She was being followed.
Between the long shadows of the trees, there were fuzzier shadows that flew to and fro around Fujiko. The forest was still and dead, with nary a creature stirring excepting the shadows; they seem to be circling her in the same trajectories no matter how far she trekked. It was too dark to see and they were too fast to identify, but every now and then something blots out the moons. It didn't help that the canopy above was thick and further obscured Fujiko's view.
An anxious chill began running down her spine as her heart began racing and she broke out in a cold sweat. Fujiko picked up the pace, ignoring the dancing shadows. Birds, they must've been birds, yes. Maybe ravens or crows too, that's it—except she heard no caws of any sort. No, they were following her, they were definitely following her.
The air grew sinister as spotlights started shining and scanning around.
Anxiety turned into fright, the wind flapping in her ears, as Fujiko's feet already kicked her into a sprint, crunching dead leaves and branches. Flapping? Like birds? But these were growing louder. Why? Was something chasing her? Did they—it—see her? Fujiko had no intention of staying and finding out.
Then there was screaming. It came not from beasts, but from people. They were not screaming in Japanese, but in a strange language; their voices were light, flighty, and varied in tone and pitch with a slight throatiness that was close to being, but never becoming, guttural. There were tens of them.
Fujiko's heart race, terror gasping out of her mouth and coursing through her as she sprinted through the forest and evaded the spotlights. What the hell, did the police found her already? But they spoke in that strange language that was so unlike Japanese. They don't sound friendly either, and she did not want to meet them.
But the pursuers did not give up: in fact, they grew louder and their shadows loomed.
Fujiko's lungs began burning, her gasps drying her mouth and throat as her body screamed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…!"
Then she broke into a large clearing. Against the backdrop of the night, dark silhouettes hovered as their shadowed wings flapped and they shone their powerful flashlights on Fujiko. They were so bright, she could make out their appearances: they were all human, except they had leathery, bat-like wings, arrow or heart-shaped tails, and horns of varying shapes and sizes protruding out of their steel helmets. All of them were armored in some sort of plate-and-mail arranged in manner that reminded Fujiko of modern ballistic armor. The ambient lighting brightened their swords and halberds, but some of them had sheathed swords in favor of their hands being raised with fire or lightning—crackling in their dominant palms.
Fujiko's legs froze, her breaths shallow and difficult, her body all but rooted to the ground; her hand shielded her eyes from being utterly blinded by the flashlights. She was like a deer in the headlights, stared down by these unknowns.
But none of them made a move: they were speaking to each other, as if surprised and curious. In fact, their gestures suggested they were either confused or bewildered.
What was going on? And why did they all looked like her?
This was her chance. Fujiko took a step back and took a deep breath. She always wondered if these wings allowed flight: a while back, during a camping trip, when she was alone, Fujiko took the opportunity to test her wings and found out she could hover with them. But that was all the flight experience she had, she never flew through the air before like these people were doing. Well, there's a first for everything…
Her wings unfurled through the tears on the back of her sailor fuku and flapped, beating up dust and dirt around her. Three strong flaps and she shot straight into the air, her wings already shivering and unstable.
"W-Whoa!"
Unfortunately, whatever bewilderment these strangers were having had disappeared. They yelled angrily at her, fire and electric balls raised alongside sword and halberd tips but did not throw nor flew at Fujiko.
She screamed as she flapped her wings again, sending her spiraling through the air and plummeting into the forest below. Fujiko flapped at the last second, her gust cushioning her fall as she stumbled onto her feet.
"Oh god," Fujiko gasped. "I need more practice."
The flying strangers yelled behind her.
Fujiko took off in a sprint, but she found herself surrounded by tens of the armed and armored strangers, their flashlights all but erasing what little concealment she had. Fiery and electric balls were raised above some of their heads while the spear-tips of the halberd-wielders corralled her into a circle. There was no way out—even if she could fly, they were going to shoot her down, and they were far better fliers than she was anyway.
One of them began speaking to Fujiko, her feminine voice firm and light.
But Fujiko returned a confused stare.
Her voice raised and became angry.
Fujiko winced. What were they going to do to her? "I-I speak Japanese! I-I don't speak whatever you're, um, saying, s-sorry…"
The one who spoke to her approached her, lifting her halberd above. She looked down on Fujiko, her silver gaze piercing into her own.
Fujiko blinked. This person had silver eyes like hers.
The silver-eyed woman shook her head and spoke tersely to the others. Two of them snatched Fujiko's arms and cuffed her hands behind her. Another, whose tail was arrow-shaped, came up to her and checked her stab wound, then their palms began to glow as he chanted. He pressed his glowing palms upon her wound for a brief moment.
Her wound stopped hurting; Fujiko couldn't even muster a response.
Then they all began taking off, their wings flapping and stabilizing their ascent. The two who had cuffed her wrapped and locked their arms beneath hers and pulled her up into the air.
Fujiko yelped. Not only her shoulder felt good as new, at least she knew what was happening: these people were arresting her. Whoever they were, they were definitely police of some kind. But why do they have tails, horns, and wings like her? She was truly not the only one with those traits, huh? If this were any other circumstance, it would have been a cause for celebration to know that there were other people like her out there in the world, but Fujiko found no joy in her situation. If she was being arrested, then logically there must be a police station, or department, or whatever the hell passes for a law enforcement facility somewhere nearby—and by extension civilization.
The strange police officers carried her through the air, flanked by the tens of others while a detachment of them split and returned to the dead forest. It was not long before in the distance stood a citadel complex upon a rocky cliff, overlooking a brightly-lit city built within a large valley; craggy mountain ranges surrounded the city, with roads built through ravines that cut through the ranges. The citadel itself was walled, a mere great square tower surrounded by several square stone buildings of varying stories within the compound.
Fujiko frowned; this was not the help she was expecting. If anything, she was nervous: these people were just as demonic as her, and she wasn't sure why she was being arrested. What did she do to warrant this? Surely they had no idea of the incident that had drove her from her hometown, did they? No, that was impossible—these people don't speak Japanese, and they shared her traits too, so obviously they couldn't have been from Japan. In fact, where the hell is she? Was this really Earth? Last she checked, it didn't have a big crimson moon in the sky.
There wasn't any use in speculating, nor was she in any position to escape—not with these handcuffs nor with the escort surrounding her—so she ought to just wait and see what happens next. Though since she was being arrested, they were most likely going to interrogate her too and that was something she was looking forward to—especially with the language barrier in play. She just hoped that they come to an understanding, somehow.
One of the police officers, who had a heart-shaped tail, holding her snickered at Fujiko, again muttering in that lofty voice. The other chuckled with her, as if making a quip.
Fujiko's stomach felt dropping upon sight of the approaching citadel. "What the hell have I gotten myself into…?"
