Of Shadows and Swords (Chiarra)

Archer paused and looked at Lucius, then grinned and raised a hand. "I'll show you!" He declared, and made the motion of it with his arms above the water. "You have to do this, and kick your feet at the same time - watch!" Then swam off in a circle to demonstrate.
 
She tried to do it, but she was too scared to keep her feet off the ground for more than two seconds, afraid she was going to go under. "I'm too afraid," she said.
 
Archer popped back up nearby and tilted his head, thinking, then looked at Lucius. "Should we teach her to dog paddle? Just in case."
 
Archer shrugged, giving an I-don't-really-know sort of expression. "In case we stop to drink and you fall in a river or something? You don't want to be bathing with us around, do you?" He paused, grinned a little. "Well. . ."
 
She blushed deeply and looked away, biting her lip. "Fine," she said. "I'll try again." She hesitated. "What if I go under?" she asked, frightened.
 
Lucius shrugged a little. "We'll be right here, and you can do it where there's a place to stand, so if you go under you just pop back up. People usually float pretty well anyway."
 
"Alright then," she said and then went to do it again. When she was floating, she forced herself to stay afloat and not stand back up. When she was positive she wasn't going to go down, she was relieved and started moving her arms like Archer showed her and kicking her legs. She was moving, but not very fast. She laughed, happy that she was actually swimming. "I'm doing it," she exclaimed.
 
Archer clapped and sashed a little in the water when he jumped up and down. "Hooray! You're doing it!"


Lucius smiled a little. "Good job." She had horrible for,, but everyone did their first time. As long as he knew she wouldn't drown if one of them walked away, he was happy.
 
Soon, she was tired and stopped, smiling at the both of them. "Thank you," she said excitedly. "You know, I never would get to do this at home. I wouldn't get to do much of anything that I do now back home," she said, knowing that at least Lucius would understand. She was much happier away from the palace. Sure, she didn't have her riches, but she had more freedom to do what she wanted. She did miss her parents though and she still hated ruining Lucius's life, but she wasn't going to dwell on it like he told her not to. "You know," she said, "I may even get locked in my room just for having my hair cut."
 
Lucius' expression softened slightly at the mention of home, thinking of how she was treated there and what danger she would've been in, and what he'd lost. She was happy, and he was not, and he wasnt quite sure if it was worth it, but he could at least be glad for two or the three of them enjoying themselves.


"Oh, that's nothing to worry about!" Archer declared, grinning. "I'll show you how to pick locks later!"


Lucius slapped a hand to his forehead. "Archer, stop trying to corrupt everyone."


"But it's fun!"
 
She chuckled at the both of them, but the look Lucius had wasn't lost on her. She noticed, but again, there wasn't really anything she could do about it. He'd just get mad if she tried to apologize again, so she didn't say anything about that and just commented on what Archer said. "That's okay, I don't know if I want to go that far."
 
"But it's a useful skill!" Archer insisted, and Lucius kicked his feet out from under him so that he just dropped beneath the surface.


He paused in the few seconds it took for Archer to regain himself and pop up again, shrugging slightly. ". . . He deserves it."
 
Melody looked a bit concerned when Lucius made Archer drop underneath the water. She sighed softly and when Archer resurfaced, she said, "Maybe I can learn a different useful skill that doesn't deal with thievery." She thought a minute and then her hand shot up, pointing at the sky and she had a serious look on her face. "I got it! Sword fighting, or archery." That was something she would never get to do and it sounded fun
 
Archer spluttered a little when he was back up, but the glare he threw Lucius' way faded at Melody's suggestion and he hopped up and down again. "Oo! Can I teach her sword fighting!?"


Lucius sighed and ran a hand through his hair, giving Archer a push to the side. "I'll teach her sword fighting. You can handle archery." Lucius was a decent shot, but he knew Archer was better, and it was more difficult to hurt yourself when the weapon used projectiles facing away from you.
 
((Archer is so funny lol. Oh, and I listened to that music video, the one Archer was trying to teach her, it is pretty ^_^ ))


She smiled when they agreed she could learn both. "Yay! Now I won't be useless in a fight," she said smiling happily. Then she gave them an innocent smile before splashing the both of them and running away laughing.
 
((Isn't it though? :3 I love it))


Lucius winced when she ran away and just shook his head as he started to follow after her again, just in case and because continuing the game sort of helped him relax and forget. "No one said anything about you ever fighting anyone!"
 
She stopped and turned to look at him, pouting a bit. "What if you and Archer are off fighting a couple guys and some more guys come and then come after me. Am I supposed to just sit and wait for you to come to my rescue?" She splashed him again. 
((And me too ^_^ . Also, since her looks haven't been mentioned yet, I am going to go and change her picture))
 
((okey dokey))


Lucius, thinking of his response and having a perfect opportunity to demonstrate his point, threw up a shadow to catch the water, he moved it around behind him instead of getting rid of it immediately, and then made it disappear. "Who says I can't be in two places at once?"


Archer raised an eyebrow nearby, hands on his hips. "Who said I need help with only a couple of guys?"
 
((I changed it already. Hope you like it))


She sighed softly at the two of them. "Fine," she said softly. But she still thought her point was valid. "But I'm just saying. I should be able to protect myself just in case."
 
((Cute :) ))


Lucius frowned, but sighed and had to concede the point. "We'll teach you how to defend yourself. . . While praying nothing ever makes it necessary." There. Was that a good enough compromise?
 
(( ^_^ ))


"That's all I ask," she smiled and crouched beneath the water. "Can we go eat now?" she asked. They still hadn't eaten and all this playing in water made her really hungry.
 
Lucius paused, surprised, and finally just nodding after realized they hadn't eaten. He glanced at Archer and they both headed towards shore. "We'll have to dry off first. Maybe Archer can go and bring back something, since he'll be dry first."


Archer just grinned at them. "That's what you get for being a prude and swimming in your clothes."
 
She blushed when Archer spoke, but then thought of something. "Don't forget a blanket," she said smiling. She planned on having a little picnic by the lake. She grabbed a towel and started to dry off though, liking how much easier it was to dry her hair.
 
They all dried as best they could before just sitting around in the sun to dry off the rest of the way. Archer was dry first, and he put on his clothes and took the horse back towards town so he would be faster and have an easier time carrying things. Lucius rolled onto his back and laid there with his arms folded above his head on the grass, sighing softly. It was nice just being able to relax like this.
 
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