israa nilas ; waking sea ranger (israa) wrote in thedas, @ 2010-01-30 14:29:00 |
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She'd practiced letters and numbers all morning, and soon it would be time for her history lesson, but right now Israa needed to work on her marksmanship. As expected, it had gotten better with age, and the challenges her mother would set up for her had become harder. Yesterday she had to sit in a tree while shooting a moving target - that had been attached to her puppy. The lesson being, she'd better learn how to hit her target, else lose something precious to her. Today her target was much less living and dear to her, so she was more relaxed in her practice, but still did her best to hit every target. Her mother had gone to off for the day, so she left a string of hooks draped between a pair of fruit trees so that Israa could hang clay discs from them, and use those for her practice. They weren't easy targets. They swung enough with the breeze to make the shot challenging, but once a disc was hit, the entire line would move asymmetrically, and continue to swing oddly, even without the help of the wind. The faint whining of her puppy wasn't helping, either. He was still a little traumatized from the day before, which was to be expected, but when it was so quiet out, his yapping was only making the challenge more annoying. Every now and then, she'd turn her gaze to the side and try to shut him up with a look, but he only stayed quiet for a minute or so. Bow string taught and drawn, she released the arrow and hit the center of her first target, the edge of the second, then she stopped. That was a fine job for a ten year old - but a poor excuse of a shot for one from the Waking Sea. Sighing, she brought her bow back up to aim, and just as she was ready to loose the arrow, the gate slammed loudly, and the projectile hit skimmed the disc with its fletching. Spinning quickly on her heels, Israa found her father looking guilty but hardly apologetic. "Papino!" She whined, putting her bow and quiver of arrows down before wandering over. "I could've shot you!" "No no," he shook his head, waving her worry off. "You're not even facing the right way!" They both laughed as Israa leaped to embrace her father, who caught her and gave her a healthy swing around before planting her back on the ground. "You do have incredible aim, though, Isi. You would make an excellent Crow." "Don't fill her head with that nonsense." Israa's grandmother stepped into the yard, a large basket full of produce from the market, waiting to be made into that nights dinner. She'd never approved of her daughter's choice of sperm donor - and she didn't think of him as anything more - but she regarded his being there punishment for what he'd done, so she tolerated in. What she didn't tolerate were the ridiculous stories the Antivan constantly told her granddaughter as if they were real. "She'll serve her lady, not some band of assassins from the north. Unless the Bann is in need of assassins, of course." Pushing past the man, she shook her head dismissively. "Why don't you try to keep the history lessons in reality today, hm?" Disappearing into the house, the door slammed behind her, and father and daughter rolled their eyes in unison. Taking her usual seat below the large tree in the backyard, Israa waited for her father to join her before sinking into his side. "Papi. Do the Antivan Crows really exist?" He chortled in response to her question, as if it was an unthinkably silly question. "What sort of question is that? Of course they're real. Haven't I told you all about them." "Well. Yes." She admitted before looking up toward him. "But gramma always says you make things up, and that no one's ever really met an Antivan Crow." "Do you know why she says that no one has ever met an Antivan Crow?" She shook her head, brow raised expectantly. "Because no one ever lives to say they've met one." She snorted this time, making a face as she pulled her puppy into her lap. "Well if no one lives, how come you you always tell me you've met sooo many of them?" He grinned then, the sly grin her mother secretly loved, and that she inherited. "That's my secret!" The Antivan laughed and messed the tiny archer's hair as she whined, exasperated with his secretiveness. "But they are very much real, and I know them well! And they would be so lucky to have a talented archer such as yourself!" "papi! Stop teasing me." "I don't tease! It is only the truth. But," his face grew much more serious than it had been since he walked into the yard. "The Antivan's are afraid of strong, beautiful women like you and your mother." He shook his head. "You are Fereldans. Warriors at heart. Not delicate Antivan flowers." They remained quiet for a moment before he threw his hands into the air and sigh. "I guess that's enough nonsense for today, Isi," she laughed, hoping her grandmother wasn't still eavesdropping on their conversation. "Today. We learn about the Dragonhunters of Nevarra!" |