The bar in the outer sector of Opal held a storm of voices. What space of air wasn't filled with the rumble of conversations was crowded with a jazzy tune that contrasted the harshness of the establishment. The din of the place made thinking impossible and what thoughts did appear in minds had to be screamed to be heard.

Still, when the door to the bar opened and a cloaked figure stepped soundlessly inside, those closest to the newcomer stopped talking. Eyes latched onto the silver cloak, mesmerized. The silver held the same sheen as moonlight reflected on the ocean. It was a blend of light and dark, seeming to ripple when there was no breeze to stir it.

In contrast, the one who wore it was nothing special. Though the young man was tall and well built, his face was unremarkable, his skin a warm brown, his short hair the same color. What stood out were his eyes, a silver to match the cloak.

As he strode through the bar, the crowd parted for him, the word 'ghost' breathed into companions' ears as eyes followed his confident movements. The young man stopped at a dim corner in that back. A different cloaked figure slouched in a chair, back against the wall. Unlike the silver cloaked young man, this figure garnered less attention than a shadow.

Wrapped in the folds of an iridescent black cloak, it would have been impossible for anyone to know that the slender form of a girl barely nineteen sat there. But Luscin knew.

"I would ask if I can sit," Luscin said, "but I have a good idea I know what the answer will be."

Still knowing what he knew, he sat down. The girl said nothing. With her ebony skin and her hood pulled over her face, there was no way to see her expression. But Luscin knew that Sy's soft features were stony.

Luscin leaned back in his chair, allowing the noise of the bar to beat away out his ears. When he noticed a pair of inquisitive gazes pinned on him from the next table over, he slowly turned his eyes on them. The pair froze, trapped in curiosity and fear, their minds playing out every rumor and story they ever heard about the silver cloaked legion. Luscin opened his mouth and breathed out, manipulating his breath, crystalizing it so it appeared like a menacing mist.

The pair shrank back, scuttling away, unaware that they left their half-filled drinks behind. It was a basic trick that any third-tier Ghost learned. It was harmless but deceptively unnerving to those who didn't know the truth. Sy would have found this trick amusing if she wasn't so annoyed that Luscin found her.

"Talk to me, Sy," Luscin said.

As he spoke the din of the bar became muffled, the particles in the air expanding to absorb the sound, creating a wall around the two companions. This act was one that only fifth tier Ghosts knew, the precision of creating an exact radius taking years to master.

"How did you find me?" Sy asked.

The outer sector of Opal drew the worst of society since nowhere else was dirty enough to match their lives. The bar held the lowest of the low, the type of criminals Sy would normally avoid. The air reeked of sweat and strong spirits, the type that came cheap and could burn the shine off a new star cursor. It was a place she never would have chosen to be. That was why she had picked it. But she didn't know how Luscin knew that.

"I never lost you," Luscin said. "Only giving you space."

Sy sank deeper into the fold of her cloak, crossing her arms as she regarded Luscin.

"Why come now?"

She asked but in her gut, she knew the answer.

"It's been a month. Your guardship needs you."

Sy didn't reply. They might need her, but she didn't intend to go back. Not after what happened. Luscin watched her with those silver eyes, eyes that matched Sy's, eyes that distinguished all members of the Ghost Legion.

"You are not the only one who misses Honor."

"Don't!" Sy slammed her hand on the table with such force that it shook the bottle on it. "Don't say his name." She jabbed her finger at Luscin as if she could pierce his heart with it. Just as the name Honor pierced hers. Unfazed by the outburst, Luscin leaned forward and wrapped Sy's hand in both of his, a gesture of comfort and compassion.

Sy didn't want his comfort or compassion. With a single thought, she ghosted her hand, leaving Luscin clutching nothing but mist as she pulled away. Free of his hold, her hand reformed.

"Leave me alone," she said, her anger fleeing her.

Luscin turned sober, hard lines cutting into his youthful face. "You serve The Lenex, Silence."

The use of her full name was intentional and Sy hated him for it. Hated that it was a reminder that she was born into this world. A world she no longer wanted part of.

"I serve no one," she said, her voice taut with grief and rage. "Not someone who willingly let us walk into Daria knowing that a contingent of Shadows supported the Darian lords. Not when that someone put my brother on the front lines."

Luscin said nothing. How could he when it was all true. When he gave her no fight, Sy retreated into her corner again.

"My disappearance shouldn't matter. I'm one Ghost," she said.

Though she said it they both knew it was a lie. She wasn't any Ghost. She was a Descendent. One of the twenty whose lineage went all the way back to the beginning of the league. A trait marked by the black cloak she wore instead of the silver.

Luscin dropped his gaze from her and Sy's stomach tightened in reaction. She knew that look. Knew that what he was about to say pained him. It was the true reason he was here.

"The Lenex has ordered your return," Luscin said. "And Killian wants you on his guard."

Sy dug her nails into her palm. "And if I refuse?"

Luscin let out a heavy breath, still unable to meet her searing gaze. "You are to be arrested and stripped of your station."

Sy seethed in silence.

"I'm not his," she said through gritted teeth.

Luscin raised his head, apologetic. "No, but as the son to The Lenex and heir to the Empire, you are Killian's to command."

Sy couldn't move, could barely breathe. She couldn't go back. Not to the place that once was her home but was now a reminder of all she lost. Luscin sighed, able to sense the turmoil in her mind.

"Don't make me fight you," he said. Sy opened her mouth to make a comment about it hardly being a fight when he went on. "I don't feel like losing to you today."

The statement tugged all her memories of them training together to the forefront of her mind.

"I need you, Sy."

At the weariness in Luscin's voice, Sy felt her resolve crumbling. Letting herself truly look at him without her shield of emotions wrapped around her, she saw the pain in his eyes, the grief he'd been walking through the same as her.

"I won't let him have me," she said.

"And I will fight right alongside you so that it never happens."

Slowly, Sy leaned forward, coming out of the security of her darkened corner. From the weak light overhead, Luscin could make out more of her face. The stony expression was gone.

"Promise me," she said.

He held out his hand to her, palm up. "I promise with all the strength in me."

Sy laid her hand in his and he wrapped his fingers around it, gripping with quiet assurance. When Luscin stood, he pulled Sy up with him.

"Time to go home," he said.

"I lost my home."

Luscin held her gaze, understanding, and compassion locked in his eyes. "Then let me be your new one." 

Sy heard the conviction behind the offer, not love but loyalty. She took her hand back and headed towards the door. She didn't know how to accept an offer like that. Without a word, Luscin took the spot beside her. Halfway to the door, they stopped, their path blocked by a group of large, muscular men. In comparison, Luscin and Sy looked to be nothing special with their slim builds.

The man at the head of the pack glared down at the two cloaked figures, anger contorting his features.

"My brother was killed by a Ghost," he said.

"Then he must have done something wrong," Luscin said passively.

The leader curled his fists, his muscles tensing with indignation and outrage. "He was a worker like the rest of us." He waved his hand about, gathering in all of the bar's occupants into one label, though Sy was positive only a few of them had done an honest day's work. "He didn't deserve to die, you do."

Conversations ceased at the declaration leaving nothing in its wake but the jazzy tune that opposed the tense mood. Despite the initial fear that Luscin's silver cloak had created, the occupants all nodded and muttered amongst themselves, happy to see a pair of Ghost's eliminated. One less Ghost meant more freedom for them. If a group of men were willing to take the lead in killing them, who was going to stop them?

Feeling the mood shift of the bar, Sy stepped towards the man, lowering her hood as she did, giving the man a chance to see her piercing silver eyes and the calm control in her manner. When the man turned his attention on her, she said nothing. Like her namesake, she was silent. For her parents had gifted her with a name that meant power. In a world where the loudest assumed they held control, silence could be a weapon. 

The man's anger grew stronger fueled by agitation from being pinned under this girl's penetrating gaze. The man's followers exchanged looks, feeling unsettled by the lack of action or word. Even the bar's patrons sat frozen, muscles straining with tension at holding still.

When the leader could no longer bear Sy's stare, he roared and raised a hand to strike, but Sy moved fast. She raised her ghosted hand and mist flew into the man's nose and throat, cutting off his airway. Shocked, the man stumbled, eyes-widening with fear as he clutched at his throat as if he could rip open the skin and tear the mist out. He fell to one knee as Sy watched him emotionless. When his eyes rolled back in his head, Sy retracted her hold, her hand forming once again. The leader slumped to the grimy floor, unconscious.

Sy surveyed the room, taking in the stunned expressions.

"I'm Silence Shalyn," she said.

Though her first name meant nothing, her last one sparked recognition. Shalyn was the name that belonged in the myths, to giants that fought in the battles long before the Empire had become what it was then.

Sy stepped over the man's prone form, heading for the door, the remaining members of the pack parting to let her pass. No one moved, no one spoke as Sy and Luscin left. Only when the door to the bar swung closed, did they let themselves breathe again.

Outside appeared no better than the bar's interior. Towering builds crowded out most of the night sky and what patches of the galaxy could be seen were cut through with sky bridges. Neon signs flickered in and out of life, their gaudy hues casting strange shadows on the sides of buildings. A rank smell permeated the street, a mixture of trash, vomit, and sewer. Sy swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat at the pungent fumes. Ready to be gone from the filth of the sector, Sy waved to Luscin to lead the way.

Before they barely put a yard between them and the bar, the air vibrated with the soft purr of an engine. Instinctively, Sy and Luscin looked up and saw a sleek cruiser descending towards them. A tornado of air whipped up, sending trash and dirt swirling around the pair. Sy squinted, trying to keep the grime from her eyes.

As the cruiser landed before them, Sy pulled out her blade. It was double-sided, curving in opposite directions. When matched with any other weapon in the solar system it appeared pathetic. But the amusement, mockery, or skepticism that often appeared at the sight of the twin-blade was locked on the opponents' faces before they knew what happened. Beside her, Luscin didn't move and Sy's stomach sank.

"Did you alert him or did he follow you?" she asked. She held up a hand, halting whatever Luscin might say. "Don't answer. I don't want to hate you for the rest of my life."

The rear gangway of the cruiser lowered and two distinctive clouds of mist rolled out, checked the perimeter before solidifying by the gangway into two different guards with slant gray cloaks. Axel and Tor perked up at seeing Sy, even as they maintained their rigid posture.

"Axe, Tor," Sy said in greeting, stowing away her blade.

Axel nodded his head to her, the twitch in his lips saying he wanted to smile at her, but didn't because from within the cruiser a pair of footsteps approached.

Killian strode down the gangway wearing a pearlescent cloak. He moved with a grace that captivated, just as his appearance did. With golden skin, silvery-blue eyes, striking features, and snow-white hair, he wasn't handsome, he was beautiful. It was the kind of beauty inspired love, loyalty, and devotion. At twenty-years-old, he could sway an Empire to his side with hardly a thought.

At the sight of him, Sy felt sick.

When he smiled at Sy, he glowed with life. There was nothing false about the smile, no calculating glint in his eyes. The love he showed was genuine.

But Sy had learned there were different types of love. There was a love that sacrificed itself for others. There was a love that warmed someone when they were lonely. And there was a kind that smothered someone because it was unwanted.

Stopping in front of Sy, Killian gazed at her with unguarded devotion. When he raised his hand to her face, she flinched.

"I thought I lost you," Killian said, his voice so soft and caring that it knifed at Sy's heart.

No matter how many times she told him that she didn't want him, it didn't matter. In a world where everyone seemed to want him, he convinced himself that he wanted the one girl who didn't. Sy hated him for his selfishness. If he believed as he said that he cared for her deeply, he would leave her alone.

"When will you understand that I was never yours to lose," she said, pulling out of his reach.

Despite the edge to her voice, Killian remained unfazed.

"When will you realize that I don't plan on ever losing you? I will wait."

Sy felt her anger mounting, wanting to break out, explode on this man who would never understand that she didn't want him to wait, didn't want him at all.

"It will make no difference."

Killian smiled at her with all the confidence of someone who had never known the word 'no'. Before Sy could lash out at him, she caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye. Like a switch, all her anger vanished and she spun around, alert to someone she couldn't see but could sense lingered close by. At her sudden movement, Luscin scanned the surrounding area, searching for what set his nerves on edge.

Sy's heart jolted when from further down the street a contingent of Shadows emerged from alleyways. They moved towards the cruiser and the group before it with water like grace. One second a Shadow would be solid, the next is melted into the street only to reappear a few yards closer. Like Ghosts, they could change their physical form, but not for long.

"Sir, we need to leave now," Axel said, taking Killian's arm, urging him away from the approaching enemy.

Killian fought his guards hold, reaching for Sy. "Sy, you have to come with me. There's too many."

She looked at him, hating that there was true concern and fear for her in his eyes.

"Sy, you can't fight them. You have no choice," Killian said.

Sy glanced at the open cruiser, the gangway leading to a pristine interior that offered comfort and safety to the man who feared for her, wanted nothing but to have her on board next to him. He was right, there was no choice.

She tore away from his grasp, slid out her blade, and raced towards the continent of Shadows.

************************************

Hello Mellow!

I haven't written a first chapter in a long time! It's kinda weird!

This first chapter was inspired by reading the Ranger's Apprentice series and loving the cloaks they wore and then picturing the bar from Stars Wars that has the cantina band in it. Then it became something in between both of those worlds.

Where is it going?

Honestly, not a clue but I think the dynamic between Luscin and Sy is interesting. And I'm curious to see how everything with Killian and Sy would play out. I don't see them ever getting together. But who knows.

Question for you: would you read on?

Vote, comment, follow but only if your a Noodle and have no other option.