Full Circle (G)
Characters – Hank, Diana, Presto, Sheila, Bobby, Eric
Prompt - ff100 #7 Days
Word Count – 1714
Summary – Each of the kids is having a very bad day.
AN
– A look at moments after each other episodes in Series 3 – inspired by
a comment by Random Scribbles about people saying the same things in
different circumstances; and I've been trying to get this one finished
for ages!
= = =
Full Circle
I - After “Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Hank to Diana.
She’d never heard him say it before. He’d obviously thought it, hadn’t they all? At first, she though she should turn it into a joke, but the look on his face stopped her.
He meant it.
‘C’mon Hank,’ she said uncertainly. ‘No-name’s gone, we’re all safely out of the Underworld with recharged weapons. Course we’re gonna get home!’
He looked round at her.
‘You can loose the pep talk, Diana,’ he told her curtly. ‘We’re not at school, and this isn’t a football game.’
She looked at him, uncertain what to say to make things right. She should be able to help him, somehow. She always had before. Around them was the small puddle of green land leftover from No Name’s path of destruction, the others were mostly asleep, exhausted from the day’s exertions. Somehow, tomorrow, they had to get themselves back to where they were supposed to be, and start looking for another portal.
She was about to say something about their plans tomorrow, when Hank suddenly spoke again.
‘I think this is one of the worst days of my life,’ he told her. ‘We came so close to loosing everything. It’s just a nightmare.’
They looked at each other, friends though everything. Diana took his hand in a firm grip, looking him in the eye. She had to let him know he wasn’t alone.
‘Don’t give up, Hank,’ she said. ‘We’ll find a way back.’
= = =
II - After “The Time Lost”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Diana to Presto.
He’d never heard her say that with such conviction before. He stared at her, unsure of what to say. He stared at their smouldering campfire, hoping for inspiration to strike.
‘Josef got home,’ he managed. ‘We can do the same.’
He hoped it would be enough, he didn’t think it would be, though. Diana shook her head.
‘I think we’re stuck here. For good.’
‘Don’t say that,’ said Presto, struggling for words.
‘I think this is one of the worst days of my life,’ she told him. ‘Josef is gone, and our world is safe from Venger, but we’re still here! We’re still here. There’s no way out!’
He desperately wanted to help her, but it was so difficult to find the right words to say. After Kosar had gone, he struggled then as well, but he’d managed eventually to let her know she wasn’t alone.
Instead of speaking, and feeling a boldness he didn’t usually have, he slipped his arm across her shoulders.
‘We’ll get there somehow. We’ll get home.’
= = =
III - After “Odyssey of the Twelfth Talisman”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Presto to Sheila.
It wasn’t unexpected, but still the suddenness of his outburst took the Thief by surprise. She reached out to touch his arm, wanting to let him know that she understood. He looked so down, and unhappy. She’d never seen him like this before, except after Varla.
‘It’s not fair,’ said Presto quietly. ‘Lorne’s got a new home, but we’re still stuck here. Shoulda known when I heard that dumb riddle!’
Something in his tone suggested that he wasn’t just jealous of Lorne for getting a new home. Before the young boy had shown up, Eric and Presto were best of friends. And though Presto would never, ever admit it in a million years, he enjoyed the attention Eric gave him, and was proud of their friendship.
‘It must have been hard, with Lorne around,’ Sheila said gently.
‘Eric is never going to stop sulking,’ said Presto. ‘It’s never going to go back to the way it was. I think this is one of the worst days of my life.’
‘I know Eric is in a bad mood, but it’s not your fault.’
‘I’m his best friend,’ said Presto. ‘I just wanna help him and all he does is ignore me! I hate it when he does this.’
Suddenly, Presto sniffed.
‘It’s not fair. I want to go home, like Lorne, see my family and get out of this horrible place.’
He turned to her, looking for reassurance.
‘We’ll get home sometime,’ said Sheila, tightening her hold on his arm. ‘Sometime.'
= = =
IV - After “Citadel of Shadow”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Sheila to Bobby.
He always knew she thought it, but this was the first time she’d said it to his face. there was an odd mix of relief, fear and pride. She thought he was old enough to face the truth. She trusted him.
They were sitting side by side watching the others try to catch the dinner Presto had pulled from his Hat, and failing miserably. But Sheila looked miserable, and though he hated mushy stuff, he was smart enough to know Sheila needed him. He shuffled along the log, a little closer to her.
‘The whole mess with the rings, it was all my fault,’ she said. ‘I wanted to help her, and I know I couldn’t have left her to Venger, but still.’ She took a long, slow breath in. ‘I think this is one of the worst days of my life.’
She had helped him so often, she had always been there when he needed her. And tonight she needed him, and he was proud that she trusted him enough to talk to him. He gave her a big grin.
‘We’ll get back, sis,’ he said with a sudden burst of confidence.
= = =
V- After “Winds of Darkness”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Bobby to Eric.
It took a lot to rob the Cavalier of the power of speech, but this worked. What was he gonna say? He’d always been so bad at this kinda thing. Pep-talks were not his speciality! What was he gonna do!
Side by side, they sat in the tavern at Mindril, waiting for the others. There was no one else around. He sensed the young boy’s uncertainty and fear, but was doubly confused as to why Bobby was talking to him. Shouldn’t he be talking to Sheila. Or Hank?
Over the past couple of days, ever since Hank had disappeared in fact, he’d sensed a small amount of respect from the Barbarian. And there had been a look, a small, fleeting look of admiration just before they went into the Grotto to taken on the Darkling. Bobby turned to look at him, his hand resting on Uni’s muzzle as she sat next to him.
‘Um, sure we are, squirt! It’s easy, first portal on the left!’
Bobby looked up at him, that grownup and rather patronising look on his face.
‘I think this is one of the worst days of my life,’ he said flatly.
‘Wow, it has to be bad if it’s worse than the Dragon’s Graveyard.’
‘What!’
‘Um, did I say that out loud?’ asked Eric timidly.
‘Yes,’ growled Bobby.
‘Oh.’
The Cavalier tried to smile, but it didn’t seem to help. Bobby was still frowning.
‘Hank could have gone for ever,’ said Bobby. Eric expected a comment about leaders next but the Barbarian surprised him. ‘And if Hank could get caught, then any of us could. Sheila. Me. You. Anyone.’
The young boy looked up at Eric.
‘It’s just, I never really thought about it like that before.’
Suddenly, unexpectedly, Eric knew what to say. He grinned and clapped the Barbarian gently on the shoulder.
‘Look, Bobby, we’ll get there in the end. I dunno how, but we will.’
= = =
VI - After “Cave of the Faerie Dragons”
‘You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get home,’ said Eric to Hank. ‘Every chance we get, there’s always some good reason to stay.’
It wasn’t the words that surprised him, but the tone. Eric was serious; deadly serious, more serious than Hank had ever heard before. For a moment, he struggled to think of something to say; a serious Eric was not something he was used to dealing with.
‘Of course we will,’ he managed. ‘We just have to keep going.’
‘Keep going?’ repeated the Cavalier, his tone tinged with cutting sarcasm. ‘But that’s what we’ve been doing, in case you haven’t noticed, and here we are, still stuck here. We are never going home.’
We'll never get home... So here it was, they had come full circle; had six more adventures. People met, people saved and now it was Eric who was saying what he'd thought all those weeks ago. But Hank didn't feel like that anymore. What was different? What had changed.
He looked at the others, as they sat by the fire. They had suffered, and struggled and twisted and turned in a vain attempt to get free. But they were all still here. It felt as though they should be, somehow. It was difficult to put into words, and probably more difficult to explain to the Cavalier.
Eric looked away abruptly, looking back to the mountains where the Fairie Dragons’ cave had been.
‘I did it,’ he said. ‘I broke the mirror. I left us trapped here.’ The Cavalier raised his hand to cover his eyes. ‘I think this is one of the worst days of my life.’
‘You did the right thing,’ said Hank, knowing how futile the words were. How many time had the others comforted him with the same, empty words?
‘Oh c’mon, Hank!’ snapped Eric. ‘Admit it. You think the same. You might never say it, but you do!’
The words struck a chord, and for once he knew what Eric was feeling.
‘I did,’ said Hank. ‘I did think that. And I said exactly the same thing after the Underworld.’
‘There you are!’
‘But I’ve changed my mind.’
‘Huh? Why!’
He didn’t really know why. He had a sense of something bigger and greater than he’d understood before. They had a place in the Realm, and perhaps even a task to do. But he knew they would get home, in a way he had never sense before. It would be over, once their task was done.
He smiled with a strange confidence.
‘We’ll get home, Eric. I know we will. We'll get home.’