A Tale That Dawned [Book 4 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 23: Pursuit of Purpose

The crossbow bolt thudded into the center of the barrel with a light quiver, surrounded by a tight grouping of little holes from previous shots. Red, its shooter, was emotionless as she walked over, pulled it out of the barrel, and reloaded it into one of her small crossbows. When she was across the other side of the ship's deck, she leveled her two crossbows, aimed, and fired them simultaneously.

Two thuds and two perfect shots.

She tried with her back turned and firing after spinning around.

Effortless success.

She tried after rolling to the side and raising herself up one one knee.

Bullseye.

She stood straight, arms down, and then closed her eyes. She focused on remembering the positioning of her arms and wrists from previous practise shots and then went through the actions slowly. She listened to the hush of the wind, the creaking of the ship's planks, the billowing canvas, the snapping ropes, the chatter of the crew, the waves crashing against the keel and hull, the thud of boots on deck, and her own steady heartbeat. She slowed her breathing, raised her arms, held her crossbows firmly, and swiveled her wrists to where she thought they should be. Then she gingerly pulled back her trigger fingers.

There was the snap of released tension, immediately followed by the thud of bolts piercing wood, and Red pursed her lips in annoyance at the hoots and hollering of congratulations coming from the crew. She had, clearly, succeeded. When she opened her eyes she was proven right.

Although she should be pleased with herself, she was only angry. She frowned, pursed her lips, and roughly shoved her crossbows into their holsters before stomping over to the barrel. She ignored the ship's crewmen praising her prowess and exclaiming their surprise and shock at the amazing shot. She didn't need or want any of that.

As she angrily ripped the bolts out of the barrel a hand fell on her shoulder, immediately stiffening her body. She brushed it off and turned, heading back across the width of the deck to where she had fired her shots.

"Red?" her brother asked, concern in his voice. "I was just going to say how great a shot that was. I had no idea you were so skilled."

"I don't need it, Robin," she replied curtly. "No matter what I do, what challenge I give myself, I always accomplish it."

Robin raised an eyebrow in confusion and let out a small laugh. "Yes, of course, being talented is such a terrible thing indeed. Gods, if only you were a horrible shot." When he saw that his sarcasm had done nothing to lighten the mood, Robin stood in front of Red, blocking her shot.

"Out of my way," she said, her crossbows leveled and ready to fire.

"No."

"Robin, get away!"

"Not until you tell me what's the matter. You've been irritable this entire trip and whenever I ask you about it you brush it aside. No more of that, Red. Tell me." Slowly, he raised his hands and grabbed her crossbows, gently lowering them and taking a step toward her. "I know I haven't been there for you as often as a good brother should be but I am here now, Red, so, please, talk to me."

Red looked away, feeling her wall of silence crack at the look in her brother's eyes. He only wanted to help but he couldn't. No one could help her, especially while stuck on this ship. "I'm fine, Robin."

"No, you are not! Where is the sister I grew up with? Where is the Scarlet that would make the whole family laugh or the one that could keep up with, and often outshine, all the boys her age? I don't ever remember having a brooding, secluded, and angry young woman for a sister. What happened?"

"Life happened," was her quick reply. "People change, Robin. Now stop pestering me!"

"Pestering?" he asked with a frown. "I'm trying to—"

"Help! I know! I know you're trying to help but I don't need it! All I want is this stupid ship to get us to Midae so we can reach Princess Mary. I'm tired of having nothing to do here."

Robin sighed and waited a few moments before speaking again. "Being on a ship can get boring. I know what you mean, Red, but—"

"You have no idea what I mean, Robin." With that, she holstered her crossbows and hurried below decks, leaving her brother behind. She found Bigbad laying in the cargo hold, his heading lifting up at her approach. She sat down beside him and lay against his side, giving his leg a few scratches.

Bigbad hates it here too, she thought to herself. The captain and crew of this sluggish chunk of wood are too scared of him to let him run around the deck. He's bored too, like me. Midae can't come fast enough. I just want this to be over already.

Red lay there for a long while, her mind wandering. It brought up images of Selvina, Jack, and Belle and her chest ached remembering them. Cindy's absence was just as painful as her ship was within sight and yet she was completely unreachable. Red had only been separated from them for a few days, maybe a week, but thinking of them pained her nonetheless. She hoped Selvina wasn't as bored as she was and that Belle was doing all she could to keep her occupied.

She's not the most patient of people, she thought with a smile. She's loud, opinionated, stubborn, but also loyal, brave, and strong. Red thought back to her first meeting with Selvina and how scared she had been of everything. She had been terrified of getting anywhere near Bigbad. She had balked at the idea of going on a ship with Captain Hook. She would get sick at the sight of violence. Now, however, she was slaying basilisks, holding her own in sword-fighting, and revealing to everyone that she truly could be the one to save Faeryum.

Red wondered where Selvina would be if she had never wandered upon her in the Old Forest. Would some highwayman or brigand have found her instead? Perhaps she would have been captured by Grandmother and her dim-witted sons and that would been the end of it. She would have come to Faeryum only to die within minutes. No, that couldn't have happened.

Surprising herself, Red thought of the gods, something she rarely did. Lancelot, who was somewhere on the ship chatting with the crew, had spoken to her about Faeryum's gods and Robin had been more than eager to add his input, being the self-proclaimed historian that he was. Red wasn't ignorant to the gods. She knew of the Thirteen and the Four and the Forsaken One but she had simply not given them much thought before. Could they perhaps be directing this whole adventure? Perhaps they had made certain that Selvina would enter Faeryum at the same moment Red would be traveling into the Old Forest in search of Grandmother and her sons. Perhaps they had also ensured that Selvina would board Jolly Roger, where she would meet Hook and Jack. Maybe they had given Bigbad insatiable hunger to force Hook to dock in Kenmard for extra food and supplies. There, they could have placed Cindy in the same alley she and Selvina had walked into to avoid the crowded streets, snapping another link of friendship together. And then they threw in Peter Pan, forcing Hook to battle him, damage his ship, and veer off course and dock in Our Lady, where Belle was discovered.

"Then she went to Wonderland to find Wendy, Goldi, Rapunzel, Snow White and Tinkerbelle," Red thought aloud. "But so much doesn't fit. Where do Goldilocks, Rapunzel, and Wendy fit into this? Snow White found her home on Skull Island so her journey is over, or at least I think so... The other three are going home, to safety. Is their purpose fulfilled too? What did they do for the betterment of the world? Rapunzel helped Selvina defeat Peter Pan, so she at least did something noble. Wendy also helped in the Battle of New Avalon, so maybe that was her purpose. Was Goldilocks' purpose to get routinely mutilated? What in the Abyss is mine? Why am I not with Selvina?"

Red groaned in frustration and looked up at the wooden boards above, frowning, her face heating with anger. What were those gods doing? Were they simply playing with everyone's lives as if they were toys? What point was there in that?

"Give me a purpose, so-called all-powerful gods," she muttered angrily. "Anyone can deliver a bag of water to a princess. I could be keeping Selvina company and improving her fighting skills. I could be patrolling the New Avalonian borders with Bigbad. I could be doing anything else! Show me what it is you want from me!"

And so they did.