(Antinous Training Grounds) Ready...Aim...

by **Orion Michaels** on September 15th, 2013, 10:48 pm

7th of Fall, 513 AV
Antinous Training Grounds
9th Bell

It was as though a nightmare reminded Dinah of how horrid he'd been with the bow last time they patrolled the Wildlands. The Zith had attacked and Orion had reacted valiantly and bravely, ready to fight them off and save the day. With a confidence unlike any other, he'd grabbed his bow, taken aim, and slain hundreds of Zith.

Okay, maybe not.

He'd sent an arrow flying off into the distance, a threat to no one unless they just happened to step in front of it.

Then there was the time some farmers were being accosted by bandits. Orion had played the hero once again, coming in arrows whizzing through the air, felling dozens of foes with precision and confidence.

Maybe that didn't happen either.

He'd put for effort at least, right?

Archery was another one of those things that Orion just wasn't any good at. Not even a little bit.

Dinah was going to change this fact, that was plain enough.

"Orion, I don't expect you to be a master marksman, but it was a shameful display. It's not entirely your fault, I've not trained you much in its use, so we're going to work on fixing that."

Looking down at the bow in his hands, Orion recalled hs limited attempts in using the thing. He'd had it with him on all of his patrols outside of the city, but he'd not been called upon to use it but the one time. The one time which spurred this training. "So . . . where do we start?"

Dinah smiled, motioning him over to the range. "I thought you'd never ask. We're gonna start by looking at your form and making the corrections as they are needed. Stand right here." Sera Lorene placed an arrow on the ground, indicating that he should stand just beyond it. "I want us to keep it simple. As you get more comfortable with the process you can experiment with different stances, but we'll have you stick with a square stance for now. A square stance is standing with your feet side by side, neither one further forward or backwards." With a bow in her hand she demonstrated the position she spoke of.

It was simple enough. With his feet just a bit more than shoulder width apart he took up his place by the arrow. "Good, Orion. The benefit of this position is its simplicity. It gives you side to side balance, but forward and backwards you can get thrown off if the winds are too great or the terrain is uneven. We don't have to worry about either of those here." Dinah continued her instruction while she pulled an arrow from her quiver. "I'll show you an example here first, and then I'll walk you through the rest."

Orion nodded in acknowledgement, moving out of the stance to watch her show him how to properly fire.

She nocked the arrow, put her fingers around the bowstring, and took a deep breath. She then raised the bow from it's downward pointed angle, up to a firing position, pulling the bowstring partially back at that time. It was a very natural motion, her shoulder wasn't overextended, and her arm wasn't too far in or out. From that position she draw the string back further, and all in one fluid motion had it placed just barely touching her cheek, close to her chin. She remained in this position for a few ticks, and finally she released the string from her fingers.

The projectile flew forth as she lowered the bow, a smile touching her lips as the arrow struck just off center of the circular target. "Pretty simple, right? Let's let you take a shot, see if you can mimic me, and then we'll finally talk our way through it."

by **Orion Michaels** on October 21st, 2013, 9:11 pm

Orion moved into position at the firing line, shortbow in hand. Just based off her instructions, he realized quickly that his self taught form was incredibly wrong. He had a bad habit of drawing the string early and overdrawing when he did. He overworked his arm and shoulders and risked a serious injury. It would be more than making adjustments, it would be learning how to fire a bow all over again. His instincts with the weapon were off and he needed to have his knowledge scrapped and rebuilt.

"Just try and replicate my actions. It's nothing which will be perfected in any short amount of time, but if you can figure out a proper stance then you'll be able to discover what works for you along the way." Dinah watched her squire with a vested interest. She felt some amount of guilt for waiting as long as she had to teach him, but the full grown man had so much to learn about the knighthood that there just wasn't enough time. His skill with the long sword was adequate so she was finally comfortable changing her focus.

Reaching around to his back, Orion retrieved and arrow from his quiver, his focus split between the training and then events which had led to this training in the first place. It was quite embarrassing for him to look back on that day. He had fired a dozen arrows but somehow had only managed to cover a wagon in projectiles. Not a bandit had fallen at his hand. He was relieved that there were no serious injuries, but still, to fail so badly was a crushing feeling. He could only hope that Dinah's lessons would prove fruitful enough. Everything about the weapon felt foreign in his hands, but it was time for the squire to become plenty familiar with the bow and with the arrow. With his arrow nocked, Orion brought the bow up to the ready.

She'd pulled back when she did so, so he did the same, drawing the string back to the ready. His arm rotated back, his elbow bent, and he brought the string to just beside his check. Releasing his breath, he let the arrow fly.The projectile sailed through the air and over the target, clanking against the wall behind him.

A quick look of frustration shot across his face. He was horrible at this. Maybe he should have talked Dinah into using another weapon. He smacked things pretty well, there were more than a few people who could vouch for that fact. Perhaps a lance would be a better call.

"It was better than what you were doing before, Orion. That was almost proper form. Don't get discouraged. We'll make some adjustments and get you on the right track. You're doing fine."It certainly didn't feel like he was doing fine. Orion had fired dozens of arrows and never hit a target. What kind of knight could fail so badly with a weapon? The bandits would laugh all the way to their graves when they thought of him crawling all over the place, frantically trying to kill the invisible monsters that seemed to hover around them.

by **Orion Michaels** on October 22nd, 2013, 7:59 pm

"Watch your feet and we'll be able to fix a lot," she instructed, stepping up beside him to begin helping him out. "You have your toes turned in and your feet are too close." She took her bow and placed the bottom it against his feet, using it to move them into proper place. With his feet now shoulder width and his toes straightened out, Orion looked to Dinah for any further adjustments. "Having a strong, solid base will aid you greatly in your firing. Take another shot using this form. I'll see what, if anything, is wrong. We will continue to tweak your shot until we figure out something which works well for you." Dinah picked her bow back up and took a few steps to the side in order to better observe her squire. Orion took lessons well, but he had a long way to go.

Targets made of hay sat at the end of the range, freshly prepared daily or as needed. Squires and Knights alike had put hundreds or even thousands of arrows into these targets. Orion would just be happy if he could add a single one. The squire grabbed an arrow from his quiver, taking a slow, deep breath as he prepared himself to take another shot. Something about the use of this weapon put his nerves on edge. He was horrible at it, there was no way around that fact.

Orion notched the arrow to the string, bringing the bow up to the ready. He gave a few pulls on the string, feeling the strain in his arm with each test. He glanced over at Dinah for acknowledgement and she responded with a nod for him to continue. With her vote of confidence, he shot one more look to his feet, sliding them around until he felt they were correct, and then pulled the string back, bringing his elbow nearly 7 inches past his back, overdrawing the string. The elbow was pointed out wide, throwing off his aim and the fluidity of his motion. He placed the string just by his cheek and set his sights on the target. Comfortable that he was on target, he released the arrow.

Orion instantly dropped the bow as his hand went to his face. The string had clipped his cheek, leaving a small red streak of blood in its wake. "SHYKE!" To top it off, the arrow skidded across the ground right in front of the target. Dropping to a knee, Orion took deep breaths as he tried to keep his emotions under control. "This stupid fucking bow!! Why the in the world do I need this piece of crap!?"

Dinah ignored his outburst, walking to join him in kneeling. "Move your hand," she commanded, reaching up to grasp his wrist. Orion complied, though not without a bit more grumbling to let her know what he thought of it. "Stop being a baby. You're fine. The nice thing about these bows is that they are self-correcting. Get up, pick up the bow, and get back on the line. We'll talk about what you did wrong and make sure you don't do that again." Orion sighed, rubbing his cheek against his tunic to wipe the blood off. Taking the bow back in his hands, he rose back to his feet. The sooner he actually did something right here, the sooner he could be done with the blasted bow for the day. Once she said he was good enough with the bow, he'd take the bow and toss it in a fire so he'd never have to fire it again.

by **Orion Michaels** on October 23rd, 2013, 1:29 am

Orion winced as another burst of pain shot across his face. He was less than enthused about continuing the training today, but he knew he was stuck. Dinah wasn’t going to let him go until he showed some improvement, as she always did. At least she wasn’t injuring him like she was known to do. ”So what do you want me to do?”

”Don’t take that tone with me, Orion,” she replied coolly. She didn’t need any of his shitty attitude at this time. He was so temperamental. He needed to get that under control or he was never going to make it. He was so slow to change. ”Let’s keep our focus on the range.” Orion rolled his eyes, but turned his attention down to his target.

”Fine. Let’s just do this.” Orion grabbed another arrow, bringing it to the ready with his bow. He’d rather be arguing with Emily than spend another tick at the range. He’d rather face scores of the women he’d scorned than fire another arrow. He’d rather be anywhere else, but that wasn’t an option. So he readied the arrow, pulling back slightly as he brought the bow up to the ready. ”Alright. Now don’t draw it back too far initially here. We’re just starting to line up to the target.”

Orion did as she said, adding the slightest bit of tension to the string. He took a deep breath and continued to draw the string back from there. His elbow again began to shoot out to the side and the string once more was overdrawn. ”Keep your elbow tucked in,” she instructed, taking a few steps over and reaching out her hand to press his arm in. ”Close to your body so it’s nice and compact.” The squire brought his elbow in against his body. It was much more comfortable and certainly less strenuous on his ligaments. ”And don’t draw back so far.” Dinah placed her hand a few inches behind Orion’s back.

He pulled back on his bow until his elbow touched her hand. It felt considerably more natural to prepare to fire in this manner. With everything ready, his eyes focused on the target. He rested the string just beside his face, a small growl escaping his lips as he scraped against his cut. Pushing the annoyance aside, he let his eyes settle on the center ring, adjusted his sight, and released the arrow.

The projectile soared through the air, hitting the wall behind the target once again. This time it was to the side, however, rather than several feet above. Before Orion could spout off with his usual anger, Dinah spoke. ”Calm down, calm down. That was much better. You were on target as far as correct height, just a little off to the side.” Orion turned slowly to Dinah, tilting his head slightly to the side.

”I still haven’t hit a petching thing, Dinah.”

She smiled softly, nodding as she spoke. ”And we’ll keep working on that until you get there. We’ll keep concentrating on your form until we get it right. I can tell you’re getting fired up, so let’s take a break. Go get some rest and take care of your cheek.” Orion sighed, but he wasn't in the mood to argue with her. Without a word he he slung the bow over his shoulder and made his way from the firing range and Dinah. The mark on his cheek would be gone in a few days, at least.

by **Perplexity** on October 24th, 2013, 1:21 pm

Riddled with Rewards!

Orion

Weapon: Short Bow	+3 XP
Endurance	+1 XP

Lores :

Notes :

Solo (Antinous Training Grounds) Ready...Aim...