The Girl From the Middle Of Somewhere

Part 4: The Rebirth

15 minutes later, Kinny was still overwhelmed with grief. The tears still streaking from her eyes combined with the sound of loud crying meant that she didn't even notice the small group approaching her until they were right besides her. Slowly she rose to look at the trio. They were an odd bunch. There was a man with brown hair and hard features, dressed in a military outfit of some sorts. His greenish jacket, blue pants and combat boots showed he was ready for action, those, and the ammo belt across his chest and grenades on his belt. The other figure was a woman. Scarred and dressed in an outfit made from various cloths and animal hides, she was quite an impressive sight. Her blonde hair was braided and hung over her right shoulder, framing her determined face. Also, she had a coat which seemed to be made from a bear. The third figure was also a male, but very different from his companion. He donned a hooded poncho, which was decorated with bird feathers. His cold and calculated face was adorned with warpaint. This small but diverse group had one thing in common, which Kinny had noticed immediately: they were heavily armed. In her grief-ridden state, however, the girl could only stare at them with weary and teary eyes, awaiting for a reaction of some kind, anything that could state their business. However, she could not have expected for the man with the poncho to step forward and simply say "You must be Kinny."

Quite shockingly, Kinny was not a bit dazed about the fact that these complete strangers knew her name. "Yes, I am," she responded calmly, before kneeling back to Mars's body. The man sighed. "You have to leave him for now. We need to talk, and this place is unsafe," he stated.

"Shut up. I'm never gonna leave him. I promised, and those kinds of promises are made to keep," Kinny responded quietly. The woman joined in. "Kinny, we know how you feel, but we need to move to cover, or…"

"YOU SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF ANYTHING! I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU, SO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Kinny straight up exploded. Her face blazing with anger, she stood up to express her wrath on these strangers who tried to take Mars away from her. She was just about to punch the woman, when the man in military gear grabbed her. "Not so fast, kiddo. You need us, whether you know it or not," he told Kinny. "I don't need anybody! Just leave and never come back!", Kinny struck back. The man with the poncho suddenly grabbed both her shoulders and looked her straight to eyes. "You obviously don't want our help, but Mars thought you did. That's why we came. So are we going to talk like civilized people here, or do you want to continue your assault? Believe me, you wouldn't last a second against her.", he told. That silenced Kinny. Her name was one thing, but Mars? Anyone who knew Mars was someone worth listening to. She nodded quietly. "Ok. I assume this is your house? We shall continue there."

"I guess we forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Viktor, this guy here is Strix and that lovely lady is Tyra," explained the man in military clothes. "Call me lovely again and I will cut off your tongue," Tyra threatened. Strix raised his voice. "Could you two be quiet for a little bit? Kinny has had a horrible day, and we need to keep this quick so we can get a move on," he said, nodding at the girl slumped against the corner in the living room they had ended up in. Kinny's gaze was unfocused and distant, but she nodded, claiming to be listening. Strix cleared his throat. "As we were saying, Mars sent us the letter as soon as the attack started. I think he had anticipated that something like this would happen ever since you came to live with him. I'm quite sure he himself didn't even know why, but that's how we were trained. "We? Who exactly are "We"?", Kinny rose her head in interest. "The Special Guard of the Kingdom. Mars probably never told you about his past. He was pretty closed up, even back then. Well, anyway, he was a part of the unit during the war, and we were his squadmates. We were given all the most dangerous missions, which required both special expertise and soldiers willing to give their life for the Kingdom. Our unit was one of the longest operational units in the whole army, and it took a toll on all of us, especially Mars. After he had served, he retired to Easthaven, and we only heard of him rarely. The rest of us returned to normal duties soon after," Strix explained. Kinny wasn't surprised. She had anticipated something like that, and the big revelation didn't shock her much. "But how does this relate to what happened?", she questioned. Viktor continued. "It doesn't, directly, but Mars had told us to leave immediately to Easthaven if we got his emergency letter, because that meant that you were in danger. And yes, he told us about you. It was one of his last letters. He told all about how you had appeared in the fountain and been entrusted to him, and that he had certain doubts about your origin. Didn't tell us what, but he told us to be ready at a moment's notice if we got the call. He was a capable man, and everything which required him to call for backup is not something to be taken lightly." The explanation only made Kinny hungry for more. "But who were those attackers? What did they want with us?" "They probably had nothing against the village," Tyra cut in, "But they had something to do with you. Nothing else would have gotten Mars to send the letter. And it's a miracle they didn't find you. Maybe they didn't have the brains to look under the rubble. As to who they were, they were an army called The Decimators, led by a woman who goes by the name of Baroness. Not much is known about her, only that she is meddling with dark forces and is responsible for The Decimators. Also, apparently she has had twenty-seven marriages. Talk about a busy woman." "I did hear them saying something about a girl they needed to capture," Kinny remembered. Tyra nodded. "Then it's confirmed that they were searching for you. Of course, it could have been someone else, but considering your mysterious past, it's likely to be you." "There was also a woman dressed in purple clothes giving orders to those men. Was she the Baroness?", Kinny asked. The group looked at each other, pondering. Finally Viktor spoke again. "Doesn't match any of the descriptions we have heard of her, and we have heard a lot. Disrupting Decimator operations was one of our larger tasks during the war, so we do have quite a bit of history with the group. The woman you saw was probably one of her liutenants. It's hard to get news without proper spies, but we have heard that the Baroness has hired some kind of an assassin to her army. That might have been her. By the looks of Mars's body, he might have been personally killed by her, which makes the rumours true."

Kinny felt new kind of anger building up. Thirst for revenge. She wanted to see the Baroness and the unknown assassin fall. No, she wanted to kill them herself. She knew that these thoughts were quite unusual for a 10-year-old, but she couldn't have cared less. She wasn't a simple child anymore. Her life had changed from the moment the army had appeared from behind the hills, and things like revenge and killing now felt completely acceptable to her. Fists clenched, she asked the group the final question which had been nagging at her mind ever since she noticed that her adoptive father was dead. "So, what happens now?", Kinny questioned. Strix exhanged more glances with his companions, before turning around and asnwering. "Well, it's clear that you can't just return to your old life. Try to stay calm when I say this, but your town is destroyed and your guardian is dead (A few tears escaped Kinny's eyes.) so you cannot stay here. The Decimators might still be searching the area in case you escaped, so it's just a matter of time before they discover you. The only option we see now is that you'll come with us to the Capital, and try to continue your life there. And don't even think about going anywhere alone. Mars made it clear that if something were to happen to him, one of us would be responsible for you. Got it?" Kinny nodded, but before she could open her mouth, Strix cut her off. "AND we will bury Mars before we leave, if that's what you wanted to know. You'll have time to say goodbye, but we must be swift. Some patrols could spot us any minute now, and their temporary base is probably within a kilometer of so. Are we clear?" Kinny nodded again, this time not trying to ask anything anymore. Past had been handled, for now, and the only thing to look towards was the future. Viktor clapped his hands. "Alright, attention, ladies and gentleman. Seems like we have much to do, so let's get to work!"

While Viktor and Tyra were digging the grave, Strix prepared the body and Kinny seached the nearby unburnt meadows for flower to decorate it with. As she retuned, she saw Mars. He looked a lot like he was sleeping, with no signs of the horrible purple spikes or any other injuries. "Strix must have had a lot of practise in this," she thought to herself as she laid out the prettiest flowers she could find in front of him. Viktor and Tyra came back a bit later, informing the pair that the grave had been dug, and that they had even managed to craft a crude coffin from various planks. After all was said and done, Strix told Kinny to go back to the house and pack everything she wanted to take with her, so that they could leave immediately after the ceremony. She complied, making a run for her former home, hoping to get away from all the painful memories as soon as possible. Once inside, Kinny scanned her room, making an inventory. She needed her spare clothes. Food wasn't necessary, since Tyra claimed that they had good supplies. She grabbed her favorite book, her camping supplies and slingshot. Then her gaze was fixed ontot he blue rock on the table. She had found it from the fields one day when she had been 7 years old. Mars had claimed it to be a crystal, and told Kinny to hold onto it, saying that "One day, it will protect you."

Kinny had always taken all of Mars's advice to heart, and so she had put it on the table, remembering to dust it every time some grit appeared on top of it. Now it reminded her of Mars more than anything else she owned, even more so than the slingshot. And so she stored the crystal to the back pocket of her backpack. Taking one lasts look around the house she had grown up in, and would never return to, Kinny dashed out of the door, slamming it behind her as she had done so many times when running away from Mars. Now, instead, she was running away from past.

Outside, the others had been busy. Mars's body had been carried next to the newly-dug grave and put into the coffin. Viktor had carved a tombstone out of a spare stone slab. It read "Mars. A friend, a soldier, a protector. Bane of the black-hearted, father of Kinny. Kinny wanted to object at the "Father of Kinny"-bit, but decided against it. Now, if ever, was the time to admit Mars as her father. The small group, three adults, one child, gathered around the coffin, staring at their friend, silently. "Shouldn't we be saying something," Kinny whispered, holding back more tears. "Mars was never one for long talks. If he wanted something to be said, it would probably have been from you," Tyra whispered back. Kinny swallowed her grief, and stepped forward. "Well, here we are, old man. Wouldn't have made it without you. And yes, I do believe you. I know that you are around here somewhere, watching, hoping for me to make some stupid mistake so you can gloat about it to the whole village. Never changing, eh? But we have to go now. Goodbye, Mars. Well, actually, goodbye, dad." During the last words, Kinny burst into tears, collapsing to the ground. Tyra rushed to comfort her, while Strix and Viktor put the lid of the coffin in its place and lowered it into the ground. Kinny's cries grew louder when they started to shovel dirt back on top of it, until Mars's final resting place was hidden from plain sight. The group grabbed their belongings and started to tow the weeping Kinny towards the main road of the former village. Viktor whistled, which summoned 3 horses from the woods. They got on, Kinny going behind Strix, hugging his waist tightly, but obviously starting to calm down. And so, the group started to make their way towards the Capital, the greatest city in the Kingdom, and a new beginning for Kinny.

Before they could leave the gate, however, Strix stopped the horses. He then turned to Kinny. "Hey kid, what's your full name?", he asked. Kinny looked confused. "Kinny Nessa Darkstalker. Why do you ask?" "Well, with The Decimators hunting you down, you really can't use your old name anymore. And since new names are quite easy to come up with from your old one…", Strix explained, but Kinny cut him off. "Yeah, I get it." Kinny thought about it for many minutes. She wasn't the little girl who had grown up in Easthaven anymore. She wasn't the daughter of Mars, or the one person who had defeated him in a pointless slingshot competition. No, she was a blank canvas, on which a skilled artist could paint the perfect picture. And she knew what kind of picture se wanted it to be. But all masterpieces need a name.

"Kinessa. From now on, I shall be known as Kinessa."

End of Act 1.