Duality

part eleven

Mila knew something would have to change, and soon. Anna's frustration at their lack of progress after a week was palpable: if Mila didn't know better, she'd think the darkening sky was Anna's doing.

The bracelet started to slip down her arm and Mila pushed it back to just above her elbow, where she felt Anna wouldn't find it. Her collection of gifts had grown over the past few days, but thankfully not in terms of more jewelry. He'd left her a carving of a stag, which she'd dragged deep into the woods. The note accompanying it had been tucked into her hair.

Everything else he'd sent was smaller, trinkets from town, she assumed. A pretty gem, some kind of elaborate doll, and a piece of cloth that Doll had nearly eaten. They'd found a place with the stag statue. All of them were topped with notes, the most recent of which repeated the words he'd last said to her.

"When you're ready to tell me what happened that scared you, let me know."

"Are you paying attention?" Anna asked, interrupting Mila's thoughts.

She hadn't paid attention since day one. Yesterday they'd worked on creating fire with absolutely no progress. Today they were back to weather, which Mila thought she'd luck out on, with the approaching cloud.

"There's a cloud," Mila said with false enthusiasm. "I'm trying to send it this way."

This appeased Anna for the moment.

Mila knew she hadn't created the cloud, simply because she could envision the process. Siphoning water from the area around her, binding it together, mixing the air around... she'd done none of that. Anna didn't need to know that, though.

While Anna allowed her to concentrate, Mila looked down at the bracelet again. The gold always felt warm, alive. Mila looked up to the trees around them, wondering if Ashton was somewhere near. He usually dropped the gifts off while Mila and Anna went to train. Whether he knew it or not, that made getting the gifts more difficult.

Unfortunately, she had no way to tell him so.

Running her finger along the band of gold, Mila wondered when he would give up. She hadn't sent him anything or responded to his notes. For all he knew, she hadn't received any of this.

Except she knew the feeling of eyes on her, and she knew he watched. Whether from the trees or from the cusp of her senses, he was there. Aware of her. That's how he got away with giving her gifts so close to the hut.

"Well?" Anna prompted.

"Nothing yet." She kept expecting him to see Ashton in the process of leaving a gift one time, but so far he'd kept his distance. Probably for the best.

Loudly, Anna sighed and stalked to where she'd set the bow and arrows down on the ground. "Don't waste any more time. Let's try shooting."

When she'd suggested it the first time Mila had thought it was a joke. Obviously he'd learned his archery skills through time, not skill, like how Mila had learned to swim. Every day after training Anna had whittled, until Mila realized she was serious.

Serious enough to place the bow in her hands. "Uh," Mila said, accepting an arrow into her other hand.

"Well if it's part of his powers, you don't have it," Anna muttered as she stepped behind Mila. The gold band seemed to heat and glow on Mila's arm, about to give her away at any second. Thankfully, Anna's grip went to the bow, holding it upright. "Hands here."

Anna repositioned her with surprising efficiency. Mila had to ask: "You shoot?"

"I learned when I was little." Mila always wondered why Anna didn't still hunt with a bow: her hearing was good enough.