All This Time

Archery

"Oh, Claude. I don't think I can do this..."

Byleth was mortified as Claude thrust the training bow into her hands. She was starting to regret telling him about her one weakness; clearly, he wasn't about to take no as an answer. She glanced it over; examining the condition of the bow. She didn't quite understand how this could have been labeled a training bow if it was built from Almyran Oak, but she wasn't about to question it.

"Yes, you can," Claude chided her, a stern expression on his face. She chuckled; she never thought she'd see the day where he was the one instructing her. He cocked his brow upwards, surprised by her laughing. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Byleth shook her head. "But Claude, I really don't think I can-"

"Yes, you can," He repeated. Claude's hands ran over hers as he instructed her on how to hold the bow, and a warmth seeped through her body. "Here. You need to grab the middle of the bow first, not the side..."

Byleth followed his instruction, still extremely confused. He nodded encouragingly, giving her a thumbs up.

"Alright, why don't you practice just drawing the string backwards?" He suggested. "Once you get the hang of that, then we can think about adding in an actual arrow."

"Um...okay..?"

Byleth tentatively grabbed the string with her right hand, pulling it backwards halfway. He chuckled and grabbed her hand gently, pulling it back towards her cheek.

"This will help you get more power."

"Ah..." Byleth could feel the tension in the string, as if it was about to break at any second. "Um, what do I do now?"

"Well, let go," Claude shrugged. "Just of the string."

All at once, Byleth released the string from the bow. She felt it snap forwards, vibrating back and forth from the extreme amounts of tension, and Byleth stepped back in surprise. Claude applauded her, a pleased look on his face.

"That was good!"

"Was it?" Byleth repeated the motion, feeling as if her little action simply couldn't launch an arrow. "Huh."

"Here," Claude handed her an arrow. "Try this."

He directed her hands in the right way, holding the arrow between her fingers and making sure it wouldn't fly out of her hands. Byleth was sure it would slip out from her fingers. She could feel the end of the arrow touching her cheek, and Claude's fingers fluttered over her hand to pull the string back further.

"That's it. Now aim your bow..."

Byleth moved her hands, but almost immediately, the arrow went flying as she lost control. It barreled into the ground a short distance away from them, with only the end sticking out as Byleth flinched backwards.

"Sorry," She felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment. "I just..it flew, and I don't really know. This is so much harder than holding any other weapon..."

"You're fine!" Claude grinned, a proud look on his face. Byleth had expected him to be disappointed for some reason, but he was taking it without any sort of issue....like usual. "A lot of power is good. I can't even see the arrow anymore.."

"I don't think I'm cut out for this," Byleth sighed. "Dad never really taught me how to use a bow, it wasn't exactly on his agenda."

"Oh, is that how you know how to do all of this?"

"Sort of," Byleth shrugged. "He started me off with a lance, and then an axe, but when I saw a sword...I was just in awe. He quickly realized I'm better off with a sword, but he did make me keep up to date on my hand to hand. I learned magic and healing here, though. It was because of Rhea..."

"Huh," Claude frowned. "I wonder, what is it that Rhea wanted from you...?"

"One day, we'll find out," Byleth sighed heavily. She saw his crestfallen face, and she quickly forced a smile on her face in order to bring the mood back up. "So...you're going to help me, right? I've got to at least hit the target."

"You still wanna keep going?" Claude's head perked up, a giddy look on his face, and Byleth nodded. He grinned. "Of course I'm going to help you. Okay, ready? Here's another arrow."

"Okay. This time, I'm going to get it right!"