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A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
-Lao Tzu
The year was 1873. As new hyper rail lines were being established, less and less people had begun to take the long and frankly arduous journey over the new and mostly uncharted land of the midwestern United Systems. But people still set out on this potentially deadly journey in hope's of finding riches beyond Roc Key Mountains, in the Ory Gon Territory. This is the story of one of those journeys, over The Longest Trail….

*It was an unusually cold day on April 13th, 1873. In fact the past few days had been unusually cold. And as people readied their hoverwagons for the 6 month journey, families began to say their goodbyes to eachother, knowing that this may be the last time they would get to see eachother.*

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Mo didn't have any family, her so-called mother dumped her at birth and never cared for her, but so she waited by her hover wagon that she'd be sharing with her two lovers, Rosemary and Willow, and Willow's sister Sage.

Rosemary was sharing a very tearful goodbye with her parents who gave them some spare food and a few words of encouragement. Rosemary thanked them and promised to write as often as she could.

Willow held tiny Sage and tried to spot her mother rin the throng of the crowd, but so far nothing. Sage gave a squawk and Willow rubbed her sister's back to soothe the toddler.

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Gwen's goodbye with her mother and sisters was short. She stands by her wagon, wincing in pain as her mother pulls on a strand of tangled hair to smooth it out. "You are so brave for doing this! I am going to miss my favorite daughter!" Her mother cries, it was just loud enough for everyone around them to hear. She pulls Gwen towards her and hugs her. Gwen shivers. The feeling felt so strange. She hasn't been given a hug since her father- she yelps out in pain. Her mother had dug her nails into Gwen's neck like a cougar entrapping her prey. "Good riddance" her mother whispers into Gwen's ear before pulling back and leading her sisters away. Despite the cold, a warm feeling moves through Gwen. She was finally free! She rips off her dress, earning a few looks from nearby men. Underneath her dress was jeans and a long sleeve shirt. She throws a jacket on top to help with the cold. She climbs onto her wagon and gently hits her horse's rump,
"We are free now boys" she says outloud with a huge smile.
...
Hayes had his mother to say goodbye to. Her smile was tight. She was proud of him, but worried about letting him go.
"I'll be okay mom, I'm just worried about you. You could come with me" Hayes reminds his mom for the hundredth time now.
"No Hayes, I still have have my own mother to take care of, and your soon to be sister" she holds her belly with a smile. "I wish she could meet you... Maybe one day. But we can't afford to come with, we need the safety of civilization" she turns to the wagon, which isn't too full. Hayes small allowance had paid for most of it, but his mother chipped in some, earning an almost beating from Hayes' father if Hayes haven't step in. "Don't worry about me Hayes. We are both brave, just in different ways. You have the strength to leave and I have the strength to stay."
"This isn't goodbye forever mom" Hayes reminds her with a saddened chuckle, he carefully hugs her. "I love you mom. I'll see you when I'm rich." His mother laughs at this and turns away, tears streaming down her face.
"I love you too" desperate to not let him see her cry, she leaves. Hayes, with Scout wrapped around his neck, boards his wagon. He wipes his own wet face.
"We'll have to come back and rescue them one day, right Scout?" Hayes asks Scout, who meows in reply and swipes at a feather that was blowing in the wind.

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Willow and Sage's mother finally makes an appearance, wearing a barely modest dress and a shawl to make her look a bit more modest as she holds Willow and tiny Sage in her arms for a few moments before finally letting them join Mo at their hover wagon. Willow's mother helps her daughter in and smiles small. "Please stay safe." She hands Willow her a necklace, one of the few things they had.

Mo's father finally made an appearance and in his arms was a tiny swaddled baby, next to him was her. The witch who left her for dead. When Mo turned to face her, a loud SMACK echoed out in the cold air. Mo stumbled back too stunned to even hold her cheek. "I'm glad you're leaving" the witch hissed, "you were such a disappointment."

"I didn't choose to be born," Mo shot back. "let alone to someone like you." Mo glanced at the swaddled baby and her heart inexplicably ached for him. Turning on her heel she made her way back to her hover wagon.

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Luke didn’t have any parents to say goodbye to. He packed some stuff up so he would be able to eat and do other things. He starts loading up the wagon that he would be taking. His hood is up and his back was turned against most of the other people. Nobody could see his face. He just wanted to get out of here and get on the road to either get some money or die. He didn’t really mind.

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As Jesse and Ellie walked together to their wagon, they looked at each other knowing that good would come out of this. They were together, and that's all they needed. They're fully packed, with their dogs and everything else they could possibly need. They were ready to go.

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meg said goodbye to her dad and then got a scarf on and went to the front wagon shivering a bit and thought "why did my dad send me here" and contiued walking to a wagon.

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Gwen sits back, her eyes cloudy as she daydreams about the future life ahead of her. Maybe she'll start her own business? Or join the military if one forms? Suddenly a man climbs up and sits next to her. He was uncomfortably close, and reeked of smoke. "What are you doing by yourself little lady?" The man asks, his breath somehow smelling worse than his body odor.
"Jesus, what crawled into your mouth and died?" Gwen asks as she pinches her nose. The man's brow furrows, he obviously wasn't expecting such a response.
"A sense of humor, I like that" the man replies huskily. His frown deepens when Gwen cringes. "You know sweetie, it's dangerous for a piece of property such as yourself to go out on this journey by yourself" he places a hand on her thigh and Gwen feels her body physically jolt away from his touch, which only makes him tighten his grip. She suddenly stands up so quickly that his hand falls to his side. A lady shouldn't be so disinclined to a man's orders her mother's voice echos in Gwen's head. This only fuels her anger.
"Get off my wagon" she barks. She places a boot on his shoulder and kicks forward so he falls off the wagon. This takes him by surprise, so he falls off rather easily. "Go belittle someone else. Come close to me and I'll leave your dead body for the lycanwolves to eat!" The man doesn't seem afraid of her threat, he is more surprised that Gwen would dare respond this way. He smartly apologises, lowering his head and walking away. Gwen tsks and sits back down, ignoring everyone's stares.

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Luke laughs a little to himself. He wouldn’t ever do that. That guys was so stupid. He continues loading up his wagon, trying to pack up everything he had, which was not much comparing to the other people. He has some food, a few weapons, and not much else but a blanket and a few other necessities.

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Geo has nearly missed his ride, as he normally did. He arrived right before departure and hopped onto the nearest wagon he could find. His hood was covering his head and face, making it impossible to make out anything about him. His cloak also helped mask his body, making it difficult to make out even his height. He hoped no one here noticed anything strange about it. The wagon he happened to get on was Gwen’s right after she shooed the man off. He made sure to keep his distance, hardly noticing the commotion around him, making sure Gwen wouldn’t question him. He had nothing of his own to bring with him and didn’t have an assigned wagon, making him hope he hadn’t hopped onto a lunatic’s. He sighed and turned his head to look out at everyone behind them. All the families and loved ones of these travelers made him homesick, wishing he had a life to go back to after this...

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meg forgot her backpack and went and got it and entered the same wagon as luke and slipped on the side and fell"ow"and she brushed her self off and got up ane and sat down on a box and tought"i want ot go home with dad but i cant since mom is already there at the end of the trip"she was ready to take a nap and yawned.

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Gwen glances over at Geo. She seemed more distracted by his lack of supplies than Geo himself. She is restless, wanting nothing more than to leave right now; but they still were waiting for everyone to board. She turns to Geo, tempted to talk to him to help pass the time. But he was distracted and looking at the other families. So she sits quietly.
...
Hayes glances over at the couple next to him. They had a few dogs, which Scout watches warily. He furiously waves at Jesse and Ellie, trying to grab their attention. "Why hello!" He calls cheerfully. "How are you two doing on this wonderful day!" The day, most certainly wasn't wonderful. It was cold, and although they were participating in a great event, the travel was most definitely going to be quite miserable.

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meg was waiting and got out a photo of her and her parents and her little brother. she remembered the divorce 4 years ago and that her parents where fighting and her little brother was in his room and she checked on him and he was gone. then she snapped back.then saw a kitten in the wagon and picked it up "hey little guy".

it mewed a curled up on her lap.

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Geo nearly flinched when he felt Gwen’s gaze on his. He noticed the awkward silence hanging in the air, tempting him to do something before deciding not to and continue riding. He didn’t want to cause any trouble or accidentally say anything about himself, it just just become a mess and potentially make him a few rivals. He looked down at the moving ground below him, his shaky hands already moving to fiddle with something. Without even realizing it, his right hand began to trace its way around the scars on his wrists. He quickly retracted it, hoping not to remember those scars at all. He was near tempted to just jump off the wagon out of pure anxiety, but forced himself to stay as to not act suspicious. He instead gave his hands the loose threads of his cloak to mess with, hoping that it would settle his mind.

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Luke saw Meg in the back of the wagon. She looked like someone who wanted to talk, which wasn’t really his type. He saw Geo. He looked like someone who wouldn’t talk to anyone. He got his stuff and headed towards their wagon. “Mind if I join?” he asked calmly. He didn’t say anything else. He had everything he needed with him. Which wasn’t much. He stands on the ground near the cabin, looking at people, making sure they weren’t staring at him.

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Rosemary and her parents shared a final tear-filled hug and Rosemary hefted the supplies that her parents had given them into the hover wagon that she was sharing with Mo and Willow and Sage and climbed in. She sat next to Mo who was at the reigns of their steeds and noticed the forming bruise on Mo's cheek. "Mo? What happened?" She asked a bit louder then she intended.

"Dont worry about it." Mo insisted brushing off her lover's concern, looking ahead towards the unknown as she felt Gwen's gaze shift to her face where the bruise was indeed forming.

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Meg.Put the picture away and started petting the cat and then she named the cat mittens.
She saw luke and said"hello".

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Luke sighed. Why do anybody wanna talk? This trip was not going to be fun with people talking. He sighs again, then turns around to face Meg. “I just wanna be left alone.” Luke said calmly, then turned back around, waiting for a response from Geo or Gwen for permission to join. Otherwise, he might have to join Meg or some other cheery people.

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"Oh ok "she said and a teiny tiny bit of her heart broke. She remembers the night again and they started looking for her brother. After a hour they find him in a ditch bloody and mangled.then her parents split up in. Now she was going to live with her mother since her father is getting ill.

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Geo didn’t respond to Luke in any way, he just sat there, fiddling with the strings of his cloak. His eyes stayed fixed on the ground below, allowing him to space off and seem completely distant. Besides, he didn’t know if any of them were hostile or not...

oof short post

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