Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce except Laona and her family and
anything else I happen to invent along the way.
Summary: This is about a girl in Daine's old village (Snowsdale, for anyone who doesn't remember) who knew Daine before she left and looked up to her. I also may include her looking all over for Daine and finding her just after the Kel books take place. But it starts right before the bandits come. The main character, Laona, is about six at this time. SHE WILL GET OLDER. It starts with a bit of third person narration by Daine, and switches somewhere to first person narrated by Laona, and then to present tense first person, for anyone who gets confused by that stuff.
Finding:
Daine looked at Laona, and smiled. The little girl was always following her around, trying to be just like her. She had always felt a special closeness with Laona, because, like Daine, the girl had Gifted parents, and, like Daine, Laona had no Gift herself. Laona's mother was constantly bullying and badgering her about that fact, saying that Laona would never be as useful as her siblings, who were all Gifted, and that she needed to work harder. Once Daine had even seen Laona beaten because she had failed to light a fire magically, and her older brother, Tonnen, had been able to. Laona's family wasn't exactly poor, but it wasn't the richest in Snowsdale either. Daine felt sympathy for Laona's parents, but not enough that she could understand why they would be so cruel to a six-year-old, whose only flaw was in no way her fault. Daine's own mother had always said that she wished Daine was Gifted, but had never punished her for not having the Gift.
Daine and Sarra, Daine's mother, encouraged that Laona spend more time with Daine, away from her parents, and Daine had never minded the younger girl following her, in fact she rather liked someone being as much in awe of her as Laona was. Often, she would go to Laona's parents and ask them if they needed anything done. She thought that perhaps if all Laona's chores were done, Laona's parents wouldn't get on her quite as much. Laona herself wanted to learn healing. It didn't bother her that she herself was horrified at the sight of blood or bone. She'd told Daine quite plainly that she would do whatever she would to make the hurt go way, even if it meant throwing up after. "What if everyone was afraid of blood?" she'd said. "Then no one would want to heal and if anyone got sick or broke a bone or anything, they might just die because a healer didn't want to see their insides."
One thing that Daine and Laona didn't have in common was animals. Laona was desperately afraid of dogs or anything with sharp teeth, and although she could ride all right, she was scared to get off because on the ground, the horse might kick her. It had probably started with the rabid bear. Laona had been quite young then, but she had still seen it, and like everyone else in the village, she'd been scared out of her wits. Perhaps more then anyone else. Now anything with more then four legs was something that she should stay away from, of else handle with extreme caution. She had seen Daine with a wolf once, and screamed so loud that the wolf, whose name was Rattail, and was the alpha female of the pack that live in the woods around Snowsdale, had barred her teeth and fled. After that, Daine had decided to wait to converse with animals until Laona was safely busy with some task.
At this moment, Laona was carefully polishing Daine's treasured saddle. When Daine brought out her pony, Cloud, Laona was already inside, contenting herself by embroidering a little piece of white cloth from one of Daine's old dresses. She was definitely good with her hands, at sewing and embroidery and anything that required small, delicate work. This really wasn't very helpful to her family, for the chores they had set out for her were ones that required strength, things like lifting heavy loads, things that Daine really didn't think were the kind of jobs a six-year-old should be doing.
Today Daine had promised her to take her complaint up with Laona's parents, Atten and Revva. Laona didn't want to be there, and Daine agreed with her- if Laona's parents were unhappy with Daine, they might take it out on their daughter. So while Laona stayed inside embroidering, Daine rode out on Cloud to Laona's house.
It was Nanley, Laona's four-year-old sister who answered the door, sucking her thumb and taking it out only long enough to say-"D'you want Papa or Tonnen?" Tonnen was the blacksmith's apprentice, and people were constantly coming to him for lesser jobs and favors.
"Your papa please, and your mama to if you can get her."
"Oh, I forgot," Nanley said, "Papa's out. You can talk to Mama instead." She ran inside the house, still sucking her thumb.
After a minute, Revva herself came to the door.
"Whad'you want? I'm not buying nothing either," she said suspiciously.
"I've come about your daughter, Laona.
"What'd she do now? Lemme guess, has she run off with something? Never shoulda let her skip her work.ah, what a li'l brat. Bring her back here and I'll give 'er a good whippin'."
"No, no, it's nothing she's done wrong.I just think she works to hard for someone her age. And not having the Gift should make it harder, not easier. Her workload should be less than her siblings, not more."
"Whad'you mean? She never does her share anyhow-"
"That's because she can't."
"She can and she won't. She needs to be useful despite the fact that she don't have the Gift, and she's a lazy good-for noth'n."
"She's very helpful around me."
"That's cause you don't make her do a good amount of work. She'll want ta stay with you, but I'll not be letting 'er. She's not gonna get days off work again. She's stayin' home from now on. She ain't gonna see you again." Revva slammed the door in her face. Daine started home tell Laona what had happened.
Laona was disappointed when she found out, then angry.
"I'm not going back," she said. "The only one who means anything to me in that family is Nanley, and she'll get worse when she gets older. I'll.I'll run away to the forest. Can you take me to the forest, Daine?" Daine smiled.
"No, but I'll take you home with me for now. I have to go over to see Lory tonight, you can come with me if you like. Laona agreed to that, and Daine took her home, while they both got ready.
Lory, who was Daine's mother's friend, had a cough. Daine was to bring her some medicine to make it better. She saddled Cloud, putting Laona in behind her, and rode over to Lory's house. After attending to the cough, Lory's husband, Rand, wanted Daine to help with a ewe who was birthing. By then it was late, so Daine and Laona stayed the night. When Daine woke up the next morning it was noon, and fog was everywhere. Realizing that something was wrong, she told Lory to look after Laona, and rode quickly back to her house.
If there are any mistakes (spelling, grammer, etc.) or irregularities, please let me know.
Summary: This is about a girl in Daine's old village (Snowsdale, for anyone who doesn't remember) who knew Daine before she left and looked up to her. I also may include her looking all over for Daine and finding her just after the Kel books take place. But it starts right before the bandits come. The main character, Laona, is about six at this time. SHE WILL GET OLDER. It starts with a bit of third person narration by Daine, and switches somewhere to first person narrated by Laona, and then to present tense first person, for anyone who gets confused by that stuff.
Finding:
Daine looked at Laona, and smiled. The little girl was always following her around, trying to be just like her. She had always felt a special closeness with Laona, because, like Daine, the girl had Gifted parents, and, like Daine, Laona had no Gift herself. Laona's mother was constantly bullying and badgering her about that fact, saying that Laona would never be as useful as her siblings, who were all Gifted, and that she needed to work harder. Once Daine had even seen Laona beaten because she had failed to light a fire magically, and her older brother, Tonnen, had been able to. Laona's family wasn't exactly poor, but it wasn't the richest in Snowsdale either. Daine felt sympathy for Laona's parents, but not enough that she could understand why they would be so cruel to a six-year-old, whose only flaw was in no way her fault. Daine's own mother had always said that she wished Daine was Gifted, but had never punished her for not having the Gift.
Daine and Sarra, Daine's mother, encouraged that Laona spend more time with Daine, away from her parents, and Daine had never minded the younger girl following her, in fact she rather liked someone being as much in awe of her as Laona was. Often, she would go to Laona's parents and ask them if they needed anything done. She thought that perhaps if all Laona's chores were done, Laona's parents wouldn't get on her quite as much. Laona herself wanted to learn healing. It didn't bother her that she herself was horrified at the sight of blood or bone. She'd told Daine quite plainly that she would do whatever she would to make the hurt go way, even if it meant throwing up after. "What if everyone was afraid of blood?" she'd said. "Then no one would want to heal and if anyone got sick or broke a bone or anything, they might just die because a healer didn't want to see their insides."
One thing that Daine and Laona didn't have in common was animals. Laona was desperately afraid of dogs or anything with sharp teeth, and although she could ride all right, she was scared to get off because on the ground, the horse might kick her. It had probably started with the rabid bear. Laona had been quite young then, but she had still seen it, and like everyone else in the village, she'd been scared out of her wits. Perhaps more then anyone else. Now anything with more then four legs was something that she should stay away from, of else handle with extreme caution. She had seen Daine with a wolf once, and screamed so loud that the wolf, whose name was Rattail, and was the alpha female of the pack that live in the woods around Snowsdale, had barred her teeth and fled. After that, Daine had decided to wait to converse with animals until Laona was safely busy with some task.
At this moment, Laona was carefully polishing Daine's treasured saddle. When Daine brought out her pony, Cloud, Laona was already inside, contenting herself by embroidering a little piece of white cloth from one of Daine's old dresses. She was definitely good with her hands, at sewing and embroidery and anything that required small, delicate work. This really wasn't very helpful to her family, for the chores they had set out for her were ones that required strength, things like lifting heavy loads, things that Daine really didn't think were the kind of jobs a six-year-old should be doing.
Today Daine had promised her to take her complaint up with Laona's parents, Atten and Revva. Laona didn't want to be there, and Daine agreed with her- if Laona's parents were unhappy with Daine, they might take it out on their daughter. So while Laona stayed inside embroidering, Daine rode out on Cloud to Laona's house.
It was Nanley, Laona's four-year-old sister who answered the door, sucking her thumb and taking it out only long enough to say-"D'you want Papa or Tonnen?" Tonnen was the blacksmith's apprentice, and people were constantly coming to him for lesser jobs and favors.
"Your papa please, and your mama to if you can get her."
"Oh, I forgot," Nanley said, "Papa's out. You can talk to Mama instead." She ran inside the house, still sucking her thumb.
After a minute, Revva herself came to the door.
"Whad'you want? I'm not buying nothing either," she said suspiciously.
"I've come about your daughter, Laona.
"What'd she do now? Lemme guess, has she run off with something? Never shoulda let her skip her work.ah, what a li'l brat. Bring her back here and I'll give 'er a good whippin'."
"No, no, it's nothing she's done wrong.I just think she works to hard for someone her age. And not having the Gift should make it harder, not easier. Her workload should be less than her siblings, not more."
"Whad'you mean? She never does her share anyhow-"
"That's because she can't."
"She can and she won't. She needs to be useful despite the fact that she don't have the Gift, and she's a lazy good-for noth'n."
"She's very helpful around me."
"That's cause you don't make her do a good amount of work. She'll want ta stay with you, but I'll not be letting 'er. She's not gonna get days off work again. She's stayin' home from now on. She ain't gonna see you again." Revva slammed the door in her face. Daine started home tell Laona what had happened.
Laona was disappointed when she found out, then angry.
"I'm not going back," she said. "The only one who means anything to me in that family is Nanley, and she'll get worse when she gets older. I'll.I'll run away to the forest. Can you take me to the forest, Daine?" Daine smiled.
"No, but I'll take you home with me for now. I have to go over to see Lory tonight, you can come with me if you like. Laona agreed to that, and Daine took her home, while they both got ready.
Lory, who was Daine's mother's friend, had a cough. Daine was to bring her some medicine to make it better. She saddled Cloud, putting Laona in behind her, and rode over to Lory's house. After attending to the cough, Lory's husband, Rand, wanted Daine to help with a ewe who was birthing. By then it was late, so Daine and Laona stayed the night. When Daine woke up the next morning it was noon, and fog was everywhere. Realizing that something was wrong, she told Lory to look after Laona, and rode quickly back to her house.
If there are any mistakes (spelling, grammer, etc.) or irregularities, please let me know.