Eternally Grateful (CH 4 / ???)

Chapter 4!!

---

I woke up the next morning to Shep's slobbery, wet tounge licking my face.

I tried to move away from him, but he continued. "Shep, stop it." He ignored by annoyed command. "Come on Shep. I'm still tired. Five more minutes." When he still didn't listen I sighed and then sat up. "Alright, alright. I'm up. You win."

I streched my arms, then got up from bed, and streched my legs. Shep jumped down from the bed, and pawed at my door. I walked over, unlocking it, and letting him out, while I followed. He went directly into the kitchen, looking into his empty food bowl. He picked it up in his mouth, bringing it over to me. I laughed.

"Alright. What's for breakfest today?" I asked him, as I grabbed a can of his dog food from the cabnit. "Wet or dry?" I held out the can of food, but also pointed to the bag of dry food which sat on the floor. Shep looked at the can, then the bag, and back at me. He then poked his nose at the can of food. "Wet it is." I took his food bowl, and put the food inside of it. I then set the bowl on the floor and Shep began gobbling it up.

I poured myself a glass of milk and went to the counter to grab my contairer of Oreos. Only, when I picked up the box... it felt empty. I turned over the box and nothing but a few crumbs came out. Okay, I know for a fact that this box was full of cookies the last time I checked!

"The hell?" I said in confusion. When I heard footsteps on the floor behind me, my confusion quickly disappeared. "You ate my Oreos!?" I said turning around, Looking at Loki.

"Even gods get hungry." He said. "Midgardian cuisine never pleases me, but your "Oreos" as you call them, were rather delicious."

"Of course they were! They're Americas favorite cookie!"

"You seem upset."

I sighed, annoyed, and I turned back around, throwing the empty oreo box into the trash can, and drinking my glass of milk. After I finished I rinsed out the glass placing it into the dishwasher. Shep had finished his food. As I left the kitchen I looked towards him.

"Shep," I said. I pointed to Loki. "Watch him."

I walked down the hallway, back into my room, and grabbed some clothes from my dresser. Returning to the hallway I grabbed a towel from the closet, and went into the bathroom, locking the door. I looked in the mirror noticing that my hair was a horrid mess. I brushed it out a bit just to get some of the tangles and snarls out. After that I turned the shower on, adjusting the temperature a bit.

After I finish showering (And adding a bit of extra conditioner and detangler to my hair) I got dressed. I then started drying my hair with my towel. Once it was dry enough so that it wasn't dripping wet I brushed it out. I took my towel and my night clothes back into my room, throwing them into the closet. I then returned down the hallway and into the living room.

The sight I saw made me laugh out loud.

I don't know why, but Loki was laying face-down on the floor, while shep was sitting on his back. The look on Sheps face showed joy. I could only begin to imagine what had happened to put Loki in such a position.

"Will you please remove your animal?" Loki said.

"Shep, off." I said. He obeyed, getting off of Loki, and finding himself a nice spot on the couch to lay on. Loki stood up, looking at me. I still couldn't help by laugh.

"It's not funny."

"You see me laughing? It's funny." I walked around the couch, sitting down next to Shep. I reached for the TV remote, but before I could, Loki had snatched it. "Hey!"

"You are still to do as I say." He started. "And today you are to find someone to help you improve your skills with the bow and arrow."

"...Huh?" I said confused. "Why would you want me to be better at archery?"

"Because, that skill of yours could be very useful, but in it's current state it is practically worthless." He said back to me.

"So... In other words, you want me to be trained in archery... so you can use me..." I stated. How typical...

He laughed, and smirked. "Do I need to remind you of the circumstances of your current position?"

I sighed... No. He didn't. "Alright, fine. Have it your way then."

---

Later that day I was on my laptop e-mailing a local archery teacher. There wasn't much information about them, but it did say that they had much experience with the bow and arrow and was more then qualified to teach the art of it. There was a short form that had to be filled out and included in the e-mail, which was no problem. It asked for basic information such as my name, age, and gender, among with other general things. It asked why I want to take these lessons... and I had to think for a moment. I can't just say "Oh I'm being forced to.". Not only would that sound incredibly odd, but it's not really how I feel.

Sure, I don't like how Loki wants me to do this so he could use my skills for his own little plans, whatever they may be, but the more that I think about it, the more I realize how much I always wanted to finish learning how to use a bow and arrow. I had forgotten how much I had loved it when I was younger. Call me crazy, but i'm actually not opposed to Loki forcing me to do such a task. It's like if someone was making you watch your favorite show, or play your favorite game. You feel mad because its not of your own choice, but you can stay angry for long because you enjoy that activity.

After finishing the E-mail I clicked send.

I heard Shep bark. I got up, leaving my laptop on my bed, and walked down the hallway to find shep at the front door. I knew exactly what he was trying to say. I grabbed his leash from where I left it on the counter, hooking it to his collar. I opened the front door, walking out side of the apartment building, and let shep "Do his business."

Walking back inside, I now realized that Loki was gone... Huh... I wonder where he disappeared to...

I walked back to my room, Shep following closely behind me. On the screen on my laptop was the words "new message." I sat down on the bed, and I seen that it was a reply to the mail I sent about the archery lessons.

"Wow. That was fast." I opened the reply. At first glace, it obviously wasn't some automated reply. No, this reply looked as though it came straight from the sender. And, from the looks of it, and their overuse of emoticon smilie faces, It seemed like they were... Overjoyed to have gotten a message from me. In the message they asked when it would be a good time for me to meet them at a location. That location coincidentally happened to be the dog park. At the bottom of their message was their signiture. The handwriting was a bit hard to read, but not completely illegible. I assumed it was their name. I couldn't quite make out the first name, but the last name said... Barton? I also could see "Mr." Written in front of the name. Though it was in fairly small letters, as if the sender prefered not to use the title.

"Alright, Mr. Barton." I replyed to the message saying that anytime would be fine with me really. I sent the reply and not even 3 minutes later I had another message. I was a little surprised when he asked if I could meet him in a half hour. Seemed a bit odd, but I was also rather eager to meet this man. He sure seemed quite excited. I told him I would be there, sent the reply, and closed my laptop, placing it on my nightstand.

"Alright then." I said standing up. I then turned towards Shep, who looked at me curiously. I smiled at him. "Come on Shep. Let's go see all your friends at the Dog park."

He happily jumped down from the bed, rushing to the front door, full of excitement.

---

At the dog park I didn't have to look long before I knew exactly where this "Mr. Barton" was. In the back corner of the park I saw a man holding a bow, aiming an arrow at a target which already had an arrow stuck in the center. After a few seconds he let go of the arrow, and it flew through the air, splitting the other arrow completly in half.

"Wow." I called as I walked closer to him. "That was pretty amazing!"

He looked towards me. "Ah, You are Ms. Helios I presume!"

"Yes, Mr. Barton," I replied. As I got closer I got a better look at him. He had blond hair... or was it brown? Perhaps it was both. He also had matching brown eyes. He was dress casually with a simple t-shirt and pair of jeans. For a nice day at the park you don't need much else. "But I don't like titles, please just call me Alice."

He laughed. "The same goes for me, You can call me Clint."

"Nice to meet you Clint." I said politly. "I hope you don't mind I brought my dog, Shep. He's missed his fellow canine friends."

Shep was sniffing Clint's shoes when I looked down at him.

"Oh not at all." Clint replied. Shep looked up at him with a friendly gaze. Clint patted him on the head. I uncliped his leash, letting him go run around with the rest of the dogs. Looking around and seeing this park full of canines again. It gave me such a... great feeling. Watching all these animals run around, and play with each other just gaving me the happiest sense of joy. Hold on... My name was on the news... shouldn't he have already known of me? It the dawned on me that, Loki must have done something that practically erased that incident from existance... As much as I don't want to say it... I'll have to thank Loki for that...

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice." I said.

"Oh it's no problem." He replied. "I don't get many people who are interested in Archery nowadays." He seemed a bit sad as he spoke. "I was rather excited when I received your e-mail."

I laughed. "I could tell."

"It's just that people aren't very much into archery anymore it seems." He said.

"Well, I took a few lessons when I was younger. I've always loved it actually, but I've never learned everything."

"Well it's nice to hear that someone still appriciates the art." He said. "Let's get started."

"Gladly."

"First, are you left or right handed?" He asked.

"Right."

"Alright then." He handed me a bow. "Since you've taken lessons before, how about you show me what you can do, and we can work from there?"

"Sounds like a plan." I replied. He gave me an arrow, and I walked so I was standing in front of the target, which was maybe... 50 feet away. I pulled the arrow back in the bow, trying to aim it as best I could. When I thought I had it aimed perfectly, I let go. The arrow flew and ended up hitting in the middle, but it was way too far to the left. I turned back around to look at Clint.

"Not bad." He said. "Your aim could use some work, but you deninitly have potential."

"Thanks. That means alot." I said. I then sighed. "My aim has always been off a bit actually. I never really knew why though."

"Hum... Are you left eyed, or right eyed?" He asked.

"Huh?" I said confused. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sometimes one eye has more domienice over the other. The domient eye is responsible for more accurate aiming when it come to archery." He explained, while I nodded, showing that I understood. "I get the feeling that you are Left eyed. Perhaps you should try again with a left handed bow."

"Well okay."

He swapped bows with me, and I stood again in front of the target. It was a bit hard to use this left handed bow because of me being right handed, but I pulled the arrow back, aiming again. When I let go of it this time it got much closer to the center then my last attempt. Still not on the center exactly, but the improvement from simply switching bows was obvious. It blew my mind.

"Woah... That's... quite a difference." I said.

"Ah, I knew it." Clint said. "With a bit more practice I say you could be a master of the bow in no time."

I smiled happily.

The lesson went on for, I don't even know how long, Clint helping me work on my aim and also giving a few helpful tips. When the session finally came to it's end I wistled for Shep and he came running.

"Say good bye to Clint, Shep." I said. Shep barked. Clint bent down, petting Shep on the head. Shep then started Licking his face. "No, Shep, stop it!"

Clint laughed as he stood up, wiping Sheps siliva off of his cheek. "No, no. He's cool. He's a nice dog." I smiled. "Let's have another lesson tomorrow."

"Same time, same place?" I asked.

"Sounds good." He replied. I turned around to leave, but he stopped me before I could do so. "Wait," he said. He grabbed the left handed bow I had been using, handing it to me. "Take this home with you."

"But, don't you need this... you know for your other students?"

"No. You're actually my only student at the moment. First one in quite a while actually."

"Oh," I took the bow from him, "Well thanks."

"No problem." He said with a smile.

"Good bye Clint." I said.

"Good bye Alice."

I turned around leaving. As I walked away I turned my head, waving to him. "See you tomorrow!"

---

Back at home, I walked in the front door, setting my bow down on the counter. I unhooked Shep from his leash, and he darted straight to his water bowl. I went to the fridge grabbing a bottle of water for myself, chugging down half of it. I then walked into the living room to find Loki sitting on the couch. He was staring at the Tv screen, watching one of my favorite comedy shows.

"It's funnier if you change the audio to spanish." I said, as I grabbed the remote, hitting the settings button. I switched it to spanish, and exited the menu. The shows audio changed to spanish, and, even though I only know a very small portion of the language, I couldn't help but laugh obnoxiously. This show is just full of vieods where people act stupid doing ridiculous stunts, and just only up hurting themselves and losing their pride in the end. It may seem cruel laughing at other peoples misfortune, but it's just so damn funny.

The show went to commercial.

"Did you do what I told you?" Loki said.

"As you asked. Found an Archery teacher online, and we met in the park this afternoon. He even gave me a bow to keep." I replied. I then drank the rest of my water. "We're having another lesson tomorrow."

"Excellent." He said, his devious smirk spreading across his face. "You will soon be of great use."