Scars of a Caged Bird | Zelink Medieval

Chapter II

Hey guys. Enjoy this chap, and please don't forget to comment/vote

~Zel

Published as of 01/06/16

Edited as of 04/15/18

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"Prepare to be demolished," I challenged, unbidden amusement coloring my tone.  

The Princess allowed herself a demure smirk. "I'd like to see you try." She accepted my extended hand and stood gracefully, pushing her chair back into its proper place.

We left the dining lounge, and I led her to the Fortress Armory where all of our weapons were stored. I picked my handy crossbow, while the Princess grabbed a longbow hanging on the wall. 

Briefly, I wondered for a moment whether or not it was a wise idea to bring my prisoner to the armory where she had access to all our weapons... But I dismissed it quickly, knowing that I was quite capable of dealing with a small girl carrying a longbow, especially considering the level of training our patrols had received.

"Are you sure you want a longbow?" I questioned, raising my brow at the sight of the curved wood. Even I hadn't quite mastered the longbow with its low wrist style grips...

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be alright," the Princess scoffed prettily. "And, please, call me Zelda. This whole 'Princess' thing is getting rather redundant."

"Your wish is my command," I responded with a slight roll of my eyes. Still, I couldn't deny the fact that the Princess seemed to be growing on me with her witty sense of humor and inherent confidence in her abilities. 

With her back straightened and head lifted high, the Princess watched me out of the corner of her eye. "As it should be."

We exited the Armory, both carrying a quiver of arrows each, before heading to the target range. This range had been here for as long as I could remember with targets of various difficulty levels. It had come as a result of several close calls as far as stray arrows went; Nabs had nearly had a heart attack when a Gerudo girl came to her patrol with an injured arm, due to an accidental hit, and finally put her foot down, vowing to designate a place for the sport so no one else got hurt.

Zelda stood at the waiting line and watched me expectantly. Sensing her eagerness, I nodded. "Go ahead – Ladies first."

She broke into another smile before proceeding to the shooting line. Withdrawing an arrow from her quiver and loading her bow, she expertly raised her bow and slit her left eye slightly, not fully closing it. I still couldn't believe that she was using a longbow.

She pulled the bowstring back, before letting the arrow fly. I watched it travel through the air, landing in the target with a thud. I squinted my eyes, attempting to see where it had landed. It had landed quite close to the X ring... almost a bull's eye.

I didn't believe it, though. It was a lucky shot; there was no way she could have made it with a longbow. 

She prepared her bow again and pulled the bowstring back once more, following the same procedure. After slitting her left eye, she released the bowstring, allowing the arrow to fly. It soared through the air with the same whizzing sound the first one had, and I watched in shock as it bypassed her first faulty arrow and hit the X ring.

The same happened with her other three arrows. Each shot made it into the same spot in the X ring, splitting the previous arrows clean in half. But wasn't that impossible? She couldn't possibly have done that. Especially not with a longbow.