[Guest Storytelling] Who Do You Fear More? (Vala)

[Fois]

Permission

[Guest Storytelling] 11th Summer, 511 AV The Enclave was usually a quiet place, and it was just like that now. The recent noise and hubbub caused by the Yasi who had been listening to a tale in the Storyteller’s Well, a reward for their good behaviour in class, had died down as the children left the library for their meals before starting bendi. There were very few of other guests at the Enclave, many of whom were also harassed by hunger and hurried to the communal kitchens. Even the reception desk felt empty with only a couple of girls working there. One of the few visitors sat at the distant table from which the reception desk was still visible. It was not without intention that it was so. Lerst chose the spot precisely for that reason. There was a book lying open on his desk, but the Inartan had no interest in it. He did pretended to be reading it, only sometimes raising his head up, but Lerst’s eyes were always watching someone, even though it didn’t appeared so. That someone was one of the girls at the reception. Crimson hair, blue eyes, small frame… She was a typical Inartan woman, even if a bit young, perhaps just a couple years older than half his age, and yet she had caught the man’s eye a few days ago. Perhaps that’s why she had drawn his attention. Perhaps typical was his taste. Lerst finally stopped pretending to be reading a book. He leaned back in the comfortable chair and openly looked at his target. The distance was no obstacle for his trained blue eyes, so he watched with high clarity how the girl was guiding her quiver to put letters on the paper and combine them into words. From the moment he had first noticed her, Lerst felt the need to keep an eye on her and so he did. It didn’t take long for him to find out that she worked at the Enclave but a couple of evenings spent there proved to be fruitless as he missed her shift. Now, during his first day off, the man had more time to sacrifice for his own pleasure and so luck did not abandon him. Vala was there, working hard at the reception desk, greeting him as he walked in. He had just nodded then in response, not wanting to spoil the moment, to make wrong turns, to ruin the beautiful plans he had in mind. The Avora was at that point of the road where all of the possibilities were still open and he wanted to keep it that way, at least for a little bit longer. Now that a few bells had already passed from his entrance, the Inartan felt he was ready. There wasn’t much that Vala had done to make him feel that way, but watching her made him feel that she was the right one. He wasn’t a very selective man, and that strange but overwhelmingly enjoyable feeling, one that he was in a constant need to experience again, and one that he had tasted a hint of a few days ago when he saw this girl, was all that it took to make him certain that Vala was indeed the right one. He was ready to ask her out. Lerst stood up from his place, and candle lights that were caressing his masculine but fair face now let it hide in a relative shade, brightening his scarred chest and torso instead. The few marks, reminders of the most life threatening hunts, were long, narrow and clearly visible, but did not give an impression that the body was devastated. In a way the scars adorned it and made the man appear stronger, perhaps even more than he really was. The Avora approached the reception desk, not once letting Vala escape his sight. He approached her from a side and a little bit behind and waited a few moments for the girl to finish the word before starting talking. ”You’re a very distracting librarian,” he spoke quietly. The lack of emotions in those words just added to the mystery of whether it was a complaint or a joke. When Vala looked at the man, her eyes were met with an intense gaze, seemingly piercing through them. If the look might have been scary, his warm and charming smile more than compensated for it. Words were not needed to clarify his earlier statement, since lips already showed the intentions behind it. Nevertheless, he explained. ”The book I was trying to read was not nearly as interesting as your crimson hair locks and gentle blue eyes. Your hands,” he paused for a brief moment and then carried on without breaking eye contact even once. ”The way they wield and drive this quill is a wonder to me. Would you do me a favor and escape this dusty cave for a place with more fresh air. I’d like to talk to you. Maybe show a thing or two. I’m sure that this quill is not the only talent your hands know. After all, you, like me, are one of the Wind Reach people. I have no doubt that your fingers had touched a bow and an arrow. How about an archery range then? I might give you some tips in exchange for some answers about you. How does that sound?” Before Vala could answer the question, Lerst opened his mouth again: ”I’m a good archer, I promise,” his lips gave a small, short smile to go with the joke, thought his eyes appeared to be somewhat uncoordinated with his mouth and remained the same, piercing and intense. Or at least they might have looked like that to Vala. Lerst didn’t give her a chance to say anything during his speech, but was now patiently waiting for an answer.

[Vala]

The chiet assistant librarians of the Enclave were one of the tighter knit groups of the city. If a person needed someone to cover a shift, there was always one who was willing to sacrifice their day off to do them a favor. So when a stranger, one who did not often check out books or peruse scholarly hobbies visited the library and conspicuously spied on one of their own, it didn’t take long for the whispers to get around. “He’s looking at you again…” Vala hissed for her co-worker to hush up. “He was here yesterday too, and the day before that!.. Vala!” Mia huffed indignantly, looking up from her workstation to stare at Vala. Her petite nose twitched as she furrowed her thin brows. “Hush Mita!” Vala whispered under her breath. She did not look up from her work. Her lithe fingers did not let up from their firm grip on her favorite quill as she carefully scratched out the copied characters onto the new scroll. Her eyes focused on keeping to the proper calligraphy guide lines, instead of being distracted by Mia’s skull boring gaze. “Hush up before he hears you… I know he’s there.” She confessed with a smirk on her face. The perky turn of her lips transformed to a frown, when her excitement got the better of her and a complicated loop of a stroke came out wobbly. “And you’re distracting me.” Vala growled as if she was a snit, refusing to let the others know she was actually pretty excited. Today was another dull day filled with endless copying. She barely remembered she was alive and was not just a golem, and that was only because she saw the man who had been basically stalking her for the past couple days, greeting him in the polite aloof way she knew best. And even that seemed like a distant memory, lost in the fog of monstrously entrancing letters. Her fingers were numb. She had learned to not pinch the shaft with too much force, unless it was for heavier weighted strokes, but her finger muscles were yet to strengthen to the point where she could work at the pace she needed to keep up the maniacal work load she insisted upon. Another simple spelling error, Vala frowned. It wasn’t too prominent, not like a couple she had seen before, in the same book too. Before writing the correct word on the new parchment, Vala set her quill down and picked up her clay tablet and stylus to her right. The last entry had been checked off by Kirna so she used her thumb to smudge the surface smooth. Using a nearby straight stick, Vala traced out a perfect horizontal line. It wasn’t necessary, but Vala preferred the clean look it gave her script when she wrote without a slant. After sticking a scrap of parchment in the original book to mark her page, she gently closed it so she could reference the cover page. The title was long, long winded. Since writing on soft clay tended to come out stubby and smudged, no matter how sharp the stylus, Vala didn’t bother writing in a specialized font. So in her normal neat print she wrote out the title, the author, the page number, the line number, and finally the error she had found. Once that was set, Vala nudged Mita to take a look at her temporary record and the original book. Once Mita initialed, proving that another had checked the simple error, Vala finally wrote down the correct word, flourishes and all on the new copy. Vala continued to copy, listlessly flipping through the finished pages. She made sure to keep a one and a half inch margin for the illustrators. She wondered when she would finally be given the privilege to ‘doodle’ as well. Vala took an envious peek at Mita’s colored ink vials scattered in a perfect rainbow. They continued to work in relative silence, only the meticulous scratching of their nibs filling the heady air. A few chimes later, a rustling came from Mita’s station. Vala looked up from her work to wipe her bleary eyes. Staring at the scratchy black wiggles on the yellowing parchment of old for bells on end was starting to take its toll. Vala could barely see straight anymore; her vision had an almost romantic vignette about it. Even with her impediment Vala was able to catch something strange on her co worker’s face. She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the pale pink lips. She wasn’t sure in the dim lamp light, but her instinct told her it was a smile. If it was it was very well stifled. Mita was always one for the theatrics. “Where are you going?” Vala asked flatly. There: Mita’s normally high voice was almost an entire pitch higher. Something was up. “Oh, you know. My eyes are starting to get tired from working for so long. I thought I would take a break for ten chimes or so. Could you tell Kirna for me if she asks?” Mita smiled winningly. The sparse hair on Vala forearms stood on end as goose bumps began to run down her arms. Taking a deep breath, Vala tried to reach a calm, almost meditative state. Under the time crunch she felt a little stressed, making it even harder to concentrate, but she forced herself to stay focused. By the time Vala’s eyes clouded over and all the muscles in her body released their pent up tension, Mita was already three fourths done with packing up her station. As a budding aurist Vala could still only see the wisps of a person's outer aura, and usually only if they were strong projectors. Mita was thankfully one of them. It didn't take Vala long to bring Mita's bright yellow aura into focus. Not only was Mita a strong projector, she was also very transparent. Just like her feelings were evident on her face, so to were they in her aura. Vala's clouded eyes flashed when she saw swirls of dark red orange with a hint of pink overtones flitting about the edges of the yellow glow. Mita was up to something, but it wasn't malicious. If anything she probably meant Vala only good will. Dropping her second sight, Vala just watched as Mita walked away with a little skip in her step. Cheeky girl. Barely a second after she picked up her quill again, Vala was met with what she realized as the reason for Mita's sudden 'break'. Vala listened intently to the man before her, making sure to keep her eyes demurely hooded by her lashes. A playful smile crept on to her rosy cheeks, brightening up her already youthful countenance. He spoke without any pause, which she didn’t mind since it gave her time to put down her quill and wipe her ink stained finger tips on a clean rag. She bit her bottom lip impishly, as she tried not to giggle and betray her entertainment at his up front flirting. Vala was genuinely interested. He was much older than her, but that only meant he would have had more time to make enough of a living to ‘support’ her. She may still have been afraid of him touching her, but that was far from her mind as she traced the lines of his scars with her subtly wandering eyes. She did not try to hide her lingering stares, if anything she accentuated them just so he would get the hint. Judging from his less than subtle tactic, Vala figured she would probably have to initiate similarly and her more insinuating attacks would only fall short and go unnoticed. He stopped talking. Her eyes snapped back to his piercing gaze. The thinly veiled intensity she saw shinning behind them gave her shivers. It had been a long time since her stomach had churned so, but it was definitely more pleasant than that instance of accidental food poisoning. She didn’t have to act much now, though she still made sure to keep up a glittering mask of poised charm, emphasizing the purity of her countenance, no matter how much wickedness it actually housed. Casually, with graceful ease, Vala drew back a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She knew the pause was only heightening the delicious tension. Vala’s secret guilty pleasure – romance stories, had taught her a few things. One tip was always repeated – keep the man interested without seeming aloof. Once enough time had passed, she gasped, a hesitant squeak escaping her lips. While the act was not a confirmation, it was enough of a tension breaker so that Lerst would know what was coming without feeling offended or turned off. Vala fake giggled at her ‘hiccup’ to show that she was ‘nervous’ as a pure girl would be in such a situation. Vala was a player through and through. “I-i…” Vala’s voice came out a lightly stuttering whisper, in a calculated attempt to force Lerst to lean in closer to her and fall faster into her web. She sighed, as if frustrated at her inability to speak. Vala dropped her gaze to his lips. “I would l-l-love to do archery with you.” She giggled after finally sputtering out her reply. Her laugh though practiced, did not come out forced as it sounded like glass tinkling in a gentle breeze. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth, to stop her ‘spontaneous’ show of giddiness. Her eyes traveled back up to meet his. Her doe wide eyes glistened in the dim lamp light; Vala could cry at will. “I’m sorry… but I don’t even know your name …” It was a dangerous game Vala was playing. He was an Avora, evident from his dress and manner, but she was lost in the heat of the moment. And honestly, who can resist the game when a cute guy has enough guts to approach you in such a straight forward manner (stalking aside). OOC : So would Lerst like to be Vala's sponsor into the Gilded Arrow Archery Range? That would totally be so romantic

[Fois]

[Guest Storytelling] Such charming innocence. Hidden behind the cute act were all the appropriate tactics that women used when hunting for a lover, be it for the night or purely entertainment. Vala was just a young girl playing the grown up game, and that was what Lerst found charming. Charming and strangely innocent. Even just a short conversation with her made him more certain of his conviction that she was the right one. There was no reason to turn around. Fortunately, there seemed to be no reason why he would need to go on and chase her, since Vala appeared to be interested in the dance that they were about to begin as well. The Avora leaned closer to the librarian, resting his elbows on the counter. “I’m called Lerst. Responsible for bringing food to Wind Reach, yet apparently not good enough for the Wind Eagles. Or maybe, too good for them,” he winked to the girl. Even though Vala didn’t know the man at all, she might notice how awkward that action appeared, for some reason not fitting Lerst’s face at all. ”If the distracting librarian was willing to share her name with me then I would have no choice but to insist that she went with me.” The man extended his arm towards Vala, but for the girl’s relief didn’t expect her to take it. Instead he guided it in a semicircle in an inviting gesture until his hand was pointing towards the doors of the Enclave. As they walked out of the library and began their short trip, the Avora wasn’t willing to allow them to travel in a possibly uncomfortable silence. ”You know, until I saw you, I wasn’t a very frequent visitor of the Enclave. Being busy and other priorities… You know it is in here. But you… You drew me there like a master falconer calls a falcon to his raised hand. I had to do something about it.” When Lerst wasn’t looking straight in front of him, he would occasionally glance at Vala, who was walking beside him, straight in the eyes. ”Sorry, if I talk strange. I’m not trying to scare you away, just… I just feel peculiar.” He briefly looked at her again and gave another small smile. Vala would soon notice that they were nearing the Craft Gallery, but just before they could see the busy Avoras and their apprentices toil over their arts, Lerst turned to the side into another corridor. A couple of steps later the two Inartan entered the Gilded Arrow, a place that wasn’t a common destination for the members of the Chiet caste. For the uncountable time that day, but not the last, Lerst smiled at the girl. One would have perhaps expected the man to wander her face with his eyes to examine her moods and reactions, but it appeared as if looking Vala into the eyes with his piercing gaze was enough. Despite his intense eyes, other face features, including the smile, still remained gentle. Lerst walked over to one of the tables finding a Chiet that worked there. ”I would need to borrow some arrows for the range. Also a short bow. And the lady that is accompanying me will need a bow, too.” He turned back at Vala, his look, amazingly, unchanged. ”What kind of bow would the lady prefer?” When the Chiet got back with their supplies, Lerst lead the Chiet librarian to one of the free ranges and stood aside. He took one arrow out of the quiver offering it to Vala. ”Here, please shoot one. I’ll just watch this time and then say what I have in mind,” the Avora ended a little bit mysteriously.

[Vala]

“I uh, well…” Vala stuttered; she hadn’t expected him to invite her right away, at that very moment. She still had work to do! She looked around nervously, trying to come up with something, anything to save the situation. Mita was better than any fairy godmother; Mita was a true wingman. Her bubbly voice flew over the stacks, arriving in a flutter of giggles, relieving all the fear from Vala’s tense muscles. “Hey dear! That was the most refreshing break I’ve ever had. You know I feel like I’m ready to work all night! Hush![/i]” Mita shushed her friend with a flick of her wrist before any protests could interrupt her plans. “Orti said he might come and volunteer tonight, and it is a pretty slow afternoon… why don’t you go have fun. I’ll even put away your business for you; don’t worry! You know you can trust me; I know where you like your stuff. And I can push this book aside for you to finish yourself tomorrow. No complains!” Hemmed by Lerst, encouraged by Mita: Vala had no choice. She daintily followed as he led the way. Vala threw back her head, giving the relative safety of the reception desk one last fleeting glance; Mita gave the most deliberate wink ever to have crossed her pixie features. Uncharacteristically, Vala would have been fine with silence. She had enough information about the man next to her to keep her satiated, for the moment. He was taking her somewhere she liked: somewhere public. But it was nice; it was nice to have someone else try and lead the conversation, and not because they were bored, but because they were possibly (most definitely) interested in her. Thankfully he wasn’t asking any questions. She hated answering questions about herself: sharing gave into weakness. Knowledge was power. The one thing that gave her the shivers was his unrelenting stare. It was a little unnerving how he continued to try and make eye contact even though they were walking beside one another, well Vala tried to remain at least a step behind as not to insinuate she was an equal. That and his confession of stalking her… while cute in her romance novels, it was a lot more unsettling when you’re actually next to the guy. He smiled; she smiled back. Vala’s head was spinning. This can’t be real. She tried to convince herself. No matter how much she wanted to, Vala didn’t let herself enjoy his company as much as she could have – Paranoia is a constant friend. They reached the Gilded Arrow. It was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. (She had yet to glimpse the Endal’s range). Vala was caught speechless at the repair station. They had bows to lend? Unable to trust her frozen tongue, Vala just pointed at the closest short bow her eyes could spot. The worker shrugged, gave her the bow, and a quiver of matching arrows. Still hesitant, she waited for Lerst to lead her to an empty station. It didn’t do for her to have someone watching her so intently, again: unnerving. Vala breathed in deep, taking the proffered arrow. Why couldn’t they just shoot together? Vala sighed, nocking the arrow with unsteady fingers. In a perfect synchronized sweep Vala raised her bow and firing arm. The borrowed bow was amazingly crafted; Vala had never used something so perfect. The taught string dug into her ink stained pads. Her biceps and forearm groaned; the bow was powerful. First she set her sights on the target; instead of the direct middle she had the tip aimed barely an inch above, to compensate for the arrow’s journey through the air. She stopped breathing, and then waited, waited for the arrow to stabilize. He moved! Lerst hadn’t moved an inch. Whatever transpired, Vala had allowed herself to get distracted. What could have been a perfect shot, was only average. The arrow stuck into the target with a solid thock. It was four inches to the right of the target, painfully set deep into the next white ring. Vala frowned. Failure was not an option. And definitely not acceptable with a life audience. Vala wanted to sink into the ground; Vala wanted to punch Lerst unconscious. She groaned, already reaching for the next arrow to prove, to prove to Lerst, that she could do better. That she was better.

[Fois]

[Guest Storytelling] Lerst turned his penetrating gaze away from Vala to follow her arrow. It was a fast target to keep his eyes on, but like a vulture watching its prey he never let the arrow escape his sight until it stopped flying. It was stuck quite a bit from the centre by his standards, but still certainly closer than he had been expecting from a librarian. There were no signs on his face that would give away what he thought of the shot when the Avora looked back at the girl. He watched her disappointment with the result and when she tried to take another arrow, he playfully moved it out of her reach revealing his white teeth with a smile. ”No-o, no no no,” he said with a tone of a man hushing a runaway horse. ”There are times when you need to hurry, but this is not one of them. You did pretty well, and you’re not even a hunter.” Lerst briefly glanced back at the target. ”Three, four inches wide, huh? Some Avora, who come here, should run away in shame after seeing this.” The hunter slowly walked around Vala and stopped standing about a foot away behind her back. If she didn’t turn around, the girl could only imagine whether that piercing gaze is still set on her, and if she did, Vala would be met by his centered eyes just looking through her. ”The rules of the game that I would like to play are very simple,” it would take him to stand just a little closer to her before Vala could feel his breath when Lerst spoke. ”I give you a tip of how to improve your archery and for every tip I give you, I’ll ask you a question. If your next shot will be better than this one, you shall answer those questions.” He paused briefly as if to let her think about it. ”How does that sound?” Without waiting for her answer Lerst took one arrow out of the quiver and made his way to stand in front of Vala again. He laid down an arrow on the ground so that it would be in line with the target. ”Stand so that your toes would be just touching the arrow. Feet shoulder width apart, legs firm yet relaxed. Now move your right leg to the front for about 5 inches. The hunter squatted down and gently guided her leg forward. ”Don’t put more weight on one foot than the other, try to distribute it equally. Now you stand in an open stance, which should give you more string clearance and better balance.” He stood up and looked at Vala again with a roguish smile. ”For that I would like to know your favorite color.” The Avora pulled out another arrow and gave it to Vala. ”Draw,” he instructed simply and once again walked behind her back. From a side it might have appeared as if he was a sculptor trying to perfect his statue. When the girl nocked the arrow and pulled the string back, Lerst lightly put his hand on her shoulder. ”Don’t lift your bow arm shoulder,” his voice was rather soothing and contrasted with his invasive actions. ”You can stretch your bow hand against the target so that the shoulder would end up in the correct position.” Lerst removed his hand from her shoulder. ”For this you will have to tell me your favorite bird.” Even though his hand was gone from her body, Vala could soon feel the man’s finger run down her spine as if drawing some sort of a line. ”Now that you have pulled back the string, let only your back muscles hold it, relax your draw arm. When you have done so, move your right shoulder blade inwards your spine to extend your draw by a tiny little bit.” Lerst moved in front of Vala as if carrying on his circling around her and smiled. ”And the price for this advice is your favorite place.” He took one step back away from the girl watching her aim at the target. ”Gently relax your right hand fingers and let’s see if I have earned my answers.”

OOCHm… Now that I have described his eyes, I should move on to nose or something…

[Vala]

I am not an animal.Vala’s hand twitched in annoyance as he tried to ‘calm her down’. Only the fear of making a scene in the busy range, where she was a mere tentative guest, kept her quiet. Vala shivered as his hot breath caressed the soft flesh at the crook of her neck. Her hand jerked up, an unconscious attempt to swat the cheeky man away. She didn’t need to think about it: It was an exchange of information. This was a game she liked – to a degree. There would have to be ground rules: rules that sounded fair but in the long run would let her keep some semblance of an upper hand. She couldn’t let just anyone take advantage of her so easily. Without a father or a brother, and unwed: Vala learned early how to fend for herself. Conditions came easily to the business minded chiet. Vala swiveled her head so Lerst could only see her delicate profile. She looked him straight in the eyes, her own baby blues veiled by her crimson lashes. Her words were soft, forcing him to listen, but clear so she wouldn’t have to repeat herself. “This deal… appears fair, but a girl like has to keep some mystery about her or boys like you will drop her in a heartbeat.” She winked. “I will agree… to your terms, only if you agree to mine.” Vala released a wispy sigh. Deals were all about suspense. Making the other party want to say yes, even before they knew what they were getting into. “I would appreciate any tips you can give me about my technique,” She giggled, her timbre something akin to a cat’s satiated purr. “My archery technique. And your terms were mostly fair, so I’ll just add a tiny, almost negligible… clause.” Vala’s tinkling tone hardened to ice at the last word, softenining back up “I will have the option to skip five questions if I feel like they are too prying or demanding.” Five was more than fair. Any more than five and she would be demanding too much. A fair deal was a fair deal. Glad they had come to an agreeable ‘compromise’, Vala allowed herself to focus on becoming the best Archer she could be. Vala raised an eyebrow as Lerst drew an arrow, and instead of handing her the beautifully fletched weapon, with its eye catching flecks of red scattered on the trim eagle feathers, he set it down on the firing line. She nodded. Vala relaxed her arms and stepped forward so the toes on both her feet barely brushed against the thin shaft. She bent her knees to release the tension from her legs. She nodded again, drawing her left foot back five inches from the arrow. Vala looked down her nose at Lerst as he squatted down to adjust her stance. Was he seriously touching her? Vala frowned at the liberties he was taking. Touching was a gateway to other things… Vala adjusted her stance, redistributing her weight, until she felt properly grounded. Her draw was quick and smooth. She appreciated the straightforward directions. She did not appreciate the invasive hand on her shoulder. She could feel the warmth of his enveloping hand through the thin fabric of her Vinati. She didn’t hate it, nor was it that debilitating, but it still sent shivers of fear and disgust through her body. If anything it made her bow arm shoulder all the more tense. Through gritted teeth she willed her shoulder to drop into the proper spot, until it was relaxed within the socket. He removed his hand; Vala could breathe again. The first proper breath hitched in her throat when she felt a sudden spidery pressure running down the length of her spine. Vala wanted to vomit, but she had just cleaned her shoes… The twang of the bow resonated loudly in her ears, the sharp sound ringing painfully. Vala barely followed through, she was still shell shocked. Lerst was [b]ridiculously[b] lucky. Vala let her arms drop, limp to her sides. Vala giggled nervously, trying to crush the tension that was ripping her apart inside. “You know… What if I had messed up on purpose?” She asked. Her firing hand was trembling, she shoved it deep into her byrda’s pocket. The arrow was a just a fraction closer to the bulls eye than the last. It could have been so much better, it had the potential; Vala had fired too soon. Still a failure. OOC Note : I’m sorry if I made Vala’s first shot too accurate for her skill set! There are a couple threads that still need to be graded that have her practicing – I’m not sure if those would have pushed her into competent from novice, but I still shouldn’t have done that. Sorry! Also, I just wanted a quick reaction from Lerst before I had Vala answering questions. Because in her current state she might not answer anything at all, more likely to skedaddle from the looks of it.

[Fois]

[Guest Storytelling] Lerst was tickled by Vala’s conditions and the almost formal way she presented them, and expressed his amusement with a short laugh. ”All right, very well. You can have the option to skip five questions. But I will keep the right to veto such question evasion, should I be very curious about the subject. I get this privilege for being such a nice guy.” He smiled and gave her a wink, which again appeared somewhat awkward. Was it because of his age, his status, profession? Strange arrangement of face muscles? It was hard to tell. ”It’s only fair, I think,” the hunter chuckled. Needlessly complicating the simple and almost childish game with too many rules seemed to make the experience even more fun to him. The Avora felt that the girl didn’t like his touches immediately. What were the reasons for such reaction was a mystery to him, though he had a couple versions in mind. Despite that, he still chose to contact her body with his hand when giving the instructions. Her shot was hardly any better than the first one but that didn’t surprise Lerst. Vala followed his advices but did wrong the things that she managed to do right during her first attempt. ”Don’t think I will let you cheat your way out of my questions so easily,” he said still with the same smile. His face appeared almost warm with that grin, only ruined by the intense gaze. The calm voice however came to the aid in reassuring of his friendliness. ”You were to tense. Don’t be. Relax, let yourself focus on what is important.” Lerst gave another arrow to Vala. ”Here, do it again. Just remember what I have said earlier. I’ll be standing over here.”

[Vala]

“I do not cheat!” Vala snapped hotly. She did. Often. She pouted, lower lip jutting out with calculated precision. Her bright sapphire eyes watered with instant glistening tears. Even her cheeks flushed with rosy fury. Vala was the spitting image of an angel fallen, indignant. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She puffed up her rounded cheeks, gradually hissing out the hot air. It wasn’t that she was angry. She really could care less as long he had stopped touching her. It was only years of observation of traditional human interaction that told her this was the right time to express outrage, especially if she was to expound on her already established façade – the cute innocent one. She waited a few more seconds to really electrify the moment with silent tension. She spoke with force, each word coming out flinty with precise enunciation. Everything was an elaborate act. “A. Deal. Is. A. Deal. Fair. Is. Fair.” She huffed snootily. Her nose rose to an affected 45 degrees, the end of her pouted lips curving into a wicked smirk. “I love silver, the shinier the better. I love Wind Eagles because they are the best kind of bird to ever soar the skies, and always will be. And I love the Enclave…” She spoke quick and sassily, but couldn’t help a biting mumble from slipping out. “I don’t know why you asked that last one, a given it was – a waste of a question…” Single handedly, Vala managed to pull herself from the brink. It wasn’t something to be proud of. She was anyway. By acting, by cloaking herself in the lie, by becoming something she was not: Vala could push through her weakness and reach new and ‘invulnerable’ states. Before Lerst could pry further into the nebulous of facts that made her Vala, she nocked another arrow into her bow. So far his questions had been harmless, but how long before he started to ask her why she had been so tense, or why she was severely conservative in dress compared to the rest of their free, unfettered people. Vala was in the zone. She felt confident, assured, and over all just deadly. Her mask, while tragically fragile, was powerful. Like glass, the beauty she emulated could cut as well as awe. Her fingers drew back the string, taught; the thin line sang with restrained energy. Her icy gaze bore into the target, daring it to challenge her right as the archer, the hunter. She was the weapon. Vala shifted her feet, just an inch, until all the muscles aligned in glorious synchrony. Why was it, when Vala wasn’t Vala, everything turned out ok? Dropping her shoulder to release the tension and allow her back muscles to carry the weight, Vala lined up her sight. Everything was perfect. Blissful silence reigned in Vala’s core and mind. Her taloned fingers straightened; the string resounded with a commanding twang. Vala’s bow arm followed through, triumphantly. A satisfied grin crept upon her blood flushed cheeks as the arrow head nestled deep, an inch above the center of the bulls-eye.

[Fois]

[Guest Storytelling] Lerst was a bit surprised by her rather angry reaction to his joke about trying to cheat her way out of the deal and the way she articulated her agreement to answer his questions nearly made him laugh a little. He managed to contain himself, feeling that the girl might get offended and shut him out. Such a cute, innocent and fragile thing she was. ”It’s not only when you shoot a bow that you need to relax. Try to extend your peace outside the shot. You don’t have to be here if you don’t enjoy it. After all there’s no point in doing this if one of us doesn’t like it,” the Avora said to her with a strange guilty smile. Maybe it was strange because his earlier smiles tried to appear warm and confident, or maybe because those damned eyes of his were still somewhat off. Vala’s answers to his questions were only met with a nod of acknowledgement, but he said nothing. Lerst just watch her shoot another arrow and when he saw that it was definitely a success, his lips mirrored the grin of satisfaction that appeared on her face. ”See how great you did? I unquestionably deserved those answers! I was right when I said that your gentle hands have talents beyond writing. Just look at those Avoras and the envy in their eyes!” In truth, they didn’t have any spectators. The few artisans who were at the ranges had their eyes focused on the targets and their minds - on their practice, and the bowyers and fletchers were more interested in their own work. Only the Deks that were assigned duties at the Gilded Arrow would glance at them from time to time to see if they weren’t required to fetch the arrows or assist in some way. So despite being an obvious lie, Lerst’s words were meant as a compliment and encouragement to Vala. The hunter extended his arm towards Vala, this time offering not one arrow but the whole quiver. ”Here, take it and put it on,” his voice didn’t sound like one you would expect from an instructor, even when the words seemed to be right for the role. It would be surprising to find out that this man could give commands in any situation. ”Shoot a couple more arrows and let me observe you.” He watched the girl practise, first standing where he was, and later walking around her. His eyes were always on her how her muscles worked, how her fingers gripped and released the bowstring, how her face reacted to the results, and only diverted his gaze occasionally to see where the arrows have landed for himself. ”Good… You’re doing very fine. I might want to take you out for a hunt some time if you liked.” Lerst walked over to her and pulled one arrow out of the quiver. He took his bow that was left resting against the wall and a couple of steps behind Vala. ”Look here now, all right?” he asked the girl to turn to him. ”You should hold your bow in a way so that your knuckles formed an almost diagonal line against the weapon. And don’t grip the bow with your hand, but fingers, which should be open and relaxed.” He was holding his weapon exactly as he described. ”The pressure point should be at the thick part of the thumb muscle right here,” he pointed at the right part with his right hand’s index finger,” ”so that the pressure from the grip went as straight as possible into the arm,” with the same finger he illustrated the “pressure’s path”. ”Now the bow hand wrist can be completely relaxed without the bow twisting in any direction.” Lerst then effortlessly drew the bow. ”See? Arm stretched against the target so that the shoulder would be in the right position. But not too much pressure, otherwise the bow arm might go up in the shot moment. Transferring the holding weight to the back muscles, extend the draw just a little bit more…” His each word was followed with a corresponding action. At no time during his instructions he would move his eyes away from the target. ”Draw hand relaxed, fingers formed into a deep hook so that it would allow for a cleaner release. Now just relax the fingers of the draw hand and let the force of the string move them out of the way. Don’t use your hand muscles to open the fingers, just let it happen naturally and undisturbed.” The arrow was released and rapidly reached the target where it found its place right in the center of the bull’s eye. ”After the shot, relax and think how it felt. Try remembering the feeling from the good shots, since it is those shots that you want your body to remember and easily repeat.” Lerst stepped closer to Vala and reached around to pull out another arrow from the quiver. He got back into the proper shooting stance and fired again. His actions during the shot appeared to be very fluid and the whole process took at most 6 or 7 breaths. From where they were standing, it appeared as if the second arrow hit the target at the exact same spot and just a closer inspection would reveal that it was stuck just a little bit lower than the first. Maybe the result wasn't so impressive because the distance to the target was chosen to reflect Vala's abilities, but it clearly showed that the archer was skilled in the field. Lerst turned his head to Vala with the already familiar smile. ”Now you try. And for this I will want to know your favorite season and the reason why you like it.”

[Vala]

Maybe she had gone a little too far on the self righteous act, either way, she needed to stop acting so aloof and make it clear that she was interested (but not that way… yet). Her face lit up with a genuine smile, cheeks rosy and puffed, at the sight of another one of Lerst’s ‘awkward’ smiles. It was of a different make, but at least it was still kind. Vala scanned, with her other sense, not enough that she was deep into another level of consciousness, but shallow enough to keep her bearings; she caught just a whiff of his intentions: pure. (had she tried harder, she might have come up with alternate conclusions, but naivety is occasionally cathartic) Vala’s genuine smile remained, strengthened. Vala flipped her head, her locks bouncing gently back to the side of her temple. She pouted, looking up at Lerst from under her lashes. “Don’t be silly; you’re the only Avora looking over here,” In her constant state of paranoia, Vala would scan the range from the corner of her eyes just to check if anyone was ‘spying’ on them. She did catch the occasional Dek, but like the rest of her people she didn’t consider them important enough to be recognized. “But its not like I mind…” Vala whispered suggestively. She pouted (cutely this time), when he drew his bow, edging into the next lane. She gasped breathily at the sight of his muscles bulging, drawing her eyes wide until she looked surprised at being ‘aroused’. It was all an act. Being a ditz, more specifically mocking a ditz, was kinda fun; Vala had gotten good (a little too good). She nodded with mouth slightly agape as he emphasized his draw hand’s form; it was quite good. It didn’t come as a surprised when his arrow jutted out at the center of the bulls eye. Vala nodded, listening intently to his advice. She closed her mouth, teeth clinking conspicuously. Lerst shot a second arrow: amazing. This time, Vala didn’t have to fake anything. She gaped for a few more seconds, staring at the arrow as they stood in silence. She waited for the tongue numbing awe to wear off before trying to say anything. “So uh… wow,” Nope: Too soon. Second take. “You’re amazing… now I know why you wanted to take me to a range…” Vala drifted off, realizing she had said too much. It was obvious this was the age old, man technique to woo the girl through sheer awe (studies have shown there is such a thing as impressing a girl to death…). Honestly, Vala didn’t mind his transparency. She should have kept her perception to herself, since men ‘liked to be sneaky like that’, but if she had to initiate the wooing just because of her gender, she probably would have done the same thing: nothing to be surprised about. It was intimidating shooting after watching a master, especially if they were not only instructing you but trying to get on your ‘good side’, and you their’s. Vala gulped, forcing her nerves to settle. Just remember, She told herself. Just because he seems to go for the frail innocent type, doesn’t mean he’d go for the incompetent, bumbling idiot. Two completely different masks. A quick shot reminding her of the role she had to act out gave Vala the sense of purpose she needed to ground herself. She still hadn’t relinquished her control to the truly heartless shell that had no other motive than to win and dominate, and she was generally safe from that regression until she was put into any immediate danger. Vala nocked another arrow. She spent an extra moment to glance at her fingers, her eyes straining to see the curved hooks just brushing her cheek. Once she was sure they were ‘deep’ enough, she stopped breathing, aimed, and released as ‘naturally’ as she could. She let her fingers just slide of the string without trying to pull them back, allowing for a much cleaner follow through. It was a beautiful shot. Not perfect, but still something to be proud of as a Chiet. Time to answer another question. Vala cleared her throat, the rush of the shot still running through her veins. “Well I guess I love Spring most… because… “ Vala blushed, for real. “Well, don’t laugh or anything, but I like how the air smells when everything is fresh and new and clean and just… spring. You know what, I’m rambling. How about you, what’s your favorite season?” Vala turned her entire body to face Lerst.