Lotus

Three years later.

The oak tree didn't care that Lotus had been staring at it for the better part of an hour.

She pulled the latest arrow free from the bark and walked back to her mark. Fifteen paces. She'd counted them so many times she could probably do it with her eyes closed, which she had actually tried once and ended up walking into the fence.

She nocked, drew, breathed out hard through her nose.

Thwack.

A little left of center. She squinted at it, tilting her head.

“That’s basically the center, right?” She muttered as she reached for another arrow.

"Your elbow's dropping."

Lotus jumped. Her father, Basil, was leaning on the fence post at the edge of the clearing with his arms crossed, as if he’d been watching her for some time. He pushed off the post and came over, stopping behind her.

"Try one more time."

She drew another arrow, index finger lightly grazing her jawbone.

The second her elbow dipped he tapped it back up with two fingers. "Hold it."

Her arm was burning but she held it anyway, because today she had something to prove.

"Release."

The arrow hit the ring, right in the center. She glanced at it for a second, letting go of the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Then she turned back to Basil, eyes glittering. "Alright, that's enough. You promised!" 

Basil put on a confused front. "Promise? What promise?"

"To take me hunting with you! I'm tired of this boring oak tree!"

“Hmm, did I really say that? I can’t recall. Lately a little birdie has been pestering me so much that it’s clouding my memory.”

Lotus pouted.

Basil laughed. "Alright, alright, as if you'd let me forget. You got all your things?"

“Ughh, stop being annoying and come on!” Lotus had already started sprinting toward the treeline.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Basil shook his head and followed after her.

The path up the mountain started behind the clearing and evened out into a dense canopy. Lotus had been to the edge of the treeline plenty of times, stood there and watched her father blend into the dense foliage while she stayed behind, practicing in the safety of the clearing. Today she walked right past the treeline and kept going, and she was doing a very good job of acting like it was no big deal.

Her father moved through the forest like a ghost — quiet steps, no cracking branches, reading the ground with the skill of an experienced woodsman. Lotus watched his feet and tried to copy them, following his footsteps to the best of her ability.

Basil glanced back at her. "Stop looking at the ground, you need to be aware of your surroundings."

"That’s too many things to keep track of, I’m still trying to copy how you’re walking, you barely make any noise."

"Don't copy my feet. Copy the space between them — where I'm not stepping. The ground will tell you where to go if you listen to it."

“You sound like a crazy man, who listens to the ground?” Lotus muttered under her breath.

They climbed for a while longer before Basil slowed and said, without turning around, "From here, no more talking unless you have to, and try breathing with your nose instead of your mouth. It’s quieter that way."

She switched to breathing through her nose. It was harder than it sounded. After a minute: "How do you breathe so quietly? Do you have to practice that?"

"You're asking a lot of questions for someone who's supposed to be quiet."

"I'm sneaking and asking questions, I'm very talented—" She stepped on a dry branch. The crack split through the trees. Somewhere above them, a bird took off in a flurry of wings.

Basil stared at her, goading her to come up with another wild excuse.

Lotus glared back, not saying anything in response.

He smirked, then turned around and kept walking.

The mountain grew steeper as they climbed, trees pressing closer together, roots rearing out of the earth in gnarled knots. They could see another side of the mountain now, a large river running through the valley below. The light came through the canopy in long pale stripes and the ground was soft enough to leave prints. Her father stopped and crouched, and Lotus dropped down beside him.

He was looking at a mark in the mud, pointing it out to Lotus. 

“Do you recognize what animal made that?” He whispered.

Lotus recognized it — two deep dents pressed into the soft earth, the edges still clean. "It looks like a deer." 

Lotus looked back at Basil with hopeful eyes. "Can we chase it? It would be so much more exciting, plus it's probably easier to hit since it's bigger."

Basil snorted. "Deer's for two people with strong backs and a whole afternoon." He stood. "Come back when you have more meat on your bones."

Lotus looked at herself, feeling offended. "I’ll have you know, I have a lot of meat on my bones for someone my age. Not as much as Cedar, but he's fat and stupid and isn’t even as strong as me."

"Heyyy. Be nice to the other kids."

“They’re the ones who started it! They keep on teasing me and Rose so I have to put them in their place!”

"I’ve seen you run over to kick Cedar when he was minding his own business."

“That’s just payback from the last time that he made fun of us.”

Basil looked up at the sky, sighing. “I swear, you talk enough for the whole family. It’s a wonder if you catch anything today while wagging that tongue of yours."

After a few more minutes of walking, they spotted a suitable target in the upper branches of a cluster of oaks near the ridgeline — a brown squirrel picking through the canopy, quick and restless, never staying still for more than a breath. Basil crouched and pointed to a branch where one had stopped to gnaw at an acorn.

"Higher angle than you're used to," he murmured. "Aim with your eyes, and let your hands follow."

Lotus studied the squirrel. It was small — much smaller than the oak tree's ring — but it was sitting still, which meant it was basically the same thing, only up and further away.

She lifted the bow and adjusted her aim upward, feeling the unfamiliar pull of the angle in her shoulder. The squirrel turned the acorn in its paws over once, then again.

She thought of the oak tree. The ring in the bark. This was no different. She exhaled as quietly as she could.

The squirrel paused, ears swiveling toward something.

She let go.

They heard a muffled thump, then the squirrel fell from the tree into the thicket below. She was already scrambling out of the rocks, crossing the grass, and she found it in the flattened stems.

Her father's footsteps came up behind her and stopped. 

Basil looked at the squirrel, then proceeded to kneel and put his hands together, bowing his head while gazing at the small creature.

"We return a life to the earth, to be preserved until the Immortals return." he said quietly.

Lotus looked at him, a bit miffed that there was no fanfare for her first catch, but still copied his posture.

"We return a life to the earth, to be preserved until the Immortals return." she mumbled halfheartedly.

Basil gave a small smile, and put his hand briefly on the top of her head, heavy and warm. "Congrats kiddo, you're a hunter now."

Lotus grinned.

They came down the mountain with the afternoon light slanting gold through the trees. Lotus was carrying four squirrels around her waist. She’d tried more — it looked like a dress made of squirrel carcasses. Lotus's legs were burning, but in a good way, and she was already composing the version of the story she'd tell Rosie — with some improvements, like how she shot squirrels from a hundred meters away. 

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she nearly bumped into her father's back.

He had stopped at the treeline where the mountain path spilled out onto the slope above the village. He was unnaturally frozen, staring down at something, or someone. She looked too, trying to see what he was seeing. It just looked like the village.

"What's the deal? Why'd you stop?"

He was quiet for a moment. Then, he patted down his vest with both hands.

"Hmm, I think I left my skinning knife back at the practice clearing. Can you run back and grab it for me? Actually — just wait there. I'll bring Rosie over and we can cook the squirrels there, how's that sound?"

The light tone didn’t quite land, and Basil still faced forward, avoiding Lotus’ gaze.

Lotus frowned. "What? But Rosie hates coming —"

"Lotus." The game was up, or rather he didn’t have time for the game. Basil turned around, kneeling down and putting his hand on Lotus’ shoulder, dark eyes level with hers. "You’re a hunter now. Part of being a hunter is being able to work with other hunters, that’s how we survive. Work with me on this one, ok? I’ll bring Rosie and meet you there, I promise."

His voice was solemn, something she’d only heard a handful of times. 

"Fine," Lotus said.

He held her gaze for a beat longer and squeezed her shoulders once. Then he stood, took a long slow breath, and dashed toward the village without looking back.