Darling in the FranXX: Insurrection

Chapter 20- A Cry for Help

Hello again! Sorry for the delay but our dear editor has been without power for the past several days and was only recently able to go over the chapter. I apologize for the longer wait but I don't want to upload a product that isn't polished beforehand. That's all for me, enjoy!

The forest around their little town was truly a wonderful place.

The parasites of Squad 13 prior to now had never spent so much time in such an environment. Their former home of Mistilteinn may have been a forest, but it was always controlled down to the smallest of details by the adults. The forest by the beach was special in that regard because it was different. It had the freedom to simply grow, completely separate from anyone's whims about what was best for it.

The forest as a whole seemed to sway together in the afternoon breeze. Grass and leaves bent and folded over themselves in waves as the invisible gusts created a sort of ripple throughout the forest floor and canopy. A few birds give off small chirps as they fly between the trees before disappearing, their shadows flitting across the ground before being scattered by the sunlight.

Ichigo draws in a long breath before opening her eyes. She stands on a small rise, concealed behind a tree, above the slightly overgrown valley below her. The edges of her blue hair and emerald eyes just peek out over the edge of the trunk of the tree, and she gazes at the small river below at the forest's lowest point.

More accurately, she watches the large deer casually drinking from the water's edge. It has been more than an hour and not a single suitable deer was to be found. All of those that had appeared before this buck had been too small, and it was long past the point that she was sick of waiting.

Psyching herself up wasn't easy. Even after multiple false hopes for targets, she still felt the unease associated with what she was about to do. Giving her head a shake in an attempt to clear it, both because she might end up wimping out and because the deer might bolt away.

I'm sorry, she thinks to herself as she raises the bow in her left hand up to chest height. It was an unfamiliar weapon for her, as she hadn't had much time to train with it. It was a lighter bow, with a draw weight Hiro had previously guessed to be around 35 pounds, but it would do its job if as she could hold it long enough to line up the shot. It certainly gives her a little trouble as she brings it to full draw, struggling in the last few moments to bring the knuckle of her right hand by her mouth.

Now closer, Ichigo spies the unsuspecting deer and lines up her shot along the left side of her bow, where the arrow rested. Even with her inexperience, she was sure that the shot would hit from the distance of fifty or so feet away. And hopefully, she'd have the time to make another after grabbing an arrow from her back quiver if it didn't.

Still, she remains at full draw, hands trembling more with each passing second. Nothing has changed. But it won't stay that way for long.

Come on, Ichigo, it's just a deer... she tries to tell herself. A cute, fluffy, harmless deer. Ichigo sighs and slowly releases the tension in the bow. No matter what she thought, she couldn't bring herself to finally release the arrow. "Three times," she whispers to herself. "I got so close three times."

Then, out of the corner of her eye, a patch of shadow begins to move. A human silhouette rises, wraithlike in appearance, from the dark bush. With one fluid motion, the figure draws a bow, nocks an arrow, and fires faster than she can realize it's happening. The arrow races toward the deer and before it has time to react, pierces its side. The majestic beast takes several uncontrolled steps before falling to the ground beside the stream.

You release your breath, which you'd been holding unintentionally, before letting your bow drop and sliding it back over your shoulder. You spin around and shoot a smug smile in Ichigo's direction.