This is my first fan fiction. Hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: My name isn't John...sadly my last name isn't Flanagan either.
Chapter 1
Seth looked over her shoulder. Behind her lay a clump of bushes and around her was a beautiful forest.
She had felt that something was there. But maybe it was her imagination. She shook her head and set her mind back to the task at hand.
In her hand was a rabbit. Its body was still warm and she was wondering how she should skin it. It wasn't her first time skinning a rabbit but she wondered if she should go about it carefully, taking her time to get it nice and clean or just tearing through without much order.
After a few seconds of debating she decided on skinning the animal carefully. She took a sharp knife, about a foot long, and began to cut away at the animal's fur.
For a while there had been no noise besides the wind, the birds in the sky, and the occasional huff from Seth. Then suddenly, Seth looked up from her work. She quickly looked over her shoulder. She could have sworn someone was watching her.
She stood up from her squat and collected her bag, cramming the rabbit inside, and held the knife up close to her body. Her eyes searched the area, looking for any sign of movement.
Just as she was going to put her knife down, a figure emerged from the tree.
Halt had been trailing the small girl for a while. He had seen her coming into the forest from his cabin and found it strange that a child, no older than nine, would go into the forest without a hint of hesitation.
So he followed her into the forest. She had made her way in with an acute sense of direction which brought him to the conclusion that this was not her first time coming into this forest. She picked her way with expertise and Halt realized that there were snare traps all around. If he hadn't been watching where the girl had been stepping then he would have missed the traps entirely.
She finally came to a stop and bent down to one of her snares and he saw that a rabbit had been caught in one of them. As she picked up the rabbit, he saw, she became stiff. Halt shrank back and became still as she quickly spun around and her eyes searched in his general direction, scanning over the place he was at.
He watched her look back down at the rabbit in her hand. Watched her skin it and heard her huff on occasion. Then she became rigid once again and quickly turned around for the second time. She then turned back and gathered her belongings and stuffed her rabbit in her pack. With the knife still in her hand, she brought it up close to her chest and scanned the trees again.
Halt decided that he should question her and stepped away from his position.
He saw the girl jump in surprise. Of course, for her it must have seemed like he had just come forth from inside the tree. Halt saw her clutch the knife tighter, her knuckles turning white. He held up his hands as a sign of peace. Much to his surprise, she completely relaxed.
Initially when the figure had appeared, Seth had been afraid it was a bandit. But seeing the cloak and the long bow strapped to the strangers back, she knew it was a Ranger. She let out a pent up breath and brought down her knife. She saw the look of puzzlement on the Ranger's face. She merely smiled at him.
Seth didn't know much about Ranger's only that they kept the peace and enforced the law on evil-doers. What she had been doing was not against the law, at least, not one that she knew of, so there was no reason to be afraid.
Halt looked at her curiously. She was no longer cowering in fear, which was good, but she was also not even the least bit wary of him, which was a reaction that he was not used to getting. The girl had even smiled at him. He shrugged it off. If she wasn't screaming in fear, he thought, then that was enough.
He warily took a step toward her, and seeing that she didn't react negatively to it he walked toward her.
She looked up at him with innocent eyes. Halt bent down close to her eye level.
"What's your name," he asked.
The girl looked at him in surprise. She was not expecting such a gentle voice to come from the stranger and smiled sadly then shook her head at his question.
Halt tilted his head, "Don't you have a name?"
The girl nodded. Halt lifted his hands as if to say 'then what.' Again the girl smiled sadly then pointed at her throat and shook her head. Understanding dawned on Halt's eyes.
"You're mute?"
The girl nodded. Halt scratched his beard thoughtfully then asked, "Can you write?"
The girl responded by tilting her right hand up and down. The meaning was clear: So-so.
"Do you think you can write it for me?"
The child nodded and held up her knife. She began to write letters on the ground: S-E-T-H.
Halt looked at them. "Your name is Seth," he asked.
The girl smiled and nodded. Halt couldn't help the twitch that came to the end of his lips.
"How old are you Seth?"
She thought for a few seconds, looking at her hands, and then held up nine fingers.
"Nine years old, huh?"
She smiled and nodded. Halt's small smile became more prominent.
"And where is your family, Seth?"
Seth's smile faded and was replaced by a look of confusion. She looked down at her feet as she tried to remember her family. All she could remember was waking up in the forest with nothing but her knife and pack and the little piece of gold that was inside of her pocket. When she tried to remember farther than that, the side of her head began to throb dully. She winced at the discomfort.
She looked back up to the Ranger. She took his right hand and put it to the left side of her head where she could feel the receding pain. Halt was confused at first but then felt the small rise on Seth's head and understood her situation immediately, "You can't remember them."
Seth nodded her head sadly. Halt felt horrible for making her smile fade away. But he pressed on, "How far back can you remember?"
Seth counted down on her fingers and held up two digits.
"Two days," asked Halt.
Seth shook her head.
"Two months?"
She shook her head again.
"Two years?"
She nodded her head. Halt was incredibly impressed. To have survived two years without a family and proper shelter at the age of nine; it was an amazing feat. Halt looked her over again. Her clothes were cut and torn on every side; her leggings were in the same condition. Her skin was dark with dirt and grime. Her hair wasn't that bad but it was still a mess with ends sticking out at gravity-defying angles. She was barefoot and he could see cuts along her shins and her hands.
Halt looked to her eyes that were so full of life and energy. He felt the need to help her. He stood up from his bent position noticing Seth's eyes following him. He held out a hand to her, "Come, let's get you cleaned up."
Seth took his hand, seeing no danger in this kind stranger and only just remembered to take her pack and knife. He began to lead when she tugged at his cloak. Halt looked down at her. She pointed to him, then at the ground where she had written her name, then back at him.
Halt's mouthed twitched again and gently took Seth's knife and began to write on the ground: H-A-L-T. He turned to her when he finished.
"My name is Halt."
AN: I have the next chapter ready but I want to see how many reviews this chapter gets :) Review, dear pretties~
