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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Dec 14, 2010 21:10:55 GMT -6
Chelsea watched closely as Val unveiled the bow. Somewhat ignoring what he was saying she looked it over. It honestly looked very similar to a bow her father had had, particularly the one she had always wanted but he had taken with him. It certainly was a gift. In a fluid motion, she slid down off of Spirit and gave Val a hug. "Thank you, Val. It means a lot to me." She almost gave his cheek a kiss, but thought better of it. She didn't want him feeling bad right now. Taking her new bow in hand, she looked it over carefully. After a minute or so, she looked back up at him. "It's perfect, Val."
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Post by Valcrist on Dec 17, 2010 15:55:03 GMT -6
He felt his face grow warm, but he didn't shy away as much as much as he would have normally. "You're welcome." He said with an easy smile. "And thank you, for taking it." He felt a knot in his stomach ease and another one in his heart tighten. He felt good that she liked it, but felt bad about the whole situation. He just stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, or was it minutes? Hours? It could of been any, time didn't quite flow the same. With a nervous cough, he decided now would be the best time to leave.
"Um.. Erm... I-I should go, I suppose." He smiled uneasily, thumbing over his shoulder as he talked. "T-tell me when we start moving again."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Dec 18, 2010 23:53:13 GMT -6
Chelsea smiled as Val left and went back to looking over her new bow. He might be a little bit awkward, but Val was really good with metal, whether he wanted to admit it or not. The archer lost time looking it over, getting a good feel for it.
It took a while before Chelsea realized just how much time she had spent looking it over. She finally put it away and looked back over at the other three. They'd get along fine without her. She closed her eyes. It was time. Giving Spirit a pat, she walked over to the three of them and cleared her throat. "I'm going to take my leave now. It's been nice to meet you two," she said to Ilyadia and Selibas. She turned to Val and smiled. "I'll be seeing you, Val. I figure I'll spare you that chat for now." She gave him a wink and laughed as she jumped up on Spirit. "If you do decide to go back to the group, be sure to tell everyone I say hi. Especially Kelvin, if he's still there."
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Post by Valcrist on Dec 19, 2010 0:09:15 GMT -6
He gave a bit of a goofy smile as he walked away, a little smirk that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He felt like he looked foolish, and to be honest he probably did, but that wasn't enough to drive away the slight giddy feeling he felt. The fact she took it, and liked it. The whole process went so much smoother then he had assumed it would, small miracles he told his self.
After a few moments, she came back and announced the news. Val managed to work up a saddened smile, after a deep sigh he shook his head. "No, I don't think you will be." His voice was low, somber. His gazed at her for a second before shutting his eyes, his face stretching to look happier. "Take care of yourself Chelsea."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Dec 19, 2010 21:27:34 GMT -6
Chelsea gave Val another sad smile. "We'll see, Val, we'll see." With one last nod to the three boys, the red-headed archer turned Spirit around and started off. She didn't look back as she rode away, not that she was afraid something would be happening to the group already, but because she was getting herself on the future. The little group that had formed had been a nice little distraction, but now it was back to business. She had a job she needed to do.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Dec 25, 2010 17:09:27 GMT -6
After what felt like hours, Chelsea thought it safe to take a peak back and as she thought the boys were no longer in sight. She gave a sigh of relief; not because she was glad to be rid of them but because she knew she was back on track. She gave Spirit a nudge and her the horse started to pick up the pace. She was getting close to home, she knew it. By now, it wasn't more than a day away. She hadn't been this close since the day she left what felt like years ago now. Then she ran into Rayl and Gabriel and then so much happened...
The archer reminisced for a few hours as a way to pass time. Still, no matter how many times she went over it, she couldn't believe how much had really happened to her. She was just a simple girl from the plains, not someone who was supposed to have such an eventful life! As she shook her head out of it, she looked around for familiar land marks. Getting her bearings, she decided to stop for the night. Sliding off Spirit, she removed a small blanket from her pack as the horse laid down. Laying next to her, Chelsea fell asleep.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Dec 31, 2010 13:54:03 GMT -6
Chelsea slowly opened her eyes and gave a large yawn. She stood and stretched before patting Spirit to get her up. Giving the horse a few seconds, she gathered her things and then jumped up on her back. Nudging her side, they started off. She was so grateful for her horse right now. It took days upon days to get to the point where she had met Rayl and Gabriel. Now it wouldn't take half that time to return home.
She rode on for hours, stopping every once and a while to give Spirit some rest and time to eat. But they kept pressing on until Chelsea saw a very familiar landmark. It was a large rock with a smaller one behind it. She gave a sad little smile. They had always called the two Nathan and Chelsea rocks, with Nathan protecting his little sister. She sighed and brushed away a tear in her eye. It did mean one thing, however. She was almost home.
Urging Spirit on, she started to get anxious being so close to home. Memories of the place started flowing back and it made her want to get back that much faster. How much would it have changed? Or would it be exactly the same as when she left? Either way, she wanted to see it, to sleep in her own bed, eat in her own kitchen... And that's when she saw it. A little spot in the distance. Her heart skipped a beat. She urged Spirit even faster and sped towards her home, silence tears coming down her face. But all at once, she stopped and the tears vanished. She was still some distance away, but she grabbed her bow and an arrow. Whispering to Spirit to take it slow and quiet, they moved silently towards the house. Chelsea kept her eyes narrowed at the smoke coming from their chimney. There was someone in her house.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jan 7, 2011 16:08:51 GMT -6
Chelsea quietly rode closer and closer to her home, her eyes not leaving the smoke flowing from it. She had a burning hatred in her stomach. How could someone move into her fathers house, her mothers house, her brothers house? They had no right, no right to do that. She slid off Spirit and told her to stay where we saw. This was where she had to go on alone. Taking the arrow, she knocked it on her bow and slowly started to move towards to the house.
The archer tried to calm herself as she walked. Sure, she was angry. But she couldn't let that overtake her or she'd be in trouble. She kept moving slowly, making sure to stay away from the windows so whoever was inside wouldn't see her. Moving into place, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes snapped open with a determined look in her eyes. "Who ever is in my house, get out here and face me!" She yelled, causing Spirit to jump despite her distance.
Chelsea heard a jump inside too, and the sound of a chair scraping. She saw the curtains move slightly and footsteps slowly head towards the door. She aimed her arrow right at the door, her arms completely still. Slowly the door opened and she took short, even breaths. A pair of hands came out of the door, in a gesture to show the man was unarmed. The orange-haired girl didn't fire, but kept her arrow trained on the man.
That was, until she saw the face of the man coming out of her home. Her hands started to shake and her bow slipped from her fingers. She found herself blinking a lot, her eyes starting to get watery. She struggled to find the voice that she had just used so fiercely when a word finally escaped her lips.
"D-Dad...?"
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jan 9, 2011 17:30:02 GMT -6
It couldn't be true. There was no way. Rayl said he had died, been murdered. There was no way he could be here. Yet there he was. It was hard to see through her water-filled eyes. It was her father. He was smiling at her, looking exactly as she remembered. She found her voice again, asking the same thing, "D-Dad...?" This time he nodded and spoke back in that familiar voice. "Yes, honey, it's me." That sealed it. She sprinted over and threw her on him, crying into his chest as he held her.
It took a while for her to find her voice again. "I-I thought you were d-dead... R-Rayl said you were killed in A-Araphen! I thought..." She lost it again and went back to crying as he stroked her hair. "No, sweetie, they never killed me. I was there for a time but was freed after Sir Rayl came through. I was told he was lied to about me as a way to anger him. Unfortunate for them, it worked." He gave a little chuckle. "It's what caused them to let me go free in the end. As soon as I got out I hurried home to return to you and your mother...
He paused, taking a deep breath. I suppose you know how I felt when I got back and discovered she had passed. And then you were gone... I had to expect the worst. But here you are! I'm so happy to see you safe." He paused again. "Did you say you know Sir Rayl?" Chelsea nodded. "I traveled with him for some time! As well as a bunch of people who were great. I made a lot of new friends from all over, and even got really close to a few of them..." Her thoughts drifted to Kelvin and then to Karina. "But then I took a leave for a bit. I wanted to come home and give you a proper burial. But you're alive!" She smiled happily up at him.
He smiled back. "I notice you have your own horse now. Any good at shooting from it yet?" When she shook her head, he moved back into the house and came back out with one of his bows, a nice steel one she had always liked, and handed it to her. "Come on, I'm gonna make being away for so long up to you. We'll grab some food first, then I'm gonna teach you how to be a ranger."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jan 14, 2011 12:44:25 GMT -6
Chelsea still couldn't believe it as the pair of them left the house after eating the food her dad had cooked. He was still alive! She wasn't the last member of her family! She wanted to know everything that happened since she left, but he kept saying there was something more important to do so it would have to wait. "What are we doing now?"
"I already told you, I'm gonna teach you how to be a ranger." "I can ride and shoot a little bit already, though." "A little bit isn't going to help if you get into another fight. I'm gonna make it so you can ride and shoot with the best of them, and with my help," he gave a playful wink, "you'll learn it much faster than with anyone else. I'm kind of a big deal, you know." Chelsea rolled her eyes and hit his arm lightly. "Sure you are, Dad." She shook her head and jumped up on Spirit, patting her neck lightly. "Let's do it."
Her father rode up next to her and went over the proper way to hold a bow while she rode. It was pretty close to how she had done it before, but there were a few differences that really seemed to help. "Alright, I already set up some targets. Let's see how many you can hit." She nodded and started off, firing at the targets as she went. She hit the first two, missed the next three and hit the final one. She rode back to her dad, who had a little smile on his face. "Not bad for a first try. But we'll get it so that every one is a bullseye."
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jan 17, 2011 1:11:21 GMT -6
And tried they did. Chelsea spent the better part of the next week riding with her father. It took two full days before she had been able to his all six targets dead-on. But once she finished that, her father had more training for her; covering a wide area of subjects. She practiced shooting riding side-saddle, each side, and while standing up both in the foot holds and on the saddle itself. She practiced more basic archery: hitting small objects at a distance, aiming at concealed objects or objects using others as shields. Her father made each one into a plausible scenario so that if they ever actually happened, she'd be ready.
Never had the archer worked so hard in her life. Sure, she had practiced hard before she left home the first time and tried to do so on the road, but her father worked her hard. Up at the crack of dawn, a quick meal, then training straight til lunch, then again straight til dinner. After that, they just spent time together, telling each other stories. She told him of Rayl and Gabriel, Kelvin and Val, Karina and Saffra. He told her of his run in with some bandits, his time imprisoned and all the various battles he had fought in. She liked the stories, but more than that she liked just being able to spend time with him again.
She did get mad at him sometimes, though. Like the time her burnt lunch after a particularly tough morning session. Or when he insisted learning to ride while standing on her hands would come in handy and after spending two days on it he told her he was only joking. But progress was made. She could hit a target right on nine times out of ten, with the last just missing. She could shoot from any direction and ride in almost every way, including the aforementioned handstand way. It hadn't been easy, but she had gotten good. Maybe even great. Either way, she felt proud of the amount of work she had put in and her father felt the same. On the night they finally finished training, he pulled out a box.
"I found this in a shop during my travels. I already had one myself, but I hoped that someday I could give this one to you. When you weren't here... I was crushed and I hid it. But here you are, all grown up." He gave her a big smile. "And you've proven you deserve this." He handed the box over to her and she nervously opened it. Inside was an object that appeared to be two arrows, tips red and feathers blue, crossed. She didn't know what it was, but her father answered before she could ask. "It's called an Orion's Bolt. It's given to an archer when he or she is ready to be considered something more. For you, it shows that you are now a ranger, like me." He chuckled at the look of shock on her face as she looked it over. He tossed her one of his extra quivers as well. "You'll be needing a new one of these too."
He paused and then pulled out another box, this one much smaller. He handed it over without a word and Chelsea opened it. Her mouth dropped instantly. It was her mother's favorite ribbon for when she tired up her hair. She hadn't seen it since she died and thought she never would again. "I... I can't... Mom..." Her eyes started to well with tears as her father took it from her hands and put her hair up like she had seen her mother do so many times before. "There, perfect." He smiled down at her. "Now you look just like her. But with my skills and awesome fashion sense." He said with a laugh and getting one in return, be it a weak one. "Now come on, I think we both deserve some rest." Chelsea nodded in agreement. Still wiping away tears, she headed to her room to get some sleep.
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Post by Chelsea Dagger on Jan 25, 2011 20:20:51 GMT -6
Chelsea woke bright and early the next morning. Then events of yesterday still unbelievable and fresh in her mind. She ran her hand over her mother's bow... her bow... It didn't seem real. As she went to get dressed, she noticed her father had laid out a new shirt for her. Jeez, how many presents was he going to give her!? She'd have to yell at him about it later.
Walking out of her room, she found a plate of food waiting for her on the table, but her father no where insight. She was slightly panicked when he wasn't there, but she composed herself and went to eating. Right around the time she finished, the door opened and he came in, much to her relief. "Where have you been?"
He gave a little smile. "I've been getting Spirit ready for you?" When her eyes widened, he laughed. "No, not more training. I was getting her ready for your ride back towards Bern." It sounded like a foreign language to her at this point. "Bern...? But, why would I leave now? There's still so much..." But he cut her off. "You need to go back. You may want to stay here, with me, but you have to get back to your group. Even as you slept, you kept muttering names. Kelvin, Karina, Val, Gabriel... They're all waiting for you."
She wasn't thinking straight at this point. "So... you want me to leave?" He shook his head. "Of course not. I want nothing more to spend as much time with you as possible. But that not either of our destinies. You need to return to your friends and I have things of my own I must accomplish." Ignoring the look on her face, he took her hand and led her from the house to the nearby Spirit. "I won't take no for an answer." Looking down at her, he answered her unasked question. "Yes, we will meet again. It may take a while, but we will. Plus, I need to meet this Kelvin fellow, don't I?" She gave her a wink and helped her up onto Spirit. She wanted to fight back, but couldn't seem to find her voice again. It was all happening so fast... "You'll be fine. Keep your head up and remember everything I taught you. And no crying, you're a ranger now." He said with one of his famous big smiles. She gave a teary smile in return. "Ok, Dad..." She took a deep breath. "I love you." "I love you too, honey. Be safe." "And you. I'll kick your butt when I get back if you're not." He laughed and waved as she gave one last little smile and rode off.
Once her house had disappeared into the distance and her tears had subsided, Chelsea felt something graze her leg. She looked down to see something she hadn't expected: another gift. She reached down and pulled it out. It was her father's dagger. There wasn't a card or anything with it, just the dagger. But that was enough. Smiling slightly, she slid it back into the bag. She was really gonna have to kick his butt now.
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