Hunting techniques

When she woke up, Darren was nowhere to be seen. She yawned and stretched her body lazily. She slowly sat up.

'Maybe he has gone out to hunt,' she thought. There was a tray of food placed on the table beside the bed.

Athena smiled at his thoughtfulness. After she had told him about her illness, Darren had been much more gentler and caring. She did not waste anytime and began to eat. As usual, it was delicious. She began to doubt that she could leave this place if he kept on spoiling her like this. Life was so good here and a small part of her was unwilling to go back to the Robson's home.

But she had to go back. Little Snow was probably waiting for her. There was Thunder... Her clothes, money and medicine were there. She also had to find out who is the culprit behind her fall from the cliff.

After her breakfast in bed, she cleaned the house and washed the dishes. Soon, she was done and she did not have anything to do. Feeling bored, she decided to go out for a walk.

She left the little house and began to walk aimlessly. She hummed softly a song that she knew and hopped sometimes. Athena soon stopped at a river. The water gurgled gently. Athena's eyes lit up and went near it.

"Move away! I don't want you falling in the river because of your clumsiness," came a familiar voice.

Athena looked for the source of the voice to just find out that it was Darren. He was sitting at the river bank, staring at the water. He was holding a stick. There was a basket with a few fish in it.

"Darren, you are here!" Athena shouted excitedly and ran towards him. She sat down beside him. "What are you doing?"

"Fishing," he answered, still staring at the water. Athena raised an eyebrow questioningly. "With a stick?"

He nodded.

"But..."

"Shh," Darren interrupted her. She opened her mouth to protest when she saw a fish swimming towards them.

"Darren, look there..."

"Shush!"

Athena pouted and closed her mouth. She watched closely his every movement.

He just kept on staring at the fish and did not do anything.

"Darren, you..."

"You are so noisy!" He whispered. She was about to retort when he suddenly stabbed the fish accurately with the stick and took it out. He removed it from the stick and threw it into the basket.

Athena's eyes widened in amazement. "How did you do that?"

"Magic," he grinned.

"You are so amazing," she said, her eyes shining with admiration. "I want to try doing that too!"

Before he could even respond, she had already stood up and left immediately to look for a stick. Darren could only shake his head. This stupid girl... Did she think it was as easy as it appeared to be?

She was soon back with a stick. She sat down beside him. Her big eyes looked at the water in concentration. Darren stopped what he was doing and decided to watch her.

A fish swum towards her and she tried to stab it but missed. It immediately swum away. Time passed as she kept on trying clumsily but could not catch a single fish.

After a while, she threw the stick away in frustration and puffed her cheeks. "I want yours!" She snatched his stick and tried to catch the fishes but still failed. "This is not fair at all!" She complained. " Why can't I catch even only one fish?!"

"Because you are too clumsy! And a very impatient too!" He teased her. " You need to be very patient and let the fish come close to you. You also don't have to be clumsy. Let me show you how it's done."

He took the stick away from her and began to demonstrate. Athena rested her chin on her hand and watched him closely. After he finished demonstrating to her, she tried doing what he had told her to do but still failed. She sighed. "It's no use."

"Don't worry. Just keep on trying! Maybe you will catch one!" He patted her head. Athena felt encouraged and tried to do it again. This time she concentrated very hard. To her surprise and delight, she managed to catch one. "I did it Darren!" She squealed. "I did it. I did it!"

She pounced on him. Darren chuckled and patted her head again. "Yes, you did it!"

She moved away from him awkwardly after her excitement faded a little. This was the second time she pounced on him like this. It seems to be becoming a habit.

"Sorry..." She scratched her head, feeling embarrassed. She just wished the ground would open up and swallow her right now.

Darren grinned. "Don't feel shy. You can hug me all you want. I am entirely yours!"

Her ears turned red and she coughed awkwardly. " Do you want to go home?"

"Sure," he said and stood up. He then helped her stand up and picked the basket. He clasped her hand tightly and they walked away slowly.

Athena looked at their interlocked hands and felt her face heat up. It felt so normal...

"Can you teach me how to hunt? On another day of course," she asked him when they arrived at their home.

"I can teach you a few hunting techniques today."

"Really?!"

He nodded. "After I make something for you to eat."

After lunch, the two went deeper into the forest. Darren had carried a few poisoned arrows to use. Soon they spotted a deer which was grazing, unaware of the danger near it.

They quickly hid behind the bushes and Darren placed a poisoned arrow on the bow. He then gave it to Athena. "Shoot it."

Athena blinked her eyes. Darren pulled her close to her and began to demonstrate what she had to do. His warm breath fanned her neck and her face turned red. He was too close! She could no longer think properly.

His lips were moving but she could not hear anything at all. Was he saying something?

He smacked her head lightly, making her muddled head become a bit clear.

"Were you listening?"

Athena nodded absent-mindedly.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a worried tone. "Why is your face so red? Are you having a fever?"

Her blush deepened and she looked away. She coughed awkwardly.

"Now do what I said," he said in a serious tone. "Remember eyes on your target and no matter what remain calm."

Athena bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. What did he say by the way?

When he noticed that she remained still, he sighed helplessly. "You were not listening, were you?" Athena did not say a word but looked at the deer. "Can one arrow kill it?" She asked.

Darren nodded. "It's a poisoned arrow. It may not die immediately but after a couple of minutes when the poison has entered its system, it will immediately die. This is one deadly poison we are talking about. It can even kill humans within a few minutes."

Athena nodded, now feeling a bit interested. She opened her mouth to ask another question but he quickly said, "I will tell you more about the poison after you kill that deer."

" Focus. Eyes on the target. Relax your stiff body. It's not like I'm ordering you to kill a person," he instructed.

Athena took a deep breath and pulled the arrow.

As usual, she then hesitated to release the arrow. "I can't do it," she murmured as she shook her head.

" You can do it!" Darren encouraged her. "Look at this deer. Imagine it cooked nicely and now in a tray..."

Athena looked at the deer and it suddenly changed into a cooked deer laying in a huge tray.

Athena's eyes widened and her mouth watered.

"Now shoot that meat!" Darren ordered.

Athena immediately shot the deer accurately. It suddenly changed back into a living deer before her eyes. It let out a shrilling sound and began to run.

"Hey! My meat is running away!"

"Relax," Darren chuckled. "It won't go anywhere far." How could she relax? Without a second thought, she jumped away from the bushes and chased after it.

"Stop right there!" She shouted.

Darren stared at her disappearing figure until she was out of sight. He shook his head helplessly. This feather brained little creature. Why was she so dumb?

Left with no choice, he began to follow her. The running deer soon collapsed Athena ran towards it, panting heavily. She was out of breath. She crouched down and stared at the deer. It was writhing in pain and making faint sounds.

After a few seconds, it stopped moving. She picked up a stick. Darren arrived at that moment.

"Is it dead?" She asked as she poked the lifeless deer with a stick.

"Of course it's dead," he answered as a matter of fact. He picked the deer effortlessly and placed it on his shoulders. "Let's go home."

"You are so strong!" She said in admiration. They went home with Athena rattling on and on. When she was with Darren, she was truly a chatterbox.