Merry Christmas, Friend

[black shadow]

Black Shadow heard the rumors of the arrow but never imagined it to be real. Even the looks of such arrow said that it was deadly, and when Black Shadow took it in his hand he could feel the power as he could with the bow.

Black Shadow readied the arrow to test it, knowing that it would be one of the best experiences he will have in a long time. He took a hold of the red string, letting the arrow fly. The beautiful sound of the music coming from the bow was accompanied by the intense scream from the Demon Lord Arrow. It was a mere second before the arrow struck the target. Instead of sticking out from the target as the other arrow had, the arrow seemed to disappear; obviously it went through the target.

Black Shadow looked down at his new bow and the back up at the target. He was having a lot of fun with it.

"Now think about it coming back to you" Gavner said.

Black Shadow nodded the thought the word "return." Instantly the arrow began to return to Black Shadow. It stopped, floating just two feet in front of him. He took it and placed it into his quiver.

"Daddy?" Black Shadow heard the familiar voice of Espoir call out. She sounded afraid.

"Oh, yea I forgot to tell you that it is loud. We probably woke her." Gavner said, laughing.

[matthewkuch]

Black Shadow handed his bow and quiver to Gavner as the surrogate father rushed to Espoir, kneeling down to pick her up and cradle her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Black Shadow said worriedly in sign language, standing up, "You are out in the snow without shoes! You could get frostbite."

"I was scared," Espoir whimpered, holding onto Black Shadow, "What was that noise? It was so loud!"

"It is okay, Espoir." Gavner said calmingly in a loving voice as he walked closer to her and Black Shadow, "It is gone now. Daddy and uncle Gavner are here with you now."

"I couldn't sleep before," She said looking at Gavner with a tear in her eye, "Will you read me a bed time story?"

Gavner reached into his cloak and took out a black hankerchief, "Of course we will," Gavner said sympathetically with a smile, drying her face. "In fact, we will go do that right now."

As they went inside, Black Shadow tossed Gavner a surprised look over Espoir, that expressed how unexpectedly loud the arrow had been. Gavner merely shrugged his shoulders and they continued to Espoir's room.

"I suppose that rules out a stealthy approach when using that arrow," Gavner said to Black Shadow in sign language.

When they reached her room, Gavner pulled back Espoir's blanket as Black Shadow placed his daughter in her bed before the vampire pulled the covers over the little Goldilocks and tucked her in. She curled her fingers around the edge of the covers that were pulled up to her chin, peeking out from under her blanket. The light from the lanterns softly came in from the living room, casting golden illumination on the wooden walls. Espoir’s was the largest room in the house, Black Shadow doted on her all the time.

“Once upon a time…” Espoir started for Gavner.

“…there was a wolf.” Gavner continued.

“Why do all your stories start with wolves uncle Gavner?” She asked.

Black Shadow had moved just out of Espoir’s vision and began telling Gavner what to say in sign language.

“Once upon a time,” Gavner restarted, “there was a baby hawk named Rosie. Rosie was the littlest of the family, but she certainly had a big heart. Whenever her friends were feeling sad, or upset, she would help them feel better.” Espoir’s face began to look forlorn. “She always longed to be older, so she could fly like the rest of her family. She had a brother, a mother, a father, and three other sisters. One day her sisters told her that she would never be able to fly, and so she…”

Gavner looked down to notice that Espoir was fast asleep. “Goodnight, little one.” He said bending down and kissing her on the forehead. Gavner walked into the kitchen, but Black Shadow lingered in the doorway looking at Espoir for a few moments. He then shut the door and continued to the kitchen with Gavner. Something was bothering him, Gavner could tell.

“What is on your mind, my friend?” Gavner asked.

“I dread the day that we must tell her what actually happened to her parents,” Black Shadow said in sign language.

“As do I,” Gavner said, pulling a bottle of rick, Catawba Wine from Black Shadow's secret hatch in the floor, “but for now we must enjoy her as she is young and innocent.” Black Shadow nodded. “Now,” Gavner continued, pouring the wine into two glasses that he had found in the cupboards “A lot has happened in the time that we have last seen each other." The vampire handed his friend the glass of crimson liquid, before gently raising his own.

"We have a lot that we must catch up on.”

[OOC: Official story thread transferring 1 bladesinger bow, 1 demon lord arrow, and 1 quiver of diamond tipped arrows from Gavner's inventory to Black Shadow's inventory. As described by Philomel after I obtained the items as spoils, the bow is:

"...as requested by the admins, this bow should be defined as being "better than 'The highest tier of wood.'" It is a longbow, made with high quality, using the top teir of wood - Liviol Nihon Redwood."

This is not the average bow, as it cannot be bought by conventional methods and has to be quested for. The crafting of a bladesinger bow is difficult and somewhat a lost art. Due to Black Shadow's exceptional precision and skill with bow and arrow, any encounter with him would most likely be deadly with this weapon, as Black Shadow rarely misses. Due to the power of the bow it is near impossible to dodge the arrow, unless power gaming occurs on the opponent's part, or the opponent basically has the sufficient speed to dodge a bullet.

The Demon Lord Arrow is described as:

"...arrow tip strength equivalency of Adamantine; returns to Black Shadow after being shot and is away from him for over 5 minutes. Flies through the air and stops 2 feet away from him, suspended in midair. Cannot hurt anybody when returning to Black Shadow. Cannot hurt anybody when suspended in midair. Must be placed in quiver for 2 minutes before it can be shot again."

Anyways, thanks for reading if you have gotten this far, hope you enjoyed it!]

[Philomel]

Name of Judgement: Merry Christmas, Friend
Judgement Type: Workshop Submission

Rewards:

matthewkuch receives:
1035 EXP
95 GP

black shadow receives:
610 EXP
65 GP

[Hysteria]

xp and gp added!