Folke || Folkelore

♥︎ 3 ♥︎

"Wake up, Calla." I groan, snuggling deeper into my pillow. Wait no. That's not a pillow. I shoot to my feet, my cheeks ablaze. Apollo chuckles, pushing up onto his elbows. "You didn't have to jump to your feet, I was quite comfortable."

I ignore him, brushing my hands against the worst of the mud stains. Sleeping outside is overrated.

"Did you sleep well?" Apollo asks, rubbing a hand across his golden curls.

"Yes, thank you." I give him a curt nod, settling my hands on my hips. "I don't know why I ever let you convince me into falling asleep outside."

Apollo chuckles, suddenly on his feet beside me. It makes me wonder about his power. "Don't blame this on me, we both know it was your idea to watch the stars."

I scoff, turning to walk down the dirt path that leads back to the palace. "I mentioned them, and you begged me to stay just in case you got lost. As if."

"You remember last night very differently than I do."

I snort. "If you say so."

"I do," he insists. There's a sound just behind me that sounds like a stomped foot. I can imagine his arms folded across his chest, his full lips turned down in a pout. Of course my mind's eye imagines him about ten years younger. It was a look I didn't see often on young Apollo.

I must catch my foot on a root because I'm toppling forward. Apollo's arms wrap around me, holding me to his chest and keeping me from face planting. I look up at him to thank him, but my brain freezes when I see how close his face is to mine.

"I-I think you just fell for me," Apollo whispers, pulling me out of my thoughts. I jerk out of his arms, this time falling to the ground. "Goodness, Calla! It was in jest."

I shake a quivering finger at him. "Don't- don't joke about that."

Confusion fills his features, but he scrambles to help me up. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be offensive."

"Just- just don't do it again."

I brush off my dress, the once white fabric now coated in dirt and leaves after sleeping outside and now falling. I move to continue our journey back to the castle, but Apollo holds me back, turning me to face him. I look up into his bright eyes and the emotions in me rise.

"I truly am sorry, Calla," he mumbles, wiping something off my cheek.

"I know." I try to force a smile, but it just won't come.

"Good." He pulls me into a hug, and I slowly sink into his fiery wood scent.

I pull away, and we continue walking in silence.

***

I pull the string of my bow to my cheek, exhaling deeply before releasing it. Holding my breath, I watch as it soars through the sky beautifully only to pierce the ground in front of the target amongst the other arrows I've launched today. My bow is heavy in my hand, and I toss it far from me. Archery is a waste of time, obviously, so I need to focus on something I can actually use in Scle.

Something brushes my arm as I try to calm my breathing. Looking down, my eyes catch on the beautiful carving of laurel wreaths on the bow I just threw in a tantrum.

"It would be a shame to lose a weapon so beautifully made," Apollo says, and I glare up at him, flicking out the twin daggers kept under my sleeves. My fingers twitch against the handles, longing for the press of blade on skin. I tamp it down. After all, violence has never been my thing.

"It would," I mumble, trying not to take my bad mood out on him. It's not his fault I'm a horrible archer.

"I didn't know you weren't much of an archer." Apollo steps closer, eying the target that has two lonely arrows stuck to the bottom edge, not far from the many others sticking out of the soft Loam soil. If I never touch another bow in my lifetime it'll be too soon.