Skylar woke up and saw the sun shining through the leaves in the trees.
Wait...that wasn't right...
Skylar sat up stock straight, causing Luke to fall over, and they hit heads.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Skylar asked, rubbing her head, “I was supposed to have second watch.”
Luke rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and that’s when Skylar realized why Luke had not woken her up.
Because Luke had fallen asleep.
“I-you-ugh…” Skylar was speechless.
Luke looked up at Skylar sleepily. “What?” he asked, as Skylar stormed off.
“What did I do?” Luke asked, but Skylar kept walking.
“I’ll look for some food,” Skylar said, her voice tight, and heard Luke sigh as she looked for some berries.
Skylar wasn’t so much mad at Luke for falling asleep on watch as she was mad at herself that she didn’t jolt awake in the middle of the night like she’d been taught to do on an occasion like this.
Skylar knew about the pressure of being the only daughter of Jackson Verlice. She was constantly living in her father’s shadow, the best warrior the Secret Woods had ever seen. But Chris rose to the challenge, being older and stronger than Skylar, but that didn’t stop her from trying her best.
Skylar trained day and night, sometimes going hours nonstop training without sleep. She had learned to ration food and pick out edible and medicinal plants. And, of course, she became an expert in weapons. Skylar could use anything from her classic bow and arrow and bo staff to a javelin, to a small throwing knife.
Skylar was seen as the best female warrior the Secret Woods had ever seen, but that was the problem. She was a girl.
She was never involved in the scout missions or training the next warriors. She would be demoted down to watch, where nothing happened.
Day after day Skylar would sit on the branch of the same tree, watching the ground below for an invader or incoming attack on her home.
And day after day, nothing ever happened.
At least, until Luke came.
Skylar had thought she had finally found someone. And he had looked Bellonese, so she thought that maybe, just maybe, from some small chance he could be the man that killed her father. Revenge was the thing that played in her mind as she jumped down from the tree, aiming her bow and arrow at Luke.
But that was when she realized he was not a man, but a boy. A small, scared, boy with a sword at his side and those sad, bright blue eyes.
Why was it that she didn’t kill Luke right then and there? Skylar could never explain it, although she felt that there was a voice in the back of her head that said to not kill the boy but defend him.
Skylar felt she was going crazy now, thinking about those eyes. What was it she saw in him that made her not let the arrow fly? Was it just that she couldn’t handle blood? Was it the compassion in her heart that made her tear up whenever she had to kill an animal in order to survive?
Skylar tried to be the tough girl, always ready to fight and defend. But really, Skylar was always fighting her own mind for what to do in a situation. She had her strong and impulsive side and her vulnerable and compassionate side. Skylar assumed she got her vulnerable and compassionate side from her father, who, even though he was a warrior, always found the time to make people smile, and care for them. Skylar’s father taught her everything she knew, and made her the person she was today. Skylar could only guess her strong and impulsive side came from her mother, but then again, Skylar did not know who her mother was.
Skylar picked some berries, knowing that it would not be enough protein to get them through the day, but thought it’d make a nice breakfast.
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…
Skylar headed back to their temporary camp, where Luke sat, looking guilty.
“Skylar, I’m sorry-” he started, but Skylar held up a hand.
“It’s alright, Luke, I understand. You must’ve been exhausted from practically carrying me all yesterday. Now eat up. We have a big day ahead of us.”
Luke offered a small smile and gladly ate the berries she’d provided.
“So…” Luke said, “You gonna tell me about what happened the other day?”
Skylar had completely forgotten to tell him.
“Well,” she started, “I had a bad feeling about that place from the very beginning but thought it was just my head. But when we went out into the garden, everything went dark. You passed out, and I was imprisoned in a giant cage. Our ‘host’, turns out to be a witch. She conjured up a cauldron and began to make some sort of brew. She kept saying that we would bring her life and bring her back with her sister. She cut off the locks of both of our hair, and put them in the brew. I don’t really know what happened next, but when I woke up my foot was trapped under the cage, the witch was unconscious, and you were asleep.”
Skylar was glad to tell him, as weird as the story was. Skylar didn’t know what came over her that day. She remembered the witch saying that she’d bring her life. Skylar’s hair was cut and put in the brew, and Skylar felt light-headed. She felt the life leaving her, and was too weak to even lift an arm. But Skylar thought, ‘No, this is not the end. I have so much more ahead of me.’
Skylar had thought of everything that had ever happened to her, everything they had to do, and everything there was to come. Skylar was sure she was about to die, but then with the last of her strength thought, ‘No, I am not going to die.’
Before Skylar blacked out, she heard a voice in the back of her head say, “Yes, Skylar. You are not ready to give up yet.”
Skylar now looked out at the deeply forested area ahead of them. Skylar knew, in the back of her mind, that this would be a long and perilous journey. She knew that there was so much ahead of them and that some of them may not survive.
When they finished their breakfast, Skylar got up, grabbed her weapons, and got ready to continue their journey.
“Okay,” she sighed, “Let’s do this."
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