~~This chapter is a flashback chapter that covers some of the sketchy stuff that went down with Wren's adoptive mother, Sharron, and Conner (Sharron's lover), before the war and up to their deaths. (Sharron and Conner are mentioned around the 'Watcher' and 'Madame Priestess' chapters) *Mild language, blood, and gore warning*~~
*It was a normal day at The Tradelands East port, townspeople bringing their goods to sell, setting up their booths for the day, and greeting anyone who came around. Earlier in the day, an elderly man was approached by an older teenage boy with 3 young kids, with a desperate look in his eyes. He told the elderly man that The Traveler, was seen at the edge of town, and asked if he could leave his 3 younger siblings with the shop owner, who immediately agreed.
"Hey kids, get inside and stay inside. I heard The Traveler was seen in town." The elderly man huddled 3 young children into a room at the back of his shop. The young kids were frightened but did as they were told. As the children ran inside, an elderly woman brought 2 large containers of water, a bucket, bread, and fruits to the children. Once they were all inside she told them to lock the door, as well as locked the chain outside, before finally pulling a plain colored curtain over the door so it would blend in with the rest of the wall.
The Traveler, was a man with bright orange hair and piercing yellow eyes that reportedly worked as an assassin and abducted children for experiments. Not much else is known about him aside from his basic body type and his physical features. He sometimes wears a cloak to cover himself, but for the most part he is blatantly open about who he is and has never denied but also never been arrested regarding the charges of assassination and the abductions. Occasionally he will travel with a "Beauty with purple hair," with people referring to them generally as, The Traveler and The Beauty.
"Honey, go open the shop and act like nothing happened. I hope that teen will be alright. He is older than the kids the Traveler goes for right?" The elderly lady asked in a concerned tone. The man simply nodded and did the normal routine for opening the shop. He waved to a burly man with graying hair, opposite of him and the burly man came bounding over. "Ho, ho, if it isn't my pal. How are you Mr. J-" "Not to interrupt but our fruit has spoiled. Do you have any fresh fruit or nuts?" The burly man's eyes grew wide, "Yes of course. We are out of fruits but we have plenty of nuts. Wanna come see?" The elderly man nodded and slowly followed the burly man into his shop.
"I can't believe they were spotted in the area! Do we know their target? How many do you have with you and how many weapons do you need?" Unbeknownst to outsiders, different shop owners had code words and phrases to let others know the Traveler or Beauty was spotted. They also have phrases to inform them of any kids they have and supplies they need. The elderly man told him the story and quickly collected some small knives and a revolver, which was hidden in a crate with some un-shelled nuts from the Islands. "...Take care and let me know if you need help moving the fruits. Have a good sales day my pal," the burly man said with a wave as he showed the elderly man back to his shop.*
~~Sharron/Conner~~ *PANT PANT* "Damn Sharron, ya sure know how ta run away don't ya?" Conner asked as he was bent over trying to catch his breath. His sweat was dripping, causing his orange hair to get stuck on his heavily freckled face. Sharron on the other hand, was only slightly out of breath, leaning on a tree, with her hands on her hips, as she waited for her lover to regain his senses. She rolled her eyes and signed loudly, "Come on Conner, we don't have long before we have to report to Takeda about the kids. We need to meet up at the hospital."
When he heard her mention hospital, he immediately stood up, "Whuddo ya mean, hospital? Weren't we gunna meet-" "Plans change Conner. I have to meet with Gilbert first before-" *Spit* "I though I told ya not ta mention tha blokes name around me again. I dun wanna hear about yer bullshit husband while we're fuc-" *CAW* A bird flew above the two, causing them both to look up and pause for a moment. "You don't have to go with me. It won't take long. It's about the kid." She said in a flat tone, as she quickly put her deep violet purple, shoulder length, hair in a high ponytail. Conner just grunted and started walking in the opposite direction of the hospital. Sharron just sighed and left to meet her husband, Gilbert, at the hospital to discuss his findings about "the kid."
...When she arrived at the hospital, she was greeted by the lady at the front counter. "Good morning Mrs. Sharron, Mr. Gilbert-" The lady stopped talking when she sensed the aggression in Sharron, and quickly pushed the button to allow her to enter the internal structure of the building. "Gosh she's scary," The lady said as Sharron was out of earshot. "Yeah and she's so pretty too. Simple facial features, glistening black eyes, *sigh* I guess it is her personality and uninterested expressions that make her so attractive." The lady looked at the man sitting next to her with a confused look. "You are so weird Nathan," she said as she gently pushed him away.
...As Sharron walked through the hall, her heeled boots, clacked lightly on the hard tile floor, alerting those around of her presence. *CLACK* Sharron opened the door with force, causing it to clash with the wooden shelve behind it. "Well hello to you too my Dear." Gilbert said to Sharron as he kept his eyes on his computer. He was currently inputting data from the latest experiments. "Will you be home with the kid tonight?" She asked in a crude tone, finally initiating a reaction from the typically docile Gilbert. "THAT KID, happens to be OUR kid, and she has a name. Stop referring to her like she's a nameless object. I know you don't love her like I do, but could you at least-" "Ugh, enough with the lecture. I just don't like that Takeda just dumped some little orphan girl on us. Not to mention, he intends to dump some little boy on us next." Gilbert sighed and took off his round glasses, and pinched his nose.
"Sharron, do you have any sort of motherly instinct, anywhere in your body? When we were dating I always figured you were great with children, seeing as you were always so good with your little sister Julianna. It was something I looked forward too, but you've barely even acknowledged me as the man in your life since we were married...Do you even love me anymore?" Gilbert's normally neat and tidy, emerald green hair, had become disheveled and covered part of his eyes because of his frustration. "So will you be home with the kid-with WREN, tonight or not?" Gilbert looked up, locking his bright blue eyes with her pitch black eyes, "You are free to spend the night with your lover if that's why your asking. But yes, I will bring her home tonight because she needs a proper rest-" "Bye," Sharron said as she quickly turned the corner and left. "Gilbert let out a frustrated sigh...*sigh* Oh Wren, why of all people did you get forced to be with a woman like her for your adoptive mother," he said towards the small couch in the corner, where a young Wren was sleeping quietly.
..."Conner, did you meet with Takeda and the others yet?" Many weeks had passed since their escape incident and they were now wrapping up another mission from Elder Takeda. Conner didn't answer vocally, but he shook his head, causing the blood dripping from his hair, to fly onto the bathroom wall. "Shit, Conner, get naked and wash up already. You're making more of a mess!" Conner smirked as he began stripping off his clothes. After removing everything, he confidently walked over to Sharron. "Come on Love, lets getta bit dirty before gettin' clean, yeah?" He grabbed her slender body and forced it against his own.
She could feel how excited he was, which she came to expect from him after all the jobs they've completed together. "Why does killing people turn you on so much you sicko?" She asked just before grabbing his face with her blood stained hands, and kissing him hungrily. They continued kissing as Conner moved his hands up and down her body, removing her clothes as he moved. *SMACK!* "Now get yer perky ass in tha shower so I can love ya right," he said in a low tone, and Sharron happily obliged. Both immediately continuing where they left off just moments ago.
After some time, the both got out of the shower and dried off, ignoring the bloody scene around them. There was a topless woman with her face on the floor, that had blood pooling from her throat which was slit all the way across. She was also missing a few fingers from each hand. Next was a man who was fully naked and tied to a toilet. He was all but decapitated and most of his internal organs were on the floor in front of him. "Why'd we have ta make sucha mess with em?" Conner asked as he pulled clean clothes from the dead mans closet to wear. Sharron finished towel drying her hair and went into the closet to rummage through the woman's clothes as well. "We had to make it look like it was a gang deal gone bad. There are ties to them because of his drug habit. Two birds with one stone kind of job," she answered as she put on a form fitting cream dress.
...Once they got dressed and grabbed their dirty clothes, Conner grabbed the gas can and poured a trail through the living room, out the front door. He then lit a match and dropped it in the gas. "I dunno why they even botha with tha fiar. It never rids all tha evidence anyhow," He said as they both walked away from the large home, that was slowly catching fire. "It is more about sending a message then it is actually destroying evidence. They have enough power that no one dares confront them, so they don't have to worry about getting caught." As they walked farther away from the burning house, they made it to their car, got in, and drove to Conner's apartment.
The next day, they made their way to Takeda's house in the forest to meet with him and the other assassins. When they entered the room, they noticed two of the higher ranking members weren't there. "Where are Turtle & Dove?" She asked Takeda as she took a seat. "They are dead. The mission was compromised and the intel was bad. When we sent them to the Southern border to get the target, they were ambushed by the townspeople." Everyone in the room stated silent. "If it weren't for these two parading around letting their presence be known as the Traveler and Beauty, the wouldn't be aware-" *BAM!* One of the men at the edge of the table, hit his fists down loudly.
"This is not just on them. We are all getting to much attention. I know we have experiments to complete and data to gather, but we need to hold off. We couldn't get that light hair, dark skinned, little girl from the Southern Territory, so let us hold off and use the kids we currently have." Takeda stayed silent as he listened to what they had to say. "I agree, we need to keep a low profile for some time. Traveler & Beauty, you especially. Complete the last steps I told you, then lay low. The rest of you, consider this a vacation. Red & Rover, meet me in my office at 5, the rest of you are dismissed." Everyone obediently did as they were told. 'I don't have a good feeling about this,' Sharron thought to herself as she walked over to her house, which wasn't far from Takeda's.
When she came inside, she saw a young Wren sitting on the couch, watching TV. Before Sharron could approach the young girl, Wren turned to face her. "Hi Ma! I missed you!" she exclaimed, with a bright smile on her face. Sharron smiled slightly and went to sit next to Wren. After some time, she drifted off to sleep, but she was awoken by a frantic young Wren. "Ma, Ma! I think, I think something is wrong with Pa. I can't...feel him anymore." Sharron groggily tried to regain her senses and process what Wren said. As she stood up she noticed it was now getting darker and Wren was shaking and had been crying, 'Shit, this isn't good,' Sharron thought to herself as she went to the back closet and grabbed a bag.
Just as she was making her way to the door, she felt a sharp pain in her neck and instinctively put her hand up to cover her neck. When she moved her hand, all she saw was red. She began panting and panicking, her vision was getting blurry. "...om!" Sharron thought she heard something and tried to look in the direction of the sound. "Mom!" Sharron could feel her heart beating slower with every passing moment, "Ma wake up!" *GASP* Sharron was startled awake by a concerned looking Wren. She felt her neck and noticed there was no wound, and everything seemed to be as normal as ever. "Ma, are you okay?" Wren put her small hand on Sharron's; finally collecting herself, she looked down to Wren, "I'm fine Wrenny. Let's get dinner started, your Pa will be home soon."
Wren's face lit up as she quickly hopped off the couch and ran into the small kitchen. Her shoulder length sapphire blue hair, bouncing as she ran. 'That kid has hair just like her mom,' Sharron thought with a sigh. 'What am I even doing?' She put her head in her hands and groaned, 'Why am I even doing what Takeda and Donavan want? What do they have-' *"We can let Julianna live a life of luxury, or she can perish at your feet. Which do you choose?"* Sharron had a flash of Elder Takeda's cruel words, which startled her. She stood up and quietly walked over to the counter, where she saw a young Wren eagerly washing the vegetables so Sharron could cut them.
Sharron smiled sadly, "I can't help but feel that this will be the last time we can do this Wrenny-Bear," Wren looked up to Sharron with a surprised look, "Yay, you finally call me what Pa does! That makes me feel warm inside. But, why did you say that about dinner Ma? Are you going to leave me and Pa?" Instead of answering, she just bent down and kissed Wren on the head. 'I should have spent time like this with you all along...' her thoughts trailed off as she finished preparing dinner for their family. The next day, Sharron had all but forgotten about the weird dream she had the night before, and was quickly preparing for her next mission before Wren woke up for the day.
'This is...I feel like something isn't right. Where-' "Moring Ma!" Wren yelled, which caused Sharron to almost spill her drink. "Damn, I told you not to scare me like that Wrenny. You are too good at sneaking up on me, I think we need to put a bell in your hair clip," Sharron said with a smile, which caused young Wren to giggle. "Ma, is Ego with Pa? I didn't hear them leave. I-I have an uneasy tummy for some reason..." Wren said as she clenched her stomach. "Wrenny Bear, don't bother me right now. Today is an important day. Make yourself some toast and run along." Shannon muttered as she walked out of the kitchen into the main office they have within their home. 'Meany head Ma!' Wren thought as she stuck her tongue out towards the direction in which her mother left.
After a few moments of silence, Sharron finished her prep work and went back out into the kitchen to talk with Wren. "Wrenny? Ma is-" *BOOM! BANG!* Sharron heard loud noises not far from their home, and felt the ground start shaking with every loud "Boom." "What?! We weren't suppose to start this until-" *CRASH!* 'Shit,' Sharron grabbed a small bag from the kitchen cupboard and leisurely walked outside. 'Conner should be here by this time of day, I wonder...' Sharron looked up and saw Conner coming towards her and held her arms out. They briefly talked, kissed, and went their separate ways.
Sharron wasn't sure where Wren was, but knew she had to look like she was troubled, so she quickly ruffled her hair, slapped her face, and began calling out for Wren. After a few moments, she saw a terrified Wren, crawl out from under the brush near their home. 'Thank goodness,' she thought as she quickly scooped Wren in her arms and began to run towards Takeda's house. "Ma...there's-" When she reached the door, she felt a chill down her spine, but it was too late. When the door opened, she felt a strong arm, forcefully grab her and caused her to drop Wren.
As she struggled she looked over to Wren and saw all the blood around her, then noticed her husband Gilbert was lying, bloodied, and beaten on the floor with a large gash in his head. She was furious, and finally wrestled with her attacker enough to bring their face into the light. "Barron?" *SHINK* She heard the sound of his knife gliding across his belt, then felt the impact of the blade, going deep into her neck. He had a smirk on his face and pulled her close, "Their death is on your hands. You should have listened to Takeda. This was his choice." He said as he dropped her to the floor.
As the light was fading from her eyes, she managed to focus on Wren's face one last time, and saw just how terrified the young girl was. 'I'm so sorry Wrenny Bear...' *Thud* Sharron's lifeless body was now on the floor, just a short distance from her husbands lifeless body, and her adopted daughter, who is about to be in a fight for her life...