Disclaimer: The newsies are owned by Disney. The girl newsies are owned by themselves, except for Fantasy and Dimples, who I own. All the leprechauns, elves, and fairies own themselves, too, except for Buttons/Bridie andSky/Jimmy.
Author's Note: All right, so I missed St. Patrick's Day, and the one year mark of me starting this. But I honestly did think that I started it March 28th... turns out, I didn't. Haha. But here's the new chapter. I actually like it. So... yay!
"No, ye're doin' it wrong, lad. Hold it like this." Puck shook her head while chiding Jake. She held her own sword out, demonstrating what he should do with it.
"Does it really matter how we hold it?" Snapshot asked, frowning. "As long as we stick it in the person we're fightin'-"
"It matters. If ye don't old it right, ye'll find a sword stickin' out of your own stomach." With a nod, Puck turned back to make sure Jake knew what to do.
It had been two weeks since they'd told the newsies about their fight. Surprisingly, it was coming along well. The newsies had already learned the basics of the longbow and were in the process of learning the basics for the sword.
"I don't get it." Nani turned to Smirk, who was standing beside her, surveying everything.
"What don't ye get?"
"Why we have to worry so much about our... our stance, is it?"
Smirk smiled. "Just don't worry about it and it's easy enough." He pulled his sword from it's sheath. "Lift yours up. Now see, when I swing it around this way, ye need to block the blow. Yeah, like that. The footing helps to keep your balance."
"Oh, all right," Nani said, trying it again.
Smirk swiveled. "When I do this," he said, "The footin' is really important. I would fall if I didn't have it right. And if I would try this," He raised his sword, ready to try a new move, when he heard someone shouting.
"Stop tryin' to show off, Smirk!" Trolley yalled, and grinned when he rolled his eyes at her. She turned back to Bridie, laughing.
"Are ye ready to listen now?" Bridie asked her, a little angry that she would stop their conversation when she had finally decided to tell them about what she had seen two weeks ago.
"Yeah, go on, Buttons. No need to get mad," Trolley said.
"In all fairness to Trolley, it was hard not to say somethin'," Tag said.
"What do ye mean?" Bridie placed her hands on her hips in frustration, looking much like a five-year-old.
"He's flirtin' with the newsgirls, Buttons! Have ye not noticed?" Tag said, giggling.
"He's a boy, that's what they do. I would have thought ye noticed that by now. Ye've been around long enough."
Trolley frowned. "Oh, cheer up, Buttons."
"Well, I have something to tell ye, but I've not had the chance because some people here keep gettin' distracted."
Tag smiled and patted her arm. "Go on, we're listenin' now."
Bridie dropped her arms, leaned closer to the girls, and in a whisper described the ghost'like image she had seen in the Lodging House.
Trolley let out a long breath. "And it was laughin'?"
Bridie nodded. "That's why I'm worried. We have Mush on our side, they should all be... well, they shouldn't be laughin'."
"No wonder ye've been acted different lately," Trolley said.
"But what could the merrow have done?" Tag asked, trying to cheer them up. "All the newsies are on our side."
"I don't know," Bridie said, her eyes solemn as she surveyed the clearing. People were shouting, laughing, having fun, the sky getting brighter as the morning wore on. One second she was looking at Itey, the next she saw something flying at them. Without pausing to think, she grabbed Trolley and Tag's hands and pulled them to the ground with her.
"What are ye-" Trolley muttered.
"Buttons, what's-" Tag began to ask.
All three girls felt a slight breeze over their heads, and then the thunk as an aroow hit a tree a few feet behind them. Suddenly, the clearing was eerily silent.
Bridie stood up slowing, Tag and Trolley flanking her.
"Who shot that arrow?" she asked, a barely controlled anger heard in each word.
All the newsies with longbows glanced at Blue Boxer and Tree, their "helpers" for the day.
"Which one of ye did that?" She asked, a little louder.
"Bridie," Blue Boxer said quietly, using her real name in light of the worry that clouded her face. "No on has aroows yet."
Bridie studied her face, and then looked to Tree's pale face her hand holding the quiver full of arrows- a quick count told Bridie they were all there. She turned and walked back to the tree, slowly pulling the arrow out.
"Buttons..." Specs stepped forward. "It's not one of ours, is it?"
Silently, Bridie handed Specs the arrow to see for himself.
The intricately designed arrow felt cool in his hands, the arrow tip made from sharpened rock. The whole thing had a slightly greenish tint to it. Without a doubt, Specs knew it had come from the enemy's hand.
"But how-" Specs asked.
"I don't know, but I don't like it here. It's not safe. We'll leave for Ireland tomorrow morning." Bridie strode through the clearing. "Go on everyone, pack your things if you plan on coming with us."
"This is crazy!" Nani said, turning to her friends for support. "They can't expect us to just leave like that, can they?"
"You don't want to go?" Half Pint asked.
"No, I want to. But... I thought we'd have more time." She sat down on her bed in the bunkroom, pushing her few possessions she had been in the process of packing out of the way.
"We should have more time," Snapshot agreed, swinging up to sit on the bunk across from Nani.
"I think they made the right choice, though. You saw dat arrow," Air pointed out.
"But ya really think we'll be safer in Ireland?" Striker asked, thinking aloud. "I mean... we're fightin' against the merrows and whatever the other thing was of Ireland." She gave up on her packing and sat beside Nani.
"Banshees," Air said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, but we'll be livin' in their homes. They probably have 'em protected," Dimples spread out on the bed underneath Snapshot.
"They wouldn't want normal people findin' them," Fantasy joined the girls, sitting on the floor between the two bunkbeds.
"Maybe the merrows and banshees know where they live," Half Pint suggested.
"Or maybe we're not stayin' with them," Nani said.
"Why wouldn't we stay with them? We're helpin' them," Snapshot said.
"Hey, Kane, whatta you think?" Striker asked, shouting across the room.
Kane looked over at them from her place at the window. It was the best place for her to sit and think, and right now, she really needed that. With a last look at the sky, she walked over and joined her friends.
"They'd probably have us livin' with them." She leaned against the post of the bed.
"Oh, so you were payin' attention to us," Air said, grinning. She put down her extra shirt and sat at the head of Dimples' bed.
"Yeah, I was." Kane smiled back.
"Well, I agree with ya, Kane. They wouldn't make us live somewhere else," Fantasy said.
"How do you know for sure?" Nani asked.
"We don't. We could ask them, though, when they get back," Half Pint said.
"Where'd they go, anyway?" Dimples asked, frowning at the bunks that the elves, faeries, and leprechauns took as their own.
"I don't know, somewhere to talk about all this," Air said.
"Yeah, they probably don't want us knowin' what they think about what happened taday," Striker said.
Kane shrugged. "I don't think they do know. They're probably just guessin'."
"It was scary." Nani rubbed her hands over her arms as she felt a chill. The girls all muttered their agreement.
"Just think," Striker said quietly, "When we're fightin', there'll be hundreds of arrows shootin' at us."
For a moment, the girls were all quiet, picturing in their minds what it would be like fighting.
"What did we get ourselves into?" Fantasy asked quietly.
"Oh, stop it," Snapshot said. "We shouldn't be thinking about that now."
"And besides! We're doin' this for a good reason," Kane agreed.
"Even if we didn't help, our friends would still be fightin'. Specs, Itey, and Racetrack... and Mush, too," Air said.
"We might as well help them," Nani agreed.
"See! We're doin' the right thing!" Striker said.
Half Pint glanced at Fantasy. "I'm with Fantasy here. What if somethin' happens to us?"
"Like what?" Snapshot asked.
Without thinking, Half Pint answered. "We could die."
As her words sunk in, the room seemed to get colder, darker. They each looked around at each other, seemingly taking in everything about them, afraid that if they didn't, they'd forget what they looked like if they did die.
Air finally broke the silence. "Well... but... everyone dies. It's justa matter of when."
"Let's agree on something," Dimples said, staning up from her place on the bed. "When we're fightin', we'll all watch out for each other."
"And help each other if we can," Snapshot said, jumping down from the bedand putting her hand out. Dimples' hand joined hers.
"We'll stick together," Nani agreed, sticking her hand out.
"You can count on me," Kane said, her hand joining the others'.
Striker's and Air's hands followed. All the girls watched Fantasy and Half Pint. Fantasy slowly got up from the ground, and in an instant her hand and Half Pint's were on top of the others'.
"As long as we've got each other, I think we'll be ok," Half Pint said, and Fantasy nodded her agreement.
A slow smile spread across Kane's face. "Looks like we're all goin' to Ireland, then."
Striker grinned. "Thank God, because I don't think I could stand another week sleeping on my bed."
Everyone laughed, dropping their hands.
"I heard Ireland's beautiful," Fantasy said, smiling at her friends.
"Seems like we'll find out for ourselves tomorrow," Air said, and smiled.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! lol.
Guess what?
THEY'RE GOING TO IRELAND! Finally! Haha. And then... the real fun begins.
