The Funeral
The bewilderment on Eric's face had suddenly twisted into worry, as the butterflies which flew, whirling around Snow White's body, rose above her, and she fell to her knees with a flood of tears streaming from her eyes. He looked at the other dwarfs, only to see that they wore the same expressions of worry on each of their faces. As the last of the butterflies fluttered into the sky, disappearing into the beaming sun, Eric began to walk toward the pond. The dwarves remained frozen in their spots like statues made of stone, painted with dirt and smoke, as Eric edged the pond, staring at the path of lily pads upon it. He knew that the large petals would collapse beneath his heavy weight of muscle and girth, but he also knew that something was very wrong and he needed to help Snow White. What he didn't know was, from that moment on, nothing would ever be the same.
Snow White felt an unbearable pain with the sight of her mother and father in her mind. It wasn't from the simple fact that she had witnessed their deaths, though that itself did not help, but because for all those years, their presence was gone from her heart. She felt as though she had betrayed them by not remembering and thanking them for their selflessness every day of her existence. It was what she owed to them, she thought; the least that she could do for the sacrifice that they gave. They had died for her. They had died for their Kingdom, and now, all that was left was the ruins of Ravenna's destruction. Snow White felt a burning writhe within her body as the tears came even faster. Her breathing had become shallow and short, and her cries had turned into a whimper. Pathetic, she thought.
Amidst her thoughts of her mother and father, entered William, the young boy of eight years old. The memory of the dance they shared in the village struck her mind. Bright colours had surrounded her, and the music was cheery and delightful. She thought back to how the village was now, dingy and cold, only shades of grey colouring the surroundings. Then, a large tree grew high, apples sprouting from its branches, and the times that William and Snow White spent together, climbing and playing in that tree, pierced her mind with warmth and sadness all at once. She heard the words he had whispered into her ear the day that they had planted the seed, and the nerves within her body began to tingle like the trembling of a vibration. William would be much different now, Snow White thought, if he was even alive. He must be alive, she figured. He must.
Amidst the memories of the now familiar faces, one cloaked figure had presented himself to Snow White, whom she did not recognize. Following her escape from the Queen's Massacres, she recalled the fear she had felt as she rode the white horse away from the guards and the overrun castle. When she entered the dark forest, she remembered walking for miles, and along the way, encountering this mysterious silhouette. And he was the last person she would see before blacking out and being found by Gus and Muir in the dark forest; lost and out of mind.
In an instance, Snow White heard the sound of her name being called behind her, bringing her out of the cloud that was her head. The roughness of his voice had come to be a soothing song to her ears. Though now, he wasn't the only one that her heart called to. Eric shouted Snow White's name yet again, making her wipe down her teary cheeks and turn to look at him and the seven dwarfs that stood behind him. She felt embarrassed for the awful sight that she had created in their eyes. A sight of weakness and of misery. "What's wrong?" Eric asked. "What going on?" Snow White stumbled as she elevated herself up from the lily pad, her knees wet from the crystal clear water. She managed to make her way back to the edge of the pond where Eric waited for her.
"I know who I am now," she said to him, feeling for the first time like the Snow White everyone had been calling her. Just moments ago it had all felt so foreign, when now it felt like it had been buried deep into her soul all along. I know who I am now, she repeated in her head. It felt so strange, the assurance of knowing and feeling so confident in her thoughts. Before, she had been a lost mind, completely empty inside and stumbling with every new encounter. It was like she was a baby who needed to learn the basic steps of living. Now, she felt even stronger – even more sure of herself.
"What do you mean, Princess?" Eric asked, his eyes searching her face that seemed so different yet exactly the same. It was odd, he thought.
Snow White chuckled at the word, princess. She was a princess, she realized. A princess who fought dark guards and wielded weapons. It felt so wrong, so unnatural, yet necessary to who she was. She wondered if she had never lost her memory, stayed within the castle grounds for all those years and grew up to be the Queen of Tabor, would she still be the frail, helpless girl that she once was. Would she stay in the walls of her castle, not even living her life; cooking, cleaning, everything that was expected of the women who she knew as a young girl. It made her feel sick, knowing that she would have grown up not taking advantage of all of life's gifts. It was necessary, she knew. She couldn't imagine being the alien that she would be, had she grown up with her thoughts still intact. It was as though she was given the opportunity to experience life from an entirely new point of view, without judgement and preconceived thoughts. Everything felt right for once in her life. She continued to chuckle, making Eric wonder if seeing the Hart had made her go completely mad. Whatever it was, he thought, it could not be good.
"I know who I am, now," she repeated, feeling an odd giddiness. "I am Snow White, daughter of King Magnus and Queen Eleanor. I remember everything from the very moment I was born. Never before have my eyes been so open." Her words were spoken with a new tone; assertive and poised. She had been so overwhelmed by the feelings of grief, she wasn't able to appreciate the gift that she had been given. And it had all been because of Gus, she thought. Poor, dead Gus. She turned to the dwarfs who wore bafflement on their faces. "We will put Gus's body to rest here. This is the spot," she said looking at the beauty around her.
The day was a perfect combination of hot and cold, and the clouds in the sky were nowhere to be found, leaving behind a clear, crisp day. Gort and Beith brought Gus's body through the bushes and near the pond where Coll, Nion, and Duir had dug a hole. Quert went off with Snow White to gather flowers, while Muir stayed behind, relishing in the heat of the sun. Eric accompanied him, letting his mind rest after days of constant stress and anguish. When Snow White and Quert returned, with bundles of lucious and vibrant flowers, Snow White used them to braid a halo, and placed it on top of Gus's head. And after saying their final good-byes to the dwarf, they descended his body into the pit. Muir stood at the head of his grave when he began to speak.
"Gus didn't come without his flaws," Muir began, "But the one thing that everyone could count on was his heart of gold." Gort violently nodded in agreement, bunched in with the other dwarfs. He quickly wiped a tear away from his cheek, only for another to fall right after. Snow White gripped his shoulder in sympathy, only for his tears to emerge even more gushing. He tilted his head down as he listened to Muir's words. "I think that everyone will agree when I say that Gus had brightened each of our lives in one way or another. Even at our lowest times, he managed to come through and find the optimism in our darkest moments." Snow White thought back to her final days with the young dwarf, and how badly she had felt as everyone seemed to shun her. He had been the only one to comfort her.
"Gus never took life for granted. He knew fully of its brief time, and realized it better than any of us, who dwell on life's pettiness. He was taken too soon, but his time spent with us was not time spent in vein." Eric too had come to realize life's short span. He thought of Snow White, a young girl, leading herself to her death, without even knowing it. He felt angry about the unjust ways of life, as Muir spoke of Gus's ability to not let life's unfair ways get in the way of happiness. "I know that if you were with us right now, and you could speak, you would tell us to stop dwelling on your death and move on. To not let such a given part of life make us become such sad-souls. But in a way, you're wrong Gus," Muir said, as though the dwarf was standing, lively right in front of him and could hear every word he said. Muir began to sob as he continued. "You were too young, and life isn't fair. You will be greatly missed by each and every one of us. The moment you left, our lives became dimmer."
Snow White's eyes were burning, red from the tears that swamped her eyes. They began to fill the hole where Gus's body laid peacefully, and the dwarf would truly be gone forever. She was grieving for the young dwarf, her best friend; her brother. However, she wasn't only mourning Gus's death, but her mother's and father's too. Death had not been kind to her, but she knew that she had to forgive him; holding a grudge would only damage her soul. She knew this, because her father once said this to her. Even though her parents were gone, their presence was strong within her. Snow White gripped the side of her waist, in a spot where her father had embraced her as a small child. Thinking it would comfort her, but it made her feel only more distressed.
At the end of the funeral, Snow White decorated Gus's grave with a copious amount of flowers and took a step back. No one had realized it, but they weren't the only souls who had been present at the funeral. Surrounding them were multiple different animals, come to support everyone who was grieving. Small rabbits hopped down by the dwarfs, large turtles strolled down to the edge of the grave, and birds soared, melodiously chirping in the sky. Two white butterflies then appeared and sat upon the flowers which embellished the grave. They were the familiar butterflies that had accumulated from the white Hart. From the spirit of the forest. Snow White concluded that Gus's funeral could not have been any more perfect. He deserved only the best.
Following the funeral, Quert went off to find dinner for the lot of them, their stomach's turning in hunger. The day was passing fast and twilight was quickly approaching. Another fire was started for a roast, and various fruits and seeds had been collected to nibble on. Snow White had been engrossed in telling everyone about her life, about her memories from her childhood that she thought were lost for good. She recalled many instances of her parents that seemed to come from nowhere, and of the well-nature of the Kingdom while it had been under her father's rule. She smiled, reminiscing on all the old times, while the dwarfs listened intently, fascinated by the princess's words.
"There was a friend too," Snow White said, after having finished eating a satisfying dinner along with Eric and the dwarfs. "His name was William and we spent nearly everyday together. I wonder if he is still alive. I mean, I hope he is. He should be anyway, he escaped the night that Ravenna attacked." Eric grinned, though a wave of jealousy went over him. "He came from a Kingdom not far from Tabor, and – and," Snow White stuttered as the bright light clicked in her mind. The answer to solve their never-ending problems. "Do you all know of Duke Hammond?" Snow White asked, searching the faces of everyone alongside her.
"Yes, we know of him," Gort said. "He's quite the pansy though, if I do say so myself."
"He can help us," Snow White shouted with enthusiasm. "He has an army, he can lead us back to my castle and help us stop Ravenna."
"Did you not just hear what I said, Princess?" Gort laughed, along with the other dwarfs. "The man has one of the last standing Kingdom's in this quarter, and do you know why that may be?" He asked. Snow White merely shook her head in reply. "It's because," Gort began, "he isn't stupid enough to start a war on the Queen's dark army. Many have, and many Kingdom's have fallen in the process. There is absolutely no way that he will fight for us." Gort continued to chuckle at Snow White's apparent lunacy. He knew that the King wouldn't dare risk losing his Kingdom, dying for that matter, to help them fight the Queen.
"You're wrong," Snow White said. She was confident, as if she already knew that the Duke would agree to her demand. "Armies have fallen because they never had a chance of winning. We do. I am that chance, and I can kill Ravenna once and for all. Duke Hammond will do this for me, I know that he will." Her words seemed to convince the dwarfs instantly, it was almost too easy. And after further reasoning that Duke Hammond was the best and only chance they had to fight the Queen, they agreed that they would begin their voyage to his castle in the morning.
Eric had been noticeably absent from the discussion of their new plans. He listened, knowing that what they were saying would be the best way to go, but he wasn't ready to accept it; not that soon. Before nightfall hit completely and the darkness consumed their sight, Eric suggested a walk to Snow White, who agreed and followed him into the enchanted forest.
"It was a nice day," Eric began, as they departed from the dwarfs and were left completely alone. "I didn't know Gus too well, myself, but I know that he would be incredibly proud of you." Snow White smiled and shyly thanked him. "You have to listen to me now," he said, his voice growing serious and stern. "You cannot kill Ravenna, not yet," He commanded, arising a chuckle from Snow White's lips. She looked at his face in disbelief, like he was making some unfunny joke she didn't understand. But yet his eyes looked grave and careful. He had not been joking, Snow White realized, and suddenly she turned angry.
"You're serious?" She asked, continuing to stare at him dubiously. "You're telling me not to kill Ravenna, the person that has been causing death for far too long. The woman who is the reason for killing both of my parents, for turning this land into darkness. If anything, getting back all of my lost memories has want to kill her even more. I cannot – will not stand by and let her continue to devour the land that my parents built up."
"You will die" Eric began, though Snow White was quick to interject.
"No, I will not," she shouted, exasperated. "Have you so little faith in me after all this time? If there's anything I know that I can do, it is to take Ravenna down. It's the reason I have to give myself each and every day, the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. I can do this, I know that I can."
"You don't understand," Eric said.
"Then stop being so unclear and explain to me," Snow White demanded. She was tired of all the odd and unexplained behaviour he had brought off days before, and the ways that everyone seemed to distance themselves from her the more that they planned Ravenna's demise.
"The moment that Ravenna dies, you will die along with her." The words slipped out of his mouth like heavyweights. Tears began to swell in his eyes as he stared at Snow White's flawless face turn into disarray. "She bound her soul to yours, so that, if she were to die herself, you wouldn't have the chance to live and see it." Snow White took time to let the words soak into her mind. She hadn't thought that the day she would die would come so soon, let alone right after she finally felt like herself again. She stared coldly into Eric's eyes and watched the tears stream down his face. She had never seen him cry before, and at that moment, he looked like the young boy who had saved her those many years ago.
"Stop," she whispered, shaking her head. "Please." She caressed his hair to comfort him and wondered why it hadn't been the other way around. She was the one who was approaching death, not him. Yet, she felt deeply sorry for him, because she knew it would effect him more than it would effect her. He had already lost everyone he loved, and after she died, nothing more would matter to her. He would be left to suffer on earth, alone. "I'm sorry," she said, continuing to caress his hair. "If you thought that telling me that, would somehow change things, then you're wrong." He let out a harrowing whimper and turned his body away from hers. "Please, stop," She said, now agitated.
"I love you so much," he let slip between the sobs, and he wiped the tears away, embarrassed to have shown Snow White his misery; as though she didn't have enough on her plate as it was. For days, he was able to hide behind his ale and now, he knew that the truth would come out sooner than later. It had too.
Without so much as a thought, Snow White pushed her lips against Eric's and kissed him tightly. He encompassed his arms around her skinny body and held her so firmly, he decided that he would never let her go. She began to kiss him harder, pushing forward his head with her hands, and feeling every inch of his body against her own. She didn't know if what drove her to act was knowing her time was quickly terminating, or because she couldn't hold herself back any longer. The need for him had been growing inside of her everyday, she yearned for him more than anyone. Short of breath, Snow White released Eric from her grip, and gasped in the fresh night air. "I love you too," she said to him, before they began to walk back to where they set camp, and Snow White fell asleep in Eric's arms.
It was the middle of the night when Snow White awoke in a sweat. Eric had turned away from her, and the fire had extinguished leaving her surroundings pitch-black. A sharp pain in her stomach had caused her to lurch up and groan. When she put her hand to her waist, it was hot and wet. Another sharp pain suddenly emerged within her stomach, as though someone was sticking hot iron against her skin. The liquid on her stomach began to pour and when she put her hand to her face, she recognized the scent almost immediately: Blood. She let out a sharp scream as another stroke of pain hit her in the chest. Amidst confusion, Snow White fell to the ground, losing her breath. Beside her, someone had ignited the fire, and when she looked down to her body she witnessed three puncture wounds with blood continuing to flow out of her body.
Queen Ravenna was disgruntled when Finn returned without Snow White. She killed the guard alongside him, and approached her brother, ready to end his life as well. Instead, a laugh left her mouth, and she left Finn, alive, prepared for him to have failed. "Thank you for proving again and again of your uselessness," she said to Finn, tracing a dagger down her arm. "If you weren't my brother, you would have been dead many years ago, that is for certain. Really, you should be expressing your gratitude to me for letting you live this long. Eating my food, divulging in my luxurious, just so you can ruin everything else time and time again."
"I'm so sorry, sister," He said. Finn was scared. He knew that Ravenna's patience was dwindling quick, and he couldn't trust that she wouldn't kill him. Snow White's heart was so close, yet she persisted to outwit Ravenna. From then on out, he knew she wouldn't take to things lightly – though even her lightly way of doing things resulted in death and chaos. He didn't want to find out what came next. "But I did not return empty-handed," Finn continued. Curiosity suddenly overcame Ravenna and she let slip a devilish smile. "Snow White and her companions plan to sneak into the castle and kill you. We were listening in on their plans for days without them knowing."
"My, my," Ravenna said. "So you aren't completely useless." She beamed with pride at her brother. "We will have to prepare the dark army immediately, though I doubt the girl will even have the chance to make it here, with what I have arranged." She left Finn instantly and made her way to the dungeons of the castle.
William slumbered in his cell, his body turned to the side. He could very well be mistaken for a skeleton, as his figure had diminished to nothing but skin and bone. The days were quickly running short, and he knew it. He was worried about what the Queen had planned for him, though he promised himself that whatever tortures she put him through, he would not submit. Death was a better option than letting Ravenna prevail, he concluded. And Snow White would have a chance. She would succeed, and he knew it. She appeared to him in his dreams, the young Snow White that he had played with as a child. An angelic glow surrounded her and brought warmth to his cold body. In the midst of his dream, his mind had warned him something: someone was watching him. He opened his eyes to see Ravenna's deadly eyes staring back at them, they were a glistening black against the darkness of the night.
"You can finally come to some use," Ravenna began. "And before I begin, I would like to warn you: It is best for you to comply to me completely. I don't want any resistance."
"I've told you before, you're mad if you think I'm going to help you kill Snow White. Torture me all you want, I won't give in to you," His words came out in a cold tremble. He was weak and tired, his muscles unused for weeks. Ravenna laughed a cold cackle, and pulled out the dagger that she traced along her arm. William eyed it, trembling, accepting that it was likely he would die that night. "Stab me then, for all I care. It's better than slowly ebbing away, as I am now." He let out a tired sigh.
"You see, William," Ravenna said. "I need Snow White's heart to complete the spell. And I began the spell by binding her soul to mine." Her pure soul was assaulted by Ravenna's evil, William thought. "But lately, I have been thinking that her dying by your hands might be just as enjoyable for me."
"What are you talking about?" William asked, worried to find out where Ravenna had been going with her words.
"Theoretically, whatever happens to me should happen to Snow White, so if I do something like this-" Ravenna took the dagger and pushed it into her abdomen, letting blood gush out of her stomach like a violent waterfall. "- then it should happen to Snow White too," she said, smiling. William lurched to his feet and banged his arms against the metal bars, constraining him from Ravenna. Though, even he knew he was too weak to take her on.
"You're lying," He screamed, banging on the cell's bars.
"Do you really want to risk that?" She asked, pulling out yet another dagger and delving it deep into her side. "I will heal in time, you see, but before I do, I can very well let Snow White bleed out and die. William didn't know what to do. Either way, Snow White was dying. Ravenna wouldn't have it any other way. The games she played were rigged for her to win each and every time. There was one thing he could buy for Snow White if he did comply, he thought – Time. "I'm really surprised to see that you're willing to let your poor Snow White die," she said.
"Okay, stop!" He screamed. "I'll do what you want, just stop hurting her." She merely laughed and revealed a third dagger. William screamed as she shoved it into her chest, inches away from her heart. "I said stop! I'll do it! Please, for God's sake." Ravenna smiled as she began to pull out each of the dagger's from her body. The wounds where the daggers had been, sealed over as though they had never been there to begin with.
"Thank you, William. Now, come with me," Ravenna said, unlocking the cell doors.
Snow White squirmed on the ground of the earth, as blood coughed up from her mouth. She could feel the dwarfs and Eric move around her, though her vision was blurry and her mind was going hazy. The confusion of the random wounds appearing in her body could only be answered by one thing, she thought. Ravenna. She continued to cough up the blood, ready for death to take her away, until the pain decreased, and decreased once again, and finally there was no pain at all. Death had come for her quickly, she thought, just before her eyes began to adjust ahead of her and the sight of the dwarfs and Eric appeared, all with looks of fright on their faces. The wounds had completely healed, as though they were never there.
She looked up with fright at everyone surrounding her in panic, and at that moment, all Snow White was sure about, was that the next funeral she would be attending would be her own.