Little Loli dashed through the forest, eyes like smoldering embers, a freshly carved wooden fork in hand. She could snag prey like a hawk when she flipped her battle switch, but tonight she wanted to hunt like Bear Grylls. A rare chance.
The grass shivered, and a rabbit streaked through the trees.
"Haha, dinner’s settled!" A red flash crossed her gaze, and she exploded forward at the panicked rabbit. "Hey!" The wooden fork punched through the rabbit. Blood ran down the wood to her pale hands, then vanished on contact, as if it had never flowed.
"Fresh blood has a taste you don’t forget..." She licked her sharp teeth out of habit, the scarlet in her eyes deepening to something unreadable.
If a normal girl saw this, her pretty face would blanch like a flower losing its hue, maybe even weep. But Little Loli wasn’t that sort, at least not in soul. She set the rabbit on the patch of beach she had lined with leaves. Her hands had become claws; she ripped off the hide and cleaned out the guts. She skewered the meat on her fork and set it over the waiting fire.
"This should do." Two lives behind her, yet this was her first time cooking dinner alone in the wild. "Before eating, a coconut to wake the tongue." She grabbed one she’d picked that morning, and a flick of her claws stripped the shell most people call unbreakable. She drank like a warrior with wine, head tipped back to the moon. But her mouth was cherry-small, and only about a seventh made it in.
"Hey! Bullying my tiny mouth!" She hurled the shell, stomped it with her small feet, and vented. With a whoosh, she sliced open another coconut. "Ugh, so unfair." In the end, she held a leaf and sipped in careful little mouthfuls.
"Report!" In a room walled with screens, a tech called out; the feeds showed islands inside the storm belt. "What did you find?" Lin Fan hurried over. The staffer pointed at one feed. "I just saw firelight on this beach. Here!" He zoomed in, and a golden figure circled a blaze, round and round.
Lin Fan stared, speechless. "That girl," he murmured. "Someone prep me a helicopter. It needs to fly now. Pack all the gear I laid out. Load it on." "Yes, young master. Right away!" a butler answered.
Back on the sand, unaware of the eyes in orbit, Little Loli hopped around the bonfire, singing, "La la la la la—" "Mind your own business!" she snapped, and punted some nameless thing into the dark with a thump.
"Buzzkill..." Interest drained, she plopped onto the beach and tipped her face to the jeweled sky. Her gold hair spilled into the sand, blending like light into grain. The stars swallowed her gaze. No steel and concrete blocking it, no giant trees hemming it in. No city clamor, only the sea wind brushing past her ear like a soft hand.
"Young master, are you sure we go tonight? If we lift now, we’ll arrive by morning." The pilot leaned out while Lin Fan heaved gear aboard. "Grill… supplies… clothes… emergency kit… looks complete." Lin Fan scratched his head. "Oh, right! That might be useful." He pointed at a maid. "Bring what you use. Bring it here." The tone stayed commanding, but shame crept across his face. The maid’s cheeks had already gone scarlet.
"Please wait, young master. I’ll fetch it." She ran off and soon returned, one hand discreetly covering the item, and handed it over. Lin Fan glanced at it and tossed it into his pack. The pilot wiped sweat and thought, Is he going on vacation or what, bringing even that… His expression hid the nosiness perfectly.
"Young master! The master agreed, but only for three days." The butler ran up, panting. "Hmph. Even if he hadn’t, I’d still go. Pilot, take off." Lin Fan nodded and ducked into the helicopter.
The rotors bit the air and lifted. The chopper rose with Lin Fan and a mountain of holiday gear, pulling away from the manor into the night.
