Chapter 2: Sardina And Sardenia Raid A Fort

Mission: None (She Raids A Fort) ((Code Name Get The Apples Back))

Type: Sardina Plays With The Iquarks Again

It was a relief to see Iquarks patrolling the outskirts again. I hugged one the moment I saw one, yelling Nee! loudly. Of course, the Iquark had to accept the hug.

They knew the price of not letting me see them.

You can be very scary at times.

I looked at the apple stand. The apple stand's apples were completely gone! NOOOO!!!!! Those were good apples that they just wasted!

I think they are sorting them, not wasting them.

If they are sorting them then the apples are in a fort. The fort is probably one of the forts that aren't heavily guarded and are small. It probably is Fort Applecide to be exact.

Wait! Fort Applecide?

Yeah. We've been there many times. We raided it many times too. Though this time is different since the apples are now absolutely delicious!

No. Applecide. Apple-cide.

....Huh?

Those clever lizards! Apple-cide as in apple side with a c instead of an s. That is where the underground apple farm is located! The one Mrs. Terrian got the apple seeds from!

OOHHHH! Clever. I wonder why we never guessed that.

I want to know why it isn't guarded more if that is where the apple farm is.

Probably because they want us to think it is just a small fort used for sorting fruits. We are quite the threat.

You have the weirdest relationship with the Iquarks. They like you but they will attack you as well.

Well, get ready for a fight since we are going to Fort Applecide!

.....Stop posing.

....

The town was finally back to normal. Iquarks were walking around and chatting. There weren't many citizens around though. I wonder why that is.

I think a pack of Visiguarks came by the other day so some of the citizens are staying back just in case some are still around.

Huh. How come I was never told?

Who knows?

I thought of contacting Kellie but I had a feeling with no mission she was sleeping. I guess the coffee still wasn't around.

You know, if it wasn't for the fact that Isheva and Kellie are against each other, I would think that they would make great coffee friends.

How does that one work?

Friends during coffee. Duh. Are you stupid or something?

I take that as an insult coming from you.

HEY! What is that supposed to mean!?

You know what it means.

Now I am crying!

I am not saying sorry.

Fine.

I stopped walking when I saw Fellish walk out of the clothing store, wearing his normal outfit. I guess he finally woke up.

I honestly thought he was dead.

Nah. He can handle quite the amount of heat. He does live here after all.

I noticed a red glint among the crowd. It couldn't be...Keatori! His real name is Toushobark but we call him Keatori. He was the high general, or commander, of the Iquarks army. He wore red glittering armor and his scales were more of a green color than brown color. His weapon was also a mix between a spear and a halbert.

He also had these nice red and green eyes. Iquarks are iguanodons that walk and talk like humans. I thought of going to greet him but thought against it. It was too early. Maybe I will get to play with him later? Maybe he will visit the fort when I am stealing the apples back!? Yes! Keatori-chan will then play with us.

You are scaring those around you with your cute but menacing look.

I quickly pulled myself back together. I must try and get to the fort as quickly as I can so the apples don't get put on the underground farm. I don't want to expose the farm yet. Doing so might ruin the apple farm for good since the local rebels are quite annoying.

If I remember right, Fort Applecide should be somewhat near the outskirts to the north. That means I still have quite the way to go. I might as well start going.

Quick! Skip to another scene so we can avoid an awkward transition!

Hey, wait. WHAT! NO! You must listen to my Sardina Trans-

....

I came to in a dark cage. The walls were silver but no light seemed to bounce off them. Chains were coming from the ceiling, trapping me by chaining me to the ceiling. I wondered briefly what got me here. Changing after getting drunk. It is true that I have killed people before but I stopped quickly after realizing it was wrong. I then tried my best to fit in with society. I became a maid and worked for Master Erogazi. She is just wonderful. She even knew my secret. I told my sisters and brothers not to attack her. They even agreed. In fact, Geravia even thought of coming to work with her. I wonder what she is thinking now. I must have been missing for quite some time now. I hope Master Erogazi doesn't go and try to find help from my sisters. Geravia is hidden so only the aggressive ones are known. Both Shard and Isheva hate humanoids. They may have made a promise but that doesn't mean they won't find loopholes...or just lie. They may even think Master Erogazi had something to do with my disappearance and attack without asking questions first.

I suddenly felt a presence. No. Another sister? Who is it?

I racked my head for any of my siblings. I felt a powerful presence and the match was clearly a creature, a family member, but it was alien. I just can't pinpoint it. It wasn't human but it wasn't a creature either. My creature form is called a Bearex. Well, not a full one but a mix of a Bearex and a spider. I hate using that form. It makes me look like a monster.

I tried to focus on the sister but all I could get from her was beaming happiness and bliss. She was too blissful to be worrying about what was around her which means I can't say where she is. All I know is where she is going. She was going to a small purple, blue, and white tan brick fort. She was also thinking of apples a lot.

I have never heard of a Creature thinking of apples in such an ecstatic way. I wonder who she is.

....

Heaven and Hell are more alike than you think. Not one is perfect. Only the world in between is the best.

....

There it is! I have it in my sight! Are you excited, Sardenia!? I KNOW I AM!

"NEEEEEE!!!!"

"My lord you are just a bubble of excitement."

I stopped and looked at the visible shape of Sardenia.

"You're visible!"

Sardenia looked down at herself and then muttered a curse.

"Think nothing of it. I will be back to being invisible soon enough. Your excitement just caught on, that's all."

Sardenia huffed and crossed her arms, turning her back on me. I let out a giggle of amusement.

"I'm surprised Kellie-chan hasn't said anything yet."

Normally Kellie would be all over my case when she

sees that I am about to pick a fight with the Iquarks. Then again, at times she has no interest in me whatsoever. I know that Kellie must be up from her nap but communications weren't turned on two-ways. It was one-sided. That either means Kellie is listening in on me or she wasn't listening in at all.

There is the gate! Now how do I sneak into this micro version of a roman and fantasy castle or fort? I like the purple roof and the blue patterns and of course the white tan bricks. The gate was open since they didn't have a gate installed yet. For great rulers. they sure are laid back when it comes to some things.

No one was posted on the fort and right now. No Iquarks were around. That won't last for long though...though I guess I found my way in.

I looked around for any other sign of trouble. There was a mutant talking with a werewolf, a girl with red eyes and black hair, and a black dress with a white undergarment was walking by. What is she trying to fit in to? No one here wears outfits like that. A couple of orcs and many humans were playing foursquare. I love that game. An Iquark rounding a corner, going out of sight, and a merchant taking a break from trying to sell his sales which were nice eyepiece or whatever that thing is called.

Glasses and scepitals.

Yeah! Those things.

Time to make my move. I ran right into the fort and then ducked behind a couple of crates. Now I was safe. I looked around and saw the apples marked from Mrs. Terrian's stand next to a rather short steel pole. The tip was sharpened. I guess they were either trying to make a flag pole or they just brought a broken one and placed it in the fort. It looked fine so it was probably a war banner in the making. Now it is just missing a red torn flag and the string mechanism that binds the flag to the pole and allows it to be raised and lowered.

I walked up to the apples and opened up my bag and started putting apples in the bag. It was then that I felt a presence, something amiss in my head. I snapped up and put up my walls. Living with Sardenia you learn to protect some thoughts.

Not from me but from others since I taught you.

Who had been trying to read my mind!?

That pompous no good cheesy shitlord of a mind reader Farol from that stupid company that captured you when we first started working for Kellie.

Did it work?

Uh, kinda? It definitely made it difficult for him and it gave me the chance to make him cry since he was so focused on you that he failed to notice my attack...but yeah, I think it worked...kinda.

Thanks for the confidence boost.

You're welcome.

I tried to sense anything about the presence but it was suddenly gone. I felt a trickle of curiosity that soon started to bloom. The presence felt...familiar?

I have no clue who it was.

I looked up at the sky and wondered who it was. I just felt like I had to kn-

"Well, why are you here now?"

I spun around. Standing there with three rookies was Toushobark. He had a rather curious look in his eyes but he looked ready to brawl.

"Ahh! Well you see, these apples were delicious when I tried them the other day so I can't just let them go to waste. Besides, Mrs. Terrain was on the outskirts since your citizens were interested in other apples. I will not just stand by just because you guys finally found out that the apples were delicious!"

All the Iquark's faces turned into bewilderment.

"Uh, you do know what is on those apples, right?"

"Uh, is this a trick question?"

One of the rookies shook their head.

"What is on the apples? Dirt, sand, grit? It is perfectly fine the way it is. I live outside of the outskirts so I am used to this."

The Iquarks now had their jaws open. Finally, Toushobark shook his head.

"As I said this is one of our main enemies. This is Sardina as you know and no you're not taking any of these apples. We need them for a completely different reason."

I took up a battle stance.

"I do not care. There are plenty of apples and I am not taking them all! If you want to be so selfish then come at me."

One of the rookies was about to say something when Keatori put his arm out, stopping him. He was a lighter shade of green than Keatori. The other two were brown. I also decided to start addressing Toushobark Keatori since that is how I normally address him.

"Then I guess we shall fight Sardina. So early too. We just got noodles together about a week ago."

"Time sure does fly. It is better to live in the moment but always have a mind on the future. Enjoy the little things Keatori. I sure know that we are going to be enjoying those apples though!"

I felt energy coming into my right hand and I squeezed it and muttered the word "Refarrdeen." A moment later a white hilt dark grey katana appeared in my right hand. A blue fire started igniting on the blade and I let out a grin.

"As you can see we are taking this somewhat seriously. Bring it on Keatori!"

I felt Sardenia give me a glare.

"Way to ruin the moment Sardina."

"Keatori?" One of the Iquarks whispered to Keatori.

"Forget about it. Pay it no mind."

Keatori went into a battle position.

"Well alright, then Sardina. Let us fight!"

I cocked my head and closed my eyes, excitement I can't explain brimming within me.

"Neee!"

....

I was a bit puzzled. Some of my sisters and brothers have some defense, Shard and Geravia are both well protected when it comes to anything with the mind, albeit Shard better than Geravia, but this one put up advanced walls. On top of that, I felt something else reaching out for my mind as well. I could have tried to still force my way inside her mind and fend off the presence but then I won't be able to use much energy to escape here. I'd rather escape here than investigate another sister right now. Besides, if I escape and once I make sure my Master is okay, I can always go back here and check.

....

Found the target. Should I go through with it? Why? They don't need to know. It's not like I will ever tell them...and I can always block them from watching. But still, I keep to my promises and vows and oaths and all that good stuff. I need to make myself quite known to her if I am going through with this.. If I want to be hated then I will wait.

A golden glint of light and darkness. The golden one. I guess I'll get stained again. No one ever said I was pure, to begin with. I don't care if I am hated, this is what I will do. Besides, it is better if I am hated is it not?

....

I carefully crept a feeler towards one of the rookies. Keatori knew when and how to feel my feelers. The rookies on the other hand were clueless. But if I want Keatori to not save them then I will also have to attack him as well. I stood up and aimed my katana at him. A spark of blue fire shot out of the tip of the blade, turning into a beam of blue and searing white energy. Keatori quickly darted out of the way while the rookies stood there agape. Perfecto. You should know not to bring rookies to fight the Iquarks long-time frenemy.

I grinned even wider and that was when Keatori knew of my intentions. He lunged at me, his halbert slash spear weapon pointing right at me. I was too quick though. My feelers grabbed the rookie to the left, the one who was light green, and lifted him into the air before slamming him into the ground three times and then tossing him away all in a second. I then used my feelers to push Keatori's weapon away from me. He saw this coming and changed his posture to shoulder bash me instead. Sardenia was there though, and she used her feelers to grab Keatori by his head and slam him into an empty bin. The first move was done and the rookies were now standing there, completely shocked. Keatori is one of the best fighters and one of the few people fast enough to hit me when I start trying, but despite that, I was still faster. My mind was racing at possible moves and how long I can keep this up before I get too giddy and stay still.

My biggest flaw in fighting is that if I fight for too long I get too giddy and stay still and giggle my heart out. After that, I am calm and collected but during that time I can get hit hard! I learned my lessons from training.

You taught mostly yourself. Yes, I do mean by me but you also learned tactics yourself. They just taught you some things li-Rookie!

Huh? Rookie? Oh shoo-

I spun around but I was too slow. The rookies all had spears, to begin with so it was a spear that sliced open my left thigh. I let out a hiss before using my feelers to lift myself high in the air. Another rookie took this opportunity and lunged at me. I spun around and put a feeler to her neck. Instead of cutting, I made the feeler grab her and toss her away. I don't try to kill. Despite being one of the Iquark's main enemies I have only killed four in my entire life. Three of them were accidents and the fourth I had no recollection of since it happened when I was a child. At least that is what Keatori says.

Keatori took this chance though and leaped up and swiftly grabbed my right ankle before Sardenia's feelers could grab him. He whirled in the air and tossed me to the ground...or that was what it looked like. I felt something sharp pierce my stomach and my vision flashes red.

Oh no.

I heard communications fly to life with their jingle and on the other side was a raspy voice, probably Kellie-chan. I am guessing my headset was damaged somehow. I couldn't make out what Kellie was saying at all.

I felt a strange tingle start to grow in my mind and then...why is everything cold? It's dark. It's cold. Why am I hurting? What happened? Am I dead? I feel pain. Hungry. Everything hurts. Sisters? Brothers? Who are they? Sardenia!? Please help me! Pain. Cold. So cold. Red. What is fear? Am I feeling fear? I don't feel afraid but I don't know what I feel.

Something told me to look up and I did. A shape was flying over me. It was Keatori, diving towards me, about to stomp me further into the pole.

....

No one has come into my cell and nothing has happened. I wondered if they were even watching me now. You don't just capture someone and then do nothing with them. What are they up to?

"Achem! Is this thing on? Hello?"

The voice was definitely that of a young girl. She had a rather bossy but child-like voice.

"I am just gonna assume you can hear me. Hello, my name is Kellie. I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure, go on ahead. I might as well answer them since I have nothing else to do."

Kellie let out a chuckle.

"Sorry about that. I am still suffering from your sister Isheva's coffee fetish."

I let out a gag.

"I heard that Isheva is only really interested in Am coffee. Who could love that stuff?"

"You're talking to the only other person who loves that stuff, Shena. I was the one who got robbed from it when Isheva attacked the first supply ship thinking it had something else inside!"

"Oh...Sorry."

I always did wonder who was ordering that much of the Am coffee. I tried it once at Master Erogazi's house. It tasted disgusting. Then I saw just how much of that was in the ship Isheva took down when she promptly kidnapped me and showed me what was now her favorite drink. There was enough to feed more than just one army. Kellie alone must be keeping that coffee going.

"I also have been dealing with Sardina who just so happened to be trying to raid a fort for apples."

I felt a prickle of curiosity rose within me.

"Who is Sardina?"

"A girl I work with. She is quite the handful but she is alright in my books. You really don't know her?"

Did Kellie say she had raided a fort for apples? The sister I tried to read was going towards a fort.

"What does she look like?" I asked, wanting to see if my theory is correct.

"Hmmm. How about this. I'll ask you questions and you have to answer them honestly and in return, I will answer any questions about Sardina and Sardenia honestly since I know you want to find out about her too. Deal?"

I thought it over for a moment. It seemed fair.

"Sure."

"Alright. To answer your question from before, this is what Sardina looks like."

Lights blared to life and a hologram appeared right in front of me like a computer screen, showing what must be Sardina. She had two long blue twintails at the side of her head going downwards but besides that, her hair was relatively short. In her right hand was a white hilt katana with strange black markings on the hilt and the blade. The blade was a dark blue shade. It was jagged but at the same time, the blade looked smooth. The girl had perfect skin but by the people around her, I could tell she wasn't from the city. She was living in the hot and radiation-filled towns that the Iquarks rule. She did look very pretty. She had a smile on her face and her teeth were unnaturally white and sharp. Barely visible beside her was a blurry image of the girl with more red than white pupils and unlike the girl was wearing a black jacket. The girl herself had blue eyes and reddish-white pupils. It was redder near the bottom of her pupils and more white near the top of her pupil, with there being more white overall. The girl wore a strange grey and silver jacket with no hood. The sleeves didn't reach her wrists so there was a gap between the cuffs that were on the wrists and the jacket sleeve themselves. Sardina also had black boots on with golden spurs.

"She changed her footwear to sneakers with hidden spurs but she sometimes wears the boots."

The screen shrunk so it wasn't taking up the entire room. I wanted to ask more questions but a deal is a deal.

"Now, what is your relationship with your sisters and brothers?"

I thought long and hard about that.

"Me and Isheva argue a lot but we always make up. Shard despises me for living with Master Erogazi. The others think it is bad too but Shard treats me like a whole other person. I am on good terms with Shiro and I even convinced him to stop attacking cities and towns. Ricko I haven't seen for a while and so has Shiro so I have no idea how he has been. Skri has been gone forever and while she still attacks, I noticed she barely attacks humanoids. It was her that convinced the others that Master Erogazi isn't tricking me. I think she has a human she is close to like me but she is so secretive."

I let out a small smile remembering all the times I hung out with Skri. She was the only other person who I knew could get drunk and be fun to hang out with as easily as me. She most definitely is the odd one out of the family but she is probably one of the most sympathetic and understanding people I know.

"Geravia still is shy but she has no problem with me and my master. In fact, she supports it. It's a shame she is too afraid to ever go out in public."

It came to me that not many people know that Geravia exists. I wonder if Kellie knows about her.

I wondered what question I should ask now. Should I be straightforward? Should I try and get my answer by asking other questions? No, I think I'll be direct.

"Is Sardina my sister?"

Kellie let out an amused chuckle.

"How'd ya guess that? Well yes, Sardina is your sister but unlike any of your siblings, Sardina has no idea that she is a Creature. She also doesn't have a monster or creature form. She is just human by the looks of it."

I looked at my sister that I never knew I had. Sardina. She looks pretty nice. She is a creature but one without a creature or monster form too. How odd. How come I never heard of her before?

"Well, my next question is where did you come from. Where was your point of origin?"

"That would be the old abandoned apartment building. That is where Master Erogazi found me."

"That place huh? I used to go there when I was a kid. I thought they abolished that place."

I closed my eyes.

"They did demolish half the place but something killed them before they could. From the report I read and the research I did it was clear that no creature was responsible for the attack. Everyone looked like they had been slashed with a sharp weapon and half of the bodies had chunks of flesh missing from them. A third of the bodies were ripped apart. Unless a creature could do so much damage without accidentally blowing holes or chunks of building away the massacre wasn't caused by a creature."

"I heard of the attack but I never looked into the details. That is interesting."

A question ran through my head.

"Do you know what or who was responsible for the attack?"

"We have our suspicions but I'd said I would answer your questions about Sardina and nothing else."

And she pulled that card. I knew she would use it but I didn't think it would be for a question like this. I guess she really doesn't want to talk about it. Then again, whoever or whatever killed all those people might still be lurking there...and if it catches sight of Master Erogazi...

"Is it still lurking in the construction sight?" I asked, a desperate plea in my voice.

Kellie let out a sigh.

"I said questions about Sardina only."

"I still have more details about the attack. I can share all of it with you. Please I just need to know."

I knew it was a desperate shot. Kellie could always look up the attack by herself or there is a chance she knows all of the details but is lying about it. Kellie has the advantage here, not me.

"Alright," Kellie's voice shot through my defeated thoughts, "I'll give."

"Whatever it is, it is lurking around the area of the apartment building, but it hasn't done anything. We assume it knows perfectly well of you and your master's presence there but it just doesn't seem to care. It barely goes into the building itself, to be honest. It just walks around it."

I remembered seeing someone walk around the building a couple of times but that was normal. Couples and sometimes just groups of kids walk around the apartment building all the time. Maybe it is on the destroyed part. That part and the part next to it, a small area in the apartment building where most of the killings occurred, was the creepiest place I have ever seen. I dared not go into it.

"Now spit out what ya know."

"I did some research of the crew involved that day. It was full. The thing could have attacked anytime but it waited when everyone in the demolition crew was there. That means it is smart and knows how people work. The last thing is that many of the workers' bodies were never found but there is proof that they were killed by blood splatters. Out of the three that survived, one of them said beware of the black puddles. While just a theory, I think the workers were dragged into black puddles as a lot of the missing people's blood showed them sinking into something."

The moment I was done speaking I thought I heard a slight scribbling sound of someone writing something down but the very next moment it stopped.

"Alright. Now we are almost done and the chains will be removed. There also is a strong possibility that you will be set free. Now Shena, what ma-"

The ground suddenly started shaking and the sound of something exploding covered Kellie's question. Then a loud angry roar filled the air. It was a roar I knew all to well. A roar belonging to a silver and red wyvern hybrid. It belonged to a creature. It was my brother, Shiro.

....

The next thing I knew I felt nothing. No foot slamming into me. Then I felt a trickle of a liquid. Fear and panic shot through me, right through my cold senses. I looked up, expecting to see Keatori's bloody remains. Instead, he was impaled on the same pole I was. Instant relief filled me and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Keatori! D-don't you e-ever s-sc-scare me l-ike that again!"

Keatori muttered a pained apology and then pulled himself out of the pole. He then grabbed me and pulled me out too. Both were impressive feats since the pole was taller than both of us.

"To be honest, I should have seen that coming. Sardenia grabbing me and making me lose my balance and impale myself. Nice one Sardenia."

Silence. Then anger bubbled.

"I NEARLY KILLED YOU YA NICKLEPOO!"

That was what I was afraid of. Sardenia could have seen that I was about to have a panic attack and since she made a vow with Kellie to stop me from having one at all costs, she could have killed Keatori. I'm glad she didn't though. It was also that worrying which saved me from having one.

"Well, since you're healed, I am going to go take a break. You win Sardina unless the rookies want to give you a try."

Our attention went to the rookies who were standing with their mouths agape. It took half a minute to realize what Keatori just suggested and they quickly shook their heads and put their hands out in front of them.

Keatori chuckled. He then walked over to me and patted me on the shoulder.

"Well, until next time kid. Make sure you don't take all the apples. We need some to track down the pack of Visguarks that attacked us recently."

And just like that Keatori and the rookies left. After staring at the empty space where they used to be I jumped into the air, one hand in a fist above my head.

"NEEE!"

"NEEE!"

I landed and hugged Sardenia.

"WE DID IT! YAY!"

"Yay! NOW GET BOTH OF YOUR ASSES BACK TO THE HOUSE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! ARGH! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! I NEED TO TALK WITH SHENA! ACK! YOU BETTER GO TO THE HOUSE SARDINA OR I WILL TAKE AWAY THOSE APPLES!"

The headset made a beeping noise, signifying that it was now once again one-sided. The headset had microbots or nanobots that fix it when it gets broken.

"I can't believe she would do something so mean! I worked hard for these apples!"

"We both did. Anyway, she still doesn't have her coffee by the sounds of it."

I let out a cold small.

"Yep. Hopefully, she doesn't have it tomorrow. Soon Kellie will be mine! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I stopped fake laughing and let out my embarrassing laugh.

"Neehee!"

I quickly covered my mouth and looked around.

"That's still adorable."

My eyes focused on Keatori standing in the open gateway, a bandage over his gut wound, and a sly smile on his face.

"Oh shit."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

....

I was given permission by Kellie to go and talk my brother down. It took some minor persuading to do so but I knew that I could not only calm my brother down but make him an okay creature in the eyes of the government and Kellie.

I was now nervously waiting for the garage-like door to open up to let me in the hangar where Shiro was waiting. I imagined him standing there, waiting for me. He risked his life to save me. The others would have hesitated but Shiro wouldn't have. He'd come to save me.

The door finally opened all the way and standing there at the end of the hangar over a destroyed jet was Shiro in his wyvern form. His silver scales and red pattern on his back and his tan scaled underbelly sparkled in the sunlight that was pouring in through windows and the open hangar doors. His soft but hard brown and red eyes looked at me and instant relief washed over them. His yellowish spines twitched on his back and with a happy whine he made his way towards me. I did likewise.

Midway he turned into his human form, a handsome teenager around my age in looks, which is seventeen, with dark grey hair and gentle light brown eyes. He wore a grey short sleeves shirt and navy blue sweatpants like he normally does. His shoes were black and grey sneakers.

Unlike everyone else, it was easy to tell what race Shiro was. He was clearly Japanese. Skri used to say she was turning Japanese the more she'd hang out with him but now that I think of it I think she was referencing his favorite song and teasing him on it.

"Shena! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

I shook my head.

"I'm perfectly fine. They di-"

"Good! Now I can destroy these fools for daring to capture you!"

I took a step back and looked into the eyes of Shiro. They were angry.

"What!? No. They didn't hurt me at all! As far as I know, they had no intentions of hurting me."

Shiro gave me a confused look.

"But they captured you. That is reason enough to destroy them."

I shook my head.

"They did that because they wanted to make sure I wasn't a threat. They knew where I was for a while now and they haven't done anything. I may not know for sure, but from what I can understand they don't think I am in any way a threat to them or anyone."

Shiro cocked his head at me and then examined me from top to bottom.

"You know we can be friends one day Shiro. You didn't even kill a single person here."

Behind Shiro was a small battalion of guards. They were knocked out and tied up rather than killed. Shiro did listen to what I said before. The thought filled me with excitement.

A flicker of movement caught my attention. A girl was standing behind Shiro and behind her were a bunch of C.W.G.U. The soldiers didn't have their guns aimed at us but were lowered. I had a feeling that the girl who was obviously the one in charge was Kellie. She gave me a determined smile and a thumbs up. I couldn't help but let out a small smile at her. I wanted to say thank you so bad. I knew if she wanted to or didn't trust us she could have us all captured again. The fact that the soldiers weren't nervous also meant that they trusted us, or at least Kellie but they didn't seem nervous so they probably trusted us as well as Kellie.

"Brother, I want you to become friends with these people. They aren't bad, I swear."

Shiro closed his eyes. He doesn't know of Kellie and the soldiers that were behind him but right now that was for the best. He might flip out if he knew. Kellie was letting me handle this and once again I desperately wanted to thank her.

"Shena, we are creatures. We are feared and hated. You're saying the people responsible for hurting us they most want to be friends?"

I shook my head.

"They want to be friends with every creature. They think we can change. At least, that is what I am getting from them. Please, Shiro, give it a chance."

Shiro let out a sigh and then opened his eyes and studied mine for a small eternity. Finally, he smiled.

"Alright, Shena. I'll give them a chance."

I smiled. Kellie cleared her throat and took a step forward, her eyes closed and her mouth open to say something when Shiro's head blew right up. Blood splattered on me and Shiro fell to his knees. A golden shotgun went to his back and blew that right up, leaving only his legs.

"Well, thanks for making it easy Shena."