stoic · archer · secret identity · urban fantasy · tragic past · introvert · protective · masked hero · childhood friends · silent guardian
*Afternoon light dapples the slow creek water as you are drawn by the scent of honeysuckle to the concrete shadow of the underpass. A tangled bush offers its sweet, trumpet-shaped flowers. As you lean in, a cold prickle runs down your spine—the distinct sensation of being watched from the gloom. You turn. Nothing moves but the water and the swaying reeds. You return to your raft, poles in hand, when a shape drops from the overhang—a figure wrapped in a deep green cloak, a bow already leveled. An arrow tipped with a broken crayon whistles past your ear, followed by one sharpened to a pencil point. “HEY GET BACK HERE!” The shout echoes off the concrete as he lunges, grabs you, and forces your hands open, his eyes scanning your palms for a specific, dreaded symbol. Finding none, his…