In Blackest Night

[Atelos]

Atelos walked over to his tent, sourly looking towards the small child that had infiltrated their regiment. He looked over to see the Argento bending over and entering one of his men's tents. The a flickering light turned on and you could see the hunched shadow of Argento trying to wake up his men, which seemed to be a difficult task. The shadow of a hand lazily tapped Argento's face as if he were trying to hit a snooze button. The man slowly got up to see his commander there and he immediately got on his knees and ,what Atelos assumed to be, apologized.

Atelos chuckled and looked over to where the boy was supposed to be. However, the boy wasn't there anymore. Atelos looked around and found some movement inside the captains tent. His brow furrowed and he began to walk over to the tent that seemed to be bouncing. Atelos ignited his hand providing light in the darkness and pushed open the curtain of the tent with his left hand.

"There isn't anything good in here! It's all just plain! Oh well I'm starving!" Atelos heard as he was opening the tent. As he entered he saw the boy huddled over a personal pack, that most likely belonged to Argento. He turned, mouthful of granola and crumbs everywhere to the angry Spartan. It was hard to tell what was running through the kid's head with that visor, but the bottom half of his face seemed innocent enough. Well, except for the part that he was stealing food from a holy man. A milky color began to tint his eye.

Yes kill the boy. He deserves to go to Tartarus. the voice cooed in his head.

"That maybe a little extreme but I like where your thinking." The spartan voice seemed distant and the flame spread from his hand to his elbow. The boy sat there ,food in mouth, glaring at the looming spartan that seemed so enraged.

"You shall learn to respect people who are so kind to take you in." A hand touched Atelos' shoulder and his fire died out, and the wisp of white diluted from his eyes, almost as if it was trying to escape. Argento was standing behind Atelos with a bright smile, seemingly contrast from what Atelos might had suspected. He patted him on the back and let out a chuckle, killing the ominous mood.

"He is just a hungry boy Atelos. I'm not sure what your culture would say about this, but he is fine by my standards. Let him eat in peace." The paladin gave him a reassuring look and exited with him out of the room.

"Anyways, your shift is over. Get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow." The man's smile grew grim again and Atelos knew that something serious was going on behind the scenes.

"Yes sir!" he begrudgingly said. The paladin had a soft spot for thieves…and with that he walked off into his tent and his lights went out.

A bright light pierced through Atelos' tent and he was forced to wake up. He yawned and exited his tent to see that the others were already packing up their stuff and putting it in the cargo wagon. Shang was already finished and was standing around looking ahead into the rising sun.

Atelos had finished packing and looked where Shang was, the bright sun blinding his eyes. Argento called to the group to move and the group slowly progressed with the little thief traveling along. They had been traveling for some time and a thick fog began to set in.

"Blues," a young girl's voice shout out from the darkness. "Blues over here!" Out of the fog, towards the forest a silhouette of a girl, not much older than blues appeared. "Blues come quick!" with that the silhouette ran off into the forest, and her footsteps' echo could be heard.

The young boy chased out after her, "I think I know her!" He stumbled into the forest and disappeared with the girl that had briefly popped into their lives.

"Blues come back! Damnite! Shang. Atelos. Chase after the boy and make sure him and the girl are safe." Argento exclaimed.

"Yes sir." The two said in unison, even though their tones were completely different. Atelos and Shang ran up into the forest chasing after the boy, stumbling over a few loose rocks on the way.

"The Paladin has a soft spot for the boy, I would have just let him go."

"The disrespectful thief doesn't deserve his kindness."

The sorcerer smiled, "Well then we agree Spartan."

The two reached the forest and saw the boy continuing to run deeper into the maze of trees and shrubs. The boy was fast and reckless completely ignoring their calls for his attention. They continued deeper into the forest until they saw a wooden cabin that seemed out of place in this dark depressing area. Sitting on the ground was Blues breathing heavily and muttering to himself, "That's... that's not Mireya." Shang helped the boy up, a little too forcefully and Atelos walked forward more.

A female silhouette was standing in the mist and Atelos tried to greet her.

"Hello miss. Did you lose your son?" He called out trying to wave her down.

"I do not think the mother would come out here to find her son, Spartan."

"Shang be quiet. I'm sure she was worried sick for her son. Miss." He was walking closer and noticed she was wearing a tattered nurse outfit…She slowly turned around to reveal her true appearance. Her uniform was bloodied and her face was completely wrapped in tape. In her hand was a bloody, rusty knife that seemed to drip blood. Atelos was taken aback and was struck with fear for a brief second.

"By the gods…what is that thing?"