Completed Aiming For Reward

[Byron Allestor]

Aiming For Reward
Spring 55th 515 AV, 7th Bell
Location: The Bronze Woods

Syna's rays had already broken through the leafy roof of the forest as both breeze and branch stirred activity into the area, oddly enough it had felt as though the very forest itself had taken its first breath of life once more, just before the day started with whatever was to follow behind. Byron had decided that he needed to step back out into this quiet piece of wilderness and to do so alone, seeing as how yesterday unfolded with an unusual twist that actually managed to end better than normal. Byron could never forget how terrified he felt when he watched Tailen fall to the ground, fear focused in his eyes as he'd been entranced into a sudden flashback, one that had been caused by a simple accident no less. Either way it resulted in two good things which he labelled as a plus, but to avoid any other unneeded events, he decided Tai should stay back at their place while he resumed the hunt. He started the same place as they did yesterday but this time he did so quietly, alert to the signs of life that might exist within the vicinity.

So far though nothing. Not even the rumored overabundance of rabbits he heard about, he'd started to wonder if he'd been too late for the occasion. Still that didn't mean he couldn't find something out here, and it didn't have to be just that one creature either. Squirrels, birds, anything small would be a good start for him, the bigger stuff such as deer would have to wait until his aim was better, as well as his ability to creep up to such creatures. Beautiful creatures they were though, even so he and Tai still had to eat, and this hunting business certainly seemed the easier route to follow for Byron. I'll have to work hard if I want to keep us going, at the rate we've been stuck with, I can't allow myself to relax anymore.

Apart from being stuck here due to several reasons he needed to improve his own discipline anyways, he deemed it necessary to start kicking his own ass about it really. What good would it do to just get by with a honest living, when he could make the most of his time here instead. Though Syliras didn't seem to entirely follow scholarly pursuits, it provided a means of self discipline at best, more or less through work and physical endeavors at best. Realizing that he'd distracted himself with these thoughts however, Byron focused on the trail before him as he walked its course, eyes carefully narrowed on sections of the trees before him. He often switched between foreground and background just to read for activity, only to find little of it present in doing so afterwards. Gotta be something up in these trees, maybe if I'm quiet enough... He slouched a little as he then slowed his pace, his steps made in a lighter fashion as he held the bow low before him.

He crept about with eyes focused on the branches above, and very frequently his eyes would drop to his feet before him too. Movements were better quiet and to keep them that way, one had to pay attention to where they were stepping after all. He continued to move forward with an occasional slight crush under a foot, the old leaves left behind from last autumn blanketed patches of his path. It served as a challenge to be sure but one he didn't feel under confident about, he was after all alone and could do better that way. It became all the more present fact that such would be the case, once the sound of a snap underneath his foot stirred some birds overhead. A twig covered by the layered blanket of leaves, something he should've been a bit more aware of were he stalking up to an actual deer. Hardly anything that brought harm to his hunt however, granted only a few birds were startled by this noise. The forest more or less just grew aware of his presence if anything, which he certainly wouldn't object to that if it really were the case.

No for now he just continued the practice of stalking about, hoping that he might wander enough to discover a target he can train his arrows on.

[Byron Allestor]

It took a few trees to pass before he finally found one where the branches presented an opportunity, and with the angle he stood at he had a fair chance with getting a shot at best. Though the target wasn't something he wanted to really try for so much, as it just so happened to be a squirrel that more or less fidgeted about. Such movements made it difficult to judge where the animal would go, and they could easily be lost once they were alerted of potential danger. Byron however had the grace of luck on his side for the moment, and he wouldn't waste another tick in the matter either. With a steady pace his right arm craned over his shoulder to reach the quiver, one of the arrows felt between the index and middle fingers afterwards.

With the arrow in grasp he took just a little bit of time to draw it from the quiver, his bottom lip bitten as he concentrated on the effort. Once he'd freed it from its resting place he then brought the arrow down to the bow, and then knocked it while he raised the weapon with a steady hand. He held it at angle where the arrow tip swerved to where his target appeared to be, his hand loosened a little to relax his fingers while the bow rested in the pocket of his thumb. From there he stood upright and drew back both arms to pull the string of his bow, his upper body tensed as his left hand continued to pull the bowstring back. Once it reached a position that neighbored his jaw, he angled his head just a little to align his sights with the bow, his vision put to the test as he had to compare height and distance with one another.

He took deep breaths for a couple of ticks and then inhaled a longer breath to hold within, his body tensity put to the limit as he squinted his eyes just a bit. A little higher with his aim, a change of position in his feet, and then finally a judgement of timing to make the call. He had the target in sight now, all that remained was to release his arrow, and let it soar to his intended victim on this hunt. He wanted to just let it go then and there, before he would spare another thought, while the squirrel continuously moved about almost sporadically. Its the cycle of life, survival of the fittest. He reminded himself as he readjusted his horizontal position just a little, he more or less aimed for the body of the squirrel as that proved a better chance, seeing as how accuracy was key in using the bow.

At the last tick he released the tension in his arms and upper body, and let the arrow fly on the course he charted in the process. With a whip sound from the bow and string the arrow lashed through the air, its motion carried out in one blur while the area of impact had been hit within a tick. The arrow's head planted into the surface of the branch just near the squirrel, missing the target and at the same time scaring the creature off into a hasty scamper. Byron cursed under his breath as he watched the squirrel hop from one branch to another, its body quickly disappeared within the shelter of the leaves for protection. The arrow rested within the high branch the squirrel rested on, a secondary problem to consider as it looked difficult to reach. Climbing trees wouldn't be much fun since he'd have a hard time getting to the arrow, and in this case he didn't want to waste time when he could attempt to gain more elsewhere.

[Byron Allestor]

He moved further along into a deeper area of the wood to poke about and see what he could discover, the landscape itself in a trance of repetition from where he decided to stop. Trees, rocks, shrubbery, logs, all of it seemed to be in abundance for miles, hardly any real location seemed noteworthy to remember so far. He could only surmise that his venture had yet to bring him across any actual places in the range, like for instance this hot spring place he'd heard some people mention several days back. One location he did find noticeable however was the top of a watchtower in the distance, a landmark Byron found easy to spot when the roof of the forest provided enough open space. Such a curious thing really. He admired what little he could see of the tower, curiosity on the rise as he wondered what might've resided around the landmark.

From what he gathered the tower served as a time keeping landmark and nothing more, something that existed long before his or everyone's own time period. In truth he hardly knew the history behind the tower or about the world, only stories of the past events that occurred centuries ago. They were hardly the subjects of his interest at the time, now of course he couldn't help but wish he'd found them so. Interests aside however he still had a current task at hand, and he couldn't allow himself the pleasure of further distractions either.

With his back turned the watchtower he traveled onward into the wood, bow in hand as he kept wary to the sounds of life in the forest. Often he feared he heard something large within range, and while he hoped his ears played tricks on him, the rest of his being lightly made a change of course, in an effort to avoid where such gruff sounds came from anyways. I should probably head back closer to the city, not even sure how far out I managed to walk. He looked up to the sky to see the position Syna had reached, her ascension into the day already nearly at its peak as he felt parched. That late already huh? While he regarded the time that passed he rested the bow onto his shoulder, a short drink taken from the water skin he carried at his belt for a moment. Guess I better quit poking around and shoot something down.

He latched the water skin onto the belt where it belonged and resumed the effort to hunt, a possible target already spotted as he noticed a rabbit stirred out from a bush. Just my luck. Without delay he reached back for an arrow and felt the wood brush between index and middle finger, a slow and steady draw made as he craned his arm from behind his back to before him. With the arrow in hand he knocked it same as before and stood tall, a rigid stance he held for a good chime as he tensed his arms and upper body. The bow actually made a few small creaks when he pulled the string back, while his hand gripped it in a somewhat relaxed state. Ease your grip, and adjust your angle. The lower half of his hand eased up some as the bow rested better into his thumb and two fingers, slow deep breaths took their course as he lowered the elevation of his arms some. The arrow rested above the body of the rabbit, which he painted as his target while he pulled his arms back just a little further.

There was a lot more tension put into the bow this time, the string had been pulled nearby his ear while he aligned his vision with the arrow, hopeful that this shot wouldn't miss his target like the first one did earlier. Aim just a hair higher. He raised the tip of his arrow only by a small fraction yet found himself a little worried, too much and it would throw off his aim completely in the end. Still it looked like he had it where he wanted, now he just had to keep the arrow trained on the moving target, and once the rabbit came close enough to notice another there, its nature to freeze couldn't have been all the more beneficial in Byron's favor. You're mine. With a loosen of the fingers the bow launched his arrow with another whip sound, the sudden movement quick to scare the rabbit into action at the last tick.

The arrow hit the ground next to the rabbit while the little creature took off into another section of the wood, a low growl came from the hunter as he felt frustrated with how off his aim was. Had the little pest not noticed him until he'd fired then he might've made the shot, yet it seemed that today wasn't going to be his day with the whole hunting thing. Next time however he wouldn't allow himself to miss, because he intended to hit the next target. He swore by this as he recovered the embedded arrow and checked its head, from the looks of it hardly suffered any actual damage. Considering he'd practically hit the ground rather than his intended target, that proved to be a blessing within its own right. Still he would've much rather had hit the bunny instead of the ground, but a reusable arrow wasn't something he would forsake entirely. Determined to make use of the daylight he still had he rested the arrow back into the quiver, eyes forward to the front as he wouldn't give up on the hunt. He moved further along to find more of the vivid landscape before him, the wood spread clear before the horizon as found a peak far within the distance.

So this is the Cobalt range I've heard about. Several knights as well as Syliran locals have mentioned it once or twice, he didn't suspect it to be as huge as they emphasized however. He checked back over his shoulder to find the walls of the city were still a present sight in the distance, a vivid assurance to the fact he hadn't gone completely far out into the woods just yet. Still he wouldn't give up on his earnest quest to bring something worth value home, there had to be a few good rabbits or squirrels out here he could shoot down. Or birds. Those were always the better option, although they were hardly worth much in his opinion. Might be better if I stick closer to the walls. He reasoned as he started to face towards Syliras, with one last look spared over his shoulder to glimpse the range one last time. He would certainly be seeing more of it in due time, after he improved his aim and focus in the later days.