Disclaimer: I wish I did own CoM, but I don't. Tamora Pierce has all rights.

Not Where I Belong

Chapter Three

From last time:

"Want the honest truth? Not good at all. I'm having trouble breathing." Briar answered and then broke into another coughing fit that carried through the roots.

"Just hang on Briar. We're going to get you out of there, just hang on. Stay with me." Boys arrived with shovels and started to carefully dig around the plants. Shovel full after shovel full of dirt was tossed away growing into a huge pile.

All of a sudden, Rosethorn felt the mental link between herself and Briar shut down. That meant that he had fallen unconscious. But she had the feeling it was more than that. And when the plants started to weep to her she knew. He had stopped breathing. Which meant they were losing him. Briar was going to die.

Mister Sir was getting quite annoyed with the Earth Dedicate that had just taken charge of the small handful of boys who were digging to save the, as he had termed him, the brat. The mine a mile East from here was in need of getting worked and instead of being there, the boys were digging in the dirt for a kid that was going to die anyway.

He was striding forward to tell Rosethorn that kids died here all the time, one more was not going to make a difference. Besides, he was the boss around here, no one told him what to do, not even someone who was a mage.

As Mister Sir was about to tap her on the shoulder, Rosethorn went rim rod straight and turned even paler than she had been previous. She strode over to where the boys were digging and grabbing her own shovel, began to dig furiously as if there was no tomorrow.

The boys actually stopped for a few seconds to watch the mage get completely dirty, obviously they didn't know that Rosethorn spent her time at Discipline in her garden, until Rosethorn said to them, "He stopped breathing. We have to get him out of there before he dies."

Mister Sir went over to Rosethorn and interrupted her digging process. "Listen Lady, I don't have time for you to use the boys here for your own job, they have work to do in the East mine. Kids die all the time here. One more street rat won't make a difference."

Rosethorn glared at him. "Do you have any idea who that boy is? He is a plant mage for crying out loud! My student is not going to die down there when I am this close to finding him," she snapped and then went back to digging. She stopped however when there was a cry from one of the younger thieves as he collapsed on the ground. Rosethorn dropped her shovel and quickly hurried towards the fallen boy.

She turned him over so that he was lying on his back and checked for a pulse. There was none. The boy was dead. But how was that possible? Malnutrition? Possible but not likely. The children were fed. Overexertion? Also possible, but shoveling wasn't that hard. She needed to find out. Turning to the boys who had now stopped working at the collapse of a fellow mate she said calmly, "who was he and where was he working?"

Ratter spoke up in an uneasy voice. "His name is Sneak. He was working with my group down in the newer cavern that was opened. Is he really dead?"

Rosethorn looked grim. "Yes, he is dead. How long has that area been open for work? Who else was there?"

Another boy answered this time. "Ratter was there, Sneak, some others who left and are currently in East mine, and Briar.

"Briar?" Rosethorn said barely above a whisper and if possible turning even whiter than she already was. "Briar was in there?"

A boy of about thirteen came running towards the huddled group looking very scared. "Mister Sir, Mister Sir!," h yelled, "Phantom, Devil, Twister, and Snoop are dead! They just fell down in the tunnel! And they ain't breathing! Dead!"

Rosethorn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. And then she said to the plants, "What is going on down there? Whatever happens, stay near Briar to supply him with oxygen. And try to get him to breathe. Please."

"Do not worry Rosethorn, we are working on him right now. But there is something amiss." One of the plants that was closest to the collapsed mine wilted and died. "There is poison here Rosethorn, but we will not let him die. We shall sacrifice ourselves before he is killed."

The brown haired dedicate suddenly felt a jolt. Somehow, she didn't know how, the plants had put life back into Briar. Looking at the Ratter, she saw that he had paled considerably and seemed to have trouble standing up, using his shovel as a support.

"There was poison in that section of the mine. Were those four boys the ones who were with you?"

Ratter gave a weak nod. "Dedicate, I don't feel to good. Just tell..." Ratter paused and took a deep breath of air, "just tell Briar that he was a good mate." And with that said, Ratter pitched forward on the ground never to rise again. Briar's first and only friend at the mining camp was dead. Rosethorn went over to the fallen Ratter and closed his no more seeing eyes before turning back to the group that was now in shock.

"I am very sorry for your losses today and I wish that this had never happened, but what's done is done, we can not change the past nor the present. Fate is not in our hands. It is in the God's." Here, everyone made the God's symbol on their chests and then looked back to Rosethorn.

Rosethorn turned to Mister Sir. "You do know," she said icily, "that these deaths could have been prevented if you had just put a candle down the tunnel before you sent any of these boys down there. Now six of them are dead and a seventh will be joining them if we do not get him out quickly."

The boy who had spoken up earlier now spoke up again, "Just to let you know Miss, Briar does have a better chance from poison effects. You see, he wasn't down in the mines the whole time cuz he is new here. So he just had to run the full baskets of materials to the lift so that they can be sorted elsewhere."

"Thank you for telling me. That is some of the best news I have heard all day. But we still have to get him out of there. The poison is leaking throughout the tunnel now, and my plants and myself can't do everything. So please, help me to get him out."

"Sure thing Miss Rosethorn. We ain't got nothing better to do. Those ol' mines can wait." Ayes were heard throughout the remaining boys as they set back to work. Mister Sir was fuming.

"Boys!" he barked, "you have work to do in those mines! Get over there NOW!"

Murmurs were heard around the group and then a boy whispered something in Rosethorn's ear, she nodded and then faced Mister Sir. "The boys have agreed to help me get him out as a tribute to Ratter. Ratter and Briar were friends and we are going to get Briar out so that he can here the message that Ratter left for him. If you do not agree just go sit in your cabin. We do not need your help. Back to work boys!" Mister Sir stormed off in the direction of his cabin.

The kids still digging needed no second urging. Briar was in trouble and they were going to save him no matter what. As they continued to dig, the plants that Rosethorn had grown were continually wilting and dying. The poison was sucking their lives away.

Eventually, a hole was dug that finally broke through the hard ground to the mine below. "Stand back everyone," commanded Rosethorn, "I am going to go down there and get him. I don't want any of you inhaling these fumes and dying on me. As for myself, I should be fine. I have enough magic in me to ward off the fumes."

A rope was tied around Rosethorn's middle and then the boys held onto it tightly as they gently lowered Rosethorn into the now deadly mine. Once her feet hit the bottom, Rosethorn realized how stupid she had been to forget to bring a light with her. It was pitch black and she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face.

Relying on the plants to guide her was her only option. Reaching with her power to the greenery she had created Rosethorn said, "Lead me to Briar." The plants understood her need and roots came off the walls to wrap themselves around her arms as they carefully guided her forwards along the dark passage.

When Rosethorn's foot hit something solid that was not a wall, she knew she had found what she was looking for. "Briar," she breathed softly as she gently leaned over and touched the boy on his arm. He was freezing. She quickly felt for a pulse, and true to their words, the plants had kept him alive. He might be hanging on by a thread, but he was alive.

Rosethorn gently picked the boy up and as she did so, her hand brushed over his bare back letting her feel the soon to be scars from his whipping the night before. Briar didn't even make a sound although if there had been light, she would have seen him wince in pain, but as there was none, she didn't see a thing.

The woman picked her way back along the passage until she saw the light that poured through the hole in the ceiling. Standing directly beneath the hole, she gave the rope two hard tugs and she felt herself being lifted up and out of the opening in the ground.

She finally had the time to look at her student. He was covered in soot, wearing no shirt, lacerations covered his back, and he was skinnier than her bean plants in the garden. But what was worse than that was that he was barely breathing enough to stay alive. Placing her hand on his forehead that was the only warm part of him for he was burning up with fever, she directed her energy into the deathly still boy lying in her arms hoping to boost his life energy.

When that seemed to not be helping as much as she had been hoping, she turned to the boys who were gathered around her and said, "I need to take him to Winding Circle before he dies. As for all of you, thank you very much for helping me. But first, I need to get some bandages for Briar. Does anyone know where they are?"

"Yeah," responded the kids, "they are in Mister Sir's room! We'll show ya." The boys ran in the direction of Mister Sir's cabin and went into his room with Rosethorn following closely behind with Briar. One of the older children opened the cabinet and all stared in surprise. There was nothing in it.

"Well they used to be kept here... I wonder where all the stuff went to."

"Maybe the ol' man hid it all. We weren't supposed to get anything without permission from Mister Sir. Speaking of which, where'd the old geezer run off to?"

There was an audible sound of someone knocking against a wall as if they had tripped. Everyone looked around themselves, but no one in their little group was standing near a wall. So who or what had made that strange noise?

Rosethorn with Briar walked over to the wall where the shelves were located. She pressed her ear to the wall and listened intently. Looking over her shoulder at the boys who were looking at her she asked," What is behind this wall? It is hollow."

The group of boys looked at each other. "It's hollow?" voiced out a boy, "how can you tell?" All the kids looked at each other all wearing puzzled expressions on their faces as they looked at Rosethorn for an answer.

Rosethorn rapped on the wood. "You can tell by the sound. I have the feeling that your Mister Sir is hiding back their with the supplies I need to treat Briar. Now how does this thing open?" she mused to herself.

Handing Briar to one of the older boy with a warning of "Be gentle." she began to press on the shelves in different patterns and just pushing them in any random order she could think of. "This is hopeless," she said aloud as she leaned back on the shelf that was the third one from the ground. A grating sound filled the air and the wall folded in on itself to reveal a little room with Mister Sir sitting in the middle of it surrounded by the medical equipment that the newly found plant mage needed.

Rosethorn stomped over to where the pot-bellied man sat and picked him up by his shirt collar, or tried to pick him up. Rosethorn was only five foot five and much lighter than the heavier man. "And what," she spat at his face, "are you doing back here with all the healing supplies?"

The larger man was starting to sweat a little bit, being yelled at by Rosethorn was something that no one fancied even if you had known her for years. When her temper was such a short fuse anything was possible to happen.

Mister Sir looked up at Rosethorn and said, "I am here to get away from all this ruckus that you are making about a single street urchin. Besides the boys all know that they are not allowed into my room to get anything unless they ask me and I get it for them. Sneaking bandages is not acceptable. And if you are a mage aren't you supposed to have a kit with you at all times?"

It was Rosethorn's turn to look a bit embarrassed. "I did have my mage kit with me. But when I was in town today selling the temple's wares, I had to use most of it on a group of civilians who were in a carriage accident. I never had time to replenish my stores because as I was headed back to Winding Circle I was called here."

Mister Sir sneered. "So you expect me to just give you my bandages and supplies? What kind of person do you take me for?"

Rosethorn responded, her temper having being flared at the man's resistance to give her what she needed. Her rein on her anger snapped as she yelled at him, "Its not like you would even use them for yourself seeing as you do no work around here and I highly doubt that you give them to the boys unless they are one of your favorites. Briar is dying and he needs medical attention right now before I bring him back to Emelan."

The brown eyed mage dropped Mister Sir back into his chair and went around the room picking though the supplies to see what she could use. After selecting a few items she walked back over to where Briar was carefully being held and instructed the boy to lay him gently on the floor.

Once that was done, Rosethorn bent down and sat back on her heels surveying the coal covered boy in front of her. She gently rolled him on his side and took a cloth that she wet in a basin of water and then started to wash of his back. When she finished she was met with a horrible sight. Briar's back was covered in long red welts clearly made by a belt or a whip. And from what she could tell, they had not been treated when he had gotten them or quickly afterwards, so she knew that they were going to leave some awful scars.

She carefully rubbed some ointment over the lacerations in hops of making the lash marks smaller when they scarred. Then she brought him back so that she could see hi front. She gently washed off his face and then realized that that was the best that she could do for him here. Mister Sir's medicines had not included anything to counteract poisons and she would have to wait to get back before she could treat that or his fever.

The only woman in the room then picked up her small charge and looked back at Mister Sir and the boys who were standing near the entrance to the secret room. "I want that mine covered up and closed down; no one is to go in there ever again. I shall also be alerting the city that you are not giving the boys here proper medical treatment when they need it."

With that said, Rosethorn turned on her heel and marched back her wagon. She carefully arranged some blankets in the back of the wagon right behind where she perched on the driver's seat and then cocooned Briar in. He would not be jostled on the ride back. What still scared Rosethorn though, was that his breathing had not gotten any better, if anything worse, it was now coming in irregular gasps that did not seem to be sucking in enough air.

Rosethorn climbed into her seat, gave a short wave to the boys now staring after her, and then set the horse in a fast gallop headed for Winding Circle. This fast pace was dangerous, she knew, for both the horse, the wagon, herself, but most importantly Briar. But she knew that if she dawdled and didn't get him to a healer soon Briar was going to die before even learning of his powers and what good in the world he was going to do with them in the future.

About an hour later, the horse raced through the gates at Winding Circle Temple, people dodging and running out of the way of what looked like the runaway carriage. Everyone who saw the driver was also a mite confused. They knew that Rosethorn would never race through and risk injuring someone. But before anyone could call out to her, the dedicate and the wagon were already out of hearing range headed straight for Discipline cottage.

Sandry had been sitting on the doorstep to Discipline working on a drop spindle trying to get a ball of thread made from it. At the sound of the racing carriage, one she had not been expecting, she looked up to see Rosethorn jerk the horse to a stop outside the gate to their humble little home. "Welcome back Rosethorn, was business good?," she called out pleasantly.

The older woman didn't even seem to hear her. Instead she reached into the back behind her seat, picked something up and ran at the front door, something Sandry had never seen her do. And when Rosethorn opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs in a hysterical voice, "LAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRKKKK!" the noble knew something was definitely wrong.

Rosethorn's cry not only brought the other Earth Dedicate to the door, but also Daja and Tris. "Rosethorn, what's wrong?" questioned the dark-skinned woman to her best friend as Rosethorn reached the doorway.

"I found him Lark! The boy! But he needs a healer!" Rosethorn's voice was cracking with strain and tiredness and it was only then that all the other residents of Discipline noticed that what Rosethorn was holding in arms was a boy. A very dirty boy, but definitely a human being. And he didn't look so well.

"Is that-?" started Tris before she was cut off by Rosethorn again.

"Daja, go get a healer A good one mind you. Tris, go find Niko. Sandry, go get cold water. Lark, come with me."

Tris and Daja both ran off in opposite directions, Sandry went to get the water, and Lark and Rosethorn went into the only unoccupied bedroom which was on the ground floor across from Sandry's room. Rosethorn carefully laid him on the bed and felt his forehead again. The fever had peaked again bringing his body temperature to a dangerously high level.

Sandry was the first to come back carrying a very large bowl of water and that had some ice cubes floating in it along with a few towels. Tris was the second one to show up, panting with exhaustion of having to track down her teacher, but bringing Niko back with her. The women shooed the girls out of the room and told them that when the healer arrived to send him/her in but to keep Daja with them, none of the girls were allowed in the room currently.

Minutes later, Daja came bursting through the front a lady healer following very closely behind. Sandry directed the healer to the room and then told Daja that they were not allowed in for the time being.

Daja, meanwhile was drinking a large glass of water having run to the Water Temple and back to get a healer. "The only reason they came so quickly," she gasped out taking in large gulps of air, "was because Rosethorn almost caused a couple accidents tearing through the center of the Circle. They were sort of worried about her so when I asked for a healer immediately they didn't question."

Dedicate Lily of the Water temple strode into the room that the young noble girl had directed her to and closed the door behind her. Her purposeful steps led her to the bed where the two dedicates and the master were gathered around the bed in the center of the room. Dedicate Lily carried a very large mage kit that she set down next to the bed.

Looking at the adults she could see that Rosethorn looked the most panicked of the three and that genuinely surprised her. Rosethorn was always so cool, calm and collected. Steadying her gaze she said in a calm manner, "What happened?"

Rosethorn was the one to speak seeing as she was the only one who knew the whole story, the rest knew absolutely nothing of it. "Lily, this is the plant mage that Niko was supposed to get back in Hajra."

Lily, who knew that her friend had been upset when Niko hadn't gotten him, asked, "but how?"

"The trees told me where to find him. He was buried in a cave-in in a mining camp. But he was also whipped prior to, inhaled poison from the mine, and has a high fever. To top that all of that, plant mages do not belong underground! He is having a hard time breathing and some of the boys told me earlier he had been coughing all day."

Here the other three adults all gave a gasp. Lily elbowed her way into the group so that she was standing directly next to the boy. "Pass me my kit. We need to get to work."

Two hours later they were done. A large kettle, extremely large kettle, had been brought in and they had given Briar a bath. Then Lily had used some of her herbs to make a type of tea that would help to clear out the poison from his body. They had reapplied ointments to his back and then wrapped them with bandages. Lark had dug out some loose fitting shirts and breeches that they had dressed him in. Now he was to rest with a cold cloth on his head and when he woke up they were supposed to feed Briar some willowbark tea and something thin like soup from Dedicate Gorse. At the end of her statement, Dedicate Lily got up and left Discipline with instructions to get her if Briar got any worse.

Meanwhile the three girls had been waiting impatiently for someone to tell them what was going on. All of them had been very curious when Niko had carried in a kettle filled with water and then when Lark had left and had come back with clothes. But both times when the girls had opened their mouths to ask a question they had been shushed as the elder went back into the room with the mysterious boy.

When Dedicate Lily left through the door bidding the three of them a good day, they all jumped up and ran to the door. Sandry knocked cautiously. "May we come in?" she asked quietly.

The quiet voice of Lark responded softly, "Come on in girls." The noble, the Trader, and the merchant entered silently, all tip-toeing as to not make any noise. The girls clustered around the bed looking at the pale looking boy who was in a fitful sleep.

"What happened to him," whispered Sandry, not daring to speak any louder so that she would not wake the sleeping boy, "and why is he so skinny?"

"You girls don't need to know what happened, but malnutrition is one of the bad factors that children get from growing up on the streets."

"That's horrible," murmured Sandry, "I'll talk to Uncle about it. I'm sure he can do something for all the poor children on the streets."

"I don't think he could do much Sandry," replied Niko from his seat on a wooden chair in the corner of the room. "Duke Vedris can not do everything to save every child that is put on the streets. Those children have to learn how to fend for themselves."

"Girls lets go get you something to eat, it is suppertime. And then off to bed with you. Rosethorn you need more rest than any of us," she continued as Rosethorn continued to sit in her chair next to the bed. "He'll be all right for a little bit. Niko or I will be watching him all night."

"Lark could I stay up with him too? Please? I'll take third watch or something. Please? And I'll wake you up if anything happens. And don't worry I won't fall asleep or anything!" Sandry pleaded as they all sat down and ate dinner that Dedicate Gorse had brought over.

Niko and Lark looked at each other from across the table. Lark answered. "All right Sandry. We'll wake you up when it is your turn, but if you are still tired one of us will do it for you."

Sandry smiled happily into her soup. After the dishes had been cleared Tris, Daja, Niko, Sandry, and a reluctant Rosethorn went to bed. The time was eight o'clock. Lark settled herself in a chair next to Briar with a book and read quietly for the next three hours, every half hour re-wetting the cloth on the golden-brown boy's forehead.

At 11 o'clock she woke Niko who watched him until two in the morning. Then he went to wake Sandry. At first the girl was a bit disoriented to why she was being woken up in the middle of the night or early morning, whatever you call it. But when she remembered that she was going to be watching Briar she was wide awake in minutes sitting in a chair next to his bed.

To keep herself occupied so that she would not fall asleep while on 'guard duty' the light brown haired girl worked on her drop spindle since she had gotten no work done earlier due to the fact that she was so worried about the boy Rosethorn had come running into the house with.

Sandry had a couple yards of thread made when at a quarter past three the boy in the bed began to stir and then wracking coughs shook his body. And then after the coughs had subsided he started to have what Sandry would call a fit. Briar began to thrash around on the bed. Sandry grabbed his shoulders and pressed them firmly to the bed to hold him still. She wasn't quite strong enough.

"Tris! Daja! Niko! Lark!," she yelled loudly. Unfortunately the adults were worn out from their busy day. Tris and Daja did come downstairs both rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. "Help me!," wailed Sandry, "he won't stay still!"

Daja took control of the matter. "Tris you take his arms. Sandry, just talk to him, try to get him to wake up. I'll take his feet." The trio took their positions and held on for dear life. Even weak and still unconscious, Briar was a force to be reckoned with.

Briar, in his own fevered sleep, thought that some gang was trying to hold him down so they could kill him. So he fought like a wild animal trying to break free of his 'attackers' and in his mind, yelling for the Lightnings, his gang, to come help him. Well, someone but more of a something did come to his aid.

"What the-" said Tris looking at a vine that was wrapping itself around her leg. Daja and Sandry were also getting wrapped in vines that were growing tremendously in size. They were coming from Rosethorn's workroom.

The vines then started to side with Briar and started to strangle the three girls in hopes of getting them off their friend. Trisana did the one thing that she could think of at that moment as her air was getting cut off as well as her housemates. She started a strong wind that shook the cottage, blew windows and doors open, and woke the three adults.

Niko, Rosethorn, and Lark came running in to see what the commotion was about. As soon as she saw what was happening, Rosethorn ordered the plants to let go of the young mages. The vines, who knew that their mistress was Rosethorn had to let go, especially when Rosethorn applied some of her power. The vines unwrapped themselves from the girls' necks and went back to Rosethorn's work area.

Briar had stopped twitching and Sandry was leaning over him staring concerning with her cornflower blue eyes when his eyes shot open to reveal a startling gray-green coloring staring right back at her in panic. Sandry realized that herself and the other two girls were still holding him down. Briar started to fight again, not registering the caring look in Sandry's eyes, so often that kindness had not been for him that he didn't think it was now.

'A kind household is not where I belong,' were Briar's last thoughts before pain exploded behind his eyes and he went limp in the girl's attempts to hold him still. 'Not where I belong.'

Author's Notes:

So, cliffy or not? You can tell me! Yay! Briar is in good hands! I am sorry to all of you who grew attached to Ratter, even though he wasn't a main character. But I had to kill him, I couldn't bring him back to Winding Circle with Briar even though I wanted to, but he wasn't going to fit in with the storyline.

I would like to say that I did make a mistake in the first two chapters. Briar is ten years old, not eleven. And I know some or most of you are probably wondering how Briar lived, ne? You'll find that out in the next chappie!

I would also like to thank IcyPanther again, for giving me the idea for a secret room behind those shelves. Thankies Icy! n.n

And it would be awesome again if all of you could press that review button at the bottom of the page! This story is going better than I thought it would, and those reviews make me very happy when I see them in my inbox! Hope to see you all again next chapter!

Reviewer's Comments:

IcyPanther: Your welcome, you come up with the idea, you get the credit! n.n I see what you mean, a bit too many 'she's when talking about Rosethorn. Hehe, I have to work on that! n.n

VanillaChocolate: Nope, I wouldn't really have a story if he died would I? But since he didn't it is okay =) Here is your update! Hope to see you next chapter!

Fantasizing-Lady-Knight: Ah yes, the evil cliffys... I did keep writing as you can see, otherwise you wouldn't be reading!

Lizai: Hehe I do like to torture him, as well as all my favorite characters from different books and animes. Glad you like it! n.n

Emma Lee18: That is true, but they thought that Briar was possibly dead so they didn't go looking for him, especially when they had no idea where to start looking.

Kyona Kopper: Wow I actually got two signed reviews from you for the same chapter! Still trying to figure out how that happened. Anyways, Briar didn't die and your question will be answered in the next chapter. n.n Hope to see you there!

dreamerdoll: I'm very glad that you liked it so much! Yeah, the torture is kind of fun to write actually n.n. It probably does hurt, but I wouldn't know how much, never happened to me before... which I'm glad! I know I hate how you can only have 100 fave stories, but thankies for putting me on ur fave authors!