Humans do exist!

No Such Kind

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Hassian.

Crap.

My eyes widen, and I try to discreetly make my way out without him noticing. From the soreness in my legs, I stumble, knocking over my weathered quiver. It thumps to the floor, spilling standard arrows across the wooden planks. Reth winces, looking at me with pity. In my shock, I flick my eyes from the quiver to Hassian. He noticed.

Double crap.

He scans over me with his usual grimace before locking on the worn quiver, various damaged arrows, and chipped bow. His brows furrow, and his eyes darken.

Triple crap.

If I run, he'd easily catch up to me, and I'd probably never hear the end of the lecture. But if I stay, I'll get an ear full for sure. I clamber to scoop up the arrows back into the quiver as he makes his way over. I drop a few in my haste, and when I go to grab them again, a dark shadow looms over me. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I freeze. Slowly, my eyes trail from his boots up to his scowling face.

I laugh nervously.

"H-ha hey, Hassian..! Uhh, fancy seeing you here! You doing good? You do something different? New hair cut? New vest? Hehehe...ehhhh..."

I swallow hard. He's clearly not amused.

I flick my gaze to Reth, pleading for help with my eyes. He just shakes his head and whistles, turning back to pretend he's cleaning, clearly not wanting any part of it. Oh the betrayal.

"..." Hassian grumbles and picks up one of the arrows from the floor, inspecting it. He twirls the tip against his finger before looking back at me.

"...a skilled bowman never let's his gear be anything other than quality... you are no such kind, human."

His voice is steely. Cold as ever.

I get up and dust myself off, hoisting my worn quiver onto my shoulder.

"I shall have you know, I just got the leather in to repair it. I know I should've gotten to it sooner, but save me the lecture. I'm too tired for it tonight..." I rub my neck and shoulder, indicating my soreness and exhaustion. I go to walk past him when he grabs my arm.

I look to his hand, then up at him, meeting his stern expression. Tau whines and tilts his head as he sits by Hassian's feet.

Hassian inhaled before speaking.
"You need to work on your technique, or else you'll keep needing to repair them. You can't improve by repeating failing actions," he pauses for a brief moment, pondering his next command, "you're getting another crash course until you can get it right. 9 am, the bridge by Chappa Crossing, be ready..."

He releases my arm. I huff and leave the tavern, heading back to my own plot.

The bundle of leather Tish delivered rests on the step to my door. I release the tension I realize I had been holding in my furrowed brow. In his own way, Hassian was just trying to help. He genuinely cares for the valley and the art of the hunt. But why did he have to be so frustrating!

I grab the leather and start sewing a new quiver, lining it with the stiffened leather from the old quiver. Tossing the old scraps into the scrap bin for later use, I keep a larger piece out. I slice it into strips and loop tie them onto my arrows to use as flags.

I stock up my gear, wash up, and change for bed. I threw myself onto the bed I had made. It's hand carved posts creek a bit, shifting as I plop down. Once I settle, my head hits the pillow, and I'm out like a light.

Fierce winds blow in the night. Howls and calls from wild creatures swirl in a cacophony. They've been usually active lately. Somethings been sturring them up.

I toss and turn in my sleep. I groan, sweat runs down my face. A sudden weight pushes through me, and I shoot awake with a yell. Nature goes silent, and my ears ring. I breathed heavily, hand on my chest in an attempt to soothe my racing heart. It's beating so hard I'm convinced it'll beat out of my chest. Things settle back into its usual calm, leafhoppers chirp outside, and I can see lightning bug twinkle over my garden. I wipe my forehead and take a few deep breaths. I head to the pitcher and take a drink of water before splashing some on my face. I pat dry and go to lay back down.

I've never felt such a force before. Accept for when I was summoned. Flow so powerful. Like a presence calling me. But this was... alarming. It was different.

Thankfully, the rest of the night was uneventful, but still, that event weighs heavy on my mind. Better deal with it later. Got a hunting lecture to focus on.

It's better not to get even more on Hassian's bad side.