A Change Of Being

• Katherine Boyle , Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

Kamishir sat atop a tall oak tree, surveying the forest below. He was searching for food, or at least some kind of interesting item, that could be sold at the village market.
Thus far, he had had no luck.
Then, a gleam caught his eye. Curious, he peered through the leaves of the branches below, then agilely leapt from tree to tree, in order to investigate.
He reached what appeared to be the location of the object, then sprung from the tree towards the ground below.
It caught his eye immediately, what appeared to be a black, studded gauntlet. "What on earth?" he muttered, as he pulled it onto his hand.
He paused when he felt a faint buzzing sensation all over his body. He frowned, attempting to remove the gauntlet, but it stuck as if glued to his skin. It then stretched, rapidly extending further up his arm, towards his shoulder.
Kamishir's eyes widened in fear, what was happening to him? The gauntlet continued to stretch until his entire body was encased in a stiff, heavy suit of armour. Even his head was covered with a large helmet, the sides of which extended out wards in vicious spikes.
"Have I become a Mecha?" he wondered aloud.
The Mecha were humans that fused with robots in order to become powerful sentinels. Their strength and fighting capacity were considered legendary.
Kamishir grinned, "This is so cool-" he was interrupted by bloodcurdling screams off into the distance.
He urgently sprinted through the forest at a speed much greater than ever before.

It was due to this, that in a very short space of time, Kamishir had reached the edge of the forest. He immediately stopped, rooted to the ground in shock. His village was shrouded by a thick, green layer of mist. Also, unlike before, not a single sound could be heard. The entire valley was eerily quiet.
Kamishir ran towards the village, taking long, striding steps. He was soon able to straighten out, causing him to fly at a rapid pace.

After a significantly shorter journey than usual, Kamishir could view the cobbled streets of the town, which were littered with the unconscious bodies of the villagers, with the green mist still clouding the air. "There must be something in that fog that caused everyone to collapse.." Kamishir muttered.
"That would be correct," a snarling voice replied.
Kamishir turned, seeing a Mecha with the appearance of a panther.
It was The Man-slaughtering Panther of The Northern Isle, infamous for, as the name suggests, killing lots of people.
"Don't worry, they aren't dead," the panther snarled. "But, I can't say the same for you in the next few seconds-"
It leapt towards Kamishir, bringing a claw down upon his head.
He blocked, but was flung backwards into a building, due to the sheer force of the blow. Suddenly, his arm felt noticeably heavier. He glanced down, seeing a medium-sized cannon protruding from his armour.
It was in that moment that the realisation dawned upon him, he was evolving- at an incredible speed.
He smiled, unearthing a newfound confidence, "I can win this battle."
Kamishir pushed himself off of the ground, spinning to face his opponent. He pointed the gun towards the panther, taking a deep breath.
He released, with the gun's powerful blast exploding out towards the panther, knocking it to the ground, before it could even think to launch its own attack.
Kamishir paused, lowering his arm, was it... dead?
"Da-amn y-you!" the panther howled. Clearly not.
However, both ancient legend and proven fact decree that a Mecha can no longer exist if it is defeated in battle, due to the prestigious nature of possessing such abilities. In fact, all sentinels are programmed to self destruct immediately after such a loss occurs.
Despite the rage that continued to course through its body, the panther was physically incapacitated; no longer able to fight. That is why it slowly crumpled into dust, gently swirling away into the wind.