Tales of the Lost and the Wilds [on hold]

High Strung

"I do not!" I lied. My cheeks turned as red as the berries in the basket, however. First the human implied I was besotted with Rhadoron, and now my sister, too? I ought to change the meaning of my name from 'sage' to 'see-through as a river', it seemed.

"Yes, you do," Lysira said in a teasing tone, obviously not fooled by my weak denial. "He'd be a hero to you even if he set the set the village on fire. You'd let Rhadoron trick you into doing anything. Even taking care of a human for him, of all things."

I rolled my eyes. "Suppose your entirely baseless accusations were true. Why would Rhadoron want to trick me into keeping a human captive prince away from the village? It would be far too much of pain and a danger to keep him alive if he wasn't useful as leverage to speak to the human king. Or in some other way."

"Oh please, like Rhadoron wouldn't tell you to do something unpleasant just to see what you'll do." Lysira snorted. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Unfortunately, I had to admit Lysira was speaking the truth. Rhadoron did like to 'test' people. He only did that to hunters, however. And he also only did that to teach them something—be it to not give their trust too easily or to become stronger. It wasn't out of malice. If Rhadoron was testing me, I should be proud. He didn't spend his time on those unworthy.

I clicked my tongue at Lysira. "Can't you just be happy for me I've been given this opportunity?" I asked. "I'm doing it for you too, you know. I want to protect the village and you."

Lysira sighed. "Farun—"

"No," I cut her off. "I don't want to hear any more of it. I'll see you at dinner."

I grabbed my basket of berries to bring to the storage shed, muttering curses aimed at nobody in particular under my breath. Was it truly too much to ask that my sister believe in me? Apparently, it was. And it wasn't only her. I knew the druids would only laugh if I mentioned I wanted to be a hunter to them. Again.

I'd just have to show all of them.

I looked down at the piles of fruit in the shed and set my basket down with the others. Lysira made one good point: Rhadoron promised me I could train with the hunters. I could not make a fool of myself during said training or they would just as easily kick me out again.

The problem was: I had tried teaching myself to wield a dagger, a bow, and even a flail before. Without a proper teacher, I had failed. Utterly. I didn't know much about 'combat' aside from setting simple traps mostly meant for animals. I had no idea what to do with an actual weapon aside from standing there and awkwardly swinging it. I'd tried that years ago already. My mother had snatched the sharp blade out of my hands and made me return it and apologise to the hunter I'd 'borrowed' it from. I didn't see things ending differently today if I tried again on my own, except my mother wouldn't be getting involved.

It'd been years, however. I was an adult now, not a kid. Years of me watching the hunters train in secret and listening in on their training in secret. I'd overheard them giving tips and instructions... perhaps I would fare better now?

I had to tend to the human tonight, anyway. He was away from the village. I might as well take a bow with me and try to shoot with it far away from prying eyes so I wouldn't make a fool of myself.

For the rest of the afternoon, I worked hard and kept to myself. When night fell and the others ate dinner around the campfire, I snuck off to the hunters' old weapon storage tent. It was filled with old equipment the hunters no longer used in battle, but were still used during training sessions.

I looked around until my eyes settled on a dark brown bow in the corner of the tent. Specifically, it caught my eye because of a little symbol carved into the wood. A curly letter in elven; an 'r'. A jolt traveled down my spine as I realised this bow used to belong to Rhadoron. He had wielded it in battle before retiring the weapon and bringing it to the training equipment tent to be used by newer recruits. New recruits like me.

I brushed my fingers against the worn wood. Would it be alright if I borrowed this? A weapon formerly wielded by Rhadoron against invaders of our woods? I would stand beside him in battle, hopefully not too far in the future.

Swallowing thickly, I grabbed Rhadoron's old bow and a quiver filled with arrows. If I still couldn't take a decent shot with this bow, then I wouldn't with any bow.

Shooting wasn't all I needed to do tonight, however. I had a prisoner to tend to, and I'd best go to him quietly and unseen. If anyone saw me sneaking out of the village, it would already garner enough questions. Let alone if someone saw me sneaking out with my arms full of food, blankets, and weapons. Thankfully, moving silently and hearing people coming long before they saw me were my talents.

A small smile spread on my lips as I looked at Rhadoron's bow in my hands. This unexpected find gave me confidence and courage. It had to be a sign that I saw this particular bow first in a whole pile of old weapons. I'd make quick work of giving the human what he needed. And then I'd shoot the rest of the night.

Perhaps it was entirely unfounded, but with Rhadoron's bow in my hands, I was finally feeling optimistic about my chances.