Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies, Disney does. I do own Fantasy, Bridie/Buttons, Sky/Jimmy, Dimples, and random others thrown in that I don't really care about. All the other leprechauns, elves, newsies, and faeries own themselves. I don't own any of the archery terms, I borrowed them from a website and have put the website on my fic page, so go there and check them out!! The end.
Sorry this has taken so long. I've been real busy, but here I am!! Lol. I was reading a fantasy book, and I was like "I need to write my own!" and suddenly, I could think of how to start this chapter! So, without further ado, Chapter Four!
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The leprechauns continued teaching everything they knew about swords- which was everything anyone could know about them- for a week after that first day, every morning until it was time to sell. Poor Mush was getting hardly any sleep, but he was proud of his accomplishes, and was excited to see that he was being regarded with more respect than he had been before.
The beginning of a new week brought new challenges for Mush: he had another weapon he needed to learn how to use. This was the longbow, and so the five older elves gathered in the clearing with Mush. He was slightly nervous around the elves, having been warned of how strict they could be by the leprechauns. But, this was something he had to do.
"Now, Mush. We've heard good things about ye." Bridie said, standing in front of him and holding her longbow in front of her.
"You have?" Mush asked.
"Ye learned how to us the sword in a short time, and that's a good thing. With all ye've got to learn, it's a very good thing." Dewey said, nodding and smiling at him.
That surprised Mush. The whole week they'd been there, she'd seemed sad. Racetrack told him it was because she didn't want to be in New York. "Ireland's just... greener", is what Race said, shrugging.
Either way, it was nice to see her smile. I made him feel more relaxed, and he smiled back.
"Today, we'll be teachin' ye how to use a longbow." Blue Boxer said, holding hers out to point out the different parts. She pointed to the wooden handle of it. "This is called the bow. All 'o ours are made with wood, but there are some made with other materials. As long as it can bend, ye can use it."
"Alright."
"And this here," Tree pointed to the taunt string on Blue Boxer's bow, "Is the bowstring."
"Dat's easy enough. What does it do?" Mush asked.
"We'll be getting' to that a minute, lad. Listen first." Bridie said. Mush nodded sheepishly.
"Now, see right here?" Tree pointed to the ends of the bow, indicating the place the string connected with it. "'Tis called the bow nock. Or string nock. Dependin' on which term ye like better."
"Those are the basic parts of the bow, and all ye'll really be needin' to know at the moment." Leanna explained. "But somethin' ye need to remember is that we use a longbow. Takes 'o lot 'o practice to be able to shoot this well, and we're hopin' you'll learn soon. Though we're not too worried about it, with ye havin' elevn blood in ye." She winked at him, smiling.
Mush nodded, nervous again. How the heck would he be able to learn how to use the longbow soon enough to fight?
"Ye got all that?" Dewey asked.
"Yeah, I'll remember dat."
"Good." Specs said. "Now, the arrows." He reached into a bag lying on the ground in front him and pulled out an arrow with three feathers at the end. "Obviously, dere's a sharp point on it. Bet you don't know why there're feathers on it."
"No idea." Mush agreed.
"Notice how there're two brown ones, and a white one. The white one is called da "cock" feather. It's cocked on a 90 degree angle ta help guide it. Dat's why it's a different color- you can tell which one it is easily." Specs explained. "And here you can see the arrownock," He pushed the feathers over to show the slit in the end of the arrow, "Which what ya use to nock the arrow onto da bowstring."
"And if ye can see here," Dewey said, pointing to the bowstring, "That's called the nocking point."
"That's where ya put da arrow?" Mush asked, looking up at the elves.
Bridie nodded,
grinning. "That's right. How about we show ye how to use it
now?"
Mush's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
"Let's see if ye can nock the arrow." Tree said. Blue Boxer gave the long bow to Mush, and Specs handed the arrow over to him. "Be careful, though, boyo, don't want ye shootin' at us."
Mush nodded, gripping the bow reverently. It was an odd feeling; he felt like he'd done this millions of times. So carefully, he slipped the arrownock in the nocking point of the bowstring. When he looked over at the elves, he saw them all smiling at him, nodding.
"That's good, Michael. Very good." Bridie said. "Why don't ye try shootin' that tree over there?"
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Another week gone by. Amazingly enough, Mush knew how to use a sword and longbow correctly, and though he wasn't as good at using either weapon as the others were, he looked as though he'd been practicing how to use each one for a few years. There weren't any other weapons that he'd need, so he went out every morning and practiced those two, sometimes with the leprechauns, or the elves, or the faeries.
"That was good, Mush! Watch your left side!" Itey called out from the side. He was watching Mush and Tag fight with their swords.
"He's learnin' fast." Jazz said from beside him.
Sparrow agreed. "He is. Faster than anyone thought he would."
"Which is a good thing, he'll just keep getting' better and better until we go back to Ireland." Jazz said happily.
Sparrow smiled. "Or maybe we can go back earlier."
"I'd love that. The city is too dirty for me."
"Aye, an' me."
Itey shrugged. "Ya get used to it after a while."
"But ye'd rather be back in Ireland, though, right?" Sparrow asked.
Itey looked over at her, smiling. "There's no place as pretty as Ireland."
Jazz pointed to the sun. "We should be finishin' up. He'll have to go sell soon."
Sparrow looked up at the sun and noted the position of it. "Aye, we'd best be goin'."
"Tag an' Mush, we've got to get goin'. Ye need to get sellin' soon." Jazz called out.
Mush grinned at the faerie across from him. "Looks like we're finished for da day."
Tag sighed and lowered her sword. "Now we're to go and sell the papers."
Mush lowered his
weapon, placing it in his holder, and they walked over to join
Sparrow and Jazz. "Ya don't like sellin' much, do ya?"
Tag
shook her head. "It's too hot here."
Mush looked over at her and started laughing.
Tag turned to him, frowning. "What are ye laughin' at?"
"It's da fall, Tag. It ain't hot anymore."
Tag stared at him for a second until a smile formed on her lips, and she began to laugh. "Leave me be, lad, it's hot to me."
Jazz, Sparrow, and Itey exchanged glances as Mush and Tag caught up with them, wondering what was so funny. They didn't ask, and once they stopped laughing, all five of them began to talk.
"So, do you have powers, too?" Mush asked them.
"Who told ye they had powers?" Jazz asked.
"The leprechauns." Mush said. "They can change things..."
Tag laughed. "They can bend metal."
"Is dat all?"
"No, they can change the appearance 'o things." Sparrow said. "But only that. They can't change the way it feels, or the way it smells, or any 'o the other senses."
"How does dat work?" Mush asked, confused.
"Put it this way; they have a newspaper, but they can make it look like a toy doll. But when they give it to someone, it doesn't feel like a doll, it feels like a newspaper." Jazz said.
"Right. And dat's all they can do?" Mush asked.
"Aye, that's all they can do." Jazz said.
"But what about you? You've got powers too, dontcha?"
"We can fly an' freeze certain things." Itey said. "Mostly liquids. We can freeze part of a rivah, or a small lake."
"And can keep any drink from spillin' on us. That comes in helpful." Tag grinned. "Stops in midair, unless the drink is already out 'o the cup... then it falls on us. But it's frozen, so it's not as bad."
"And if metal is in its liquid state, we can freeze it. If anythin's in a liquid state, we can freeze it. That's why faeries are the ones who make swords." Sparrow explained.
"Really?" Mush asked.
"Really." Itey said, smiling. "We can freeze da rain, too. Small parts of it, but it jus' stops where it is. We've that power over rain, to stop it completely."
"And the elves?" Mush asked.
"They have the power to heal." Jazz said. "They can heal small cuts, and sickness in humans. But they can't do anything to help a wound from an enemy's weapon. That's all they've got, but it's the most important."
"Do I have any of those powers?" Mush asked.
The faeries glanced at each other but didn't say anything.
"No, you don't have any 'o those powers. Ye've gained some things from each 'o us, and from our enemies, but only small things." Sparrow explained.
Mush sighed. "It was worth a try, askin' ya."
"Come on, let's hurry inside before Kloppman wakes up." Itey told Mush, who looked over, surprised to see they were already back at the Lodging House.
"We'll see ye later." Jazz said. The three girls continued down the street, heading for the Girl's Lodging House on the next block.
"You're getting' good, Mush." Itey said as they walked up the stairs.
"Ya really think so?"
"No, I'm lyin'." Itey said, grinning.
Mush grinned back. "It's weird, but I feel like I've always known how ta see the sword and the longbow. But I know I haven't."
"That's because of da blood in ya." Itey said. "That ain't surprising."
"As long as-" Mush began, but broke off as the two of them entered the building, only to find Specs, Race, Smirk, and Sky waiting for them. "Is somethin' wrong?"
"Bridie wants to talk ta us." Race said.
"About?"
"We don't know yet." Specs said. "She said ta go and meet her at da Girl's Lodging House."
"Right now?" Itey asked.
Smirk nodded. "Let's go and find out what it's about, and not stand here askin' questions."
"For once, you're right." Race said, grinning.
So the boys walked out of the Lodging House, walking around the block until the reached the girl's identical building. When they walked in, the elves, leprechauns, and faeries were sitting around on the floor or on the few chairs inside.
"What's this about, Buttons?" Specs asked Bridie when they walked in.
"Nothin's happened, right?" Mush asked her.
Bridie shook her head. "No, nothing's happened. But there's somethin' I'll be needin' to ask ye."
Mush stared at her, confused. "What do ya need ta ask?"
"As was told to ye when we met, we needed your help to win." Bridie said.
Mush nodded. "And I'm gonna help ya."
"I know. But if ye remember, I also said we needed the help 'o humans."
"Yeah..."
"Well, lad, the best humans to help us fight would be ones that ye trust." Bridie said.
"Well, there's only... Ya mean you want them to-"
Bridie cut him off. "Not if they don't want to. We'll be askin' them today. Those of your newsie friends that want to, will. But those that don't won't have to."
Mush frowned at her. "But they could get hurt."
"I know that, any of us can get hurt. But we need their help, lad." Bridie tried to explain.
He gripped the hilt of his sword, which he still had with him, thinking. He didn't want his friends in danger, but he had a feeling that they could be in more danger if they didn't help him fight. They'd be better if they learned how to defend themselves, because the merrows and banshees would hurt them to get Mush to help them fight, instead.
When he realized that, he looked up at Bridie, who nodded at him. "Ye know, Mush. It'd be better if they were to help us."
Mush sighed. "I know. We'll ask them today."
Bridie nodded. "Why don't ye go back home now? We'll talk to them all later today."
Mush turned around and opened the door, walking back out and turning to Racetrack.
"Ya don't think it'll be really bad for them, do ya?"
Racetrack shrugged. "I don't know. I hope not. They're my friends, too."
"And mine." Specs said.
"Mine, too." Itey said.
"We'll teach 'em everything we taught you, and we'll watch out for dem." Race promised.
"That's all we can do." Smirk said.
"I know."
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WOO HOO!! Another chapter. I'm sorry that took so long for me to get out. I promise I won't wait that long again. I've got SUCH great ideas for this, I thought of it all one night, and now I'm excited.
Sorry 'bout the real informative chapter, though. And everyone will be in the next chapter, especially the girl newsies. So be excited. Lol.
