A week later after making that bow, Tsuki started to gain confidence in her abilities with the bow. She started to shoot arrows at live targets. Of course she didn't hit every single target, but she was getting better by the day. The bow was holding her back and the arrows weren't infinite in number.
Tsuki started to orient herself more to hunting and gathering, while I just looked out for enemies and prepared our food. If it had been any other man than me, the person's pride as a man would've been damaged. But I, the person that saw this potential, knew that whatever Tsuki did while hunting and gathering, benefitted us.
Tsuki's favorite place became places like forests and jungles. There, she was able to find materials needed to make arrows. All of that, she did by her own choice. After I'd given her that bow, I didn't mention it anymore. She needed to find her path as a bowman, make choices and gain more experience. She made her own arrows with different tips, she even used different bird feathers and would occasionally ask me to use my Salan ability on her new bows and strings she made herself. It didn't take long for one of the bags to become an arrow bag that held different kinds of arrows.
After another 3 weeks, she was able to shoot any target, while standing, with pinpoint precision. The usual shy Tsuki, became outright addicted to the art of the bow. As I watched her skills sharpen, the excitement I felt became a feeling of pity for whoever and whatever was on the receiving end of her arrowheads.
The time came for Tsuki to use her skills on a real target. No matter what Tsuki had accomplished until now, if what she had learned couldn't help defend herself against other Bearers, it was useless.
"Tsuki, position yourself at your maximum range. I'll stay here and attack after the first arrow flies at me."
"But-"
She wanted to retort, but I made her do it anyway.
She positioned herself about 40 meters north from my position. I pulled out my Katana and used as much Mana I could, to reinforce it.
Eventually, an arrow flew at me with top speed. The arrow flew at my chest, but I deflected it. Just when I'd blocked the first arrow, a second one flew at my head. I ducked and avoided the second arrow. Each time I did, I closed the distance to Tsuki. When I reached the 20 meter mark, the arrows' speed became more threatening. I started to receive cuts from arrows I barely dodged. At 10 meters, I changed my tactic. Until that point, I didn't look for cover, I just faced the arrows head-on. I hid behind trees and baited shots.
I was able to overcome Tsuki and reach her at the end when her arrows ran out.
"You did exceptionally good." I complimented.
"Haha, thanks." Tsuki answered, proudly.
"But, you would've still died if it was a real battle. The mistake that would've gotten you killed was, you didn't move back when I started to look for cover. The range that I had the most trouble with, was the 20 to 10 meter range. You can make space. Just walk back or position yourself somewhere, where you have a good view of your enemy." I lectured.
Tsuki listened to my andvise and started to do as I said the second time. It became more difficult with every arrow she shot. Then, at our 3rd run, she was even able to hit me.
"Damn!"
I was shot in my upper, right leg. Tsuki saw and ran over.
"Niam, I didn't-"
I cut her off. "No. You don't understand. Instead of feeling sorry, feel proud. Your talent with the bow is exceptional."
Tsuki blushed and our days continued as normal.
***
The last weeks of our journey to the the border came. Villages and cities became more abundant. The chance we would meet someone skyrocketed.
"How is your leg?" Tsuki asked.
"It wasn't that deep, it's perfectly normal."
All of our water bottles were almost empty, we needed to find a water source.
"Gin, water." I commanded.
Gin and Ganko understood perfectly and took us into the direction of a rocky mountain.
They didn't take us up, but through the mountains. And with every meter we got closer to the water source, the greener our rocky surroundings became.
*PSHHH*
A never ending sound reached our ears.
"Don't tell me-" I was interrupted by Tsuki.
"Waterfall!" She yelled.
"Don't get too excited." I warned her. "I have to check out our surroundings first."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Galaxy-Sight's range didn't grow bigger. I guessed that I'd reached my limit. Nevertheless, I concentrated and looked for anyone.
"The coast is clear. We'll refill our water and go on our way again."
Tsuki looked a bit weirded out. I wasn't sure why, but what she said next, knocked some common sense into me again.
"This." She said, pointing at her dirty and blood covered clothes.
"Oh, you want to use the chance to shower under a waterfall?"
Tsuki didn't reply to that, she just lightly punched my chest. Her way of saying, "we are dirty and I can't stand it anymore.
It wasn't weird to want to be clean. We used to clean ourselves in rivers and small lakes, but that couldn't replace a real bath. Now that we had the chance to do something not everyone could do, Tsuki wanted to use this opportunity and make me look bad in the process.
'She has become more daring. I think she got used to me.'
***
Tsuki washed her clothes first, then she went under the waterfall, while I stood guard. She knew that I couldn't see someone clearly with Galaxy-Sight, so she didn't worry about me peeping on her. 'It would be stupid to think that I would ever do such a thing anyway.'
When she was finished, she let her daily clothes dry and put on the clothes we were given all the way back in Anatolia.
Tsuki insisted that it was my turn to shower.
After washing my clothes, I walked under the waterfall. The water was heavy and washed away all the dirt on my body. I felt relaxed for the first time in weeks, but that didn't stay for too long.
I was interrupted by Tsuki's yell.
"We are being attacked!"
This short carelessness and relaxation made me forget about potential dangers, it was my fault we were under a surprise attack.
'It will take a few seconds for me to reach Tsuki and my blades. Until then, I'm basically useless. I need Tsuki to cover me for a few seconds.'
*WHIRR*
The first arrow of our attackers flew past me. 'At least they don't have guns...'
"Cover me!" I yelled.
Tsuki panicked, but she knew what she had to to. She held her bow tight, pulled the string and aimed at whoever was in her sight. She released the arrow while I ran towards my blades.
I pulled out my Katana from its scabbard, then I used Galaxy-Sight to locate our ambushers.
One of them wasn't moving, the others were encircling us.
Tsuki and I's backs faced each other. I informed her of the ambushers' position. She shot while I blocked the arrows that came at us.
When no arrow flew anymore, I knew that the most difficult weight someone could bear, was inside Tsuki's mind. 'She must've killed some of our ambushers. It was her first time killing a human, after all.'
I looked at Tsuki. She had a thousand yard stare and was unresponsive to my words. I was unsure what to do. I made her sit and rushed to where our ambushers were, while still in my birthday suit.
Each ambusher I found, had suffered the same death. They were all shot in either the head or the chest. The last ambusher I found, was shot by multiple of Tsuki's arrows in the stomach. 'This one must've been the first. After him, Tsuki must've entered a trance-like state in which she forgot everything except herself. That explains how she was so accurate after her first kill.'
"You're still..." Tsuki said, covering her eyes with her hands.
'How is she feeling normal?' I questioned.