Revised Beginning 6

Syringes filled with mysterious liquids.

The Room filled with steely machines.

The incessant beeping noise that the machines produced filled the area.

Lights above her head were beaming their harsh light unto her face.

This was her life and this is all she knew. The girl couldn't remember the warmth of the sun, the lusciousness of the trees, or even the caress of the wind. It was just her and her bleak routine. The bald man would retrieve her from a holding cell, lead her through desolate hallways, and then guide her into The Room.

There she would be laid out on a uncomfortable table of stone and have her limbs restrained by the bald man's assistants. Next the white clothed assistants would insert the needles into her body. Lastly the drugs would overcome her conscious and she would close her eyes, only for the whole process to start anew.

But she did remember a few things: A boy with lively viridian eyes and a girl with onyx black hair. And the thing that cemented the memory of the two people in her mind, was something she guarded fiercely

A crescent-shaped pendant hung around her neck, a slim thread threaded through a hole on the top of it. It reflected the fluorescent lights that emanated from the ceiling, and it rose and fell in synch with her breathing. It was a charm that was said to give the favor of Lady Luck to whoever bore the pendant. It was carved meticulously by an amateur, yet it was priceless in her mind. The amulet was made out of a leg of a giant centipede, the seventh leg to be exact. The girl wouldn't let anyone go near it, not even the bald man. She was allowed to keep it in her possession because it was too blunt to be considered a weapon and too insignificant for the man to care about it.

The girl had been strapped in by the nurses; coarse leather connected her slender limbs to the stony table. Then a sterile needle pierced her pale skin and injected its contents into her blood steam. The concoction made her drowsy and as the last scraps of conscious left her body, she thought of the boy and girl.

"Tatsumi… Sis…Please don't forget me…"

The crescent moon reflected light brightly, bathing the earth's surface in it's pale brilliance. The quant village was slumbering, its residents readying themselves for their sleep. None of the citizens were walking the streets, knowing there were many perils prowling the streets during the twilight hours. But there were a few who had the audacity to be outside this late, primarily a young man.

He was underneath the newly built Kalayaan Bridge, which connected the residential area with the commercial district. It was also a way to get over a fairly large river passing through, which was also how farmers irrigated their crops and how the women washed the family's clothes. The teen was strolling across the bridge, casually making his way to his destination; a brown travelers cloak was, trailing behind him. To a bystander's viewpoint, this figure would be quite ominous and intimidating. The traveler, however, had good intentions this night, for he had a sizable amount of sweets to deliver.

"Hopefully Sarah won't mind me coming this late, then again she'll be distracted by the candy I'll be giving her." Tatsumi chuckled knowingly and he checked his pockets for the umpteenth time, not wanting to lose his 'package'. "Definitely should hurry though, gotta job to do…"

So Tatsumi utilized his excellent athleticism he gained from his training to go from a casual stroll to a brisk walk. After a few minutes had passed he had arrived on Avalon Groove, a cozy square which was inhabited by those who were able to afford a slightly more comfortable lifestyle than the rest of the population. Avalon Groove 's width was roughly a mile, so it was quite large in comparison to the rest of the town. The square had a well in the middle of it which had a diameter comparable to Tatsumi's armspan. Patches of weeds and grass were sprouting from the spaces between the square tiles which Tatsumi estimated to be around 3ft by 3ft. He also couldn't describe the colour of the tiles for they seemed to kaleidoscope and change shade in the moonlight. Overall Tatsumi was happy he was able to afford a building in such a nice area, for he was worried the income coming from Killer Meals couldn't cover the rent, luckily he was great chief and a vast amount of people came to his restaurant.

He bought the 2 story, stony cabin because he wanted to give back to Martha who had always been kind to him and the rest of the assassins, so when he had discovered the… uncomfortable conditions she was previously living in, well he had finally figured out a way to reciprocate Martha's generosity. But Martha wasn't the only inhabitant of the building and that other resident was why Tatsumi had made his late night journey. The problem was… he didn't have a key to the building.

"Damn, I knew I should've had the smith make another key for me" Tatsumi mentally slapped his forehead. He walked up to the building and scanned the apartment for an entrance, which manifested itself as an open window on the second floor. "I hope I don't fall… Can't fight with a broken back after all."

But Tatsumi wasn't actually worried, he had scaled taller buildings before and the front of the building was riddled with crevices and ledges of which he can hold onto. Tatsumi stepped back a few paces and then ran towards the apartment. He nimbly grasped onto a stone block which was protruding out from the rest of the wall.

"The Stonemason clearly was careless in his placing…" He muttered to himself but quickly focusing on not plummeting back to the surface

In a few short leaps and grasps, Tatsumi lithely hurdled through the open window and landed inside the building, not unlike a cat. The teen straighten his posture to full height and brushed his hands together, mentally congratulating himself for his successful climb. He then realized in which room he had entered.

"Oh, this is Sarah's room. How convenient!" Tatsumi kept his voice at whisper volume though due to the fact that the girl whose room he was in was slumbering in her bed. Sarah's room was fairly modest, only able to fit her bed to the right and a two door closet to the left. The open window was opposite the door and Tatsumi approximated it would only take him 8 paces to reach said door from where he was standing, so the room was fairly small. Still Sarah was able to make use of the small space by putting various decorations on the wall closest to her bed. Many of them were childish doodles of random things Sarah decided to draw, but it was clear that Sarah had an affinity for drawing and in a few years she would be extremely proficient in creating lifelike sketches. But the one legitimate photo Sarah owned was her Tatsumi and Martha standing in front of the Killer Meals restaurant during its grand opening.

Sarah was standing between Tatsumi and Martha and she was sporting the biggest grin she could muster. Sarah's hands looked to be firmly at her sides and the comical contrast between her stern soldier's posture and the wide childish grin on Sarah's face brought a smile on Tatsumi's face. Sarah was wearing a similar outfit to Martha, a white long-sleeved button up and an apron like dress. But instead of Martha's usual black color, Sarah opted for an emerald green color, which, in Tatsumi's amateur opinion, matched really well with Sarah's flaxen blonde hair, which was woven into a French braid and draped over her left shoulder. Also in Tatsumi opinion, the most notable thing about her would be Sarah's eyes, which were an unnatural shade for human eyes to be, purple. Overall, Sarah was is and will be a very beautiful girl, but Tatsumi refrained from voicing that particular opinion due to the fact Sarah was only eight and that she looked up to Tatsumi as a role model, thus making it creepy.

To further describe Sarah, Tatsumi would label her as a bold idealist. The reason for this, Sarah is extremely altruistic. Sarah consistently takes the scraps that are made in the kitchen that she and Martha work at and gives them to anyone that she thinks could use a meal. Sarah was also very willing to fight those that would take advantage of those who were unable to defend themselves. In other words, she detested bullies.

There was one time, just shortly after one of her 'Charity runs', where Sarah had spotted a male teen, which was so scrawny it seemed that the boy hadn't had a decent meal since his conception. The 'twig', which Sarah sourly labeled the teen, was attempting to impose his greater height upon a child a good few years his junior. The child was clutching a small pouch made of rough canvas with both of his shaking hands. Judging from sordid state of both their clothes and bodies both of them weren't well off to begin with, so the child was most likely traveling to the market to purchase whatever food he can with the meager income his parents made. But the child was too careless of his surroundings and soon found himself being accosted by an older boy. Sarah linked the victim to the image of a leaf, unable to stop itself from trembling in the face of the smallest breeze. So Sarah did the most logical thing to do in that situation, she ran towards the would-be robber and 'kindly' shoved him into pool of stagnant water. Then she hurriedly clasped the leaf's and dragged the boy away from the scene of the crime. The duo ran for quite a bit, and they ducked and weaved in between crowds, to ensure the twig would not be able to pursue them. Once Sarah was confidant they had lost the robber she allowed them to catch their breath between some alley.

"T-t-thank you so m-much miss…" Even the child voice wavered; this leaf was living up to his nickname.

"Call me Sarah… You should be more careful kid, I won't always be there to bail out ya know" She lightly chastised the stranger, though not overly stern, it was enough to get her point across.

"Y-Yeah… I don't wanna think what would've happened if you hadn't showed up…" The boy's voice grew more firm the longer he spoke, showing he had calmed down a bit. He brought his canvas pouch closer to his chest, having miraculously able to keep a hold on it throughout the getaway.

"Hmm." Sarah gave a hum of acknowledgement "Well after what just happened, I need some candy. Take care of yourself." So Sarah left the boy in the alley, knowing he was close to his destination anyway and there was little threat he would get robbed in the middle of the day.

Tatsumi could not deny that Sarah was brave, her rescue of the boy was prove of that, but he wished she wasn't so reckless, for Tatsumi wants nothing more from Sarah then for her to be happy and safe. A light that could not be snuffed out, no matter what.

"Big…. Bro…? What are you doing…?" Sarah was interrupted by a yawn "…Here?" She raised her upper body and was drowsily rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her rosy pink night gown.

"Oh, Sarah! I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you" Tatsumi whispered apologetically, while he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He must have been reminiscing longer than necessary.

"Well, why DID you come here? It's like… super late" Sarah was surprisingly cognizant for someone who had just woken up, maybe due to her rough upbringing and needing to be at the ready all the time.

In response, Tatsumi grinned and handed her the candy he was delivering. "Thought you'd like these, the confectioner called them 'Peppermints', try 'em."

"Wow, really?! Thanks Tatsumi." She swiped the bag out of the assassin's hands and began to devour the mints, not unlike a certain red eyed friend of Tatsumi's. "Even though they do taste weird, they're not bad... I apresh- I mean aprek-URGH!" Tatsumi managed to suppress a laugh at Sarah's attempts, but couldn't stop a grin from making its appearance. "Whatever! I'm glad you brought these stupid candies!" She grumpily huffed out a heated breath and crossed her arms.

"Aww don't be like that~ "Tatsumi playfully teased Sarah, tousling her tresses, knowing she hated it when he does that. " It's only cause I'm leaving and going to be gone for a while, that I decided to get you anything in the first place."

Sarah's expression became even more serious, and her back went ram rod rigid. "But you'll come back… Right? Big bro… you're not going away forever right?" Her voice's tone conveyed her concern more than her words did, and her lips trembled slightly. Sarah couldn't bear the thought of Tatsumi leaving her.

"Of course I'm not going away forever you dunce!" He flicked Sarah's forehead, causing her hands to clutch the sore spot and her violet eyes to well up in righteos fury. These two things in combination with her sour pout, was almost too cute, but Tatsumi knew that he had to comfort her, before she really started crying. "Look, I'm not going to be for long! It'll probably take me 1- 2 days tops! You won't even know I'm gone okay Sarah? Look, I'll bring you even more candy when I come home, to make up for flicking you. That sounds good to you?"

Sarah didn't reply, instead she buried her face into Tatsumi's cloak, and made a nodding motion with her head. Tatsumi could feel water seeping into the fabric of his cloak and the shuddering gasps coming from Sarah as she tried to contain herself. She never liked anyone seeing her cry. "Just whatever you do, stay safe big bro…" Her mumbled plea was met with Tatsumi stroking her back affectionately, trying to placate the weeping child.

The two of them stayed like until Sarah's cries returned to the subdued breaths that were there before Tatsumi had entered her window. The assassin gently repositioned the blonde into a more comfortable position on her bed, and pulled the blanket back around her small body.

Tatsumi wished he didn't have to make Sarah sad, but he must do what he must. Another wish Tatsumi had for Sarah, was for her to never ever turn into the monster that he had become.

The assassin departed from the young girl's room, the only evidence of his visit, was the bag of mints resting alongside the flaxen haired girl.

Suh dudes and dudettes, I'm back from the dead. It's a bit shorter than usual and basically filler too… I felt like I could've done better with the description of the square but whatever.