Have you ever watched a lithe, flexible person stretch? Not even just to warm up or anything. Just watch them after they get up after sitting for a long time…it's like watching a cat stretch. You just know they seem to hit every single muscle they want to. They'll walk a bit, and then stretch, and it makes you wonder if they even have bones.

My sister's like that.
Anna always looks so content when she stretches. Sometimes I'll sit and read quietly with her just for the joy of watching her get up and stretch so luxuriously. I've always been amazed with those flexible people that seem to be in complete control of their body, and yet at the same time manage to look and flow like water, with no effort or control visible.
We were sitting in the library, and she was curled up over some text about a long dead argument over land that she found fascinating for some reason. I was looking over some maps, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. My mind was wandering.
Anna got up and stretched, so I watched her.
"Doesn't that hurt somehow?" I asked, amazed at how far her back would bend one way, and then the other.
She looked over, surprised. "Not at all. I'd put stretching right up with being in a meadow on a sunny day with a horse for my list of things that I could do forever."
"I'd break myself if I tried to stretch like that," I mumbled.
She grinned mischievously. "If I remember properly…"
"Don't bring that back up," I groaned. I'd stretched too far once and had broken I don't even remember what. Anna was doing the same thing and went further without hurting herself.
"I love stretching," she said, shrugging as she sat back down.
"So then do you sit around and do nothing just for the joy of stretching those unused muscles?" I teased.
Anna winced. "Don't tell Mother…"

Austin and Dalton charged into the camp, both thoroughly scratched up and looking completely high off of life. Caldaer turned around, glaring.
"What did you two do?" he demanded.
"Nothing," Austin scoffed. "What, think we did something?"
"Apparently we can't go for a walk," Dalton muttered, his ears pressed flat against his head. His eyes glittered with adrenaline though.
Caldaer still glared at them warily. He knew he shouldn't have given these two command of anything—he'd gotten backtalk from two archers already. They were hardly more than trouble-makers themselves.
Just then, an elf stormed into the clearing, sword unsheathed. He took one look at both Austin and Dalton and screeched an elvish war cry. The two archery commanders took haste to turn tail and run, crashing through trees carelessly. Well, that explained that.
The elf turned on Caldaer, his eyes narrowed in a glare.
"General Caldaer, we have been generous enough to extend a hand to let your armies stay on our grounds, but we will not tolerate them wandering!"
Caldaer bowed deeply, suppressing a growl. "My apologies, sir. Some of my commanders have…an explicit interest in the elves."
The elf just let out an angry huff, then turned and stormed away again, sheathing his sword.
The two cautiously came back, grinning from ear to ear.
"WHAT WERE YOU DOING!" Caldaer yelled at them, furious. "Two of my commanding officers—I can't believe you two! What, for the love of Ethian, were you doing away from the camp?"
"Elves have nice bows," Dalton said, in the soft muttering voice he always had.
"We were just at a local market," Austin complained. "There was no sign expressing that there was to be no trying of bows—"
"Austin," Caldaer snapped, impatience making him even more frustrated. "You are lucky they even let you near their territory, being a half-elf—"
"It isn't my fault," Austin retorted.
"—and then you test their limits!" Caldaer continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. He turned to the dog-demon. "And you, Dalton! I would have thought you had more sense than that!"
"I was bored," he said defensively, growling.
Caldaer threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, storming off after saying something about going to talk to someone sensible.
Austin and Dalton exchanged a look.
"Well, that was fun."

Alyssa, or as her friends called her, Al, could feel herself drooling, but she didn't really do anything about it. Served Mr. Baldwin right if she managed to get a puddle of drool on the desk. Her dark eyes were unfocused as her mind wandered away from the safety video. She thought about her flute, sitting in it's locker in the band room on the other side of campus. She had a song she was working on stuck in her head—Estrelita by Ponce. It's sweet melody drifted through her thoughts. Her eyelids drooped. She switched to Fantaisie by Lewallen…there, that was better.
But driver's ed was still boring. She frowned in frustration. Why did she have to take this as a freshman? She was only fourteen and a half—she still had another year to go before she could get her permit. Not to mention it was the easiest class she was taking right now.
Al almost growled in frustration. When she'd been in eighth grade last year, she thought it would be awesome, having more than one exploratory period.
However, she didn't know that it was going to be that hard to choose. Band, band, and Japanese had eventually gone down on her paper, after much debating and calling her counselor to change it several times before the school year had even let out.
Frosh Survey was such a pointless class. One quarter of the year was spent in tech, and the other spend in driver's ed. She could be taking biology right now and getting a year of science out of the way! Or, if she could have had it her way, history. But noo, freshman weren't allowed to take history.
"What bullshit," she muttered darkly. The people who sat around her turned to glance at her before moving their eyes back to the screen. Alyssa wasn't well liked by her classmates. They thought she was rude, but really, she was just…tact-less. If someone bothered her, she turned around and said something to the effect of "what the hell, knock it off."
The fact that she passed the first practice test with flying colors without even trying might make them a bit angry too.
She smirked at that. Just another example of why this class was a waste of her time. The DMV practice test for a permit which they'd taken at the beginning of the year, she'd missed six on. Forty out of forty-six. The most you could miss was eight.
So without even taking the course, she could go to the DMV and take the test, and still pass it.
And tech before this was even worse. Learning to type, which she already knew how to do, and working in Microsoft Office, which she…still already knew how to do. Stupid class…
She really wanted to go to the band room and get a flag to practice outside at lunch with. Winterguard started tomorrow…She really wanted a flag. After a glance at the clock, Alyssa decided to do something she'd never done before.
She grabbed her bag, stood up, and ignoring the teacher's protests, walked out.
Perhaps that's when everything started to go downhill.

Anna hit the ground. And hit it. And hit it.
She pulled herself into a ball and rolled away from where she'd fallen, like she'd been taught to. Her hand reached out and slapped the ground, and she screamed in frustration. She jumped to her feet again, furiously whipping her helmet off and throwing it at the ground. The rest of her was completely covered in dust, and her helmet now got another coating.
Her horse Faerie came up behind her, whinnying softly. The two were both dripping with sweat, and like her, Faerie's tack was covered in dust from Anna throwing herself back in it in frustration. She couldn't believe that she couldn't manage to stay saddled for this jump—people did five foot jumps all of the time, so why couldn't she?
Her brother was leaning over the fence silently. He was dressed in his leather motorcycle gear, which was also collecting dust. It wasn't hard to do at a riding arena where everything was dirt, hay…dust.
"You're going to kill yourself and that horse if you don't take a break," he commented finally. Anna just glared at him.
"As soon as I know what I'm doing wrong," she said finally, with a bitter note in her voice. Caldaer just smiled wryly, climbing over the fence. He handed her his keys from his pocket, then mounted Faerie. He took a moment to adjust from his giant stallion that he was used to, then gently flicked the reins until the horse was lined up before the poles again. A gentle click and a squeeze from his legs got her galloping towards it. He leaned with the horse as she went over, the two landing it as if they were one being.
Anna glowered. Caldaer smiled innocently as he dismounted and led the horse from the arena.
"I'll let you drive if it makes you feel any better."

Tah dah! For explanations, please check it out on my deviantART account instead. kaggr.