The Forge of Life

[Espi]

7-year old Lucy's golden pigtails bobbed merrily as she skipped to school, an idyllic if cliche scene if there ever was one. She wasn't pondering on that though. Lucy was going to 2nd grade for the first time, and she was terribly excited to see her friends and make new ones. She stopped at the bus stop and smiled up at the boy her age who was already standing there with his mom.

He glared down at her, and moved away. She blinked up at him. "What's wrong?" She said, perceiving his displeasure though not it's cause. He made a face at her. "Go away." She blinked again. "Why?" She asked. "Honey..." said his mom. "I said go away. I don't like you." He took another step away from her, and sat down on the curb. "Dylan!" the mom snapped. "Don't talk that way to other kids." She looked back at Lucy. "I'm sorry sweetie, he just doesn't want to go to school today." But Lucy didn't notice; she was too busy thinking.

That day was the first time she realized not everyone liked her. She was forged, hot and malleable.

The second step was when Lucy was 12. She moved down the line behind a girl she'd never met, who must be new. Lucy said to her, "Hey, are you new?" A simple question, but the other girl whipped around as though Lucy had insulted her. "Shut up, don't talk to me." She turned back to the line and leaving Lucy in stunned silence. A simple moment easily forgotten, but to Lucy it was the first time someone had been mean to her when she'd been nice.

Lucy realized not everyone liked her that day. She was tempered, cooled and focused.

The third step was the day she bumped into Gabriel Munez and the two fought in the rain. That's a story for another day. But that day taught her three things, in fact; niceness sometimes wasn't an option. People would always use you as a punching bag. So you should never show your weak spots to people who'd abuse them. That day she became gleaming steel.

And steel she remained. Then SOTF came, and she had to chose; would she become a sword, and cut away the bonds imposed on her and fight to live?

Or would she break, tempered improperly, unprepared to survive?

((Lucy Williams' story continues in SOTF: TV2))