Never to be a Leader (Open)

[Brooke Davis]

Brooke walked through the silent play structure. Before, she had liked the silence. Not now. Not after that day.

Jealousy had been building up inside her ever since the leader had arisen. Wasn't she the one that had been like a mother to them? Wasn't she the eldest and the one that had been there first? Apparently she wasn't good enough to be leader and that had hurt her.

Betrayal, jealousy, and hurt had raged through her until she was weak. The girl had collapsed in the middle of a crowd and now they wouldn't let her leave the play structures. This was fine with her as it gave her a chance to sort everything out.

When Brooke had gotten there, she had gotten a dormitory. She was one of the only kids there and she was terrified and lonely. The adults wouldn't talk to her because she was a mere child, and eventually she had run out and never came back. They filled her room after a while, having forgotten that that was her room. She lived on the play structures. Children had gradually found her and joined her, and she treated them like her little siblings. But one day a leader arose and she lost any power to make decisions for the group. She was just a nanny, a servant that looked after little ones.

The breeze blew and he golden hair flew, like a corn tassel. She green eyes shone and her skin was radiant in the sunlight. Feeling better, as if the earth had given her a sign, even though she turned back into her normal self as the fog came in again, she waited for the others to return from the fountain and food tents.

[rocky]

Untied shoes moved in the direction of the play structure. Crumbs of food scattered across the ground leaving a trail behind. The sounds of his old worn down shoes mixed with the chomping of his mouth. Dustin had stolen extra portions today as well as almost everyday. He needed to consume allot of food to stay alive. If he doesn't eat a good sized meal he will run out of energy and have to sleep constantly until his body recharges the energy. Dustin often slept almost all day and all night. He was really only up 10 hours a day or so. This extra portion would allow him to stay awake longer. It was a good thing Dustin was sneaky and never got caught stealing from the adults. They would ring his little neck if they found out what he had been up to.

Because of Dustin's sleep habits he never really has much time with the other kids who he sees as family. He normally sees them only in groups or paired off together. Dustin liked each and everyone of them but something about Brooke reminded Dustin of his mother. Dustin felt like smiling every-time she was in his sights. But recently ever since there was a leader in charge of the group he noticed she had become depressed. She wasn't herself and it made Dustin feel bad to see her that way. Of course she wouldn't say it in front of everyone so Dustin decided to ask her about it.

Dustin always tries to leave the food tent quickly. He didn't want to get caught carrying extra food with him. His motto was to go in and get out as soon as possible. If he had lingered around he would be bound to be spotted by one of the adults. But its not like Dustin just wanted extra, he needs it to stay alive. Dustin made his way to the play structure and saw Brooks pretty golden hair swaying in the wind from a distance. Dustin's mother had blond hair like that also. And oddly enough she used to gaze out just like that. Dustin felt a smile burst across his face. It was like she was looking into the unknown seeing something that wasn't there, answers or some sort of sign.

Dustin walked up to her and stood by her side without saying a word. He handed her a piece of half eaten bread. Held it up to her with his arm stretched out. He was happy she was alone but now wondered why. "Ya gotta eat somtin." Dustin said gazing into the empty space Brooke had been looking into. He couldn't see any answers or feel any sort of comfort but he pretended like he could. Trying to be like the older child who he loved like his own mother. He took another bite of the bread he was holding. Chomping down with mouthful of it he started to speak. "How come you miss din din?" Dustin asked Brooke in between bites. He always had different words for things. Such as din din, which he uses for dinner or he will add a Y to a word for some reason. "Your here all by yourself." He stated the obvious but hinting to her that he wanted to know why this was so.

[Brooke Davis]

Brooke saw Dustin come up to her silently and hand her a piece of bread. It was half eaten, but she almost burst into tears. This little guy had always been there for her. She smiled and rubbed his hair in a loving way. He reminder her of her little brother. She took a bite of the bread and pondered his question. "I missed dinner today because I was thinking about things. I like to be alone sometimes and that hasn't been possible in a while." She noticed that he hinted about what was going on with her, but she wasn't about to tell anyone yet. She realized that she HAD missed dinner and was starving. She took some more bites of the bread. "Thank you so much Dustin. You have no idea how thankful I am for you." She made it sound like she was talking about food, but in actuality, she was talking about him always being there for her. She sat down on a swing and made another one right next to her. each swing could only hold half as much weight now but it managed to hold her.

[rocky]

Dustin felt Brooke's soft hand on his head as she gently rubbed it. Dustin giggled slightly. He didn't know how Brooke felt about him. Dustin loved Brooke and saw her as his 2nd mother, but he felt that she must have seen all the younger kids as sort of her own. Brooke was someone that looked out for the younger ones and took care of them. She was someone that all of them could talk to about anything. Dustin almost never had any problems with the other kids and avoided the adults on a daily basis so he was pretty much carefree. He never had to talk to her about his deepest feelings. The only thing Dustin did have some trouble with was of the night his real mother died and he was taken away to this place. He still has some nightmares about it. But all in all he was happy most of the time.

Brooke seemed like a nice caring person. Dustin always tried to get to know her a bit better but the other kids interrupted every time he tried to have a one on one. It was nice talking to Brooke. Dustin didn't know if he was looked at any differently then the other kids in her eyes. If she just saw him as another one of the kids she looked after. But Dustin didn't care about that. He was happy to see her eat the bread he gave her. Knowing that she must have been hungry because she missed her meal. After he asked about why she had missed it her answer caused Dustin to feel bad for her.

She said that she was thinking about things. This often means that something was bothering her. And also that she wanted to be alone. She never gets to be alone and have some time to herself because shes always looking after the others. Even now Dustin was there disturbing her in her alone time. He felt like she must have thought that way. That Dustin was interrupting her time alone inwich she missed dinner just to have. Dustin forgot about all that however when Brooke thanked him for the bread and said that she was so thankful for him. Dustin's face lite up with a big smile. "You welcome." He replied. He thought she was talking about the food and not about just him but still he felt all happy inside.

Dustin noticed Brooke sit down on one of the old swings. She made another swing and Dustin decided to join her. He sat down on it being lighter then Brooke Dustin had no worries it would brake. He began rocking back and forth. "My mommy used to take me to the park and we used to swing together all the time." Dustin told her. "You kinda remind me of her, she had hair just like yours and was really, really, really nice just like you. But she was crazy and had none stop energy." Dustin spoke of his mother missing her badly. It was funny how his mom had tons of energy but Dustin had very little. He has to even monitor his sleep and eating habits just to stay alive. They were like opposites. Brooke seemed more down to earth then that. "What were your par-wents like?" He asked her hoping to just keep talking to take her mind off of what ever was bothering her before.

[Brooke Davis]

Brooke smiled as Dustin sat down on the swing next to her. Her smile turned to a look of surprise as he told her how she was like his mother. I must be like his second mother. She realized.

Again she was surprised when he asked what her parents were like. "My mom was awesome." She said after a moment. And she did it really well to, considering she had to take care of four children. My dad though.... He was horrible. He was the one that turned me into the goverment, and he even took advantage of my six year old sister to do it." She shuddered as she thought back to that awful day.

[rocky]

The wind blew threw his short spiky hair and on his face. Dustin closed his eyes going higher and higher faster and faster on the old swing. Brooke answered his question about her parents. She told him that her mother was awesome and that she did a good job raising four children. Dustin's eyes opened wide with disbelief. "Four?" Dustin asked a soon as she was finished. He didn't think she had three siblings. It was a shock for him to here her say that. But Dustin wanted to meet them. "Are they in this place? Do i know them?" Dustin asked her these questions trying to find information about them. "Are they mutants to like you?" He continued. Dustin was happy that Brooke has a nice mother and he thought that, that must be were Brooke got her motherly charm from.

However Brooke told him about her father and that he was this horrible person. Taking advantage of some poor six year old girl. Dustin wanted to hurt him and pay him back for all the things he had done to Brooke and her family. "Your mom sounds grate but I'm sorry about your dad." Dustin said in a sobbing tone. He really did feel bad for her. "I never knew my daddy, He was away all the time after I turned two." Dustin claimed. "My mommy Had a power though. She said that mutants run in the family and told me that when i get big I need to have a kid with a mutant because its are family tradition." Dustin reviled to Brooke. Everyone in Dustin's family was a mutant dating back to olden times because of this tradition that they all follow to the T.

[Brooke Davis]

Laela heard Dustin ask his question. Well, not including me. And my dad got custody of my little sister, Kira." She said. She hadn't really been detailed when she said that. "I wouldn't think you would know them. I don't know if any of them had mutations. The oldest was only six when I was captured." She then heard about his parents. Tears blurred her vision. How sad was that? "I'm sorry..." She said. "I didn't know." She was surprised when she heard his history though.

[rocky]

As Brook told him that she in-fact did have that many brothers and sisters it amazed Dustin still. How cool was that. Dustin had always wanted some sort of older sibling, He felt like he could have had loads of fun nd share his deepest thoughts with them. Dustin didn't like the fact that her sister was with her father. If he was an evil man she was sure to be in danger while with him. He felt helpless to save her as they both were stuck in this place. This prison inwich nobody could enter. Dustin was sad that he couldn't do anything to help. "That sucks." He commented when she told him of her sisters whereabouts.

Brook seemed quite, like she was thinking about something other then the conversation they were having. Maybe it had to do with why she was alone in the first place. "When I came over and saw you standing here all alone you looked sad." Dustin told her as if he wanted to know why. She was slowly starting to open up to him but she hadn't mentioned as to what she was thinking about before he had arrived. Would now be the right moment? Dustin hoped he had warmed her up a little bit so now she would be able to tell him her worries. She kept everything inside herself and that wasn't good. She would need someone there to listen to her when she brakes. Dustin hoped that he would be there for her and she would choose him to let her feelings poor out.

[Brooke Davis]

The comment sounded like a question, but she didn't know how to answer. She wanted to confide in someone, but she couldn't explain it. what would she say? "Well Dustin, I'm really jealous of the leader because I'm the eldest and I should be leader."? Finally, after about 30 seconds of silence, she said, "Dustin, it's really complicated." Her eyes betrayed her uncertainty. Before she had been captured, she had talked to Kira, no matter what it was and Dustin reminded her of Kira. But she'd been betrayed and since then, she trusted nobody but herself.