Athenian Arrow

Chapter II

Alexi's heavy panting is the only sound Andreas hears amid their running. Assuming the reasoning behind Alexi being an archer is because of his lack of stamina. At least one of them is good for running, he thinks.

Looking over to Alexi to see if he's alright, Andreas notices a bead of sweat from his forehead running down his temple, wetting his porcelain skin. If porcelain statues could sweat, they would look like Alexi.

When they reach their destination, Andreas looks around to see a small wooden cabin. That must be the cabin where they stock some of their weapons. A huge field surrounds the cabin where the soldiers train to fight. There are targets on trees, spare arrows on the ground that people can't be bothered to pick up, and the faint smell of bark that has been split by arrows that haven't quite made the target. He turns to Alexi, "This is where they are?"

"I believe so." Alexi gives him a sarcastic smile while Andreas shakes his head in response to his obvious question. "Come with me," Alexi says nodding his head towards the wooden cabin.

Walking up to the door, Alexi checks on his left and right to see if anyone is nearby. There is no sign of other Athenians aimlessly walking by so they slowly creak the door open. Andreas walked in first while Alexi held the door open for him once he realized no one was inside. The smell of bark from earlier is replaced with the smell of metallic swords. The swords are all lined up on one side of a wall and bows on the other side while arrows are upright in baskets. Spears are off standing in the corner of the room. The cabin only consists of weaponry. Alexi's voice breaks the silence, "Look around and take what you may need." Alexi's smile was kind after he spoke.

"I'm starting to feel guilty," Andreas chuckles but it's more nervous than anything.

"Don't be. Just think of it as the gods blessing you with this opportunity." That is one way to look at it.

Alexi's words persuade Andreas to find what is best suited for his people. He grabs more spears than he should but Spartans are known for being barbarians. He looks at the swords next. He picks up a sword and inspects it, sliding his finger across the blade. The swords are different in Athens. They pay more attention to looks and detail while the Spartans look for accuracy and performance. The handle of the Athenian sword has designs, preferably the Greek Key. The blade is welded to perfection giving it a clean, sharp look. Alexi's voice distracts him from admiring the sword.

"You're admiring the sword as if you haven't seen one in your life," he smirks.

Andreas chuckles. "Athenian swords are different. The designs and welding... the power it displays is... perfection." He pauses again, "Delicate even." Andreas jokingly smirks.

Alexi, understanding the joke, laughs and pushes his shoulder. "We Athenians may be elegant unlike you barbarians but that does not mean we're delicate," he smirks but there's a hint of a blush on his porcelain cheeks. "Do you fight?" He means sword fighting.

"The sword is my greatest weapon along with the spear. Unlike the spear which I was a natural at, the sword took a lot of practice for me to perfect and because of that, it became a good distraction," Andreas explains.

"A distraction from what?" Alexi looks at him expectedly.

Andreas looked away from the sword and up at Alexi with his body still turned to the side. "I'm not exactly a perfect person made by the gods. My home life made me rebellious," and Andreas would speak no further on the topic. Alexi decided that would be best.

Clearing his throat, Andreas resumes taking more weapons and decides to take a good amount of swords. He sets them off to the side in a pile on the ground with the spears and goes to the bow and arrows. "Not too many!" Alexi says it louder than he would have liked.