Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Batman.
A/N: Okay, so in this chapter, we're going back out into the woods! YAY!
Sunlight spilled into the room, landing on the girl lying asleep, once again, in her twin bed. Slashera's eyes scrunched up against the light before she groaned, slowly opening them, and blinked dazedly at the window responsible. She frowned and slowly, looked around at her room. She sat up and moved her legs to hang over the side of the bed. When did she get back in her bed? All she remembered was falling asleep in Slade's arms. As she was pondering her current predicament, the enticing smells of bacon frying /and coffee brewing met her nose. Her stomach gave a hungry growl. Rubbing it and turning her head to the foot of her bed, she caught sight of her jumpsuit, folded up and waiting for her. She grinned. "Are we going back out to play tomorrow? I miss it," she murmured. He smiled, "Yes, Slashera. We are. And we're going to be having even more fun! There's a new place I want to show you." Jumping down, she eagerly removed his shirt from her and placed it on the bed before grabbing the two halves of the jumpsuit and pulling them on, sitting on the floor to help herself with the pants, all the while noting that she now felt better than she had in the past three days. Yesterday really was the last time! Once she had the pants and shirt on, she quickly put the Velcro into place and sprinted out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen.
Slade blinked, turning his head as he heard her running footsteps, and smiled as he saw Slashera round the corner into the kitchen, moments before her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. Turning back to the pancakes cooking on his griddle and the bacon frying in their pan, he smiled, wearing his jumpsuit as well. "I assume you feel better this morning?" he murmured. He'd been up for most of the night preparing for today, having tucked her in at around 8:00 PM. And was just as excited as she was for today. If not more. "Oh yes, Father Slade!" she said, leaning away and moving to stand beside him, gazing at the food. He smiled, "I see you have your appetite back as well." She smiled and nodded. He smiled right back, "Well, I'm almost done with breakfast. Once we eat, we can head on out. So why not sit down and wait a bit for me to finish cooking?" She grinned and nodded before she walked over to her chair and sat down on the edge of the piece of furniture, watching Slade's back, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet, ready to go. She was tired of being cooped up in the cabin. It was time to go out and play! Slade smiled, turning back to the stove top. This was sure to be a very quick meal. . .
Slashera smiled, head tilted down, skipping as the two traveled along the hilly path, her hand firmly in Slade's as the man walked beside her. Slade glanced down at her and couldn't hide the small smile that crossed his face. He understood her happiness at finally getting out of the house. To actually be able to do something. And he was just happy to see her moving around again. Watching her lying in his bed shivering and unable to move had been just as depressing for him as the experience had been for her. But now she was outside with him again and he was determined to enjoy the day. Turning to face the trail, he smiled upon seeing a bright light breaking through the trees up ahead. "It won't be long now, Little Slash." She smiled, "Father Slade, can we run the rest of the way?" He paused and contemplated what she'd just said . . . he wasn't entirelysure how much exertion her body could take right now . . . but it really wasn't that far . . . he smiled, "After you." She laughed and ran full tilt ahead, kicking up the leaves and sticks on the forest floor as she did so. He smiled and took off a few seconds later, jogging lightly behind her and laughing as well.
Slashera stared at the large tarp covered hay bales in the clearing she'd just entered, hearing Slade run up behind her and stop beside her. Targets made up of huge yellow dots surrounded by red and blue rings were painted on each tarp. Off to the side, sat a wooden cart with huge wheels, with a blue and white cooler on top. Laid on the cart beside the cooler was a large sack of pointed sticks beside two curved sticks with their ends tied together by some string. She blinked and turned to the man, "Father Slade, where are we? What are we doing?" He smiled and walking over, motioned her to the cart. She blinked and walked over. He took out one of the pointed sticks and turned to her. She gazed at the object, now noticing the small metal point on one end and the blue and green feathers on the other. The man sat cross-legged on the ground beside the cart. "Tell me, Little Slash. . ." she sat down slowly as he paused before continuing, "Would you like to learn about one of my favorite things to do? It's called 'Archery'."
She cocked her head to the side, "What's that?" "Archery is a sport, a game that people play," he said, smiling at her, "We take an 'arrow' . . . that's what this is . . ." he held the stick between them, and she gazed at the point inches from her face. And reaching out, touched the tip of it with her finger. Slade smiled. It was a duller point, so that it couldn't hurt her. He handed it over to her waiting hands. The girl blinked down at the object, moving her fingers slowly over its smooth, sanded surface. She turned the point away from her face, so that the feathers faced her, and ran her fingers over them, the things bending and flipping back as she did so. "Those are called the fletching," he announced, and she turned to him. "It's pretty." she replied. He nodded before turning and pointing at one of the hay bales, "It's helpful, too. You see those? The fletching helps us guide the arrow to hit one of those targets." He turned to her and smiled, "Understand so far?"
She frowned, "Sort of . . . how do we get it over there? That's so far away, Father Slade." He smiled, "That's where this. . ." he leaned over to the cart, which was now slightly taller than him, and reaching around, fumbled a bit before gripping the curve of the larger of the curved sticks tied with the string. And pulled it back, smiling at her, "This is a bow. . . see, we take the bow. . . and the arrow. . ." he took the arrow from her, and she watched as his fingers flawlessly put the arrow into position, with his other hand halfway up the curved stick of the bow, the arrow resting on top of those fingers, the other hand holding the fletching end against the string as he pulled back a bit, "Once we have the arrow into position, we pull it back far enough. . . and then we'll release it. . ." he gritted his teeth, and once he'd pulled back enough he let go, sending the arrow sailing through the air and into a nearby hay bale, right in the center of the yellow circle. He smirked. Perfect. He turned to her, smiling, "See?" She grinned, "Father Slade, that's amazing!" "And now, you're going to learn how to do it. How does that sound?" She grinned at him.
Slade reached into the quiver of arrows and pulled out the long leather bracer with Velcro folds along the inside sides to hold it in place along the arm, a protective leather flap with holes for the fingers sewn into the hand end of it with the leather riding up a bit more on the thumb's hole. Turning to her, he held it out, opening it wide for her, "First, you're going to need to wear this." She frowned, puzzled, but held out her hand. He gently began to move her hand and arm around, sliding the leather to fit snuggly on them, some sheep skin being inside the leather to keep it from chaffing her, "The string on the bow can snap you hard if you're not careful. After a while, it can start to hurt your fingers too. So you're going to wear this to protect you, okay? You may want to wear this one, too." He pulled out another, and slid it on. He smiled at her once that was done, and put her hands between his, "Just to be safe, Little Slash." She smiled up at him, "Thank you, Father Slade."
"Alright," he took a deep breath moments later, "Take one step back with your right leg. . . yeah, that's my little girl," he said, her holding the handle of the bow in her left hand, him still having the arrow she was to use safe and in his back pocket. "Now, hold this tight," he said, his hand over her bow hand. She nodded, "Yes sir. . ." he smiled, and turning, whisked out his arrow. Then he attempted to quickly position her right hand at the end, her fingers fumbling a bit with the unfamiliar object. The arrow toppled to the ground. She sighed, gazing down at it. Sensing her discomfort, he smiled, and pressed his lips against the side of her head, "It is okay little Slash. It may take a few tries to get used to it. . ." she turned her head a bit towards him and gave him a weak smile. Leaning over her, the man picked up the arrow, "Alright Little Slash, use this finger. . ." he lifted up his index finger. She nodded, holding hers up too as he continued, "To rest on top of the arrow. . . in front of the feathers," she nodded, and moved it to do so with him still holding the arrow up. "Now, put your next two fingers underneath the arrow in front of those feathers. . ." he continued, and she did so. He smiled, "Good girl, now bend the ends of those fingers just a bit. . ." she nodded and did so. He smiled, "Now we hook them onto the string. . ." moving her hand over, he put the string up against the underside of her fingers, "Now curl your thumb and the other finger, the pinky. . ." She nodded and did so. He smiled, and moving his left hand over, rested the arrow on top of the fingers of her bow hand, "Alright, now that will help aim the arrow. . . lift it up, and look at what's in front of the arrow. Do you see the middle yellow circle on the target in front of you?"
She bit her lip, and shook her head. She only saw the top blue ring of the target . . . she voiced this to Slade. He nodded in understanding, and leaning forward, slowly moved her elbow, "Better?" she blinked, "A . . . a bit lower. . ." he nodded, and tilted her elbow up a bit more, tilting the arrow. "That's good," she whispered. Blinking. He smiled, "Now we have to make sure it's a straight line . . . the arrow, I mean, so now let's move your arm down. . ." He moved her arm just in front of the elbow a bit down, so that the object was once again horizontal and parallel to the ground. "Still see the yellow circle?" he asked. She nodded, "Yes, Father Slade. . ." he smiled, "Good . . . now we have to pull back. . ."
She grunted as he pulled her arm back, the taunt string not wanting to pull back too, "Father Slade, it hurts a little. . ." "I know, Little Slash. But it'll get easier over time . . . you need to pull it back until we can't pull it back anymore . . . there we go. . ." she breathed hard, the string so tight she felt it trembling beneath her hand. "Now, move your arrow hand up a bit, to get the arrow off of your bow hand. Just a little," he whispered. She gritted her teeth and did as asked. The arrow shook, tapping against the bow. . . He smiled, "Good girl. Now, let go and move your arrow fingers out away from the arrow. Fast."
She stared as the string whipped back as soon as her fingers released the arrow, and heard the air whistling slightly as the stick flew through the air. The girl blinked, slowly lowering her arms as it hit the target with a thump! She bit her lip. It had hit the second red ring below the yellow area . . . she'd missed . . . she hung her head, sighing, "I'm sorry, Father Slade." He frowned, blinking, " 'Sorry'? Whatever are you sorry for?" "I wasn't good enough. It didn't hit the target," she mumbled. He chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "That wasn't your fault. Hitting the target will come with practice. Look. . ." he took up her bow, knelt down so that he was the same level as her with one knee on the ground, and whipping out an arrow from his other pocket, pulled back quickly and released, only taking about a second to do so. The arrow shot at lightning fast speed to the target, hitting it dead center. She stared and turned to him, "But I. . . I aimed it! Like you said. . ." she sighed, gazing up at him, "Why'd I miss it?" He smiled, "Because of the arrow."
Slade in no time had taken their arrows out of the bale and was kneeling before her and using her arrow to draw a diagram on the dirt. After drawing a big X and a little X a foot away from the previous, he pointed to the latter, "Okay, Little Slashera, this is you. Okay? And your bow and arrow." She blinked, and nodded. He moved the arrow point to the other X, "And this is the target. Now, you aimed the arrow straight from here. . ." he put the point on the X that represented her and moved it straight across to the center of the big X, "To here. Right?" She frowned, blinking, slowly taking in the diagram. Then nodded, "Alright . . . because I put my bow . . . straight across from the target?" "Right! Precisely!" he praised, "Now, with arrows, they typically dip up a bit, like a hump, and then go down really fast. Especially over distances as far as yours was going . . . see?" he illustrated the stated trajectory path in the dirt. She tilted her head, "Okay. . ." "So it hit the target below where you wanted it to, right?" he said, finishing the path just below the big X. She blinked, "Why?"
He smiled gently at her, "Slashera, what happens when you fall?" She winced and turned to him, remembering the snake, "I hit the ground. Hard." "Yes, that's right. Because something is pulling you to the ground," he held up his open hand as he spoke, and pulled it down in a fist, "Something you can't even see. It's called 'gravity'. It comes up out of the ground, and pulls anything in the air down." She frowned, "I don't like gravity then. It hurts." He smiled, "But the thing is, without it, you and I may just start to float away in the air. Eventually, you'd even float away from me. And we wouldn't be able to do anything about it. And that would not be fun. Now would it?" She shook her head quickly, "No, Father Slade, I want to stay with you!" He smiled, "I know. And that's what gravity's for. To keep you here with me, down on the ground. I guess you could say. . . Gravity may like to keep you on the ground a little too much. Understand?" She nodded, "Yes sir." He smiled, "That's my girl. Now," he turned back to the diagram he'd drawn, "At first, the arrow will be going straight, right?" she nodded, blinking down at the diagram. "But then gravity starts to act on it, and begins to pull it down. That's why it curves down, okay?" he said. And looked up at her, "Do you understand?" She turned to him, and nodded, "I understand . . . but what do we do about it?"
He smiled, "We aim above what we want to hit. Like you were doing, you aim at your target. But just before you release, you lift the bow up a bit. You point the arrow a little higher. That way, since it's higher than the target, when gravity brings it back down, it'll be alright. Right?" She cocked her head to the side. And he saw that while she was following him, she had to catch up a bit. He smiled, "Let me show you. . ." he turned to the diagram, and she did so as well. He took the arrow point, and moved it up from the X, "This is what happens when you tilt it up. Now look . . . it's a bit higher than the straight shot, but at about the time gravity pulls it down. . ." he ended at the center of the big X, "It's a perfect hit." He turned to her, "You understand now?" She blinked at it. Then turned to him, "So since you have it high already, gravity helps you hit the target? By bringing it down?" He smiled and nodded, "Exactly." "How high do you have to get it?" she asked. He gave her a weaker smile, "That, Slashera, is the reason we practice. You see, I can't really tell you how to perfectly aim it. You have to keep shooting the arrow to keep getting better, until finally, you find the right way to tilt it for yourself. Okay?" She blinked at him, then smiled, "THEN LET'S GET STARTED!" she said, standing straighter and giving a little hop before turning and rushing over to her bow which still lay where she'd left it. Slade chuckled and went to the cart to get the quiver.
As he walked back to the waiting child, Slade contemplated their little lesson in archery. Slade had known that Slashera would miss the first time. He also knew that normally he would have forewarned her. But he also knew that merely being able to shoot the arrow took a lot of steps to learn at once. Therefore, he also knew that introducing her first to that, then having her shoot the arrow, and then showing and explaining to her the trajectory the arrow would take was the best way to teach her both. That way, he could be sure she would remember both, rather than trying to learn the second before she'd even completed the first. He smiled as he reached her and handed her an arrow. She fumbled with it, but it didn't fall this time and she slowly set it in the bow string. He smiled and knelt behind her, his arms wrapped around her to help her pull her arm back. Slashera took a deep breath and lifted her bow a bit higher. She released her breath as she released the arrow.
About two hours later, her arrow sang through the air, and struck the red ring just below the yellow target. Slade smiled and stood up, walking over to grab the arrow. As he did so, he glanced at the holes in the target above and below the yellow circle. She was getting closer. That was for sure. "Good work, Little Slash. I'm proud." She gave a weak smile, but rubbed her arms. They were getting a bit sore . . . he turned, blinking as he caught sight of what she was doing before she moved her arms away. She smiled at him, as if trying to make him think she hadn't been doing that at all. He walked over, blinking down at her, "Little Slash, how are you feeling?" he asked, twirling the arrow in his hands slowly. She looked up at him, "My arms . . . hurt a little bit." Slade smiled down at her, "They're sore?" She nodded. "Then I think it's time to take a break for a few minutes," he said, before turning and walking to the cart, "Come with me, Little Slash." She smiled and ran over.
In no time, he had tilted a gallon jug from the cooler to her lips, and she gulped down the water within, the two sitting cross-legged on the ground beside the cart once again. Pulling the jug back he smiled at her, "Tell me, Little Slash. Are you enjoying yourself today?" he said, taking a sip himself. She nodded quickly, grinning. "Yes sir! Archery's fun!" It was true. Despite all the hard work it entailed, she loved feeling the string vibrate beneath her fingers as he helped her pull back. To her, it was like it was alive. And when she let go . . . she loved watching the arrow, her arrow, shoot into the air. She only wished she could get the target right.
"Did you come up with it?" she asked as the question ran across her mind. He smiled and shook his head, "No. Archery's a bit older than me, Little Slash." She blinked, "Then who came up with it?" He smiled, "Oh, some people from very, very long ago. Do you remember the Bolsheviks? Or Karl Marx?" She nodded. He smiled even more at her ability to recall both, "Archery was made before they were even born. By some of the first people to ever live." She stared at him, "Archery's that old?" He nodded, and sat the gallon down between them. They sat in silence, and then she had another question, "Did they use it to hit targets then too?"
He chuckled and shook his head, "No. I highly doubt that they had time to shoot at targets all day, Little Slash. They made bows and arrows to go fishing with," he said with a smile. She stared. "Fishing?" "Yes. They would tie a rope, to where the feathers are on the arrow and fire the arrow into the water. Like when you put your line out into the water? And it would shoot straight through the fish. Then, the people holding the end of the string would pull the fish back to them. The reason was that they didn't have fishing rods back then. They had to use bows and arrows," he said, "What they did we now call 'Bowfishing'." She blinked, and cocked her head to the side, "Are . . . are we going to use them to get fish too?" she said slowly . . . she wasn't all too thrilled about using the bow and arrow for that. . .
He chuckled, "Now why would we do that? Shooting an arrow into a fish is a lot harder than tossing out a line in the water. You see, the hook just sits in the water and waits for a fish. With an arrow, you have to see the fish and hit it right then. But the water distorts the image . . . see?" he held up the jug a little away from them, and turned to it, "Look at the target through it." She looked, and saw. The target was clearly messed up, and always seemed to move. . . "Now, can you imagine trying to shoot that for food?" he asked and then a thoughtful smile crossed his face, "I guess they would have to use a lot of targets, wouldn't they?" She nodded slowly, and turned to him. "They had to aim really good, didn't they Father Slade?" He nodded, "Yes. And someday, you'll be able to aim that well too. . ." he caught the fear in her eyes at the aspect of Bowfishing and quickly added, "But, like I said, we won't use the bow and arrow for fishing. I promise." Because we'll be using it to get much LARGER prey . . . She grinned and after he'd given her another drink from the jug, the two stood and went back over to continue practicing.
An hour and a half later, Slade walked over and took out the five arrows sticking out of the hay bale. The child hadn't been able to hit the yellow yet but she was getting more accurate. "Alright, Little Slash, let's stop this for today and have some lunch." He turned to find the girl frowning back at him with a sad look in her onyx eyes. He smiled, "Don't worry. We'll do some more archery tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that. Soon, you'll be shooting and hitting your target just like me!" She gave him a weak smile and as the man turned, the girl followed him to the cart. Truth be told, that wasn't why she was sad.
This happened every day when they were outside. They'd work out, or in this case do archery, until lunch. Then they'd go fishing. She was getting better at fishing, killing the fish quicker and quicker each time. And Slade was definitely getting prouder and prouder with each kill. But that didn't mean she felt any better about the whole activity. She still couldn't stand seeing their eyes. That was half the reason she was so quick about it, so she could cover them up and snap! Then she'd be done with the head, and just focus on the body of the fish. But even though she didn't like it, she knew she'd do it just to make Slade happy with her, and so she put on a smile as he turned to her, took off her bracers, and slid them off her hands, "I have some lunch out here for us to eat today, Little Slash. . . but first. . ." he pulled out another gallon jug and uncapped it, handing her a bar of soap from one of the many pockets of his jumpsuit, "We need to wash up." In no time, he poured the water over her hands, paused as she got them all soapy, and then poured almost the rest of the jug over them to wash that off. Turning to her, he smiled, and sloshed some water on her head, "There we go," he said in a joking tone. She laughed and brushed a hand over the beads of water running down her face. As he quickly cleaned his own hands and turned to the cooler, pulling out two tinfoil squares from the used-to-be-ice water in the compartment. Handing one to Slashera, he used another hand to pull out the last jug of water that the thing contained. With that, they sat cross legged on the ground and unwrapped the sandwiches: roast beef, Swiss cheese, and mayonnaise on wheat.
They'd eaten in almost complete silence for a few minutes, with Slashera asking for water every few minutes. As she was finishing up her sandwich, Slade spoke, already done with his, "Slashera, did you ever play hide and seek? You know, with your mother?" he asked, blinking at her with his crystal blue eye. She nodded, a small smile playing on her face, "Yes Father Slade, I . . ." her face fell, remembering the times when she'd hide behind the couch and wait for Eleanor to come get her, only to run squealing into the kitchen to hide under the table while her mother looked some more. She gazed sadly at the little bit of sandwich left in the tinfoil she held, "Yes, I did. . ." she said quietly, leaning down and eating it slowly. Slade took the tinfoil up and rolled it into a ball before putting it in the cooler and picking up the water jug. Uncapping it, he took a swallow of water, "Did you enjoy it?" he asked, and turned it to her. She tilted her head back and gulped down some more. As he recapped the container, she sighed and whispered, "Yes."
He smiled weakly at the child. He knew it was hard for her to think about her mother, "How would you like to play it? For the rest of the day? With me?" She lifted her head, and stared at him, "Really?" He smiled, and nodded. She grinned, "That'll be so much fun!" she squealed and clapped her hands in excitement. With that, the child jumped up, grinning down at him, "So who gets to hide first?!" Slade laughed and stood up, smiling down at her, "Hold on now Slashera. . . we're not playing like that." She frowned, "What? How are we going to play then?" "We're going to play animal hide-and-seek. We'll be looking for the animals where they are hiding." She blinked, and cocked her head, "We're playing . . . with animals?" "Yes," he nodded firmly, "With bunnies, and deer, and foxes, and raccoons . . . It'll be fun!" She smiled at him. It did sound like fun . . . even though she had no idea what "foxes" or "raccoons" were . . . she frowned, "How are we going to do it?" "With this," he pulled a small white book out of his pocket and held it up, "What we're going to do is called 'tracking' the animals. Based on their footprints, or in this case paw prints, among other things. We just find some of their prints on a trail and follow it. We'll use this book to know which animal we're looking for. Are you ready?" She blinked then smiled even wider than before, "OKAY! LET'S GO!" He smiled and took her outstretched hand. As soon as Slade had closed the cooler and pocketed the book to hold the water jug in his other hand, the two turned and rushed off into the woods.
Twenty minutes later found Slade and Slashera both looking at the ground looking for prints, the man kicking leaves a bit to get them out of the two's way. With no luck. Slashera sighed. She'd thought they'd find some by now. . . "Look, Slashera, I found one," Slade suddenly said, kneeling down and tugging her down with him. She blinked at the imprint in the dirt. It looked like a long dip in the ground with one end bigger than the other, almost like a human foot, with four little humps at the larger end. She blinked and tilted her head, "What is it Father Slade?" "This is when we look in the book . . . see? Here we are. . ." he held open a page after flipping through it, and showed her a long chart, with various paw prints on it with names beneath them for the animals they belonged to. . . she stared at it. How were they supposed to find the print in front of them here? "There it is. See?" he said quickly. And pointed to one. She looked at it and nodded, "Yes sir." It did look like the print on the ground. She turned to a smaller blotch beside it, "What's that?" It looked like a little circle, but with four little humps on it too. Slade blinked, "Oh, that . . . you see, the long one is the animal's back paw print. The other smaller one is the animal's front paw print. And see? It's right here. . ." he pushed some leaves away and there it was. A perfect match. At that moment, Slashera noticed another set of paw prints beside the ones they'd just found. She turned to him, "What animal is it?" He smiled and pointed to the name beneath the prints, "A Cottontail Rabbit. See? That's what it says." She took a hard look at it. She'd seen "cotton" before, and "tail". And despite never seeing "rabbit" before, she could assume that was what that word was. She turned back to him and smiled, "What now?" "Now we decide whether we're going to 'seek' the 'hiding' rabbit or not," he said with a smile. She blinked, frowning, "We . . . decide?"
"Yes, you see. . ." he leaned forward, and touched the print, "This right here, this is fresh. Because it's not been changed by the trail hardly at all. It looks just like the picture. But watch what I do to it now. . ." he swept his palm over the print, and she stared, as the dirt ran over it and messed it up, "You see how different it looks when something goes over it? If the print looks a lot like this, then we know that it's been a little while since it was made. But since it looked more like this. . ." he pointed to the untouched print beside the messed up one, "We know the rabbit made this only a little while ago. Understand? Nothing's had time to come along and mess it up, except for us." She turned to him, and nodded, "Okay. So if the print looks brand new, we follow it?" He smiled, and nodded, "Absolutely." "How?" He turned, and smiled, using his arm to brush back more leaves. She stared at the long line of prints it revealed. "We follow the rest until we find the rabbit that made them. Let's go! And don't take your eyes off the trail!" he said excitedly and the two stood to walk slowly down the trail, Slashera's eyes never leaving the prints that Slade revealed with his foot from beneath the leaves every step of the way.
They'd been going for about ten minutes when Slashera frowned, "What's that?" she asked, pointing at something between two long prints. Slade leaned down to see better, and smiled, "That's the rabbit's feces. Or its poop." She stared up at him, "It's . . . poop?" "Well, with animals, it's known as 'scat' as well, but I prefer the term 'feces'," he gave her a wry smile, then turned, and leaned down. He looked at the poop for another minute before he pulled a knife wrapped in a small white cloth out of the depths of his jumpsuit pockets and scooped the pellets via the knife into said cloth. Standing back up, he held the pellets between them and taking one finger, hovered pointed at one, "This pellet can tell us a good deal about how fresh these tracks are. Look. . ." he took his knife and pressed down on the pellet with the side of the silver utensil. And Slashera cringed slightly at the sight of the poop smearing onto the cloth. . . "You see how easy it smeared? It didn't crumble or anything. That means it didn't have time to dry. Which means that we are getting really close." He looked up at her at that and saw the disgust on her face. He sighed and rested a hand on a hip, keeping the knife in the cloth with the poop, "Now come on, little Slash, you and I use the bathroom out here too when we need to . . . besides, this gives us a good way to play the game with the rabbit!" She looked up at him, and sighed, "I . . . I know," she whispered. He smiled and folded the cloth up around the knife and slid it back into his jumpsuit, "I'm glad you noticed it, Slashera, because that means we're even closer to finding the rabbit." That got her to smile at him. After all, he was proud of her! All thoughts of how the poop was disgusting flew out of her mind. He smiled and took her hand, still having no poop on his own. Turning back to the trail the two continued their search.
"Oh, Father Slade, it's beautiful!" she gasped, the two standing behind two bushes lining the trail, beneath which the tracks had disappeared. They'd just found the creator of the prints. . . the small rabbit was grey and brown in color, his pretty white tail poking out from beneath him as he munched on a blade of grass on the ground. Hearing her, the rabbit turned, nose twitching, ears alert, staring at the two with its beady black eyes. The creature lifted itself slowly up onto its back legs to stand up straight. "Hi. . ." she paused and turned to Slade, "He doesn't have a name . . . how can I say hi to him if he doesn't have a name?" Slade turned to her, caught off guard by the odd comment, then smiled, "Then why don't you name it?" She blinked, and then turned to the rabbit. What would she name it? She smiled suddenly as the rabbit's little white tail twitched. "Hi, Cottonball! Sorry we found you, but you're a really good hider any way!" she said with a grinned. After she'd spoken that time, the rabbit whisked around on its haunches and bounded away into the woods. She frowned, "It went away." "It might have had a little baby to look after," he said with a smile and hugged her tight before pulling away a bit, "Besides, they don't talk much. They're not used to it." She frowned, "Oh . . . do you think it felt bad? That it thought it couldn't talk to me?" "Perhaps," Slade said with a smile, closing his eye. "I . . . I didn't hurt its feelings, did I?" she suddenly whispered, worry entering her voice. He blinked down at the girl. And now the man saw the tears in her eyes. "Of course not Little Slash! But. . . if it'll make you feel any better, you can always talk a bit lower to them next time," he advised, "They have great hearing, and will be able to know what you say just fine." She smiled, "Then let's find another animal!" He smiled, "Alright." With that the two returned to the trail they were on.
After spending two more hours finding two more rabbits and one raccoon, "Max", "Dolly", and "Rings" respectively, Slade was beginning to think they'd never find the tracks he truly wanted to find that day. Just as he was about to offer that they turn back, Slashera spoke up, "What're those prints from?!" she gasped. He blinked, and knelt down. And smiled. It was as if they'd appeared just for him. Two long ovals with two large ends and two small ends, curved towards one another at the smaller ends, coming to form a point of sorts at the top. The print was deeply imprinted in the earth by far more weight than a rabbit or other creature of the forest. Beside it lay another beautiful set of imprints. He smiled, "That, dear Little Slash, are the prints of a deer. And they're fresh." She turned to him, smiling. Sensing his excitement, "We're going to find it, aren't we?!" she gasped, grinning at him. He turned to her, smirked, and nodded, "Of course we are."
Finding the deer took far longer than the other four animals, and as the tracks ended at the edge of a small, shallow stream she sighed, gazing around for new tracks, "They're gone. . ." she whispered. He frowned, "No animal disappears, Little Slash. You should know that." "But . . . but the tracks . . . they're gone . . ." she said, looking up at him. He shook his head at her and his boots splashed as he began to walk through the water. He turned his head to her and blinked back at her, "Look at how they're pointed. They point to the water. That means that the deer went in here. . ." She blinked and gazed down at the prints once again. He was right. . . She looked up at him as he continued to walk to the other side and she sighed. He wasn't waiting on her it seemed . . . she got in and shivered as water sloshed into her shoes. Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly over, swaying a bit to keep balanced. Once she was close enough she reached out, and he held her hand tight. He smiled at her, "Good job. Coming across the stream after me. Next time though, wait for me to come back for you. So you can't fall in. Okay?" she blinked, staring up at him. She'd thought he'd wanted her to. . . he smiled at her, aware of her confusion, "I was going to see if there were any prints here first. . ." he pointed to the creek bed beside him with a frown, "But there aren't any. . ." She shivered slightly, the cold water getting to her as it sloshed around in her shoes and at her ankles, "S-s-so what now?" "Well, first we get out of this water," he said, smiling at her, and the two quickly climbed onto the creek bed.
Once he'd taken her shoes off, gotten the water out of them, and then put them back on her, Slashera turned to him, "What now?" "Now we follow the stream. The deer had to have come out on this side. So first we'll walk downstream," he pointed in the appropriate direction, "That means we're going in the direction that the water's flowing," he turned and pointed in another direction, "And then if we don't see something downstream, we'll go upstream a ways." He turned to her and smiled, "Ready?" she smiled and nodded, grasping his hand even tighter.
Luckily, they found the tracks quickly, the deer having moved downstream. The tracks went off into a small, deer path in the woods. He pulled her closer to his side, frowning at the trail, "Little Slash, you need to walk ahead of me. . . I don't want you behind me. . ." he muttered, "And there's not enough room beside me for you to not get hurt by the bushes." Slashera nodded and in no time was walking slowly in front of Slade, the man's hands on her shoulders. The child stared down at the ground, him still stopping every once and a while to walk ahead and move some leaves away from the trail to reveal more prints. He turned his head and looked at the forest around them, "This path is so narrow . . . do you know what that means?" he asked her. She shook her head. "That means the deer is small. Otherwise it would have made a larger trail. So it must be either a doe or a small buck. A larger buck would have had more antlers or horns. It would have made more room merely with those," he whispered. Slashera nodded. That made sense. It was then that the prints curved to the right, through some bushes that looked dented on the top. As if the deer had stepped over them. Slade blinked at them. "I'm going to lift you up and over them, Little Slash. Okay?" She nodded and he picked her up around her waist before hoisting her over the bushes. She turned around and watched as he marched over the bush. He smiled down at her as she blinked up at him. "Go on," he said, nodding in the general direction the path now led to. She nodded and they continued quietly along.
Slashera took a deep breath, gazing at the creature in the clearing just a bush beyond. The doe grazed quietly in the clearing, a few other does gathered around her. The doe closest to us is clearly the youngest of the group. Apparently, it wandered off from the group. Then followed their scents back to this spot. At least, that's what Slade assumed. Slashera smiled. "We found her," she whispered. The girl gripped Slade's hand. Slade leaned down and smiled, kissing her lightly on her hair, "And what do you want to name her, Slashera?" "Can I name her. . . Beauty?" Slashera whispered, "She's so pretty. . ." He smiled, "I think 'Beauty' is a great name for her, Little Slash." At that moment a light breeze whipped through the trees behind them and into the clearing. Lifting her head, the doe turned to them, having caught their scent on the breeze. And twitched before. . . turning, she sprang to life, her muscles moving in perfect rhythm as she left, her friends right behind her. Slashera let out a sigh, smiling nonetheless. "I think it's time to head back to the cabin now," Slade whispered, "We're pretty far away." She nodded, "Yes sir. . ." Turning, the two crept back the way they came.
It was as they came out of the forest and onto the stream's shore that she yawned, her eyes closing, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Slade blinked, frowning at her as her eyes became half lidded, "Are you okay, Little Slash?" She nodded, smiling up at him, "Yes sir, Father Slade. Let's go." He nodded, took her hand, and they continued their walk, upstream.
As they neared where they were to cross, Slade couldn't help but notice her steps getting slower as she got sleepier and sleepier. He'd been wondering how much his apprentice could take after three days of bed rest and antivenom injections as her body fought the snake bite's effects. And now she was finally feeling the effects of it all. "You're sleepy Slashera, aren't you?" he murmured, smiling at her. She turned to him "Just a little bit," she replied with a little smile, "I can still go. . ." she was cut off by another yawn, and reaching up, the child covered her mouth. He chuckled and shook his head, "Maybe so, but a nap couldn't hurt, now could it?" leaning down, he put one arm, his right, behind her knees, and the other arm against her back, "How about I carry you back? You can nap then, and when we get to the cabin, I can fix us something to eat." She smiled sleepily at him, and allowed herself to be picked up to be cradled close to his chest. She let out a deep sigh and in no time, was fast asleep and leaning against his chest just over his heart as he moved slowly through the trees of the forest.
After going back to the clearing that they'd been at that morning and getting the cooler, Slade headed back to the cabin where he woke her up only slightly while he sat her on the couch, pulling a deer skin around her as she fell right back to sleep. Then the man set to work getting some venison from his smokehouse and quickly preparing two tenderloins of meat for them to eat. To finish off the meal, he made some creamy mashed potatoes and butter beans. After the supper was ready he had her eat the meal and drink some milk before picking her up again, this time from her chair at the table. The man carried her back to her bathroom, quickly helping her out of her jumpsuit and into the bathtub. Once she was clean he had her brush her teeth, her eyes closed in her half asleep state. Next he put her in one of his muscle shirts, a dark blue one, before moving her to her bed and tucking her. He smiled at her dozing form on the bed, the blankets and sheets covering her up to her chin. Reaching down, the man ran a hand along her cheek.
Today had been a good day. There was no doubt about it. And tomorrow would be even better. With that final thought, he grinned, leaned over, and with a tug on the chain for the object turned off the lamp before turning and walking to her doorway, the hall light the only light in the room. Ready to go out and get the cart with the arrows and bows. He knew that they couldn't stay outside all night long. At least not with a tarp on top of them . . . maybe he'd just do that . . . take a tarp and put it on top of the thing. . . "G'night, Father Slade," her whisper brought him out of his train of thought. He turned, and smiled at her, as she gazed back at him with a sleepy smile on her face, his face outlined in golden light of the hall lights. He smiled and gripping the door handle, began to pull it closed, "Good Night, my Little Slashera." "I had fun today," she said, smiling sleepily at him. He smiled right back, "I did too." "Can we do archery and play hide and seek with the animals tomorrow too?" she asked, blinking up at him. About to fall back asleep in a minute. He smiled, "Of course. But right now, get some sleep." He closed the door as she closed her eyes. Snuggling deeper into the sheets, curling up, Slashera let a smile cross her face. She couldn't wait.
A/N: So two new things this chapter: Archery (which is easily my favorite "athletic" thing to watch besides sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat) and "Hide-and-Seek" with animals. And of course, Slade can't resist a little history lesson. ;) (You know, I really think I would have understood gravitational forces (not that that was too hard for me to begin with, but still. . .) and history a lot better if he had taught it to me. . . ). And by the way, I looked up bowfishing on Wikipedia.