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were sincere. “Terra,” he said, “I can protect you from the
Empire…please let me.” He reached his hand up towards her, knowing
that all she had to do was squeeze and he would be no longer of
this realm (she knew it too), but then she would be all alone and
that scared the both of them. She lowered the gun but didn’t fully
let her guard down, “Tell me,” she whispered, as to not arouse
suspicion because she could hear movement in the center of town and
faint discussion of a malicious nature. “What do you want to know?”
said Locke as he looked into her eyes. “What do they want from me?”
“Your powers to use for their own corrupt plans of holding the
entire continent prisoner. Then, when they’ve finished with you…”
Terra looked into Locke’s dark brown eyes and saw only truth inside
them, “Then…?” “They’ll dispose of you like a piece of wood that
wont burn.” Locke began to rise to his feet, no longer feeling a
risk of being shot by Terra, he knew that she knew that she needed
him and that he was of no threat to her. He stood there looking
into her eyes, eyes filled with dread and fear, he wanted to hold
her just in an attempt to give her ease, but didn’t and simply
walked past her. “Can we go now? Smith will tell you more when we
get to HQ,” said Locke turning his head to look at her. Terra was
staring down at her shoes, then raised her head and nodded an
affirming yes. “Who’s Smith?”
    Locke and Terra stealthily
traversed through the tight corridors and beneath the crawl space
of the shack until they could see the western tunnel of Sangrohl; a
tunnel short enough that they could see the light peeking through
from the other side. However, two imperials were blocking their
access. Locke leaned back behind the wall that was concealing their
presence and began to think as the imperials stood around the
corner. Terra stood there gripping her gun, “Locke!” she whispered,
“Here, just shoot em.” “That would be very stupid, the sound of the
discharge would echo through the town. Hell, the old couple living
on the top of that mountain would hear it. Think before you act,
Terra,” he said sternly and quite rudely for that matter. She
sneered and leaned her back against the wall, waiting for him to
come up with something. He turned toward her in an attempt to
apologize for his arrogance, but before the words were spoken he
noticed a change in her appearance. “What happened to your
scratch?” said Locke as he noticed that the large cut that had once
lain below her left eye last night was now gone and only a smidge
of dried blood remained in its absence. “Oh,” she said rubbing her
cheek, “I heal incredibly fast. Heh.” He gave her a look that
said I’m not stupid! “Locke,” whispered a choppy voice from several feet away.
Locke and Terra looked around in all directions. Terra elbowed
Locke and pointed to a house adjacent to them where an elderly
woman in a wheelchair slightly waved. “Old Mag,” said Locke
explaining to Terra as he waved Old Mag over. “Who?” said Terra
into Locke’s ear. “Just be quiet and follow my lead.”
“Kay.”
    Old Mag’s physical
appearance made it appear as if she was the one that tried to eat
Hansel and Gretal with her pointy nose, bony fingers, and wrinkles
that seemed to be inside of wrinkles. The elderly disgusted Terra.
She was glad that she didn’t have to see her mother like this: ugly
and helpless. Old Mag rolled herself in front of Locke with her
rusted, squeaky chair. Upon her approach Locke leaned down to
whisper with her; Terra couldn’t hear a word, but they obviously
were good acquaintances. “Good luck,” said Old Mag as they hugged
each other tightly. Then she did a quarter turn, nodding at Terra
as she made her way toward the imperial guards. Locke gripped
Terra’s hand tight and said, “Get ready to run…quietly.” She nodded
affirmingly and got in a sprinter’s mark. They watched as Old