Rayla took a shuddering breath from where she sat inside her room in the castle of Katolis, trying to calm herself down and not cry more as she clutched to the object in her hands.
Said object being Runaan's beloved bowblade, crafted by his dear husband Ethari.
She faintly tought to herself how she could have had it with her for the last two years if she hadn't stupidly run off on her own since Callum revealed he found the weapon a couple weeks later while clearing out Viren's creepy dungeon.
It hurt a bit less, knowing that Runaan and her parents weren't actually dead but it still hurt enough to know she couldn't at least show him his weapon and at least let him know it wasn't destroyed or worse, being used by some random human soldier.
As much as Rayla had learned to appriciate humanity, she couldn't deny that most of them were terrible at taking care of their weapons.
Runaan had told her how an elf's weapons were more than weapons, being a part of the individual wielding them, so each weapon deserved the utmost respect.
She faintly smiled as several memories flooded her mind of how both Runaan and Ethari taught her how to properly sharpen and clean her swords and of watching Runaan do the same to his bowblade and Ethari to different kinds of weapons he made or repaired.
It felt nice to think of how close they were.
Looking down at the bowblade she faintly wondered if, maybe, wielding it would make her feel closer to them again.
She shook her head, reminder herself that she was in fact terrible at archery.
Runaan had tried to teach her when she was younger but the few lessons they had were all without any real progress until they just gave up.
Runaan had claimed they'd try again when she had more expierience with her swords and after that maybe some other weapons first, but they never got to the point of trying again.
But what if she learned it herself?!
Back when Runaan tried to teach her she was young, impatient and quick to throw tantrums when she couldn't hit the bullseye, but now she was older and was at least slightly better at controlling her temper!
As determination filled her she swung the bowblade and the quiver with arrows over her shoulder, put the coins in her pocket and marched out of her room towards the training-grounds.
It was late enough that while most people weren't asleep yet, the training-grounds were abandoned, something she felt grateful for since she really didn't want any prying eyes.
Soon the she reached the part of the field where several targets were lined up.
Grabbing the bow and an arrow she was about to take her stance she stopped and closed her eyes, allowing her memories to flow over once again.
Flashback
"Rayla, slow down! The we've got all day!" Runaan called after a younger Rayla as she ran ahead of him, letting out a squeal of delight when they reached the training-fields.
"Sorry, Runaan, but I'm just so stoked! I'm finally gonna be an awesome and cool archer like you!" Rayla cheered, beaming up at her mentor who gave a small smile back.
"It's not just gonna happen, Little Blade. You're gonna have to practice a lot." he told her.
"Well, yeah, but I bet it's gonna be easy when you're my teacher! And then, you're gonna have to let me use your bowblade!" Rayla just shook her head, convinced she was gonna rock it.
"Well, as much as I appriciate your faith in my teaching-skills, how about we start at the beginning and if you're really as good as you think you'll be, I might let you use my bow. I might even try to talk Ethari into making one for you too." he told her, earning an excited gasp.
"But first, you're starting with a regular bow like everyone else." he told her, handing her a wooden bow.
Rayla eagerly snatched it from his hands and ran over to where where the archers usually lined up while training.
"Ready!" she grinned at Runaan who blinked before quickly joining her with an amused smile.
"Right, so first you need to correct stance. Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart, and feet at 90 degrees to the target." he instructed, gently helping her position herself correctly.
"Now, Keep a relaxed grip on the bow handle." he then told her, leaning back to dodge one end of the bow that almost smacked him in the face when Rayla held it up.
"A little lower." he told her before handing her an arrow, "Turn the bow so that it is horizontal and the arrow rest is facing upwards. Place the arrow on the shelf of the arrow rest. Push the nock of the arrow onto the string between the two brass nocking points, ensuring that the cock fletch is pointing upward. Bring the bow back to vertical. Position your fingers on the string with the index finger above the arrow and two fingers string should sit in the last crease of your fingers, nearest to your finger tips." he told her, once again helping her along so she stood correctly.
"And now it's just draw, aim and shoot, right?" Rayla looked back up at Runaan.
"Right," Runaan nodded, "It's now draw, aim and shoot, but you-" Rayla didn't wait for any further instructions and pulled the arrow back against the string and let go, thought instead of flying straight through the air like she exected it ended with her awkwardly fumbling as the arrow and it barely flying a foot before plopping to the ground.
"What?!" she cried dramatically as Runaan sighed.
"While in short it is just 'draw, aim and shoot', there is still technique, Rayla." he told her, handing her another arrow and helping her into the correct stance again.
"Do not grip the arrow with your fingers. Pull back the string using your back muscles, not your arm. Pull back the string so that the index finger of the pulling hand is under the chin, and the string touches your nose and lips. Use your dominant eye to look down the arrow and align it with the target. Relax your grip on the string and allow your fingers to slip backward and after shooting, stay in position." he he kneeled down behind her and together they shot the arrow.
This arrow didn't hit the centre but still reached the target which was enough for Rayla to cheer and throw her arms up, almost smacking Runaan in the face again.
"Do you now want to try it on your own?" he asked and she grinned back.
End Flashback
Rayla allowed herself to giggle as she remembered the rest of the day after that.
She had shot many arrows, but none of them ended up hitting the target anymore without Runaan literally helping her into the correct position.
She'd often been too impatient to listen to his instructions or thought she already knew better when she didn't, always resulting in some kind of mistake.
The last arrow she shot that day actually managed to get a lot of force, but the arrow somehow ricocheted off a rock, then another and another couple until it ended up hitting a very important elder in the village right in the butt.
Thinking back, it was actually hilarious how quickly Runaan had scooped her up and sprinted them home, giving her his dessert as long as she promised to not tell Ethari or anyone else about the last arrow, something she had happily agreed on because extra dessert!
She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
Now it was time to get serious.
She forced herself to once again remember all of Runaan's instructions, though this time she was extra careful to follow all of them.
She let go and while the arrow flew, she missed the targed by an inch.
"Moondamnit!" she hissed to herself, trying again and missing again, as well as with the third.
She felt frustration start to pile up after several arrows missed.
"What am I doing wrong?!" she growled as she snatched the last arrow from the quiver and got into position again.
She was just about to let go when she nearly jumped out of her skin when a familiar voice told her "You're too tense, Rayla. Relax your shoulders." along with what felt like a four-fingered hand touching her shoulder.
"Runaan?!" she gasped, whirling around but finding nothing.
She had to swallow down her disappointment, feeling silly for thinking for just a moment that Runaan was really instructing her.
"Or are you...?" she then wondered, reaching into her pocket and pulling out Runaan's coin.
She hated how it displayed him in a state of absolute horror and fear, helpless, knowing how it was the exact opposite of how he truely was.
She really didn't know for sure if what she just expirienced was just a memory that she hadn't taken seriously back when she was younger, or maybe she was actually hearing his spirit somehow talking to her, but she knew one thing for sure.
"Don't worry, Runaan. I'm gonna master archery for real this time and use it to get you, mom and dad out of there. Just hang on a little longer." she whispered the the coin, pressing a kiss to it and tucking it safely away before using his advice to managing to shoot the last arrow into the target.
It was better than the rest but nowhere good enough so she gathered the arrows for another round.