Whit was thirteen years old and he was already dying. He wouldn't make it to sunrise at the rate he was going. Maybe he could finally meet his father again, his sisters and brothers, all of his friends.

Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder crashed, causing Whit to sit upright, eyes wide and panicked.

He had fallen asleep, like an idiot.

Fingers shaking from the cold rain, he traced the side of his face carefully. It stung. The young prince stared blankly at the tree in front of him. He was in the middle of the woods, his wounds bleeding out, soaked to the bone. He didn't know what he would die from first - hypothermia or blood loss. Maybe that was Daggler's plan. Get rid of him by inflicting a mortal wound and leaving him for dead in the worst weather imaginable.

Whit had even promised Winslow he'd be alright.

How would Winslow be reacting right now? Worried? Whit's older brother had become quite emotionless over the past few months, barely flinching when Daggler got rid of people on a whim. The eldest prince had gained a dead look in his eyes. Whit worried for him.

But worrying wouldn't get him anywhere, not when Whit was dying on the side of a country road.

Whit wondered if anyone would find his body. Maybe a passing civilian. Maybe no one. Maybe a hawk or a wolf would smell his blood and eat him.

He shuddered.

"Hey, kid?!"

Whit jumped at the sudden shout. Lightning flashed again, revealing a rabbit's silhouette on the road. Whit ducked behind a tree, panic racing through his limbs.

"Kid, what are you doing out here?"

The rabbit was getting closer, and closer, and closer--

"Don't hurt me!" Whit shouted, raising his hands in surrender. His world spun before him.

"Kid, what happened you?" the rabbit asked, outstretching his hands like he was trying to calm Whit.

Whit backed away, breath ragged. "Take a wild guess," he said, voice barely heard over the roaring winds of the thunderstorm.

"Daggler," the buck said, his face morphing into one of disgust. "He's actually targeting children now." It wasn't a question.

Whit didn't say anything, just started searching for a way out of this situation.

"Hey - kid?!" Whit's world spun once more around him, dissolving from muddled colors in to a comforting darkness.

- - -

"I don't know," Snoden said, staring at the child on the bed, his head wound cleaned and bandaged. Louise and Layra were curiously peeking at the kid from behind the couch, far too young to understand the gravity of the situation. "I just found him on the roadside, half-dead."

Airen poked his shoulder. "He's a prince, Sno."

Snoden glanced at his wife, eyes widening. "How--"

"Look at him," Airen said, crossing her arms. "He's the spitting image of his mother. My guess would be the second oldest, Whitbie."

"But why would Daggler want to kill him?" Snoden asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Ladies," Airen said firmly, turning to her daughters. "I need you to go to bed now. Your father and I are having an adult talk."

"Okay," Layra said obediently, dragging along Louise.

Airen turned back to her husband. "If Daggler finds us, we're essentially dead."

Snoden swallowed. "I know. And he'll recognize him, judging by the fact that practically no one in First Warren will have that much scarring." He sat down on the couch, staring at the fire. "But I'd feel awful if we just kicked him out as soon as he--"

"Who are you?"

The kid's voice broke through Snoden's muttering. He was standing up shakily, glaring at the couple. "Why am I here? Are you working with Daggler?"

"No!" Snoden raised his hands. "Nothing like that!'

"Then why are you helping me?"

Snoden's heart practically broke. The kid was barely older than thirteen, but already so full of anger and mistrust towards the cold world.

"You were going to die," Airen explained. "On the roadside."

The kid scowled.

"Ok, kid--"

"Whit," the kid said finally. "My name is Whit."

"Whit," Snoden said soothingly. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise. We're here to help."

"And you're going to go against Daggler?" Whit snapped. "Why would you risk your life for me?"

"Because," Snoden said, "it's the right thing to do. Now, you're exhausted. You need to sleep so we can look at your head properly tomorrow."

Whit finally nodded, relaxing a little. The kid threw one last apprehensive look at the couple before settling into the makeshift bed and falling asleep in a few minutes.

The couple glanced at each other.

"Sometimes, all I want to do is stab Daggler," Airen said matter of factly, hands on her hips.

"Agreed," Snoden said, rubbing his forehead. "I'll take him to the hospital tomorrow. I have a few friends who can cover us."

"Mm," hummed Airen, throwing one last glance at Whit before following her husband up the stairs.

- - -

Whit carefully opened his uninjured eye. The room was dark, barely lit by the dying embers of the fire, and shadows danced about. Usually, they were the subject of his nightmares, but right now, he was unbothered. He needed to leave.

It had stopped storming outside. Clouds were scattered across the night sky. He carefully opened the door.

"Going somewhere?"

Whit jumped in surprise.

Snoden was standing right behind him, his brow furrowed.

"I'm not going to put you in danger," Whit said resolutely, scowling. "If Daggler finds out, there will be no mercy. So, I'm leaving."

Snoden sighed. "I appreciate your worry for my family, Whit. But we all know the risks of helping you. It's the right thing to do, not the easy thing."

Snoden joined him at the doorway. "I met your father once."

Whit didn't acknowledge him.

"It was quite a while ago," Snoden continued, undeterred. "I was helping my mother around school, helping her teach, when I saw your father defending one of his friends from a bully. Jupiter always did throw himself into danger, no matter the odds."

"So?" Whit's voice was soft.

"My point is, Whit," Snoden said. "Jupiter did the right thing, not the easy thing, even when it put him in the line of danger."

Whit rubbed his arm anxiously. "I don't want you to die because of me."

"I won't," Snoden promised. "Okay? I'll be here. Just come back inside."

-

hello!

I'm new to the site, but I've been a huge fan of the Green Ember for ages :) I decided to bring over some of my stories from ffnet over here, and I hope y'all enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them!

This is one of my kind of older stories, but I did edit it a little (aka redid an entire scene ;-;),, hopefully its okay, I tend to overthink these things lol

this is also not canon-compliant at all but I like torturing Whit a lot :3