The Blessed Child

Part II: A Weapon that Fits

I don't know how she plans on beating the Creature and getting a Jeera. Seriously.

No training. Nothing. Only knew weapons from those stories of hers. I didn't know how that was possible. I asked her from what sheltered world could she have lived in not to ever have seen a weapon before. She just said she was from "around".

On top of that, she was now acting, well, nice towards me. It was a nice change. 

I sat back. Nathea was struggling with a sword. To big and heavy for her, she could only drag it along in the dirt, making plow lines. We were in the middle of a great big meadow to the east of the village, about thirty minutes long trek through the Black and White Forest. My eyes had been kept alert the whole way, and relieved that another Black Hood hadn't appeared. It would've been bad for the both of us.

The wind whispered around the meadow softly, large clumps of green grass breathed with the wind. The chilly air was refreshing and the scent of Perhira wafted around the clearing.

I pulled out a peppermint leaf, and lit it on fire. Picking it up, I stuck it in my mouth and chewed,

"You wanna try another weapon now?"

Nathea grunted in reply, "You.. bet!"

"You're speaking like us now!", I stood on my feet, "I really need to congratulate Sam"

"Hath thou art missed this line of thy speech?"

"No". She dropped the sword and it fell with a clang, sinking deeper into the earth. Standing up, I stretched, "Next, you can try", I heaved the sword up easily, "a bow and arrow. Maybe you'll have more luck with that than a sword, daggers, whip, haka-"

"I get the point", she moaned massaging her soldier, "Where is it?"

I put the sword back into its sheath, putting it back into the shed, and pulled out a long slender green bow and grabbed a quiver of arrows. 

"Here" I said, handing it to her. She took it.

"Leastwise its not as heavy", she said, weighing it in her hand, "So, how do you use this?"

Taking it from her, I instructed, "Like this". I notched the arrow in. Pulling it up, I swiveled it towards a random tree, aiming for the notch in its bark. The arrow whooshed as it was released, it missed but still hit the wood. I was pretty lame at long range weapons, handing the bow and arrow back to her,

"Now you"

Nathea copied my actions, swiveling it towards the same tree as if it made a difference. Pulling it back and staring intently at her aim. A gust of wind flew as the arrow soared. Her form was perfect. But...

"Lousy", I declared the verdict, spitting out the chewed up peppermint leaf. And she was. The arrow had just fallen from the quiver, "Your position and arc was good, but" I tsked, "Lousy, I can't even suppose how you got it to land right at your feet."

"Well", she proclaimed with an exhausted air, "Whatever do you use to fight?" Raising an eyebrow, I wrestled open the small sheathes on my belt and pulled out the Cat's Claws,

"These", I showed her the metal cuffs, "I'm what you call, a, Pugilist"

Cat's Claws were a sort of wooden glove like cuff you held/wore upon your hand that had metal "cat claws". Three jagged metal daggers protruded from the top of each, giving the piece its name.

"Wow", she whispered. She took them, inspecting them closely. I took them back after she was done. I turned away to hide the little sadness on my face. I could feel her eyes searching me.