Triumphant has a minion!

Huereux the Firue

She was a miracle. A real, live, walking, talking miracle. Her story was amazing, but to her, it was just a tale of perseverance. Perseverance, and just being too stubborn to give up.

Madeline was not supposed to live past her sixth birthday. And when she made it to six, her doctors didn't think she would make it to seven, eight, nine, or ten. But she showed them all. Madeline was now thirteen, and going strong.

They said her immune system would fail her, that her body would betray her from the inside out. They were wrong. She was doing just fine, and she was even strong enough to get vaccinated. But there was still something that she so desperately wanted to do.

She wanted to go outside.

And so, after consulting with several of her doctors, her father Sean finally relented and let his daughter venture into the outside world. It was a short trip into the back yard, but to Madeline it was like she was seeing the world for the first time. In a sense, she was. She was seven then. She was seven when she finally started to live.

On her second trip into the backyard, she happened to glance over the fence into her next-door neighbor's yard. There, in the garden, were an old man and his wife. She was whistling and tending to her garden, and he was simply sitting on a bench, watching her as if she were the only living thing in all the world. Madeline became quite curious about the old couple, and so she climbed over the fence and introduced herself. It wasn't long before Madeline became fast friends with George and Hazel Lynn Swope.

Madeline was thirteen now. She had defied the odds. Survived, thrived even. She was able to go to school, meet friends. She went to and hosted sleepovers, joined the school clubs, participated in extra-curricular activities, but at the end of the day, none of it really satisfied her.

After all these years, after all the friends she'd made and the things she'd done, spending time with Huereux remained her favorite thing to do. He was her first—and for a long time only—friend. And after all this time, at the end of the day, she wanted nothing more than to play with him.

She would play fetch with him, rub his cold metal skin, read to him. She even gave him "baths," wiping his plates down and oiling them gently. Madeline loved him more than anything. He was there for her when she had no friends. He would listen to her cry, comforting her simply with his presence. And he always knew when she was sad, crawling into her lap and curling into a ball for her to pet.

But, Huereux was getting older now. He was already eight years old, and there were plenty of times when his limbs had fallen off, or the light had gone out in his eyes. Those were the times that Madeline was at her worst, distraught the the possibility of losing her oldest friend.

Luckily for her—and Sean—Jules Yun was still in business. He had taken a liking to the girl, and began to befriend her himself, bringing her all kinds of cods and trinkets from his tinkering at Vernon's shop. So, naturally, he was there when Huereux would break, and he would fix the little pherret right away.

It was a warm summer day. Madeline had gone to school, and had picked up something special on the way home. She burst in the door, full of excitement. "Huereux! Huereux!" The little pherret ran to greet her, his mechanical tail wagging steadily.

The little pherret looked at his friend quizzically.

"Just come on!" Madeline led Huereux out into the backyard, where a small party had been set up. Sean was there, along with Jules, George and Hazel Lynn, and a couple of Madeline's friends from school who had fallen in love with the little pherret on their trips to Madeline's house. Huereux looked up at Madeline, clearly puzzled. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she screamed.

Today was the eight-year anniversary of the day that Jules had brought Huereux to Madeline.

Huereux looked around. He didn't understand the concept of birthdays, but he knew that all of his friends were there. And that there was a cake made of gears just for him. He dived into the cake, chomping hungrily. Madeline sat down beside him, and when he was done, he crawled into her lap and curled into a little ball for her to pet.

Yes. You could say that Madeline was truly Triumphant.



Story by Rampage.