Dismantling The Box of Grief and Venge

Chapter 16: How to Heal Your Trauma

5 a.m in the morning, Sam woke everyone up as their ship was now anchored to the shore. Ahmya, Soni, and Ezra woke up and joined Finn on the deck. "You've perfected your aim, honey?" Finn asked Ahmya who was holding her bow and her arrows on her back.

"During practice, I have. I hope I'm going to aim well in the field as well. I'm gonna practice more in case I need it," she tilted her head and smiled at him.

Finn smiled and kissed her forehead, "You always learn everything quickly," he said proudly, then Finn left out first.

"You'll be doing good. Stay composed and keep a safe distance. That's what a marksman must do," Ezra said. She bit her lips as she was holding her laughter from how funny it was for Ezra using the terms of their favorite game.

"There. You got her blushing," Soni interrupted. Ahmya looked at him in frown.

"I'm not blushing. It was just funny because he's using the game terms," she defended herself.

"I believe you," Soni said simply, but his face was surely teasing her. Ahmya rolled her eyes, while Ezra smiled weakly at her awkwardness.

"We're transiting here. There is a river with fresh water not far from here. We can clean ourselves there and refill our water," Sam approached her.

"Thank god. I smell so bad," she whined.

"Really? I don't believe a pretty girl like you can smell bad," Sam hit on her. Ahmya's eyes widened from the cringe and her mouth wide opened.

"Let's go," Ezra instinctively pulled her hand away possessively after hearing Sam flirted with her. She tensed up and he felt it. "Oh, sorry," he let go of her.

She looked down awkwardly, "It's okay. Let's go," then she followed him out with Sam and Soni walked after them.

***

In the river, they're cleaning themselves. Well, it wasn't really cleaning. They're just rubbing the dirt and sweat off their body and clothes they were wearing. The only ones who changed clothes were Sam and Finn, since they'd already planned on leaving, while Ahmya, Soni, and Ezra had to wear their wet clothes. It was far from hygiene, but what choice they could have, right? None of them remembered to prepare even when they were at Brody's house. Ahmya stayed close to Soni as she was scared of getting slipped off her feet. After she felt fresh enough, she walked out of the river. 

"Ahmya, you're done?" She looked up to Ezra who was sitting near a tree, topless. His clothes lay on a bush nearby. In her mind, she complimented his dashing figure, but she quickly looked away as it reminded her of the assault he did in the past.

"Yeah, I feel so much better now," she smiled weakly. Last night she had told him that she'd given him a chance, so it'd only fair for her to be a little nicer to him.

"Uhm... About your archery skill, I have an idea to enhance your skill. Wanna try?" He stood in his place.

"Sure, but please wear your clothes. I know it's still early in the morning and your shirt is wet, but I don't feel comfortable seeing you topless," she made it clear to him. Ezra didn't mind and so he wore his wet shirt. She grabbed her bag and took out her bow, then followed him to the forest. He stopped her on her track, while he kept walking forward. He picked up a broken piece of wood from the ground as he said, "Have you tried to shoot on moving targets before?"

"In the archery range, yes," she answered.

"How was it?" Ezra asked her. During training, he always acted 'professional' as he was an actual paid trainer.

"Pretty well, but I wasn't so satisfied, because the targets were wide and I barely hit the center," she explained.

"Well, we have smaller targets now," he showed her the wood piece on his hand. "Wanna try?"