Modern Ranger

Chapter 3

Bree closed her eyes briefly, calming herself.

When she opened them up again, Halt had his arrow drawn and pointing at her heart.

Bree's was already pointing at his. The arrow seemed to quiver in anticipation beneath her fingers.

Neither of them moved. Both knew how skilled the other was, so they both knew how evenly matched they were.

But to Bree, Halt seemed to be waiting expectantly for her to speak. So, eventually, she did. Her curiosity was too high.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

The corner of Halt's mouth twitched. Her multiple questions at once were not unlike Will.

"I think you know," he said softly.

"I know who you are. But like I said, why are you here?" Bree retorted bluntly.

Halt sighed inwardly. This one is strong willed, he thought. "Put the bow down. On three," he said.

"One."

They both lowers their bows.

"Two."

Their fingers were gradually taking their bows toward the ground.

"Three."

They plonked their bows on the ground and quickly straightened up.

Halt didn't even bother to suggest putting their knives down. He knew that Bree wouldn't be willing to stand defenceless.

"So...why are you here?" Bree repeated.

On this rare occasion, Halt hesitated. "We need help."

****

A single moonbeam filtered through the window at the orphanage.

Bree silently packed up her important possessions; her pocketknife, her bow, her spare Ranger cloak.

She paused. Should she be doing this?

Yes. Bree had to. Not just for Araluan, but for herself as well. She couldn't live like this anymore.

Besides, she wanted to meet her favourite book characters. Or character.

Bree had admired Will for years. Not in the crush sort of way. She admired his courage and his ability to plan quickly and logically.

Bree slunk towards the orphanage window, careful to stay in the shadows.

She'd already planned out her escape.

Swinging her camo backpack over her shoulder, Bree clambered onto the window ledge.

Her dormitory was two stories high. But to Bree, that wasn't a problem.

She took one look at the silvery drainpipe running down the building before curling her body around it and sliding down, fireman-style.

The wind whooshed past her ears. Adrenaline coursed through her, making her heart pound in excitement and her steely grey eyes fill with delight.

The ground was speeding up to her, fast. Using all her might, she squeezed the drainpipe.

Her palms burned excruciatingly. But all Bree did was grimace in pain. She had been expecting that.

She landed lightly on the balls of her feet before inspecting her hands in the dim street lamps.

They were red raw. "Gorlog's fangs!" Bree cursed bitterly.

"That's a rather interesting thing to say," said an amused voice.

Bree turned to Halt, grinding her teeth.

"The one time you choose the be bloody humorous, and it just happens to be at my bloody expense," she growled.

Halt raised an eyebrow, unabashed.

"Hmm. Don't...Skandians say that? And...maybe...Will?" Halt said, as if he were trying to remember.

"But how would you know that?" Halt continued, "Unless you paid really close attention to the book."

Bree glared at him.

"I needed to get my training from somewhere, didn't I?"

"Is knowing Skandian swear words 'training'?"

"Shut up."

"Anyway," Halt continued, "I heard that you would need some knives."

He passed Bree two knives in scabbards.

Bree grinned in spite of herself. She actually used to have a saxe and a throwing knife, but the orphanage had taken them off her. She had to conceal her weapons after that incident.

"After all, they were confiscated when they found you scaring the orphanage bully out of his wits in the middle of the night with your knives," Halt added drily.

Bree couldn't help it. She let out a snort of laughter.

Something stirred in Bree's closed-off heart. It took her a while to work out what it was.

For the first time in forever, Bree felt that she was being herself. Her heart warmed when she realised that she had finally found her place in life.

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Hey guys! How was it?

What do you think will happen? How will Will (lol) react when he sees how identical Bree looks to Alyss?

VOTE. COMMENT.NOW!!

Heehee.

Ta Da,

Bree.

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