[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

“I told you I am,” Crow winked at Penelope teasingly. “If you don’t learn fast, you don’t live long where I’m from.” It was true. His ability to pick up new skills had saved his life more times than he could count. The wide array of tricks he had collected were the reason why he had made it on his own for as long as he had. He’d stolen to make a living for himself, fought off inexperienced knights in the outer villages, duped his enemies by pretending to be a traveler from other kingdoms, and even nursed some of his own wounds with amateur herbalism. He had taken everything he knew and used it to keep himself alive at some point or another.

He listened as Penelope explained how she had needed to use trickery in battle as well since she used to spar against her older brother. It made sense. Even though she was a knight, she was still smaller than the men she usually had to fight. He was suddenly more appreciative that she was the one to teach him how to use a dagger properly. Though he wasn’t disadvantaged by size, he definitely lacked the skill his opponents would have. It would be good for him to learn more ways to outsmart his enemies in battle.

“You have no idea,” Crow laughed when Penelope said he would be even more trouble upon his return. “I plan to make the king rue the day he let me set foot outside those prison walls.”

The mention of going back to Brerra did make him ponder again what was going to happen between him and Penelope after their mission. By her words, it sounded like she expected him to go back to his former life of thievery, but he wondered what she planned to do. Would she go back to her duties as a knight, or was she thinking about abandoning everything to be with him? He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, tempted to ask, but afraid of the answer.

“Let’s go over there. It looks like a good place to stop,” he followed her gaze as she pointed out a small clearing.

“Okay,” Crow said in agreement. He set down his bags when they reached the meadow and then drew the dagger he had kept hidden in his boot, turning to her with a cocky smirk, “Are you ready, love?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope headed over to the clearing and stopped by a nearby tree to set down the bags. She rolled her shoulders and then looked over at Crow as he drew the dagger. She smirked and crossed her arms as she turned to face him. “You know, I’m a little concerned by how eager you are to fight me.” The knight joked with a light laugh.

She reached down to draw her own dagger from her boot. She twirled it in her hand, admittedly showing off a bit, before pointing it towards him. “And you should know by now that I’m always ready. I just hope you are.” She said with a light laugh.

There was a noticeable gleam of excitement in her green eyes. Sparring was something that Penelope found rather fun. With no real stakes involved, it was a way of learning and practicing one’s skill. A real fight was definitely an adrenaline rush for the knight but she was so focused on keeping both herself and others out of harms way that there was no way she found it enjoyable. With sparring, she could focus solely on her opponent and using her skills. The knight grinned.

“Show me what you got, thief!” She challenged playfully. Without another second to spare, she launched her first attack against him. It was a basic lunge and swipe of her dagger as she moved towards him, though the motion was rather seamless and she was of course careful with her moments as to not actually get the weapon too close to hurt him. The aim was merely to try and get a better read on his defense and then find a weak spot to go for.

[Rogue Sloth]

“You should be more concerned about how you’re going to beat me,” Crow quipped. He rolled his eyes when Penelope spun the dagger in her hands. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” As she prepared to fight, he took a moment to size her up, his eyes sweeping over her body. Since he didn’t have much experience with fighting, he needed to take advantage of any weaknesses he could find.

He took note of her stance, the way she held her weapon, and where her eyes were focused. He didn’t know enough about dagger techniques to know exactly what she was planning to do, but he could see that her weight was shifted to her back right foot and her gaze was fixed on his torso. From those details, he could at least make a few guesses about what her first move would be. He braced himself for her attack.

When Penelope lunged at him, his first thought was that she was fast—much faster than William. He parried her dagger with his own blade, stepping backwards with his right foot and twisting at the waist to use her momentum against her. The sound of clashing metal filled the air as he deflected her attack, sending her off to his right side so they stood parallel with each other. He followed through by bringing his left hand around to give her a sharp push between the shoulder blades, intending to knock her off balance while he jumped back out of her reach.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Crow taunted once he was safely beyond her range of attack. “I would understand if you want to save face and surrender to me now.” He winked at her wryly, raising his weapon to defend himself if she came at him again.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope took mental note of how Crow was watching her, looking for weaknesses. As she expected, he deflected the attack with ease, so she focused her attention on eying how he reacted to the attack. She quickly regained her balance after being pushed by him, managing to stay rather stable despite the force he used. She gave a small laugh as he taunted her. "Please. A child could have blocked that, I was just making sure you could keep up." She teased in return.

Feeling a bit egged on by his taunting, Penelope decided to give him a real attack. She moved to attack him again and this time she was trying to slip past his defense by going for a strike near his shoulder. The knight was swift with her moment as she tried to slip past his defense. However, she managed to create a small opening on her left side as she relied more on her right to attack.

At the last second, she suddenly leaned away from him and completely changed the course of her attack. Now leaning back, she was able to balance herself out as she swiped a leg out, aiming to hook one of his with it and knock him off his feet or at least make him unstable. She also moved her dagger to a defend the opening on her left she had been using to bait him into an attack.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Oh really?” Crow’s lip curled upward in a smirk when Penelope returned his banter. It looked like his prodding was finally drawing a response out of her. Her reaction only encouraged him, since he prided himself on being able to get under his opponents’ skin. He went on with a sneer: “Come on then. Give me everything you’ve got. I’ll stop you every time.” Adjusting his stance slightly, he stood with bended knees so he could move quickly when she attacked him again.

Her next strike didn’t take long. He braced himself again, taking in her movements as fast as he could as she lunged toward his shoulder. Seeing that she was leaning heavily towards the right, he shifted in the opposite direction, intending to hit an opening on the left side of her torso. However, just as he was about to make contact, she surprised him by protecting the side he had been aiming for with her dagger and shifting weight so her attack came from her leg instead of her arm.

Crow cursed, unable to change directions fast enough to defend himself from the new threat. While his dagger clattered off of hers, he felt her leg strike the back of his left knee, forcing it to buckle. He dropped to the ground, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.

If she wants a trick, I’ll show her a trick. Before Penelope had a chance to put distance between them again, he swept out his own leg to force her to her knees as well. Once she was on his level, he leaped on her, using his advantage of strength to bowl both of them over into his grass. Then, dropping his dagger, he grabbed her wrists in each of his hands and pinned her beneath him, using his weight to hold her down.

“Could a child do that?” he smirked at her wryly and leaned down to kiss her on the nose.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked as she managed to execute the move and knock Crow to the ground. However, it didn’t last as the thief suddenly swept a leg out to knock her down to his level. The knight clenched her weapon in her fist, annoyed that she hadn’t been quick enough to avoid the attack. What made it worse was that she wasn’t able to stop him from pinning her down. The knight had to admit he was much faster than she originally thought him to be. As he grabbed her wrists, she let her dagger drop to the side. Her smirk returned as she noticed that he had been forced to drop his dagger as well.

She rolled her eyes at he kissed her on the nose. “Yeah, yeah. Not bad. You could still use some work though.” She commented, relaxing her muscles slightly. The knight, ever so carefully, began to shift her right leg closer to her stomach while her left leg inched closer to his. She was suddenly thankful for the dress, as it hid her movements much more than pants ever would. With a sudden force of might, she sent her right knee up into Crow while using her left leg to hook around his to roll them away from his dropped dagger.

As soon as her hand was free, she reclaimed her dagger and roll onto Crow. She place one firm hand on his chest while the other fumbled to grip the dagger properly as she pointed it at him. Penelope shifted her weight onto him, a bit awkwardly due to the dress she wore. “Sorry.” She apologized realizing she might have been a bit rough with her actions. It had taken as much strength as she could muster to push him off of her so the knight wasn’t quite able to hold back. She looked down at him and grinned. “Word of advice though, you should never willingly let go of your weapon.” Penelope mused, twirling the dagger in her hand once again.

[Rogue Sloth]

“‘You could use some work’?” Crow echoed with an incredulous roll of his eyes. “I’m the one pinning you down, and that’s all you can say to me?” He took no notice of Penelope’s subtle motions in his distraction, so he wasn’t prepared for her to fight back so suddenly. As she drove her knee into his stomach, he felt his breath leave him and he lost his grip on her wrists. He fell off of her, forced away from his weapon by her other leg, which had hooked behind his own.

Now on his back, it took him a moment to realize that their positions had reversed. Penelope was on top of him with her dagger aimed at his throat, and he was pinned down. He recoiled instinctively from the edge of the blade, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. “Alright, alright,” he panted. “I get the message. No more dropping my weapon—even if it was to get up close and personal with a beautiful knight.” His eyes shifted away from her face as he glanced down at her lithe body on top of his, and he grinned. “You know, I know you won the fight, but I don’t feel like I completely lost.”

Reaching up with one hand, he brushed her weapon away from his throat and pulled her down to kiss him again. He wrapped his other arm around her back and, copying her trick from a moment before, hooked his leg behind hers to roll her over so he was on top of her again, though he did so much more gently than she had with him. He traced one hand from her jawline to her collarbone then all the way down her arm to intertwine their fingers. Doing the same with their other hands, he pulled her arms over her head again, trailing kisses down the side of her neck as he held her to the ground once again.

After a bit, he pulled back to meet her gaze again. However, when he did, there was a mischievous glint in is eye. In the next instant, he adjusted his hold on her wrists so he held both in his left hand while he reached for his dagger with his right—he had rolled both of them back over to his discarded weapon during the time he had been kissing her.

He held the blade up to her throat with a wink, “Never trust a thief, love.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a light laugh at his words. She had a small blush on her cheeks as she took note of their current position. Letting the dagger fall to the side of them, Penelope met his lips in a kiss. Distracted and thinking she had won, the knight didn’t pick up on what he was planning. She closed her eyes, enjoying their closeness for a brief moment until he pulled back. She met his gaze and quickly realized what he had done as she noticed the gleam of mischief in his gaze.

She was too late to react as the thief held her down and held the dagger to her throat. “So I’ve been told. Though I never really listened.” She mused with a small smirk. Penelope looked up at him, trying to figure out a possible way out of her current position. Unfortunately, she found none. The knight clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Fine, I yield. But to be fair, that was a dirty trick and I’d hardly count that as a win.” Her eyes gleamed stubbornly then paused as she looked up at him, meeting his gaze.

The sparring with him had gotten Penelope into a rather good mood. It had managed to fully take her mind off the looming castle in the distance, despite their mission being the reason for their training. It had her feeling a little more confident and bold since she wasn’t busy worrying about what lied ahead for them.

The knight smirked faintly at him and lost the stubborn look in her gaze. “Well, as long as I’m the only one you’re using that move against, I suppose I can let it slide.” She add a bit flirtatiously, despite the blush her words caused her.

[Rogue Sloth]

“You never said I had to fight fairly,” Crow pointed out. “We both know you would have bested me if I relied on skill alone, so I think my ‘dirty trick’ was perfectly called for.” He smirked at her and let his dagger fall away from her neck, wanting to enjoy their closeness without the weapon between them. The position they were in sent his heart racing, and he couldn’t help but think that he was going to enjoy sparring quite a bit if they continued to end up like this.

“Well, as long as I’m the only one you’re using that move against, I suppose I can let it slide,” Penelope’s sultry words caught his attention.

“Hmm, that’s a hard bargain,” he said, knitting his brow as if he had to think it over. “If my move worked this well against you, just imagine what it would do to a knight of Younis.” He chuckled, running his free hand sensuously down the length of her side and stopping at her hip. “I think it would leave them too stunned to do anything.” His devilish eyes flicked back up to meet her gaze. “They would be at my mercy.”

Crow leaned in again as if he was going to plant a kiss just below her neck, but instead, he hovered teasingly so that his lips barely brushed against her skin. He kept a firm grasp on her wrists in his left hand, keeping her pinned, while he trailed his right hand a little farther down her body to rest near her inner thigh. Glancing back up at her, he went on in an alluring tone, “But if it means that much to you, I suppose I can save this move just for you, darling.”

Finished teasing her, he finally pressed his lips to the base of her neck, working his way slowly up to her ear. He took the lobe between his teeth, giving it a gentle bite, before he moved on to kiss her lips at last. Bringing his right hand back up to hold her at the waist, he pressed into her deeply, losing himself in the feeling of their bodies moving against each other.

After a while, he drew back to meet her gaze once more, smiling a bit light-headedly, “I really like sparring.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope rolled her eyes as he teased her, both with his words and actions. Her heart began to race as his hand trailed over he body. The knight closer her eyes as he finally pressed his lips to her neck, feeling a bit of relief in the touch after being teased. She shuddered lightly as he gently bit her ear lobe.

She smiled against his lips as he finally kissed them. Penelope felt her heart flutter in her chest as he pressed into her. She found it quite amazing how his touch managed to make her lose track of everything. Time and location meant almost nothing to her while she was in his arms. As he finally drew back, she let out a breathless chuckle at his words as she looked up to meet his warm green eyes. “Mhmm.” She mumbled as she leaned up to place a couple kisses along his jawline.

The knight leaned back and shifted slightly underneath him. “Although, I think we got a little distracted.” She said with a small giggle. “We should get moving again too... So, mind letting me up?” She smirked up at him teasingly. “You’re kinda heavy you know."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow let out his breath in a soft exhale as Penelope kissed him a few more times along his jaw. Her touch always made him feel so disconnected from the world, and he loved it. He loved the way her lips moved against his skin—the way she seemed to know exactly how to make him weak in the knees. In that moment, she held him in her hands. The knight had tamed the thief.

“Maybe you were distracted,” he said with a smirk. “But I knew exactly what I was doing.” As she went on to ask him to let her up, he laughed. “I should hope so. I’ve been trying to put back on some muscle since I got out of prison.” He winked at her coyly and climbed off of her so she was free to move again.

Standing up, he brushed the grass out of his clothes and hair and collected his dagger, which he returned to its hiding spot in his boot. He then gathered his other belongings and prepared to keep walking to the castle.

“All jokes aside,” Crow said, turning back to her when they were ready to go. “How did I do? I know I’m not an expert with a dagger like you are, but if that had been a real duel, do you think I would have at least had a fighting chance?”

[BuzzingBee]

Once he moved off of her, she got back up to her feet and dusted off the grass and smoothed down her hair, which had notably gotten a bit messy during their sparring. She reclaimed her dagger and hid it back in her boot once again. She grabbed the bags and turned to begin their walk towards the castle. She glanced over at him as he asked about how he did.

“You’re not bad.. Though.. when we practice again, there’s a few things I think you should work on.” Penelope said honestly as she looked over at him. Against a trained knight, he likely stood a chance of winning but that was purely based on if his tricks landed. From what she could tell, there was plenty to work on with his use of a blade. “For one, we really need to work on your offense. Your defense seemed rather solid and you’re good at spotting openings. But, I noticed that also takes you a while. If you’re busy planning to strike an opening, your opponent could easily catch on before you even attack.

“Not to mention, the best opening is one you make yourself.” She added with a smirk. “When we train next time, I want to teach you a few attack moves. Especially since most of yours didn’t even involve using the dagger. You might be able to get away with that with me but that’s more because I’m not as strong as you. You’ll likely face enemies either equal to you or bigger.” She paused, briefly recalling the mercenary who towered over both of them.

“In that type of fight, you’ll need to use the blade along with your tricks to win. And for the love of gods, never drop your weapon willingly!” She lectured him again, giving him a small nudge with her elbow. It seemed to be the biggest mistake during their fight to her. Especially since he likely would have won quicker if he had only used it alongside his hand to pin her down.

[Rogue Sloth]

As they continued navigating through the forest, Crow listened to Penelope give her perspective on his performance during their sparring match. It pleased him to hear that she thought he wasn’t bad. Considering he didn’t have much experience, it gave him hope that he would improve quickly. He just hoped he would be able to keep a handle on his fear if he found himself in a position where he would need to draw blood in a fight. However, since he wasn’t about to willingly put himself in such a position, there was no way for him to know how he was going to react if or when that time came.

He nodded when she said he needed to work on his offense in battle. He knew this to be true as well, since previously, his goal in every fight had always been to escape, not win. He had only needed to know enough to defend himself long enough to find a point of exit and get away from his opponent. Since the Younisian palace was foreign ground, things would be different though. He would likely need to drop his enemies rather than try to find an escape route that could just lead him to a dead end hallway.

As she brought up the fact that he couldn’t rely on attacks without a weapon against large opponents, he winced, remembering the mercenary once again. He didn’t know what he would do if he ran into a knight as big as that man had been. His quick reflexes were his best advantage in a fight, but if he had to face off against another human wall, simply being fast wasn’t enough.

“Alright already,” Crow held up his hands when she lectured him on dropping his weapon again. “Forgive me for being the idiot that I am and thinking that was a good idea at the time.” He returned her nudge with a wry grin. “But that’s why you’re here to teach me. As you can see, I need all the help I can get before we reach the castle.”

At the mention of it, his eyes wandered back to the large, stone building in front of them. It seemed to grow ever bigger as they got closer to it, looming high over the tree tops. He stared up at it determinedly. I’ve raided a palace before, and I can do it again. Just you wait, you royal despot. That staff is mine.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small laugh at his reaction to her lecturing and smiled up at him. “I’ll teach you as much as I can.” She promised, her gaze drifting back ahead as they walked on. Of course, the enemies he’ll fight will likely be using swords rather than daggers. She thought to herself. Her eyes glanced up at the trees around them, thinking of a way to get Crow ready for a likely uneven fight of blades. The knight was already beginning to map out their next training, thinking of various moves that would aide Crow once they were inside the castle.

Her gaze focused on the tall fortress in the distance and she felt that familiar rise of worry spark inside her. She wished they would have been training since the very start of their mission. Though, she supposed if William and Abraxas were still around, they would have felt a little more prepared. The thought of her comrades made Penelope frown. I hope they’re ok.. She thought, still feeling guilty about leaving them behind.

She turned her gaze away from the castle and glanced over at the bow Crow carried. “Before the day ends we should do a bit of archery training too.” She mused, knowing the weapon wouldn’t be of much used to him if he didn’t keep practicing it. “If we can get your aim good enough to hit a still target by the time we reach the castle, I’ll be happy.”

The knight crossed her arms and glanced in the direction of the town. “Speaking of the day end, is the plan to try and find another stable?” She asked him. She knew as they drew closer to the castle, going back into to town, even just a stable, would be risky and likely more difficult due to the fact that nobles living around the castle’s edge were likely more powerful than those a little further out.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow continued to gaze up at the castle as they walked, taking in as much as he could from a distance. Since they were still outside and far away, there wasn’t much he could glean from looking at the outer walls, but that didn’t mean he would learn nothing.

From what he could see, it looked like the Younisian castle wasn’t all that different from the one in Brerra. The corners of the curtain wall were mounted with crenellations, where archers likely stood guard at all hours. Additionally, he could see faint lines in various places along the wall that he guessed were arrow loops. More archers might be stationed there as well, but he doubted it. If the Younisian castle was like Brerra is the way it was defended, those arrow loops would remain unmanned unless someone raised an alarm.

His eyes followed the edge of the curtain wall to the barbican at the gate, which would also be protected by archers on its towers and guards on the ground. He couldn’t see much else from his current vantage point, but he could guess that there would be a courtyard between the barbican and the keep. He smiled. The castle was extremely well protected, but its defenses weren’t designed to keep out a thief such as himself. One way or another, he would find a way inside.

He glanced back at Penelope when she said he should keep working on his archery later that day. “Hopefully I’ll be able to practice more this time,” he nodded. “I think the cut in my hand has healed enough that it won’t reopen from using the bow again.” Holding up his right hand, he looked over the bandage that adorned his palm. Even after sparring, it was still clear with no spots of blood to be seen. He assumed that was a good sign that he was recovering well.

“Speaking of the day’s end, is the plan to try and find another stable?” Penelope’s concerned voice drew him from his thoughts.

“It’s either that or camping outside,” Crow shrugged. “It’s probably safer to risk the stables when we’re this close to the castle. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not get caught by a lucky patrol of knights while I’m sleeping.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at his hand as he held it up. Seeing that there wasn’t any blood stains, she felt a bit better about practicing archery. “That’s good. I don’t want to push your hand too much but, if it kept up after sparring, you should be able to practice a little longer than yesterday.” The knight agreed.

She nodded her head in agreement as he mentioned sleeping in a stable again. Or bad weather.. She added silently to herself as she recalled the storm from the night before. Penelope’s gaze flickered nervously to the clouds above. They seemed peaceful now, she just hoped they stayed that way. “Yeah. Stables it is then. I mean, if it comes down to camping, we can take turns keeping watch.” She said with a shrug, knowing they couldn’t completely relax if they were out in the open.

The knight walked onward falling into a silence as she looked ahead. She began to think about how Crow mentioned that she might be able to get into the castle if she passed herself off as a woman fleeing an abusive husband. Her gaze drifted towards the faint town in the distance as she wondered about making contact with a servant or two to help getting her behind the castle walls. If they leave to do errands like the ones in Brerra it shouldn’t be too difficult... She thought hopefully.

After a while of walking, she noticed that it was getting late. The sun would be descending soon enough so she figured they’d better stop to practice archery before they lost the light. The castle had grown bigger and closer now that they had covered more ground. It won’t be much longer.. Penelope thought with some displeasure. She glanced over at the bow Crow carried and felt a small burst of determination that was brought from her desire to make sure they were prepared as possible. “Come on. Let’s stop here and work on your archery.” She said, moving off to a clearing she spotted ahead of them.

She set down the bags and grabbed the carving knife to once again make one of the trees into a target. “So, do you remember the proper posture?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Are you sure you want to trust me with a watch?” Crow gave her an amused smirk. “I’ve never kept watch before, so I’d probably just fall asleep.” He turned to look at the town that was just visible through the tree line. “Hopefully we can find somewhere to take shelter for the night in town, so we won’t have to find out if I have the willpower to stay awake.” And we won’t risk getting caught in another storm, he added silently with a sidelong glance at Penelope. The weather last night had sprung on them out of nowhere, so even though the skies were clear now, there was no telling what would happen by nightfall.

Though he was concerned for Penelope’s wellbeing, the rain worried him for another reason as well. From his experience in Brerra, the best way to get inside of a castle without being seen was through a window… which required intensive climbing. It was already going to be hard enough for him to scale the curtain wall when he was out of practice. If the stone was slick with water, it would be damn near impossible. He gazed up at the palace in the distance, hoping the good weather would stick around until after they finished the mission.

After they had covered a respectable distance, Penelope suggested they stop so he could practice his archery some more. He nodded and followed her into the clearing, setting his bags down beneath a tree and stretching his back to loosen up his travel-weary muscles. When he felt ready, he slung the quiver over his shoulder again and picked up the bow, joining her by the tree she had marked.

“I think so,” Crow said when she asked if he remembered the correct posture. He aligned himself sideways with the target and planted his feet shoulder-width apart. “This feels right,” he met her gaze once more and grinned. “I’m ready to try again.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope finished marking up the tree, doing the same four lines and ‘X’ in the middle as before. She turned to face Crow as he got into the right position. She eyed it over for a moment before giving a small nod of approval. “Looks good so far.” She mused. She had to admit, she was rather impressed by how quickly he picked things up. He’s already a bad enemy to make... But once he learns how to properly fight, then he’ll even be dangerous. She thought as she eyed Crow with a rather calculating gaze.

Her rather serious expression broke as the knight smirked at her thoughts. If they made it back home, she might owe a few of her comrades an apology. Though she knew Crow likely wouldn’t fight unless he had, she didn’t doubt that he’d be a bit eager to put a few knights in their place once he returned to his usual life as a thief.

She focused back to Crow and gave him an encouraging smile. “Alright, let’s see if you can improve from the last time.” She said as she moved to stand off to the side of him so that she’d be out of the way.

[Rogue Sloth]

“I intend to,” Crow said with a grin. “In fact…” He took a few steps farther away from the target tree and repositioned himself again, staring the ‘X’ with new focus. “I’ll hit it from here.” Closing his eyes, he took a moment to recall what Penelope had taught him about drawing the bowstring. He reached over his shoulder and drew an arrow, notching it in the bow against his left index finger. Then, pulling back on the string with his right hand, he cocked the feathered end of the arrow back to the corner of his mouth.

He took a stabilizing breath and opened his eyes again, fixating on the target in front of him. In the next instant, he released the bowstring, sending the arrow flying. It struck the tree just above the box around the ‘X,’ and he felt his heartbeat quicken with excitement. This was the closest he had gotten to hitting the bullseye so far. He took another slow breath, forcing his emotions in check so he wouldn’t lose focus.

I can do this, he thought, pulling another arrow from the quiver. Repeating the same process, he armed the bow and drew back the string, tilting his head a bit closer to his shoulder this time. When he loosed the arrow, it pierced the tree below the ‘X,’ but within the box. Just a little closer. Don’t overcorrect, he mentally critiqued his performance.

Reaching into the quiver once more, he drew a third arrow and notched it in the bow. As he cocked back the string, his eyes stayed fixed on the center of the ‘X’. He held the arrow at his anchor point for a moment before sending it soaring through the air. He held his breath as he watched it puncture the tree, just to the left of the bullseye.

Turning to Penelope, he beamed excitedly, “How’s that for improvement?” He let his arms drop, giving them a short break from the effort of holding up the bow. “My skills with the dagger may need work, but I think I’m a natural at this.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched as he got ready to shoot the bow. She blinked in surprise as he was able to hit closer to the ‘X’. From her experience with the bow, she was expecting it to go off in a different direction again. The knight crossed her arms as she watched him as he shot again, noting to herself how he had over corrected.

Her eyes widened as he shot the third arrow and it hit just next to the ‘X’. She looked over at him and returned his excited look with a grin. “No kidding. You nearly got a bullseye and it’s only your second day!” She said, clearly sharing some of his excitement. “It took me a five days of training to get that close when I first started so I think it’s safe to call you a natural.” She added with a small chuckle.

The knight glanced at the sky, making sure they still had enough time to practice a little more. Probably enough time to stay out for a little longer.. She thought before looking back to Crow. “But don’t get too cocky.” Penelope warned, her grin turning into a smirk as she looked over at him. “You’ve still got to prove it wasn’t just a fluke. If your hand’s doing alright, let’s try a couple more shots before we leave.”