Thousands of autumn leaves and bristles of cattail brushed across a forest plantation, delicately swept away by the light breeze. Amidst the plantation was a rustic farmhouse, maintained by prosperous owners who raised their cattle and crops to the utmost exquisite care. As the cattle grazed on the abundance of corn and freshly grown carrots, three teenagers, who looked no more than sixteen years old, sprinted through the plantation pilfering the crops toward a section of a barbed fence that had been previously cut open.
A black short haired male teenager wearing buckled leather garments of black and light brown rammed against the fence with his shoulder and cupped his palms together after tossing a sack of potatoes across. "Pirelle, hurry up!" He shouted toward one of his other allies, cautiously aware of the owner's impending assail on them if they were caught; the rustling of the leaves against the wind made him even more paranoid.
The brown-haired and light brown-eyed teenager named Pirelle, who wore the same clothes as his ally, boosted himself over the fence with a steady push from his friend. He nearly caught the back flaps of his tunic beneath his hips against the wire, but managed to push himself through with enough strength and time.
"Szene, your turn! Come on!" The black haired teenager beckoned for another ally to come.
The female teenager appeared to be a mature and firm standing teenager with light muscles around her shoulders and arms. Several specks of dirt and grime appeared on her cheeks and brows, indicating a previous struggle or difficulty. She had an asymmetrical black bob with several strands of curved hair aimed upward from her parts. She exhaled a deep breath before jumping even faster off of her ally's cupped hands.
"GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" A grumpy voice called over the distance of the plantation.
After Szene had balanced herself on the top of the wired fence, she reached down for her ally to grab onto. "Mossen, hurry! Grab my hand!" She beckoned.
As Mossen tried to snatch Szene's hand, the desperation and sweat of the situation caused him to slip off instantaneously and land on his rear. With literal seconds from the owner catching him, Mossen leaped once again, securing his grip onto Szene's firm hand.
"Pull me up, pull me up!" Mossen cried.
The owner of the plantation rushed forward the moment he glanced at Mossen's direct struggle; he had been carrying a heavy sack of carrots over his shoulder to accommodate for more food.
"Oh, no you don't, sonny!" The balding owner yelled, rushing toward Mossen's sack of carrots. As he attempted to yank off the food to retrieve it, Mossen kicked his shoes back at the owner's face, prompting him to instead attempt to yank his entire body off. "Stupid kid, I'll kill you!" He shouted.
"Up, up!" Mossen called.
After a brief struggle, the owner managed to sever the seams of Mossen's light brown pants, ripping it directly off of him and revealing light blue undergarments packed underneath. Mossen kicked the owner's cheek off as Szene successfully dragged him across to the other side. Pirelle, who had been scouting ahead, waved for the two to follow through the forest section from the outskirts of the farmhouse. Szene and Mossen followed him directly, sprinting what seemed like miles away to scurry and escape from captivity.
"Fucking kids," The owner yelled, shoving Mossen's pants on the ground. However, his eyes caught the sack of carrots beside where he had escaped, discovering the only silver lining after the third time his stock had been pillaged by the teenage miscreants. "Shoot them the next time I see them..." He mumbled to himself before departing with his stolen stock.
Pirelle, Szene, and Mossen stopped by an incline of stripped bark, hidden from sight from the tall autumn trees. Mossen, completely aware of his lost pants, desperately hid behind the nearest tall tree to shield himself from Szene.
"Potatoes?" Szene quickly asked.
"Got them," Pirelle replied quickly. "Count of eight."
"That'll have to do," Szene said, turning her gaze upon Mossen, who hid behind the tree. She crossed her arms, licked the molars of her teeth, and nudged her chin up to taunt. "So, what the hell happened back there?" She said.
"What? Ain't my fault your hands are freaking slip-n-slides," Mossen said, glancing away from the two of them. "I would have made it if Pirelle went second."
Szene scoffed and turned towards Pirelle, who had been examining the potatoes carefully to highlight any discrepancies, such as mold or insects. He gave him a nod before he scanned the area, unable to locate the carrots. After exchanging a sharp glance at Szene, it seemingly relayed the same message without even uttering a single word.
"Mossen, where the hell are the carrots?" Szene asked.
"I... I lost them." Mossen confessed, moving away from the tree.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Szene yelled, rapidly approaching Mossen down the incline. She shoved her forearm against his neck and pushed him against the rough bark tree, pinning him down as Pirelle rushed over to stop her. "That's the second time this week, fourth time counting last week, because of you."
"Sorry..." Mossen said, raising his hands into the air as if he was caught in the act.
"Szene, stop." Pirelle commanded, sighing and placing his hands in his pockets.
"Those carrots were supposed to go to the military," Szene continued to pressure. "Do you think this is some kind of game?"
"Szene, enough already," Pirelle said, grasping Szene's other arm by her side. He yanked her off of Mossen. "There's a simple solution for this, and it's to either let you or I to take point. Fair enough?"
Szene shook her head and pushed herself off of the tree, feeling the sensation of the light autumn leaves tickle her nose and cheeks as she moved away to get fresh air. She moved past a set of two trees touched upon another and sat in harmony, away from her sudden failure.
Mossen panted and placed his palm on Pirelle's shoulder in honest relief. "Thanks, Pirelle," He said, catching his frightful breath. "She's strong, but she can be such a hard-ass sometimes."
"But she's not wrong," Pirelle said, placing his hands on his hips. "You've been messing up a lot recently, and we've been taking the flak of it all. Thatcher and the others? They're not gonna let us live this down, for the fourth time. You know what that means."
"Lecture, blah blah blah, we're incompetent, if you show up empty handed, blah blah blah, whatever!" Mossen complained. "If they want to get the food for the barracks, why don't they just do it themselves?"
"Because... they're not us, and once they find out we've been slacking, then there's no telling what the military will do." Pirelle said, slapping Mossen's shoulder and moving to the side to gather the potatoes in the sack. "By the way, you look ridiculous with that underwear."
"Hey, shut up!" Mossen yelled back. "Just because I'm the one responsible this time around doesn't mean you pulled it off perfectly too! Let's see you try to-"
A bursting sudden loud rustling of leaves sounded the male duo's ears, prompting them to duck and cover on the natural incline of the foliage. Pirelle pushed Mossen's head down as they slowly peered over the edge, catching another unfamiliar figure moving through the forest on a uncharted path. Szene, who had been away, did not notice the approach whatsoever.
"Who... is that?" Mossen whispered.
A slender and young girl with a short brown ponytail was dressed in a light blue blouse with a snowflake-themed embroidered black skirt. She had bright white eyes that appeared ghostly at first sight, but rather charming beyond. Her face was adorned in light brown freckles, splotched across her pink blushed cheeks. Her thin complexion and heeled shoes showed resemblance of a lost traveler, fallen into a rabbit hole. She pressed the back of her palm against a dangling set of orchids, comedically endowed by the ticklish touch of the leaves.
"Whoa, she's pretty," Mossen continued. "I've never seen her before. Is she... local?"
"No idea," Pirelle replied, snatching Mossen's shoulder. "Doesn't matter, let's go."
"What, no!" Mossen hissed. "We need to go down there and introduce ourselves!"
"Our mission orders were to retrieve the food and to report back to Thatcher," Pirelle reminded him. "Do you want us to get in trouble again?"
"No, but..."
Another faint rustling of leaves followed seconds later after witnessing the young brown-haired girl frolicking among the foliage. She turned around suddenly and appeared distraught at the sight of another unknown figure that apparently stalked her through the forest. After witnessing the girl's shy demeanor take into effect as she reverse walked along the path, they caught the balding owner of the plantation speed walking toward her armed with a rusty yet sharpened steel rake.
"Holy shit, she's in trouble!" Mossen quietly exclaimed, desperately about to push himself off of the incline. Yet Pirelle continued to hold him down. "What are you doing?!"
"She takes the fall for us, and we can escape in time," Pirelle stated. "It's a sacrifice I'm willing to take to make it out of here alive and out of trouble."
"Pirelle, no, we can't!" Mossen cried.
The two witnessed the plantation owner rush toward the young girl, causing her to trip on a hardened stump of a nearby tree. She dropped an apple from her blouse pockets and covered her left shoulder in pain. Just as the girl was about to recover and rush recklessly away, the plantation owner struck down upon the her with the rake overhead, missing her by an inch. He chased after her for several feet before the girl found herself stuck at wit's end.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Just as Mossen was about to ignore Pirelle's commands to rescue her, Szene's fiery fierce voice rang through the winds, stopping the plantation owner in his tracks. The two watched as Szene stepped down the incline where she previously rested, approaching in between to defend the girl from the owner's murderous rampage. The two remained still.
"If it isn't another one of those pricks who stole my inventory," The owner's pompous and salivating voice indicated that he was completely beyond reasoning. He gripped the rake firmly and approached Szene and the young girl, with each step leaving behind a trail of mud. "I want my damn food back!" He roared.
"We're not the ones who stole your food," Szene lied, attempting to seize control of the conflict. She pointed at the helpless girl on the grassy ground. "And neither is she."
"Bullshit, absolute bullshit!" The owner yelled back, heightening his pace. "I know you two did it, now give it back before I kill both of you!"
"Are you fucking blind? She looks nothing like we did at the farm! Leave her out of this!" Szene yelled.
"Ah, so there are more of you! I'll kill all of you then for stealing!" The owner took one more step forward with the rake and swung down at Szene, prompting her to snatch part of the handle with both of her hands. She, along with the owner, fought for control over the rake as they collapsed on the forest grounds, kicking and snarling profanities at each other.
"Please, stop!" The young girl's light accented voice came through.
At last, the owner managed to kick Szene's stomach multiple times to shove her off of the rake. He then pulled her hair back before elbowing her left eye, sending her falling to the grass. The owner chuckled as he approached the helpless young girl, only Szene managed to trip the owner and tackle him once more.
"We gotta give the potatoes back, man," Mossen insisted. "He's gonna kill them! Pirelle?!"
Pirelle hesitated to act, prompting him to continue to stay silent throughout their battle.
"You're not going to stop me," Szene yelled, delivering fierce punches at the owner's face. Her face was unveiled to have a black eye directly where the owner struck her, sending her into a frenzy of furious scratches to the owner's cheek. "I'll kill you!"
The owner kicked Szene off once more after his fresh blood dripped down his chin and neck. He then stood up and raised his rake to slam overhead to seemingly end Szene's life.
"SZENE!" Pirelle shouted as Mossen leaped from the incline to support her. Yet with the distance they had between them, there was no possible way for him to cover her and save her in time. Her death was imminent, yet...
"STOP!" The young girl from behind cried before a purple gleam in her eyes drew out an unknown power from within her body. She reached out and touched the owner's right leg, sobbing as she had done so. At the same time, Pirelle, Szene, and Mossen froze in place as they watched the owner's entire leg disintegrate into ash, right in front of them, leaving nothing but blood spewing out where it had been.
"Holy shit, holy shit," Szene repeated as she stood up. She watched as Mossen and Pirelle descended from the incline with the sack of potatoes, meeting up with the two of them beside the young girl. "You... what did you do?!"
"I'm sorry..." The girl cried, pressing her hand against her own in shame. "I'm so sorry..."
"You fucking freak!" The owner yelled at the girl and cried in despair as blood gushed out nonstop. "I'm gonna kill ALL of you!"
Pirelle touched Szene's shoulder from behind, signaling her that it was time to leave. "Come on!" He shouted.
"Her first!" Szene referenced the young girl.
"Come on, run! Run!" Mossen ordered her.
The young girl gasped as she took point through the forest, rushing through as the other three followed. Only the distant echoes of a dying owner could be heard through their ears in absolute desperation. After minutes of running through the forest and feeling the brushing of the leaves blinding against their vision, the young girl eventually ran out of energy and collapsed on the ground, leaving the other three relieved that they escaped, yet stunned over what had happened.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," The girl repeated, pressing her hands against her cheeks, failing to grasp the deathly ordeal she had inflicted upon the owner's subsequent fate and death. "So sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..." Her voice trailed off into strenuous tension, cracking multiple times as she desperately tried to apologize to the trio.
Pirelle looked behind their tracks and gave a quick nod to Szene and Mossen, who struggled to recover from their antics. He indicated that they were safe, for the time being.
"You... blew that guy's whole leg off..." Mossen gasped for air, struggling to contemplate what he had witnessed.
"We all know what happened," Szene wittingly stated, approaching the girl as she ramped up in speed. Pirelle suddenly lashed out and pulled Szene back from flaying the girl. "After everything I did for you to save your ass, you decide to shed blood? We are so fucked after all this!"
"Szene, calm down!" Pirelle shouted.
"She didn't mean for that to happen," Mossen defended. "I saw it!"
"I don't care," Szene's voice ramped up in aggression. "When Thatcher finds out we killed a person, we're all going to die!"
"That's... that's not going to happen," The young girl confessed, wrapping her left hand over her shoulder once again. "There's... there's not going to be a single trace of him left for anyone to find."
Szene seized her antics as Pirelle and Mossen froze, exchanging glances toward each other in awe. Pirelle released Szene, watching her kneel down toward the girl in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, cautious of the word choice she used.
"I mean..." The girl whispered in shame, looking away from the three. "The rest of him... will vanish."
The three silently watched the young girl confess the truth. Pirelle placed his hands on top of his head and paced around as Mossen checked the stolen potatoes on the ground. One had been missing after a short headcount. And Szene, among the disturbing otherworldly news, locked eyes with the girl in utter disbelief.
"Who even are you?" Szene asked. "And where are you even from?"
"I'm..." The girl began, shyly speaking. "Claire."
"Claire," Mossen repeated, thinking of her in his head. "You wanna tell us what the hell just happened back there?" He then leaned his head toward Szene and whispered briefly into her ear. "If they don't find any trace of him, then it'll be like he never existed. We're practically saved!"
"Shut up," Szene said, pushing his face away before turning back to Claire. "It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay. No one's gonna find him, we're fine… Okay, Claire. Where are you from?"
"I'm from..." She began, but was suddenly interrupted by Pirelle.
"Qliphos, I bet," Pirelle interjected. "Are you from Qliphos?"
"I..."
"Tell us!" Pirelle continued to ramp up the pressure with a firm yell. "She's with the enemy. She's with Qliphos!" He jumped to conclusions.
"IAM!" Claire shouted back, covering her face in shame. She watched as Pirelle and Mossen's eyes trailed away, lost in frustration and fear. "But... I no longer associate with them whatsoever. Please, you have to believe me!"
"What the hell is that even supposed to mean?" Pirelle asked. "If you're from Qliphos, you're nothing but a spy waiting to rat us out! If we let you go back, we're dead for sure!"
"No!" Claire denied.
Mossen shoved Pirelle back. "The hell is wrong with you? She's just a kid, like us!" He yelled.
"I don't care," Pirelle shoved Mossen back against the dirt. "Once a Qliphosian, always a Qliphosian. We need to kill her, right now."
"WHAT?! Are you insane?" Mossen retorted, jumping back to his feet to snatch Pirelle's arm away from Claire, who shuddered in fearful teardrops. "She just saved our lives, and you want to kill her? You're crazy!"
Pirelle shoved Mossen off again and approached Claire, who suddenly met his match by Szene and her black eye. She seemed firm on standing strong against him, despite being on the same side. "Get out of my way, Szene," He denounced. "I'm the voice of reason, and I say-"
Szene delivered a punch toward Pirelle's nose, sending him flying back toward the grass. His nose was bloodied by the punch, and Claire sat still, watching them grudge against each other. Szene defended her.
"Why don't you two fuck off back home, and you can take your potatoes with you to Thatcher," Szene commanded. "Unless you want me to choke you out again, scaredy-cat. If you touch her, I'll kill you."
Pirelle looked at Mossen and Szene while dipping his index finger toward his nose. After touching light blood from the blow, he stood up and snatched the potato sack, leaving with Mossen straight away.
Szene, who exhaled a deep breath, nearly collapsed from her battle with the now deceased owner. She curved her back forward and collapsed on the ground with her knees, seemingly about to fall down. Yet Claire's delicate hands caught her by the waist, preventing her from falling. The two locked eyes with each other, leaving Szene stunned by Claire's gleaming white eyes. She then noticed that she was not fading away into ash, as Claire's previously did.
"I'm... how can you... how can you touch me?" Szene asked.
"I... I can explain everything." Claire said, smiling thankfully to her.
As Claire wrapped Szene's arm around her neck, the two of them disappeared into the forest, away from sight.