In the darkness of the night she raced down the empty street. Arms pumping, heart pounding in her aching chest, and legs threatening to collapse under her. She was nearly at her limit but she couldn't stop now. She ran like her life depended on it; and in fact it did.

"Midori! Come back!" A harsh male voice growled from behind.

She didn't bother replying. She couldn't afford to waste what little energy she had left. Her body had burned through the initial burst of adrenaline and she was left to her own strength. Thoroughly exhausted now, she ran the risk of fainting. No idea where she was even going at this point, her options were slim and her chances of escape were even slimmer.

"As your father I demand you stop at once!" Her pursuer ordered.

She ignored him as hot angry tears streamed down her face. How could he? She thought for the thousandth time. How could he do that to Mom?

Her father changed tactics. "I won't hurt you," he said in as soothing a tone as he could manage through his own ragged breath. "It'll be our little secret. No one else has to know."

Her temper flew into a rage, giving her another boost of adrenaline. He wanted to pretend like it never happened? How could he expect that of her? Did he really think she was an idiot? But her heart sank as she realized no one would believe her even if she did report him. She was only a child and he was a popular and powerful politician in Shimogakure located in The Land of Frost. It would be her word against his.

As she turned the corner, she tripped over something and rolled down the steep street. Unable to stop herself, she skidded across the cracked pavement. Desperate to stop herself, she reached out wildly and grabbed hold of a pole that served as part of a railing next to the river. She slipped under the metal railing and dangled over the chilly water. Holding on tightly, she stayed perfectly still as he raced past.

Too weak to pull herself up, she fell into the water. Normally she was a good swimmer but the freezing water seized up her stiff limbs and immobilized her. She sank beneath the watery depths and watched the view overhead begin to fade away. She knew she should fight this, it couldn't end this way! But she had no strength left and her last breath bubbled away from her lips. As her lungs screamed for air, she felt fuzzy and light-headed. She drifted ever downward, strangely content in the knowledge that she was about to die. That wasn't a normal thing for a ten year old to accept, but after tonight it came as a welcome relief. At least I'll be with mom again, she thought as a smile twitched in the corner of her mouth.

Just as blackness was beginning to creep into her mind, ready to swallow her up in death, she felt some hard underneath her. Then suddenly it propelled her up through the water like a rocket. Thrown high into the air she coughed and gasped, filling her lungs with delicious air. Looking down she saw a whale rise up to the surface. But that was impossible. This was a river, not the ocean. There wasn't enough room for a whale to reside in these waters. But that reality didn't change the fact that it was there. As she fell down, it spouted water from its blowhole to help break her fall. Slowly easing the pressure she landed on its slippery smooth back. Starting to slide off she quickly grabbed a hold of the blowhole to steady herself. Despite its massive size, it noiselessly swam on.

She could hear voices overhead; her father had roused the townspeople to help him look. She lay down but knew it was pointless. Everyone was going to see this giant whale in this impossibly small river. She felt like an invisible target was stuck on her back and she waited for the inevitable to happen. But miraculously no one saw them. The whale swam past the commotion with surprising grace. She sat up and looked behind her, watching as the village disappeared into the distance. Why didn't anyone see them? Where was this whale taking her? Her head ached with endless questions but she felt too tired to think anymore about it. Yawning widely, she rested her face against its blubbery hide and fell asleep.

The whale continued its mysterious journey, ever mindful of its precious cargo. For the rest of the night it sailed through the murky water, leaving faint ripples in its wake. If Midori had been paying attention earlier, she would have noticed a faint silver glow surrounding it. This was no ordinary whale. It had a purpose, a reason behind its movements.

As the early morning sun stained the sky blood-red, Midori awakened to find herself in the middle of a forest. She blinked several times in disbelief. Was this part of a lingering dream? Wasn't she riding a whale before…or was that part of the dream too? Wait a minute; wasn't she supposed to be dead? Groaning, she held her head in her hands. None of this made any sense. When was she going to wake up from this nightmare? Her hands trembled and her breath caught in her throat as she remembered what had started this terrible chain of events: the murder of her mother…by the hands of her father.

Bitter tears welled up in her eyes as her grief washed over her. This was all her fault. She should have stopped him. There must have been something she could have done. But it was too late and there was no going back. Mom was dead and Dad wanted the whole incident hushed up. There was no doubt in her mind that he had intended to kill her since she was the only witness to the crime. The last thing he'd want was scandal to mar his seemingly perfect political record. He wasn't the dignified gentlemen everyone thought he was. In private he was an abusive authoritarian; demanding, calculating and cruel. He often beat her mother but that night his temper had gotten out of control. She wasn't sure he even meant for things to go that far. But did it matter if it was intentional or an accident? She was still dead.

The ground started to shake beneath her, startling her out of her anguish. Looking up she screamed as she saw a monstrous gorilla charging towards her. She tried to run away but instead tripped over her aching feet. Her body still hadn't recovered from her midnight sprint. Its enormous shadow loamed over her and she curled up in the fetal position, trembling from head to foot. It grunted as it poked her with a finger the size of a tree.

"Please don't eat me!" She whimpered feebly, feeling its hot breath blast against her back as he sniffed her. "I don't taste good! I'll make you sick!"

Its fingers slid under her and she clawed at the ground, desperate to hold onto something. It picked her up and held her up for a better look. It was frightening with scars over its eye and mouth, but its expression was more curious than hungry. She squirmed in its grip. "Put me down!" She demanded. "Let me go!"

To her dismay it held onto her as it ran through the forest. She was jostled up and down so violently that she felt nauseous. Closing her eyes to ease the dizziness she didn't see where they were going. Not that it really mattered at this point. Either way she was going to end up as lunch. Then to her surprise she was suddenly released and she tumbled head over heels to the ground, landing in front of a pair of large tanned feet.

"Eh? What's this?" A deep voice rumbled overhead.

Looking up, she saw a large man with dark shades staring down at her. Panicking she scrambled backward into the gorilla accidentally which freaked her out even more. She was so scared that she was on the verge of fainting. What was going on around here? Where was she?

"Yo easy now," the man said soothingly as he crouched down on his heels to be at eye level. "Neva fear 'cuz Killer Bee is here."