Tina stretched. She let out a soft groan as she arched her back, her arms went over her head, and her legs straighten. She relaxed into the bed. She felt refresh. It was similar to the feeling after stepping out the hot shower, but it was a lot better like she was able to hit restart button on her mind. She glanced over the room, noticing the sunlight had gotten brighter. She lifted her head and looked at the clock. Her alarm clock read 3:24.

Feeling overheated, Tina tossed the covers off her form and felt cooler air swept over her. She swung her legs over the edge and hissed in pain as a sharp light from the shadow of a tree entered her right eye. She lend back and glared at the window, strong anger flashed through her. She blinked, pushing back the emotion and peered out of the window. That object from before her nap…it was back.

In the afternoon sunlight, Tina could see the outline form of a person standing on the tree limb, shaking his head, slowly, causing the object attached to his head to caught the light and bounced it off straight into her room. She placed a hand on the nightstand and slapped her other hand against the edge of the bed before she pushed upward, getting to her feet. A clatter echoed through the silent bedroom. Tina paused, frowning. She turned her head and looked at the nightstand. Was there something on her nightstand a moment ago? She blinked, thinking. She remembered she had placed a scroll on the nightstand before going to sleep. She bent down and spotted the scroll laying on the floor in the crack between the nightstand and her bed. She reached under her bed, grabbing the scroll. She turned it over in her hands and glanced up. She gasped. The shadowed form was gone. She blinked again as she settled back on the edge of the bed. She thought about she should do with the scroll.

Maybe she should open the scroll and read it. What kind of trouble that could come from reading a scroll?

A snide voice echoed up through her mind, ‘Raising the dead?’ Tina snorted at that thought. That only happened because the woman in question read out loud a spell for reviving the dead from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

‘What about your soul sucking out of your body and your life energy used to allow a memory to become real again?’ the voice asked, trying to be the voice of reason. She knew better. That voice was her inner fears, some of them rational while others were questionable.

Tina fought a laugh at that thought. Tina was nothing like that red haired girl with a crush on the ‘Chosen One’. The girl in question should have thrown that diary away when it started to write back. Tina may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but she was not stupid. Tina would have burnt the diary, right away.

She grabbed the string that was tied around the scroll and watched it as it untied before it fell to the sides. She hummed, noticing that the string was actually attached to the scroll. She grabbed the knobs at the either end of the scroll and slowly opened it. Her eyes widened as she saw what was written there, in the neatest handwriting she had ever seen.

Valentina,

daughter of Annja,

daughter of Sakura,

Daughter of House White Hall,

First of her Name

You have been requested to visit to the White Hall Estate, the home of Lord Bardock, and his sons, Genesis, Vincent, and Victor, and daughter, Natalie, by the Lady Mother Freya. Please follow the messenger to the White Hall Estate where I will be able to explain more to you, Valentina. It maybe wise to not inform your mother and Lady Sakura of where you are going. They may try to stop you from searching for your father and other family members.

Wishing to speak to you soon,

Your other Grandmother

Freya

Daughter of Floki,

Son of Reynard,

Fifth of her Name,

Matriarch of House White Hall

Tina gapped in shock. According to this letter, she had more family…. at a White Hall Estate? Where was that? She glanced up at her desk. She blinked. Where the hell she did put her laptop, again? She gazed around the room. There were boxes still left to unpack. She sucked on her lower lip and glanced at the closet door. It might be still in her school bag which was buried somewhere in the closet. She didn’t remembered how she put the boxes in the closet when she had moved back in. She hoped her laptop didn’t get pushed to the bottom because there was a good chance that it was probably broke.

She glanced at the scroll. Who was this Lord Bardock? From an educated guess, Tina would think he was her father if this Freya was her grandmother. However, it brought up the question that why would her own mother and grandma would try to stop her from searching out her father and her other grandmother. She frowned. She might knew the reason why. She slowly raised her head to peer at the forest.

This had been the first time since she had started college that she had spent any real time with her family. Whenever she didn’t have school or work, she was over her ex’s place. His argument was his place with his parents was closer and they didn’t have to get up at the crack ass of dawn to get back to school or leave his parents late. Of course, whenever her family had an event that she wanted to go to, her ex used the excuse that she should be studying instead of wasting time, that they would be there when school was over with, and her grades needed to get better if she wanted to get a high paying job like he was aiming to do. She just couldn’t argue with that logic, but it did lead to arguments between them every time.

Now, Tina wanted to get away. She knew her mom’s heart was in the right place, but Tina felt lost. She didn’t know what to do, anymore. She saw out of the corner of her eye the walls started to move in, trapping her in her room. She did know one thing: She wanted to explore. She wanted to have freedom. She wanted to have adventure. She was tired of always studying, trying to please someone else, and not taking care of what her heart desires or trying to achieve it. She wanted to break the cycle of the mundane lifestyle she had.

The familiar spark of excitement darted through her blood. It had been a long while since she had felt that. If she remember correctly, it was at her high school graduation when she got her diploma. She closed her eyes, allowing soothing to bubble to the surface. It filled her completely. A small smile stretched across her lips.

The scroll seemed to call out to her, whispering the promising of adventure, the lure of seeing new people and new places. She remembered the last adventure she had. It was her trip to Japan for that archery competition. Despite what had happen during the trip, Tina did enjoy herself.

It would break her mundane routine she had fallen into. Plus, she knew it would be something her ex would never approve of. That thought sold her into checking out the scroll’s information.

She glanced at the darkening forest. It had been awhile since she had explore the forest. Maybe she would run into her forest friend, again. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him. She nodded herself, reaching her decision.

Or she hoped so.

Tina turned to her closet and opened the door. She let out a low whistle at the well-stacked boxes. She didn’t remembered doing that, but of course, the last 26 days, she had been on auto-pilot and barely remembered anything except for some vivid memories about making the call, moving back home, and seeing her house again first time in a few years. The boxes filled the area between the floor and the bar where Tina used to hang her clothes, but what she was after still sat on her top shelf. She grinned, seeing her trusty hiking bag. She pulled it down and let out a gasp of surprise as something else fell from the shelf with her bag. She fail her arms about before she was able to catch it. She looked at it and her heart pounded with excitement. It was her sleeping bag. She thought she had got rid of it when she went through her room before she went to college.

She tossed them onto her bed. It thumped gently on the bed as she peered into her closet, frowning. She needed to find her hiking boots. She really didn’t want to take a trip through the forest without those boots. There were too many holes in the grounds and there was no ‘official’ trail she used to follow. She needed her boots to support her ankles.

“Maybe they are in my shoe box,” she muttered. Tina had took her hiking boots to college and spent every night at least a hour, walking through the local metro park. There were times where she went for a longer hike after a stressful day, dealing with her ex or a difficult topic in one of her classes, “Maybe that is what I need,” she went on, “A relaxing trip in the woods.”

Her gaze moved over the various box. She still hadn’t put them away. She spotted a box half empty, sitting next to the closet with a folded box. She had tried to put away the box’s contents, but it had been difficult with her flexurating moods. One minute, Tina was ready to start to put away the items she had packed, the next one, she curled up on the floor, crying or staring at the box. She hoped she wouldn’t stumbled while she was trying to find what she needed.

Tina went to the closest box and went through it. Her boots weren’t in that one. She sighed and moved it aside before she moved to the next. It wasn’t until she reached the fifth box, she managed to find what she was looking for.

Tina pulled the boots up one by one, causing the rest of the shoes to scatter in the box. She tossed them up by the hiking bag. She closed the box and re-stocked the rest of the boxes she moved and went to the box that she used for her blue jeans. She immediately pulled out four pairs and tossed them onto the bed before she went to the dresser. She pulled the top drawer and grabbed a handful of her underwear and turned to her hiking bag, shoving them into a deep pocket before she grabbed another handful and placed them in the deep pocket. She went to a section in the top drawer and grabbed a few pairs of socks. She tossed them into the deep pocket that held her underwear before she shut the drawer. She glanced around her room.

Tina knew she needed to find the box housing her shirts. She frowned, trying to remember where she had put it. Maybe it was down in the living room where, she questioned. She was not for sure. She sighed and went to her bed. She rolled her blue jeans up in a tube before she placed them into her hiking bag and stacked them neatly. She looked around the room.

Tina doubled check her dresser drawers and let out a sigh of relief. The third drawer housed her shirts. She glanced out the window and thought. She would need a couple t-shirts for the cool nights. Also, a couple long shelved shirts. She wanted to take a few of her tanks tops. She turned her attention back to the open drawer and grabbed four t-shirts, six tank tops, a long shelved shirt and grabbed her college sweater. She tossed them onto the bed. She shut the drawer and turned to the bed. She rolled her shirts into tube shaped rolls and packed them into the hiking bag. She added the scroll from the Freya woman, last.

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She clasped the main compartment of the hiking bag shut before she doubled checked the side pockets. She knew once upon a time ago, she had a thing of baby wipes as a way she clean herself up after using the ‘restroom’ and before she crawled into her sleeping bag for sleep. She might have to grabbed a couple packages of baby wipes from the bathroom.

Tina glanced at the door. She didn’t want to run into her family. She knew it would be wiser if she did face them about her plan, but she feared her mother would try to stop her from leaving for a bit. She didn’t want to see how that would effected her mom, especially after the last time she ‘disappeared’ on them, she didn’t return to them until 26 days ago. She sighed. This was something she needed to do. She have to figure out what went wrong with her relationship. More importantly, she had to find herself again.

Tina quickly visited the bathroom and returned to her bedroom without an issue. She closed her eyes in relief. She walked over to the hiking bag and stashed the two packages of baby wipes into the hiking bag. She glanced up at the window as she sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hiking boots. She saw the shadowy figure, waiting. She wondered briefly if he would be her guide to this White Hall Estate. She didn’t know if she wanted to go to this White Hall Estate in the first place, but she did want to get away for a bit. A week in the forest sounds about right. Maybe two week vacation, just having a short adventure by herself. She placed the hiking boot up by her foot and slid her foot into it before she tied her hiking boot. She repeated the process with the other foot.

Tina stood up and shook her legs as her yoga pants straighten out. She knew she should have changed out of the yoga pants, but she didn’t feel like changing. She would wear blue jeans in the morning. She went to her desk and grabbed a couple pieces of paper. She reached out to her jar of pens and picked one before she placed the pen tip on the paper, quickly writing a note to her family.

Mom, Grandma, and Sis,

I will be alright. I need to spend some time in the forest behind the house for a week or two. I need to think things through and figure out what happened to me. The only way I think I can do that is to escape into the woods for a bit. I’m sorry for leaving like this, Mom, but I know you will try to stop me from doing this.

I won’t be entering the woods unarmed. I will be taking my bow and quiver with me. It will feel weird using them again after not using them in so long, but I know I will be alright. When I come back, Mom, I want to know about my father. I got a letter from a woman named Freya who is claiming she is my other grandma. Perhaps I will meet her. Maybe I won’t. Right now, I don’t know. This is the other reason why I am taking a trip into the woods. I need to think for a long while and try to find myself again. I feel lost, guys, and I can’t make a decision. I need to change that. I love you. I will be back soon. I am taking my weapons with me, just in case.

Lots of love,

Tina

Tina knew her mom would find the letter when she came up later to check on Tina or let her know that dinner was ready. She hoped she was far enough in the woods for that. If not, her mom would try to drag her back by her hair. She did it before when Tina didn’t come home on time.

“Valentina Armstrong!” Tina’s eyes widened. That was her mother’s voice. It echoed through the woods. Tina glanced up, trying to see through the darken summer canopy of the trees. She knew if her mom was out, yelling for her, it was past her curfew.

“I think it’s past time for you to go home, Tina,” the short figurer standing not far from her. A deep male voice rang out behind her forest friend, “And apparently, it’s the same for me. See ya tomorrow, Tina.”

“You too,” she grinned and started to stumble through the dark. It wasn’t long before she spotted the beam of the flashlight and her mom’s form stood on the other of the light, “Sorry, mom.”

“Valentina Armstrong,” Annja thundered, “You were supposed to be home two hours ago,” Tina opened her mouth to say she lost track of time, but the older woman held p her hand, continued, “I don’t care for your excuse, young lady.”

Annja reached out and grabbed Tina’s upper arm. Tina let out a pained gasped, titled her head to the side. She whined, “Mom! You are pulling my hair!”

“Well,” Annja said, “Consider it punishment for not making home on time.”

Tina pouted as she was forced to walk beside her mother.

Shaking her head of the memory, she set the letter on her pillow before she opened the window. She grabbed her hiking bag and moved it through the opened window. A black gloved hand appeared and took the bag from her. Tina jerked in surprise, looking up the arm that was wrapped in black to see a pale faced man with spiky blond hair. He wore a headband, covering his forehead with a mental plate in the center. There was a symbol on the mental plate that she couldn’t make out. It looked like a bunch of random lines going up and down in the middle of the plate.

“Hiya, toots,” his voice rumbled out, “I’m Ralph, one of your helpful guide to the White Hall Estate on the other side of the barrier.” His blue eyes sparkled with mirth as he grinned at her. He looped an arm through a strap and leaped from the edge of the roof, landing in a crunch before he stood up and turned to her. “Aren’t you coming, toots?”

Tina’s lips slowly parted in shock. What the hell…? She lived on the second floor. And this guy just jumped from the window like it was nothing. The word ‘barrier’ echoed through her mind. What did he mean by that? She just stood there, looking down at the newcomer. He reminded her of a ninja - somewhat loose black pants, black vest like shirt, arms wrapped in black cloth, and the outfit showed very little skin, leaving the fingertips and majority of his face bare.

“Hurry up, hun,” Ralph - if that is even his name, a voice spoke up from the depths of Tina’s mind - spoke, “If you want, I can catch you.”

Tina blinked, coming back to herself and snorted. She swung her legs out of the window and held onto the window frame. She spoke up, “You might want to move.” She slowly moved out of the window frame and slid the window closed, hanging onto the lip of the window by her fingertips. She leaped from the window. She twisted in midair and let out her breath. She landed in a crunch. She sucked in a breath as she felt her legs bark in protest of the sudden stop. She slowly stood up, ignoring the pain that rippled up her lower legs. She turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Not bad,” Ralph commented, “If you wanted to break your legs, sweetheart.” He swung the hiking bag off his shoulder and set it on the ground. “Next time, roll forward. It will help move the energy you created away from your body.” He paused, looking at her. “Unless you wanted to be carried into the sunset by a handsome fella like me, then that’s another story.” He waved his hands around as he spoke.

Tina cocked her head to the side, looking at Ralph. She wondered if he was trying to flirt with her. She found that she didn’t care if he was or not. However, she did question his presence. She asked, knowing there was a chance he would lie, “Are you the guide sent by Freya?”

“Yes, I am, hun,” Ralph replied. He cocked his head to the side, “Is there anything else you need to get before we leave?”

At first, she had thought to say no, but she paused. Her eyes flickered over Ralph. She had the appearance of a ninja. She knew, from her time in Japan that Ninja excelled in the art of disappearing and hiding their true intentions. She would have to treat Ralph as a dangerous assassin. She didn’t see any visible weapon on his person, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have any.

“Yeah,” Tina said, reaching down and grabbing her hiking bag before she hoisted onto her left shoulder and started walking over to the shed, “I still need to grab a few items from the shed.”

“And what’s that?” the ninja asked. His voice held a curious note as Tina felt his eyes followed her to the shed located near the forest line.

“My weapons,” she stated without looking back. She wanted to see what Ralph would say.

“You know how to handle a weapon?” Ralph questioned.

“Yup,” She replied, reading the shed. She allowed her hiking bag to slid down her arm. It landed on the ground with a thump. She frowned. She knew the key was hiding, but the last time she was at a weapon shed, it after she got together with her ex, and it was at his request that she put her weapons away. She shook her head, resisting the urge to sigh. She shouldn’t have put any of her weapons up.

The key, getting back to the matter at hand, should be hiding up high. Her mom did that because of Natasha. Tina smiled at the memory of Natasha managing to get into the weapon shed, a few years ago and was caught playing with one of the small knives that she found. After that, Tina, Annja, and her grandma, Sakura, had to get into the habit of locking up the weapon shed and hiding the key.

“What kind of weapon do you use,” Ralph’s voice cut through Tina’s thoughts.

“I have been trained in Archery,” Tina started as she reached up and ran her fingers around the edge of the door frame, “And some swordsmanship.”

Her eyes lit up as her fingers found the shape of the key and she used her fingernails to pull at the key. She frowned. Apparently, her mom or grandma hadn’t been the weapon shed for a long time. That was abnormal. Her grandma and mom was usually sticklers for keeping the weapon shed clean.

“Really,” Ralph’s voice held a note that Tina couldn’t identify, “How much training?”

The key stood on its side and Tina rolled it into her palm before she relaxed, settling back down onto her heels. She glanced at the key, frowning at the build up on the once copper key. She wiped the key on her pants. She finally replied to Ralph’s question, “Enough.”

Tina placed the key in the lock and turned it. The lock opened with a click. She kept the key in the lock. She pushed the door open.

A wave of dust exploded from the enclosed shed. Tina waved a hand in front of her face, before she let out a loud sneeze. She rubbed her nose, wondering when was the last time someone had been in the weapon shed.

Once the dust settled, Tina ran her eyes over the shed and a familiar grin twitched at her lips as the old feeling rose up. She squashed that feeling. Now, it wasn’t the time for that feeling. She pushed it aside until it was time.

Tina stepped into shadowed shed, looking at the various weapons on the wall. She heard Ralph muttered, “Oh, shit.”

She smirked. She strolled to the back wall where she kept her bow, a quiver full of arrows as sheathed rapier, and a bundle of her short knives. She ignored the other walls full over various weapons, even though she take note of her grandma’s scythe sitting on the left wall and her mother’s weird black outfit and the various small blades on the right.

Tina slipped the bow into the quiver and counted the arrows. She needed to make sure she wouldn’t run out for a while. She had a full quiver of arrows. She wanted to grab a couple more bundles of arrows. She swung her quiver onto her back, positioning it over her right shoulder.

A sense of control of power, of power, of rightness, washed over Tina didn’t know how much she missed having a weapon at her back. She took a shaky breath as she placed her hands onto the table where she had placed the bundles of small blades and arrows. She closed her eyes, trying to recenter herself. She felt the familiar hum of power rushing along her veins. It was almost a head rush. she let out a shaky breath. She took another and let it out. She opened her eyes. She immediately reached up to the sword belt hanging on the wall. She wrapped it around her waist, allowing the rapier to settle at her left hip. She grabbed the bundle of small blades and two bundles of arrows. She secretly hoped she wouldn’t need that many, but she was going to be in the forest for a long while. Longer than ever, she had been. Tina knew some of the creatures that lived in the forest. She turned to Ralph.

Ralph let out a whistle as his eyes roamed over the shed. He stared wide-eyed at the weapons. Tina walked by Ralph when he, suddenly, grabbed her right upper arm. She gasped, turning her eyes to him.

“I am glad that you are bringing the rapier,” he said in an even tone, “I was told that it was a family heirloom. Lady Freya insisted on you having it with you, in fact.”

Tina’s eyes narrowed. This Freya was either well-versed in the Armstrong history or knew her family very well. Tina knew the rapier was a heirloom, but Natasha didn’t. Her younger sister had been in the dark about a lot of things that Tina knew of and some of the knowledge that their mother and grandmother had. A Stranger, like Ralph, knowing that kind of knowledge of Tina’s family caused Tina to become on edge. There was more going on. Tina knew that for certain.

“Oh,” She said, “What if I said, now, I won’t be going with you?”

Ralph let out a feral grin. His blue eyes iced over with a hungry, blood thirsty look, before he replied, “I was hired to bring you to the White Hall Estate. Her ladyship was very insistent you came to the Estate, no matter how I do it, as you are alive and unharmed.”

Tina was screwed She could easily fight her way from Ralph, but it would give away her trump card and possible put her aging grandma in danger. Sakura may have taught Tina nearly everything she knew, but it didn’t mean Tina’s grandma still had the stamina to hold out against a much younger enemy. However, if it was Aunt Nami, it would be a different story.

“So,” Ralph relaxed, his voice returning to its flirty tone. His eyes were hard as glaciers. He went on, “Ready, toots,” He waited for her reaction.

Tina jerked her arm out of his gasp and knelt beside her bag. She undid the top flap and put the bundle of small blades on top before she re-clasped the flap. The two bundles of arrows were placed inside her sleeping bag. It was the only one place that she could think of, and the bundles of arrows would stay together.

“Yeah,” Tina finally replied. She glanced back into the shed. Ralph obviously saw what she was looking at.

“My people have weapon stations on the way to the White Hall Estate,” Ralph said, noticing she was looking at the bundles of quivers. “If you need to restock, you will be able to do so at one of the weapon stations.”

Tina heard him walked away, the floorboards creaking under his weight. She knew there was nothing she could do right now. She walked after Ralph. She didn’t bother, locking up the shed after shutting the door. She had to let her mom and grandma know there was trouble. Perhaps, Natasha would find her way into the weapons shed. She was 15, after all, the same age when Tina first started her training.

She went to grab her hiking bag, but Ralph beat her to the punch. She drawled out, crossing her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at him, “I can carry my own bag.”

Ralph’s lips twisted into that feral grin, saying, “I know, but how else will I be able to make sure you stay close by, toots?”

He spun on his heel, heading into the forest, calling over his shoulder, “Come on, sweetie. We got a long walk ahead of us.” It was not long before the read head started to sense three others following them at a distance, traveling through the trees.

After an hour of walking, Ralph stopped, glancing over his shoulder at Tina before he smirked. “Oh, yeah, I need to introduce you to the rest of the team.” Tina blinked as she sensed the three others land behind her. She half turned and saw two more men and a woman.

“The woman is the Lovely Lady Kikyo of the Orion Clan,” Ralph started. Tina ran her eyes over the other woman. Her black hair swayed as she straightened up. She wore an outfit similar to Ralph’s but more feminine style. She had a batch of kunai in a knife pouch on her left thigh. Her tan color vest seemed to fill of supplies she carried for herself. There wasn’t anything really noticeable about Kikyo. Not even her hair - black - and eye - brown - color.

“Hello Miss Valentina,” Kikyo gave her a slight bow, “I will be your personal escort when you need to get some female time.” Tina nodded, slowly.

“The gentleman on your left,” Tina slowly turned her head and saw a man with a man bun, standing with his hands in his pants. He slouched and watched her, half interested. Something crawled up Tina’s spine. How relaxed he looked, standing that way. He wore the same outfit as Ralph, but his head band were laying around his neck. “Is Abasi Nara.”

“Hello,” Abasi greeted her. Tina gave him a short wave.

“The other gentleman,” Ralph started as Tina resisted the urge to give him a wide eyed look, “on your right,” she heard the soft thump and turned her attention over to see another man with blond hair, wearing the same ninja outfit as the others wore, staring at her with an amusement look, “Is Waya.”

“Don’t run away, sweets,” Waya said, “I would hate to chase you down and tie you up.” He winked at her.

“Really, Waya,” Kikyo drawled, “You shouldn’t try to scare her.” There was a pause. “Already.”

Tina sighed. She was trapped. She was outnumbered. She should have fought against Ralph or at least didn’t allow him to blackmail her.