Kyoto darted through the forest, panting as he heard the sounds of others clambering through the forest.

"Oi, Jofur, head that way would you?" a gruff voice growled, aiming a torch in Kyoto's direction as Kyoto pressed himself against a tree. "And Kenedy, send your group that way; I want that kid found, and I want to find him now!"

Kyoto shivered as a tendril of honeysuckle coiled around his arm, as though inviting him to stay hidden between the vines. He swatted the vine off his arm as he heard Jofur's group getting closer, and flinched as he heard the war general snap a branch off one of the neighboring trees.

If he had any chance of escaping, it had to be now.

~~~

Clarity let out a horrified scream as she stumbled out of her house, watching the fire consume the house that she had lived in for all fourteen years of her life.

"Help me!" she heard her brother cough out in a choked voice before collapsing at the doorstep, a charred corpse.

Clarity hugged herself tightly, hearing the sound of sirens in the distance. But what could they do now...the dastardly deed was done.

Her mother...a blackened heap on the stairs.

Her father..ha, he had been gone for a long time, did she care about him?

Her two brothers..burned to crisps.

The family dog...who had managed to wake Clarity up in time, but collapsed just before they'd gotten out.

The unsettling thing was..nothing in their house could've caused the fire. She'd checked to make sure that the gas was off, and there hadn't been any issues with the heater in the last couple months.

There was only one answer to this mystery.

It was intentional.
~~

"I asked for payment." a voice growled, gripping a revolver in their hand. "I did what you asked..and you better give me what I want."

A man wearing a black cloak grumbled as he grabbed a fistful of dollars from a pouch tied to their waist.

"That's not everything." The mystery voice snarled, slamming their fist down on the table.

"You'll get the rest once you kill the boy." The man said, tying his satchel firmly. "And I promise I'll double this for you."

"The money I just got, or my supposed total?" the other person muttered.

"I mean the fifty thousand.." the man said. "So that's what, a hundred thousand for two miniscule jobs?"

"You better not be lying." The mystery person said, loading their revolver as they walked out the door. "I'd rather not get my hands dirtier than they already are."
~~
*BOOM*

New book, new plot idea, this should go well!

-alma115