Sport?

My name is William. Everyone calls me Will. I'm the youngest of the nineteen of us who obey the man known to the world as the Scarlet Pimpernel. Even though I'm the youngest I have earned respect from the others and even from our leader. I'm quieter than the rest and I think more than I talk. I enjoy listening to others and watching them, learning about them by the way they act. I've learned much about the others this way.

There is much I understand about these young men. One thing I understand is what's in their hearts, because out of the heart the mouth speaks, and most of these men enjoy speaking very much. There are twenty of us including our leader and many different personalities, many different hearts, in the group. Some, like Lord Antony, are jovial and loud in a way that brings a smile to your face the instant you see them. Others, like Sir Andrew and myself, are more quiet and reserved. We are each so different, yet we are bound together by our great leader and by our purpose.

What is our purpose?

It is a question we are asked frequently. Why spend our money and risk our very lives for French aristocrats we don't even know? The French we rescue don't understand what motivates our leader and ourselves, but they question us about it. We answer, but not in the way they expect. Almost every man in the group, once asked, will answer with one word.

Sport!

They hardly ever believe us. "No," they say, "surely it's more than just sport!" It's become somewhat of a joke among us to treat the matter lightly and always answer that we simply love the game. Still they can't imagine we would risk our lives just for sport alone. Do we? Does the love of sport and excitement motivate us? Is that the only reason we do what we are becoming famous for?

We have never actually discussed among ourselves why we really do what we do. We simply do it. Every man has a reason, and that is what I see when I watch them. Perhaps, for some, it is only the excitement of it all and the game that, to an extent, it has become. Others seem to be running from something in their lives and they have run to the Scarlet Pimpernel, looking to have some purpose. In many ways I am one of these men, trying to find a purpose in a life full of pain. Truly, each of us has his own reasons.

Still I cannot deny that to an extent we all do love the game. All of it is so daring and exciting and the feeling of victory is unmatchable. Sport is surely a part of it for nearly every man here. Yet I see so much more than that in their eyes and I feel it in my own heart.

There is something in this group, in our leader's eyes, in the eyes of those we rescue, that binds us together. It goes far beyond sport or selfish purposes. It exceeds anything people say of us or we say of ourselves. It is the noble and honorable intention of helping the helpless, rescuing those who cannot rescue themselves, saving those who are perishing, risking our lives so that they can live.

This is why we do what we do. This is what we live and risk our lives for. This is our motive, our purpose, that binds us together.

This is why we are in the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

A/N- I read The Scarlet Pimpernel in school and enjoyed it! I had to write a short essay about whether or not sport was the only motivation behind the Scarlet Pimpernel and his mens' actions, as Lord Anthony said it was. My mom (I'm homeschooled) let me write a fanfiction about it instead! So here it is. :) Reviews are greatly appreciated! :) Thanks! God bless!