My heart was starting to pound against my chest as I began to count down from twenty. In twenty seconds my escape plan would begin, and either one of two things would happen. Either it would work perfectly or I would be in the biggest trouble I have ever been in before in my life. I put the finishing touches on the note that I had written for my momma, to tell her that I was sorry for what I did and that when I came back home. I would gladly submit to any punishment that she had in store for me. As well as promised to return with my daddy safe and sound, and finished it with as many X’s and O’s I could fit on that paper. My small bag had already been packed, I could only really bring two pairs of clothes that could fit in my travel backpack. I couldn’t possibly carry another suitcase with me for this trip. I needed to be as light as possible, and no time to dress to be cute either.
I needed to be deadly.
I left the note on my desk and took one last look in my mirror. I was wearing tight pants that helped my movements in combat, blue in color. A short sleeved shirt that was just as tight and my long hair was done up in a bun so tight it hurt. I put on my best pair of running and fighting shoes before slipping my backpack on. I had checked it nearly a dozen times to make sure that my “permission slip” and plane ticket were safe and sound. As well as my student ID so they knew who I was and would let me on with little problem.
“Ready Aisu?” I asked, patting her on the side.
“Ready as I will ever be.” She let out a soft pur as she rubbed up against my side. “Let’s get on a plane.”
“Ready Valeria,” I thought in my head.
“Of course I am, get to the meeting place and I will be there to get you.”
“Let’s go.” I said walking over to my window, throwing it open. “Go Aisu now!”
My prized spirit animal let out a loud roar before jumping out of the window. I quickly used a jepei technique known as amplification to put as much power into my legs as possible and jumped out of my window after her. My target was Aisu who had just landed. Much like many big cat users, I could leap amazing distances with my jepei. The wind raced against my face as I narrowed my vision trying to adjust slightly. I needed to land on Aisu’s back right as she reached her full speed in order for this to work. Aisu landed mid stride and was already beginning her dash and I turned slightly to see my momma looking up at me, her wide eyes quickly turning into stern. “Leela!” I heard her call out.
I braced myself for impact and landed on Aisu back wincing just a bit from the fall. “Run Aisu, run as fast as you can!” I screamed, as the wind now whipped against my fast and my body bounced with every bound that Aisu made.
I looked over my shoulder and gasped as Leela began to glow with bright golden and black energy, she was drawing in as much of my momma’s aura as she could to grow bigger. Now she stood at nearly nine feet tall and 12 feet wide, and that extra size gave her extra reach. She was catching up to us, much faster than I originally thought. A small smirk growing across her face and her eyes looking hungry, she was a predator spirit and all of them loved a good chase. From this distance I could also hear a certain jeep roaring to life, and I knew that my momma was gonna come just to make sure Leela caught me.
I tightened my grip around Aisu’s neck and poured my own jepei into her slim form. Aisu couldn’t grow as big as Leela since I was still too young to do that. However, I could give her a bit more of my strength to her legs to get her moving faster. Aisu's top speed was around 75 mph, right now I could get her to at least 90 mph, a good 25 miles faster than Leela even in her current form. This was the best we could do right now and only pray for the best, however another pair of thunderous steps were filling the air. I turned my head to the right and let out a loud swear that probably would get my mouth washed out with soap.
In the distance coming towards us at speeds that rivaled Aisu. Was a large brown moose spirit, its legs moving faster and its hoofs kicking up dirt and on its back taking aim with her netrix weapon, a large longbow. A weapon made from our own jepei that was harder than diamond and sharper than steel. Was Beatrice.
Her hair was moving wilding in the wind but I knew that it would have no effect on her aim. It was nearly perfect, not because of her eyesight but because of her amazing hearing and smell. SHe could tell where the target was going, how fast they were moving, and could hit it with accuracy that could make snipers feel like children playing soldier. “Aisu duck to the left!”
Aisu barely had time to move, right as an arrow landed in front where were we just were kicking up a cloud of dust and leaving a small creator where it hit. If I took one of those shot’s it would knock me flat on my back and worst of all, I knew from experience that she was holding her power back. Because even if I just had protection, an ability to harden my jepei around myself like a shield, it would still knock me out and probably destroy Aisu’s physical form. I knew my momma would have had an ace up her sleeve, but I had no idea that ace would be the one person that could read my movements almost perfectly.
Now I was in trouble, Beatrice wasn’t aiming for me. She was aiming to make Aisu move in a snake like pattern, to jump and dodge out of the way of incoming attacks. Each of these sudden movements were causing Aisu to lose more and more speed, she could only sprint for 10 minutes tops, and we had been going for three minutes already. I kept looking back as Leela was catching up, her longer strides making up the distance for our slightly slower speed, and my momma’s jeep was catching up to us. “What do we do?” I heard Aisu beg her voice sounded just as tired as I knew she was feeling. “I can’t run like this for long, and Momma Leela is nearly on us.”
“Damn it,” I gripped Aisu tighter and began to think a bit more. I couldn’t call Valeria in just yet, our plan would only work if she could swoop in and no one would see her face. “Valeria, change of plans, meet me in the city of rainbow light.” It was a nearby village that would give us the best chance at escape, the village got its name for the many different color torches that would light it up at night.
“On it.”
“That is in the opposite direction.” Aisu snapped, letting out a small cry as a cloud of dust exploded in front of her and for a moment she nearly lost her footing. “I would have to face them to do that.”
“I have an idea and you need to trust me, Aisu, take a sharp right and then accelerate towards Beatrice.” I poured as much of my jepei into Aisu as possible before holding my hand out and summoned my own netrix weapon. A long naginata that took me nearly a year to get just the way I had it now. One end had a sharp blade and the other a tennis ball sized orb that I used if I didn’t want to risk injuring a sparring partner.
“Understood, sissy…” Aisu went silent for a bit. “If you want, I could let them.”
“Absolutely not,” I knew what Aisu was gonna say. “I am not letting them shatter your spirit even if it lasts a day. So you just keep running and dodging and I will handle the rest.”
I nearly slipped off Aisu’s back as her long claws dug into the dirt with little ease. Her entire body suddenly twisted to the left, narrowing missing Momma Leela as she went flying past us in a blur of black and gold. I looked back at her in time to see her roll to a hard stop before regaining her footing, and now she looked way madder than before. In a few seconds Aisu was racing right at Beatrice, easily reaching her top speed once more. I jumped a bit as loud hooking filled my ears and I could see my momma was pounding on that honk of her car. As she pulled beside us, just a few feet to the right of me. “Verona Aisu Whisperwind, get your ass in the car, now!”
I sadly shook my head as I tapped Aisu on her side and she began to speed forward, her paws slamming into the dirt like a drummer beating on his drums. She slowed down and headed towards the left, it seems she was not gonna risk one of these stray arrows slamming into her truck. I really did feel bad for all of this, and my guilt was only starting to build as my eyes focused onto Beatrice. She was standing up on the back of her animal spirit like a rock in a storm. No matter how fast or how bumpy the road got, Beatrice could keep standing strong like that without fear of falling. She carefully took aim and began to draw back on the string slowly putting together a dark brown blunt arrow. I knew the arrows she could form with her jepei, ranging from these blunted tips, to sharper arrow heads that could split through the wind faster than a bullet, to four sided arrow tipped ones that could pack a serious punch.
Even though we were nearly 100 yards apart at this point, with my perfect vision I saw her mouth the words to me. “Please stop,” it pained me to see the tears spilling down her face. “Don’t make me hurt you.” I shook my head a few times and watched as Beatrice lowered her head before sighing. When she lifted her head, a fierce determination had taken over her round face. She let loose a barrage of her arrows in front of me, pelting the ground around us. We narrowly got through using Aisu’s speed, but Beatrice was already starting to load another arrow. They were now slamming into the ground in front of Aisu sending chunks of debris in the air forcing Aisu to twist and turn once again. Her paws were getting caught up in these chunks and we were once again losing speed.
Worst of all, her aim was getting better each shot. We were now within her eyesight now, and that alongside her other amazing senses, made this battle even harder. I could hear the padding of Leela and the roar of my momma’s car gaining speed. I stood on the back of Aisu and got my weapon ready for what was quite possibly my last ditch plan. If this didn’t work it was over.
“Run Aisu!” I summoned my jepei into my legs once more and leapt off of Aisu back and went flying through the air. I reeled back and threw my naginata with all of my strength. Beatrice’s eyes widened as she leaned backwards like a gymnast to dodge. In the same process, I landed on top of her animal spirit’s large head and twisted on my heel. Right as she stood up straight my foot caught her on the side knocking her off her animal spirit onto the back of Aisu who was riding beside us. I was not gonna let her fall full speed off her animal spirit. Aisu stoped for a moment to drop Beatrice on the ground and began to race off once more at speeds much faster now that I was off her back. I jumped off the moose I was riding off and my foot caught hold of my weapon that embedded into the ground just a few feet away. I lept off that once more and once again sailed through the air and right on top of Aisu who didn’t break stride.
“Don’t go!” I heard Beatrice scream after me. “Verona!”
“I’m sorry!” I screamed back at her and I turned to see my momma had parked her jeep to step to Beatrice side. The last thing I saw was Leela racing past them now looking far more annoyed than before, as well as my momma’s concerned look turning into one of pure rage.
“She is gonna murder us when we get back.”
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Aisu and I arrived at the village of rainbow lights a few minutes later, barely able to keep a head of a determined Momma Leela. Just as we feared when we came up with this plan, Aisu was slowing down and Leela could keep going at her current speeds for another few days if she really wanted to. The Village of Rainbow Lights was already starting to light the items that brought them their name, as the sun was setting and we were losing more and more light. People were stepping out of their homes and closing up shop for the day, they began to light torches and oil lamps, using their jepei aura as the spark. This not only created normal fire, but different colors of fires ranging from bright blues and greens, to dark reds and mysterious purples.
“We are almost there, Aisu.” I patted her on the side twice as we slowed a bit. I turned around and just as I hoped, Momma Leela had taken on a smaller size to avoid plowing through the evening crowds. “We should be fine, now, and once we are in the air I will unsummon you so you can-”
I didn’t finish that sentence as a single kick knocked me off of Aisu and sent me rolling across the ground into a bush. A dull pain began to run up my side at my harsh landing and when I looked up I couldn’t believe my bad luck. “Going somewhere, Verona?” Her blond hair was flowing through the wind like a cape, and her dark yellow eyes locked onto me with a look that could give my momma a run for her money.
Master O’Brian was here and she was not very happy.
I turned my head away from her and spat on the ground to try and get some leaves and dirt out of my mouth. “I am going to the dorms… I need some time away from my momma.” That kick had knocked my bun loose and my long brown hair spilled down across my face.
“That is not what your momma or Beatrice seem to think,” Mrs. O’Brian answered. “They think you are trying to go and stow away on a plane to New York. Specifically the flight leaving?” Out of my veil of hair I could see her pull out her phone and check the time. “In about 35 minutes now. I was lucky to be in the area for another house call when your momma called me. I should also let you know that your momma says and I quote. This is strike two for running off again, and strike three for what you did to Beatrice. So you are out.”
“Yeah she really is.” I turned to see Leela had just hopped on top of Aisu and had her pinned firmly to the ground. “You gave us quite the chase, didn’t expect you to double back and come this way. Your skills a top Aisu here are quite good, however, this game is over little girl.”
“I just want to go to the dorms!” I snapped trying to scramble to my feet as quickly as I could but Mrs. O’Brian was quicker and took a firm hold of my arm to hold me in place. “Stop hurting me and just let me go already!”
The woman’s grip did soften a bit but she was not letting me go. “I would ask you to promise not to run but we both know that is not gonna happen. Your mom will be here in ten minutes to come and get you, so you are stuck with me until then.” Mrs. O’Brian and I were the same height but right now she was projecting just a bit of her jepei and that small amount was enough to remind me that she was a grown woman, and could knock me out if she decided too. “Listen to me, Verona. I know that-”
“Stop saying that!” I snapped. “You don’t know what I am going through. My daddy is gone on a mission that could kill him. I am stuck on this island with no way to go and help him, I just want some fucking space! I want to be alone, you are treating me like I am trying to leave the island.”
I was really hoping that she was gonna fall for my tantrum, as long as they thought I was going to the dorms I had a chance to escape. Mrs. O’Brian was caught off by my sudden outburst as her grip softened even more. “Verona, let me talk to you. If you want space, if you want to be alone then I will convince your momma to let you stay at my house for a few days.”
“I want to be alone with my friend, I don’t want to be with an adult right now.” I could see behind the woman’s head a certain red vulture was now perched on the roof just across from us. Valeria’s animal spirit, I gave her a single nod and she took flight high into the sky. I gripped my gemstone and summoned Aisu back to her netrix stone for a much needed rest.
Leela came towards me but Mrs. O’Brian held her hand out to stop her in her tracks. “I am sorry Verona, but right now we do not trust you enough to just stay at the dorms without an adult. So you have two choices, either submit and we wait for your momma and I promise you will be with me and my family for the next few days to calm down and talk… or.” She took two steps forward so we were standing only inches apart. “You leave me no choice but to knock you out, please do not make me do that.”
“How about this choice,” I ducked right as Nightdancer came flying over me and slammed into Mrs. O’Brian knocked her onto her back. I spun on my heels and quickly jumped as high as I could onto a nearby ladder and climbed up.
“Damn it stop!” Leela shouted as she missed me by a few inches. “Verona!”
I ran across the top of that building and jumped off and as high as in the air as I could with my hands out. A sharp pain filled both of them as Valeria swooped down with a hood over her face, her bright red wings much larger to give her the strength to carry the two of us higher into the sky. The village below me quickly grew smaller and smaller with every flap of her wings, and a few minutes later she was out of range. “You better hope, Nightdance doesn’t get in trouble for crashing into a freaking Master.” Valeria said in my head though I could tell she was smiling.
“I owe you both.” I said, as a bit of relief began to spread across my body. “Is Nightshadow still there?”
“Nope,” Valeria answered. “I summoned her back to try and make it seem like an accident, that she was being a bit too reckless in her flying.” Valeria let go of my hands but quickly wrapped her arms around my waist to keep me held in her grasp. “Next stop, the airport.”
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Tarun’s national airport was one of the larger buildings on the island, equipped with four planes three that took jepei users to the bigger airports in the united states, and one that took us to the largest one in Europe. It didn’t take me long to get to a help desk for that final part of my plan, I had been pacing outside for nearly 20 minutes. I needed to get on that flight right as it was leaving to make it seem like I had forgotten. I got to the main terminal and frantically dug through my backpack as a worker in her mid twenty looked down at me in confusion. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I shouted as I produced the ticket and note Valeria forged for me. “I am late, and I need to get on this flight as soon as I can.”
The woman looked over at the clock and picked up a nearby phone. “Please hold, flight 2123 to New York for a moment.” She set the phone down and began to quickly look over the paperwork. “Verona Whisperwind, your father left at 11 o’clock? Any reason why you are not traveling with him sweetie?”
“I wanted to spend a few more hours with my family and friends.” I explained trying to sound out of breath. “So I asked if I could take a later flight and he thinks I am grown up enough to take a flight.”
“Any reason why you came here without an adult?” She asked, setting my paperwork down and putting a large green stamp on it to approve it.
“I knew I was fast enough without my momma coming to bring me in.” I explained, having to stand on my tiptoes to see what she was doing. “Please, can we hurry? I don’t want to be rude and hold the captain or the other passengers up for my tardiness.”
She took hold of my ticket and after an agonizing few minutes another worker came over to me and waved me over. “Come on” This one was a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes. “You are lucky you weren’t a minute later.”
I took a firm hold of the straps to my small travel bag and nodded at the boy before racing after him. “Thank you ma’am!” I called back with a wave as he led me down a tunnel and a moment later I was taken up and onto the plane. “I’m sorry,” I said towards any flight attendant that looked my way.
Once I had gotten in my seat I let out a loud sigh of relief as I laid back and let my body finally start to relax. “On my way, Daddy.” I whispered as I turned my attention to stare out of the window. The plane was just starting to roll down the runway and then I saw something nearby. Sitting on the runway about 50 feet or so from the plane, was Beatrice. Even from this distance I could see tears in her eyes, and I had a feeling that she could see me. I pressed my hand up against the window and I had a feeling that she could somehow see me as she held her own hand up. I watched her mouth the words. “Come home safely, I love you.”
I felt my own tears starting to well up in my eyes as she climbed onto the back of her animal spirit and raced off the runway. I didn’t stop staring at her until the plane left the ground and began to soar across the now blue and purple sky that came from our setting sun.
I leaned back against my seat and part of me wanted to tell one of the flight attendants I made a mistake. That I shouldn’t be here and that I did a lot of naughty things to get on this flight.
However I need to go and do this, to get closer that was five years in the making.
I had a lot of people I loved that needed me at home, but I had only one daddy that needed me to face Katherine with him. I wouldn’t die during this revenge tour.
It was a shame that it took doing all of this to realize that I had a lot more to live for than just some petty anger.
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