Okay, I know it's been a while since I posted the last one, but recently some people have been commenting on the other two parts, so I thought it would be fun to pick it up again. You can kind of see where I'm planning on going in my other fanfic if it ever gets that far. If you haven't read my other fanfic, Bailey is a wolf with wings who grew up with rabbits, and Caleb is one of the guards from Cloud Mountain. Anyway, there are Ember's End spoilers, but I think there is enough other writing that I don't need to add fluff... I think... Anyway, you have been warned.

“Aim straight for the center,” a brown buck said, guiding a smaller golden brown buck.

"And keep your hand steady," a white wolf called from across the field.

"I've got it Bailey!" the brown buck shouted back.

"Sure you do, Jo," Bailey, the wolf, called back, "But, when the kids are first starting, that is helpful to know. They probably won't be firing arrows while jumping off buildings."

Jo shrugged and returned to the buck, who had just fired his first arrow. He was about to nock another arrow when an older black buck walked across the field.

"Hold!" Jo called, raising his arm. "Sir! This is an archery range. Please step to the side."

Instead of listening, the black rabbit walked straight down the middle of the range. "Helmer!" Picket called from the side of the range, jogging to catch up. "Why must you walk down the center?"

"It's faster than going around," Helmer said, shrugging.

"Helmer?" Jo said in disbelief. Bailey glided over, surprised as well.

Helmer reached them and stood there for a second, frowning. "You call this an archery range?" Helmer scoffed, "Whatever happened to the Fowler obstacle course?"

Bailey just blinked. "Well, we don't need it," Jo replied, slightly embarrassed. Cole, Wilfred, Bailey, Caleb and Jo had spent a good bit of time building the range and getting everything set up. It wasn't complicated, but it didn't need to be. Helmer sighed and shook his head.

"What happened to you though?" Jo asked, changing the subject.

Helmer sighed, again, "How many times will I have to tell this story?"

Picket shrugged, "Until everyone who knew you has heard it."

"Great," Helmer said. At this point Bailey was smiling, recognizing Helmer's general dislike of talking with people.

"Anyway," Helmer continued, "The blast threw me to the other side of the High Bleaks. I stayed there for a little bit while my side healed, and then walked back the rest of the time."

"It's so good to see you again, Strider," Bailey said, hugging Helmer. Helmer groaned and Bailey stepped back. "Sorry," she paused, before launching into something this reminded her of, "but this reminds me of the time when everyone thought Aragorn was dead. When he got back, Legolas just said, 'You're late. And you look terrible.'" Bailey looked at the tattered state of Helmer's cloak. "Which you do."

Picket chuckled and Jo rolled his eyes. Helmer actually smiled, surprisingly.

"I've actually missed your random references," Helmer said.

Bailey grinned, and Helmer frowned, realizing what he had just gotten himself into.

"So what have you been doing for the last few years?" Helmer asked before Bailey could start making more references.

"Jo and I have been teaching the kids how to use a bow and arrow," Bailey replied. "We are also building a Fowler-esque obstacle course, but it is still in the middle of the building process."

Helmer nodded in approval. “I didn’t peg you two as love birds,” Helmer said, smirking slightly. "I always thought you were interested in Caleb."

Bailey blushed and stared at the ground. “No, no, no,” Jo replied quickly, “We just both thought this would be fun.”

“Hey!” Bailey replied, turning to face Jo. “It was my idea, I just thought you would be a good instructor.” She turned to Helmer, “What made you think that?”

“Everyone else got married and you two are running an archery class together,” Helmer replied, shrugging.

“Well,” Picket said, attempting to change the subject, “Maybe Helmer could, uh, tell the kids how to, uh, fire an arrow at a moving target.”

Helmer arched an eyebrow. “Why would I do that? They already know what not to do.” He gestured at Jo. The kids had gathered around them at this point.

“Hey!” Jo exclaimed, “What about the time I…”

“Were tied to a tree surrounded by a bunch of wolves?” Helmer interrupted, smirking. The children giggled, including a small white buck who had a hard time hiding it.

“You very well know that it was part of a plan,” Jo replied, trying to defend himself. “And that has nothing to do with shooting a moving target.”

“Yeah, of course Jo,” Helmer answered, waving his hand dismissively. “We can pretend that.” Helmer turned towards the children.

“But, but…” Jo said, then realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He frowned.

"Did he ever tell you of the time he almost…" Helmer started.

“Had to get his arm treated by Emma, well, that wasn’t almost, it did happen,” a black rabbit with a white diamond on his head interrupted.

“Cole!” Jo whined, “Why must you bring that up?”

“It is an important part of your past,” Cole said, grinning.

“They would tease him endlessly about it,” Bailey explained to the children, chuckling.

“Can we stop teasing me now?” Jo said, annoyed. “I would like to catch up with Helmer.”

“Maybe…” Helmer began, smirking.

“Maybe Helmer could show the children some archery shots?” Bailey suggested. She could tell Jo was getting really annoyed, so she decided to try and change the subject.

“Show us! Show us!” the children started chanting.

“You know archery wasn’t my strong suit, right?” Helmer said.

“Then what do you want to show them?” Bailey answered, gesturing to the children. “They aren’t going to stop until you show them something.”

“Hmmm…” Helmer mused, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. Then he grinned. “I know what I can show them, it will take a while to set up though.”

“I think they can wait a little bit,” Jo said.

“Awww!” the golden brown buck whined.

“Dusty,” Bailey gently scolded, “be patient. This will be worth your wait.”

“Yes Mrs. Bailey,” Dusty replied, staring at the ground.

Helmer had already walked off, looking for some pumpkins and a suitable tree.

...

A couple hours later, Helmer walked back over. “I finished,” he said, before turning to walk over to an old tree in the far corner of the field.

The tree was filled with birds with pumpkin heads and there were wolves with pumpkin heads on the ground.

“Really Helmer?” Bailey said, “Do you think this is a good idea?”

“I have to keep sharp,” Helmer replied, stretching. “Besides I couldn’t find daggers, so it’s just sticks, which won’t do too much damage.”

Caleb, who had come over to see what was going on, chuckled. Bailey shook her head, remembering the many times she had seen Helmer by his tree in Cloud Mountain.

“You built another one?” Smalls asked, walking up. He and Heather had come to see what Helmer was doing after Dusty had told them that Helmer was going to show them something.

“Don’t worry,” Helmer replied, “The most damage this will do is knock someone unconscious, but even that is highly unlikely.”

Smalls sighed. “You sure are crazy, old friend.”

Helmer shrugged, and once he checked that everyone was there, and standing far enough back, he pulled out his sword and quickly sliced the ropes holding the birds in the tree. They came flying towards him. He easily deflected them, sending many to the ground.

“Wow!” Dusty said once Helmer was finished. “That looks awesome! I want to be just like you!”

Smalls and Heather glanced at each other, concern on their faces. Helmer noticed and simply said, “Sorry buck, I’m not taking any more apprentices.”

“Aww,” Dusty whined, frowning.

“Jo is already showing you archery, and once the challenge course is finished, maybe Helmer can show you how it works.” Smalls said, holding out his hand to his youngest son. Helmer looked at Smalls, slightly annoyed that he had been volunteered.

“Okay,” Dusty said, a small smile on his face. He took his father’s hand and they turned to walk back towards the castle.

“Thanks for the demonstration,” Smalls said to Helmer, “Just be careful.”

“I will,” Helmer replied, going to reset the tree. Jo, Cole, Caleb, and Bailey helped him.

“Can we run it?” Caleb asked, “It always looked like so much fun at Cloud Mountain.”

Helmer raised an eyebrow. “Sure.” Having finished reattaching everything, he strolled over to sit against a rock and watch them. “You just have to clean up.”

“You want to join in?” Bailey asked, looking at Jo and Cole.

“I’m in,” Cole said, “got nothing better to do.”

“Sure,” Jo replied, “Sounds like fun, even though I'm not sure how much archery will help.”

Caleb chuckled, loving how Bailey just assumed she was doing it.

“Yay!” Bailey exclaimed, excited. They hadn’t been able to do anything like this in a long time. “Ready?” They both nodded, Jo ready with his bow and Cole and Caleb with a sword. Bailey unsheathed her dagger and quickly flew around the tree, slicing the ropes.

...

“That was fun,” Caleb said, breathing hard. They had just finished doing it for a third time, and the sun was setting.

“Yeah,” Bailey replied.

“Your form was sloppy, you didn’t hold the dagger right, and you should have jumped instead of ducking,” Helmer said, pointing to Caleb, Bailey, and Cole in turn. Then he pointed to Jo. “And you just did so many things wrong, it would take forever to list them.”

“Hey!” Jo exclaimed, indignant. “You know it’s been a while, right? Also, it wasn’t that bad!”

“Maybe we can just enjoy the sunset,” Caleb suggested. “It is beautiful tonight.”

“I like that idea,” Bailey said, sitting down next to Caleb and leaning her head on his shoulder.

“It is rather nice,” Cole agreed, sheathing his sword and laying on the ground.

Helmer didn’t say anything, but did smile slightly. Jo just looked surprised at the fact that they completely ignored Helmer’s critiques. He just sighed and plopped down. It was a nice sunset.

They all sat there and enjoyed the sunset. After the sun went down, they watched the stars and caught up for several hours. Eventually, they each went home, having had a great day.

I hope you liked it! It was harder to write than the first two parts, but it was still fun.