Disclaimer: Ranger's Apprentice © John Flanagan. I am making no money- please do not sue. The only thing I (barely) own is the plot bunny that I kidnapped from Plot-Bunny-Land and the characters that came with George (the plot bunny).
Seventeen years ago
They had something important to say. Something really important. Otherwise they wouldn't have called us in until dinner. That's the way Mom and Dad had always done things- important things were saved for dinner. Really important things could be said anytime, depending on how important they were. Kids weren't normally involved, either. So whatever it was had to be really, really, really important.
Maybe something was wrong with the new baby. That's why there was some important looking guy.
Or maybe we were in trouble for that prank this morning and the knight-doctor-important-looking-man-person was here to take us to jail. That's why Mom was crying.
Yeah, someone had figured out that we'd pranked the baker and the big, bulky knight was here to take us to jail. But… if the knight was here to take us to jail, where was Dad? Dad would be here with a stern look on his face. Then he'd laugh and say that he and Mom were just pulling our strings and the knight guy would turn out to be Uncle Horace or Uncle Gilan dressed up for a visit.
Danny said Dad would be back by now- he was only going to visit Uncle Crowley for the week. Something about Crowley retiring and Dad supposed to be the new commandment or command tent or whatever big word it was.
"Where's Dad?" Danny asked. He looked confused. Really confused. That's not right… Danny is never confused.
"Mom… why are you crying?" Sam asked. She looked confused and worried- that's not right, either. Sam knows everything- nothing confuses her. I'm the one who's supposed to get confused. Sam sometimes gets worried- she was this morning when we put that exploding cherry thing in a pie.
"What's going on? Is Dad okay?" Danny asked. Halt looked at Danny. They had a conversation with looks. Danny's look questioning, Halt's sad before looking away. Danny's face lost all emotion. His mouth was pressed in a thin line and he was pale like a dead person.
I think that scared me most of all.
Danny always has some sort of an expression on his face. He's like Dad- always smiling or grinning. Never sad, never confused, and never worried. Even when we're in trouble- he'll pretend to be all serious and then grin when whoever's disciplining us looks away.
"He's gone."
Halt's voice was quiet. He sounded like he would cry if he had the ability to. Danny and I already decided a long time ago that Halt can't cry. I think we're wrong- Halt looked away and covered his eyes. That's not right. Halt won't cry. Halt can't. He's Halt.
"No." Danny's voice cracked. "No… you're lying. This is some sick prank. You're… you're trying to get back at us for this morning." Halt got up. Next to Dad, he's always been the closest to Danny.
"Danny-" He began quietly as he moved toward him.
"Don't touch me." Danny interrupted just as quietly. He gave Halt one more look, trying to find any dishonesty in Halt's eyes. He must not've found any. His face crumpled, and tears leaked out from his eyes. Sam had tears streaming down her cheeks, and I probably did too. But this was different- Danny never cried. Even when he fell from that tree and busted up his leg real badly, he didn't cry.
He didn't cry when a stray arrow got him in the shoulder. He didn't cry when he hit his head on one of the rocks in the creek. He didn't cry when Dad came home one night, bruised and battered after being ambushed. (The doctor had said that Dad wouldn't make it through the night. Everyone but Danny cried- somehow, Danny had known that Dad would live.) In a flash, Danny had turned and was running out the still open door.
"Danny!" Sam cried. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. I was crying, too- but we were all worried about Danny. She ran out the door and after him- she'd never catch him, though. Halt limped over, wincing with every step he took with his left leg. Grandma would've yelled at him, but she was worried about Danny. Mom just sat there, holding her very pregnant stomach. What could she do? I'd love to see her try running through the rain and woods to the cottage. She didn't even know where to go.
They wouldn't catch him- the only person who's ever been fast enough to catch Danny is Dad. I get pretty close to beating them, but that's when they go easy on me. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Danny could outrun Tug when he grows up.
And Tug's a pretty dang fast horse…
I followed Sam- I already knew where Danny was running. Sam knew, too. It was a closely guarded Treaty secret. It was our hide out- a small cottage Dad and Danny built together. Sam kept running, ignoring her white skirt and the mud from the rain. I followed closely behind her- even at eight years old, I'd always been faster.
We ran through the trees and tight-rope walked across a tree over the creek. Danny had probably jumped across stones, but we didn't have the momentum that would keep us from falling in. Finally, we reached the small, white cottage Danny and Dad spent three summers building. The walls were made from stones down by the river and the roof was of thatch. There was a chimney, three windows, and an oak door with a window in the middle. Danny must've closed the curtains, because we couldn't see inside. Smoke filed out of the chimney. He was there, alright- and he'd ran fast enough to light a fire and close the curtains.
"Danny?" Sam said tenderly as she opened the door. She peered around the door to look inside, leaving me without a view. I stood up on my tiptoes, trying to see, though.
"Go away." Danny's voice croaked. It didn't take a genius to know that he was balling his eyes out. Sam opened the door wider, letting me see in. Danny had pulled one of the foldable cots up in front of the fireplace. He sat on the edge, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his palms covering his eyes. A small fire raged inside of the fireplace, giving off enough light to send Danny's shadow around the room and warm the room all the same.
"We're not going anywhere without you." Sam said, her voice still very tender. She sounded a lot like Mom- calm and kind. Even at eleven years old, she'd make a good diplomat, I tell you. Sometimes, I mix Mom and Sam up. I know how and why- the only real difference between the two of them is that Sam's got brown eyes. Her voice isn't as deep. Not that Mom has a deep voice, but she has more of a… commanding voice. It makes her voice deeper than most women's. But not as deep as Dad's or Halt's. Or Grandma's, come to think of it.
Sam opened the door all the way and strutted in like a queen- calm, poised, and collected. Those are the best words to describe her. I followed close behind, but hid behind Sam, holding her hand tightly. I wasn't an idiot, though. I shut the door so the room would stay warm.
Sam sat right next to Danny so that their thighs were touching. She patted next to her, so I sat there (even though I wanted to sit on the other side of Danny). Sam's the smart one of the family- she knows what to do in a situation like this. Sam wrapped an arm around me, and then placed her hand on Danny's back and rubbed small circles there. You know, to be completely honest, I think Sam wasn't sure what to do.
Danny's shoulders started shaking, and I could hear what must've been a sob. Sam licked her lips, but in the little light I could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She grabbed Danny by the shoulder and pulled his head into her chest so she could just hold him. One hand kept him there so he wouldn't scoot away and the other rubbed the side of his head, messing with his bangs in that weird motherly way.
I'm not stupid- I knew that Danny needed some comfort and that I was in the way. So, I got up, and tried to make myself useful. There's not much an eight year old can do, though. I could've pulled another cot out, but I doubted anyone would be sleeping that night. I could've made some dinner, but no one seemed hungry. The fire didn't need stoking, but our wood supply seemed to be running a little low. Dad must not've stocked up before he… left.
I think that's when it hit me. Will Treaty- my dad- was dead. D-E-A-D. Not coming back. POOF! How'd it happen? Did someone poison him in his sleep? Had a practice fight with Horace gone terribly wrong? Did someone try to siege Castle Araluen? Danny would want to know- he'd want to make sure that Dad went down fighting. "That's the Treaty way- we go down fightin' and causin' hell every which way." That's what Danny had said. Fighting and causing hell every which way…
Dad would've gotten mad at Danny for saying that. Then he would've laughed, said "Don't say that anymore, got it?" and then gone and had a long talk about "Using appropriate language around my children," with Halt.
But that wouldn't be happening anymore- Dad was gone. The doctors up at Araluen would wrap him up in something, ship him off to us in a wagon, and we'd bury him out in the backyard or someplace or another. No- Halt would make sure it was someplace nice. Someplace special. Like that clearing- the one a couple miles outside of Wensley where we sometimes went to play.
We pulled a prank there that morning. Set off one of our exploding cherry things that we got from Dad's friend Malcolm in a tree. Scared the poop out of a bird and that old lady who lives by Jenny's. It was funny. Too bad Danny wouldn't be pranking with us anymore.
After the events of that night, Daniel Halt Treaty changed. A lot. He became a lot more serious, and he stopped pranking the daylights out of people. He became extremely involved in archery- he practiced every day before and after school for hours upon hours. He started tracking and hunting- most of the time by himself. And he started the tree climbing. That must've been the worst of it all. Instead of climbing up and then down like a normal person, Danny insists on jumping down. Dad dying had left Danny shattered. He wasn't who I remembered, and he wasn't who anyone else remembered. We didn't think things would ever be fixed.
But then, Mom had the baby a few months later. As soon as Danny got a good luck at the kid, he said three words. "Name him Will." Everyone had started staring at Danny, but he didn't care. "You heard me- name him Will." So, that's what Mom did.
Let me just say that has had to have been the worst idea Danny's ever had. And Danny's had some pretty bad ideas…
. . .
END CHAPTER UNO!
Okay, this story has been giving me sooooooo much trouble. I had no idea on how to write this or how to start this or anything! So when the idea of 'Hey, let's go back seventeen years and see just how Danny reacted to Will dying' hit me, I was like "YESSSH! THANK YOU PLOT BUNNY! I LURVE YOU PLOT BUNNY! THANK YOU!"
Heh. Sharkbait had a moment there.
Okay- I need to clear some things up real quick. I've changed some of the things in Heaven Was Needing A Hero. ::in the American Idol announcer voice:: And a here they are!
UNO: The story is in first person POV through Anna Treaty. PLEASE NOTE- I've never written anything this long in first person before. The longest amount of words I've written in first person is around five hundred. This is closer to eighteen hundred. And this is just chapter one…
DOS: Instead of just having two Treatys- Danny and Will- there's four Treatys (including Will). Danny (who's twelve here), Sam (she's eleven), and Anna (eight). Yeah… let's just say that Will is an unplanned baby who Will (big Will- not little evil Will) and Alyss weren't prepared for.
Yep. That's about it… I think.
Oh, and if you wanna hear my inspiration for this piece so far (and Danny's current theme song… [I choose theme songs for my favorite characters…]) look up the song 'Shattered' by Trading Tomorrow. Seriously- I absolutely LURVE this song.
Heh. Sharkbait just had a fangirl moment. Do know that Sharkbait where's baggy jeans (hey- they're comfy), plays baseball (not softball), and despises gossip, popularity, or anything along those lines. (Except cheesy Spitfire stories. I just can't get enough of those two!)
WOW. LOOOOOONG AN, THERE. 'KAY, BYE!
-Sharkbait