Once Upon a Time. . . (on hold)

The Man in Green

After successfully hitting the bull's eye for the first time, I went downhill. I missed the target over and over again, sometimes the arrow didn't even reach the board. It just fell right in front of it. The other students were starting to arrive, so the instructor had to watch them as well. Then a man in green told us to stop shooting and started calling our names one by one. I sat on the grass, crossing my legs together.

"I'm going to fail on purpose."

"What? Why?" I asked my friend Emily. "Because I don't like archery."

I frowned. "But you're really good at it. Plus I don't think the instructor's going to let you." I turned around so I could face Emily. She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Like I care about what he thinks."

"But he knows you're good." She played with a withered grass and plucked it out. "But he's not the one who's going to grade me. It's the man in green." I got up a little so I could see what was going on. The person who was sitting in front of me moved his head to the left to make it easier for me. "The one judging our combat skill wears red, the one judging our archery skill wears green... And I want to know what color the one who's going to judge my knife throwing skills wears. The point is, I want to move on."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm not going to stop you. It's not like I'm going to make it anyway."

The line started to move. I dragged myself forward, scooting my butt against the dry soil. The line kept moving forward until I was sitting on the front of the line. The man in green gave who was previously sitting in front of me a bow and five arrows. The boy took them confidently, setting four arrows down on the square haystack. I watched the arrow nail itself on the center of the target. The man in green nodded a little, managing a straight face. I could tell the boy was starting to get nervous, because he took longer before he sent the second arrow flying on a different target board to his right. The arrow landed on the middle again, but it was slightly bent down. It didn't stick itself as well as the first one did.

He left the field and gave me a relieved, proud smile. If I were him I would be proud as well. He got all the arrows on the center of the board. I heard soft claps behind me. Soft, but they were all it took to make the smile on his face grow even wider. The man in green and my instructor, who were standing next to each other, didn't look impressed at all. I understood that they were good, but the instructor should be relieved that one of his students did well. I felt a small lump form in my throat.

If they weren't impressed about his performance, what would they say about mine?

Emily gave my back a small pat and wished me good luck. I got up and walked to the field, greeting two pairs of intense looking eyes. I took the bow and five arrows from the man in green. I shakily brought them along with me and like the boy earlier, I set the four arrows down on the haystack. I tied my long, red hair into a small bun, so I wouldn't have to worry about my hair slapping my face around due to the rather strong wind. I took a deep breath and closed my right eye as I tried to tame my hands, which were shaking around and around like they had 10 cups of coffee. I pulled the string, expecting a thud, signalling the arrow's successful travel towards the board. But I must'd set the arrow at the wrong position, because the arrow fell right in front of my brown shoes. The man in green stifled a small laugh before telling me to take the bow and the remaining arrows to the next target board to my right. I pretended to wipe 'sweat' from my forehead when I was actually giving my head a small hit to punish myself. God, if he laughed, I must've looked really stupid.

'As if I don't look stupid enough already, wearing a set of clothes that don't even go well with each other with a small messy bun on my hair which looked like a horse shitted on my head and I dyed its poop red.

I knew they weren't going to choose me, but why was I so nervous? I looked at my instructor and saw him nodding a little. As usual, his face didn't show even a bit of expression.

I suddenly remembered the small 'conversation' we shared earlier. Maybe I wasn't doing this for myself after all.

'You think too much. Just relax and shoot,' his voice echoed in my head. I shook both my hands to get rid of the sweat and took the bow and an arrow. After I made sure I positioned the arrow correctly and I was focused, I pulled the string for the second time. A huge wave of relief shocked me when I heard a thud. As far away from the center it was, at least the arrow reached the board this time.

In the end, two of my arrows hit the bullseye, two of my arrows nearly hit it, and the first one didn't even touch the board. My instructor smiled a little and gestured me to leave. I felt my heart leap and returned his smile with mine. Emily gave me a thumbs up and got up from her sitting position. She pulled me before I could continue running to Snow. "I don't think I'll be seeing you at knife throwing lessons then." I wished her a good luck, even though I knew she didn't need one, especially since she wanted to fail on purpose, and got up on my horse. When I reached my home, I put Snow into my stable and gave her some food and water.

"How was it?" My mother asked when I entered the house. I placed my shoe neatly beside a brown 'welcome' rug. I shrugged. "I didn't do that bad. He likes the cake, by the way."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

I looked at my mom. 'What? You wanted to poison him?' Of course, I didn't say the joke out loud. I just wanted to make things less depressing for myself. A sickly, worried look was plastered on her face. "Mom, they won't pick me, don't worry." My mother placed a hand on my shoulder. "Good, because I won't let them take you away from me. You're the only one I have left."

Earlier on the field my heart leaped higher than it ever did that I could've sworn I felt it jump all the way to my throat. But now it sank. It didn't stop when it reached my chest. It kept sinking deeper and deeper till I felt it swimming in the acids of my stomach. In conclusion, it pained me a lot that I think I'd rather it be literally burnt by my stomach acid. I gave her a short hug and went to my room. The sky outside the window was already orange. It wasn't going to be long until I'd be called to eat dinner.

I knew they wouldn't pick me, especially since I was sure a lot of them did great, but I should've messed up a little more, just in case. Maybe even drop...all five arrows. The hell about what my instructor would think about me. I would never have to see him afterwards anyway.

No matter what I did, someone would always get hurt by it. I wish I didn't have a heart so the fact wouldn't bother me so much.

I didn't want to leave my mother. It already sounded so wrong saying it in my head.

Maybe not this time, but I knew I'd eventually have to leave her to handle another threat, or perchance the same threat I'd deal with if I actually qualified by the man in green's standards. The teachers who worked on these divisions didn't just give out these lessons for free. We had to pay a price- a price that not even gold could afford. After all, why would my instructor and my previous ones bother coming early in the morning only to see us 'train for fun' or socialize. I was trained to fight, not to try and fit it because I didn't belong on the women's skills section.

I wasn't going to tell myself I wouldn't make it, but I wasn't going to tell myself that I would either. At this point, I knew anything could happen and I didn't have the power to change it.

My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts. I rushed out of my room eagerly and went to the dining room, hoping that some food would cloud my thoughts.

I heard they were going to give out the results from the man in green's judgment at night. I looked at the dish my mother prepared me, but I didn't feel so hungry anymore.

I hoped this wouldn't be our last dinner together.

A/N: HELLO EVERYONE XD like I said in the previous chapters, I'll update really really soon :). I'd appreciate the votes and comments! Thanks for reading, keep waiting for the next update! ;) I'm sorry for the errors if you happened to stumble accross any, because I'm in a bit of a rush and I'll probably start editing after a few chapters later.