Escape
Chapter Four
Soon afterward it was tremendously quiet. Terra sat on the bed and played with the intricate detailing on the seams of the bedspread while the other two males sat around, Itachi reading the book he put down earlier and Kisame minded his own business.
"So," Kisame started, trying to make the awkward silence dissipate," What do you like?" He asked, looking at Terra.
"I like running, and climbing tall trees. Mostly running." She said halfheartedly, running her fingers on the sheets.
"What's your age?"
"Uhm, promise not to laugh?" She asked, almost pleading that he wouldn't.
"I won't. Now shoot."
"I'm twelve." She said, biting her lip, knowing he wouldn't buy it. His eye brow quirked upwards
"No seriously, how old are you?" She knew it. He didn't believe her.
"I have a growth problem. I can't grow anymore." She huffed almost childishly.
"First you have an eye problem. Now you have a stunted growth. What else is wrong with you?"
"I have leukemia too." She said in a dull tone.
She heard him groan and looked up to see him with his hand over his eyes shaking his head slowly. She commonly seen that when Eagon was asked a redundant question.
"I was joking." She smiled slightly before it dropped, "I'm sorry. I'm not good with jokes. I have really dry humor."
"It's okay." Kisame sighed.
Terra looked around the room now, taking in the bland room. Light beige walls and minimal furniture with a small nightstand on the corner with a lamp on it. The bed sheets however were a deep umber brown with lighter beige designs etched into the material.
The sound of large grumbling sounds nearly made Terra jump out of her skin. Her head snapped up, looking at the two males in the room. In return, she was stared at by Kisame with a disbelieving look on his face. She soon felt her cheeks grow red in embarrassment.
"Terra, When was the last time you ate?" Itachi asked her calmly, as if the growling didn't affect him.
Terra opened her mouth, but the words were lost. Her brows furrowed. When was the last time she ate?
"I don't know. I can't remember the last time I did." She felt ashamed that she couldn't remember.
The two men seemed to have an internal conversation among one another just by their sideways glances.
"Kisame." Itachi said, and that was all he needed to say. Kisame walked to the door with out a word. Somewhat.
"I'll be back squirt." Kisame chuckled, letting the door shut with a solid 'click'.
"Why haven't you been eating?" Itachi asked almost immediately, shutting the book and putting it off to the side.
"I don't eat a lot. I," her hands started wringing the bed sheets furiously, "I never ate a lot. I only eat a big meal at least once in three days. My body breaks it down quickly and provides me the energy to keep me going."
"That's not good enough. You hardly have any muscle mass and if this keeps going on, you will be anorexic. Your underweight for your age and height, although your height can't be counted on because of your stunted growth."
Terra bit her lip. Eagon always said that to her; that she needed to eat more. She looked down like a scolded child and let the words sink in instead of out the metaphoric window.
The door opened revealing the blue-skinned giant with a large plate of fruits of grapes and apples slices and various other ones.
"Well, I didn't know what to get you, so I decided to raid the fridge and gather all the fruits I could get. Enjoy." Kisame put the tray down on the bed and snatched an untouched apple and took a large chunk out of it. Terra looked at the quantity of food, then up at Itachi with pleading eyes.
"Eat, or I'll make Kisame force feed you." Itachi warned. Terra sighed lightly, grabbing an apple slice and pooping it in her mouth, chewing slowly. The pile of food was reducing quickly by Terra's ravenous hunger, although she tried to slow down. By the time she did feel full, the only thing left was another unsliced apple, and a small vine of grapes.
"Damn kid." Kisame said under his breath, looking at the now barren plate. Terra smiled, almost ruefully.
An idea suddenly popped into Terra's head.
"If you don't mind me asking…"
"Only climb the branches that are able to support your mass."
"Don't worry, I know which is safe or not." Terra stretched her arms out as the sun rays greeted her body warmly.
"And don't even think about running off. We will track you down. Therefore, Kisame will accompany you while I go back to the base."
"I won't. And why can't you stay?" Terra asked.
"If I were to stay, then it would seem suspicious of me to if the other members were to try to find me. Kisame however, goes out more frequently that the rest of the members combined, with the exception of Hidan, on our free time."
"O…kay." she said slowly, but nodding altogether.
Itachi left without a word. Terra looked around and seen nothing that indicated that the large blue man was around. She shrugged to herself and started climbing an adequately sized tree. She reached for a branch from another tree and crossed that one, then continued to scale even higher until she almost reached the top, but realized that she couldn't get down without harming herself.
"Hey squirt." Kisame's hoarse voice greeted. Terra looked around but she couldn't find him anywhere.
"Down here." Terra steadied herself and looked straight down, noticing that Kisame was hanging upside down on the tree. Terra could only blink. How could he do that?
Kisame walked along the tree trunk and landed mutely next to her sitting down on the branch, "Don't mind if I join you?"
"Not really. How'd you do that?" She nearly gawked, looking at him with large eyes.
"Magic." Kisame snorted at his own little joke. Terra didn't believe him, but decided to let it go. The both of them sat around in utter silence, taking in the sight.
"What was he like," Kisame blurted out unexpectedly," Eagon I mean."
"He was…strict, but loose at the same time. He would constantly check things over multiple times incase someone or himself made a mistake. He was always rough around the edges and came off as uncaring or made of stone, but once you get to know him, he's caring and honest. He was a true gentleman." Terra subconsciously let a bright warm smile on her face, her eyes glazing in nostalgia.
"Ah, and because of your exuberant response, I can ask this; What was he to you, physical wise?"
"Initially, He used to be my doctor. My…parents noticed that I could not grow any taller when I was seven, so they called a specialist. Over time, we ended up being more open to one another, but my parents didn't like that. So they stopped taking me there to be diagnosed. I still don't know what I have or what stopped me from getting any taller. Anyway, One night, he decided to kidnap me. He knew of the consequences, but that didn't matter to him. And it didn't matter to me either. He made me feel human. My parents always doted over me like I was a porcelain doll. No one took me seriously. But he did."
Terra sighed, feeling the melancholy settle it.
"He taught me to run faster, but in doing so, I was quickly addicted to the adrenaline. I was able to eat less while we traveled so we wouldn't be easily caught and apprehended. But still with the ever constant chaos, he always made time for me. He would walk me through things step by step when I didn't understand something. But he knew that it wasn't the life a girl like me should have to experience, so he gave me a choice one night. I could go back home and life a normal life, or stay with him. So I stayed. We never went far though, we only made it for two years until we were caught. He went to prison for kidnapping a minor, and I got away scotch-free. It wasn't fair."
Terra's hand formed into tight fists, nails threatening to break skin.
"I didn't want to be alone. My parents," She spat their names out with so much venom, "decided to take me to a shrink, then to an asylum. I spent two years wasting in that wretched place! Two. Years. All for nothing!" Her eyes flared angrily as her voice escalated.
"He was able to escape, but he was killed," Terra's voice went soft now, tears now in her eyes, "he died because of me. I escaped afterwards. But I murdered the people that made me lose two years of my life. He made me feel like I was a normal human being for the first time in my life. Am I iniquitous?" She asked him, eyes never leaving the scenery.
"No you're not," He didn't need to explain, that little piece of reassurance was all she needed from him, "If you don't mind me asking; Where did you get that kind of vocabulary?"
"Oh, um, to pass time on my travels, I had a Thesaurus book I'd read often." She gave a short laugh.
The silence enveloped them. The silence wasn't awkward or painful, but warm.
Terra's need to run was strong, stronger than it was before.
"How about we race? You know, to see who's faster." Terra challenged.
Kisame's face broke into a large grin, showing off large sharp gleaming teeth.
"You're on."
After the climb down, both gotten into position, both counted down out loud and surged forward when they hit zero, neck to neck.
Terra felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins, funneling her body to move faster. Everything eventually became a blur around her. Lost in her personal high, she didn't notice the various twigs and vines scraping up her body and limbs until she was able to control herself and stop abruptly. She hissed as the wounds throbbed deeply, especially her feet. She sat down on he grass, observing the gashes on her footpads. Some were just small nicks while others bleed moderately.
"This is the reason why you should wear shoes in the forest." Kisame noted, walking up to her and picked her up, hanging like a sack of potatoes in his arms. She glared at him but he brushed it off, walking back in the direction of the base. Terra's adrenaline wore off and so did the pain. Eventually on the trek back, She yawned and felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier until she eventually succumbed to it.
