Red String {EDITING}

Chapter Two | Through the Forest

She splashed into the stream, paws soaking wet as she waded downstream in the shallow waters. The louder splashes either side behind her told her the two idiots she'd brought along were still keeping up with her through some small mercy. She would've likely lost them earlier had she not enjoyed the feeling of leading them. It was as though it were programmed into her very blood – the urge to guide – but that was hardly possible. Only alphas were meant to lead, not that Omega Taurus understood that or agreed with the sentiment.

They didn't trust the Weaver. They didn't trust their so-called god of fate to weave those golden threads into the correct tapestries.

Lyra had the suspicion they believed the only correct tapestries were their own. It was the case more often than not with those hungry for power. She'd seen that rather frequently on all her assignments.

Huffing, she pulled herself out of the stream, leaping up to the bank and back onto dry land. The waters were ice cold, but unfortunately necessary to conceal their tracks. Not that her paws appreciated that fact. Shaking her fur out, she started running, eyes darting over eastwards where the light was beginning to peak over the horizon.

Rays of pink light were shining, the sky almost looking as red as the blood she'd spilt as she bounded through the forest. They were going to be found missing from their rooms soon enough, and Lyra had enough sense inside her to not want to be anywhere near the base when they worked that out. The further away the made it, the better. Distance was key, and it was distance they'd have to keep, so Lyra forged on.

The sun rose completely, pinkish clouds drifting through the sky, and Lyra finally heard the howls far off in the distance. With a soft yip, she increased her pace, ignoring the rumbles of her stomach as red lightning spark around her fur. She needed to move faster.

Her ability obliged her – thankfully not deciding to malfunction for once – and she upped her speed. Glancing back at the other two, she grinned as best as she could in that form, blinking as they shuddered. A snort left her nose, and she turned back to face the front – and just in time to avoid the thick trunk of the white tree in front of her.

How could she forget how she must appear to them? Her eyes burnt red when her gift was activated. They glowed so brightly, just like the eyes of angels were said to when they were said to have battled the darkness that had once encroached on the lands so long ago. Red was the colour of the Moon Goddess' eyes, and when the moon turned that shade it was said the Goddess was looking down upon their world directly.

Bludmoonest.

The festival of the crimson eye.

She'd seen the festival so long ago on her assignment in close proximity to the Aria Religion. It always happened just before the end of the year. The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month and the night which followed it. That was one of the many days the Children of Night celebrated. Lyra hoped she'd be able to participate in it too in the coming months. She would be free by then, no matter what it took.

She just needed to ensure she made it out of the forest unharmed and unpursued. "Small steps, Eighteen. Break your ploy down into smaller, manageable pieces." Lyra shook her head, shaking herself free of that voice. She just needed to remember what she had been taught, and not the voice of the one who'd spoken those words.

She ran up the hill, eager to break free of the hilly areas surrounding the base behind them. Once they were clear of those, it was a clear run back to civilisation. A clear run to what Gwen and Three called home.

Lyra didn't have a home.

Jealously had always surged through her whenever she'd overheard them at mealtimes. They were always together and always whispering to each other with bright, hopeful expressions. Idiots, the pair of them, Lyra thought, casting her red eyes back on them once more. They would never have survived in the darkness she'd lived in.