Secret Shadow Ops

Prologue

And so it starts.

The village had been eagerly preparing for the festival, with tons of fresh harvest to celebrate the new year. Plump vegetables, rich sweet fruits, and juicy meat, everyone in the village just wanted to relax after another year's hard work. 

The children ran around frantically giggling and laughing whilst carrying and waving around small streamers made out of colored paper. They chased each other around, playing tag and taunting one another while some trips and falls over each other. The innocence of youth.

Some men gather around the center square and proceed to stack firewood for the campfire. This was where the young girls and boys that were of age were to dance with each other to celebrate joy and perhaps catch love interests. People put up long chairs much like church pews around the campfire so those who don't want to dance, or were unlucky enough to not find a dance, could sit down, relax, eat meat and be merry nonetheless.

Night fell quickly and the people gathered around the center. The village elder, stepped to the front of the villagers to make an announcement, but more likely to start the festival officially. The old  woman, known to the village children as "Granma" who didnt look frail despite her 75 years of age, though needed a cane to walk around for support, looked at the villagers with warmth in her eyes. With a sigh of relief, most likely for the prosperous year they had encountered again in a while, she stated:

"Thank you all, young men and women of this village. The year has been good to us. Ample rain, no droughts, we were free of famine." She followed this with a small cough.

"Tonight, we may relax. Thank the gods for bountiful harvests, and pray that it may continue."

The sky had turned from a bright yellow to a dim orange. The sun was setting and night was falling in a matter of moments. Stars had already begun to twinkle and the sun could no longer be seen. 

"Let us begin, the festival." Granma said with a smile.

As she said this, two men nodded to each other and lit up the campfire, which blazed up quickly and lit up the blue night. The village cheered. Everyone started to move up and about and became lively. Those who didn't have the youth, sat down, chatted with another. Others took food, there was even one who snuck a lot of food and hid it in his shirt. Some of the older villagers saw this but payed it no mind, it was a bountiful harvest, one that would leave them fed for the quarter of the year with the rest of their plants growing fresh and firm. 

Young men and women joined hands, danced in the center of the flickering campfire, stolen by each other's eyes and they began to drift off to a world of their own. Some snuck off to the forest to be alone. 

By the river, where the grass waved along with the night breeze, since the year ended, it was still rather cold in the season. 

A young boy and young girl, in particular, strayed off from the festival camp fire to gaze at the stars above on their own. And while this may have been a good moment for them to get small talk and say sweet things which ended in a kiss, they were stopped by the sight of two figures which they could not recognize by the far end of the other side of the river, where the forest was thick and many woodland animals took shelter.

"I think we should head back." The boy had said to the girl, while he kept an eye on the two figures. It seems they have not been noticed for they weren't looking at their way.

This was not the time for them to be curious. They knew better. Besides, why not let the night continue where the fun was? They can use this experience to scare the village children and stop them from playing off too far or hiding when they don't want to participate in work. 

They got closer to the village and the cheering started getting louder and louder, of course, they were getting close. 

MIMIC

They got closer and closer, and suddenly the two had a bad feeling. 

A shiver ran down their spines and stopped them in their tracks.

What were those things that they had seen? What if getting back to the village was not good anymore? Was the village really okay? Something in the boy was telling him to just run and leave. It was not good for them to stay in here any longer. The boy looked at the girl's eyes to give her assurance, and maybe even look for the answer in her eyes: 'Should we run?'

The girl was in distress. She was panting from all the running as she held her skirt up so it wont get caught in the shrubs and bushes. But she gave off the feeling of hope.

"No matter what happens, as long as we're together, we'll get through this." She whispered in the dark.

And after giving it some thought, the boy decided, they would go to the village. Just sneak around it, see if anything had happened. The cheering became louder.

And louder.

They became more cautious. They started to hide around some bushes and trees and eyes the village center from the distance. Dark silhouettes pranced around the fire. Some were sitting down on the pews that surrounded it. Some stayed by the tables where the food was. Nothing changed. It all felt the same. The boy looked at the girl another time as if to ask her if they should go back. The girl felt uneasy, but thought it was best. 

So they stood up from the bushes and they walked towards the village center. It was still lively. Ever cheerful. Children passed by them chasing each other playfully. Other villagers chatted by and they thought nothing bad had actually happened.

But they needed to inform their village elder about what they had encountered in the forest. If it was just an animal, they needed to confirm this and lay the ominous feelings in their chest a rest. So they head towards the center and looked for the elder. The festival continued on in the night, as the smoke rose towards the blue moon and the night became happier.

Children kept playing and the villagers relaxed while the young ones danced on.

"Ah, the innocence of youth." Dej muttered in the shadows.

The village celebrated the festival onwards.