Gypsy Rose
A Ragnarok fanfiction by Steph O'Dell
Chapter One – One's AimA harsh wind blew over Midgard, carrying the scent of death and battle. Its source was a tower that seemed to touch the very sky itself.
Thanatos Tower.
At its peak—a party of adventurers, who had come to quell the flames of destruction before all was lost to them. They had fought up all twelve floors, battling all manor of evil, and arrived, tired and worn-down, to the top floor. There, waiting for them, was the one known to the people as Satan Morroc. The Bloody Demon himself.
Thanatos.
The fighting had ended quickly. Thanatos was far too powerful for them, and the adventurers had been laid flat on their back before they even knew what had hit them. Groans of pain and whimpers of agony came from every person.
Thanatos grinned maniacally, and advanced slowly on the fallen adventurers.
One adventurer was still awake. A gypsy, clothed in red and black sat on the ground, next to a Lord Knight, clutching her bleeding and broken arm, whimpering in pain. Her green eyes stared at Thanatos, filled with fear and dread. She knew full well she couldn't defeat him on her own. It was hopeless.
"Have you anything to say before I extinguish your life?" Thanatos asked the girl, his eyes gleaming evilly from under a fringe of black hair.
The gypsy trembled, and her entire life flashed before her eyes.
Payon Village was a quiet place. The land was covered in thick green forest, and babbling brooks ran lazily around the hillside on which the village stood. It was peaceful, and serene, a perfect place for children to grow.
Payon was famous for training the best archers in all of Midgard. Archers trained in this tiny village were renowned for having sharp eyes and deadly accuracy, and were admired and praised everywhere they went.
It was in this sleepy village a young girl named Steph lived with her younger sister, Umi. The two girls lived alone in a small house near the north end of the village that had once belonged to their mother, who had passed quite a number of years before.
The morning sun crept into the room that Steph lay sleeping in, and washed over her face. The warm light made her stir slightly, but she was too fast asleep to concern herself with it.
Umi poked her head into the room, and gave a sigh. She walked over to her older sister, and shook her frantically.
"Onee-san!! Onee-san! Wake up, Onee-san, or you'll be late for your Archer Exam!"
Steph moaned a little, and Umi sighed. Her sister refused to wake up. She brushed some cyan hair out of her blue eyes, and decided to try another approach.
Walking out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, Umi filled a bucket with water from the water barrel outside the side door, and walked back into the bedroom.
Umi hesitated, her face one of worry as she positioned the bucket. "I'm sorry, Onee-san, but I have to do this."
And then she threw the water onto her sister.
Steph woke up with a scream and a start. She bolted upright in bed, and gave a whine of distress. "Wha-wha-what?! What happened?! UMI!!!"
Umi cringed a bit as Steph screamed at her. "I'm sorry, Onee-san. You wouldn't wake up…"
Steph growled angrily at her sister.
Steph, unlike Umi, had wine-red hair, and brilliant forest-green eyes. The two sisters looked nothing alike, in fact, but had never thought that they may not be sisters by blood.
The two girls loved each other very much, and no one in the village saw them very far apart from one another. They often stopped to talk to the two girls, and check in on them from time to time.
Steph was a wild girl, who loved to roam the forest, and play with the younger children of the village, who looked up to her like a chief. She loved nothing better than exploring a new place and seeking something exciting, and hated being bored.
Umi, on the other hand, was quiet and shy. She often stuttered when she talked, unless she knew the person and felt comfortable with them. She blushed almost all the time, and tended to stand with her feet over one another. She was clumsy, and often hurt herself, but was an excellent cook, and loved to clean. She often stayed at home to look after things while her big sister ran off to play.
Steph had turned 19 recently, and as such, was declared the age when she could take the archery test. Steph had admitted to Umi she didn't really want to be an archer, but the fame Payon archers received was too much to pass up.
Steph brushed her hair after she'd dried it off somewhat, and tied it into twin ponytails that fell over her shoulders. She slipped a couple of large beads onto them to hold them in place. She touched them, remembering her mother had made them for her as a little girl from the glass beads she's found on one of her many excursions.
"Are you ready, Onee-san?" Umi asked, peeking shyly into the room. She was still scared after her sister had yelled at her.
Steph sighed, and stood up. She smiled at Umi. "I'm ready, Umi-chan. Let's go."
Umi smiled with relief, and Steph walked into the sitting room to pull on her shoes. Umi did the same, and the two left the house. But Umi paused, and seemed to remember something.
"Oh dear! I forgot lunch!"
She ran back inside while Steph smiled to herself, bemused. Her sister was forgetful, but a sweet girl.
Umi came back out, carrying a basket. Steph caught the scent of warm meat and fresh fruit.
"Smells yummy," she said.
"You'll have to wait until lunch," Umi reprimanded her sister gently. "I tried to wake you in time for breakfast, but you chose to sleep in instead."
"Aww," Steph groaned. "No fair…" Her stomach whined. "How am I supposed to do my best on an empty stomach?"
Umi smiled at her sister, and Steph couldn't help but smile back.
"Look, Onee-san, Payon Cave."
Steph looked where Umi pointed, and saw the mouth of Payon Cave looming off to their left. She smiled faintly to herself.
Steph loved Payon Cave. She played there all the time, especially near the back, where all the foxes lived.
The foxes were like her family. They never hurt her, and she loved them like brothers and sisters. They played for hours on end, chasing each other, and play fighting with each other. She'd even taught them to be kind to Umi, who was afraid of the zombies and skeletons in the cave, and spooked easily.
Many people, both in the village and from far away, felt that everything in the cave was a menace and needed to be dealt with. Steph got angry with these people, insisting that the foxes wouldn't harm anyone.
"They're just scared!" she said. "You would be too if someone came up to you with a sword and waved it in your face!"
The people in the village accepted Steph's adamant claims that the foxes were harmless, and stayed out of the cave. But people still came from all over Midgar to kill the 'monsters' that resided in the cave.
Steph sighed. Umi looked at her sister.
"What's wrong?"
"I was just remembering why I wanted to be an archer," she said quietly. "Not just for the fame, or the adulation…but so I can protect the foxes from poachers."
Umi smiled. "You really love them, don't you?"
Steph nodded, and then turned away. "Well, let's get going."
They walked past the venders selling things at the turn up towards the Archer Guild, and waved. The milk vender waved them both over.
"Heard you're taking the archer test today, Steph," the lady said with a grin.
"Yeup," Steph replied proudly.
"Well, good for you!" the milk lady said. "Well, here you two go. My treat." She handed them both a bottle of milk.
Steph greedily gulped the milk down, and gave a satisfied "Ahh!" afterwards. Then she belched, and said "Thank you" to the milk lady. Umi quietly thanked the lady, and drank her milk slowly.
"Milk's good for ya!" Steph said. "Makes you big and strong! And it's tasty!"
"Right you are!" the milk lady agreed.
Umi finally finished her milk, and the two waved goodbye as they walked onward towards the archer guild.
"Well, everything seems to be in order," the lady at the archer guild said, examining Steph's forms. "And you brought the wood yesterday, am I correct?"
The first test an archer faced was collecting wood to be fashioned into a weapon. Steph had gone a little overboard, and killed close to fifty Willows, dragging all the wood back with a huge grin on her face. She had a passion for killing things, and got a little battle-crazed sometimes.
"I sure did," Steph replied, sheepishly.
"Then that means you can receive your bow and go right into the test," the lady informed her. Steph smiled, relieved, and walked over to the room the lady had pointed to. A cute man stood by the door, and handed Steph a bow.
"You brought me lots of good-quality wood to work with," he said with a smile. "This bow is a work of art."
Steph flushed, and purred a little, rubbing her cheek against the bow with a happy sigh. "It's so pretty…thank you so much."
She then received a quiver of regular arrows from the man, and walked into the test room.
The Woman who conducted the test was a pleasant woman, who looked to be around forty. She had a shock of dishwater blond hair pulled back from her face in a low ponytail, and sparkling grey eyes. She seemed to always be smiling.
"My name is Abigail," the woman said, offering her hand to Steph. "I'll be your tester today."
"Hello, ma'am," Steph greeted her formally, taking her hand. "I'm Steph."
"Good to meet you," Abigail said warmly, shaking Steph's hand firmly. "Let's see what you can do."
Steph was asked to string her bow, which she did without problems. Then she strung an arrow, and cocked it into position.
"The next step," Abigail said, "Is to shoot the targets at the other end of the room."
Steph swallowed nervously. This was where things got complicated for her.
She's never used a bow before.
"Do I have to hit the centre?" Steph asked in a small voice.
"No," Abigail laughed good-naturedly. "You just have to hit the target, that's all."
She tried to aim at the target, her arm and hands visibly shaking. She focused on the target, closing one eye without thinking.
Both eyes open, she remembered, recalling something a friend had once told her. She opened her closed eye, and took a better aim.
Ten minutes passed as Steph aimed and re-aimed, until finally, when the tension was thick enough to be seen, Steph finally released the arrow.
It hit the target, but only on the lower edge. It didn't even hit the rings.
Steph let out her breath all at once, not realizing she'd been holding it. Abigail smiled wider.
"Well, you hit it. So it counts."
"Yay!" Steph squealed, and jumped up and down excitedly. Umi looked relieved as well, and sighed, putting a hand to her chest.
"However," Abigail said, breaking the happy rejoicing. "You'll have to hit it again, just to be sure."
Steph groaned. She'd been lucky to hit it the first time.
Another painstaking ten minutes, and Steph finally took her second shot. It hit the other side of the target this time, a little higher than the first one, but still not on the rings.
Steph was less-than-impressed at her lack of aim, but Abigail smiled.
"Well, you passed that part. Good job."
Steph fell over. "What do you mean, that part? There's more?!"
Abigail nodded, and Steph groaned deeply.
"The next part of the test are moving targets," Abigail explained. "You'll have to hit them in order to pass.
"Wait…moving targets?" Umi asked, looking uneasy. "You don't mean actual monsters, do you?"
"Of course not," Abigail said. "That's dangerous. No, we have a much safer system."
Abigail called out to the man outside the door, and a moment later, a partition in the wall opened up, and a set of targets on a moving belt-and-pulley system were revealed. The man from earlier was turning a crank, making the belt move, along with the targets attached to it.
Steph felt her stomach drop out the bottom of her body. She knew she'd never be able to hit those targets. Not in a million years.
"It's like a shooting gallery," Steph said flatly. Umi knew her big sister was trying to make a joke to ease her nervousness, but Steph had come across as unimpressed. Umi felt a sweat drop of embarrassment run down her face.
"Well, let's see what you can do," Abigail said good-naturedly. Steph tried to swallow the lump in her throat.
Steph tried to aim at the targets, but because they were constantly moving, it was hard to get a bead on them. She finally got frustrated, and took a wild shot.
There was a 'Twaing!' as the bowstring snapped the arrow off, and then a yelp of pain as the arrow hit the assistant. Steph looked terrified.
"I wasn't trying to hit him! I'm so sorry!" She bit her knuckle, tears gathering in her eyes as she apologized, over and over again to the poor man. Umi buried her face in her hands and sighed.
The man seemed good-natured about it, but Steph felt terrible. Abigail pulled Steph off to the side.
"Dear, have you ever used a bow before today?" she asked.
Steph sniffled, and shook her head. "No…"
Abigail was still smiling, but she definitely looked shocked. "Well, you did remarkably well for someone who's never used a bow before."
Steph sniffed her tears away. "Really?"
Abigail smiled, and nodded. "Of course. You'll only get better with practice."
Steph sighed. "So, I failed then…" She sighed, and slumped off, ready to leave. Umi patted her sister comfortingly.
"Wait…you forgot something."
Steph turned around to look at Abigail, who handed Steph a bundle of clothes.
Steph blinked. The bundle of clothes was a blue archer's uniform. She felt tears pricking her eyes again.
"I…I don't understand…why…?"
Abigail smiled. "You have the makings to be an excellent archer. Go forth, and become stronger. The Archer's Guild officially welcomes you."
Umi squealed happily, and threw her arms around her bewildered and dumbstruck sister. "You mean…I passed after all…?" Steph muttered, dazed. "Even after I accidentally shot the cute assistant?"
"Where will you go first, Onee-san?" Umi asked.
Steph was packing her bag with things she'd need on her journey. She smiled at her sister, and shrugged. "Dunno. What's the closest town, I wonder?"
Umi thought for a second. "I think its Izlude."
Steph smirked. "Alright then. Izlude it is! Tomorrow is the start of a new adventure!"
"Yes," Umi said happily. "And I was going to make that stew you like so much tonight for dinner!"
"Whoohoo!" Steph hooted happily, pumping her arms.
"I could use a hand with it," Umi continued. "I need some water and potatoes…do you think you could get those for—hey!!" Umi turned around, and realized her sister was gone. She sighed, and smiled.
"I think I know where she went…"
Payon Cave was a dark, deep cave that reeked with the scent of death. Zombies, skeletons, and many other nasty, undead creatures roamed it freely. Most people didn't enter the cave.
Steph, however, was not most people. She enjoyed Payon Cave, and walked through the dark, twisting passages with little difficulty.
The monsters, for the most part, ignored her. As she walked along, a zombie popped out of nowhere, breathing noxious breath into her face and moaning in a horrible voice.
Steph grinned, and yelled, "Boo!" at it. The zombie wailed, and shuffled away as quickly as it could. Steph laughed.
"You zombies are a riot!" Steph giggled as she walked along.
Farther in, a group of Bongun and Munak were clustered together, peering at shiny objects they had found in the cave. They shyly glanced at Steph as she approached them.
"Hi Bongun! Hi Munak! How are you all today?" Steph asked the cadavers good-naturedly.
The corpse puppets blushed a little, and shyly showed her their treasures. Steph poked them and giggled.
"Ooh! Shiny!" She smiled. "Those are very nice! You'd better hang onto them, okay? Don't lose them now!"
The cadavers nodded their head, talismans flapping furiously. As Steph prepared to leave, she spotted her favourite Bongun out of the corner of her eye.
He was different from the others, and clothed in black instead of blue. His talisman was hanging off to the side of his face instead of over his nose like the others. His long black hair hung down in his face, and the hair down his back was bound tightly with a white cloth to his ankles. He stared at her with cat-like gold eyes from behind the rock he was hiding behind.
"There you are!" Steph cried out cheerfully. "Come here, I won't hurt you! Let's be friends!"
But the Bongun turned his nose up, and sniffed. Steph felt hurt at his behaviour.
"Oh, come on! Let's be friends, pleeeeeaaaasssseeeee?!" Steph whined loudly, in an annoying voice. She looked at him with big, cute eyes.
The Bongun turned, and bounced off quickly into the depths of the cave, leaving Steph alone with the other Bongun and Munak.
Steph sighed. "I'll be friends with him someday. Just you wait, Mr. Black Bongun!"
She said goodbye to the cadavers, and ran off farther into the cave.
The cave became wider at this point, and the ruins of buildings and temples could be seen. Sohee floated here and there, wailing miserably as they wandered about.
"Hello Sohee! You all look so pretty today!" Steph called out cheerfully as she ran by, waving.
The undead maidens blushed a little, waving back. Some stopped wailing for a while, as if cheered up by the comment.
Dokebi ran here and there, making little grunting noises and chasing down small rodents for food. Steph giggled as she watched them, and then carried on.
Finally, she spotted what she was looking for: a white fox with nine beautiful tails was darting around amongst the debris. It stopped when it saw her, making a happy yowling call, and ran up to her.
"Hello!" Steph called out cheerfully. "How are you? Are you well? You look great!" She petted the fox, smiling.
Other Nine Tail poured out from the ruins, all crowding around Steph, yowling happily and licking her face. She laughed and giggled happily, petting whomever she could.
"One at a time! One at a time! Hey! Teehee!"
The foxes backed off a tiny bit, allowing Steph to sit up. Tails wagged as all the foxes seemed happy to see their friend. Some sniffed her clothes and new bow cautiously.
"It's new," Steph told them. "I just became an archer today. It means I'll be going far away to become a good archer, so I can come back and defend you guys against poachers." She smiled sadly. "So I came to say goodbye before I left. I'm gonna miss you guys."
Some of the foxes made sad yowls, and others licked her face again. She smiled more, and hugged a few of the closer foxes.
"Don't be sad. I'll come back and visit whenever I can. I promise."
"You ran off to Payon Cave again, didn't you?" Umi asked Steph as she came in the door.
Steph looked sheepish. "I had some friends to say goodbye to."
Umi sighed. "What am I going to do about the—"
"Potatoes?" Steph finished Umi's sentence as she dropped a bunch of potatoes on the table. "Stopped by to see the Smokies before I came back."
Umi smiled at her sister. Steph was strange, but not mean. Umi couldn't be mad at her now.
"Let me know when it's ready," Steph said as she walked to her room. "I want to finish packing."
Umi smiled, and sighed. Steph was the same as always.
"Make sure you eat regularly," Umi sad to Steph the next morning. "And to stay clean, and to change your underwear every day and—"
"Okay Umi! Sheesh!" Steph laughed. "I'm a big girl, you know. I'm going to be fine. Just wait. I'm going to be famous someday."
Umi smiled at her sister. "I know you will. I'm…going to miss you…" She turned her head to try and keep Steph from seeing her tears.
Steph hugged her sister. "I'll write every day. Promise."
"Not every day," Umi said sensibly. "Maybe once a week. Or once every two weeks."
"Okay, once a week then. But I will write."
"I look forward to it," Umi said happily.
Steph grinned.
"I packed some food for you," Umi went on. "Make sure to ration it. It's mostly dried food, so it'll preserve well. And keep hydrated."
"Will do," Steph said in a perky voice.
"One last thing…"
"Yeeeeeees?"
"Here." Umi gave her sister a quiver. Inside were silver arrows.
Steph blinked. "Umi-chan, these are…"
"Silver arrows." Umi said.
"But…they're so expensive!" Steph balked.
"I know…I saved up for weeks." Umi smiled. "I did odd jobs here and there while you were off playing."
Steph made an annoyed face. "Is there a moral here somewhere…something about an ant and a grasshopper?"
Umi giggled. "It's a present…to help keep you safe."
Steph smiled, and hugged her sister. "I love you, Umi-chan."
"I love you too, Onee-san."
The two looked into each other's eyes for a while, before Steph finally walked down the dirt path towards the village's west exit.
Umi waved as her sister disappeared from sight and sighed. "Maybe I should have told her that Izlude is North, and not East…"
Steph wandered about in Payon forest hours later, her stomach grumbling angrily at her. "Aww, bugger. I'm lost already….sheesh." She looked around her and sighed.
"ANYBODY HERE?!"
Not far from where Steph was, a knight was trying to escape an Elder Willow, without success. He looked back as his black Peco Peco carried him along, and grumbled.
"Oh, give up already!"
The Elder Willow didn't seem to be getting the hint, so the knight finally yanked the reigns of his steed, and whirled to face the tree.
"Fine then…let's see how you like being in pieces!"
He charged the Elder Willow, and with a swift bash with his sword, the tree fell apart, and lay scattered about on the ground.
The knight dismounted, and began salvaging what he could from the remains. "Let's see, fire scroll…that's handy…some trunks for firewood…a dead branch…very nice." He slipped the dead branch away carefully in his pack, and stood up.
"Not bad for a tree. Heh."
Steph was chasing her own Elder Willow some 50 meters away. She lined up her bow, and gave an evil chuckle.
"Keh keh keh…time to die, Mr. Willow…"
She let the arrow fly, but it missed its mark by a country mile, and disappeared into a bush. Steph blinked confused.
Suddenly, a loud yelp of pain rang out, and Steph stiffened. It was definitely a human yell.
"Uh oh…not again!"
The knight wrenched the arrow out from the crack in his armour, muttering angrily. "Haven't been in that much pain since that run-in with a Kobold archer…" He rubbed where the arrow had tagged him, muttering to himself. "Someone's a very good shot."
He looked around, listening. As far as he knew, nothing in Payon Forest shot arrows…except archers. He sighed.
"Come on out…I'm not mad…please, I just want to talk."
He heard a rustling near him, and looked around. A muffled voice came from inside a bush near him.
"Promise you're not mad?"
The knight crouched down. "Promise." He smiled kindly. "Now please come out so we can talk, okay?"
Steph crawled out from the bush, and the knight drew his breath in sharply. She was a very cute little archer, he couldn't deny that. She looked up at him with her big green eyes and sniffled.
"I didn't mean to shoot you," she said to him. "It was an accident. I was aiming for that Elder Willow."
The knight felt his toughness crumble. She was just too cute. He wanted to cuddle her, like some adorable kitten.
"I-it's fine, r-really." He felt his face flush, and turned away. His visor was down, so Steph couldn't get a good look at him.
"You're a knight, right?" Steph asked him. "What are you doing here?"
"Uhh, well, you see—" the knight began, but a howl cut him off. He whipped his head around, and gripped his sword tightly.
"What was that?" he asked tersely.
Steph looked worried. "I think it was Vagabond Wolf."
The knight looked at her. "Vagabond Wolf? That doesn't sound good…"
"It's the pack leader," Steph continued. "All the other wolves are docile, and don't attack people. But that one does, and frequently too. He's quite nasty."
The knight drew his sword, and pushed Steph behind him. "More than likely it'll attack us, so stay behind me and back me up."
Steph trembled. "Wait…but…that's a…I can't…I'm not…"
The knight didn't seem to hear Steph, and tightened his grip on his sword. "Here it comes."
The Vagabond Wolf came into view, surrounded on all sides by smaller wolves, all snarling and snapping their jaws. Steph gave a yipe of fear, and huddled behind the knight. He tensed, and raised his sword into an attack position.
The wolf glared at the knight with fierce yellow eyes, and snarled ferociously. The knight gritted his teeth. "Here goes…"
He lunged forward, and disappeared from view for a moment, and then re-appeared in front of the wolf. He brought his sword down on the wolf with a vicious blow.
"Take this…CHARGE!" The Knight swung the sword down at the wolf, but Vagabond sidestepped the blow.
"Crap," the knight hissed, and gave a cry. "MAGNUM BREAK!"
A flash and blast of energy pushed everything back. The blow killed most of the wolf lackeys, however the Vagabond Wolf was singed, but stilled standing. It growled angrily at the knight, and lunged. Snapping its jaws shut around the knight's arm, it shook its head violently, trying to tear the armour off. The knight bashed the wolf repeatedly, trying to knock it off.
"Take the shot! Hurry!" the knight yelled at Steph impatiently. "I can't hold it off forever!"
Steph's arm shook furiously as she lined up a shot. She was terrified, and it wasn't helping her aim at all. Finally, she released the arrow with a high-pitched squeak, and it sailed towards the wolf…
…And bounced off the knight's helm, before nailing the wolf square between the eyes. It gave a howling cry as it died, and the knight shook it off his arm. He sighed.
Steph sank to her knees, and let out her breath all at once. She was shaking quite badly, but not hurt.
The knight removed his helmet, and checked it. "Well, it isn't broken," he said gruffly. "But your shot was lousy."
Tears gathered in Steph's eyes. "Give me a break! I just became an archer yesterday!"
The knight growled at her as he put his helmet back on. "Well, why didn't you say so to begin with?!"
Steph sobbed. "I-I-I tr-tried to! B-but you wou-wouldn't listen!!!"
The knight's voice suddenly got softer, and knelt down beside her, and hugged her. "I'm sorry…please don't cry…shh…" He awkwardly tried to comfort her.
Steph wiped at her eyes. "It's okay…I don't need pity…really…"
The knight hugged her a little tighter. "I don't mind…really."
Steph dropped the fire scroll onto the pile of wood and muttered, "Fire". The pile burst into flames, and she sat down again, sighing. She set the meat they'd gotten from the wolves onto the fire to cook.
The knight was busy rummaging through the things he'd gotten from the day's battles. Every now and then he'd comment to himself about something.
"Hmm, Angelic Cardigan…know someone who could use this…"
Steph tried not to be interested, but it was a nice item, and couldn't help admiring it. She looked away when the knight glanced over at her.
"Believe me…you can't use this."
"I don't want it."
"Liar," the knight chuckled. "I saw you looking at it."
"Was not!" Steph retorted, getting red-faced.
The knight chuckled, and handed her a shining yellow gemstone. "Here. Take it. I don't need it."
Steph looked at the Topaz, and blushed. "Uhh…thanks…" She took it from the knight, embarrassed.
"You're welcome," he said, smiling to himself. "It's your share of the prize, for helping me defeat Vagabond Wolf."
Steph sat quietly for a bit, fidgeting furiously. "Umm…Mr. Knight sir?"
The knight laughed. "Yes?"
Steph bit her lip. "Do you…do you think I'll be a good archer some day?"
The knight looked off into the distance, his eyes cloudy. He smiled softly, deep in thought. Finally, he turned back to Steph.
"Of course you will. You'll be the best archer who ever lived. Promise."
Steph grinned happily, and the knight smiled back.
After splitting the meat, the knight told Steph he'd take the first watch. He promised to wake her so she could take over second watch.
Steph drifted off quietly to sleep, feeling safe with her new friend.
What a nice guy… she thought.
Steph woke up to the bright light of day streaming through the trees. Bolting upright, she started panicking.
"Ahh! He never woke me to take over his shift! I bet he's exhausted! Mr. Knight! Mr. Knight!"
She looked around, but neither the knight in black, nor his black Peco Peco could be seen. Her face became confused.
She stood up, and looked around, hoping to spot him just out of sight. However, she came across a hand-written note lying beside her stuff on the logs they had used as benches the night before. She picked it up and read it.
Miss Archer;
Thank you for your assistance yesterday. I apologize for putting you in danger like that, but I applaud your bravery. You have the ability to become a first-class archer someday.
When you do, look me up again, and I will be honoured to accompany you on your many journeys.
Yours Truly
The signature had become wet, and blurred, as it had come into contact with morning dew, and was now unreadable. Steph panicked.
"Wait! No! Not fair!! What's his name?! WHAT'S HIS NAME?!"
Steph managed to find the edge of the forest a few days later, and rejoiced. It was short-lived, however, when she saw what lay ahead of her.
Sand. White sand. As far as the eye could see.
The Sogart Desert.
Steph groaned deeply. This just hadn't been her week.
NEXT CHAPTER:
The Orange Juice caper, a new friend, a run-in with a shady group, and feathers. Lots and lots of feathers.
All in "Apple Juice Quenches the Pallet, but Orange Juice Just Has That Zing."