A reason for hatred The jungle was thick, but through her blindfold Kyou could only see the faint glow of the torch. She was being carried over the back of a Avian zealot. Her muscles ached from being in the same position for some hours and the heat of the night made her sweat. She could hear the occasional moan from around her, other hylotl captives held over the shoulder just as she was. Her parents tried to fight but the avians had outnumbered them and captured them along with her. Her entire research settlement was raided in a matter of minutes. She knew some of her flowbrothers and flowsisters died in the fighting, she could smell the blood drying on the avian swords. Sadly, Kyou didn't much care. All she wanted to know was what was going to happen to her and if she will ever see her family again. After many more hours of walking, the sound of chirping and skretching denoted that they had reached some sort of Avian village. Kyou could smell the stench of many Avian around her, a stench she had long grown to fear. Eventually, she was roughly plopped onto the ground, forced onto her knees. She looked around trying to get a sense with the blindfold. She could feel the heat of a large bonfire in front of her and could hear a crowd all around her. She attempted to call for her parents. "Mama!?" She cried out. A swift and fierce blow to the side of the face met her call, the searing pain flared out of nowhere as she heard something crack in her jaw. She could do nothing but whimper and sob as a course Avian makaw echoed in approval of her mistreatment. She heard a voice grumble directly behind her. "Filthy wretch, I will teach you the purpose of your life. The first lesson is to submit under the wings of glory. The second is to hurry up and die!" It crawed spitefully. With that word, the blindfold was ripped from her head with a knife, revealing that she was sitting on the edge of a circle surrounding a bonfire. The circle was made of Hylotl and behind each was an Avian in red robes, bearing wicked curved daggers. She could see the frantic looks of her flowbrothers and sisters as the crowd cheered even more. She noticed her parents sitting on the far side of the circle, she locked eyes with them and felt a small relief. Her attention was shifted though as an large Avian started pacing around the fire squaking loudly to the crowd. "Tonight we cleanse the stars of these heathen scum, a testement to lord Kluex who guides us all!" The Avian screetched. The crowd roared and Kyou felt the Avian behind her lean in close and press a blade to her neck, just as the same happened to the other captives. The large alien started to yell again. "Bring the first group to the center my brothers, let them be cleansed." He chirped The crowd grew even louder with anticipation. Kyou watched as several Hylotl were forced to stand and walk towards the bonfire. She saw her mother and father among them and felt her heart sink. They were quickly forced into a kneeling position as the fire spat in their faces. Some of the flowbrothers showed a struggle but were quickly bashed into submission. Kyous father showed an expression of resignation as he tried to call out to her. "C-close your eyes my little bluebell, do not wa-" He tried to say before he was bashed in the face by the robed avian behind him. At this point, Kyou had lost any hope she had as she saw her own father give up like that. She wanted him to fight but how could he. There were so many armed zealots. She could not close her eyes as the curved blades glided across the necks of her mother and father and her flowbrothers and sisters. She could not close her eyes as their gurgled cries barely rose over the static roar of the crowd. She could not close her eyes as their writhing bodies were promptly kicked into the fire. She could not close her eyes as an explosion went of far away and the crowd began to panic. She could not close her eyes as a volley of lasers scattered the Avians. She could not close her eyes as USCM commandos came to her rescue. She could not close her eyes.... It was quiet now, the fire was now burning embers and the morning sun was casting a faint light. The USCM had secured the area rather quickly. The zealots knew they stood no chance, so they fled like rabbits. A spry looking human marine came over to her and held his hand on her shoulder trying to give a smile. Kyou was still tied at the wrists, kneeling at her same spot by the fire. She kept staring at the charred corpses of her mother and father. "You are safe now little lady. Everything will be okay. let's get you home to you family." The marine said with warm smile as he cut her restraints. Kyou was safe, and she knew that as she was ferried onto the dropship but her mind was wandering as she fell into a pit of despair. She would never know the love of her parents again. It was then that a piercing flame would flash in her eyes as the anguish grew inside her. It was a moment a clarity, a realization that her life had been stolen from her in a split second. There was nothing more they could take from her. She already wished she had died with her family.... 'The next time one should blink, the world would be on fire and her, the blaze'
Broken Wings The humidity of the air was pleasant on Kyou's face as she treaded silently through a thick woodland in the dead of night. She could see the glow of a settlement reflecting among the trees, it made her anxious. She had been tracking this group for months and it proved difficult due to how secretive they were. The only reason she found them was due to rumor and luck. It had annoyed her more that she would have to hike three days through woodland terrain to reach her destination. In the end, it hadn't been so bad. In fact, the journey gave her ample time to hone her senses and calm her nerves. Kyou crouched down low as she reached the clearing. In front of her, a small village built of crude logs was sheltered by thick brush. No wonder she couldn't locate it from orbit. The only light was several small torches scattered around the houses, everything else seemed quiet and at rest. She knew most of them would be sleeping at this hour but at least one gaurd will be watching. She looked around for a good while to be sure there were no patrols. After a quick check of her equipment, she snuck out of the tree line and took cover behind one of the nearby hovels. She slowed her breathing as she crept up to the window, peeking through the crude wood lattice acting as a screen. She could already see a bed inside with a bulge that slowly rose and fell as it breathed in slumber. Everything else inside was pretty basic as her eyes adjusted to the light. It was actually pretty cramped. By this alone, she knew the nature of her vermin. She looked back towards the rest of the houses and counted. By deduction of size, she estimated roughly 13 residents currently residing in the village. That was as long as the large central structure wasn't filled with bunk beds and was actually the temple it appeared to be. 13....She could handle 13, should she be careful. With a deep breath, Kyou carefully opened her satchel and removed a small white posphorus grenade. Calculating the distance, she pulled the pin and lobbed it towards the entrance of the large wooden temple. This would be her decoy, now all she had to do was wait for her moment. It took a few minutes for the fire to grow to a considerable size but soon enough, there was sounds of croaking and chirping as some of the flightless awoke in alarm to the fire. Kyou watched from her hiding place as some tried to helplessly dump buckets of water on the fire. This was her chance. Soon, most of the town was distracted in the effort of putting out the fire, which was then a scorching blaze that was painful to look too long at. Kyou waited around the corner as she listened for the occupant of her hovel to move outside, her fist rested around the hilt of her katana, ready to draw at a moments notice. She controlled her breathing carefully as she heard the creak of the door. She counted in her head the steps to make the kill. When she finished counting she executed the strike. Her footsteps russled the grass lightly as she sprinted towards the unwary flightless. He didn't even see what hit him as her muscles twitched in a precise manner to force the katana out of its saya and glide through his neck. She exhaled as his head made a thud on the ground followed shortly by his body. Kyou immediately checked her surroundings for more targets and was relieved to find she was still unnoticed, or so she thought. She realized she made a miscalculation just before a cold piece of metal slammed into the side of her head, knocking her out of consciousness...
