She is a tough one, that she is. Never backs down but grabs the bull by the horns, or rather tackles the lashing flames that always finds their way to her. Always has her head up high, she never backs down for a challenge. Gritty and tough, some might say, while others prefer "proud and stuck-up”, but no matter what they say, to me she will always be my partner.
It has always been the both of us from the start, just me and her. No matter where she goes or what the situation is, she always had my back and vice versa. Although most of the situations were definitely hair-raising and many a times, we have been stretched to the limit, my faith in her has never been misplaced and we have managed to emerged in more or less one piece respectively. Sometime, I wonder how she would have done without me. Sure she is more than capable of taking care of herself, but one can never be too sure if one lives a life like hers. After all, I did kind of save her life when I helped her garrote the batty self-proclaimed villain that was out to kill her.
Life with her is like living with a whirlwind that knocks you off your feet faster than you can say," Crabsticks". So really, it was not much of a surprise that when she finally me them, she brought chaos along with her. In the few moments that they met, the first nearly managed to dispose her, the second did injure her and the third swept her off her feet, literally. The latest batty villain was hot on our heels and the three of them had unknowingly invited themselves into our whirlwind lives when they decided to bundle her away in their car despite all the talk about her. Suffice to say, she was not a happy woman.
Deep down inside, she was still a woman, a lonely one who had lost everyone she cared for and was not ready to do so again. But a little well-meant prodding never did any harm and so me being the wonderful partner, decided to play matchmaker for her as well. It took forever to get her with the right one, between all the attacks that we had to dodge and the wrong signals that the other two were sending but in the end, it was all worth it. The third guy finally found some courage to ask her out, although between you and me, I thought that his wings were impressive enough to do the job. Boy was she on cloud nine when he did so and I have to say, a smile really does suit her face better than her usual frown.
But really, she never does get a break and maybe she was tired of the whole running from people out to get her life. So she finally put her foot down and stopped running. Instead, she went after the one person who had been chasing her, her uncle. Although he sent various people after her, each one different from the other, she was not a person to be easily hoodwinked and she had know all along that it was her uncle who was after her. She left them one day with a note saying that she would eventually return and disappeared from them, bringing me along with her. Although I tried telling her how foolhardy her plan was, the stubborn girl did not listen to me. That was how she found herself in this current mess, trussed up all ready for her death.
Of course she would not be herself if she did not at least try to escape from this predicament so here we are three hours from death with her trying to cut the ropes binding her hands and me cheering her on since I am of not much use in such situations. I would say we were doing pretty well since she had cut through the ropes by then and was working on her feet but luck is never on our side. No sooner did she start to untie her feet, Lover-boy decided to bust in hero-style to rescue her, dragging along much unwanted attention. Immediately, she pulled him down as an arrow flew pass his head. They knew he was here of course. Suddenly, escaping this place had much more at stake since Lover-boy was more of a liability than an asset. We came up with a sketchy plan and as dubious as it sounded, it was the best that we had. There was no room for mistakes.
Everything went according to the plan and miraculously, none of the baddies noticed Lover-boy's conspicuous wings or his occasional cussing. All was smooth sailing, or as smooth as it could get when a few hundred trained soldiers were after you, that it until we reached the wall. As dumb as it sounded, she tripped and the soldiers caught up with us, just as we were about to scale the wall. We were surrounded and had no choice but to fight. Surprisingly, Lover-boy could fight and pack quite a punch, but despite our combined efforts, it was still not enough and everything that she and I had ever fought for came down to this moment, the moment between her and her uncle. But more than that, it also became a choice between me or her Lover-boy. Seeing him with a knife at his neck, she knew her uncle would never hesitate to kill him and in that moment, she made her choice. She chose him.
Drawing her last arrow, she sent it flying straight to her uncle's neck faster than one could blink. Her uncle's mouth let out a strangled gasp as the knife clattered to the floor. In that moment, some dumb fool tried to grab her but was met with a resounding crack on the head by her bow. Even without the arrows, her bow was still a lethal weapon in her hands but not everything last forever. Edging towards the wall with the bow between her and the blade of thee soldier, she felt the pressure increase and just like that, her bow snapped in half. Dodging aside, she flung the remaining pieces of the bow at the soldier, knocking him out and scaled the wall with her 'rescuer' behind her. His wings finally snapped into action and both of them landed on the other side safely. They left the place without further mishap and joined the two guys who were waiting. They never looked back.
***
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if she had chosen me instead of him. Sure both of us might have somehow managed to escape without Lover-boy and I would still be with her, but who am I kidding? I have been with her for far too long already and I knew that my time was already up. Whether she chose me or not, I would not have been with her for long anymore. So in the end, it was more of a choice between her heart or mind. To save him or not to save him. But I have never grudged her for her choice nor resented it because she is a tough one and I know that she will still survive it no matter where she goes. I respect the choice she made, because I never did have much say in her decisions.
After all, I am just her bow, a weapon to be used by her.
