Flashback Know Your Bow

[Ixzo]

87th of Spring, 511AV
5th Bell, Evening
Clan of the Shorn Skulls

"Okay, first. Stand up straight, facing me." Her father instructed, hands behind his back as he circled her. Ixzo, anxious to learn how the use the bow, did as she was told. Ankles together, back straight and hands by her side, the young Kelvic did the best she could to keep anticipation from making her move. "Move your feet shoulder-length apart, and make sure your knees are straight." Ixzo glanced down at her bare feet, shuffling them outwards in the dusty dirt until they seemed to be about even with her shoulders. Letting her hands fall back to the sides, she brought her head back up to look at her father. The old man merely nodded before turning to grab the bow he had gotten her.

The long bow was easily as long as her, and from what she heard, that meant it would be hard to use. Eagerly, she accepted the bow from her father, exciting to have the thing wood in her hands. She was still a young girl, but growing up much quicker than the Myrian's she played with. She was already learning a bow, when most Myrians her age, about one, were barely learning to walk. It was the simple side-effect of being a Kelvic. She would have to fend for herself much quicker than her peers.

"Okay, show much how you think you should stand." Ixzo nodded, grabbing the front of the bow with her left hand and swinging it up to face the target ten feet away. She extended her left arm before lining her right arm up with it, not pulling the bow yet. Careful to adjust her fingers as she had seen it done, she only held the string by two fingers, with a space in between for the butt of the arrow. With her left hand, she positioned her fist just below the small curve in the center where the bow would rest. Once she was satisfied with her position, she turned her head to her father.

"This way?"

"Close." Light bat-like fingers moved her right elbow up so that it was even with her ears. The Kelvic then flitted behind her, pressing on her hips to make sure she was in a solid stance; that much she knew how to do. Standing behind her the old bat, adjusting her aim so it was more accurately placed towards the target and then placed a wide palm on the top of her head to twist it more towards the target, while holding her left should so it stayed still.

After he adjusted her body, he tapped her right elbow once more and she brought it back up to where he had placed it, feeling like a hoodoo doll.

[Ixzo]

"Relax." Ixzo did so, holding the bow with both hands again and slouching her shoulders. "Okay, so here is your arrow." He held up a simple arrow. Three carefully groomed feathers were positioned on the back, and he pointed to them.

"These are the fletching. They help aim your arrow. For a beginning, it is important to pay attention to the colors, kitten." He pointed a she noticed two of the three feathers were brown, while one was black.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you in a moment, you must know the other parts first. This," He tapped the spike butt end of the arrow. "Is the nock."

"For the string, right." She explaining, having seen the basic bow and arrow to have a general idea, even as child, what was what. "And that is the arrowhead." She pointed to the small speck of stone that was lodged in the front, giving the arrow it's point.

"Oh yeah?" Her father handed her the arrow. "And what is this?" He ran a finger along the length of the arrow.

"The neck."

"The shaft. You want to know why that is important? Or do you know it already?" Ixzo looked down for a moment, shrugging. He took the arrow back, pointing at her with a side-ways finger.

"It has to be balanced." She looked up as the father carefully placed the center of the arrow's shaft on his finger, moving it slightly until it was balanced at the center. "Otherwise it won't aim well." He explained, Ixzo nodded. But impulse took her hand up to flick the arrow off his finger as she caught it in the other.

"Colors?" She prodded the old bat and he grinned.

"The odd colored fletching should face away from the bow and towards you." He handed her the arrow once more. "Load it, I'll show you." He directed, and Ixzo did so. Pointing the bow and arrow down Ixzo hooked the nock of the arrow on the string. Holding that with her right hand, she brought the bow and arrow up, catching the tip of the arrow in her left fingers.

[Ixzo]

For a few ticks, Ixzo adjusted the arrow in her fingers so that she could hold onto it before assuming her stance. Once more, her father had to adjust her shoulders and right elbow, but she had gotten her feet down. She straightened her left arm once more, but her father poked the inside of her elbow immediately. "Keep it loose, otherwise you will hurt yourself." He said, and she did so, keeping her elbow from locking.

"Okay, now, we just adjust the fletching." He twisted the arrow in her fingers so that the odd colors feather was faced towards her. "Aim your arrow." Ixzo tensed as she drew the string back with a bit of effort on her part. Quivering under the pressure, it wasn't until her drawing hand neared her face that the pressure gave enough so that she could hold the drawn bow easily.

"You want your right hand somewhere between your jawline and your eyes, around your lips." He instructed, taking a step back. Quietly, the young kelvic adjusted her position a little bit to do as he instructed. "Alright, you know how you can see down the shaft now? You can close one eye if it is easier, but that is how you aim now." Ixzo didn't want to move, but she gave a slight not in confirmation.

"Alright, so when you find your aim, you fire. But to do so, you don't have to do anything more then release your fingers. Hold your stance and bow tight and don't drop your stance until the arrow hits its target, alright?"

"Okay…" Ixzo adjusting her aim a little down so that the arrow was pointing directly at the bull's eye.

"Fire when you are ready." Her father allowed, taking another step back. For a few ticks, Ixzo didn't worried she would do it wrong. But then the kelvic decided she would have to in order ot chance doing it right. She intended to release her fingers slowly, but as soon as they left the shaft, the arrow flew out from the side of her face, not even making it to the target when it buried itself into the ground, and then promptly fell over.

[Ixzo]

Ixzo dropped her stance and pouted, which made her father laugh.

"You have to practice a lot, kitten. You won't get it for quite a few tries. Go again." Ixzo nodded, taking her stance once more, new arrow in hand. Ixzo made an effort to be aware of her shoulders and elbows before her father could correct her. But even though she had those right, he stuck a foot on her angle, spreading her feet a little further apart so she had a better stand. He did so silently, and then stepped back as she twisted her arrow into place and then lined up her shot. Again, Ixzo took her time, taking a few ticks to adjust her grip before pulling back.

It wasn't a long time of struggling with the pressure before it decreased and she could aim her bow a little better. This time, Ixzo made a effort to aim a little above the bullseye, since aiming directly at it had gotten her way lower than she wanted last time

After a few ticks of aiming, and gauging her force, adding much more than last time, Ixzo released her fingers quickly. The arrow flew out, this time reaching it's target, and then it kept going, far to the left of the actual target.

[Ixzo]

Frustrated, Ixzo grabbed another arrow, lining up her stance quickly. Her father didn't check her this time, so the Kelvic took the time to be more aware of it herself before twisting the arrow into place and pulling back. She couldn't tell if it was getting harder or easier to pull the string back, but she hoped that one day she could load an arrow as quickly as her father or mother.

She took another few ticks to adjust her aim. She didn't aim so high as the last time, but tried not to aim so low as the first time. Added to that, she was trying to keep the arrow from going too far form the left or right. It was all too much to calculate in her opinion.

She let the arrow fly.

Once more, the arrow lodged itself into the ground, a little closer to the target this time. But instead of flopping over immediately, the shaft actually stayed in the ground, which she hoped meant she had enough power in the shoot.

Almost excited now, Ixzo grabbed another arrow. Her stance wasn't easier, not yet. But for a second, she realized she could get in stance much quicker. Of course she still had to take the time to adjust. Twisting her arrow in once more, she pulled the bow back.

[Ixzo]

Yeah, it was definitely getting harder. She couldn’t tell if her young noodle arms were wearing out so quickly, but in the child's mind, the bow was actually just getting stronger than her. A little tired, she didn't bother to test her power, pulling the arrow back as far as she could. With little care for her aim, she lined up the arrow as best she could and let it fly once more.

Immediately, her left elbow felt a pang of stress from the bow's rebound, and she winced realizing she had locked her elbow as she wasn't supposed to do. But the good thing was that the arrow hit the target this time. The burlap-wrapped wad of hay had an arrow to the very left edge, down low. After a tick of surprised watching, the arrow fell out, but her father was already clapping as she lowered her bow.

"Perhaps we can take a break for the day, you are getting a little sloppy."

"Yeah, but my arrow actually went in that time!" She protested, throwing a hand towards the target that the arrow had just bounced off of.

"Coincidence, let's put it up, kitten." He stepped towards her.

"One more, before supper?" She begged, holding the arrow up.

"Alright, one. Then you get all of them and come inside, alright?"

[Ixzo]

"Thanks Pa!" She grinned, hooking the nock of the arrow on the string once more. Settling into her stance, she watched her sore elbow this time, twisting the fletching into place. Then, with quivering noodle-arms, Ixzo struggled to pull the arrow back for the last time that night. Once she had done so, determined to stick an arrow in the target this time, Ixzo aimed.

But instead of going for the very small bullseye, the lion cub focused on the target as a whole, affording herself a much bigger aim. Putting a little more power into it than the last shot, Ixzo released her fingers, the string snapping the bow forward.

A pout formed on her lips as she realized the last one must have been a coincidence. This time the bow flew almost level with the target, had it not been so far to the left when it flew past the target. Sighing, she trekked forward, picking up the arrows as she went. Once she had collected everything and turned to head towards their hut, she decided she didn't like the weapon so much. It was fun, but she didn't win much. And winning was the real important part, right?

[Dravite]

Ixzo

XP Award:

• Observation: 2
• Weapon, Longbow: 5
• Rhetoric: 1
• Organisation: 1
• Bodybuilding: 1
• Endurance: 1

Lore:

• Longbow: Basic stance, standing
• Kelvics grow up fast
• Fletching and aiming
• Longbow: A balanced arrow, head, shaft, fletching
• Longbow: Keep elbow loose
• Longbow: Hold stance until the arrow strikes
• Ixzo: Kitten, nickname
• Longbow: Firing an arrow

Notes: The grind is real. Enjoy the rewards!

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