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[Harthad]

The white flower stood out in a bright green field of newly trimmed grass. It was a startling white,so delicate and frail but beautiful and strong in it's symbolism. The silhouette of a tall,weather-beaten man contrasts against the robin's-egg blue sky. His blue eyes are alight with the roar of fury and love, too, for this one frail flower that is seen in the most unlikely places. The gentle wind suddenly picks up and lifts a petal of the flower into the air. It twirls around before heading off into some unknown place. The man watches it go before, he too, leaves this place of forgotten love and peace.
* * * *
I ran across the plain,taking in the sunshine and the warmth. I could see the dark, looming mass of the prison against the horizon. My pace quickly sped up because I knew that I had to reach the kids in time before anyone found out where I was or what I was doing. I was an outlaw,and the kids were outlaws too, all because of a big mistake and Billy's big fat mouth. Billy, the youngest of the group,had an unforgivable personality. He said things that he was not supposed to and,most of the time,he got the rest of the gang in trouble. Billy and Dom were the trouble makers. Sean, Elijah, Andy, Peter and Phillipa were good--most of the time. But now they were all in prison and I was powerless. Almost. Peter(the brains of the group) had arranged for the dumbest guard to be on duty near their cells when I snuck into the prison through the main gates. Gates of death,people said. No one who went in ever came out again. I was going to do the impossible. I was going to break 7 kids out of the country's most feared prison.
* * * *
I ran lightly along the corridors of the prison. Water was dripping from the roof and spiders were creeping along the sides of the walls. Elijah must hate it here, I thought. He had an uncommon fear of spiders. I arrived at the door to the deepest prison cells. The guard who was outside the door was asleep, apparently drunk. I unlocked the door and it slid open with a screech. “Who are you,and what do you want?” exclaimed a terrified Sean. “Relax, Sean,it's just Frayalaf.” said Peter calmly. I stepped into the light. “What did you think I was, a monster?” I asked with a grin on my face. Phillipa's face broke into a grin too. “Oh,I knew you'd come, I just knew it!” Andy and Elijah were hi-fiving each other in their cells. “See, Andy,he didn't abandon us after all!” Elijah said. I took a head count of the kids. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. “Where's Dom and Billy? I asked calmly,never expecting all the kid's smiles to disappear from their faces. “Um. . .” said Phillipa. “Look, down there.”Peter said, his voice breaking. I peered down into the gloom. It suddenly came to me that I could hear a soft crying in the darkness of the other cells. I got up and started walking toward the end of the cells. My footsteps echoed ominously as I made my way into the darkness. “They're in the last cell!” called Peter. In the last cell, I could make out the dark outlines of two figures,one sitting and one lying down. “Dom? Billy? Are you okay?” I asked quietly. One of the figures shifted and wiped away a tear. “Frayalaf? Is that you?” said the figure. “Dom!” I exclaimed. “Is Billy alright?” “N-no.” Dom sniffed. He-he's hurt. “I feel more dead than hurt right now.” groaned a voice from the figure lying down. I froze. “What happened to him, Dom?” “He-he was aggravating the guards,you know, being the typical Billy. The-then one of the more aggressive guards stabbed him with his sword.” He want back to crying. “And-and there was nothing I could do, it-it all happened so fast. Oh, Frayalaf, can you help him after we get out of here?” I patted him on the back. “I'll do everything I can, Dom. It'll be alright.”
* * * *
I went back to the other kids after unlocking Dom and Billy and helping Dom regain control of his limbs again and carrying Billy out. They were greatly relieved to see Dom and Billy again but shocked to see Billy in this state. “I didn't think he was this bad!” said Phillipa. I unlocked the remaining kids and they emerged from their cells,rubbing their wrists. I let Phillipa hold Billy while the other kids waited by me for instructions. “So, where are we going?” said Billy deliriously. The kids looked back toward him and Andy started to answer him when I started talking. They whipped their heads back around towards me. “Okay, everyone,I'm going to pretend to be taking you all out for baths but once we really get outside, we'll make a run for it.” Elijah suddenly jumped and yelled. “Whatisit?” exclaimed a terrified Sean. Elijah smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Just a spider.” I groaned. “For goodness sakes, Elijah,don't scare us like that.” Andy said. Peter shook his head. “But who will carry Billy?” he asked. “I will.” I answered. “But-but what if you get captured?” asked Sean, fearful of going out into the wilderness alone. I knelt down to Sean's height. “Sean, if anything happens to me, Peter will lead you guys. Okay?” “Okay.”he said. I stood back up and breathed in a deep breath to show the kids that I was prepared. “C'mon. Let's go,kids.” And with that, I picked Billy up and started off with 6 kids trailing behind me.
* * * *
We had just reached the front gates when a guard stopped us. Dom shrunk back,apparently afraid of him. The others started whispering between themselves. “I'm just taking them out for a bath.” I said, foolishly unaware of the danger. I learned afterward that this was the same guard who stabbed Billy. He let us go but glared after us as we walked out to the oak tree that was straining to get some light in the shadow of the gloomy prison. We all crowded in the back of the tree that was not facing the prison. I looked back to see that the guard was alerting the others. We would have to make a run for it. Again.
* * * *
The chase began with four or five guards running after us. We had almost gotten to the woods when Elijah tripped and fell. The guards grabbed him as Sean ran after him and Andy yanked Sean back. “No! I have to get Elijah back, Andy!” Sean yelled. “Just go, Sean! Don't worry about me!” Elijah was yelling. With a last look at Elijah,Sean ran off to follow the rest of us.
* * * *
We arrived at the edge of the forest with everyone depressed. Sean was crying, Billy was hurt and the rest of us were moping. Except Phillipa. She was the only one to see sense that time. “Look at you!”she exclaimed after a couple of minutes. “With Sean crying, Billy hurt and the rest of you moping like old widows, I don't know what to do with you!” She then walked over to Sean and gave him a slap on the face. I think Sean was just as surprised as the rest of us. Phillipa had never been one to show violence, especially with Sean. I was just ready to intervene when Phillipa started talking to him. “Sean, stop crying. You're only making the rest of us guilty and besides, Elijah's alive. You know he is. Once we get to, well, wherever we're going, I'm sure Frayalaf will organize some people to go rescue him or else go get him himself.” Andy, Peter and Dom started clapping. Peter then asked something that was very important to our mission. “Where are we going, Frayalaf?” I hesitated. Elijah was the only one of the kids to know about the hidden rebel palace,Froya. It was a well kept secret that the king did not know about. He thought that the rebels were long gone. Elijah had actually been raised there. The rest of the kids were orphans from a rural town,Saturday. Elijah was the only one to have memories of his parents,Rose and David,who were killed by the king when Elijah was just a young boy. I made up my mind and stood up. “Follow me. We're going to Froya.” The kids looked up at me questioningly and then scrambled after me,prepared for the dangers ahead.
* * * *
We trudged through a thick marsh with me carrying Billy,Dom behind me,then Phillipa and Peter,then Andy and Sean. We sat down on the bank and pulled apples out of a bag. The kids hungrily grabbed them. Sean was looking toward the west. “Is that Froya, Frayalaf? He pointed to a stone castle far away. It was much more light and peaceful looking than the prison. “Yes. Yes, it is, Sean.” I was very relieved to see it again after journeying so many miles to rescue the kids. But just then Dom crawled over to Billy and put a hand on Billy's forehead. “Hi-his forehead feels hot, Frayalaf. Is that okay?” I went over to him. “No, of course it's not, Dom!” I moved Dom out of the way and put a hand on his forehead. He had a fever. I spoke to the others with urgency in my voice. “Andy, get some water and Phillipa,get some borage leaves. “What the heck do those look like? Phillipa asked desperately. “And what do I get the water with?” Andy asked. “Phillipa, borage leaves, well, they have a blue star-shaped flower. And Andy, just rip off a piece of your shirt and soak it in the water!” I answered. “GO!” I waved my arm at them impatiently. Andy came back first and laid the water-soaked cloth across Billy's forehead. “Will he live, Frayalaf?” Sean asked fearfully. “Of course he will, Sean. Don't worry. And don't get Dom more upset than he already is!” Phillipa just then came rushing toward us. “I got them! I got the borage leaves, Frayalaf!” “Okay,Phillipa.” She handed them to me. Peter,all this time had been pacing back and forth,deep in thought,trying to think up a plan. Meanwhile, I had been making Billy eat the leaves but with no success. He kept spitting them out again. Dom was watching, horrified. Peter suddenly cried: “I got it!” We all looked at him. “Frayalaf, can you give me the remaining borage leaves? I have a plan.” I gave him the leaves and he started talking to Billy quietly and reassuringly. “Billy, please relax. You wont get better if you keep spitting them out.” Billy mumbled something. “I know they taste disgusting,but this is the only way you'll feel better. Billy, please trust me!” Phillipa butted in. “Billy, you have to trust Peter!” With all this talking,Billy had calmed down. He began to breathe normally again and did not object when Peter fed him the leaves. Sometime after that crisis, Billy had sat up and began acting like the old Billy. “Where are we going, Frayalaf?” he asked for the twentieth time in a row. “To Froya!” We all shouted, exasperated.

We were walking on in the exact opposite mood we had been in earlier when Sean, Andy, Dom and Billy started an old walking song that had been Elijah's favorite.

"Hey, oh! Hey, oh!
We're walking on,we're walking on
but it's not to the sea we go!
We're walking on la-and
We're not walking on sa-and
no,we're not going to the big ocean blue!"

“You guys are horrible singers!” said Peter. “Let Phillipa sing a song for once, without you guys butting in!” Phillipa pulled a face. “Do I have to?” I grinned at her. “It certainly would be nice and besides, do you really want them to sing again?” She gave in. “Oh, alright.” Her clear voice rang out through the trees as we headed on to Froya.

* * * *
We reached the intertwining trees that marked the entrance to Froya. The kids gazed up in wonder at the interlaced trees that lined the pathway to the large, oaken doors. I opened them and Andy hung back for a moment. I frowned. “Whats the matter, Andy?” He stuttered. “Um, well,are we really allowed to come in?” I laughed. “Of course, Andy.” He then bolted in with no second thought.
* * * *

Elijah was led into the prison without hesitation. He was lead deeper and deeper until he could not see anything,it was so dark. He was shoved roughly into a cell with a dirt floor with insects crawling all over it. He drew up in terror, only to bang his head on the low ceiling. His panting filled the tiny room with it's magnified sound. But there was another sound that became clearer as he listened to it. The sound was words. “Alone. . .terror. . .pain. . . alone!” Elijah was filled with an overwhelming sensation of loneliness as he listened. He was alone.
An hour passed before one of the voices acknowledged him. The voice was thin and weary,like it wanted no part of this world. “Are you. . . . Elijah Gale?” the voice asked. “Yes.” Elijah answered. “What do you want?” The voice took a long time in responding. “I knew your parents,you are most like your father. You get straight to the point when you first meet someone, just as he would do.” (this part not finished)
* * * *
We entered into a magnificent hall that was bustling with people, all acting like ants. In fact, that's what Billy whispered to Dom. A man sat on a stone throne at the far back of the room but stood up as we neared him. His voice was merry and deep. I bowed, indicating to the kids that they should bow too. Sean was a little late to notice and Andy tripped on his boot and fell. (“Ow!” said he.) I must teach them to bow! I thought. “Welcome, Frayalaf, Sean, Andy, Billy, Dominic, Peter and Phillipa.” the man said in his rich, deep voice. He turned to me. “But where is Elijah, Frayalaf? You promised to keep him safe and sound,and ensure that he reached Froya.” I felt my mouth go dry. I had forgotten about that promise. “And what are we, chopped liver?” mumbled Billy. “Billy!” the others hissed at him. After a few moments, it was Sean that spoke, surprisingly. “When we were running away,he-he tripped and fell and-and they grabbed him.” The man turned to him. “Who were “they” exactly, Sean?” Sean gulped. “The-the guards,sir. They followed us from the prison,sir.” “You,have failed your promise, Master Frayalaf.” He said this as he stepped down from the steps leading up to his throne. The man came toward me and pointed his sword toward my neck. I grimaced. “You aren't really setting a good example for the kids, Master Luke Ineriel.” I growled. The kids were watching,horrified. Then Phillipa spoke up hurriedly. “It isn't really his fault, Master Luke. You can blame all of us if you like but it really happened so quickly that we couldn't do anything.” I bet all the kids were thinking of Sean and his attempt to rescue Elijah, feeling guilty. Master Luke paused to consider and then helped me to my feet. “Consider yourself lucky, Master Frayalaf. If not for Phillipa's kind words,you would not be here.” And then, if it was because of shock or lack of sleep, Billy fainted.

When I went into Billy and Dom's room next morning,they were singing a famous song by the king's wife and jumping on the bed.

“Here I am,once again
I'm torn into pieces
can't deny it,can't pretend
just thought you were the one-”

Just then, Andy, Sean, Peter and Phillipa ran into the room, armed with pillows. They jumped onto the bed and started whacking the singers with pillows. Then, to my disbelief, Billy and Dom persuaded them to join in the singing.

“broken up,deep inside
but you won't get to see the tears I cry
behind these hazel eyes-”

Then Phillipa went to the edge of the bed and started singing solo.

“I told you everything,
opened up and let you in,
you made me feel alright,for once in my life
now all that's left of me,is what I pretend to be,
so together but so broken up inside-”

And the others joined in for the chorus.

“Here I am,once again
I'm torn into pieces
can't deny it,can't pretend
just thought you were the one
broken up,deep inside
but you wont get to see the tears I-”

Master Luke appeared at the doorway and they stopped. Every kid but Billy and Dom jumped down from the bed and ran out of the room. Billy and Dom just plopped down on the bed. “Did I hear singing in my house?” “Um, yes.” Dom said. “What's the matter? Are you deaf, Master Luke?” Billy muttered. Dom whacked him with a pillow. “I do not tolerate insolence from anyone shorter than me,Billy.” “Well, then tolerate insolence from someone taller than you, Master Luke.” I gasped. No one had ever spoke to Master Luke like that. If Billy had spoken to me like that,I would have just told him not to talk back to me. I guess Master Luke had taken a dislike to Billy because he did something that only ever happened when he particularly hated someone. He slapped Billy across the cheek and swept out of the room without a word. And then Andy appeared at the doorway. He looked around the room and then whispered to me: “Is it safe?” I answered with a yes and Andy whistled to the empty hallway. Sean, Peter and Phillipa came dashing in. Sean spoke up. “What is it with you people and slapping? First Phillipa slaps me and then Master Luke slaps Billy! Why?” “Hey, I only slapped you because you needed cheering up, not because you were doing something bad.” counter argued Phillipa. Sean was confused. “How does slapping a person cheer them up?” “Well, it cheered you up,didn't it?” retorted Phillipa. “Frayalaf, why is Master Luke such an idiot?” asked Andy as if this were a perfectly normal question. “Shut up!” whispered Dom and whacked him with a pillow. He looked out into the hallway. “He could hear you.” Peter sat down beside me. “What's our role in trying to stop the king from taking over the world anyway? Frayalaf,I don't get it. Can you please tell us what is going to happen to us?” I sighed. I had basically no way of explaining this to them but Master Luke did. It was very unfortunate that he was in a bad mood right now. But maybe if Billy didn't come to see him when he explained it all to the kids then his mood could be improved. “Go see Master Luke and if you ask him nicely then maybe he will tell you what you want to know.” At this statement,the kids all stared at me for a few moments. Then they all started talking at once. I raised my voice above the clamor and exclaimed, “If you don't stop talking, I will tell Master Luke that you are all making noise and could give us away.” They immediately shut up. “Master Luke is a very nice person when you don't annoy him or upset him in any way.” I continued. “I hope that none of you will do anything to make him mad or upset. Please! I don't want all of you his enemies.” At this statement, Dom looked at Andy, Andy looked at Sean, Sean looked at Peter and Peter looked at Phillipa. She just shrugged. Then, without another word,they got up and filed out the door. Everything was silent. Perfectly still.
* * * *
“I can't say anything good. Or behave nicely.” I turned around to the bed. Billy was sitting there, head in hands. I walked over and sat next to him. He raised his head and looked at me. “You must really hate me for the information I've given out. Especially the bit about the prophecy.” “You know I don't hate you, Billy! It's just that, well, you can't say the first word that pops into your head all the time.” He groaned. “I know, Frayalaf! I know that. Whatever I say just seems like the right thing to say at the time.” He stood up and walked around. “And the bit with the prophecy, I thought that the king would let us go if I told him. But now he knows all about it and I've ruined everything. Everything, Frayalaf!”He sat back down again. “Maybe Master Luke was right to slap me.” I sighed. “Billy, you know that Master Luke was not right to slap you. He could have told you not to do that again,just like I would have. And I want you to do the same thing.” He looked at me,confused. “I want you to restrain your tongue and not act impulsively.” I explained. Billy was uncertain. “You really think I can do that?” “Of course you can, Billy!' I smiled. “You only have to try and work at it. Okay?” He nodded. “Um. . . can I go get something to eat now?” he asked. Typical Billy. “Sure.” He raced out of the room like all the king's guards were after him. Which, in a sense,they were.
* * * *
The kids crept into the hall where Master Luke supposedly was. It's large windows thrust light onto the walls and floors and dazzled their eyes. The hall was surprisingly empty but for one lone figure, crouched like a spider on the wooden throne near the back of the hall. Once they got near enough, the kids could see his dark eyes following then as they edged closer to him. Peter spoke up. “Um, Master Luke, we wanted to ask you something. . . . . . . .” Master Luke's dark eyes fixed on Peter as he spoke. “We wanted to see if you knew anything about the prophecy and any information about the king. . . . . .” Master Luke loomed over them as they stood at the foot of the stairs that led up to his throne. The effect was what the king had over them when they had stood at the king's castle all those months ago. “Okay, we see you don't have any information, we'll go now. . . . . .” Phillipa said as she pulled Andy toward the exit. The others quickly followed. “No, I do have information for you. Do not leave.” spoke up Master Luke as they were nearing the great wide oaken doors. “Okay” said Andy as he turned to face Master Luke. “What is it?”
* * * *
They were sitting down on the wide hall floor when Master Luke began to speak. He had implied that this was going to be a long tale. They were sitting down, slouched over and playing with their pockets the way a person does when they are bored. But when Master Luke began to speak, they sat bolt upright and listened right away. His voice had some sort of musical energy in it that kept them captivated and him uninterrupted. Mostly. “Twenty years ago, two strangers came to my door. They identified themselves as Rose and David Gale.” The kids looked at each other. Wasn't Gale Elijah's last name? “ They had run away from the town Shadowgrass, the town in which the King built his castle. Rose was expecting a child,and the king thought that this was one of the children of the prophecy so they had fled. They had finally found Froya after three long weeks. They had not run away just because of the baby. David had also snatched a written copy of the prophecy from the king before they came here.” He paused to let his words sink in. “Two weeks later, Rose had the baby. They named him Elijah. In the years after that, they became two of my most efficient spies. They traveled all over to get information. I cared for and raised Elijah when they were gone. He was just five years old when Rose and David were captured and killed by the king. At the time, a young man called Frayalaf had been put in the prison for trying to kill the king.” The kids held their breath, hungry for more facts. “He was foolish but he had the right idea. I could tell that he would be a hard-working member of this group after we rescued him. Elijah thought of the plan and two of my men carried it out. Of course, Elijah wanted to go too.” A ghost of a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “We rescued Frayalaf and he and Elijah became fast friends. Frayalaf explained that one of his friends had burned all the copies of the prophecy. The king was furious. Luckily for us, he did not remembered the scrap of paper that David stole five years earlier. In the months after that, we sat here biding our time until the king made a move or our spies uncovered new information. A few weeks later our waiting was rewarded. Frayalaf had found that the town of Saturday had been burned down. He had raced to the town and found six children, alone and half-starved.” The children looked at one another. They were those children!

To be continued. . .

And I'm sorry that the dialogue is run together. Can you help me improve this story before I continue?

[Primula]

I'm sorry - I just don't have the time to act as a beta for this, though I can say you're more likely to get readers if you take the time to separate out the dialogue and format it to be more readable instead of having it in dense blocks.

Scanning over it, I doubt it is quite my cup of tea as I tend to prefer the fictional characters over use of the real-world actors in fic, and shy away from the use of pop-rock lyrics, etc... but there may be folks who would enjoy it. I would recommend cleaning it up and trying someplace like fanfiction.net for reviews.

[Harthad]

Okay, thank you, Prim. Should I delete this post?

[Primula]

No need to, though it being your own work it's entirely up to you if you would like to leave it up for others, edit it later on or whatever you so choose.