The side entrance to the woods I took was much more difficult to navigate through than I had originally thought. Bushes and branches, vines and plants, stuck so tightly together it quickly became extremely difficult to maneuver down the steep side slope. I carefully made my down slowly, and eventually spotted the fallen tree. Without hesitation, I climbed over it, my heart beating quickly. Upon making my way down, I spotted nothing but a long path in the distance, and I quickly broke out a big smile. I began to dart quickly down the path, as it slowly began to twist, turn, and spiral once again. I began to make my way down the path much more slowly once the cobblestone road came into view. It was my first time making my way into BlueEarth alone, and I felt proud about it.
Once the gas lit lampposts began to pop up, I knew I was close to the Sanctuary, I passed by many small houses, almost like huts, woman and children roamed around outside. The woman hanging clothes, and quilts, up on their clotheslines, and children playing in the afternoon sun. As I came into their view they stared at me curiously, as I walked further down the path, I noticed a mother not to far ahead of me calling her child to come close to her. In a way, I understood her sudden concern. After all, I was technically an outsider and I’m sure the parents of these children had experienced the catastrophe and did not want any more loss.
It wasn’t long until I made my way to the Sanctuary; I noticed Lance dressed in full armor, was guarding the entrance. “Well! Look’s who’s made their return!” he greeted loudly. I grinned awkwardly. “Lance, I wish to speak with Clarity privately, is she around?” I asked desperately. “And what makes you so sure that you deserve to speak with the Goddess?” Lance asked as he folded his arms. I sighed, “Look, it’s kind of important; it would mean a lot to me if you can take me to her, please?” By that time, I was beginning to sound really desperate, but despite my desperation, it seemed I broke through to him. Lance stared at me hard and curiously, “Very well then!” He agreed as he escorted me inside the Sanctuary.
Upon entering the first thing I had noticed is that it was empty, neither party, nor dining was taking place at the moment; it was silent, yet emphatic with beauty. I looked above, expecting to see the sparkling of the golden dome, but it wasn’t there, just a flat ceiling; “This must be only a small section of the Sanctuary,” I thought to myself, as we made our way up to Clarity’s chamber. Lance knocked on the door. “Milady! I am here with Towaile, he wishes to speak with you in private” Lance announced. The door opened quickly, Clarity peeped her head out curiously; upon seeing me she smiled and fully opened the door. “Towaile.” she said smiling, “Come in my dear!” She held the door open while I made my way inside, It was at that moment I noticed Autumn standing off to the side within the room, observing me curiously. My eyes caught glimpse of hers, and hers of mine. I nodded, and she nodded back, turning away quickly afterwards. “I will be just right behind these doors if you need me, Milady.” Lance assured. “Thank you Lance, I will let you know when we are done here.” She said as she slowly closed the door.
The shutting doors echoed loudly throughout the chamber. Clarity turned towards me, “So! What is it that you would like to talk about my dear?” she asked walking towards me. “I was really hoping we could talk…privately.” I said in a quiet tone, trying to avoid offending Autumn. “Nonsense!” She said bursting into a chuckle, “It’s Lance that you should be worried about getting in on your conversations my dear. He’s always up to his ears when it comes to anything but his business, now what is it you would like to chat about?” Autumn made her way towards the both of us, her as well, curious as to what I wanted to say. It was at this exact moment, that I fully managed to gather up the courage to ask her if I could begin working towards becoming a protector of BlueEarth, and so I did just that. “I know this may come as sudden, but, I want to know what the prerequisites are to becoming a protector of BlueEarth, you know, like Lance!” I announced. Autumn folded her arms, “Why do you wish to become a protector my dear? What is it you want out of it?” Autumn asked as she butted into the conversation. Clarity looked towards her for a split second, and then focused back on me. I let out a sigh and began to explain to the both of them my feelings for BlueEarth and how it felt like home. They both began to chuckle, “I’d expect any sort of outsider to fall in love with BlueEarth my dear! It welcomes everyone with open arms!” Clarity stated as she put her hand on my shoulder. “But becoming an Archer is not the only way you can help protect the town my dear.” She continued. Autumn nodded in agreement with her sister, “That’s right, while many of the citizens here in BlueEarth may not be Archers, they all do their part in watching over the town” Autumn explained.
I sighed once again, this time exhausted. I felt defeated, they both had very good points, and how did I differ from the rest of the citizens within the town? What made me so special, besides being an outsider that would be a reasonable excuse for me to become a protector? After all, I was only a child in their eyes. In a last attempt to back up my request, I decided to explain to both Clarity and Autumn the dream that I had dreamed the night before. Only after that did something click in their minds, and while I wasn’t sure what clicked, and why at the time, I knew the dream meant something to them, something to everyone. I explained it all to them as clearly as I could; I described the surreal feel of the burnings woods around me, and the colored thinned lines, soaring through the moonlit sky, the loud popping sounds that echoed within my mind, and the screams that could be heard from all directions. I went on and on, until Clarity raised her hand signaling me to stop. She looked towards Autumn with a concerned look on her face, and let out a quiet sigh, “Well it sounds like BlueEarth has spoken to you.” She said, then turning to me with a concerned look on her face. “You are much too young to become a protector my dear, however-““But my dear sister!” Autumn yelled, interrupting Clarity, it was clear she was going to make a suggestion that Autumn did not agree with. My heart began to pound quickly right away in excitement, “However what?” I asked, anxious to hear what else Clarity had to say. “However, if you are to dwell here as a citizen, I do believe it would be smart choice to carry protection, especially if BlueEarth has possibly warned you with this ‘dream’” Clarity explained. “Lance!” Clarity called, while clapping her hands together. Lance shortly came rushing into the room; he approached us with haste and knelt to both Clarity and Autumn. “How may I serve you?” he asked, still kneeling towards them. “Towaile here, has had an experience that I believe to be a message from BlueEarth, it seemed to have come in the form of a nightmare.” Clarity explained while looking down at Lance. “Preposterous! That dream could have meant anything my dear sister!” Autumn argued in frustration. “Maybe so, but we mustn’t take our chances in leaving him at risk.” Clarity explained. “Lance! Tomorrow, I would like you to take Towaile down to the armory and pickup his gear! You and I will journey down there later tonight to put the order in, understood?” She continued. “Yes my greatness, is there anything else you require of me?” Lance asked, still kneeling. “In fact there is one last thing…” Clarity said as she turned towards me. It was at this moment we both caught eye to eye once again, but this time, it was much more different than ever before. She held a stern look in her eyes, that shot directly too my heart. It was a look of desperation, yet trust, and sorrow all at once. And all I could do was look back at her, frozen, waiting in anticipation to hear her last request. “Train him within our level 1 archer training regimen. After all, what use will his gear be without the proper knowledge?”
Section II: To Rise from the
Pines, Scene II To Become an Archer
I stood still in shock from the request I heard Clarity give Lance. I was confused at the same time as well, mainly because only minutes ago, Clarity had her mind set on a definitive “no” as far as putting me through any sort of training or practice to become a protector. And while at this time, I wasn’t sure if she was just caring for my safety, or if my dream spoke to her, or both! It was also at this moment that I knew I would be frequently visiting BlueEarth a lot more than I had originally intended to, upon first discovering it. Sneaking out during weekdays when both parents were busy was already difficult as it was. I didn’t even want to think about the struggle I’d have to go through, and the lies that I would have to tell, in order to stay out and about for a longer amount during the weekends; and tomorrow was Saturday, how would I make my exit with both parents home during the day?
After the discussion concluded with Clarity, Lance, and Autumn that day, I made my way home quickly to avoid any sort of conflict regarding how long I had been gone. Luckily neither my father nor mother was home at the time, so I had no need to be too sneaky. Upon returning home that Friday evening; I found myself in a slump, thinking as to how I would make my trips to BlueEarth a bit easier, or sneaking out the house rather, a bit more anonymous. I laid on my bed in deep thought for a good hour, until I was oddly drawn to look out my window. Never in a million years would I have ever thought about sneaking out my window to get out of the house secretly, it had never even crossed my mind before, not even in the slightest. I peered out my window in the midst of the setting sun to see how dangerous the trip down would be. I lived on the second and final floor of my house, and by the looks of it, jumping wouldn’t be too bad, in a dire situation at least, but one could definitely expect to shatter a bone or two. But I peered upwards in hopes to find something to grasp, and indeed I did. Not too far from my window stood a tall Cedar Pine tree.
The tree wasn’t in arms reach distance, from outside my window at least, but a short and ready leap from my window would definitely get me to one of its long branches without a problem…at least so I thought. “This could be my perfect way out, anytime, any day!” I thought to myself still peering at the tree from out my window. I knew this wasn’t the proper time to try and make the jump. After all, how would I explain the stupidity of jumping out my window to my parents? I was confident I’d make the leap to the tree without a problem nonetheless, but I was mainly much too tired to try. I thought about all of the possible outcomes that could take place, which would involve my parents finding out that I had snuck out. They were never too heavily involved with my business, but anything could happen. I had a lock on my door, so my best bet would probably be to keep it locked, and have music playing while I was out and about. I often played music quite loudly in my room, so this wouldn’t come across as suspicious to them, at least so I hoped. I smiled, satisfied with my cleverness and closed the window. I knew tomorrow was going to be a big day, and this was a weekend after all. Positive that things were going to change quite a bit after this evening, I left my room and went downstairs to visit with my family.
Before going to bed later that night, I mentioned to my mom that I planned to be working on a project all day the next day for school, and that I wished to not be bothered. This of course, was a pretty big lie, for two reasons. The first being that I had already planned to sneak out to BlueEarth, I had no plans to do any sort of homework, what so ever. And the second, being the fact that I didn’t even have any homework to begin with. All my teachers gave out absolutely zero homework for the entire weekend, so this was the perfect time for me to test my sneaking out method. After crawling into bed that night, I was filled with both anxiety, as well as excitement. I didn’t know what was in store for my training tomorrow, as well as the dangerous situations I might be put in. But this was ultimately what I wanted, to truly be a part of BlueEarth in a significant way. And with that in mind, I slowly began to drift off to sleep.
After awaking the following morning, I immediately realized that I had not had any disturbing dreams the night before. It seemed that I slept quite peacefully, and I felt energized. I peered out my window to take a peek at the tree I would be leaping to in a very short amount of time. And while taking a look outside, I noticed it was fairly cloudy. “Dang, the last thing I want is it to rain.” I thought to myself looking up at the clouds. I didn’t want to be drenched in rain while going through my training, but it wasn’t that big of a deal, for my motivation could have probably carried me through the worst of weather at this moment. I brushed my teeth, and got all washed up for the day. I threw on a thick, blue sweatshirt, and my favorite pair of grey sweat pants. It felt chilly out from the air that crept through my windows, but at the same time I wanted to dress comfortably since I assumed I’d be on the move quite a bit today. After throwing on my outfit for the day, I sat down to eat a quick bowl of cereal. Both my parents were sitting at the table, my mother, preparing to head out to go shopping was already bundled up in a jacket ready to go. “Have you started on your project yet Towaile?” She asked as I began quickly eating my cereal. “Not yet” I said, “I figured I’d eat something first before starting, I don’t want to stop until I’m finished.” I continued, flat out lying once again. My mom was soon to arise from the table and make her way out the door, but only after giving both my father and I a kiss. I cringed from the awkwardness and made my way back upstairs to my room, locking the door behind me. “Time to get going.” I thought to myself. I quickly turned on my music and set the volume full blast, and dragged a large backpack from out of my closet. I felt I would probably need it for most of the gear I’d be getting. I threw the backpack on my back and lifted open my window, glaring at the tree I was ready to leap for.
The thought of missing the branch was terrifying alone. I was foolish enough to look down, and that’s really when the fear settled in. I quickly reminded myself that I wasn’t even that high up, and something came over me that made me believe, that, if I were to fall, there was a good chance I wouldn’t get hurt; which, in reality, is extremely false. Despite this, I hopped on top of my window seal, kneeling in an extremely uncomfortable position. Hands sweaty, I gripped onto the edge of the window seal tightly and looked back at my door, and then started back at the tree. I closed my eyes for a split second, and just as I re-opened them, I made the leap. I pushed with my legs, and all their might, violently off the window seal, which gave me a great boost. As my entire body left the window seal, I extended my arms outward, eyes on the branch that I hoped to grasp. I reached for the branch, and it only took me a second to realize…that I was only a tad too far to reach it. Instead I fell straight down within the trees branches, until I luckily, caught hold of a thinner branch. It was thin but sturdy, and it helped break my fall. The sharp edges of it sliced through my hands, a giant cut was made going down my right hand palm. I hung onto the branch for just a moment, until I caught glimpse of a much thicker one below. At that moment, I let go, and allowed myself to catch onto the thicker branch below me; I landed right on my feet, the correct way. I stood up fully after I landed and put my left hand against the tree to keep balanced. I took a look at my right hand, as blood began to ooze out of the long and thin cut that was created only seconds ago. The rest of the way down was easy, for I didn’t have to leap a far distance to be caught by another sturdy branch, instead, I simply jumped down, on to another until I made my way back onto flat land again, on the side of my house.
As I began to put pressure on my wound, I began to think as to how I would get to the cul-de-sac without being seen. I quickly cut through several backyards that I lived next-door too, and dashed across the street with my hood up, towards the cul-de-sac road. The entrance to the woods that let to BlueEarth was now in sight, and a sudden feeling of excitement came over me. “I finally snuck out!” I squealed to myself. I quickly made my way into the entrance of the woods and carefully made my way down the steep hill. After making my way to the large fallen tree, I made my way over it quite quickly, and began to dash straight forward with my head pointed towards the ground. For some reason, I had always felt the need to look in any direction but straight forward when making my entrance to BlueEarth. I suppose because I always feared that the entrance would not be there, but there had always been something that would distract me from that intention either way. After about thirty seconds of running, still putting pressure against my wound, I noticed the bright sun had begun to make its way through the trees. This was odd because Wudwurn had a sky drenched in clouds, and now it had seemed, from gazing above, that not a single cloud was in the sky. I smiled as I felt I had finally made my way into BlueEarth, I kept running forward as the ground began to spiral and turn, my sprint was cut short as a stern voice from my right was heard. “Hold it!” I stopped in my tracks the moment I heard the voice, and from the corner of my eye, came an arrow, flying only inches from my cheek, ending it’s soaring by piercing up against a nearby tree. Stunned, I turned to my right to see who shot this arrow so closely. Too my surprise, it was Lance, Bow & Arrow out, and all. He gave me a cocky grin before making his way towards me. “You could have killed me Lance!” I shouted, still a bit stunned. Lance chuckled calmly, “Generally those who do not obey my commands do end up being seriously injured.” He replied boastfully pulling the arrow out of the tree bark, “I have been given strict orders by Lady Clarity to escort you to the armory to pick up your gear. After that, we will train within the premises of the Witches Woods.” Lance explained as he looked at my confidently. “Very well!” I said, “Show me the way.”
We both soon made our way off to the Witches Woods it was East-South of the entrance to BlueEarth. As we made our way, I couldn’t help but noticed how many of the houses began to look much more run down, and shack-like than the ones within the middle of town, or even near the entrance. As we made our way closer to the destination, and strong eerie feeling grew over me, everything began to get much colder; I slid my hands into my pockets to keep warm. After roughly twenty minutes of walking, we had finally arrived. “Here we are Towaile! Now please, stay close until we reach the armory!” Lance demanded, sounding much more serious now. I nodded and we made our way into the woods. The trees that stood in these woods were bare, unlike every other tree that stood in BlueEarth, covered with vibrant leaves, glowing with life; these were leafless, colorless, lifeless to say the least, but they were tall; they towered over the sky, all clinging to each other, which did a great job at blocking out the sunlight. It began to darken greatly as we made our way further through the woods; it was foggy in some spots, just overall spooky. I managed to make out what seemed to be a large hut in the distance. “What is that hut over there Lance?” I asked curiously. “It’s the armory, quickly! Time is of the essence!” Lance replied as he began to sprint towards the armory. My spirit picked up once again, and I followed him quickly. We made our way to the armory; I couldn’t help but notice many other huts came into view nearby, these in which were much smaller. “You must go inside to retrieve your gear alone I’m afraid, Clarity’s orders.” Lance stated as he put is hand on my shoulder. I was a bit confused as to why Clarity would want me to be alone when retrieving the gear. I was very nervous, but I made my way towards the door of the armory, as I walked up a long boardwalk. After reaching the door, I turned back and glanced at Lance. He nodded, “I will be waiting right here!” He announced. “Alright” I said calmly, as I opened the door. It creaked loudly and the smell of firewood began to infiltrate my nose. It made me feel much more nervous, but despite this I still made my way inside.
Upon making my way inside, the first thing I noticed was how warm and cozy it felt inside. It was a pretty small place, but it had its way of feeling very hospital. Various weapons and armored suits hung neatly on the wall. I made my way up a hall, which held all of these various types of gear until I came to a very small room with a front desk. Behind the desk hung even more types of weapons; guns, bows, arrows, swords, throwing stars, knives, you name it. It was a weapon master’s dream compacted into maybe, a nine-foot room. There was no one behind the desk; however, I noticed a transparent purple blanket that hung from a doorway, which covered a room not too far from the desk. “Is anybody here!?” I asked, raising my voice. I noticed a silver-ringing bell that sat on top of the desk; I hesitated, but eventually decided to ring it a few times. After about the third ring, I noticed a strange moving that took place behind the purple curtain. A silhouette of a woman could be seen from behind the blanket, a pale arm could be seen reaching around the blanket moving it out of the way as she made her way into the room. The woman was as pale as one could be, with silky long black hair, and a long pointy nose. She slowly made her way to the front desk, arching her back as she walked. “How may I help you?” she asked in a shaky tone. Frightened by her looks, my heart rate began to pick up abnormally fast. “M-My name is Towaile, I’m here to pick up an order that the Goddess of Summer put in for me just yesterday” I explained to her nervously. The lady began to chuckle which eventually turned into a short, yet loud and screeching laugh, “The Goddess of Summer eh? Well…just let me check my papers here.” She said as she turned around and began skimming through a large dusty booklet. “Ahh yes, here we are, Towaile!” She confirmed. “Say’s here that a special made Bow & Arrow has arrived for you at 3:53am just last night, give me just one moment to dig it out from the back.” The woman confirmed as she made her way out of the room, disappearing behind the curtain once again. After her departure I peered around the small room once again. The entire building as a whole gave off a strange aura, a feeling that began to rise unsettlingly.
It wasn’t long until I heard a loud tinkering and shifting noise coming from behind the curtain where the woman left the room. It was she, this time with something in her hands. I peered down only to see big square, metal-shaped item within both her hands. It seemed heavy by the look of it, the way she quickly carried it to the front desk, and set it down with a noisy bang. “Well! Here it is!” She woman exclaimed as she slid the box closer to me from on the desk. “What’s this?” I asked confused as to what was being presented in front of me. “Don’t be ridiculous child! It’s your bow & arrow, sleeping!” The woman explained, beginning to look frustrated with me. “This Bow has been specially crafted, by Clarity’s request; it is unlike many others out there! Please experiment with it, and if you have any troubles, consult Lady Clarity, not me!” The woman hissed as she disappeared behind the curtain once again. I let out a sigh and picked up the large metallic box that was “apparently” my Bow, sitting upfront of me, and left the building. Outside, I noticed Lance leaning up against a tree with his arms folded head down, and eyes closed. It seemed like he was taking a quick snooze, but as I approached him further he lifted his head, and snapped out of it, so it seemed. “So! Did you get the arrow? Let’s see it!” He said as he approached me quickly. I lifted up the large metallic box to his face, “This is apparently my Arrow.” I said to him in a disappointed tone. Lance burst out laughing, “Don’t be silly! It seems Lady Clarity would like you to awaken your own arrow!” He explained as he un-hooked his from his back carrier. “Every Bow manufactured here in BlueEarth usually comes that way by default. There is only one-way to awaken the arrow, it is up to the owner to figure that out. Lance explained as he inspected his own Arrow. “So what are you saying? Do I have to throw it around for a bit to see if it opens or something?” I asked jokingly, but at the same time confused and frustrated. “You never know, that just may do the trick!” Lance confirmed, as he took the box out of my hand. He began to inspect the box thoroughly, “Look here! On each side of the square there is a strange design, looks like the box itself.” He notified as he brought the box closer to his eyes, squinting in an odd fashion. “Let me take a look!” I demanded, as I grabbed the box out of his hand. I was beginning to get pretty impatient with the entire waiting process, besides, it was my bow, and I wanted to be the one to figure out how to awaken it. I inspected each of the four sides on the box. The design Lance noticed, and now I seemed to be of the same box; however, on each side, the box was rotated to be standing on top of a different angle. I looked up and squinted at Lance for a split second, “The design is…ROTATING!” I blurted aloud excitingly. Lance began to chuckle, “What do you mean by rotating?” He asked, as he looked at me curiously, setting his own arrow down and folding his arms. “If you look at the design closely, it looks as if the box is turning on each of its side angles, a square has four angles, so it’s gotta be rotating!” I explained to him, jumping up and down. “Calm down now.” Lance said in a chuckling tone, “So what exactly do you purport we do? Spin it around on the ground?” He asked me curiously. “That won’t do the trick, you can’t spin a square on it angles, only on its sides.” I continued to explain, looking down at the ground, thinking. I took a quick glance at the box in my hand, and immediately let my first instinct take over. I gripped the box tightly with one hand and flung it up into the air, kind of in the same motion you would with a yo-yo, except upwards. Lance and I both glanced up, as the box spun around violently in the air. It made its way down quickly, and with a sudden clinking noise, it flung open quickly, right before my eyes. I panicked and hopped back; Lance leaped forward and held out his hands as what once was the box came dropping into his arms. And there it was, sparkling in black, silver, and gold all over; a bow of such great elegance, one would purport it to have been crafted by the goddesses themselves.
“Oh my goddess! Will you look at that!” Lance gasped as he handed it over to me. My eyes sparkled as I held it within my hands. The bow had a bit of heft to it, but wasn’t anything to major to hold. But it was thick, with different holes, and strings, slots, all sorts of extra necessities, which I hadn’t even begun to comprehend! The entire bow was about twenty inches in length, and about three inches thick, but somehow, still managed to not be that heavy despite its size. “Time is of the essence Towaile, are we simply going to gaze at the Bow all day? Or do you wish to learn the ways of an Archer? Lance questioned, this time peering at me with a very serious look. I nodded in agreement to begin my training. “Very well then!” Lance shouted, he knelt down and took off his carrier, in much haste; he began to rustle through it, and quickly took out several arrows, placing them on the ground. “You’ll need these, toss them in your bag.” He commanded, throwing his carrier back on. I nodded once again and picked up the arrows, putting them all in my bag. Without thinking, I quickly lifted the bag with my injured hand and let out a groan. I began to put pressure on the injury once again to avoid it from bleeding continuously. “Problem?” Lance asked as he approached me closely. I embarrassingly explained to him about my accident earlier that morning. He let out a loud laugh, “Well then! You’re just writing the curriculum for me, aren’t you? We will start with tree climbing today!” Lance commanded, as he pointed up at the large towering pine trees around us. “Tree climbing?” I questioned curiously. “Of course dear boy! The tree navigation technique is a very important skill that all Archers of Blue