Being The Shadow was awful.

I hated every goddamn minute of it.

Not only did people treat me like I was a dainty princess, but I was never left alone after I was named The Shadow.

The Chieftain cooed and coddled over me as if I were a baby, and the people always bowed and called me exuberant names, like "The Great Shadow", or "Mother of the Next Generation".

But the worst part?

White Star.

Not the Chieftain, but his son. White Star was cocky, arrogant, and hot-headed. If he didn't get what he wanted, he threw a temper tantrum about it. He wanted attention all the damn time from everyone, and was never satisfied with all that he had.

Even with me.

When I was… given to him six months ago, he had expected me to act like a simple housewife. Do his cleaning, make his food, all that junk.

He didn't like how serious I was, or that I was ten times smarter than he would ever be. He was constantly complaining to the Chieftain.

"DAD! Velvet called me dull-witted! I don't know what it means but I don't like it!"

The two of us were having a sort of civil conversation until he messed up a sentence, and I politely, or as politely as I could, corrected him. He then proceeded to scream at me, telling me that I wasn't being nice because I was smarter than him. I called him absolutely dull-witted, and he burst into tears and ran away.

I followed behind him, making my way into the living room of the Chieftain's home. White Star was pulling on the Chieftain's legs, pointing at me furiously.

"She called me dull-witted! Punish her Dad, PUNISH HER!"

White Star looked up at me, a brow raised.

"Velvet Star, while I understand your intelligence is higher than most, please refrain from calling my son names. It upsets him-"

"NO! DON'T TALK TO HER, HIT HER! DO SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE HER CRY!"

I rolled my eyes, watching White Star shake his father's leg violently.

The Chieftain sighed, pulling White Star's hands off of his pants leg.

"Son, there's nothing I can do to make her dumber. You're just going to have to deal with it. She's intelligent and quick, that's why she's your Shadow. She'll spawn great heirs for our clan, remember that."

White Star sniffled, turning to me with narrowed eyes.

"We-Well… she's not allowed to call me names anymore!"

I snorted, nodding in understanding at the command.

"Yes sir, forgive me for my comment."

No matter how much I hated him, there was nothing I could say or do against him. Sure, I called him names every now and then, but that was the extent of my abilities. And now, even that was going away.

I hated him. I hated living with him. I hated his father.

I hated the Chieftain.

That was the ultimate wrongdoing. One of the Star Clan blood, must never, ever, speak ill-will of their Chieftain, no matter his flaws. I could think it with all of my being, but Great Divines above, if I ever even whispered a negative thing about him?

I would have my head would be removed from my shoulders and hung up on a wall as a decorative ornament.

White Star snorted at me, taking me from my thoughts.

"Stupid! I wish I got a dumb girl for my Shadow!" He snapped, pointing at me accusingly. I pursed my lips, looking off to the side.

I feel sorry for anyone dumber than you.

I watched as the Chieftain took White Star's hand and walked away, the small boy sticking his tongue out at me. They walked to the door of the house, stepping out into the cold air. Before the Chieftain closed the door, he turned to look at me over his shoulder.

"Stay in the house Velvet Star, I do not wish for my daughter-in-law to get sick."

They closed the door.

I clenched both of my hands into fists, feeling my blood begin to boil. I spun on my heel and stomped away, marching down the corridor and into my room.

The room I had in the house was as big as the house my parents dwelled in. It had a bed, a dresser, multiple targets dotting the wall, and a large body-shaped sack hanging from the wall.

I slammed the door behind me and rolled my shoulders. I turned to the punching bag slowly.

I unsheathed my knife and began stabbing the sack repeatedly.

I hated being here so much. I wasn't a dainty little flower! I wasn't dumb! I wasn't a weak little girl!

I might've been five, but I was a Star Clan warrior goddammit!

I stabbed and slashed and tore at the sack, watching sand leak out of the cuts I made. The sand poured out and onto the floor, covering my feet and making my toes feel scratchy.

I gave it one final stab, shoving my knife right into the center of the dummy and dragging my blade down.

For a brief moment, I imagined White Star as the sack.

I pictured the sand as his blood and organs, spilling out all over the floor and walls. I felt the sand pour onto my legs and arms, dribbling down and making my skin crawl.

I wanted to go on a mission.

I wanted to kill.

I wanted to watch someone's blood spill over my hands.

I wanted to smear the blood over my cheeks and return to the house with pride.

White Star had never killed anyone before. And by god, if his Shadow killed someone before he did, his reputation could forever be faltered.

I smiled, dusting the sand off of my arms.

Tomorrow, when I left for training, I was going to take a mission, whether the White Star's liked it or not.

When the next day came, I had managed to get out of the house. I had gone with White Star to battle tactics training, the class I had been bumped up into.

I had almost mastered the lessons and was headed to move up into the next stage of training.

Battle tactics were one of the most important things that a Star Clan member could know. If you were well versed in battle strategies, then you would go far the in the clan. Learning how to fight was one of the only things you were taught here. Yes, we were taught to read and write and speak. But that was the extent of what clusters where taught before battle training began.

The only reason I was so knowledgable was that I wanted to be. The smarter you were, the better off you would be in life.

This was also another White Star seemed to dislike about me.

The fact that I was more advanced then him.

White Star was only in the battle tactics class because as the heir, he was expected to be more advanced then other clusters, older or younger than he.

But just because he was in the same training as me, didn't mean he was on my level. He was well below my level, and every time we spared, he lost.

We were currently in the sparing circle, White Star standing opposite from me with his arms up and ready to fight.

I was standing in my basic fighting stance, my stance wide and my body low. Even if he was the future chieftain, I wasn't going to hold back developing my abilities for him. And no one could speak out against me on that.

White Star snarled, screaming out a battle before charging at me with his fist drawn back.

There were so many openings. His center, his shoulder, his arm, his rib. There were so many spots that I could hit that would knock him off his feet. If I broke his root, he would be unable to fight back against me.

When White Star drew near, he attempted to swing his fist at my cheek. Right before his knuckles hit, I threw my arm against his and used my leg to swipe at his feet.

He yelped in shock, suddenly falling onto the pavement with a thud. I took the opportunity to seize him by his center. I threw him over my head and slammed him into the concrete behind me.

I heard calls of pain from the audience around us, clearly pitying the poor young heir.

I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride thump in my chest.

White Star fell to the ground with a thump, rolling onto his side in pain as he clutched his head. Tears began to seep from his eyes, blubbered sobs attempting to escape from his throat.

The instructor rushed up, holding his hand in the air to signal the end of the fight.

"Velvet Star claims victory over White Star ⅩⅩⅣ!" He cried, leaning down to help White Star to his feet.

I smiled to myself, seeing blood begin to stain his red hair and dribble down his forehead and nose.

The instructor turned to me, his face hard.

"Velvet Star. As The Shadow, it is your job to be the caretaker of the future chieftain. While your talents are extraordinary, please refrain from humiliating the young royal."

I felt my skin begin to crawl.

What? Really?! Was this man telling me to hold back against an opponent!?

I felt like screaming, and I was borderline about to. That is until the Chieftain showed.

"What on Earth!?"

The crowd all bowed on their knees when the Chieftain pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes locked onto the wound White Star had received from me.

White Star whimpered, puckering his lower lip out and wailing. He tore away from the instructor and flew into the Chieftain's arms, burying his face into his pants.

"Dad! Sh-She did this t-to me! She's g-gonna kill me!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Sustaining these kinds of wounds was normal in the clan. It just didn't make sense to me why the future leader of the clan was allowed to act like a baby about it and get away with it.

The Chieftain looked up at me, his eyes narrowed with anger.

"Velvet Star, in the house, now."

I felt the hairs on my neck bristle.

Was I going to be punished for this? I sure hope not.

I nodded silently, marching off through the crowd of people. Their eyes were all on me, judgemental stares reading over my features.

"How could she do that?"

"She's his Shadow. Not his superior!"

"She should be ashamed…"

I wanted to scream and bite back at all the comment against me. If they hated me so much, they could just say it to my face!

The thing was, the people were allowed to talk trash about me if they wanted. I was only meant to be in White Star's shadow. Nothing more, nothing less.

Once away from the crowd, I stomped through the village angrily. I pushed past people in the street, my fury boiling deep within me.

"Velvet Star."

I whirled around to see the Chieftain following me, White Star in his grasp. As he walked, I stopped in the road to allow him to catch up with me. Once he was in front of me, I continued on.

We were all silent for a bit. White Star didn't stop glaring at me, and the Chieftain looked like he was pondering over his thoughts.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to request that I go on my first mission. But judging by the look in the Chieftain's eyes, it wasn't going to happen unless I snuck away to do it. But he had ears everywhere. If I tried to sneak away, he would know.

"Velvet Star, I am very disappointed in you," He stated suddenly. I looked up at him, see his eyes turned to look at me. I frowned.

"Why, sir?" I asked, wanting to know what bullshit excuse he was going to give me.

The Chieftain glared, "I understand your immense power and raw abilities, and your desire to improve upon them. However, I will not tolerate you outshining my son and making a fool of him. He is in the same training as you, and I expect you to treat him as your equal, or even superior. If you do this again, I may have something horrible done to your parents. Do you understand?"

I stopped walking.

It was an… unexpected threat. My parents? They didn't even blink when I left the house to come live with them. What care should I give if they die?

But I didn't speak against him. I only nodded, and continued to walk on.

"Yes, sir."

I didn't speak again for the rest of the afternoon.

The evening of that day was the most eventful of my young life. I wanted to take a mission to prove to these people that I could handle myself, but I got more than I bargained for. I got something even better.

I got to show off my skills to my clan as a whole in the heat of a true battle.

After training earlier this afternoon, I was brought back to the house and told to wait out the rest of the day in my room. The Chieftain didn't want me outside after the session, disappointed in my show of skill and power.

It was all about status in this goddamn clan.

And at that moment, I didn't hate being in the Star Clan. I wanted to increase my status, and show the clan that I was capable of more than what they had planned for me.

I was sitting on my bed, throwing my knife in circles up into the air out of boredom. I could train in my room, but after I had demolished my training sack yesterday, I was out of options until I got a new one.

Nothing happened while I was in there, not until the door opened.

I looked up to see White Star walking into my room, his eyes staring at me hardly. He had a large bandage wrapped around his head from the wound I had given him in training. I sat up slowly, watching him close the door behind him and walk over to the edge of my bed. Without a word, he heaved himself onto the edge of the mattress, turning up to look at me with his olive eyes.

"Why are you stronger than me?"

I was taken aback by his out of the blue question. He looked… genuinely saddened by having to ask, his eyes low and wandering.

I pursed my lips, trying to find out how to answer his question without offending him, and making my current situation worse.

"Because… I want to prove myself," I answered, going to a softer but true approach. I wanted to prove myself to my clan. I didn't want them to see me as an insignificant girl who's only job was to make heirs of the clan. I wanted to be a part of the Clan, to help rid the world of cruel injustices, like they had began to teach me before I was dubbed The Shadow.

"Okay, so? You wanna prove yourself, but how does that make you stronger than me?" He asked, straightening out his back.

I sighed, unable to help the half smile that crawled on my face.

"It's makes me strong because I train everyday. Even in here, when I'm told to stay at home, I'm practicing my movements and strengthening my body. My determination to assist my Clan and play my part in cleansing the world helps me. That's the only reason."

White Star looked down at his feet after my explanation, his lips tightening.

"But why are you smarter?" He asked, his eyes narrowing darkly. I shrugged.

"Because I am. I like learning about new things, and it was just a talent I was born with. That one I can't give much explanation to."

"But you know so many big words! And you're not a lot older than me!-"

"Not much older than you?"

"Whatever!"

I laughed, shaking my head at his lack of grammatical development.

He crossed his arms, a pout crossing his features. We remained silent for a few minutes, as if contemplating where the conversation was going to go.

"I hate you…"

I felt my skin crawl. I turned up to stare at him with shock, seeing his dark olive eyes turned on me vehenomly.

"Why?" I asked, wanting to see what his excuse was going to be.

He snarled, eyes shooting down to his lap.

"Because I'm future Chief, and my Shadow is better than me! That's not how that works! I'm supposed to be better! I'm supposed to be the best! I can't do that if you are! I hate you! You make everything bad for me!"

When tears began to sprout from his eyes, I almost felt sorry for him. It was expected by the whole of the Clan for him to excel past everyone his age and even beyond. But with my raw skill and abilities, I had made that impossible.

But when he started to scream incomprehensibly, I turned away.

This wasn't the kind of person I was going to associate myself with.

Before White Star could say anymore, or the Chieftain could come in and threaten me once more, something happened.

I heard something outside the window.

My ear twitched at the sound of a twig snapping outside, and I shot up. There was someone outside.

White Star looked up at me, wiping his tears away with a glare, "What are you looking at-"

"SHH! Be quiet!"

I held up a hand, slipping off the bed slowly. I heard him scoff, swiping at my hand.

"How dare you! I am the future Chief and your betrothed, you have no au-"

"SHH! SHUT UP!"

I slapped my hand over his mouth, staring at his livid expression for only a few seconds before I turned my gaze back over to the window.

I saw a shadow move across the glass. I gently gripped my knife, lowering my body to prepare for an attack.

White Star grabbed my wrist.

"UNHAND ME YOU MULEING QUIP!"

The window shattered, and a large man barreled in.

I threw my knife up in defense as the man tackled us, pinning as both to the ground.

"DOWN WITH THE VILE STAR CLAN! YOU TOOK MY WIFE FROM ME! I WILL DESTROY ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR!"

This man had wild brown eyes and a rabid snarl. He looked as if he was foaming at the mouth almost, and reeked as if he hadn't showered in days. Tears poured down his cheeks as he screamed, saliva dripping onto my cheek.

He gripped our necks with a fierce hand, attempting to choke the air out of us. White Star was thrashing about wildly, his eyes bloodshot and face purple.

I however, had taken a breath before hand, and had enough in me to assess my situation. I took my knife, lifted it and stuck it into his arm. Blood spewed from the wound, and the man cried out in pain. He released his grip from us and flew back, throwing his arm about.

White Star gasped for air, coughing violently as he attempted to regain his breath. I stood up immediately, reaching over and wrapping my arms around his waist. I flung him over my shoulders like a sack of potatoes and tore out of the room.

The Chieftain was running at us, his eyes wild with anger.

"VELVET STAR! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON!?" He screamed. I rushed past him.

"Infiltrator in the Clan Base! I'm taking White Star to safety!"

Just as I said it, I heard the man burst from the door behind me.

"COME BACK HERE YOU VILE WELCH!"

Goddamn, so many cruel names for me. And remember, I was only five.

I raced through the halls and out of the house, jumping down the steps and out into the open.

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! VIOLENCE AGAINST THE HIGH FAMILY!" I screamed, alerting the Clan of the problem. I saw many assassins leap from their homes or resting places and race after me or towards the house.

I ran through the village as fast as my legs could carry me, White Star thrashing in my arms.

"LET ME GO! I CAN TAKE HIM!" He screamed, beating against my back to try and throw me off balance.

I didn't respond. I made it to the center of the village and raced to the fountain at the village's square. I kicked one of the statues on the fountain, watching a cavern open up in the fountain's edge. I tossed White Star in, grabbing the door and slamming it down on him.

When I had secured White Star, I turned around to see the man charging at me. I felt a twitch of fear in me.

He had broken through all the guards and the Chieftain? How!?

I felt my knees begin to quake, a feeling of fear washing over me. This man had made it past all of the assassins I had called out to, and the Chieftain himself, the best of the Clan. How was I supposed to defend myself against someone like that?!

The man lunged at me, reaching his hands out to grab me again.

I leapt out of his way, watching him slam into the fountain. He gasped for air, scrambling up to his feet and staring up at me with blood dripping from his lips.

"You… you vile vermin… your clan…"

He rushed forward and slammed his fist into my jaw.

"Your clan took my wife from me, for what!?"

Before I could react, he punched me again.

"She did nothing wrong! She was the light of my life!"

He kneed me in the stomach, sending me flying back and into a tree.

"AND YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"

He came at me again, lifting his hands to deliver another blow.

But I lifted my legs and slammed them into his jaw. He reeled back, his jaw hanging from his head limply. Blood leaked and poured from his teeth and nose, staining the dirt below. I took the opportunity to leap at him, clutching his shoulders and hanging off his back. He reached up to grab me and thrashed around, screeching loud noises since he could no longer talk.

I unsheathed my knife, gripping the blade and hooking it around his head.

I heard people running to us. Other assassins here to assist.

The man reached up and grabbed my hair, pulling at his roughly to try and pry me off.

But I let out a scream. Not one of pain, but one of determination. I took my knife, shoved it against his throat, and pulled.

And sliced his neck.

Blood rocketed from his jugular all over the fountain and my arms. His knees buckled and his body crumbled underneath me. I felt him go limp, and land on the ground with a thud. Blood pooled underneath him, drenching my arms and the body.

I gasped for air, feeling adrenaline rushing through me. I slowly pulled my knife out from underneath him, staring at the blood staining my arms. My body began to shake, and my vision got spotty.

I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. Whispers began to crawl around me.

"She killed him…"

"Incredible… and this man got past the Chieftain…"

I turned to see the Chieftain walking up to me, White Star in his arms. I awaited his voice to start screaming at me for outshining White Star. But it never came.

In fact, he smiled.

"Well done, Velvet Star. You've protected the future of our Clan. Congratulations on your first kill."

I looked down at the blood on my hands, feeling a warm rush over my arms.

…I smiled.

It's here! And it's bloody too!

Sorry about the delay. I've been sick over the past week and work is tiring. Turns out working in a Kinder classroom takes some energy out of ya.

But let's talk about this chappy!

So, some time has pasted, and Velvet is stronger than ever. This chapter is kinda spread out with small moments all compacted into one chapter, so I'll go over each one. We get a sense of what younger White Star was like. A bit of a brat and full of himself. He wants Velvet to act dumber and weaker than him, but she's not having any of that shit. Also, the Chieftain will be referred to as, well the Chieftain, since he and White Star have the same name. He's also a bit on the bipolar side, switching from loving Velvet to hating her in just a few seconds.

Velvet also proves to be stronger than White Star in training, and gets threatened by the Chieftain. She doesn't seem to care for his threat over her parents. Their relationship will be explored in future chapters.

And finally, we get to see young Velvet in action. A man of unknown background attacks over the Star Clan killing his wife. He's no one important, just kinda there to cause trouble. And Velvet kills him in the end, and seems to find a joy in it.

We'll see how she develops over this in future chapters.

Welp, that's it! A Star's Revelation is updated every Saturday at 5 pm Tokyo time (+9)!

NEXT TIME:

Vevlet continues to excele in her skills. After her first kill, she's granted the ability to take missions, and quickly surpasses adults in kill count. One day, her father comes to her home and offers to teach her something. How to Shapeshift. How will she take this offer, and what skills will she gain from it?

Find Out Next Time: March 23rd!

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