Flashback A Day Out

[Beshira]

Time Stamp: 76th of Summer, 507 AV

The boat rocked from under her as she shifted her balance, following the blurry figure under the water. Beshira had tied the end of her arrow with a thin cord that ran through and knotted around a small iron ring, fastened tightly to her belt. The fish was traveling achingly slow in close proximity to her; why she hadn’t thought of bowfishing before came as a mystery to her as she felt a grin spread across her face. This was too easy.

Sights pinned on her target, she released the arrow, feeling the line zip through her belt ring. The smile quickly escaped from her lips. Nothing but a splash. The fish had shot off as soon as the arrowhead pierced the surface of the water, disappearing before she could even blink at what had just occurred. This was absurd.

Letting the cheap vessel drift a little longer, she quickly came across another fish. Gritting her teeth, she felt her anger getting the better of her and she drew her arrow back to its full length, locking eyes with her target. It was doing the same damn thing. Moving around slow like, swimming dangerously close to her boat as if to mock her.

She let fly and the arrow cut through the water; all she could see was a haze of silver bolting away into the further reaches of the lake. Something wasn’t right. Did she miss? No. Her precision was spot on, she should’ve hit her mark. What was it, then? How did the fish escape without a scratch?

Beshira pulled the arrow by its cord, realizing something as it came halfway out of the water. The latter half of the arrow seemed to bend as it dipped into the lake, not only making it appear broken, but giving her the impression that it was higher up than it really was. This was true of any object that entered the water. Was this how the fish were fleeing unscathed? Pulling her string back again, her eyes glossed over the lake’s surface. It had to be. There was no mistaking it. The fish she was seeing was simply an illusion caused by immersion. New tactic.

It didn’t take long to find another fish. A carp. She wasted no time in preparing her bow, drawing the still damp arrow up to her chin, holding her breath as her eyes danced and darted with the movements of her prey.

What needed to be taken into consideration? Distance, definitely. It was much easier to skew your aim when something was submerged. What else? Depth. It was hard to tell how deep down the fish was, so she’d have to rely on instinct to cover that. Anything she missed? Angle. The angle she attacked from was relative to what she saw under the water. This rung true when she tried to fire on different sides of her boat. The swift movements were hard to catch, but she had a faint idea of where this was going.

The carp slithered about, this one keeping a fair distance away from her. She felt the strain of the bow, keeping it in place for as long as she could hold it until the opportunity flashed in her eyes.

There.

Beshira let go, the arrow spiking deep into the lake, emitting waves and waves of light ripples. Letting out a deep sigh, she reeled in the thread and set the dripping, fishless arrow to the side. She had missed again. This was going need some practicing if she wanted to hit anything underwater with her bow.

[Beshira]

Timestamp: 77th of Summer, 507 AV

Mind fuddled with increasingly vagrant thoughts, Beshira decided that she might take a stroll around to relieve some of her stress. She had not ventured far enough into the city to familiarize herself with the more commonly known locations and landmarks, wandering off into East Street without a second thought. Hardly anything sat in her pack after several strained hours of hopeless fishing, and what she had picked up would only last her for so long. Unless she drifted back into the forestlands, she’d never have any luck picking up anything that would satisfy her for more than a few hours. For the moment, she had left the bulk of her equipment sitting back in a nearby inn. Beshira took a fast swig from her waterskin, wondering if changes were actively being warped in her head as she continued to meander down the road. Had the housing always been so uneven and worked in such meager conditions?

“You look like a pretty lively young lady,” a voice said, a rough hand wrapping over her left shoulder. “Would you fancy a demonstration of what a real man can do for a fair bit of coin?” Without saying anything Beshira shoved his hand away and sent a gloved fist crashing into his face. He cried out in pain, stumbling backwards with his hands cupped over his nose, blood trickling between his fingers.
“Listen, you putrid swine,” Beshira snarled, slipping her knife from its sheath as she approached the bumbling scoundrel. “If you touch me again, I swear I’ll run you through with this!” she blared at him, waving the point of the knife in his direction as if her intentions weren’t clear enough. “You hear me?”

“Why, you brainless whore!” The man snapped, knocking the blade from her hand while her guard was down. Taken aback by the sudden show of resistance, she was in for even more of a shock when she felt his knee driving into her stomach, sending her falling right onto her back. He collected saliva in his throat and spit on her as she writhed, giving her a good kick into her side. “Just another bitch that hasn’t learned ‘er place, that’s what you are,” the man growled, giving her another sharp punt with his boot. “I’ll tell you something real good,” he said, feeling himself grinning. The smile quickly disappeared from his face when Beshira suddenly recovered and tackled him, albeit a bit inelegantly. Bolts of pain shot through her body, but it wasn’t bad enough that she couldn’t fight back.

“I’m just dying to know,” she rasped, pummeling his poorly guarded face with a rain of blows. She felt him grappling one of her arms mid-punch, a powerful heave to the side sending her tumbling off of him. She scampered to her feet and put some distance between them, scanning the ground for her weapon.
“This what you’re looking for?” the man beamed at her, dangling her hunting knife by its blade with his fingertips. He tossed it in the air and seized it on its way down, holding it with a reverse grip. “You just had to go out of your way and stir up trouble with me,” he said, wiping blood from his mouth. “You don’t seem to realize that you’ve wandered into Zeltiva’s East Street. If that by itself doesn’t get through your thick skull, your sharp little toy might.”

Beshira felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest, her hands shaking and her vision blurring. Am I going to die? she thought in a panic, a shiver running through her like a chain of electric jolts cutting through every nerve. My mother always told me it would be the end of me. My antagonistic, violent nature, my persistent habit of picking unnecessary fights with strangers. I should’ve listened. I should’ve listened to her. I don’t want to die. She racked her brain for everything she knew about survival and combat, but all that came back to her was a hazy static of distorted memories and thoughts. She tightened her hands into fists and cautiously circled him, watching for his every movement. I could run. I could run right now and be done with this for good. So what if I lost a measly little knife? That’s nothing. I’ll just buy a new one.

In direct conflict with all the logical reasoning that accrued in her mind as she surveyed what might still be salvaged from her situation, she let out a vicious roar and charged towards the armed man, lashing out with a kick that missed entirely, Finding a chance to strike back, he scored a cut on her forearm as she attempted to block a quick slash aimed at her throat. The pain stung far more than one might judge by the wound’s appearance, forcing her to withdraw her arm as she swung frantically with her free hand, hitting him in the gut. The knife fell from his hand and she quickly moved to grab it, putting the blade to his throat.

“I should kill you right now,” Beshira whispered, pressing the knife hard enough for it to draw blood. She bore into the man’s eyes, the terror clear in his stunned expression. He knew he was going to die, all hope and uncertainty draining from his face. She hesitated for a second, recognizing the fear as her own. Her familiarity with such perilous conditions had caused the same expression to be forced onto her own guise on too many occasions to count. She backed away a few steps in a daze, finally turning around without looking back. Some lessons she would never learn.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! Experience Points +1 Observation +1 Weapon: Shortbow +1 Fishing +1 Intimidation +2 Brawling Lores Water's Refraction Properties: Parallax Error The Danger of East Street Comments PM me if you have any questions.