𝚂𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 (𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝙾𝙲)

Chapter 13 - Training

Amber POV

The next day was one of rest. Well, for anybody who wasn't Amber or Bayler. The two decided to venture into Wolvendom territory for some practice, as the competition resumed tomorrow. Amber would begin her climb to the top, and hopefully by the end of her bracket, she'd be facing off against Bayler.

She had thought long and hard about what would happened if they were the final two. Desperately, she wanted to keep him around for longer. Was that selfish of her, to want that from him?

Amber walked beside him with a smile on her face. It was a warm day, just like it always was, and the earthy smell of Wolvendom made the humidity worse. Regardless, Bayler insisted they work on target practice in the middle of the woods where there would be little to no distractions.

It was sweet of him to think about her. A warm feeling flooded through her, making her smile grow twice in size. He was a bit prickly on the outside, but she knew there was more to him. Perhaps Takeda had been right about how chaotic it was in Bayler's mind... It didn't scare her though.

She'd seen two of his episodes. What had triggered them, Amber guessed it was her questions. Great! She'd avoid those from now on. It wouldn't be appreciated if he started asking about her grandfather all of a sudden. Maybe one day he'd open up and she'd know what was going on in his brain.

Bayler turned off of the dirt path into the thick of the woods. She followed close behind him, making sure to pay attention to the little things he pointed out.

Suddenly, he ducked down and scooped up something into his hand. A purple wolfhook berry. The ends were sharp and point, close to puncturing the skin of his hand. Still, Bayler held on tight to it and held it in front of her.

"Ever do target-shooting with smaller objects, like an apple?" he asked. The way he looked down at her made her heart skip a beat. There was undeniable warmth she just couldn't ignore.

"Ah... um-"

Bayler chuckled. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. How about I set some of these up in different levels of the tree for you to shoot down?"

Amber couldn't control her blush. "Uh, sure! Yes!"

"Great!" He tossed the berry into the air and caught it again, then turned away to search for more.

What was with her stuttering?! It wasn't like she'd never talked to him before. They'd done more than just that, and clearly she was fine in that field. He was so willing to help her out, and her heart was too excited to send blood to her brain!

Bayler jumped down a tree and dusted his hands off. "Start whenever! You should be able to see them from this clearing over here."

Amber followed him to the center. The bow in her hands was brought up while her eyes searched for the small berries. They really were no larger than an apple, but they were also a lot softer. That'd mean the arrow might not stick the best it could.

All while she was thinking, Bayler was watching from behind her. Her eyes spotted one and she quickly brought up her bow and tried to focus on it. Unfortunately, her hands were extremely sweaty just thinking about Bayler and the pressure she was feeling, and even with her gloves she just couldn't pull back her string far enough.

Bayler came behind her and brushed the side of his face with her. His hand reached around her head to help her sun and pull back her string, all while he whispered into her ear. "Let it be the only thing you focus on. Nothing else matters but that wolfhook berry."

Skin-to-skin. Even with his mask being worn, she could still feel his jawline. He took complete control of the bow and even teased her fingers from the bow to release the arrow. It dove straight through the wolfhook berry and both tumbled to the ground.

Amber stares dead ahead, even as Bayler backed away and praised her. "Excellent shot! Just a few more times and then we can move on to something larger and faster."

The unintentional innuendo sent a shiver down her spine. "O-Oh really? Do you think I'm ready for that?"

Bayler blinked at her in surprise. "Why wouldn't you be? You've probably been an archer the same amount of time as I have. Give yourself a little credit, will you?"

Amber smiled at him. "Right! I'll knock down the rest for you!!!"

Ignoring her previous confusion, she raised her bow to knock down the last few wolfhook berries Bayler had hidden for her, and then, just like before, they were on the move.