The small empty shell of the graffiti covered warehouse echoed with footsteps as Forest ran down the stairs to the lower floor. Damon had picked Forest up with the car and so none of the other members were back yet. That also meant he didn't know if they succeeded or not. Damon ran down the concrete stairs after him.
"Y'know being late could be life or death!" Damon threw up his hands, frustrated at Forest's tardiness.
"Ok, ok I'm sorry, it won't happen again." A small dark corridor with grimy floors and multiple doors met them as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Forest ignored the first door on the right, which led to the main hall, and continued down. He counted the rooms as he passed them, the training room, Master's office, rooms. He turned the corner and passed a few more rooms before he came to a stop in front of his door. He turned to face Damon, who had followed him and didn't stop chastising him for being late. Which he obviously ignored.
"You can't do that, ever! No mess ups, got it?!" Damon looked at him like he was scolding a child.
"Yeah, I get it." Forest shrugged and Damon looked at him, trying to determine if he was lying or not.
Damon straightened. "Alright, no point in arguing, not when I have to go and drive the car into the ocean."
Forest looked at him, confused and intrigued. "What?!" He was amazed at how nonchalant this man could be.
"The car," Forest nodded in understanding as Damon talked slowly so he could understand. "We stole it and now we have to get rid of it, so we're not found."
Forest fully faced him now. "Ok...then why steal it if it's a risk? I could've walked like everyone else." His hand rested on the doorknob as he shifted his body to lean against the door.
Damon smiled at him. "It was your first mission, gotta do something special. Plus why not?" He smiled brightly.
Forest gaped at him. "You got Master to approve that?!"
He shrugged. "Yeah. Master and I go way back." His face slightly fell, but he quickly rebounded.
"You're way cooler than I thought you were." This brought Damon's smile back.
"Thank- wait." He looked at Forest, deciding how to react to that. Forest only smiled at him.
"You should go crash that car now." He patted Damon on the arm and then entered his room.
His room was identical to all of the rooms in the warehouse. It was just big enough to fit a bed and a small dresser which were both stolen, along with most of his belongings. He fumbled to get his tie undone as he made his way to the bed. He sighed once he got it undone and he could breathe again.
The room was artificially lit, as they were underground and couldn't have windows. He found himself wanting to go outside. He closed his eyes and imagined the snow, he imagined the city and tried to get in as many details to make it as accurate as he could. It wasn't as good as the real thing.
Forest dug through his dresser for a few moments before he emerged with a hoodie and jeans, which he changed into. He was grateful for the comfort the clothes brought. He laid down on his bed and stared up at the concrete ceiling. The mission was most likely successful and that would mean that they now had the Guardian head in their possession. Even in the victory he couldn't help but feel guilty. He never liked the idea of stealing and murdering, even when he was little. He was taught that all of those things were okay, good even, and so he shoved those feelings away and continued to train. It seemed that all those suppressed feelings were resurfacing and came crashing over him all at once. He didn't know what to do.
There was a ding that signalled for him to go to the main hall for dinner. He reluctantly got up and made his way down the hall.
The main hall was big. It could fit two large rectangular tables and a fireplace on the back wall. He loved the warmth the fireplace brought to the room, but he loved what was displayed on it even more. A dagger was placed on the mantle like a trophy. He always wanted to use it during training and he didn't know why he was so drawn to it. Ever since he was little he begged Damon to let him use it but he never budged. Damon only chastised him and told him it was a prize from a very successful mission.
As Forest walked into the main hall, he guessed from the smiling faces and clinking drinks that they had successfully captured the new Guardian head. He didn't know if he felt guilty or happy, but he knew that Melody would probably hate him. He pushed all that to the back of his mind.
"Hey!" Forest turned away from the fireplace and was met with the face of Kieran. His blue eyes danced with amusement and his tanned face wore an annoyingly smug smile.
Forest glanced around and was relieved when he noticed that no one was paying attention to them. "What?" He said, with some venom in his tone as he was clearly annoyed just by Kieran's presence.
Kieran's smile somehow managed to get bigger. "The mission was successful, no thanks to you. I heard you were late on your first mission and all because of a girl. Don't tell me you got a crush on her?" His voice had an edge of taunting to it.
Forest glared at him. "What are you talking about?" But he knew he was talking about Melody.
Kieran scoffed. "I know it was her. I'm surprised, I didn't know you could pull it off, even with my help."
"Kieran you are extremely annoying and I don't have time for this." He held up his hand and turned away, trying to end the conversation and convey to Kieran that he didn't want to talk anymore.
"You know I'm right!" Kieran turned to walk away and as he did he yelled back at him. "But I don't think it matters, if I'm not mistaken some believe she's in our way." Kieran disappeared into the crowd of people eating as Forest glared at his reatrateing back.
Forest was left alone, his eyes widened with shock once Kieran was no longer in his view. When people got in their way they were murdered. The world began to spin around him. He stumbled out of the room, suddenly nauseous. As he walked down the halls, he was met with worried gazes.
Forest felt exhausted and he slumped against the wall and slid down to sit on the concrete floor. He ran his fingers through his hair. Forest tried to convince himself that Kieran was messing with him. It began to work, until he heard a passing conversation.
"That younger sister was truly the reason," One of the members rambled on to another.
"You think?" The second member asked.
"Of course, we should get her out of the way." The first member slightly nodded in approval with his conclusion.
The second member furrowed their brow, deep in thought. "Maybe, but that might be a waste of resources-"
Forest abruptly stood up, making the two men stumble back in surprise. Forest was furious. He stared into the faces of the two men and whispered, "You idiots, she's innocent!" His fists clenched as he stormed down the hall to his room.
He sat down on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair again. He was stressed and worried, those were emotions he hadn't felt for a long time. Through all the anger and worry, he felt confused. Confused as to why he was getting so emotional over a girl he just met. Maybe it was because he actually enjoyed the girl's company.
He believed she was innocent, and he knew this was wrong. He knew he was the bad guy and he hated it. Master had some plan to make the world better, but the truth was that he was just a crazy old man who was filling the world with fear. He stood up abruptly. He came to a decision, he would save her.
His face filled with determination. He looked at his door, took a deep breath in and ripped it open. Striding down the hall, he passed many members. Some he knew ever since he was born. The more people he passed the more his face darkened. By the time he reached the main hall he looked crazy.
The main hall was empty, he guessed in the time he was worrying everyone finished eating and filed out. He strolled passed the tables and straight to the fireplace. The room was still familiarly warm, but as he reached up toward the dagger his fingertips felt iced. He realized his fingers were brushing against the handle. The handle was black with what seemed the to be brown leather wrapped around it. At the end of the handle, was an engraved C. He finally curled his fingers around the handle and turned around. He was met with the stunned gaze of Kieran.
"Are you insane?!" Forest realized he was glaring at Kieran as he considered his answer.
"They're going to kill her!" He was still glaring, but his eyes began to tear up. Kieran craned his head to get a better look at the tears, but Forest choked them back. His grey eyes just appeared to be glossy.
"What are you talking about?" Kieran looked at him, confusion and accusation written across his face.
"That girl, the Silver Blades are going to kill her. I overheard someone talking about it and I'm certainly not going to stand by and let her die!" Forest stepped toward Kieran, who took a slight step back.
"You're crazy, you just met her and now your going to risk your life for her?! You've gone mad!"
"She said a few things at the festival that made me think. People are dying, suffering because of us and I hate it!" His arms moved as he spoke. His face was calm even though anger was rising inside of him.
"We kill them so we can build a better future!" Kieran's hands were held up in defense."Now come to your senses and put that thing down before you impale me!"
Forest looked down, the dagger was raised. "When will you stop believing that we can make a better future?! When will you stop blindly following Master?! I don't know if you've noticed, but the people who follow the laws are happy until we come along! So, if anything we're making things worse!" He walked towards the door and shoved a stunned Kieran aside and left.
Forest now had a clear pathway up the stairs as far as he could see. He fastened the dagger onto his back and ran up the stairs. His footsteps echoed the whole way. He reached the top and walked out of the abandoned warehouse shell. He looked up into the sky as snow fell around him, he then remembered that it was the last snow.
He looked around at the surrounding trees, and realized he didn't think any of this through. He didn't know where Melody was, how to get to her, if she would even believe him. He heard a loud bang from the depths behind him. He remembered the direction he and Damon went to get to the city and he ran as fast as he could in that direction.
When the warehouse disappeared behind the trees he slowed down a little. The snow quickly coated the ground and he could only hear the crunching of snow as he walked.
He walked and walked. Soon his hoodie provided little protection as the cold seeped through the fabric and froze his skin. He started to shiver and he rubbed his hands over his arms to try to and warm himself. As he continued to walk he didn't feel like himself. He felt like someone else was willing his legs to continue moving. His lips turned blue and he tried to curl his toes, but they wouldn't budge. Even though he was still walking it didn't look the tiniest bit graceful, as he stumbled with each step forward.
He stopped shivering. He didn't even notice he stopped walking as he looked up into the sky again. His eyes felt droopy and his eyelashes fluttered as snowflakes threatened to land in his eye. He slowly teetered on the spot, then came crashing down onto the snow. He didn't even flinch at the impact, more like he couldn't. He didn't bother to move and continued to stare up into the sky. His eyes threatened to close but he tried to keep them open. Soon, the beautiful sight of the snow was robbed from him and replaced with darkness, as his eyes finally closed.
Everything was silent for a little while, before being disturbed with more footsteps. A girl emerged from a cluster of trees and into the small path where Forest lay unconscious. The girl was followed by a wolf. It ran into the back of her leg as she stopped walking and gasped when she noticed Forest.
Her blue eyes were filled with concern. "Is.... Is he dead?"
She didn't get a reply and took a few steps forward to get a better look at him. She was dressed in periwinkle winter gear and her brown hair and dark skin made it look gorgeous.
"I really hope he isn't dead." Her hands were held up to her face and made her appear shy. Although her face was plain worried. "Oh right!" She muttered to herself. She kneeled beside Forest and fumbled for his wrist. "If he is dead, then I'm touching a dead body right now." She shuddered at the thought. She shook her head to refocus herself as she found a faint pulse. A sigh escaped her as she sat back in the snow.
She stood up and eyed him. "Althea might be able to take him in. He has a weapon, see?" She pointed at the dagger sticking out from his back. "Maybe he's a good fighter?" She shrugged. "I guess we could try and bring him back..." She turned around and motioned for the wolf to come closer. "Better start walking then if we want to make it back in time..." She trailed off, her face deepened in concern. As she took one last glance at his unconscious body, pity seemed to dance in her eyes.
The wolf bit Forest's pant leg and began to drag him back the direction they came from. The girl happily walked ahead of them. "I wonder what will happen to him..." She mused almost cheerfully