Two
The next day at 6:00, Elizabeth and Shades came to see me off. Shades, I noted, wore a strange hat atop her blond hair. It was black, floppy, and, I noted, more than a bit too big. Elizabeth seemed to notice it too, for she suddenly asked, "Shades, where did you get that hat?"
Shades grinned, her blue eyes gleaming. "Oh, I, uh, got it from a friend," she said offhandedly.
"Uh-huh," I said sarcastically, "Tell me, did you take the hat from Van Helsing before or after you knocked him out?"
Elizabeth's eyes lit, and she giggled. Then, she lowered her gaze from mine. "Goodbye," she said sadly, brushing her dark hair from her face.
"You don't have to worry about me," I said, "We'll see each other again, you wait and see."
So, with a sad wave goodbye, and a bright new hope rising in me, I headed off.
Gilan's cabin was surprisingly small. There was smoke coming out of the chimney, so I assumed the Ranger was already up and about. I went up too the door and knocked, my confidence wavering. I didn't exactly know what Rangers did.
"Come in," came Gilan's voice from inside. Nervously, I opened the door and walked inside.
Meanwhile, in Redmont Feif on the other side of the kingdom of Araluen, a boy named Will was facing the results of his own Choosing. Now, we all should know what happens to our dear friend Will as of this moment, so now we're going to switch you to the stuff you don't know! For example, in Transylvania, a very confused Van Helsing has awoken to find himself tied to a chair and his hat missing. In a science lab in Death Valley, a biologist has found that his syringe of avian DNA is missing. What does this mean? Who knows! And, I bet none of you care, either. Lol, later! Now, on with the story!
Shades sighed miserably as she shuffled off to her quarters. Her first day of Horseschool was over. She had had a good time taking care of things, for she loved all sorts of animals, but she had missed Melannen. She wondered what her friend was doing right now.
Melannen happened to be doing chores. The girl had been considerably surprised when she found out that the first task of a Ranger's apprentice was the housework.
Gilan chuckled softly as he heard a splash and a small cry, realizing that Melannen had slipped and fallen into the river while collecting water. Still smiling to himself, he turned away from the window as Melannen, dripping wet from her fall, carried the last bucket of water to the storage barrels at the back of the cabin.
After I dried off a bit from my fall into the river, it was time to eat. Dinner was made by me as well. Thank goodness I could cook, to a certain extent. Lucky for me, that was all the experience with cooking I needed. I headed for bed soon after, still wondering what I would have to do to become a Ranger.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! I hope you like my story! A preveiw of chapter 3: Gilan learns the unfortunate consequences of teaching Melannen archery, Shades makes some new enemies at Horseschool, and Elizabeth decsovers an interesing development. A great big thanks to my buds Erin and Liz, who inspired me to create Shades (Erin) and Elizabeth (Liz). So stay tuned, lol, and see if any of you Lord of the Rings fans out there can guess what Melannen's last name means!
