Nathan 2

The teenager stood in front of the High, his hands behind his back. The High was still conversing with one of the women from earlier, who was now standing beside him. Her lazy eyes both scrutinized him while also being on the High.

"Nathan Wyrn," He said, now looking at him, straight in the face, "Word around the Orca tells me that you are an exceptional boy."

"I only do my best sir," Nathan said, shifting his weight from one leg to another.

The truth of the matter was that nobody at the Orca liked the current High, Solomon Hunter. He was obviously an above dweller, taking the position right after the death of the former High. He, like others never understood why a man who did not care for the affairs of the Below suddenly wanted to stick his nose into their affairs. But he, like everyone else, kept his thoughts to himself. Why bother to say anything. It wasn't like they could change it. If Torn Wyrn, Tigre or Ms. Watson had only watched, why should he act?

"I have a very important and dangerous assignment for you. It is of high importance, and I can only rely on someone who is smart and at the same time, unknown."

"With all due respect, there are tons of other guys who are more unknown than I. I am the protégé of Torn Wyrn."

"Yes. You're his protégé. But they don't know you specifically."

The assignment all of a sudden became crystal clear to Nathan all of a sudden. "Sir," Nathan said, swallowing hard, "You want me to go to Wolf territory?"

"Clever," Mr. Hunter said, "I want you to go there and gather as much information as possible on the various members of the Wolf. Most notably their gifts, arsenals, etc. Anything that would put them one step ahead of us."

"Most of these missions result in failures, sir." Nathan replied, "The members normally have to kill themselves when caught."

"But you won't get caught, will you?"

Nathan shook his head.

"Good. Your mission starts now. You are to leave immediately. Take the bag over there, it contains a few stuff to help you blend in. I wish you well, and Godspeed."

Nathan nodded and left the room, taking the bag with him. Once he closed the doors, he stood still for a while, breaking into a cold sweat. Going to Wolf territory was suicide. Failure meant war. If they found him out, then, that was it for him and the unspoken treaty they had. He looked at the bag and its contents. It had a white fur coat in it and red dye. He sighed, heading down the stairs.

"Hey," a guy around a lit fire with some other guys called, "Been a while Nathan."

"Sid," Nathan replied, "What do you want?"

"Hey, chill." Sid said, "Just checking on ya."

Nathan looked at him and sighed. "Sorry, not in a good mood."

"Are you ever in a good mood?" A girl said, approaching them. It was Fidelia. "Always having that dull expression on your face like it's the end of the world."

"Well, close." Nathan said, "Not when you're with a guy like Torn."

"Yeah, some of us decided to stay low in this gang, others decided to shine brightest."

"At least he isn't Ron." Sid said. The three turned to the man who sat on the snow with his back on the wall. He turned to them, watching them, with eyes that sought salvation. He was the protégé of Tigre, and the claw marks all over his face spoke for themselves.

"Yeah…"Nathan said, "I have to go."

"Where to?" Fidelia asked.

"I can't tell you." Nathan said.

"Ugh…" Fidelia said, going to sit down.

"Just be safe, heard that the Wolves have gotten much rowdier of late."

Nathan nodded, exiting the Orca base. He sighed, thinking whether he might come back home or not.

The cabin was old and rickety, and unlike the other houses that were mad to keep the cold in, this was just an old make shift. Well, its inhabitant sure didn't care.

The petit girl sat on the stairs, watching the snowy field. To her left was the Lower Half. To her right was an endless field of snow. A wasteland. She hadn't seen them personally, but there were at least 30 bodies there; people who had either tried to leave in search of greener pastures but sadly never made it, or people who had gone against the standards of the two gangs and were made to pay the consequences.

The figure approached the girl from the Lower Half, bending down in front of her. He patted her on the head, smiling at her.

"You could get frostbite," White said to her. The girl looked at him with a frown. "What the hell took you so long?"

"Traffic."

"Wow. Of all the things, traffic."

"Ah, you know me,"

White took a seat next to her, exhaling.

"So," the girl said, "the boss say anything."

"He said they are finally laying the foundations."

"That's good to hear. Then we can finally get out of this hellhole."

"Yeah." White said. He exhaled again, his head looking up. The girl looked at him form the corner of her eyes.

"Still amazes me that you can still see without your own two eyes."

"Amazing indeed."

The two sat in silence. It wasn't long when a figure approached them.

"Wow. Do you two enjoy frostbite?"

"Shut up, Kah Mal," she said, "It's your fault. You decided to take your time."

"C'mon Claudia," Kah Mal said, "You know how the boss likes to take one's personal time."

Kah Mal led the way into the room, followed by White and Claudia. The inside of the cabin was as deteriorated as the outside, with a candle being the only source of light placed on an old rickety table. The three sat around the table on the chairs.

"So," Claudia said, "What now?"

"Solomon said that things are starting to move now. He's already started the plans. Now, White and I just have to play our parts."

"You mean, the mission that none of us want to do?"

"Exactly." White said, "Once we're done, we walk away. No more missions, no more assignments, we reunite with our family and move on."

"It's a pity that we didn't get to see her," Claudia muttered to herself, but the other two had heard her. They all missed her, their mentor, their benefactor, their…mother. But what had happened had happened.

"I hope you will be alright for a while." Kah Mal asked her, "It might not take long, but it will still be lonely without either of us."

"Relax, Kah Mal," Claudia said with a smile, "I am not the child I used to be. I'm older now."

"Older she says." White said, "Yeah. But you're still afraid of mice."

"They just get to me, okay?" Claudia said, blushing.

"Ha!" White laughed, "Yeah sure. But I do love the way they just make you jump onto Kah Mal's arms."

"Why do I feel like you're the one who put them there?"