Chapter 03: Hunt - Part 01
The village was in a quiet morning, some ladies were talking in the street, it seemed to be something routine, there were some carts in the corners that were loaded with wheat accompanied by two men who were talking quietly.
One of them was bald and had a brown beard, wearing ordinary farmer's clothes while talking to another man with short black hair who was shirtless, with only an ax on his back held by the strap of his pants.
Everything seemed to be in order, until the two heard hurried steps and a wind pass by them, when they looked they saw a boy with brown hair with a sword sheathed on his back looking hurried.
The two smiled, already understanding that as common and the bald man screamed.
"Hey Arthur. Bring some whole animal this time if you want a good reward, I won't buy a mincemeat."
"I will, Mister Dorian."
Arthur already recognized the voice from afar and spoke while waving without turning back, running towards the wooden bridge of the village.
The two were left behind and looked at the boy still with a smile, after which Dorian smiled and spoke.
"Do you think he will bring the whole animal?"
"Not a chance, at least not knowing him and that other one, they both live in their own world."
His companion spoke in a good-natured manner, maintaining the village's routine atmosphere.
Returning to Arthur, he crossed the square next to the church and soon after the bridge still running, passing by some residents who greeted him and he responded hurriedly, but politely, greeting everyone with a smile.
Passing by the bridge he saw some more houses and at the end of it all there was an open field and sand, as he approached he also saw some trunks cut in half that served as targets and soon after he heard the sound of something cutting the wind and hitting the trunk.
The characteristic sound made him smile and hurry up the run, already seeing the shadow of a black-haired boy a little taller than him, who was wearing a T-shirt, leather pants and gloves, in addition to carrying a bow.
Recognizing it right away, Arthur screamed.
"Thanks for waiting for me, I'm here! We can hunt now."
Hearing Arthur's voice, the archer sighed and collected the arrow he was preparing, turning around then with his arms crossed, revealing his face with slightly lighter skin and water-green eyes with an expression of surprise, but before he spoke, they both heard a female voice but it seemed excited and spoke.
"Wait the hell, Brother Oliver is going to be training."
Right after hearing the phrase, recognizing the excited and bossy tone of voice, Arthur would stop running, lowering his eyebrows and slowly looking to the side, seeing a girl sitting on a lying log.
She had fair skin, white hair well combed to the side and had water green eyes, wearing a simple blue dress, with her legs closed and arms crossed she seemed to stare at Arthur with a certain arrogance in her eyes.
"Ninna... I've already talked to him before, I'm not pulling him out of a workout..."
"It doesn't matter, you just want to know about hunting, my brother has to become a knight if you don't already know."
Ninna continued to stare and Arthur continued with his eyebrows lowered, already knowing that he would not be able to argue with that girl, but right after that, the archer laughed and interrupted the two.
"Leave it to me, Ninna. I can't talk to you without wanting to start a fight..."
Hearing her older brother's sentence, the girl just turned her face sullenly and then Oliver looked at Arthur.
"Sorry, today I have a bodyguard and you know how she is. But you still want to hunt? Do you know what time it is, little brother?"
Oliver spoke in a quiet yet smiling manner and upon the archer's questioning, Arthur looked on with a puzzled expression as he scratched his head.
"I was a little late actually, but my father made me fight Chris… in the end it took a little time, but what matters is that I'm here, isn't it?"
"What a lame excuse!"
Ninna interrupted still sulking, but it was common for Oliver to hear Arthur's excuses which made him sigh with the smile still on his face and soon after he pulled another arrow preparing a shot aiming at the logs.
"It's kinda late, Arth. If we don't go early, the monsters may start to appear and we won't be able to go that far, by this time some must have already woken up, better to leave it for another chance."
"What? But it's still far from noon..."
"You know that's not how it works, little brother. Trust me, we can hunt another day and I'll teach you how to gather materials, but today it's already a little late, let's not risk it, besides, your father would be mad at me."
The phrase was like a shower of cold water on Arthur, he watched the archer shoot a straight shot at a target that was on the trunk, with a small red dot in the center, another yellow circle around it and another larger blue one forming three circles, in addition to several other arrows that were stuck in the trunk, and the arrow stuck in the line between yellow and red a few moments after shooting which made him release a relieved air.
Ninna was looking back at her brother with his arms crossed, seeming to watch him as he shot.
But the answer made Arthur lower his head, looking sad, while he looked at the back of the archer who again pulled another arrow.
Even though he knew he was wrong, Arthur pressed his lips together and his fists spoke next.
"When will we get another chance, Oli?"
Arthur interrupted the concentration of the archer who squinted his eyes, seeming to already understand where that was going, he took a deep breath and spoke.
"Other chances will come, Arth. Not the end of the world."
"It's not, but now you want to become a knight… now that you spend so much of your time training. You'll be gone soon... it'll be a while before you have free time to hunt again, if you don't leave before then..."
The phrase took Oliver by surprise, who released the arrow prematurely and missed the shot, hitting a tree a little behind, which made him look disappointed, but then look back.
He saw Arthur with a frustrated look as he stared at the floor and Ninna continued to stare, Oliver knew it was true and that he wouldn't know when he would be called for the test, which made him sigh and take his hand to his bag looking for something.
"Do you still shoot, Arth?"
The young swordsman kept looking down but raised his head slightly after hearing the archer's sentence, then replied.
"Sometimes I'm not as good as you. And you are the archer, aren't you?"
"You shouldn't think like that, after all, having an extra skill would help you, hold on to it."
Arthur raised his head when he saw something thrown towards him, with a quick movement he caught it and realized that they were a pair of blue archery gloves, but they were the ones that Arthur practiced with Oliver, being marked by the lack of the ring finger leaving a free space.
Seeing that, Arthur looked at Oliver with doubt and saw the archer smile.
"We'll shoot, if you hit where I want it, we'll hunt a little today, but only a little."
The sentence was simple, but it made Arthur widen his eyes with a smile on his face and then quickly put on his gloves, which made Oliver smile and take the quiver off his back, but soon both were interrupted by Ninna.
"Hey Oliver!"
"Relax, Ninna. I make up for the night."
Oliver still spoke with a calm expression and a smile on his face, Ninna returned to face Arthur now seeming to be irritated, but the swordsman didn't even look to the side while putting on his gloves.
Right after Arthur put on the glove, Oliver handed the bow to the young man who looked at the weapon with a more fascinated expression compared to the sword, soon taking an arrow and putting it on the bowstring, still not aiming as he looked at the logs.
"Where do you want me to hit?"
Oliver looked at the three logs that had the same target, he stared at the three with a thoughtful look and spoke.
"Well, just shoot, I decide if I like the result."
The sentence made Arthur widen his eyes in surprise, but soon after, he opened a smile on his face and spoke.
"Right."
The young man stood on his side and positioned the bow while pointing with his index finger as if it were a way to guide himself, then with the arrow on the string he pulled it with his elbow to his chest, taking the string to the limit like a archer would, taking a deep breath right after as he stared at the target with wide eyes and seemed to be attentive.
That behavior and sudden focus made Oliver smile and close his eyes looking excited, hearing after a few seconds of focus the sound of the rope shooting and the wind being cut, Arthur saw the arrow go at high speed towards the trunk and the target.
Soon after, the sound of the arrow hitting was heard, opening his eyes, Oliver saw that the arrow was very close to the blue area but barely in the yellow area, the first shot had hit, which made Arthur widen his eyes in surprise and withdraw with a clenched fist as if in celebration.
"YEEEEEEE!"
He was still talking a little muffled while laughing underneath, Ninna was still watching and talking.
"What a shitty shot..."
In moments Arthur's animosity was cut by a vein that was shown on his forehead, it was customary to hear Ninna's comments, but seeing that, Oliver sighed and smiled.
"If it was a running target, you would never hit it, but I will accept that."
Soon after Oliver took his quiver off the ground again putting it on his back, seeing that Arthur smiled and handed over the bow with a smile.
"You're the archer, you're the one who has to hit fast, Oli."
Still with a smile Oliver saw his bow being returned and took the passing in his body as if he was wearing it, then he began to walk towards the arrows that were stuck in the trunk, removing them one by one.
"Help me gather so we can go hunting before I change my mind."
Arthur opened a wide smile and ran to the archer, approaching to help collect the arrows putting them back in the quiver.
The two collected all the arrows fired and were ready to leave, soon the archer got up and put the quiver on his back while looking at his sister.
"Little sister, I'm going to be late for lunch, but I'll be right back."
Ninna continued to look at her brother but now with a worried expression as she saw him turn to Arthur and speak.
"Let's go?"
And then he turned around, Arthur with animosity confirmed and then Oliver sighed with a smile confirming with his head as he started to walk towards the wooden bridge.
Arthur still saw with a smile and ran, staying beside the archer and Ninna saw the two walk side by side across the wooden bridge while the residents greeted both, and soon turned to the main street of the village that led to the forest, disappearing from the Ninna's view.