Song--Breathe//Fleurie

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Your first kill. Try to picture what that would feel like. You can't, right? Because you can't feel anything. You don't feel the guilt at all, at first. You can't even react. Not when you pull the trigger, not when the bullet hits their bodies, not when they crumple down on the floor, not when their blood touches your feet. The magnitude of the circumstance is too colossal for you to react instantly.

You leave the scene, attempting to forget what you did. Then you see it. The murder weapon, gleaming in your hand, mocking you. That's when it hits you.

A life. That's what you just took. The person who's laying in the crimson of their own blood is there because you pulled the trigger.

That was exactly what happening to Avyanna. Hector had slipped the blood-stained dagger into a leather bag and he too, like the Evermores, had fallen asleep. After all, the fight had drained him completely. Even Ava was wearied but her mind kept conjuring pictures of the rebels, each with three shots in their heads.

She hadn't realized she still held the gun in her hand and threw it on the floor of the carriage almost as soon as she noticed it.

'Six men. Six men. Six men.' Her mind chanted.

She tried to shun those thoughts away and fall asleep but failed repeatedly. Finally, she resorted to simply sit and soak in the silence. After all, there wasn't much she could do but dwell on the happenings at the Springacre council.

✘✘✘

"WHAT?" Bexley's voice rang out to the valleys.

"Quiet down Aillard, people are looking..." Gerald tried to calm him down. Gerald was the only source of information the people of Spiritfalls could seek for the journey of their Assassins.

"I don't give half a shit whether anyone is looking!" Bexley yelled, banging his fist on the table. "Because you just casually broke to me that there was a bloody attack on the Assassins! Do you know if they are okay? Is Irvine okay? Is anyone hurt?"

Gerald shook his head softly and replied,

"We still haven't received any news about their condition whatsoever. The news of the rebel attack reached us through the talks of the townsfolk. All we know is that half the Springacre council was burnt down."

Bexley gave the man a despising, loathsome look.

"Christ how are you- how the heck are you so bloody calm?! Aren't those your Assassins out there too? Like, do you have even the slightest amount of concern for their safety?"

"I am only to provide all of you with the ongoings of the mission. Their safety is not a subj-"

Bexley cut him off by standing up curtly, his chair scraping harshly against the gravel, and roughly took hold of Gerald by the scruff of his neck. Gerald look stupefied as Bex snapped his fingers in front of the informants face.

"Hey, look here. If anything happens to her, and I mean anything, I will cut all of you in little pieces and feed you to the wolves, you hear me!" Bexley spat in his face.

Gerald could only nod, terrified of what would happen if he disagreed.

"Good. Now if you receive any news on them, I am the first person you tell."

✘✘✘

"Morning sunshine!"

Ava was stirred awake by a trilling voice. She ran a hand over her face and then through her hair, which was by now scorched and knotted. She opened her eyes slowly and cover a yawn.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Hector flicked her forehead.

Avyanna shot up suddenly, her head bumping into Hector's.

"Ow!" Both of them exclained in unison.

"Jesus, Kingsley. Ever heard of personal space?" Ava snapped, rubbing her head.

"We need to get out of the carriage now."

Ava looked out the window curiously. She turned back to Kingsley and inquired.

"We've reached Westbrook? So soon? Or have I been sleeping for a day and a half?!"

Hector chuckled at his disoriented little companion and shook his head in answer. Getting up, he opened the carriage door and gestured outside.

"It's not Westbrook."

"Then what is it?"

Kingsley jerked his head to one side, pointing outside and replied, "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Avyanna got down, scratch that, stumbled down the carriage steps, and had to shield her eyes from the scathing sun.

"Ughh what version of hell are we in?" Ava grumbled in discomfort.

"This Avyanna is Summergrove. The hottest, most humid place in Cennet. Half a day away from Westbrook. But, the travel is through the forest and the path is too narrow for a carriage so we're gonna continue horseback!" Hector sounded positively excited.

Ava laughed lightly and moved about. The town was much smaller than Spiritfalls and Springacre. There were wooden houses lined in one section and small utility shops in another. Se spotted a flash of white hair in the distance and immediately walked over.

She was met with Esmeralda in the stables, arranging for their horses. The one closest to Ava was a pure white mare, her long mane brushed. Avyanna stretched out a hand and smiled warmly when it nuzzled into her palm. She stroked its long neck and ruffled its mane.

"She is quite the beauty, isn't she?" Esmeralda commented when she saw Ava playing with the mare. Ava nodded slowly, still smiling at the pretty little horse.

Esmeralda left the stables, leaving Avyanna alone. She sat down next to the sleeping mare and kept stroking its white mane.

"That's odd. Sophia isn't very friendly to strangers usually."

Avyanna turned around and saw an old man with a bushy white beard, not too different from "Sophia's" mane.

"Maybe she just really likes me!" Ava exclaimed

The man laughed and held up his index.

"Tell you what, I'll let you ride this one. I hear you're with the Assassins, right?"

"Yes, I am. And thank you. But I must go to the others now, I'll come back in a while for Sophia!" Ava replied, walking out of the stables.

As she made her way back to where Esmeralda, the twins, and Hector were, she noticed that the town folk were shooting her strange looks, mixed with fear and disgust. She strode over to Kingsley and asked him in a low voice.

"Why is everyone staring at me?"

Hector bit his lip and sighed. "Your clothes." He replied.

Avyanna looked down at her attire and gasped. Her once clean clothes were now splattered with blood. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand.

"Oh my god! I never realized this- I was- I -" She faltered over her words.

"Hey, it's fine. It's okay."

"No it's not! This is the blood of those rebels that we- that we- killed."

Avyanna's eyes started pooling with tears and Hector pulled her into a hug, his chin resting on top of her head.

"Look Avyanna, we did what we had to, or we would have met the same fate. Those rebels were not good people. There is no point in feeling guilty about it now. It wasn't our fault."

She nodded and sniffled into his shoulder.

They pulled away and he smiled, a glimmer of excitement shining through.

"Now let's prep ourselves for the horseback travel!" He skipped his way to the stables. Ava laughed at the boy and made her way back to the stables. As soon as she entered, she was met with a pouting Kingsley. She cocked an eyebrow and asked him what was wrong, trying her best not to snort at his childish expression.

Hector pointed accusingly at the caretaker man and whined, "This man won't let me have that horse!" 

The man spoke in his defense, "That is because I promised this girl I'd save Sophia for her."Hector huffed and started saddling a tawny brown horse.

"Fine. I'm sure 'Sophia' won't be faster than my horse!"

Ava couldn't help but giggle at his antics. The caretaker walked over to Ava, leaning on his cane and spoke softly so that only she would hear.

"Sophia used to be a racehorse, back in her time. None of them town horses have it in 'em to beat her."

Once everyone was saddled and steady, they resumed their journey. They moved in a train, with Esmeralda at its lead and Derwin bringing up the rear.

They passed through the golden-yellow meadows and cornfields. Ava accidentally made Sophia buck and it breathed in some pollen from the fields. This caused the mare to let out a sneeze every two minutes or so which would send Ava bursting into peals of laughter.

Their horses soon got used to the pace and galloped over the roots and fallen tree trunks in the forest. They whizzed past different places, as though changing the frames of their scenery. Waterfalls and red-brown leaves in Autumndale, snowy blizzards in Winterfrost. At last the warm blue streams and lush green trees greeted them.

All of them slowed their horses to a halt. Hector's horse cantered over to Ava and Hector let out an audible sigh.

"Westbrook, finally."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So sorry for the late update... Jeez i have to be more regular, no? It's just that I start losing the motivation to write sometimes but then i look at all these votes and i'm like nah i'm not giving up so easy...

Also, thank you so much for over 600 reads! I love all you guys! 

Shoutout to my friends who have been supporting me like hell and are the reason I'm still writing:

Saniya7125 OatmealOtter NeverEnoughSparkle11 Rhamesiam littlesurprises

Until then,

Toodles Cinnamon rolls!