The sun grew dark. The smell of gun smoke and wet stone seemed to fade.  Starting out of the window everything was dark, too dark.  The sound of a rusty metal door creeping open filled the void in the room. The creeping of the door bounced off of the stone walls making them every bit louder. 

    "Training is in five minutes. Mercenary time to dress." The husky voice stated. 

   "Had Macey came back get." I gritted slightly turning my head towards the door.  My long brown hair fell past my shoulders revealing half of my sun kissed skin in the dim light. 

  "No, I'm afraid not." The voice spoke again. Placing my hand onto the stone window seal, I began to stand up. 

   "Leave." I demanded with power in my voice.  My eyes met the mans before they turned into a scolding stare. He bowed his head and walked slowly out the door.  Tucking my hair behind my small ear, my hand ran up and down my closet door. Reaching out for my training outfit, I carefully slipped it on top of my bare skin.  

     Strolling over to the table just a few feet behind the window in the corner my hand ran across the items that laid there.   Grabbing ahold of my thick nightshade knife, I placed it into the air and examined it carefully.  

  My hand rested at the end of the knife. The bottom half held a thick grip with golden embedding inside.  The blade itself was curved into a fine and sharp point. There was a large cutoff in the middle of the blade that gave it the extra flare I love.  Placing the blade into the holder just above my right leg, I slipped on my black gloves and pinned my hair into a piney tail.   Walking out of the room I began walking down the long and narrow hallway to the training room. 

        Reaching the end of the hall, a large room filled with huge lights and weapons galore my training partner stood waiting. 

    "Decided to join Rose?" His thick voice sounded throughout the room.  His hair was shaved leaving only small stubble on his head matched the stubble on his face. His gleaming six pack flashed in the light as he grabbed his custom made blade out of the pocket on his left thigh. 

     "Ready to get your ass whooped again Alex." I sneered grabbing my knife from my pocket.  He let out a scoff before we stood in our battle stances.   He bent down slightly holding his hand welding the blade in the space next to his face.  I spread my feet apart shoulder length before placing my arm holding my blade parallel to the ground. 

   Glaring into his dark brown eyes my mind went blank for a split second giving him a fighting chance to lunge at me. Ducking under his sung attack I quickly turned to face him once more.  He leaped at the chance and attacked. We swung his arm welding the blade  hard missing me completely giving me a chance to strike.  Swinging my leg to meet his abdomen he stumbled back.  Turning my head to meet him in his dazed state I leaped into the air gripping my blade with two hands.  Falling to the ground, my blade jabbed into his thigh making him curse under his breath.  Letting go of a smirk he quickly recovered kicking my in the face making me fall hard to the ground.  He pinned my left arm to the ground with his knee before smirking.  He rushed the blade towards my face before I quickly moved.  The blade grazed through my shoulder cutting my skin slightly but enough to make it bleed. Kicking him in his man hood he fell to the ground. Grabbing my blade off the ground I jumped onto of Alex straddling him before rushing my blade towards his heart.  Stopping before the blade could penetrate his skin he said the words; 'fine I yeld' he choked out as much as it hurt his ego.  Setting my blade back into my pocket, I bent down to his face planting a kiss onto his cheek. 

     Getting up from off of him, I tightened my piney tail slowly walking out of the ring. 

   "You know you gotta let me win once In a lifetime." He laughed. 

    "And what kind of assassin would I be it I did that." I laughed grabbing some water from the table in the corner.   Turning my gaze to meet Alex he was placing a shirt onto his sweaty body while drinking some water out of his bottle.   

    "Rose! Rose! Where is Rose!" A loud yell came from down the hall. Peeking my head out from behind the training room corner my father could be seen pacing down the hallways. 

   "I'm in here papa!" I yelled as he quickly walked to me. His eyes met mine before he pulled me into a tight embrace. "My darling rose, I've been looking for you." He stated planting a kiss upon my cheeks.  

"I'm right here papa." I smiled before his eyes met Alex's. 

"Hello master." Alex bowed. My father smiled slightly before demanding him to leave.  My eyes met my fathers black eyes before he spoke. 

    "There's a problem. I need you to find macey and quickly." He said in a serious face. My face just turned white. What had happened with Macey? Before I could even get the words to form out of my mouth father reached in his back pocket and pulled something out.  My eyes went wide. A long blade with a rich golden bottom stared me in the eyes.

     "Mothers blade...." I smiled before holding the blade in my hands. Father just gave me a holding smile before my eyes fell back down the the blade. My finger traced along the curved edges. 

"Hurry mercenary hurry." He said. Placing the blade into my boot I began running down to my room to get dressed.  Quickly slipping off my torn training clothes, I pulled on a even richer black leather suit. Taking my hair down from the tall ponytail that it laid in I began placing my blades into my pockets and grabbed one of my guns.

 The wind around me blew vigorously. My small hand corresed the gravel below my feet.  My dark leather jacked flowed in the winds Brewster along with my hair.  I watched as the cars zoomed past, there lights ever so bright in the time of night.  I crouched up against the ledge of a tall building giving me an advantage to the city.  Scanning the ground below my eyes caught onto a familiar sight.  Maceys favorite bar 'devils horns' she would always go to this bar every wensday to drink her ass off. 

    Standing up from the ledge I look down to the segment road. Taking a deep breath I take one step forward. Falling down the the ground my hair flows up in the wind.  Suddenly my hand smacks the rubble of the ground as both my feet come to a halt.  

     Flicking my head up from the floor I dust my hand off and begun walking.  The dimly lit streets made the bar look every bit as creepy as anything I had ever seen before, and trust me I've seen a lot.  Looking behind my shoulder for a second I pull the hood off of my head and push my hand against the heavy wood door.  Loud music and the smell of booze sounded as I stepped foot into the bar. 

       Walking further, I earn lustful glared from the men inside. Reaching the bar table a male waiter stood in awe. Rolling my eyes I began tapping my long stiletto nails on the wood table.  The waiter looked oddly nerdy. He had spiked brown hair and lustful eyes. 

     "What can I get you miss?" 

     "Have you seen a girl, long black hair like a raven, green eyes, 5'7?" I said slicing through his words.  Before he had a chance to answer a man walked up to me and placed his hand on the small of my back.  Shifting my gaze to the man, he looked deadly but so was I.  

   "Oh come on dealing why don't I take you out back and show you a good time." He suggested with the whisky smile. He pulled me closer into his body earning a grunt from him.  He thin landed a hard smack on my ass making me boil in rage. Quickly grabbing my blade from my pocket I elbowed him him the face making him stumble back into the table.  

      Gripping my blade harder in my hand I placed it near his atoms apple as his back laid into the sharp point of the wooden table. 

    "Have you seen macey!" I screamed looking into the waiters eyes with rage. 

  "S-s-she was j-j-just here." He stuttered. Turning my gaze back to the asshole pinned to the table I smacked him in the face with the butt of my blade making his nose bleed.  Placing the knife back into my pocket I flipped my hood back over my head and walked out.  Heading down a dark alley way the smell of blood wasn't hard to follow. 

      Reaching the near ending of the narrow alley The was a body laying on the ground with its throat slit in a perfect angle.  

Crouching down to examine further I noticed something strange. The throat slit had a larger width than the blades Macey used.  Suddenly the loud sound of rustling came from behind me making my snap my head.  Quickly running towards the wall, I peeked my head past the corner slightly.  A man slowly walked down the narrow pathway.  

     His black raven hair, and his build exterior made me look with a blank stare.  He had little stubble on his face and blue eyes.  He wore a longish leather jacket that had a symbol that was all to familiar  to me.  It was a viper lined with a skull and bones around it.  He belonged to the Vipers league.  Quickly arborting the alley I quickly ran up the shade of the building my back was pinned towards.  

    I stood at the ledge as the moon light illuminated my body's shadow in its light.  I began staring only his back as he bent down to the ground where the body laid.  Quickly running past the rooftops of the building I reached a save zone where I just sat and stared into the sky.  Who was that guy? I thought to myself. 

********

It currently was the next day. I couldn't shake the thought of the man I saw last night in the alley.  Something about his dark exterior made me wonder with rage and excitement. 

     My opponent was lying on the ground profusely coughing, I helped Alex up and asked if he were okay. Alex nodded his head and walked off, other couples were training some winning, and some losing.  I have been at the training grounds with Alex for more than 3 hours now and I still felt a raging Coldgren boil inside me. 

   "What is up with you today? You seem even angrier and bloodier than usual?" Alex tormented fixing the bandages around his wrists. 

     "What are you talking about?" I glared placing my hands onto my waist.  My Ivey blue eyes never left the ground. Something definitely was bothering me, I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. 

  "Earth to rose?!" Alex shouted making the other fighters stop and turn there gaze to us.  No matter what Alex said I couldn't keep my head in the game.  

   "I'm fine Alex, I'm just going to get some coffee." I said shaking my head. Unwrapping the bandage around my hands and wrists I quickly placed one of my thick jackets over my body. Sitting down in the near by coffee the waitress came over with my coffee and left.   My sketch book and pencil were placed in my hand as I began to draw. I was in a state of perplex emotions and day dreaming.  A few minutes had gone by and my hand began to cramp up. Skating it vigorously I lifted my gaze to the sound of the cafes bell ring meaning someone just walked in.  I couldn't believe my eyes. 

    The man from the alleyway stood walking into the cafe.  Quickly adverting my eyes, they soon met a familiar face on the sketch book. Again the man in the alley was face to face with me on the piece of paper. Why was I drawing him? What hold does he have on me?  Quickly closing the book I slurped my coffee and tried to keep my eyes from him.