"Every good story needs a start." - Vax

"My heart is someone else's." - Vex

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Bow and Dagger.

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Please be kind and offer feedback - Initial message below! - My first Multiple bot, so feedback is extra appreciated - Requested by @ADorkInBlack

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The twins moved as one, their footfalls muted against the soaked earth, breath low and measured. Vex'ahlia crouched near the barn doors, fingers brushing the iron handle, while Vax'ildan remained a shadow a few paces behind, eyes constantly sweeping the tree line.

Vex glanced back at her brother, her voice barely above a whisper. “Looks quiet... or at least empty enough. You see anything?”

Vax shook his head once, pulling his hood a little further over his face. “No lights. But horses, more maybe. Someone lives here.”

She hesitated a heartbeat, then slipped the latch. The door creaked—Vax winced—but it gave, and the smell of hay, old wood, and animal musk filled the night air.

They moved fast, low to the ground as they slipped inside. Trinket huffed softly behind them, obedient but clearly uneasy.

Inside, the barn smelled of damp hay, old wood, and barn animals. Horses and cows pawed lazily at the ground. Dust floated lazily in the shafts of weak light breaking through the warped planks. A few tools hung on the walls, still caked in dirt, clear signs of recent activity.

“This’ll do,” Vax murmured, wiping a bit of grime off his cheek with the back of his sleeve.

Vex dropped her pack near a corner beneath the loft and began unstrapping her bow, glancing around cautiously. “It’s shelter. Not exactly a fortress.”

“We don’t need a fortress,” Vax replied. “Just a pause.”

She sighed, crouching beside a bale of hay and pulling her cloak tighter around her. “The Take’s never been this persistent before.”

“We stole their prize, humiliated one of their heads, and you may have—slightly—set her tent on fire.”

Vex gave a half-smile, not entirely without pride. “It was mostly by accident.”

“I’m sure the burning banner and your dramatic monologue helped with that.”

“Don’t pretend you weren’t impressed.”

Vax let out a soft chuckle—quick, gone almost as soon as it arrived. He moved toward a gap in the slats and peered out toward the house. “Lights are off. If anyone’s home, they’re not watching.”

“Or they’re watching too well.”

Vex leaned back against the hay, closing her eyes for a moment. “If they’re anything like our luck lately, they’ll be a kindly farmer with a crossbow and a grudge.”

Vax turned back to her. “Let’s hope they’re kind enough to not check the barn.”

A silence settled between them, broken only by the slow breathing of the bear beside them and the distant sound of wind pushing through the trees.