Chapter 2 Kitono

Mulch stood silently, awkwardly holding the now black oven gloves which were slightly smoking. He blinked innocently at Holly who was flicking the pages of an oven guide.

"You see Mulch, people make these, so idiots like you can use them. Next time you want to bake something please inform me first, because even with that manual I am still not sure if I can trust you, seeing as you managed to accidently turn on the hobs and burn my oven gloves to a crisp!"

Mulch bit his lip, "I guess you want some more oven gloves then?"

Holly growled inwardly heading towards the door. "Come with me."

The doors zoomed open, twisting around they stepped out of the lift, the tunnel lights beaming through the glass walls. Holly waved at the cleaner who was presently polishing the floors. "Jude, I can see my face in them," she winked complimentary. The old elf laughed, "I've been doing this a long time, wouldn't be surprised." He took off his cap, "have a nice day madam, you too sir." Nodding in appreciation Holly and Mulch emerged out onto the street and started to stroll down Lers Road; a classy place for sure, though unmistakably highly populated, huge screens were secured on the tunnel walls, issuing news reports 24/7. She pulled Mulch over. "Right, you go get me some gloves and I'm going to go food shopping, ok?" Mulch nodded. "Meet me back at the Felanor Statue at three, see you later."

Holly strolled along glad to be parted from Mulch for a while. Food shopping was inevitably boring, her trips to the supermarket were raising dramatically, Mulch being the reason. It had been a busy, stressful year, although she had to admit D and S agencies were doing pretty well considering the love/ hate relationship problems her and Mulch had.

She carried on dodging the crowd, growling every time someone knocked into her. Suddenly someone from behind grabbed her arm pushing her forward into the Oak Mall.

"Do not fear, I mean you no harm Holly."

Holly gasped but decided not to react just yet, respecting the safety of the passing crowd full of young fairies. The public wouldn't like it if she pummeled somebody right in front of them. She was whipped around to face her contender, his stare instantly piercing into her curious gaze; they were a distinct, beautiful electric blue, though on one she saw a ridged slash of green. Unusual eye colour was heard of amongst the fairly civilization, though mostly they were pretty undistinguishable. Nobody could explain why this was, only one theory that the spirit of Frond gave the desired individual a unique colour in their eyes to represent them, sometimes giving more than one colour. If you looked really closely at her left eye, you could spot a slit of violet through her hazel iris.

Suddenly she felt to strong hands on her shoulders, gripping her tightly, she jabbed her elbow into the person holding her and then smacked her fist backwards swiftly into their face, she heard bones break. She studied the unconscious security officer on the floor, obviously he had noticed the commotion. "D'Arvit!" she cursed.

He kept on staring at her with his beautiful eyes, "Very clever," he grinned.

Holly raised her eyebrows questioningly. "So, mister, what do you want?" The guy stepped closer to her, checking around for any unwanted attention.

"Come with me." He grabbed her shoulders, motioning her forward.

"What do you think you are playing at?" she snarled, trying to break free from his grip, "What do you want?"

"I've come to ask you something. My name is Kitono, I need your help, I'm looking for someone and you are the one who can tell me..." He sighed, pausing momentarily. "…Tell me, where is Adrianna Short?" Holly's eyes widened, it wasn't the simplicity of the question that stunned Holly, it was the concept of the question itself.

"Excuse me?" she breathed.

"Time is running out, Adrianna is on the run, she's hiding, you know where she is." Holly breathed in deeply, she heard the sincerity in his voice, the utter conviction, but how could it be?

"What are you talking about? My mother… she's…" Holly couldn't finish, instead deciding to wrench free of his grasp, smacking her elbow into his chest effectively winding him temporarily. She ran, dodging through the crowded public, sprinting up the escalators. After a while she came to a halt, checking the whereabouts of Kitono, he was nowhere to be seen, time to go. She turned nearly knocking into a child, she heard faint shouts from the mother as she carried on looking for an exit. Suddenly she dropped her bag as the breath was suddenly whipped from her lungs, Kitono appeared from one of the pillars, seizing her by the neck, she had no time to fight back. Supporting her slim, small frame easily, he dragged her along towards the lift. She choked as he pressed harder and harder, gripping his hands she tried to reduce the pressure of his grasp. The doors opened, realizing no one else was inside he pushed Holly in, she collapsed on the floor, her chest ballooning and her hands protecting her damaged windpipe, she could already feel the magic healing her bruising. Kitono swirled around waiting for the doors to shut, he noticed a few people staring his way so he gave them a jaunty wave. The doors closed and then the elevator zoomed down, he waited a while and then jammed the stop button, the lift halted suddenly giving a high pitched ring for signal. He rounded on Holly.

"I don't think you understand the importance of the situation, so I think you should tell me where she is now or else!" he snarled, hoisting her up.

Holly frowned, her huge hazel eyes staring into his, enough was enough. She smacked her head against his own, snatching the knife from his pocket as he fell backwards, before he hit the floor, she produced a spinning kick, made easy as the lift was quite roomy, he slammed back hard into the doors. She placed the blade in her pocket and looked at Kitono, he wasn't moving. There was no time to waste and so she pressed the button for the lift to start up again, in a short matter of time the doors opened. Curious mechanics waited impatiently, blocking her exit, an older sprite suddenly let out a yelp when he noticed the elf lying motionless on the floor.

"What in frond's name…?"

Holly shoved him out the way, dashing back to the level on which she had let go of her bag. Surveying the scene, she tried to look through the massive crowd to where it might be. She growled exasperated jogging through, her eyes darted left and right hoping to spot the unique design of 'Emotio' an exclusive make of the luxurious brand, true, the contents inside was what she cared about, but that bag was bloody expensive. She came to a restaurant notice, advertising their new buffet meals; she remembered passing this before Kitono had practically killed her. Amazingly, there it was, just a few feet away, her beloved bag. Holly snatched it from the ground and began to sprint once more, she had to speak with Foaly.