Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Trust me," Aliya laughed. "You're going to be challenged today."

Then it was her turn, and she went up against one of the men. a breeze blew her hair into her face, but she ignored it as she raised her bow, taking an arrow from the pile between the two starting lines.

Three shots later, she was finished, and heading to the back of the line with a triumphant grin on her face.

Jasmine turned to Feng. "So it seems it is now our turn," she said softly, motioning for Feng to go ahead.

Earendil couldn't help but chuckle, overhearing Miyuki's remark.

Jasmine picked up a bow and nocked her arrow and, taking aim, let it fly. She hit the target just right of center, but it didn't faze her. She was used to not doing as well as others - and as shy as she was, she never backed out of an opportunity to try her skills against others.

Jasmine's second shot was marginally better than her first, hitting the edge of her first one, but on the side that was closer to the center. She knew she wasn't going to with the entire tournament, not if she would keep shooting like this, but against Feng she still had a chance.

Unless of course Feng got two bulls-eyes.

Jasmine wasn't quite paying attention to Feng's target, but as she lined up her final shot, her eyes flickered over to see how Feng was doing. When she looked back at her own target, her eyes were set in determination.

She let her third arrow fly - but she had over-corrected her aim, a result of having looked away, and her shot hit the ring outside the center.

She lowered her bow and relaxed her shoulder muscles. It all depended now on Feng's final shot.

Celeborn took a quick glance at the arrows and announced, "Feng!"

Jasmine smiled and bowed her head respectfully to Feng. "Congratulations," she said softly. "You are in the second round."

She eyed her sister, who was bouncing from one foot to the other excitedly. "For now," she added cryptically as she headed off to join the other spectators.

Then it was River's turn, and she stepped up with Ulani as her opponent.


Earendil was startled by Donovan's sudden appearance as well, but he hid it better than Lin. He laughed at their banter. "You picked a good time to show up," he grinned. "This is going to be the most intense match-up of the tournament, I promise you."

Earendil chuckled and turned back to the tournament to watch. "So how long have you been sitting there, Donovan?" he asked with a grin while he watched Ulani and River getting ready to shoot.

Aliya grinned widely at Feng as she joined her at the back of the line. "Great shooting," she congratulated her. "You're lucky you were against Jasmine first, Mum and River are the two best archers in all the Borderlands. In a way it's a pity they're against each other so early in the tournament."

Ulani nocked her arrow and took aim, grinning at her great-granddaughter for a brief moment before letting it go. She hit the target dead center and paused to watch River shoot.

River picked up the bow she would use, and in her hands the bow suddenly stretched and then shrunk, fitting itself to her height. Without picking up an arrow, she raised the bow and pulled back on the string. A bright blue glow appeared, and when the light faded a glowing blue arrow was nocked and ready to fly.

She released, and the arrow flew straight ahead, hitting the target dead center, as Ulani's had done. The arrow flared, then faded, leaving something that looked like glass where it had hit.

Aliya laughed at Feng's reaction. "Well ... to be honest, we were terrified when we first found out what her gift was," she giggled. "But she's proven to be quite responsible with it. Any time she picks motions as if she's going to shoot - she doesn't even need a bow, really - those manifest themselves as her arrows. She'll never need a quiver, arrows - or really, even a bow. It's one of the reasons Alyse and Timaeus are letting her travel, because really she'll be able to take care of herself."

Ulani grinned at River, expecting nothing less from her, and took her second shot. It split her first arrow down the middle, sending splinters flying. A second perfect bulls-eye.

Taking up the challenge, River drew back her bow. She sent a second blue arrow flying, and like Ulani's it split her first arrow, sending shards of glass-like splinters flying everywhere.