when Relba's ideas wouldn't go as planned.

Down the dark hall they pushed onwards to the last set of doors. The ones that had been the fanciest, more expensive looking indicated that the master bedroom was probably tucked behind it. Kier only pushed through its doorframe to reveal that it in fact was what they had suspected. Upon its walls framed pieces of paper hung to be displayed like trophies. Both questioned how the man obtained them but decided to leave them be for now. They were here for only one reason and the moment it was in their possession they would get the hell out of there.

"Weird," Rel began as she studied the names upon them "These are all orphanages that have shut down over the years."

"He must collect them, sick bastard." Kier spat as they both made their way around the room. As they read each name listed on the paper they became increasingly suspicious of what this terrible man was doing. Soon enough they had found their own paper and took it down from the wall. The woman had never been so glad to see the name "Matriarch Raina's Little Stormhouse." Yes, it had been an incredibly strange name for an orphanage but if you went inside you would realize why exactly it had been called a Stormhouse. Little children were sometimes not the easiest to deal with, including the messes they would create.

Nevertheless Rel wrapped the framed paper in a large cloth she had saw laying around to not only protect it but to make sure nobody saw what they were doing. though as they were beginning to leave the rather large room they had stopped to listen to the silence.

"Did you hear that?" Rel questioned as she held the frame close to heart "Someone's coming."

Kier drew his weapon and stood on an edge as both Relba and himself studied the darkness. The only light in the room had been from the windows but the lighting had been disturbed as a shadow ran past it. Rel attempted to turn and run for the door but had suddenly been blocked by a person standing in her way. The person stood luminously before the duo and for a brief moment they watched one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. Kier drew his weapon and began to fire but he didn't realize that the person had already moved into strike. Before Rel could do anything herself, she simply watched as her beloved friend fell to his knees in mind numbing pain due to a swift kick to the side of his body. On the ground the Quarian reeled in pain leaving a stunned Relba.

Relba still held the frame close to her body as the mysterious person watched and waited for her move. He stood to the side of the room and at any given moment she could've run for the door but that meant she would have to leave Kier. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

Surprisingly however, Rel set the frame down beside Kier and readied herself for a fight. The woman brushed a long strand of silver hair out of her eyes while she shifted both of her legs and arms into a ready stance. With a coy smile she beckoned the man to come to her but to her dismay he did not. This had made the female question: had he not heard her? But to her ultimate surprise, she almost hadn't seen him lurch forward to attack.

In the pale moonlight a flash of green had caught her eye as he landed a punch to her right side. A low grunt escaped her lips while she threw up both of her arms to block the attack that had been aimed for her face. The sheer amount of pain caused her to grimace but not enough to make her falter. If she would've given into the pain now he probably would have made her buckle downwards like Kier had. With sudden thoughts of Kier and what this man had done to him a powerful energy took hold of her body. It was a strong, angry power that pulsated throughout her. This man would pay for what he had done to her friend.

Now pushing back at the man, she began to hold her own weight. Clenching her teeth as she forced most of her strength into her arms he began to move back. Ultimately it had worked but she didn't stop there.

Her golden hues watched this shrouded man like a bird of prey. Relba noticed the man's black eyes staring back at her and instantly realized he hadn't been human. He stood silently with his chest already moving up and down from the lack of breath. With a smirk she shot at him

"What? You can't be tired already, we just started!"

But before he could answer she ran towards him and swiftly kicked him in the side of his shin. He buckled downwards only to roll to around and end up behind her. He snaked an arm around her neck and held her in a vice grip as she struggled against the rock hold. Relba hadn't been expecting him to gather himself so quickly just to pick her up and throw her body over his shoulder. The next thing she saw was the ground and it felt even worse up close. Before he was finished though he took her by the neck and held her a few feet off the ground. Once again the woman struggled but braced herself as she rose her knee to his groin. Instantly he released his grip and held the tender area as she fell back.

Catching her breath as she attempted to gather himself, Rel once again brushed the incredibly long strands of hair out of her face and watched as he struggled backwards onto the bed behind him. He braced himself and put a hand up in an almost forefitting nature. Had he been surrendering?

"Rel!" A familiar voice broke the silence "Someone's home!"

Before she knew it the bedroom door had flung open and the sound of a gun being fired broke the uneven silence. Relba felt a sharp sting of pain jolt through her torso as the shot that had been fired landed on her lower back. The woman fell forward in a sheer amount of pain but felt herself be caught by something. Shouting and gunfire soon became an obnoxious sound in the back of her mind as she drifted from consciousness to unconsciousness. Through all the madness a clear voice spoke to her

"I'll take you to a safe place, hang on."

Eventually only blackness spoke to her as she fell into the limbo of unconsciousness.