Rainbow's Stand

Chapter 6 - Chirps and Chirrs

I pull the parchment and quill out, along with a bottle of ink. Finding a particularly flat rock, I hunch over myself in the moonlight.

I write:
Heyyyy guysssss.
Hope this message finds you early in the morning and not when I'm writing this— you all better be asleep.
Just letting you know that I'm not kidnapped and held ransom by Gravia and her gang no matter if you get a ransom letter or not.
Hahaha Crazyyyy!!!!!!
I've still got this, you can count on me. Have a good night. <3

I doodle myself lighting a tent on fire in the corner of the parchment before rolling it up and sliding it into the saddle-pack once more.

Fox trots over as I come up to Queen to place the pouch beside her, wanting her to have a comfortable night without a large bulk attached to her rear end. As Queen dips her head, my eyes catch the bow that is attached to the saddle.

It had a new scratch on the side of it, running up and down near the top of the wooden portion of the bow. I kneel down, and let my finger trace it, all while a small flicker of shame and guilt rushes from my nose to my toes.

"When did that happen." I whisper to myself, and Fox trots by and gives it a squeak.

I detach the bow and fling the quiver of arrows over my shoulder, and stand up. Fox nips at my ankles as I walk over to a tree, using a sharp stone to carve an X into the thin bark that wrapped around the log.

I stand back, walking a good 10 meters back before drawing an arrow out of the quiver and loading it into the bow.

Fox trills.

"Gravia is slippery, and she's not working alone." I say out loud, closing one eye and aiming forward. "But the fact that she got me could be seen as a good thing..."

I let go of the arrow. Miss.

"I know her base of operations? Well... she's bound to move it."

I load another arrow.

"I mean... she has to be coming after me. Maybe for revenge? Maybe to stop me from stopping her? Maybe to get the money to run away to a far off country to find a long lost lover?"

I let go of the arrow.

"Perhaps all of the above?"

Miss.

I angrily huff. Gone stray by a good 10 feet. Fox chirps from behind me as I go to load another arrow from the quiver.

"Lets recap... Me, Rainbow, was tasked with the heroic task of hunting down the escaped captors of the Krewdom by my siblings." I pause, taking a deep breath. "Well, more like begged for it..." I mutter, distaste leaking into my voice.

The arrow soars into the bush behind the tree.

"Concentrate Rainbow..." I whisper to myself as I begrudgingly load another arrow. 

Fox lets out a whine as she sits herself down on a nearby rock, grooming herself.

"But instead of finding Gravia, she finds me, and I end up being captured, and put up for ransom." I say, squinting at the X tree. "But my heroic sidekick finds me and we break for it."

The arrow hits the tree behind the target.

"Which leads us here."

I shake my hands loose and close my eyes for a second, relishing the quiet black, before opening them again and loading another arrow.

"What did we learn? Uh... something that's for sure."

The arrow lands too left.

"Well... well something about... and Eve? Evan? Someone with an E sounding name.

The arrow lands too high, barely burying itself in the bark before falling out and landing on the dirt.

Fox whines.

"That's right! Evaline!"

I shake my wrist out a little bit, biting back a whine. The bow didn't need to much wrist movement, but it sure did cause a strain on it.

"Something about a Evaline... which... maybe is a long lost lover?"

Fox doesn't look amused.

"You're right... this probably goes further..."

I take a breath.

"I think... I think I need to go back."

Fox lets out a loud chirp of alarm and rushes down to my side, looking up at me with distaste.

"I know—I know it's a bad idea... but if I get Gravia back to the castle, she's not gonna say a single word." I sigh. "If I want info, I'm gonna need to catch her in the wild."

Fox is quiet. I look down at him, examining the dark pithole of his eyes.

"You with me?"

Fox is quiet for a moment, then chirrs.

"Thanks."

The arrow lands in the middle of the X with a satisfying thunk.