Aiming Straight, Aiming True.

Chapter 16 - In denial

Gone. All gone, Arena thought numbly as she sat on the soft bed in the inn she was staying at with Stephen, Hunter, the soldiers, Zach and her mother. They had just arrived after her father's small funeral. He had wanted to be buried by the edge of the woods, showing he had two loves. Farming and the woods. Arena never knew her father enjoyed the woods as much as she did, she thought numbly.

She sighed, trying to understand the last words her father said to her. She didn't understand, why would he want her to take up Stephen's offer,  it didn't make sense. What did he mean by discover who she is? She was Arena Dawson, daughter to Nicholas Dawson and Ella Dawson. Youngest and probably the most troubsome, she thought. That's who she was, wasn't it? She played with her golden locket absentmindedly as she thought of this question.

She glanced down at her golden locket and examined it. She has had it ever since she can remember and she's never taken it off. Something caught her attention as she thought of her father's words of discover who you are. Two little clips could be seen on the left hand side of the locket, they were so small no wonder she hadn't seen them before.

She ran her finger over it and frowned. Does that mean it can be opened?, she thought. Her eyes were still red and blood shot from crying as she sighed. She let go of her locket, letting the cool metal rest against her chest. She turned her attention to her wooden chest, the only item her father had saved but why? It was only important to her, just memories of her past. Her past?, she thought frowning slightly.

Does it have something to do with my past, Arena thought. What does father want me to remember, something to discover who I really am, she thought as she stared at her chest. She sighed in frustration as she stared at it. This can't be happening, why did this have to happen to me, she thought angrily. Why did he have to die, what did he mean when he said that he had protected me for as long as he could, she thought.

I am not in danger, usually I'm a danger to others, she thought grumpily. She pulled it closer and opened it with a creak. She stared intently inside it but sighed in frustration when she couldn't figure it out.  There was the leaf, the hand carved shell, the music box, the arrow head and her blanket. Her blanket, does he mean that, she thought confusingly. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the soft silky material. She read her own name stiched in gold in cursive script.  Arena, her name, she thought as she ran a finger over it.

Arena, her name, her identity. There was no one like her. No one who could shoot an arrow like her or fight with a sword. No one could ride like her or calm Nightfire like her. She was Arena Dawson, that's who she was, wasn't she?

She had noticed that she was different from her family. She sometimes wondered if they were her family at all. She was good with horses but she wasn't very good at farming or sewing. Not her father or her mother were good with bows and only Cederic was good with swords but that was from professional training while she had to learn on her own or copy Cederic when he tried to teach her with using a sword.

She wasn't as passionate or sweet like her mother or father. She had a temper and she was stubborn but she was loyal and kind. She stared at her blanket before shutting it away and putting it at the edge of the bed. She sighed and got up to look out the window.

Carts trundled pass and people shouted their wares. She saw a young girl running towards a man who bent down and lifted the girl up into the air. The child giggled as Arena watched sadly. She bent down and said something to the man who smiled. Arena didn't need to know what she had said, she knew. She had said it enough to Nicholas her own father. "I love you", whispered Arena sadly as she thought of her father.

" I don't know what you meant father but I'm doing what you asked and I promise I won't rest to understand your last words or how the fire started", she whispered as she watched the people hurry pass.