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By the time we had arrived at the Enclave, Leon and Merida had helped me sit up and put on the cloak of the deep shade of blue that they were wearing. We were still in the transport waiting for instructions to leave the vehicle. Leon sat by my side as Merida collected all of her medical supplies that cluttered the floor. I held my head in my hands not understanding what the world was telling me. I have missed the last sixteen years of my life, I have a father, I'm from a higher family. I actually have a family. It all seemed so rushed. Leon had told me that it had to be so sudden so that I wouldn't have any answers if the Empire thought I knew something I shouldn't have. I fingered my brown hair, trying my best to untangle its knots. I was still #107, I had guessed that when I entered the Enclave and met my father I would regain a name. I don't know anymore. My head still hurts from the tracking deviced drug that Leon had put in my food only a day ago. I had been away from the Empire for a day now. I couldn't fathom it. 

A loud thud came from outside our transport. It echoed through the transport.

"Leon Castlex? Merida Alder? Four. Six. Eight. Nine..." a voice said trailing off.

"Ten. Seven. Five. Three." Leon and Merida responded in unison.

"Alright, cover your eyes. The sun is rather bright today," the voice said with a thunder of laughs following.

Leon chuckled and Merida slapped his arm rather hard and I giggled. Merida looked over at me, smiled, and shook her head.

"You act like children," she says, her voice slick with fake madness.

Leon and I both chuckle lowly as the door to the back of the transport opens setting my eyes and face on fire. Now I know why everyone had been wearing cloaks. The dark shade creates shadows, but it also heats up quite quickly. After my eyes adjusted to the flaring sun, I saw a figure take form in front of me. A man with dark hair and pale green eyes. Leon helps me out of the back of the transport and let my bare feet touch the soft grass that filled the domed kingdom. The cloak drifted across my bare ankles, tickling them. I turned, watching Leon then help Merida out of the transport. 

"Merida, oh love you are getting far too old to go on things like this," the dark-haired man said removing the cloak from his face.

"My dear husband, there are children around and I am a woman, you should not say such things," Merida said slapping him lightly on the shoulder.

Merida was rather short compared to her husband. Her scarlet hair tinged with grey. His a dark brown glinting with highlights of grey in the sun. The man had a sturdy figure, tall and masculine. Merida's fire doesn't seem to flatten around this man. I want to ask who he is; if he knows my father.

Leon claps his hands onto the man's back, positioning him to look at me and not his very lovely wife.

"Is this her?" the man asks.

"Yes General Alder, it's her," Leon says looking straight at me.

"Why are we just standing here then?" the General yells taking my hands into his. The General's hands are coarse and scratch at my skin but I don't complain. It's the first rough thing I have ever felt. 

Leon smiles and the General places my hands into Leon's. Merida places her hand in the crock of General Alder's arm. They walk in front of us with a few soldiers walking around us. I look around seeing soldiers dotting the giant wall that surrounds the Enclave. I can see the electrical flares from the dome flicker. I hear singing and shouts of joy. I watch as people in cloaks of blue and red walk by, chatting with each other. Leon wraps my hand into his; it forces me to follow him, the General, and Merida. We walk for a few more minutes, I get to feel the sun on my face and the breeze ruffling my hair from its braid that was hanging down from the side of my face. I  look up to see birds fly across the bright blue sky that is endless.

I can hear the tousling of the leaves as they move into each other. I catch a glimpse of two girls kicking a ball towards each other and giggling. I watch them for a few minutes wondering how it felt to play such a thing. The ball was round with a glinting color of red, just a few shades lighter than the girl's cloaks. I don't see their faces but I can pick out that the girl that is facing me has blonde hair and a smile upon her face. The girl I can see kicks the ball too hard making it advance towards me. The girl I couldn't see giggles loudly and turns around swiftly letting a lock of dark brown hair fall into her face. The red ball stops at my feet, I look down at the odd thing. When I look up I am met by a face. The girl with the brown hair had squatted down and looked up at me while grabbing her ball. Her skin was a golden tan, the hair I could see was a dark brown, almost ebony. Her forehead streaked with sweat and her cheeks a rosy pink. She looked about ten. 

I had realized that I had let go of Leon's hand, the warmth had left. The little girl dropped the ball and placed her hands in mine and smiled revealing perfectly small white teeth.

"I'm Amara," she whispered looking up with wide, dark brown eyes.

"Im-," I stopped, who am I again. I couldn't tell her I was #107. I didn't even have a real name.

"Her name is North, Amara, now go on back to playing kickball with Dahlia. North has pretty important business to go to," a voice, Leon's voice said from behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he only returned with a smile. I didn't know what to say so I looked back at the girl to study her reaction.

"It's nice to meet you North," Amara whispered, then picked up her red ball and skipped back to her friend Dahlia.

I picked myself back up then patted my cloak, dusting the dirt off. I placed my hand back into Leon's and we continued to follow Merida and the General. What just happened? I felt a connection to Amara. I don't know why this is the first time I have ever met her. At least I think it was.

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Chapter Question: Favorite scene so far?

Opinionated Question: Why do you think the book is called North of Freedom?

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Word count: 1,185

Started: Feb. 17th, 2021

Finished: Feb. 19th, 2021

Edited: ###########

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Yes! The third chapter is out!