...What... happened?

"Fonda, don't worry. I'm here."

...Someone's touching my head... my hair... Dad?

"Will, pass me those bandages."

...Deep voice... calm and collected... Errett?

"Is he gonna be okay?"

...Concern... soft and gentle tone of voice... Taza?

"Holy shit! Is that his fucking bone?!"

Tom. Definitely Tom.

What happened?

"Fonda, you were badly injured. But I'm here with you. You'll be fine."

Okay... thanks dad.

"Another bandage, please. Taza, hold that more tightly."

Errett... am I gonna make it?

"It's bleeding! Is there supposed to be this much blood?"

Calm down, Taza... I'll be fine...

"Oh shit... Oh shit... Oh shit!"

...Tom... keep it together... everything will be fine... I think...

What the hell happened to me?!

"Just hold on a little longer. You'll be fine after a bit."

I hope you're not just saying that because it-

"There. Now we just need support for the cast."

God it hurts so much I can't even feel my hand...

"Wait- Wait- Don't move his- Oh god..."

What is that stop stop stop it hurts please-

"Oh my god, was it supposed to snap back like that?!"

What was that why did it hurt so much why-

"Son, you're fine now. Just rest. Trust me. Everything will be okay."

Okay dad. I trust you. I'll rest.

And so he did.

Fonda had only awoken hours later, unsure of the time or even his location. His right hand hurt the most out of his whole otherwise agony-ridden body, and he soon noted he couldn't even move it at all. There was something stiff keeping it in place, but even without it, he doubted he would have been able to move it. He turned to his side and looked around, noting that he was inside the caravan, laying in the bed he had given up for Tom to sleep on when he first arrived here almost a month back. Near the front he could see someone moving around - But he didn't really have time to recognise who it was. His mind was more focused on how he got here in the first place - And what exactly happened in that forest.

He remembered flashes - He was standing still and watching the house, seeing as Tom struggled to force the window open for almost five minutes. Whatever locks Dissonance and his friends put on that house were stronger than anything he had ever seen before - But eventually, the boy got in. Only minutes later Sapana started moving towards the entrance, and Fonda began firing at him. And it was here that things got messy - Right before his final, deadly shot, someone slammed into him, knocking him onto his right side. There was shouting, cursing, someone else got there and a long fight took place as he slowly bled out on the floor below. And now he was here, bandaged and cleaned up, but from how much pain he was feeling, able to tell that their potion supply had finally run dry. He finally decided to sit up and get moving - He had to know what happened.

Straight away, he knew their mission must have been successful to an extent. On the front chairs of the caravan sat Tom and Taza, completely silent. Tom wasn't speaking, for once... something very rare for him. As for Taza, his eyes told it all - Faded, colourless and focused solely on the small, burned daffodil he was grasping in his hand. Tom gave Fonda a passing glance, forced a sad smile and then focused on his friend once more. Taza himself didn't even seem to recognise him standing there, clearly something else on his mind. The eighteen year old finally turned to the doorway and stepped outside, the bright light of the sun blinding him as he did so.

"Fonda! Fonda, how are you feeling?"

Fonda's father was the first to greet him, grabbing onto him and helping him out of the caravan. The man rubbed his eyes and looked around, seeing Will, as well as Errett, fishing by the lake together.

"...Better, I think... what even happened?"

He scratched the back of his head, noticing that a bandage was wrapped all the way around it. Errett soon abandoned his fishing rod and came closer, putting his hands in his pockets.

"...Georgie got to you before we could stop him. He broke your arm."

The man moved his sunglasses slightly. Fonda could see they had some cracks and a splatter of blood on them - but he still didn't take them off. What could possibly be hiding behind them if he insisted on covering it so much?

"How's Taza? Did he make it out okay? Is he feeling okay?"

Fonda instantly switched topics, knowing that since everyone was here and alive, something else must have broken that boy down to the point he was at now. Errett looked aside in silence, meanwhile Will explained instead;

"Sapana burned down the flower field. There's not gonna be any more potions from either side, not for a long time."

The man looked down, rubbing his eyes.

"Taza hasn't been able to focus on anything else since. I... I don't really know what we're gonna do now. Dissonance, Sapana and Georgie have all been missing since yesterday."

"...We have to run, right?"

At his words, both of the men perked up.

"Once Dissonance gets more potions we're done for, and we can't make any ourselves. We have to get out of the city before he comes after us! Before he comes here and blows our home to pieces-"

"And where do we go then?", Errett cut in.

"There's a reason we never go into the wilderness. No one knows what's out there! Those things that wander the woods at night, we'd never stand a chance with them! Not with the gear we have right now!"

"We either stay and risk our lives or run and get a chance at surviving. Whether we like it or not, we'll have to make that choice - There's no other way to stay away from Dissonance!", and as Will announced this, the doors of the caravan opened.

"...There's one way."

Now, standing with them, was Taza, being supported by Tom right by his side. He shook the blonde off and moved forward, his feet dragging behind him as he did so. He stopped for a moment, lifting the burned flower in his right hand. It crumbled and the small dust it produced settled on his hand, but he didn't seem to mind. He remained still and as he looked at it, and after about a minute, finally spoke.

"...Take me to the field.", he whispered, lowering his head.

"I can explain it better there. But I need to go to the flower field."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Tom looked at his friend momentarily, grabbing his hand.

"Taza, are you sure?"

The boy did not answer. Instead, he turned to the side and began walking away by himself. The look in his eyes as he passed them was unnatural – It hid deeply rooted sorrow and regret. The four followed – What other choice did they have?

The walk to the field wasn't long – But it was filled with impossible, unexplainable silence. Silence that hid words not yet said, explanations not yet given, and thoughts on everything that had gone down that they did not dare to share with one another. And as the five had finally arrived at the charred remains of the once vibrant flower field, it was clear from Taza's reaction he was not yet ready to face it. His eyes widened as he watched the pitch black stems sway in the gentle breeze, not even a smudge of their long lost colours left behind. He knelt down for a moment, the soot and ash staining his trousers as he did so. His hands wandered over the burned stems for just a moment, his fingers tracing the edges of each one. Ash was still floating around, landing on him as he remained unmoved. Tom crouched down by his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright, Taza?", he whispered to him, getting an instant reaction.

The boy shook his head, got to his feet and wiped his eyes. There was something new in them – Something Will had only seen in one person before. It was the flame of hope and a desperate want for revenge, whatever steps may have to be taken to finally get it.

"...Dissonance is going to pay for this."

He looked at Will first of all.

"He will pay for taking advantage of you."

His eyes settled on Fonda.

"He will pay for exploiting both you and me."

He turned to Errett.

"He'll pay for destroying our houses."

And finally, he looked at Tom.

"And he will pay for hurting my friends. Because what Dissonance doesn't realize now..."

Taza grinned, looking at the field.

"He just gave us the upper hand in this war."

"...Wait... wait, wait, wait, what do you mean?"

Fonda got closer, shifting his cast slightly. He was definitely not going to get used to having his arm broken... "If the field is gone, how does that benefit us? We can't have potions and neither can Dissonance – The whole city is screwed by this point for protection!"

Taza waited for a moment, played around with the buttons on his shirt in idle thought, and then explained;

"...Without potions on either side and with five of us and three of them, we are on somewhat equal ground until potion supply is restored."

Taza paused, his smile growing stronger.

"...Dissonance always made sure I gave him spare seeds for every flower I took care of in the flower field. At first it was a safety net, but eventually it was about control. Reminding me that even if I decided to go rogue, he would be able to recover the loss without me. Now, since the whole of Dissonance's group is missing and they're not here replanting, I'm guessing they're preparing a new field somewhere in private... my best guess is a ravine, somewhere hidden but still with access to light. It also has to be close to the city. So somewhere over there."

Taza paused and pointed to the nearby mountains.

"There's no point trying to fight them or destroy their supply. But they're going to be occupied for quite some time. With the amount of flowers they'd have to grow to fully restore the flower field to full efficiency... they'd need about... four months of work. Five if they set up a new brewing system. They're going to be distracted, gone most of the time... unable to stop anything we may want to do."

Taza glared at Will.

"But we need someone to lead us. Show us what we should do. We have time and we have people but we need direction. What do we do, Will?"

Will hesitated, thinking deeply about everything. About everything that had gone down, about everything that they had endured, and about everything they had fought for. All they ever wanted was freedom, all they ever wanted was the right to choose for themselves, they never wanted anything more or anything less. But to Dissonance that was too much, giving them the right to live freely under his rule. And in between the questions and everything that had happened, he could only see one clear answer. One way to be free while staying where they are, one way to avoid running but giving them the freedom of choice, one way to stand for themselves with strength and power. One way to keep their heads up. One way to stay alive. One way to fight for what's right and give them a chance. Only one word could describe his idea accurately;

Independence.

"...I may have an idea.", Will spoke slowly, unsure if he truly meant his own words.

"But we can't talk about it here. We need to go back to the caravan... we'll be safe then."

He paused once more, clearly choosing his words very carefully.

"If someone here were to listen... we could get in some serious trouble."

He finally turned to leave, everyone else following closely behind.

What was Will's idea? He wasn't sure himself. He knew the answer was right there, and somewhere, deep in his memories and dreams, he felt as though he had done things far more impossible before. He knew that the man with the cold glare would have urged him on, his convincing voice whispering into his ear to give him guidance. He knew the man with the crown and the sword would slay all in his way, and take what he thought he deserved. And looking at the hair, the discs and the laugh, he knew for sure that he had to do whatever it took to protect those he cared about. So as the group arrived at the caravan, he turned around, and without a second of warning, began spouting a plan hatched from his sheer helplessness in the situation;

"...The City of Dissonance is and forever will be Dissonance's playing field. And our home is always in the City of Dissonance. But if our home were not to be a part of it..."

Will turned back, fixing up his glasses. They were cracked, stained, and falling apart. Yet still, they held on. Almost like this group of unlikely allies did, holding onto a possibility of freedom.

"...If we were to stand alone, he would have no right to control us. We have to form our own city. Our own nation."

"Will, that's insane!", Errett cut in.

"What, you want to have a war of independence with that maniac? Make sure he can slaughter us for good this time?"

"We're safe for the next few months.", Taza interjected.

"Enough to form defences and prepare for a battle. We could do this. We could win this."

"And we'll make our own city? Right here?"

Tom asked, his eyes already filling with mischievous glee.

"What would we call it? Can I design the flag?".

"We're not starting our own city here, that's just crazy!"

Fonda turned around, waving his hand at the two young boys.

"He'll just crush it. Blow it all up like he did Errett's house!"

"...Not if we prepare. Not if we fight. And once we are our own nation, Dissonance will have no right to attack us. We will create a peace treaty, some sort of agreement-", Will began thinking aloud.

"And you think he'll just follow it?", Errett questioned their ideas.

"What sort of reason would he have to just agree with our rules on his turf? You know how Dissonance is..."

"He's smart!", Taza reminded everyone.

"He knows that if he were to go against some sort of political agreement, the whole city would revolt. And that would be an issue for him!"

"...We could do this... we could actually do this!"

Tom began getting overly excited.

"Corner Dissonance into signing an agreement with us and then we can be independent!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves! Independence is a fun buzz word, sure, but what does it even mean? What exactly are we gonna do out here?", Errett started asking himself questions.

"This was all a bad idea from the start... but I guess we're too far in now..."

Fonda looked up at his father, a small smile on his face.

"So where do we start?"

Will thought, for just a second. A memory seemed to tug at the back of his mind.

"Whatever stands in my borders is my land. It's as simple as that."

"You can't just- You can't claim the whole world as being within your border!"

"Well... I just did that... so tough luck I guess. The whole world is mine."

"New rule – You need a wall to mark your border. Official as of right now."

"Hey! Not fair! I got the whole world, fair and square!"

And with a chuckle he didn't quite understand, he spoke;

"...We need to mark our border. With a wall."

"A... wall?", Fonda repeated, narrowing his eyes.

"Can we have some more details? I mean how big are we talking? What kind of materials? Since I can't help build it, I could plan it..."

It was clear the eighteen year old was already getting engaged with the idea.

"For a flag, are we thinking stripes, triangles or X-es? How about all of them?!", Tom started exclaiming to himself, getting on the ground and starting to form shapes from nearby flowers and sticks.

Taza started looking around.

"If we were to build more homes here, what buildings should we prioritize? We can't all live in that caravan, now, can we?"

Taza rubbed his chin, looking around.

"Maybe a small armoury here... a home for Errett here... Tom, do you wanna share a house?"

"I think we're forgetting the most important thing."

Errett paused, a grin spreading across his face.

"This place needs a name. Every strong nation has a strong name, right? So what's our name, Mr. President?", with his joking tone, it was clear Errett was the least enthusiastic about the idea.

But Will didn't mind – He looked towards the horizon with a fond smile.

"...How about..."

Will paused, looking aside.

"...Lasenberg."

"Lasenberg? Seriously?"

Errett looked aside and scoffed.

"Sure. Why not? Mind if I design some uniforms? I have a few things in mind..."

The man walked aside without receiving an answer, entering the caravan. He started looking through all of the group's clothes, looking through old pieces and putting them together in various combinations. And while he did so, Will continued looking out into the distance, watching as the sun shone over the City of Dissonance. It made the windows glimmer, made the colours of the buildings brighter, and brought some peace to his heart. He turned back to look at his companions as they all scurried to make this nation their home – And he felt his heart fill with an unfamiliar feeling of... content.

Will looked upon the beginnings of Lasenberg with hope.