Target Practice

[Nate Frostfawn]

34th Summer, 512AV

It was just another normal day in the winter city. Things were slowly returning to normal, much to the residents relief. The prison had been rebuilt and a good number of prisoners were back inside. The gates were also nearing re-completion. Soon everything and everyone would be as they should; safe.

On this particular day, a young man and his dog were out in the archery range. Nate was sorting his arrows while Ashca rolled in the snow around him. Occasionally she would get a face-full of the white stuff, resulting in an amused chuckle from the boy.

Nate stood, grabbed his bow in his left hand and an arrow in the right. He selected his target - one of the end ones - and lined himself up.
Stance Nate - think. Shoulder width... He set his feet apart so that they were parallel to both the target and his shoulders. He raised his bow into position and set the arrow on the string, but didn't pull it back just yet. He blinked a few times, straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath.

His arm moved, the string pulled back and released, sending the arrow flying through the air. It landed in the target with a satisfying thunk. Nate squinted at it critically. It wasn't bad, but it was by no means a great shot either. The arrow had landed near the middle of the black ring and that was average at best. He sighed and trudged over to pull his arrow from the wood.

[Sheva]

Sheva had basically been doing nothing all morning, she tried to avoid large groups of people...and small groups...and lone people...okay so basically just people in general. There was one exception though...Nate. The young Vantha hunter had become one of Sheva's good friends over the past couple of weeks, actually he was her only friend, but she tried not to dwell on that too much. The two had agreed to meet at the archery range today to get some practice in, they had to take a day off from hunting now and then. Sheva was ofcourse looking forward to seeing Nate, as usual. The young hunter was adorable, too adorable, with his cute smile, his deep sea-foam green eyes and that frown of his. Infact, Sheva often wondered whether he knew how charming he really was. There must have been a flock of Vantha girls that greeted him with enthusiastic waves and girlish giggles whenever he passed by, or maybe it was just her? Sheva didn't know much about what human girls found attractive so she could be wrong, but she doubted that. Maybe he had a girlfriend? Come to think of it she had never inquired about his personal life. As she arrived at her destination and Nate came into view a bright smile appeared on her face."Hey." she said, while still approaching. As she got closer she noticed the distinct stench of dog, and it must have smelt her too because it began barking at her. Sheva hissed while baring her teeth, although it didn't have quite the same effect as in her tiger form.

[Nate Frostfawn]

As Nate tugged on the arrow embedded in the wooden target, Ashca began to bark behind him. He turned to look at his dog, a frown on his face. On doing so, he saw a white haired girl approaching and rolled his eyes at his canine companion. Arrow in hand, the boy quickly walked to the dogs side, bending down to its level and placing a hand on her head. "Be quiet you silly girl." His voice was kind, yet stern at the same time and Ashca gave one last bark before falling silent.

Nate couldn't help but grin as he noticed Sheva hissing at the dog. It seemed to be a natural reaction, though it was marginally less effective with her not being a tiger at present. He chuckled. "Hey yourself." He gave Ashca another pat before standing up. "I wouldn't worry about her." He nodded at the dog to indicate what he was talking about. Ashca, seeing Nate happily interacting with this stranger who smelled of cats, whined curiously and inched forwards. She seemed to sniff at Sheva's feet before giving a bark and moving to sit a little way off.

Nate grinned again and shrugged. "So, ready for some practice?" He spun the arrow in his hand absentmindedly and glanced over at the targets. He was determined to hit at least the red ring by the end of their practice.

[Sheva]

After the dog ceased barking Sheva quickly relaxed, it was instinct to be alert around unfamiliar animals. She laughed at her own reaction slightly embarrassed that Nate had witnessed it. He seemed to be in his usual calm joyful mood, which unconsciously made Sheva's lean toward being the same. She shot the dog one last look before approaching the range and pulling her bow from its place over her shoulder. She took an arrow from it's quiver and drew the string before letting it loose. She hadn't taken nearly enough time to focus on the target and the arrow missed it completely. A small nervous smile crossed her face as the embarrassment made itself known. She laughed awkwardly looking back and forth between Nate and the missed target, "Uhm, oops?" she said, small embarrassed smile still on her face. She drew another arrow, this time taking a moment to focus before loosing it. The arrow flew through the air and hit the target, but just barely. It was basically a few inches from missing the entire object yet again. This was embarrassing. Nate was watching her and she was making a fool of herself. "I think I'm getting worse." she said jokingly, although it may well have been true. She drew yet another arrow, pulling the draw-string back. Her eye focused on the bullseye but she did not shoot. She turned her head in Nate's direction, "Hey could you help me? I don't know what I'm doing wrong." she said before focusing on the target again. It might have been easier to tell her what she was doing right. Her stance was terrible, her arms weren't parallel and her grip was unsteady. It was mediocre at best. She stood their awaiting help from Nate who was significantly more skilled than her.

[Nate Frostfawn]

As Sheva grabbed her bow, Nate wandered back over to his chosen target. He raised his shortbow to his face and nocked the same arrow he had used earlier to the string. He then took a moment to compose himself, adjusting his feet to his usual stance.
From the corner of his eye he saw an arrow fly past. He didn't move, but he did watch as the thing sailed past the target he assumed it had been aimed at. Sheva's small comment reached his ears, and he smiled to show he had heard her. From what he usually saw, she wasn't a bad shot. Perhaps she just needed some warm up time.

Nate re-focused on his target and pulled back the string. His brow furrowed in concentration and the arrow loosed, smacking into the edge of the targets blue ring. Better, but still not good enough. Instead of grabbing a second arrow, Nate turned to watch Sheva's second attempt. It was better than her first that was for sure, since this arrow hit the wood with a satisfying thwack.

Nate shrugged one shoulder and smiled. "Nah you're not. Maybe you just need warm up time?" When Nate hadn't used his bow in a couple of days, his first round of shots were always embarrassing. He made to reach for his next arrow, but stopped when the girls voice sounded again. He blinked at her before nodding. Nate wasn't the best archer around, in fact he was far from it. But he had watched the more experienced people from time to time, and liked to think he knew some things.

"I can try at least." He dropped his bow and smiled before walking over to her. Nate looked her up and down with a critical eye, noticing how she stood and how she held her bow. "Um, first thing is that your feet are in the wrong place." He tapped her heel with his foot. "You need to have your feet shoulder width apart else you won't be balanced right. And make sure they're also parallel to the target."
He waited till she had corrected her feet. "Try it now. Shoot the arrow." He hoped that his tip had done something to improve her aim. Nate had found it was one of the things that had helped him the most. Of course, it wouldn't make drastic changes, only practice could do that, but it would hopefully be a start.

[Sheva]

Sheva stood there as Nate came over, he tapped her heel gently and she moved it to the correct position. She could already feel a difference, her stance was more balanced and she wasn't swaying ever so slightly like she had been before. Once again she focused on the target and let the arrow fly. This time, to her relief, the arrow flew fairly straight hitting the black of the target. It wasn't great but at least it wasn't the outermost ring. She looked over to Nate with a smile of relief, "That helped a lot, thanks." she said gratefully before going to retrieve her three arrows. One in the black ring of the target, one near the edge, and one on the ground behind the target. Once she'd recovered all three of her arrows she turned and walked back to her shooting position. "So how come you've never mentioned any friends or...girls before? Infact the only person you've ever mentioned is your mom." her question was light hearted, she was just trying to make conversation while simultaneously learning more about him.

[Nate Frostfawn]

Nate watched the progress of Sheva's second arrow. It seemed to fly steadier this time, holding its course. It thunked into the target again, this time hitting the black ring. He returned the smile she gave him accompanied with a small shrug. "'s'alright." He watched again as she lined herself up with the target, her question taking him a little by surprise.

He chose to ignore it for the moment, instead noticing that she was pushing her shoulders forward where she gripped the bow. "Here. this should help too. You need to keep your shoulders back." He took ahold of her shoulder and pulled it back, forcing her to stand a little straighter. He smiled again before returning to his own target and retrieving his bow.

He nocked another arrow and lined himself up properly. "As for your question..." Nate squinted slightly and focused on the target before taking a breath. He loosed his arrow and it flew into the target again, hitting the border between blue and black. He exhaled, his breath coming in a frustrated gush of air. He turned back to Sheva.

"I don't really know. I do have friends, I promise!" He chuckled. Nate was most definitely a social creature, he thrived off being around people. "I mean, I'm usually with the people in my Hold. When I'm not hunting...or with you of course." He smiled. "My best friend though, he left with his family a few seasons ago. His sister died and then they were just gone." He gave a shrug and then paused.

"And uh...the other thing...girls?" He looked away for a moment. "I uh, I don't have a girlfriend if that's what you're asking. I mean, I did...but now I don't." He smiled, but this time it didn't reach his eyes.

[Sheva]

When Nate took hold of Sheva's shoulders she winced slightly, although he wouldn't see it since she was facing the other direction. It wasn't that she was scared of him, or that he hurt her, she just wasn't expecting the contact. She focused her eye on the bullseye again as she drew the string until it fought her hand with an opposing force, a short moment of focus passed before she finally loosed the arrow. The arrow flew through the air and planted itself deep in the target, although not a bullseye it was noticeably closer to it than the previous shot. Another smile crossed her face as she looked over to Nate gratefully. She watched as he loosed his own arrow before finally answering her question. She giggled at his first sentence, ofcourse he had friends, he was handsome, charming, funny AND he was a good hunter. She watched him closely as he continued to speak, a small smile crossing her face when he mentioned her. It was stupid, but Sheva liked that he included her in his account of people he knew. However when he told her he had no girlfriend it was obvious that was a sensitive topic as he gave here a false smile. Perhaps there was a girl he really liked who didn't feel the same about him, although Sheva couldn't imagine why anyone wouldn't like Nate. Maybe he had a girlfriend and something had happened to her, many people were injured or worse during the recent djed storm. Sheva smiled at him reassuringly, "I wasn't asking if you had one, I can see it's a sensitive topic, so I won't ask what happened. Unless you want to tell me, in which case I will listen gladly." she finished with another smile, hoping it would be comforting to the handsome young man. Sheva was ofcourse curious about the topic, but she didn't want to force Nate into telling her something if he didn't feel comfortable talking about it.

[Nate Frostfawn]

Nate gave Sheva a grateful smile. He could tell she was curious, but the simple fact that she chose not to press the topic spoke volumes. He looked back at the targets for a moment, noticing that her arrow was getting further into the board each time.
"You're getting better." He smiled again, still facing the targets and started to walk towards them.

Nate pulled his arrows out of the wood, before wandering over to retrieve hers. Upon reaching the girl he held them out for her to take.
"Thank you. For not asking anymore about her, I mean. I know you're curious." He smiled. Nate doubted she realised it was written all over her face. "You know, I never actually talked to anyone about it before. Not even my mother." He chuckled, but it didn't sound right.

His shoulders slumped and he turned away, walking back over to his spot. He dropped his arrows on the floor before pausing. "She married someone else." There. He'd said it.
Nate stared at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed. Eventually he broke his staring match with the snow and returned his gaze to Sheva. It was somewhat sorrowful, the usual cheeriness he emitted all but gone.

[Sheva]

Sheva watched him curiously as he went over and retrieved both his and her arrows, he was such a gentleman. When he handed them back to her she gave him a simple small smile, how could any girl resist him. "Thanks" she said softly. It seemed he didn't want to talk about it, so Sheva guessed she would go on as if it hadn't happened. She raised her bow and knocked another arrow, pulling the drawstring back as she squinted at the target. When he began to speak again she lowered the bow and turned to face him, he was definitely not his usual self. He said he hadn't spoken about it with anyone, ofcourse, his best friend had left so he couldn't have told him. He let out a fake chuckle which did little to hide his sadness, it was much too lifeless. Sheva watched Nate as he walked unhappily back to his spot, dropping his arrows unceremoniously onto the ground before he spoke. What! She married someone else! How could she! A mixture of anger and sadness flowed through her as she watched Nate staring sadly at the ground beneath him. After a moment he returned his gaze to her and Sheva could literally see the pain in his eyes. This wasn't right, this wasn't how Nate was supposed to be. She hated seeing him like this. Slowly she dropped her arrows and bow as she made her way over to Nate, stopping infront of him, only a foot between them. She wanted to comfort him, she wanted to wrap her arms tightly around him so that he knew he had her support, but she feared it would be an unwelcome intrusion. So she simply looked down at his feet "I'm sorry." her voice was almost a whisper. After she had spoken she returned her gaze to his with a tiny reassuring smile on her face.