The Girl From The Middle Of Somewhere
Part 3: Tears
"Really? Both?"
"Of course! This is a day worth celebrating. So why not?"
"Well, whatever you say..."
Kinny couldn't pick, so she had decided to take both strawberry and chocolate ice cream. And due to the circumstances, Mars was forced to agree on the matter.
"But still, how did you manage that last shot? It was basically gone already, and then you just hit it like it's nothing," asked Mars. Kinny pondered this for a moment. "I'm not really sure," she finally said. "I don't remember much of it. At the last moment I just somehow realized that it was possible. Does that sound weird? Because it sure does to me."
"Well, if it's that hard to explain, then why don't we just blame good luck for it?", Mars asked with a snarky smile. "Do not even think about it! I beat you fair and square, and you owe me an ice cream, with both strawberry and chocolate in it," Kinny burst out and pouted her lips in frustration.
"Well, whatever you say, kiddo. But I'm still gonna get my revenge next week."
"Well, if it isn't Kinny, The Girl From The Middle of Somewhere. Haven't seen you around here in a while. Old man still giving you a beating?", aked the man at the ice cream place.
"Just so you know, Robert, I won today, and now he has to buy me both of my favorites," Kinny announced proudly. "Both? Jeez, Mars, how badly did she beat you? Has the pupil finally beat the master? Do we have a warrior princess underway?", Robert wondered. Mars shrugged. "Maybe some day, but today it was mostly luck. But a promise is a promise." "It wasn't luck, and you know it! Just wait until we get home, then I'm gonna take you on again, and invite the whole village to watch! Let's see how well you can lose your face, LOSER!" Her outburst turned a few heads at their direction, but most of the townfolk had already got used to Kinny's occasional fiery temper. "Calm your head, young lady," Robert said coolly. "I believe you, and you'll get your ice cream. Ok? Just don't beat up your old man any further, or he's not gonna get up again."
Still fuming, Kinny walked with Mars to their usual table. She promptly tried to steal Mar's chair for her plate, but was visibly calmed down, so he just moved it in front of her and sat down. While observing his daughter swallow down her huge dish, (Mars had no idea how the girl was stuffing it all in) his mind returned to the earlier events. "Really, what did she do?", Mars pondered. "Could it have been magic? Is Kinny a natural mage? No, can't be. That same warlock who tested her age also stated that she had no potential for arcane powers. Then what? She can't explain it herself, and I've never seen anything like that." Mars was awakened from his thoughts by the sound of Kinny snapping her fingers.
"Hello? Anyone home? Are you gonna sit there daydreaming all evening, or can we move on?"
Mars was astounded. It had barely been 7 minutes, during which Kinny had emptied the whole plate. That girl had the sweet tooth of a mammoth. "Did you really eat all that? Are you sure you just didn't drop some for the dogs? "Well, order another one, and I'll prove it to you," she suggested. "Oh no, you're not having any sweets for a week after that performance," Mars replied. Kinny shrugged. "Well, the you should consider hiding the cookie jar better. Week 22. It's in the cupboard today, isn't it?
Mars made a mental note to keep a better eye on his daughter.
The trip home was quiet for the pair. Mars had fallen deep into his thoughts, while Kinny was feeling a bit sick from the huge amount of ice cream she had eaten, despite insisting on otherwise. Besides that, her spirits were high. The day had been going perfectly. With Mars defeated, she could dedicate even more time to honing her skills, until she would be unstoppable! Being unstoppable with a slingshot might not be the highest ranking position in the world, but hey, let the kid dream. Mars, however, didn't seem to sense Kinny's enthusiasm. He had been searching his memories the entire day, trying to recall anything which might have explained Kinny's sudden "burst" of expertise. And so his thoughts wandered to the letter hidden in the secret compartment in his desk. "S might be able to explain it, or atleast give some guidance," he thought. "But I haven't seen or spoken to the old gang for years, so better not to bother them with a simple matter such as this. The answer will probably come to us eventually." That was the moment when Kinny decided that thinking should stop for a moment. And this decision made itself known as a hit directed at Mars's elbow. "OW!", he screamed as the girl's small but surprisingly sturdy fist connected. "What was that for?" "For ignoring me when I should be the star of the day, of course!", Kinny said. "Now come on, I heard that Ralph caught a real bear today, and I wanna see it!" Before Mars even understood exactly what she was talking about, Kinny had sprinted to the end of the road. "Some of these days, we're gonna have a talk about the value of patience," Mars growled and started to make his way to the same direction.
It was infact a real bear. Full-grown and furious at being caged and brought for the whole village to gawk at. "Woah, look at that, that must be the biggest bear ever!", Mars heard Kinny's excited squeal from the middle of the mob that had gathered around the cage. "World's biggest bear?", he mumbled. "T would laugh her braid loose if she heard that." "Did you say something?", Kinny's voice suddenly appeared beside him. Mars hadn't even noticed how quickly the girl had flanked the group. "Who's T? Is she familiar with bears? Why haven't you told about her before?", she bombarded him with questions. "Not important, just someone I used to know, and I don't want to talk about it," Mars responded a bit too swiftly. "Ok then...", Kinny fell back, obviously disappointed. "But I do know that you have had some kinds of friends in the past. And someday you're gonna tell me about them!", she continued her assault. Mars sighed. "Maybe one day, but at the moment you don't need to know about that. Didn't you come here to see a furious bear?" "Oh yeah, come take a closer look. It looks like it wants to rip us to shreds!", Kinny said with enthusiasm uncharacteristic for her age.
So of course it was that moment that the bear decided to calm down. Well, calm down doesn't really describe the fact that the bear suddenly became deathly quiet and retreated further into its cage, wailing quietly. "Well, that was disappointing," Kinny described the event. "Why isn't it scary and furious anymore? Nobody wants to see a quiet bear!", she rambled on, not noticing that every other person was just as quiet as the bear was, shocked by the sudden change in its behaviour. Mars felt a cold chill run down his spine. Not really knowing why, he grabbed Kinny started to walk towards home. His senses told him that something was wrong, but they couldn't really tell what. "Well, ok, let's just go. We've already seen everything important.", Kinny admitted. "Besides, we're not gonna let some stupid bear ruin this perfect day, eh Mars?"
And that's when things went down.
ALERT! ALERT! 4TH WALL BREAK INCOMING!
The author looked at his text for a moment. Then he proceeded to shoot himself for all the clichés he had used.
4TH WALL BREAK ENDING, RETURNING TO THE STORY!
Catastrophe is not usually hard to spot coming. In this case, it manifested itself as hundreds of black figures amidst burning fires which appeared on top of the hills surrounding Easthaven. Nobody could even scream "Oh shoot, those look like bad guys!", when large balls of fire erupted from somewhere behind the hills, apparently thrown by some kind of machines. The fireballs impacted in and around the village, causing massive explosions and lighting multiple fires. Noises of the panic started immediately, as the people of the peaceful town experienced something new: they were under attack. From the hills, another figure emerged. This one was not clad in black, but instead purple. It seemed female. The fact which was confirmed, as a powerful yet also graceful female voice sounded over the hills: "Okay boys, you know why we're here! Remember: The girl is the target. Casualties are completely acceptable. Just remember to bring her alive, or else this was all for nothing, and I will decapitate you myself!"
At that moment, something also changed about Mars. His gaze hardened; his stance tightened, as he mumbled out loud: "Gods, NOW I understand…". Then he proceeded to drag his daughter up the hill towards their house. Shocked Kinny didn't even object, not knowing how to handle the situation. As screams of panic she had never heard in her hometown filled the air, she started to tremble. "Mars! What's happening,? Who are they? Why are they doing this?", She cried out loud. Mars didn't seem to hear. He rushed to the desk in the corner of their living room. he tore open the secret compartment, grabbed the letter and handed it to Kinny. "Run this to the pidgeon tower. Give this to Swoop, and come back as fast as you can. RIGHT. NOW.", Mars hardened his words as he spotted defiance in the girl's eyes. Kinny nodded, grabbed the letter and made a run for it to the pidgeon tower nearby. "So, it has come to this again," he thought out loud.
Kinny was back in under a minute. "I gave the letter to Swoop, and he just left without even asking for seeds! Could you explain what all this is? Do you know those attackers? And what is THAT?", she questioned, as Mars pulled out a metallic object, which looked a lot like a gun. Probably because it was. "A gun? Since when did we have a gun? Where did you get it?" Mars could sense that Kinny was at the edge of hysteria, so he quickly rushed to her side. "Listen, kid. For once, be quiet and listen." Mars's gaze could have frozen a forge. "Before you can ask, yes, I was in the Army. No time to tell more. I have kept this rifle, since I always feared that this day might come. The letter you sent summoned help, and they will soon be on their way. So now I'm going to go out and save our fellow villagers. Do you understand?" Kinny nodded, but then seemed to change her mind. "Wait, YOU'RE going to help them? No way, I'm coming too! We'll protect this town together. We will always be together, like we have always been! I won't leave you, and you're not gonna leave me, whatever it takes! Got it?" She was practically shouting now. Mars sighed. "I knew you would react this way. Just as I pretty much knew that this day would come. So I also knew to take precautions. No hard feelings, Kiddo."
Kinny felt a little prick, and immediately started to feel drowsy. She looked, and saw a tiny needle poking out of her shoulder, which she immediately yanked out. But it was too late. "Sedatives," she thought before collapsing, hardly conscious. She somehow knew that the amount of the drug had been carefully measured to match her specific body proportions by someone who knew her really well. That certain someone was now smiling sadly in front of her half-closed eyelids. "Don't you worry about me," Mars told her. "Help is on the way, but I gotta go help our friends. How else are you gonna get to taste Robert's ice cream again? You're a strong girl, and you will thrive. And yes, we will never part ways. One way or another, we will always support eachother. So it has been from the day you came here, and I couldn't have asked for more. You can take on the world. I know you can.
Goodbye, kiddo.
Goodbye, Kinny.
Goobye, my daughter."
The last thing Kinny saw before blacking out on the day her world ended, was Mars disappearing through the doorway into a world full of red and black flames, with a single purple figure far, far away.
7 hours later
She woke up groggily. Kinny had never been a heavy sleeper, but at the moment she felt like not waking up at all, scared of what might happen when her eyes opened. But life won't go on when you're just lying down, so slowly she parted the blackness covering her eyes, and saw the final outcome of the night before.
Easthaven was no more. In its place was a barren, blackened land with burnt-down buildings, scorched fields and incinerated corpses of her fellow villagers. Kinny scanned her surroundings. The house was mostly intact, with no signs of fires, but a small part of the roof had collapsed on top of her, which she could easily push away. Standing up, Kinny felt unfamiliar emptiness, which filled her with dread. The apparent source was the realization that her town and friends were no more. Panic and overwhelming sadness started making their way up her throat, as she walked out of the house which used to be her home. Now, it was not anymore, not when Mars hadn't been there to wish her good morning with a neutral expression. Roof planks had left her with quite a bit of cuts and bruises, but she didn't seem to notice, as she walked out to the unfamiliar world. All building ruined. Trees burnt down. Even her shooting range looked like it had been hit by a meteor. Kinny felt like she was about to burst.
And that's when she saw Mars.
Mars had apparently wanted to come back sometime later to either wake up Kinny or take her somewhere else, but hadn't quite made it. He laying in the middle of the road, on his back, the rifle still in his hand but broken now. However, the most curious thing was that blades or arrows or fire hadn't killed him. Instead, he appeared to be full of some kinds of purple spikes, which had foul-smelling liquid of the same color dripping from them. As soon as Kinny recognised the figure, she made her way towards it and collapsed in front of her adoptive father's remains. Mars, who had taken her in and raised her. Mars, who had taught her how to shoot and work. Mars, who she had to thank for all the positive aspects of her life, who had always been there for her, who had always looked after her, who had been her whole world even more than the village her whole life.
It started raining. But it was different than any other kind of rain Kinny had seen before. It had a salty taste, and it only seemed rain at the spot she was sitting at. With a shocked thought, Kinny realized they were tears. Her tears. Living such a perfect and happy life, Kinny had never had to cry. The last time she had cried was when she had arrived at the village and anyone other than Mars had picked her up, which was a fact she did not remember. But there she was, crying a lifetime of unfamiliar tears in an unfamiliar place in front of Mars's body. Tears which came from her very heart, trying to remove all memories of the worst night of her life through her eyes, her loud sobbing the only noise in the ruins of Easthaven. Every tear she shed seemed to bring two new ones, until the ground in front of her really looked as if a small cloud of bottomless grief sat over it. Because Kinny's world had ended, and nothing else mattered anymore.
"Well, I think this is the place. Seems like we're too late."
"You think? Even a troll could notice that. I don't know why I had to even track them. This seems like an easy trail for anyone."
"Shut up, both. We need to see if anyone is alive."
New voices had emerged at the entrance of Easthaven. One was a male, with slight accent. The other one was a woman, and the third was also a man, but his voice had a gravely serious tone.
"Well, not much we could have done. If only they had lived closer, we would have gotten the message sooner.", said the first man.
"You know very well that Mars gave up on the job long ago, and wanted to live peacefully. He knew the risks, and that they only increased when he took the girl.", the second man snapped back.
"Well, seems like we're too late to save either, let alone anyone else. Shall we just go back, or want to look for non-existent survivors? You know, they never leave any." Continued the first. The female stopped them
"Be quiet! You make more noise than an Eithapian Killer Hamster! I hear something."
They listened. From somewhere far away, they hear loud sobbing. The noise seemed to come from one of the farther farms. It sounded like a girl's voice.
The woman gasped. "A little girl, in one of the most remote places in the village? You thinking what I'm thinking?"
The second male seemed almost amused "Seems like the gods have favoured someone today. Come on, maybe this wasn't all for naught. I think we're about the meet Mars's girl.