Okay so I have been waiting for the right story to come to me and...I finally have it! Here is the long story of a terrified young woman who prefers solace to company where she believes she will be safer from harm. However, her peculiar talents do not go unnoticed by a certain General Hawk. Hmm...I wonder what happens? Read on to find out!
The chilly air dug its icy fingers into my body so I whistled, calling Faith my loyal dog, then began to run through the woods. Faith is my beautiful Shikoku and only companion. She has a light brown, tan and white coat with gorgeous liquid gold eyes that blazed with excitement as she barked then bounded after me. We had a good history, Faith and I. I had found her in a box, completely abandoned with three dead puppies beside her in the rain that poured down upon her and the soggy box. I had taken into my arms, wrapped her under my coat then nursed her to strength and she had never left my side since. Our little hut up in the mountains was solitary and we kept each other company, which was all we needed. She barked again and I looked down at her, her lolling tongue and bright eyes looking up at me as she ran at my feet then streaked ahead.
Her curling tail disappeared over a log and I leaped after her, flipping over my head before hurrying after her. My feet whispered lightly over the ground, barely rustling the leaves as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain side, my body soon burning with heat. "Faith! Come here." I called and instantly my friend bounded back to me. I stood there, breathing deeply but not quickly, to look down at the beautiful Japanese landscape.
I know what you're probably thinking. Why on earth is a girl living in the mountains alone with only a dog for company? Well I shall explain.
It began fifteen years ago when I was nine. My father had moved to Japan with his family, a beautiful wife whom he adored with all of his heart, a son who was his pride and joy and then a little girl who he sometimes could not even bring himself to look at because she was such a disappointment, a freak. He was one of the richest men on earth yet not all the money in the world could turn his young daughter into an accomplished young lady. She was forever sneaking out into the streets, playing with the homeless kids and learning bad habits from them like stealing and fighting. In disgrace he had sent her away to a school where he believed she would be changed into the young woman he wanted.
They beat her. Every day they would hurt her for being so obstinate, so headstrong and fearless. She only had one friend there who visited from time to time to inspect the boy students and sometimes take a few of them away to train as ninja. He was blind but when he sensed that little girl watching him, hiding where she should not have been, he had stopped and asked her to come out. Instead of beating her as punishment, he had taken her hands in his and smiled.
"You are strong." He had whispered. "I can feel the warrior blood running through your veins." So he chose her to take away from that horrendous school and the girl had run home, smiling with pride as she went to tell her parents. She had wanted them to be proud of her. She had wanted them to smile and tell her how good she was to be given such an honour however her father did not see it as an honour. He did not understand the Japanese way and had slandered it loudly and for hours until the little girl was blind with tears. She received the worse beating she had ever experienced that night with her mother watching in silence, never moving to help her only daughter whilst her brother sneered from behind the screen.
That's when she had run away. Escaping her parents and brother she ran out into the rain and never looked back as she went to search for the blind master but when she got back to the academy, he was gone. Alone and afraid she lifted her head and walked through the streets until, finding sanctuary with the homeless children, she was kept hidden and safe from the police and her family. When she was old enough and had had enough of hiding every moment of her life, she finally walked away from the city and headed to the mountains, her loyal friend at her side.
I had never left. Faith and I lived off the land, hunting for rabbits, berries, nuts and firewood for fuel. Only occasionally would I go down into the town and get some proper food and medicine. With a soft sigh I tore my eyes from the misty horizon and smiled down at Faith who was looking up at me, wagging her tail as she panted. "Here girl, who's the most beautiful girl in the world?" I beamed, kneeling down to fuss over her. I scratched her soft spot behind the ears and she instantly relaxed, closing her eyes to enjoy being petted in her favourite spot. "Shall we go home now?" She barked in answer, jumping up to lick my cold cheek before leaping away. I raced her all the way home.
The hut was very old and rotting in places but I had patched it up as best I could. It was small, all one room with nowhere to cook so I had to reach back to prehistoric methods of preparing and cooking meat. At first I had been really messy when I had skinned rabbits and cooked them but I later got the hang of it. Faith yawned then curled up in her bed, swiftly falling asleep with soft snores as I went to the cupboard and took out a packet of rice and poured some into a pan after having melted some snow and boiled it on the fire outside.
"Faith are you hungry?" I called and her head lifted up. "How about that rabbit leftover from last night?" She barked once and her tail began to thump against the floor. "Okay then." I heated the meat over the fire then placed it into her bowl with some rice for her to eat. I poured some sauce over mine then began to eat, remembering the taste of barbeque glazed chicken and wishing I could have some right now. For a long time I had not understood why my father hated me so much, he had always looked at me like I was some sort of alien or freak of nature. It was only a few years ago that I understood why.
I was a freak of nature, putting it simply, because I could control the wind and manipulate it to my will. Looking back I remembered a few incidents where unexplained bursts of wind had hit us after I had had a temper tantrum, one had actually torn the cars from the driveway and buried them into the road. Another time I remember being so angry at my parents that I had stomped my foot, screamed then opened my eyes to find them in the pool down below the balcony.
As I grew older I was able to control it to a much finer state. It no longer happened by accident, I could contain this weird power that I had unless I wanted to stir up trouble, for instance causing a distraction so that I could nick a few things from a stall. It was pretty cool some of the stuff I could do, other times it scared me. Once I had a nightmare so bad that the entire mountain was covered in storm clouds with rain thundering down with hail, destroying quite a lot of the village at the base of the mountain.
The people down there were no fools, they knew that something supernatural lived up here, they called me Banshī, banshee. However they kept well away from my mountain out of fear, which suited me very well. We both finished our meal then I lay down on my little camp bed, letting Faith curl up beside me for the extra warmth. I slept rather peacefully, which was unusual for me, however I am not complaining.
I only awoke when Faith stood up and began to growl. Instantly my hand curled around the knife in my boot and I pulled it out slowly. "What is it Faith? Bear?" I asked but she merely growled in answer. I stood up, keeping low to the ground as I crept over to the window to look outside, my fingers working against the slim hilt of my dagger to warm them.
Faith scratched at the door and continued to growl, her lips pulled back to reveal her fangs. I couldn't see anything outside, between the bright moonlight and glowing embers of my fire the clearing was empty but Faith was never wrong.
"Alright, we'll have a look." I whispered to her and opened the door. She shot outside with a loud bark and I followed, creeping low and quiet as to not attract attention. My breath came out in white puffs as I approached Faith, who growled and twitched from spot to spot, uneasy and restless. She lifted her nose and sniffed the air before sitting down. I looked down at her as she looked up to me, tilting her head with her big golden eyes.
Sighing with relief I relaxed then turned around. I screamed then leaped backwards with a slash of my knife as I met the black helmet that stood directly behind me. His arm lifted and blocked my attack easily as he approached me. Faith spun around and began to yap, snarling as she lunged for the stranger but he knocked her aside, making her yelp in pain then fall to the ground, motionless. "Faith!" I cried then turned on our attacker. With a growl I began to slice at him, my anger and rage steadily beginning to rise. Tossing the knife up I switched hands, spinning gracefully and quickly around to stab him in the chest but he kicked my blow back then grabbed my wrist, bending it backwards sharply so that, upon reflex, I let go of the knife and it dropped to the ground.
Not giving up I yelled, swinging my leg in a round and hit him in the face, whipping my body around to straighten back up and lift up my arms, taking a defensive stance. We circled one another stealthily, barely able to see as the embers burnt out, one by one. "Who are you?" I demanded. "What are you doing on my mountain?" He never answered.
At the same time we launched at once another, arms, legs, feet and hands blurring as we fought. I picked up more than just fighting from those homeless kids, I learned how to defend myself however this was proving a struggle as this guy seemed to be some sort of ninja warrior.
Faith let out a massive snarl and leaped up, landing on the guy's chest and buried him onto the ground as her jaw clamped around his arm. He never cried out in pain, either he had a seriously protective suit on or he was not human because when Faith bit someone, she could tear whatever she was gripping from its owner.
"Faith let go." I commanded and she did so but did not step off of our attacker's chest, she snarled and snapped close to his face as he slowly lifted his hands in surrender. "Now who are you?" I growled, panting for breath as I gripped my side. He had hit me pretty hard and it felt as if my entire ribcage had shattered. "What are you doing here?"
His black gloved hands pointed to Faith so I sighed. "Heel Faith." She snapped one last time at the stranger then pulled back, trotting to my side before turning back to face our unwanted guest. He slowly stood, keeping his hands up in surrender before slowly going for his belt. I watched as he pulled out a small cylinder then flicked it out and planted it into the ground.
An image began to shine from the projector and it formed the shape of a man in military uniform. "Good evening ma'am. I apologise for the late intrusion." He saluted politely but I just stared at him.
"Who the hell are you?" I looked to the tiny projector thing then frowned. "What is that?" I pointed at it.
"You're looking at a hologram, Katherine Halloway." Instantly I bristled and snarled.
"That is not who I am anymore." He arched a greying eyebrow then nodded.
"How would you prefer to be addressed, miss?" I thought quickly then answered.
"Kaze. You can call me Kaze."
"Well then Kaze, I'm glad to meet you. My name is General Clayton Abernathy and I wish to have an interview with you about the possibility of a new direction of career." Arching an eyebrow I put my hands on my hips, leaning to one side.
"Change of career? Sir I don't have a career. I'm just a common thief who lives up in the mountains." I informed him. "Who are you? What military unit are you?"
"I'm afraid that's classified." He answered. "Snake Eyes will escort you to your transportation."
"Hey, I said I'm not interested." I growled but the general merely chuckled, clasping his hands behind his back. "We're set up here."
"You can't hide from you are, Miss Halloway, that mountain of yours can't protect you from your past. The only way now is forwards." I was about to bite out angrily at him but I stopped, his words registering. "You can start afresh, a new identity, a new life using the talents that I know you have." Becoming a little bit more suspicious I lifted my head, narrowing my eyes at him.
"How much do you know about me?"
"Everything." He answered. "Just give this a shot, what have you got to lose?" He made sense I guess.
"Exactly why do you want me?" I asked, stepping a little closer and I felt Faith brush beside me, her soft fur a comforting reminder that she was still here beside me.
"We run a special military operations force here, Miss Halloway, one that we think you would be well suited in joining. I'm recruiting you for a sequence of tests and training to see whether you have the qualities and capabilities that we are searching for." Breathing in I considered. I hardly knew what this was all about and no idea whether or not I could trust these guys however he did have a valid point. One day I was going to be old and then what? I'd have no income, no family to rely on and so that means I need to start bucking up my ideas.
"One question." I stated slowly and the general lifted his head so in continued. "Can I bring my dog?"
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