Cassandra caught sight of his movement forward. She had been correct, it was the bow he was interested in. She felt a slight smile tug at the corners of her lips, but she was very careful not to let it show. She didn't want the boy to know that she was aware of him just yet. A person's observations could very easily be spoiled when the one they were observing became aware of it.
Instead, Cassandra leaned over, picking up another arrow. She nocked it into place, then pulled her other hand away, shaking it as if it were sore, allowing him the opportunity to see the way that the end of the arrow rested against the bowstring. When she felt he had had sufficient time to observe, her hand magically recovered and she brought it up to the string again, pulling back slowly.
In aiming, she took a few extra moments to move from side to side, making her exaggerated movements defined and clear. Finally, she let the arrow fly. This one landed between the first two with a satisfying thwack. She smiled, to indicate that she was pleased with the result.
This time Touya focused more on Cassandra's use of the bow than on the flight of the arrow. His right ear flicked at sound sound of the arrow connecting. and Cassandra's rather pleased smile was nice. He shifted his attention to the tree, easily spotting where the latest shot had hit between the other two. He was impressed.
Casandra was reaching for a third arrow, planning to let the boy see her go through the motions once more when a funny thought caught her. Just as she was now giving him leave and secretly showing him how to shoot an arrow, she realized, her brothers must have done the same for her. She had not been able to recognize and appreciate the way it had been once. Now, with the roles reversed, she finally understood.
She laughed. She couldn't help but laugh a little. How could she not have realized it back then? And how could the boy not realize it now? Or was it simply something engendered into each and every child and it was only in adulthood that the knowledge came to fruition?
Now more than a little baffled, Touya cocked his head to the side, staring curiously at Cassandra. Because he didn't really know her, he couldn't think of what might have suddenly struck her as amusing, so he simply rested his elbows on his knees and waited to see what she would do next. The only thing moving while he did so was his tail. Either what ever she did would give him some idea as to her reaction, would let him see more of the bow, or something else would happen.
Smiling tightly, Cassandra prepared another arrow, moving even slower than before, taking even more pains to make certain that the boy could see exactly what she was doing, precisely how she was using the bow. She liked the fact that he didn't seem afraid of her, like most other people became when they heard her laugh. He merely looked curious.
It was wonderful.
Cassandra drew back her bow and fired an arrow, straight at the tree. It landed once more, close to the other arrows. Perhaps, she thought, now might be the time to collect them. Setting the bow down on the grass, she crossed over to the gnarled tree and slowly started pulling her arrows out, watching the boy out of the corner of her eye to see what he might do next.
Touya was beginning to wonder at the exaggerated movements, since they did allow him more time to study what she was doing...but he wasn't about to complain if she was doing it on purpose. More time to learn anything was good as far as he was concerned.
When Cassandra moved off to retrieve her arrows, his gaze quickly flicked between the bow and her several times as he debated going to inspect it. Instead of doing so though, he leaned back on his hands to study her instead. He didn't want to make her mad by picking up her things without permission.
Honestly, Cassandra was a bit surprised when she didn't see any movement in her peripheral vision. Either the boy was older than she had thought, or else he wasn't nearly as interested as she had assumed. Either way, she decided, he wasn't going to move from that spot. Now was as good a time as any to invest the discovery of him.
She turned around, allowing her eyes to pass over him and making it very clear that she now recognized his presence. "Hello," she said.
Her lack of surprise gave him the impression that she was either hard to surprise or she'd known he was there for awhile. Probably known though. "Hello," he echoed quietly. leaning forward again. He wasn't nervous or anything like that, but he wasn't loud if there wasn't a reason to be.
"Am I bothering you?" Basically it was just a nice way of him asking if she wanted him to leave.
"No," Cassandra replied. "Not at all. Feel free to stay, provided there's no one looking for you."
How terrible it must be to be a worldwalker child, she thought. Cris had certainly taken pity on the boy, she recalled now. A lucky thing, she supposed. Most children needed a parental figure. And while Cris might not have been her first candidate for the role, at least the boy was not completely alone.
Touya shook his head. "I live by myself," he said, like it was perfectly normal...which, for him, it was. Adults were busy people, he'd known that before he could unerstand what they were doing. They seemed to have a lot to worry about without adding straychildren to that list.
"Touya," she repeated, committing it to memory. "You are friends with my friend Cris, aren't you?" She nodded vaguely. "I think you are. He's very fond of you."
Cassandra walked back over to her bow and quiver and Touya. "Do you like my bow? You can try it, if you like. Although I daresay it's probably a bit too big for you." It might well have been close to his height, perhaps a little less.
"Cris is a friend of yours?" Touya was pretty surprised to hear that. But Cris was a nice friendly guy, so maybe it wasn't so surprising.
At the offer to let him try the bow, he got to his feet and walked over to her. It didn't really matter to him that it was too big because he wasn' keeping it or anything. "He was the first person I met, after Mikney."
Cassandra picked up the bow, setting one end of it down on the grass. She leaned the shaft closer to Touya's hands. "Yes," she answered him, "Cris is a friend. A very good one."
She supposed friend was the most diplomatic word. She wasn't truly sure what Cris was to her.
Touya did his best to copy what he'd seen her do before, pulling the bowstring back a little to test it. It would definitely be easier to learn about one his size. "Like this right?"
She picked up an arrow and offered it to him. "Your fingers should never actually touch the string when you fire," she murmured. "You should be pulling back on the tip of the arrow, right here." Cassandra pointed to the little, wooden tail amidst the feathers of the arrow. "You nock that against the string and let the wood pull the string back for you."
Cassandra surrendered the arrow and stepped behind Touya. She did not accredit him with any sort of sinister plans, but it was just best to be fully out of the range of fire. After all, he probably couldn't control any bow at the moment, least of all one too big for him.
Touya did as instructed, a little awkwardly since the bow was indeed about his height. He had some trouble keeping it steady and when he let it fly, the arrow flew just a few yards before the tip sank into the ground.
One of his ears twitched. He wasn't surprised he didn't make it to the tree, but he was hoping for a little more distance...
Instead, Cassandra leaned over, picking up another arrow. She nocked it into place, then pulled her other hand away, shaking it as if it were sore, allowing him the opportunity to see the way that the end of the arrow rested against the bowstring. When she felt he had had sufficient time to observe, her hand magically recovered and she brought it up to the string again, pulling back slowly.
In aiming, she took a few extra moments to move from side to side, making her exaggerated movements defined and clear. Finally, she let the arrow fly. This one landed between the first two with a satisfying thwack. She smiled, to indicate that she was pleased with the result.
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She laughed. She couldn't help but laugh a little. How could she not have realized it back then? And how could the boy not realize it now? Or was it simply something engendered into each and every child and it was only in adulthood that the knowledge came to fruition?
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It was wonderful.
Cassandra drew back her bow and fired an arrow, straight at the tree. It landed once more, close to the other arrows. Perhaps, she thought, now might be the time to collect them. Setting the bow down on the grass, she crossed over to the gnarled tree and slowly started pulling her arrows out, watching the boy out of the corner of her eye to see what he might do next.
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When Cassandra moved off to retrieve her arrows, his gaze quickly flicked between the bow and her several times as he debated going to inspect it. Instead of doing so though, he leaned back on his hands to study her instead. He didn't want to make her mad by picking up her things without permission.
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She turned around, allowing her eyes to pass over him and making it very clear that she now recognized his presence. "Hello," she said.
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"Am I bothering you?" Basically it was just a nice way of him asking if she wanted him to leave.
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How terrible it must be to be a worldwalker child, she thought. Cris had certainly taken pity on the boy, she recalled now. A lucky thing, she supposed. Most children needed a parental figure. And while Cris might not have been her first candidate for the role, at least the boy was not completely alone.
What was his name?
"My name is Cassandra," she told him.
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"That's a nice name, mine is Touya."
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Cassandra walked back over to her bow and quiver and Touya. "Do you like my bow? You can try it, if you like. Although I daresay it's probably a bit too big for you." It might well have been close to his height, perhaps a little less.
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At the offer to let him try the bow, he got to his feet and walked over to her. It didn't really matter to him that it was too big because he wasn' keeping it or anything. "He was the first person I met, after Mikney."
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She supposed friend was the most diplomatic word. She wasn't truly sure what Cris was to her.
"Go on," she encouraged Touya.
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Cassandra surrendered the arrow and stepped behind Touya. She did not accredit him with any sort of sinister plans, but it was just best to be fully out of the range of fire. After all, he probably couldn't control any bow at the moment, least of all one too big for him.
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One of his ears twitched. He wasn't surprised he didn't make it to the tree, but he was hoping for a little more distance...
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