Like a Lightning Bolt | Homeboy!

[Kadakism]

You did.

The answer stuck in her throat, a mixture of embarrassment and the memory of what her mother had said to her making Rowan flounder. Her mother had insisted that her fascination with this boy was the same as when she had fallen for Rowan's own father. Like being struck with a bolt of lightning, and suddenly everything is clear.

"Your words," she finally answered. Not an entirely untrue notion. His words had been what made her think about him endlessly over the days since they had met. "It took me several days to really consider the things that you said. And another half-day to convince Mother to let me leave."

But now here she was. She didn't know what to do with this newfound directionless freedom, but at least she had it. He was looking her in the eye and Rowan couldn't be sure but she thought she saw the same kind of images reflected there that she usually did in a fire.

"I don't belong at home. I do not know where I belong, you see. So, I think, if I travel maybe I will find a place and a purpose."

[homeboy!]

"That's great." Simple words, but they came with a certain genuineness, and a warm smile. "I left home for similar reasons, but a word of warning, purpose and identity are much more complex than the ballads make them seem." He chuckled, followed by a sigh as he reminisced.

"I don't try to think about it too much, but it helps to just think about the small stuff instead of trying to figure out what string fate will weave you." He let himself fall back onto the grass, staring up into the leaves above

"Like right now, I'm just Bobby, my purpose is to take care of Egg," He stated plainly, holding the thing out in his arms in above him. "and I belong underneath this tree. Tomorrow, I'll belong somewhere else."

"Does that make any sense?" He laughed.

[Kadakism]

Rowan could understand that, actually. She had often found herself just being when the world around her had seemed too confusing or too hard to deal with. Rowan of the hammock. Rowan of beside the hearth. Rowan of the edge of the stream. She nodded, actually smiling a bit more at Bobby. "I do understand that, yes. That was why I left. I- you helped me realize that I did not belong in my town anymore."

She paused and corrected herself, shifting the bow across her back to make it rest more comfortably. "No that isn't true. You helped me realize that I never really belonged there. It has been a pleasant journey, short as it has been. The trees and the river are quite conversational this far out from town."

[homeboy!]

Bobby returned Rowan's smile, pleased he was able to be of some sort of assistance with his forwardness. "Yeah, it's nice." A short, but comfortable silence ensued, the swaying of the trees and the gentle babble of the stream filling the gap in conversation. Bobby's eyes moved to the bow slung across her back, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Where'd you learn to use that?"

[Kadakism]

"I taught myself by watching the archers in my hometown and listening to the wind when they fired their arrows." It was a simple enough answer, and one that she didn't really think much of. Rowan took out an arrow from her quiver and held it between her hands, pressing the fire hardened tip against her finger.

"Then I practiced with discarded bows and arrows, taking what I'd learned and putting practical use to it. I would hunt to make sure that Mother and I had enough food to eat. Meat can be expensive, so it was better to shoot pheasants and rabbits."

"Who taught you to use your spear?" she asked, turning his question back on him. Rowan looked the spear over; it was clearly a well made weapon.

[homeboy!]

"That's.. really impressive-." Bobby raised a brow in bewilderment in how nonchalant she was about that fact, watching her push the arrowhead against her skin. His expression turned awkward when she mentioned what she put that skill to use for, trying to offer a nod of understanding as she mentioned her childhood struggles. In truth, a young Robert never wanted for anything, he was the son of Love Castell, but he wasn't his father's son in that moment. He was Bobby, Just Bobby.

When she asked about his training, his mouth hung agape for a beat, thinking of how he should answer. Until,

"Alot of different people, but mostly my Father." Not untrue, but not revealing the entirety of his extensive training.

"It's nothing special, really, just fundamentals and such." He offered a lying smile.

[Kadakism]

"Your father must be a very competent warrior then," she said with a sure nod, looking between Bobby and the spear again. "It is difficult to teach when you do not know yourself. That is something that Mother taught me when I would ask how to do things."

"I have never even held a weapon," she mused, chewing on the inside of her cheek. That wasn't entirely true. She had been allowed a walking cane when traveling, so that she could defend herself from animals. But those had been little more than a particularly straight stick with a knot on one end. Nothing at all like the well made steel and smooth haft of his weapon. So it was true enough for the wind to not chastise her.

"You left home as well then. Where will you go? What will you do?"

[homeboy!]

"He is." He responded, staring at the spear himself, looking at himself in its reflection. His expression became troubled. Even then, he saw only him, the warm features of his father staring back at him; he almost hated him for it-

'I don't mean that, Dad.' A thought immediately trailing these feelings. He dropped his spear, huffing a sigh before the words of his company caught his attention again.

"Where will you go? What will you do?"

He thought for a moment, still clearing the fog from his mind, until he looked at the stream in front of him.

"Well, I think I might abandon my current holdings of this rather luxurious patch of dirt." He spoke facetiously, hamming up a posh accent to commit to his jest as he stood up and stretched. "I think I'll follow this stream further up river, and perchance become Bobby of the Mid-day swim." He extended a hand out Rowan ever-so-graciously, bowing his head.

"Would you care to join me, Miss Rowan?"