Unspecified Time - Unspecified Location
The cabin, a creaky hellhole that had lived far past its life, well past over seventy years, was making its commonly troubling squeaking sounds, with the help by the only inhabitant who made this place their home for many years. The person was alone for some time, and certainly enough time to begin to grow accustomed to the creaking; the resident and the cabin, both of which were betrayed and abandoned by time and the rest of the world.
Like the outer layer of the shacked up shit-hole, the inside of the cabin matched up with it; mold around the windows, unpolished, stained furniture, and untidy layers of dust decorated the rest of the place. The only table was half dusty as it would normally get when unchecked, with several clean lines made by fingers, done so without any effort or desire to bother wiping it away. The sink was overcrowded with dishes and utensils, had been that way for over a week. It was unclear to the housed person if there were cockroaches roaming around or under the plates. Not that she cared at all. The sleeping bag that served as her bed was undone, laying as a miniature display of an uneven terrain.
She stared out the moldy window, looking below the mountainside. Some few large pine trees were blocking the skyline, but the woman had no interest in looking in the clear blue sky's direction. No, she happened to be looking down.
Her daily agenda had been the same for as long as she first came and stepped foot here; an hours-long stroll down to the bottom and back, scouting around the perimeter and checking in on the booby traps designed for animals around, when she wasn't setting them up. She knew how to perform and excel at this, thanks to a relative that had passed away long ago. That's how she was able to survive here, if that was the correct term to use.
In this dull afternoon, with a high sun shining in the area, Linka caught glimpse of two tiny figures moving around the slope of the mountain. She squinted and kept her eyes on them, and realized they were actually getting bigger. It appeared they were coming, and Linka tisked at these possible visitors.
Truthfully, she expected no one to give her grief, despite knowing on instinct that there were only a handful of people who knew of her whereabouts. This wasn't confirmed, but to her, it didn't have to be. She was right, but wasn't too happy about it.
Whether it was trouble or not, she headed into the kitchen to arm herself with a shard of glass, the only make-due weapon at the moment. Her palm cut open, after grasping it tightly in her hand. The blood oozed out, flowing from her hand and dripping onto the floorboards.
She waited to see what was going to be. And waited. And waited.
Seven Minutes Later
"Hello? Anyone home?" The voice belonged to a woman's, young enough, as there wasn't any rasping or deep tone Linka heard from listening. Linka was perched behind the doorway, still grasping the now bloody glass shard. If they didn't try to break in, they weren't armed or linked to any type of authority. There was no need to wield a weapon, so she let the sharp object hit the floor. The thudding brought upon whispering from outside.
"I could have sworn I heard something," one of the two individuals shared. "She's gotta be in there, Lily."
L-Lily?! What's she doing here?! And who's with her?!
The other stranger was also female, maybe one of the last Louds of the orignal generation. Linka would've preferred a pair of vagabonds instead of them. She sighed and unlocked the door, making a step away from it. The breeze outside did the rest by swinging the ancient door wide open.
There, she saw Lily and Luan giving off surprised looks at her. Lily had now gone to be as tall as Linka, but both were an inch short than Luan.
Lily had never abandoned her lavender clothes, it seemed. Dressed in a lavender sweater, some white sweatpants and a tan scarf, the youngest Loud was still feeling chilly. "Oh, Linka!" She formed a smile that did not get through to Linka.
Luan was dressed as a mime, minus the make-up. This was rather odd, and maybe there was a reason behind it. "Aren't you gonna let us in?" She shivered visibly in the winds, eager to step inside.
Linka hid her bloody hand behind her back and got out of the way. "Make yourselves away from home," she curtly welcomed.
Lily passed by and looked down at Linka. "Oh, god..."
At first, Linka assumed she noticed her bloody cut, but then remembered something else. "Don't..."
"H-how do you do it? How do you keep-" Lily silenced herself with a hand to her mouth. Slowly lowering it, she redirected her words. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
But Linka wasn't phased or triggered at all. "Nothing to be sorry for..." The white-haired clone raised her left hand, which turned out to be a mere stump, with her complete arm missing. The end of it was a hideous dark red color that made the rest of her limb look like an expired piece of meat. "It had to be done..."
"Well... Linka, we've come to tell you-" Luan announced.
Linka had then realized why they were here. "Don't tell me Lupa is-"
The wind grew angry and barged in around the house and blew over some empty cans scattered around the cabin. Lily yelped at the unison rattling of the rolling cans. "I'd better close the door," she suggested.
Luan and Linka exchanged serious looks, waiting for one another to react.
"Is that why you're wearing that?" Linka pointed to Luan's depressing choice of clothes.
"Of course." Luan took a glance around the cabin. "Gee, you ran off here? And..." Luan only spotted one sleeping bag. "Living alone, I see."
Linka clenched her bleeding hand into a fist and sped away from the two. "Well, thanks for stopping by. You can fuck off now." She turned on the sink, leaving some blood on the faucet knobs and rinsed the red away underneath the flowing water.
"Linka..." Lily whimpered.
"Don't be like that, Linka. Lupa gave-"
Linka slammed her hand on the sink. "I know what she did! She bought us both some time! I-" Linka could never express her gratitude to the Lucy clone the way she should have. It was too grand a deal for her to even speak of. Luan bringing it up was only touching the buried feelings Linka tried to keep down. "-Didn't know what she did until it was damn too late to stop it."
Lily set herself down on Linka's cheap bed. "This happened yesterday, you know. She knew you wouldn't bother, so she made us promise her to come here after, to make things... I don't know, more peaceful between all of us. I know we've had our differences and fights, but you're still one of us. I never wanted you or the kid to leave in the first place."
"Lily's right, I'm sure we could've talked it over. I know we could've." Luan kicked around some cans.
Driplets that came crying down from the faucet was disrupting the moment that belonged to the three. Linka knew what to find when, or rather, if she came back home. And what not to. "I prefer this place than there. You've wasted time in coming here if there is more than to just tell me Lupa's gone." Linka moved her good arm and placed it on her hip. "I'm done with you."
Lily was compelled to try and preach with a more emotional speech, but was stopped by the older comedienne as Lily made a step towards the lone wolf. "L-Luan?"
"Okay, if that's what you wish," Luan concluded. "You're always welcome to come back any time you'd like, and there won't be hassles for you, guaranteed. Lily?" Luan felt done here, and rushed to the entrance. The place was really giving her the creeps, the second reason she wanted to leave.
But Lily couldn't believe they had just wasted their time for nothing. "Linka, we've hoped to come take you back. We miss you, and I know you miss us." Lily approached Linka, as if she were a wild animal that had yet to be tamed. "Please..."
Luan allowed it this time and withheld her words, believing that Lily might actually get through to the stubborn, stonehearted woman.
Linka went silent, staring right through Lily. Her decision had been made up already, back when she came running to this isolated area. She chose to fray from the other Louds, and her reasons were justified in her mind. Like back then, she felt they had no understanding of her viewpoint. They were more full of life, always going forward. The thing Linka was never able to push through to.
She shook her head at the awaiting blonde, and turned away. "No," she simply answered back.
Why was it they still kept insisting she come back? She wanted to scream at Lily for the annoying persistence, but a simple, soft zombified moan exited her lips.
"Lily, we should go..." Luan seemed to understand and accept that convincing the distant clone to come back home was futile, as was shifting her beliefs and mindset. No, it wasn't hers to begin with. It was a hand-me-down package deal, coming from Lincoln Loud, but hadn't been opened after Linka stepped foot from her chamber. Coming here was generally pointless, but no one had anything to lose at this point. "Linka's staying here."
"N-no, she can't!" Lily broke the boundary rule Linka set, and embraced her in a sisterly hug. "We can make this work!"
"We've tried, but Linka ran out on us, Lilster. You know what she brought upon us, and I'm done trying. Quite frankly, most of us felt that Linka had to go. I'm sorry to be blunt, but I'm glad you're away..."
Lily could not believe her ears. "N-no, Linka's part of our family. She has a place, regardless of... Of what she's done," Lily cried out.
Of the current roster, the fair and pure Lily kept forgiveness for the clone at fault for the shitstorm she dragged back while on an attempted run from home.
"She's lost an arm, she needs our help!" Maybe if Lily could persuade Luan via heart, Linka would ve given a chance. But she wasn't seeing the bigger picture.
"I don't need your help, or pity, girl," Linka cut in. "Giggles is right, you can count me out. I have nothing, absolutely nothing to return to. Coming here was a waste of however much time you have left."
Lily stepped away from Linka upon letting her go, shunned indefinitely by these hard words. They hit her as if they were arrows striking directly at her heart. "L-Linka, I can't just leave you..."
"Just walk out, the same way you came in. I'll visit Lupa one day, thanks for telling me. I know where to find her, don't worry." After that, she spoke no more.
"Lily, we should leave. We're sorry to have bothered you, Linka." Luan locked a hand with one of Lily's, steadily guiding her out. "Just let us know if you'll come around, you're still welcome to visit."
The only essence of her beloved brother rested within Linka, and all Lily desired was the fractured clone still living around her. Around them. Like it should've been all along.
On her way out, Lily sniffed out, signaling to Luan the young sibling was hurt by the exchanged words and hard choices. Luan couldn't blame her for trying to make Linka come back. "Why, Luan? We can't be turning her away, can we?"
The pair stepped down the mountainside, strolling carefully along a stone path.
It was simple, yet somehow hard to summarize. But Luan was going to try. "Don't you think she's caused us enough trouble as it is? I thought..." Mentioning Lincoln to Lily alone would bring Lily some pain, so Luan stopped from antagonizing the dead brother. Luan couldn't say that Lincoln did decently selfless acts for the lot, but she knew he tried to perform his best to save them. His best meaning whatever the cost. "Look, it's fine. She can take care of herself, she's not exactly weak or lost, you know."
The blonde understood that Linka had the original's survival genes. "Yeah. I guess I do," she admitted. "But, still, I wouldn't want her to live like this. D-did you really mean what you told her? That you're glad she's not with us?"
Luan gulped before answering. "Well, to put it plainly, yes. Luna and Lynn felt the same way, too. Linka had her differences, and we believed it to be troublesome eventually. We didn't count on how big it could escalate, and that was our mistake. We should've placed her under the Agency's care or something."
"Could things have changed? If you did that... Would we all be still alive?" In this case, Linka was definitely following the fallen brother's footsteps, having done both heroic and unnecessary deeds while fighting a new foe. Lily was quick to show gratitude for both the efforts of Linka and Lupa to be there and end the menace, who proved to be more powerful than any past fiend the Louds have encountered and fought during and after Lisa's era. "If it wasn't for her, or Lupa, we wouldn't be here, would we?"
"She left anyway, and we were lucky she came across Lupa. But, yes, she did save us, but there had to be consequences, Lily. Please understand it my way. For us, for you, and your child. This is who we're doing it for, and Linka knows it too. She's known it all along."
Linka reset herself back to the window, gazing over the two girls as they turned into receding shadows again in seconds. Like all the past days she had been living here, time felt slowed, delayed. The constant staring at the world outside the cabin seemed forever. Linka was trapped in a depressed, dark corner life reserved just for her, and there was no crawling out of it. No escape. All that was left, and all that she really wanted now, was to die.
And her deathbed would be here. Damned to die alone.
AN: This is one of three chapters, when combined, will tell its own thing within the fic. Expect the other two further along. Sure, it might not make sense right away, but all light will be shed eventually. Just sit back and enjoy the show. Next; a plot to run away from home!