Good and Evil : Nikolai Lanstov x OC

1: The Sun Summoner

As I was walking down to the stables for training all I could think about was the Sun Summoner, what was going to happen? Hopefully they would destroy the fold, or maybe it would brighten up Bagrha's life in her stupid hut.

As I walked into the stables I saw Botkin getting a horse ready to ride, specifically by horse, Firefly.

"Botkin, why are you tacking up Firefly?" I asked.

He looked at me and replied, "I decided we would work on your shooting from horseback, it's been a while and who knows who will try and get into the Little Palace to steal the Sun Summoner." He passed me the lead rope.

"If someone broke in, why would I need to be able to shoot on horseback?"

"Well if they ran I can't be the only one going after them," Botkin said, grabbing a quiver of arrows and my bow.

We walked out of the stables and into the field, I mounted Firefly and Botkin set my bow and quiver on the grass.

"I'm going to go set up the targets and you go ahead and warm up Firefly around the field," Botkin said.

"Sounds good, let's go firefly," I said, kicking her a bit to get her started.

Firefly is quite a good horse, it was actually a gift from Vasily when we were together. He saw it at a horse show and wanted the horse so he bought it, but he said it was for me so he would look better. I was very happy that day. Then he showed his true colors and it was over. He's not terrible looking but I definitely could do way better.

"Ok Katerina! I want you to ride by the targets, aim, and fire! Simple enough," Botkin said, handing me by bow and quiver.

"Oh yeah that is definitely simple if I actually liked shooting on horseback," I replied grabbing my bow and quiver.

"You'll do fine Katerina," Botkin said sincerely, "this can be a useful skill, and eventually if you wanted to, you could use the cut on horseback."

I just nodded and walked Firefly until we were parallel to the targets about 90 feet away. I would never use the cut because I never use my power unless I absolutely have to, Baghra doesn't like that I do that but she deals with it. 3 targets, I can do this. I notched an arrow and gave Firefly a kick. Aim, fire, don't fall. I pulled back the arrow, waited a few seconds and let go. One down, two down, and done.

"Good girl Firefly," I said, slowing her down and giving her a pat, "now let's see if we did good."

"Amazing Katerina! You hit all 3, but we want to eventually get them all to land closer to the middle, bullseye if we can," Botkin said, "again."

"How many times do I have to do this today?"

"Until you hit at least 2 bullseye out of 3."

"Seriously?" I asked, Botkin just nodded. Looks like I'll be out here all day.

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2:30pm

"There you go Katerina! That's one, just hit one more!" Botkin yelled.

I hit the first target dead center, now just one more. Aim and fire. Notch next arrow, aim and fire.

*Clap clap clap*

"Glad to see my daughter hasn't been slacking on training while I've been away."

I looked behind me to see that I hit all 3 targets in the bullseye; and that my father was back from being away.

"She has been doing very well in her training as of late General Kirigan," Botkin said, "if you allow it, she could possibly go and get stationed somewhere besides here in Os Alta."

"I'll think about it," father said, "Botkin, if you don't mind, could you put Firefly away so I can talk to my daughter?"

"Of course General, we're done training for the day anyways," Botkin said while grabbing Firefly's lead rope from me and taking my boy and quiver.

"Thank you," I said to Botkin, he nodded in response. I turned to my father, "Hello father," I said with a smile.

"Come here Katerina," he said, pulling me into a hug, giving me a kiss on the top of my head. "How have you been while I've been gone?"

"I've been good, just training and all people want to talk about is the Sun Summoner," I said, "Is she here now?"

"Yes, I believe she is getting settled into her room, you will probably be able to meet her tomorrow."

"What's her name? And where is she from? How did you-" he cut me off.

"Slow down Katerina, one question at a time," he said, I nodded, "Her name is Alina Starkov, she is about your age, maybe a year or two younger. She is a Keramzin orphan."

"What happened to her parents? And how did you find out about her?" I asked.

"I believe her parents died before she could remember them," he stopped talking as we moved off the dirt path and onto the gravel path as we got closer to the Little Palace.

"Well, how did you find out about her?" I prodded.

"Oh right, well she is a mapmaker and she was on a sandskiff to West Ravka and the skiff got attacked by Volcra. Then the next moment she was glowing and the Volcra were gone. The remaining squallers were able to get them back out of the fold."

"That's cool I guess," I said, "So when will she start to train?"

"One day at a time Katerina," father said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

We walked like that for a few minutes and as we got to the font of the Little Palace I asked, "Father? About what Botkin said earlier about having me possibly stationed somewhere besides Os Alta." We stopped walking and he looked at me. "Are you actually going to think about it, like would I actually be able to leave?"

"I will think about it, but Katerina, the world is dangerous for Grisha in the first place and being a Darkling doesn't make that any easier," he stated. "If certain people, like witch hunters, find out about you and your gift they could hunt you to the ends of the earth. Would getting stationed somewhere else be something that you actually want to do?"

"I mean," I stopped for a second thinking carefully over my next words. If I leave Os Alta I would leave the protection of the Little Palace, but I would be free of this place and be able to explore for a bit. But I could also be hunted. "If I'm needed at a certain station I would love to go, but I also wouldn't want to get hunted so early in life," I laughed a little at the last bit.

My father hugged me and said, "I will see if you're needed anywhere, but for now I want you to stay here okay?"

"Okay father," I said. He then let go of me and we walked into the Little palace.

"I need to get some work done regarding the Sun Summoner so I won't be at dinner, but make sure to get some rest because the Sun Summoner is meeting the King tomorrow and some of the Grisha must attend."

"Okay, I'll be sure to get some rest," I said. He almost never showed up to dinner so this wasn't anything different.

"Don't waste the day Katerina," he called after him as he left. He always said that because he told me he was only here now because he never wasted any days. And that's exactly what I decided to go do, waste the day. Well I guess it's not really "wasting the day" but my father would definitely call spending my day in the fabrikator workshops a waste.

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A/N: This is a bit of a longer part. Let me know if you like longer parts or shorter parts. Honestly I have no idea where this story is going atm, I'm just writing whatever comes to my head. If you notice anything like spelling errors or plot holes, please let me know. Thanks!

-Katie :)