(Here is a little something I wrote at some point last year. I had full intentions of continuing it, but the motivation to do so faded away as my last year of school settled in. Here for your viewing pleasure, I give you Morning Rain. (Which does take place in a well-formed universe of my creation. Completely original work here. XD) Oh and maybe I might still continue on it. Not sure yet.)

Rain always had a mesmerizing effect on Yulnes. As a child, he always took a liking for the water that fell from the sky, and especially on Sier, where the rain almost never fell, it took on the connotation of a sort of legend among the children of the planet. Even the adults took a splendor in it. Of course, rain always had another quality. This was the quality to hide tracks and make anything less sound and seem as almost nothing. Both of these qualities were being demonstrated in the present moment.

Yulnes stared out of a car window, paying close attention to the way street lamps cast light sharply across the wet asphalt. Rain fell heavily, and the car sliced carefully through it. A low but soft humming of the car penetrated the otherwise silent and cool air of the inside. He moved his head away from the window to peer at the other passengers. Three others. All of them dressed to the neck in black clothing. A small hole in the road caused all of them to bounce slightly in their seats. This caused a rattling from the rear of the car, and from back left seat of the car, he heard it clearly. Of course he had always been able to hear things better than humans. The rattling came from a bag of weapons needed for the operation.

“Let’s get this done before sun up, alright?” A young, but unnaturally gruff voice let out. The driver. He was a human who probably aged in his late twenties. Yulnes didn’t know. He never asked specifics of these people.

“Yeah yeah…” a gentler voice let out from beside Yulnes. A female voice. Early twenties. Yulnes glanced to her for a moment as she leaned up to peer between the two seat, a grin plastered arrogantly to her face, “Just try not to trip any alarms this time.”

The man driving laughed in a forceful manner, causing the woman’s smile to fade away slightly as she leaned back into her seat again. Yulnes averted his gaze back outside of the window, letting a breath out. The glass fogged delicately as his warm breath gathered on it. Beyond the fogged glass, he could see the shapes of building and skyscrapers, shining in the artificial lights. Sier was always silent in the early mornings, and the rain deterred even those few humans that cared to be out before the sun rose. Yulnes didn’t sleep very often, but he himself never really ventured outside and into the urban jungle. Everyone seemed to understand that just because the lights shone on the sidewalks, street corners, and roads, the place wasn’t made to harbor solitary beings.

As the car hummed along the road, everyone remained silent now, leaving everyone to stay within their own, cold thoughts. No one got into this business unless they didn’t have anything better to do. There were rebels, and then there were these people who disturbed the peace for personal gain. These weren’t martyrs or anyone dedicated to a cause. Mercenaries. A ragtag group of people brought in to do a job for money. This wasn’t their first strike. What struck Yulnes odd though was how young the woman was. He could see her face, glowing ever so slightly in the light that flooded in from every streetlamp they passed under. She didn’t have a single wrinkle on her smooth face, but her eyes stared ever so blankly in the distance. The ‘thousand mile stare. She had been through horrid things. Poor human she was. Yulnes felt sorry for her, but in the same sense, he felt glad that he was doing this with them. Perhaps he could give her some type of closure.

After some time, the sky above the buildings they were passing began to grow in a lighter, bluish tint. Not from the sun, but from the parking lot and general area of the building they were approaching. It had a grand plaza, made artful with checkered tile among other things like interesting angled slopes that veiled on access for disabled, but gave more hint to the artistic aura of the place. Bright blue spotlights shone out intensely over the mostly abandoned parking lot.

“Find somewhere dark to park.” Hissed out the woman who sat next to Yulnes in a slightly panicked manner, leaning forwards and in between the two seats again.

“You don’t have to tell me how to do my part of the job, just focus on your own.” The driver replied coldly. The car made into a space that sat between the intense light of modern lamp. The car came to stop and the driver put the car into park and then breathed in while turning the key so that car’s engine shut off. They sat still for a moment before the man in the front passenger seat leaned forwards, opening the glove compartment. This man had sharp features, down to the way his chin jutted out into a single point. He was lean and seemed perfectly human. The problem with this is that no human actually looked this way. They were probably a demon. Perhaps a similar classification as Yulnes. The man looked like he was in his early twenties as well. He took four small devices from the glove department, handing one to the driver only after reaching up and inserting it into his ear. Then he reached back over the seat, holding two out to the woman. She took them lightly and placed one in his ear. She then handed the other to Yulnes.

“Here ya’ go.” She let out with an overly cheery tone, flashing a grin at him. Yulnes took the small device and studied it. It was an earpiece barely larger than an eraser tip. Yulnes raised the earpiece into his ear and pressed it within, where it sat gently, letting out a very soft sound, like an old tube TV. The sound most people defined as “snow”.

“These will keep us in touch.” The driver said, his gruff voice sounding through both the cold air of the vehicle’s interior, and over the snow in his ear. All four of the occupants stepped out of the car, into the pre-morning air. The rain had slowed down a bit, and had come to a light drizzle. This wasn’t a particularly great trait. They needed the rain to continue to pour down if they were going to get away with this.

The plan was pre-established. They were to act as a team, moving into to take down a target. The man was rich, and actually lived in the business building. He owned the building, and had his own living quarters towards the top. Yulnes had provided the blueprints of the place. Getting the blueprints to any place would have been easy for him. Information on any level was easy for him, and the team hadn’t hesitated in taking him in when he was able to follow through on his promise to get the blueprints, for they had failed. He remembered the way the driver had grinned at him when he handed the rolled paper over.

“The more the merrier.” he had said, patting Yulnes’s shoulder. The man had a greedy excitement to his job, showing superficial pride when his team showed their skills. In this way, it seemed he taught his team to work efficiently through positive reinforcement. And as far as Yulnes understood, the team was very effective. Which is why this operation was going to be all that much more enjoyable.

The trunk had been opened now, and the driver was distributing equipment. Yulnes found himself donning a tactical harness, which held a silenced SMG on the back, which proved to be easy to remove for use, as well as a sheath on the side for a silenced pistol, and a sheath on the front for a knife. After these components had been distributed, there was only one last piece left to don. This was the mask, and as Yulnes finished putting it on, he glanced to the other members, watching as they put theirs on as well. Everyone looked very similar at this point beyond height and obvious body shape differences.