A/N This idea has been nagging at me for the good part of a year now, so I finally sat down and wrote it. This is based off of the passage in WotE when they were remembering their first attempt at drinking wine. This is by no means any good, but I hope you enjoy anyway.
DISCLAIMER: No, I do not own these characters. Nor do I own the setting, as much as I wish I did. You can try to sue me, but be forewarned: You won't get much.
That Wine
Briar Moss looked up from his task with a grimace. Trying unsuccessfully to blink the smoke and grime from his tired green eyes, he went back to work. It was full spring, and the plants were blooming like mad, calling him, begging him, to pay attention to them. Their leaves ruffled playfully in the wind, beckoning him, teasing him, making his sentence ache all the more. The sunshine sparkled on the morning dew, the trees vibrated with warmth, and the sky was the most refreshing blue you'd ever seen.
It was torture. Here he was, slaving, while this beautiful day was passing by. He could practically feel it slipping through his fingers with each moment, bringing him near tears. Of course, that could have always been the smoke.
With a sound that neared a growl, he threw down his shovel and disposal bag. He stalked out of the remains of the building, all the while a defiant look on his face. Three equally tired girls peered at him through the charred remnants of the door.
"You're insane." One told him scornfully. "You do like your head on your neck, don't you?"
"I don't care."
His back was turned, but he knew her eyebrows had hit the ceiling.
"I agree with Tris," Another chimed in. "She hasn't yet, but it's never too late for her to hang you in the well."
"By the toes." The last girl added.
"I don't care if she wants to hang me by my ears, nose, or teeth. At least I''ll die happy, breathin' clean air! More than I can say for this smoke-shack. Now let me be. I'm going, and there is nothing you girls can do to stop me!"
"Need I remind you that this was your idea in the first place?" Tris sneered. "'Sure, it'll be fine. People do it all the time. No one will ever know.' Why should you not have to pay?"
Having no sufficient answer to these very true claims, he said simply, "Headaches make you nasty."
Punctuating this, he stomped out of view, leaving the three girls to clean up the mess that, yes, it was his fault they had created.
"Tris did most of the actual damage," He muttered rebelliously.
"Heard that!"
Sometimes he truly hated the connection that allowed them to speak mind to mind. Now was one of those times. He closed off all of their ties quickly and abruptly.
"Hmph," Tris grumbled to the other two. "You'd think he wants to die by hand of Rosethorn."
"Let him do what he wants," By now, the three girls were speaking aloud. "Me, I'm going to finish, take a hot bath, collapse on my bed then get up in, oh, a week or two."
This was met with a longing sigh from both girls.
"If," She continued, "Briar has other plans, who am I to stop him?"
"I'm just saying..." Tris started.
"You're always just saying." Said the other girl. "Leave him alone. His neck, his problem."
"But it's his fault we're here in the first place!" She protested. "How come he gets to shirk, and leave us here to clean this up?"
She flung her arms wide to encompass the wrecked building. It was painful to look at.
The old abandoned barn had not been a pretty sight to begin with, and, as the four had found out later, it was not flame resistant.
The roof had caved in, and the beams sat useless and broken in heaps of debris, which was what they were currently trying to clean up.
The planked walls, once painted a dull red, had splintered under the pressure of the fire. The scattered shards were blackened pieces of ash. They littered the ground in, and around the barn. Whenever the wind blew, they scattered some more and left a coat of grayish powder over everything they touched until the next gust of wind came around.
The area of damage was clearly unnatural, however. It rounded in a perfect circle. Looking at it from the inside, you might liken it to standing on an island and trying to see over the ocean just to glimpse the mainland.
The circle was not as wide as an ocean, however, and the land beyond the ruin they had created was clearly visible. On the edge of the circle, two of their teachers were camped: Niko and Rosethorn. Their four teachers were taking shifts, to sufficiently monitor their students progress.
The four children had been working since the early hours of the morning. They had just woken from their unconscious state from the night before, when their teachers had bustled them out of their beds, pushed shovels in their hands and told them to get to work. No matter that they were weak as kittens with killer headaches. In fact, all the better, they had said. Pain and suffering makes a punishment stick. You were all stupid, you will pay the price. You will start by cleaning the barn, and if you're lucky you may just scrape by with a month or two of martial law. Have fun.
This, Briar reflected as he sat down in the grass on the far side of the circle from his teachers, was supremely unfair. All they had done was blow up a barn! From what he could remember (It was all kind of blurry) it was a pretty big fire, but still.
Breath rushed over his lips, startling him as he didn't know he was sighing. A sweet crooning filled his ears, and he smiled down at the grass in appreciation. The blades were all beaming up at him, trying to offer consolation and cheer him up. Being careful not to damage any of the grass blades, he sunk his hands into the moist dirt underneath him. The cool, earthy feeling always calmed him.
He sat there in meditative silence. His face was turned towards the wrecked barn, but he was staring at it with unseeing eyes.
He had always known he was a bit reckless, but he had to admit this was a new high. An alien feeling was twisting in his gut, one that wasn't there often. He shook himself, but the pang just renewed itself. A few minutes later he realized with a shock what it was: Remorse.
If only I had never found that wine...
A/N Review? It'll make me smile :)