Merry Christmas everyone! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have had a lovely holiday break so far. In the spirit of the season, here is a present from me to you. Before I forget, Janet is now six years old and all acknowledgements will be on the bottom of the page so I don't bore you too much;) Here you go!
Janet could not sleep. She had been trying for hours now, but to no avail. She wanted to dos omething, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on what she wanted to do. Janet scooted closer to the fire, warming herself from the cold floor. She looked up and suddenly realized what she had wanted to do. She stood up slowly and padded silently over to the hooks on the wall. There hung her father's old recurve bow, a bit worn, but useable all the same. But. . . He said not to touch anything without permission that wasn't hers. On the other hand, she wasn't going to just touch it, she was going to use it. Those were two completely different things, right? Of course they were.
Reaching up on the tips of her toes, Janet lightly unhooked the bow and searched for the comparatively stunted arrows that went with it before heading outside. Once outside, she fumbled around a bit as she walked off into the woods.
Muttering to herself, Janet pulled up the sleeve of her little nightgown and traced the contours of the bow lightly with her fingers. A slight breeze picked up through the trees, making her shiver lightly and wonder why she pulled up her sleeve in the first place. Pulling it back down, she resumed stroking the bow. The contours were so different from her father's longbow, but the smooth worn wood of the limbs felt the same from years of use. Janet cocked her head, conjuring an image of her father from when she had watched him practice so many times before. She focused on his hands, mirroring his placements as much as she could. Just as she was about to pull back the string, a little leather something stuck out at her from her mental image. Annoyed at herself for forgetting to put on her makeshift gauntlet beforehand, she quickly wrapped the leather strap around her arm and resumed her former position. She nocked and drew the arrow until her shoulderblades nearly touched and let it fly. The arrow careened off into the forest from her crooked aim and heavy draw. Janet furrowed her little eyebrows, wondering what could've gone wrong. She had followed the image exactly. She looked down at the bow again and held it against herself. The bow touched her just underneath where her ar and torso connected.
How was I stupid enough not to notice it was too big?! I don't really think these thing through, do I? She thought scathingly, Why do I have to be so small? The little girl moved the bow back in front of her and continued to try to shoot until the sun began to lighten the sky. Panicking, she ran off into the trees to gather the scattered arrows before running back to the cabin in time to replace everything where she found it. Janet had barely lain down for a few minutes when her parent's door had swung open to reveal a half awake Will rising to make breakfast for his girls. Unable to steady her erraticly beating heart, Janet stretched a bit and rolled over, desperately hoping her father still believed her to be asleep. She would be in so much trouble if he knew what she had been up to!
Smiling softly, Will looked down at the sleeping form of his daughter. She seems so peaceful, I hate to wake her. I guess she can sleep in until Alyss gets up. He moved up from the table to get another mug of coffee for his wife. Not long after he set the steaming cup on the table, Alyss appeared in the doorway, rubbing her eyes before bending over to wake up their daughter.
"Come on, baby. Time to get up now. Grandpa Halt is coming over later and we wouldn't want him to keep him waiting, now would we?" she crooned, shaking Janet a little bit. The six year old groaned and wiggled, having been just about to really fall asleep. Her parents laughed together as she slowly picked herself up off the floor in front of the fire.
"Mama, I'm too tired! Grandpa Halt doesn't have to come over today, does he?" she whined, sitting up and rubbing her eyes just as her mother had done. Alyss chuckled again and mussed her daughter's hair before accepting the coffee from her husband gratefully.
"No, he doesn't have to come over today. But then again, that means you would have to wait even longer for your present then!" Will mused, recieving the reaction he had been looking for.
"No, no. He can come over." she backtracked quickly, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of some new toy from the older Ranger. Alyss shook her head with mock solemnity.
"Oh no. You said you were so tired. He will just have to come over in a few days, right Will?" she asked taking a sip of her drink to conceal her smile. Will, on the other hand, made no such move to hide his expression, leaving his big grin for Janet to see.
"That's right, Alyss. I'll just have to ride up to the casttle and-"
"NO! NO! I'm awake now, see?!" Janet cried out, her father's expression going unnoticed. Finally, the two adults could hold it in no longer and burst into laughter at their daughter's distraught expression.
"What's so funny?" Janet asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion. Unfortunately for her, this only added to her parents' laughter. Annoyed, she crossed her arms and pouted, waiting for one of the to realize that she found no aspect of this funny and was rather hungry to top it off. Will scooped her up in his arms, shaking slightly with mirth. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I'll go change." Ayss said quickly, taking Janet with her into their room. Will sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before opening the door.
"Halt! What a surprise!" The older Ranger grunted and stepped in out of the morning sun.
"The day you admit that you're surprised is the day I admit I'm too old for this." he grumbled, gesturing around at the cabin. Will chuckled and patted his old mentor on the shoulder. "Oh yes. Laugh it up now. Just wait and by the time you're my age, you'll have already retired." halt almost smiled as Will's smile disappeared instantaneously.
"Grandpa Halt! Grandpa Halt!" Janet burst out of the room, running with arms outstretched. Halt caught her and hoisted her up on his shoulders.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that? It makes me feel old."he remarked teasingly.
"Well, if she called you Uncle that'd be too young of a term." Alyss appeared in the doorway.
"Lovely to see you too, Alyss." he reponded dryly. Halt's mind was completely distracted from the two adults in the room when he felt an incessent tugging on his head.
"Where's my present, Grandpa Halt? You always bring me something when you go away!" Janet said, still tugging on his head. in answer, Halt took her down from her perch on his shoulders and set her on the ground in front of him.
"Aren't we a little forward this morning? But, I left it in Abelard's saddlebbag. Do you want to go get it real quick?" Janet jumped up and down, thoroughly excited by the prospect of a new plaything. As soon as Halt's hands left her shoulders, she bolted outside to go retrieve it. Even the old Ranger couldn't help but smile at her antics.
"You know, I didn't just come here to catch up with you. Will, something has come up in the north and you're nnot going to like it." Halt remarked somberly once she had left. Will sighed and shook his head slowly at his former mentor.
"When do I ever like it, Halt? Now, what is it?" Halt looked about warily before lowering his voice.
"Do you remember that disturbance we were going to check out the day Janet was born?" Both parents winced as they remembered the day.
"Yes, I remember. But what does that have to do with what is going on now?" Will asked quietly, not daring to raise his eyes to look at the others.
"Well, the disturbance has been going on and off ever since then. But only recently, we have gained a name in this. One of the northern farmers caught it when they drove the disturbers into Picta."
"Well, who is it?" Alyss and Will chimed in unison. Halt sighed and whispered the name to them. Will blanched.
"But- but we took care of him years ago! We watched him be crushed in that cave! How can he be alive?" he cried, forsaking all pretences of secrecy.
"Well, we're assuming that it is just someone who took up the name, rather than the original man. But it also could be the man's child, if he had one, that is." All three aduts lapsed into a foreboding silence until Janet burst through the door, carrying a small bundle.
"Look! Look!" she shouted, unwrapping the gift. Two sets of eyes narrowed and stared accusingly at the third pair. Oblivious to the adults' moods, Janet waved her present in the air.
"Grandpa Halt got me a bow just like Papa's!"
"Come now little one. I made it!" Halt said indignantly, pointedly ignoring Will and Alyss.
"Halt. . . "
"Oh come off it! It's just a toy, nothing more. She always looks so forlorn when we train with ours that I thought, why not?" he defended, never taking his eyes off the little girl.
"Halt! She's a little girl! Even if she was a boy this kind of gift would be questionable because of age, but that's besides the point! What were you thinking?" Alyss hissed at him, momentarily forgetting that the child in question was still in the room. Janet immediatley went stock still, staring up at herr mother with tears forming in herr eyes.
"Does this mean I can't have it?" she aske in a quavering voice. Alyss looked to the men for help, but only found a blank expression and challenging stare that would get her nowhere in this predicament. Sighing inwardly and outwardly, Alyss looked at her daughter and gently wiped her tears away.
"I never said that, baby. You can have it as long as you don't hurt anyone with it." Janet flashed a huge grin and went back to admiring the wooden creation. Halt allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch, knowing that this skill of getting what she wanted was going to prove very useful to Janet in the future.
That night, Janet once again snuck out of the house, this time taking out her new gear. She proceeded to do just as she had the night before, shooting the arrows out at various trees, trying in vain to actually hit something. She noticed that he aim was significantly better now that the bow she used was just the right size for her. Janet wandered around the forest abit, gathering her scattered arrows for one more round before she went back inside when a thought occured to her. Why am I doing this?
The question shocked the poor girl so much that she froze ass she was, hand extended to as if too reach down and pluck an arrow from the dirt. Why exactly was she doing this? It wasn't as if she was doing it to lash out against her parents(they had done nothing wrong that she could think of), nor was she doing it to just do it. There was a purpose for her doing this, she just could't figure out what it was. Janet shook the thought off and unfroze herself, grabbing the last few arrows by their shafts and carrying them back the the clearing. But she still couldn't help but wonder as she loosed the last arrow into the forest, what exactly she had to gain from this.
Six months later after the same routine night after night, did Janet finally manage to hit every target. While none of them were even close to dreaming of being in the middle, not one flew off into the trees beyond. Elated, Janet pulled each arrow from it's mark, pleased with herself immensely so. She went back to standing in the midle of the clearing and nocked her first arrow. Just as she was about to release it, the answer to the question she had asked her self months ago became apparent. I want to become a Ranger. It was so simple. How had she not known it before? All the adults she knew revered Rangers. Not only that, but her father was one! Her own flesh and blood!
Janet released the arrow suddenly, watching it careen off into the trees as her bow jerked. She sighed and went to go retrieve it.
When she got back to her starting spot, Janet couldn't help but want to say it aloud herself.
"I want to be a Ranger." she whispered, full of excitement.
"I want to be a Ranger. She said yet again, her voice its normal volume. Giddy with all of the excitement, Janet couldn't help but want to shout it out to the world.
"I want to be a Ranger!" she called out, laughingand spinning around as she did so. She repeated the statement once more to herself to strengthen her conviction. She came to a halt and nocked another arrow. She released the string and watched the arrow fly. It had hit its mark dead center.
"I guess it was just a lucky shot." she muttered to herself, unaware of the pair of eyes wacthing her every move. She moved to nock a second arrow when she heard a voice that made her stop and her blood run cold as ice with fear.
"So this is what you've been doing. No wonder you're always so tired in the mornings."
Dun dun duuuuuuuunnnnnnn! Mwahahahaha! I feel excited and slightly hypocritical. Excited because here comes one of the good parts! I will give you two guesses on who it was that Halt mentioned to Janet's parents and two for who it was that caught our little heroine. Now, I feel rather hypocritical because I hate cliffies, but I just went and gave you a huge one! :) But no matter. Here are the acknowledgements for this chapter then I have an announcement to make.
Follows: Brackenfern and Horserida! Welcome to the fold!
Favorites: Horserida and Lauren-kun! Welcome Lauren-kun and congratulations to Horserida on the double shout out!
Reviews: Airmage! Thank you very much for the compliment!
Now for the announcement. I know I promised this as a Christmas gift, but I suffer from crippling writer's block occasionally, so I only ever get to write when the mood strikes me or I have a genius idea. I apologize for this and as such I also have a request. Please review people! Email alerts keep me motivated! Also, I need your input. You are the readers, so what would you like to see happen next? Come on people, feed a starving writer her inspiration please! I wouldn't mind cookies either... But that is besides the point. Oh, and I have reread my previous chapters and I personally believe they are absolute rubbish. The idea is there, but I executed it rather poorly...*emo corner* T.T Anyway, Have a happy new year and I promise to try and write faster so as to not leave you hanging for so long! Bye!