A/N- This is pretty much a huge metaphor wrapped in a metaphor with a few more metaphors sprinkled in. Some of them are pretty obvious, some are just a little more cryptic, and some of them are kinda up to you. I know I suck at decoding metaphors, so if you really can't figure one out and you really need to know (I know it's happened to me plenty before), leave a review and I'll PM you, or just PM me and I'll probably PM back.
Disclaimer- I own nothing. ... Well, technically, this whole story is really cryptic and I don't use anything directly from the book, per se, but this story would make absolutely no sense without canonical information, and I don't care much for getting sued, so... I own nothing.
She sits in the meadow, threading daisies- no, not daisies, lilies- into chains. Besides her sits another girl, her pale blonde hair contrasting with the other's red, who picks the lilies, but does not weave them. Every so often, she looks over to the other disapprovingly, her pride preventing her from asking how to twist the flowers into a crown. The redhead twists a final lily into the chain and places it on top of her fiery tresses. The blonde plucks another lily from the ground.
A knight- a boy, really- emerges from the woods, his armour dull and loose. He twists a lily into a ring and slides it on the redhead's finger.
She does not take it off.
The blonde stands up, almost abruptly, and begins to walk away. The redhead's arm shoots out, grabbing her wrist. She pleadingly offers a half-completed daisy chain. The blonde purses her lips, shakes her head, and walks away. The redhead refuses to pluck another lily.
The knight finishes the daisy crown for her, and the redhead finally smiles. She walks over to a small stream and lets it wash away.
Another knight enters the meadow, this one with armour that gleams blindingly bright in the sunlight and a white steed he sits upon. The lilies seem to spring up when he arrives. He waits there for a moment, in front of the redhead, disregarding the poor excuse for a knight beside her.
She only says, "Your armour hurts my eyes." The other knight nods in approval.
The white knight leaves, leaving the two to weave their lilies in peace.
The knight leaves for a while, leaving the redhead alone. She pretends not to notice, this time twisting the lilies into a necklace. A gentle breeze plays with her hair.
Her knight returns, and the redhead smiles, giving him the lilies she wove in his absence. She doesn't notice the dark spot on the back of his armour, small, but significant.
He takes the lilies off when she looks away.
The white knight returns, his armour brighter than ever, his mare even more magnificent.
She only says, "I think your armour is polished enough, don't you?" The other knight smiles.
So the white knight leaves again, and the redhead gasps. The lily chain the knight had been making had been crushed by the white knight's horse.
The knight simmers, and he disappears into the forest for a while. The redhead is too busy fuming over the crushed flowers to notice.
When the knight returns, the dark spot on his armour has grown larger. The redhead can't see it.
When the white knight returns, the redhead stands up, her hair swirling in the wind.
"I don't think it's fair to make that horse do all that work for you", she says, and she feels more emotion than she ever had before. "It isn't fair to make it support all the weight of that fat head of yours." The knight only watches sullenly.
The white knight extends a hand, and in his palm rests a beautiful ring, made from a twisted lily. He offers it to her.
She slaps it away. The white knight leaves, disappointed- not that he'll show it- and the redhead turns to look for her knight, but he's gone.
The wind blows one of the lilies in her hair away- one of the ones her knight gave her. She chases after it, but it's too high.
When her knight returns, she sighs with relief. The dark spot on his armour is rather noticeable now, but the redhead still doesn't see it.
"You should be careful", she murmurs. "The wind's been getting stronger." Her knight pretends not to hear.
The white knight returns again, and this time he waits before offering her the lily. She only scoffs.
Her knight leaves again, and the redhead is too busy taking shelter against the wind to notice. Her knight returns, the back of his armour completely black.
They don't make lily chains as much as they used to.
The redhead fights the wind, but the knight embraces it, lets it sweep him away. She tries to pull him back before he's lifted away from her, and the knight returns.
The white knight returns again, but this time without his horse. His helmet is gone, too, and the redhead sees his face for the first time. His dark hair is tousled by the wind, and his armour still shines- not as bright- but this time the redhead welcomes the brightness- her meadow had somehow become darker and darker without her noticing. He offers her another lily, and this time she gladly snatches it up before the wind can.
The wind swirls around all three of them- for the darkening knight is watching too- until it becomes almost a hurricane. The redhead examines the blossom in her hands and turns to her knight. She reaches out to touch him, but she yanks her hand back, for his armour had began to darken completely- all over- and he was cold to the touch.
And so she stood between a dark knight and a white knight- a white knight with shining armour and a white horse loyally waiting for him by the trees.
She looks towards the white knight, and he calls his horse forth. She glances over to the dark knight. She doesn't recognise him.
So she lets the white knight help her onto his horse, and he assures her all the while that the horse doesn't mind, because the redhead is kind. Kind and beautiful and untouchable. And together, they ride off into the sunset, a sunset the dark knight knows will soon fade into the night.
The dark knight picks up a lily, the lily he had given the redheaded maiden ages ago, which must have slipped off her finger without her noticing.
It was the wind that blew the lily away, but the dark knight doesn't realize it. Instead, he thinks the white knight must've forced it off her finger and she must've not cared anymore.
In truth, she searched for it even after she had gotten her happily ever after, but the wind doesn't often give things back.
The dark knight carefully conceals the lily, but sets all the rest on fire.
And his armour darkens until he is indistinguishable from the night.
A/N- Imagine how great the world would be if every single person reviewed every single story they read. *sigh* Anyways, I think/hope this managed to get all the angst out of my system, so I'll hopefully be writing some lighter, funnier stories soon. Hopefully. Sigh. Anyways, I usually write what I feel, and I don't mean to brag, but I think humour is my forte, so please do me a favour and review, which would make me happy, which would make me write happy, silly stories, which would also make me happy because I like writing humour but I can't do it uninspired. Wow, this is a kinda long note. So... Please review!