Chapter Text
—2004, Feb.17
–New York, District 4
[6:47pm]
It was a cold and windy night, it looked like it would rain. Dark clouds seemed to stand out, winds picked up a slight bit, and Ranboo could’ve sworn they felt a rain drop hit their mask. The streets seemed empty enough to walk through without getting pulled for questioning by an Enforcer. So they kept walking on the dimly lit sidewalk to where they needed to be. Even though this area seemed quiet, they still needed to be quick. Because quiet…never ment your truly safe. Just that something is waiting to happen.
“Shit. It’s looking like it’s going to rain.” Ranboo thought to themselves as they picked up the pace. The meeting point wasn’t too far from now. Just a few more minutes and they should be in the clear.
Rain started to fall, damn. Just their luck. Rain grew heavy as they started to run down the sidewalk, but the moment they turned the corner for the alleyway…HE was there. Tall, slightly broad. But not too much where it looked to go overboard. Long pink hair in a braid, dark crimson eyes coved by dark sunglasses, a black Umbrella in hand, an emotionless stare, and he wore a black suit with a blood red tie. Blade is what people called him. And if you had common sense, you wouldn’t even try to run. Because even if you thought you did? He’d always find you one way or another.
”You’re late.” He said with that blank monotone voice he never let rise. Ranboo felt a shiver of fear run down his their spine, but didn’t dar move. If they did, they’d be sure they’d find their own head beside their limp body. “S-sorry sir. I got lost on my way here…” They stuttered out. Usually they were calm and composed…but ever since a month ago, they were on edge, paranoid, and distant. “Excuses. Doesn’t matter, follow me.” He said with a sharp look. Even though Ranboo couldn’t see his eyes, they knew they were piercing right through them. Calculating them, trying to figure out if they’d run. But when they didn’t, Blade turned around and started to walk down the poorly lit alley, expecting Ranboo to follow.
Ranboo quickly caught up, stumbling over their feet at first but quickly got ahold of their balance, before making an embarrassment of themselves if hadn’t already.
As they walked, Blade never looked at them, spoke to them or even told them to keep up. Just walked in a paced speed and kept silent. “It’s the quiet ones you should be worried about…” They thought to themselves.
Finally, after a ten minute walk, they reached the meeting point. Blade opened the door and gestured for Ranboo to go inside. It was a rare sight to see any building look nice or decent in this day and age, but this place looked rich. As if it was never affected by the war, or the events happening around it.
When they walked in, the first thing they saw were a group of five standing in the middle of what looked to be a lobby for a high end inn. This group probably turned this place into their base since they looked like they owned it. Blade walked from behind Ranboo and stood in front of them and spoke, “Their here.”
The oldest member, who wore a dark green suit, had blonde hair that was up in a loose but neat bun and soft blue eyes that seemed to be more intimidating than the stare of Blade’s; looked up from his conversation with another and spoke, “Ender, correct?” His voice was stern yet in a way that didn’t seem like he’d kill them on sight. Something way too common in this world now. “Yes…yes that’s me…” Ranboo muttered out, trying not to let their nerves take over now.
A tall man, around their height, standing at 6’’5, had unkept but looked neat enough brown hair. Had dark brown eyes, but didn’t look threatening at all. He wore a suit that looked similar to Blade’s. He had a kind smile that looked genuine, and looked at Ranboo like it was his first time seeing someone new from ‘outside’. “Ender, wow, it’s great to finally meet you. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble getting here.” He spoke in a soft yet cheerful voice. “I—uh thank you…glad to be here.”
Then two smaller boys who seemed slightly younger than them had caught their gaze. One was blonde like the older member, same eyes but held more mischievous intentions, and wore clothes that were more casual. The other boy was shorter than him, looked to be a ram hybrid, short fluffy hair and dark green eyes with a pretty neutral expression. Neither of them spoke, just looked over then back at each other and continued their quiet conversation.
But one more spoke up. “Ender, huh? Heard a bit about you. You’re one of the newer hunters. I’m Echo.” This one seemed different from the rest. Reserved, quiet, never spoke too much, yet felt safe enough to talk to. They had (your hair color) colored hair that was in a braid that looked slightly unkept, their eyes were covered by their bangs, and had a gas mask that covered their lower face. They wore a compression black tank, and ripped blue jeans, and combat boots, and looked slightly worn out. As if they just got back from a run. But Ranboo couldn’t tell if they were “gifted” or “normal”. But from rumors, most of them said they had some sort of tracking ability. But who knows. Maybe they were just good at finding people.
”Yes…I’m one of the newer hunters.” Ranboo spoke up in a slightly more confident tone. Echo seemed to make them feel a bit more comfortable here. They didn’t know why, but they felt like Echo and them could work together if this meeting went as intended.