Here's Chapter 1! Enjoy!
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She sat outside, under the sun, light shimmering off raven hair. She sipped at her bubble tea and listened to her music, nodded to the rhythm coming from her earphones and seemed totally unconcerned with anything else. Of course, this was a front.
Her dark chocolate eyes darted back and forth as she leaned forward to take a sip, taking in note of all the disturbances on the street and surrounding area. As she finished her tea, she finally saw it, the thing she was waiting for.
Far away, silhouetted by the blue sky and white clouds, a human figure stood up, a long barreled gun set on a stand before him. On two other building-tops, two other silhouettes set up in the same manner. She slapped a few bills onto the metal-mesh table, stood up, and hopped the waist-high, wrought iron fence, sauntering down the street, slipping into an alley. With a casual glance over her shoulder, she leapt up and pushed off the wall, jumping up, tamping down, and leaping up again until she gained a grip on the edge of the building. Pulling herself up, she stayed low, picked up speed, and leapt from rooftop to rooftop. By sticking to the shadows, she made herself invisible until it was too late for her target. The sniper went down silently; she peered through a pair of his binoculars at the drama unfolding beneath her.
"Poor sap," she thought, as she watched the cannon fodder hand the envelope to the rat. "Ah well. There's no rest for the wicked I suppose." With that, she tossed the binoculars over her shoulder and sprinted off the building just as the other snipers opened fire on the man suddenly standing alone in a conveniently isolated area of the back-alley maze. Even before he had time to scream, she'd already scooped him up and was running away from the to-be site of the blast crater. The impact echoed off the walls, shaking loose dirt and frightening pigeons. She set the trembling man down gently, brushed herself off, and bent down to him, addressing him as he lay in the dust, knees unable to bear his weight.
"I suggest that you run for it, little guy, and that you keep this lesson in mind. It's not a good idea to mess with any part of the Blue Lilies." She straightened up and tossed a chip to the ground in front of his nose. "Free pass for the next two months. I suggest you use the woolongs the right way this time." She turned, sketched a salute to him, and ran off, heading back for the ambush site.
At the edge of the crater, several men were examining the deep hole for any evidence of the man. She smiled evilly as she saw this and rushed in furiously, launching punches and kicks, turning the fight into a dance. In a span of five seconds, a third of the men were down, the rest just forming a defensive position. When half were lying unconscious in the dirt, the rat lost his nerve and threw a grenade her way. Plugging his ears and tightly closing his eyes, he sheltered behind some refuse and started counting to ten.
He only got to seven before she attacked.
He found himself stood on, arms twisted behind his back, face down in the dirt, her sibilant hiss winding its way into his mind.
"Where's the information?"
He whimpered and she raised him up, then slammed him down again.
"Let's try that again. Where's the information? And this time, think before you answer."
"I have powerful friends!" the man squeaked out.
"Wrong answer," she replied, deadly cool. She levered him up, turning him around, and slammed him against the dingy brick of the ambush wall with such force that more than one rotting crate fell out of its stack to shatter on the ground. She trained her eyes on him, and he audibly gulped. "One last chance before I start breaking bones."
"I…. i…i…it's in my pocket," he stuttered. She lifted one eyebrow then used a hand to fish in the inner pocket of his coat, eventually pulling out the envelope. After a cursory examination, she tossed him to the ground.
"Tell your boss that the Northern Star syndicate doesn't approve." She slipped the envelope into her messenger bag, wound up her music player's earphones, and sauntered off, disappearing. The man on the ground was too afraid to even twitch until she was out of sight.
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And that's it! I've decided to update once a week, but you get two parts 'cause the Prelude was so short. Please review! Well, 'till next week!
Oh, and for those of you who're wondering what's going on, don't worry! The plot will reveal more of itself in the next chapter!
