Disclaimer: All rights to Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome, and Lord of the Flies are reserved to Sunrise and William Golding.
Author's Note: I must say, I'm incredibly glad to be writing this story for those who are keeping up. I would like to add that I don't mean to make any of the characters in Mai-HiME look bad. I have nothing against Tate and I have grown to kind of like him. However, after reading the Mai-HiME manga (which, I will admit, I did not thoroughly enjoy) I saw that Tate was a great potential plot device for the type of story I am writing. However, this chapter probably won't make you like him any more than you already do...
Also, for those of you who are wondering, there will be more than 12 HiMEs this time. This does not include Fumi and Alyssa. They simply wouldn't fit into this new setting.
I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Make sure to leave any sort of feedback. Pardon me for any grammatical mistakes since I always seem to make a few, despite my editing... by the way, I am already working on a new project that I hope to release very soon. Perhaps next week? It dabbles in horror and is more of a mystery than a thriller. I hope you read and enjoy that too.
*Warning: Contains minor sexual content.
Natsuki didn't understand anything anymore. The flutter in her chest, the light-headedness. Had she eaten something rancid the night before? Maybe she'd crunched on a spider when she thought she was eating fruit?
When she woke up, she felt the sun beat on her back and the birds sang loudly in her ears. She nearly smiled to this until she noticed where she was and why she was in that particular place. Instead of a smile, she had a frown etched onto her face.
The morning went by with her feeling incredibly dazed, angry, and quite lonely, admittedly. Certainly, she had her friends nearby, definitely, she had gained new companions, but her heart still had a dull, indescribable ache.
The morning was dark. Half the time, clouds blocked the light off the sun and minds wandered without a purpose. Mai sulked by herself, Mikoto was bored out of her mind, Yukino missed Haruka, and Chun was busy taking care of the two younger girls, Arika and Erstin. Natsuki herself felt that emptiness mentioned earlier.
Shizuru was very focussed, however. Maybe she was learning that this was no longer a game and that she had to concentrate. She practiced with her naginata, swinging about in the air in controlled, premeditated patterns. Natsuki would find herself watching and her light-headedness would only get worse.
As Mikoto went on a blind hunt for something to grab her attention, she'd found an object hidden away under the sand.
"Mai, look!" screamed Mikoto as she held it up. Natsuki approached and grabbed it away from Mikoto's hands. It was a conch shell.
Natsuki's mind began to work again and she got an idea. She wouldn't have cared earlier, but she knew now that it was probably vital.
Natsuki blew into it with a mighty breath and everyone stood to attention. Just like that, everyone was on their toes.
"What have you got there, Natsuki?" asked Mai, tilting her head inquiringly.
Just as Natsuki was about to respond, she heard something in the distance. It sounded like hurried footsteps and grinding metal. From the trees and bushes emerged Higurashi Akane with her Child, Harry.
"Mai? Natsuki?" Akane said. Her eyes widened when they landed on Shizuru. "Kaichou?"
"Akane!" cried Mai, a genuine smile on her face.
"I heard a noise and I came to see what it was," Akane said, protecting her eyes from the sunlight with her arm. Harry soon retreated into the ground and Akane stepped forward. Her eyes found Kuga and then the conch in her hands. "Was that you, Natsuki?"
Natsuki opened her mouth to answer, but more noise interrupted her speech. She looked over at the trees and saw that, one by one, HiMEs and Childs would appear from the foliage and exchange looks of confusion and bewilderment. Natsuki could see Midori and even Yukariko. There was Akira and Shiho, too.
"Hey, what was that?" snapped Midori, obnoxious as always.
"I thought I heard voices here..."
"What's that you're holding there, Kuga?"
Natsuki looked up at Nao.
"You too?" she asked.
Nao shrugged. "Expected."
Natsuki smiled a bit and glanced at all the people who were supposedly HiMEs. She practically recognised all of them. Well, there was some green-haired girl and a brunette with a big forehead, but she would soon be acquainted with them.
After much assembling and quite a few questions, everyone sat around and Mai, being a born leader, took over the role as holder of the conch shell. Ideas for learning how to wipe out the island of Orphans were shot left and right, but none of the plans were really all that logical.
"I say we cut down the trees and make our search all the more easier!" said Midori, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Yeah, that'll take no time at all," Nao muttered, picking at her broken nails. "Have you seen how big this place is?"
"We could all go out as a pack," said Erstin. Natsuki scoffed. She resented the idea of working in a 'pack'.
"Yeah, that's brilliant," said Tomoe, the girl green-haired girl. "That would get things done fast."
"At least she's offering her services," said Chun, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Think about it," snapped Tomoe. "Working in one huge group would get us noticed easily. It's a dumb idea."
Erstin blushed in shame and Chun beared her teeth. She was about to speak until Mai decided to cut in.
"No need to get so stingy," she said. "The last thing we need is another Carnival."
Chun and Tomoe turned their gazes away from one another with difficulty.
"Personally, working in packs is a good idea," said Mai. "Not a huge pack, but a team of two or three."
The HiMEs seemed to approve of this.
"I still say we cut down the trees," Midori muttered.
"That…that'll be a backup plan," said Mai. Natsuki recognised that face and had to smirk to herself. Mai was just trying to satisfy everyone.
So the HiMEs split up and got into their groups. Natsuki was stuck with loud-mouthed Midori because Mai thought there would be a balance between the two. As if. Natsuki knew for a fact that this 'sixteen year old' hag would drive her over the edge.
Shizuru was teamed up with Tomoe and that brunette named Miya. Tomoe was quite enthusiastic with the prospect of having Shizuru by her side, which slightly disturbed Natsuki. Tomoe seemed terribly close to Shizuru, almost dangerously so. Natsuki didn't like it.
"C'mon, Kuga, let's go hunting!" shouted Midori as she led Natsuki into the foliage. Natsuki followed, all the while watching as Shizuru reciprocated Tomoe's advances.
Tomoe was surprisingly quiet upon stepping into the bundle of trees. Shizuru had been subject to her constant babbling about how honoured she was to be paired up with the president, despite Miya making the 'pair' more of a crowd. However, once they were among the trees, Tomoe ceased speaking entirely and seemed to focus on finding Orphans.
It was quite disconcerting, seeing Tomoe in such a way. Never had Shizuru seen her with such a face.
Ultimately deciding that this was probably a good thing, Shizuru took no heed and pushed on, praying for the day to end swiftly.
As the three HiMEs explored the forest and moved deeper and deeper into its green territory, there was a noise.
Everything stopped. Shizuru, Tomoe, and Miya all paused and waited for the next sound to arise. The wind blew hair into Shizuru's eyes and burst through the leaves. The silence stretched for a long while until Miya breathed out.
Then a lion's face appeared from the foliage and quickly latched onto Shizuru's arm. A hiss of pain escaped Shizuru as she fell back, the lion landing on top of her. Shizuru quickly reacted and shoved the naginata into its eye. It roared in pain as it backed away and rubbed at its socket agitatedly.
Tomoe quickly jumped into action as she summoned her element—a Lochaber axe—and swung down hard onto the lion's head. It jumped back and lunged for Tomoe, but she was ready for it. She shoved the axe straight into its open mouth and twisted it quickly. The lion coughed out some oil and Tomoe kicked it off of her axe. It stumbled back and tried to run away, but Tomoe didn't let it get away. She dashed after it and the screams metal and groans of a dying beast filled Shizuru's ears.
Shizuru shook her head, her mind foggy with the pain which came in bursts from her mangled arm. Miya was long gone somewhere, leaving Shizuru alone.
Shizuru took her naginata, shredded the sleeve of her injured arm and tightly wrapping the scraps around her wound. The blood soaked right through the cloth in mere seconds.
"Ara… this is not good." She pushed herself off the ground and walked back to where she presumed the beach was. After mindless stumbling, Shizuru was finally found.
But it wasn't by the right crowd at all.
Natsuki had separated from Midori earlier, no longer able to tolerate her crazy behaviour. She decided to go off solo. Midori's war cries and enthusiastic behaviour was simply all too much for Natsuki who was not in the best of moods.
All the while, she couldn't help but feel that she had made a mistake, leaving Tomoe with Shizuru. Tomoe didn't seem reliable at all and that mousy, brunette looked like she could hardly bear her own weight. Natsuki was admittedly worried about Shizuru.
She usually didn't worry about her. However, Shizuru was new to this kind of HiME business. Sure, she had helped Natsuki when it came to encouraging her and informing her, but she had never really been in a fight before. Had she even hit another human being before? If so, Natsuki couldn't remember such a phenomenon. Shizuru couldn't even summon her Child and Mai had paired her up with a couple of brats in middle-school. At least she could have put Mikoto with her or something. Mikoto was also in middle-school, but she knew how to fight. Even Nao would have been better.
Natsuki could hardly concentrate on her hunt for Orphans. Sure, they were easy to find, but she didn't feel like fighting them. The worry gripped her heart tightly and she found herself staring off into space, wondering how Shizuru was doing.
What was she doing, thinking of Fujino so damn much? Shizuru was smart, she could figure her way around things. It wasn't as if she didn't know how to take care of herself. She was eighteen.
Just as Natsuki sat down to rest next to Duran and take a bite out of a pomegranate, she couldn't help but doze off. Duran was around, so he'd be able to wake her up in case there was trouble…
"Natsuki…"
"Shizuru…?"
"Natsuki, I'm here now," whispered the voice of Shizuru as a finger trailed down Natsuki's naked arm.
"Shizuru, what's going on here…?" Everything was so fuzzy, so colourful, so obnoxious, but Natsuki found herself loving the sensations she was getting.
The soft hand found her navel. Natsuki arched her back sharply.
"What do you want, Natsuki?" purred Shizuru's voice. "I am willing to do whatever you like…"
"Whatever…?"
"Whatever."
Suddenly, that hand travelled lower and lower...
Then it stopped. Natsuki grunted in annoyance and looked down to see what was happening. All the fuzziness quickly cleared away and Natsuki was finally able to see...
"What the fuck?" she spat.
"What is wrong, Natsuki?" asked the face of an apple.
"..."
But then Natsuki heard a cry for help, jolting her out of her dreams.
"What was that?" whispered Natsuki, feeling her cheeks rush with blood.
That cry helped get her back down to earth and she jumped to her feet. She quickly ran over to the voice, blowing through leaves and nearly tripping over bushes, Duran in tow. Thorns from vines slashed at her face and at her chest, but she pushed on. She couldn't imagine if it was Mai who had gotten in trouble or if it might have been Mikoto—
She suddenly went crashing into another body and stumbled back. Miya went falling in the opposite direction and hit her head against a tree trunk.
"Shit!" Natsuki spat as she dropped down next to the girl and checked for injuries. She didn't feel much, but the brunette wouldn't wake up. "Shit, shit!"
She tapped her on the cheek hard, trying to wake her up.
"Wake up!" Natsuki snapped. Miya opened her eyes and groaned in pain, caressing her head and moving her face away from Natsuki's hand.
"My head," she murmured.
"What happened?" Natsuki asked hurriedly. Miya gazed at her and held that gaze for a couple of seconds. She seemed to be disoriented.
"Uh… what?"
"What happened?" Natsuki repeated slowly. Miya stared blankly. Natsuki began to get the crazy thought that Miya probably had amnesia. Her heart started to pump quickly.
"Shi-Shizuru," Miya said, blinking rapidly. "Shizuru's hurt."
Natsuki felt her whole body go cold and her heart nearly stop beating. She mutely swore as she got to her feet and ran where Miya had presumably came from.
"Duran!" Natsuki cried. He was summoned immediately and she hopped onto his back, riding him like a horse. He dashed through the trees, knocking a few over and snapping vines that got in his way.
The green and the brown came by in such haste that she hadn't seen the sudden red that had been lurking. Suddenly, she was on her back, a huge, deformed beast with two oval mouths and rows of teeth pinning her down with its oozing body.
"Get off!" she yelled as she tried to push it away. Duran screeched to a halt, spun around, and went smashing into the leech-like Orphan. It went tumbling away and slithered around a bit. It pulsed and flexed before turning to Natsuki. Duran stepped in front of Natsuki and crouched low.
The slug jumped at Duran and Duran at the Orphan. They collided in midair, but Duran was the one who was knocked back.
Not now, Natsuki thought. She tried to help Duran by shooting at the leech, but it only shook off the bullets which stuck to its body. Duran snapped at the Orphan, but it recoiled then bashed its head into his nose, making him whine and stumble back.
It suddenly latched onto Duran's head and ground its teeth into his neck. He howled and started to move around in a frenzy, running around in circles and smashing into trees blindly. Natsuki tried to get a clear shot, but Duran was moving too fast.
"Duran, hold still!" spat Natsuki. He didn't heed her orders as he continued to try prying the red leech off of his head. She couldn't really blame him. "Duran!"
"Natsuki?" called a voice from the brush. Natsuki turned to see rockets emerge from the trees and ram right into the leech. It blew up instantly and its remains disintegrated from Duran's head.
Midori peeked in from a random bush and smiled.
"Natsuki!" she said. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Midori, Shizuru's in trouble," Natsuki said, not bothering to make up an excuse as to why she had disappeared.
"Yeah, I know," she said as Duran sank back into the grass. "Heard she got attacked and Tomoe bolted."
Natsuki gritted her teeth. She would deal with the coward later.
"You can hitch a ride from me," said Midori as Gakutenoue appeared from the trees. "We'll search together!"
Shizuru fended off the Orphans with her naginata, swinging with her good arm while her other hung limply at her side. Shizuru slashed the throat of a spindly-legged creature with a rag doll-like figure, whirled around, and shoved it into the gullet of a fat bird creature with two beaks and one eye. Despite her restless fight to survive, they were tough and she was greatly outnumbered.
One slug creature with two hole-shaped mouths and rows of teeth latched onto her limp arm and ground its teeth into her elbow, causing her to bite back a scream. She fell to the ground and began to stab at it. It slowly let go as oil spurted into her face and onto her white and red blouse. She yanked her arm out of its mouth to see that it was doused in black and crimson.
Shizuru took a few steps away as she discovered just how unfair this battle was. Her back found a tree trunk and she suddenly slid around it. She dashed past the trees and through the bushes as she heard the stampede from behind. She stumbled as she began to run up a slope and quickly planted her heels into the ground upon seeing the lack of ground that was left. She looked back and saw the creatures running after her, all their colours and expressions of hunger and primal rage filling her sight.
She turned back to the long, long drop, weighing her only two options. Either way, she would die.
Shizuru took in a deep breath and stepped off the cliff.
As Shizuru fell to her death, the wind surfing through her hair back, the sounds of angry squealing and roaring fading from her ears, she noticed that it was more surreal than she thought it would be. To die, that is.
The sun shined brightly that evening. The birds sang, despite her imminent doom. The trees shimmered with a dark greens and the ground, as it drew nearer and nearer, was covered in healthy grass and each and every blade shimmered with novelty.
A wondrous end.
Shizuru closed her eyes. It was quite blissful. Never did she think that dying would be such a calming feeling.
However, the emptiness in her belly began to spread. What was that feeling?
Natsuki was plaguing her mind now. Why was that?
Poses. Times together. Words of comfort, words of wisdom, words of friendly love. Tears, feelings growing, emptiness deepening. Tate. Damn him, always got in the way. Stopped talking, Tate suddenly in the big picture. Natsuki calling him, talking to him, kissing him, loving him.
Shizuru no longer existing. That boy, breaking Natsuki's heart. Natsuki, suddenly alone.
That boy's fault.
"Kiyohime."