One By Millions

chapter 49

Bright orange fore filled her vision as soon as she landed within the building. Her eyes started to burn from the smoke entering them. She forgot to activate her goggles. With the press of a button her visor was gone and in it's place dark goggles that protected her eyes. She took her breath, satisfied by her working respirator. The heat around her was not effective. Her body temperature dropped considerably. She carefully placed herself on the burning floor. She looked around. Scanned the area. Her ear pods were adjusted as she picked up on panicked voices. Ten voices. She ignored the adults for the time being. Her main focus was the children. From her scan she could tell that the adults were not in immediate danger. The fire had spread fast and was dangerously burning on the fifth floor. The fifth floor was also where she spotted the children. All five of them were in the same room as well. Must be siblings.

"Gotta work fast. I have less than ten minutes"

Shino quickly took to the wall. She maneuvered skillfully. Avoiding any brittle pillars. Any scraps of wood that descended from the ceiling. Remnants of the owners were being burnt to the ground. Photos. Bed. Closet. Everything. She hadn't seen a lot of people at the end of the building. Those who got out probably made themselves scarce. Or there weren't too many people present.

With a thud she landed in front of an intact door. She twisted the knob. Locked. Or broken. The cries of the children were directly behind it. They couldn't get out. Shino had a list of options.

She could kick the door down. It had its ups and its downs. One of them being the possibility of it hitting one of the kids.

She could break the lock, which has no drawbacks at all. Or burn it.

Yeah, she'll burn it.

She took a deep calming breath. Slowly she started to increase her temperature. Little by little until she was hot enough to jump to the melting degree. The metal knob and lock started to melt away in rapid succesion. It was over as quickly as it started. Shino sighed as her temperature started to drop again. Having a high temperature in a burning building is not the best of ideas.

She gently pushed the door open and stepped into the apartment. Everything was set ablaze. There was practically no save spot in the small place.

A whimper and Shino went deeper. She carefully stepped through the burnt rubble. Some toys were scattered on the floor. Hero figurines. Baby toys. Some dolls.

Shino walked into another room and finally found the children. They were gathered together in a somewhat unscathed closet. Shino sighed in relief. They were OK. She quickly approached and open the closet. She frowned when the children looked at her in apprehension. Slowly she crouched before them. The young girl pulled the baby boy closer to her. Protecting him.

"Hey, no need to be afraid. I'm here to help" Shino's voice was soft, calm and loving. She could not scare them. They needed to trust her. She needed to be gentle. "My name is Shino Kiddo. I'm a hero in training. My hero name is Athena"

One of the girls perked up at the mention of her hero name. She opened her mouth to say something,but hesitated.

"It's OK. What is it? "

"Um.. Athena as in the Greek goddess? The goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law, justice and... And"

Shino smiled a hidden smile. She saw a spark in the child's eyes as she listed the qualities goddess represented. She could see words in her vision. A discription of the child. She took a quick look at it and smiled even more. What an interesting quirk.

"Yeah, I did name myself after her. Impressive knowledge you have there kid. How about I get you and your siblings out of here and we have a little chat about our favorite goddesses " Shino gently ruffled her hair. The young girl let a smile grace her lips as she nodded.