When I come down, she's talking to Clint.

"What you fail to understand is the longbow and the Mongolian horn bow were designed for two totally different purposes. The longbow is a joy to use, I admit it freely, but the horn bow is an engineering miracle. It's amazing, not only on a horse, but on dragonback as well and I find it easy to aim with from the air."

"You know, I am the best shot with a bow and arrow in the world?"

Etana grins.

"Want to find out? Because I think it should be clear. You're the best archer in the world who brags about it. You're what, thirty? Thirty-three? I'm three-thousand, give or take a decade or two. Archery contest? Starting at 10 metres, continuing until someone doesn't hit the bull?"

Clint grins.

"Of course."

"If we reach a point where there isn't any room left in the archery bay, we go to moving targets, progressively getting smaller and faster. Agreed?"

Clint whoops and I just know he's getting all excited about a proper contest. Unfortunately, for him at least, an hour later, 'Tana hits the heart of a penny-sized target, moving very fast and somehow involved curving the shot. She just turns and grins at Clint who goes pale. He's never made that shot and he knows it. He gulps and Etana just leans back on the wall, her bow held languidly in her right hand. I asked her about the fact her bow and sword are some of the only weapons she carries that are the same. She just looked at me and said that sentimentality over weapons that weren't unique was going to get you killed. The bow is an engineering marvel, designed out of, much to my amazement, bone and metal, folding down to a quarter-size and built in the Renaissance. She also has a carbon-fibre bow she likes to use when she needs strength because her main one is designed to be accurate, not deep. Clint's arrow sails through the air and just brushes the edge of the target before falling to the ground. He sighs then walks over to 'Tana and offers her his hand.

"You are the best damn archer I have ever met."

She laughs.

"You know, you are one of the best archers I have met as well."

Clint goes red and I know that by tomorrow it will be 'You're the best archer other than me in the world'.

"Thanks."

She grins then goes to retrieve her arrows before clasping Clint's arm.

"How about doing this next week? I liked having someone to test myself against."

Hawkeye grins.

"Yeah. I think I'd like that."

She smiles at me.

"Sorry about that…"

"It's fine. I liked watching you practise. Would you like to…?"

She smiles and suddenly she's holding a knife.

"I'll go get the shield."