A/N - Hey everyone! ^_^ Welcome to the third chappy of 'To Say Your Name!'
*grins* Isn't that a PURDY title? Oh yeah, and lemme introduce my new and
FIRST EVER muse!
Picard: *tied to a chair with a sign that says 'Muse' pasted on his forehead* Damn Felix...'No, YOU should go see what Dfire wants Picard!' I bet he knew this was coming...
And now, the disclaimer please!
Picard: -_-; Golden Sun was not invented by Dfire. She does not own it. Which is a good thing, since she'd probably name me something stupider than Piers...
*mortally offended* I would not!
Picard: Sure...
That's it! Just for that, I'm gonna stick you in a fic with...*thinks really hard*...SHEBA!!!
Picard: *big eyes* WHAT???
*NOTE* - So you hard-core game people don't get confused, for the sake of story, I'm placing some of the towns in different places. For example, I know that you can walk straight from Vale to Kalay; there's only one town in the way, Vault. But that would be boring soooo...I'm tweaking the map just a bit. ^_^; Please dont' be mad you guys!
Picard: You'e not REALLY sticking me with Sheba, are you??
*walks off*
Picard: *tries to make his chair hop after, but fails, and lands sideways on the ground* Ow.
~~~~
Jenna awoke to the chirping of birds in the crisp morning air. Slowly, she blinked the sleep from her eyes, then squinted as a ray of sunlight bounced in her face. Sniffing, she caught the smell of toasted bread and she got up, rolling back her blanket.
Ivan sat a couple feet away from her on his pack, holding a stick into the fire. Beside him on a makeshift plate made of a large leaf were several toasted pieces of bread. He smiled at Jenna as she got up and tied back her hair. "Good morning Jenna!" he chirped cheerily. "Isn't it a beautiful morning?"
Jenna had to laugh at Ivan's cheerfulness so early in the morning. "Yes it is, but there's one of us that's not enjoying it." They both turned and looked at last bed roll. There was a large lump hidden underneath it and the only thing that could be seen were several spikes of red hair that was protuding out of the blanket. Garet was quite obviously still sleeping, from the loud snores that were emitting from the lump.
The blond wind mage shook his head. "I bet he'd sleep all day if we let him!" He chewed a piece of the warm toast. "It's funny, if there are wolves or other things around, he rarely even goes to sleep and gets up in a second but in calm places like these," Ivan gestured around the peaceful wood they were camping in, "he just doesn't get up!" Sighing, he looked at Jenna, who was swallowing the rest of her bread. "Jenna, would you mind waking him up before noon comes?"
Jenna groaned playfully. "Me? It's such a chore!"
"If you'd rather, I could shock Garet awake, but then he'd spend the rest of the day trying to set me on fire." Ivan grimaced. "That is NOT fun."
Giggling, Jenna picked her way through her blankets to Garet's side. She nudged what she assumed to be his shoulder. "Hey, Garet."
He didn't move.
She pushed him hard, then tugged the spikes of his hair. "Hey, Garet! Wake up!"
Still no movement.
Loosing her patience, Jenna yanked off the blanket then cuffed Garet on the side of his head. "GARET, YOU BIG LUMP, GET UP!"
With a yelp and a jump, Garet opened his eyes then glared at Jenna, rubbing his head. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"
Jenna snorted. "Well it's about time! I swear, you sleep like a log!"
"And a good morning to you too Jenna," Garet muttered. He looked up, sniffed the air, and saw Ivan. "Ah, Ivan! Is that breakfast I smell?"
As Garet gulped down the rest of the bread, Ivan rolled his eyes. "It's a good thing you woke up Garet. We would have eaten all the bread if you hadn't." He winked at Jenna, and she stifled a giggle.
Garet swallowed. "You wouldn't!"
"We would," Jenna said slyly. "It would teach you not to sleep so much Garet!"
"You two are evil," Garet growled. "Is that the thanks I get for protecting you?"
"You should thank us! If we had eaten all the bread, it would help you lose weight!"
"Weight? What weight? All these pounds are muscle!"
It had been three days since Jenna had left Vale. In those three days, she had experienced a sort of freedom from her normal everyday life. Her title dropped, there were almost times where she forgot who she was. It was her first time out in the world, away from guards, away from her Palace life. True, she was accompanied, but with the easy, carefree way of Ivan and Garet, it wasn't the same. Jenna now had to agree with her brother's idea that they would move quicker. It was certainly true, as they had gone about twice the distance that she had gone before with her guards in the same amount of days.
Garet wandered off to refill their canteens with water and Jenna knelt to roll up her blankets. In the last three days, she had also learned a lot about the male sex. Being brought up isolated in the Palace, she had never really been able to associate with other people her age. And the only males around her age in her life were Felix and Isaac. And they both rarely talked and were very reserved and calm when they did so. But her two companions were different. For instance, there was Ivan.
Jenna glanced at Ivan as she rolled up his bed spread too. He was sitting at the stump still, intently peering at a map spread on the grass below him. In many ways, he was like Felix, reserved and calm. But unlike Felix, he talked quite cheerfully about anything you asked him at anytime. At first, Jenna had thought he was Garet's partner, but had been told by Ivan when asked that he was merely a traveler. He had met up with Garet a while ago when he had gotten lost on the way to Vale. Ivan was very learned and kind, and Jenna was very happy to have someone to talk as much as she wished to.
That brought her to Garet. Her bodyguard, her protector. She had learned two basic things about the red haired man in the last three days. One was, like she had said, he slept like a log. The second was, that he could eat 10 times the amount of a fully grown man and still want more. Other than that, Jenna had learned little about her protector. Garet was certainly friendly and open, but never said much about himself. He could be arrogant, brash, and bluntly rude, then make up for all of Jenna's frustrations by tripping over his sword or his horse's reins and fall flat on his face, making himself look like a complete idiot. Jenna could see why he was sought after as a bodyguard though. A little ways from Vale, a large wolf had practically popped out at them. She and Ivan, unused to battle, had immediately jumped into stances. Garet however, kept going and almost carelessly swung his sword at it, knocking it flat on the ground.
The leaves rustled and Garet himself walked into the clearing with canteens held in a hand and brushing leaves out of his spiked hair with another. "Hey Ivan, how far are we from Vault?"
Having finished rolling up all the blankets, Jenna stood and joined Garet in peering over Ivan's shoulder at the map. "It's not that far to Vault now..." Ivan murmured. He stood up decisively, causing the two behind him to step back quickly. "We should be in Vault by noon if we leave now."
Garet stretched his arms as high they could go and grinned wildly. "Great! I'm starving!"
Jenna looked at him, surprised. "But you just ate breakfast! How can you be starving?"
He winked at her. "Sure, but by the time we get there I will be!"
Within a minute, the fire was stamped out and the clearing was deserted, leaving only an area of ashes and flattened grass where the travellers had laid their bags and the horses had stood to show that they had been there.
~~~~
True to Ivan's word, they reached Vault just around noon. And true to Garet's prediction, he was starving. In fact, he had been moaning of hunger for the last half hour. In truth, Jenna was a little hungry too and it would be nice to eat some fresh food for once and see civilization again. But when they finally entered the gates of Vault, suddenly she forgot her hunger. Jenna stared wide eyed around at the town, the sights refreshingly different from Vale.
"Oh!" she gasped, when she saw the tall wooden tower. "There's a bell on it! And there's a man!"
Ivan had to chuckle. "That's their bell tower Jenna. It's to warn people if there's danger, he's a lookout."
Garet looked quizzically at Jenna. "Haven't you been here before? I heard that you've travelled to Kalay before...you must have gone through Vault, right?"
Jenna looked down quickly with a blush, realizing how childish she must have looked and sounded. "Well it was night when we got to Vault last time..." she muttered. "And besides, I was in the carriage..." she trailed off, looking embarassed. She could almost feel Garet's gaze boring into the back of her head.
But surprisingly, he suddenly yelled in delight. "Look, the inn!! Food!" He turned quickly to Ivan and Jenna. "Ivan, pick up some antidotes and some herbs, will ya? We might need them later." He practically ran to the inn door. "I'll get our food!"
Ivan shook his head. "And Garet leaves us with the work. Well, Jenna, would you like to look around more?" he smiled at her. "The shop is just across the street." He pointed to a building with an old wooden sign on it.
"Yes!" Jenna happily followed Ivan into the store. Only as she watched the storekeeper measure out herbs and various antidotes did it occur to her that Garet had done what he did to help her. After all, she now had the chance to look around more. 'He's not so bad...when he's not being an idiot,' Jenna reflected.
Ivan finished paying quickly and he walked out the door, muttering something about how Garet better have not gotten any more alcoholic sweets and Jenna shook her head with a smile. As she was stepping through, she banged into a man. Jenna stumbled backwards and looked up, exclaiming, "I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't looking!" The man she had bumped said nothing. He was dressed in a long black cloak; only his huge green boots and his brown hair could be seen. He stepped away from the door and merely looked at her with narrowed red eyes.
Frowning a little, Jenna walked past quickly; his eyes made her nervous and the cloak reminded her too much about the last trip to Kalay for comfort. "Sorry again..."
She stepped back out into the sunlight and hurried to Ivan, who was standing near the inn door waiting. "Jenna, what took so long?"
"Sorry, I bumped into someone."
"Let's hurry and eat, who knows how much Garet's consumed already..."
Both entered the inn, unaware that the man Jenna had banged into was still watching. He pulled down the green scarf that hid his mouth to show a slow evil grin forming. "Found her."
~~~~
Garet sighed heavily and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. He sat next to a river, a fishing pole held loosely in his hand. It seemed that it had barely been 15 minutes in the inn eating when Ivan had rushed them all out of Vault, insisting that they had to get moving. He scowled. He COULD have let him finish that last flan but noooo....then when they had stopped for the night, Ivan had practically kicked him out of the campsite, telling him to get fish for dinner. Garet made a face. 'Yeah, like we have BAIT?' He shrugged, then snickered. Well, the Fairy Ring worked, it was shiny enough. Ivan would never know what happened to it.
A rustling of grass made Garet quickly snap his head up, alert. Behind him, hands pushed aside the foilage to reveal Jenna, brushing leaves off her skirt and holding the Shaman's Rod. "There you are, Garet!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" Garet asked in surprise. "I thought you were with Ivan."
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Ivan's meditating. Have you ever tried to talk to someone meditating?"
He grinned. "You shouldn't, he'll call a Storm Ray on you." At Jenna's questioning look, he added, "I've tried it once."
She laughed and said, "Only an idiot would do that!"
"So you're calling yourself an idiot now Jenna? Tsk, tsk, a woman of your stature shouldn't call herself such names...."
"Garet!" Garet waited with a slight smile for her rebuttal. Since nothing was said, he frowned slightly then nearly jumped when Jenna's voice sounded right next to his ear. "May I join you?" He jumped, and Jenna gave him a look. "Something wrong?"
"N-nothing," he said, stuttering from the shock. "G-go ahead!" 'Woah, that was creepy. How'd she get next to me so quick?'
Jenna rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, pulling up her knees and her skirt down. "Don't be weird Garet."
Garet sighed and decided there was no point in saying anything. He moved the pole around restlessly; no luck, the fish just weren't biting in this area of the stream.
"What are you doing?" Jenna peered curiously at the pole and the string leading to the water.
He looked at her. "What does it look like, I'm fishing!" When she blinked uncomprehendingly, he stared at her in amazement. "Don't tell me you've never fished before!"
"Of course not, there was no need for me to! Besides," Jenna said dryly, "everyone would die of shock if I tried to go outside and sit on the ground."
Garet shook his head. "Man...no fishing? Royalty are deprived." And before Jenna could retort, he took the pole and grabbed her hand, wrapping it around the pole. "Here, try it. It's boring, but at least you can tell all those Palace people that you've fished." He steadied Jenna's hands. "All you do is hold it steady, then when something bites, reel it in quick, using this. Not that hard, as you can tell." Garet was suddenly and painfully reminded of an instance several years back, when he had first taught his little brother to fish...it seemed like ages ago now...
'Garet, you PROMISED you'd take me fishing today, you promised!!'
'Oh Garet, I told you not to move those pillars on my flowers again, you silly boy...'
'Garet, no, no, why do you have to go away? Why can't we live together...'
"I think I have it now..."
"What?" Garet blinked stupidly, snapped out of his reverie. He looked down and with a start, realized that his hands were still firmly holding Jenna's in place. With a fierce blush, he quickly pulled his hands back. "Oh, sorry..."
Silence. The crickets chirped around them and slowly day faded into dusk. The sky above the two was dyed in crimson and brilliant showers of orange and yellow. After a while, Garet ventured a glance at Jenna. His charge, the Princess of Vale. She was unlike any person he had ever had to guard before. He had never talked so much to one of his clients before. They were always some pompous merchants or some vague, beautiful lady who had a brain that was completely empty. They had all treated him like a dangerous animal/servant. It had annoyed him to no end, so Garet normally kept quiet and stayed as far away as possible. At the end, he got money, they got to their destination safe, everyone was happy.
But this princess...'From now on my name is Jenna, alright?' She had treated him as an equal. Not as...a mercenary. Garet blinked in sudden recognition. She was like Isaac, almost. Like Isaac, who insisted that Garet was not a mercenary. Was he? Was he? 'My name is Jenna...and you're Garet.'
She was holding the pole with two hands, leaning slightly against the tree, looking down at the water. She looked different...not her usual fiery and energetic self. Suddenly, she said, "My father used to tell me about this once. How he used to take my mother fishing in the woods in the few times they escaped the Palace."
Garet stayed quiet, remembering suddenly that the King and Queen of Vale were dead. 'Her parents...I never even thought about it that way...'
"He was going to take Felix and I one day but--" Jenna stopped in mid- sentence. "But," she continued, determinedly cheerful, "we never got a chance." Jenna turned to Garet with a smile on her face; it looked suspiciously fake. "I've always thought of asking Felix to go with me, but he was always so busy. But I guess I'm learning now..." she trailed off and quickly turned to the front again.
He looked at Jenna. "How...how did they die?" he quietly asked. Then, too late, Garet realized that that might not have been the most tactful of questions. 'Stupid, STUPID mouth! What if she starts crying or something??'
But surprisingly, Jenna answered, just as quietly. "They killed themselves."
Stunned, Garet turned. "What?"
"Most of the public don't know..." Jenna said quietly. "how they really died. The Shaman's Rod...was wanted by Prox. Saturos captured my parents for ransom. But on the morning that Felix was set to ride out with the Rod to deliver it...we received word from other villagers...that our parents had committed suicide." She sighed; a small, delicate breath, and fingered the Rod by her side. "They knew what we would do, so to prevent it, they killed themselves. It was made out that they had been murdered on site." Jenna suddenly smiled brightly and turned to Garet. "How about you Garet, how about your parents? Do you have any family?"
Garet stiffened and stared straight ahead. "My parents are dead. My younger brother and my older sister nearly died too, but they're alright now...they're working at the Palace in Vale, actually."
Jenna stared in shock. "What happened?"
"Cholera epidemic," Garet said shortly. "7 years ago. That damned disease wiped out nearly the whole village. Aaron and Kay nearly died...it was thanks to only the Gods that they didn't. For some reason, I wasnt' touched by the disease."
She looked at him, understanding dawning on her face. "Was that why you became a mercenary?" Jenna asked softly.
"....yes," he said after a while. "After nursing them back to health, we were short on money. So I hired my services out and sent back what money I could." He refused to look at her, refused to see the pity on her face.
~~~~
"Then why do you call yourself a mercenary?" Jenna asked, frowning. "You're just someone who hires his services out."
To her surprise, Garet stiffened next to her and suddenly rose and towered above her, glaring. He stood in front of her, against the setting sun, so all she could see were the glint of his eyes. "What do you know?" he snapped. "You and Isaac are just the same! Always talking about stupid ideas!"
Jenna had no idea what he had suddenly gotten angry about but she rose too; the fishing pole lay forgotten in between them. "Well excuse me!" she snapped. "I was just asking, you don't have to get all defensive about it! Why would anyone want to be called something as evil-sounding as 'mercenary?'"
Garet felt dirty and very angry. And because Jenna was the only one yelling at him, he yelled back. "What do YOU know about it Jenna?? Nothing!!"
"You're right!" Jenna yelled back, blotches of color rising on her cheeks. "I don't know, that's why I'm ASKING!!" She was now completely frustrated. 'What's his PROBLEM?' One minute, they had been talking civilly, almost like...friends. Then the next they were yelling at eachother. Then, for lack of anything else to say, Jenna burst out, "IDIOT!!!"
Garet angrily opened his mouth to retort. But as Jenna watched, the look in his crimson eyes changed from anger, to confusement, to alarm. Then before she could say anything else or react, he suddenly flew at her and crushed her into his muscular arms, bringing her down. "Look out!!!"
"Wha--" With a gasp, they hit the ground and Jenna heard a whizzing noise accompanied with a slight thud. Just as quick, Garet rolled off her and whirled around, extending his gloved hand and with a yell of "Heat Wave!" she felt a scorching heat above her face.
Jenna pulled herself up as Garet turned to her, his face anxious and worried. "Are you alright?" he demanded.
She nodded shakily. "Yes, but what was that?"
They both looked towards where Garet's Heat Wave had hit, a small area of now burned forest across the small stream. No one was in sight. Caws were crowing and flying into the sky. "I think the right word is," Garet said grimly, "not what. But who." They turned back behind them. "Looks like someone's found us."
Embedded into the tree behind Jenna, where her head had been a few seconds earlier, was a small dagger. A few of Jenna's red hairs were caught under the blade.
~~~~
A/N - THAT SUCKED!! *pouts* I swear, that was a bad chapter, I can write better than that!! *pouts more*
Picard: I agree, that was quite disappointing.
*THWAP*
Picard: *rubbing head* What in the name of Lemuria was THAT for??
You're not supposed to be saying stuff like that!!!
Picard: But you said--
Well anyways, ignoring the man with dyed hair--
Picard: IT IS NOT DYED!!!
--this was a horrible chapter everyone! I apologize! I dont' know WHAT happened! And it took forever too!! I promise, the next one will be better! This one didnt' have much Garet/Jenna moments (well, it's the beginning of the story...) but at least there was action, right? ^^;; Not boring nemore I hope? -_- Unfortunately, my bad writing took away from the story...well it's gonna get better...this one wasn't as long either...
Picard: T . T My hair's not dyed...
Of course it isn't Picard. Please review everyone!!!! It really encourages me and my bad writing skills! *sniffs* Well, not so bad...but still not that good!
Picard: Not dyed...
Shut up. *looks at audience* Oh yeah. REVIEW!!!!
Picard: *tied to a chair with a sign that says 'Muse' pasted on his forehead* Damn Felix...'No, YOU should go see what Dfire wants Picard!' I bet he knew this was coming...
And now, the disclaimer please!
Picard: -_-; Golden Sun was not invented by Dfire. She does not own it. Which is a good thing, since she'd probably name me something stupider than Piers...
*mortally offended* I would not!
Picard: Sure...
That's it! Just for that, I'm gonna stick you in a fic with...*thinks really hard*...SHEBA!!!
Picard: *big eyes* WHAT???
*NOTE* - So you hard-core game people don't get confused, for the sake of story, I'm placing some of the towns in different places. For example, I know that you can walk straight from Vale to Kalay; there's only one town in the way, Vault. But that would be boring soooo...I'm tweaking the map just a bit. ^_^; Please dont' be mad you guys!
Picard: You'e not REALLY sticking me with Sheba, are you??
*walks off*
Picard: *tries to make his chair hop after, but fails, and lands sideways on the ground* Ow.
~~~~
Jenna awoke to the chirping of birds in the crisp morning air. Slowly, she blinked the sleep from her eyes, then squinted as a ray of sunlight bounced in her face. Sniffing, she caught the smell of toasted bread and she got up, rolling back her blanket.
Ivan sat a couple feet away from her on his pack, holding a stick into the fire. Beside him on a makeshift plate made of a large leaf were several toasted pieces of bread. He smiled at Jenna as she got up and tied back her hair. "Good morning Jenna!" he chirped cheerily. "Isn't it a beautiful morning?"
Jenna had to laugh at Ivan's cheerfulness so early in the morning. "Yes it is, but there's one of us that's not enjoying it." They both turned and looked at last bed roll. There was a large lump hidden underneath it and the only thing that could be seen were several spikes of red hair that was protuding out of the blanket. Garet was quite obviously still sleeping, from the loud snores that were emitting from the lump.
The blond wind mage shook his head. "I bet he'd sleep all day if we let him!" He chewed a piece of the warm toast. "It's funny, if there are wolves or other things around, he rarely even goes to sleep and gets up in a second but in calm places like these," Ivan gestured around the peaceful wood they were camping in, "he just doesn't get up!" Sighing, he looked at Jenna, who was swallowing the rest of her bread. "Jenna, would you mind waking him up before noon comes?"
Jenna groaned playfully. "Me? It's such a chore!"
"If you'd rather, I could shock Garet awake, but then he'd spend the rest of the day trying to set me on fire." Ivan grimaced. "That is NOT fun."
Giggling, Jenna picked her way through her blankets to Garet's side. She nudged what she assumed to be his shoulder. "Hey, Garet."
He didn't move.
She pushed him hard, then tugged the spikes of his hair. "Hey, Garet! Wake up!"
Still no movement.
Loosing her patience, Jenna yanked off the blanket then cuffed Garet on the side of his head. "GARET, YOU BIG LUMP, GET UP!"
With a yelp and a jump, Garet opened his eyes then glared at Jenna, rubbing his head. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"
Jenna snorted. "Well it's about time! I swear, you sleep like a log!"
"And a good morning to you too Jenna," Garet muttered. He looked up, sniffed the air, and saw Ivan. "Ah, Ivan! Is that breakfast I smell?"
As Garet gulped down the rest of the bread, Ivan rolled his eyes. "It's a good thing you woke up Garet. We would have eaten all the bread if you hadn't." He winked at Jenna, and she stifled a giggle.
Garet swallowed. "You wouldn't!"
"We would," Jenna said slyly. "It would teach you not to sleep so much Garet!"
"You two are evil," Garet growled. "Is that the thanks I get for protecting you?"
"You should thank us! If we had eaten all the bread, it would help you lose weight!"
"Weight? What weight? All these pounds are muscle!"
It had been three days since Jenna had left Vale. In those three days, she had experienced a sort of freedom from her normal everyday life. Her title dropped, there were almost times where she forgot who she was. It was her first time out in the world, away from guards, away from her Palace life. True, she was accompanied, but with the easy, carefree way of Ivan and Garet, it wasn't the same. Jenna now had to agree with her brother's idea that they would move quicker. It was certainly true, as they had gone about twice the distance that she had gone before with her guards in the same amount of days.
Garet wandered off to refill their canteens with water and Jenna knelt to roll up her blankets. In the last three days, she had also learned a lot about the male sex. Being brought up isolated in the Palace, she had never really been able to associate with other people her age. And the only males around her age in her life were Felix and Isaac. And they both rarely talked and were very reserved and calm when they did so. But her two companions were different. For instance, there was Ivan.
Jenna glanced at Ivan as she rolled up his bed spread too. He was sitting at the stump still, intently peering at a map spread on the grass below him. In many ways, he was like Felix, reserved and calm. But unlike Felix, he talked quite cheerfully about anything you asked him at anytime. At first, Jenna had thought he was Garet's partner, but had been told by Ivan when asked that he was merely a traveler. He had met up with Garet a while ago when he had gotten lost on the way to Vale. Ivan was very learned and kind, and Jenna was very happy to have someone to talk as much as she wished to.
That brought her to Garet. Her bodyguard, her protector. She had learned two basic things about the red haired man in the last three days. One was, like she had said, he slept like a log. The second was, that he could eat 10 times the amount of a fully grown man and still want more. Other than that, Jenna had learned little about her protector. Garet was certainly friendly and open, but never said much about himself. He could be arrogant, brash, and bluntly rude, then make up for all of Jenna's frustrations by tripping over his sword or his horse's reins and fall flat on his face, making himself look like a complete idiot. Jenna could see why he was sought after as a bodyguard though. A little ways from Vale, a large wolf had practically popped out at them. She and Ivan, unused to battle, had immediately jumped into stances. Garet however, kept going and almost carelessly swung his sword at it, knocking it flat on the ground.
The leaves rustled and Garet himself walked into the clearing with canteens held in a hand and brushing leaves out of his spiked hair with another. "Hey Ivan, how far are we from Vault?"
Having finished rolling up all the blankets, Jenna stood and joined Garet in peering over Ivan's shoulder at the map. "It's not that far to Vault now..." Ivan murmured. He stood up decisively, causing the two behind him to step back quickly. "We should be in Vault by noon if we leave now."
Garet stretched his arms as high they could go and grinned wildly. "Great! I'm starving!"
Jenna looked at him, surprised. "But you just ate breakfast! How can you be starving?"
He winked at her. "Sure, but by the time we get there I will be!"
Within a minute, the fire was stamped out and the clearing was deserted, leaving only an area of ashes and flattened grass where the travellers had laid their bags and the horses had stood to show that they had been there.
~~~~
True to Ivan's word, they reached Vault just around noon. And true to Garet's prediction, he was starving. In fact, he had been moaning of hunger for the last half hour. In truth, Jenna was a little hungry too and it would be nice to eat some fresh food for once and see civilization again. But when they finally entered the gates of Vault, suddenly she forgot her hunger. Jenna stared wide eyed around at the town, the sights refreshingly different from Vale.
"Oh!" she gasped, when she saw the tall wooden tower. "There's a bell on it! And there's a man!"
Ivan had to chuckle. "That's their bell tower Jenna. It's to warn people if there's danger, he's a lookout."
Garet looked quizzically at Jenna. "Haven't you been here before? I heard that you've travelled to Kalay before...you must have gone through Vault, right?"
Jenna looked down quickly with a blush, realizing how childish she must have looked and sounded. "Well it was night when we got to Vault last time..." she muttered. "And besides, I was in the carriage..." she trailed off, looking embarassed. She could almost feel Garet's gaze boring into the back of her head.
But surprisingly, he suddenly yelled in delight. "Look, the inn!! Food!" He turned quickly to Ivan and Jenna. "Ivan, pick up some antidotes and some herbs, will ya? We might need them later." He practically ran to the inn door. "I'll get our food!"
Ivan shook his head. "And Garet leaves us with the work. Well, Jenna, would you like to look around more?" he smiled at her. "The shop is just across the street." He pointed to a building with an old wooden sign on it.
"Yes!" Jenna happily followed Ivan into the store. Only as she watched the storekeeper measure out herbs and various antidotes did it occur to her that Garet had done what he did to help her. After all, she now had the chance to look around more. 'He's not so bad...when he's not being an idiot,' Jenna reflected.
Ivan finished paying quickly and he walked out the door, muttering something about how Garet better have not gotten any more alcoholic sweets and Jenna shook her head with a smile. As she was stepping through, she banged into a man. Jenna stumbled backwards and looked up, exclaiming, "I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't looking!" The man she had bumped said nothing. He was dressed in a long black cloak; only his huge green boots and his brown hair could be seen. He stepped away from the door and merely looked at her with narrowed red eyes.
Frowning a little, Jenna walked past quickly; his eyes made her nervous and the cloak reminded her too much about the last trip to Kalay for comfort. "Sorry again..."
She stepped back out into the sunlight and hurried to Ivan, who was standing near the inn door waiting. "Jenna, what took so long?"
"Sorry, I bumped into someone."
"Let's hurry and eat, who knows how much Garet's consumed already..."
Both entered the inn, unaware that the man Jenna had banged into was still watching. He pulled down the green scarf that hid his mouth to show a slow evil grin forming. "Found her."
~~~~
Garet sighed heavily and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. He sat next to a river, a fishing pole held loosely in his hand. It seemed that it had barely been 15 minutes in the inn eating when Ivan had rushed them all out of Vault, insisting that they had to get moving. He scowled. He COULD have let him finish that last flan but noooo....then when they had stopped for the night, Ivan had practically kicked him out of the campsite, telling him to get fish for dinner. Garet made a face. 'Yeah, like we have BAIT?' He shrugged, then snickered. Well, the Fairy Ring worked, it was shiny enough. Ivan would never know what happened to it.
A rustling of grass made Garet quickly snap his head up, alert. Behind him, hands pushed aside the foilage to reveal Jenna, brushing leaves off her skirt and holding the Shaman's Rod. "There you are, Garet!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" Garet asked in surprise. "I thought you were with Ivan."
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Ivan's meditating. Have you ever tried to talk to someone meditating?"
He grinned. "You shouldn't, he'll call a Storm Ray on you." At Jenna's questioning look, he added, "I've tried it once."
She laughed and said, "Only an idiot would do that!"
"So you're calling yourself an idiot now Jenna? Tsk, tsk, a woman of your stature shouldn't call herself such names...."
"Garet!" Garet waited with a slight smile for her rebuttal. Since nothing was said, he frowned slightly then nearly jumped when Jenna's voice sounded right next to his ear. "May I join you?" He jumped, and Jenna gave him a look. "Something wrong?"
"N-nothing," he said, stuttering from the shock. "G-go ahead!" 'Woah, that was creepy. How'd she get next to me so quick?'
Jenna rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, pulling up her knees and her skirt down. "Don't be weird Garet."
Garet sighed and decided there was no point in saying anything. He moved the pole around restlessly; no luck, the fish just weren't biting in this area of the stream.
"What are you doing?" Jenna peered curiously at the pole and the string leading to the water.
He looked at her. "What does it look like, I'm fishing!" When she blinked uncomprehendingly, he stared at her in amazement. "Don't tell me you've never fished before!"
"Of course not, there was no need for me to! Besides," Jenna said dryly, "everyone would die of shock if I tried to go outside and sit on the ground."
Garet shook his head. "Man...no fishing? Royalty are deprived." And before Jenna could retort, he took the pole and grabbed her hand, wrapping it around the pole. "Here, try it. It's boring, but at least you can tell all those Palace people that you've fished." He steadied Jenna's hands. "All you do is hold it steady, then when something bites, reel it in quick, using this. Not that hard, as you can tell." Garet was suddenly and painfully reminded of an instance several years back, when he had first taught his little brother to fish...it seemed like ages ago now...
'Garet, you PROMISED you'd take me fishing today, you promised!!'
'Oh Garet, I told you not to move those pillars on my flowers again, you silly boy...'
'Garet, no, no, why do you have to go away? Why can't we live together...'
"I think I have it now..."
"What?" Garet blinked stupidly, snapped out of his reverie. He looked down and with a start, realized that his hands were still firmly holding Jenna's in place. With a fierce blush, he quickly pulled his hands back. "Oh, sorry..."
Silence. The crickets chirped around them and slowly day faded into dusk. The sky above the two was dyed in crimson and brilliant showers of orange and yellow. After a while, Garet ventured a glance at Jenna. His charge, the Princess of Vale. She was unlike any person he had ever had to guard before. He had never talked so much to one of his clients before. They were always some pompous merchants or some vague, beautiful lady who had a brain that was completely empty. They had all treated him like a dangerous animal/servant. It had annoyed him to no end, so Garet normally kept quiet and stayed as far away as possible. At the end, he got money, they got to their destination safe, everyone was happy.
But this princess...'From now on my name is Jenna, alright?' She had treated him as an equal. Not as...a mercenary. Garet blinked in sudden recognition. She was like Isaac, almost. Like Isaac, who insisted that Garet was not a mercenary. Was he? Was he? 'My name is Jenna...and you're Garet.'
She was holding the pole with two hands, leaning slightly against the tree, looking down at the water. She looked different...not her usual fiery and energetic self. Suddenly, she said, "My father used to tell me about this once. How he used to take my mother fishing in the woods in the few times they escaped the Palace."
Garet stayed quiet, remembering suddenly that the King and Queen of Vale were dead. 'Her parents...I never even thought about it that way...'
"He was going to take Felix and I one day but--" Jenna stopped in mid- sentence. "But," she continued, determinedly cheerful, "we never got a chance." Jenna turned to Garet with a smile on her face; it looked suspiciously fake. "I've always thought of asking Felix to go with me, but he was always so busy. But I guess I'm learning now..." she trailed off and quickly turned to the front again.
He looked at Jenna. "How...how did they die?" he quietly asked. Then, too late, Garet realized that that might not have been the most tactful of questions. 'Stupid, STUPID mouth! What if she starts crying or something??'
But surprisingly, Jenna answered, just as quietly. "They killed themselves."
Stunned, Garet turned. "What?"
"Most of the public don't know..." Jenna said quietly. "how they really died. The Shaman's Rod...was wanted by Prox. Saturos captured my parents for ransom. But on the morning that Felix was set to ride out with the Rod to deliver it...we received word from other villagers...that our parents had committed suicide." She sighed; a small, delicate breath, and fingered the Rod by her side. "They knew what we would do, so to prevent it, they killed themselves. It was made out that they had been murdered on site." Jenna suddenly smiled brightly and turned to Garet. "How about you Garet, how about your parents? Do you have any family?"
Garet stiffened and stared straight ahead. "My parents are dead. My younger brother and my older sister nearly died too, but they're alright now...they're working at the Palace in Vale, actually."
Jenna stared in shock. "What happened?"
"Cholera epidemic," Garet said shortly. "7 years ago. That damned disease wiped out nearly the whole village. Aaron and Kay nearly died...it was thanks to only the Gods that they didn't. For some reason, I wasnt' touched by the disease."
She looked at him, understanding dawning on her face. "Was that why you became a mercenary?" Jenna asked softly.
"....yes," he said after a while. "After nursing them back to health, we were short on money. So I hired my services out and sent back what money I could." He refused to look at her, refused to see the pity on her face.
~~~~
"Then why do you call yourself a mercenary?" Jenna asked, frowning. "You're just someone who hires his services out."
To her surprise, Garet stiffened next to her and suddenly rose and towered above her, glaring. He stood in front of her, against the setting sun, so all she could see were the glint of his eyes. "What do you know?" he snapped. "You and Isaac are just the same! Always talking about stupid ideas!"
Jenna had no idea what he had suddenly gotten angry about but she rose too; the fishing pole lay forgotten in between them. "Well excuse me!" she snapped. "I was just asking, you don't have to get all defensive about it! Why would anyone want to be called something as evil-sounding as 'mercenary?'"
Garet felt dirty and very angry. And because Jenna was the only one yelling at him, he yelled back. "What do YOU know about it Jenna?? Nothing!!"
"You're right!" Jenna yelled back, blotches of color rising on her cheeks. "I don't know, that's why I'm ASKING!!" She was now completely frustrated. 'What's his PROBLEM?' One minute, they had been talking civilly, almost like...friends. Then the next they were yelling at eachother. Then, for lack of anything else to say, Jenna burst out, "IDIOT!!!"
Garet angrily opened his mouth to retort. But as Jenna watched, the look in his crimson eyes changed from anger, to confusement, to alarm. Then before she could say anything else or react, he suddenly flew at her and crushed her into his muscular arms, bringing her down. "Look out!!!"
"Wha--" With a gasp, they hit the ground and Jenna heard a whizzing noise accompanied with a slight thud. Just as quick, Garet rolled off her and whirled around, extending his gloved hand and with a yell of "Heat Wave!" she felt a scorching heat above her face.
Jenna pulled herself up as Garet turned to her, his face anxious and worried. "Are you alright?" he demanded.
She nodded shakily. "Yes, but what was that?"
They both looked towards where Garet's Heat Wave had hit, a small area of now burned forest across the small stream. No one was in sight. Caws were crowing and flying into the sky. "I think the right word is," Garet said grimly, "not what. But who." They turned back behind them. "Looks like someone's found us."
Embedded into the tree behind Jenna, where her head had been a few seconds earlier, was a small dagger. A few of Jenna's red hairs were caught under the blade.
~~~~
A/N - THAT SUCKED!! *pouts* I swear, that was a bad chapter, I can write better than that!! *pouts more*
Picard: I agree, that was quite disappointing.
*THWAP*
Picard: *rubbing head* What in the name of Lemuria was THAT for??
You're not supposed to be saying stuff like that!!!
Picard: But you said--
Well anyways, ignoring the man with dyed hair--
Picard: IT IS NOT DYED!!!
--this was a horrible chapter everyone! I apologize! I dont' know WHAT happened! And it took forever too!! I promise, the next one will be better! This one didnt' have much Garet/Jenna moments (well, it's the beginning of the story...) but at least there was action, right? ^^;; Not boring nemore I hope? -_- Unfortunately, my bad writing took away from the story...well it's gonna get better...this one wasn't as long either...
Picard: T . T My hair's not dyed...
Of course it isn't Picard. Please review everyone!!!! It really encourages me and my bad writing skills! *sniffs* Well, not so bad...but still not that good!
Picard: Not dyed...
Shut up. *looks at audience* Oh yeah. REVIEW!!!!