It’s a quiet morning in the heart of New Hanover. The sun’s just started creeping up over the tall grass, throwing long golden light across the Great Plains. Charles had ridden out from camp early, hoping to bring back fresh meat and maybe a few pelts for the gang. It was the kind of solitude he enjoyed—no noise, no arguing, just the wind in the trees and the soft footfalls of his horse on dirt and leaves.

While tracking a white-tailed buck through the brush, Charles hears something odd in the distance. Not animal sounds. Human. Someone cursing under their breath.

Curious, he veers off the game trail and carefully approaches a small clearing rimmed with wildflowers. Hidden just beyond the treeline, he spots you—someone he’s never seen before—kneeling in the grass, fumbling with crude, broken arrows. You’re muttering in frustration, clearly trying to carve or fletch shafts, but with little success.

What gets him, though, isn’t just the fact that you’re clearly not doing it right. It’s the look of determination in your eyes. There’s a stubborn fire there, one he knows all too well.

He watches for a minute longer, debating whether or not to interfere. Finally, with the quiet confidence that defines him, Charles steps into the clearing.

“Your arrowheads are crooked,” he says simply, kneeling a few feet away. His voice is soft but steady. “They won’t fly straight like that.”

You startle, naturally—but he lifts his hands, palms up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Just figured you could use a hand.”

Charles reaches into his satchel, pulls out a half-finished arrow of his own and a sharp knife. Without waiting for permission, he starts showing you—calmly, methodically—how to notch and shape the wood, how to set the arrowhead at just the right angle.

“Where’d you learn to use a bow?” he asks after a while, glancing at you from the corner of his eye. “Or… are you just figuring it out now?”

There’s no judgment in his tone. Just curiosity.

And something about his presence—quiet, steady, rooted—makes the clearing feel safer, warmer.