Neteyam
"Again," The bow was placed in his hand again, and Kireyi walked off towards the tree and back, receiving the bow once more. She'd become adept in her movements, confidence building every time she pulled the bowstring back, which is exactly what Neteyam wanted to happen. He circled her nodding in approval, the last few times she'd drawn the weapon he hadn't needed to fix anything, "Nothing to fix, two more times Ma Reyi, you are doing good."
He made sure to reassure the girl, but he had been grateful she hadn't grown annoyed, simply placing her trust in his instruction. As she walked and took the bow again, she let her mind wander, "What will we be doing after?"
"You will focus on pulling the string back with an arrow next, same process as this but we wont be letting go of the arrow until you feel comfortable okay?" Her form was perfect once more despite her talking, but that was good. It meant she'd grown custom to the stance, able to multitask now even if it was something small.
"Alright, and after that?" He watched as she walked towards the tree and back, her final time to get into her stance.
"Then we will focus on solely shooting the arrow, once you become comfortable with that we will work on your aim," Her head looked at him in confusion, and Neteyam chuckled bringing his hand to her chin. Tilting her head back to look forward instead of at him he spoke again, "If we focus on letting you shoot the arrow first, aiming will be heaps easier."
Inspecting her for what wouldn't be the last time, he stepped away, "Here," Kireyi held out the bow, expecting him to take it.
"No keep it, walk to the tree with it in your hand, remember its weight and when you get back I will give you an arrow," Kireyi nodded, following his instructions.
"And will I get back into position? Just with the arrow this time?"
"Yeah exactly, don't worry about where you place the arrow just yet, take your best guess and then I will help you adjust," Leaning down he took and arrow out of the quiver, gently giving one to Kireyi.
She moved into position, struggling for a second to line up the arrow, but she stayed silent and calm, taking her time, "Is this good?"
"For your first time you did great," He stepped close, fixing how she held the arrow against the string, "Does this feel better?"
"Yes! I didn't know it wasn't supposed to be uncomfortable," She laughed a little and Neteyam couldn't help but chuckle.
"Your other hand is just fine, the only aim you'll focus on right now is your eye and the arrow. Move your head just slightly and your view should feel better too,"Neteyam made sure his touch was careful, moving her cheek near the tail of the arrow, he eyes just aligned with where it sat, "How is that? Tell me what you see."
"I can see the point of the arrow, it feels better," Her eyes were hard on the area in front of her.
"Good, you always want your eyes aligned with the arrow, it will make aiming easier. Once I step back don't worry about anything and just shoot." Kireyi softly nodded, and Neteyam backed up just enough to let her shoot the arrow. Though it landed far from where she had seemed to want it to shoot, it was good for her first try.
Kireyi turned to him with an embarrassed look, and he approached, taking her face into his hands, "What is it Ma Reyi?"
Her eyes were big as she stared at him, "It was so far off...."
"It is alright, it was better than most," He watched as Kireyi's eyes closed, nuzzling her cheek into his hand and it made him smile.
"Really? You are not just saying it so I feel better?"
"No I am not, I had almost taken my father out with my first shot, I can assure you it's okay," Her eyes shot open, and it was only a few seconds before she burst into laughter at his confession. Rolling his eyes he stepped away to grab the arrow as she continued to laugh, "Yeah yeah.... let's go again."
Having her shoot over and over, both noticed how much her aim improved over time. She had shot what could've been close to a hundred times, and finally she began to show herself tire. Neteyam watched her nose scrunch the moment she pulled back on the string, and before she could let go he lowered the bow in her hands, "What is wrong?" Her brows furrowed.
"I should be asking you that Kireyi, what is uncomfortable?" The bow was in his hands now, and she looked away for a second, discreetly hiding her hands.
"It is nothing, we can continue," With the way she nodded, it seemed as if she was trying to convince herself more than Neteyam.
His eyes squinted as he stared at her hands, the girl obviously trying to hide her fingers, "Show me."
When she proceeded to stay unmoving, Neteyam lifted her hands himself. Cuts and scrapes were along her fingers, and he could tell it was from the repetition of the string against her fingers. Slightly pressing on one to see just how bad it was, Kireyi hissed for a second pulling her hand back. Her eyes widened, "I- Sorry..."
Deciding not to embarrass the girl anymore, he walked away grabbing a few leaves, though he didn't know as much as his family or Kireyi when it came to medicine, he knew enough for small cuts. He took the thick leaf, using his blade to scrape along the top, droplets of liquid coming from the tiny cuts, "Give me your hand."
Kireyi walked towards him, holding it out. He wrapped the leaf around one of her fingers, tying it with the stem to stay in place, then he did the same with her thumb, "How does that feel?"
He watched as she wiggled her fingers, ease filling her face, "Hm, it feels better."
"Good, just leave it on until we get back alright? It's not a complicated ointment but it will ease the pain until we can get you one," He leaned down, swiftly taking the bow from the ground, "We'll stop for today."
"What? But I want to continue...."
"Nope, not today. We have so much time to teach you too, you've done so well today," He caught Kireyi's ears lower, almost childlike as she looked down in defiance.
"Fine...." She somewhat glared at him, and Neteyam only chuckled.
"We can come out early tomorrow if you want, but for now lets get your fingers healed so we can."
"Fineee...." She drew the word out long, as if to guilt him for making the decision, but either way she followed, heading back to the hut with him.
———
hey ygs! i think i am going to take a break NOT FROM THIS STORY. but my other one. i want to focus om this one and really get my detail back into my chapters, especially by making them longer too! i will still upload for my other story but it may be very random lol
YOU ARE READING
strong - neteyam x oc
Fanfiction"Don't look away from me," He moved closer. And she couldn't. Kireyi herself was like the water, if he pushed she would pull, he learned that if he wanted to be closer to her he needed to see how she reacted to his own "movements" just as if he was...
