Persephone's Story

Damien Lunes knelt before the girl, one hand on either side of her head. They were in the forest, in a small clearing, and Damien had a young mutant girl tied tightly to a large boulder. She couldn't have been more than fourteen years old, and her Familiar, a small black cat lay at her side, paws bound together tightly, whimpering. Behind him, through a small gathering of trees and in another clearing, Damien could hear, with his heightened senses, his team. Most of them were sleeping, as it was the middle of the night, but one or two were keeping watch. And his second-hand was here too, standing just beside him, watching. Damien smiled softly at the poor girl. He'd been sleeping, but heard her moving in the trees in the middle of the night, so he'd grabbed her. She may just be an outcast from the city, trying to keep hidden from the humans, but maybe she knew something about the Runaways or the Revolution. Maybe she was headed there now, or maybe she was on a mission for them. Or maybe, the runaways had been careless and left her a little ways behind, and she was catching up.

At the sight of his kind smile, the girl closed her eyes and whimpered. "We don't have to do this." He said, leaning back a little, giving her some space, as if he cared. "Just tell me where they are." His blue eyes flashed gold, indicating his use of his truth-telling power. The girl now had to speak the truth.

"I don't know." She shuddered, as if it had taken effort to talk. It seemed pretty final, if she couldn't lie, but Damien knew better. There were ways around telling the truth. Maybe he hadn't been specific enough. Afterall, "they" could be taken as just about anyone. Or maybe she didn't know their direct location, but she did know a direction. He sighed. Sometimes his truth-telling power was extremely helpful. Others, if the mutant was clever and knew what he could do, it was almost useless.

"Where are the Runaways? Or the Revolution? Tell me anything you know. A direction, general location, specific place, landmarks, ect." Damien watched her, knowing he'd been specific enough. Tears started to run down her cheeks, and she choked out her words.

"I promise you! I don't know anything! Please, let me go!" She sobbed, and Damien growled in frustration. He was getting no where with her, but it was too late in the night to go with torture. If she started screaming, she'd wake the whole damn world. However, if she did know the Revolution, or the Runaways, he couldn't keep her alive. She'd just run off to tell them that she'd seen Damien and his team, they'd move again, and the whole tedious tracking cycle would start over.

He sighed, pulling a silenced gun from his boot. He rarely used it, but he wanted this one to end quickly. At the sight of it, the girl went into hysterics, and started to shriek as she sobbed, but Damien slapped a hand tightly over her mouth, cutting the sound off as he pressed the cold metal to her temple and pulled the trigger. With nothing more than a soft pft noise, the girl was dead.

Damien stood, wiping his hands on his jeans and tossing the gun back into his boot. He turned to Seph, his second-hand. He'd been extremely irritated when he'd learned that his second-hand was to be a woman, but there was nothing he could do about it. "Clean this up." He gestured, before heading back through the trees to the camp, where the rest of his team was. He crossed to the tree where their captive, Shade was tied up and sleeping. Her guard had fallen asleep, and Damien delivered a swift kick to the ribs, waking him up, before walking over to Shade herself and pulling her up by her hair. He loved taunting her. Especially after the botched interrogation, it was bound to lift his spirits a bit.

"As soon as the sun is in the sky." He hissed. "Get ready to track. We're close now. I can feel it." He pushed her back down and moved towards the edge of camp to sit and watch the sky, waiting until the sun rose and they could keep moving.

She didn’t have to be a mind reader, or have the ability to force the truth out of someone, to know that the girl didn’t know anything. Body language said more than her words ever would. The only thing radiating from her was pure, unadulterated fear, and with good reason. Her life was about to end. She’d never really had a chance. A simple escapee, probably, never having been alone in the world, having no experience of how to function, and more importantly, how to hide. That she had stumbled across the Hunter camp was evidence of either her stupidity or her involvement in something greater. The brief interrogation had been necessary to determine which. Now that they knew she wasn’t directly a threat, they could dispose of her. Perhaps it wasn’t the ending she would have preferred, but it was the only one they could take, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to object to it.

Persephone didn’t flinch when the trigger was pulled, and the girl slumped over. The cat started mewling pitifully, and she spared it an emotionless glance before he eyes returned to Damien as he stood. She responded to his order with a slight nod, bending over and hefting the body over her shoulder. The girl weighed more than she did, but that wasn’t saying much, given her mutant condition. In her free hand she snatched the cat by the fur at the base of the neck, heading off into the woods a short ways before a great pair of black wings sprouted from her back, and she took flight.

She stayed low so as to avoid being seen by anyone. The cat was making hissing sounds, but she ignored it. Eventually she came to the edge of a small ravine, setting down lightly and tossing the body in without hesitation. It thumped to the ground rather harshly before coming to a stop amidst the rocks. She took a moment to regard the Familiar. Demeter was about somewhere, Seph had sensed her during the short flight. While she had never been without her own Familiar for long, she had felt the pain on occasion when the scientists had separated them. If nothing else, it had been an educational experience. Demi fluttered down upon Seph’s shoulder, talons settling lightly on bare skin.

She is broken without her other half, Demi said gently. There is nothing for her anymore. This is a mercy. Seph nodded, retrieving a small silenced pistol from her own boot, not unlike Damien’s. I know. This will never get easier, will it?

No. And it never should. Seph took a deep breath, before raising a steady arm towards the cat, and pulling the trigger, a soft tink accompanying the bullet as it passed through the skull and smacked against a rock. Not wanting to linger, Seph tossed the body in with the mutant. Animals would find them soon enough. They took off again, returning to camp. By the time she returned, Damien had moved to the edge of camp, and their prisoner had been dragged to her feet. Demi took off and settled somewhere in the upper branches while Seph made her way to the captive. It was stupid of her to feel any sympathy for her, she knew that, but she still thought the way Damien treated her was unnecessary. Maybe it had something to do with their mutations being so similar, both raven Flocks, but Seph knew that to be stupid as well. They were nothing alike, even if their other halves were the same animal. Still, Seph made her way over to Shade and put her hand lightly on her shoulder, not wishing to come across as threatening.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said softly. “But you need to cooperate. We’re almost there.”

The night was closing in on dawn when Vivianna woke up. She could tell because while the sun hadn't quite begun to light the sky the songs of the stars were growing fainter. Vivianna wasn't sure why but during the day light hours their songs were but a distant murmur. She often wondered if it was the same for other Aurora's but aside from Adalind she had never known any. She had a lot of questions but never asked Adalind too many at one time. Adalind was a quiet girl and Vivianna was always worried about overwhelming her with the multitude of questions she had. Aindreas was extremely protective of her which is why Vivianna sometimes treated her like porcelain, no need to anger her leader and all.

Sitting up she looked around to see that it wasn't only she who was awake at this hour. There were a few groups of two sitting together while the rest had made claim to separate spots across the camp. All around the escapee's stirred roused by nightmares if their brief look of fear indicated anything. Vivianna felt a pang in her chest at the thought of all the horrible things they must have endured, these thoughts reminded her of her sister and parents. After joining the revolution Vivianna made it a point to search the mutant records at every facility they would go to after liberating the captives. Eventually she found what she was looking for in a file named 'Project 01732', a picture was paper-clipped to the inside of her baby sister. She hadn't had time to read it so she took it with her.

Vivianna picked up her satchel and looked inside, her mothers jewelry sang songs of happiness and love and their songs seemed to get louder whenever she would look at them. Along side them were her fetish necklaces made of the bones of animals she would connect with so that she could see through their eyes. Then tucked away in a side pocket was the file. She hadn't read it, only opened it and looked at the picture of her baby sister and the big ugly red stamp that said 'Deceased'. There wasn't a reason under the stamp and Vivianna wasn't ready to read the file just yet.

She clutched the satchel to her chest briefly before looking around the camp once more. Noticing that the escapee she thought was also an Aurora was sitting by himself Vivianna wondered if she should go talk to him. Aindreas had said to be careful about them but she wasn't so sure that they were untrustworthy. They had been through so much she couldn't fathom the reason why they would turn on them, the people who have every mutants best interest at heart.

Having made her mind up Vivianna stood walking over to him and sitting down besides him. "So can you hear them during the day or are they completely quiet for you when the sun is up?"

---

Mackenzie had been in a deep sleep when the sobbing of the young mutant that had wondered into their camp woke her up. The poor pathetic thing never stood a chance outside the walls of the lab. Niveus laid next to her ever observant watching the whole event play out. When the interrogation was over and the girl was put down Mackenzie sat up and watched as Persephone went to dispose of the body and the now broken familiar. Stretching she shook her head, she could feel Damien's emotion and he had no remorse over killing the child. Her leader was a cold one indeed.

Looking out to the forest she could feel it calling her name, she wanted to run and to hunt. To be wild and free then return to her pack, a real pack where they would share their meals and warmth with one another, but this is what she had. It couldn't really be called a pack or a family yet it was all she had and as much as she wanted to give in to her wild nature Mackenzie was going to stay and do her part to be a valuable member of this team.

When Persephone got back Damien, who was upset about how the little mutant child didn't have any valuable information, was tormenting Shade, their unwilling tracker. She felt bad for the girl but there wasn't anything she could do about it, though she wasn't sure she would if she could. She just couldn't disappoint the scientist, even though she knew what terrible people they were. Most of the time she could shove the feelings away but right now all she felt was sick. Niveus nudged her gently then licked her cheek trying to comfort her. Smiling Mackenzie kissed her on her nose then walked out to Damien giving Shade a light pat on the head as she walked by her and a nod to Persephone. "I don't mean to question you or your choices but it was my understanding that we were supposed to recapture the escapee's not execute them." Mackenzie said softly not looking at Damien but staring off into the direction he was looking.

Damien stood and watched the sky. There was a rustling in the trees before him, but he paid it no attention. He knew who it was, and knelt as a large orange tiger came strolling out from the brush. His Familiar moved with a slow grace, head low, steps light, as if he was always in stalk mode. "Rajah." Damien said as the tiger came and sat before him. Finally, the thing that had been tugging at his mind and leaving him feeling slightly empty and vulnerable all morning disappeared with the arrival of his other half. "You were gone too long. And you went too far. I told you not to go that far." He reprimanded the creature before standing again.

As if to say sorry, Rajah came to sit beside his person and flicked his long stripped tail over his feet. I apologize for making you nervous Damien, I was nervous too. The apology surprised Damien slightly, seeing as Rajah never apologized for anything. But I discovered something useful. Damien turned towards the tiger slightly. Behind them, he could hear Seph speaking softly to the captive, and his shoulders stiffened. Women were not cut out for the job they'd assigned her. They had too many emotions getting in their way.

The prisoner girl was right. The camp is close. Rajah told him, and Damien focused his attention back on the tiger. But not as close as we thought. That's why I had to go so far. They were just outside the boundaries you gave me.

"So you found them? Did they see you?" Damien asked, watching as his Familiar licked his paw leisurely, as though they were discussing the weather. Of course no one saw me or I would not still be here. He said, and Damien's brows furrowed in confusion. The situation is worse than we thought Damien. Rajah said, answering the question in his mind. The escapee's have found the Revolution. They've teamed up. Damien nodded, taking this in for a moment. "So how is this a bad thing? They've just put all our eggs in one nest, so to speak."

It means we're vastly outnumbered, and it would be nearly impossible to destroy the Revolution, and take certain mutants alive. It would be a massacre, and you know we have orders to keep some of them alive. Damien considered this while Rajah continued. They're planning a raid this instant so you need to come up with something fast. Either we move out, destroy them, and fail to take our prisoners, but successfully stop their raid, or we wait, let them attack the institute, and come up with something else.

Damien ran his fingers through his hair, a soft hiss escaping his lips. Shit. He thought to himself, though not completely himself, as Rajah's chest rumbled in a soft, amused purr. "I'm glad you're finding this amusing Rajah." Damien spat, just as he sensed someone coming up from behind him, making him spin, he met Mackenzie's eyes before she'd even opened her mouth. His gaze burned holes in hers, daring her to bring him bad news. It was evident that he was worked up, as he was breathing shallowly, and his shoulders were stiff.

"I don't mean to question you or your choices but it was my understanding that we were supposed to recapture the escapee's not execute them." Mackenzie said in a respectful way, making Damien feel rather ridiculous for whirling on her like he had. He sighed and calmed down, his expression returning to passive, the tension in his body draining away as quickly as it had appeared.

He flicked her comment away with no more than a shrug. "Not that I should have to explain my decisions to you, but, the girl I killed was not on the list of mutants we're required to take alive. My orders are that I have to return only those that are on the list, and if I can recapture anyone else, but if not, then they can be killed if they have to be." He sighed. The day had hardly begun and already he was exhausted. Probably from lack of sleep. He never slept when he sent Rajah out. It just wasn't possible.

Damien glanced past Mackenzie, at the camp, then back to her. "Come on." He said, jerking his head towards the camp as an idea turned over in his mind, unfolding, forming a plan. "Time to announce the plan." He turned away and headed towards the camp, making his way into the center. By now, all his hunters were awake. They were trained that way. Every hunter woke before the sun was in the sky. "I have just been informed that the situation is worse than we thought." He announced loudly, so everyone could here. "The escapees, and the Revolution are working together, meaning that one quick attack would be messy. People might get away, and others that we were ordered to capture, might get killed. So I've come up with a new plan." Rajah sat beside him. Sure you don't want to think about this? The tiger asked with obvious concern, but Damien ignored him and went on. "We'll give them a reason to come to us." He said with a smile, liking the idea more and more as it unraveled in his mind, hoping that no one could tell he was totally winging it.

"We'll sneak into their camp while they're away on a raid and capture whoever they leave to watch, and take them back to an Institute. They'll try to make a rescue. But we'll be ready for them. We'll have someone on the inside, feeding us information about every move they make." He looked at Persephone, and grinned. "Seph, you've been trained for this type of thing. After they return, you'll stumble into their camp, injured, begging for help, ect. There's no way they'll refuse you. Once you're safely in, the rest of us," he gestured around him, at the camp, "split." Beside him, Rajah flicked his tail, and Damien could tell he approved.

"We have to move out now if we want to get there before they get back, so if there are no questions, pack up. If someone has a problem, come and see me." With that he turned away, making his way towards his tent. He was the only member of the group to have a tent. Tents were a hassle to carry, but the scientists had assigned Damien a man whose only purpose was to carry his things. "Josh, Jake." He gestured to the two men standing guards. They were twins, and impossible to tell apart. They shared everything. Even a Familiar. Because he couldn't tell the difference between them, Damien made a point of giving them orders simultaneously, so he never had to make a decision on who was who. "Take down the tent." The two nodded, and Damien ducked inside to collect his things.

---

Vera watched the Revolution leader with vibrant blue eyes as he stood before her, clearly angry. She couldn't help it. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a slight smirk, and a single brown eyebrow raised itself in amusement. Was it really that easy to get him mad?

"First of all I do not like you warping in here unannounced." Her attentive eyes flicked to his hands, noticing how they clenched into fists. She looked back up at him, eyebrow raising higher, forcing herself to keep shock from her expression. "I was having a conversation with my sister and I don't take sick days." He growled "And for your last question I sorta have a plan but I need to know what yours can do. I plan on setting up a ring of fire around the institute except for one place where we will have one stand guard at. Half of us will go through the front entrance the other through the back. We see if there are any one to save, if not we get out of there and I set the place on fire." Vera then watched as he tried to remember who Boo was. "Shes the half blind girl right? Well I don't mind that, she would probably keep us back if she came but if she stays she listens to Adalind."

Sensing that he was done, she smiled falsely and leaned forward slightly, as though she was telling him an important secret. "Careful now." She hissed in a falsely pleasant tone, "You wouldn't want to be like the humans now would you?" She smirked, her words like daggers. "They seem to think they can tell people not to be themselves. Don't tell me not to Warp around. I'm a Sly. Unless you chain me to a tree, I'll Warp where I want." Satisfied, she leaned back again and considered the rest of his words.

However, before she could respond, she was interrupted by one of Aindreas's. A male Feline. Vera watched the boy as he reported to his leader, almost as if she wasn't there. Though she didn't blame him, and she wasn't offended. He wasn't loyal to her. There was no need for him to report to her. "Good morning. Aindreas, the Institution isn't active right now. I only saw one guard on patrol and he looked pretty tired. There are two doors, a main entrance and a back door that has some sort of fancy electronic lock on it. There's a large window on the ground floor, too. I'm guessing because of that they keep the captives in higher floors or underground," Vera watched the Feline, an idea hatching.

She then turned back to Aindreas, tucking a piece of fire-red hair behind her ear, revealing the piercing there that she'd done herself a long time ago. "I like your plan Aindreas. Not bad. However, a ring of fire? It would take too long for you to set up, and we need you to do other things." She looked back at the Feline, unable to remember his name for the life of her. "What if you have..." She hesitated on his name, "This Feline, make a force field around the place while we're in there and stand at one of the doors? That way, nothing can get in until we're done, and he can take it down for us to get out." She glanced at the Feline, looking him over briefly. She wasn't sure how Feline powers worked. Did it drain him at all to make a field and keep it up? Would he be able to make a field that big for that long?

She turned back to Aindreas. "And don't you worry your little head about my people. They'll follow me anywhere." She said, hoping it was true, and hoping that he couldn't see that she herself was unsure of it. "We should also all pair up, so that no one's alone." She said, glancing at the camp briefly, hoping they had even numbers. She'd like to take Alex as her partner, but she had a feeling she should probably take Aindreas, seeing as they were both the leaders.

You don't have to do this you know. Vera was startled by the voice in her head. Miatta. She'd sensed her nerves before even Vera herself had. We could just take Boo and Alex and get out of here. Or, better yet, just us. We could go in the middle of the night. No one would know.

Vera closed her eyes briefly, blocking the thoughts out. She knew Miatta meant no harm. She wasn't some sinister side of her, trying to convince her to bail on her friends, she was just presenting the opportunity they both knew was there. It was in their nature. As a sly, every single instinct she had screamed that large groups were bad. The animal in her wanted freedom. Wanted solitude. It wanted to be able to look out only for itself.

But she couldn't do that. The human in her would never forgive itself if she left. No Miatta. We can't do that. She said to her Familiar before opening her eyes again to look at Aindreas. No matter how much she denied it, she was terrified of going back into an Institute, if not for herself, than for the others, but she was also ready to actually do something instead of just sit by.

---

Ada stood back, listening to the leaders talk, watching their movements, but not engaging in the conversation. She had no place in it really, though she knew Aindreas would jump off a cliff if she told him to, she really wasn't qualified to be a leader, and so, she left the decision making to him and the fire-haired escapee.

Adalind watched her brother respond angrily to Vera, knowing he was giving her the exact reaction she wanted, but not feeling the need to step in. She sighed and sat again, tearing at little pieces of grass in boredom. Sometimes she wished she could go on the raids, just for the sake of having something to do, but Adalind understood why Aindreas made her stay back. Someone had to watch the camp, and she really didn't think she was ready to go back in there anyway. Plus, he didn't want her hurt, and Ada didn't want to get hurt either. Not so much for herself though, but for him. Sometimes feared what he would do should she ever be hurt, he was so protective of her. He would probably be so blinded by rage, he'd do something he'd only regret later.

"She's the half blind girl right? Well I don't mind that, she would probably keep us back if she came but if she stays she listens to Adalind." Addie heard her name, and looked up, meeting Aindreas's eyes with a smile. Someone was going to stay back with her? She couldn't help but feel happy. She'd never had company. Usually it was just her and the empty camp when the others went on raids.

She glanced around, wanting to find the girl she'd be on watch with, but was inturrupted when Kefir growled suddenly, making her jump. She turned to him, and rubbed his ears gently. "What's wrong Kefir?" She asked as he placed his head in her lap, and then noticed how the fox that had been watching her flicked her tail impatiently and stalked off to take her seat by Vera. Ada smiled softly and kissed Kefir on the head. "Thanks Kefir." She whispered softly.

"Hey Addy, didn't sleep well last night?" A kind voice, made Adalind turn her head to see Emerald sitting next to her. She smiled at the green-haired girl, and turned to face her. She liked Emerald. She was always so nice to her, and she didn't mind the way she babied her a little. It felt almost motherly, and Ada liked the feeling of having someone else care about her.

In response to her question, Addie just sighed deeply and shrugged, leaning back on her arms, pushing her long black hair behind her, letting the raising sun touch her icy pale skin. She didn't sleep well. Everyone in camp knew that. It was hard to keep your nightmares a secret when you woke up, screaming bloody murder where everyone could hear you. It had started to become a problem, so Ada had volunteered to take night watch, and promised Aindreas she'd sleep during the day, though she didn't always keep it, making her very tired. However, she was the kind of person who could ignore discomfort so it didn't really bother her too much.

"You know sometimes when I can't sleep I put on one of my mother's pieces of jewelry, the songs they sing sometimes help me get to sleep. If you ever want to barrow one to see if it would help you sleep I'd be more than happy to lend it to you." Adalind's hand moved up to the small diamond at her neck. Just barely enough to give her nourishment, but still her most prized possession. She turned her head towards Emerald, meeting her hazel eyes with her own pitch black ones, a grateful smile on her lips. "Maybe tonight I'll try that,thank you. It would be great to have a regular sleeping pattern again. Though I don't mind taking night watch really." She smiled softly. "Gives me a chance to listen to the stars." Ada looked up as her brother ordered Emerald to gather everyone up, then turned back to the girl. She wanted to place a hand on her arm and thank her, but she couldn't touch her. Touch was too revealing. Too invasive. She had to be satisfied with only words.

She looked up as Leif returned from his watch and smiled. "Leif!" She grinned, standing up next to her best friend, giving him a hug, being careful to only touch the fabric of his shirt, and not his skin. "Good luck in the raid today." She said, pulling back. That was another thing that sucked about being the only one left behind. She had to let her brother and her friends run straight into the face of danger while she stood by helplessly on the sidelines. What if something happened to them? How would she ever know? She'd rather be captured or killed with them, than be the only one left. Loneliness was not something she coped with well.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Amelia stiffened a bit, she hated when others touched her in any way “I don’t want to hurt you, But you need to cooperate. We’re almost there. Hearing the person speak she knew it was Seph. She didn't like any of the hunters even when they tried to show a little compassion, they made her hunt her only living family and she hated them for that. The only person that she has become to like was Jay, he helped her when she was hurting. Feeling Seph's hand still on her shoulder she let out a soft sigh "where is Sage" she asked in a whisper. She knew her familiar was in the general area because she would be feeling a lot of discomfort if she was left at the institute but the bird must of been sedated because she couldn't reach out her mind to the bird.

She wondered if Jay was also here but she has yet heard his voice. "I have just been informed that the situation is worse than we thought." Damien's voice brought her out of her thoughts, even though she couldn't see, she knew the hunters were gathering about to start the hunt. "The escapees, and the Revolution are working together, meaning that one quick attack would be messy. People might get away, and others that we were ordered to capture, might get killed. So I've come up with a new plan." She didn't like the sound of that, she was glad Aindreas got more people for the Revolution group but a new plan always got things messy. "We'll sneak into their camp while they're away on a raid and capture whoever they leave to watch, and take them back to an Institute. They'll try to make a rescue. But we'll be ready for them. We'll have someone on the inside, feeding us information about every move they make." Amelia wanted to scream, god she just wish she could get away and not have to do this any longer. She really hoped Ada and Andy were not the ones staying back, it would just make her feel worse.

She must of got lost in her mind for a few mintutes because Damien was now telling everyone to pack up and get ready. She leaned her head back against the tree and waited there until one of the hunters came to fetch her and make her start tracking again.

---

Aindreas was already getting annoyed with Vera, he did not like having her step in like she is part of the leadership. Relax Andy, she is just trying to give you a hard time, females do that Kefir's voice was heard through his thoughts and he shook his head looking over at his Familiar who was stretched out next to Ada. He looked back to Vera as the girl started talking again."Careful now, you wouldn't want to be like the humans now would you?" He growled softly wanting to tell her she should just go now, he wasn't sure how long he will be able to work with Vera if she kept this up "They seem to think they can tell people not to be themselves. Don't tell me not to Warp around. I'm a Sly. Unless you chain me to a tree, I'll Warp where I want.".

His anger was nearly spiking and he could feel the heat in his hands, he looked over to Ada and then tried to take a few deep breaths to calm himself before he accidentally starts something on fire."This area is my are so try to be respectful…remember whose territory you are on". He growled then turned around as he heard another person approach, he gave a nod to Leif as he reported in "Good morning. Aindreas, the Institution isn't active right now. I only saw one guard on patrol and he looked pretty tired. There are two doors, a main entrance and a back door that has some sort of fancy electronic lock on it. There's a large window on the ground floor, too. I'm guessing because of that they keep the captives in higher floors or underground,". He took a few moments to think this over the patted Leif's shoulder "alright, thank you Leif that information will be very useful to us".

Vera then started talking about the plan which made him focus back on the red head "I like your plan Aindreas. Not bad. However, a ring of fire? It would take too long for you to set up, and we need you to do other things", he really couldn't argue with that so he continued to listen to Vera. What if you have...This Feline, make a force field around the place while we're in there and stand at one of the doors? That way, nothing can get in until we're done, and he can take it down for us to get out." He took a couple minutes to consider her idea "His name is Leif and if he can keep up the force field long enough than that would be a good idea" he then looked to Leif "think you are up for that?"

As he waited for Leif's response Vera spoke up again "And don't you worry your little head about my people. They'll follow me anywhere. We should also all pair up, so that no one's alone." He looked at her, thinking that over, they usually kept together when going on a raid because they had such a small group but with the escapees joining them it would be different this time. "Usually we all stick together but in this case we have more people, so yes I agree. I also think my people should pair up with some of your people because we have done raids before you have not."

He the looked over to Ada "How about you go find um the girl Boo and get aquainted with her, also make sure to keep your eyes peeled and use your abilities if you have to Adalind" he said the last part in a bit of a protective voice. Kefir gave Ada a soft nuzzled then got up and went to Aindreas's side. Aindreas looked down to Kefir I have a bad feeling about something Kefir, but I can't pinpoint it. His intuition was usually very good and Kefir knew this You think somethings going to happen on the raid? Kefir asked looking up at him. A slight sigh escaped his mouth I don't know Kefir, I just don't know.

Back under the veil it was, then.

Seph would have given Shade some kind of response, but Damien’s voice commanded her attention, and at the sound of him she snapped her gaze in his direction like a dog trained to jump at a sound. Her hands she folded neatly behind her back, her stare unblinking and certainly not warm. Emotionless was the better word. She’d been forced to show no reaction to so many things that it became more or less second nature at some point.

It was a pretty typical entrance he had proposed, collapsing into a rebel or escapee camp, wounded and seemingly delirious, inventing a tale about a desperate escape from an Institute or fleeing a massacre from some Revolutionary camp. It certainly wasn’t her preferred method of infiltration considering that it involved injuring herself, but she’d done it enough times before in reality, and simulated it countless times in labs, to know how to handle it. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if her leader had any qualms about ordering her to sustain a serious injury in order to conjure sympathy in their prey.

He is an efficient leader, if perhaps a little aggressive, Demi said from somewhere above them, perched on a branch. He uses your skills effectively. We should be able to avoid any direct conflict this way. Seph was tempted to roll her eyes, but the knowledge that only she was privy to the conversation they were having stopped her. Unless you count me taking a bullet or two for effect as direct conflict. She could feel Demi as if she were next to her, her Familiar offering a comforting nudge. We’ve done this before, Seph. The Revolutionaries may kill you if it comes to conflict. Our allies will not kill us. If nothing else, we are more useful alive.

That got an eye roll, which she hoped wouldn’t be interpreted as her disliking the orders given to her. She put a few steps between her and Shade, before speaking to Damien. She stood just outside the tent, hands folded behind her back as before. “If I’m to infiltrate the revolutionaries,” she began, cautiously, “I believe it would be best if I did not take part in the capturing of their watchers. The less people that see my face, the better. With your permission, I’d like to hold back until the task is completed. We can then prepare my injuries and appearance in private, and continue from there.” The calm way in which she said all of that implied how typical this was for her. Few people could speak of seriously injuring themselves as calmly as someone trained to do it for all of their life.

Demi flapped down to settle on her shoulder, perhaps to get a look at Damien herself. “I can send information through my Familiar, in the form of written messages… unless there is another way to communicate you have in mind.”

“If I’m to infiltrate the revolutionaries,” Damien stopped mid-pack, hearing a voice outside his tent. Seph. With a sigh, he pushed out and stood before her, listening as she spoke. “I believe it would be best if I did not take part in the capturing of their watchers. The less people that see my face, the better. With your permission, I’d like to hold back until the task is completed. We can then prepare my injuries and appearance in private, and continue from there.” Damien was impressed to say the least. He was a sexist guy, and preferred his women to be as feminine as possible. Not because he liked them that way, but because he thought that was all they were capable of. Their emotions got in the way too often. However, here Seph was, speaking of her own injuries without so much as a twitch. He nodded approvingly for a brief second, and watched as her Familiar came down to look at him. “I can send information through my Familiar, in the form of written messages… unless there is another way to communicate you have in mind.”

Damien nodded. He liked the idea of using her Familiar a lot. In the middle of the night, no one would even realize that her raven was missing. "Alright, done and done. You can stay behind with..." He glanced at the Hunters and picked a random male Feline. "Travis, and wait until we return. It's best if no one sees you. Not even the prisoners. And I like the idea of using your Familiar as a way to communicate. We'll go with that. Make sure you can pull this off. I have no doubt it they find out what you are, they'll kill you. When we get back, the others will take the prisoners and continue on. I'll stay back to make sure your settled in with the Revolution, and then I'll head off."

With that, he turned back to collecting his things. Once he was packed, and the twins had packed up his tent, he walked across the now dismantled camp to the prisoner. "Lucky day." He said to her. "Rajah has already scouted ahead and found the camp so we wont need you. However, you will be coming with us, just in case they moved last minute."

"Mackenzie!" He called across the camp. "You'll be in charge of escorting the prisoner on our way there. Make sure she doesn't try anything funny."

With that, he turned to the rest of the camp, all now packed up, his Hunters were ready to move. They would leave their things here, ready-and-packed, so that when they got back, they'd be able to just take off. "Let's go." He said, nudging his Familiar, Rajah up front to lead the way as he turned and disappeared into the woods.