Melita
they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive
of the women they burned alive
Again, she told herself. Again and again and again until the winds ceased to howl and her bones ached and nothing, no one, would touch anyone she cherished or loved. Perhaps this was just as much for her as it was for everyone else; for Nate, who was likely going to be in danger from something in near future, for Sunjata, who was an idiot, and for all the others she’d begun to collect once more. With war potentially brimming on the horizon, she wasn’t going to be caught outright. She wasn’t going to be pathetic. She wasn’t going to be incapable.
Not anymore.
She walked towards the targets, intending to pull the arrows out, one by one, and repeat the process, when a voice called out over the wind. Her brows furrowed as she yanked, directing her attention towards what she thought was some stoking of familiarity, and then Aurelia appeared.
The other woman seemed to be everywhere – though judging by her empty net, perhaps she’d be apt to trying other motions.
Her head tilted a fraction, as if struggling to decipher if she continued on with the upcoming antics, while Aurelia seemed to gain her breath. Melita didn’t expect the compliment, her eyes running automatically to her bow, and then back to the arrows as they were plucked out one by one. “Thank you. I’ve been practicing for a long time.” Since she’d been yanked out of her home, and forced to survive, forced to endure, forced to protect. A shrug of her shoulders indicated it wasn’t a big deal, except it probably was, and she swallowed down some foreign notch of an emotion she couldn’t identify, wandering back to her previous post. Fangorn grumbled a hello towards the fellow smuggler, while Melita pondered over the request.
The inquiry was fairly obvious, which took away the coolness, the apathy, the indifference away from the honeybee, pooling neatly, ferociously, into a mild snort, billowing back into the sea breeze. “I’ve taught some.” Were she Attuned, the smile she rendered would’ve been fanged; but since she wasn’t, it came out on the vestiges and ethers of obvious, absolute mischief. She shouldered her own bow, and went towards the pile she’d begun making, chiseling, sculpting, out of the finer wood from outskirts and jungles. She grabbed hold of a simple training armament, and passed it towards Aurelia. “Have you ever used one before?”
Not anymore.
She walked towards the targets, intending to pull the arrows out, one by one, and repeat the process, when a voice called out over the wind. Her brows furrowed as she yanked, directing her attention towards what she thought was some stoking of familiarity, and then Aurelia appeared.
The other woman seemed to be everywhere – though judging by her empty net, perhaps she’d be apt to trying other motions.
Her head tilted a fraction, as if struggling to decipher if she continued on with the upcoming antics, while Aurelia seemed to gain her breath. Melita didn’t expect the compliment, her eyes running automatically to her bow, and then back to the arrows as they were plucked out one by one. “Thank you. I’ve been practicing for a long time.” Since she’d been yanked out of her home, and forced to survive, forced to endure, forced to protect. A shrug of her shoulders indicated it wasn’t a big deal, except it probably was, and she swallowed down some foreign notch of an emotion she couldn’t identify, wandering back to her previous post. Fangorn grumbled a hello towards the fellow smuggler, while Melita pondered over the request.
The inquiry was fairly obvious, which took away the coolness, the apathy, the indifference away from the honeybee, pooling neatly, ferociously, into a mild snort, billowing back into the sea breeze. “I’ve taught some.” Were she Attuned, the smile she rendered would’ve been fanged; but since she wasn’t, it came out on the vestiges and ethers of obvious, absolute mischief. She shouldered her own bow, and went towards the pile she’d begun making, chiseling, sculpting, out of the finer wood from outskirts and jungles. She grabbed hold of a simple training armament, and passed it towards Aurelia. “Have you ever used one before?”
because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life
to bring a whole wildfire to life
