Rusted Rekindling

by **Julla Orrinade** on June 10th, 2016, 1:16 am

4th of Summer, 516 AV

From a quick side roll, a strung shot lunged from the bow! Barely latching to the wooden dummy, it stuck to the outer arm. A downward sweep of the arm, and the young man's feathered friend swooped down for the attack. Teasing its claws, it scathed the whittled surface, turning wide to soar up again. The man ran forward, only to roll backwards and fire another shot. The arrow came closer this time, but the wrong side of the chest, and the man threw down his bow in anger!

Blast it all! How the hell did he miss? He knew his hand well, and yet it failed him again! The third attempt, all for nothing! Vexed sweat ran down the tanned forehead, and a pursed lip muttered curses. Standing upright, he walked towards a bench not too far away. Taking its invitation, he took the opportunity to sit and reflect on his recent actions. What was he doing wrong? Was his form incorrect? Did he move too fast and expect too much? He hadn't hunted since his arrival and registry in Lhavit's residencies.

A little while longer, and a thought came to mind. Standing up again, he slowly walked over to his bow, picking it up. Retrieving an arrow, he hooked it to the string, pulling taut and measuring aim. Still, with perfect poise, he loosed, and the arrow struck straight between the eyes of the wooden dummy. A precise shot with little error. What gave? Flustered, the young man sauntered back to the bench.

Sitting down again, he seemed to slump with his descent into deep thought. How could he go so wrong with his movements, but his still shots were near perfect? Forgivably, they were as poor as the next man's, yet to him they were effective. As he pondered this odd predicament, his hawk swooped to land on his arm. Being brought out of thought, the young man held up his arm, the hawk landing softly. With quick wisps, clicks and truncated whistles, they talked, and the man convinced his companion to move to his shoulder. Once there, the arm fell to the side once again, and the deep thoughts returned. All the time, he neglected to notice that one had stopped to watch him some time ago...

by **Azira** on June 13th, 2016, 10:30 pm

It was a fair day for hunting but today Azira hadn't ventured down to the Unforgiving. As important as it was to hunt and bring in meat to get a wage, it was just as important to keep her bow skills up. The huntress had been disappointed quite often of late when it came to opportunities to actually shoot something on a hunt. The damned spring weather hadn't helped. It had been that wet that she'd been terrified of damaging her precious bow. As much as Lhavit was growing on her, she still thought their academic and magical ways were strange. She didn't trust them to make a bow worth its salt despite the fact there were other hunters in the city, something she knew to be true because she'd seen them herself. As far as the Inarta was concerned, they didn't take hunting very seriously. She wasn't even sure they knew about traps and such things. The redhead had set set some traps earlier in the morning so she had the luxury of hunting without having to be physically present.

It had taken over two agonisingly slow bells to get down the mountain, place her traps and get back up to the city again. If she hadn't risen early then she would have already wasted a good part of day, especially as she had wandered around the city trying to find somewhere she could go shooting. The huntress had been starting to lose hope when she actually found an area of Zintia that she hadn't explored previously. She'd lived on the main peak for over a season now and had explored it on numerous occasions and yet it still held surprises for her. It was as she went down the little side street and followed its twists and turns that she heard a thumping sound she hadn't heard in awhile. Following her ears, the huntress found an open courtyard area with some wooden dummies and targets set up. The thrum of arrows was music to her ears, each shaft singing through the air in a song she hadn't heard since leaving home except from her own hands. Azira leaned against one the courtyard walls, watching the young man with interest, a strange light in her eyes as she watched him shoot. Her look was almost hungry as she observed him, his every movement tracked by her although he seemed to have no idea of her own presence.

His red hair, his stature, his manner of dress, the hawk that flew above him and even his bow--although her view of it was fleeting--all seemed to suggest he was an Inarta like herself. She barely dared to hope that she was looking at one of her own people. She had been so starved of Inarta company and her own language that she found she couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to him. The raptor made her uneasy though. The huntress had never been good with birds, they had always been naturally agitated around her as well, sometimes bordering on violence. There was no way to tell if this one would take kindly to her presence or not. As first impressions went, if the hawk decided to attack her the huntress couldn't imagine things going very well between herself and its handler. Better to fling oneself out of the nest rather than fearing you might not be able to fly!

Taking her unstrung bow from her bag, she fished around for the string and pulled it out, watching to see if the young man would notice her in the meantime. Once she had what she was after, Azira set about stringing the bow, calling out in Nari as she began.

"Hey! You there! You aren't very observant, are you?" she kept her expression neutral although amusement shimmered in her golden eyes as she placed the string on one end of the bow, bracing that end against her foot. The girl straightened, pulling the string with her and felt the growing tension as it reached the top. She turned her face away, using her sense of touch to fit it on as she looked away in the event she lost control of the bow and ended up poking her eye out.

"You are Inarta, aren't you? If you aren't then you wouldn't understand a word I'm saying but I'm pretty sure you are and you can. I didn't even know there was anything resembling a range in this strange place. You shoot so do you hunt?" she asked, turning to watch him once more, her head cocked to one side, bird-like. She had no idea what this young man had been back in Wind Reach. She might be having a conversation with a Dek as if he were her equal but she doubted. She also doubted he was an Endal, he didn't look right for that. So Chiet or Avora, either beneath her or her equal. Not that it mattered of course. There was no such thing as castes in Lhavit but old habits died hard.

"Well?" she chirped, fine brows raising as she waited for a response from him.

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

by **Julla Orrinade** on June 14th, 2016, 1:06 am

At the first click, he jumped to! Bow pulled, he held a retrieved arrow before realizing the speech was something familiar. Nari? He'd heard his own tongue often, as many Inarta travelled to Lhavit for change of pace. However, he hadn't heard it in such a direct and commanding manner, and that meant the one speaking was one of privilege.
Eyes locked to his target, he studied the person who spoke. A woman, with hair a fiery red. Hers, however, was less distinctive than his, and laid beautifully about her chiseled face. Straight atop, it curled at the ends, much like his own. He watched her as she strung her bow, taking note of her hands and their delicacy upon the wire. After she set it and stood straight again, he pondered her words before responding in equal tongue. His hawk turned prone as he replied.
"I've hunted 'couple years ago. Merely a hobby now; I'm too busy to keep it up. Why should it concern you?"

by **Azira** on June 14th, 2016, 11:28 pm

OOCCould you try and make your responses a little longer please? Thanks

His automatic response of getting ready to shoot at her was met with a hiss released between the girl's teeth. A shadow seemed to cross her face, a darkening in her expression showing that she didn't approve of his action. She watched his face closely, waiting to see if he would respond with further hostility or reciprocate her interest. From what she could see, he wasn't giving much away. His face was relatively neutral. He assessed her briefly, eyes moving up and down her diminutive frame but she couldn't identify any curiosity in his gaze. Azira didn't know what to make of him. The tone of his response wasn't appreciated though. She said nothing at first as she fixed her quiver at her hip where each arrow would be easy to access. The rest of her gear was left by the courtyard wall where it would be out of the way. The huntress moved closer o him for the first time, keeping some distance between them as ultimately she was here to shoot not to chitchat.

The huntress began an inspection of each arrow, checking the fletching, shaft and head for signs of wear of damage. As she spoke, she occasionally gestured in his direction, her left hand waving the fletched end of the projectile at him.

"First off, you'll want to get rid of that knee-jerk reaction. You threaten people in this city and the Shinya will have your ass for it in case you didn't know, chick," she announced in Nari, emphasising the final word with a touch of acid seeping in to her tone. "It doesn't concern me whether you're a hunter or whatever. I don't talk with other hunters. I don't work with other hunters and I don't bother to see them most of he time either. However, I'm not acquainted with many Inarta in the city and I'm not aware of any who might hunt. There's a thing called curiosity, perhaps you've heard of it."

The young woman rolled her eyes, dropping the last arrow back in to her quiver. She considered some of the targets before her, settling on one of the dummies for the simple reason that it was something she was unaccustomed to shooting. The shooting stance came to her with little difficulty now, her feet firmly apart as she selected an arrow by touch. She rested the shaft against the string, slipping it back to nock it. She tugged back both arrow and string together, raising her arm as simultaneously as she could manage. The bow was allowed to reach a point in front of her, string pulled back to her cheek before she allowed herself a few ticks to take aim at the wide target of the wooden dummy's lower torso. An exhale and the arrow was sent flying, striking the wood and biting a couple of inches in to it. She felt for another arrow, allowing her concentration to be interrupted during this simple phase to talk to the boy again.

"If you hunt then I might be willing to talk to you while I shoot. Maybe. If it was common ground between us, but if not then I've nothing to say to you. I care about hunting. That's about it to be honest," the huntress explained. She drew back another nocked arrow, this time aiming for the dummy's chest. She wanted it to go right to strike around the area where a heart would be but it struck more centrally, biting in to the dummy at a slight but noticeable slant.

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

by **Julla Orrinade** on June 15th, 2016, 4:56 pm

OOC :

There seemed to be an odd air between them. She, glaring down while he kept equal eye contact upwards. What was she getting at? Lowering his bow, he worked his mind through her lighter clicks and whistles, sheathing his arsenal shortly after. It was a reaction, merely, and nothing more. Her taking it to heart visibly upset him, but he realized that he was also in the wrong. Then again, he'd never been so quietly ambushed either. Therefore, he was more confused than angry at her response.
His eyes shifted to watch her limber fingers grope for an arrow, and his eyebrows angled in interest. What was she up to? Turning eyes back to her face, she seemed to have a prideful scowl, and downturned lip showed she was no soft-hearted woman. While she was as distinguishable as the next Inarta, did she lack inclination to try to understand, or had his two years in Lhavit softened his blunt and open-ended personality? Was she being too harsh, or was he being too lax?
His end of the spectrum remained silent until her final words. With a twitch of lip, he replied with an equally sour tone,"I know what curiosity is. I'll have you know I experienced plenty of it upon my first days here in Lhavit. Your idea of curiosity is either slightly twisted or a ruse." Good heavens, was that what he sounded like at times? Mentally, he was already in a relapsing state, but he knew he had to assert some ground with this domineering woman.
With a sudden whip of the Inarta's bow, she loosed a clean shot into the lower torso area of the wooden dummy. It sailed beautifully; she had a natural art with the bow. He did as well, but it was not as well refined as the shot she had taken, and there was a sense of jealousy following her actions. He studied the arrow's clearing closely, watching it strike the figure. It sunk deep, maybe not as deep as his, but deep. Turning back to the woman, he added his own once her second string of sentences had finished.
"I'm glad to hear that you approve of such a practice. It's a good and honest one, if anything. It isn't to say that you aren't, but your response to mine, while understandable, seemed a little sour." After an awkward pause, he continued, "I apologize for my actions, then." He spoke as she drew her bow again, and they both seemed to stare each other down as the cool and light winds ruffled anything light enough to move.

OOC :

by **Azira** on June 15th, 2016, 11:55 pm

The huntress was gradually becoming aware of an air of bewilderment around the other Inarta. It was almost like he didn't understand her attitude towards him, but that couldn't be surely because she'd made herself perfectly clear, hadn't she? Azira didn't do subtlety very well and so she was fairly certain that she'd been transparent. The young woman didn't know what to make of him at all.

When he spoke up, she found herself glaring at him. She should have anticipated that her stinging remark might gain an equally acidic response but she didn't appreciate him talking to her like that. Her lips pressed together firmly, forming a tight line. If this had been as recently as a year ago then she probably would have caused him some sort of physical harm for such a comment. She had once stabbed someone in the shoulder after they'd made a negative observation about her shooting and she had almost broken her bow once when she'd beaten someone with it after they'd upset her. Azira might have turned the arrow on this man but the desire to do so once there. She felt like slapping him but she didn't want to cause him serious harm. Perhaps she'd matured or the anti-violence sentiment of the city had trained her to behave in a short season but regardless, she made no move to hurt him. Her expression and the disapproval in her eyes should be more than sufficient to tell him that she wasn't at all please by what he'd said. The redhead had made up her mind not to talk to him, that he wasn't worth her breath, when he actually apologised. She said nothing at first, instead focusing on her next shot. This time she aimed for the neck, cursing softly as the arrow flew wide of its target.

"Sour? Is that how you saw it? You have no idea why I might have reacted sourly?" The girl laughed humourlessly, feeling for another arrow and nocking it with care. She allowed herself a few more moments to aim this time, the strain of holding the drawn bow making itself known by twinges in her arms and shoulders. One eye squinted a little as she sighted along the arrow to be sure of hitting her target before she released the projectile. The arrow managed to strike the side of the dummy's neck, something that would have left a grisly wound on a living person.

"You made a move to shoot me when we're in the city, it's not exactly the Unforgiving. It's Lhavit, what danger have you come across here because I haven't found any. Then you acted as if I had no right to know if you hunted or not. Forgive my 'sourness' but I think it was a reasonable reaction," she explained coolly. She moved towards the dummy to retrieve her arrows and check them for damage. The one that had hit the neck was still usable, as was the one that had missed but the other two had cracked down the shaft when they'd hit the target's torso. She wasn't so sure she wanted to keep practising on such a hard piece of equipment. She returned to her previous position, moving so that she could utilise one of the large circular targets.

"Hunting is more than an honest trade. For me, it's my livelihood. I live by the bow and traps of course. It's more about knowing how to hunt than being exceptional with a weapon. Being good with a bow helps, hence why I'm here. Practice is always good, you see. So I'd think for you to be here in this city using a bow, you must be a hunter because why else would you want to keep it up? Plus you have a hawk that you have with you while you shoot. You can't blame me for asking," she told him. "Sorry for sneaking up on you though. I didn't mean to but I can't help it really. Stealth is a must in my line of work. You see hunting as a hobby though. What is it you do then? Are you a falconer, maybe?" she asked, nodding carefully at the bird that perched on his shoulder. She hadn't forgotten the hawk. It was watching her with its sharp, glittering eyes she was sure with a level of malice.

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

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