Chapter #7The Chisel and The Hammer by: Unknown Liz froze in place, her sensitive Mienshao ears twitching, straining for the first sign of her concealed quarry. Even her Rapidash could sense the tension in the air - he clamped his teeth down on the iron bit in his mouth, and his eyes peered nervously into the foliage in either side of the forest path.
Remembering her training, the lithe Mienshao consciously relaxed her muscles and closed her eyes. She was being hunted. To allow herself to act as lowly prey would be unbecoming of a fighter. The chirp of crickets, the soft rustling of the leaves, she tuned them all out. Her awareness peaked. The forest seemed to go silent. She waited, poised...there.
There was the slightest crunch of a fallen branch, and then a sound like a keening whistle. In an instant, she dropped her weight toward the ground, and felt something skim the forked tips of her ears, the smallest tuft of her mink-like fur falling free as it was sliced away. To her left, a chunk of tree bark was blasted away, leaving an ugly, wet-looking wound in the ancient plant. Son of a bitch. If she hadn't moved, whatever that was would have flayed her neck open, if not taken her clean off. With an uncannily graceful twist, she shifted her weight and dove sidelong into the underbrush, rising from a somersault and pressing her back against the moss-covered surface of a solid-looking tree. Her Rapidash still stood in the forest path, shuffling agitatedly in its reins.
When it came, the voice spoke quietly - just within her range of hearing - and it seemed to emanate from all around her. "Easy now, Elizabeth... let's not make this any messier than it needs to be..." Liz' eyes scanned her surroundings, her focus darting from thick forest canopy to the impenetrable overgrowth around her. She tried to control her breathing, but her buxom chest was heaving rapidly. Whatever this thing was, she wasn't hiding - it knew exactly where she was. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Grace and repose, then strike.
She stepped out from behind the tree, calm, but still studying her surroundings. "Let's not play these cowardly shadow games. If you have some quarrel with me, show yourself." Her heartbeats echoed in her ears as the seconds ticked by. On the opposite side of the path, there was a flicker of movement some ten feet off the ground. Liz braced herself, then watched as a slender, frog-like creature seemed to materialize out of a tree and perch itself on a low-hanging branch.
She recognized it at once as a Greninja. They were rare, and said to possess unparalleled skill in martial arts. Its navy-coloured skin glistened in the scattered sunlight as it peered at her through narrow eyes. "Very well. Now you see me." The Greninja's tone was relaxed, almost aloof. I would offer you my name, but I don't intend to drag these pleasantries out for long. The Order has marked you, Mienshao. I am here to carry out your sentencing. Or, rather, I should say we are."
Liz tilted her head, taking a second too long to grasp the implication. There was a crash behind her like a thunderclap, and the tree she had been hiding behind a moment before exploded in a shower of splintered wood. Through the cloud of debris, an enormous black-and-white bear came charging toward her, claws extended, its ebony eyes glinting with rage. There was no way she could have moved in time. A weight like a pile of bricks slammed into her, and her world went dark.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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