Crackle. The fire was crackling steadily, providing a soft warmth throughout the air. The hideout had a variety of people there, all of whom looked very beaten, shabby, abused, neglected, but likewise caring, kind, fearless, and fierce.

All of them were put to the wayside by the government, at least from what the man could discern about them. They all treated him well, didn’t ask many questions of him, and they accepted him for who he was. Something about this simple act of kindness was new to the man, and it made him feel good.

The time at which he was made a part of this group was actually a pretty good time, for the rebels here had been preparing their attack for a good while, and the man was the fuse they needed. 

“We’ve been trying to do something about the systems here for a while, but the problem was that we didn’t have enough people back then.” Explained Elisph, who then looked around at the others with a smile in her eyes, 

“But…surely but slowly, we amassed our own army of sorts.”

“I don’t know if army is the right word Elisph”, said one of the other rebels.

“I know Pluie, I was just...ah nevermind.”

The man looked behind him to see a mild mannered male figure behind him. 

“Nice to meet you chap, my name’s Pluie.” 

A hand was offered to the man for a shake, which he cautiously accepted. A concerned look came over Pluie’s face.

“Hey look, I understand you’re stressed about what’s going on with the guards and such, but remember this, we are all here for each other. No one is going to hurt you.”

The man looked at him blankly, before slowly turning back to the fire. The embers crackled within the wind, sparking up something within him.

He still couldn’t shake the image of the old man out of his head, but now another image began to impose on his psyche harder. The guards. He had seen them nearly everywhere since he arrived. They were behind this, they have to pay somehow…

A few hours passed, and the man had been shown to his bed, which whilst not being as luxurious as his previous one (with it now being a mat of straw in a tent), it was still nice nonetheless. 

He lied down, and tried to drift to sleep…However his eyes failed to do that. He was in a sense, unconscious, however he was technically awake. He was on a mental autopilot throughout the night, thinking constantly about the old man. The Guards. Old man, guards, old man, guards, old man, guards, guards, boat, guards…

This went on for most of the night, until he felt someone near him. A twig snapped, and he darted to the person, knife in hand. 

It was Elisph, who was standing, unphased, next to him. She smiled at him.

“Couldn’t sleep huh? I don’t blame you.”

The man lowered his knife, and profusely apologized. 

“Nah it’s all good. I understand why you’re like this. Come, sit with me over here.”

She wandered over to the firepit area, and found a lonely seat for him. He came over and sat down. There was a slow silence between the two of them, before she began to speak.

“Look..I know you feel uneasy right now, and I wanted to say that, in a way we all are. The government has us in a chokehold, and there hasn’t been much we can do. But.. ”

Her eyes wandered lightly.

“But we have got an idea for tomorrow, or later today. Anyways, we have got an idea for what to do.”

‘What do you propose we do?’

“Come twelve, there will be a public announcement held in the Capital. It’s done by this guy called Mr.Gendai Speaker, who is a government official, and a politician. Just before he begins his speech, we hijack the stage, and announce that we are rebelling against those in power and will not be oppressed any longer.”

A fire lit up in her eyes. It was met with a cold response.

‘Okay…good idea(?), but there are too many holes. Public announcing an attack isn’t going to help. The rebels will be identified instantly and killed. Plus, whilst I know the government here are scumbags, is it a good idea to do this and not a peaceful protest instead? It’s like we’re giving them a reason to attack us.’

The fire didn’t dull.

“Well, we’ve tried to do it the peaceful way before, and we were still called ‘violent’ and harmful before, so we thought that going all out would be better. And another thing, we won’t be attacking just there, we will be posted across the island, rioting, attacking.”

‘I don’t know, it just sounds…too violent? Also, there hasn’t been a war or anything here yet, so again, we’re inviting them to attack us. And not everyone here would want to attack right? Some people here just want to be in peace from the tyranny out there.’

“There are.

There are some people who have been heavily attacked here, and there were some small wars, and some people suffer because of those. There’s too much at stake right now, and we can’t just give up. The people who don’t want to fight, won’t. It’s as simple as that.”

The man narrowed his eyes at the dark air around them.

‘I see..’

“So then..”

She got up from her seat, and stood somewhat intimidatingly above him. 

“Are you a fighter?”

‘Hell yeah I am.’

It was now 11:50, and the rebels had met at the capital. A massive crowd was present, but the rebels were all communicating via walkie-talkies, and hand signals. 

It was a very busy environment, which was bringing back a distant memory for the man. A memory of his life back home, or perhaps not home anymore..

Regardless, the plan for the rebels was to go onto the stage in a few minutes as Mr Gendai Speaker arrived, and the man was to take him hostage. The plan was for them to deter attention from the other rebels who were at the government's office at the other end of the capital.

The rebels moved in on the crowd, advancing closer to the stage, and there was a sense of confusion from the crowd. At last, the man himself arrived on the stage.

Mr Gendai Speaker stood in front of the crowd, and lightly tapped on the microphone on the podium. 

“1-2, testing testing. Is this thing o-”

A figure darted towards him and held a knife to his neck.

‘Quiet old man. We’re taking control now.’

Elisph, Pluie, and some other rebels made their way to the stage. The man nodded towards Elisph.

The stage was theirs.