Garnets

Crunch.

A young pale girl was hiding above a creature as it walked over snow covered tree branches that had fallen to the ground. The creature was hungry for fresh blood to be spilled. She was wearing a light green top with long sleeves, a flowy dark green skirt, a black belt, long white stockings, and green boots with white fur and a tiny mint green bow. She had her white hair (with hints of mint green) half up in a braid crowning her head and half down. Even though she was shivering from the cold, her medium lavender eyes narrowed with determination. She refused to die to that horrendous creature.

She summoned ice shards around her, ready to make them fly at the creature. Her ice shards were sharp enough to pierce through bone, and since it was ice it made her opponent cold. Just as she was about to release the ice shards, her cousins leaped into the fray. She sighed in exasperation as she carefully realigned her ice where her cousins wouldn't get in the way. Unfortunately, while she was doing that, a second creature sneaked up behind her.

"Raven! Behind you!" Carter, her older cousin, yelled in concern as he summoned a blue fireball and threw it at the creature behind her.

Raven quickly turned around in time to see the creature burn to death behind her. She was thankful that her cousin had saved her, but she was also annoyed since she had everything under control until they ruined her plan. She jumped down and joined her cousins.

She sat down for family dinner. Her uncle and aunt were not happy with how the trio risked their lives. Most importantly, they were surprised to find out that Raven was the one who came up with the idea. She was usually the most calm and logical when it comes to this. She was the strategist in her team. However, she had a secret that led to her losing her rationality today. A secret that she couldn't let anyone know about; she had fallen for the enemy. And that guy told her something that made it hard for her to keep her emotions bottled up.

"Why did you risk your life like that? It's not like you to act like this." Carter hissed under his breath as the trio went to the room that they shared. His dark brown hair covered his vivid cornflower blue eyes as he turned to look at her suspiciously. He liked dressing in dark academia style clothing, which made him seem cold at first glance. In reality, he was the hot-headed one in their team.

"Yeah, Raven. What's wrong?" Eilish asked as she chewed on some gum. She looked like the female version of her brother but her eyes were a different shade of blue. Her eyes were more of a star command blue; in other words, her eyes were a lighter shade of blue. Her dark brown hair was up in twin braided buns with side bangs (and regular bangs too). She was a goth girl, and she always wore black lipstick. She was laid back but she got fiery when needed.

Raven tensed but kept her expression neutral. "It's nothing." The moment she said that, they both stared at her with disbelief. She sighed and mumbled,"I'm in love with someone."

Eilish grinned. "Did I hear that right?"

Raven blushed as she confirmed that she said what she said. "It's complicated though." She said softly, twirling her hair a bit as she thought about the guy.

Carter raised an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously. "Is it someone we know?" He crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall.

Raven shrugged. "I don't think so... but maybe you've heard of him."

Eilish started listing names she knew. Raven denied being interested in those guys.

"It doesn't matter who you're interested in. As long as it's not the enemy...or someone in the Knight family since you know how my dad feels about them." Carter chimed in after getting tired of his sister naming almost every single guy she knew.

Raven's smile froze when he mentioned the Knight family. She quickly composed herself before anyone noticed though. "Yeah, yeah, I know." She muttered in an annoyed tone as she straightened her posture.

She found herself staring at her lover, she was standing right next to her family (cousins and the uncle). He was off into the distance. It was snowing yet he never looked better. He was a young tanned guy, he traveled from a hot tropical area to this harsh cold environment. His natural eye color was emerald green, but ever since he got into a life threatening situation, one of his eyes permanently turned yellow. His curly purple hair framed his face. What makes him a dangerous opponent is his ability to manipulate blood. And his name is Darius Knight.

As both sides got closer to properly see each other, Darius and the uncle got into a fighting stance. Raven's mask of composure fell apart and her cousins froze.

Oh, crap. My secret will get exposed and I'll be shunned from my family, Raven thought as she slowly spiraled into panic. Darius noticed and smiled at her when no one was watching. Seeing him smile comforted her enough to rein in her panic.

Her uncle lunged at Darius. Without hesitation, Raven shielded her lover with a wall of ice. Her cousins aided her, thinking their father was attacking an innocent young man.

"Why do you want to hurt him, Dad?"

"He's a Knight!"

Carter and Eilish were surprised at the news that Raven's lover was a Knight. But they also noticed their father's eyes change color for a brief second, alerting them that the man they believed to be their father was actually an imposter.

Raven held Darius's hand, he squeezed her hand as he kissed her forehead. "Thanks, love. You didn't need to do that." He murmured.

A faint blush spread across her cheeks as he whispered into her ear. "I know, I just reacted. I couldn't help it." She whispered back.

"You... aren't our father." Eilish whispered as she instinctively took a step back and let go of the man in front of her.

Carter was the only one restraining him now. "Ellie, now is not the time." He mouthed.

Eilish shook her head, anger rising as she realized what must've happened to her father if someone was impersonating him.

The man, who was not their father, smirked. "Don't worry, lass. You'll meet the same fate as your parents. I'm Anthrax, have you heard of me?"