Chapter Four: Pirates and Riddles...
"My aunt is gonna be super confused if we keep this up. I'm exhausted!" Maybeck grumbled as he rolled his shoulders. It was the next night and all of them were headed to the firehouse to meet with Wayne.
Finn rubbed his face, not exactly sure how to rebuke Maybeck when he agreed with him. Sneaking out past dark and not getting to bed till close to midnight, if they were lucky, for the past two nights was taking a toll on him as well. "We've got to keep going. Come on. We know where the warehouse is at. We need to get in there to get into the Kingdom."
Willa tapped her fingers against her leg, a frown crossing her features. "I'm not too sure about this. I mean, yeah. Last night wasn't a trap...but that doesn't mean tonight will be the same. We really need to stay on our toes."
Philby tilted his head, understanding flashing across his features. "Willa's right. We don't know everything that is going on down there. For all we know, there could be pirates down there!"
Charlene gave him a look, one eyebrow shooting upwards. "Um, pretty sure we only have to deal with brooms and wraiths. I mean, have you ever seen pirates wandering around at night?"
"No...but that doesn't mean that they don't exist in the Kingdom!" Philby protested as the group arrived at the warehouse.
Finn shook his head as he shoved open the door. "Let's just go. We don't have all da...night."
...
As it was, knowing how the portal works made it so that he actually could brace himself to crash into the concrete sidewalk. What it didn't prepare himself for was the pirates stealing what looked like spaceships...with lasers. Working lasers if the pain in his arm was anything to go by. "Note to self... It's safer back home than here at night!" Finn hissed as he pressed a hand against his now burning flesh.
Philby was fumbling with his things, trying to figure out a way to ease Finn's pain from the burn mark. Maybeck snorted as he slammed his hammer into one of the spaceships, destroying its laser rather effectively. "You do know that laser burn looks like a cigarette burn...right?"
Finn groaned at that, not too impressed with him. "Maybeck! Not helpi...watch out!" Finn flicked his blaster out, blasting a pirate right in the chest.
Maybeck nodded, a grunt of thanks escaping him, before he threw himself back into the battle. Willa took a step back, worry creasing her brow. "We need to get to Wayne. Anyone got any ideas?"
"You're the strategist!" Finn yelled as he dodged some more lasers.
Willa shot him a withering look, clearly not impressed. "You're supposed to be the leader!"
Charlene flipped down next to them, annoyance flaring up in her eyes. "Guys... we're all new at this. Obviously we didn't get enough instruction before being tossed out to stop these Overtakers. We've got to learn how to work together! Which means no running off on our own, Maybeck!"
Finn gulped, realizing that she had a point. They were kids with no idea on what they were doing. "We need to get to Wayne. And I think I've got a vague idea on how to do it..."
...
"Next time...I'm coming up with the plan!" Willa muttered as she slammed the door shut behind her.
"I didn't say it was a good plan..." Finn rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed that his first official night as the leader of the Kingdom Keepers was not going super swell.
Maybeck shook his head as he moved further into the room. "Run for the hills? That wasn't a plan!"
"Hmm, without any training that actually was the smart move to make." Wayne spoke up from where he was sitting on the couch.
"Wayne!" Finn vaguely wondered why they all sounded surprised when they knew he was going to be there.
Wayne nodded as he scanned the five of them. "Good. You're all here. I can finally tell you about the Riddle of the..."
"Stonecutter's Quill." Finn finished for him, surprised that another aspect of his strange dream was slipping into his real life.
Wayne gave him an odd look, confusion dancing in his eyes. "How did you know that I was going to say that? The Riddle of the Stonecutter's Quill is something that the founder of this Kingdom made up in case of emergency. No one has ever solved it before... I should know. I have tried multiple times before."
Finn swallowed hard as he recalled the dream to his mind. "Yesterday, I had fallen asleep in math class. I had a dream where we were here, in this Kingdom, standing together with two others...we were waiting for something and all of you were petrified. I mentioned the Riddle of the Stonecutter's Quill. Said that the most powerful weapon was in my hands...but I woke up before I could see what it was."
Charlene spoke up, confusion edging her voice. "But what made you realize that he was going to tell us about that? It could be any riddle that he was going to tell us!"
Finn scratched the back of his neck, suddenly feeling very nervous. "You remember how I said that there were two extras with us? One of them showed up in my P.E. class. Just moved to town."
"That's not creepy at all." They spoke in unison, looking crept out that Finn had dreamt about this particular riddle. Philby turned to face Wayne, clearing his throat. "Can you tell us the riddle now, please?"
Wayne gave a slow nod, before clearing his throat. "It isn't much of a riddle, more like a story. Here it goes: It was a hot, sweltering day, and the stoncutter balanced on his haunches, chisel and hammer in hand, streams of sweat running down his back as he broke bits of rock away from the base of a wall of stone. It was hard, blistering work, and it felt like the sun had no mercy on him.
'How wonderful it must be to have the power of the sun,' he thought. 'If I were the sun, no one would resist me! I wish I were the sun!'
In an instant, he found himself looking down on the earth, beating on it with his heat and energy. He was the sun, and he liked the way he touched everything and everyone bellow him without mercy. In his presence, people would be thirsty, they would be hot, and they would always know that he was there.
Suddenly, he realized that there was something impeding him. He could not touch the earth with his power. He looked down and saw that a cloud had interposed itself between him and the earth.
'Hmm,' he thought. 'In spite of my great power, there is something that thwarts me. Surely this cloud is mightier than I am. I wish I were the cloud!'
And in an instant, he found he was the cloud, and he could block the sun all day long. What's more, he could rain on those below him, bring cold, eroding buildings, drowning what he pleased. Surely there was nothing more powerful than he was now!
But he felt himself being swayed, and quite without his consent, he was being pushed and he couldn't resist the movement. He found that the wind was blowing him to the side, and he saw that because he could not defy it, it was mightier than him. 'How I wish I were the wind!' he thought.
And he was. Where he blew, huge trees bent. He could push great walls of water where he pleased. He could topple the tallest, most majestic buildings. Surely he was all-powerful now.
But as he swept across the world, he came across something that stopped him. He looked and realized that the mountain before him could not be penetrated. As hard as he might blow against it, he could not push it to the side. 'Look how it resists me!' he thought. 'Surely this mountain is mightier than me. I wish I were the mountain!'
And he was. He sat, imperial and bold, tall and proud, bolted to the earth, and he knew that there was nothing in all the world that could move him, could destroy him, or could overcome him. He was the mightiest thing of all. But then he realized something. From somewhere far below, he was being reduced. He was being destroyed-torn apart- quite against his wishes, and he could do nothing about it. What is there mightier than a mountain? Not the sun, the cloud, or the wind...what could it be?
With great effort, he looked down, and there, far below, at his very base... he saw a stonecutter." Wayne paused, looking each one of them in the eye.
A/N: Done! The Riddle is from Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, pages 111-113. And Finn and the others are crept out by Finn's dream from two chapters ago. Oh well. Also, who all realized that Philby and Charlene jinxed them about the pirates? Let's move onto responding to reviews!
*crickets chirp* Or not. Come on guys...please send in reviews! I don't bite! Honest!
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SkyTalon