Chapter 17: Shirley
I had no idea what I was doing, but Nikita said it was the "big" plan. I wasn't clear on whether I should turn on Nikita now or later. But something in me, told me to wait. I knew it was terrible to destroy the camp, but this is what I must do for now. I silently apologized to everybody. But I did not know that someone heard my apologies.
Raven
I pondered whether or not to assist them in smothering the fire through time reversal. The flames hadn't gotten substantial enough as to be of much concern, and it is in my belief that people should be educated by experiences to perform tasks themselves. For, if one thinks it over, what if there is a day when I am not present and they are faced, once again, with this fire?
Suddenly, voice cut through my thoughts. I'm sorry... please forgive me... The tone of it possessed remarkable clarity. I traced it back to the source, and was slightly surprised at the distance it was able to transmit over. Whoever broadcast this was very skillful with their minds indeed. Rarely does a person appear who is able to do something like this.
Curious, I sent Ryn and Alcyone over to investigate. I myself took flight to better watch the situation of the fire.
Pranu
It was no use. Every drop of water I poured onto the fire just strengthened it making it brighter and hotter. I did not know who was doing this, but my suspicions went to Nikita.
Ruidi suddenly went totally out of control and charged at the fire.
"GET BACK HERE!" Neesik screamed, surprisingly louder and higher pitched than Carina's Piccolo.
Still Ruidi charged and disappeared through the trees. Everyone was now gathered in the clearing, forming a large crowd.
Caiyi ran after Ruidi, as did Charlie.
Caiyi
Why is it everytime that I always have to go after Ruidi? I mean he can handle by himself, but... nevermind. This was pointless. I mean IT WAS FIRE. How was he supposed to defeat fire with a sword? I sprinted after him, with Charlie trailing not much behind. Soon we caught up to Ruidi.
"Dude! Where *pant* are *takes a breath*you going?" I gasped.
Ruidi ignored me. Geez. That was nice.
Ruidi
I knew Shirley was causing the fire. I just knew it. Sometimes I just get these gut feelings. You know? So I was going to find her and make it stop. Since we couldn't diminish the fire, I could defeat her instead.
Then I saw her. She was sitting in the middle of a cleared area. Soft green grass was gently swaying beside her from the breeze. She looked at peace. I calmed a bit. But then remembered my task. I lunged my weapon at her.
CLANK
My sword hit a force field. Shirley was completely undisturbed. I stabbed at the protection layer again. No use. I turned to Caiyi and Charlie.
"What now?" He asked.
Charlie
I kept on pushing my mind to think, we needed a way to stop the fire. We were running out of time. We were so engrossed in idea thinking, we didn't realize the scissors gather around us until it was almost too late...
Shirley
Well, they aren't the smartest people. Don't they know they could just wake me up? Nikita put me in a trance where I was sleeping, but over the years, I've learned to dodge that spell and hide my conscious in my "safe place". I knew Ruidi was there, his voice didn't change. I didn't know who was beside him though. I had a slight feeling that it was Caiyi. Suddenly, I was aware of the scissors. I wanted to warn Ruidi, but I couldn't because it would reveal that I wanted to help them. Plus I was frozen anyways.
Everyone
We watched as they disappeared into the forest. We knew it was dangerous. We knew that we shouldn't go. Yet we wanted to. We wanted to help. Neesik kept us back, so we stood as there. We just stood there, while the three boys were having a narrow chance of escaping death with the scissors We waited and waited and waited.
Ruidi
My arm burned. It was scraped by a scissor claw. I'm not even going to describe the mess. It hurt so bad, it hurt too bad. I fainted.