Sabrina walked down to the school archery field with a pep in her step, Daring at her side. Today in one of their hero classes, they were going to be joining the Grimmnastics class (aka the watered down version of hero training that all the people who weren't royalty had to take) in a group archery lesson. Sabrina was happy, because she had picked up archery during a trip to Scotland, and was very good at it. Daring was happy because she was happy.
"So, how good do you think the Grimmnastics team is?", she asked Daring as they marched closer to a line of targets situated in the middle of the Bookball stadium. Daring scoffed.
"Not very, at least not at archery. The only ones I can think of that stand out are Hunter Huntsman and Sparrow Hood.", Daring said, and Sabrina started laughing.
"Who-who names their child 'Hunter Huntsman'? Like, no offense to him or anything, but it sounds like his parents hate him almost as much as Good-Enough's.", Sabrina joked. Daring chuckled.
"Yes, it would seem that way. But jokes aside, Hunter is no slouch when it comes to archery, being the son of the Huntsman from Little Red Riding Hood. Neither is Sparrow, as expected from the son of Robin Hood.", Daring went on, and Sabrina's interest was piqued when she heard who Sparrow was.
'Son of Robin Hood, huh? He's all about helping the oppressed. Maybe I can get some support from Sparrow for my plan. Having an ace archer is always a plus, and if his son joins the fray, perhaps Robin Hood himself will be willing to provide help as well.', Sabrina thought, and Daring smirked at the familiar expression on her face.
"You look like you're scheming.", he jabbed playfully. Sabrina smirked as they got closer to the archery range.
"That's because I am. I'm going to need you to introduce me to Sparrow and Hunter. The support of Sparrow and his family may be vital to our goals.", she whispered to him hurriedly. Daring nodded, and as they crept closer to the Grimmnastics students sitting in the bleachers, he veered off from his fellow classmates and towards a pair of boys who were sitting alone in a corner. Sabrina followed after Daring, having an idea as to who the boys were.
"Hunter, Sparrow! How have you been?", Daring asked with his usual wide, charming grin. Sabrina took in the appearance of the two boys in front of her.
They both wore quite a bit of green. The first of the two had short chestnut brown hair, with one side of his head shaved. He wore a sleeveless hooded brown vest, and a long sleeve green camouflage t-shirt. He wore brown leather bracelets on his left wrist, white pants, and brown hunting boots. He definitely fit the bill of a hunter, and Sabrina assumed he was Hunter Huntsman.
The second one stood out to her much more. He had flaming red hair and olive green eyes. His skin was paler than Hunter's, and he had black stud piercings in both ears. He wore a gothic patterned black t-shirt, under a black leather vest with gold studs along the top. His pants were black, and he wore a black leather belt studded with gold. He wore combat boots, cuffed with gold and with golden buckles. His accessories, like the rest of his attire, were far from understated; he wore a green scarf around his neck, a dark green fedora with two red feathers clipped onto its black band with a golden arrow clip, and black fingerless gloves with gold fastenings. Even though Sabrina assumed he was Sparrow, he looked more like a rockstar than an outlaw. Sparrow grinned in response to Daring's words.
"Good, Charming. Been good.", Sparrow responded. Hunter nodded.
"Yeah, things haven't been too bad. What about you?", the brunette asked. Daring's smile widened.
"Better than usual, I must say.", he responded, and Sabrina, already tired of the pleasantries, tugged on Daring's jacket to get his attention. Daring felt the tug and let his smile drop slightly, knowing he had to cut to the chase.
"Ah, forgive me, gentlemen. I don't believe I introduced my friend.", Daring said. Sabrina walked forward and smiled at the boys in front of her. Hunter smiled softly and waved, but Sparrow grinned widely.
"Wow, a new girl. Don't get a lot of those here. What's your name, beautiful?", Sparrow asked, leaning closer to Sabrina from over the bleachers railing.
Daring's breath hitched. He was expecting Sabrina to go ballistic at the nickname, but instead, Sabrina's smile widened. She found Sparrow charming, not patronizing, surprisingly enough, and Daring breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Sparrow would live to see another day.
"Sabrina Michaelis.", she responded. Sparrow eyed her with interest.
"And why are you here, Sabrina? You here to watch Daring, or... ?", he asked, not knowing she was Daring's classmate. Sabrina smirked.
"I'm here to whoop all your asses in archery.", she declared proudly, and while Hunter felt shock and Daring felt pride, Sparrow felt excitement at the challenge.
—------------------------------------------------
Over the next half hour, each student, one by one, went up and showed off their archery skills. They did this by shooting three arrows, one at each target. Most of them hit the target, some got a bullseye, and others sent their arrows flying into the distance. One particularly unlucky young man did so terribly, he shot himself in the foot on accident and had to go to the infirmary. Everyone except for Sabrina winced at the boy's pain. After Mr. Knight helped him onto a stretcher, he realized that the only students who hadn't shot their arrows yet were Sparrow, Hunter, Daring and Sabrina, who were all standing together at the foot of the bleachers.
"You four, take your shots and get to your next class. And for the love of the fairy godmother, try not to shoot yourself in the foot like Scottie.", Mr. Knight told them with a shake of his head, before following the groaning Scottie to the infirmary with the two students who were carrying the stretcher. Hunter shook his head as he watched them leave.
"Another one bites the dust.", he said. Sabrina snorted.
"Yeah, if the dust is an arrow and getting bitten is shooting yourself in the foot.", she said sarcastically. Sparrow chuckled.
"Ah, so she speaks.", he remarked, referring to how she had kept quiet and observed him and Hunter for most of the class. She wanted to know if they would make worthwhile allies, and she liked what she saw. Sabrina raised a teasing eyebrow at him and smirked.
"What, did you think I was mute? You heard me speak earlier.", she responded. She liked Sparrow. He was the type that always had something to say, and she liked that sort of confidence in someone who wasn't a dick about it. Sparrow laughed.
"Yeah, I heard you. But when you did speak, you made a promise, and you haven't made good on it yet. When are you gonna kick all our asses in archery? Huh, Michaelis?", he asked. Sabrina grinned at him, showing her fangs.
"In due time. You that eager to get your rear handed to you?", the black haired girl asked him. Sparrow laughed again. He liked this girl.
"No, not really. I meet you every word with a response and you always have a comeback ready to fire off. Quite the firecracker, aren't you?", he observed. Sabrina smirked knowingly and shook her head.
"Nah, I'm no firecracker. Firecrackers go off and then they just lie there all useless and used up.", she tutted. She then slowly walked closer to Sparrow, and leaned her face close to his, her expression much calmer than it should have been in the grinning Sparrow's opinion.
"Honey, I'm not a firecracker. I'm the whole Fourth of July.", she whispered to him, and despite not knowing what the Fourth of July was, Sparrow could sense that it was supposed to mean something grand. He spread his arms wide in a sort of 'come at me' gesture.
"Then show me what you've got.", he said. Sabrina's smirk widened.
"Gladly."
Sabrina walked confidently over to the standing area for people ready to shoot their arrows. She then held her hand out to her side.
"Daring, my bow and quiver.", she demanded.
Daring grabbed the objects of the bleachers and brought them over to her, grumbling the whole way. Sparrow and Hunter gawked at the sight of Daring Charming, Mr. arrogant and rich, willingly carrying equipment for someone. And it was his equipment too, if the white leather quiver and gold everything was anything to go by.
"It's my bow and quiver.", he complained. Sabrina raised a testing eyebrow at him.
"You wanna complain about hijacked equipment, or do you wanna shoot some arrows?", she asked. Daring didn't answer, and she smirked.
"That's what I thought, pretty boy.", she jabbed, causing Daring to blush at the nickname. She took the bow from him and put on the quiver, before turning back to look at Hunter and Sparrow.
"I say let's have a little competition. We each shoot three arrows, one at each target. Whoever does the best is the best shot out of all of us.", Sabrina suggested, more than up for a little competitive fun. Sparrow smirked at her and nodded.
"Alright, fine. But on one condition; winner gets a prize.", he stipulated. Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of prize?", she asked. Sparrow nodded his head slightly in the direction of Daring, who was standing beside her.
"Daring's crown. The winner will be crowned 'the King of Archers' with it. A little title to brag about between us friends.", the redhead said. Daring looked at him, appalled and threw his hands up in frustration.
"Why is it always my stuff that gets taken?!", he yelled. Sabrina shot him a sharp look.
"Hush, I heard you complaining earlier about how you're running out of room for your crowns in your walk-in closet. If that's really the case, you can stand to lose one.", she berated him. Daring shot her a look of his own.
"It's not like that! I'm not trying to be greedy or anything. If it's you getting the crown, I don't mind. I'd give you a dozen if you asked. But this crown is real gold, and I know that if Sparrow wins, he'll pawn it off the first chance he gets. It's the principle of the thing!", Daring protested, and Sparrow chuckled at the accusation.
"Ye of little faith, Daring.", he joked, while silently agreeing with the prince's sentiment. Gold was good for two things in his mind, decoration and currency. And crowns weren't his thing. Sabrina sighed, deciding to cut the interactions short and get on with things.
"If that's all, then the conditions are set. Are you all in?", she asked. All three boys nodded in unison, and she grinned.
"Good. Now, who wants to go first?", she asked. Sparrow gave her a mock bow.
"I may be a supposed future outlaw, but I'm also a gentleman. Where I'm from, ladies always go first.", he said, truthfully and cordially. Sabrina tilted his chin up so he would look at her and gave him a grin that showed her fangs.
"Then it's good for you that I'm not a lady then.", she answered. Then, she released him, turned around, and gestured to the targets.
"We'll go in alphabetical order. First Daring, then Hunter, then Sparrow and then me.", Sabrina stated. Hunter raised an eyebrow.
"Why that order specifically? Any particular reason?", he asked out of pure curiosity. Sabrina smirked at him and shot him a wink.
"Just saving the best for last.", she responded, before shoving her bow and quiver at Daring. He caught them against his chest with an 'oof!' of exertion.
"You're up first, Daring. Don't suck too bad, you'll ruin my image.", she teased. Daring rolled his eyes at her.
"Funny.", he said sarcastically, before he put his quiver on his back, drew an arrow, and took his first shot.
The first arrow hit the second ring on the target, then he slowly started walking to the side to get in front of the second target. He took another shot, and it hit the second ring again. He repeated this process at the third target, except he almost got a bullseye. He was a mere three inches away from a perfect shot. Daring lowered his bow and cursed under his breath.
"Pixie dust!", he swore. Hunter and Sparrow laughed, and Sabrina shook her head in faux disappointment.
"What did I just say, Daring?", she scolded. Daring glared at her and took his quiver off.
"Shut up, I didn't do that bad.", he told her. The Daring Charming of a few days ago would have never dreamed of talking to a girl that way, but now, responding to Sabrina's jabs with jabs of his own was like second nature to him. Sabrina grinned at him as he shoved his gear into her arms.
"No, you didn't", she agreed, and Daring figured that was the closest thing to a compliment related to his archery skills that he was going to get. Which was fair, he supposed. Compared to his talents with the sword, dragon slaying and Bookball, his archery talents were nothing to write home about.
'Sparrow and Hunter's, however... ', he thought as Hunter grabbed his bow and slung his quiver over his back. The brunette then walked up to the shooting point and threw a self-assured smirk at Daring.
"Watch and learn, Charming.", he said. Then he drew his bow and shot his arrow.
The first one hit the second ring on the target. The second hit the second ring again, and the third one was a bullseye. He hadn't done much better than Daring. Hunter huffed at his terrible luck, and Sparrow and Daring laughed at him.
"Better luck next time, Hunter!", Daring teased, and Hunter glared at him.
"Whatever.", he responded with an eye roll, before going to set his equipment down on the bleachers. Sparrow was up next. He grabbed his things from off the bleachers and got ready to shoot. Sabrina watched him with interest, and Daring noticed this. After checking to see that Sparrow was busy getting ready and Hunter was busy sulking over his perceived loss, Daring leaned down to whisper in Sabrina's ear.
"I get that with your plan that you need as many people backing it as possible, and that Sparrow's father would be a valuable asset, but why are you so interested in Sparrow specifically? He's a good archer, but he's a musician at heart. He'd rather have his face on a concert poster than a wanted poster. If it's a rebellious outlaw you're looking for, he's not your guy.", Daring explained. Sabrina gave him a sharp, calculating look.
"That may be so, but an archer's still an archer. Someone raised to be a huntsman will be a skilled huntsman. Someone raised to be a thief will be a skilled thief. That's how nurture works, and the only thing that can overcome nurture is nature. It's in Raven's nature to be a good person, just as much as it is in Apple's nature to be king. But they can both do things that go against that nature if need be.", Sabrina started to explain. Daring looked at her in confusion.
"What are you trying to say?", he questioned. Sabrina looked at him with red eyes, glowing with determination.
"I'm saying that nature made Sparrow a musician, but nurture made him a skilled thief and archer. His nature may be what he wants to do, but his nurture is what he can do. And if push comes to shove, we're all willing to do things we don't want to do. We might need that nurture if things get ugly later on.", Sabrina revealed, and Daring looked at her in shock and slight horror.
"You can't seriously be saying things might get... violent with the people who don't agree with us, right?", he asked, hoping to hear a quick 'no'. Because most of his family was a part of that demographic, and while he had words for most of them, he didn't want to see them hurt. Sabrina, thankfully, shook her head.
"No, hopefully not. But we can never be too careful. I'm hoping the destiny conflict will be resolved peacefully, but if not... ", she trailed off, a faraway look in her eyes as she considered the unfortunate possibilities. Daring stared at her with urgency.
"If not?", he echoed, urging her to finish her sentence. Sabrina sighed wearily. She didn't like thinking about these possibilities.
"If not, we need people with the skills to deal with that possibility.", Sabrina choked out. She had, as much as it had pained her, planned for the eventuality of all out war. With the backing of Raven and his kingdom, they would have a fighting chance, but a single individual could change everything. She herself was proof of that, and Sparrow might be one of those people as well. Daring nodded in solemn understanding.
"In that case, I understand.", was all he said, and Sabrina patted his shoulder in reassurance before diverting all of her attention back to Sparrow, who had drawn back his bow and was ready to shoot his first arrow.
Sparrow shot his arrows faster than lighting. The first was a bit off, and it only hit the first ring outside the bullseye. But that was the only time he missed. The other two arrows went straight to the center of the target. All of this occurred within thirty seconds, and Sparrow grinned triumphantly once he was finished shooting.
"Ha! Top that, Michaelis!", he cried. Sabrina smirked and quirked an eyebrow at him.
"'Top that', huh? What happened to all that gentlemanly virtue you had earlier?", she asked. Sparrow smirked and walked up to her.
"It's been replaced with competitive fervor.", he responded. Sabrina snorted.
"Ah, so he can use big words.", she jabbed. Sparrow, not taking the insult personally, chuckled.
"Yeah, but big words don't make good song lyrics. Take your shots, Michaelis. And good luck.", the redhead told her, clapping her on the shoulder like she had done to Daring mere moments ago. Once he removed his hand. Sabrina threw her quiver over her back and threw her hands up in a 'I give up' gesture as she walked towards the targets, turning to give Daring a 'can you believe this?' look.
"What is it with you people and wishing me luck when I don't need it?", she asked, before turning back around and continuing on her walk. Daring hurriedly followed after her.
"Don't turn away something you might need. Sparrow is the greatest archer this side of Ever After, second only to his father. You might struggle to beat him here, on in his greatest strength.", the blonde prince warned her. Sabrina sighed tiredly.
"Daring, how good do you think I am with a bow and arrow?", she asked as she came to a stop in front of the targets. Daring looked at her in confusion and shrugged.
"I don't know. As good as you are with a sword, I suppose.", he guessed. Sabrina grinned widely.
"Try an internationally ranked competitive archer back home. I spent three months learning how to shoot a longbow in the Scottish highlands from the natives, a region of a country close to where I'm from, and I haven't missed a shot since. The only reason I'm not officially ranked is because I refused to compete publicly. Didn't want a bunch of cameras in my face. But I did beat the world's best archer in an unofficial match a few years back.", she informed her friend. Daring stared at her with wide eyes, astounded by her skills, and Sabrina toyed with his bow a bit as if she had said nothing of note, running her fingers along the bowstring and checking the wood quality.
"A bit shorter than what I'm used to, but it'll do. Now watch me win that crown off of you.", she said, shooting Daring a wink and getting ready to draw an arrow. Daring backed up so he wouldn't get hit, and as Sabrina took a moment to aim, she spoke.
"Oh and, Daring? Relax. Stop acting like this some ride or die thing. It's only a game.", she assured her friend, having noticed his tension throughout their talk about her archery skills.
Then she let the arrow fly. With a resounding 'thud', it hit the bullseye on the first target. She heard gasps and exclamations of surprise behind her. She walked slowly over to the next target and drew another arrow. She fired it, and hit another bullseye, one even more perfect than Sparrow's. There were more gasps. Sparrow had been off from the very middle by half an inch, but Sabrina's arrow, like her first one, was perfectly aligned. Then she moved on to the third target, and Sparrow decided he should call out to her.
"Hey, wait! Let me pull my arrow out, so you can have a clean shot to the bullseye!", Sparrow offered. Sabrina shook her head slightly.
"No, don't bother. I can hit the bullseye regardless of any obstacles.", she declared. Hunter and Sparrow looked at her with concern.
"Are you sure? It's right in the middle! If I don't pull it out and your arrow hits it, it could break and- !", Sparrow tried to protest, but Sabrina had already fired her shot.
Sabrina's final arrow went flying, and it did something the likes of which Sparrow had only seen his father do. It hit the other arrow, and instead of bouncing off like it should have done, it split the other arrow right down the middle, and it embedded itself more than halfway deep in the target. The three boys watching all released the breaths they didn't know they had been holding when they saw the split remains of Sparrow's arrow go clattering to the ground. Sabrina grinned in triumph and lowered her bow.
"Well, I'd call that an undisputed win, wouldn't you?", she asked as she turned back to look at her opponents. None of them answered, they all just gaped. After a few moments, Sabrina got tired of the silence, took a few steps towards Daring, and snatched the crown off his head. She then proceeded to throw it onto her own like it was a backwards baseball cap and she was a frat boy named Daren.
"King of Archers. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?", she said, tilting the crown to the side so it looked crooked. That broke Daring out of his stupor, and he laughed. With her wide grin, and her crooked golden crown that glowed in the sunlight, she looked like a crazy angel.
"Yes, it does.", he agreed.
Since Sparrow and Hunter didn't seem to be able to talk anymore, Daring and Sabrina silently decided to head to their next class and started walking off. Before they were completely out of earshot, however, Sparrow called out to them.
"Hey, Michealis!", he called. Both Daring and Sabrina stopped in their tracks and turned to face him in unison.
"Yeah?", Sabrina responded. Sparrow stared at her with intrigue.
"Remember when you said you weren't a lady? What did you mean by that? If your not a lady, then what are you?", the green eyed boy asked curiously. Sabrina thought about his question for a second, then grinned at him, her fangs on full display, even at a distance.
"I'm just one hell of an archer.", she responded. Then she turned around and left without a word, not even bothering to wait to see Sparrow's reaction to her response. She and Daring kept walking in silence, until they were within sight of the school. Then he spoke.
"I get the feeling there's a pun in there, but you won't tell me about it.", Daring said as they started climbing up the stairs to one of the school's back entrances, referring to her response to Sparrow's question. Sabrina snorted at his sensing of her pun.
"You would be correct.", she responded as she climbed ahead of him on the stairs. Daring looked up at her in confusion, hurriedly following after her.
"About the pun or about you not explaining it to me?", he asked. Sabrina turned around when she got to the top of the stairs and smiled at him.
"Both.", she answered. Then Daring slowed his pace. When he eventually reached the top of the stairs, he had a contemplative look on his face, much to Sabrina's confusion. She furrowed her brow at the blonde prince as he came to a stop two steps below her.
"What?", she asked, wondering what had made her friend act so strange. Daring's eyes drifted up to his-now her-crown.
"It feels weird that I didn't get to crown you. Kings are always crowned by some else. It's what I've always been taught.", he mused. Sabrina smiled.
"Well if it means so much to you, then go ahead and do it.", she suggested, before placing the crown back onto his soft golden blonde hair. She held her hands behind her back, awaiting his action.
Daring blinked at her. In that moment, he didn't know what it was, but there was something about the way she smiled at him. It made him feel like he was the only one privy to some hilarious inside joke she had just whispered in his ear, and that made him feel proud. He wanted to be the one who knew that joke. He wanted to be the only one whose ear she whispered into. Sabrina tilted her head at him. Daring found the gesture endearing.
"Well?", she questioned, raising an eyebrow. Daring then realized he was staring, and broke himself out of his stupor with a nervous chuckle.
"Right.", he said, and then with care, he took the crown off his head. Slowly and dramatically, he raised it up, and brought it to hover over Sabrina's head. With a quiet clearing of his throat, Daring summoned his most princely voice.
"Sabrina Michaelis, next top hero, best archer in your land, I hereby crown you- ", Daring announced dramatically, and then, slowly and ever so gently, he lowered his crown onto Sabrina's head. She didn't close her eyes or look down. She just maintained eye contact, and that made Daring feel like a hundred dragons were being slayed in his stomach.
" -King of Archers.", he finished in a much quieter voice than he had said the rest of his sentence. He finished setting the crown on Sabrina's soft raven black hair, and when he set his hands back at his sides, she grinned and tilted the crown at him like a man tilting a hat at his acquaintance.
"So, how do I look?", she asked. She looked like an impish god in that moment, ready to wreak havoc upon the mortal realm. It was a good look on her. Daring struggled to find the words to describe her.
Beautiful. Brilliant. Unearthly.
"Very regal.", he choked out, settling on a compliment he would give his brother when helping him pick out a new crown. Sabrina seemed satisfied with his words, because she nodded at him in approval.
"Good.", she said, before turning on her heels and walking off to her next class, likely assuming he would follow suit. And he would, but he wanted to stare for a while.
Daring watched her go in a daze. His heart was about to beat out of his chest. She looked the same way she had when they had first met only days ago; like a beautiful, dangerous creature that was bad for his health. She had the same swagger in her walk, the same sway in her hips. Hell, she was even wearing the same trench coat. But Daring was noticing more and more things about her; how she had a beautiful laugh, how she was particular about cameras, how she liked winning more than even he did. Then, with a sharply inhaled breath, he realized;
'Sweet fairy godmother, I'm in love.'
Yay, I introduced Sparrow! AND I had Daring have I romantic revelation! Pretty nice chapter, huh? FYI, Sparrow is a love interest, but Hunter is not. If his lack of lines during this chapter was any indication, I don't find him all that interesting. I thought he was bland in the show, mostly defined by his relationship with Ashlynn (who in my lowly opinion only had a little more personality than he did, which is something I will fix with her male counter part), and had more chemistry with that squirrel who's only hobby was to throw acorns and shit at his head. My first crack ship was Pesky x Hunter. Some of y'all had Drapple, I had Punter. Hunter will be an ally, though, and he'll probably be friends with both Asher and Sabrina. Next time, goodbye filler and character cameos, and hello Legacy Day!
So Long and Goodnight, Thackery Binx.