Luke ended up splitting us up, Roxy, Issy and James went with Patrick while the rest of us went with him. Why am I always stuck with him, we can't stand each other.

This set up isn't sitting well with Adam who continues to protest profusely about it, yet to no avail.

"Why are we doing this again?" Adam asks frustratedly as we walk out of the city and approach the intimidating forest.

"Because I don't have enough time to teach each of you how to feed and defend yourselves before the rest of your group is brought here." Luke sighs and briskly walks holding three bows in his hands with a quiver filled with arrows.

Adam, Danial, Luke and I stop just before three large oak trees. Each stands strong, its roots dig deep into the soil, it's long, slim beaches reach for the sky, leaves flickering and rattling against one another. A target is pinned to each tree trunk and Luke sets us in front of each target. My dad taught me how to use a bow once, I was nine but I still have a faint memory of his sturdy hands around mine, pulling the string back and letting go, I still remember.

"Here," Luke passes each of us a bow and three arrows, "shoot. I want to see what you guys know."

I know my right eye is dominant so I take the long bow in my left hand and pick up an arrow before setting it on the arrow shelf. Already Danial and Adam's arrows are slipping off the bow and swinging around on the string. I let my arm relax and I unload my bow before heading towards them to help.

"I'll help them," Luke rests his hands on my shoulders lightly stopping me dead in my tracks as he points back to my spot, "go practice, you're more useful there than over here."

He really thinks I don't know what I'm doing, does he?

Bubbling determination heats in the pit of my stomach as I try to ignore them, taking my sturdy stance, my feet pointed at the boys in front of me. I take an arrow, load my bow and look over my left shoulder, lifting my bow up before drawing the string back with my right hand anchoring it behind my earlobe. I raise my elbow up and aim in the centre of my target taking a breath in before letting it out. As I do I release the string and a satisfying clunk comes from the wooden target. I take my other two arrows and hit the board, not a bullseye but at least it hit the board. When I look to my side Danial and Adam's arrows flutter to the ground missing the board completely.

"Not bad Princess Pants." Luke nods and corrects the boys on what they're doing wrong before strutting over to me, "make sure your elbow is bent slightly when you hold the bow." He takes my left arm which was holding the bow and gently and lifts my sleeve which reveals a red scrap that is bruising quickly. "The string is grazing your arm when you shoot."

I nod my head, "okay, so should I hold it like this than?" I ask while picking the bow up, my arm slacked so the string won't hit it when I let go.

Luke passes me an arrow and nods, "yes, but tighten your core." Luke slips behind me, his breath tickling my ear as he puts his hands on my stomach, pushing it in, "your back is hollow and that makes your shot weaker."

My heart quickens involuntarily as his large hands presses against my stomach, his head tilts down so his breath warms the nape of my neck resulting in a small shiver I try to hide. I can feel his chest rise and fall on my back as he straightens my hips, "make sure you're square, that'll help you with your accuracy." I nod my head and draw the arrow back, "lift your elbow even higher, the higher the elbow the better the accuracy." One of his hands is wrapped around my waist while the other finds its way to my upper arm, guiding it up.

"Do you really need to be that close to her?" Adam scoffs watching me intently, his face distorted with distrust and looks like jealousy.

"It's okay Adam, I'm improving." I smile warmly trying to convince him everything is okay, even with Luke this close to me.

"I'm teaching muscle head." Luke shoots back, "now get practicing," he than throws a couple arrows at the two boys, "you obviously need it." Adam grunts and Danial whispers something in his ear before he nods and turns away.

I avert my gaze back to the target and take a breath in trying to not pay attention to the strangely familiar and soft touch on my waist and arm.

"Focus on the target," Luke whispers into my ear his lips grazing it slightly, "when you anchor your hand behind your ear make sure it's in the same spot every time. That will improve the consistency in your shots."

I nod again and take another breath in while his hand on my arm moves to my elbow holding it high while his other moves to my lower waist griping it slightly.

"Relax," Luke whispers supportively into my ear and I ease at the soothing sound of his voice. As I let my breath go I do the same with the string, letting it slide through my fingertips and slicing through the air hitting the centre of the target with a powerful thunk.

"Now that's an impressive shot princess," Luke smiles and slowly drags his hands off of my body.

I bring my bow down and look back to see his light brown eyes gazing into mine intently, his body still pressed against my back. I try to step away and gain some distance between our two faces but my legs refuse to move, letting our noses only be a few inches apart.

"Nice shot Jean!" Danial smiles at me supportively, which seems to scare Luke's body away from mine. Adam's figure noticeably relaxes as the distance between Luke and I grows.

"Thanks Danial," I smile and give him a wink.

"Pants," Luke calls, "give me three more shots like that and I'll let you shoot something other than a board." He throws three more arrows at me and I catch them with my open hand.

"Sounds good," I can't help but smile at him, shooting reminds me so much of my father, I hadn't realized how much I missed it until now.

I turn back to the target and shoot three more times, neither of them are as flawless as the first but are caught still located in the middle. Luke nods and motions his hands over for us to follow.

We walk for five minutes in complete, sufferable silence before Luke whispers to me, "get ready."

Grabbing rocks and sticks Luke jogs into a bush while throwing the stones. Quivering, I load my bow and draw it back as five plump birds fly out of the bush. I lead one bird and release my arrow, my heart pumping hard and fast in my chest as the arrow flys through the air and strikes it. I load another arrows and shoot again this one misses the bird but catches the one behind it. Lucky. Again, I draw one more arrow but the other birds are gone so I bring my arm back down and unload the arrow.

"Wow," Adam smiles at me impressed, "thanks for supper."

I smile and look over to Danial who's staring in shock, "I-I-I can't do that to a little birdy."

I walk over to him and wrap my arm around him lightly, "it's okay, that birdy wasn't little."

"Hey!" Danial smiles and hits my arm away, "you know what I mean."

Smirking I nod my head, "and that's why I'm here to shoot birdies."

Luke emerges from the bush his brown hair now the home to several branches and leaves, "So, how many Pants?"

"Two," I reply waking to over where they had fallen.

"That means one of you dies, you couldn't feed everyone." Luke walks with me over to one bird which is still flipping in the ground. Still living, still breathing, still fighting for its life. My smile drops off of my face as I realize what I've done. I've killed a living creature, and now the other one I've maimed is in pain. What have I done?

As Luke grabs the bird it squawks and chirps trying to escape from Luke's grip. It's eyes pleading for release, fear and sorrow soaking it's very soul. A stray tear travels to my eye and threatens to slip out as Luke grips the birds neck and wrings it quickly as a sudden break snaps from its limp feathered body. The bird than flinches and its wings flap reflexively as it moves in Luke's hand. Unfazed he takes the other clearly dead bird and passes it to me, "I'll have to teach you how to shoot faster, you're way to slow."

I try to hide my face in short hair and ignore the small insult while being passed the birds, "let's save that for another day."

A sudden and quick smile crosses Luke's face, "right, another day."

We begin to walk back to the green city as Danial and Adam talk about which direction to head in and Luke and I walk beside each other. We trail just behind the boys, so they can lead us back to the city. Luke is making them learn directions so we know where we are.

"It's okay," Luke looks down at me in a whisper, "we have too many of those birds around anyways. A few less isn't going to hurt anyone."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

Luke just shrugs his shoulders and keeps walking, ignoring my question. He must have seen my face when the birds died, but why isn't he teasing me about it?

Pushing my annoying questions to the back of my mind I chose to enjoy the air and silent company as our hands brushing against one another every couple steps as our strides stay in tune with one another. I feel an unrecognizable feeling stirring in my body, a feeling I haven't felt in a very long time.

I think it's called peace.