Watch the Shadows [Klarra]

[Nadya]

25 Spring 212 AV

Nadya walked amongst the trees, little specks of light filtering through the large leaves. It was quiet, birds and small woodland animals the only disturbance to her silence. She needed this, Ravok was so loud and busy. Everyone had their own agenda and didn't care who they had to get through to make it happen. She was tired of no one caring what she thought, or shoving her aside as they barreled down the streets. This morning she had been minding her own business when some self-absorbed barbarian smacked into her, sending her flying into the canal. It outraged her, so she went home and changed and found herself outside the city.

As she walked, her fitted gray dress skimmed along the branches and twigs. Her long blonde hair, fine as silk and gold as sand in the sunlight, was pouring over her shoulders and down her back. Nadya wasn't a fighter, she was an entertainer, her ears were not trained to listen for signs of danger and her hands were not always ready to spring her dagger forth. It was her curse in Ravok. Her sister had always thought she was weak. Maybe one day she would show her.

Out of no where, Nadya began to feel like she was being watched. It was that uncomfortable feeling that made your skin crawl and she couldn't help but spin around. Staring at her with greedy eyes, was a small band of bandits.

[Ella Dives]

Silence of the hunt. The one thing that clears her head. Klarra's hand pulled the string of her bow tauwt as she listened. Keeping the pressure on her bow, she kicked a stone into a bush. Haft a dozen birds flew out, and she shot three. She gathered them up, placing them in her bag pulling out her arrows. As she walked, she placed the bow back on her shoulder and located some berries on the side of the deer trail. She plucked them and tossed them into her mouth. As she once again became a passerby and not a pretator, the forest became alive with activity.

Klarra wasn't beautiful, but she wasn't ugly. Her eyes turned from the deep green of the hunt back to the dancing light green of happiness. Her unusual dirty blond hair fell in curls to her shoulders. Her skin was tanned from days in the sun. She wasn't tense, but she was always alert. She could pull her bow and shoot in just a few seconds. She wasn't a weak entertainer, but a fierce fighter.

She wandered back to the main path a froze. In the middle of the path was four bandits on horseback, surrounding a woman. Now she wasn't a hunter, but someone who needed protection. Her bow was in her hands before she realize. She let an arrow fly, hitting one man with his back towards her, squarely between the shoulder blades. The men turned around to see their friend fall off his horse. Then, they saw Klarra.

[Nadya]

As Nadya retreated, her heart pounded. Surely, it would jump straight out of her chest. Four large bandits stared her down, licking their lips as they fantasized the riches she would bring them. Perhaps they were not just bandits, perhaps they dabbled in slave trading too. Nadya frowned, she could not let herself fall victim again. It had been her whole life, and she wanted a new one now.

Her body was fit but she was not a fighter. She could weald a weapon, sure, but any one of those men could easily take her. Nadya wondered if that was her biggest fault: Not adamantly training to get better. But deep inside, where her heart lay pure and kind, she did not want to kill. It was not her way. But in a situation like this, was there any alternative?

"I'm not worth anything!" she tried to sway them, hoping they wouldn't notice another step back.The way the men just looked back brought shivers up her spine. It would not be easy getting out of this.

Nadya's head jerked ever so slightly as she heard a slight whizzing, like that of a winged bug zipping through the air. What was it? Her question was answered as one of the four cried out and dipped of his horse. An arrow protruding from between his shoulder blades. She screamed, again jumping back as her eyes locked with a woman a little ways out. Her bow was raised.

Help! Just as Nadya was about to call out, one of the bandits sent his horse forward directly towards her. She tried to run but everything happened too fast, her arm found her waist and scooped her up onto the horse with him, kicking and screaming. She watched the other two bandits turn their attention onto the mysterious archer as she was taken deeper into the trees at a speed only a horse could create.