Prologue

She looked up at the night sky; the stars scattered around the dark sky and the moon peek behind the cotton candy clouds. She would love to indulge herself in this beautiful night and be lost in its beauty, but her circumstances right now wouldn't let her.

In front of her was a guy who was as determined as her.

They looked at each other like a predator eyeing its prey and they kept moving in a circle, beware of each other's movement, and trying to maintain their distance from each other.

Both of them had been searching and hiding in this massive piece of land from each other for the last couple of days. This island was as big as a small country, with a mountain in the middle of it and surrounded by the trees and dangerous animals.

Now that the guy and the girl have come face to face, they would settle this chasing game once and for all.

She had come prepared, in fact, she had been prepared for her whole life. Truthfully, she didn't know it would come to this between her and him. They were once a comrade in this cruel world that were thrown at them, but now, they were made to stand against each other.

"If it has come to this, so be it," she silently said.

Without any more delay and a strong determination in her heart, she jumped towards the guy brandishing the Kukri knife that was held tightly, like the weapon was a part of her hand. Aiming for the guy's scarred chest.

The guy managed to evade her attack by rolling his body in the opposite direction and he quickly stood up. She made another attack before the guy could stabilize himself, but the guy was quick to stop the attack by capturing her weaponized hand in one hand, then circling her and putting her in a headlock with his other hand. The guy tried to make her release her hold on her Kukri, but she wouldn't let go of it no matter what, as her life depended on it.

She struggled to breathe, but she didn't give up and still tried to release her hand from his vise grip hold, but she failed.

She quickly thought of another way to release herself from this predicament and stomped on the guy's foot, and elbowed him with her other hand. Her momentum was strong, making the boy release the choke hold on her.

The guy coughed as he was feeling like air was knocked out of his lungs, and she too was gasping for air as her neck was just being released from being choked to death.

They both were in a mess, but no one has come out as a winner yet, and the game hadn't ended, so they both quickly stood up, ready in their position and ready to attack again until one of them came out victorious.

This time, it was the guy who started the attack first. For his weapon, he wielded a machete and then aimed at her body. She was ready, her eyes never left the boy figure and scrutinized his every movement. With her nimble body and agility movement, she easily evaded herself from every attack that he threw her way.

Isn't it ironic? The weapon that the boy wield was the one that she had suggested and taught the boy how to use. Now, the same weapon and the same person had been used to try to end her life.

"I can't believe you want to kill me with the same weapon that I had chosen for you."

"Does it even matter?" The boy expressionlessly asked.

She couldn't help but release a mocking laugh at herself. "You are right. It doesn't matter, because I will be the last one standing."

Their dancing fight between them pushed them almost closer to the end of the cliff that was overlooking the vast blue sea.

The guy was older and supposed to be stronger than her. Well, he was almost an adult while she was just a 16 years old teenage girl, but she wasn't a normal 16 years old teenage girl. She had years of surviving the harsh world, and her experience was wider than the boy who was once a pampered young boy before he was thrown into the same place where the girl was coming from.

Since he can't win against the girl, the gears on the guy's head turned to search for ways to overthrow the girl.

Secretly, his one hand was gathering a handful of dry sandy dirt when he was sent rolling on the ground to deflect her fierce attack on him that kept coming non stop.

When he saw an opening, he threw the dirt into her eyes, disturbing the girl's eyesight and making her close her eyes in reflex. Without further ado, he took this chance to behead the girl with his machete, but even with the lost sense of sight, the girl's sense wasn't dull and she managed to evade the attack, and gave a straight punch towards his stomach.

But then the girl halted her movement and her eyes went wide in surprise.

"I'm sorry, you know it can be either you or me. And I choose me."

A knife was buried in her stomach, and red crimson blood spurted out from her mouth, dying the face of her assailant red with her blood. But the person in front of her didn't even twitch a muscle and continued looking into her light brown eyes. The man's face looked menacing, but with their face so close together, she could see that there's a sadness in those dark eyes, making her question if what she saw was real or just a fringe of her imagination.

With the knife still buried inside her body, the man pushes her until the edge of the cliff and threw her over into the deep blue sea.

She was free falling; it felt like flying. She could feel the slapping of the winds on her falling body.

Is this how I die?

Is this the end of me?

No! Even if I die, I will emerge like a Phoenix. Rising from the ashes of this wretched past and becoming a whole new person.

*Kukri- a type of machete that has a distinct recurve in its blade, served as a melee weapon and as well as a regular cutting tool.