The Way of the Ranger

Harvest Festival

This was the first time Gilan actually felt alive. The wind was whipping past his ears, hair streaming back and he was actually beating Halt! Of course, he was still amazed at Blaze's speed, stamina and agility.
All of a sudden, someone jumped in his way.
"Come one, come all! Play the amazing ring toss at the harvest festival!" The jester said.

Gilan let out a pent up breath.
" I knew I was forgetting something today..."
Just then, Halt cantered past him, making it to his cabin first.
" Go enjoy yourself! Have some fun!" He said.
"Thanks, Halt!"
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" Gilan, my boy! How's Halt treating you?" Baron Arald greeted Gilan cheerfully.
"Great! Although he did let my horse buck me off..." He let the sentence trail off.
"So this is the infamous Blaze! What a pleasure to meet you!'' Baron Arald made a show of talking to Blaze as if she were a human. But surprisingly, Blaze seemed to answer back!
Gilan thought she said something along the lines of'.. What kind of paperwork are you doing?
"Blaze! That's rude!"
Baron Arald looked at him with an inquiring expression, the double chin prominent.

"She was looking at you rudely."
Baron Arald smiled at the lanky teenage boy, knowing about the relationship all Rangers shared with their horses.
"No harm done, good fellow! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try to win one of those impossible games! Maybe I'll win this year. I'm sure of it. Now off you go, have some fun!"
Gilan smiled gratefully. The baron could be overly pompous on some occasions. But that was why Gilan liked him.
He was nice, he thought.
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Gilan through a disdainful look over his shoulder at the boys approaching him. Leading the quartet was Carter, the mean boy in battleschool. They had made his life almost not worth living anymore. And of course, they were heading towards him. He swallowed the delicious crème pie that he had been eating and stood up, ready for combat.

But Carter's eyes were not on him. They laid beyond him a good 3 meters, he estimated. Sitting back down, he saw that their eyes were trained on a young girl, about Gilan's age.

Carter cleared his throat. The girl turned around.
Gilan gasped. She was beautiful! Dark brown hair braided and blue eyes greeted him. She must have thought that Gilan was the one who cleared his throat. "Hello, my name is Neve!" She was a girl of slim stature and Gilan could tell that she was a farm girl by her tan.

Carter cleared his throat again. "I believe it is I who has chanced upon such beauty and grace. Please, let us play a few games together. On me, of course." Neve giggled.
"Such a gentleman. How could I refuse?" Gilan snorted in the background. She turned around because her dress had snagged on something but yet it was surprisingly easy to unhook. She snuck him a sly wink.

"Please, milady, come with me." Carter clasped her hand in his own while his other hand sneakily went south of the equator. She felt it. "And, I suppose Lady Pauline is your mentor?"
"No, actually, I was denied and condemned to farm work." He let go of her hand and that hand started going a bit too north for his liking. "Why would that be?" He said, going further North and South at the same time.

"Because I have a tendency to do ..." She said simply while Carter started doing things that were way out of Gilan's comfort zone. But Neve seemed to be going along with it, surprising him more than she had all day.

Her hand curled into a fist and she pulled her arm back. Too late, Carter saw what was coming.
"THIS!" She punched him with all the force of her seemingly frail body and Carter's feet actually lifted off the ground a few inches! He slumped on the ground and she whirled around. Not so frail anymore, Gilan thought.

Carter's three cronies were in her instantly. "Now, now... You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?" One of them hesitated. Her fist connected with his face. Then the others went down to another well placed punch and kick in the groin. Neve thought she was done. But Carter wasn't done yet. He tugged on the back of her dress, ripping the worst possible place just before an arrow pierced his hand.

Carter didn't even scream. He was out cold already.

"I know a really pretty spot down by the river if you want to come..." Gilan asked her shyly, still holding a bow pointed at the gang of boys.

"And I can pack a picnic! Come on, let's go already!" Neve clapped her hands in excitement and stepped clear of the unconscious boys.
Gilan hopped on Blaze and held out his hand to you.
"Oh, but before you mount, you need to hear something..."

A/N Yay! I promised a Harvest Festival chapter and here it it, just a bit later than expected. Hope you like this new part!