"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Cosette called to her friend, Eponine. They were playing a game of hide-and-seek near their tent, while Cosette's father was off hunting. The two little girls were supposed to be looking after Eponine's little brother and sister, but it was much more fun to spend time with each other. Eponine giggled, sneaking around a corner, but Cosette caught her, growling playfully.
"I am going to eat you! Nom, nom, nom!" Cosette laughed, pretending to bite her friend as her father walked over with his bow. He placed it on the table. "Isn't it gross to put a bow on the table, Papa?"
Eponine jumped up and tried to lift the enormous weapon, though dropped it on herself. "Can I shoot an arrow? Please?"
"Not with that huge thing," Jean Valjean said, laughing, "Why not use your very own?" From his belt, he pulled out a smaller bow and handed it down to Eponine. Ever since her parents abandoned her and her siblings, Valjean had treated Eponine like his own. "Happy birthday!"
Cosette watched nervously as Valjean taught Eponine to shoot an arrow with the bow. "Pull back, keep both eyes open, and... go."
Eponine aimed roughly at the tree indicated, and the arrow shot off somewhere into the woods. "I missed."
"Then go get the arrow," Cosette said, as if it were obvious. As Eponine went behind a tree, she asked her father, "Was it right to give her a weapon? What if she gets hurt out there?"
Valjean laughed, messing up her hair. "Relax."
As Eponine went running through the woods, she spotted a glowing blue light shining in the dark. "A Will o'The Wisp!" she gasped, and chased after the tiny creature, but when she reached it, it vanished! A few feet away, another one appeared, and soon there became a path of them, leading through the woods. Eponine followed them until they all had vanished. Beneath the place of the last Wisp, sat her arrow, stuck into a tree stump.
She tugged the desired item out just as she heard someone call, "Eponine! We're getting ready to go! Where'd you go?"
She sprinted back to the camp, and nearly ran over Cosette. "I saw a Wisp!"
"Really?" Cosette asked excitedly, and Jean Valjean rolled his eyes.
"Your magic hogwash again?"
"It's not hogwash," Cosette grumbled, and Valjean turned back to pack up his tent. She turned back to Eponine and whispered, "Don't listen to him. Wisps lead you to your fate, no matter what he says. He doesn't think magic is real."
"He should though, because it is," Eponine replied, and Cosette nodded in agreement.
"I've taught you well, my friend."
The two girls went to follow Valjean, but Eponine looked up just in time to scream, "Bear!"
Valjean spun around on the spot, pushing the two little girls out of the way, shouting, "Go with the others! Hide!"
The huge black bear stood on its hind legs, swatting Valjean's spear out of his hand, and lunged for the kill.
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Brave: A Les Mis AU
FanfictionAfter being abandoned by her mother at a very young age, Eponine Thenardier and her siblings were taken in by Jean Valjean, who ruled her kingdom until she became of age. Her friendship with Valjean's daughter, Cosette, is put to the test when her f...
