Chapter 2

"Soso! Soso! Look what grandma gave me!" Alyx's excited voice rang in Soleil's ear.

"...huh?" Soleil sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Look!" Alyx shoved his hand in Soleil's face. "Chocolate!"

Alyx was holding a bar of chocolate, unopened and whole. Soleil's eyes widened. "Where did you find this?!?"

"Grandma gave it to me! Soso, open it!"

Soleil laughed, taking the bar of chocolate and peeling off the wrapper before handing it back to Alyx.

Alyx took the chocolate, a troubled expression on his face. "Here!" He finally said, breaking off half and handing it to Soleil.

"Thanks," Soleil said before breaking her piece of chocolate and handing a portion back to Alyx. "Give this to grandma and make sure she eats it, ok?"

"Grandma said she already ate."

"She's lying."

—Later—

"I'll be back soon!" Soleil called as she walked out of the house.

Soleil forced a smile onto her face. 'This time I'm bound to find something. I'll look for some mushrooms in the forest, hopefully the animals didn't eat them all.'

Step by step, Soleil made her way past the run-down, abandoned buildings. Stained with frozen crystals of blood, they gave off an eerie chill.

The 'forest' was merely a few thin trees emerging from the snow. Soleil had once brought back a small branch, curious about its odd presence in the barren landscape.

The elderly lady had let out a wistful sigh, her eyes fogged with a distant memory. "Evergreen," she smiled wryly. "An evergreen tree."

"Ever-green?" Soleil tried out the word on her tongue. "Like, forever-green?"

Stroking a discolored leaf, she replied, "Yes. Forever green." Suddenly her wistful, tired eyes turned serious. "Soleil, nothing is forever in this world."

Soleil, merely 5 years old at the time, had smiled brightly at her grandmother. "Then let's go to a different world. Then we can all see ever-green. Forever-green!"

Soleil ground a discolored leaf under her foot. The grey coloration blended into the frosty white snow. 'An eyesore,' Soleil thought.

Bending down, Soleil dug through the snow, her reddened fingers already numb.

The hardened snow was akin to blades scraping her hands, drawing blood that dripped crimson on the blinding white.

'Almost there,' Soleil encouraged herself, 'I think I can see something under this layer.'

Soleil excitedly dug out a luminescent mushroom, it's wrinkled edges tinged with a neon blue.

Few plants had evolved to survive in these harsh conditions, and even fewer were edible. Not to mention the various scavenging animals that prowled the area, searching for their next meal.

Tucking the mushroom carefully into the pocket of her jacket, Soleil once more began digging through the snow.

Luminous mushrooms seldom grew clumped together, but rather spread over a large area.

Soleil managed to pocket two more luminous mushrooms before she was interrupted by the harsh crunching of snow.

Frowning, Soleil gripped her knife. Lurking in the fog of the snow was a lynx. The beautiful creature would be a pleasant sight if not for the malicious intentions hidden in its gaze.

'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The hunter is often the hunted,' Soleil thought. The proverb was one her grandmother once told her. It was interesting, even though she had no clue what creatures it referred to.

Soleil caught her thoughts from drifting. It was hardly the time to daydream.

A child, alone and defenseless. The blood dripping from her fingertips was the equivalent of an enticing meal for the lynx.

It licked its lips hungrily, crouching down and studying every twitch of Soleil's muscles.

'If only,' Soleil thought once more, her eyes fogging over. If only her grandmother wasn't sick. If only they had enough food so that Alyx could grow tall. If only…if only the Institute had never existed. Resentment filled her entire being.

Death's scythe loomed over her head, flashing like the gleam of the lynx's eyes.

Catching onto her moment of stupor, the lynx pounced. Likewise, it had starved from the harsh conditions. Its bones jutted out unnaturally from its fur.

Time moved in slow motion as Soleil grasped onto an important detail. Its footsteps, although fast and intimidating, were usure and threatening to collapse.

'What am I doing?' Soleil asked herself, 'what would Al think if his big sister died because of a cat?'

Soleil tightened her grip on her knife as she leapt to the side and slashed the tawny pelt of the lynx.

The fur was surprisingly thin, worn down by malnutrition and lack of care. And now, Soleil noticed, it was rather small. 'Its young,' she thought, 'then…I'm sorry.'

With quick movements, the lynx was bleeding from multiple wounds. Chest heaving, it collapsed in the snow.

"I'll make it quick," Soleil promised as she hurried over. With a neat slash to the throat, life drained from the lynx like the blood from its carcass.

Sheathing her knife and heaving the lynx onto her back, Soleil began the arduous task of bringing it back.

The blood left a trail of blood in the snow, one that Soleil made the mistake of overlooking.