Every Flower Has Its Thorns v2
.::The Beginning::.
It was dark.
The sky had turned black, illuminated only by the moon shining above. The wind whistled against the trees of the forest, scattering fallen leaves into the wind.
A tiny female figure sat alone, huddled by the base of a tree. She shivered from the sudden chill the wind brought and hugged her knees against her chest to stay warm. She then breathed out slowly, watching as a cloud of breath formed against the cold air.
Her name was Kaeko Sepheru, and she was completely and utterly alone.
A low, grumbling noise made its way to Kaeko's ears. It was her stomach, begging to be fed. She sighed softly to herself and clutched her belly, as if trying to soothe it from its hunger. She knew the next day she would need to find food or else she'd collapse from the hunger. But for now, she was much too tired – she needed to rest. She tilted her head up to face the moon and admire its beauty as her eyelids began to droop.
Why? Why did it turn out this way? She thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep. Why?
CAW! CAW! CAW!
Kaeko was jolted awake the next morning by the sounds of startled, squawking birds, which only meant one thing – she had company.
She jumped onto her feet hastily, brushing her black hair out of her face. Her heart began to race, she knew she needed to run. She took one last deep breath and sprinted off through the forest, away from whatever was pursuing her.
Kaeko Sepheru had a bounty on her head – a 50 million zennie bounty. She wasn't sure who set the bounty for her, she didn't have the time to think about such things. All she knew was that as long as that bounty existed, she'd have to keep running and stay vigilant. She knew she wasn't physically strong, so she put most of her energy and time into building up her endurance and speed. It helped her get through most days without confrontation.
"WHOA HO HO! Where ya goin' missy?"
A man with short brown hair leapt out of the bushes and blocked Kaeko's path, causing her to skid to a halt. Evidently, this was not one of those days.
Kaeko narrowed her eyes and scowled, "Tch."
She had hoped to avoid this, she knew her body couldn't handle much more. She needed food. Maybe she could talk her way out of this... convince him that maybe he didn't need to fight her.
"You know, I've been tracking you all night. You gave me a looooot of trouble ya know? But hey, as long as I bring you in, the trouble's gonna be worth it. Hoooo... fifty million zennie... think of what I can do with that!" The man mused, casually twirling a small knife in his hand.
Alright, never mind. This nut wasn't going to listen to anything, he was too fixated on the riches he'd gain.
Without another second to spare, the man flung his knife towards Kaeko's face, which she dodged with relative ease. But she knew she was in trouble, she was already starting to feel dizzy. She didn't have any time to waste, she had to use that.
Kaeko leapt backwards and stared at the man tiredly, making sure his knife never left her line of vision.
"What's the matter? You tired? Just make this easy for me and come quietly! I promise I won't hurt you if you do." The man grinned, twirling his knife again. His grin quickly faded and was replaced with a sneer once he saw the look of determination in her eyes. "Hmph. Suit yourself and die then!"
The man sent his knife flying towards Kaeko's face once again, only this time she wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Thinking quickly, she brought her arm up to her face, letting the knife stab into the back of her forearm. She gritted her teeth and slowly exhaled, trying to cope with the stinging pain shooting up her arm.
"HAHAHA! BET THAT HURTS DON'T IT?" The man taunted, "There's gonna be PLENTY more where that came from too!"
Kaeko slowly brought her arm down and gripped the handle of the knife, yanking it out of her flesh to let the blood slowly ooze out of her wound. She sighed in relief and tossed the knife onto the grass beneath her, smirking as she slowly looked up.
"You gonna cry? You gonna – huh?" The man stared at Kaeko, confused.
Was that a... a smile? Wasn't she in pain just a moment ago? A sudden shiver overtook his body. It felt like... death was looming over him. But why? Didn't he have the upper hand?
Kaeko slowly lifted her arm towards her pursuer with a smirk, "You started it."
As if on cue, red vines began to form around Kaeko's bloodied, extended arm, sprouting bright red flower buds on the ends. As the man watched on, he saw that the buds on the ends of the vines began to gurgle and bloom, revealing a nasty set of teeth.
It wasn't that she wasn't fast enough to dodge the knife. The man concluded as he stared helplessly at the flowers. She wanted this to happen.
At that moment he knew what it felt like to stare into the jaws of a predator.
Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back!
So this is the new and improved version of "Every Flower Has Its Thorns." Hope you guys enjoy!
- Moofeen