Unseen | Caramel Arrow Cookie x Affogato Cookie

Watching a Watcher

Three days passed, a week into Affogato's recovery process. Things went smoothly, fortunately! Caramel Arrow felt like she and Affogato were starting to build a real relationship, although she couldn't be sure of his thoughts. He tolerated her presence, at least on the surface, and didn't complain when she removed his boot or added ice. He remained rather quiet when she was around, even. Didn't speak unless she spoke to him. It was nicer than being tiraded when they so much as glimpsed at each other. She had finished tending to Affogato, so she decided to take some time off to train. It wasn't gonna be much; just simple target practice. She planned to practice shooting while running, since the Dark Cacao wilds didn't offer much time to stand still. She'd need to be mobile while also still being accurate. Over the years she's practiced switching between bow and blade forms of her twin blades. She didn't have many chances to try that out. She couldn't spar with her blades; they were much too sharp. It was a bit saddening.

It was becoming dark. The cold air hit Caramel Arrow's skin, making her body tingle with the atmosphere. Lanterns were starting to light, things were settling down around the citadel as watchers prepped for their watch, and soldiers rested for another day tomorrow. Here she was, a bit of an outcast in both regards, not having to do either. She could do what she wanted for the most part. Snow ruffled under her boots, and she calmly made her way to the training area. There was a row of ten targets, the rest was open space. Not another soul around. She started light, drawing her blades into bow form, firing a few practice shots. Bullseyes on every shot. She knew she should loosen up her body with some stretches, but she was feeling a little sloppy tonight. She moved straight into sliding shots.

Slide.. Jump up, shoot. Slide.. Jump up, shoot. Pull back.. Slide.. Shoot. Pull back.. Slide.. Shoot.

She focused on how she moved while she slid, how to prevent herself from getting injured while doing it. Luckily the slightly icy dirt provided for a more dynamic slide. In the snow it would be much different. She focused on maintaining balance while getting up, and focused on coordinating her moving body with her aim. Every shot hit the target, although none were bullseyes. With a bit of a frustrated huff, she kept going. As she got the hang of sliding shots, she started doing rolling shots, and even tried doing a few midair shots. She never knew what situations called for. Maybe she would never use any of these skills. It was better to be safe than sorry, though. So she kept it going.

Affogato yawned, feeling pretty bored. He set his book down. Laying in bed all the time made him feel horrible. The majority of the time he was either drowsy or lazy, and it bugged him. Right now he felt like he had a headache, not from any sickness, though. He had to get out of bed. His ankle was unwrapped, laying out open, raised and iced. He checked his clock. It had been about an hour since Caramel Arrow left. He could get up and do something.

With a small push, he sat up with a sigh. He grabbed his boot and strapped it on himself. He briefly pushed his hair into a somewhat more acceptable look and put on his robes. He grabbed his staff by the door and waddled out of his room. The castle was quiet. The window in front of his room showed cloudy skies. He didn't know what he was going to do. Perhaps a nice walk was due. He usually dreaded the outdoors of the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but being trapped in his bed for most of the past week made him miss it.

He didn't want to be in view of the watchers, so he walked along the pathways that the builder cookies usually worked on. It overlooked the main outdoor areas of the citadel, where the training grounds, cafeteria, church, and wolf stables were. The view was quite nice. He hadn't really noticed it before. Lantern lights illuminated the snowy floor a little. The snow reflected the dim moon rays. It was quiet, except for a subtle noise piercing through the air. He wondered what it was. He moved around the pathway, stopping when he noticed a figure in the training grounds.