Alllriighty! Chapter 6!(Chapter 7 will follow suit shortly) Hope you enjoy this chapter

Disclaimer! I don't own the RA series. It is the property of John Flanagan. I own the characters that I have made up in the story I created based on it though. ^_^

Suzanna_Silverstone: Thanks for your reviews again. School is hectic because of the heap of things I need to do to graduate… This is my second year as a senior... and I plan to try and be in college by September.

musicgirl97: glad you enjoyed it!

Chapter 6

Chris grunted as his shovel hit rock underneath the stony northern soil. The blisters on his palms did not ease the pain of the reverberating shock that travelled up his arm.

"Yet again," he sighed, talking to nobody in particular, "this stony ground is starting to get on my nerves. Three more fence posts and I've hit rock bottom for the nth time!"

He stabbed the shovel into the ground, unlatched the leather drinking skin from his belt, and slumped onto the ground. He drained what was left of the water in the skin and sprawled flat on his back. Daydreaming felt like a good thing to do right now for him. He closed his eyes, letting the sun beat down on him and warm his work chilled bones.

"It's kind of early to be slacking off already," a girly voice announced, causing him to sit straight up in split second.

Laurie was standing right in front of him in her day clothes with her fists resting on her hips. Her style today was a little out of the ordinary for him, since she barely used other clothing than the elegant Courier dress. A simple blue blouse, leather pants for riding and knee high boots. Laurie blushed when she noticed he was looking her up and down.

"Ahem,"

"Ah, Laurie, sorry," he said, a little irked, "what brings you here?"

"To bring you more water and maybe chat a little."

"Thanks."

Chris took the leather drinking skin Laurie was holding out to him gratefully. He usually drank sparingly from his own skin, but because it was extra, he didn't hold back and slurped down a wallop of water.

"Ah, that hit the spot," he said in relief.

"May I sit beside you?"

"Uh, yeah."

Laurie sat down next to him, pulled her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. They sat in silence for a while, letting the bright sun warm up the cool air. Their relationship had deepened a little over the past two weeks since he arrived. They no longer had petty arguments with each other, and most of their conversations ended up as silent as they were now. Chris felt there was deep meaning to it and actually enjoyed her company, despite the silence. When they did talk it usually was about little bits and pieces of one another's past.

"So," Chris began after about ten minutes, finally breaking the silence.

"So," Laurie replied in turn, "the harvest festival is coming up soon."

"Yeah, I was actually wondering about that. It seems there's a lot of preparation going on. Seems like a pretty big event."

"It is. Ever since we got those flashy things from Nihon-Ja, a lot more people have been coming along just to see it."

"I've never been to the festival, so I have no idea what you're talking about."

Laurie giggled and placed one hand over her mouth. "They're called, if I remember correctly, hanabi. It basically means fire flowers. Something shoots into the sky and colourful streaks explode outwards like a flower."

"It sounds amazing. I'm getting fired up! Is there a good place to watch it?"

"Yup. I know the best spot. Dad used to take me there all the time."

"Used to take you?"

"He'd been pretty busy the last few years, ever since the outbreak of bandits that nearly disrupted the whole festival 5 years ago."

"Oh, well that's a shame."

"It is. I used to look forward to it every year."

"Well let's have you look forward to it again this year. I'll take you."

Laurie smiled. "How's that supposed to make me look forward to it?"

"Oh shut-up. You'll see what I'm talking about."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I won't."

Chris nudged her softly with his shoulder. "Sarcasticy girl."

The two sat in silence once more for a half hour before Laurie stood up and brushed the dust off her pants. She stretched and smiled inwardly. Somehow, she felt very warm inside despite the cold autumn air.

She took a step forward and then stopped as she remembered something. "Oh, by the way," she said, turning to face him, "my dad said to go to him after you finish that. He's in front your cabin."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

With that, Laurie trudged away, leaving Chris to finish up his work. Chris stood from his resting spot, stretched out wide, cracked his knuckles, and set to work. He began to work faster than he was earlier, excited for what Keaton might have in store for him.

HISS! THUNK! HISS! THUNK!

The sound of two arrows hitting each respective target in quick succession always seemed to lift Keaton's spirit. Nothing like arrows hitting soft wood, he thought. Walking over to the tree, he pulled out the arrows buried in the trunk and yanked the small tin targets he hit off from the arrow tips. Just as he set the arrow in his quiver, he quickly wrenched another free from the quiver, drew, and aimed at the figure that emerged into the clearing from the woods.

Chris stood stock still as shiver ran up his spine. Nothing terrorized him more than those arrows Keaton had sent off at him before. Keaton lowered his bow and motioned Chris to come to him. Keaton was standing beside a small rounded table underneath a tree about five paces from the cabin. Chris noticed the large bow lying on the table and his excitement peaked making him to trot the rest of the way.

Keaton studied Chris' muddy appearance with a touch of humour. "You finished the posts?" he inquired.

"Yup," he replied curtly, not wanting to show the shakiness in his voice at the moment, "you wanted to see me?"

"Sure did. You begin your weapon training today."

Keaton unfurled a small bundle of weapons that was wrapped in leather onto the table beside him. Chris eyed the bundle with teeming curiosity. It was lot different than he had expected, but still left him awed nonetheless. He'd never seen the likes of the things that lay before him.

"Awesome! Though if I may ask," he began enthusiastically, "why did you have me do all those chores and jobs?"

"Apprentices don't ask. They just do as they are told. Understood?"

"Yes, Keaton. I just thought—"

"You're an apprentice. You're not ready to think."

"Oh, um. Okay, then what's first?"

"Show me what you can do with the bow."

Keaton picked up a bow from the table beside him and handed it to Chris. Chris studied the bow in awe. He had never seen anything like it. It curved mostly like the small hunting bow he owned but the tips each curved back in to opposite direction. It was of course longer than his hunting bow, and it was also completely stronger. He could tell from the weight of the draw when he pulled back on the taut string.

Keaton gave him a quiver and pointed at a tree. "Try hitting that tree with this. It's called a recurve bow. It's a lot stronger than what you're used to and I doubt you'd be able to handle a longbow yet. So until then, you'll be using this."

"This is mine?!" Chris asked, ecstatic that this weapon was his, "cool! Thank you so much, Keaton!"

"Just get on with it lad."

Chris pulled one arrow from the quiver and nocked on the string. He pulled back on the arrow, grunting as he strained to get it to full draw. Hiss! Thud! The arrow he nocked slipped out of his fingers and buried it's head in the ground before him.

"Oops."

"Don't just stand there gawking and saying 'oops,'" Keaton bellowed, "again. Don't draw with the tips of your thumb and fore finger. Chances are the draw weight would be too strong for you and it will slip out just like now. Let the arrow rest between the first and second fingers on the string… like this."

He demonstrated how to let the string rest on the first joint of the first, second and third fingers, with the first finger above the nock point and the others below it. Then, he showed him how to allow the string to slip loose so that the arrow was released.

Hiss! Thunk!

"I see. That was cool."

"Give it a go."

Chris drew back as he was shown and took aim at the same tree Keaton had just shot at. Using his forefinger as a sight guide, the set the target in his mind and made some adjustments to the aim according to the slight breeze he felt and the length of the shot. Keaton noticed the small adjustments and smiled. He was glad to know that Chris wasn't that much of a beginner like he was when he started.

Hiss! Thunk!

Chris was glad he hit the tree but it was several inches off to the left from where he aimed. He was lucky that he was close and the trunk was large enough for the shot. If not, his shot would have completely missed the tree. Slightly frustrated, Chris selected another arrow and began to draw back again, when Keaton noticed something and stopped him short.

"Your shot is off, because you're bending your arm like that," Keaton said.

Keaton noticed that because Chris never used a leather sleeve to protect his arm, he developed a style of shooting where his left arm was bent outwards at the wrist to avoid getting his arm scraped by the bowstring. The way he did that caused an unnecessary increase of strength on the left arm, which in turn caused the bow to veer slightly to the left when the arrow is released. Mentioning this to Chris, he gave him a leather cuff similar to the one he was wearing and reworked Chris' shooting form.

"Also, make a habit of drawing with you back muscles as well, not just your arms," he said, "imagine as if you're squeezing your shoulder blades together. You've been shooting this way for a while now so I don't expect you to easily shrug of the old habits you gained from years of hunting. You'll need to practice for at least two hours a day to work out the kinks."

"Yes, sir. I'll probably even go longer than you suggested until I hit what I want dead on."

"Learning to shoot straight under pressure is as crucial as getting it 'dead on.' One our saying is, 'An ordinary archer practices until he gets it right. A Ranger practices until he never gets it wrong.' You'd do well to remember that saying."

"Yes sir," Chris said.

"We'll continue this for an hour more then we'll go out camping in the woods. There, I intend to hone your somewhat prominent skill for unseen movement and teach you more about the other weapons you have."

Chris was enthused by the idea, but had his misgivings as to why he'd have to move unseen. Are Rangers really spies? Do they do jobs so shameful that they'd have to hide? Many questions raced through his head, but for the time being, he was glad to let them go unanswered.

Chris slouched down by the castle wall next to the stables and munched on the apple he got with Laurie at one of the festival stalls. His whole body was aching from the rigorous training he put himself through over the last month. He was glad to have a day off and go out with Laurie and Marven to enjoy the festival. Though, he wasn't finding it as enjoyable as he wanted it to be. The aches really made the day seem dull.

"There you are," Marven called out, walking up to him, "You don't look so good from what I see."

"Well you're sight is pretty spot on," he answered, "You don't seem so bad yourself. You're lucky."

Marven grunted loudly as he took a seat beside Chris. "Me? Lucky? Not on your life. I'm just used to it already. I feel like I've been pounded by a horse though."

"Gotcha."

"What are you two lazy bums doing over there?"

Chris looked up to see Laurie in her casual clothes again. She had come to the festival wearing the Courier gown but was now decked out in the same clothes she wore when they had the almost silent talk on the hill. Her brown blond hair dropped loosely around her shoulders, and her golden brown eyes sparkled with intensity. He could help but stare at her once again causing her to blush and look away.

"Hey," Marven said, nudging Chris with his fist, "stop staring at my sister. You're embarrassing her. Not that I really mind."

"I heard that! Come on! The sun's setting and we have to get to our vantage point before they begin the hanabi show."

"Alright we're coming!" Chris shouted back.

Despite the pain, the festival to him overall was great. There were so many different stalls packed with food and random games with prizes. He spent most of the day with Laurie trying out different games. It was a little odd for him, seeing as they had spent quite a bit of money on entertainment like this. He wasn't used to this kind of pleasure spending, but he thoroughly enjoyed it.

The trio trekked up a little cliff of rocks beside the forest and stopped when they reached the cleft. They sat down on top and stared out at the long valley beneath them that separated the fortress from the forest. From where they sat, they could see figures moving about the centre of the valley lugging large wagons and carts around setting them in rigid lines.

"Those are the things that the hanabi come out of," Laurie mentioned, noticing Chris inquisitive gaze, "In about an hour you'll be able to see the light of the fire they'll use to set them off, and then it'll be show time."

Laurie smiled gleefully. She couldn't wait. It had been a while since she could enjoy the hanabi show with people.

"I didn't think you'd enjoy it that much without me," a voice spoke up behind them, causing all of them to jump, "you don't have to be shocked that much. It's just me."

Laurie squinted to make out the figure in the shadows, hoping, expecting with anxiety, that it would be who she hoped it to be. Sure enough it was who she though it was.

"Daddy!" Laurie squealed as she jumped into her dad's arms, "I thought you were doing perimeter patrols for those reckless bandits."

"Not this year. Got some help for that. Marven and Chris know what I'm talking about, don't you boys?"

The two boys looked away as if they didn't know anything and put on distant gazes.

"Oh don't you two feign ignorance," Laurie said, "why didn't you tell me? And what is this 'help' dad is talking about."

"It wouldn't have been a surprise if we told you," Chris said, "the help is from Marven's Battleschool. The delinquents who decided that disobeying authority was a smart idea are paying off their debt by doing the patrols tonight."

"Oh don't you go and give the glory to anyone else," Marven teased, "It was all your idea. I can clearly remember you saying 'if it can make Laurie smile, then that's enough for me.'"

Chris' face flushed bright red. "Hey! Don't go blurting that out!"

Laurie smiled and laughed lightly. "Thank you," Laurie said softly, "it means a lot to me."

Chris folded his arms and looked away. "Yeah, you're welcome. Though, don't you go thinking this as a tool to make me do anything else. This was just a one off thing."

"I understand," Laurie said, stepping over to him and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

Chris flushed an even brighter red. "Wha—what was that? D-d-don't think that makes me happy or anything. I need to use the forest for a second."

Before he could step out, he could feel a large cold gaze watching him. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Keaton, though giving Chris such a cold stare, felt glad that his kids were getting along well with Chris. Maybe it would give him a greater incentive to train harder. For he knew, that the desire to have the ability to protect the ones closest to you is one of the greatest tools of becoming stronger.

And that concludes this chapter! Yaaaayyy~ I didn't add all the special details where Keaton would explain about the Saxe knife and all cause itwould be a waste of words. If you wanna know more about those, read the originals. This is a fanwork afterall.. hehehe hope you enjoyed this! R&R im waiting for ya!