2. A Legend
"Can we take a break? I'm tired." Said Ambrose sounding completely exhausted. "I'm a scientist, were not made to walk this much"
"Just a little longer," replied Cain, leading the group through dense woods. "Besides we've only been walking for 10 minutes."
"10! That's even longer than I thought!" exclaimed Ambrose.
"Dad," started Jeb in a hushed tone walking closer to the tin man. "Maybe we should find shelter. We don't want to run into her."
"Her?" asked Dg from behind. "Who's her?"
"No one really knows her name." Answered Cain, shooting a glance at Jeb. "Legend has it that a young girl has been hiding out in these woods for about 15 years."
"What's so bad about her? Why wouldn't we want to run into her?" Dg pressed.
"She's a killer." Cain said simply. "Been killing long coats for years."
"But isn't that a good thing? Killing the bad guys?"
"Well usually, but we don't know anything about her. How she going to survive now that the long coats are being caught and/or killed by tin men? How did she survive this long? It's best just to steer clear of her."
"But don't worry princess, we run into any trouble, you'll be well protected" Jeb called over his shoulder, flashing an award winning smile.
"Who were those men back in the woods?" asked Ambrose, apparently made uncomfortable by the lack of talking after only a moment.
"Long coats." Answered Raw gravely. "Renegades."
Cain nodded.
"But how is that possible? I thought they were all being taken care of." Asked Dg, both stunned and a little frightened by the sudden news.
"It's only been about 6 months. We couldn't hope to find them all in such little time. It'll take years probably." Said Jeb in his usual uncensored manner.
"But with us stumbling onto their new location, it won't be long." Reassured Julia who had been uncharacteristically quiet since the accident; Cain had guessed that her head injury, though almost fully healed, had taken most of her strength.
"How you holding up?" Asked Cain in a more private tone, sensing the strain in her voice.
"I'm fine." Julia said grimacing. "Just have a headache. You hear that?"
Cain nodded and reached for his gun. Just then, a man dressed in a long, black, muddy coat stepped form behind a tree, followed by about 20 others dressed the same.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Mr. Cain." Said the seemingly long coat in charge. "Wouldn't want anyone hurt would we?" he pointed his own gun at Dg and Cain froze. "That a boy. Chain 'em up!" he called to the others.
Within minutes the group was shackled and kneeling in a straight line being studied by the head long coat.
He stopped in front of Dg. "Pretty little thing aren't you?" he said stroking her hair with gloved fingers.
"Get your hands off of me!" snapped Dg. Her retaliation was rewarded with an evil looking smirk as he slapped her across the face.
Cain and Jeb both struggled against their restraints but to no avail.
"You okay Dg?" whispered Ambrose.
Dg nodded.
"What do you want?" Cain asked through a clenched jaw.
"Why, nothing at all Mr. Cain. If you recall, you stumbled onto our little camp. One of them anyway; you see there are several." Told the leading long coat.
"How do you know my name?"
"Why, I now all your names. You see, you are very famous people. Let's see, we have the recently re-brained genius, Mr. Ambrose; the lovely younger princess Dg;" said the long coat walking down the line of prisoners. "The sensitive viewer Raw; the proud new comer Julia; the young, lost and found Jeb; and then there's you, Mr. Cain. The newly re-instated Tin Man of the hour, as it were. There is quite the story of your accomplishments," he paused, giving Cain a wicked smile, "and your failures. The greatest of which include a Mrs. Cain, if I'm not mistaken."
Even from where Julia was kneeling, she could see the eyes of the tin man grow bright in rage and sorrow.
"Your newest failure being that of simply going to the city for supplies," he continued, "Tsk tsk Mr. Cain; you cant seem to get anything right can you?"
"He managed to kick your sorry butts the first time around." Julia said in Cain's defense. She couldn't stand to see him not stand up for himself. In fact, it bothered her to see anyone put him down like that, though she didn't yet know why. But that was question for a better time.
Suddenly Julia saw a quick figure in black drop soundlessly from a low branch of a tree, snap the neck of a nearby long coat, and carry him back up the tree in a seemingly effortless manner. It had to be her.
"How do you know all that?" asked Cain, drawing attention purposely back to himself. He must have seen it too.
"Believe it or not, Zero speaks of you frequently," said the leader with a twinkle of menace in his eye.
Cain's face fell.
"How?" was all he managed to say.
"How did he get free? We were told he had been found where left in the metal suit months ago." Picked up Julia, as the small figure took the life of another long coat and drug him up another tree.
"Oh he was found, by one of his men pretending to be one of the queen's guards. Quite clever, actually. I believe he was made Zero's second-hand man soon after." The long coat answered. Just then there was a noise as a long coat twisted a foot in the fallen leaves before disappearing into the branches.
"What's your name?" Ambrose blurted out. "You know our names. It's only fair we know yours." He finished with a nervous smile.
"Call me Len." answered the long coat.
"There's just one thing I don't understand." Spoke Dg.
"What's that princess?" asked Len.
"If this was all a coincidence, how did you know where we were headed and why?"
Len just smirked and turned his attention to another long coat.
"Where are Geol and Cale?" he asked.
"They seem to have gone missing, sir; along with Renalds and Collins." Answered the long coat being questioned.
The girl must have taken another victim while their attention was elsewhere, thought Julia. She wondered how the girl moved so quick and silent among the easily disturbed leaves.
Suddenly, the trees high above the camp began to sway. Leaves fell just inches from the prisoners and their guards.
"What the hell is that?" Len asked startled by the sudden movement.
"I have no idea sir, but whatever it is its coming closer." Answered the long coat, staring into the braches.
"Hope its friendly…" whispered Julia.
The rustling noises became loud crashing among the leaves, sending twigs and small sticks down upon those who were now staring in awe and expectancy at the canopy above. Just as it seemed the reason behind the movement was to be revealed, it stopped as suddenly as it began.
"It must've been a couple of animals fighting is all" told Len in a slightly shaky voice after a long pause. "Now then where were we?"
Just then the figure dropped from the tree onto him, stabbing him through the heart with a small dagger. The camp was suddenly engulfed in motion.
Long coats sprang to the defense while others fled. The figure, now clearly a woman, sprang from the body, fighting off the soldiers as though a daily routine. She threw sharp punches, dodged wild stabbings and gunfire in an almost aerobatic way, twirled into hurricane kicks, and landed gracefully with impressive precision. She almost seemed to be enjoying herself.
When the fight was finally over, the young woman stood in a field of over a dozen bodies, breathing heavily with a slight smile across plump lips. She had dark, tangled hair just past her shoulders; her features, though darkened and smudged by dirt, were delicate, and her eyes beamed a bright blue that challenged the sky. She wasn't tall, or overly bulging with muscles, but she had an athletic air about her small frame that made her perfect to fly through thickets of leaves. She wore clothes made of same material the Long Coats wore, but her coat was tighter against her body and cut short so that the bottom hem hung just over the low top of her tight, black leather pants. She wore thin soled shoes, the tops of which were hidden beneath her pant legs.
The group, still shackled on the dirt, could only stare in disbelief. Even Dg, having just learned about the legend, had expected that someone so feared would be quite different. They had all secretly expected someone large and fearsome, with features that held less mystery and depth.
After a moment of composure, Cain cleared his throat, evidently snapping the others, including the mystery before them, out of their own realities.
"Oh, right!" Said the girl, quickly searching for the key to their shackles among the bodies. She found it on the body of Len, which still lay sprawled by the prisoners. After freeing Cain, she slipped the key into his hand and began to search the bodies, collecting anything of use. Once she had found a filled canteen, she tore off the lid and gulped the liquid quickly, tucking it under her arm when she was finished.
After Cain had freed the rest, they stood cautiously watching the forging for food. Cain slowly put a hand on his gun, barley making a sound except that of his sleeve against his coat. The girl drew a previously unseen gun from her side, but did not bother to look up at her target. Cain froze with his hand still on the butt of his gun. After getting no response, she cocked the gun, but held it steady in warning, still proceeding with her search.
"If you had a gun all this time, why didn't you use it in the fight?" asked Cain, still showing the greatest caution, but letting his hand fall from his gun.
"Well I might as well screamed 'Look at me!' while I was at it." The girl responded sarcastically.
"What about after they saw you? They shot at you why didn't you just shoot back?" asked Dg.
"Well then I would just run out of bullets now wouldn't I?" she answered with a biting tone, but returned the gun to its holster. The gang exchanged looks but gave up the fight.
"Are you the wild girl?" Asked Ambrose ignoring the mutterings from the others.
The girl looked up at him and smiled.
"That I am. And I'm guessing you'd be Ambrose? Heard Len talking," she nodded at his body at the use of his name. "Well you all best be on your way." She turned back to the bodies. "Lots to do, foraging and what not."
"Let's go guys," Cain said.
"Wait, we're really lost, and could use some help getting safely back to the palace." Said Dg.
"The palace. So you are royalty then?" the girl looked up again. "Well my greatest apologies princess," she gave a mock bow, "but I don't go the way your going."
"Just because you live out here, doesn't necessarily mean were completely different."
"No I mean I literally don't go into the woods you'd need to pass through. But now that you brought it up, yes, we are opposites."
"You don't know us, how do you know we don't have anything in common?" asked Dg.
"You don't know me, how do know we do?" countered the girl. "Look, if you haven't heard, I don't like people. Not a people person. But I hear living in the woods for 15 years will do that to you." She pointed north, "Head north, you'll find your way."
"We don't have a compass," Dg said.
The girl tossed one to her.
"Courtesy of… what ever this guy's name is."
"You can't just take things off a dead body!" exclaimed Ambrose. "It's just not right."
"And what may I ask, are they going to use it for?" the girl said matter-of-factly.
"Princess, we should go. She obviously doesn't want our help." Cain said in a low voice.
"We can't just leave her here. Besides, were the ones that need her help. We'll never find our way with you two." Said Dg shooting looks and Cain and Julia.
"I don't trust her." said Cain. He turned to Raw, "What do you think?"
"Girl sad; lonely," Raw responded. "Lost."
"If she's lost, how is she supposed to help us?" Asked Ambrose.
"She's not literally lost, but more like internally," explained Dg gently. "Besides," she turned to Cain, "isn't it you who said 'if don't have heart you have nothing'?"
Cain looked thoughtful for a moment, and then turned around only to see that the girl was gone. They looked around for moment, not sure where she had gone to that quickly. She dropped from a tree having hid her findings.
"What?" the girl asked noticing the surprise on the others faces.
"How did you get up there so fast?" asked Jeb.
"It's easy when you get the hang of it. Not falling out when you sleep is another story." She answered with a small laugh.
"You sleep up there?" Julia asked with surprise. She had heard rumors of this girl all her life, she had never even considered the possibility there was truth behind them.
"Sleep, eat, climb; less predators higher up. What's with all the questions?"
"We've all heard stories of you," Julia began
"But some of us weren't sure what was true, and what was rumor," continued Cain.
"Or if you even if you really existed." Finished Jeb.
The girl cocked her head to the side for a moment, and furrowed her brow.
"Weird," said the wild girl thoughtfully, "how you all finished the same sentence" she shrugged and turned back to the bodies.
"The more she talks," said Julia under her breath, "the less stable I think she is."
"Heard that," called the wild girl from the other side of the field.
"We could really use her around, Cain." Stated Dg.
"Fine, ask her if she wants to come. But I doubt she will. And get a name while you're at it." Cain said giving in.
"Come with us, please?" called Dg.
The girl came back to the group.
"You don't give up do you?" asked the girl of Dg.
"Nope," Dg answered simply.
"You're not going to pull any of that 'order' stuff are you? Because out here, orders don't really count; the only thing that really does is survival."
"Exactly, and we need your help to survive."
"Princess, we'll get you out of here whether wild child here helps or not." Julia said.
"You're a cop aren't you?" the girl asked sounding bored.
"How do you know?" Julia asked trying to remember if Len had said anything.
"Well one, I know he's a cop," answered the girl nodding at Cain, "and you two are dressed alike. So it was either that you both work as cops, or you're some weird couple with to much time on your hands. Also," she gave a childish smile "your pride is showing."
Julia turned red in embarrassment and anger as Cain suppressed a laugh.
"You coming with us or not?" Julia asked coldly.
"Not," answered the girl.
"Let's just go Dg, she's not going to help us." prompted Ambrose. He started off as the others just watched in curiosity.
"He's just going to keep going isn't he?" asked the girl.
"Yup." Answered Cain.
"Does he know you're not behind him?"
"Probably not."
"Ambrose! Where are you going?" called Jeb.
"North," Ambrose yelled over his shoulder.
"North is that way." Jeb pointed in the opposite direction Ambrose was heading. Julia closed her eyes and shook her head, Cain rolled his eyes, Dg started to laugh, and Jeb and Raw simply watched astounded.
"He do that a lot?" asked the girl with a smile.
"Pretty much, yeah," answered Dg as Ambrose joined them once again.
"Come with us." Said Julia thoughtfully, catching a look from Cain. "What? We need her help, even you know that."
"We'd appreciate it, if you came with us, for a bit at least," said Cain hesitantly.
Seeming conflicted, the girl looked from one face to another, making eye contact with each. She paused when her eyes met Ambrose's and half smiled.
"Count me in." she told Cain resolutely. "But we should make camp here tonight; it's going to get dark soon." She disappeared into the large tree by her side and returned moments later with blankets of leather and animal skins, handed them to Cain and slipped back into the tree. "I'll take first watch." she called down.
"Any food or water?" yelled Ambrose into the branches. His request was answered by three canteens and enough packaged food to last the night falling from the tree. "Thanks!"
"I wonder what her name is…" said Ambrose after dark had fallen. Everyone had fallen asleep except him, Cain, and the girl whose silhouette was barley visible through the trees in the bright moon light.
"Well, there will be plenty of time to ask tomorrow; you should get some sleep." replied Cain. "I'm going to stay up for a while."
"What do you think her story is? Why she's out here I mean." Said Ambrose thoughtfully; ignoring Cain.
"Go to sleep."
"Fine," pouted Ambrose; but before he lay down, he allowed himself one last wondering glance into the treetops. "Goodnight mystery girl." He whispered before curling up under an animal hide and quickly falling asleep.