Chapter 14
When she did, Kiyoshi saw the cute, little face of Felicity, the fur around her mouth bearing little dots of apple. She was still chewing blankly, her cheeks popping out like a chipmunk’s when it was stuffed with acorns. Felicity brought the bright red apple to her mouth and took another large bite, the juice streaming around the apple’s peel and down its stem, dropping to the dirt ground. Through a full mouth, she managed to speak. "Wan won?" Felicity gestured to the apples above her, hanging low on the branches and shining with each glint of sunshine that hit them.
"Uh... sure..." Kiyoshi stumbled forward, her gun retreating back into its hole and the plate replacing itself over it. Kiyoshi picked an apple gently from the tree and brought it to her mouth. The fresh aroma of its ripe meat flew through Kiyoshi’s body, her hunger exceeding that of a normal human. She hungrily bit into the apple, the juice flowing into her mouth and down her throat. They were sweet, and she made sounds of delight, smiling and eating it with the greatest of manners. She licked the peel and bit into the apple again, almost swallowing the chunk whole.
Kiyoshi finished the apple and moved on to a second one, Felicity still looking at her hanging upside down in the tree. Felicity shrugged and finished her own apple happily munching away on the delicious fruit. The taste stayed even after an apple was eaten.
Kiyoshi grinned when she at last felt she was full, and looked up to Felicity who was scrambling to get right side up in the tree. "That was a wonderful treat on such a lovely morning, no?" Kiyoshi wiped her hands on her leather outfit and took a deep breath. "We should go now." Kiyoshi nodded to Felicity, signaling her to come down. Felicity obeyed and hopped out of the tree, leaves drifting free from the plentiful branches.
"Ready!" Felicity’s sweet voice rang through Kiyoshi’s ears like that of a happy child. She smiled and walked back out into the morning sun, the wild flowers still dancing in and out of the blades of grass. Kiyoshi strolled farther out into the field and onto a dirt path that seemed to stretch on for miles between the fields and forests on either side.
Kiyoshi shook her head. "This is going to be a long walk." She glanced at Felicity who was skipping along on the path about five feet ahead of her. "Hey! Wait up!" Kiyoshi walked quickly as Felicity stopped and turned around, her face bright and cheerful as it almost always was. Everything was so... perfect. A shot of cold fear went through Kiyoshi’s body, her legs and heart stiffening and the happy look on her face turning to that of a mouse about to die by the hands of a cat. Something wasn’t right.
Felicity immediately noticed this and ran over to her, crouching in the grass and cautiously looking around. "You’re right, there is someone out there. I didn’t notice before, but now I feel their presence perfectly." Felicity’s eyes narrowed to black slits and she glared through the fields and into the trees. "We mustn’t let them discover we’ve found them. Are you listening?"
Kiyoshi’s expression did not change. All this time, she had been vulnerable. She had been in danger; they could have planted something in her. She had even eaten strange food. Kiyoshi knew they hadn’t been ordinary apples, and she had left a trail behind where she stepped the night before. It would have been easy to track her down. She had been too ignorant, and now she was going to have to pay.
Kiyoshi ducked down with Kiyoshi, her fists and teeth clenched. "I’m... I’m sorry, Felicity. I never meant..." Felicity glared at Kiyoshi, and she flinched at the ice in her stare.
"We are going be fine, Kiyoshi. Do you hear me?" Felicity’s face softened to that cute, furry look she always uses for reassurance. "We’ll make it through this." Felicity smiled weakly and went back to scouting. Kiyoshi looked to the ground, ashamed of her lost hope.
A blade of grass bent over and a slight ruffle in the leaves brought Kiyoshi’s eyes to a certain part of the woods. The sun shone burning, hot on her black leather now, and gleams of light came from inside the woods. Kiyoshi used her scope to look farther in. A black figure was seen, and tinted black lenses covered the eyes of a spy. "Taikoru..." Kiyoshi murmured under her breath and stood up, Felicity blinking at her and then freezing when she realized Kiyoshi’s plan.
"No!" Felicity’s voice came out as a just barely audible shrill. Her cry was in vein because as soon as she said it, Kiyoshi ran down the path, her speed increasing at an alarming rate. She couldn’t let Felicity die because of her mistakes. Something whizzed past her right ear and skimmed through her dull brown hair, slicing several strands from in front of her face. She gritted her teeth in anguish as she tried to run faster. She dashed down the field farther, darting into the woods for some cover. Another object flew past her left arm, nicking the metal as it passed. Kiyoshi grabbed her arm in a surge of pain as wires cut through the thin layer of metal left from the bullet wound. They shocked her body and shot streaks of bright blue light all over her arm. She squinted and almost fell to the ground, but managed to keep her balance. She pinched the metal shut over the wires and the pain subsided. Unfortunately, the weapons being shot at her didn’t.
She was far into the woods now, the trees getting thicker the farther she ran. She was about to duck into a tree when she noticed the trees cleared not too much further. She hesitated, then rushed into the clearing. A silver lake sat in the middle of the clearing, placid and tranquil. Kiyoshi wished she could stop to enjoy the scenery, the beautiful impersonation of the sky on the water’s surface.
Kiyoshi dove into the water, cutting through the unnoticed current. She swam faster as she heard strange voices behind her, then trickling splashes as bullets hit the water and drove into its wet shield. Kiyoshi’s metal lungs burned from lack of oxygen. She had barely taken a breath before diving in. She screamed in shear pain as a bullet cut through her leg and red smoked through the once blue water. The maroon liquid circling around her body blinded her. Her lungs gave way and she gulped down breaths of water, her lungs filling with the smooth liquid. She grabbed her throat as it crushed and closed on her. Splashes were heard behind her as the men entered the water. Felicity was heard kicking and yelling, and Kiyoshi couldn’t help but smile weakly as everything around her faded from a deep shade of red, to black.
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Felicity stared on in horror as Kiyoshi ran to the fields and deep into the woods. "No!" Felicity stood up and yelled as loud as she could. Men in black jumpsuits fled from the other side of the path, running to the woods where Kiyoshi had escaped. A man picked up felicity and he stuck a needle in her neck, suspending her abilities and senses. She squealed as the man carried her into the woods in search of Kiyoshi. Felicity thought she saw Kiyoshi ahead, but deprived of her keen vision, she couldn’t tell.
The trees seemed to grow thicker as the men ran and shot at the cyborg. "You can’t kill her!" Felicity threw a fit as the men tried to hush her. "Let me down!" Felicity squirmed in the men’s grip. "Ugh!" The man screamed at her and she understood it as the two words ‘shut up.’
The rubbing of the men’s feet in the woodland grass was extremely loud, and she could barely hear anything else without her acute hearing. Felicity still kicked and screamed, flailing her arms around and putting her feet into a running movement. She punched the man in the chest, causing him to chuckle at her attempts to flee.
Felicity was about to give violence another chance when they came to an opening in the trees where a crystal lake shone in the sun. Its shimmering ripples amazed the little panda, but her amazement drained from her as she noticed the clear blue water filling with a dark red. "Kiyoshi..." Felicity’s mouth gaped open and the men aimed their guns at the spot where the blood thickened. Felicity kicked and yelled as hard as she could, but it was no use. The men had won...
Felicity was just about to give up, when a strange figure emerged from the trees. The figure moved its arms in strange motions, as though casting a spell on those watching.
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