Thursday's training // ENG

Place: The forest outside the Tortilian Village
Time: 2 pm
Season: Late spring
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Lucy had been waiting for this day to come since she said goodbye to Fenrir the other day. She had gotten up way too early that morning, getting into her clothes and grabbing her bag, bow and quiver as she ran to the forest - closely followed by Charlie. She had gotten there around 8, which meant that by now she had been there for 6 hours, practicing her bow and arrow at a poor tree (although almost half of the arrows had missed - but at least she had gotten better by now). She knew that there would still be at least an hour before Fenrir would be there, so for now she had settled down and ate that small lunch she had brought, sharing at least half of it with Charlie.

And Fenrir... Was late. He was hiding in a small back alley from guards that'd heard rumors of him being a magician. Luckily no rumors about his black magic yet, but he really wanted to avoid being caught. It took two hours of careful threading and dashing between narrow alleyways, until he managed to run into the forest, coming to a halt in front of Lucy, breathing heavily and dropping to his knees from the exhaustion of running so fast.

Lucy looked at Fenrir with slightly worried eyes. She had returned to practicing her bow by then, but slowly lowered it before putting it on the ground and sitting down besides Fenrir. "Are you alright? You're late." she pointed out in a soft voice.

"The guards... They're on to me. Someone tipped them off that I 'might' be a magician..." he told her between pants.

She lost part of her smile and looked a bit more serious. "Can't you just deny it? They have no prove. I'll defend you." she told him.

"They want to drag me in for a hearing... Have you seen the lengths they'll go to, to draw out a confession?" he swallowed and sat down. "I don't know if I can handle such a hearing. But then again... If... If I go in there, could you hold on to my ametrine? Then, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to use my magic... And they'd have to drop their charges..."

"I haven't really been here long enough to understand those hearings yet... But yes, I'll hold onto it for you." she said, giving him a comforting smile - for once Charlie was actually staying quiet and not growling at Fenrir.

"Thanks..." he smiled. "I... Don't really dare to practice my magic today, not even out here, so.. You might as well get it right away." he found the string around his neck, and took off the ametrine, handing it to her. ( http://mineralcollecting.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/eb0510qamet2c.jpg )

She softly took it and held it in her hand, admiring it for a moment before she packed it away in her pocket. "I promise to take good care of it."

He nodded. "Will you go with me? I... I'd rather not face them all alone."

"Of course I'll go with you." she smiled.

"Thanks, Lucy..." he smiled and gave her a hug.

"You're welcome." she said with a smile as she hugged him back - though the hug made Charlie growl beside her and he even showed teeth at Fenrir.

And Fenrir turned his head to look at Charlie, furrowing his brows. "Stop that, will you? I'm not dangerous..."

Charlie still growled low as he sat down besides Lucy, sending Fenrir some mean eyes. Lucy just shook her head. "I'm sorry. He is just overprotecting, I guess... I think he just doesn't like it when you're too close." she laughed softly.

He had a nagging fear the dog saw him for who he was, though.

"Yeah, I guess so." but outwardly he was still smiling at her.

She smiled back and softly took a step back. "Do you want to see how good I've become with the bow?" she asked with a bright smile.

He smiled, nodded, and stood back up. "Show me."

She smiled and stood back up as well, grabbing her bow. "You better stay behind me, just in case." she laughed.

He smiled and did step behind her.

She smiled and got up an arrow. Soon she stood in the right position, taking deep breaths as she focused her sight on the tree a few feet away. She pulled back the arrow, trying to keep her arm steady, then slowly she let go, watching as the arrow shot through the air - and right pass the tree.

"Close," he commented, smiling a little.

"I swear I did it earlier!" she said quickly and got another arrow out. Once again she focused, pulled back the arrow, let it go slowly, and again watched it go right past the tree.

"Just relax. Don't stress over it, or you'll miss."

She nodded and took a deep breath. As she placed the third arrow then she closed her eyes for a moment, taking some deep breaths to calm her mind and steady herself.

He just smiled and waited patiently.

Another deep breath and then she let go, opening her eyes to watch the arrows movement - but pointless, because once again it missed.

"You'll get it. You're very close."

She sighed. "I could do it earlier."

"Well, sometimes you can on your own but not when someone else is watching."

She nodded and sighed, putting her bow down again.

"So don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll get even better."

"I hope so... But what if I'll always freeze around people?" she turned and looked slightly worried.

"Hmm... Yeah, that's a problem... You'll just have to get used to it, I guess."

Another sigh. "Then you better help me practice some more." she smiled at him.

"I guess so," he grinned.

She laughed softly. "Are you hungry? I have lunch for us."

"A little... I'm too nervous to eat that much."

"Just eat a little." she said and walked over to her bag, pulling out some sandwiches and handing one to him.

A small, grateful smile, and he began eating it.