Dhanurana

Chapter 4: The Dawning

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The sting of the sun's rays pierced Dhanur's bloodshot eyes. She peeled them open and rolled out of bed. Her armor hung loosely from her as she had only undone half the knots of the leather. Then her head throbbed. She had more to drink than normal the night before and her armor made sleep less than great. However, she was no stranger to hard marches with little food and sleeping in the rough so she shoved the pain aside. Dhanur removed all her armor, placing it with care in its trunk at the foot of her bed, right beside the polish and oil. As she yanked off her hood, her red hair poofed into a mangled bedhead shape she just didn't have the will to comb yet, instead raking her fingers through it and splashing her face with the water from her saucer. She took off her scaled tunic and glanced out the window into the blinding morning, over the two and one-story buildings, past the great walls, beyond the Borderlands between the north and south, and at the northern horizon decorated with a single, lonely mountain.

'You should really go there soon,' her inner voice said.

Dhanur pursed her lips and sighed. Rolling her neck, she stayed in the morning light and mimed drawing her bow, slowly breathing with each draw and release. She continued her routine, stretching, drawing in all her battle positions, and ending with climbing out of her window to bow to the Light above. When she finished, she noticed a speck of dirt on her curtain, which she promptly picked off.

Janurana had already begun a soup breakfast for her host. She had simply thrown ingredients into the pot with no preparation, the peas and lentils floating alongside the flour she had poured in to thicken it, but the bowls sat ready and the fire was adequate.

Dhanur was confused for a moment, staring at the stranger dancing in her kitchen, but the memories of last night returned and she pressed the heel of her hand into her forehead. She took special notice of Janurana avoiding the boxes of sunlight entering through the windows, poking her tongue out as she danced.

Before she could notice Janurana caught her mid spin. Despite Dhanur's complaining, she was ushered to the table to wait for breakfast.

"Good morning, madam warrior!" Janurana exclaimed with the brightest tone she could muster. "I thought after your invaluable assistance last night, the least payment I could offer is a hot breakfast. Thank you again for allowing me to rest here!"

"What?" Dhanur found it much easier to process her guest's accent after sleeping. Janurana put much more emphasis on the harder sounds, nearly popping them with her tongue. "Oh. Yeah, sure." Dhanur looked to her clean boot drying by the fire she had stamped out. Janurana's smile widened and she motioned to the pillow next to Dhanur's central table.

"So, uh, what're you doin' in the Capital?" Dhanur asked as she sat down and twisted to pop her back.

"Oh... I don't know." Janurana swayed her hips in time with the stirring of her soup. A smile graced her lips as she shrugged. "I've been Outside for some time so I figured I'd come in."

"That's it?" Dhanur's curiosity morphed to disbelief. She felt her cheeks heat up as she watched Janurana's hips.

"Mmhmm."

"Then," Dhanur shifted on her pillow. "You live Outside?"

"Well, yes. Now I do. Does that scare you, eh?" She spun to waggle her fingers, her smile stretching into a coy grin.

"How the Dark did you survive out there?"

"I survived in much the same way you would have. Avoid the creatures, um," Janurana remembered the bonfires around the walls. "Made fires."

"Were you out there during the Scorching?"

"I'm sorry?" Janurana's eyes widened as she realized what Dhanur must be talking about. "Was that the name for those fires?"