Yuni: The Last Warrior

By: Saanvi Shah

Future

“Yuni please help me!”,Sooma cries frantically “Please Yuni, I beg you!”. The rocks above us shadow her face but I have no doubt that Sooma’s face is twisted in terror. Perfect. A scared victim is an easy victim. On with the plan.

“And why would I help you?”, I ask with an impish grin on my face. I look at Sooma hanging from the edge of the cliff. The rock is slippery from the fresh rain and Sooma is barely hanging on.

“We could have been friends Yuni. What happened to you?”.

“Ah Sooma. You were too naive.”

“We don’t have to play this game Yuni,”

“That’s right, we don’t.” I reply

“Go away”

“Oh” I say softly “Well then.” I turn toward the opening of the damp cave.

“Yuni help me!” yelled Sooma

I sigh and turn around. I offer my hand to Sooma and she accepts it. I begin to pull her up and she lets out a little smile. I kick her in the face. She falls backward over the ledge and lets out a bloodcurdling scream.I shake my head then pull a small device out of a pocket in my vest and press a few buttons on it . “Yuni to control center,”
“Yes,” replies a voice. It has a sinister sound to it. I gulp. “Sooma has been disposed of…”,
“The caves?” says the voice.
“On it,” I reply. I press a few buttons on the device and gently lay it on the ground. The device makes a robotic “beep” and then begins counting down. “10, 9, 8, 7,” . I sit down next to the device
“6 , 5, 4,” Suddenly a feeling of dread fills me. I get up
and run for the exit.
“3 ,2 ,1 ,”
“Noooo!!!!,” I yell, But my screams are drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

Present

I wake up with a start. I am panting as If I had just ran a mile. The sound of the explosion rings in my ears. It isn’t the first time I have had a nightmare like this. It used to happen less, now it happens every day. There are different people too. The story is the same though. I corner a person and get rid of them
The explosion is new and it scares me. The dreams scare me. I don’t know what is happening to me. Why am I doing these things? I suddenly realise it is pitch black outside. I hold my thin wool blanket in my hands and shiver. The planet of Natakuna was colder than any other place I have lived at. The cold would have been bearable if the orphanage had a heater but the government officials of the Kumani people didn’t provide resources for the orphanage kids, often we had to live off scraps. Now the orphanage housed more than 2,000 children. Most, if not all of the kids had become orphans because their parents had gone off to join the Onuga on the planet of Sormani, which was the largest planet in the galaxy. The officials said that the people who left wanted to settle down on Sormani, and that everyone who left had dishonored the Kumani people. I wasn’t happy that my parents had left but I could understand why they wanted to settle. The Kumani people moved a lot. Every few months or so they randomly announced that the home ship was leaving and whoever didn’t make it in time would be left behind. So far I had lived on 84 different planets , most of them being relatively small because of the Kumani’s rapidly diminishing population. The Kumani used to be the biggest clan in the universe numbering over 50 trillion people, but they had many enemies and due to lots of attacks and spreading of disease the population decreased tremendously. After almost half the population was wiped out the Kumani were thought to be safe but then a dangerous plague killed the Kumani almost to extinction. Then a woman named Tulinse discovered a cure to the plague and saved us. Now she governs what are left of the Kumani.

I hear footsteps thudding in the orphanage hall. I quickly pull the blanket over myself and pretend to be asleep.
“Pack your things, the ship is leaving”, the orphanage director says in his crabby voice. Everyone pulls out their E-bag and starts packing. Within seconds, everybody is ready. We rush outside and start running to the large spaceship. Just as I am about to get on I hear a call for help. I turn around and about 100 feet from where I am, a little girl is lying on the ground. Her leg is bent in a weird position and she is crying. I look at the ship, then at the girl. I start running towards the girl as fast as I can. She doesn't look like she is from the orphanage. She calms down when she sees me but I am steaming with anger. Quickly I scoop her up and start running towards the ship
“Doors closing in 3, 2, 1,”,
“No!”, I yell, but the ship is already lifting off. I sigh and place the girl onto the ground. We missed the ship. Now I will be stranded on Natakuna forever. No food , no water , no heat. I turn to the girl. “This is your fault !” I yell “ because of you, we will die here!”
Her cheerful smile quickly turned into a frown
“No one asked you to save me,” She says in her surprisingly deep voice
“ That’s right. I did it out of the kindness of my heart.”
“ If you were really kind you would forgive me,” she says. She starts trying to get up but then yelps in pain. I bend down to help her but then out of the corner of my eye I see a mini ship. I start jumping up and down as much as I can. When that doesn't work I start yelling. The girl joins in as well. After what seems like forever the mini ship starts coming towards us.
As the mini ship lands near us I look at the driver. There is something familiar looking about her. I can't quite place it but I know I have seen her before.
“ You folks lost ?” she asks in a cheerful voice
“Yes!” I say excitedly
“Well then hop in” she says
I pick up the girl again and run towards the mini ship. As I sit down on a comfortable leather seat I notice a boy maybe a few years older than me on another seat. There is also another girl who is my age.
“Hi”, Says the girl “I’m Cherryke” she points to the little girl’s ankle “That looks painful let me fix it up for you”. She pulls out a box and takes out a few supplies. Then she starts bandaging the girls ankle. Within moments it is as good as new.
“Thanks” says the little girl looking surprised
“What's your name?” says Cherryke.
“Sooma” says the little girl. I almost have a mini heart attack right there on the ship.
“And what's your name?” says Cherryke.
“Yuni” I strangle out.
“I’m Kinnet”says the boy.
“And I’m Sankashi” Says the girl driving. Sankashi. I know I have seen this girl before I just don’t know where.

Past

The next thing I know Cherryke is shaking me awake
“We’re here” he says. I look to the side and Sooma is rubbing her eyes as well. I run out of the ship. I want to be as far away from Sooma as possible. I keep running and when I stop I gasp. I hadn't Taken much time to look at the new planet but it was amazing!

For one it was warm and there were a lot of high-tech buildings everywhere. Also it was big . I realized I did not know where I was. Then I spotted Sankashi disappearing behind a building and I quickly followed her. She went inside a room and I tried to follow her but the door was locked. There was a tree next to a window that looked unlocked I climbed the tree and pulled myself into the room. There was a giant projector on one wall. I went over and pressed the on button. I was blinded by a white light. Then a hypnotic design appeared in front of me. The lines turned into pictures and I recognised Sankashi face. I tried to call out to her but I couldn't. Sankashi walked over to a big door. It looked like she was in a palace. She knocked on the door and a woman answered it. It was Tulinse! “What have you brought for me daughter?” Asked Tulinse. “This.” Sankashi Handed Tulinse a small device. I recognized it as the one from my dream. Tulise pressed a button on it and the scene was wiped away. Suddenly information started cramming into my brain. Sooma is a member of the free council. A council that doesn't follow the government. Sankashi came back so that she could take Sooma captive. The Reason that the Kumani moved so often was because they wanted to build an Empire. On every planet they went to, the government set up a few buildings and claimed the planet as their own. Then they left a few people behind to guard everything. The government made up the story about people leaving to join the Onuga. They just made people stay behind to guard. When the Council members found out about the plan to make an Empire they didn’t approve. Then the government hired people to find council members and kill them. Tulinse created the disease that almost wiped out the Kumani, so she knew the cure.

The scene came back blurry but my head was pounding. All I could make out were the words “ I lock this information in with the password 6, 5, 4,”

“Yuni!” screamed a voice. That was all I heard before I got knocked out.

Back to Present

I wake up in a dark cell. I don’t know who I am . All my memories have been wiped. No not wiped. Just hidden in a nook at the very back of my head. I look up and see a boy in front of me.
“Who are you ?”, I ask

“My name is Kennet” he says.
“Why am I here ?”,

“Because you have been chosen for a very special mission,'' says Kennet

“Why me ? ”, I ask

Now Kennet looks annoyed. “Do what I say”
“Okay”

He leads me to a room with a bunch of gear in it. I put on a suit that a girl hands me. Then Kennet gives me a small device with a few buttons on it. Then the girl leads me to a room with a big projector in it. I head towards the projector and am about to press the on button when suddenly a figure steps out from the shadows.

“When you press that button you will be required to follow our rules” I gulp. The voice has a sinister sound to it.
“Okay” I say. Then I gulp again.

I press the button on the projector and a bright light shines in my eyes. A swirly design appears in front of me. Then the lines turn into Kennet’s face. He shows me a picture of a girl named Sooma. He says I have to kill her. He also says that she will be in some caves and I have to destroy those as well. He says I can do that by pressing the red button on my device. I reach into my suit pocket for the device and accidentally press a button on it. Suddenly information starts cramming into my brain. I remember everything.

I know what I have to do. I press the red button and the building explodes.

The End
For now