Chapter 4
(POV: Hat Kid)
Few days have passed since Hat Kid had been marooned. It was a clear starry night and Hat Kid is currently cooking fish in the pyre which surprise, surprise doubles as a bonfire. Yes you heard that right, she had learned how to catch and cook a fish in the river she had found days earlier.
After Hat Kid hat finished eating the fish she had cooked she added fuel to the fire using the wood from the spaceship, then decided to explore the area a little bit, just in case there are still some Time Pieces around her location. Armed with her trusty hat and umbrella, she went out of her cave and began exploring.
Scary, but at least those creatures might not have good night vision Hat Kid thought, as she entered the woods.
And there she goes, traversing through the woods in hopes of finding civilization, the expedition was rather uneventful until Hat Kid senses time slowing down and everything darkening around her – signs of a nearby Time Piece.
She searched high and low, until she saw it in the hands of one of those creatures again. This time it is alone, its companions presumably out exploring just like her.
She made quick work of the creature and grabbed the Time Piece.
Peck! If their friends know this I'm in great danger! Better get as far as possible! Hat Kid thought
She then hid the body in a nearby bush
That will do for now, got to get going!
She ran into the woods as if a bomb is about to go off in a train, but while she was running a piece of her cape got caught in the branches of a tree and it ripped off from Hat Kid
Eventually she had gone far enough from the "crime scene" and stopped "wait a minute, where am I?"
She was lost, or was she?
After a few hours and a few misadventures in the woods later, Hat Kid manages to get back to her cave. After resting for a little while she places the Time Piece in her safe and sipped some water she had boiled in the fire just before heading out earlier. She wanted to look out into the sky for a little bit, but it didn't take long for Hat Kid to start yawning. So instead she went into her bed made out of the pillows she had salvaged; took her diary and started to write on it
This is what she had written:
Well, as if being sucked out of my spaceship with my Time Pieces in one planet is bad enough, that same thing happened to me on ANOTHER PLANET! And worse thing is that my spaceship had decided to follow me down in some island! Not sure why but I suspect a glitch in the flight system.
Why does this keep happening to me? Am I the reincarnation of Odysseus, fated to suffer many trials on my way back home? Maybe…maybe not.
As of now I had encountered some bad guys in here. I wonder who will come and help me.
Little did she know that the last part will be answered, more on that soon
After writing, Hat Kid put the diary aside and fell fast asleep in her bed.
-XXXXXX-
Hat Kid found herself in a corridor of an old mansion; although old the corridor is clean and orderly, with magnificent paintings and ice statues decorating it. A window nearby her shows a snowy outside. Everything was peaceful and quiet.
But Hat Kid was frozen in fear, because she knew what this place is, she had been there and nearly died trying to get a Time Piece.
"There you are kiddo!" a creepy yet familiar voice said.
A door on the other end of the corridor opened and out came a tall, hunchbacked, and shadowy old lady with glowing red eyes.
"Not you again!" Hat Kid said, sensing her evil aura and making her full of fear
"Oh yes it is me! Your luck has run out little girl!" the lady screeched.
The lady began walking to Hat Kid, somehow faster than what her age suggests. The ice statues began to turn into Hat Kid and started to grin.
"what do… you… want.. from me?" Hat Kid asked, getting more and more scared
"Your body and soul, as payment for breaking into my mansion!" the lady answered evilly
The lady went closer and closer to Hat Kid, as a response Hat Kid started to walk backwards only to get cornered
The lady was three-fourths there to reaching Hat Kid when the mansion began shaking. Sounds of explosions are now being heard from near and far. But neither of the two bothered that
Eventually the lady reached Hat Kid
"You can't take mysoul"
"Because my ex took it first am I right?"
"Yeah, but why take something I don't have?"
"Doesn't matter! I'll still take your body as a new statue anyway. Now prepare to die, Hahahahahaha!"
"Goodbye cruel world"
Hat Kid then curled into a ball, and prepared to die
But before the lady can touch Hat Kid and turn her into an ice statue, there was an explosion and then…
Silence
Or is it?
-XXXXXX-
"AHH!"
"Dammit! Crew assess damage!" a voice shouted
"Only slight damage to your starboard! Repair team is on their way" another responded
"Good! I can still fight"
Hat Kid looked around and realized she isn't in her cave anymore, instead there is just darkness. Save for a few flares and flashing lights in the sky. When she looked down to her feet she realized that she is standing in a shoulder of a giant, walking or should I say skating in the water.
"Where am I? Am I dreaming?" Hat Kid asked.
The giant's head turned to the direction of her voice. "Hello there kiddo, you are definitely not dreaming"
Hat Kid instinctively reached to her umbrella, which wasn't with her, "Hey! Are you abducting me? Give my umbrella back!"
"Whoa kid calm down! We were tasked by the admiral to – Look out!"
A volley of shells whizzed over the giant's back
"As I was saying, we were tasked by the Admiral to pick you up and defend you from the Abyssals."
The giant then fired what appears to be a naval gun which the giant held like a pistol; and two more of the same guns, connected to her at the back, into the source of the volley. A few seconds later an explosion can be seen from afar.
"The what?"
"Our enemy, they are the creatures that terrorize the seas here, I had hopefully sunken one of them with my guns, have you encountered them?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Torpedoes at port!" a voice warned
"Hold on kiddo!" the giant exclaimed
The giant made a sharp left turn as three streams of bubbles in the water passed through them
"It's okay, your previous hostility towards me suggests you've been attacked by them before"
"Asashio to the Rescue Fleet, I have spotted another fleet of Abyssals coming our way" a voice in a radio said
"Copy that Asashio, what ships comprise this fleet?" the giant asked in her radio
"1 Re-class Battleship, escorted by 1 Ri-class Heavy Cruiser and 4 Destroyers"
"Alright, to all members of the Rescue Fleet listen up! I now have the objective with me, now fire all of your torpedoes at the approaching fleet and move away from the mission area, I repeat I have the objective, it is time to go; also don't forget to cover me too."
Hat Kid had to duck down to prevent a torpedo knocking her down to the water
"Oops! Sorry kid, forgot to warned you"
"Asashio to Matsukaze, roger! firing all torps and moving to your position"
"Aww, I want to continue fighting! I feel bloodthirsty at night poi!"
"Yuudachi, I understand that you are the Nightmare of Solomon, but we might get overwhelmed! RNG-sama can get unpredictable at times"
"Fine I'm coming, don't sink!"
Few minutes later two silhouettes appeared on both of Matsukaze's size.
"Let's get out of here kid" Matsukaze said
The fleet slowly moved away from the area into open ocean, leaving behind several explosions and curses from the Abyssal fleet
But they weren't out of the woods just yet
"Kid?" Matsukaze called for her, immediately became worried
Because the kid wasn't in her shoulder, Matsukaze frantically looked around the ocean
"Help me! I can't swim!" a familiar voice shouted
"Man overboard!" Asashio shouted
"All ships turn on search lights and search for the objective"
"Are you sure? What if the Abyssals see us?"
"I doubt it. Even if they see us the torpedoes we fired had bought us some time"
"Alright turn on the search lights"
Three streaks of light swept through the sea. Eventually they managed to find Hat Kid struggling in the water
"Somebody bring her back aboard" Matsukaze commanded
"On it miss" a voice answered. A small fairy appeared in her shoulder and threw a life buoy onto Hat Kid which she gripped on tightly. Then the fairy pulled her out of the water and back into her shoulder. The fairy then immediately gave Hat Kid a pair of dry clothes.
"Kid! Don't do stupid stuff! You're making our work harder for us" Matsukaze complained
"Sorry. I just wanted to take a look closer on the two giants" Hat Kid reasoned
"Giants? Oh you mean us? Hahaha! We're no giants. By the time we picked anything up be it cargo or people like you, it will automatically shrink into what we call 'fairy size' making transporting stuff easier (and appropriate) for us"
"Will I be a fairy forever?"
"Nope, once you get off me you will revert back to your normal size. But it may take some time for you to adjust to the sudden change, also don't worry about my comrades, you can see them in the morning."
"Okay"
"Now I'll be-"
Matsukaze heard snoring, when she looked at her shoulder she found Hat Kid fast asleep in her shoulder.
"Oh silly me, she must be exhausted after all of those trials, what kind of parent does this to their child, they must make a public apology for leaving their kid to die in the woods!" Matsukaze said to herself
She then sent a fairy to give Hat Kid a pillow and a blanket.
"Good night kiddo! Welcome to the club" Matsukaze whispered to Hat Kid
With the objective secured, the Rescue Fleet continued to sail into open ocean and eventually back into base.
I am back! Whew ~1700 words (excluding this footnote)! Also that was a very meaningful trip! If only my country is a bit disciplined then yeah we can be like S'pore. Also bought a few KC merch back there to hopefully motivate me to write
And as if the trip could get worse for my writing schedule my school will begin tomorrow! But to be honest I miss my fellow classmates and calculus))))) come at me h8rs!
Besides that thank you for your support, you help me gain confidence to myself.
