Sol

nightmares

ELOWEN

Elowen is already up when the sun just starts rising. She is busy training in the forest. Ramon went home yesterday, but he is oddly quiet. It is starting to piss her off how he suddenly just pulled away from her. One moment, they are finally really bonding, and the next, he just runs off again. Athena is standing a bit farther, against a tree. She's probably still mad that she had to get up that early. Elowen is shooting arrows at a target she carved in a dead tree. Her skills really need some perfecting; it has been a while since her last training. After that incident with the shadows, she realized that she'll need to train again to survive. Ramon may have promised to protect her, but that doesn't mean she would just be helpless. She aims at the tree and calms her breathing before letting the arrow fly. It flies at the target, right next to the bullseye. It is alright; she is out of shape. She is placing a new arrow in the bow when a voice sounds behind her.

"You are the last person I expected to see this early, with a bow in the forest." That voice isn't as deep as Ramon's. She turns around while flinging her bow at the opponent. He catches it just before his throat.

"Calm down; I doubt a piece of wood against my throat will do much damage." He smiles mockingly. The clear green eyes and blond hair make her recognize him instantly.

"Vesper, gosh, you scared me." she lowers the bow while smiling.

"Why are you out here? Does Ramon know this?" Vesper examines her, as if checking for injuries.

"First of all, I'm here to train, and second of all, I'm not Ramon's pet. I can do whatever I want without his permission." she crosses her arms. Why does he act like she is a child under Ramon's protection? She has her own life and choices. She doesn't need Ramon's permission or protection.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Vesper crosses his arms too.

"No, I just don't want to be seen as Ramon's charity case. That's why I'm training here; I don't want to be helpless." Vesper looks at the target with arrows everywhere but the bullseye. He smiles.

"I don't mean to offend you, Elowen, but you don't seem to have a very good aim. Can you maybe do hand-to-hand combat?"

"No," she sighs. Vesper's eyes narrow a bit.

"With weapons then?" She sighs again.

"I can only fight with a bow and arrow; my hand-to-hand is purely for survival. I don't even know how I managed to hold those shadows off." she feels really embarrassed to admit that. Vesper doesn't judge her; he just nods like he understands.

"If you want, I can train you?" He smiles. Elowen is astonished. He is definitely the kindest one from the four brothers, so he would be the best choice. She knows that training with Blake would end up in many wounds, with Callisto would end up in a flirt show with his hands all over her, and Ramon would probably be way too strict.

"That would be awesome, but why would you bother?" she doesn't want to be ungrateful, but she wonders why he would do that. Was it just because Ramon would be relieved if he did? Would Ramon even approve? Well, that last one she doesn't care. It is her choice anyway.

"I just want to help you. With everything that's happening, it's safer for you to learn to fight. It will probably get more violent around here if the sins really show up." she nods happily. It's a great opportunity for her. She won't feel helpless anymore if Vesper trains her. If he indeed has had the same training as Ramon and Blake, then she's certainly in good hands.

"Alright, let's meet up at this spot every day at this exact hour." Vesper continues. His smile has left his face. He looks like a whole other person, like the warrior he is. She knows that he is just like his brother, but this expression confirms that he too is just as deadly. She nods and stands a bit straighter.

"Let's start off without weapons. You need to build muscles and strength. After that, we'll go to hand-to-hand, and lastly, we'll take on weapons." Vesper looks at her, clearly judging how much work it'll be to build strength. They spend the rest of the morning running and doing some exercises to strengthen her muscles. By the time it is noon, she is exhausted. Vesper may be the kindest solar rider, but as a trainer, he really is ruthless. She prefers him over Blake and Callisto though. After the lesson, they say their goodbyes and part ways. Vesper orders her to be back here tomorrow morning. Her whole body hurts when she gets on Athena and walks home. At home, she eats and gets into something comfortable before slumping on the couch. Finally, some peace and quiet. Her muscles ache, so she just reads a bit. It has been a while since she last read a bit. Someone walks into her house an hour later. Ramon goes to her kitchen and grabs a cookie from her counter. She frowns.

"Am I disturbing you?" she puts her book down.

"No, continue whatever you're doing. I've heard Vesper is training you; I can do that too, you know." He leans on the counter while looking at her.

"I'm fine with Vesper. I don't want those brothers of yours to think even more that I'm your property or charity case." she looks back at her book.

"I never said you were my charity case nor did I ever imply it." his gaze darkens a bit.

"Really? I think that your brothers wouldn't agree. Vesper was already asking me if you knew that I was in the forest this morning, like I needed your permission" she throws her book down with more force than needed.

"They just know I have to protect you, and I can't do that if I don't know where you are." she gets up and stalks towards him.

"You don't need to be so overprotective, Ramon. I want to live not to be stuck like a dog to a chain. It's not like you're my brother or boyfriend." she glares at him. He glares back at her.

"Why are you suddenly mad that I want to protect you? Yesterday you were glad about it. I also don't chain you or keep you from doing things, only if they're dangerous." he crosses his arms while looking down at her.

"Wanna know why I'm mad? Fine! You keep running away like a scared rabbit. Every time I start to think that we actually are bonding and that you're trusting me, you run. You did just that yesterday, so don't deny it." she hisses. She is just mad that he doesn't let her in; he always ends up shutting back down. She hates it that he doesn't want to get close but then expects her to listen to him and be under his protection constantly. He ran off and left her yesterday but now he expects that he can just

walk in here? Like nothing happened?

"That's too difficult to explain, El. I just can't get close to you, or you die." he moves his face closer to her while glaring.

"I don't need a guard dog." she counters.

"I'm not gonna let another person I love just die." he hisses. Another person? He seems to realize that confession and stalks to the door. There he is, running once again. From the moment she starts to get to know him more.

"Yeah, run off again like you always do." she hisses.

"I'm not running away." He turns around to glare at her.

"You aren't? Then what are you doing?"

"Protecting you from death and from me." he slams the door shut.