20 years later.

"This is GLORIOUS," Ash screeched with his mouthful, eyes squeezed shut with pleasure, "honestly Mr Kinoa, with the greatest respect, I don't understand why you're not working down at the public house and sharing this magnificence with the world."

"Well personally I prefer working in the open farm, not stuffed in some hot and sweaty kitchen," he said chuckling with a smile, "but thanks anyway for the compliment." Finn was desperately trying not to choke on his laughter at his best friend's outburst of affection for his dads cooking, which was one of many reasons Ash came round to his for dinner more often than not. The light of the sunset was streaming through Finn's back door, settling cosily on all three of them, as they munched through their meals, making small talk about the farm, the season coming to an end, and Ash's birthday that was coming up soon.

"I'm going to be seventeen! I'll be so responsible; you won't even see it coming. I'll wake up as a new man, fresh and ready for the day ahead. I could even come and help out on the farm!"

"No," both Finn and his father inputted in blunt synchronisation not even looking up from their bowls.

"Didn't you say that last year?" Finn pointed out, but Ash just shrugged.

"Probably, but I really mean it this time. Maybe I could join the rebels..." he trailed off, looking a bit uneasy and wondered if he'd said the right thing. The atmosphere seemed to tense. Finn's father stopped chewing on his food and looked up gravely, though he tried to hide it by keeping his eyes soft.

"That's dangerous business son, I wouldn't want you meddling with that sort," he mumbled out. Ash seemed to flinch at that, as he so often did when Finn's dad called him 'son'. "Neither of you," he continued, directing his gaze at his own son. The two boys exchanged a glance and quickly finished their meals, trying to tone down the awkward mood with light-hearted jokes as the light of the sun descended behind the mountains on the horizon. Eventually his dad relaxed too, laughing softly at the boys, but he seemed distracted for the rest of the evening.

Ash seemed to linger, looking like he wanted to apologize for what he said, and for worrying the man, but he let it drop, as he went to put on his sandals at the doorway.

"I'll walk you home," Finn offered, same as always.

"Sure, thanks again Mr Kinoa!"

"Anytime Ash!" they heard Finn's father call out from the back room.

Finn always walked Ash home, despite the fact he only lived less than a two-minute walk away. In truth, it was how they'd become friends. When Finn had moved to the village of Puerdom with his father at the age of 5, he'd been sitting on the edge of his front door, legs swinging under him freely, admiring the new view of the towering mountains in the distance. It was then, as he was enjoying the peace, that he'd heard a thunderous roar to the left of him. Both startled and a little curious, Finn slowly pattered his way down the path, warily passing the other small houses on his road until he got to the sharp corner at the end. He peeked round, the noise coming at him increasing in volume at an astonishing speed, and that was when Ash slammed right into him. They both fell backwards, and let out small cries of pain.

"Woah I'm so sorry!" Ash exclaimed. He was a little taller than Finn, and it had stayed that way all the way up to the present day. Ash's hair seemed like an explosion of a silvery strands that stuck out in all directions, despite not being very long. Seemed very fitting for his name. He looked very rugged, and his tan skin was covered in little cuts and bruises, accompanied by grazed knees and a bandage around two of his toes. Definitely rugged, borderline primitive. But he had a wide grin plastered on his face as he held out a hand to help Finn up. "You must be new, I don't know you, my name's Ash!" he said excitedly, and Finn smiled fondly back.

"I'm Finn. I like your hair, why were you screaming?" he asked feeling inquisitive.

"Oh, thanks," he said smirking a little but looking very sheepish as he attempted to flatten down. "It goes all over the place. And um... Good question. I can't remember. But hey wanna go to the market with me?"

Finn's first thought was to say yes, but he figured it'd be best to go back to his dad. He politely declined but Ash pointed out where he lived, and said they should meet again, seeing as there weren't many children his age on this side of town. And ever since then they've been the best friends they are now, 11 years on.

The walked slowly, the sky still delicately stripped with shades of red from when the sun left its trail. They didn't speak, but they didn't need to, the silence was comfortable without a voice. That is, until Ash spoke up, never being able to stay quiet for long.

"Hey, I'm sorry about mentioning the rebels in front of your dad, I didn't realise it would make him so uneasy. Is he really against them that much?"

"Oh don't worry about it, he just cares about you."

"That's nice of him, he doesn't need to though, you should let him know that I'm ok on my own," he tried to say it sincerely, but Finn knew otherwise. Ash, would quite frankly be lost without Finns father. When he was 15, Ash's parents died in a fire in the village centre. It was truly horrific, he remembered the day so painfully clearly. Seeing the plumes of smoke that rose up in the distance from where he and Ash had been relaxing in the fields, they ran there, barely stopping to breathe, but it was too late by the time they arrived. Ash's parents were kind people, always very kind, and much like a second home for Finn. He was heartbroken, and he could only imagine how hurt Ash was.

Because, despite his tough and boisterous front, he knew Ash well enough now to know he was in fact a deeply emotional person, who cared very deeply for everyone he knew, close to him or not. Since then they'd gotten even closer, for months Ash slept at Finn's house out of fear of sleeping alone in his own. Finns' father, Rei, took him in gladly, and it's only been recently that Ash has started to settle back into his own house. Of course he comes and visits every day more or less, but Finn knew he wanted to stay with them again. It wasn't right, Ash's house, now it was like all the life and memories that had been there before had disappeared. It made Finn sad to think about so, he thought about other things.

"And about the rebels," he continued, "my dad isn't by any means against them, he just... I suppose he thinks they're going about doing things the wrong way."

"How do you mean?"

"I think it's just all the death he doesn't like. The fact that the rebels seem quite ruthless, the way they seem to just slaughter all of the guards. I guess he thinks it's too much like how it was when King Leo took over, and that we're just being hypocritical."

"That's a fair point," Ash murmured.

"... Are you seriously considering joining them?" Finn asked, and the silver haired boy let out a sigh.

"I really don't know. I mean, it's not like I'm good at anything else- "

"Hey, don't say that, you're good at plenty of things!"

"Uh huh, like what?"

"Like..." Finn looked around and thought desperately, and twitched in annoyance at the fact that, Ash was in fact right. The only thing he was really good at was fighting. He sighed, "ah I don't know."

"Exactly," he said, smiling sadly. "Besides, I feel like joining them would give me more purpose you know? I don't have a job, I only get money from helping out on your farm sometimes, and I know you don't get paid being a part of the resistance, but I don't think I care anymore. If it just meant I could do something good with my life, I really don't care."

Finn wondered, as they approached Ash's house that lingered darkly in the dim light. Suddenly Ash turned to him and dramatically slumped down on to the flat rock that lay outside his door a little to the right of it. He looked up at the sky, where stars were starting to break through the thin residue of clouds. "I just want some action, ya know?" he said. "My life isn't going to go anywhere if I stay here, all safe and cooped up in the valleys. It's been a nice childhood here, it really has, for the most part. And I would be sad to go, but it's what's right. I can feel it."

"Right. The same way you felt your destiny was to become a toad all those years ago?"

Ash let out a deep bark of laughter, "I could've sworn the amphibious life was calling to me." They both giggled lightly and Finn sat down next to him on the rock, joining him in his star gazing. Suddenly Ash turned to him, with a quite a serious expression, and lay his hand roughly on Finn's shoulder.

"You know, I really appreciate everything you and your dad have done for me."

Finn felt a little lost at this, and he felt uncomfortable, like this was going to be some sort of goodbye.

"Woah slow down, why are you telling me this?" he asked worriedly with a small frown.

"It's just something I wanted you to know, don't panic this isn't a goodbye or anything," he laughed at Finn's expression like he'd read his mind. "It's just I can tell things are gonna change soon."

The atmosphere felt disjointed after that, as if they were waiting for something to happen right then and there, but after a moment, Ash stood up again, stretching in all directions. "Well," he announced loudly, "I'll be going in now, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure, night Ash," he said slowly turning to walk away back down the path. Once he'd nearly gotten to the corner, Ash called out to him from his house.

"Hey Finn!" he shouted.

"Yeah?"

"If I were to join the rebels, would you come too?"

Finn paused, unsure of what he wanted to say. In complete truth, though he'd been trying to push it away for a while, he really did want to join them, and he'd been having all the same thoughts Ash had voiced to him just moments ago that evening. He didn't want to tell him that just yet though. He needed to consider things... Consider his father in all of this.

Eventually, he replied with a wave, "good night Ashhh," stretching out the last sound, and smiling at his friend contently, knowing that avoiding his question would annoy him. He was right, and was met with a short angry wave of dismissal from Ash who stomped back inside. Finn smiled to himself then walked home.

It seemed like the walk had taken forever, although it'd only been about ten minutes, and Finn nearly tripped on the door step as he was so deep in thought when he entered his home. His father saw him and grabbed his arm to steady him just in time before he fell flat on his face.

"You okay there?" he asked his son with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was just thinking about what Ash had said, about the rebels."

He could see him visibly stiffen at the word, and his face screwed up a little. Finn let out a small sigh. Whatever this problem he had with the rebels was, it was clearly not something he wanted to discuss, and Finn didn't want to push him, he really didn't. But he was desperate to know what his big problem was.

"Dad, you don't have to tell me anything, but why do you get so awkward and upset about the mention of it?"

His father squeezed the bridge of his nose tiredly and shut his eyes tight with frustration, still holding on to Finn's arm, which he eventually dragged with him to the table and sat down opposite him.

Before his dad could speak, Finn started up, letting his thoughts flow out of him in a rush. "I mean I always assumed it was because of the violence, and I get that, as do most people. It's not right that the guards who are only serving King Leo out of fear should be killed for carrying out orders they probably wish they didn't have to do. But everyone seems to accept that as a compromise for the aim of getting rid of the king once and for all. After all the pain he's caused, don't you think it's worth getting rid of him?"

He took a long breath, and his father stared at him thoughtfully. It was silent as Finn waited for a response.

"Well," his father coughed suddenly, "you're right about the violence, I don't approve of that, same as most. But it's more than just that..." he trailed off, a suspicious look of guilt creeping up on his face which made Finn frown in concern.

"What? What is it?"

"I told you about how your mother died, yes?"

Finn held his breath. Why was he bringing this up? What he could he possibly have to say about that right now? He didn't remember much about his mum, she died before they moved here, so he was only five. But he did remember her laugh, her beautiful silky black hair, much like his own, except without the dark red strands he seemed to have attained through the years. He knew she was very loving, and everything else he knew about her had come from his father's mouth, reminiscing about when they'd first met.

"Yes," Finn stuttered out, voice cracking a little. "How she died from that illness... What was it again?"

"That's... not important anymore."

A pang of fury spread within Finn. What was going on?

"What? H-how can you say it's not important?!"

"Finn please," he said tiredly, "please let me explain something to you."

Finn gulped, but nodded for his father to go on.

"On the day your mother died, you were staying with my brother and his family for a while, you remember that right? Well, we told you, it was because your mother was ill. And... that was a lie. Your mother was never ill."

He felt his heart sink in his chest in a swirl of anguish. He felt hit with so many emotions he wanted to scream, flip the table over into his father's face, walk out and never come back. But he sat perfectly still, face only faltering a little at his father's words, and found it within himself to let his father carry on.

"She was never ill, and I am so, so sorry for lying. But we wanted to protect you. This evening after what you've said, I thought maybe it was time you know the truth..."

"No kidding," was all Finn could say. He could see beads of sweat start to form on his father's forehead.

"So, the truth is, a few days prior to you leaving for your cousins and uncle, we received an anonymous letter, a warning, that your mother was going to be killed by the guardsman. The note told us everything. Who she'd be killed by, when and where it would happen. It told us no matter what we did, we would not be able to prevent it. Your mother, she... seemed so calm about it, and we argued like never before when she told me we shouldn't do anything about it, and that if anything we should go to the time and place and investigate exactly what it was the people wanted. As she usually did, your mother won that fight, but insisted on sending you away, in the hope you wouldn't get caught up in it all.

The night came, and she seemed so confident, but she was shaking so hard, I had to hold her hand as we went there."

Finn noticed that at this point he seemed more like he was talking to himself about it, as his stare had shifted from Finn to a small spot of dirt on the floor, that he seemed to focus all his attention on.

"So, we arrived, and at this point in time, there were a lot fewer rebels against King Leo and his men than there today. But there were still some, and as we arrived, it seemed many of them had gathered to try and protect us from the guards. The rebels ended up killing all the guards, but not before many of them had been injured themselves, only one stood remaining, unscathed by it all. This man he turned to us, your mother and I were both so relieved, so thankful for our saviours that had come for us. But then, this man who'd been part of the rebels who saved us, unsheathed his sword, and he-" his father stopped as his voice cracked, and a single tear rolled down his reddened cheeks.

"He stabbed her. Right through the heart. I was so in shock I could do nothing, nothing but stand there and watch as your mother died."

Other than the sound of his father sniffing and clutching at strands of his hair anxiously, there was no noise, no movement. It felt as if Finn's world had stopped spinning.

"I found out later, quite a long while later that the man who'd killed her had in fact been one of the guardsmen on the inside of the rebellion, acting as a 'man on the inside' for the King. So, to answer your question Finn, about the rebels; it is because you cannot trust them. I don't want you to get into something like that, find people who act like they're on your side, who then turn and stab you in the back. I don't want that for you, and I know your mother wouldn't either. So please, I'm begging you please don't join them."

Finn just couldn't quite process all of this. Wordlessly he got up and walked out the front door of his house, his father weakly crying out for him from inside, but he ignored him. He walked, and walked, and kept walking. He didn't stop. Until finally he collapsed in one of the meadows outside of the village. He stared up at the sky, and the lights had become so much brighter since he'd been looking with Ash.

Slowly, tears gathered in his eyes. They built up into heavy droplets, that spilled down his face, as he let out a gut-wrenching scream. And he cried, for a long, long time, until there were no more tears left, and he simply lay in the warmth of the long grass, and tried to sort out how he felt.

Firstly, what hit him, after the sadness had surpassed him, was anger. He was so angry at his father. How could he have possibly kept something like that from for so long?! This was important to him! And what a thing to lie about, his own mother's death? How could he have done that to him? He simply didn't understand his father's logic, and he wished he'd known about it sooner. He-

Finnian.

A voice interrupted his thoughts. He couldn't remember the last time someone had called him by his full name.

Finnian.

It spoke again, seconds later, clearer than before. He felt shaken, as he sat up, staring around the meadow and searching for the body in which the voice had come from.

"Who's there?" he said weakly, voice seemingly gone.

I am God. I have a task for you Finnian.

God? What? There was... no way. He was a bit hysterical this evening, so, obviously what else could he expect but a voice in his head claiming to be God. He was tempted to laugh.

Do not laugh. This is very real.

Too tired to fight it, or even question it, he lay back in silence and rather casually waved his hand as if to say 'go on then'.

You must try to rid all evil of this world.