Disclaimer: The characteristics of Star and Rita, and their names, are from one of my favorite novels (other than LotR and HP), River Thunder, by Will Hobbs. Their personalities and names, nothing else, are his. Anything you recognize as one of J. R. R. Tolkien's works is not mine, but his. That's all I know. Everything else, everything about Aaron, everything about Aleesha, is mine.
A/N: This story will not be continued. For details, read my bio. If you still want to read how this story begins, by all means, continue reading. ;-)
Early Morning at the Field
Aleesha tiptoed through the dewy grass, her jet-black hair riding the breeze. The sun had not begun to show her glowing face, but the sky was already the color of the bluest blue, slowly growing lighter as dawn overcame dusk. Aleesha could just make out the archery range.
"Aaron, Rita, Star! I found it!" she whispered.
Three dim figures ran quietly up to her as she pointed out the practice field. Rita, her black hair shadowing her face, grinned.
"The field guys! It's all ours for the next hour!" she murmured.
Aaron ran past the three girls and towards a small shed. He took out an ordinary hairpin and picked at the lock. Behind him, he could hear Rita approach him
"One…two…three. It's open!" said Aaron as the lock clicked. Rita gave a quiet whoop and stepped inside.
Aleesha smiled, though in the blue darkness, only Star could really tell.
"This'll be great! Screw the camp officers, we're shooting!" said Aleesha.
"Like elves, really! Out here, with those woods in the back…" said Star dreamily.
"Elves, damn right!" hollered Aleesha. She and Star ran up to the others as they took bows, quivers, and arrows out of the shed.
The four teenagers were staying at Northwood Camp for the whole summer, but being new, they were not allowed to practice certain things like archery until their second week. So far, it was only their third day since the season began. It was Rita and Aleesha who formed the idea to sneak out to the field two hours before sunrise. Both were extremely excited, and Star quickly joined them. Rita wanted to try out what she called the Legolas Tactic. The three girls were very fond of the novels written by J. R. R. Tolkien, but it was Rita who fell head over heals when she saw Legolas in the movies. Aleesha and Star decided to remain loyal to the books, but they could not conceal their love and interest for the elves. Aleesha had read The Silmarillion, The Lost Tales, and The Unfinished Tales as well. The girls dragged Aaron along, who, though he was fascinated by archery, was quite tired of the girl's constant talk about The Lord of the Rings or the elves.
"All right, I get the pretty leafy bow!" said Aleesha, grabbing a thin bow engraved with leaves and a quiver full of arrows.
"Not fair, that one looks the most like Legolas'!" moaned Rita as she grabbed her own artillery.
Aaron and Star chuckled as they stationed themselves in front of a target. After a minute or so of choosing bows, Aleesha and Rita walked up beside Aaron and Star.
"Right, now, Aaron. How do you hold the bow and arrow?" asked Star.
Soon, Aaron was explaining what little he knew to the other eager archers. Not one of them, including Aaron, managed to notch their arrow into their bows correctly. The sky was already turning shades of periwinkle blue and lilac.
"I'm gonna give this a go. We don't have too much time left before they all wake up," said Star. Smiling then, she shouted, "Hey, y'all, one for Rivendell!" She let go of her bowstring, but her arrow didn't go anywhere. Her bow, however, flew out of her hands and landed two feet away from her. Star stared.
Rita sniggered. "Ah, 'tis a shame for Rivendell! Now, how about Mirkwood? Ya know, they've got the best archers and the hottest elves!"
Aaron blinked, and then shook his head. "Nooo comment…"
Rita gasped. "Thou shalt not speak evil of Mirkwood elves! DIE!!!"
Aaron stared and held his hands up into the air as if surrendering. "I said no comment, girl! And what's with the whole middle age accent?"
Rite smiled. "Middle Earth! One for Mirkwood!" She released her arrow with a twang…but the arrow went nowhere. Instead, Rita let out a howl of pain and dropped her bow. Between her fingers she held her bright red thumb. "THAT DAMN ELASTIC STRING!!! CRAP!!!!" she yelled.
Aaron, Star, and Aleesha burst into laughter. Aleesha, between laughs, said, "Aaaaaw, you hurt your poor little thumb! You know, you're supposed to let go of the arrow, not the string! Poor Mirkwood…hopefully their archers are better than that!"
Rita glared. "All right, Ally, see if you can do any better!" Then, she smiled and began to laugh herself.
"Okay, whatever, I'll take it up!" said Aleesha. She brought her arrow to her bow, holding the arrow like a dangerous rubber band. Smiling to herself, she focused, hoping that the arrow would go somewhere. She released the string on her bow.
It flew. Aleesha whooped happily, surprised that the arrow went anywhere. Aaron and Star watched with surprise and glanced amusingly at Rita, who stared shocked.
The arrow flew…and flew…and flew…
…straight into the Northern Woods.
Aaron and Star howled with laughter, while Rita smirked and yelled, "Smart!"
Aleesha raised an eyebrow, and then burst out in laughter.
"Come on, y'all! Bring it on! See if you can shoot it further than mine! At least mine went somewhere! Yours haven't even left your hands!" she shouted.
Aaron stopped laughing just long enough to say, "Uh, no thanks! I don't plan on searching for arrows in the middle of a forest! Especially during this time…it's too dark!"
Aleesha realized this too, and scowled. She marched into the dark woods in the general direction of her arrow. Behind her, she heard Rita yell, "Don't worry, girl, you still won the challenge! But…come back soon, it's nearly 5:00!"
Aleesha groaned and ran into the forest. The dark trees flew by her, blocking out all the light. She halted, panting. Around her, everything was tinged with navy blue, but it was near impossible to see the ground. Aleesha sighed, and bent forward to search between the pine needles and dry leaves. No arrow.
After what seemed like a few hours, Aleesha threw her hands into the air in frustration and sat down against a tree.
"Screw this, it's only one stupid arrow. Okay, by now, you would think that the woods would be less dark by now," said Aleesha. She glanced at her watch. The tiny green numbers read 5:48.
"Crud! Okay, I really have to go!" Aleesha jumped up and retraced her steps back. She ran on and on. The trees stayed the same, the darkness never lifted. The paths became rockier and harder to run upon. Aleesha froze.
"Oh no…oh no no no! Shit, I'm sooo lost!" Aleesha's brown eyes grew big.
"RITA!!! AARON!!! STAR!!!! Hell, someone help me here!!!"
Aleesha screamed, and yelled her friends' names, but she could not hear anything. Her desperate pleas for help died in the dense forest.
Aleesha stood, breathless. She turned and kicked a tree angrily.
"This is not happening to me! I'm gonna be in so much trouble…scratch that! I'm already in deep shit!"
Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by, barely missing her head. Aleesha turned around, fuming.
"Hey, watch it! Who the hell are you! I asked for help, not a couple of arrows sticking out of my—oh my god, it's one you three, isn't it?! Aaron, Star, Rita…you all are so dead!"
Unexpectedly, Aleesha heard the strangest noise. Laughter. Evil laughter. Not the kind she heard from her friends when playing practical jokes, but a frightening sort. Aleesha shuddered involuntarily.
"Uh…that's kinda freaky! Who—who are you! Come on, show yourself!" said Aleesha, a little louder and braver than she felt.
Suddenly, a rain of arrows fell upon her. Aleesha screamed and ducked, but to no effect. She looked down, and gave a strangled sob.
A black arrow protruded from her side, and dark red liquid already began to seep through the wound. Aleesha stared, shocked, too terrified to move or say anything. Darkness filled her as she saw many black figures run up to her. Before she could make out who or what they were, Aleesha fell unconscious.
A/N: The End.
Yeah, I know, lame story. That's the reason I decided to not continue it. Still, reviews are always welcome. I'm keeping this story on only because I never delete or trash stories. I wrote this, and at the time that I wrote this, I enjoyed it. So, I'm not going to delete it; that's just not something I do. I have stories from third grade that are horrible, but I still have them.
I do have a story that I am still writing: Lost In Dreams. It's LotR fanfiction, too. It's well-written compared to this, and it's longer than just one chapter. =)
Thank you to those who reviewed this story!