Notes: I love archery stuff. And I have always wanted to learn. So... author appeal fic?
Stats: 500 words for TharjaVirion. With Noire. I may be an extreme shipper who can ship anything, but I'm also a sucker for family stories, if you have noticed.
Oh, and profile has changed. Updated the "rules" (gigglesnort, what RULES?!) for the Request and Receive Saga, and some more stuff for the Infinite Wave project. You can continue requesting freely, the doors are not closed; you're all awesomely creative and inspiring! :)
Tharja thought Noire was already too big to be carried around, but the girl was clingy and, though she would never admit it, she couldn't say no to her cute face, even if it felt her back would snap without warning. She sighed in relief once they were out by the forest's edge, putting her daughter down so she could throw herself at her father instead.
Ever since her child had burned herself with a tome, Tharja had decided that continuing to train Noire in magic, let alone dark magic, was probably not a good idea. However, Virion had pointed out that she was the heiress to a Valmese duchy, which put her at risk. She had to know how to use a weapon, she couldn't depend on others to save her life. So...
"This is a bow. These are arrows."
...he was going to attempt to teach their little princess archery, aiming at the trees. But she had a feeling her husband wasn't qualified to instruct anyone, even if he was a good archer himself.
"No," Noire responded to that, running to hide behind her mother.
"No?" Tharja asked as kindly as she could, though she was actually very confused.
"No!"
"Come on, darling daughter," Virion said as he approached, a smaller practice bow on one hand, "papa will teach you how to shoot! It's just a small game; let's see who gets more arrows on those trees."
"No!"
"Oh my, milady is not in a good mood today," Cherche appeared beside them, crouching down to address Noire. "Would milady prefer to play with an axe?"
In the distance, they could see Henry watching over their son, Gerome, who was trying his luck against a log. "Yay! You completely missed it! Bravo!" they heard.
"The axe is not a weapon for a lady," Virion teased his servant.
"She'll break your nose, dear, shut up," Tharja hissed at him, pinching his cheek.
Noire started sobbing to draw their attention back to her. "I want a tome!"
"You got hurt last time..." her father said.
"I want a tome! I want to be like my mama!"
"Noire? Try the bow once. You won't know if you like it unless you try," Tharja scolded her gently, moving aside and pushing her toward the trees.
"I don't want to! I would be like papa and that's not good!"
Cherche nearly laughed, but she just cleared her throat a couple times, looking away. Tharja sighed, trying not to let her lips curl upwards as her husband's face fell in distress over hearing those words coming from his own child. She knew Virion didn't actually mind what they thought of him, but their Noire? Gods!
"Can you watch me shoot, and see if you like that?" he offered next. She agreed, and intently observed him the rest of the morning.
...Noire still remembered everything, as she picked up that bow to defend herself from the slavers. She took aim and let her first arrow fly.