Something felt off... Off enough to make me stop in my tracks, my fingers still hovering near the glass vial filled with blood, the blood that contained the memories and information I personally experienced in the Black Dogs. Decade's worth of information. It was to be analyzed in the royal laboratory, where its contents deciphered. "... That noise earlier… that path isn't supposed to have any noises other than mine. And that informant I was to meet... He smells... Familiar... From here..." My voice was a whisper. A gut feeling clawed at my chest, but I ignored it. I had to. Maybe it was just a hunch, maybe it was nothing. I corked the vial and handed it to the informant. But... The informant had a sad smile and a glint of something like a black badge in their white coat. And just like that, it was done. Years of infiltration sealed in a drop of blood. As I leapt across rooftops, dashing through moonlight and shadow, my thoughts echoed inside me like blades clashing. "I did everything right... So why does it feel like... Something has gone wrong?" After a soft landing thanks to my feline abilities, I reached the base. My home, the very home I was raised in as one of their own. The Black Dogs. I soon pushed the door open. "I'm back, ev—" I didn't even get to finish my sentence before an elbow smashed into my chin. A fist to the gut followed. My vision blurred into darkness. When I came to, the first thing I noticed wasn't the blood in my mouth, nor wasn't the aching pain in my ribs and my chin. It was the silence. No footsteps. No voices. Just me, tied to a chair in the interrogation room. The very same interrogation room I never wanted to be near My eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, only being lit by the window letting moonlight inside. Stone walls, iron chains, dust in the air, and especially the tools waiting on standby. "No..." I tried to move my hands, but they were bound by the rope wrapped tightly around my limbs. I was bleeding slightly, due to the injuries I sustained earlier. My failsafe spells that were meant to kill me, as soon as I slipped, up were completely gone as it must've been dispelled by one of the senior mages in the Black Dogs. My heart pounded in my ears, and then I saw them. The big dog themselves. The one I least wanted to see, especially in this situation. The one I was raised by, the one I respected. And... The one I betrayed. "... I– You... I never wanted you to see me like this..."