𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. X pt. II

oOo

Only a few seconds passed before Felix draped his arm over Diana's belly, a silent request for attention, and Alice soon followed suit. So the three lay on their backs, small rounded stones slightly digging into their flesh, but they didn't care. The sunlight was warm and painted their eyelids red, and Diana lightly grazed her fingers up and down her siblings' arms, and the combination was enough to make them melt into near slumber.

"I miss my PS4," Felix commented sleepily, "and all my games. And all my cool clothes that got left behind."

Alice scoffed. "Boy, don't even get me started, and I don't wanna 'cause it's gonna make me anxious."

They stayed like so for a couple of minutes, enjoying the murmur of noise from the camp up the road, the screeches and calls of birds flying overhead, the quiet conversation of the women down the shore, and the water lapping at their feet, that is, until Diana's arms grew tired and she sat up, dropping the arms draped over her onto their respective owners' chest.

She crisscrossed her legs and let herself slump forward, and Alice and Felix reluctantly sat up as well. Felix stretched his lithe form and then leaned himself back on his hands. Alice sighed blissfully and turned her face towards the sky, eyes closed like a cat in the sun.

Her eyes blinked open very lazily and she turned to Diana. "You know what I was thinking?"

"That this is probably Trump's fault?"

"No, but holy shit."

"Right? But what then?"

Alice leaned forward. "I was thinking that... I really need this, this training. I mean, the two of you are taller and stronger than me," she admitted between clenched teeth, "and Diana, you got your weird-ass, magic-ass bow-thing. Unless I get me some badass sword or gun or some shit, all I got is this." She gestured down to herself. "So I really wanna learn how to use it."

Felix and Diana contemplated her words. The latter laid a hand on Alice's shoulder, which she shook off, but Diana persisted and rested it there again, heavily. "Okay, that might be true, but you got like, this really uncanny, unwavering hatred towards people and that sorta thing comes in handy, you know? As motivator."

Alice nodded, consenting. "That is true, I do hate people a lot," she admitted earnestly.

"How do you think pai learned this stuff?" Felix asked incredulous, deviating from the subject, "I mean, he grew up in a village, he's the son of a farmer."

"Yeah, but he moved out as soon as he started dating mami, when he was around my age, I think?" Diana explained.

"And he did that mandatory military thing when he was eighteen, so he probably learned something there," Alice added, and the siblings nodded, making noises of acknowledgment.

"Hey, you were saying about my bow before-"

Alice interrupted, "And you wanna use that as an excuse to talk about yourself."

"Shut up, yes, but shut up. I was gonna say that like, I have it and it's wirklich cool and shit, but eigentlich I don't really know how to use it? Like, I've never had time to practice or anything, you know? I don't have that skill set," Diana admitted sheepishly with a loose shrug.

Felix shook his head in dismissal, one eyebrow raised in question. "So? Learn it, practice. S'probably not that hard."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, how? I could be doing it all wrong. I've never done archery before. You know, besides Wii Sports Resort, but I was good at that."