Important Lesson

In a clearing the sun shined brightly. The sounds of water crashing down a falls drained any other sounds out of the peaceful morning. The trees swayed gently in the wind. The air smelled of fresh jungle wood.

A few meters away from the falls a small butterfly landed on a young boys nose. His nose twitched.

Achoo! His eyes burst open as if he was waking up anew. Besides him under large fan leaves were two well developed young ladies. They each were sound asleep. One of them seemed to having an lovely dream.

The young boy sighed and looked around him. He was in the same place as before. His head was a little fuzzy and his face back and abdomen felt bruised. It almost hurt to breathe but he still managed to stand up and not disturb the other two's slumber.

He wandered around. He saw a tree that looked extremely damaged. He slowly walked up to it and noticed there was blood around it. The actual inner bark of the tree was exposed and even slightly damaged.

" Oh your awake Will." Wills body swiveled around and saw him. The man who tried to hurt his friends. He was about to get ready to attack when he noticed that he was holding a small basket full of fruits.

" Why Rafael ?" Will asked with a questioning gaze. Rafael gestured for him to follow and he did.

" You needed to learn something young man. " He handed Will a small fruit and he accepted.

" The path you want to take is filled with danger deception and trickery. You will not live long with that happy lucky go attitude of yours. You let your emotions get control of you and you fail to see the bigger picture."

He pointed to Belle who was unconscious and looked as if she was having an amazing dream.

" You failed to notice that she was dying next to you. Some who you claimed you wanted to avenge and protect. You failed terribly. You chose to injure yourself by fighting a fruitless battle which put you in a terrible position. You could barely help her. If not for your abilities she would have died from your negligence"

He didnt wait for Will to make any excuses and continued to berate him. He then pointed to Apathy

" She was sleep deprived dehydrated and both emotionally and physically exhausted. Yet she was the one who pushed you, her leader, behind herself. You also didn't know that one of your crew members couldn't swim. Leading to a crucial error being made during a battle where all of your lives were on the line."

Will's face sunk. He was saddened by this notion. It couldn't be. He didnt even see these things before. Was he not observant enough. Was he even fit to be a captain if he couldn't even tell if his member were ok?

Rafael let Will sit in his head but then snapped him out of it before his thoughts got any more detrimental.

" You did bad. But this is not the end of the world. Learn from your mistakes. Grow from them. That is what a true leader does. He faces the brunt of the blame. He carries the weight of his people on his shoulders. It is not an easy thing to bear but not just anyone can lead others. Take care of your crew. Know their strength's and weaknesses and most importantly know your own. You cant build an empire with only two hands."

Will nodded seriously and took this mans words to heart.

" Also get yourself a ranged weapon close combat doesn't suit you. Maybe a spear would do"

Will again nodded but this time with a confused look on his face. He had never seen a spear before. Seeing that he didn't understand his statement the man sighed.

He then began to walk towards the pool of water. Will watched his actions with intense curiosity. His face then warped into one of shock and awe. He watched Rafael walk across the water with ease behind the falls.

After a few minutes Belle and Apathy had woken up. The both had a similar experience to Will before stretching and sitting next to him.

Will looked at the two and looked extremely sad. Apathy was about to ask what's wrong but will spoke.

" Im sorry" Belle was about to inquire the reason for his apology when he jumped into the arms of the two and squeezed their faces against his boy chest and shouted out.

" Im sorry for not taking better care of you guys. Im sorry. I'm sorry i'm so so...." Belle and Apathy put their fingers against his lips and hugged him tightly. Belle rubbed his hair gently as she once did to someone close to her

" Its ok " they said in unison. Wills face finally looked like a person of his age. His face was red and his tears ran down his cheeks. The two of them couldn't help but join in. For a few minutes they sat their quietly in the grass in silence. A strange peacefulness surrounded them.

It was soon disturbed by the sound of a loud bang.

" Guys?"

They all looked over and tilted their heads in confusion. " Davie?"

They all stared at him bewildered. He looked extremely different. His eyes were more vibrant and blue and his figure was a lot more toned . He was covered in animal blood and his pistol seemed to need a break as the black barrels had a slight red glow. On his shoulder was a very colorful and brightly colored mechanical bird.

Belle exclaimed happily " Polly!"

Polly flew onto her shoulders and muzzled against her cheek.

Davie's earrings jingled in the wind and the jolly roger tattoo above his eyebrow twitched along with it.

" So while I was out there fighting for my life and being stuck with this bird....Will you were just hugging and kissing two beautiful women?"

" Hugging?" Belle replied. Apathy shifted her head towards the princess and gave her a questioning gaze.

Will also gave her a questioning gaze. He realized this was a good time to learn about each other.

" Hey Davie sit down with us"

Although Davie was upset he didn't lash out as he was already too tired too.

" Guys how old are you and when are your birthdays?"

" May 12th I'm 14 " Belle answered promptly without hesitation

" December 30th I'm 19 " said Davie with a tinge of disgust at his old age

Apathy sat there wondering why Will would ask this at such an odd time. Especially when they or well her and Belle didnt know where the strong guy was. She still answered.

" 19th February Im sixteen"

Everyone nodded at her reply and then will thanked everyone for responding. They all now looked to Will who in turn responded.

" June 14th and Im 13"

Suddenly the sounds of the falls was disturbed.