//: "The Journey to the Unknown" ://

The Discovery

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My eyes open. It felt as if it was pretty early in the morning, so I lifted myself up and glanced around. Then, I realized that Ecksee was gone. I cock an eyebrow in confusion and stood up.

"Where in the actual fuck is she?" I mutter, clenching my paws. My body tenses at the thought.

The sound of Juno yawning catches my attention, and I turn around and crouch down to place my paw on her shoulder.

"Morning, Iris," Juno takes my paw with hers, gaze narrowing at me. "Wait," she pauses, letting go of my paw and sitting up. "Where's Ecksee?" The KawaiiShork frowns as she frantically looks around.

I shake my head with an annoyed sigh, ears drooping.

"If I knew, I'd tell you, sis." My expression morphs from annoyance to worry.

Me and her both exchange worried glances at each other.

Then, my ear twitched. All I needed to hear was the sound of footsteps near the entrance of the garden to know that we were in danger. I freeze instinctively, alerted.

My head turns towards the noise, and there I see it. Hey, wait, isn't that the same human from earlier? I stopped to think. It began to slowly approach me and my sister, its hazel eyes staring blankly.

I have to protect Juno, I thought. My tail swayed from side to side as I pulled my katana from its sheathe, standing in front of her protectively.

"Ah, what a surprise," it began, "the daughters of Cordelia," the human scoffed before continuing its little monolog.

"I suppose a formal addressing would be advised, so I am Vortex. This, unfortunately, is where your stories end for you two." He pulls out a dart gun and aims at my head precisely, finger over the trigger.

I begin to panic, but I manage to stay still. Juno then scrambles to hide behind me, clinging onto my leg with extreme worry written all over her.

"It's okay," I whisper. "I can -"

"Looks like you missed one," a familiar voice interrupted teasingly. Their voice was laced with ice-cold bitterness.

Suddenly, Ecksee bursts through the door and leaps onto Vortex, claws unsheathed as she tackles him. She snatches the dart gun intuitively, but it seems he already had quite a grip on that thing. Vortex snatched it back and fired said gun, resulting in a tranquilizer dart penetrating the LemonShork's arm.

"ECKSEE!" I cry with sorrow and anger. The sight of my older sister falling onto the ground must've triggered something inside me.

I feel an adrenaline rush, letting out a cold growl. I mercilessly slam the human straight into the wall with my telekinetic ability. However, it was already too late. Vortex had already fired his second shot, and it hit me in the neck.

I began to feel exhausted and fall backward. "Juno- I'm going to need you to run. Run away for me while you still can." I beg, feeling my vision slowly blur.

"Iris, no, I can't leave you and Ecksee alone!" She shakes her head, unsheathing her katana and glaring at the unconscious assassin.

"JUST GO, DAMMIT!" I shriek, losing my voice. My throat is starting to hurt. "JUST FUCKING GO!  WHAT MATTERS IS YOU ARE SAFE."

Juno tries to argue. "But-"

"I SAID GO!" I interrupt, screaming louder than I ever have in my entire life.

I'm watching in sorrow as she quickly scrambles towards the grass area, grasping that katana tightly with tears in her eyes. Vortex was stunned from being slammed into the wall, so she had time. To escape.

Soon enough, I start to fall into unconsciousness, feeling my own body hit the ground with a loud thud.

As everything became dark, one subconscious thought slipped through. Please be safe.

I close my eyes, fearfully awaiting what will happen next.