Trait

Iris

“What took so long?”

Colin was waiting for them just inside the doorway when they returned. Iris watched as he took in the mark on Aerowyn’s neck and immediately launched into a slew of questions.

The interrogation-like barrage kept coming until Colin noticed the weary expression on Aeroywn’s face. Iris had noticed the increased strain during their uneventful journey back, although she hadn’t wanted to pry. She understood using his Trait must be exhausting, especially when he must have still been depleted from using it during their escape just the night before.

Walter came out from one of the hallways leading deeper into the abode, wringing his hands through a cloth stained with different foods and liquids.

“I’ve made food. Tell us what happened over a meal.” He said, gaze scrutinizing Iris and Aerowyn alike.

“Still keeping up with that droll hobby?” Aerowyn asked as his shoulders dropped. Iris watched as his features changed back, hers probably doing the same even though she felt no different. She wondered if she would experience that same exhaustion when she figured out her Trait.

Walter grinned, “Soothes my already frayed nerves. I still worry about you, Aerowyn. Come on, let’s eat.”

They relocated into the dining room, a plate set out for each of them with some thick meat and sides Iris couldn’t recognize. The smell alone was enough to spur her forward into one of the seats, where she started eating with abandon.

Aerowyn was more reserved, taking little bites here and there as he explained the success of his alternative method in using his Trait. When he got to the part about Milo and the other Oathbound, Iris could see Colin’s hands clench in frustration. He must not have been hungry either, as he left his plate of steaming food untouched.

“I should have gone with you.” He interjected.

“It was easier with just the two of us. Adding you would have drained me even more than I feel now.” Aerowyn explained.

This didn’t seem to appease Colin, his eyes still charged with annoyance.

“Besides, you had your own task to see to. Have you settled on a weapon?” Aerowyn asked, changing the subject.

Iris perked up at this, her desire to be able to protect her own allowing her to look forward to Colin’s answer.

“I’ve got a few in mind, but we will have to do some testing. You two were gone so long I had enough time to set everything up in the courtyard.”

Aerowyn relaxed at this, “Good, once she’s done, do what you can. We can’t trust we will be able to figure out her Trait in time. I’ll take this time to recover, wake me at your own risk.” He chuckled, the last part directed at the Patriarch who nodded in response.

“Colin.” Iris mumbled through her mouth filled with mashed food.

He looked up. She jerked her head towards his still uneaten plate. It took a moment, but he came to the realization of her unspoken question and pushed the plate towards her. She gleefully grabbed it and started working on making the food disappear.

***

Belly full, Iris was escorted by Colin to the courtyard.

Unsurprisingly, the courtyard was just as barren of ornamentation as the rest of the residence. It was placed right in the middle of the house, creating a square shaped foundation with walkways both bordering and running through the grassy courtyard. Pillars gave the roof above some semblance of structural support. A few trees were planted here and there. Their upbringing was obviously more rich than what Iris was given, the branches lush with a flowing vibrant green, so dense they gave the perfect amount of shadow to the grass below.

Iris surveyed Colin’s impromptu setup of equipment, observing a few humanoid shaped wooden dummies, a cube with concentric circular rings painted a few different colors, and a small rack of weapons.

“I talked to Blythe, he showed me their storage of training equipment and weapons. We can try out a few things, see what you’ve got a knack for.” He said, inclining his head towards the weapon rack.

“How will I know what I’m good at? What am I supposed to do, pick the one that feels right?” she queried.

He laughed, an oddly pleasant sound, “No, you’re going to pick a random weapon, and then we will see how you do. I personally think you’ll probably do best with a shortsword if you two-hand it, maybe a pair of daggers. We’ll just have to see though. Go on, stop stalling.”

“I’m not stalling.” She mumbled quietly as she made her way to the rack, shooting him a glare he didn’t react to.

Iris studied the weapons hanging from the rack. There were small daggers with blades about as big as her hand, a sword not dissimilar to the one she’d killed that Broken with. Yeah, she was going to pass on that one. She ran her fingers across a bow that she deemed to be about the size of her torso in length. After seeing the rest of the choices, most of which Iris was confident she’d be unable to wield due to their sheer size in relation to her, she grabbed the bow.

A quiver was leaning on the side of the rack which she grabbed as well, a few arrows with their fletching peeking out of the opening. Its weight was lighter than she expected. Iris pulled on the string a few times to test the flexibility and draw strength.

Difficult, yet doable.

“I’ll try the bow first, I guess.” She stated.

“Shortbow.” Colin corrected.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

Colin shook his head and directed her to a point opposite one of the targets with the concentric circles.

She made to grab one of the arrows, but Colin stopped her.

“Nope! First, let’s see you draw. Don't release it though—just hold it so I can see your form.”

She lifted and pulled back the string impatiently, releasing a startled grunt at how much strength she had to put into the pull. Meanwhile, Colin walked around her, adjusting her form slightly in different places. Her fingers were flagging, the string almost cutting into her thin flesh as her back muscles did their utmost not to flee from their tendons.

“Release.” He commanded, and she immediately let go so as to give her fingers the break they deserved.

Colin ended up giving her a few more pointers, such as how to properly time her breathing for more accurate shots or how to angle her wrist to take some of the load off her other muscles during the draw. Eventually, he was satisfied with her form and he told her to finally grab one of the arrows.

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“Nock.” He stated, Iris following his orders while she tried to recall all the pointers he gave her.

“Draw.” He continued. She did so.

“When you’re ready, release.”

She took a few calming breaths and filtered out the sensation of her raw fingers hugging the bowstring.

In…pause…out…pause.

In…pause—

She relaxed her fingers, releasing the arrow.

THUMP!

That had to be it! It felt so perfect on her release. She looked at the center of the target for her arrow. Except, it wasn’t there. Half her wingspan to the right and near the bottom sat her arrow, barely lodged into the material.

“Not good, but not downright terrible.” Colin commented.

Iris was flabbergasted. How hadn’t that been dead-center?

“I don't get it,” she mumbled, “I thought that would have been perfect! I did everything you said…” She trailed off.

Colin laid a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. Iris wasn’t sure why he thought she’d be comfortable with that, mainly because of the beatdown he’d given her just a day prior. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender, which slightly alleviated her already high dissatisfaction.

“You were shaking. I’m not sure if it’s because you’re nervous—” He began.

“I’m not nervous.” Iris interrupted.

“Fine. Not nervousness…regardless, you were shaking and that’s going to throw off your aim. If everyone that picked up a bow for the first time could hit the center without trouble, there’d be no swordsmen in the kingdom. To be honest, it’s not bad, Iris. Keep practicing at it and you’ll get better.” He finished with a faint smile.

Iris stretched her back muscles as she spoke, “I—you’re right. I’m sorry. I was frustrated because I don’t want to be so weak anymore. That’s why I was shaking…probably. I didn’t have the best diet growing up as you can see.” She deflected the conversation towards a lighter tone out of embarrassment.

“No, Iris, I think I’m the one who should be apologizing. I know I did it back at the prison…and I think I was under the impression that would’ve made it better. I understand it’s going to take time for you to not see me as a heartless killer.”

Iris wasn’t willing to meet his eyes, uncomfortable with the situation already. She wasn’t in her element in times like these. Whenever she had a disagreement with Tar, they usually got through it with jokes and light teasing.

“How about we move on to something else? You can practice with the bow whenever you need. But you’re going to need a close-range option.” He said, thankfully subduing that discomfort she felt.

She nodded and moved back to the weapons rack. Colin had other plans though, and he grabbed a thin shortsword off one of the pegs.

“We might spend eternity here if we wait for you to decide what weapon you want to use. Use this.” He said, and spun it around so that the hilt was facing her.

Iris looked at it with trepidation, not sure if she’d be able to handle a weapon so similar to the one she’d used to decapitate an undeserving man, if only a bit shorter. “How about some daggers?” She asked hopefully, not making a move to take the weapon from Colin’s hands.

He shook his head, “Not happening. I know you might prefer to use something lighter, but proper meals and some training should put some meat on your bones. You’re using a shortsword, now take it.” He reasserted, still offering her the handle.

With shaking hands, Iris wrapped her hands around the handle. By the Mother, she did not want to do this. She could practically perfectly recall the sound of the man’s head hitting the ground. She felt bile start to form in her throat, threatening to break free from its confinements. She tampered down on it, not willing to lose her much appreciated meal from earlier.

That had been happening way too often.

Weapon now secured in Iris’ grip, Colin took a few steps back.

“Come at me.” He insisted, eyes getting that dangerous gleam like he had during the examination. Her breathing quickened, nerves taking a hold of her limbs.

“This isn’t me attacking you, Iris. This is your chance to let out your frustrations and anger and whatever else you’re holding in. I can see the emotions threatening to break from you. Now hit me!” He bellowed.

Iris allowed the intensity of her tightly controlled emotions to flow through her. Her limbs felt light as a feather, her mind slowing as a deep calm settled over her. She launched forward, blade held to the side as she closed the distance.

The distance between them was reduced to mere strides when Iris brought her blade around in an arc. Colin ducked low, the blade passing over him by a hair as he twirled around to her back. She made to turn around in a followup swing, but Colin’s hand pushed her from behind, causing her to stumble.

She found her footing, spinning back and flinging herself back towards Colin who stood there absent of weapons—just his arms out to either side as he welcomed her charge. This time, Iris decided to try and skewer the man, slingshotting her arms forward with the point aimed where Colin’s heart should be.

Right before the point met chest, Colin twisted to the side. Iris’ momentum was too great, and she couldn’t stop herself as she ran over his outstretched foot. She found herself twirling through the air for a brief moment, but reality caught up when her back landed against the slightly warm soil of the courtyard. She growled as she sat up.

Colin had barely moved from his initial spot, and Iris could feel some of her aggravation leaking through her calm mind. She got to her feet and decided to take a slower approach.

She placed one foot in front of the other, blade held at the ready as she moved in a slow circle around Colin, who just turned his body along with her.

“Nicely done, you’re starting to get the right idea. A direct charge will only work if you have overwhelming speed on your side. Maybe you won’t be useless after all.”

Iris didn’t rise to the bait, choosing to calmly close the distance as she made an attempt to assess his stance for weaknesses.

No weaknesses, as far as she was concerned. Even without a weapon, he still appeared menacing as he stood there in that same relaxed manner.

“Excellent! Don’t allow your emotions to cloud your judgment.” Colin stated as he tapped his temple. “Battles aren’t just two brutes swinging their weapons at each other. It’s a dance of willpower, strategy, and games of the mind as well.”

Once again, she came within striking distance and she sent out a probing strike. Colin leaned back slightly, the attack doing nothing to faze him as he stared at her calmly. What she didn’t expect was for Colin to lunge forward as she pulled back the strike. All of a sudden, his body was much closer than it had been a moment ago, and she could feel his breath tingling across her face.

She panicked, releasing a yelp as she jumped backwards. He was there a moment later, and his arm shot forward as he threw some dirt in her eyes. When had he picked that up?

Now blinded, Iris swung her sword madly and with no direction. Every so often, a light fist or open hand would meet her side or back, sometimes even her legs as Colin explained further. “Fights involving death are never fair. Use every single advantage you can get—whether that be terrain or verbal jabs. Make your opponent mess up.”

Iris was busy frantically trying to rub the dirt from her eyes while she endured the gentle beating.

She needed to see.

This dirt needed to be removed from her eyes immediately.

She needed to see.

She hated being without the most important sense in a conflict.

She needed to SEE!

Iris forced her eyes open with pure willpower, something shifting behind them and within her as she did so, and the world literally erupted in a kaleidoscope of color. She stopped what she was doing, just taking in the scene before her.

All around her were shifting particles and waves and gusts of energy. There were colors she couldn’t normally perceive, so strange yet beautiful that Iris wouldn’t have been able to describe them to anyone else if her life depended on it—which she supposed it did.

“Iris?” Colin’s voice was the whisper of the wind, faint and translucent in a way that had her feeling like she imagined it.

“Iris.” This time it was more forceful, more urgent.

She looked at him, and was blown away by the sight that greeted her. Running all throughout his body were streams of that same—

The colors faded away, the world returning to a dullness that made her think the world was the absence of color. It had been so stunningly exquisite, gracefully eloquent through color and beauty alone. Iris wanted to see it again. She wanted to face that impossible possibility and reimagine that true feeling of ever changing hues. How could she—

Iris’ head slammed against the grassy courtyard, darkness taking over her vision while a headache ravaged her mind from the inside. The last thing she heard was Colin’s pounding footsteps coming over as he howled for Aerowyn.