Slice through Fate.

Chapter 17. Man Hunt.

The cabin was nice. Nice and big and yet cozy.

Lumi set her bags down in the first bedroom, looking around. There was a wardrobe, a bed, a cabinet next to the bed and a sink. Medium sized, bigger than her room by far, and comfortable.

She unpacked quickly, placing things down where they went at home. She put her toothbrush on the sink and breathed out.

Done.

Her wardrobe was open after going in and out too much, her draws half open, he  bed already scruffy. It seemed very homely.

She walked down the hall, bumping into some of her friends. All eight of them had got to share this hut. No more, no less. Even Sally was here, as the event was unmissable. You had to go, no matter what.

Soon, everyone had unpacked, and the little group met downstairs for food. Seeing as the instructors provided the main meals, there wasn't enough in the cupboard.. But there definitely was luxury. With several plump fruits, a jar of Jove honey, several strange cylinders of fizzy drink (which Scout took instantly) and several other strange foods, they wouldn't go hungry between meals. They took the food outside, next to the lake.

Their house was perched at the edge of the waterside, unlike the others, partly due to it being smaller. But there were boats and such so they could sail when they wanted.

They were eating when Alen looked at Lumi. "Hey, it's your birthday! What did you get?" He asked. Lumi shrugged.

"I haven't opened them yet. She ate a fruit. "I'll do it in a second."

After a moment, she got up and returned with a arm full of gifts. She put them down carefully and opened the nearest one.

A hair and with a silky feeling flower fell pit of the small package. She touched it carefully, and it turned into a butterfly. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Thank you!" She said, smiling and pinning her hair up. She reached for the second.

A little, dead-looking bird fell out.

She shrieked and wiggled away from it, looking at its small, dull eyes and motionless wings. "What kind of a sick joke is this?" She demanded. Scout picked it up.

"It's not a real bird I don't think... My friend has one of these." He plucked a feather out of the side, and handed it to her. "Put it in your hair. And close your eyes." She did as he said.

After a second, she opened her eyes. But she wasn't in her body. She was smaller, lighter, flimsy. She raised her hands and found herself looking at small white wings.

Wings?!

She flapped them. Sure enough, they were wings. Her wings. She walked and hopped around, scared a little. A hand picked her up.

"Put me down!" She tried to say, but it came out a squeak. She was met with the huge face of Groose.

"Well. That's odd." He said, and threw her.

She cheeped loudly, and raised the wings, flapping as hard as she could. She rose quickly, and found the fear melting away, replaced by excitement. She dipped and dived around the trees, and rested in a tree, and closed her eyes again.

Again she opened her eyes, now in her human body. "That." She said. "Was so cool."

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After opening all the presents (her favourites were the bird and a golden harp), Lumi went back upstairs. It was Quen festival tonight, and everyone was getting ready.

She quickly pulled on her new clothes from her birthday, a black shirt with a sparkley light shimmering everywhere, like fireflies, a skirt and small flat shoes. She recognized them as dancing shoes.

She tied her hair back again, and put a new necklace around her neck. It was her sword, slicing against a darker sword. It reminded her of Tem.

She was already ready with three hours to spare, so she decided to do the thing with the bird again. She took flight, and glided quickly, practising. She flapped, rising higher, dived, swirled, dodged and mastered the art quickly. She hovered over the clearing where it would be held, watching as people set it up. Without thinking twice, she swooped in and stole a sausage. The people watched her fly away, raising a eyebrow.

This continued for a while until  the sun started to sink. She quickly rested in a tree and returned to human form, and rushed downstairs, outside and to the clearing. Some people were already there, a few on the stage. She noticed a panpipe player, a guitar player, a singer. But no harpest. She didn't regret bringing the harp.

Soon, everyone was here, talking, laughing and playing around. She found her group of friends quickly, and joined them. Ciela ans Beck hugged her tightly, smiling. The others smiled.

Finally, Tyler sighed. "This is boring! Can we play something?"

"Like what?" Beck demanded. Tyler shrugged.

"I dunno. Your the game maker." He snapped back. Then, two people merged as if out of no-where.

"Hey." One of them greeted. The other stayed silent. "Heard you were gonna play something. May I suggest something for you?"

Beck and Tyler stopped arguing. "What?" Asked Ciela. The figure smiled and stepped out of the shade.

She had long, brown hair, blue sparkling eyes, a smiling mouth and a white dress that sided to one side. She seemed around their ages.

The second person was hardly distinguishable. They had short brown hair, making it unclear if they were male of female, although they seemed more male. It had blue eyes as well, but seemed rather emotionless. He had no fancy stuff on, just some trousers and a shirt.

"I'm Impa, and this is Py. I have a game." Impa, the girl, said. "It's called Man Hunt."

"No, nothing violent." Groove objected. Impa shook her head.

"It's not violent. Let me explain. You have one person in the middle, who counts to thirty. They then try to find the others. Once they are found, the person has to catch them. But if the others survive five minutes without  being caught, they win. Get it?" The others nodded. "Cool. I'll be in the middle. Run." She advised, and started to count.

They all scattered.