The Raiders

Chapter 10

What's that?

Welcome to chapter 10 of the Raiders! Yay for chapter 10! This and maybe the next chapter will center on Matthew and Amelia's relationship. Enjoy!

"Bleh!" Matthew shouted out at breaklight.

"What's wrong?" asked Felli.

He held up his cup," I have to drink some fish oil every day. It helps regrow feathers."

Felli tilted her head," Why do you need that? It's not like you write a lot."

Matthew winced," I put my feathers on my arrows. It helps stabilize their flight. Otherwise, I can't aim very well." He assumed the rest could be inferred.

"Well, at least your talons aren't bleeding anymore."

"Ames, are you okay?" Matthew said. Amelia had been staring blankly into space.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she said. Amelia had been acting very weird ever since she gave Matthew the special battle claws. Or at least that was what Matthew thought. But Felli knew better. She knew Amelia had a crush on Matthew. She even thought they were a couple when she first met him. But Amelia was very subtle, at least in comparison to Matthew's obliviousness. She just had to be a bit more obvious. But she was far too shy to. Felli had thought multiple times a plan to get them together. But she knew she shouldn't.

"Well," said Matthew, interrupting Felli's thoughts," we should go to bed now." Summer had come, and the nights were much shorter.

"Yeah," said Amelia. They quickly walked/flew back to their hollow. Luckily, their hollow was fairly large, and they were not cramped at all. On the contrary, they might even be able to fit in another owl and still have room. Once in, Matthew marveled at the difference between their nests. Matthew's was a complete disaster and wasn't in any designated area, Amelia's was very orderly, her getting incredibly angry at anyone if they went anywhere near it. Felli's, like herself, was slightly odd. While most owls liked a mix of moss and down, she didn't have any down at all. And it wasn't too messy, or too orderly.

"Good light," said Matthew.

"Good light," said Amelia.

"Good li-i-ight," said Felli, yawning in mid sentence.

Later

Amelia cracked open an eye, just to immediately shut it. It was still light. But before she did, she saw Matthew out. Summoning her strength, she rose and walked over to him. "Why are you up?"

"Thinking. 'Bout where Nick might be."

Amelia sighed. She had almost begun to think Matthew had forgotten about Nick. Or at least wasn't as revenge-crazy. Was she wrong? "Are you going to leave?"

"No. I'm staying here, with my friends. I'll get my chance at him. I know it." Matthew gave a huge yawn. "Looks like my thinking just caught up with me." And so he and Amelia went back to bed.

Later

Felli looked for Matthew at tweener, only to find he wasn't there. "Where's Matt?" she asked Amelia.

"Oh, he doesn't like tweener food too much. He says it's too fancy." Matthew suddenly hopped into the dining hollow.

"Hey Matt," said Felli cheerfully.

"Hey guys," Matthew said. "I'm tired. I woke up early to go to the library. I tried to convince them to let me have a spare botkin. It ended with me having to copy three books."

"Why do you need a botkin?" asked Amelia.

Matthew's eyes glinted," That's a secret. I'll show it to you when it's done."

Amelia noticed that Matthew still had on the metal brace she had made for him. "Why do you still have that brace on?" asked Amelia, giving a little gizzard clench.

Matthew looked down at his talon," I do? I didn't notice. I guess I just put it on and never got around to taking it off. And I have been practicing my aim for a while."

"Where do you practice at?" said Felli, starting to feel left out.

"I practice on an old dead fir tree on the island." Matthew looked outside," I should go and work on the botkin now. Bye!" And Matthew hopped off to complete his project.

Later

"Where are you taking me Matthew?" said Amelia.

"I want to show you what I was making. Now close your eyes…" Amelia did so. She heard some shuffling. "Okay, now look." Amelia was very impressed at what Matthew made. He modified the botkin so that there was a band of leather around his chest on an angle. By his left talon, the one with the brace, there was a hollowed out cylinder with an opening at the top. In this were his arrows (In simpler terms, a quiver). He then demonstrated it by grabbing an arrow, and firing. The twine bounced harmlessly off the metal brace, and he hit a nearby tree. "Cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And you made that yourself?"

Matthew nodded with a smile," Yep. Now, let's go to bed. I'm exhausted."

So, how was it? How well did I describe the quiver? And Doekit, I noticed that you changed your pen name to Felli.