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THE SILVER ARCHER Chapter 2: Through the Mists of Time (Photo credit: https://greecewithfriendstravel.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/greece-zakynthos-coast-beach.jpg) The thick green mist was hanging heavy and close to the earth in the bottom of the valley, just a little dip between two hills that seemed to hold more mist than it ought to be able to hold. Trees grew around and over the hollow like a canopy, but not an inviting one. The shadows were too dark for my taste, especially contrasted with the brilliant spring sun above. "Mistral," I called, breaking into a trot to keep up with my teacher up ahead, "are you sure we have to go down there? It looks strange!" Mistral glanced at me as I drew alongside her, and her face crinkled into a smile under her warm purple hood. "Don't worry, Sky, it's all right. I've been here many times. It will be strange at first, but you'll learn your way around." "Learn my way around?" I slowed my steps and waved my arms to keep from sliding down the slight, muddy incline. "How big is this valley, anyway?" Mistral laughed. "No no, Sky, not in the valley. We're going through the valley." As we moved into the valley and closer to the tree-canopy, the greenish mist began to swirl softly out from between the trees and toward us, almost as if it were gathering us into a silent embrace. I grimaced and jumped backward a few steps, keeping my hand on my Silver Bow - somehow, I could sense a presence in this mist, or a consciousness - almost as if it were somehow alive. Who or what was reaching out to us? Was it friendly? Could this be another trick from my enemy, the Dark Elf? Normally when his presence was near, I could feel it in the constellation of icy-white scars across my right arm; but I felt none of that chill as the mist approached, only a strange churning in my stomach and goosebumps running down the back of my neck. Mistral, however, continued calmly down the hill and in between the two curling tendrils of the mist that began to encircle her. She did not seem to acknowledge the presence, but she did lift her hands slightly, as if in a defenseless gesture, as she passed between the first trees and out of my sight. "Come along, Sky," her voice floated back to me, a bit high and tense. "Stay with me, please." Maybe if I ran, I would avoid the touch of the mist. Quickly, I gathered up my skirt and trotted between the two swirls, ducking in between the trees - and stopping short with a gasp. Inside the canopy, the branches and limbs of the trees wound together in spiraling, intricate patterns to form a beautiful woodland cathedral. The sun shone vividly through the bright green leaves like stained glass, shimmering and sparkling like a shower of diamonds across the flattened floor as the wind passed through and fluttered the leaves. In the center of the cathedral, a deep, clear blue pool was surrounded by a circular pavement of flat, smooth stones. One of the stones formed the top of a staircase that led curving down the sides of the pool, into the water and far, far beyond my sight. Sudden panic burst in my stomach and I reached out to rest my hand on Mistral's arm. "Mistral, we - we're not going down there, are we?" Mistral seemed not to notice how high-pitched my voice was. "Not today - another day," she said absently, freeing her arm and walking toward the right side of the pool. "Follow me." As she passed by the pool, she bent low to dip her left hand into the water, touched her wet fingertips to her forehead, and then walked straight ahead of her, disappearing into the green mist. I took a deep breath and did the same - I bent down to dip my fingers into the water, which was surprisingly warm, and touched them to my forehead. As I walked straight forward in the direction Mistral had gone, I felt the water on my forehead begin to tingle and grow warmer, almost hot. The mist grew thicker until I could not see what was ahead of me - I could no longer see the trees, and when I looked down, I could not see the ground or even my feet. Heart pounding, I twisted my head to look behind me, and sure enough, I couldn't see behind me, either. I was completely engulfed in the mist. I breathed deeply and clenched my jaw as I kept walking forward, faster now, fighting the temptation to call out for Mistral. I could do this. She wasn't afraid; I didn't need to be either. We were almost through the valley to the other side. At last, after a span of minutes I couldn't measure, the mist began to thin. I could see my feet, and I could see the hazy outline of the sun above my head. We must have made it through the tree-canopy and back out to the other side. Mistral was up ahead - I could see her shape, still walking forward, now with her hood pushed off to show her short-cropped gray hair. I hurried up to walk beside her - but when I reached her, I stared. "Mistral, your clothes!" Gone were my teacher's handspun, faded robes - before my eyes, she had transformed into a warrior queen, her graceful neck emerging from a luxurious amethyst robe fastened at each shoulder with glittering golden clasps. A wide, heavy leather belt tightly encircled her slim waist, golden bracelets shone on each wrist, and a delicate golden circlet rested on her head. Every flutter of her light, flowing gown shimmered with grace; yet, somehow, she was also bristling with weapons - two daggers and a sword were attached to her belt, and the straps that crossed the center of her chest held a quiver and a slim golden bow. "What -" I couldn't even formulate the question. "How -" "You look quite nice yourself," she laughed, and nodded at me. "It's much more comfortable for this Mediterranean climate, don't you agree?" I barely had time to glance down and gasp at my own wardrobe change - I wore a long, simple white robe with a silver cord tied around my waist, a light metal breastplate that fastened tightly but flexibly around my ribcage, and a heavy red cape - before snapping my gaze back up and staring in wonder at the landscape that unfolded in front of me. We were no longer on the northern plains, or anywhere that I had ever been in my short life. We were standing atop a high ridge that dropped sharply down into the brightest, clearest green-blue water I had ever seen, vast waters stretching far out to the deep blue horizon. No clouds marred the perfect bowl of the sky above us, but a fresh breeze chased around us and swept out to the rocky islets far below our feet, where bushes, scrubby trees and brilliant flowers grew between white houses of all shapes and sizes. We had indeed passed "through the valley." Wherever we were, we were no longer in Middle Earth.

Man oh man. I've had my second challenge ready since before the forum was open and I'm just now getting it on here. o.o Damn procrastination monster. Sooo basically I'm getting ready for a Tough Mudder Half in August. I'm starting from square one. I want to, I guess, get some good habits in place this month to help propel me the rest of the way. In addition I also have studying and talking with y'all here. Statistic Quest Progress Strength Workout 0 / 8 Dexterity Yoga 0 / 8 Stamina “Running” 0 / 8 Constitution Food Diary 0 / 22 Wisdom Study 0 / 3360 Charisma Post in the Forums 0 / 28

Annyshay stumbles into her home and lets her pack fall heavily to the ground. Dragon greets her with his usual warmth and demands to be fed. Once Dragon's needs are attended to, Annyshay sheds her cloak and boots. She sinks into her well-worn chair and reaches for the scroll emblazoned with "For the Rebellion!" She sighs as some scenes from the last few weeks flash in front of her eyes - political unrest, friends consumed by despair, and harsh words that cannot be unsaid. The flashes of memory threaten to fill her mind with regret and worry, but Dragon jumps onto her lap and tries to insert his muzzle between her hand and the scroll. This movement reminds Annyshay of her intention, so she repositions Dragon and opens the scroll. She moves past her brooding to share these moments with her friends in the Rebellion. As always, the scroll lets her share in the struggles and victories of her fellow rebels. An all-too-familiar thought comes to her - you will never change. Annyshay notes the thought and renews her commitment to be the author and editor of her own legend (follow the link to my battle log and backstory), instead of heeding the thoughts that have so often overpowered her. She scratches Dragon's chin, takes up her quill, and begins to write... Quest the first - Post Daily on NF My rebels are my tribe. I value all of your kind words and love. Whenever I stay away from NF, I cut off my support system. That's the worst plan. Time to re-establish the habit of showing up here each day. Quest the second - Journal about Eating Nutrition is a big challenge for me, as my body composition currently shows. This is largely rooted in emotional eating driven by chronic stress. No diet or habit tweaks will complete this boss battle if I am not willing to examine myself without judgment and address my boss battle's root causes. Quest the third - Mindful Moments I'm stealing this from Headmaster Amy Clover of Strong Inside Out. Basically, I take a moment before any eating to check in with myself. Quest the fourth - Choose Love Cynicism and bitterness are natural responses to the challenges we rebels face, but with Jesus' help I will choose to act out of love. Love will be my modus operandi and will inform my choices instead of fear, anger, or despair.

Hi everyone! I'm Fridelisan, and I'm all new to this guild. While poking around and reading on all the guild forums, this seemed like a really nice place to hang around. I hope to find my inner assassin while spending some time here, getting to know all of you. My primary goal right now is to get stronger, so that I can progress in my pole- and aerial silks classes. I'm way to weak to do any of the more difficult tricks, and I can't even invert on silks. That's why I'll continue to build on my first challenge. So with any further adoo, my goals for the next 4 weeks: 1. Go to at least 3 workouts a week. I'm currently on a schedule where I do pole on mondays, aerial silks on wednesdays and yoga on fridays. But to build stength, I'll try to go to a interval gymnastics strength workout o thursdays on my uni gym too (which is something that I tried for the first time last week, and I just wanted to lay down and die afterwards. Ugh, that's hard). 2. Eat a minimum of 80 g of protein every day. So I started using MFP a couple of weeks ago and realised that I don't eat as much protein as I thought I did. While 80 g isn't as much as I actually need, it's still much more than I usually manage to eat each day. My average daily intake is 78 g, but it varies from ~50 g to ~115 g. So protein intake is absolutely something that I have to work on. 3. Drink at least 1 liter of water each day. I suck at drinking. I mean, I can go a whole day without drinking anything at all. So I have to step up my game if I want to get all the water I need. Especially when the recommended water intake is ~2 liters a day (although this includes water from food). But I'll start with something that I think I will manage, and then increase the amount later on. Life goal: 4. Meditate for 10 minutes every day. After taking up yoga I realised that I enjoy taking some time and just be in the moment. I feel super relaxed and can focus better afterwards. That's why 10 minutes of meditation every day will be great for me. I started using Mindspace yesterday, and I love it! It absolutely helps me focus! Oh, and I heard you liked cats around here.

Main Quest: Get the Lead Out Consistency in all subquests A. Annnd we're walking... Begin the journey to Mordor (at least 10,000 steps per day) B. Get my flex on 30 days To the Splits Challenge http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2015/06/28/30-days-30-stretches-to-splits-journeytosplits/ C. Jump Around, Jump Up & Get Down 100 jump reps (25/wk) of any combo of the following: *broad jumps. *box jumps *tuck jumps. *jump squats Exercise Rotation Day 1: abs. Day 4: obliques Day 2: arms. Day 5: legs/thighs Day 3: total body D. Meditate: Don't Vegetate Meditate 5+ minutes every day E. The Innkeeper's Challenge Minimalise using the 30-day Minimalism Game as a guideline

Who I am: Christian, bibliophile, perpetual student (I'm always learning something) Stats: Age--48, Height--5'2", Weight--134 lbs What I like: dancing, frisbee golf, tennis, Pilates, cosplaying What I watch: Star Trek, Batman, animated movies What to know more? Ask me.

I am a female-bodied person who is about to turn 40. Unsurprisingly I am also a nerd, and one of fairly diverse interests. I'm happy with my weight, my diet is reasonably healthy, and I'm able-bodied and capable of doing the stuff I really need to be able to do, physically, so while I'd like to improve my stamina and strength some, my main concern is mental, not physical, fitness; I'm dealing with depression and probable (testing is in progress) AD(H)D and a lot of inertia/momentum issues. Last challenge did not go so well, but I'm giving it another shot with similar, but simplified, goals. Not sure if I'm more suited to the Druids or the Adventurers under the new system... I'm really more of a Cleric. 1) GET UP! At 9am (I have an alarm), get out of bed, take my meds, and stay out of bed. Occasionally I need to get up earlier, in which case it all happens whenever I need to get up. 2) GROUND AND CENTER! After my daily prayers (something I'm already pretty good at keeping up), do a basic grounding and centering exercise. Doesn't have to be fancy or take ten minutes, just has to actually get done. 3) EXERCISE! Between dinner and my night meds alarm (in fact I may set another alarm just for this), do some kind of brief workout. We have a bunch of stuff -- treadmill, exercise bike, various light dumbbells, some kind of TotalGym thing -- around the house that I can use, but I expect to be falling back on jumping jacks fairly often since they need neither equipment, space outside my own bedroom, nor advance preparation. (Note to self: choir rehearsal probably doesn't count, not even when both choirs are rehearsing. You can work out when you get home.) If I've done something that counts earlier in the day, like gone for a hike, or taken advantage of a rare moment of being alone in the house to shake my booty, then I'll probably skip the nighttime thing, but I think that's probably the best time to get the possible sleep-related benefits of exercise, plus it puts the exercise before my shower whether that's at night or in the morning. SIDE QUEST: TAROT CARD STUDY! Paradoxically I have kept this up better when I wasn't involved in a challenge, but now it's starting to become a habit. Keeping it simple, just drawing a card (not with any intention that it's meant to reflect the day or anything), writing down my own impressions, then taking notes from my favored book (Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning) so they'll stick in my head better. Occasionally I do a three-card reading too; thus far they've been fairly insightful. (And good at telling me to get off my butt. Possibly because I'm using my Hanson-Roberts deck, and while I haven't actually READ with it that much, I've owned it for about 20 years, so it's probably used to my BS by now.) EXTRA SIDE QUEST: POST, YOU FOOL! Post about how I'm doing so I can't hide it if I slack off. Ideally all these things will happen every day, but I'm aiming for getting them done more often than not and not letting missing a day turn into giving up.

2nd Challenge, got a B+ for the last one. I had some pitfalls, I now have an expiration date on my marriage. Separated now. It threw me for a loop, but now I'm even more focused on being a hottie again. I'm not bad now, but I want to do better. Being sexy is a great motivator, but I also want to fight my genes and live without health problems. I am a juggler, a nurse, a volunteer ranger for the national park, a mom and really stubborn. Goals: STR: Job requires lots of squatting down and standing up for 12 hours. For this reason, I call a work day a workout day. On off days, I plan on going to the gym. Bodyweight plus 10% plus incline on the treadmill. Turns fast walking into lunges. DEX: I'm a juggler. I have a 3 ball cascade down and now working on learning clubs... it's trickier. I also contact juggle, which I am still trying to increase my skillset. CON: Endurance.... I love to hike. I plan on hiking at least 2 times during this challenge. I found some hiking meetups in my area. I also use the treadmill at the gym, my plan is to increase speed from 2 MPH at a 10% grade to 3MPH at 10% or higher for 30 minutes. As long as I am increasing difficulty, I'm happy. INT: Still training in my new nursing job. I have passed the 1st level training and will soon start 2nd level training. Lots of learning to do yet. WIS: Money management. Pack my lunches for work/outings. Also beginning to look at dating. I need to be wise in my companion choice.

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