AS--The Map

AS stands for Arawyn Summersprite. So, even though the fire's by, I thought I'd take it off my mind by writing some more of Arawyn Summersprite's story......

The old man really did seem surprise that staring at him with a dagger in her hand was a girl. He blinked, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, put his glasses back on, and blinked again. He looked totally dumbfounded, just standing there staring. The sound of Damien groaning both brought us back to the moment (where was I, you may ask? Wondering how I was going to attack him--jump on him, or grab his feet?). 

"Father..." the guy groaned.

"Don't move," I warned, when the old guy started to walk towards me. I held my dagger up. "If you come any closer, I'll throw."

The old man's eyes got bigger. "She can talk!"

It was kind of like "duh" for me, because it's not as if I'd been living out here in the forest for forever. But the man seemed truly surprised.

"Damien!" cried the old man, prodding his son with his foot and not taking his eyes off me. "She can talk! I tell you, she can talk!"

"Who?" Damien groaned.

"The girl who beat you up, of course!" snorted the father. "Imagine--a warrior girl hiding in this magical forest for all of these years! I wonder who she is...?"

"My name is Arawyn Summersprite!" I answered, raising to my full height and losing my attacking stance. "And who are you, that you intrude on my privacy and invade my forest? That I would like to know! And then you act as if you are the kings of the world! Believe me, I am not who you should be fearing."

The father looked excited. He quickly turned towards Damien. "Do you suppose she could... you know... lead us to the Lost Locket?"

"Father," groaned Damien, his mouth full of dirt from falling on the ground. "If she doesn't kill us, it'll be a miracle, trust me."

"You invaded my home!" I spouted at him.

"She has a point," his father pointed out.

"Of course I do," I snorted. "I'm having a normal day and all of a sudden two bumbling nuts come storming into my forest and then start to attack my home and possibly endanger me! How would you have acted?"

"I would have attacked," the father answered promptly. "I have a family to take care of, and I wouldn't want them to be hurt by whoever or whatever came into my forest."

I nodded. "Then you know exactly how I feel."

"Oh, please," muttered Damien.

"Spit out that dirt and get up!" his father commanded. 

He did as his father commanded, though grudgingly.

"I can't believe you did that!" his father cried. "Attacked an innocent girl. Boys these days! I can't believe..."

"Father," Damien groaned, "I didn't even know!"

"Well then why on earth did you go up there in the first place?!" his father demanded.

Damien sighed. "Because maybe I secretly wanted somebody to be out here." He glanced over at me. "Somebody that was unlike anybody else."

I snorted. I was certainly that. 

"Come here, girl!" yelled the father, beckoning towards me with an arm, actually managed to smile. How surprising.

"My name's Arawyn," I answered. "And what is it that you want to show me?"

"Just a map," answered the man. "I don't believe I told you my name." As I came closer, he held out his hand. "My name's Brumby.  As you've probably heard "--here Damien snorted --"this is my son, Damien."

"What is it that you wanted to show me?" I questioned, curiously watched him as he dug into a leather bag that hung around his neck.

The leather bag looked really, really old, and like it had had lots of wear. I wondered how many journeys it had had to endure with this man. Oh, dear. I was feeling bad for a map. What was wrong with me?

"Just a map," he answered.

"A map of what?" I queried.

Brumby smiled. "The World."