Purple String {EDITING}

Chapter One: The Night that Changed Everything

Purple.

Juniper loved the colour, though she had no idea why. She'd surrounded herself with it, ever since she was a child, some small part of her clinging to the colour for some sort of reassurance. Of what exactly, she didn't know. All she knew was the fact she was in love with the colour – hence why she'd wrapped herself in it that night, pulling up the thick purple woollen scarf she wore. The scent of jasmine engulfed her, a small smile pulling at her lips as she remembered how her mother had knitted it... and how she'd stared softly down at her youngest child before everything had gone to hell.

The wind nipped at her, reminding her exactly where she was, howling through the dark streets of the capital of Ishgard – the last place free from the Pack's control... and a prime gathering place for Rogues.

Which was precisely why she was out there.

Her footsteps were silent, falling soundlessly with a practiced ease as she moved towards her target. The building was old, half-falling down, the doors rotted, providing easy access for the strays she'd gone to put down. Her opponents hadn't bothered to lay any traps for her, much to her annoyance, so it didn't take her long to reach the room upstairs where she met her first enemy...

Her body melted into the shadows, vanishing completely as she first caught sight of the slim figure setting up a sniper rifle, reappearing cloaked in black mist from the man's own shadow. A hand was clamped over his mouth, muffling the small yelp, a twisted grin forming on her face when he stiffened – having felt the cold steel of the dagger pressed against his throat as they stood in front of the cracked mirror in the room.

"Make a sound, and you're dead." She warned, eyes meeting his reflected ones. "Make a move, and you're dead." She continued, smiling maliciously as she saw a glint of fear in the brown orbs staring into her dark blue ones. "If you understand your situation, blink twice."

He obeyed instantly.

"Now... How about we make this nice and simple?" Her smiled widened. "I've been looking into the location of your home base... I'm quite sick and tired of dealing with all these sneak attacks, you see." Juniper paused tilting her head as she asked the question revolving around in her captive's head. "What's in it for you, huh?" The blade bit deeper into his throat, a small trickle of blood running down over his olive skin. "Well, I'll give you a chance to live, silly. Be grateful." She pulled her dagger away from his throat. "So tell me where your little Rogue base is... ideally in the next ten seconds."

"In the forest north of here..." His answer was immediate, voice quivering. "By the Old Stone Face."

"Good boy." She smiled. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

He shivered.

"But don't think you're getting off this easy." Her foot moved faster than he could blink, slamming into his side with enough force to send him crashing through the window. Juniper clapped her hands together, laughing slightly as she heard the moans of pain from below. "Right. Down to business, then." The smile dropped from her face like a light, daggers gleaming as she vanished into the shadows once again.

The three other Rogues never saw her coming.

In fact they didn't see her at all... they'd barely been able to register the fact they'd been stabbed seconds before they'd slipped away into oblivion, their lives snuffed out like little candle flames.

"Silly little Rogues..." Juniper sighed gutsily. "When will you learn?" She whispered, falling to the floor in the centre of the chaos, one hand reaching for the sky. "I'll never forgive you..." Her gaze fell to the side, watching on in blank delight as the pool of red liquid continued to inch closer and closer to her. Fingers dipped into the sticky substance, marvelling at how warm it still was – proof that she was efficient in her work. "Never." With that said, she stood, swiping her bloody fingers across her lips, painting her small bow-shaped lips a deep dark red. Droplets rolled down from her mouth as she moved, leaping out of the open window with a catlike grace, landing next to the unconscious figure splayed across the ground. "Don't you worry, little Rogue... unlike you I keep my promises." She whispered, resting one hand flat against the wall of the dilapidated house for a single second, twisting her hand once and then the building was gone. Charred brickwork was the only evidence of what'd happened, the slight red glow illuminating the brickwork fading in an instant. "Now..." She turned away, a small giggle bubbling from her bloodied lips. "I wonder how much more I can paint red before the night's out..."