Monday
"Takeshi! The Church called! They have an assignment for you!" Arhiyan yells up the stairs, jolting Takeshi awake.
"Ok! Thanks!" Takeshi calls back tiredly as he gets out of bed and begins to get ready.
"Hey May," Takeshi sighs as he steps in through the front doors of the Church.
"Oh, hey," May looks up from the desk and gives him a smile.
"I got to go, sorry," he smiles back slightly.
"Be safe out there ok?" She gives him a small wave.
"I will, thanks," he rushes to Ember's office.
"Ma'am?" Takeshi cracks the door open to the office.
"Yes, Takeshi, come in," Ember replies. He opens the door and walks in.
"Morning sunshine," Eclipse gives him a wave as she sits by the desk.
"You two have an assignment. We got a call by some scouters who came across some traps placed around the forest. They didn't mess with them as I told them not to. The assignment is for you two to go out and check said traps, disable them, and set up some cameras to watch these traps to see who comes to get them, that way we can take care of them," Ember says as she sits behind her desk. "Here is a map of where the traps are. You two need to use extreme caution seeing as we don't know what is hidden behind these traps, understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Takeshi nods.
"Good. Eclipse, go get ready. I need to talk to Takeshi," Ember looks at her daughter who nods and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
"Takeshi, please make sure she's safe," Ember lets out a sigh and looks at him.
"I know ma'am, I will. She won't be going anywhere near those traps till I'm absolutely certain that it's safe, I promise," Takeshi gives Ember a reassuring smile.
"You'd better. Now, go. And, you be safe too," Ember gives him a nod.
"I will," Takeshi nods back before leaving the room and grabbing his things.
"So, here's the traps. How do you want to approach this?" Eclipse studies the map as the two walk towards the forest.
"I'll go first. We'll throw something on it or something to try and trigger it, just to see what happens. And then I'll approach it, check it, and then you can come when I say so. That way it's safe and you can set up cameras," Takeshi replies.
"What? That's not fair! I want to do some stuff too instead of just setting up cameras," Eclipse looks up from the map and glares at him.
"Nope. Just cameras," Takeshi shakes his head no.
"My mom set you up to this, didn't she? She doesn't get it! I can do things myself!" Eclipse pouts.
"She's just looking out for you," he shrugs.
"By not letting me do anything?" She grumbles.
"Why do you think that you're supposed to be my girlfriend?" He sighs.
"Wait, seriously?" She stops walking.
"Yeah. She cares about you a lot and wants you to be safe so she set you up with me," he stops walking and turns to face her.
"That is so not fair!" She growls.
"How? She's just trying to keep you safe," Takeshi raises an eyebrow.
"From what? People?" Eclipse asks.
"That and many other things," Takeshi nods.
"I guess you're right but, it's still not fair," she sighs.
"How is it not fair? You have a mom who loves, cares, and wants the best for you. I don't get how that's not fair," Takeshi slightly rolls his eyes.
"Yeah," she gets quiet.
"Anyways, where's the first trap?" He sighs.
"Should be close," Eclipse sighs as she starts walking again, deeper into the forest.
The two come across a very large bear foot-trap that sits active in the middle of a large game trail. Takeshi looks around before turning to Eclipse.
"Get down," he says as he crouches behind some bushes. She follows and crouches next to him.
"Now what?" She looks at him and then back at the trap.
"We trigger it," Takeshi smirks.
"Wait what? How?" She looks at him in confusion.
"Simple. You throw a rock onto it," he lets out a small laugh.
"Oh? Ok. Can I throw it?" She smiles.
"Sure. I don't see why not. You just have to stand up quickly, throw it, and then crouch back down," Takeshi shrugs.
"Why crouch back down?" She raises an eyebrow.
"Sometimes they have other things set up around their trap to make sure nothing messes with their things," Takeshi lets out a small sigh.
"Oh, ok," she looks at the ground for a few seconds.
"Here, this should work," Takeshi grabs a fist sized rock from beside him and hands it to her. She quickly stands up, throws the rock, and it hits the trigger, forcing the trap to snap shut harshly with a loud clang. They stay crouched there for a few seconds before Takeshi stands up.
"Ok, go ahead and set up the cameras," he looks at her then starts towards the trap.
"Got it," Eclipse nods as she gets up.
"Well, that's our sixth trap, and half of those weren't even on the map," Eclipse sits on a log a few house later as Takeshi kneels few feet away next to a small creek. He washes his hands with the water, rubbing the water all over his hands and fingers, trying to get the dirt off.
"I'm guessing that the scouters didn't follow the trails as much as we did. Hunters around here tend to like to set up traps along the same game trails," Takeshi sighs.
"Why? Wouldn't their traps get found easier?" Eclipse looks at him.
"Yes, and no. They set up traps along the same trails because that way they only have to follow the trails to get to their traps instead of marking the area. I think it's more of a laziness thing," Takeshi shrugs as he stands up.
"That's weird, and kinda dumb," Eclipse watches him.
"Well, for hunters around here it doesn't really matter I guess," Takeshi sighs.
"You would think that they would set up traps in more of a hidden area," she stretches as she finishes setting up the cameras.
"Anyways…" Takeshi starts before a loud, pain-filled cry fills the air.
"What the…" Eclipse begins but gets cut off but another loud cry.
"C'mon," Takeshi starts off along the river bank, towards the cries.
"Wait for me!" Eclipse tries not to yell as she jumps to her feet and races after him.
"Oh my…" Takeshi whispers as he stares at something through a small gap in a bush.
"What? What is it?" Eclipse crouches next to him.
"Trappers. Hunters. Whatever you want to call them. And, they got an Abath," Takeshi speaks quietly. He studies the four men who stood around the Abath, a creature who resembled a unicorn but had a tail like a lion, with a tuft of hair at the end. The men wore black trench coats that covered their dark grey pants and brown vest. Their shoes were covered with metal plates while leather gloves covered their hands. A dark green piece of cloth covered half of their faces.
"A what?" Eclipse looks at him in slight confusion before his first words register in her head. "How many?
"At least four, each have hunting rifles with telescopic sights and suppressors…" he starts.
"Try at least eight," a voice fills their ears from behind them. They turn to face four other men, each with their rifles pointed at the two.