This is War [Hipparion Tribe. Closed.]

[Clover]

((Final episode of K'rahto's challenge. Previous scene here)).

 

 

The fifth sun, K'rahto walked with firm steps and a very serious expression to the meeting place, punctual like clockwork. Or perhaps too early. It was the spot where he'd confessed for the first time, the one where K'nahli usually trained with her bow. The archery contest would take place as soon as the female arrived, which wasn't yet.

 

Something moved dangerously fast inside the Tia's stomach. He didn't want to display how nervous he was, but the way he kept biting his lower lip with frowned eyebrows wouldn't hint otherwise. It couldn't be helped; this moment was as decisive as great had been his efforts.

 

The past suns had been the harshest he remembered. Thanks to his sister's patience and teachings, he believed he had improved considerably. Archery was the very only thing he'd been fully dedicating his mind to, after all. K'iara'd also forced him to sleep early the night before, something that ended up being useless. Her younger brother spent the whole night rolling over himself, thinking too much for his own good.

 

And here he was, strangely and widely awake, waiting for the one he needed to surpass. This final test would confirm if all his improvements were enough to gain K'nahli's respect...

[K'nahli]

The gleaming shine from the morning sun bounced off of the girl's eyes, giving them a crystal clear appearance that lightly reflected the beautiful, cerulean canvas that stretched far above Sagloii. Her vibrant stare voyaged out across the sands to a particular location a short distance away just as she had made her way to the top of a small, wind-carved dune that had been placed between the camp and her destination by the evening winds the night before. Her shoulders dropped when she witnessed a small figure standing alone amongst the burning sands. Secretly she had hoped that the male would have turned his attention to another female by this stage and have completely forgotten about, if not merely submitted, the challenge. It was not the case, however.

 

She drew in a defeated breath of the warm air before continuing down the dune and toward the lonely tia, an expression of anxiety lightly clouding her natural glare for a short while before she drew close to him, where all appearances of weakness or doubt were immediately cast away.

 

 

 

"Before we begin..." K'nahli began speaking as she came within range of him. She casually passed by him without stopping or even making eye contact and simply took position a few yalms ahead of him.

 

"...I want to know how long you've been wielding a bow"

[Clover]

K'rahto's heart skipped a beat at the silhouette of the one he'd been waiting for. There she was, with the morning sun caressing her skin under dark, silky hair. Oh, but it hadn't been her skin, nor had it been her hair, what caught his attention years ago.

 

It'd been her eyes, fierce on the outside, and yet so painfully lonely. K'rahto didn't know if anyone else could see the same he did whenever he looked at her from afar. However, fascinated as he'd always been with those wine orbs, he'd never had many chances to indulge in them. Not until now. Today, it was him the one she looked at.

 

He remained stiff and serious as the female approached him, trying to hide everything behind his serious mask of pure concentration. Her question came as a surprise that made him blink unconsciously.

 

"I used the bow for the first time when I was eight..." he explained, unsure of if that was what she wanted to hear. The boy might have trained archery on several occasions, but never as seriously as she did. At least, it'd been that way until five suns ago.

[K'nahli]

Slowly she drew back an arrow, targeting an imaginary object far into the hazy distance that shuddered and waved under the heat of the sun that was repelled blisteringly from the glowing, sea of sand. She held it for a moment, seemingly ready to release the tensed string at any moment, as though she were planning to let the arrow soar free into the air. A soft breath was exhaled, and moments later, her bow was lowered and the arrow returned to a loosely lie against the wooden rim.

 

"Would you say that you have been actively wielding it since you were eight years old? Am I to believe that you have... ten...  summers worth of experience?" she inquired while flicking her glance toward him, her crimson stare burning into his amber irises with a subtle tone of impatience.

[Clover]

K'rahto observed what she did, turning his eyes for a second towards the imaginary target she was pointing at. Her movements were precise, perfect, whereas he needed to concentrate a lot if he wanted to acquire the same position.

 

At her question, his eyebrows frowned again. She wanted a direct answer about his inferiority in archery, didn't she? Well, he had no other choice but to indulge her.

 

"No, I... of course I haven't trained as much as you," he admitted with a stroke of annoyance, his pride having a difficult time. And it was that pride what pushed him to add the next clarification. "My weapon of choice has always been the spear. That's the one I'm best at."

 

He was no weakling. He didn't want K'nahli to see him as such.

[K'nahli]

A gentle yet sarcastic laugh escaped past the young huntress's lips once the tia had finished speaking. He was deliberately indirect judging by his choice of words, perhaps too prideful for his own good. His expression, she noticed, was eternally bitter and discontent, it almost made the young, true archer curious as to why he couldn't find it in himself to not see everything with such utter pessimism. She stopped herself with the thought however as the irony of her unspoken hypocrisy grated on her mind and urged her to, instead, return to the matter at hand.

 

 

"It wouldn't be unfair of me to feel insulted by this challenge, K'rahto. The conclusion is inevitable and with that in mind, there resides no true point" she spoke bluntly while returning her gaze out toward the sands. She was sure that even he knew there was no chance for him to emerge the victor in this case, yet even so he insisted on trying anyways. "To what end?", she wondered.

 

"But we're this far now..." she added with a faint, dissatisfied whisper, blinking slowly as she thought on the matter for a moment, still confused about everything that surrounded the challenge; the purpose, the predictable result... even the possibility that he was true to his words. After all, she was not appealing. How could anyone think otherwise of someone so bitter and resentful?

 

 

 

"Choose the challenges as you see fit. Speed, distance, knockout.... whatever pleases your level of skill more suitably" her voice broke the silence once more as she turned her back on the male to indulge in some stretches, hiding her face from him in the process. A small pang of sadness had ached her heart from the moment she had let her mind wander, and while she as sure it was not on display, she didn't want to take any chances.

 

In a way, she was like K'rahto. Too afraid to show weakness.

[Clover]

K'nahli Yohko wasn't just an outstanding archer; she also exceeded at pushing certain buttons masterfully. Her provocations and mockery had a natural negative impact in the Tia, whose fists tightened and teeth bared lightly like a threat. He'd hardly gotten a single night of good sleep for the past suns, focusing on his training as if life depended on it, yet she had the nerve to feel insulted?

 

"......................"

 

The worst part was that no words could prove K'nahli wrong in her claims, and thus K'rahto didn't want to fall prey of them. Actions would speak louder if he managed to show his improvements to her. He just needed to keep his mind cool... which seemed even harder than defeating the female in an archery contest, really.

 

Exhaling soundly and quickly through his nose, the Tia took a moment to clear his thoughts. What challenge could give him an advantage over her, if any...?

 

"Distance," he spat with disdain, eyes narrowed. "No targets. Let's see who manages to send the arrow furthest."

[K'nahli]

K'rahto's rotten attitude was grating steadily on K'nahli's nerves. It only further undermined any possible meaning his challenge still loosely clung to. She twisted her head back over her shoulder sharply to glare back at the irritated form that stood spitefully behind her, her arms interlocking in the form of a stretch before her as she did so.

 

"If you dislike me so much, tia, then leave now and save us both the trouble" she retorted agitatedly with that familiar, burning and unwavering stare.

 

Having concluded her stretching, she reached down to collect her bow and retook her poised position, priming herself for the upcoming task by loosening her joints and rolling her fingers before they would find themselves gripping both arrow and string.

 

Her lips parted again to speak once more, though a crossing thought caused her to decide against it before any sound would escape. The challenge he suggested had little relevance in the real world. What good was distance without accuracy? What exactly was he hoping to impress her with in this particular contest? Regardless, she instead sighed quietly to herself. Perhaps she was being too mean, it certainly wasn't a gift that she offered exclusively. Maybe he needed at least one thing to succeed at within this whole challenge to make him feel better about the situation and save his pride from being shattered by the impending result.

 

"As you wish..." she finally added in a moderately, more passive tone.

 

Her glance turned toward him as she awaited him to take the lead and begin the first contest - and the sweltering morning - with the opening shot.

[Clover]

Nothing. This challenge had no relevance whatsoever in the real world, just like the contest itself. K'rahto was no archer, and he wouldn't become one even after this. Strength was the only point where he might be superior than K'nahli due to his training with the spear, and thus he wanted to go with it in a desperate attempt to surpass her.

 

The Tia remained motionless for a few seconds when she told him to take the lead. Smart girl. He'd been hoping for her to go first in order to observe her position, but now he'd have to do with everything his sister had taught him.

 

Without much choice, and before she'd have time to think that he wanted to give up, K'rahto inhaled deeply and moved to position himself. He'd chosen this challenge under the initial belief that his strength would suffice. Now, with the bow raising and his eyes posted on the yellow horizon, traitorous thoughts charged in doubts came to his mind. His position would also play an important role; even the course of the wind would. Strength alone wouldn't grant him any sort of victory, not even in the most simple of challenges.

 

His open eye narrowed. He was thinking too much, wasting too much time. The Tia'd always been impulsive in his actions, yet K'nahli was making him doubt himself more than what was safe. He just needed to do it. Now.

 

Without further delay, his arrow was set free with deadly speed.

[K'nahli]

K'nahli studied the tia with intent as he began placing himself in position. His posture, stance and style seemed oddly.. familiar as he silently took form beneath the oppressing glare of the morning sun. It took the girl a few moments to understand why.

 

("K'iara!") the sudden revelation that had dawned upon her was made silently obvious through the sudden perking of her ears and her lightened expression. K'nahli had adapted some traits that she had witnessed K'iara demonstrate in her own style of archery but even if that was quite some time ago, the subtly different yet unique style was immediately recogniseable to the young girl. Curious eyes rolled upward toward the sky as though it held the answers to her next questions her mind would nosily inquire about as it found itself wandering once again.

("They're sibings.... aren't they? I think so... perhaps.... maybe not..")

 

Her momentary state of day dreaming almost stole her attention completely. If not for the tia's sharp exhale she might not have returned her glance toward him in time to witness the shot as it was released. The vibrations that resonated from the string created a soft sound that K'nahli had long since grown to find soothing. Her perceptive gaze followed the thin, black silhouette as it challenged the blazing, fiery orb in the sky and traveled a significant distance before eventually succumbing to the eternal embrace of the world and was drawn slowly back to the saffron sands below where it landed silently into the gold-tinted distance.

 

K'nahli withdrew herself with a single, involuntary step. Her expression had lost its carefree appearance and instead revealed something more anxious as a bead of sweat slowly formed and rolled down from her temple.

 

(".....")

 

It was a good shot. Sure, she could argue that such distance was meaningless if the arrow was incapable of finding its target, but that was not the challenge she had recklessly agreed to. Could she match that attempt? Could she really? She never tried maximum-range shooting before. It seemed to be a pointless curiosity to her, but now she could feel the regret rising from the pit of her stomach.

 

"That..... was a g-" she hesitated briefly in her sudden statement, swallowing the words she was about to speak before they could escape her throat, unfiltered.

 

"...not bad...." she adjusted her words appropriately, satisfied in the knowledge that she would at least appear less impressed with his result. The last thing she needed was for him to become cocky over something so meaningless. Even in its adjusted form, however, she couldn't help but reveal genuity in her words.

 

 

K'nahli stepped forward again, positioning herself accordingly and lightly tensing the muscles in her drawing arm before arming her bow. She shouldn't have been so arrogant and reckless. Accepting such a challenge without consideration for the potential consequences was a major mistake and one she was no longer sure she could avoid. Her fingers gently clasped the butt end of the arrow carefully and slowly, with an almost mechanical and ritualistic movement of her arm, it was steadily drawn back a moderate distance. She raised her weapon upward, positioning it so that her dominant eye trained along the length of the arrow's shaft as it pointed an inconsiderable height into the sky. Her eyes slid to a gentle close in the moment she drew in a warm breath of desert air. Unconsciously, she adjusted her bow to a greater height and made small changes to the angle. As though the air she had drawn in to fill her lungs held the secrets of the elements, she silently took great care and precision with every subtle movement. The gentle sensation of the of the soft breeze that channeled itself across her body tickled the fine hair that lined the tips of ears which further provoked even more subtle changes until finally, she was ready.

 

Her maroon eyes were unveiled once more to meet with the deep, cerulean that stretched above her as she drew the arrow, slowly, back against the tensing string further and further. Her fingers that still remained free gently stroked against the twine, studying it's potential power analytically before she was finally content with everything. She subtly puckered her lips to bleed out the lingering, remnants of breath that had continued to dwell within her, and with a gentle blink of her eyes that would seemingly give her nimble fingers that restrained the arrow the final all-clear, she released it into the wind.

 

The arrow soared free from the bow, embracing the thermals it quietly rose upon like a wild, bird of prey that scanned the vast and desolate landscape below. Its height did not match that of K'rahtos, though the speed appeared at least similar as it sliced through the air majestically, quickly chasing across the sands toward the same direction K'rahto's arrow had traveled moments before. After a short while, it's gentle glide too came to an end, allowing it to begin its final descent and mark K'nahli's fate dangerously into the golden sands.

 

A short moment of deafening silence followed after the arrow had struck ground. Had it gone further? At that distance she couldn't tell. The uncertainty grated on her nerves painfully, causing a slight but visually unnoticeable tremble throughout her hands. The girl reacted quickly by grabbing them firmly to cease the irritating sensation, though there was nothing she could do about the crushing, hammering feeling that her heart released relentlessly against her fragile chest.

[Clover]

The Tia's ears perked at the beginning of K'nahli's compliment, or what had sounded like one. Despite how nice her voice actually felt when she had something good to say, he still did his best to maintain his serious expression of eternal annoyance. He added nothing like the clumsy, awkward boy he was, limiting himself to step aside and let her perform.

 

Despite his silence, there was actually a heart pounding crazily against his ribcage. Unblinking eyes followed K'nahli's every movement as she positioned herself and raised her bow; the longest seconds since the time he confessed his intentions. She looked heavily concentrated, and her movements weren't any less perfect than the usual. If he had the strength, she had the skill. And the wind, and the mind.

 

Seconds passed. Tension raised, begging for a release, that of an arrow that would mean everything. Suddenly and without warning, a whistle in the blue sky gave the signal. The game was about to end.

 

K'rahto's wide open eyes followed the arrow's course, silently wishing for it to fall as soon as possible. It felt like forever. The very moment it seemed to meet the ground, the impulsive boy started running in that direction. It'd only be a few more seconds before his fate would unfold in front of him.

 

And it did, and it petrified him.

 

The first arrow he found, the one which had landed first, was his own.

 

K'nahli's wasn't much further, but that short distance meant a world. She'd won, he'd lost.

 

The Tia remained in the spot, head slightly down, eyes glued to his traitorous arrow. He didn't know how to look at her now; he didn't want to be mocked, either. All he needed now was time. Time to lick his wounds, and to forget about K'nahli Yohko forever.

 

"You win," he finally said, firmly even if he kept avoiding her gaze. His own remained on his own arrow, still, engraving that image in his mind. K'rahto'd always wanted to be strong, and this was the time for it.

 

The game had lasted too much.

[K'nahli]

K'nahli breathed a soft sigh of relief upon beholding that her arrow had indeed succeeded in the trial of distance. Her hand, having now ceased its trembling, found its way over her still-racing heart and rested against it firmly in attempt to help subdue its racing rhythm. A gentle smile formed as she found contentment with the result. Her anxiety had now dissipated entirely. She didn't owe anyone anything.

 

Her eyes flicked over to the tia as he declared her evident victory in a subdued and defeated voice. His tone and posture, however, granted a strange feeling upon the girl. Earlier, when she was assured of her own imminent victory, she imagined herself scolding the male afterward for wasting time with a weapon he had no intention of giving proper use and denying his true skill of spear-wielding further training. She imagined telling him that his immature attitude was the true reason that she would show no interest towards him holding the title. A nuhn should be calm and collected, wise and unbiased.

He had yet to shed away the encumbering shadow of his past and take a step towards that path. This was why she would not support someone like him.

 

Instead however, she found herself wallowing in a discomforting cocoon of her own guilt. She insulted him and made him feel like nothing when he had braved to finally take the opportunity, that had clearly agonized him for some time, to show his weaker side, something even she could not find herself capable of doing after these five years.

 

 

 

 

"...This time" K'nahli finally spoke with a shy and somewhat reluctant voice, adding to K'rahto's statement. Her eyes traveled upward to meet the amber glow of his as she forced herself to smile subtly.

"Try to keep your elbow higher. Anchor it to that position even if it means your shots are erratic and inaccurate for a while. With enough practice, you will adapt and be able to fire properly without needing to even think about your posture" she advised while training her eyes on the bow that balanced itself across her outstretched palm.

 

A more prominent smile eventually found its way across her face as she gripped the bow tightly and reached it outward in his direction to thump the tia gently over the crown of his head as if to scold him.

 

"Though I recommend you stick to spears" was all she would add before turning on her heels to return to the camp.

She had enough excitement for one day, perhaps she was due a rest from practice.