Day 14, Season Fall, 513 AV
There were many kinds of forest. This fact was nothing new to Rinya. In fact she had lived amongst the trees in Sylira for most of her life. Trees usually brought a sense of peace to her. But there was something wrong with these trees. They were much too pressed together, blocking much of the daylight from the ground. The forest took on a shadowed presence, and it unnerved her greatly. Everything seemed to move of its own accord, and Rinya was not meant to be in such a forest—a cage in its own right.
But worst perhaps was the heat that came with the thick trees. Rinya seriously wondered how Syna could heat the forest without the light being able to reach inside it. The humidity wasn’t any better though. She considered it pure luck that she had braided her hair back, otherwise it would stick to the sweat on the back of her neck. All of the current factors left Rinya in one mood—cranky.
She was a creature made for sky and ocean. The closest she was to trees was sleeping in them when she had to. But trekking through this forest for hours on end was grating on already thin nerves. But the forest was never ending, and Rinya was beginning to dread the worst. Not only was she terribly lost, but she had the feeling she was starting to wander in circles. Trees and moss were blending together into a green fog nearly right before her eyes.
Rinya grumbled under her breath in annoyance. Lost, sweating, and completely in the wrong attire for her current state, Rinya tugged at her peach colored dress a little. It clung to her like a second skin, and Rinya could only be grateful that it wasn’t a full length dress—or she would have given up wandering in circles completely. It was fortunate for her that her quiver was strung up across her back—though she was a little worried about her bow. She hadn’t treated it for this amount of moisture and it was bound to warp the wood at this rate.
Flexing her fingers around her bow, Rinya came to a stop next to a fallen tree. Judging by the looks of it, it had been down for quite some time. If she didn’t get her mind off her current situation if just for a moment, she was going to scream. And she really didn’t want to find out what else was in this forest. Here she was at her weakest. Her vision was bland from the lack of light, and everything set her nerves on high alert.
Rinya drew an arrow from her quiver, examining it closely before sighing harshly. Stepping back from the tree, Rinya raised her bow. In a fluid, practiced movement she nocked the arrow, pulled back… and moments later released. And missed—completely. Rinya felt her jaw drop. That was not possible. Sure the wood of her bow may swelled slightly due to the air, but her aim couldn’t have been that off!
Gritting her teeth, Rinya felt something nag in the back of her mind. That she was missing something important, and that was why she had missed. But she just couldn’t see what it was.