[Author note: Hello everyone, Slipper here, I just want to tell you that this one shot will have a lot of cut-aways. You can tell if I use the: *****************************, part. I don't want my dear readers to be confused by my writing choices for this story, so this is just a heads up.]
Underneath the vast and somber grey sky of the dreadful Forgotten Shore, where so many sleepers have met their end and where so many harrowing tales began; Stood an enormous and majestic sinister castle made of black stone. It was nothing short of grand, with several arches and collum supporting the dozens of towers that reached towards the heavens.
There was a palatial staircase which leads to the entrance of the castle gates itself. It is on these staircases where 2 figures in dark clothing's could be seen. It is none other than Rain, the Princess of the Shadow Clan and June, the infamous 'Corsair'. Rain was wearing a simple black hoodie with a serpent logo on the back, while June was wearing a black coat, with a white T-shirt underneath.
As the two of them continued to walk towards to gate, Corsair sighed.
"It's quite odd that the Boss is calling all of us to make a report to him, isn't it?"
Rain then takes a curious look over at the man next to her.
"Well, ever since one of my older brother incarnations returned from, well... Wherever he had been. He's been more on the lookout for certain things more than usual. Now that's saying something!"
Rain let out a chuckle as the two of them continued to advance on the staircase. She then took a moment to ponder to herself.
"He did mention that it resembled how a city would look back in the old times though..."
June then glanced back at the young woman with raven black-hair next to him. He was in deep thoughts as he began to contemplate on his current predicament.
'Crap! This is going to be more troublesome than I thought. How did I even got involved with her in the first place? That was like the first thing I was told to look out for!'
June, However, didn't let his frustration showed on his face. The Corsair still retained a sense of pragmatic and nonchalant that so many people has associated him with.
"Still, it is unusual that he is calling upon every team in the clan to make a detailed report. In such a short timeframe too."
Rain then chucked again as the gate opened.
"Well, that's my older brother for you!"
It was then that the two were greeted by the general of the shadow army, the onyx taciturn shadow herself, Saint. The fearsome shadow has come to greet the two of them to escort them to where the shadow sovereign is.
Even though the Dark Castle was grand in size, it didn't take too long for the 2 awakened and one shadow to make it to the throne room.
Inside the throne room, at the very centre of it stood a large throne where Rain older brother, Sunless or Sunny was sat. The Sovereign of death then turned his eyes towards the two shadows that has just entered the room.
"Oh, you two are finally here! Great, now that everyone is here I can finally get to listen to this report made by the junior of my sect!"
There were other shadows present in the room as well, which included Tamar, Fleur and Ray.
'Huh, the boss really did summon everyone in this cohort.' June thought to himself as he looked around the room.
Though Rain did notice that there was another person among them, that being the daughter of Saint Tyris.
'When did Telle joined the shadow clan?'
However, her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by her brother, coughing, which caught everyone attention.
"Alright everyone gather up! We need to get this report moving."
A few moments later when all the shadows in the room have gathered into one place, the sovereign then spoke again.
"So, the report I need from you guys is going to be simple. All of you, minus Telle had been present during the whole zealots mission a few months back. I want to you to report back to me everything that has happened since that mission."
Ray then coughed and walked forward a few steps.
"Right, then I guess we'll start telling you what happened right after the bank robbery."
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Somewhere in the cold streets of NQSC, not too far from the bank they were at, three dark figures could be seen moving along the wet pavements of an alleyway. The three of them range in sizes, all wearing an armour that vaguely resembles the puppeteer shroud.
The breeze blows at their direction, causing June dark bangs to swept back by the wind, revealing more of his chiselled facial features. It was then that Corsair heard his fellow companion, Ray speaking out with a mild annoyed tone.
"This city has been getting colder and colder by the day..."
The young woman with red hair, which had just returned to its natural colour a moment before, walked towards Ray. Her hand was extended, holding a scarf that she worn for her civilian disguises back in the bank robbery.
"Here Ray, take this."
After Ray put on the scarf that Fleur has given him, he'd then put his hand behind his head in a relaxed manner.
"Geez, that mission was something else, I didn't expect it to be that difficult!"
June turned his back around to look at the young man behind him, letting out a sigh.
"Same here... I didn't expect to meet the Princess there of all places."
The Corsair then paused for a few moments; he was trembling for a second but quickly regained his cool demeanour, opening his mouth, he let out a question that caught everyone by surprised.
"Fleur, is the Princess a sadist?"
Fleur who was walking from behind while drinking from the Black Canteen, spat out her drink.
Ray, on the other hand, stared at June with a shock expression written all over his face.
"W- What do you mean by that?"
June then halted, turning his back again, to face the two shadows behind him. It took him a second to realised that— that wasn't the best way to word his question. He proceeded to let out a cough to eased out the mood before continuing to speak.
"Back at the Bank, Fleur told me that the Princess was a 'pacifist'. Now I'm beginning to question what that really means."
Fleur then let out a small chuckle.
"Right right, let just say that the reason why she's a pacifist is more due to her circumstances. I apologise; I can't really tell you anything further than that."
June proceeded to stare at the couple, with a concern look on his face. Well, he would had been more concerned if he hasn't met his own fair share of 'interesting' individuals during his exploits over the years.
"Alright, let get back to base then."
June then turned around and continued to walk as the other two shadows followed not too far behind. Though it wasn't too long that Fleur suddenly spoke out again, halting the three of them in their tracks.
"Wait! How about we all change back to our civilian clothing? I think it would be nice to catch up with Rain and Tamar, it been a while since either of us have hang out with them— You should come along too June!"
June stared at the red head with an uncomfortable look on his face. His reply was one that was short and quick, as if he was trying to save his own skin.
"I apologise but I would have to reject that invitation, Fleur. I have other business to take care off."
However, just as June finished his reply, Ray walked behind him and wrapped his left arm around his shoulder.
"C'mon, just come June, it'll be fun!"
June then looked away to his side, after noticing a certain unique graffiti on the wall.
'That is an interesting design... the moon with the single letter of 'A' painted over it?'
Turning his head back after making a quick mental note of the graffiti on the wall, June glared at the young man who was leaning on his shoulder. His eyes twitched, yet he still kept his signature calmness.
"Do I have to?"
*************************************************************
Letting out a sigh, June looked up at Sunny who was currently.... Floating inside a meditative sitting position.
"And that was how me, Ray and Fleur, all decided to go on a hangout with Tamar of sorrow and the Princess."
The Sovereign of Death eyes suddenly twitched causing the rest of the shadows to be on edge. Sunny then quickly replied in a harsh and agressive tone.
"June, let me get this right... You called my sister a sadist?"
Even though Sunny was trying to keep his composure in check in front of his subordinate, he was still emitting a kind of chilling aura that send a shiver down everyone spine.
June, somehow keeping a calm demeanour, replied back in a nonchalant tone.
"It's not what it sounds like, Boss."
The throne room was then plunged into an awkward moment of silent as Sunny stared at June. Eventually Sunny sighed, presumedly had calmed himself down.
"June, you're a cool guy... Just continue with the report."
Ray then let out a cough.
"Right, so should we continue where we left off or-"
He was then interrupted by Fleur who tapped him on his back.
"I think it is best to skip ahead to when we meet up with Rain and Tamar, Ray."
June turned his head to the side as he looked over at the awakened couple direction. The Corsair then commented with a calm demeanour.
"I agree with Fleur; there's nothing worth mentioning that had happened between that time interval."
Though, while all of this commotion is happening, Rain noticed an interesting detail from the story she just had heard.
'Graffiti?'
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"Fleur, are you sure they're here?"
Ray asked, judging from his tone the young awakened seemed to be exhausted. Rushing all the way from NQSC to Bastion had left the 3 of them a little bit fatigued.
Fleur then turned back to face Ray.
"They said they'll be around this area of Bastion."
June then leaned on the wall of a building, taking a sip from a steel flask. His mundane outfit was quite simple; it vaguely resembles what he wore during his first interview with awakened Kim. Though instead of wearing a black coat like before, he was instead wearing a jacket, with a cobra logo on the side.
Fleur outfit haven't changed at all, due to already being in civilian disguises during the mission. In contrast, Ray was wearing a white T shirt and black sweatpants.
'How... Did I even get here? I made a promise not to involve myself with the princess ever since I've joined the clan. And now I'm apparently going on a hang out with her cohort.' June thought to himself, as he continued to ponder on where he had gone wrong. Though his train of thoughts was interrupted as he spots a girl with raven-black hair and another with ashen white, from the corner of his eyes.
June let out a sigh then looked over to the direction to where Rain and Tamar are at.
"They're over there."
His calmed and cool voice caught the attention of the other two shadows. It wasn't too long after where the two of them rushed towards Rain direction, with June following behind.
"Rain! Tamar! It been a while since the last time we've met!"
Fleur rushed over to their direction while waving her hand.
Tamar then smiled back at her.
"You know that we've just met at the Bank, right?"
Ray then laughed as he caught up with Fleur.
"I mean, we were all on a mission at the bank. What Fleur and I meant is that, it has been a while since we all have gotten a chance to properly talk."
Rain smiled upon seeing her old group of friends from the war finally reuniting, well properly this time.
"Ah, I heard that Corsair is here too, right?"
June then approached the rest of the cohort, though while still a bit nervous of Rain, he managed to maintain his calm and collected manner.
"Corsair is a nickname for work, Princess. You can address me by my actual name, June."
Rain was taken aback by Corsair— June sudden appearances, his voice was as calmed and collected as always. During the bank heist, due to the adrenaline rush, she couldn't have a good chance to properly look at the new recruit. However now that they're in a less chaotic environment, she has a better view of the shadow.
'He's cooler than I thought...'
Ray who is now full of energy again, raised one hand up and spoke out to the rest of the cohort.
"So, what are the plans?"
Rain then took a moment to contemplate, due to how rushed they've planned this hangout, she wasn't entirely sure on what they should do.
Eventually she shrugged her shoulders.
"We can just walk around and talk I suppose?"
Tamar sighed, then raised her hand and point over her shoulder.
"Sounds like a plan then, how about we start from that direction?"
Fleur quickly responded to Tamar proposition, in a more excited manner than usual.
"Oh, isn't that the direction of Tali ice cream shop? I could really use some ice cream."
Rain then gives out a small smile on her face.
"Alright! let go to Tali ice cream shop, then."
It wasn't too long after, that Rain cohort began to dabble in window shopping while engaging in small talks with each other, as they continued to move through Bastion.
While the others were participating in small chat, Rain noticed June hands which seemed to be trembling.
"Are your hands okay?"
June turned his head to look over at Rain in surprised, as he wasn't expecting her sudden comment.
"Just a few minor fractures from the Tyrant fight, nothing too serious thanks to Fleur. It Should be back to normal in a few days at most."
Rain, raising both her hands up to stretch, let out a small chuckle.
"Right, you did hold back Tyrant alone back in the vault."
June then responded back with a small laughter of his own. It was a rare sight to see him laughing due to how he always kept a degree of aloofness to himself, someone who is pragmatic in any situation that presented itself.... That and the fact that he was a former bitter cynic.
"You should have seen his face, Princess."
Rain body suddenly flinched as she froze in place for a moment, she was startled by the handsome blue eyes devil sudden change in demeanour. Who wouldn't? June always maintains this degree of jadedness to everyone around him, so seeing this sudden change, just caught Rain off guard that's all.... Right?
As if on instinct, she turned her head away from the Corsair.
'W- What was that? Wait what am I even doing turning away like this?'
As Rain was lost in her own thoughts, she abruptly noticed something strange on the other side of the road. It was a sign, a sign advertising for a church of the moon; Normally this wouldn't have caught her attention, as it just seemed to be one of those dying religion in the Dream realm, dedicated to the Goddess of the moon. However, what stand out to her was what said on the advertisement, 'To fulfil your deepest dreams'.
Rain stared at the sign, then continued to walk while pondering to herself.
'Dream and moon? How does those two things even overlap?'
***************************************************************
Sunny stared at his little sister for a while as he listens to the group report, contemplating to himself as he takes into consideration on what has just said.
"Is that all, Rain?"
Rain then glanced over at June direction while shrugging her shoulders.
June stared back at the Princess for a few moments, giving out a sigh.
"There's more that happened afterwards but yes, that should be all the important parts."
Rain eyes suddenly lit up, as if she's remembering something quite crucial.
"Right! After getting some ice-cream from Tali, Ray tripped over on a rock and fell face first."
Ray suddenly spoke out.
"Hey! I thought we agreed to not mention that!"
Rain chuckled for a bit, then smiled back at Ray.
"Sorry~ It was just too funny to not mention it."
There was a few more sounds of laughter coming from the rest of the cohort, at Ray expense.
Ray looked around the room with a mildly annoyed face.
"Guys come on!"
Seeing this, Corsair walked over to the young man direction and pat him on his back.
"Don't worry about its Ray, we'll all forget it sooner or later."
At that moment, a shocked voice coming from Telle could be heard.
"Wait, June punched a master.... And it worked?"
Rain turned around to look at the legacy.
"Yeah, his face was all bloody."
June then responded with a calm and nonchalant tone.
"I wouldn't say that it was super affective, but yes Tyrant nose was broken."
Though, at that point the sovereign of shadows interrupted the cohort friendly banter with each other, as Sunny walked back to his throne in deep contemplation.
"I've heard enough, you're all dismissed for today."
Rain cohort started to leave the room as Sunny began to think back over to what Rain and her friends had said. First was the weird graffiti that June saw, the one with the moon with a big letter 'A' painted on top of it. Then it was the advertisement sign for the church of the moon goddess, that Rain saw outside in false Bastion. It was getting increasingly obvious to Sunny now; what the 'A' painted on the graffiti means or how Dreams are connected to the moon.
Sunny then remembered his conversation with the Prince of Nothing, back in the mirror maze.
'So, it has spread this far?'
There was no denying it, after hearing all the reports from various members of the Shadow Clan, it has seemed that Mordret was right.
The Dreamspawn is coming.