Chapter One: Quiet

Ian slowly raised his head, his eyes sparkling in the dim lights of the torches in his cell. His surroundings were dark and dirty, covered in cobwebs and the walls thick with vines. The one bed in the room was dusty and smelled much like mold, and there was one small toilet in the corner, barely clean. Out of the corner of Ian's dark blue eyes, which were unfocused and blinking, was Adam, his clear cellmate.

Ian sighed in anger. How he hated Adam. Adam the bully, Adam the hater, and Adam in general were all just plain annoying. It's not that Ian thought Adam was stupid, it was that Adam thought Ian was stupid. Ian gritted his teeth, remembering how Adam had been in the waiting rooms that led into the jail. He had laughed at Ian in the face, smirking at his cake, which Ian had worked so hard on.

So hard… Ian had worked so hard…

All the pain and effort, all the time passed, all the people lost when he returned to his home town…

He shuddered and lowered his view, "I hate you Adam," Ian whispered harshly. Adam whimpered. Though Ian had been a laughing-stock in the waiting room, Ian had threatened to kill the boy many times after that, and had even had to be pulled away before he punched the poor Adam in the stomach.

And now they were cellmates. Ian's hair ruffled over his eyes, so that it was almost impossible to see the dark figure shivering in front of him.

Tearing his eyes away from Adam, Ian turned his head to the little object sitting in his palm. His cake, his only source of sanity. He had protested and even fought to get the warden to let him keep it, and in the end it was decided it was for the safety of everyone that Ian kept it within sight.

Slowly Ian began to move off his sitting place on the cold ground. He shuffled to a corner, opposite of Adam, where he took residence with his hands around his knees, and his eyes focused on his cake, which shimmered in the light. Its frosting was white as snow, and its little sprinkles were large and bumpy. He watched it as he rolled it around in his hands, it was truly spectacular.

"What… what's the big deal with that… c-cake?" Adam stammered, his mouth parched as he stared at the completely insane Ian. Ian growled and glared up to Adam, keeping one eye on his cake, "I… I mean… it looks normal…"

"It isn't normal," Ian spoke firmly, quite annoyed. Didn't Adam see all the effort Ian had had to make this majestic object?

"But it is… it's just a cake," Adam laughed quietly, but quickly regretted it by the look on Ian's face.

At this Ian snapped. He grabbed a torch from beside him and stood up properly, towering over the smaller boy. He stormed towards Adam and whacked him over the head with the torch, drawing a red flash on Adam, who whined and backed up into the corner even more.

But Ian wasn't done. The scream Adam had given at contact was like a drug. He threw another hit after another hit, until Adam was crying out for the warden, screaming and struggling to try and stop the crazy Ian.

Finally a voice was heard behind them, and Ian stopped, his almost cold-red eyes boring into the green ones.

"No! Ian, Ian, come over here… come on… stop!" the warden, Ty, said sternly. Suddenly his eyes gleamed with an idea, and he took from his belt a large stick.

Immediately Ian lowered the torch, almost dropping it out of his loose grip. He heard Adam groan and sink down into a fetal position, but didn't even pay attention to him after that. Slowly Ian began to walk to the bars of his prison, finally gripping them in cold, clammy hands.

He stared at the stick, which was simply mesmerizing. It shone purple, and its texture seemed to move back and forth like the ocean itself. Ian's eyes grew huge as he stared at it. The more he looked up at down its length, the more there was to see. It glowed and shimmered, creating a light source of its own. Slowly Ian let his hand slip off the bars, and he tried to reach the stick. By then his cake had fallen to the ground, crumpled a bit, but still as beautiful as ever.

Ty drew his hand from Ian's reach, and Ian snapped out of it, frowning in sadness.

"That's it Ian, look at the stick, look at the shiny stick…"

Ian's eyes searched Ty's face for reassurance, and he was quickly met by a plentiful amount of it. He smiled and turned his head back to the shiny purple stick, not even realising Ty motioning Adam to walk towards him…

Suddenly a sound of a lock turning, and Adam was outside, standing beside Ty, eyes locked onto him. Ian silently raged, but on the outside he simply growled and lowered down to pick up his cake in his hands, bringing it close. What a trick, he though miserably, showing me that shiny stick just to help Adam.

"Look at me," Ty said quietly, bringing his hands to Adam's shoulders and lifting his head up so the shivering boy was looking into the warden's eyes, "Did he hurt you? Did he hurt you?" Ty asked sternly.

Adam shrugged and looked down at the ground. Ian felt anger surge through him. I better have hurt him, Ian thought angrily, that was the whole purpose of it.

"Do you even know what I had to do to get this cake?" Ian yelled, throwing his hands through the bars and desperately trying to reach Adam. In a hurry, Ty was beside Ian, calming him down with slow words of, 'we all love your cake, Ian… we all love your cake,'

Adam looked from Ty to Ian and slowly began to back away, his smile growing. Ian, on the other hand, kept a cold glare on him, because no matter what Ty said he would always hate Adam.

Suddenly, without warning, Adam bolted, whirling around and running towards the exit of the huge main room, which was full of prison cells. Ty was immediate to the reaction, and drew a bow from his belt, pulling the string and lightly shooting a far arrow, which threw Adam off guard and immediately murdered him.

Ian heard the significant sound of bone-breaking damage, and then Adam's voice was heard from above, "Dammit all!"

Ian laughed to himself. Good, so he was dead. Ty sighed and flicked the lever to Ian's door, letting him out. Ian kept his cake in hand, and exited calmly, now content that the Adam menace was in his rightful place.

Ty led Ian through the prison, passing countless empty cells until they reached one that was occupied. Inside there were two strange creatures, a Bacca and a Mudkip, of which were sitting beside one another, talking quietly and sharing a few laughs.

Ty frowned and approached their bars, and much like a little obedient dog, Ian followed after, still with a smile on his face and a little skip to his step.

"And why, might I ask, are you in here?" Ty asked slowly, his eyes on the two cellmates. The furry, brown coloured Bacca looked up in surprise, not even having realised the warden at his cell doors.

The Mudkip was the first to speak, his eyes gleaming in the light of their own torches.

"Attempted stealing," it said plainly, "I got caught though, so yeah,"

"What's your name, then?" Ty pressed on.

"Quentin, and this is Jerome," the blue amphibian nodded to the fluffy beside him. Jerome nodded and waved his hand to Ian, who grinned even wider. Jerome and Ian had met in the lobby to prison, and both had shared a similar story. Jerome had been captured simply because he was a Bacca, and Baccas were considered dangerous and uncontrollable.

The same with Ian – with his new insane personality he was now considered dangerous and uncontrollable.

"I'm in here for being myself," Jerome explained, "I didn't choose the pug life, it chose me," he shrugged, leaning against the wall. Quentin laughed, but shut his mouth quickly, as Ty frowned.

"I know why you're here," Ty said.

A voice echoed through the chambers, cracked and (in Ian's perspective) completely annoying.

"Let me outta' here!" Adam screamed, "I swear I didn't eat that tree!"

Ty rolled his eyes and turned to Ian, "Can I trust you, buddy?" he spoke calmly, sending him a smile. Ian nodded with affirmation.

"Then go get Adam and bring him down here, okay?" he said.

Ian smiled even harder and nodded once more, heading towards the stairs, "I'm coming Adam!" he screamed.

Complete silence, and then there were sounds of fright, "What? Are you crazy, warden? He's freaking insane! Don't let him near me!"

But Ty just shrugged and turned back to the two cellmates, and so Ian continued. With a cake in his hand, he slowly walked past countless cells and locks, finally reaching the cold stairs. He stepped up, one by one, little beads of sweat reaching his forehead when he reached the top. His instincts took over and he panted slowly, but then kept up the slow, calm walk to the dead cell.

Adam's whines of protest were no longer heard though. As Ian made his way closer, he looked in through the prison bars, and there was no Adam. He snapped his head to the door – the lever was still on.

Then it dawned on Ian that Adam… Adam must be hiding from him.

Another anger surge, and he lent against the bars, taking in the entire appearance of the cell. It was much darker and mustier then the other cells, and the vines were more plentiful. Ian's eyes scored the floor, which was covered in dark cobwebs. Finally he spotted a shadow of a figure in a corner near the door, and smiled.

"Oh god," Adam whimpered, "Please don't hurt me!"

Ian made his way to the huge iron doors and slowly turned the lever, increasing the fright in Adam by about one hundred percent. Adam crawled away from the entrance and into the middle of the room, where he kneeled over and let out a slowly, shaky breath.

"Now do you want to hear about my cake?" Ian crossed over so that he was right beside Adam. Adam's eyes grew wide in fright and he scrambled upwards, panicking and racing to the door. But before he could reach it, Ian had his hands around his arm, pulling him back. Ian threw a hit to his chest, making Adam yell in protest.

"No – no please!" he screamed.

Ian ignored the cries of help, and let go of his arm, lifting up his leg and allowing him to kick Adam right in the stomach. Adam whined and keeled over, limping backwards onto the wall. With one final blow, Ian crashed another kick down to Adam's left leg, and the same bone-breaking noise ringed in his ears, and Adam disappeared in an instant.

Ian breathed slowly, with a ragged breath. How good it felt to finally do that. His eyes unfocused, and his anger subsided as he stared down at his cake, which was by now dirtied by the ground and crumpled by the times it had fallen from his grasp.

But it was still beautiful, and just the mere sight of it caused Ian to instantly breath slower and have a warmer heart. He heard a gasp behind him and turned around to see Adam, backed against a corner, eyes barely able to focus on Ian, but obviously completely scared out of his mind. Ian's head said to take another hit at him, to show him all the hard work he had put into his cake by force... but his heart said to leave him be... to comfort Adam. And so Ian shook off his mind for then, and approached poor Adam.

"Sh..." Ian smiled silently, eyes narrow and fixed on the shivering boy beneath him, "Don't be scared, Adam..."

These very words made Adam's spine quiver and shake, and his face contorted in hopes to stop a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Oh, Adam... don't cry..." Ian's mocking voice chilled Adam to the bone, "Sh... be quiet Adam... quiet..."