A/N:Hey,everybody!This will offically be my last time update here until after Thanksgiving...but never fear!I will be updating Beyond A Different Horizon not too far after the month of Dec. starts and as that goes along,I will also due a special right around Christmas.Which,at this moment is 'very' top secret...no,it's not a Christmas-themed one...but...well,you'll just have to be paitent and see.Oh and since this isn't going to be such a long 2nd and last half,I'll reply personally through the new reply sec. Byez
Continueing...
Rose layed motionlessly on the bed that was not her own,clutching thepink and yellow flowery-printed,pale blue quilt in a partially wadded up ball againist her chest for all the support she felt everyone was completely lacking.If they really wanted to help,why didn't they bring her parents back?It had been nearly a week since she had found out the news that her parents had been taken from her and if that wasn't confusing and traumatic enough,her quiet but strict Uncle hadn't even stayed around to attend his Brother and Sister-in-laws funeral.They hadn't taken much since he had told her he was taking her to live with him,only that he had much planned for her.And whatever it was,it had something to do with her birthmark,which she hadn't liked since the very day she was born with it.
"Mama,Daddy,"She whispered in a frail voice,her throat was hoarse and burning from so much sobbing and wailing,her eyes swam with a flood of tears that ran down her pale little cheeks and made her sick to her stomach,"When will you come back?"beginning to plead again desperately,Rose took a moment to clasp her hands and press them firmly on her forehead,"Please...please bring them back.I miss them so much,"
She finally brought her face up to see that it was starting to rain again,millions of droplets descending from dark,unknown regions high above nearly anyone's understanding.The feeling gave thebroken little girl a chilly feeling that nearly consumed her,like taking her into frozen arms and not letting her go no matter how hard she begged or cried.It was like this all the time for her,constant and terrorfying.Why was this happening to her?Burying herself down into the cushioness of her cousin Leslie's old bed,Rose struggled greatly but finally surrended to another round of sobs.
Meanwhile...
Huntsmaster rubbed his temples aggressively,taking in the fact that it had been nearly a week since he had brought his young niece back with him to Manhatten.He had had to put up with her ignoring him when he tried to tell her calmly of her destiney,her agonizingscreaming fits whenever he tried to enroll her into a new school and her relentless waterworks that never seemed to fail at any given time.Although deep down he sympathized with her,he had known from the start that in order to be one of them,she would have to resolve the loss of her parents on her own.But because she had grown up so far in an overly sheltered enviroment,with two too tender parents and had unknowingly tooken advantage of modern-day life,it was no wonder he couldn't even begin to get through to her.The only real reason he wanted her around was because of the mark she undoubtly carried around with her that signifed her true purpose.
"That glorious mark,"He usedthe words he had used so many times the last six days to keep his goal intacted securely to help remind him of what he knew she would become once she overcame her sorrowful feelings of seperation,"The only real thing other then blood that links my Niece to me,"taking his recently polished staff from the hidden weaponary wall from behind the long rows of bookcases,he continued on thoughtfully,"My first staff...the amazing things about it that helped me accept my fate."
Scenes from the week before flashed back to his mind,like the one of when he had first seen the scared and shooken little girl that Officer William Bates,a well-muscled black man in his early forties,brought into the room.Her slightly below shoulder-length golden hair was held in a tight pony tail,her quavering hands were withdrawn behind her back and her soft bright sapphire eyes were red and puffy with glistening tears trickling down her blushing cheeks.He could almost feel her anguish,so much so that he had to resist the only very brief urge to through his arms around the child.But only when she had taken a seat next to him,did his eyes lay on the plaining-as-day Chinese Dragon cicatrice in a very familiar circular pattern on her arm.His eyes had widened,he had the exact same one in the exact same place!Only if this rare occurance happened,was it strictly made clear that whoever else had the distinct mark in the same place as someone younger then themselves was that they were to become that person's master no matter what and it was only possible through the same genetics.Which just so happened to be that between Uncle and Niece.
When his reflection caught and hiseyes were glued to it's surface in a sort of seeking manner,it became clear to him,"The only way I will ever earn the child's trust,is to try to understand her more,"he said aloud elucidately,starting to feel a new plan coming together piece-by-piece,"It's was so obvious all along,why did I not think of such an idea before!I simply gain my Niece's alliance through kindness and a bit of misleading."
"Do you always talk like that to yourself?"A small voice asked out shyly and a rather timid Rose appeared under the long,narrow table in the center of the Kitchen,"I know you've only been trying to help,"she told him apologetically once he turned to stare at her,her eyes were still just barely moist and she looked as if she were finally willing to give a shot at listening to him,"So...I guess there's nothing left to do but try and listen to you.That is,if you still want to tellme after how I've been acting all week."
For just a fracture of a second,Andrew felt extremely guilt ridden for ever thinking he could get to his Niece by munipulation but that moment was quick to pass because of what he knew must be done,"You know,a lot of people in our family have gone through this sort of tradition,"he began to explain to her slowly,as he took a breath and taking hold of his staff once again,turned back around and brought it down to her level to examine it,"In other words it's a way of life.It's not always easy at first to but it'spart of our destiney.And yours too...young Huntsgirl.To keep it going."
Confusion clouded Rose's mind,"What are you talking about,Uncle?"
"Not to worry,it will soon become clear."His mind rotated with many churning ways of how he should or shouldn't proceed with telling her,with Leslie it had been easier as she was born knowing but even so she had to know her fate and soon,"You belong to a long-line of Magical creature hunting descendents,also known as the Huntsclan.My secret idenity is Huntsmaster and I am the leader of it,"he met her eyes and saw that they were still lined with bewilderment,"Believe it or not,you were born into this clan.That birthmark around you're arm symbolizes you are one of us and that you are destined to be among the Magic world.But not as a caretaker,local or friend.No,only as a threat.To be initiated,you must train hard and slay you're first Dragon for when you turn older.Preferably,a teenager.I know it's a lot to take in but you must accept it.Fate,my dear Thorn,is unevitable andit is a fate thatcannot be changed no matter what you do.So,what do you think so far?"
Rose knotted her brow in astonishment,"You really want me to believe this,don't you?"she couldn't believe all she was hearing,couldn't believe her Uncle was trying to tell her this as a fact,so she just stood her ground and challengedhim a bit bravely,"Are you just making this up?"
"Making...this...up?"Huntsmaster spoke very catiously,as his anger at such a question began to flare accidently,"Making...this...UP!"but he cameto a sudden hault when he noticed her cower at this temper,so softening his tone he appealed to her more mildly but still earnestly,"No,I'm afraid I am not 'making this up' or any of the sort.For although this is kept in the privacy of only the Huntsclan,it is still firm and not changable what you are to become.It's a heavy burden and you will still be allowed to carry on a normal life...but you must adjust to this new way of life.You are not just my Niece,Thorn,you are my apprentice and I know it has been tremendously differcult for you as it has for me,"he placed his free hand on her shoulder,"But you are one of us and you must slay a Dragon."
The whole sensation of what he was telling her was so overwheleming,that she jerked back from his touch and running out from around the legs of the chairs under the table,charged out the Kitchen and didn't stop running until she found herself out in the middle of the street.There,she caught herself breathless and shivering in the still rapidly pouring rain.Wrapping her arms securely around herself to try and shield herself from the freezing precipitation that incased her body with the came chilled feeling as she'd be experiencing all week.That's when the blare of a horn and roar of a pierecing engieene snapped her to reality and she raced to the other side.
"THORN!"
Her uncle's stricken call of panic for her only made Rose run faster,she had to escape from this place,this nightmare of unspeakable and horrorfying events that had turned her life from the inside out.But the more she ran,through the open alley and onto another sidewalk where she continued to flee down it's paved path,the more she began to realizehow futile it was to try and leave the only thing she had left.The only one who had tooken her in and given her a home after her parents immediate absence.She wasn't sure how long it'd had been since her mad rush out of her Uncle's manison,but she didn't even put up a fight when two warm hands picked up her small,drenched body from off the side walk and brought her into a comfortable and dry store that she had never seen before in her life.But felt safe and secure in,for the first time in a week.
"There,there darling."An elderly woman's gentle voice aroused her from a deep and somehow restful sleep,as she sat up straight in a medium-sized bed with a red wool cover spread tightly over her now dry self,"I know you had quite a fright last night,but you're safe and sound now,"the woman told her soothingly,as she paused from stroking Rose's matted and slightly still soggy bright blond hair to allow her to sit up in what appeared to be a furniture store,"You're Uncle's waiting for you in the front,I hope you're feeling-"
"My Uncle?"Rose cut her off abruptly,however,she stopped when she saw the tired but concerned look in the regal yet kind-looking woman's eyes,"Thank you for helping me,"she told her gratefully,sliding down to the creaky wooden floor from beneath her covers and taking in a deep,relaxing breath,"I'm fine.But...I think it's time I went and saw my Uncle.I need to tell him something I've thought over."
Taking careful,delicate steps,Rose made her way up to the door of what she assumed would lead her into the front of the store and taking the brass handle,gingerly began to twist it to the side and releasingout herair,cracked the door open just enough to peer out and see her Uncle bent over on a chair skimming down the pages of a magazine.But something about the way he looked when he did so,it seemed to her that for some odd reason or another,he needed her.And at that moment she realized,that though what he had told her was strange and seemingly impossible,even though she had been plunged headfirst into aworld of turmoil and travesty,she needed him too.Even if it meant accepting his terms to become this 'Huntsgirl',anything was better then continueing to mourn day in and day out.So with determination fluttering her nerves,she cleared her throat to draw his attention.His widened eyes shifted to her and he began to gasp as if this was the first time he had seen her,
"Rosaline..."
"I accept it."She told him simply,her gaze holding his own as she went on in a bit of a cracked but still strengthened voice,"I want to become apart of this Hunts-thing you told me about...I..."holding her breath on it briefly,she released into with the next thing she stated,"I want to fufill my destiney and do whatever it takes to make it into the,um,Huntsclan."
Seven-and-a-half years later...
A fifthteen-year-old Rose was awoken from her long,chain-of-memory induced sleep,feeling herself over to make sure she was really the age she thought she was,she glanced over in the cottage that her and Jake had been hiding away in the last two years and saw theboy of her life sleeping soundly with his back turned to her a good three feet from her.Jake,she thought with settling relief and bent over to plant a kiss on his cheek while he murmured incoherent words in a deep and concentrated slumber.
"Huh?"Jake yawned drowizly,reaching up to place a hand on the side of his face where some dampness still lingered,he rolled over on his back and propped himself up with his shoulders on the bed,"Rose..."he inquired her groggily,taking one of his knuckled to try and grind a bit of sleep from his eyes,"Why are you awake?It's like two something in the Morning."
Her image was nearly impossible to make out in the dark,"Oh,"She breathed loosely and then placed her arms back under her head,"Just remembering some of the things that lead up to where I-we are now.It's amazing,today I could be an over-achieved female Huntsmaster training a whole new generation how to track down and hunt Magical creatures..."the words seemed foregin to her nowadays,the whole idea and concept was completely againist what she now believed and she confirmed this as she turned to Jake to say with wholeheartedness to her tone,"I could have been a lot of things,Jake.Too many to count.But I don't think I could ever be anymore happier then where I am now and that is right here with you."
Jake smiled at her through the darkness,"I'm just glad I caught you before you made me into a smoldering patch on the trunk of that tree,"he laughed at her jokingly but reached out to grasp her hand lightly,as he told her earnestly,"But I'm glad you choose what you did.You know...there's something I've always wondered,"his words nearly choked as he asked uncertainly,"If you hadn't known it was me,would you have still done it?"
The question piereced her mind intensely,she never really had thought of that before.Truely though,if she hadn't know it was Jake all along,would she had still administered the brutal yet final assault.She really rather not have awnsered,but something told her Jake hadn't of just thought of it over night.So with a heavy heart,she told him right before drifting off to sleep,
"In a way...I always knew it was you,"she told him softly,choosing her words carefully as if by some different force was helping he along the way,"Although I couldn't put a finger on it,sometimes I found myself liking you a bit inspite of my destiney...while falling in love with you on the side that I wanted to maintain.The side of me that you loved."
"Both of you're sides mean something to me,Rose,"Jake told her as he watched her lids start to fall,with his not far behind,"It's hard to say kinda,but they make up who you are.The side of you that's like any other girl and the side of you that's one awesome,kick-butt ninja chic,"they both stifled any trace of laughter at that moment,"Remember Rose...I'll always love you."
Their eyes finally shut in unison with thier hands in a loose but strong clasp in each others,as she repiled to him faintly,"I love you too Jake...although both you're sides are pretty much the same to me and always have been."
The End.