she dared to enter the forest
Nobody went into the forest.
Well, nobody other than a young woman, who was wrapped in a grey woolen cloak and who skirted expertly through the shadows and long grass. She would have been scolded into tomorrow if anyone had caught her, but since no one really paid any attention to her, this was easily avoided.
As soon as she reached the tree line, she darted through the trees to a small clearing about 10 feet beyond it. There remained a small collection of supplies: a large flat piece of lumber pilfered from the carpentry hut leaning against a tree trunk and an inconspicuous wad of cloth stuffed into a hole in one of the trees. This she grabbed immediately upon arriving in the clearing and from the haphazard folds, extracted one thin throwing knife.
After setting herself opposite the piece of lumber, she took a deep breath, prepped, and then whoosh, thump, as the knife’s point met the wood. She laughed slightly, noticing where it had landed (she was throwing right again, so much for the practice to break that habit), and then approached the target so that she could remove the knife and throw again.
For the next half hour, she entered a state of extreme focus as she threw again and again, muttering to herself off and on as she pushed herself to her limits physically. Eventually the knife began to strike closer and closer to the center, the thump as it met wood echoing through the trees in an almost meditative way.
She remained focused until a prickling in her neck made her think that something between the trees was watching her. But when she glanced back, she saw nothing suspicious. This was not reassuring, as the sensation was still present, but she turned back to continue her training.
Her senses, however, were not failing her. There was something watching her through the trees. It was not a predatory stare, but one of curiosity and quiet interest in something peculiar. To be sure, her presence in the forest was strange. No one ventured beyond the edge of the forest. The superstitious believed there were ghosts and magic folk living in the dark forest. The rest avoided it because the darkness was dangerous if you didn’t know where you were going, magical interference or not.
The something had wondered why this young woman wasn’t afraid of returning to the forest week after week, but after watching her practice, that continuous throw and strike of the knife, they decided that there was probably very little that could scare her.
They started to move closer as they watched and stretching out a shadowy hand, they grasped the bark of a nearby tree and peered at her from behind it. While they moved slowly and silently, they recognized a small flash of fear telling them to be careful, but they ignored it in favor of their curiosity. This was the closest they had ever gotten, and they weren’t about to give up now.
~nan
[This too was an attempt at introducing characters in my novel, but I don't think I ever took it seriously. I was just slightly obsessed with knife throwing at the time. The text was a bit of a mess; I edited so much of the original to post it here, but as always, I can't complain. I love to edit.]