Cat woke early, her room still completely dark. She yawned and stretched her stiff fingers… they weren’t exactly used to the bow yet. Over the last few years she had created countless charms, earrings and bracelets, so her long fingers were fast and nimble. Yet shooting a bow required a different kind of strength, something Cat did not yet have. She knew it would come in time if she kept at it, and from the turn their adventure had taken it seemed like she would yet again be needing her bow.
She sighed and rubbed her eyes, feeling a little lonely all by herself in the room at the inn. She wanted to see the world alright, but she still missed her family. She felt silly, they were only a day’s ride away, so instead she sat up and stretched. She got dressed and lifted her two beautiful knives and her bow before left the room. She walked quietly over to the boys’ door and listened, but she could hear both of them snoring, so she turned and walked down the stairs down to the common hall. There was nobody there, not even the mistress Honeymade could be seen, although it sounded like she was busy in the kitchen, so Cat walked out and turned up the road a bit. When they had passed the night before she had seen the straw men outside the town guard’s halls, an ideal opportunity to practice a bit with her knives.
She could not yet see the sun rising, but the sky was paler as she put her bow down and unsheathed her two knives. She felt comfortable enough with her bow, it was her safety, but she kept thinking of the night Archet was on fire and the bandit that had managed to drag her bow out of her hands leaving her helpless. This was not going to happen again! She would have to learn to use her knives, especially now as it would seem they were going to head into the wood to deal with even more bandits. She shuddered but knew there was no other way. She had to make fast coin to help her mum and dad rebuild, and this was a well-paid job.
She saw none of the town guard around but figured they wouldn’t mind if she used one of their straw dummies for some practice. She would rather do this on her own with nobody to see, she did not want the boys to laugh at her knife work. She grabbed both knives hard and started stabbing at the dummy, fast as she could, left and right hand, no waiting, stab and pull back – stab and pull back. She kept at it for a while, sweat starting to run down her face as the sun slowly showed its face behind the hill. Cat panted and wiped her face, satisfied by her morning workout but not entirely happy with her skills she instead took her bow and planted a few perfect shots in the dummy’s face. That is more like, best to end on a successful note she thought as she turned and walked back to the inn, ready to see if her two sleeping companions had come to life…
