You Made It Through

Sarah: What is a rouges village?

Cinco: I don't blame you for not knowing since you are so young.

Sarah: That didn't answer my question at all.

Cinco: It is a place where rouges and families of rouges congregate and make a village.

Sarah: What are rouges?

Sarah can feel Cinco smile under his scarf.

Cinco: Rouges are people who constantly oppose Break Point. So, for instance, you oppose Break Point. You escaped from there after all.

Sarah: I am not interested in being a rouge.

Cinco: Well, you don't have a choice in the matter at all now. You escaped from them. In their eyes, you are now a dirty rouge. To them, you are lower than dirt. They will spend their time hunting you down. And if they catch up to you, they will either kill you or bring you back in.

Sarah: I know that. Kyle made sure I knew what I was doing before we left that place. I didn't care though. I would rather be hunted for the rest of my life than go back to Break Point.

Cinco: What a depressing way for a child your age to think.

Sarah: It is the truth.

Cinco: I know, you do not strike me as the lying type.

Sarah looks back at Gio with Rachel still watching Cinco. She notices the light blue clothes that Gio has on. Seeing this makes her look down at her clothing and makes her see that she is also wearing the same clothes that Gio is wearing.

Sarah: What happened to my clothes?

Cinco: Are you just now noticing them? You aren't too observant, are you?

Sarah: Shut up and answer my question.

Cinco: We destroyed that hideous piece of clothing that Break Point gives you the moment we brought you into this village.

Sarah's face drops as she then realizes that her stuffed toy was inside of her one piece.

Sarah: WHAT DO YOU MEAN DESTROY IT?!

Rachel steps forward and gets down on its hands and knees. Sarah reaches forward and grabs Cinco's coat by the collar. She then starts to shake him violently.

Sarah: WHAT DO YOU MEAN DESTROY THEM?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN ASK US ABOUT IT FIRST! I HAD SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO ME IN THERE YOU DUMBASS! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT PEOPLE COULD STORE THINGS IN THEIR CLOTHES, DID YOU?! HOW COULD YOU?!

Cinco: How about you calm down and-

Sarah: DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOU-

Sarah feels a sharp pain go through both of her arms. The pain makes her let go of Cinco and her arms go limp. Sarah's eyes start to water. However, it is not because of the pain in her arms. The love she had for the stuffed toy was built over years of hardship. She had the toy since she was born. It was always with her. It was always there. For Sarah, it was as if the doll was a living breathing thing that has been there for her since the beginning.

Cinco looks to look at Sarah. He also looks at Rachel. Rachel's golden strings begin to become undone, and she starts to unravel. Sarah covers her eyes with her hands and starts to cry. Cinco sighs and rubs his eyes.

Cinco: You are too emotional.

Sarah: What?

Cinco: You jump to conclusions, you aren't observant, you're impatient, you clearly think with only emotions, you don't seem to be the brightest, and you are dependent too much on people and things too. And the fact that that isn't even all of the weaknesses that I have seen from you these past 7 minutes of us meeting each other is really sad.

Sarah takes her hands away from her eyes and looks at Cinco. Her eyes have become redder from the tears and veins appear across her face. Rachel begins to get up and Sarah gets off of Rachels back. Cinco crosses his arms and simply just watches. Rachel rises and points its claws at Cinco.

Sarah: What did you say?

Cinco: Depending on your reaction I am pretty sure you heard me.

Sarah clenches her fist. This blinding rage combined with the fact that she didn't know or trust Cinco at all was blinding her better judgment. She couldn't think straight. She didn't trust anything or anyone. The only person she could trust, the only person that could calm her down was Kyle. However, she had no idea where he was. There was an overwhelming nausea that she was feeling. Rachel begins to grow bigger in size and multiple metal blades start to come out of different places on its body.

Cinco: So, this is what you resort to when someone points out your flaws? How do you ever expect to live in this world?

Cinco sighs and begins to walk towards the door. He reaches for the doorknob and Rachel moves forward. Rachel tries to cut off his arm until Sarah hears the sound of breaking wood. When she looked at Rachel, she saw that it was wrapped up in black chains. The chains were cutting off its movements entirely. Sarah wondered what it was that was able to hold Rachel back. Sarah felt a cold presence behind her and turned around. She turns around and the first thing she saw was her toy, Rachel. It was exactly the way she left it dirty, old, and ugly. It was perfect.

Sarah grabs Rachel immediately and hugs it. She bends down with tears rolling down her face.

Sarah: Thank goodness. Thank you.

???: Of course.

The voice surprises Sarah. She looks up and sees a man with black armor covering everything below his head. The armor appeared to be rocky and sharp. With the armor covering his body like that Sarah wondered just how heavy the armor was. The man was also wearing a mask. The mask was white with a streak of purple going from the top right of the mask to the bottom left.

???: You are strong, but unfortunately, everything that Cinco said is true. You have a lot of Ora for your age though. It was very surprising.

Sarah: Who are you?

Lionel: My name is Lionel. I am the caretaker of this village. Why don't we all just calm down and take a breather? Sarah, how about we go get some fresh air? And Cinco isn't it about time you get back to shoveling?

Cinco: Is my break over already?

Lionel: I never even agreed to give you a break.

Cinco: I don't even know why we bother. people like you can have it done in seconds.

Lionel: Yes, but trust me when I say that-

Cinco: "-It will feel a lot better because you worked for what you wanted." I honestly grow tired of your "wisdom" sometimes master.

Lionel: Noted.

Cinco walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Lionel looks down at Sarah. Sarah finds Lionel a bit creepy and makes sure Rachel is ready in case he tries anything. Although deep down she knew that even if Rachel did try that wouldn't stop the man.

Sarah: Where is Kyle?

Lionel: ... Let's go for a walk.

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Sarah is standing in front of a wooden door. For some reason she is afraid. She hugs Rachel tightly and breaths heavily. She is now wearing a pink winter coat.

Lionel: Are you okay? Do you need some time?

Sarah: No, I am fine.

Lionel opens the door and begins to walk through it until Sarah grabs his hand. Lionel turns around and looks at Sarah. Sarah realizes what she has done and pulls her arm back.

Sarah: Sorry force of habit.

Lionel: There is nothing wrong with being scared.

Sarah: What?

Lionel: Understand that fear is but a natural companion on the path of mastery. It is not weakness, nor does it define your worth or potential. In fact, it is a testament to your courage and the challenges you dare to face. Embrace your fear, acknowledge its presence, and let it fuel your determination. For it is in the face of fear that true growth and transformation occur. Remember, the greatest warriors are not those who are devoid of fear, but those who forge ahead despite its haunting whispers. So, embrace your fear and let it be the catalyst that propels you towards greatness. You have not seen the outside in a great while so I understand why you would be scared. However, you must not let it control you. Overcome and grow from all of your fears. And just so you know fears are much easier to face when you have someone by your side.

Lionel extends his hand waiting to see if Sarah will take it. Sarah takes his hand, and a small smile appears on her face. Lionel and Sarah walk through the door. Cold winter air hits Sarah's face as she closes her eyes. She slowly begins to open her eyes and looks what is in front of her. They were standing on a wooden porch. Lionel and Sarah walk down the stairs of the porch. In front of Sarah was a row of six houses down. To Sarah's left there was a set of huge doors that were black. Above the doors was the word "entrance" spray painted on. To Sarah's right was a giant house that had a beam of white light coming from the top. There was a main dirt path from the set of black doors to the giant house with a beam of light coming from it. There were also dirt paths from each house that led to the main road. She also saw that the house she came out of was also in a row of six houses. 

Lionel: Lets go.

Lionel tries to move forward but he feels himself being anchored down by Sarah. He turns to see what is wrong and sees that Sarah isn't moving. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't talking, she was just breathing.

Lionel: ... 

She doesn't want to move from this moment. She just wants to take everything in. She hears the wind, smells the dirt, feels the cold. 

Sarah: This feeling ... I took it for granted before. I will never take it for granted again. 

Lionel: Sarah?

Sarah: I am sorry. I am ready to go.

Lionel: I don't think you are.

Sarah: What are you talking about?

Everything then started to go blurry for Sarah. She then raises her hand to her eyes and wipes them.

Sarah: Tears?

Sarah then takes the sleeve of her coat and wipes her eyes. However, that doesn't stop the tears. She takes her other sleeve and tries to wipe her eyes faster.

Sarah: They won't stop coming.

Sarah's voice wavered and her face changed into one of sorrow. She tried to hold them back, to stop them but she couldn't. 

Lionel: I know... but they don't need to stop coming out though. Take your time I will be here when you are done.

It is at this moment where Sarah looks for Rachel. It is also when she notices that Rachel was nowhere to be seen. How long has Rachel been gone? When did Sarah dismiss it? No ... none of that matter right now. Sarah turned back to Lionel and ran to him and jump into his arms. It was weird to Sarah. Even though it appeared that his armor was made out of rock his embrace felt warm and soft. The reminded her of a simpler time in her life. Sarah's breathing began to get heavier as she now began to let out the tears she was holding back. She hugged Lionel tighter the more she cried. It felt strange with Lionel she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt safe.

Lionel: Yes, Sarah ... I am glad you were strong enough to make it out of there too. You are so strong. You were so brave. I am so proud of all of you.