Masaki

Chapter I

Picture Source: George Diebold's “Black Sand Beach” is featured in the current Black + White exposition at Heather Gaudio Fine Art in New Canaan, Conn.

A new day spreads over the horizon, the sound of gun shots already echo along the hallow mountains of the Black Shore Island. “Load…Lock… Fire! ” Ayden, the master of arms, shouts in a commanding voice and the girls empty their magazines from their long rifles and bullets fly for a second and meet their targets with extreme precision, the pigs fall to the ground as the bullets meet their heads, and a few of their terrified squeals die off as bullets bring them down. 

Masaki feels her fingers frozen when she finishes her last target. The morning is cold and she has been up since 04:30 this morning, when Ayden sounded the trumpets and everyone woke up in unison with their sleepy eyes and their warm cotton pajamas.  But, now it was freezing to the bone and she is hungry, she wishes she could jump where the dead pigs are and eat one of them raw.  She imagines them roasting in the fire slow with honey and the special sauce that Margaret prepares.  Masaki is awaken from her fantasy when the trumpet sounds, and she puts back straight then another trumpet sound and she puts her rifle in front of her, then another and she lowers it to her left side then, she turns to her left as the rest of her class. The trumpet sounds again and she marches along until she hears the trumpet again and they all stop.  Then she turns to her left again, and with expressionless face looks straight and the breezes blows the black hair from her simple pony tail she managed make as she was exiting the cabin she shared with other thirty girls.

Ayden walks in front of them with his straight back and lean muscles that are covered by a the thin white shirt that adheres to his body from the sweat that runs through his body, even if is almost freezing.  His bald head reflects a few of the sun rays that are just showing on black sand. “I heard a few squeals, from the pigs and that was not what I wanted to hear.” He pauses for a moment in silence, and Masaki watches as Ayden eyes stare into emptiness, yet it feels to her like he is stripping them naked with his eyes looking for the one that messed up.  Masaki holds her breath as Ayden walks in front of her. “Miss Green,” Ayden says and a short girl steps forward with sweat running from her forehead.

“Yes, Sir.” She answers firmly and she is straight as an arrow with her rifle to her side.

“I believe my instructions were to shoot them in the head as they came out of the gates,” Ayden says.

Miss Green turns a little pale, and answers with weak voice, “Yes, Sir those were your instructions.”

“Then, why didn’t you follow them?” Ayden asks and looks at Miss Green from head to toe.

“Sir, I did kill them.” Miss Green says and then looks down when she realizes the mistake she has just made.

“Miss Bella, please bring me the video.” Ayden said and at once Ayden assistant stepped forward with the holographic paper video.  Ayden hits play and instant replays show as Miss Green shoots the pigs when they are well out of the gate and even outside her allowed space to shoot them.  Everyone stays still, and wait for the video to finish playing before them. “As you can see, you did kill them but not as instructed.” Ayden says and hands the paper to Miss Bella.

Miss Green changes colors from pale to bright red. Masaki even sees a tear rolling her cheek. “If it had been an enemy, you would have been dead.” Ayden says then closer to Miss Green face and shouts to her ear. “Do you understand Miss Green? Now, you will get in that pit cut the pig’s heads and their limbs one by one, and then clean the pit after they have taken them away.” 

“Yes, Sir” Miss Green answers and waits for further instructions.

“Alright, you are dismissed by the end of the day I hope you have learned how a pig head looks like. The rest of you go wash up and go to your duties. “Ayden says and then sounds his trumpet and says,” dismissed.”

Miss Bella comes to Miss Green and leads her away to the back to where the dead pigs are.

Masaki quickly washes her face with some warm water and feels her cold face and feels as it sends small burning sensations throughout her face.   At her eleven years she is starting to feel the effects of puberty on her face with small pimples under her chin and her small breast are just starting to grow.  She exits the bathroom and follows the line of girls that are making their way to the cafeteria.  At the distance she can see Kelly and Ellen are entering from the South Eastern door.  She smiles at them and they smile back. Kelly is a year older than her, and Ellen is the same age as Masaki but they all are in different classes.  

They met during a mission, when Ellen was surrounded by 3 bodyguards and then Kelly shot one of them with her sharp sniping skills and the big bodyguard fell to the ground then Masaki took the other from the back with double sharp pair of daggers and Ellen shot the last bodyguard with a headshot. After their mission their masters were so impressed with their success that they took them to have delicious Peperoni Pizza mixed with deep layers of cheese and pineapple, an odd combination but they were so hungry that it felt like they were eating godly pizza, slice after slice disappeared in their small mouths.

Kelly and Ellen hold each other hands and run towards Masaki that is already making her way to get her breakfast. Kelly kisses both Masaki’s cheeks and smiles with her bright white teeth and her sharp features of beautiful high class lady that matches her greenish large eyes and her blonde curly hair that falls on her shoulders. “Good morning, how was practice?” Masaki asks.

                Ellen moves her dirty brown hair from her face and shows them a cut on the side of her face. “I got it this morning; Red Steel is sharp even if when I blocked it.  Laura pushed on her weight into the sword and my hand began to shake trying to against the weight and then I stepped back and it got me when I lowered the sword a bit, it was painful but Miss Greger was there ready to heal me.” Ellen pauses, and smiles.

“Sounds like you got an exciting morning, Ellen.” Masaki says and moves forward the line to get her breakfast. Today, they are having bacon and healthy portion of raw vegetables and scrambled eggs.  Masaki today is looking forward her visit from her Master, she comes once a week when there are no missions and just to go over how she is progressing and to go over techniques to use during their missions.  Breakfast goes uneventful and she says farewell to her friends outside the cafeteria.

She walks faster than usual to her classroom that it is at the other side of the building. It is 8:07 am three minutes before classes begin. She walks to her desk and her chair automatically slides back and her desk comes to life, the holographic screen appears before her with all relevant information like her emails, missed calls, and her completed assignments along with her current grade percentage displayed in green letters ‘98%’ and a happy face next to it. 

The bell rings again, and again.  At 8:10 am sharp her professor appears with high heels and short skirt and her straight brown hair moves back and forth as she walks towards her desk with a black case on her right hand. Masaki thinks, the skirt is a little revealing this morning for a teacher, but nevertheless she likes Miss Tailor enough to make her smile. “Good morning, my dear students.” Miss Tailor says while she sits, and the students respond in unison, “Good morning, Miss Tailor.”

Miss Tailor’s desk comes alive when she passes her hand over her desk the big holographic screen appears behind her, where a whiteboard would be.   Her picture appears on the left side, and her short biography. “Miss Tailor: Professor of Language,   History, and Nonlethal combat.” And also a summary of her many titles and awards.  When Masaki first met Miss Tailor last year on her History class, she thought she was too pretty and young to have any deep knowledge of her favorite subject of history. But she was well prepared and spoke with enthusiasm and loves for the subject that Masaki spent most of her free time reading the history of the world on some dusty books on the main campus library, and having intense discussions with Miss Tailor over video conferences.  It might appear strange for a ten year old at that time to have that passion for history, but she was already taking advanced college classes that a normal human would be taking for their Master’s degree. But, that is something that will be explained later.

--To be Continued--