(Archery Range) See, Aim, Fire! (Open)

by **Aiven** on July 28th, 2011, 12:07 am

Aiven shook her head passively, "I wasn't worried. What's a little ink to me anyways." She turned herself back to her own target, starting to remove those arrows that had seemed to distract of from the tricky holes in the ground. She romved one of the arrows, and placed it back in it's holder. "A hunter?" She answered with out looking at the girl, finding herself quite busy with removing those stuck arrows. "A foot hunter now. But I have had my fair share of hunting encounters."

She removed the last arrows, and turned to the girl, keeping her thumb under the strap on her shoulder. "And you? You don't look like you're from around here. You are human...yes?" She smiled at the girl, "How long have you been in Windreach?" She spoke as she started back toward her spot, not letting a little flesh wound get in th eway of her practice, and looked back at the girl for a response, and to make sure she didn't think she was just leaving her in the middle of the conversation.

by **Risa Moontide** on July 28th, 2011, 2:18 am

Risa sighed, a relieved expression more than any other. Aiven was fine, she was fine, everything could go back to being fine. The arrows stuck in the board were interesting and Risa still thought of the heavy harpoons on her pod's ships when she looked at them. "A foot hunter?" Risa couldn't wrap her mind around that one. What use could the Inarta have of feet? "What kind of feet do you hunt?" She smiled sheepishly.

Risa followed the girl as they moved back towards the loose firing line. "I am a svefra, child of Laviku and seafarer. From what I'm told, we're more storytellers in Wind Reach." She looked back at her firing point, the slingshot tossed aside haphazardly. "I've been here since Summer's light first flashed, about. These months have taught me... less about the Inarta than I would have pleased, but more about myself. I'm comfortable here."

"What about you? With that hair I assume you're an Inarta? What's your caste?"

by **Aiven** on August 1st, 2011, 5:16 pm

Aiven let out another laugh. This poor girl had no idea what she was talking about. She shook her head, a large grin already had spread across her face. "I don't hunt, feet. I hunt on my feet. A ground hunter. You know?" She did her best to explain this to the girl to where it made more sense, but tried her hardest to not sound like she was talking down to the girl.

She listened intently to what the girl had to say, and returned to her earlier stances of standing behind her invisible line, and preparing her bow and arrow. "There is quite a bit of information and cultures to take in here, so I can see why you are having a hard time."

Aiven took in the girl's questions, and with distant eyes, she pulled back on her arrow before releasing it. It marked a circle from the center. Still. "Ex Endal. Currently I am just a chiet, now." She looked to the girl with a smile, "And you, how fare you on the seas? What name do you hold among the Svefra?"

by **Risa Moontide** on August 1st, 2011, 6:43 pm

"Oh, like hunting while running? I'm sorry, I haven't heard much about Inarta hunting, except that there never seems to be enough returns from it." Risa grinned back, cheeks reddening. She shook her head at herself, wanting to laugh at her own mistake but not doing so. Risa reached down and grabbed her slingshot as well, grabbing one of the black bullets. The ink was almost dry but still sticky against her hand. Perfect.

"Yeah, it's harder than I thought it would be. Most people would rather hear stories from me than tell stories about their 'boring' lives." Her voice took obvious sarcasm around the boring part, trying to show that Risa didn't think their lives boring at all. Risa then froze, realizing she might as well have insulted this girl. "Not that there's anything wrong with asking about me!" she stammered. Risa looked away for a moment, eyeing the target. She repeated what she did a moment earlier, clutching the pocket as she stretched back the string.

"Us svefra don't really have ranks. There's our Lia and then the rest of the crew. You take what you need and what you can keep. It's an easy life." Risa looked up at the sky, a low breeze beginning to move in. "I'm a chiet here too, since all I can do is fish. The label feels... weird. I can't really describe it. It's almost like it feels unnatural." When she finished talking she let the shot fly, fast and wild and nowhere close to the target. Shooting is hard.

by **Aiven** on August 2nd, 2011, 4:09 am

Aiven nodded, understanding the girl. She seemed to be trying a little hard to not say the wrong thing, but Aiven found nothing she was saying wrong. She smiled, and lowered her shaking head a bit at her thoughts of what a foot hunter does. The girl was lucky, some of the other Inarta, especially in higher ranks, might have taken offense to some of the things she was saying. Aiven just found it interesting to hear the thoughts of a newcomer, and plus, the other Inarta were a little up tight, not all, she knew that, but some.

"I completely understand. It is quite foreign to me as well." She hated it actually. To not be able to ride the wings of her eagle, but it always ends up for the better. Anyways, it gave her time to hone up her skills. She had been depending on her eagle far too much, and was beginning to lose herself.

She looked to the girl and watched her shoot another bullet, and a sudden thought popped into her head. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

by **Risa Moontide** on August 2nd, 2011, 6:03 pm

The words surprised her and she lowered her slingshot. "How is it foreign to you?" As Risa spoke she bent over to rub her sore legs. All this hiking and running and climbing practice was exhausting work. At least the hike up from Thunder Bay got a little easier every time she made the trek. My legs must be adjusting to the work.

The next question was also a surprise. "I'm..." She thought about it for a moment, "19, will turn 20 come just twelve days after Fall's flash. Fala, my bird, is going to be 7 on the same day. How old are you?" The question was a little odd, but one she'd come used to as a girl whenever her pod went port side. Other races always seemed to care more about how old she was than she did herself. It was a curious trait she never understood.

by **Aiven** on August 5th, 2011, 5:44 pm

Aiven thought about not answering, since she really wasn't one to just tell her secrets to everyone, but this girl seemed..trustworthy enough. "I used to be an Endal." She stared distantly at the target, "But..." her eyes regained their focus and she shot another arrow. "Good things never last." She shifted her body, feeling a slight soreness in the the heels of her feet.

Aiven listened to the girl speak again, deciding to take a chance, she grabbed teo arrows from her quiver, and loaded them onto her bow string, pulling it back ever so carefully. She released them, one falling to the ground and the other shooting diagnally off through the cent of the shooting range. She grinned and laughed a bit, "I'm sixteen." She sighed, and shook her head, as other archers turned to her and gave their own unique looks of annoyance, but the smile never left Aiven's face.

She sniffed a bit, waiting for their stared to return to their own business, before looking to the girl. "Definitely need to practice that one."

by **Risa Moontide** on August 8th, 2011, 3:49 am

Good things never last. Those were strong words, words that really struck Risa with their truth. She hadn't wanted to think about anything like that, think about leaving Wind Reach or actually finishing her goal. She was more than halfway through the number of days she planned to stay in Wind Reach, soon to be done with climbing Mt. Skyinarta. No, I can't keep thinking about that. I gotta focus on what I have, not just what I have left.

When the girl's arrow flew wildly across the range Risa couldn't help but giggle again, covering her mouth a little. "Hey, you're still better than me. You didn't hit anyone!" Her face was locked with a grin and she had to kneel for a second, again catching her breath. Just something about this day had been entertaining, comically so even, as though it were trying to melt away her stress. It had been a good day so far.

Risa finally stood up and pulled back her slingshot again. She actually aimed at the target this time, and released the pouch firmly. The bullet sailed past the target, into the distance. She turned toward Aiven and spoke more somberly, looking into her eyes. "Things will turn out alright. Every storm brings fish."

by **Aiven** on August 15th, 2011, 6:13 am

Aiven had to smile at the girl's words. It was good that there were still people who wanted to keep a bright outlook on life, though Aiven herself was a much calmer, down to earth person, she did have her depressing, negative ways about her, which came out in words and stains the ears of those around her. She turned to the girl with a smirk, "Yet." She looked back at her target and shook her head, "I haven't hit anyone...yet. But I'm sure it is fast approaching."

Every storm brings fish, huh? What a saying to live life by. She wondered quietly what the next storm would bring her, but smiled at the silliness of the thought. "So, tell me about your crew. You have not just come to Wind Reach for no reason, right?" She rested the end of her bow in the dirt, and shifted her weight against it, "I don't mean to pry, but it's not often I get to speak with those that are not from here."

by **Risa Moontide** on August 17th, 2011, 11:29 pm

Risa's face lit up as she replied, "I'm sure I have more a chance to hit someone than you. Fast-approaching or casually walking by." Risa grabbed another bolt from her tiny pyramid. The ink was definitely dry by now, felt smooth in her hands. Oh well, I'm not hitting the target anyway. Risa slipped it in the pouch the way she'd been practicing, hoisting back the elastic band. She tried to aim it but her hand slipped, sending the little bolt plummeting almost straight into the ground before her.

"My crew? Well my ship has only myself to crew it, though Fala helps a little. And yes, there's a reason I'm here." Risa pointed back up towards Mt. Skyinarta, the impressive stone giant still seeming to loom over her. A fire flashed in her eyes, a sudden burst of energy seemed to fill her. Even her breathing got a little faster, her face serious but with the tinge of a grin toying at her lips. "That. I want to see the world through my own eyes. I want to make it to the top of the mountain through my own will, just because I wanted to be up there. Every day I've been training, walking to hour hike to and from Thunder Bay, practicing climbing and looking for new skills to force me to reach its crest."

Risa looked back at Aiven, smile still on her face. "I'm sorry, I get a little passionate." Risa stopped to her main bag that was laying on its side nearby. Digging through the pockets she pulled out a wrapped fish from the bottom and stood back up. The piece of fish in her hands was well-dried but uncooked, wrapped tightly in cloth to prevent moisture and thus mold from seeping in. Risa split the spine and offered some of the raw fish to Aiven.