Raising Rebels

Alright! I've decided to introduce you to the characters of one of my stories. I was trying and trying to decide which to use, and Raising Rebels is the last one I thought about, so that's who you'll be getting. I've got a pinterest board for it (and about a thousand other things) so if you're an obsessive pinner like me, here's the link- (be warned, I'm a pinaholic)
http://www.pinterest.com/maddiejmorrow/raising-rebels/
Now, on to the story.
Raising Rebels is written in first person, from Shantell Vespin's point of view. It's a medieval setting, but not fantasy as far as there is no magic or dragons and so forth (sad, I know). The story starts with us meeting Shantell and finding out that she is the healer in a little village in a country that is at war. When the country get overrun, the invaders start moving through the towns and killing off all the men and boys they find there. Shantell is elected to take her towns boys into the forest to hide until it is safe.

Shantell is nineteen at the beginning of the story. I'm not sure how old she'll end up being by the end. Maybe twenty-two or so. Her mother died when she was young, and she and her older sister were raised by her father, who was the town healer. Her sister got married and moved away, but Shantell stayed home and learned to be a healer and took over when her father died. Shantell is very blunt, and gets right to the point of things. She's determined and practical and doesn't let her emotions get the best of her. She's strong, but still very much a girl, and has the typical girlish emotions and insecurities. She is engaged to a boy named Peter, but he went to war and she hasn't heard from him in months. She's especially worried about him now that their country has been conquered and she's hearing reports of mass slaughter and Peter hasn't come home. She tries not to let her worry show though, and keeps busy with helping out the kids in her care. Because she's a healer she knows a lot about which plants are edible, and which ones are good for medicine, so that comes in handy when she's stuck taking care of hordes of growing, injury prone boys. She's still determined that Peter will come back, so she refuses any romantic advances made on her.

 

Shantell Snippets:

 

I was a bit controlling for a woman, I knew, but my father had raised me during the years most girls learn to be ladies. I knew my place in public of course, but in my home and shop, I was in charge.

He glanced around. "Do you live her alone?"
My voice was casual. "No, I have a dagger."

 

Rath walked over to me. "How long do you think until my back heals enough for me to leave?"

I shrugged. "I really couldn't tell. I've never treated a wound like yours before. Why, are you in a hurry?"

He frowned. "Yeah. I didn't come here to babysit.

I rolled my eyes, starting to get annoyed with the man. "Obviously. That's why you sit and do nothing."

 

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you did deserve it to an extent."

He scowled, but his eyes held humor. "Whatever you say lady. Don't suppose I could change your mind anyway."

I smiled and crossed my arms. 'No, I suppose you couldn't."

 

I curled my gingers up under my palm and slide my hand back.

His jaw tightened. "What?" "

You were touching me." I say, trying to act like I didn't know what he was doing.

"Shantell," his voice was strained. "Don't play with me."

"Alright." I frowned. "I don't want to hold your hand Andrew."

 

 

Andrew is harder to put a face to. He hasn't really told me exactly what he looks like yet. I know he's blond, and tan, because he spends a lot of time out on the water. The guy on the right is close, but not quite, and although Garrett Hedlund is my usual go to guy when I need a handsome face, he's not quite doing the job either. But you get the idea. Andrew is in his twenties, but he hasn't told exactly how old. He comes from the coast, where he was a fisherman. He meets Shantell early on in the story because he went to war and his company was attacked. He comes into town with two of the farm boys who lived there originally, along with a couple strangers. They're all wounded, Andrew suffering from a broken arm and a slice in his ribs. Shantell takes care of him and the rest of the soldiers and when she leaves with the boys, he goes with her because he still needs some of her doctoring, and he wont be safe in any of the towns since he's a dude. Andrew is funny, charming, and a bit sarcastic. He's serious when he needs to be, and quite helpful to Shantell with managing the boys. Most of the time he acts like a kid himself, but he can flip a switch and be the grownup whenever he needs to. He's a good hunter, and good with a sword. And mouthy. So mouthy. I have two people who like to read all my stuff as I write it, and he's a favorite out of all my stories, but especially his own.

 

Andrew snippets:

 

Seeing him on his feet, I realized he wasn't very tall. Average height only, and much shorter than Peter. He was lean and wiry, except his arms, which had swordsman muscles.

 

I turned to Andrew. "Do you know how to cut this arrow out?"
He frowned. "Yeah. Don't cut it out."

"I'll hold him." Andrew cut in.
"Your arm." I warned.
He raised his free hand. "I have two."

Gripping the shaft as tightly as I could I twisted. Rath cursed like nothing I had ever heard before, but I kept my focus on the shaft that was slowly twisting into place. Rath got louder and louder, calling me every terrible name he could think of. A sudden smacking sound caused me to turn as Rath fell silent, unconscious. Andrew righted himself and sighed. "That's better. Now hurry before he wakes up."
I frowned. "What did you do?"
He looked innocent. "You should hurry."

Derik came over. "Is this your soldier?"
I nodded slightly. "yes, this is the soldier. Andrew."

Evening was coming on the third day when Andrew approached me. "I'm going to sneak back and see what's going on. If you need anything go to Rath. If the louse don't help you, tell me and I'll pound him, wound or no wound."

 

Rath is a criminal from the desert. He's got a brand on his back shoulder. C, for criminal. We don't know a lot about him except for he's moody, and he and Andrew don't get along. At all. He was one of the wounded soldiers who also came to Shantell for help. He came along with the boys when they ran away from town, but only because he'd been stabbed in the back and would probably die without Shantell there to look out for him. He's pretty moody. Most of the time he refuses to do anything helpful, but occasionally he'll lose his mind and offer some assistance. Or when Andrew threatens him with nasty things he'll offer some advice to Shantell. He's trying to get shut of all the kids and get back to the desert.

 

Rath snippets:

 

He stripped his shirt off and laid down on a cot. My eyes locked on the brand on his left shoulder. It was a big ugly C. C for criminal.

"Get a good look lady." he said dryly.

 

Rath snorted suddenly. "I aughta clobber him. Even with a hole in my back. He's only got one good arm." I looked to follow his line of gaze and my eyes settled on Andrew.

Rath sauntered over and glanced at Andrew buttoning his shirt. "Now you'll have a scar to show all those ladies you liked to talk about in camp."
Andrew glanced up calmly. "I'm sure you'll be able to show off the one on your back. Both of them."

"Hey river rat. Going to tell me where a good hiding place is now?"
Rath walked over slowly. "Who are you calling river rat?"
Andrew crossed his arm over his wrapped one. "You."

 

"I will be genuinely surprised if we make it through one day without getting killed."

"Rat I may be, but not a river rat. I'm from the desert."

So there you have it. The three main characters from Raising Rebels. Thoughts?