Chapter 3
Next morning I woke up at 5 AM. Better, not so early as yesterday. I got dressed and went downstairs. I went to the sitting room and Angrec was there. I greeted her and sat on my meditation mat. I meditated until it was time for breakfast. It was so peaceful, I actually really love meditating. It really helped to clear my mind. At breakfast,
"I'm very proud of you Phoenix, for going and meditating on your own," Angrec said.
"I actually like it. I like having the peace. I also like the way my mind becomes clear afterwards." Angrec inclined her head.
"You might like what I have planned today even better. You're going to learn how to shoot a bow. You'll have training arrows, of course."
"Shooting a bow?! That's even better than meditating!" Angrec chuckled. I couldn't wait to finish breakfast. I ate as fast as I could so that I could immediately get to the training ground.
"Slow down child, the training area will still be there."
"But I can't wait!"
"I understand, but patience. You need to practice patience in order to be a Priestess."
"Fine..." I slowed down, but not by much. Angrec shook her head. After breakfast, I washed up and followed Angrec to the training area. So this is what she was doing yesterday and the day before.
"Your training arrows are dulled sticks with chalk on the front to mark where you hit on the target, if you do hit the target."
"Ok!" Angrec first showed me how to notch the arrow onto the bow and how to aim. She aimed a bit higher than the target... why? Wouldn't it go over it? She let go of the arrow when she had it where she wanted it. Bam! Right on the bullseye. I was surprised.
"You gotta aim a bit higher than the target. The arrow drops as it goes further. Remember, gravity."
"Oh, right. The thing that keeps us on the ground, right?"
"Exactly. Gravity affects all things."
"But not birds or bugs."
"Even birds and bugs. They just have wings to help them fly." (A/N: i'm not smart enough for this plus i'm also lazy... i'm just gonna keep it at that.)
"Huh... ok." Angrec gave me the bow. I took a bit to get the bow in a comfortable position to be able to hold it properly, then she gave me an arrow. She helped me notch it to the bow and keep it steady. Slowly she took her hand off the arrow and I could keep it steady on my own... for the most part. It wobbled sometimes, but I got used to keeping the arrow there over time.
"Ok, now you can aim it." I slowly aimed the arrow where I thought it was supposed to be. "You got it? Now, shoot." I let go of the arrow, but also dropped the bow at the same time. The arrow didn't go very far because of that. "That's ok Phoenix. You just need to practice. Again." This time she let go of the arrow earlier than last time. I kept it steady, then aimed when prompted, then fired at command. Again, I dropped the bow.
"I can't stop dropping the bow..."
"Don't get discouraged. Like I said, practice, but also this is another thing you need to learn patience on. Things like this take time. I can hit the bullseye because I've practiced over the years. Now, do I always hit the bullseye? No, but I can usually hit the target. Sometimes I miss too, and that's ok. You don't need to be perfect either. You just need to learn how to hit the target most of the time." I nodded. I kept at it until lunch, when Angrec brought me into the dining hall. I still dropped the bow. I just can't seem to keep one hand closed while I open the other.
"How's archery practice going Phoenix?" Aianite asked as we sat down.
"Awful... I keep dropping the bow whenever I let go of the arrow..."
"You'll get it. Just keep practicing," Mianite encouraged.
"Yeah, as they always say, 'practice makes perfect'. Though, what they should really say is, 'practice helps you get better'. But what do I know? I'm just a 10 year old," Ianite said.
"Yeah, but you're also a goddess. Shouldn't people listen to what you have to say?" I inquired.
"Being a goddess doesn't mean anything when you're young, apparently. Even being a goddess, our age still affects what people think of our intellect. We've studied all our lives, since we could walk and talk. We know more than the average 10 year old, but do people listen to us? No." Ianite seemed to be very upset by this, so I decided to change the subject.
"Have you guys learned archery?"
"Yes, but most of us aren't much into it. Ianite's way more into it than the rest of us. I'd much prefer a staff to use my fire powers with. A cool staff, with a skull shape carved on the top."
"I'd prefer using a sword. Close combat seems more appealing to me," Mianite added.
"I have powers over the ocean, so a trident would be really cool for me. But I could probably use a sword and a bow and arrows as well, depending on the situation."
"Wow, so do each of you have powers? What are your powers Ianite, Mianite?"
"I have a kind of small force field, but I don't think it'll really turn out to be anything too big," Ianite answered.
"I have no powers. I just like everything to be in Order. To be just right and precise."
"Interesting..."
"Alright kids, enough jabber jawin', let's eat." We all giggled and ate our lunch. I went back to the grind on learning how to use a bow. Over halfway between coming back out and dinner, I actually shot the arrow without dropping the bow! The arrow still fell short, but at least it went somewhere.
"I did it!" Angrec smiled proudly.
"See, you didn't give up and you shot the arrow. We'll stop after dinner, you can hang out with the others in the sitting room. Maybe they'll have a game planned."
"Ok!" I kept going until it was time for dinner. The last two arrows were so close to hitting the target!
"You've gotten better. Soon enough you'll be hitting the target." I grinned and nodded, then went to the dining hall. As I sat down,
"How did it go this time?" Ianite asked.
"Better, I didn't drop the bow and I got the arrows so close to the target!"
"Good job! Can we watch tomorrow Mother?"
"Sure, you can take a break from your studies. Maybe you'll have some pointers Ianite." Ianite smiled and nodded.
"Yay! I can't wait." I smiled at Ianite and she inclined her head at me. We had our dinner and we were off to the sitting room.
"We picked the game spoons. It's quite simple. You have 4 cards in your hand at all times and we pass around different cards from the stack. Your goal is to have 4 of the same card, like, 4 kings, or 4 queens, or 4 jacks, etcetera and when you have 4 of the same card, you want to sneakily take a spoon. The rest of us either notice or don't, but whoever doesn't get a spoon is out. Then we take away a spoon so there's one less so that someone else gets out. There can only be one winner, of course. Dianite likes to cheat though... so be careful of him. Keep an eye on him," Aianite instructed. I nodded and so the game began. As the game started, I kept an eye on Dianite as well as playing. Ianite seemed to be doing the same. Dianite seemed upset that he was being watched, but cheating does result in consequences. At one point, I noticed Mianite inch his way toward a spoon, so I snatched one up quickly, followed by Aianite and Dianite. Ianite is out.
"Wow Phoenix, that was amazing!" Ianite exclaimed.
"I just barely saw Mianite move out of the corner of my eye as I watched Dianite."
"That's really good. You need to be observant of your surroundings at all times as a Priestess," Angrec said. I nodded, really proud of myself for that. Now there's 3 spoons left as we started our next round. I still kept my eye on Dianite, and Ianite as well. Now that she's out, she's watching him like a hawk. This time I got 4 of the same card, so I inched my hand forward. Dianite noticed and went for it, so I sped up and snatched one. Mianite got out this time.
"Good job Phoenix," Angrec said calmly. I half grinned at her, then focused back on the game. Just like I've done from the beginning of the game, I've kept my eye on Dianite. Mianite and Ianite are doing the same. Dianite got his 4 this time. He just went for it and so did Aianite and I, but not without injury. Aianite accidentally scratched the back of my hand, which made me pull my hand back and get out.
"I'm so sorry! I should have included that in my instructions!" Aianite said, horrified.
"Don't worry Aianite. It was an accident, I know it was. Plus, you didn't break skin. It just hurts a tiny bit." Aianite still looked upset. I went over to her and hugged her. "Seriously, it's ok." She nodded and I let go, sitting back in my spot. Now for Aianite and Dianite. Mianite, Ianite, and I still kept watch over Dianite though. Dianite again got his 4, which means he won. He immediately went for the spoon. Aianite was sadly too slow to notice. Dianite won fair and square.
"Good game," we all said to another. We all went to bed after cleaning up the sitting room and putting all the spoons in the sink for washing. I was excited for tomorrow. Ianite will be giving me pointers on archery! One of the gods! I fell asleep, wanting tomorrow to come fast.
