Story: Stronger for Diverse Perspectives

This fill was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai at the February 2022 Crowdfunding Creative Jam and the "Tool/Technology" square of my January Story Sparks Bingo Card. At 427 words it is in the same world as "Blessings of the Cool Dark."

Stronger for Diverse Perspectives

Bendek was Blessed with a demeanor that always saw the world as a place of opportunity. The moon shone favorably on all that the Earthen did and the future would always be bright. New things were met with a bounding enthusiasm, which is how he presented his new tool to the warren; the Bow and Arrows. Zotia, with her Wisdom, met the display with many probing questions about this new “bow and arrows” business, probing for answers, and felt unsatisfied when Bendek had several he couldn’t answer. 
 

Dezydery was unenthused by the new tool. It wasn’t something she Desired or could bring her sensual delight, so she left the meeting early to enjoy lazing in her nest. Feliks was practical about how Luck always turned things his way. He understood that this wasn’t a tool for him, and so he kept his comments short and left space for other Earthen with more knowledge or skill on the topic to have their say.
 

It came down to Gnegon, who was Watchful through Bendek’s reveal, but then had nothing positive to say. Other Earthen were startled; the tool had been crafted for Gnegon specifically. He expressed his understanding of how the bow, a strong flaxen thread strung on a fine yew branch, would fling the arrows, thorns of dewberry or blackberry, and should help him ward off the forest creatures as the Earthen gathered in the spring and fall. But he also had an immediate sense of all that could go wrong. Would it wound or kill the animals? That was unacceptable. What happened if he hit those he was charged to protect? Did the Earthen have cures ready for those types of wounds? He didn’t feel right using the bow and arrows as they currently were constructed.
 

But together, Bendek, with his enthusiasm for the project and willingness to keep working until it was right, and Gnegon, with his ability to see all the challenges on the path so that they wouldn’t lead to nasty surprises later, developed a smarter tool. Their Bow flung arrows tipped with cockleburs, an annoyance surely, but nothing deadly. Then Gnegon spent many hours practicing extensively until he was sure wielding the bow and arrows wouldn’t be a hazard to his brethren. He also kept his sharp hawthorn needle strapped to this back as there was no sense in giving up a weapon that worked just because something new came along. Finally they both worked with Zotia and the healers to make sure cures for cocklebur strikes were well stocked, just in case.