Athenian Arrow

Chapter VII

Andreas hears faint yelling coming from the deck which causes him to shift slightly from his resting place. The more coherent he's becoming, the louder the yells are to his ears. He opens his eyes quickly, realizing those are the cries of soldiers. The first thing he sees is a familiar pale face sleeping peacefully. Andreas hadn't noticed he turned towards Alexi in the middle of the night. The screams of fallen soldiers continue on the ship's deck so Andreas decides to wake Alexi.

"Alexi," he whispers only to realize whispering will not wake the Athenian so he tries again. "Alexi!" Andreas says louder though Alexi still does not respond to his word. How heavy of a sleeper is the archer? Andreas questions himself. He shakes his head while getting up and walks over to the wooden crate containing oranges. He grabs an orange and throws it at Alexi between the bars of the cell surrounding him. Hitting his forehead, Alexi presses his palm to where the orange landed while grimacing in pain. He sits up and notices Andreas standing, looking at him.

"That hurt Malaka!" He shouts angrily while rubbing his forehead.

"Some sneaky archer you are," Andreas huffs. "There's a war going on up there but pretty boy was too busy dozing off into dreamland." Alexi frowns at him but does not respond. "I'm going to see if my men inform me of any news. Eat that orange in the meantime," Andreas smirks then climbs up the ladder that leads to the deck.

Alexi's head still hurts. Andreas has a powerful throw, he thinks. He invited Andreas to sleep here and what does he get in return? An orange getting thrown at his face. Damn Spartans. Still, eating breakfast didn't seem like a bad idea.

...

Andreas reaches the deck to witness the bodies of Spartans covered in blood, spread throughout the deck. Arrows fly through the air, and bodies of water splash as the fallen soldiers sink to the bottom of the ocean. What could have happened this early in the morning?

Andreas rushes towards his father for answers who is throwing spears at the Athenian ship just like yesterday. "Father!" He calls out. "What is this?" Andreas showcases the scenery with his hand. "It's early morning." Andreas has a feeling this has something to do with his father and his fast approach.

"This is war son! We struck them as they were asleep. We need to end this fight quickly so we can take the beloved archer back to Sparta." Stefanos only spoke with a spear in hand and his aim in thought, never once looking at Andreas.

Andreas looks at his father with confusion, "isn't this rash?"

Stefanos finally turns to him with anger written on his face. "Aren't you the god of rashness?!" He yells louder than necessary.

Andreas understands exactly what Stefanos is trying to say. Kidnapping Alexi was rash. Going against orders was rash. Stealing was rash. Everything his father wished Andreas hadn't done was rash. Andreas was a good soldier, not a good listener and for that, Stefanos would never accept him.

When he notices that Andreas doesn't answer, he turns back to focus on the Athenian ship as if Andreas wasn't there. Andreas is fed up with his father's antics by this point that his emotions take over as he snatches the spear Stefanos had in his hands and with a battle cry hits an Athenian furthest away from them to show off. Stefanos isn't pleased with Andreas taking his spear but doesn't have time to voice his opinion as Andreas goes on a killing spree. Finding any spear he can on the deck and continuously throws them out of rage and anger. Andreas figures this does not help with the reputation Stefanos had just put on Andreas but he's too reckless to care.