A Perfect Day III

"My friend… It seems I missed a lot while you've been relaxing." I hear a familiar voice call out, causing me to look up from the ground to see Faendal standing at the side of the camp with Camilla, Constance, and all the children from the Riften orphanage.

"Hey, Papa's here! Let's get him too!" Hroar shouts before dog piling on top of me, prompting all the other children in the camp to do the same.

Buried alive by children, I feel the wind squeezed out of me as I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Children! Off of Mr. Malborne right this instant before you smother him!" Constance orders the children much to their displeasure.

"Are you okay, my friend? I would have helped, but your horde is just too… Terrifying…" Faendal says with a shudder as he helps me up with an outstretched hand.

"You say that, but you're going be starting your own horde soon enough." I tell him with a smirk.

"I think a horde might be too much, though I could definitely see having two or three little Camilla's running around." Faendal says as he squeezes Camilla in his arm, causing her to blush.

"Oh, stop it. You know you want a boy." Camilla says with a roll of her eyes.

"All I want is to hold our beautiful children in my arms, and with you, that's a guarantee." Faendal says with a smile as leans down to kiss Camilla.

*Gag, cough, cough.* "Erm, sorry, I think your adorableness gave me indigestion." I say after clearing my throat.

"Well, my friend... Deal with it." Faendal says before going down to kiss Camilla once more, making me roll my eyes.

"Alright, lover boy, did you actually come here for a reason, or did you just want to flaunt your happiness?" I ask him.

"Can't it be both?" Faendal smirks before continuing, "But seriously, I just wanted to see how things were progressing here and to catch up... This place looks impressive, I may just build our house here."

"Well, you're welcome to. This is meant to be the home away from home for everyone in the company." I tell him with a smile as Inigo comes up to us.

"Ah, Faendal, what are you doing here? Have your archery skills degraded to the point that you've asked to retire to prevent shaming yourself in the next battle?" Inigo taunts smugly.

"No, I can still knock the fleas off your furry hide with one eye closed." Faendal quips back.

"Oh, yeah, how about a friendly wager?" Inigo challenges.

"What did you have in mind?" Faendal asks with interest.

"Simple, I bet 100 septims that I am the better shot. And for every shot one of us makes, the other has to copy it. Whoever misses first is the loser." Inigo proposes with a smile.

"Deal, hold my money." Faendal agrees before tossing a bag of coins into my hands.

"Take mine as well, my friend." Inigo says before tossing another bag to me.

"Hold on! If we're doing this, we're going to make an event out of it." I say, causing them both to look at me in confusion.

"Everyone! We're having an archery competition! 100 septim buy in! Come one, come all!" I shout, calling over everyone from their work, prompting everyone to take a break and gather around the makeshift training area.

"Alright, everyone! We're here to have a friendly competition to see who is the best archer in the company. We have six contestants, the fearless Faendal!" I begin introducing the contestants individually, interrupted by the crowd's cheers.

"Next, we have the Ingenious Inigo! The Brave Benor! The Marvelous M'rissi! The Gruff Gringar! And last, but certainly not least, your one and only, Sexy Silvantus!" I declare with a flex eliciting a laugh or a chuckle from everyone.

"The rules of today's tournament are simple. Each person will start by hitting targets laid out, the best shot will lead the next round. The worst shot will be eliminated. Now, let's get started!" I announced as the crowd cheers.

"You can do it Papa!" My kids shout in unison, cheering their little hearts out.

"You have this, my love!" Camilla shouts for Faendal.

"Kick Silvy's perky little ass, Whiskers!" Sophia cheers for M'rissi while taunting me with a smirk, making me roll my eyes and M'rissi to blush intensely before calming down to practice her draw.

"I know you will win!" Lydia cheers for Inigo, though no one seems to be cheering for Benor or Gringar, causing Benor to frown, but it doesn't seem to affect Gringar at all.

After the well-wishing and cheers of the crowd die down, we all take up position at the archery range.

The first round, everyone was able to hit the target's bullseye, except for one, granted it took me and Gringar a moment to get our aim perfect, but poor Benor.

As he pulled his arrow back, the bow came loose in his palm, causing it to snap backward, whacking him in the head and sending the arrow off into a nearby tree, completely missing his target.

"Damnit! That fuckin' hurts!" Benor shouts as he rubs his face, which has a comical red streak across it.

"And our first elimination, by self-knockout, is Benor!" I shout as the crowd cheers, and Benor leaves to go and get a drink before lying down.

"Alright, now begins the fun part of the competition! Faendal will go first, declaring a target before hitting it, and we will try our best to hit it. Those who miss will be eliminated; those who hit it will go to the next round and then have a chance to make their shot that we have to replicate. We'll do this until everyone is eliminated. Everyone got that?" I announce the next stage of the competition, causing all the contestants to nod in understanding.

"Then take us away, Faendal." I tell him as he smiles.