~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Lilly Studied the boy who'd dropped his books in the classroom and hadn't been punished, was his name Browning? yes, that's what it was. Lilly hesitated, her natural shyness held her back from introducing herself to him, besides, who's want to be friends with someone like her? she wasn't very good at talking to people, especially people who were her own age. Curiosity slowing starting to over rule her,Lilly took a step forwards and then gained courage, she was in a new place, why shouldn't she try harder to talk to people? Lilly continued to walk forward and then she hesitantly tugged at her now loosening braid as she said...
"um... Hi, your names Browning isn't it?" She could hear the strangeness in her own heavily accented French voice. why did she have to sound different as well as being different on the whole? she criticized herself as she waited for a response, and wondered if she looked like a total fool.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

"All of you, just cage your flapping tongues before the witch hears you and we all get in trouble." Stella harshly whispered as she walked up to them. She looked at Browning and offered a slight smile, though genuine compassion was lacking. "Look, I don't know what Tivvens sees in you, but apparently it's something. To refuse punishing you...well," Stella shook her head, running a hand through her brown hair, "that's a big deal. You're special, despite what anyone says, but don't let it go to your head, yeah?"

Stella rubbed her hands together and motioned for them to move further down the hall, away from the classroom.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Brownie didn’t see Daniella walk up, or hear her response to Stevie. For just at this moment, he was distracted by a shy girl who was addressing him.
She was beautiful, he thought. Even more so, because of her lovely French accent. He knew the accent because he had, at one time, had a friend at the Academy from France, Earth. This friend had been older, and, since he turned 20, had never been seen since. But his way of speaking was similar to the girl’s way of speaking. As Brownie listened to the girl’s voice, he realized how much more lovely the accent sounded when a girl spoke with it.
“Yeah,” he said, smiling at her cheerfully. “My name’s Browning. But everyone calls me Brownie. Everyone except the Givers, I mean, of course. What’s your name?”

~

Stevie turned ferociously to the girl who had spoken so boldly to her. At first, Stevie said nothing, but her eyes said everything as they blazed with fierce anger. Her small, pouting mouth was set in a straight line. She started slowly walking toward Daniella, even though they were already face-to-face. That’s what she always did to people who angered her. It made them feel cornered. And it made her feel in charge.
“Stevie?…,Stevie?” Alder said to her best friend. She hated when fights happened between her best friend and other friends. Stevie had a temper. Alder understood that. Why couldn’t other people understand that?
All this time, Stevie got closer and closer to Daniella.
Finally, Alder held her back. “Stevie, leave Daniella alone. She was only doing what she thought was the right thing!”
Stevie stopped and slowly turned her eyes to Alder, her mouth still set. She wasn’t afraid of Alder, but she did respect her. Stevie listened to her friend’s advice and stood back against the wall, satisfying herself by merely glaring at Daniella.
Alder then turned to Daniella. Kindly, she told her, “You don’t need to worry about the things Stevie says. Really. That’s just the sort of relationship Stevie and Brownie have. It doesn’t upset either of them, you see. So there’s no need for it to upset you. They’ve got it handled by themselves, see?”
She smiled, hoping that Daniella would understand, and not take any of this the wrong way.

~

As Alder waited for Daniella's response, and Brownie waited for the shy girl's response, they were all interrupted by Stella.
"Stella's right," Alder told everyone, after hearing what Stella had to say. "Let's go a little further down the hall. So Ms. Tivvens doesn't hear. (Even though Alder didn't like the Givers anymore than the other children did, she still tried to speak about them with respect)
The whole group began walking down the hall together.
"I guess it doesn't really matter if Brownie is heard by Tivvens," Stevie said with a sneer. "He won't get in trouble anyway."
As they walked, they heard the classroom door open, and Ms. Tivvens came out.
"Uh-oh," muttered Brownie.
But surprisingly, she wasn't interested in them, but walked right past them toward the Hall of Prismel, where none of them were allowed to look or enter.

~

Tivvens and the other Givers all gathered in the Hall of Prismel. It was a round, dark room, completely empty except for three stone wells of water in the center. On the front wall was an enormous screen -- the only contact they had with the Academy’s Head, Wryorden. At the moment, the screen was dark.
Every Giver at the Academy gathered in a semi-circle around the wells, facing the screen.
After a few moments, the screen lit, and there on the screen -- shadowy and pixelled, so he could not fully be seen -- was Wryorden. His voice was deep -- even when he was not speaking, you could hear the deepness in his heavy breaths.
For several minutes, he said nothing, staring at all the Givers.
Finally, Tivvens spoke up. “Why have you called us all here, Sir?”

~Riella

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Daniella breathed a sigh of relief when Ms. Tin woman walked right past them. As soon as the witch was out of sight, Daiela responded to Adler. "He's my friend. So, I don't like ti when poeple are hateful towards him." Still, part of her felt a twinge of jealousy was she remembered him talking to teh French girl instead of her.

Stella shook her head as she watched Tivvens disappear around a corner. "Wonder where she's off to..."

Dorothy's laugh could be heard throughout the entire hall. She stood at the end, giggling and chatting with one of the older boys of the school.

Stella glared in her direction. "Oh, I hate that girl." She looked at the others. "And, unfortunately, the Givers saw fit to place us in the same room to board."

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Kasey left the class room with the other students, but instead of stopping in the hall to jeer at Browning she went some paces away and awaited Alder. She had promised the girl to show her a sketch she had been working on for months and she had finally completed it. The others jabbered on about him being the school pet and though even she sometimes wondered why HE never was punished like them, she knew it wasn't his fault. She sighed impatient and was about to speak up when all the kids hushed as Ms. Tivvers came briskly out of the classroom. Kasey's blue eyes widened and she stiffened, but the hard woman ignored them and kept on walking. As relieved as every other child there, she stepped forward and tapped Alder gently on the shoulder "Alder Eliza, my drawing is in my room."

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Leanna, still surprised at her own boldness almost forgot her name, she let go of her braid and said to Brownie, "Leanna Rose, but the people from where I come from just called me Lilly..." She completely lost all sense of boldness that she'd had a moment before and looked down at her feet. as much as She'd hated the orphanage, she couldn't help but wish that she were still there, at least then she wouldn't be an outsider in a place she knew nothing about, but it didn't matter what she wanted at the moment, she was here and there was no telling when if she would ever go back.
These thoughts stopped abruptly when Mrs. Tivvens walked into the hallway.

Return of the Fountain Fellowship

Grace was, to say the least, shocked. She had gone pale. The one person that she thought that she would never see again was suddenly right there in front of her. It threw her for a loop.

David had no such confusion. Once he knew that she recognized him-- and he heard the recognition in her voice, too-- his confusion and speechlessness fell away. A big smile grew on his face and in one step he was next to Grace, giving her a hug.

At first Grace was surprised by the hug, but then she melted into it. She knew without feeling them with her fingers that there were tears in her eyes. Rapidly, she blinked them away. The MESS? It was the MESS that had taken him away? Grace's memories of David's rapid and forced enlisting in some military corps were sketchy and confused. Somehow, she had not realized that he could be here-- with her!

David ended the hug and held Grace out at arms length. "What are you doing here?"

"I--" Grace broke off and looked over at Ace. "Excuse me. I just--"

David turned and paid attention to Ace for the first time in the past few minutes. "Ace! This is my sister!"

Return of the Fountain Fellowship

Piper was about to respond when she heard Scrappy's beeping too. She looked towards where Stretch glanced just in time to see the glint of the laser. Before she could do anything she felt Stretch slam into her side, knocking her into the ground. She tried to get up, reaching for the lightsaber at her side, but Stretch's return fire blocker her way. She unclipped her lightsaber as she backed up out of the fire, but it was no use now the culprit had already dashed out of sight.

But now there were more important things to worry about. Piper rushed towards Stretch, looking for a sheltered place in the alley as she went. The alley was too exposed, she had to get Stretch somewhere more sheltered. There was nothing stopping the person on the roof from coming back, and she wanted herself and Stretch to be well out of the way before he tried again. "Where did the blaster get you?" she asked, as she crouched on her knees beside him. She untied the cloak from her neck and handed it too him, hoping it would work as a sort of bandage. "Because we have to get out of here quick."

Return of the Fountain Fellowship

Stretch leaned against the wall behind him "My side" he replied to Piper and began wrapping it around his stomach "It nothing bad" he said and attempted to stand. Without any support he fell back to his knees.

"Hey Scrappy, get over here" he said and the little droid rolled over to him, Stretch pulled himself up and attempted to walk forward, he limped a bit but he caught himself “You ok Piper?” he asked, between gasped breaths.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~
She watched Lily nervously play with her hair. How come her boyfriend never made her the good kind of shy like Brownie did with Lily? Her thoughts were interrupted, as she noticed teh Tin-woman walk towards them. She looked away, hoping it would prevent her from havign to even be spoken to by Ms. Tin Woman.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

“I would not be so bold if I were you, Tivvens,” came Wryorden’s deep, breathy voice. “Patience is the first quality I taught you. Do not make me have to teach it to you again.”
She bowed.
“I come to you to speak on a very grave subject. But first, as always, comes reports.” he paused, presumably to search the group of Givers with his eyes (though it was hard to say for sure, the screen being as dark as it was). “Nvust!” he called finally. “You report first. What news have you? How are your Receivers progressing?”

~

Just before their conversation had been interrupted by Tivven’s sudden walk down the hall, Brownie had heard the French girl introduce herself as Lilly. He did not get the chance to tell her so, but he thought Lilly was a lovely name. No name could suit her better.
Lilly. He couldn’t stop repeating it in his head.
After Tivvens had passed, he looked at Lilly again. “It’s a sort of flower isn’t it?” he asked. “It must be the loveliest flower of all the worlds, if it is anything like the girl who bears it’s name.”
Brownie’s eyes widened. He just realized he had said that out loud. He hadn’t meant to. Being a rather shy boy, he was not in the habit of even speaking to pretty girls, let alone saying romantic, poetic things to them. He winced a little and blushed brightly. Why did he have to make a fool out of himself so often?

~

Lyssa was returning down the hall. She had forgotten to take one of her books with her, and it was still in the classroom. Hopefully she could get it out without Tivvens discovering her. She tossed her lightly glowing hair over her shoulder, and rounded the corner. Brownie was still there, only now he was surrounded by some other Receivers. Lyssa recognized some of them, such as Alder, Stevie, and Daniella. But there was one girl she had never seen before. She was telling the others to “cage their flapping tongues”. What’s more, when she ordered the others to move further down the hall, they all listened to her. Even Alder, who had always been the leader of that little group.
Lyssa smiled. She liked this girl’s style.
She stopped watching the group for a second as Tivvens passed them. She was slightly nervous at first, wondering if the Giver was coming to address her about the book she had left behind. Luckily, she walked right passed. At least now it would be easier to retrieve the book, with Tivvens out of the way. There was no chance she would get caught now.
She was about to walk to the classroom when she noticed, farther back behind her, Dorothy -- the Academy’s most ridiculous snob (in Lyssa’s opinion, at least). Just as Lyssa was thinking about how she couldn’t stand that girl, the first girl (who had been so bold to Alder’s group) was saying how she couldn’t stand her either.
Now, Lyssa was certainly not the type to go around making friends like some kind of sissy. But for a girl like this, what could be the harm of making an exception?
“Hey you!” she called out to Stella, temporarily forgetting her misplaced textbook. “I’ve never seen you before. What’s your name?”

~

Alder turned to Kasey. “Ah, you finished it?” she asked excitedly. “Great! Let’s go see it!”
Kasey was a girl Alder greatly admired. Alder had always loved art, and Kasey made some of the best she had ever seen. She had been waiting somewhat impatiently for her friend’s newest work to be finished.
They rounded the corner of the hall. “By the way,” Alder said cheerfully, “we’ve known each other for awhile now. You don’t need to call me by both my first and middle name. Please, just call me Alder.” She smiled at her kindly.
Suddenly, a loud crash resounded out of one of the other rooms.

~Riella

Return of the Fountain Fellowship

"I'm fine." Piper replied as she rushed to help Stretch onto his feet. She felt the sting of a few scrapes from the hard fall, but nothing that wouldn't heal in a day or two. She grabbed one of Stretch's arms and put it around her shoulder, trying to help him walk easier. It was a good thing he wasn't too much taller than her. "How far away is the treehouse?" she asked. "Do you think you can get there?" She thought for a few seconds. "If there's another speeder we can go back, get any supplies we'd need, then go to the treehouse. That would probably be faster."

~*~ Brywahr Academy ~*~

Startled by the comment Lilly looked up and then quickly back down again, (Nbody had ever said anything like that to her before) heat flaming up in her entire face, she thought I probably look like I'm on fire.
"Yes, it's a flower" she whispered, it was almost a squeak, and she was far too embarrassed to elaborate on what exactly the flower looked like or the fact that it was her mother's favorite. Just then she noticed a girl watching them and feeling flustered, she ducked her head lower, squeaked out what was supposed to be a goodbye, and hurried down the hall with no particular destination other than to get away from any attention that might have been aimed her way.
Later she realized about how stupid it had been for her to runaway, Brownie was probably feeling even worse than she was... good grief Lilly thought everyone probably thinks I'm the stupidest girl in the universe! with that she sat down in an inconspicuousness corner of the hallway and let out all of the pent up frustration and humiliation that had been building up inside her over the past week in a fast hard lengthy torrent of soundless tears which she didn't bother to wipe off her face.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Stella looked up to see the girl with the glowing hair looking at her and apparently addressing her. Stella ran a hand through her brown hair before saying, "Stella. Or Miss Whitney, if you prefer formalities." She smirked. "As for never seeing me before, I've been here a little over a year now. Being observant might be helpful in the future."

"Formalities?" Dorothy's voice was heard just behind Lyssa, followed by a scoff. "Good grief, Stella, you sound like a boring librarian." She covered her mouth with her hand and said, "Oh, wait, I forgot, you are."

Stella glanced at Dorothy, arching a brow. She gave a slightly spiteful smile. "Yes, well...at least I'm not an incorrigible vixen."

Dorothy shook her head, her mouth parted in shock. She turned towards Lyssa. "You would be better off if you didn't speak to Stella. She'll only fill your head with ridiculous things, as you can see."