I'm Not Nervous
Only the occasional chirp of a baby bird and the patter of raindrops broke through the otherwise silent forest. The tall trees with their red leaves and broad branches stretched into the sky, providing the leaf-littered ground with some shelter from the grey veil of rain. A small figure could be seen perched in a particularly precarious position high up amongst the mass of leaves, her brown, shaggy hair wet and clinging to her pale face. Smellerbee's eyes darted around her, searching for Firenation soldiers or a passerby to rob, although she knew that the chances were very low seeing as any normal person would prefer to be indoors in this weather. Just as she was thinking this, she noticed something moving along the forest floor just beneath her.
Smellerbee's dark eyes narrowed as she silently assessed the figure. Unfortunately, because of her soaked clothing and the forest chill, her nose chose that time to let out a huge sneeze. The figure froze and looked upwards quickly, searching for what had made the silence-splitting noise. Smellerbee was shocked to see the figure's face; it was a boy only two or so years older than her.
The boy raised his eyebrows at her, while simultaneously raising a bow and arrow. This caused Smellerbee to jump from her branch and swing down to the ground in front of the boy, dagger raised. Unsurprisingly, her sudden movement scared the boy and he accidentally shot an arrow towards her, which missed her by about three feet.
Smellerbee stared at the boy in apprehension but with a hint of amusement. "Nice aim," she said mockingly, sneering at him.
The boy frowned and loaded another arrow, but didn't bother raising his bow just yet. Instead, he allowed his eyes to scan over her every feature as if he was analyzing her. This made Smellerbee very uncomfortable and for some reason a little angry. She took a menacing step forward, even though she was only eleven and barely reached his shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was harsh and always reminded herself of gravel.
Again, the boy didn't reply but continued to look at her. His dark eyes flicked across her face, stopping briefly at the red paint marks on her cheeks that she used to hide her burn marks from a Firenation attack. She had lost a lot that day and the paint also served as a reminder of how she had watched her family, friends and the rest of her village perish in flame. It was as though the boy could read what she was thinking, because he put his bow on the ground and carefully unwrapped the bandages around his hands.
Not sure what to think of the boy's actions, Smellerbee stared at his hands as the pale skin slowly came into view but occasionally flicked her eyes back to his face apprehensively. Every time she looked back at him she saw that his gaze never left her, for some reason this made her feel less nervous. Eventually, all the bandages were removes and Smellerbee could see the angry, red burns twisting around both of the boy's hands. Smellerbee took a moment to just stare at the already scarring marks, and then once again looked up into his dark eyes.
"These are new, right?" Smellerbee asked, her voice quieter this time.
The boy nodded his head once and then started re-wrapping his hands. It was obvious that he was struggling so with an impatient sigh, Smellerbee walked towards him and took the white cloth in her hands and wrapped them up herself. She didn't look at him once until she had finished, but she was painfully aware that he never stopped staring at her. Once the burns were hidden again underneath the bandages, Smellerbee stepped backwards away from the boy.
"Look, there's a group of kids like us that live in tree-houses not far from here. My village was attacked five months ago and I've been living with them ever since and I'm sure they'd be happy to take you in too, if you want," she said slowly.
She was beginning to get the impression that the boy didn't talk, so it didn't surprise her or even annoy her when he just nodded and gave her a small smile in response to her offer. Nodding her own head, Smellerbee turned around and began to walk in the direction of the Freedom Fighters' tree-house village.
As the two of them walked in silence, completely soaked by the rain, Smellerbee turned towards the boy. "Do you have a name?"
The boy nodded.
"Can you tell me?" Smellerbee asked, slightly amused.
The boy raised an eyebrow coyly, as if to say: Just because I have one doesn't mean I want to use it anymore. Anyway, what's yours?
A little amazed at herself by how much she thought she had understood in that one look, Smellerbee smiled slightly at the boy. "My name's Smellerbee, well it is since I joined the Freedom Fighters anyway."
Again, the boy nodded.
"Well, I guess you'll need a new name then."
The boy looked at her with the tiniest of smirks. Well, I guess you get to choose.
"How about Longshot, you know because you have such a great aim," she said teasingly, grinning at her own wit.
To Smellerbee's surprise, the boy smiled and then nodded again.
"OK, Longshot it is," she said with a little chuckle.
It was then that the two of them arrived at the base of a particularly large tree. Running down the length of the trunk were a few ropes that the Freedom Fighters used to get up into the canopy of the forest, where the tree houses were. Smellerbee handed one of the ropes to Longshot.
"Don't be nervous. Everyone is really accepting and they're in the same situation as you and me, and I think you'll really like the leader, Jet," she said warmly. Her gaze was fixed on his because she had already gathered that they were the most accurate way of understanding him. This is why she was caught completely off-guard when Longshot opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm not nervous," he said in a deep voice, despite the fact that he looked only thirteen.
After her shock wore off, Smellerbee just smiled at him and then took hold of another rope. "Well that's good then," she said nonchalantly.
Just as they were about to tug on the ropes to go flying up into the canopy, Smellerbee turned once again to the strange boy. "So, seeing as you can talk, I'm guessing you don't talk often?" She asked.
Longshot just smiled slightly at her and cocked an eyebrow. What do you think?
Smellerbee snickered at his silent sarcastic remark and then yanked on her rope.