N:    "Hey," Johann huffed, "you don't have to say that. I'm not that bad."

"It's fine, Johann," Royal chuckled, "we all have our moments," then she turned to Esha, "Yes, there is. Let me show you the way, and if we come across England, can you please destroy him with your skills, sometimes that man has a bit of a large head." She made her way to the door, and when she did a servant came in with breakfast, and she turned to  Mandoria, "Breakfast is served."

Once the three of them left, the hybrid led them outside into the field, the garrison visible from a distance, and opened the gate to the archery range. There was a nearby shelter with benches and a table, as well as a rack with bows and quivers full of arrows, and at varying distances stood targets. Royal walked over to the bench and sat down, propping her feet on the table, shielded from the sun, and said, "There are targets and equipment, so knock yourselves out."

Johann went over and got himself a bow and quiver and he stood next to Esha, "So, how good are you?"

M:    "About as good as one can get when they have millions of years of  practice," Esha replied, she wasn't particularly happy that she had to babysit a human but she wasn't going to show it.  She looked over her flint arrows to make sure they were battle-ready, "I have gotten to the skill level of being able to shoot multiple arrows at once and have them all hit their marks."

She glanced at the arrows in Johann's quiver and snatched one to get a better look at it, "hmm, interesting build; 24-inch oak, solid iron head, and duck feathers, clearly a weapon  made for mid to close-quarter combat, as the iron would make the arrow too heavy to reliably hit a target at a great distance, the feathers are also inlaid in the wood to focus on spinning rather that maintain a straight fire path, perfect for causing deep wounds that bleed profusely, not so much for hitting a faraway target.  I recommend an arrow with a lighter head and more streamlined feathers like hawk or falcon for an accurate long-range shot."

N: Johann just stared at Esha as he took in all the information and he pulled out one of his arrows and looked at it, "that is a lot of  information from just an arrow."

"I guess millions of years of archery does that," Royal spoke, "and it seems like she knows her  stuff." She stood up and searched for the recommended arrows, and when  she did, she switched the quivers with Johann, "I think those should  do."

M:   Esha hummed in approval, though she  did want to shoot off the arrow in her hand to see just how reliable the range was.  She stabbed it into the ground for later and grabbed one of her arrows so she could make a comparison.  Taking aim for the farthest target, probably a little over 15 meters, she barely needed to steady before letting the arrow fly, hitting the target dead center.

Satisfied with the result, she grabbed the heavier arrow and shot it too, hitting the bottom of the inner ring.  She motioned for Johann to follow her when she went to collect the arrows so she could give him a short lesson.

"See how your arrow hit a little lower than mine," she pointed out, "I aimed at the exact same spot but because it is heavier it was falling out of the air at a faster rate, which is very typical for combat arrows as the target will be coming towards you rather than standing around or running away."

She pulled out both arrows to show him the holes they made as well as the depths they  penetrated, "the heavier arrow was made to twirl in the air as it flew so it created a bigger hole, meaning that the wound would bleed more,  and it hit much shallower because that's where most of the blood vessels would be.  Mine made a smaller hole but penetrated deeper, that way it would hit the major organs of a target and kill it quicker so potential prey wouldn't run away.  In short, this arrow was made to kill slower by bleeding, and mine was made to hit deeper to kill instantly so my meal  won't run away."

N: Johann hummed along as he listened, although he was at the same time amazed at Esha's archery skills.  "So, for the sake of the target practice," he suggested, "if I had the combat arrows, I would have to aim higher for it to actually land in the center? And about the depth of the hole, would a more streamlined arrowhead made out of iron penetrate further due to its weight, so could it be even more efficient than a flint head, but does that mean you have to take into consideration of the smaller weight?"

He rubbed the back of his head when he realized he was rambling slightly, "Sorry, I was just speculating."

M: "No, it's ok to ask questions, you'll never learn anything if you don't ask about it," the country assured him, walking back to the starting point, "and that is a very good point, I think that there is a possibility that this arrow could penetrate deep, it just needs to find the perfect distance, not too close so it builds up momentum, but also not too far so it loses momentum.  Judging from what we just saw I'd say the golden distance is about 8 to 10 meters to be enough to puncture an organ, assuming you don't hit a rib."

When they stood at the starting point she said, "Why don't you go next, I want to see what we're working with."

N: Johann nodded, so he grabbed an arrow from his quiver and placed it in the bow, making sure it was steady before drawing the bow. He was initially surprised by the draw weight since he forgot how hard it would be to draw an arrow, but he quickly pushed that aside. He aimed and let go; however, he misjudged the weight of the arrowhead, thinking it wouldn't be that heavier than his previous arrow, and the arrow landed in the second ring, in line with the holes from the previous shots.

He grumbled at the result and looked down at the bow, "I guess three years of not practicing makes you forget."

M: "Understandable," Esha commented, "well, no need to be frustrated about it, even the best fighters in the world started as rookies.  I can tell that you had a little trouble with the draw weight so it's always good to practice pulling on it a few times a day without an arrow, so you get stronger and it will be easier to pull it."

This time, Esha pulled out an arrow and fired, but she completely missed the target, when Royal started laughing she pointed to a tree behind the target.  The arrow was stuck to the bark, a leaf speared right in the middle, she saw it floating to the ground and decided that was a better challenge.

"Just because someone misses the obvious target doesn't mean they missed what they were aiming for," she remarked.

N: Royal's face turned to shock, her jaw dropped from seeing the leaf. "How," she muttered and then said louder, "Who the heck are you? Robin Hood?"

M: "Robin Hood," Esha repeated, "hmm, Robin ... hood, I like that name, it's not taken is it?"

Before Royal could answer, the familiar roars and whinnies of Edel and Sleipnir when the two ran into view as they were playing with each other.  Esha was surprised that her Sigven was there and not back at camp but she couldn't be mad at how cute the two looked playing with each other.

"You really want something to swoon over, watch this," she remarked, then blew a whistle to get Sleipnir's attention.

He turned to his owner and saw her spread her wings slightly, knowing what she wanted, he galloped over at a very fast speed.  When he was close enough, Esha flapped her wings and pushed herself in the air, landing on his back without skipping a beat.  The two kept running until the equine turned and ran back towards the targets, and as fast as she possibly could, Esha shot an arrow at all the targets she passed, hitting a bullseye every time, she even shot the arrow in the tree and split it in half. Once all the targets were staked, Esha pat her steed's neck and rode back over to the others to get their reactions.

N: Johann's jaw dropped as he watched every arrow meet its mark, and when she was done, he looked down at his own bow and muttered, "How is that even possible?"

"Now that's just showing off," Royal yelled from the benches, standing up and walking over to meet Esha, "I got to admit, it was very impressive, but still, you're going to start putting us off from archery."

"No she didn't," Johann said firmly, determination in his eyes, "I'll make sure I can shoot as well as Esha, maybe even better. Let me get Comet," and he ran off to get his horse.

"She's millions of years old and her horse has eight legs. How are you going to beat that," the hybrid called out to the Mandorian, stating the obvious, but he was too far to hear her, and way too determined.

As he went, he ran past the rest of the Brits, except BE, and quickly told them what happened. When England heard this, he began to worry that someone else is really good at archery, so he began to hurry towards the archery range, and he asked, "So you're very skilled with a bow?" He picked up his own bow and quiver while the rest of them sat down at the benches, Scotland smirking when he saw his husband walk up to Esha, knowing it will not end well.

Before England reached them, Royal whispered to Esha with a smirk, "Destroy him, please?" before walking back to the benches.

M: Esha raised a brow at everything that happened, especially Royal's request, then a mischievous smile spread across her face, maybe she would get to humiliate him after all, and in a much friendlier way this time.

"Alright then, Mr. England, if it's a challenge you want then I will happily oblige," she said in a light-hearted mocking tone of voice, she slid off Sleipnir and walked up to him, "As with the Short Life, you go first, I wish to see what I'm working with, do you need me to fetch you some training wheels before we start?"

N: "Who do you take me for; Scotty," England scoffed, getting an annoyed 'hey' from the Scot behind him. He drew his arrow and shot, sending his arrow dead center and he smiled at his handiwork. Although he had less time to practice archery in comparison to Esha, he was no rookie.

Back on the benches, Scotland and Royal wanted England to lose while Wales and Anglo wanted England to do well. Then there is Saxon, who wants his son to win, but at the same time would laugh if he lost, like the amazing father he is.

M: Esha said nothing when England fired his arrow, she was not very impressed but she had to remind herself that he was much, much younger than her and probably didn't know many trick shots.

"Ok, you can hit a bullseye, admittedly better than I expected," she commented, nonchalantly, "but can you do trick shots is the real question."

With that, she grabbed an arrow and shot it into the sky, then immediately shot another one after it.  The second arrow hit the first at the feathers and made it tumble in the air, then it pointed back down and flew towards the target, not only hitting the middle but splitting England's arrow in half, something she did to really humiliate an opponent.

N: England hummed and walked over to the rack, trying not to show that he was afraid that he might lose, and he switched to an English longbow with its respective heavier arrows. Getting his equipment, he walked out of the shooting range and walked away, and Scotland called out, "Giving up already?"

England didn't answer as he walked to the side of the range standing 100 yards away from the targets, all of them on his left. Grabbing his arrow, he drew his bow and shot. An English longbow has an immense draw weight, so the arrow packed enough power to slit each arrow Esha shot earlier in every target in half, even his own and the Eternal's in the last target. The arrow finally stopped when it hit a branch that was holding a beehive, knocking the hive down and causing a flurry of bees to fly out of their home.

The country walked back to the archery range and stood beside Esha, leaning against his bow and observing the broken shafts, and muttered, "Nice."

M: Esha frowned, not because she was nervous, it was because England destroyed the bee nest, it touched a nerve, to say the least.

"Disrespectful, are we not," she grumbled, "maybe next time you will be more aware of who is around so you don't end up destroying someone's home."

With a snap of her fingers, she restored the hive and put it back on its branch, then snapped again and a pile of wooden discs appeared next to her, one floating up at her command.

"How about we switch to moving targets," she said, "think fast, child."

She then looked up to the sky and the disc shot up at high speed.

N: England flinched when the disc shot up, and he quickly yet steadily drew his bow and aimed way above the disc. He anticipated that the disc would continue to go higher, so the added height compensated for it, so when he let go, the arrow flew and landed right in the middle of the disc.

"Give me another," he smirked at Esha.

M: "Hold your Sigvens," she said, "let me have a turn."

She had three discs shoot up this time, then pulled out three arrows and shot them all in one pull, two arrows hitting dead center and the third breaking the disc into pieces.

"Now it's your turn," she remarked, making the same amount of discs fly into the air.

N: England bit his lip as he concentrated, nocking three arrows but resting two on the riser as he aimed at the discs, launching each arrow consecutively instead of simultaneously. The first two were able to meet their target, but the last one only knocked the third disc off course, causing it to fly off in a different direction and fall to the ground, relatively unharmed.

"England, you can do better than that," Royal jeered while Scotland laughed along, and by now Johann had returned, accompanied by a saddled-up Comet.

M: Esha looked over to Johann and waved, "One second boy, England here is trying to show off, I'll teach him a lesson and then we can get back to ours."

With that, Esha walked over to the trees at the other side of the range and hopped onto one, coiling her tail around a sturdy branch and hanging upside down.  When she was situated, she let another three discs fly up and again shot three simultaneous arrows at them, meeting with the same results.

"About time," she declared proudly, "I've been spending months working on that trick, I could never get the third arrow to land, think you can do better, Brit?"

N: England was studying how he knocked the disc out of the air, and when he saw Esha upside down, he smiled, "I might just have an idea." He grabbed a couple of the discs from the pile and placed them in a stack near the trees. He then jogged up to a tree, and slinging on his bow, climbed up the tree until he got onto a branch, where he wrapped his legs and swung upside down.

He nodded at Esha, who sent up three discs from the main pile, and he got his arrows ready and fired, repeating the same as before where two were hit but one spun off course. However, this time, he made it so the disc fell and landed on the small stack of discs, and the arrow later landed on top of it. "Yes," he cheered ad he fist-bumped the air, but unfortunately he was on a much weaker branch, so when he celebrated, the branch snapped and fell, making him land head-first on the ground.

"England," Anglo yelled and flew over to him, and checked if he was alright, "are you ok?" The country only mumbled incoherent words as his head began to throb in pain, and he seemed to see everything in double.

M: Esha stared speechlessly at the disc stack, the arrow sticking out of it silently mocking her, the closest thing she could do to that was throw up a few discs and have an arrow go through them, not upside down though, but England's was much more impressive.

When she saw England fall she had to fight the urge to start laughing, instead letting go of her branch and landing on her hands and feet, then walked over to the Brit and smiled, a rare genuine and respectful smile.

"Well, I think it's safe to say you get to keep your title for now," she said, looking down at the fallen country, "you'll have to teach me that trick someday, that was impressive," she held out her hand, "you ok to stand?"

N: "Vielleicht (maybe)," England muttered but he blinked a couple of times when he realized he wasn't speaking in English. "Fortasse (maybe)," he tried again, and again, "peut être (maybe)," but with no success, as if the fall sent him back to his factory settings. With a deep breath, he finally said, "Maybe," before reaching for Esha's hand, and with her and Anglo's help, got to his feet.

The country wobbled a bit before being able to stand without any support, and he picked up his bow and quiver, and he smiled and waved at Wales, who was clapping in applause. Scotland looked deflated as he reached for his money pouch and handed some coins to Royal, who was smirking while receiving the money, meanwhile Saxon had his arms crossed, but smiling nonetheless, happy for his son.

When they made their way back, Johann brought Comet into the archery range, and asked, "So it's my turn now?" Comet meanwhile was checking out Sleipnir, just wondering how the heck a horse can have eight legs.

M: Esha chuckled, "Yes, it's your turn now, let's just get England settled and clean up a little bit. She made sure the aforementioned Brit was settled on the bench before snapping the mess they made away.  She reached for her arrows to see how many she had left, and was shocked that she was empty.

"Well that's new, I never run out of arrows," she remarked, "then again I don't normally shoot competitively.  Well, don't let that stop you boy, let's see how good you are on horseback."

N: Johann nodded and mounted his horse, but unlike the unfamiliarity he had with the bow earlier, both he and Comet clicked the moment the horse started to trot. "It's been a while, buddy," the Mandorian said, patting the stallion's neck, "let's see what we remember." Comet nickered in response and immediately broke into a gallop, galloping as fast as possible around the range, even jumping over the fence to explore the field and back over again, the Mandorian happy to be back on horseback.

"Now you know what to do, bud," Johann spoke as he nocked an arrow, and Comet understood what he had to do, so he bolted right at one of the targets. "Steady," the Mandorian whispered to himself as he aimed, and fired, sending the arrow through the center at a shorter range, and soon after his horse jumped over the target itself, landing safely on the other side.

N: Esha was momentarily stunned at the shot, not at all expecting Johann to make such a good one after the first one she saw. Her shock was replaced by admiration and respectful applause soon followed.

"Incredible, clearly three years can't get rid of everything," she said, she then walked up to them and gently rubbed Comet's nose, "he is quite the racer, maybe even on par with Sleipnir, and I can tell you two have a very strong bond."

N: "We do, don't we Comet," Johann smiled as he patted his neck, "it would be us two and Titan versus the open fields, although there might be times were Titan would beat you in a race, isn't that right?" Comet wasn't exactly fond of being reminded that he was beaten by a dog, so in defiance he reared back on his hind legs, knocking Johann off. The young man landed with a thud, and the horse only nickered at the other's predicament.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Johann wheezed, slowly getting up, "I'm sorry for insulting your ok speed," which earned him a headbutt from the stallion. "We prefer to do shorter ranged shots," Johann explained, "but we are definitely the racing type."

M: "Maybe someday we will have to test that out," Esha challenged, patting Johann's shoulder before hopping back on Sleipnir, "right now I need to go find the two arrows that flew away and materials to make more, you or anyone else can join but other than that, I'll see you guys in a few hours." With that, she clicked her tongue and Sleipnir trotted into the forest.

N: "I'll go and join you," Scotland said as he stood up, asking a servant to bring him his horse, although England had other ideas.

"You need to stay to help out with BE's work," the Englishman spoke, holding Scotland back.

"We spent the last who knows how long arguing about the pettiest of things," the Scot replied, shaking England's hand off, "we're not going anywhere, besides, Royal is now available to help out," which got a small 'what' from the hybrid behind him.

"Fine," England shrugged, waiting as the servant came back with Scotland's horse, a grey Welara, and he watched as Scotland mounted the mare, "go have fun doing nothing."

"I definitely will without you," he chuckled as he rode off to meet Esha, getting a grumble from England.

M: When Esha heard trotting behind her she waited for the rider to catch up, actually surprised it was Scotland.

"Hello Scotty, didn't expect you to come," she said when he rode up beside her, "aren't you supposed to be solving your domestic disputes with England?"

N: "He can go solve it himself," Scotland replied, "England is usually fine to talk to, but when it comes to ruling, it just brings back years of war between our nations, so the best thing we could do is give each other some space to breathe. Royal has worked for me for a bit a while back, so I trust her enough to do well."

They rode a bit further in silence, so Scotland decided to ask, "So, umm, I was just wondering, why didn't you decide to stay with my Ma and I when she rescue you? You would have been safe, right?"

M: Esha was silent, she had a very good reason but she couldn't tell him, Celtica knew why but she was not quite on the same trust level with Scotland to tell him, not yet anyway.

"I don't know," she said, choosing her words carefully, "I felt so out of place, like I didn't truly belong, don't get me wrong I am very grateful for what you two did, but I just didn't feel ... accepted, per se."

She looked down at her hand, a scar in the middle of her palm and connecting to the back of her hand, "ever since that day I just truly felt like an outsider, someone who everyone sees as a monster when they don't even know me.  I accepted that role, if they would see me as a demon then a demon I will be, and I didn't want to drag you and your mother to hell with me."

N: Scotland hummed along; he understood where she was coming from but still didn't understand why his mother couldn't have protected her, as she did with Nessie, but he shrugged at the end and changed the topic.

"So," he said, "is there anything I can help you with?"

M: "I'm just looking for my arrows and materials to make more," Esha said, "I've trained Sleip to be able to sniff out flint so that, and the arrows won't be too hard, the problem is the feathers.  I prefer swift birds myself so their feathers will allow my arrows to travel fast at great distances, but those birds can be hard to find around here."

Then Sleip stopped in his tracks and nickered, indicating he found something, Esha looked around and saw her arrow in the distance, but what was more, it was sticking out of a red deer's hindquarters.

"Shh, stop," she said, motioning for Scotland to get down, "that has never happened before, what are the odds?  She is a large one, that will feed all of us and have some leftover, stay here and don't make a sound."

Esha quietly jumped off and slowly stalked closer, pulling out her dagger and preparing to strike.  The deer was laying out in the open, the arrow must have damaged it enough to render it helplessly immobile, so when the eternal pounced on it and drove her dagger into its heart, it didn't put up a fight, not that it would have anyway with it being caught off guard.

N: When Esha whipped out her dagger, Scotland's horse nickered a bit, slightly afraid at the sight of the weapon in close proximity. "Shh, it's ok Clover," the Scot whispered, stroking her mane reassuringly, "you don't have to be afraid." When Clover finally calmed down, Scotland focused on Esha, how she went for the kill, and did as he was told, remaining silent while he gave his mare comforting pats.

M: Once she was sure the deer was dead, Esha hopped off and pulled out a piece of cloth to wipe down her blade, doing the same to the arrow when she pulled it out.  She whistled for Sleip, pulled out some rope from her bag, then tied the carcass to his back before hopping on too.

"I don't care if we find what we need at this point, I see today as a victory," she said gleefully when she returned to Scotland, "a deer here means that the larger game is migrating back, considering you have a dragon that is a very good thing.  I know where we can find flint though, there is a large outcrop in the middle of a large lake not too far from here, flakes of it often settling to the bottom of it. Let's go, we might catch some fish too."She trotted off in that direction, her attitude very cheery.

N: Scotland followed behind her, since he was more accustomed to the Scottish landscape than the English geography, and soon they were able to reach the large. It was a magnificent one, stretching out far and wide, bordered by hills and trees as they reached the shore. The reflection of the sun glistened in the water, and when Scotland hopped off his steed, he smiled at the scenery, with its calmness and tranquility.

"You caught a large deer," he said, taking out a spear that was packed with his horse, removing the sheath to reveal the blade, "I might have some fun catching fish, flint in the lake, this is a pretty good day."

M: "Yes it is, shame no one else came," Esha stated, "I think they would have had a good time as well."

The Eternal shed her cloak and took off her boots, if she was going to find some flint she was going to need to get her feet wet, normally she would have taken off her clothes too but god forbid she do it in front of someone.

"It's days like this that I'm glad my other half is water dragon," she said, "don't get worried if I don't surface for a while, I have hidden gills that only appear when I'm in water, and if I can I'll herd some of the fish towards you."

With that, she dove into the lake and disappeared into the murky water.

N: Scotland just stared at the water where Esha dived, watching it as it gradually went still, so he too took off his boots and cloak, and rolled up his trousers to his knees. Carefully, he walked into the water, the stones rough against his feet, and when the water was near his knees, he stopped and watched for any fish to appear. With a spear raised in hand, he struggled to see through the murkiness; however, he saw the water near him ripple, and soon after a shoal of fish rushed between his legs, so he quickly stabbed his spear into the water.

After a couple of attempts, he was able to get three fish stuck on his spear, another one he caught with his hand, and he cheered as he waved it in the air, Clover nickering as she cheered with him. As quickly as he could, he ran back to the shore and dumped the fish in a pile near his mare, "make sure they don't escape," he told her. Although the fish weren't going to anyway, the mare seemingly nodded, and when a fish began to thrash, she placed a hoove on it to keep it still.

Scotland went back into the water and caught even more fish, with the help of Esha, and kept coming back to the shore with more fish. When he got a decent pile, he decided it was enough, so he packed his spear away and just strode in the lake, feeling the water brush against his legs.

M: Esha poked her head out of the water to check on Scotland and when she saw he was done fishing she decided to have a little fun.

One thing she didn't mention is that Eternals had the ability to shift into an animal form that resembled their animal body parts, since human eternals didn't have animal parts they could shift into whatever animal they wanted.  So she ducked back down and sifted into her form, a creature that resembled a blue Asian lung dragon with a single kirin-like horn, her wings still remaining on her back but slightly longer.

She slowly crept across the lake bottom, scaring away any nearby fish, and when she was in the proper place she jumped out of the water in front of Scotland and playfully growled.

N: Scotland was in a sort of trance while he walked that the growl took him completely by surprise. Frightened by the sight of the creature, he yelped and fell back into the water, almost disappearing into it. When his head finally resurfaced, his hair was splayed all over his face, and he had to sweep it back to actually see what was in front of him.

He initially crawled back when he saw the creature, but he was curious as to why it wasn't attacking him, and a thought popped up in his head. Absurd in his opinion, but plausible.

"Òrail," he spoke, "is that you?"

M: Esha burst out laughing, falling back into the water and creating a big splash, after a bit, her large head rose out of the water underneath Scotland and lifted him up, his whole body as big as her head and he was sitting on her snout, looking her in her large eyes.

"I got you good, didn't I," she mocked with a laugh, "oh you should have seen your face, you looked like you were going to piss yourself."

N: "WOULD YOU BLAME ME," Scotland yelled as he clinched onto Esha's snout for dear life, "how do you expect anyone to react, all sunshine and rainbows, walk up to you and pat you on the head? You're as bad as Nessie, maybe even worse. How the hell do you even grow this big?"

After he got over his initial shock and tantrum, he finally calmed down and looked around, taking in the view. Although he was soaking wet, he still took the opportunity to enjoy the scenery, a small smile crept into his face.

M: Dragon Esha smirked as she watched Scotland enjoy the view from her face, it reminded her of when he was a child and she shifted for the first time for him, she understood that he wouldn't have remembered, he had to have been four or five at the time.

"If you're going to enjoy the view maybe climb onto my head instead, I don't want to sneeze and end up blowing you across the lake," she said.

When Scotland did as told and sat on her head, holding on to her horn, she gently began swimming around the lake, which was quite massive so she could swim comfortably and avoid obstacles.

"You know, Nessie and I shared her lake for a long time," she said, striking up a conversation, "there is an underwater tunnel that opens up into a large cavern at the bottom of it, an ancient civilization built a grand temple in it and would worship her, Sleip and I took residence there and I often swam in the lake with her, I would have stayed but the fish population had been rather tight for the last few centuries and there was only enough to feed one sea serpent, so we left, while we were leaving is when I met your mother."

N: "Ma never mentioned that there was an underwater tunnel," Scotland thought out loud, "but I guess it's because we never reached it. If only Pa was alive," and he trailed off as he thought about his father. "My Ma told me that my Pa, Caledonia, lived here when she came here, and it was him who introduced Nessie to her and my grandfather, so he probably knew a lot about her lake, maybe even the cavern."

He slumped on Esha, still holding onto the horn, "but I never got to meet him. My Ma told me that a couple of months before I was born, he died, but she never told me how. She would tell me stories about how she met him, and their time together, but nothing else, except that I had his eyes." The Scot fell silent as he just watched the water below him, not sure what to do with himself.

"Did you have parents?" he asked out of the blue.

M: "Not that I can recall," Esha sighed, "I lived on the streets as a kid, fending for myself and scavenging what I could, that was the reason why I have been able to survive for so long undetected because I've literally been doing it my whole life," she paused as she pondered that thought, "gosh I have a rough life, oh well, nothing to do but make the most of it."

She lowered her head down so she was swimming like a crocodile, still keeping Scotland high and dry.

"So, you look after Nessie huh, do you let her stay hidden or keep her as a pet?" she bluntly asked.

N: Scotland tilted his head at the question, "Why would I keep her as a pet? She has her own life and is way older than me, I just see her as this majestic creature who is wise but has her cheeky side."

He shook his head, "No, I don't keep her as a pet, I try to keep her as hidden as possible, as there are people out there who want to get a piece of her. I protect her by lying about her existence, and misleading poachers, all so that she doesn't get hurt. There are the rare times when a human does stumble across her, and if they are meant for harm then they are immediately detained, but if not, we cannot trust that they would keep a secret so they stay at my home as a servant, that way the location isn't disclosed."

The Scotsman sighed as he looked into the distance, "But once in a while I would pay a visit to see her, and I would spend the night next to the lake, talking about the day to her even if I don't understand anything that she says. I just don't want her to be lonely so I talk anyway, although I swear there was a moment she actually spoke but I hardly remember it."

M: Esha hummed at the response, it was better than she expected, she liked how much time and effort he takes into keeping Nessie safe and hidden, maybe he could do the same with her secret.

"No, not yet," she thought to herself, "he may tell his family, thinking they could help, but no one else can know, I need to make sure he would take it to his grave, but not now."

She gazed up at the sun, it was still high in the sky but not at its peak, probably early afternoon.  "Well, we should probably get going, don't want the game to start spoiling in the heat and the smell attracting predators, I can collect feathers some other time."