Chapter 8 – The Arrow’s Flight
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“ Tsubodai, there’s going to be an expedition with all the tribes, the Khans are discussing how many warriors to send and which Khan’s will go with the expedition.”, those words still rung in my ears. My father had been excited because exploring new lands usually meant new opportunities. Large numbers of wanderers would be recruited as well to help so there was always the chance that a new tribe came to be, the further the expedition traveled the more likely a new tribe would be formed. While my father wasn’t particularly ambitious he wanted the best for me and he was ecstatic because he could easily get a spot for me on the expedition. “What happened to all the worries regarding the Borjigin attacking?”, I wondered out loud. I didn’t have to wait too long for a response. “They still aren’t on friendly terms and from what I understand once Temujin Khan heals fully he intends to challenge Hotula Khan for leadership over the Borjigin. However, for now, the two Khans have agreed to put aside their differences while the exploration takes place, Hotula believes that we could migrate for good to these new lands because of how full of game they are. As for the rest of the Khans, they like Hotula’s idea and are willing to give him a chance, the hypocrites!”, I hadn’t realized it before this but my dad was quite the chatterbox. He really could go on and on given the chance.

After talking to my father about the expedition and discussing it for a bit, I headed off to practice my archery for a bit, this was going to be my first time competing in the archery competition with the other representatives. I headed off to the same clearing I’d practiced my archery at for the last 7 years when I came to the Kurultai. It was a large clearing right below the plateau upon which Karakorum stood with a few trees at about a 250-meter distance, I had over the years become the best archer amongst the Kerait and would often go hunting until my father had me assigned under him so that I was safer. As the only child of the Khan’s younger brother, I was given some beneficial treatment. As the consensus best archer among the Kerait, I was quite popular in the tribe. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing though, as unlike in most medieval societies, the Centaurs chose their chief by selecting the best warrior and leader and while most of the time the son of the chief was favored to succeed it was far from a guaranteed thing and would sometimes come down to a duel, albeit not one to the death. This meant that I could soon become an eyesore in my uncle’s eyes if I did well in the expedition that my uncle had let me onto, My uncle had two sons, and both of them were elder than me and considered decent warriors. The problem was they were quite overbearing, taking for granted the fact that one of them would take over as Khan. While I didn’t plan to contest for the position of Khan, I was quite sure that my uncle had hoped that I would just get unlucky and die or be lost during the expedition, as the Borjigin had lost quite a few warriors during their exploration to new animals and difficult weather and terrain. Anyhow, all those worries were for a different time, for now, all I wanted to do was practice my archery and forget about everything else.

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Temujin son of Yesugei stood outside the wooden walls of Karakorum, he had been looking for a place to sort out his thoughts. The past 7 years in the wilderness hadn’t been easy, they had been left in the wilds without a ger, with only a couple of bows and arrows, there was no way for them to migrate every winter like the tribes would as they had been three children alone with their mother who had never completely recovered from the loss of their father. The odds had been stacked against them from the very beginning, and the only reason they had survived had been the kindness of the wanderers. The people of the tribes were prideful folk that believed themselves superior to wanderers, but after 7 years of living as one, Temujin knew better. He knew that it took strength to survive in the harsh winters of the steppes, to live off the land with their salted meats and through foraging. It had already been tricky to gauge how the Olkhunut felt about him taking over as Khan and Temujin knew that what he wished to do would not be received well either, even if he was now a hero to all the centaurs. He knew that accepting the wanderers to the Olkhunut would be a controversial decision, but he was willing to do it anyway. As Temujin kept on walking he heard the familiar twang of a bow, as he walked up to check which of the Olkhunut guard were practicing this diligently, Temujin was extremely surprised to see he didn’t recognize the person practicing his archery which meant that it wasn’t one of the Olkhunut. One had to understand in the same way that the Borjigin had dominated the competitions for the saber, the Olkhunut had a monopoly over the archery competition and it hadn’t ever been particularly close. The most competitive archery showdown had been between Woyela’s nephew, Temujin’s own uncle Arslan and his father Yesugei. That had been how Temujin’s mother Hoelun had first met the charismatic soon to be Khan of the Borjigin. It was now a story almost 2 and a half decades old and was spoken of fondly now and then amongst the fires of the Kurultai when reminiscing the past. All that aside, however, even Yesugei hadn’t managed to defeat Arslan that was how famous the archery of the Olkhunut was. The most competitive match in the archery competition’s history had still been won by Goliath.

 

After watching the centaur who seemed to be about the same age as him dedicatedly keep shooting for what seemed like ages, Temujin finally called out to him, “Why are you out this late with your bow? It isn’t like you stand much of a chance tomorrow?”. Temujin wasn’t joking when he said that, while this fellow was shooting decently at the target that was about 320-330 paces off, the Olkhunut were accurate even at a distance of 400 paces. “I shoot for myself, not for any other person. It does not matter whether I will win or not, I shoot because I enjoy doing so.”, the young centaur replied as he trotted forward to pick up the arrows he had shot. “And why do you enjoy it? Why do you enjoy archery?” Temujin countered, this young centaur having piqued his curiosity. “ Because in a world where we all serve our own interests to survive, an arrow flies true to the shooter’s aim. A friend may betray you, family may abandon you, your loved ones may stop loving you, but an arrow will always strike true.”. So saying, the young centaur walked back to the camp, and it seemed to Temujin that some of his doubts had resolved themselves. "The Arrow's Flies true indeed.", he chuckled to himself, his shoulders now relaxed as if a great burden had been lifted from off his shoulders.

 

I felt quite funny in my chest writing that last para, not quite sure what inspired me to write it.  When I started off with this chapter I was unsure as to whether I was happy with the direction it was headed in, but now having finished the chapter, I feel quite proud of it. As Always thanks for reading peeps, hope ur enjoying the story so far, and as always Thanks and Gig'Em

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