If you were to describe an assassin in one word, what would it be? Most people would say, heartless. But if you think about it carefully, even if they are taking lives, assassins have the strongest hearts. People can't stand the feeling of knowing they have a person's blood on their hands. Most can't even stand the feeling of accidentally hurting an animal. In the world of assassins, they keep calm even with the blood of hundreds on their hands. And to add on to that, it's the blood of people.

If you walk down 4th street, in the abandoned city of Kijong, North Korea, you will see the only building that is still standing. Step inside and you might see someone by the name of Shim Jaeyang. However, there is a price to pay once you have stepped into that place. You will not have time to escape once she has set her eyes on you. She will not show you any mercy, emotion or pity. You will be killed mercilessly and for your family, it will be a calamity. For Jaeyang, it will just be another person's blood that will taint her hands.

9th June, 2000. Kijong city lock down, day 1.

News about the rebellion against communism was spreading like wild fire. There were many protests held. People were ranting, and everyday they would be riling crowds and causing havoc in Kijong city. The elders knew this was just asking for trouble. But nothing could discourage the younger generation. They didn't understand the consequences. All they thought about was their unruly living condition. There was no time to think about how much worse things could get if the government were to counter react.

When the government had sensed the rebellion that was building up in the city, the lock down was announced. Troops of soldiers were sent to raid the city, armed and ready to kill anyone that had attempted to escape. Many tried to flee before the troops arrived. While a handful succeeded, most did not and that night alone, there were 700 deaths.

They performed the first weekly inspection, and that day, there were 1500 deaths. All homes that contained any sort of material that could be used for protests, were burnt to ashes. All the people that carried megaphones, picket signs, banners and such, were shot immediately.

Senior citizens, adults, adolescents and children were all treated the same, like mere bugs.

15th June, 2000. Kijong city lock down, day 7.

Within the week, there were 50 more deaths. Nobody had dared to step out of their homes. But some that were desperately in need of supplies were forced to leave their houses after curfew. There was no talk about anyone that had returned home safely, because if any soldiers found out, anyone and everyone related to the survivor would surely be killed.

Then the second weekly inspection was carried out. There were 300 more deaths. This lock down was what the citizens of Kijong city called a plague.

 

15th July, 2000. Kijong city lock down, day 37.

After close to 2000 more deaths since the second weekly inspection, finally came the dreaded event they called 'The Gathering'.

Every citizen remaining was called out to the city square. Then each and every child, aged 7 to 13, were unsparingly taken away from their families. Anyone that stood up against the soldiers in attempt to protect their child was restrained and their child was shot dead in front of their eyes.

The 10 year old girl, Shim Eunchong, who had lost her parents on the 5th day of the lock down sat in the back of the cramped and stuffy truck along with 2 dozen other children. She felt emptiness and guilt overcome her heart as she thought about the day her parents had died. Her eyes began to cloud with tears and her visioin blurred out as the memories rushed into her mind.
 

She was dreadfully ill and her father had gone out after curfew to get some medicine from a town elder. Because he was taking a long time to return, her mother went out to find him. She locked Eunchong in the house, in hopes that her daughter would not get hurt.

"Over there!" Eunchong heard the voice of a soldier call, she walked to the window of her room and peered down. She saw her mother being confronted by a group of soldiers.

"Get down!" the little girl squeezed her eyes shut, and a gun shot was heard.

As she opened her eyes, the tears that had been building up finally fell. She looked further out and saw the silhouette of a man. She looked closely, only to see that it was her father.

"Don't move, appa." she whispered as lower lip trembled in utter fear.

But her father was spotted and her eyes were clouded with tears as she heard another gun shot.

Their bodies were dragged away like scrap meat, and thrown in a ditch along with the bodies of all the others.

She cried herself to sleep that night, and every night after.
 

After a long ride in the back of the truck that was bouncing on the undeveloped roads, they finally came to a stop and all the children were led into an unfamiliar building. Their hands were tied together with rope that had chafed the skin of their wrists. When they were led into a living quarters, they were set free of the binds and were shown around the infinitesimal sleeping quarters and the massive training ground.

That's when their brutal training began. Day after day, the children were forced to train with daggers, swords and guns. It was a fight to the death. They slept anywhere there was space and had nothing but newspaper to shield their bodies from the cold. After several months of fighting to survive in that cruel place, only 4 out of several hundred children were still alive. One of which was, Shim Eunchong.

She lived everyday, clinging on to the thin thread of her life. Her weak, broken heart just barely beating as she strived to live on. She knew that giving up wouldn't help so she fought to stay alive and succeeded. She had recovered over the months and also found that she was an extremely skilled fighter.

It was the last day of training. The four remaining children were put out in the battlegrounds and they were to fight until there were only two remaining. They were given one measly hour in the battle grounds to assassinate each other. Each child chose their preferred weapon and were placed in the battle grounds.

Eunchong had chosen a dagger pouch that contained multiple daggers. She strapped the pouch on and immediately climbed up one of the trees, moving stealthily from branch to branch. The moment she spotted one of her opponents, she pulled out a dagger from her pouch. Her target heard the sound of the leaves rustling above him and looked up. He had a hard look in his eyes but for some reason the gaze captivated Eunchong and her hard eyes softened as she paused for a moment.

Those eyes showed so much more than any person would think. Ignorant beings would think that it was just a hard stare that showed nothing but hate, but Eunchong could see so much more, so much deeper. She saw the will to live, the will to fight, the pain in his eyes, and for a moment, she thought she saw pity. It felt like she saw his whole past even though she had no clue of his life. She felt like she heard the crying voice of his heart although not a word was uttered.

They shared a similar past.

The look in his eyes never changed as he grabbed an arrow from his back and aimed, he pulled the bow string back and let go. Instead of hitting Eunchong it had hit one of their other opponents. The 13 year old girl's body fell lifelessly from the tree next to Eunchong's. He pulled out another arrow from behind him but before he could even put the arrow in place Eunchong had already disappeared into the forest, looking for her next target.

Just before the time had run out, Eunchong managed to find the final target and wiped him out by throwing two daggers that pierced through his vital spots.

After finishing the battle, she was taken back to the building they trained at, along with the boy that had tried to kill her on the battlegrounds. At the building, instead of being led back to the room they usually slept in, they were led to an office. It was a well furnished room that would make any commoner feel unworthy, but Eunchong showed and felt no emotions.

A stern looking man walked in to the office and took a seat behind the mahogany table. He scanned the two children with judgement clear in his eyes.

"Your names," his deep voice echoed slightly in the big office.

"Kim Myungsoo, sir." the 11 year old boy informed and bowed while Eunchong stood there silently.

The man looked at Eunchong, "And yours?" he questioned.

Eunchong just looked him in the eyes with a glare. "You are the person that made us kill each other," she muttered nonchalantly.

Myungsoo looked at her, thinking she had lost her mind.

One of the soldiers raised his loaded gun and aimed right at her. The man raised his hand as a sign that it was okay and the soldier instantly bowed and retreated to his original position.

"Who is this child?" he asked one of the present officers.

"Child of the late Shim Hyun. Birth is not registered. Thus, her name is unknown, sir." he answered firmly. The man nodded in understanding.

"Will you tell me your name child?" he asked.

"Not even if you said you would kill me." she said confidently. She was prepared to meet her parents from day one.

The man signaled for the soldier to come up and aim. When the gun was pointed at her, she shut her eyes, waiting to meet death.

The man chuckled at the sight of the willful young girl and once again raised his hand to signal that it was okay.

"Since she won't tell us her name, I will give her one. Shim Jaeyang, subtle alternative for, jaeang."

From that day onwards, she was known as Jaeyang, the youngest child that had ever survived 'The Gathering'.

After living in the quarters of the building for 7 years, Myungsoo was free to live wherever he wanted as he had reached a legal age. A year later Jaeyang was free to go as well, and she wanted to move back to Kijong. When Jaeyang arrived at Kijong city, it was officially an abandoned city. She walked around, seeing the ricochets on the walls of the buildings. Ashes of the houses that were burnt down heartlessly were carried by the wind. Most of the buildings were burnt to the ground in the arson during the lock down. She felt a hot wave of emotions rush back to her icy heart as she saw her house standing strong. She looked at the building with tears forming in her emotionless eyes. From that moment onwards, she was determined to avenge her parents and home town.

Over time, the building that was formerly known as Jaeyang's, or rather Eunchong's house, was transformed into a training ground. After a couple more years of severe training, Jaeyang acquired the sacred skill of an assassin, 'deactivating feelings'.