Lucky Arrow

Whoa. An update? Haha, I know! I surprised myself!

I have school, but I'm going to try and update Running Away and finish up a chapter of Valiant (curse you, writer's block). The sequel to Another Way is being outlined! WHOO-HOO!

After that, I've got some more ideas. I have a tragic humor family fluff in mind for Red Arrow, a dark alternate ending to Bloodlines, and a whole other mess of ideas for other categories.

Oh, and a collab with SafirelV :D

Chapter Five

Training Troubles

Artemis pulled back the bowstring, her hand trembling slightly from the strain. She erased everything from her mind: crickets chirping, the trees rustling far off, the silvery-mountain guarding nearby, and focused on the oak tree. She even ignored Red Arrow, who stood stone-faced behind her, watching her every move.

Closing her left eye, the target seemed much clearer. Artemis let go, and the arrow flew in the air and lost itself in the shadowy forest. Artemis lowered her bow, frustration taking over. C'mon! Can't you get anything right?

"Try it again; keep both eyes open." Red Arrow murmured.

"What?" Artemis turned back to face him.

"Keep both eyes open. You shut your left eye. You lose half of your peripheral and direct vision when you do that."

Artemis raised her eyebrow, skeptical. "And put all my focus on my target!"

"Just try it." Red Arrow growled.

She rolled her eyes, turning around and reloading. The archeress pulled back the bowstring, tighter than before, her target still the oak tree. Her left eyelid automatically closed.

Warm breath tickled her neck, and she felt Red Arrow's presence come closer. Artemis tensed. At least he had the decency not to put his arms around her.

"Calm down." Gently, he lowered her elbow. Placing two forefingers on her right hand, he pushed until the bowstring wasn't so taut. "Keep both eyes open, and don't try to empty your mind to focus. Listen to everything." Artemis felt herself obey. Her left eye opened, the oak tree realigning itself. Crickets, leaves, waves, the Mountain, Red Arrow's steady breathing and her own heartbeat, filled her mind.

The feathers brushed by her cheek as the arrow flew past, burying itself in the oak. Yes! The blonde bit her upper lip in satisfaction. Turning around, she rolled her eyes at Red Arrow's smug smile. "That was, well, pretty cool. Who taught you that?"

The archer's smile left. "A friend."

Artemis sighed, wishing she hadn't asked anything. She tossed her bow on the ground along with her quiver. Taking a fighting stance, she shifted in the sand until she found good footing. "Alright now, your turn."

"My turn?" Roy narrowed his eyes. Like she can teach me anything useful. He knew that Artemis was going to be annoying. She asked too many questions and didn't stop to think about what she was doing. She just did it.

Artemis, staying in her fighting stance, nodded her head at his posture. "Yep. Sparring time, Sunset."

Roy snarled before bending his knees and taking an attack position, leaving his quiver on his back. If she punches me in the mouth, I swear...

"Wrong." Artemis clicked her tongue.

He straightened up. "What do you-"

"Stay in position!"

Snarling, the archer resumed his stance. A half-smile of arrogance on her face, Artemis' eyes flicked back and forth, taking in every detail and point of his bad form.

"Standing like that, it'd probably take me eight seconds to knock you out. Maybe less, but it's 3:00 A.M. and I'm tired."

Roy scoffed, narrowing his eyes.

"And why'd you leave your quiver on? Perk up your elbows, guard your chest. Bend forward, find good footing, so I can't knock you down." Artemis bit her lower lip, searching for more to comment on. "Oh, and always keep your eyes on my hands on feet. Y'know, so I don't mess up you face."

Roy narrowed his eyes, sighing before taking off his quiver. I don't like it. My quiver's always on when I'm patrolling. Like I'll have time to take it off before beating up someone.

"As a fighter, you need to be loose and free of distractions. Well, when you start out." Artemis grinned. "Later, you can put you quiver back on. When you can fight decently without it."

"Are you going to actually start sparring, or just keep insulting me?" Roy growled, his patience wearing out.

In an instant Artemis had ducked underneath his arm, pinning it back up against his shoulder.

"Agh!" The archer gritted his teeth to keep from crying out. What is she doing!

"Three seconds. Choose your move." The redhead strained to turn around, the corner of his eyes barely catching hers. She's serious. Snarling, he ducked his leg and tried to trip her. Instead, he ended up banging his foot against hers helplessly.

"Good footing is very important." Artemis' voice was thick with cheek. "You have an arm over here in a fist doing nothing! Remember what I said."

Roy felt as though a lightbulb had gone off above his head. She's got my left arm pinned, but I can fix that. He stopped straining against the blonde, hoping she'd go for the trick. Now I'll show you.

Artemis noticed Red Arrow losing his strength. "Aw, come on! Was that seriously all you had-" Her sentence was cut off as the archer spun around, wrenching his arm free. He swung his foot, throwing her off balance before catching her and gripping her in a headlock. "Now, Arty, stay free of distractions." His grin infuriated Artemis to no end.

"Lemme go!" She bit his hand. Let's see how you like this distraction.

"Ach!" He released her, shaking his hand in pain. "What's wrong with you?" Despite his mask, Artemis could still sense, with satisfaction, his pride-wounded glare. Shaking her hair out, she took her time before answering.

"That wasn't too awful." The blonde bent down and picked up Red Arrow's quiver, offering it back to it's owner. Roy stared at her with suspicious eyes. "Well, aren't you gonna take it?" Artemis placed her hand on her hip.

Reluctantly he took it and nestled it back between his shoulder blades. "We're done, then?"

"Of course not. Now we talk about what you did wrong." Artemis tossed her ponytail, flecks of sand scattering around her. "First, you let me catch you off-guard. Second, you didn't use your free hand like I told you to-"

"I'm left-handed." Red Arrow snarled, still rubbing where she'd bitten him.

"Let me finish. Your footing was horrible, and that can kill you." Artemis nodded with a grim expression at Red Arrow's raised eyebrows. "Having good balance is a critical thing in sparring." Artemis was warming up to teaching someone else what she'd been taught. "It's smart fighting."

The redhead narrowed his eyes, staring at the ground before facing her. After a moment he replied, "Do you always empty your mind before a mission?"

"It helps me focus." Artemis said without a hint of remorse.

"It only makes it worse. You have to be able to take in everything and process it." He brushed the sand off his uniform. "I think if you tried that with your fighting, it'd help."

"Oh, I'm sorry, then. I figured since, y'know, you're teaching me sparring skills, you'd be the one to win." Artemis rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

Red Arrow faced her, rage darkening his features. "I didn't come here so that you could teach me sparring. I came because you wanted to learn how to shoot like me." His smug grin seemed to wipe away his momentary fury.

Artemis' eyes widened in anger. "What is wrong with you? Did you get-"

"Shh." His voice sharpened by fear, the whites of his mask became thick circles. "Don't move. Behind you."

Roy felt his heart rate go up as he heard Artemis gasp. Does she have to be so loud! "Artemis, I need you to back away very slowly. Don't look at its eyes, keep your voice low, and no sudden movements." His voice came out husky and deep so as not to rile the mountain lion staring at them.

"That's a puma." Artemis' voice was little more than a squeaky wheeze.

"Quiet." Slowly, Roy reached for an arrow. The lion's eyes darted toward him. Flicking his ears, he let out a snarl, baring his yellow teeth.

"Arrow, what are you doing?" Artemis whispered.

"I need you to hand me my bow. I have a tranquilzer arrow that I can-"

Roaring, the lion pounced, his black claws unsheathed. Artemis found herself leaping in front of her archery mentor. "Arrow!"

"Move!" In a heartbeat, he'd shoved her aside and raised his arms to defend himself from the oncoming attack. Artemis was thrown into the sand, her breath caught in her throat as she looked back up.

Roy had gripped the lion's muzzle with his hands, keeping him from baring its teeth. His claws however, tore into the archer's chest. Roy cried out in pain. "Artemis! The tranq!"

Artemis' eyes shot towards the fallen arrow, inches away from her. She picked it up, staring at it and then the lion before running toward Roy.

"In his flank! Hit him in his flank!" The redhead yelled, struggling to maintain his grip on the lion's jaws. Artemis dodged the lion's claws and jabbed his hindquarters with the arrow. Thick blood seeped out as the lion roared in fury. He abandoned Roy and whirled around to face the blonde. Roy fell back on the sand, gasping. "Don't run! The tranq should wear it down."

Even as the lion glared at Artemis, she could see the rage in his eyes dimming. Snarling, he tried to lunge at the archeress. Artemis jumped to the side quickly, the lion falling face-first into the sand. Flicking his ears, he turned around slowly, unable to find his footing.

Sinking into the dirt in front of the archeress, the lion let out a final roar before collapsing. Breathing heavily, Artemis' eyes darted towards Roy, lying in the sand as tiny droplets of blood dripped down his vest. "A-Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. rookie." He stood up, wincing slightly. "But the last thing I need is for this wound to get infected."

"Marigold leaves, then?" Artemis sighed, feeling relief wash over her. We're okay. Neither of us got hurt. Thank God.

"And cobweb." He half-smiled before turning serious again. "First we have to get him off the beach though. If the tide comes in and he's still here..." Roy's voice trailed off.

Artemis' eyes widened. "Wait. You're actually considering saving that animal?"

"Not considering. The decision's already been made." He shouldered past her on his way to the sleeping mountain lion.

"Red, that puma just tried to kill you-"

"Because it was starving. Mountain lions don't come down to the beach for fun, Artemis." He glared at her, kneeling beside the big cat. "Life is valuable, you know. You can't throw it away because he or she was desperate and did something stupid." Roy's blue eyes bored through Artemis'. She knew that he wasn't just talking about the mountain lion.

The blonde felt something oddly warm creep into her heart at hearing the senior archer say that. "You're right." Artemis scoffed, kneeling beside Roy and propping up the lion's head. "Life is valuable."

Roy placed a hand on hers. "I was serious Artemis. I know not a lot of people believe in human goodness, but as a hero, you kind of have to. We're living proof of it."

Artemis looked back at him. "And we never kill."

Roy smiled, lifting up the lion's sleeping form with the archeress' help. "Never."

Well, this chapter came out of nowhere. Not a lot of plot, since this was mainly character development, but there is some story continuation. Will be a lot more next chapter, promise :D

Oh, and Running Away's next chapter will be up soon. In the process of writing it as you read :D

Thank you for waiting so patiently! Please review for faster updates!

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