The Last Ranger

Chapter 1: The Day Of Happenings

From the west, the sun rose, banishing the darkness of night. It was a welcome dawning as the first traces of day shone on a sea of yellow crops that grew far into the horizon. Few buildings dotted the landscape, where farmers and their families were already up and about to start their daily chores. Beyond the fields, a wall of green stood proud and tall; a forest teeming with wildlife, where hunters were stalking day in and day out to supply the nearby town with meat, leather, and herbs. The town itself was small, with few buildings made of brown, crudely placed bricks. The most prominent building was the town hall, which tripled for the mayor's house and church. There was also a small saloon with a sheriff's office tucked away. Across the lone street in the town, separating half of the buildings, stood a well-provisioned general store. Behind the store, two steel platforms stood. They were too small for larger transport ships to land but still big enough for shuttles, to ferry people and produce up to their motherships above.

Sanctuary F-19 was a small farming colony indeed. Only 10000 people lived on the isolated planet. Their prime world mostly overlooked the colony, but every month, ships arrived demanding taxes in the form of produce. Seldom travellers came, for there was nothing to see. Beyond the small town, the planet was void of intelligent life, and no signs of such life were ever visible.

Thus F-19 was a boring backwater planet, drifting alone, far away from the worries of the wider universe. It was so alone that it was the only planet in its solar system, and the nearest other star was almost 15 light years away. Beyond that, in its galaxy, it was the only populated planet. Legend has it that the planet was discovered by accident when some hotshot explorer nearly flew into the system's star.

Yet even a backwater planet like Sanctuary F-19 had time to celebrate the Day of Happenings.

Today, the town was preparing for a festival. Streamers, stalls, and kites were popping up in the town's lone street in preparation for the festival. Tonight, almost everyone that lived on the planet would be attending the celebration, selling their goods to one another, partaking in the day's merriment while the youth would play games in the street or the open fields around the town. Then, there would be dancing and singing at night, and everyone would have a merry time.

Not Claudia Monroe. She hated the Day of Happenings. So, while the other farmers, hunters, and their children awoke early to prepare for the day's festivities, Claudia remained in bed until midday. It was her birthday, after all—her 18th birthday.

The Day of Happenings was said to be the birthday of some kind of Chosen One. 18 years ago today, someone decided the requirements for an ancient prophecy had been met and that this "Chosen One" was born. As a result, Claudia hated her birthday almost as much as she hated living on Sanctuary F-19. It was a farming colony, but her father chose not to be a farmer or a hunter. Instead, they lived on the fringes of the settlement, in the forest, isolating themselves from the colony... For the most part.

Her father forced her to attend school with the other kids, and soon she became an outcast among them. They laughed behind her back and made jokes about her and her father. She was 8 when they first learned when her birthday was, and since then, the worse of the kids called her The False One.

She avoided them the best she could, especially now that school was over. But today, her father would force her to attend the festival, as he did yearly. "Think of it as your birthday party." He would say, with a straight and serious face.

Outside, a bird was chirping so loud that Claudia had no choice but to wake. She was still stiff from yesterday's training. Slowly she climbed from her bed, stretching and yawning. She gave a sigh, stood, and made herself ready. Claudia was a slender girl, taller than most other girls but shorter than her father. She had dark eyes and short dark curly hair. Hair that she should straighten or comb out, but today, as she stood in front of her closet mirror, she decided not to. She dressed in plain clothes: A white shirt, brown pants, and black boots, before emerging from her room.