[centre][img]http://i.imgur.com/1E3uZCm.png[/img]
[b]Pansy[/b][/centre]

"Okay, Enna, whatever you say" replied Pansy dryly, massaging his eyeballs with his palms. The pair sat in silence for several minutes as their pulses slowed and their own thoughts swirled around their heads. The baker wondered briefly about his next move - finding a way off of Krukow with Enna. How would they make it? Steal a ship? Smuggle themselves aboard a skiff bound for Kuiper? The possibilities were endless yet each was more unlikely than the next. He spent more of his thoughts on his family and friends. He didn't have many people he was close to - his overbearing mother who lived with him when not in Kuiper, his bratty sister who worked on skiffs, his kindly old boss in the bakery and the cat who sometimes came to his door looking for milk were the closest things to proper friends he had. 

There were others who he'd know by face and could talk to but at the end of the day, Pansy was a rather solitary figure. But he tried to stay positive no matter what. Even now, as the Crucible took over the island, he realised his family were on Kuiper. His mother had her shop and Tully was delivering parts to the mechanics over there. They'd surely hear about the annexation soon. This positive attitude had taken him through life and would take him further if he let it. Even in the dark times, he appreciated the good things about life.

There was always a silver lining.

Pansy pulled himself to his feet suddenly and looked down at his companion. "We'd best keep moving, Enna. We can't stick around this place for too long" he said, glancing through the gaps in the trees to the town below. He walked cautiously through the trees. On many an occasion, he'd walked through the forest, admiring nature. He loved the singing of the birds, the beautiful colours of the flowers and the springy grass. But now it felt different. It was if the entire forest was holding it's breath. The birds didn't sing, the trees didn't sway in the wind and the flowers had closed. It was if the island sensed what was happening and was holding it's own silent protest to the Crucible taking over.

The baker bent down beside a wild daffodil, which grew comfortably in a tree stump. He delicately stroked the petals with one large finger. Pansy had been around flowers all his life but they never ceased to amaze him. The yellow petals, the bell shape of the flower, the delicate stalk - he loved all flowers. "My mother is a flower mage. She taught me some tricks" he smiled, giving a wink to Enna. He slowly slid his finger into the flower of the plant. When he withdrew the finger, just as slowly, he pulled a thin thread of glowing gold.

"Nectar" he muttered. The nectar seemed to keep flowing from this thin thread as a bead of sweat appeared on Pansy's brow. "Useful for all sorts of things". He slowly roped the thread around his index finger, where it glistened in the sunlight. The thread of nectar disconnected from the tip of his finger and sucked its way back into the flower. Pansy examined the nectar that was wrapped around his finger for several moments and when happy, lifted it in the air to show Enna.

"Give it a few hours. It'll harden and form a shell around my finger. It could stop me bleeding out if I was injured, depending on the flower and the amount of nectar I pull out. But it's kinda hard to pull loads out at once. If I do it too much, I'll start getting these crazy headaches. Gosh, they hurt like a bitch" he explained, slowly turning his index finger. Already, the thin layer of nectar was beginning to harden. "Tis the life of a flower mage".

He stood to his feet unsteadily as a wave of dizziness went across his head. "Anyways, gods, we'd better keep moving. We need to find a ship or something. Those Crucible guys won't stand around the town all day".

[centre][b][u]15 minutes later...[/u][/b][/centre]

"Oh my gosh. Is that a ship?" grinned Pansy, staring through a gap in the foliage. He didn't wait for an answer A ship lay in the clearing, with people crawling across it. It was without Crucible insignia and looked like some kind of trade ship. He couldn't believe his luck. They could be anybody - pirates, traders, merchants or even rebels. But they weren't the Crucible and that was all that mattered. "Come on, Enna!" he said, grabbing the girl by the shoulder and attempting to drag her behind him. They exited the foliage, looking a mess but all sense of dignity had been lost by Pansy when he'd fell into a puddle.

"Oh my gosh, people are here!" he began shrilly, practically skipping through the clearing towards the ship. "The Crucible are here! The Crucible are here! I thought we'd be killed out there, it was so terrifying! You've got to help us, oh please!"