Teaser: Artificial Sun

"The heck am I doing here..." She muttered to herself.

Lian hated the woods at night. They were dark, uninviting, unfriendly, and uncooperative. However, this was a mission she just had to do, as the agency she had worked for assigned it to her.

She had been part of the Shade Union since she was 16, as a runaway from her village. She ran away from a negligent home with a loveless mother and several "fathers". She despised the dark world she was born in--all those lonely nights with no hint of parenthood every child yearned for. Only her elderly neighbor provided her the love and care she innately desired; the motherhood that she needed. It was this mother figure that named her Helianthus--the Sunflower--after her beautiful orange hair. Lian was delighted by her new name--and her childhood days were radiated by her mother figure's presence.

However, as all days meet its end, her radiant sun had begun to set. Smiling at her deathbed proved to be a great challenge to Lian, but nonetheless, she did so somewhat effortlessly...Grandmother--as Lian had fondly called her--eased Lian's agony by offering words of comfort, strength, and assurance...But Lian knew these parting words were the beginning of a world of darkness...A world she dared not return to.

Fleeing the world which she saw was filled with pain and agony, she fled from her village, seeking ways to make an earnest living. Armed with the art of free running, Lian wandered on roads less travelled, wondering where life would take her...When she could no longer stand the life of a wanderer, she fell to her knees, and awaited her death...

It was then that one man had recruited her into the Shade Union. Driven by hunger, homelessness and the desire to live, she agreed to go with him and thus became a trainee for an organization so dark. Lian had thought she was rid of the darkness for good, but she came to realize it was the only world she could live in...

Four years later, she is still found working in the Union, but is untainted by the stains that were abundant among the other members. She worked as close as she could with her kind master...Becoming a full-time guillotine came with much realization. She was well aware of the blood on her hands and the bounty on hear head...But to the members of the union, it came with the territory. It wasn't long before Lian came to accept this...

Lian turned her eyes to her side...A small red bird fluttered to her shoulder, returning from what Lian understood was a scout.

"Lucy." Lian said, recognizing her small companion. "What are your finds?"

The little bird hopped along Lian's shoulders; finding a suitable spot to perch comfortably on. In its beak was a strand of the stem of a vine, and Lian took it in her hand.

"This is...a root."--she sniffed at it--"a poisonous root...Roots are found on the ground alone...Are there traps there, Lucy?"

This time, Lucy bowed once, opening her tiny wings to regain balance. Lian knew this was a "yes".

The young guillotine adjusted her footing. She shifted from one position on the branch she perched on, in order to look at her eastern side--she took advantage of a rather leafy tree, making it difficult to see her.

An easy wind breezed by. It ruffled Lian's cropped, wavy orange hair, which was safely covered in the shade of the leaves...

Lucy shifted. She pointed her head to a distance; Lian observed carefully...

And she tensed. There she saw them. The limp figure of her only friend Von, being harshly dragged into an old hut...Lian concentrated. She didn't care about Union rules. She never cared. All that mattered to her now was Von, and the enemies between them...

"Be a lookout for me Lucy." She said darkly. "My mission has just begun."

---End

NOTES:

Aaand so that was a teaser for a story I'm thinking of writing. Yes, THINKING. Hahaha, I'm not sure with this one just yet.

Cheers.