dreamscape

O

Filed under: — shootingstar @ 1756

The cool summer breeze flew through the field. Refreshing and subtle, it was but still strong enough to wave through the newly-cut grass. The irregular sound of a wind chime could be heard in the distance. Ocean closed her eyes for a short moment to enjoy the coolness and cleared her mind of what she was doing. She quickly focused again on the field and scanned for movement. Without a spotter, sniping is a difficult task to perform. It was not a large area to cover, yet any missed movement would be hard to chase and might change the outcome of the event.

The small room above the tree provided plenty of room to move around but not enough to stand up at full height. However, Ocean preferred to kneel, to stay still at the edge of the room so she missed nothing. She scanned the field again from building to building with her scope and then again with her naked eye and then shifted from a kneeling to a cross-legged position to ease the numbness in her legs. On her second scan, she caught a glimpse of shadow poking out from the building to her right. She scoped to confirm that it wasn’t an illusion from being cooped up too long in one area. She let out a short laugh as she realized what she saw. Two make-shift piles of branches grouped to look like a bush ‘walked’ clumsily into the open.

“Not bad,” Ocean thought, “could have me fooled if they weren’t moving so fast.” She knelt again to get better balance as she aimed through her scope and steadied her breathing. Generally, there isn’t much time for any long, complex thought, detail-analysis or massive calculation. Those actions were supposed to be done already. Now, all that matted was the steadiness of the shooter… Just easy breathing; easy breathing and the final shot. Just as she was about to squeeze the trigger, a head popped out from the bushes and looked her way.

“Bad move.” Ocean thought, then eased and lifted her finger from her gun. It was a familiar face. Her ally.

“You think she saw us?” Star asked and turned to the other bush.

“Yea, otherwise your head might be gone by now,” replied the other bush. “And probably so did everyone else, so get down.”

Star ducked, stuck out her tongue and made a face. The leaves moved on the other bush and made a sigh and asked, “What’s next?”

“I don’t know” Star examined her surroundings

“How about we make a run for it?” the bush suggested.

“But…Our disguises…”

“Two talking bushes, c’mon!”

Star laughed.

A face finally emerged from the second bush. She adjusted her helmet, two sizes too large for her, to steady it, drew out her weapon from its holster and nodded to Star that she was ready. They were about to make their move when they saw two other girls ran out from the far side of the building they were at and into the open. It was Liff and Fea, other members of their team, heading towards their mission objective. Weapons fired from various places as the two girls ran in zig-zagged paths. Seeing that the girls had diverted all the fire onto themselves,, Star nodded to her partner and said, “let’s go, Jelly.” Onto the battlefield they ran, some distance away from Liff and Fea towards their goal: to bring the flag from the mound back to their base.

The mound, a.k.a The control point, as it was often called, stood tall in the middle of the field and was merely a simple lump, poorly protected by a few sandbags piled with a short flagpole stuck in the middle. Despite the lack of protection and possible vulnerability of the control point, there were various obstacles near it. Perhaps it was this that made the mission so difficult.

The four of them crossed the various obstacles and seemed to be doing well when Liff and Fea suddenly jerked and fell onto the ground both appeared to have been shot. Jelly and Star ran past the bodies — no time for sympathies -– and continued their path to the point with the hope that they wouldn’t suffer the same fate. They felt no doubt that red target marks were now painted on their backs. They were about to approach the last obstacle, Star tripped and tumbled, sliding some distance on the green grass. Jelly turned, steadied the helmet that wobbled on her head, and doubled back.

“Go! Pptpft…pft…pft…pft” Star yelled spitting out the grass in her mouth, and waved her arm forward.

In a loss of determination and hesitation, Jelly stood and panicked. Two shots flew past her helmet and flicked a few strands of hair; she yelped. Awakened from her daze she ran again towards the small mound, hoping the last member of her team would show up soon enough. The weapons continued to be discharged around her as she ran. Jelly’s pace fumbled near the end, but she managed to take a daring leap over the protection sandbag and slid down smoothly into the ditch and ducked her head. The bright summer sun dazzled her eyes. Jelly’s other senses came alive as she closed her eyes and took a breath of rest. ……

“That’s the mission half accomplished,” she thought.

She pushed herself up from the ground to grab the flag and peaked out to assess the situation. Shadowy figures emerged from their hidden places and closed on her position cautiously. A second body rolled past the sandbags behind Jelly, and crawled onto the mound. It startled her and she quickly pointed her weapon at the newcomer.

“It’s me” the newcomer said.

Jelly relaxed. “Thank goodness.”

Their last member was ordered to take a large detour further away from them to avoid detection. It worked. Jelly checked on her colleague’s body for injury and vitality. She then looked down at her legs and exclaimed, “Your legs…”

“I am fine,” Her friend adjusted her leg. “Just a loose bolt.” She smiled and said, “What do you say we get out of here?” They stood up from where they were, but already, the enemy had closed in and formed a half circle with their weapons aimed and ready to fire.

“Don’t move,” one of the enemy party said. She wore what appeared to be a commanding officer’s attire along with a beret hat. Loose strands of hair fell unevenly on her face, covering a small scar down her cheek.

“No chance, you have to shoot us all dead,” the new girl said with a smirk.

“Andromeda…” Jelly whispered.

“It’s the rules,” Andromeda replied looking back Jelly.

“It can be arranged!” the enemy commander said as she and all her team simultaneously raised their weapons.

*TONK*

A shot fired from behind the half-circled group and scored a direct hit on the back of the enemy officer’s beret hat. She turned and winced as she looked behind her. Star stood in the distance holding her gun as she grinned from ear to ear.

“RUN!” Andromeda yelled as she and Jelly broke through the enemy barrier carrying the flag and laughing and giggling as they were chased. The enemy pursued them as their commanding officer slouched near the sandbag, half smiling, half frustrated at her carelessness. She looked up into the clear blue sky, spread out her hands and legs in a star shape and signZed.

“What a day,” she thought to herself.

* * * * *

“SNACK TIME!!” a voice called from nearby.

The girls stopped their running and chasing to catch their breath. Together, they walked towards the summoning voice. Rest, water and nourishment. They were famished! With the dart-guns and water-guns laid about the green grassy floor, they forgot about their conflict and now joined and enjoyed a hearty meal in the large backyard of their houses – once the battlefield – under the cool summer breeze and bright blue sky.

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