A Ranger's Lullaby

A knock

I sit behind the counter, watching my mother cook. Dad is playing a soft melody on the piano. It has always been just the three of us, as far as I've known. My name is Clary, 23 years old, daughter of Harry and Catherine Blake. We live in the middle of the woods, where my parents taught me all the skills I need to survive. Why, do you ask? Because they are both part of a big underground organization called The Black Dragon. Although they are high ranked members of the gang, they refuse to involve me in it. I don't really mind. I'm more than pleased with my freedom, it means everything to me. Running through the forest on my own, shooting targets with my bow and arrows. Could it get any better than that? Anyway, despite my absence in their organization, my parents wanted me to be able to protect myself, in case something would happen. They taught me how to survive in the wild. Like how to make a fire or teach me archery. I always have my bow by my side, never leave without it. It gives me some sense of safety. Even right now it's right there, hanging around my chair. I smile and my mom asks me 'What's with the smile?' I look up and meet with her beautiful green eyes. 'Oh it's nothing. I just-' I'm interrupted by an aggressive knock on the front door. My father stops playing immediately and looks at my mother. They share a concerned look I can't quite decipher. It stays quiet for a while. My guts tell me not to make a sound. Something's not right... Then another loud bang followed by a voice. 'Open this door Harry. We know you're in there!' They know my father? I look in his direction and notice a hint of fear in his eyes. Dad is afraid? What is going on? He nods at my mother and slowly walks towards the door. My mother instantly drops her stuff and pulls me away from the counter. On instinct i grab my bow with me as she drags me to the backdoor. 'You need to get out of here now.' She whispers to me. 'What-' 'You have your emergency bag ready right?' She continues. 'Y-yes always. But why? Mom what's going on? Who's at the door?' She still ignores me as she pushes me to the door and grabs the bag and my quiver with arrows. I yank my arm loose. 'Mom?!' She looks at me with tears in her eyes. 'I need you to be strong now. Go deep into the woods and hide.' I'm starting to freak out. 'But what about you and dad?!' She gives me a painful smile. 'We'll be fine. You need to go now. Use all that we taught you and you'll survive. I have no doubt in that. You are so strong my dear rose. We will always be proud of you, remember that. We love you." She kisses my forehead, pulls my cloak over my shoulders and pushes me out of the backdoor. Why did that sound like a goodbye...? I turn around one more time and she smiles, holding her hand over her heart. My eyes start to tear up as well as I walk away. Then I hear a gunshot and i instantly turn around. I can see into the kitchen window. I see my mom with a gun against her head. I can't see the person holding the gun, but I can see her eyes.  For a moment they stare right into mine. Then she closes her eyes and I hear a second gunshot. For a moment I'm completely paralysed. I stare at the blood on the window, my mom's blood... No, no, no, no... This can't be happening. My parents can't be... 'Where is the girl?' I suddenly hear and I snap back to reality. My breathing is heavy and a tear rolls down my face. Fuck i have to go! I quickly turn around and run into the depth of the woods. I hear voices shouting behind me, but i refuse to look. I hear my father's voice in my head. Looking back will only slow you down. Look ahead instead and figure out your best move. So i keep running. I need to find a place to hide soon. Although I'm fast, I can't outrun them forever. I scan my surroundings and my eye stops on a fallen, hollow tree. This is my chance! I quickly look behind me, making sure no one sees me. No one in sight yet, good. I run towards the fallen trunk, slide over the top and crouch down inside it, readying my bow just in case. Now I wait.

I listen intensely, not making any sound. After a few seconds I hear their footsteps and voices. 'This bitch, where did she go? She can't have just disappeared!' I hear a loud grunting noice. Then I hear another deeper voice. 'Come on, keep looking you idiots, she can't run forever.' I grin. You're not wrong bastard. If only you were smart enough to follow up to that thought. Then suddenly I hear the tree bark above me crunch.  Someone's on top of the trunk!  Shit did i make a sound? Please don't come down... I hear a different voice mutter from above. 'Something doesn't add up...' I hold my breath and curse myself for thinking I was safe. 'Hey I didn't hire the best assassin in the city to slack around damnit! You still have a job to do.' The deep voice shouts from afar. It's quiet for a second. Did he leave- Suddenly a guy stands before me and looks right into my eyes. I aim my arrow at his head. I look determined, daring him to challenge me. To my surprise he stays quiet. He just stares at me with a slight twinkle in his red eyes. Another voice, not so far away, speaks. 'Wolf, you found something?' I stare at him with fear and anger. I adjust my bow, enhancing my threat. My life depends on his actions now, I hate it. He slightly tilts his head, his eyes still piercing mine. He doesn't seem fazed in the slightest by my arrow pointed in his face, which slightly annoys me as well as it intrigues me. Then he slowly opens his mouth to speak. This is it. I'm dead. I'm sorry mom, dad, I failed you- 'Nope, just taking a piss. You guys head on without me. I'll catch up later." I stare at him in disbelief. He smirks at me. I hear the other guy grunt something and walk away. Nobody moved or talked in the following minutes. Eventually he chuckles and looks away. I'm guessing it's safe to make a sound again so I ask him. 'Why?' He looks back at me innocently. 'Hmm?' I still glare at him. 'Why did you do it? Why didn't you rat me out? Weren't you hired to do exactly that?' He casually leans to the side of the trunk, ignoring my threat. 'Oh that? They hired me to find your parents. They said nothing about a daughter. I simply had no business in ratting you out.' He says with a smile. I narrow my eyes. 'Besides,' he continues, 'I wanted a chance to talk to you, alone.' I frown. 'Why?' As he tilts his head again, a strand of his jet black hair falls in his face. 'Because I'd like to know where you learned those hiding skills.' I raise my eyebrow.  'Excuse me?' He chuckles freely. 'Yeah, it's rather extraordinary how you escaped those guys. They are trained you know? Really experienced as well. Still, nobody got even remotely close to finding you.' 'Nobody and except you.' I say reserved. He smirks again. 'That's because I'm extraordinary as well.' I give him a sarcastic look making him chuckle again. 'In all seriousness, even I had a hard time finding you. This peaked my interest.' I slightly lower my bow, because he doesn't seem that threatening anymore. 'How did you? Find me?' He looks at my lowered bow with satisfaction, then back up. 'Well i quite soon realised you were no ordinary fugitive, you knew exactly what you're doing. When we lost your tracks here I started looking around, looking for a place I would hide if I were you. Then I spotted this trunk. At first sight it looks solid, so hiding behind it would be stupid. But when I looked closer I noticed it was in fact hollow. I'm quite amazed how you managed to see that, while being chased. That takes some serious perception skills. I was actually hoping you'd be here and to my luck you were.' He pauses for a moment. 'So?' He eventually asks. 'So... what?' 'Where did you learn those skills?' I stare at him blankly. 'My Parents.' I say with a sharp tone. At first he looks confused at my change of tone. Then he realizes. 'Oh, right... I'm sorry. I was just doing my job.' He looks a little uneasy. 'Your job is to lead good people into their deaths?' My voice raises a bit. He now looks calm again. 'My job is to find people. I don't ask questions.' I scoff. 'Makes the job easier right?' I say with a sarcastic tone. 'If you don't know the details, you don't have to feel guilty right?' I place my bow on the ground as I look at him annoyed. 'Look, I don't do it for fun okay? I need the money to survive. I'm good at finding people, so finding people is what I do.' He gets off the tree and stands in front of me. I'm not afraid of him so I step forward as well, asserting dominance. 'We do what we have to, to survive, I get that. But this is just cowardice. Do you have no morals? If you're as good as you say you are, I'm sure many people would want to hire you. Giving you a choice. But you chose this job. You chose to lead those people into my home. You chose to help them kill my parents. You didn't care to ask questions, but here you are asking me one.' I pant a little bit. He really pissed me off. When he doesn't react I add,  'You are the reason my parents are dead.' I swallow back my tears. I turn around to pick up my bow when I hear the guy shout behind me. 'Look out!' I quickly turn around as he shoves me to the side. I see an arrow stuck in his shoulder as he falls down in front of me. I immediately look up and see a man but a few feet away, reaching for another arrow. In a split second I ready my bow and release my arrow at the man. It pierces right through his head, pinning him to the tree behind him. I quickly scan for other possible threats, but it seems like he was a deserter. I turn back to the black haired guy. I walk up to him while muttering. 'Damnit, I shouldn't have let my guard down like that.' I inspect the wound and feel his eyes on me. I look back and ask him, 'Why?' He chuckles and flinches from the pain. 'That's your favourite question, isn't it?' I frown at him. 'You just got shot and you're laughing?' I touch the arrow and he flinches again, sucking air through his teeth. 'Fuck that stings. But to answer your question, when you crouched down to pick up your bow I saw that guy aiming at you-' He said as he pointed to the guy, only now seeing what I had done to him. He looks back at me with surprise and slight suspicion. 'Damn, you did that?' I look over to the pierced skull and calmly respond. 'Would've been you if you'd ratted me out earlier.' I look at him unfazed and he snickers. 'Noted.' I can't help but smirk. 'Anyway, I saw the kebab aiming at you, so I pushed you out of the way. Because you don't deserve to get shot.' I raise my brow at him and he grins back. 'and I obviously did.' he adds. 'No argument there.' I say as I inspect his wound. I need to get this arrow out, but every time I touch it he flinches, preventing me form pulling it out. I look at the corpse and get an idea. 'So you think he looks like kebab, or are you just hungry?' He looks over and smiles. 'Yeah, skewered meat-' While he is distracted I yank the arrow out of his shoulder, making him grunt. 'Fuck! A warning would've been nice...' He grasps his shoulder as the other pushes him up. I chuckle and now it's his turn to raise a brow. 'You think my pain is funny?' 'Yes. It was the most efficient way to get that arrow out and I got to hurt you along the way, so I saw it as a win-win situation.' He gives me a theatrical offended look. With the same energy I continue. 'It was for the greater good. Anyway take of your shirt.' He smiles surprised. 'Excuse me?' I look up from the wound and roll my eyes. 'So I can clean the wound smartass.' He snickers as he takes of his shirt. 'If you say so...' I sigh as I get my medical kid from my bag. I clean his wound and notice his chest is full of scars and old bruises. Who exactly is this guy? 'So, you pierced kebab on your first shot? That's rather impressive actually. The precision and strength of your shot are remarkable! It takes some skill to pierce a skull all the way through and pin in into the tree, especially in the short amount of time.' I smile as I patch up the wound. 'Still fangirling over me?' 'Just stating facts.' he replies with a smile. I continue to patch him up. 'Archery has always been my strong suit. Been doing it since I was 7 years old. Practice makes perfect I guess.' I don't look up to him, seeing we are really close right now. We are practically strangers at that. To be completely honest, I don't really know why I'm helping him right now. I mean, yes he got shot for me, but all these things I said before still count, right? Shouldn't I just leave him? It was his choice to get shot, he should deal with the consequences (for once). His voice snaps me out of my thoughts. 'I agree that practice is an important factor, but so is talent.' I blush slightly. God this guy is a smooth-talker. I clear my throat as I step away. 'Anyway, I finished cleaning your wound, you'll live another day.' He inspects my work and nods impressed. 'Now if you'd excuse me, I have to go.' I say as I get up and gather my things. He quickly scrambles to his feet, grunting in the process because of his wound. 'Go where?' I swing my bag around my shoulder and pick up my bow. 'To be honest I don't know. I guess I'll find a cave or something to set camp, since I probably can't go back home anymore.' I say with a small smile, pulling the hood of my cloak over my head. 'Wait, a cave? Don't you have anywhere else to go to? Any family or friends?' He looks at me concerned while putting on his shirt. 'Nope.' I say bluntly. He furrows his brow in response. I sigh. 'All the family I know of is dead, I don't have any friends and anyone affiliated with my parents are most likely involved in this drama. I don't want anything to do with them. Besides I've done this before, so I can do it again. I don't really have a choice as you can see. It's fine really, I'll manage. I always do.' I give him a smile. 'Well, I suppose it wasn't the worst meeting you- ehh, Wolf , was it?' He narrows his eyes a bit. 'Where did you hear that?' 'I heard one of those guys from before call you that. Isn't that your name?' He sighs. 'Nah, it's my codename, Lone Wolf. My actual name is Damon. I now realise I never asked for yours.' I raise my brow. 'And why should I tell you?' He grins. 'Well, why not? I told you mine and I already know what you look like and who you're related to. I could easily find out anyway. Besides if I had ill intentions, wouldn't I have done anything to you by now? Instead I kept your secret and got shot for you. I think I earned as much as your name.' 'You also got my parents killed.' His grin fades away. Then I sigh and smile at him. 'But, I guess you're not that bad. My name is Clary.' He scoffs relieved and smiles as well. 'Nice to meet you too Clary.' I nod and look up at the sky. It's already getting dark so I should get going. I turn around to walk away, but Damon suddenly grabs my arm. 'Clary wait-' I look down at my arm with dislike. He notices and immediately lets go. 'Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to grab you. I, uhm-' I look at him with curiosity. 'Come with me.' His question startled me. 'What?' He looks serious. 'It's my fault you can't go home and I can't let you live in a cave.' I furrow my brow, still as confused. 'It's fine really. I live with three other guys, who I trust with my life. You'll be safe there. Besides no one will look for you living with your supposed assassin. It's the perfect cover story!' He smiles brightly, but I narrow my eyes. 'And you know, and I can't stress this point enough, it's not a cave.' I scoff as I rub my face, looking at him unsure. Living with my parents' assassin... Declare me crazy, but it actually makes sense. He looks serious and excited, giving me no signs to mistrust him, so I shake my head. 'You know what, fine, I'll come with you.' He smirks victoriously, the smug bastard. 'But only because it's the lesser of two evils right now. And only until I find a place for myself! Deal?' He stretches out, his hands in the air. 'Whatever floats your boat woman.' I glare at him. 'Call me woman one more time and you actually will share his fate.' I say as I point to kebab. He snickers. 'Again. Noted.' I smile at him and he bows to me. 'Now let's get out of here, before more kebab's may come. He starts walking and I follow him, readying my bow to stay alert.

We make our way out of the forest and into the city. I pull the hood of my cloak further over my face. I never liked the city, too crowded for the likes of me. I'd always preferred the peace and freedom the woods provided me, so I didn't come here often. I've hidden my bow underneath my cloak to decrease suspicion, which actually makes me more uncomfortable, knowing I'm less able to defend myself. Because of that I do hold onto my pocket knife. Damon whispers in my ear, 'Don't worry. We're almost there.' I nod as I walk closely behind him. He probably noticed that I was uncomfortable. It starts to rain and it actually gives me comfort. The rain causes people to pay more attention to not getting wet, than to their surroundings. Eventually we stop in front of a normal looking appartement. I look up and see it's three stories high. The rain now falls onto my face, but I don't mind. It's kind of refreshing really. He opens the door and locks it behind me. He takes of his jacket and I take of my cloak, revealing the knife in my hand. Damon looks at it and smiles softly. 'You're safe now.' I blush a bit and put the knife away. I take off my cloak and put my bow and quiver into a corner. The hallway is rather small, with a coatrack on the left and a door on the right. In the middle are stairs leading up to the second floor. Damon leads me up the stairs leading to a bigger hallway with 7 doors total. He walks into the first door on the left. 'This is my room. I'll get you a towel to dry off a bit. I'll introduce you to the guys in a minute. Wait for me here.' He says as he walks off. I look around his room and my eyes fall on a few black and white posters on his wall. They are beautiful. I love the simplicity of the colours, making the pictures more mysterious. The angles are really good as well. The photographer knows their work. 'You like them?' Damon's voice startles me and I nod. He hands me a towel, while drying off his own hair.  'Jace shot them. He's one of my roommates. Speaking of them, wanna meet your temporary roommates?' He smiles and opens the door into the hallway. I quickly dry my hair and leave the towel in his room as I follow him. He walks over to the door opposite to his room, which leads into what appears to be the living room. The first thing I notice is this beautiful, vintage piano on my left. I would love to play on it! My dad taught me how to play when I was younger, but I actually haven't played in a while. I used to play together with my dad... I wish I had done it more often. I then realise I've been staring at the piano for a while so I snap back and look at the rest of the room. Only now I notice the room is filled with people. Three boys are looking at me. A guy with peculiar half white, half red hair sitting on the couch. A tall brunette with an easy-going exterior sitting on the arm of the couch. And leaning against a bookshelf, a white haired boy with these ice blue eyes, glaring at me. I feel judged... Damon stands behind me. 'So this is Clary. She'll be staying here for a while.' The guy with the blue eyes gets up immediately, threatening forward. 'Excuse me?! What the fuck Damon?' Damon steps in front of me with his hands up. 'Jace, please, let me explain-' He smacks away Damon's hands. 'No, you can't just bring random strangers into our home! Most certainly not letting them stay.' The tension is high and I feel completely out of place. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea...