We just ran.

And ran.

And ran.

It didn't matter where.

We just needed to run.

We ran as fast and as far as our feet could take us, and that's when we were met with the wall. The wall of trees. The coral-dancer hybrid proposed,

"I feel like we should stick together.."

"B-but.."

I was still in shock. I had just witnessed a mass genocide of hybrids. I wanted to hug someone. I wanted to be back home with my mom and dad, comfortably laying down on my bed. I wanted to be comforted. Anything could happen right now at any moment. I felt like collapsing and sobbing my eyes out.

"Kiwi, come on! We don't have much time!"

"But- but what about everyone el-"

"KIWI!"

That caught my attention really quick. Mango never usually got angry. I guess it was the stress. I stared into her serious, stressed eyes, and she affirmed,

"We're by ourselves now. For real. Louis, Blaze, and who knows who else is dead. This means we need to get a hold of ourselves, and come up with a plan."

I just stood there, trying to calm myself down. Mango walked over and hugged me, her soft, axolotl tail wrapped around like a gentle, smooth snake. I finally felt the tears rolling down my dull-purple, fluffy face. I stroked my long, bat-like ears in an attempt to calm down, but I still felt like I could collapse at any given moment. Mango gently assured,

"Everything will be okay.. I promise.."

"I-I wouldn't promise anything.."

Silence.

"So, should we stay together? Or should we split?"

"Preferably st-stay together.."

"That sounds good to me."

The two of us then started to enter the dense, fern-filled, vegetative forest.
____________________

"You kill every hybrid you see.. or else-"

"I KNOW.. I know.."

"Good, good."

"Even... even the innocent?"

"Every. Last. One."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because your brother's life is on the line. Also, it's the Emperor's orders."

"Who is the Emperor.."

"Worse than Zaitorion.."

"..."

"Be subtle. Stand around if you have to, like the child you are, and lure them to you. I can see you becoming a great warrior in the future my little friend.."

"..ok.."
________________________________

"Wait, Kiwi!"

"What?"

"Don't go any further!"

"Not like we could go back either.. we've gone in about 20 feet or so and I can't even see the village through this vegetation.."

After hearing Kiwi's affirmation, I ran over to him. He was awkwardly standing in the middle of a clearing.. it was odd. My little brother, Coconut, even if I didn't like him much, needed to be protected. He needed to come with us. I stepped on a few leaves, which made him dart his head up. The seven-year-old hybrid's expression went from startled to terrified really quick. I'd assumed it was because I was in the shadow, and he couldn't see me. I whisper-shouted,

"Coconut!!"

He stared into my white eyes and shook his head, almost like he wanted me to stay where I was, and let him be. I weaved through the ferns, shrubs, and bushes, into the middle of the clearing to meet my little brother. His face was tear-streaked and unsure, almost like he was forced here. His gaze shifted to the pine and oak behind me, and his face became even more contorted with fear and distress. He couldn't look at me in the eyes like mom and dad had always told us and engraved into our heads, giving a sign that something was really off.

"Are you okay, Coco?"

No response. He moved his head slightly to the left, moving the artificial leaf on his head over his right eye. He took a shallow breath in, and reached under the leaf.

Out of it came a knife.

"Coconut-"

"I'm sorry, sis.."

I felt my heart skip a beat. In my mind, I was ready to run. Flight response, as Blaze called it. I needed to skip health period with my learning group because of.. well, personal reasons.

I wanted to run, I really wanted to, but I couldn't. I had fallen to the ground on my knees, the powdery dirt of the forest covering my shins and dusting my tail in a spluttery coat of grayish-brown. My peripheral vision had become blurry, so blurry in fact I knew I was crying. I didn't need to go to health to know I was about to die, and that my vision was from mostly from blood-loss. The blade was lodged into my chest, and I could already feel and see the color fading from my hands. The tips of my fingers were becoming grayish-pink, like a corpse's flesh.

I screamed in pain as the blade was jerked out of my chest and thrusted back into it, but this time in the gut. The brown, white-striped, gingerbread-man-looking hands that held the knife belonged to none other than my own half-brother, Coconut. He yanked it out of my chest once more, and I smelled the metallic-yet-orangey fumes of my blood from my chest. I let myself fall, catching myself with my hands almost like I were pretending to be a playful canine pup. My hand inevitably splashed into the puddle of blood below me, spraying dots and lines of the liquid onto my dull face. The blood felt warm and thin, just a bit thicker than water. It was a tropical orangey-pink, and the smell was weird since I am allergic to oranges. It didn't make sense. Neither did Coconut.

I looked back up, and I no longer saw, heard, or felt Coconut. I only saw the dark abyss of the forest, heard the whisper of the trees in the wind, and felt the dirt crushed in my hands. The last thing I saw was the dark slowly creeping up around me. The last thing I heard was the whispers of crowds of spirits in the afterlife. The last thing I felt was blood-soaked soil in my hands, my chest slamming into and impacting the ground, and my heart breaking and turning dark.
__________________________________

"I HATE YOU!!"

"It's good to get your rage out."

"YOU MADE ME KILL MY OWN SISTER!"

"Well, you agreed to the job."

"YEAH, SO WHERE IS MY BROTHER?!"

"..."

"Wh-where is he.."

"I remember being seven. Gullible, naive, selfish, always thinking everything is the best."

"What do you mean..?"

"Walk with me.."

"..ok.."

"..."

"..."

"Not so happy-go-lucky now, huh?"

"BUT- YOU PROMIS-"

"And you promised to kill every hybrid you see. How many have you killed?"

"..."

"I guess you'll have to pay the price."
______________________________________

"I never said it,

heh...

...

..but I hate you.."

:)