CREDFORD

"Leaving so soon, Yuna?"

Yuna's heart skipped a beat when she heard the familiar voice. It can't be her. She unhurriedly turned around just to see a figure staring down at her from above the staircase tower through which Yuna had entered the rooftop earlier.

"Surprise!" Liya sang as she slipped to the concrete floor almost soundlessly.

"But...how..."

"Ah, come on! Don't give me that look, it pains me!" Liya exclaimed as she advanced.

It was when her figure finally came into the moonlight did Yuna comprehended Liya was wearing her cat mask. She stifled a shiver, she knew it meant business.

"You were supposed to be in Barrenton..." Yuna breathed, beginning to come up with a plan to escape the situation for she had run out of bullets.

"Oh, was I?" Liya slipped her hands into the pocket of her black jeans, her eyes trained on Yuna. "Did you really believe we would trust a mole like you with this plan where we had our lives on the line?"

Yuna sucked in an unsteady breath, she was certain her cover was blown and she had been impulsive enough to let it happen.
"How did you find out?" She asked, trying to buy herself some time while she prepared to strike. The fire alarms were echoing in distance and Liya sneered.

"About you joining hands with our enemy?" Liya chuckled, "I guess you can say I never really took you to be a trustworthy person, to begin with."

"And my suspicion only grew when we found out you were working for the Knights," She added."Your little vacation wasn't supporting the case eith-"

Before she could finish, Yuna hurled herself forward, aiming her fists at the younger's jaw. Liya swiftly sidled to the side, hands still resting in her pockets. For some reason, Liya's nonchalance has managed to piss Yuna off more than her very own displeasing situation right now did.

Yuna flew her other arm towards Liya but the latter took a step back, broadening the distance between them. "I thought you were better than this," Liya remarked and even though Yuna couldn't see her face, she knew she was smirking.

The Sniper thrusted her leg at the masked girl in front of her but the latter shoved it away with a sharp strike of her hand. Yuna tried to kick her again but the attempt didn't conclude any differently than the first one had.

For the next few seconds, Yuna kept trying to get a hit right but it all went in vain. It was almost as if Liya was seeing right through her every move, dodging them with smooth—almost feline grace. At that moment, Yuna could make perfect sense of the name the girl in front of her had earned in the underworld.

Shadow cat.

Yuna jerked herself back now, trying to catch her breath. She could hear loud resonant sounds coming from the building Lee Know and Jimin had entered earlier.
Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, mainly because she had suspected Liya was holding herself back from attacking her than her own struggle. Liya just snickered and pulled her hands out of her pockets, stretching them behind her head.

"It's a shame, actually" Liya began, sighing dramatically. "I, now, can see why Dark Knight's leader chose Jungkook over his very own daughter to lead the gang in his absence-"

Liya paused just as a sudden wave of pain shot through her body and blood oozed down her nose. Her eyes found Yuna's.
She was standing there, hands clenched at her sides, eyes glaring daggers her way.
"Don't talk about shit you don't understand!" Yuna spat.

"Look's like I hit a nerve." Liya chuckled lightly, wiping the blood off her face. She was beginning to feel drowsy and her senses were clouding. "Finally decided to use your abilities?"

Another wave of pain hit her and she gasped, struggling to keep her balance as blood spilled from her mouth and when she reached her hands up to wipe it off, she noticed the hives that were developed on her skin. Her body felt like it was on fire. The poison that was injected into her veins has started showing its effects.

Yuna was a poison manipulator. She could inject poison and alter it in the body of any being or object with just a simple touch. Liya had known and experienced it many times before. I can best this, she told herself as she forced herself to move forward, keeping her composure.

Yuna leaped forward, swinging her arm across Liya in an attempt to strangle her. Liya caught her forearm and turned on her heels twisting the arm in her grasp before kicking Yuna in the guts and letting her go. The kick wasn't as strong as Liya had expected it to be-the poison had weakened her-but it did its work. Yuna fell to the ground sputtering out blood.

"You chose the wrong time to mess with me," muttered Liya.
"It's a full moon night."
Yuna looked back at the girl. She could see her eyes glowing a bright shade of blue through the hole in her mask.

"Tell me something," Liya stepped back, glancing down at Yuna with stone-cold eyes. "What promises did the old woman made to you to manipulate you to do her bidding?"

When Yuna didn't respond, Liya went on. "Did she promise you safety? Power? Vengeance?" There was something in her voice when she said those words. Something Yuna couldn't decipher. "Tell me, did she promise you love?"

"Easy with the questions" Yuna mumbled as she pulled out a knife from her pocket and threw it at Liya. The latter moved just in time and dodged the attack. Yuna got to her feet and Liya felt the poison spread in her body once again, weakening her senses yet again.

Liya stumbled backward, her vision blurring, blood staining the whites of her eyes. Yuna stepped forward and reached for the masked girl's throat. She grabbed her and twisted her neck to the side, gathering her strength.

Liya dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Yuna stared at the body lying down in front of her for a second, wondering if she should take the mask off of it. But there were more important matters at hand. She heaved a breath and walked past liya's body, supporting her wounded abdomen.

She turned to the side to take a look at the nearby building and the sight that greeted her made her eyes widen in shock. There was a hole burned in the ceiling of one of the floors and she could barely make out the two men falling down it as she watched the view unfold in front of her eyes. She quickly rushed to the Door and just when she reached for the doorknob she heard a voice behind her say, "I hope you didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily."

Impossible. She didn't even hear any footsteps.

Before Yuna could turn around, something hard hit her head. For a split second, she was in shock and then the pain flared up-slowly pulling her into unconsciousness. She stumbled backward, reaching for the back of her head. Through her blurry vision, she glimpsed Liya's figure standing at a distance.

"Tell me, did she promise you love?"

Liya's words rang in her ears as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

                      ———    
  
   【【「 Flashback 」 】】

When Yuna was 4 years old, she'd lost her mother.

Growing up, the only family she knew was her father, The leader of Dark Knights who tried his best to fill in the void his wife's death had left. He had almost succeeded in that.

Almost.

When Yuna turned six, she discovered her gift of poison manipulation. Her father didnt want to now leave her unguarded, especially with an ability like that under her control.
So he had decided to let her accompany him at the gang's base.
Yuna was excited to say the least about this news, given how little she knew about her father's business. It didn't even take her two days to memorize the entire layout of the gang's base, and a few weeks to learn about every working member of the gang.

When her father told her to observe him as he trained himself at the building's basement, when she watched him conduct briefings   about the gang and its business, she begun to respect him even more. But it didn't stop at that.

When her father brought her to his training room when she was Ten, and taught her the basics of combat for the first time, she found a dream. A dream to become his father's successor.
Since that day, she visited the base more than ever, trained herself for combat more than ever. Her father himself even took some time off his work, to train her.

She was only eleven when she picked up a gun in her hand for the first time. Her father was beside her, guiding her with a comforting smile on his face everytime her aim went wrong.

When she turned twelve, the comforting smile grew rarer, which made her lose confidence in herself. Her father's stern expression everytime he trained her were deflating,  but she knew there was affection behind that.

"Good one," her father muttered to his 14 year old daughter, lips forming a thin line as he scanned the bullet that just hit the bullseye. Yuna had a special talent in long-range shooting.
"If you keep this up, you'd be sure to become a great leader some day"

The relief that washed over her when she heard those words was unexplainable. She hadn't realized that she had begun to seek her father's validation. It came naturally to her. When her had mother passed away, her father had never left her side once, but for the past few years, she always had this disturbing feeling in her chest that he was drifting away from her. She felt it everytime her father gave her that stern look whenever she messed up a combat move. She felt it everytime her father was dissatisfied with her.

And she felt it then too, when her father brought her to his study that night.

She was seated infront of his table when her father introduced her to them.

"Yuna, I need to meet them." Muttered her father as he took his seat behind the table. She turned around to take a look at the visitors at the door, only to find two boys standing there, a stern look on their young-looking face. They were almost the same age as her.

"This boy," Her father started, "Is Kim Taehyung." He pointed towards the raven haired boy with a jerk of his chin. He had forest green eyes, emotionless as he nodded in her direction.

"And this is Jeon Jungkook." She turned towards the light haired boy, who slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement and she nodded back. He was definitely more social than the ravenet.

"I'd be nice if you three get along with each other."

Yuna turned towards her father who offered the boys a small smile, the smile faltering as he turned towards his daughter. "You'll be training together from tomorrow."

The next day, Yuna regretted agreeing to her father's demand with every single cell in her body.

"You want to try again?" Muttered  the younger boy–Jungkook, eyes glistening with excitement.

"No." She didn't even hesitate.

For the past few hours, Jungkook and her had been training for hand-to-hand combat and to say that he was great would've been an understatement. He was strong, too strong for her. She'd lost all the rounds of training battle she had against him. The worst part was, he didn't even look tired.

The boy chuckled then, rubbing the neck of his neck. Yuna turned her attention to Taehyung, who was seated at the corner of the room, watching them with dull eyes.

"I'll train with him." Yuna stated from her position on the ground. At least, he looked like he'd be easier to defeat.

Taehyung looked up at her, distracted, eyes staying there for a moment before he looked down and got up from his seat and made his way towards her, staying quite the whole time.

What's the deal with him, anyways?

Yuna Sighed but took her stance, ready to attack. The boy stood still. Annoying.

Yuna flew her arms at him but before they could touch his face, the boy moved—too fast. He caught her arm, twisted it behind her back as he lightly kicked her feet, knocking her off her feet and she was on the ground before she even realized it.

Yuna groaned in frustration. The move wasn't even that strong—Nowhere near the force with which Jungkook went at her, it was his speed that took her by surprise. He's too fast.

Yuna looked up, only to find the boy returning to his seat beside Jungkook.

This wasn't going to be easy.

And it didn't, for the next few months, Yuna spent most of her time training with the boys at the base. Though Jungkook had warmed up to her–a little, Taehyung was just as unfriendly as ever, only ever talking to him when he needed to.
And then there was her father. She couldn't recall when was the last time she had a proper talk with him.

It didn't matter now, he was going to announce his successor at today's briefing anyway.
She was nervous, yes, but excited too. For the past few years, she'd dreamt of him nothing but this position. 

She heaved a breath as her father entered the room. He smiled at Jungkook who was seated across the table. There were only a few trustworthy member of gang present there.He took his seat and went on about the gang's affairs for a while, before coming to a pause.

He got up then, informing the member about his plans for the gang's future and of course,  his hier. Yuna sucked in a breath, ready to hear her father say her name, but he never did.

"...Jungkook" Her father smiled, at him and her heart sank. When Jungkook stood up and went towards her father—taking on the official position of his successor, Yuna couldn't help but the rage that filled her up. She was angry, at her father. She was angry at herself for being a failure.

She didn't hold back when the briefing was finished and ran away from the base, from her father. She cried her heart out. She felt betrayed. She didn't know what to go or where to go.

She was seated at the park that night, too lost in her thoughts to sense another presence near hear.
Before she realized it, she was hit at the back of her head with a heavy object and her vision faded out.

When she came back to conciousness the next day, her hands were cuffed with chains and she was tied to a chair in a dark room. There no was other source of light in the room except for the bulb hanging off the ceiling in front of her.

She heard shuffling in the corner of the room and she tensed. "Who's there?" She called out in a weak voice.

There was no reply. So she tried again, louder this time. "What the hell am I doing here?" She tried to get free herself off the chains but it was of no help.

Just then, a man stepped into the light. She couldn't see his face because he was masked. He pointed a gun at her forehead. "Don't try anything funny"

She held herself back as the man freed her off the chair and hauled her up as she leaned on him for support. A few turns later, she was thrown into a room, with the door locked up behind her. The room had huge walls—entirely white. And the room was empty, save for the chair and a  table on which some tools were scattered.
She pushed herself forward to take a look at them and her heart sank.

Those were tools for torturing captives.

Before she could think of anything the door opened and she took a subconscious step back. Few men in a black uniform entered the room and Stationed themselves near the door. Yuna furrowed her brows just as a middle-aged woman  stepped in, her straight hair was a  shade of silver, and she had a determined look on her face. She recognized that look, it was one of a leader.

An audible gasp left her lips as she realized who this woman was, and the woman smiled at that. A warm, welcoming smile.

She moved towards the table, resting her palm on its wooden surface and eyeing the weapons scattered on it. Yuna stayed still.

"You must have questions in your mind," The woman spoke, her calm voice taking Yuna by surprise. "I'll try to answer as many as I can."

"Now, be seated" Her tone switched into an authoritive one and Yuna felt herself complying. She took a seat at the chair beside her, hands trembling as they rested in her lap.

The woman smiled again, "Allow me to ease your mind. I'm—"

"The Czaritsa, I.....I know that"

"Then you must know that I don't take being interrupted kindly too, Miss Shin."

A shivered passed through her, and she didn't know if it was because of the woman's word or the name she had used for her. But the woman did and it only made her smile.

"I will not go too much into details, but I have an offer for you"

Yuna was caught off guard after that. "f-for me?"

"You heard me." The czaritsa traced a finger on the barrel of a gun placed on the table then she sighed. Stepping away from the table and towards Yuna.

"Work for me."

Yuna's eyes widened at that. She didn't know what to say so she stayed silent. The czaritsa took this as an opportunity to continue.

"I recognize a person in need when I see one," Czaritsa was infront of her now, a slight smile on her face.

"The feeling of betrayal," The woman continued, reaching up her hand to place in on Yuna's head. Even to her surprise, Yuna didn't flinch. Her hand was comforting where it was stroking her head lightly.

"The thirst for vengeance," Czaritsa's voice dropped low, "Vengeance, I know you want it"

Yuna's breath was caught in her throat.

Czarista moved away from her, a smile plastered on her face, "Tell me, do you want it?"

"I do."

Her smile only widened, "I'll give you that, and then some."

Yuna frowned.

"In exchange, you'll work for me. You'll Infiltrate the gangs, earn there trust and help me get rid off them. Will you?"

The Czaritsa's voice was too promising when it reached Yuna's years, "I will."

Another smile. "Good girl."

Yuna paused for a moment, gears if her mind running. "Can I ask you something?"

Czaritsa nodded.

"Why.....are you helping me? What's in this for you?"

The smile Czaritsa gave her then was nothing like the comforting, welcoming one she had seen not too long ago.

"Everything."

                      ————  

                   
Hope yall enjoyed ❤

Guess who decided to be shameless and show up again after 2 months 😃
That's right! Its your lovely author!!! T-T

Guys I swear... I AM SORRY!!

Writing these action scenes are taking longer than expected so please be patient till the mission is over and then I'll try my best to upload more frequently...

Now moving on towards the chapter! Did you guys enjoy?

What do you think about Yuna's past? Do you guys think she made the right decision by accepting the offer? And do you think the gang leader was right to chose Jungkook over his own daughter?

Let me know all your theories!

Oh and btw... there are some major hints in this chapter... figure them out of you can~ *sips tea*

Love you all!!