After that, Kira no longer had the heart to chat. She hummed under her breath, staring out the window. Every once in a while, she sang a few bars. Jin had always liked the sound of her voice. She could only hope it was strong enough to reach him where he slumbered.
Gradually, though, she sang less and less, staring out the window at the forest beyond as she got lost in her thoughts.
Her forehead furrowed at the clinking sound coming from the bed. Like that of gears turning.
Kira looked over to find the bird’s wings fluttering.
"Jin?"
The boy's eyelids moved.
Kira rose from her seat to lean over him. "Come on, Jin. Open your eyes. Just a little more."
Golden irises, bewildered and vague looking, focused on hers. "Don't be silly. I don't have eyes."
Kira’s laugh was almost a sob. "You do now, stupid."
A constipated look took over his face.
"What are you doing?" Kira asked with a little confusion.
"Why can't I move?"
Oh.
He didn’t know.
Kira reached for his hand, squeezing it in hers before lifting it so he could see. "That’s because you’re not the J1N anymore."
There was a hint of excitement on Jin’s face as he stared at his hand. "I’m a biological."
Kira nodded. "Yeah."
"Wait a minute."
He opened and shut his hand before comparing its size to Kira’s. "Why are my fingers so small next to yours?"
He took in their other differences. Most notably how much tinier all of him was.
He reached up to fee
One
Elena – Tsavitee Planet
Cold was the first thing Elena noticed upon being spat out of the vortex of chaos and madness she'd been swept into. That and fear. A deep seated terror she'd felt rarely in her short life. The last time being the day Uncle Jin found her cowering in the corner of a dank, dingy room. Covered in grime and other things as she struggled not to faint from malnutrition and hunger.
This situation felt like that one. The looming sense of impending doom. The bleak understanding that she'd wandered into a situation far outside the control of her young body.
Elena swallowed the whimper that tried to rise, forcing it down with the rest of her emotions. She ignored the voice at the back of her mind that whispered of the atrocities the Tsavitee had committed. The things they'd done to the forty three. Her mother. Aunt Kira and Uncle Jin. Even the other children Aunt Kira occasionally brought to Aunt Selene.
Elena shook her head, determinedly dismissing those thoughts. She couldn't allow them to influence her. Aunt Kira had given her a mission. The first one that really mattered. Survive at all costs.
She would. She had to.
But first she needed information and a plan. Cowering in a corner wouldn't save her this time. As Aunt Kira would say—all it would buy her was a death on her knees.
Of course, she'd never say that in front of Elena. She'd wait until she thought Elena wasn't listening and say it later. But only to Uncle Jin. And only to complain about someone she considered an idiot. Someone who might have survived if they'd only shown a little backbone. A hint of tenacity in this frightful universe. A place where you sometimes had to do crazy things and take impossible chances to make it through another day.
