Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Not Just an Ordinary Cook ❯ Forest Endeavors ( Chapter 4 )

Makoto jumped when she heard a sudden blast.

 

“What the-” she muttered as she was pulled out of sleep. She looked around temporarily forgetting where she was and quickly got up on her feet as she felt the ground shake beneath her.

 

“What's going on?” she questioned. It was night now and the moon showed dimly through the trees. She still couldn't find the source of the rumbling and the sounds but her attention was soon caught by a streak of what seemed to be gold threads.

 

“Please say I'm dreaming,” she mumbled as she broke into a sprint after the gold threads. As she kept running she heard voices coming from the grove behind her and halted. She hid behind a large oak and watched. There were some soldiers that came into the clearing and looked around. One in particular had come to a stop in front a kaki bag.

 

“Oh crap,” cursed Makoto.

 

“Someone else is here,” concluded the soldier. By then, Makoto was ready to break for it, but stopped when he started to empty the contents onto the floor. She cursed again remembering what she had put in there. She couldn't just leave without it!

 

“We've got her boss,” cried one of the soldiers as he came through holding a young blue-eyed girl with long threads of gold. Makoto's breath then caught as she was reminded of one of her close friends.

 

“Good,” said the boss. The soldier then threw the girl roughly to the ground and Makoto's fists clenched. The girl looked at the ground on all fours and slowly looked directly at the boss as he smirked.

 

“You will not get away with this,” she said confidently.

 

“No?” replied the boss mockingly. “Well I'd say that I already have. The Gundam Pilots are too occupied with their fight to even notice you've gone missing. They think I'm up there fighting against them. Now that I've got I want, I see no point in wasting time anymore.” He then turned around and snapped his fingers. “Pack it up boys, our job is done.”

 

The one that came in with the blond then jerked her up making her flinch and he tied her hands tightly together with a rope. Already her hands were white with the lack of blood circulation. Makoto grew anxious as she knew not what to do. These guys were armed and she had nothing. Sure, when she got close to them, she was pretty sure she could kick their guns out of their hands, but she wasn't close to them so she couldn't as well just run towards them. They would shoot her and then that would be the end of it. Frustrated she leaned her head against the tree but gulped when she heard a crack under her feet.

 

The soldiers froze as did the boss and turned around.

 

“Someone's here,” said the boss. He then pulled out his gun and Makoto held her breath. “You two!” he ordered, “Go look for the perpetrator! The rest of you, hurry up and get back to the base.”

 

Makoto heard the rustling of the leaves as the two that were sent after her inched through the forest.

 

`What am I gonna do?!?' she screamed in her head. Suddenly she looked up at the tree. `It's better than nothing,' she concluded.

 

“Turn on the flashlight,” commanded one of the soldiers and soon the light was on. “You see anything?” he whispered.

 

“No,” replied the other one. There was then a sudden rustle in the leaves and the other soldier shot up. A squirrel landed between the two and Makoto cringed. These guys were no amateurs.

 

“He must be in the trees.” with that said they started shooting relentlessly at any noise they heard in the leaves. There was a thud that was too loud to be a squirrel so they stopped and slowly crept up to the figure. One of them stayed distant and watched as the other one went up to the fallen object. The one who stood some distance away held the flashlight on the figure in front of his comrade and cursed as the flashlight went out. The other one turned around cautiously aiming his gun at the spot where his partner stood and let his arm drop as the flashlight came back on.

 

“Everything alright?” asked the soldier who had dropped his arm. The other one, however, did not answer. The soldier then turned around to see what his partner was and quickly lifted his gun again as he noticed the body wasn't there. The other one gripped his gun tightly as he too looked cautiously around.

 

“He can't have gotten that far,” said one of them. The other one nodded and turned to face a falling log…

 

“You there! Ready the engine and strap down the girl!” yelled the boss.

 

“Yes sir!”

 

Makoto squatted next to the second soldier and picked up his gun. She turned it a few times in her hands and gulped nervously as she put her fingers around it with her index finger lightly touching the trigger. She had never held a real gun before and what it felt to shoot it was probably much different than a laser from laser tag. Again she contemplated leaving it there and taking her chances but realized how stupid that would be since everyone else would have a gun and then she'd just become aiming practice. With a sigh, she heaved herself up and cautiously went towards the grove where her bag laid right smack dab in the middle of it.

 

`Alright, run across, grab the stuff, put it in the bag and go,' she thought as she held the gun firmly between her two hands. `Who am I kidding? I can't try to hold a gun and pick up all the stuff on the floor at the same time. Knowing my luck, I'll probably end up accidentally shooting myself.' For a while she stood leaning against the tree wondering what she should do.

 

The blue-eyed blond watched as the enemy soldiers loaded the ship with valuables and weapons. No one was paying attention to her as she slowly cut through the bindings that held her. Now, it was all a matter of finding a way out.

 

“Let's not get careless with the arsenals,” yelled one man. “Are you trying to blow us all to smithereens?”

 

She watched attentively and finally got her route.

 

Makoto bent over her bag and her possessions. She lifted the envelope and gently placed it in her bag and left everything else to lie on the floor. She threw the strap of the bag over her head to rest on her shoulder and pulled out the gun. She then looked to the sky.

 

“It's a full moon,” she whispered.

 

“Isn't it beautiful?” asked Usagi as she sat next to her tall friend.

 

“Yeah,” said Makoto.

 

Usagi smiled and placed her hand on Makoto's. “Did you know that on the night of the full moon, every royal court member that serves the Queen of the Moon is guaranteed protection from all enemies?”

 

“You're pulling my leg,” said Makoto.

 

“No it's true!” persisted Usagi. “On a full moon, every loyal guardian of the Moon is protected by the power of the heart of the moon. Pluto told me so herself. She says that's when the silver imperium crystal and its guardians are the strongest! That's why no enemy attacks on a full moon!”

 

“Well, if Pluto says it's so then I guess it must be true,” smiled Makoto.

 

“Yeah, just think of it. No one's ever attacked on a full moon. I guess if they did, then they probably wanted to lose!”

 

“Get her!!!” yelled a voice from some ways away. Makoto was then pulled out of her memories and pulled her gun up. She ran back into the woods towards the voices and felt her heartbeat quicken. What was she doing? Shouldn't she be running the other way? She pushed every logical thought to the back of her head and forced herself to do something that she'd probably regret later.

 

The young blond ran as hard as she could through the trees. She could barely see where she was going and hoped that somehow she'd run into an ally that could help her.

 

“Get her!!!” she heard as she kept running. Her hair was now in a mess as her bow was lost in the forest. Her feet were aching madly at the rough contact with the ground but she pushed through the pain and continued to run. She cut through a small puddle and slipped momentarily but hastily got back up but stopped.

 

The soldier in front of her was breathing heavy as he held his gun trained at her.

 

“You should've stayed put,” he said and she paled as time seemed to slow. The others had caught up now and stood watching as he cocked his gun and pulled the trigger. She closed her eyes and suddenly felt something collide with her side as she was forced to the ground. She landed somewhat harshly on the ground and opened her eyes when she heard more bullets sound off.

 

`Heero?' she thought as she felt something, or rather, someone lift her gently from the ground. She ran in the direction that she was pressed towards and sank behind a tree as the other person shot into the dark.

 

“Come on let's go!” demanded the other person and at last the blond knew this wasn't Heero at all.

 

“Who are you?” she asked.

 

“No time to talk, gotta move,” said the other person as they turned around and shot again. Despite the curiosity, the blond complied with the demand and ran. She then felt the other person stop her and they stood hidden behind another tree.

 

“Can you climb?” asked the other person. The blond shook her head breathlessly up and down. “Good, I'll help you up there and I want you to stay there until I come back for you,” whispered the guy.

 

“Okay,” replied the girl.

 

“Ready?”

 

“Uh-huh,” said the blond. Makoto then helped the blond get into the tree and made sure that she was securely placed in a dark part of the branches.

 

“Don't make a sound,” commanded Makoto and she walked carefully around the tree to see if there were anymore soldiers following them. She had managed to hit some of them but she wasn't quite sure how many were left after that. The adrenaline in her body had just kicked in the moment she saw the blond frozen in front of the soldier that was about to shoot her. She couldn't help but feel a little responsible for the girl's safety so she leapt and pushed her to the ground and started running.

 

`Alright Usagi, let's see if your court really is protected under a full moon,' thought Makoto with a smirk. She walked slowly through the forest with her gun drawn and tried her best to listen out for any clues that someone was out there.

 

The blond sat tensely in the branches as she saw a soldier walk beneath the tree. Her eyes widened as he looked tentatively at his surroundings. She turned slightly making the leaves rustle and the soldier tensed and put his back against the tree. Fretfully, she sat there hoping that she was not visible and constantly kept wishing that the one helping her was okay.

 

Makoto heard the tree leaves rustle around the area that she had left the blond and tensed. She squatted behind a bush and looked for a way that she could get around unseen to the blond. Once again, Makoto turned on her climbing gears and jumped onto the nearest tree. She almost felt like Tarzan leaping onto the trees next to her and froze as she saw the soldier at the base of the tree where the blond was.

 

The soldier stuck his head out a little to look behind the tree and quickly brought it back. He then stepped out from behind it and crept through the woods.

 

“Looking for something?” said Makoto and he turned around swiftly to be met with a balled fist. He stumbled backwards and pulled out his gun and shot. Makoto cringed at the sudden pain and gripped her shoulder. The soldier then pulled the trigger again to find his gun empty. Makoto grinned and did a sweep kick making him fall to the ground. He hastily got back onto his feet and threw a punch at Makoto. She blocked it with her left arm and brought a balled fist hard into his gut. He keeled over in pain and landed flat on his face.

 

Makoto pulled her right hand back to her left shoulder and held the gun in her free hand. `I guess full protection doesn't exactly mean I'll be injure free,' she thought with a scoff.

 

“Hey,” she whispered coarsely. “It's safe to come down now.”

 

After a few minutes of rustling, the blond then came down from the tree and followed Makoto.

 

“Are you alright?” she asked. Makoto nodded and just led her to the outside of the forest. There were no apparent soldiers following them so their jog after that was pretty much uninterrupted. Every now and then they would stop just in case and then they'd be back on their way.

 

When they reached the outskirts of the forest, Makoto suddenly collapsed.

 

“Are you alright?” asked the girl again.

 

“I'm fine,” replied Makoto stubbornly trying to lift herself from the ground. She then heard footsteps coming closer and she tried to pull up her gun but it was shot from her hands.

 

“No!” cried the girl. Soldiers suddenly came to view and encircled Makoto who was on her knees. They all had their guns out and aimed them at her.

 

“Ms. Relena Peacecraft, you're safe now.” said a girl as he rushed to the blonde's side.

 

`Relena?' thought Makoto. `Hnn, figures I'd run into her in a crisis and not on regular circumstances,' thought Makoto as she let out a light laugh.

 

“What's so funny?” asked one of the soldiers in a threatening tone.

 

“If I wanted you to know, then I would've told you,” said Makoto and grimaced as she heard her words. Why did she always have to say things like that just to make it worse?

 

The soldier growled and cocked his gun as if he was going to shoot it.

 

“No, leave him alone!” yelled Relena defensively. “He helped me!”

 

“I'm sorry Princess, but we cannot let him off so easy. We don't even know where he comes from.”

 

At this, Makoto shook her head in disbelief. Four months of cooking for Relena and she had to meet her in the middle of a battle. Then to top that off, she was most likely going to be placed in some kind of prison until further questioning and may even be convicted of being a trained spy who was sent to sabotage Relena and kill her. Goodness only knew that no regular cook had the ability to run through a forest with multiple injuries and fight trained soldiers. She dropped her head and cursed Irma for even making her feel like she needed to go outside for once. From now on, Makoto promised herself to never listen to what other people said and to just trust her instincts. After all, she didn't get into any trouble until someone else put thoughts into her head that she needed something that she knew she didn't.

 

“It's for your own safety, Princess,” said one soldier. With wide eyes, Relena watched as they cuffed Makoto and shoved her away.

 

“Hey, you wanna take it easy there buddy?” asked Makoto sarcastically. The soldier just ignored her and she exhaled. They led her back to the castle and locked her in a bright white room with a mirror. She looked herself over and shivered in irritation as she noticed all the dirt that clung to her clothes. She hated when there was dirt that she couldn't clean. She still had her hands cuffed behind her as she sat on a chair facing a table with an empty seat. It seemed that the small battle outside had ended cause everything had finally stopped shaking.

 

She sighed and slumped in her chair. Right now the viewers on the opposite side of the window watched her every move quietly.

 

`What luck,' thought Makoto. The door then opened to reveal two men walking in. One of them had long white hair and the most stunning blue eyes she had ever seen. He was tall in a clean white uniform and walked nonchalantly to the empty seat. The other man was younger looking and had innocent sapphire eyes with sandy blond hair. He nodded politely towards her and pulled a seat besides the other man. All the while, Makoto stiffened under their gazes and found it difficult to sit still.

 

“Relena tells me that you saved her in the woods,” said the man with long white hair. Makoto remained silent and just nodded. “Now I hope you'll understand then why we have treated you in such a manner. Though you have indeed indebted us by saving her, we still have minds to wonder why…” He then commenced rubbing his chin in wonder. The innocent sapphire, however, stared gently at her as if he was silently pleading that she would give the truth and that it would be of her loyalty to their cause.

 

“Tell me,” started the white haired man. “What were you doing in the forest?”

 

Makoto blinked ridiculously as she thought about the question and slightly panicked. If she told them that she went out to train, then they'd probably try to stick her for being a spy or something. If she told them she went out there to relax, then that would just sound lame and she'd have to explain herself. Goodness new that there were plenty of signs that prohibited stragglers or tourists from going in there. Only authorized personnel were permitted to enter into the forest and she was not one of them. `Oh great,' thought Makoto.

 

“Well?”

 

Makoto looked at him then moved her gaze to the side to avoid his hard stare.

 

“I wonder,” spoke the innocent sapphire. “If the good sir is too tired to be interrogated, perhaps we should consider allowing him to clean up and rest. After all there are many others that seem more problematic than he.” he said motioning towards Makoto. The other man looked to him skeptically then slowly nodded his head in agreement.

 

“I suppose that for the time being, the interrogation will cease until you've gotten rest,” he said hesitantly. “But know that you'll be watched carefully until further consent is given. Until then, adieu.” With that said, he stood from his chair and exited. The innocent sapphire followed him and Makoto sighed. An elderly lady with four soldiers around her then came in and led Makoto out into a different room.

 

“Here are a change of clothes,” said the lady pointing to the pile on the drawer. “They should fit well.”

 

Makoto then felt the cuffs drop from her wrists and brought her hands to her view and moved her fingers as if they weren't real.

 

“Come along now, we don't have all day,” said the lady impatiently. She handed the pile of clothes to her and gently pushed her towards the bathroom. Makoto entered the bathroom and soon heard the door shut behind her. She could hear the lady usher the soldiers away and began making the bed that was in there. Makoto placed the clothes on the sink and turned on the shower. She melted in the warmth and sighed. When she got out she looked at the clothes and put them on. They were men's clothes and she suddenly realized that everyone had thought she was a man.

 

She looked at the door and imagined the reaction she would get from the lady and cursed as she realized that since she was female, the interrogators would probably be more suspicious of her intentions in saving Relena Peacecraft. With a huge sigh, she slowly turned the knob and exited the bathroom.

 

“Ms. Normandy had other things to tend to so I'll be the one making-” she dropped the sheets. “M-Makoto?”

 

Makoto let out a say at the sight of the person and sunk into a nearby chair.

 

“What are you doing here?” said Irma. “Do you have a boyfriend?” she asked but before Makoto could answer, Irma went on a spiral of theories. “That's probably why you never go out. You've already gotta man! So you've switched places with him in order to keep him out of trouble?” she said with a raised eyebrow and Makoto shook her head in disbelief.

 

“Are you one of those strange people that are female by day and male at night?” she asked getting even more excited. “Is that why you're afraid to go out? Do you-”

 

“Irma, no, just stop okay? I was the one in the forest that saved Relena Peacecraft.”

 

At this Irma froze and suddenly began to nod in response.

 

“That makes sense then,” she said. “No wonder…”

 

“No wonder what?” asked Makoto.

 

“No wonder you act the way you do,” she said simply.

 

“What do you mean?” asked Makoto suspiciously.

 

“Well, it explains why you're single and uninterested in going out,” she said nonchalantly. Makoto's eyebrow rose as she watched the elderly lady in front of her. Sometimes, it was hard for her to remember that this lady was twenty years older than her because of the way she acted, but she figured that it was probably due to the fact that she had been the youngest worker in the castle for the past years and never grew out of her youthful attitude.

 

“How would that explain why I'm single?” asked Makoto getting slightly annoyed.

 

“Oh, well, if you were able to fight off trained soldiers single handedly and get out with minimal injuries, then it shows how abnormally strong you are for a girl and sometimes that can be real intimidating for a guy.”

 

“How so?” asked Makoto.

 

“Well, the possibility that you could kick their butts whenever you wanted and that you'd most likely be the one to fight off muggers and he'd be the damsel in distress. It kind of demoralizes them and questions their masculinity,” she said with a shrug. Makoto then sunk deeper into her seat and rubbed her temples.

 

“I don't mean to bring you down, sweetie. It's just the truth. Besides, a girl like me gets a lot of reassurance when one of their best friends is a skilled fighter. Now all my ex-boyfriends won't worry me too much when I've got you to back me up,” she said with a wink. Makoto laughed lightly and threw a towel at Irma playfully.

 

“You're crazy,” she said. Then Irma's features suddenly changed into a serious façade.

 

“You know,” said Irma in a whisper. “I can help you find a way out of this.”

 

“Where is he?” asked Relena.

 

“He's been put in a room until we can find time to properly question him,” replied Zechs.

 

“He saved me,” she said. “There's no reason to-”

 

“He was in a forest that was forbidden to anyone other than authorized personnel and is unknown to any of our records. For all we know he could be a spy.”

 

“Brother, I-”

 

“We cannot let him go, Relena,” said Zechs sternly. “And that's final.”

 

“Hey Quatre,” called out a young boy with braided chestnut brown hair. “What's the word about Relena?”

 

“She was saved by a straggler in the forest,” replied Quatre. “The man's being questioned first thing tomorrow.”

 

“Interesting,” said the chestnut brown haired boy. “Do we know where he's from?”

 

“Not a clue,” said Quatre.

 

“Hnn, figures.”

 

“Tonight's not going very well is it?”

 

“Nope,” replied the boy. “Hey, did you know the chef ran off? She disappeared in the mist of all the action! They say they've got to think harder on how they hire people for these positions.”

 

“That's a shame,” said Quatre. “She was a very talented chef.”

 

“Tell me about it,” said the boy while he rubbed his stomach. “Tonight's going to be rough.”

 

………………………..

 

That's it for now. Please review guys and tell me if it gets too redundant. The last thing I want to do is continue the story when there's a lot in the plot line that I should fix. So tell me what you think whether your disappointed, anxious, whatever, just let it out! I'll see you guys next time!

 

JPandS