His Eyes Never Change (Gold like Cor Lapis, Blue as Noctilucous Jade)

Caught in a Ray of Sunlight

Childe felt as if he hadn't made any progress. He grimaced slightly at the scene before him.

"I guess this is to be expected, but still..."

The guards stationed in the guest housing district had allowed Childe to borrow some equipment and take it just outside of city limits. The training dummies were set up at a few different ranges, from ten meters to thirty. Only the closest target, at ten meters, sported marks from the hydro arrows. The rest of the dummies were untouched, arrows flying harmlessly past and into the grass.

Childe glanced down at the hydro bow in his hands. He hadn't expected to do well this session, but this was far worse than he had thought. Not only did the bow feel foreign in his grip, he'd had to change to a different style of weapon with a lower draw weight. This body just didn't have the proper musculature for archery. At least, not yet.

Childe turned to watch Haolan's progress. He'd set up a small course for the young boy. He'd had Haolan go out and search for some decent kindling in a nearby grove, then had his student carry the wood filled basket on his back as he ran around a small squared off field of grass. Haolan had not complained, though he was looking much more worn down now compared to his cheery expression earlier that morning. It was still too early to see much progress, but Childe was certain they would be seeing results soon enough.

"Maybe I should find a teacher of my own..." he muttered to himself as he returned to his own practice. Unlike other weapons, Childe was self-taught when it came to archery. The only things he had to go off of were watching the hunters from his hometown practicing or from a book he'd briefly skimmed.

Childe drew his bow back and let another arrow fly free. He repeated the motion over and over until the ground around the targets was painted in hydro blue. He sighed.

Practice was important, of course, but what was the point of practicing improper technique?

Unfortunately for Childe, practice was all he had at the moment. He raised the bow once again and sighted the nearest target. As he did so, another scene overlayed his vision. One of a certain god training amidst a sea of jade. That was another area that lacked any sort of progress.

Childe was fairly certain any progress he had made with Morax had all come crumbling down that day in the domain. Two days had passed since his conversation with Morax. The god was definitely avoiding him despite Childe's best efforts to track him down. Marchosias, Xiao Ping, and every single attendant he'd talked to had all said the same thing.

"We have no idea where he is."

Childe found that his eyes had wandered to look in the direction of the palace and he quickly tore them away. He had already told himself to not worry about Morax, so why was he still so distracted? It wasn't as if he'd never see the god again. Despite the outcome of their little meeting, Childe still had a contract to uphold. Besides, he had Guizhong on his side.

Childe pulled the bow back to a full draw, aiming for the center of his target. He took a half breath in, then-

"Shifu?"

The arrow flew a good few feet to the left of its intended destination. The hydro bow dissipated and Childe turned to look at his student who was now wearing a guilty expression.

"I didn't mean to distract you..."

Childe waved off the boy's concerns, "It's alright. What's up?"

"I wanted to let you know I finished my exercises, and also..." Haolan hesitated, "I wanted to ask you something."

Childe motioned for him to continue.

"I- uh, I guess, how is your search for your friend going? The one you came here to look for?"