The Raven and The Hawk

The beginning

¨Beginnings are always messy.¨

"Revon!" Ciar screamed. He stopped and ran to her. "Go! I've got your back! Take Umbra and get out of here!" Ciar did what she asked and grabbed Umbra's hand and ran. The men in front of him were slain by his spear, making the way clear. Revon kept the guys in front of her busy. While she was alone, there were five of them. A young girl could never defeat five big and strong guys, right? Well, Revon could. It took some effort, but eventually, she took all of them down. She took a moment to get some air and then ran after the others. In no time she stood beside Ciar and Umbra, who were happy to see her. "That took some time," Ciar said mockingly. Revon looked irritated but was replaced with a little smile. "They are under that window," Umbra said, pointing at the window at the end of the hallway. There were footsteps behind them. Three others ran after them, trying to catch up with the group. Revon and Ciar looked at each other and nodded. Revon stopped running and grabbed one of the men's foot with her chain. He fell on top of another but one dodged the body and ran to her. The other man had already broken free from the chain. She pulled the chain so the sickle part returned to her. She grabbed the sickle and cut one of the men's arms. The blood dropped on the carpet and the men fell on his knees. It was a very deep cut. The other two tried to attack, but Revon was faster. She cut both in their legs. Now all three men were on the ground. She heard footsteps at the end of the hallway and decided it was time to leave. Revon ran to the now broken window and jumped. The men running saw her jump and looked out of the window. She was gone.

This wasn't an out of the ordinary day.

The three were now in the home base. They walked to a door with a wooden plate. It said: "Knock before you enter! ♡Rory and Roark." Revon knocked on the door and entered. They stepped into the office. Two sofas stood on each side of a coffee table which stood in the middle. The left wall was covered with bookcases. The right one with shelves with all kind of things on it, like a skull and some candles. There was a window on the other side of the room. Before the window was a desk with a luxurious chair. A woman sat in that chair and a man sat on the sofa. "Ah! You guys are back earlier than expected. Can I presume the job is done?" The woman asked. "Of course! Trust those kids a bit, Rory." "Shut up, Roark, I didn't ask you, did I?" Rory looked at the so-called "kids" waiting for an answer. "Yes, ma'am. The job is done," Revon answered. "First of all, Revon. Don't call me ma'am! I've told you so many times, I'm not that old." Roark caught. The younger ones tried not to laugh. "But good job. Get some food and rest." "Thank you." The teens left the room and walked upstairs to their room. They shared a room together but put a curtain between the beds, so they all had some privacy. Revon took a shower first, as she fought the most and was pretty sweaty. She walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on. She got under it and remembered something. She didn't take a towel with her! After Revon got out of the shower she opened the door a bit. "Umbra!" "Shhh! She's asleep. Why do you need her?" "Uh, I-I forgot my towel." A light pink blush appeared on her face, as well on Ciar's. He got to the drawer and got her a black towel, the same color as her hair. She grabbed it out of his hands and gave a quick thanks. The girl calmed down a bit and got dressed. It was now Ciar's turn to shower. "Don't forget anything." "Yeah, yeah, look who says it." They both smiled. Ciar and Revon turned in early and Umbra just kept sleeping all night.

"You don't know anything about this city, do you, kid? Do you even know anything about this world?" "N-no..." Ciar turned around in his bed. "I'll teach you, so pay attention." "Yes, of course, sir." "This planet had 4 continents: Irea, Etos, Aten, and Zuzin. We live on the continent Irea so let's focus on that one." The boy nodded. "Irea is than divided among nine countries: Uthea, Ebica, Hathia, Lizir, Sarlon, Ustain, Progro, Obrye, and Caswon. The only one you really need to remember is Uthea, this country. It's the most powerful country of all. It lies at the see and has a lot of natural resources. Every country has a capital. In Uthea's case, that is Lille, and that's where we are right now." The boy nodded again, though he wasn't sure if he understood. "Now about this city. There isn't just one person holding the power. Separated groups hold power. Most of them are like gangs. They will try to take each other's lives to get their power too. Most of these groups have some alliances and will keep each other safe. The most important ones are the Bloody Angels, The Predators, and the COPS. The Bloody Angels is an assassin group. They will kill or do other jobs, for money. Their heads are Rory and Roark. They are good friends of mine. The Predators are led by Levia. She got the name from Leviathan, the sea monster, that's how strong and dangerous she is. They do just whatever they want, kill whole families or groups. They deal in drugs and humans. At last are the COPS who are led by Nath. His father lived in Hathia, another country, before he went to Lille. He was so in shock with the killings. There wasn't anything like police or guards in the city. That's why he founded the COPS. It means, Cooperation Of Protection Strategie. It was like an academy where you learn to protect someone from assassins. The students learn to use guns and swords. Unlike the other 2 groups, they are seen as one unity. The Angels and Predators do have some kind of unity, but nothing like the COPS. Students are "trained" to see themselves like one group. Because of this, it isn't rare to see someone give his life for the other. Rich people usually hire someone and the men or women to protect them, like bodyguards. Any questions?"

"-Iar! Ciar!" "What..." Ciar opened his eyes and saw Umbra at his bed. "Wake up, breakfast is ready." "Ok, give me five more minutes," said Ciar sleepy. He got up and thought: "What a stupid dream."

He got dressed and went to the dining room. There were already others. They greeted him and asked how the mission went. He said it went good and walked to Revon. She sat at the table waiting for the others. The cook had prepared a table with bread, cereal and things like that. Ciar grabbed a chair and joined the two girls. Umbra asked for three cups of coffee. Meanwhile, Revon and Ciar walked to the table and got a plate for themselves and one for Umbra. It was like this every morning. Umbra has a very specific taste, but it was very easy to guess what she'd like. So Revon and Ciar got the food and Umbra would get the drinks. Not all tables were full, but the ones that were full were occupied by scary looking men. They were, in fact pretty nice. Even though most of them had scars, they were always nice to the teens and other members of the group. Everyone had the feeling it was like a family. Most of the smaller groups had that atmosphere, but it was rare to see a big organization like this one. "You think we'll get some time off? Or just like last time: job done, two days of and another job?" Revon asked. "I hope Rory will give us some time to relax for once," Umbra answered. "I don't know, it's still Rory. But she seemed really happy when we came back. So maybe she will be easy on us this time," Ciar said. The girls nodded. That finished breakfast and went to their rooms. The group decided to pay Rory a visit and ask what she thought about the result of their mission. They knocked on the door. "Come in. Ah, Revon, Ciar, and Umbra. What do you need?" "We were curious about your plans for us. Is there a mission you planned for us, or do we get a week off?" Revon asked. Rory thought about the question. "I think I won't give you a week of free time." The teens looked disappointed. "But I'll give you two weeks to relax." Smiles appeared on the faces of the teens. "And we'll even give you your "pocket money" early, so you kids can spend it and have some fun. Go to the barber, get some clothes. Oh and please get your eyes checked." Everyone, even Roark who was sitting on the sofa, was looking weird at Rory. She sighed. "Just in case. We don't want to get you killed because your eyes got a bit worse. Just do it, it will make me happy." The group nodded and thanked the lady. Rory gave them the money and they left the room. They went upstairs to their rooms and talked about the things they wanted to do in their two weeks off. The girls did want to go to the hairdresser and said Ciar should go too."Your hair is getting too long. Let them buzz it off." He hesitated a bit but gave in. All of them wanted to get some new clothes. The old ones had blood stains and holes in it. They repaired them so much, it would be cheaper to get new clothes than repaired them every time at this point. Umbra asked them a favor, "will you come to my home? I haven't seen my parents for some time and I want you guys to meet my friends." The other two nodded and gave sad smiles. Umbra was the only one with parents. Ciar never knew his mother and his father passed away when he was very young. Revon did know both of her parents. Her mother died when she was 11 and her dad left with her twin sister. They listed more things they wanted to do and see. Ciar wanted to get his spear cleaned and another tattoo. Umbra suggested to visit a park and have a picnic, it was now since it was summer. Revon didn't really have any ideas except getting ice cream or crepes, she loved sweets. They wrote all of the ideas down, so they wouldn't forget something and regret it afterward. The teens looked at the list. "So what are we going to do first?"