Floating Petals

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

                        Torao pounded on the door to his room but it wouldn’t budge. Damnit; I need to get to Hanami... Now! He pounded once more and then fell on his bed in frustration. Wow, lock me in my room, tell me tomorrow I will be monitored and that I have to kill Hanami to be a hunter again and let my friends live. So professional, guys. Torao sighed, leaning his head against him window. He heard a knock on the door a second later.

                        Fuck. “Who is it?” Torao said in a girly, high-pitched voice. He grabbed the piping along the wall and yanked, hard. A lone pipe came loose and let steam escape into the air, filling the room.

                        “We know you’re in there, Torao! Open up!”

                        “Open up to my ass, bitches!” Torao swung the pipe at the window and it shattered, leaving glass shards on the ground. The hunters kicked down the door and made eye contact with Torao. He saluted them and tipped himself out of the window. His breathes increased in speed as he sped towards the ground but he kept his composure.

                        “Greutate este prietenul meu. Asa ca prieten, va rog sa-mi dati aripi pentru a salva o alta.” (Gravity is my friend. So friend, please give me the wings to save another.) Torao stopped falling. He was just stuck, in mid-air. He opened his eyes and peered around, glancing up at the hunters looking through his window in complete amazement. He saluted them once again and started to walk along the building towards Wykina. He heard the shouts of hunters and he picked up his pace, jumping over the gaps in buildings. He reached the Wall and concentrated. “Unul mai favorabile; vă rugăm să parte acest perete.” (One more favor; please part this wall.) The Wall grumbled and started to part in front of Torao. He smirked and casually switched from the building window to mid-air. Then he strolled through the open space between the Wall, into the dark shadows of Wykina. He touched his neck where a tattoo of Asri’s crest, the Goddess of Balance, was. He was flung towards the ground. He hit the ground with his knees and rolled over to break his landing. When he got up, his knees still stung but he started to dash anyways. He had to find Hanami before the hunters found him.

                        Hanami was sitting in the tent, bored. She paced back and forth, she twirled some more roses, and she even did some stretching but stopped immediately realizing she was already really flexible.

                        “I wonder what they’re doing to him. Brain dissection? Organ tearing? I hope they go easy on him.” Hanami sighed and laid back against the frame of the bed. She closed her eyes and tried not to imagine Torao screaming in pain or even worse, screaming her name. But as soon as she thought that she heard a voice in the distance.

                        “HANAMI!” Go figure. Hanami grabbed her throwing knives, stepping out of the tent, armed and ready. But she saw Torao leaping towards her, tackling her to the ground. She dropped her knives as her spine hit the ground. Torao hugged her tightly and she awkwardly, patted his back. He pushed himself up from Hanami’s torso and gripped her face. “We need to leave. Like now.” She nodded and they both got up, bumping heads. They chuckled for a second but went back to  being serious when Torao gestured for them to move forward. Hanami pointed to the canopy and he smiled. They both dashed at the lowest branches, swung themselves up and were flying through the air in seconds. Torao poked Hanami’s shoulder and she glanced at him. His eyes were glowing and his hand was on his neck, covering something that was also glowing. Hanami flipped and tried to push herself away from Torao but he grabbed her shirt. As soon as he did, they stopped flying but were once again stuck in mid-air.