The Harsh Healing...

[Ember Watergrove]

Ember woke in her pavilion once again before the sun rose. Climbing out of bed, she winced at the pain of her ankle, which hadn't healed yet. Looking across from her bedside, she spotted her broken longbow, lying across a chair as dead as it could be. Heaving a heavy sigh, Ember stood on her good foot and hopped to the chair, keeping her ankle as far from pressure as possible, then picked up her broken prize from that dreadful day. Nothing good really ever came of that day, but she doesn't blame herself. Ember wouldn't be here in any other circumstance, so she is just grateful that she is alive.

Speaking of which,Ember thought as she attempted to dress herself without falling over,I wonder whatever became of Mealla and Scarlet.It's true; Ember hardly saw the other female Drykans at all anymore. The one time she saw Scarlet was when the girl had left to go back to her own clan, but that was it. With yet another sigh, Ember finally succeeded in dressing herself without causing much more harm to her ankle and made a final decision.

I've spent enough time in bed,Ember concluded, I am going to get out and go see if my bow can be fixed. With that, Ember left her pavilion with her broken longbow in hand, hobbling all the way.

[Akilah Windsong]

Akilah stared at her weapons, at the much used sword and the little used bow. It's not like the bow was a worse weapon, or that she liked the sword more. No, she used the bow a lot when she was younger.

But then, she also talked to the wind a lot then. Tracing the upper limb with her right hand, her left plucked the nocking point in memory of those days. Holding it up, she pulled back the string, her imaginary arrow on the tips of her fingers. In the sight window, she could see a beast, unaware, ready to be hurt.

A breeze stirred, downwind of her, and she let go of the string, her arrow closing in on her target. A startled cry and it was dead, the tip of her arrow buried deep in its throat.

Akilah put the bow down almost regretfully. It still reminded her of wanting to be a Stormwarden, of the possibility she might not be one. It reminded her of a lot of things, but today she just might start to move past that.

"Zulrav doesn't pick those who mopes around, right? You'd rather I tried again, I'm sure, even if you don't pick me to join your ranks." She stared at the bow. Maybe she should try to train with it today.

Picking it and a quiver with several arrows, she tried to sling it on her back, fumbling with the straps and arrangement. "I really haven't done this in a while," she laughed at herself, trying to stop everything from bump into each other on her back.

Giving up for the moment, she only put the quiver on and decided to hold the bow in her hand. Staring at her sword, she sighed and strapped it on anyways. If she ended up outside the city, it was better protection than her lousy archery skills.

Whistling, she waited for Vespera to bound up to her, tongue wagging as he bounced around her. He was so tall now, tall and dark black, and standing on his hindlegs he started to lick her face.

"Okay, okay," she laughed, "Please, down, down" Pushing him down slightly, she started to walk out of the tent. Adámas could stay home today, considering last time she watched Akilah train she fell asleep.

Walking outside, she felt a little foolish, with both her sword and her bow. She wasn't used to the second weapon, to it's extra weight and odd shape.

"The first and most important part of training, get used to the weapon," she whispered her father's advice to her, straightening her back as she strode forward. Even if she did nothing else today, she would get used to the bow.