Crystal Rivers's Story

Allison had just made it to her bed a few hours earlier. It was almost morning but it was still dark, and she had one of those rare peaceful moments when she was so exhausted she actually fell asleep as soon as she laid herself down on the bed. She was way too tired to let the sounds bother her, or to even dream. And those dreamless nights were the few moments of relief that allowed her to keep her sanity intact.

Still... If she was expecting peace, that wasn't going to be a very good day. Only a couple of hours after getting home, she was being pulled away from her well deserved rest, by something that hit her right on the head. She mumbled some very unpleasant words, still half-asleep, and felt her heart nearly jump right out of her chest when she identified Crys as being her attacker, when hearing her voice. "I don't know what you said there, but I'm sure it wasn't nice."

Allison opened her eyes immediately and sat up. She identified the object that hit her as being one of her leather boots, that Crys probably picked up from the floor and threw at her. She put it on and reached for the other one, nodding. "One day I'll get back at you for this."

Crys nodded in disbelief. "No... You won't. Don't make promises you can't keep, it makes you look bad."

Allison looked through the cracks on the walls of the wooden cabin and let out a sigh. "It's not even morning yet, Crys! I got home a few hours ago!"

Crys stared at her seriously. "I know, I gave you the assignment. And watch your tone with me. You're graduated, but I'm still you superior." She then smiled and added. "I understand that you are tired, but my mother is calling all actives and instructors to see her. She has some announcement to make. So you better move, we're the only ones who aren't there already."

Allison didn't say another word. She put on her other boot and got on her feet. She followed Crys out of the cabin and walked to a larger cabin that stood further away from the center of the camp. Crys knocked and opened the door. Allison followed her in, and as soon as she closed the door Dani Rivers began to speak.

"Good. Now you are all here. We have received some disturbing information in the past night regarding the disappearances and strange deaths that have occurred in the past few weeks." She made a pause, and lifted a notification, that had been clearly torn off a wall. "This has been spread all over the city of Newhaven, and we have been informed that the same will be done in Blackpond shortly."

Allison's eyes widened as she read what was written in the poster Dani was showing them, and all of a sudden people started to talk amongst themselves in whispers. Crys, poked her between the ribs. "What does it say?"

Allison didn't look at her, she kept her eyes on Dani while she patiently waited for everyone to stop talking. "They are blaming us for the deaths. The ruler of Newhaven is offering 500 gold coins for any information on the location of the camp." She could feel Crys shiver beside her when hearing her words. Allison knew that Crys was thinking about how many people had that information. One would be enough to have them all killed.
If Allison had thought she would have peace... That thought now seemed like a very distant dream to her.

Crystal shivered, slightly, when hearing Allison's words as to what the poster said. Not only because of what that meant, but also for the overwhelming amount of mixed emotions locked up in such a small space. She concentrated in keeping herself under control and not bumping up against anyone, that would make it all worse.

Someone talked about taking action and soon after that, silence... Followed by even more noise. Crys didn't understand why her mother remained silent in the middle of all that chaos. She recognized the sound of the door opening, and then steps in the room. Someone was late, and a smirk crossed her face when the girl who had just entered spoke up, and she finally laughed after hearing Ali's reply to all that. "That's just suicidal! You people are suggesting we kill both leaders of two cities that are at war, disregarding the fact that none of them has an heir to take their place. Not that I care, but I really don't see how that will benefit us in the future. That assuming we could pull it off, which is unlikely."

Crys nodded, after she finished laughing. "Shut up. All of you. There's more to be said here... Isn't it so?" She faced the direction where her mother was standing, and waited for her reply, after the room finally fell silent.

Dani Rivers spoke "I'm afraid, the reward is the least of our problems. The actual problem is, the deaths occurred in areas near where our actives where assigned to, and three of our actives sent on assignment last night did not return. Honestly, I doubt they are still alive. So, as of this moment everyone is to remain on camp grounds until further notice. That is an order I seriously advice you not to try breaking. If you have any pending assignments, report them to a instructor. That will be all."

Everyone started leaving, back to whispering and seeming unsatisfied, Crys started to follow, but her mother called. "Not you Crystal. I need to speak with you."

Everyone began to leave, but Evin stayed. Although his idea was turned down, he understood that the idea was in the back of the minds of the leaders and big shots of the clan. When Dani told her daughter to stay back for a chat, Evin interrupted saying, "Before you two talk, I need to take to you Dani.". Although he didn't have a lot of power if any in the Wolfpack, he found it important to set his opinion on the matter and under these conditions, it seemed important for everyone to be able to voice an opinion without a bias.
"We can't just sit in the camp. We need to act now." He said, well aware that Crystal could hear. "If we sit around, we wont get anything done. There will only be political talk that will get us no where. It is important we get people out on missions in order for us to gather information at the least."
He began to walk closer to Dani, getting close enough that the rest of their conversation in private.
"I have a few hunches on who it could be. Now don't get me wrong, it is only a hunch. Some of these hunches lead me to high up in the ranks of Newhaven and one of them even leads me to the death of my friend that you want to know about. So I suggest that you let me follow these leads if you ever want to know the truth about what happened the day my friend died."

Allison left with the others without paying much attention, until she noticed Crys had stayed behind. She didn't really want to do this, and she knew it would be dangerous to get caught, but she also knew that there was something Dani hadn't told them.
She leaned against a tree, not far from the cabin, and closed her eyes. Slowly the words coming from the cabin became audible, although Dani wasn't speaking to Crys yet.

"Evin, you have been here almost as long as I have, and your parents were loyal friends to my family, so I will excuse your little act of disrespect to my authority. Yes, I am aware of all this. I am already gathering information, and when it arrives I will make my decision. Until then, no one leaves camp. I want the actives to be at hand when I decide on what to do and I need the instructors to keep track of their recruits. Trust me... I don't plan on hiding, but let us be smart. As to your request... I'll give an answer when I have all the facts I need. I'll probably have it by the end of the day."

Allison opened her eyes quickly and her sight returned a bit blurry. She waited a while until she saw Evin leave, and tried again.

"Crys, take this. Know what it is?"

"It's a graduation ring. Who does it belong to?"

Dani didn't answer, instead Allison heard the sound of two metallic objects being dropped on a wooden table. Two other rings. "These arrived not long ago. They weren't the first to be sent either."

Crys answered on a lower tone as if whoever she was talking about could hear them. "Is it him?"

Dani sighed. "Yes, probably. So we have three different situations here... The Hunter, whoever is behind this killings, and the growing reward on our heads."

"Four problems, you mean. There's also the traitor."

There was a long silence, and Allison wondered what Crys meant with that. Until she came across something she had failed to notice... Only the actives themselves, the leaders, and the instructors, would know where they would be sent on assignment. Dani finally answered, and Allison understood why she paused all that time.

"Yes... About that, this is the reason why I asked you to wait. The killings occurred on areas near where only three of our actives were working at, every time. One of which was the only active working last night who actually returned."

"Ali? Who are the other two?"

"Evin, and Takei."

Crys laughed. "Great... The psycho, the suspected traitor and the outsider?"

Dani chuckled "I never said that. But I want you to keep them on observation. Someone is giving out information."

Crys sighed "Mother... You are the only one who hasn't said that. I think none of them is the traitor. Evin grew up here, where would he go? Ali... You know her, she's border-line insane, but she's loyal. Takei is too smart to risk having another assassin clan after her, or at least I hope so."

"Ali has severe anger issues, she's young and impulsive and not too bright at times. Evin is very much fond of bending rules, and there's the treason issue. Takei is a gifted assassin, but she was born and raised in another clan, is natural that her loyalty is questioned from time to time."

Crys insisted. "Anyone would know that as well as you and me. They would be the easiest people to frame."

"And whoever did would have to watch them... Unless you suspect your father and myself of doing this."

Crys stifled a giggle. "No, of course not. I will do as you say. Where is father by the way?"

"Getting information in Blackpond. You will all know what he discovered later on. Now move along, I do have some thinking to do."

The door opened, and Allison stopped listening, but she still couldn't see. So she never saw who was suddenly pressing her throat, against the tree, until she heard a whisper "Listen in on my conversations again, and you're dead. Understood?"

Allison nodded, which hopefully Crys must have felt, because she was released moments later, and fell on her knees coughing and drawing too much attention.