20. Shamrock
Longshot was on watch when Shootup came to see him.
"Hey Longshot." Said the girl who was maybe a year or two older. She was one who couldn't remember her birthday. Longshot nodded to her.
"Why are you guys leaving?" She asked him, staring at the ground.
"Jet." Shootup couldn't read him like Smellerbee or Jet.
"Oh. Well… we'll miss you guys." She looked at Longshot sadly. " But you are coming back right? I know Pipsqueak and The Duke are going to come back as soon as their job is finished. But you… You and Jet built the Fighters. This is your legacy, too. You have to come back… Especially if Jet decides not to. We need you, and we need Bee." Longshot looked at her, saw the truth in her eyes.
Shootup looked down at the tree trunk- Weird foliage sometimes grew on the branches, and here was a bunch of shamrocks growing out of a patch of moss.
"Here. For good luck." She offered him a clover- not four leaves, like it was supposed to be, but the normal three lobed type.
He looked at the plant in the girl's hand, then looked at her face, a splatter of freckles across her nose and giant grey eyes hovering above them. She too carried a bow, a long bow, not a short like his. She'd trained under him for a while. She'd helped him with Smellerbee, all those years ago. Shootup was a good person.
"Thank you." He grabbed it.
"And also?" She took a deep breath. " Bring Jet back." She looked worried, and he saw the passion in her eyes. She liked him. A lot.
"I'll do my best." Shootup looked at him, the seriousness his face radiated. She nodded and grabbed another shamrock.
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Shootup reached Jet's room. A light shone out of the bottom of the room, so she entered.
"What's up?" He asked her.
"Promise me you'll come back. Please." She took a few steps toward him. He looked at her, bewildered.
"Sure, Shootup." He looked at her. Her hair was pulled back on top, the free part in a straight bob. Her bow was over her shoulder, nearly as tall as her, and painted with greens and whites. She'd made it herself.
"I promise." She smiled a shy smile at him, then went over and kissed him on the cheek.
"For good luck."
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Smellerbee was asleep. Her dagger sat on the stool besides her, so Shootup opened the sheath and shoved the leafy plant inside.
"Bring them back. I trust you the most, little girl." And she did. Girls were always the reason that boys kept their promises.
Author's Note! Shootup is the adoptive mother of the Fighters, and Jet is the father. Momma Bear wants to make sure all her cubs come back. Also, I am an archer, which is half the reason I love Longshot so much. It was natural that Shootup be an archer, too. I don't know, maybe she's a Mary Sue. I don't really care, since she's pretty minor.