Splitting (Solo)

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

25th Spring, Early Morning Fall 511 AV Serrif was walking, beating the sun as his feet fell on the cool stone of the ground. He wasn’t wearing shoes or boots right now because the feeling of the ground beneath his feet helped wake his mind from its slumber. Lately even after seeing the healers and such it seemed his mind was still having vivid dreams that were all too real to him. He found that walking them off was the best course of action for now. And well it seemed to work pretty well. He would observe the stillness as he walked. This helped settle his mind as he tried to flush the images he had from his mind. He decided this morning to go and investigate the Suvai Pavilion to see if anyone was there. And maybe pick up todays pack for the beach as well. As he got closer to the pavilion he noted that from afar it didn’t look like he had a pack today. That was interesting…Maybe it was inside against the wall. Sometimes Ildin left it there for him. Again he checked and he couldn’t see the pack anywhere. Maybe he was early? He decided he would wait. Just as he had made that cognitive decision he heard a voice. “Morning, you are an early riser aren’t you?” He knew the voice immediately and he answered. “Yes Mistress I am.” “That’s apparent. Now come along there will be no pack today. The temple knows your shift change as well I have already informed them.” She then put a large pack on the ground and began walking. “Come now the pack is yours. Let’s go.” She didn’t wait for him to burden the bag. For she knew he would do as he was asked. He was by far one of her more promising pupils. He had shown a great amount of improvement, as well as the fact that he was willing and able to do as he was asked….well told. Serrif didn’t ask questions. They wouldn’t get him anywhere anyway. Seemed Ildin liked to keep everything secretive until the very last minute. And well that didn’t bother him one bit. He liked the idea of not really knowing what was going on. Not knowing what to expect next; not knowing how his fledgling skills would be tested next. It was interesting and actually somewhat enthralling not knowing what was coming up next. But he followed because he knew that she knew best. He was obedient to Mistress Ildin. She had presented him with skills that were indeed useful, and still he wasn’t sure why she had done it. He didn’t ask for them; no she offered. Her reasons seemed shrouded to Serrif. But he was comfortable with the fact that he may just not know her reasoning as of yet. Maybe sometime soon her reasoning would come fourth. Maybe she would tell him why she had offered her training to him. Maybe. But then again it was possible that he would never really know at all. He still wasn’t sure of her reasoning. He had tried to gauge her. To understand her some; but alas that had gotten him absolutely nowhere. He was content for now being here and under her guidance. And her guidance took them to the beach. If he had known this he would’ve waited for her here. His tent wasn’t all that far away from where they were now. “Drop the pack and lay out the contents.” Ildin instructed as Serrif nodded and did just that. Inside the bag was a rather large archery target. Much larger than a standard target; and with this target was a large collapsible wooden stand. “Good now set it up over there about ten paces away or so.” Ildin said as she pointed out down the beach.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Serrif did as he was instructed and set the target up the target where he was instructed to. He wasn’t sure what this session would entail yet. Seemed it would be simple target practice. But nothing with Ildin was ever simple. Well not yet. And if it seemed simple she would always seem to find a way to make things a little more challenging for him. Pushing his pain threshold a little farther than before really stretching it out for him until he nearly broke. To her surprise she still hadn’t broken his body yet. She hadn’t found that point where he broke down mentally. She couldn’t find that place where she could really see what drove him. She wanted to find that place; but still wasn’t sure how to. Her mind had been pondering just how she was to find a way to drive him once she had found this place…but still she had to find it. It seemed his body would break far before his mind ever would. And that was dangerous because he was willing and able to push his body past breaking while his mind seemed to just drive the entire process. It was interesting to see finally someone who knew how to push themselves. “Now come here.” She said as she drew her bow and then drew a number of arrows from a quiver, three to be exact. “You’ll now learn a different method of archery. Sometimes you have to put multiple arrows accurately on target. And sometimes you need to put multiple arrows on multiple targets quickly.” She drew the string back and using her fingers she had spaced the arrows out perfectly. She then let lose all the arrows and they flew. They didn’t all hit the bulls eye, however they did hit a clearly distinctive path in a slope from high left to low right in a downward slope. Serrif was interested immediately but he wasn’t sure how she would train him for this one. The only way he knew of to shoot arrows was one at a time. Sure you could fire rapidly but firing multiple arrows at once? Well he knew it was possible now only because he had seen it done. Before now he would’ve thought she was insane for even suggesting the possibility. “So how do I go about perfecting this skill?” He asked watching her again. She nodded and then slowly went through the motions. She drew the bowstring with four fingers instead of the normal two. The only finger not on the bowstring was her thumb. Between her pointer and middle fingere there was an arrow, between her middle and index another arrow and between her index and pinky finger there was yet another arrow. She curled her fingers a special way so that she could easily release the bowstring uniformly to get the perfect release on the string. He imagined that shooting and drawing method had to take some time to get used to and perfect. She also tilted the bow more than usual to the side. This likely had some sort of effect on the arrows flight pattern once they were released from the bow. He paid attention to every detail and marked them down in his mind. At the end he hoped he would have some kind of grasp on this topic. He didn’t want to disappoint Ildin.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Serrif watched as she released the bowstring. She did so in perfect unison. He imagined she likely had to or else the flight of each individual arrow would flutter off path from where she actually wanted them to be. He watched her carefully studying what she did so he could later mimic it to some extent. The path of the arrows was much like the first group she shot. A slanted line from high right to low left. He couldn’t at this time really imagine how this would be useful; nor why she was teaching him this. Maybe it was discipline she was teaching him. The ability to stick through something to the end. That was possible but at the same time did she not know he was capable of this on his own before he met her? He didn’t ponder this idea long before Ildin spoke to him. “You’ll need a different kind of concentration here. You will need to put many things into perfect unison if you wish to accomplish this task as you can see. Don’t waste my time show me what you have.” She pointed to another bag and nodded. “Go ahead.” Serrif opened the bag and inside was a longbow and a quiver of arrows. He tied the quiver at his side and tripped the bow. Walking over to where Ildin stood she had already taken her impatient stance while she watched. He wondered why she did that; but it didn’t matter he was here to learn and learn he would. He took his stance, the same stance Ildin had taught him from day one. The stance she had corrected him to and made him memorize almost in his muscle memory. But he knew she had a task for this as well likely. He then carefully tried to find a way to knock the three arrows like Ildin had. But he was struggling to find a way. His hands weren’t as skilled as hers were. He was really more like a fumbling idiot. “You can start with two if you are unable to figure out how to correctly knock three.” Ildin chided while she watched. She figured he ought to know this skill was far from being perfected today. Although she had seen his archery skills increase a good bit under her teaching. Another thing the Circle could see for themselves. Serrif knew she had to be somewhat annoyed with him but nevertheless he took her advice and instead knocked two arrows. He found this to be easier than he first thought. Likely because his index finger was easier to operate than his pinky finger. He would have to work on his fine finger skills if he wanted to get anywhere near the level Ildin was. He was able to knock the arrows and he made sure that he had his fingers evenly on the bowstring. This way there wasn’t an uneven amount of pressure being applied on the string. Again he believed this would cause the arrows to have an unpredictable flight path that he couldn’t control. He felt the difference when he pulled back. The feeling was slightly stranger than he remembered with one arrow. But he did have more pull force on the string. He tilted the bow slightly just as Ildin had and then aimed at the target. It was only about ten paces away or so. He believed this to mean that there was no real danger of him missing. He exhaled then let the string go. He felt his index finger hang up a little as the bowstring passed through his middle and pointer fingers with ease. Immediately he noticed a difference. The string seemed to be moved ever so slightly off course causing even bigger differences in the arrows paths. The top arrow split off left nearly missing the target completely, while the lower arrow dipped even lower and to the left as well causing it to nick the target and bury itself in the sand. Serrif was displeased with his performance; however Ildin didn’t scold him this time. “Practice like this.” She walked over and put an arrow between his middle and index fingers. She then put his hand on the bow with all three of the fingers. “This way you will get the release down and you can adjust to the idea of having more than two fingers on the bowstring at one time.” “Thank you Mistress.” He said as he then figured he would give this a try and see if it made a considerable difference or not.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Serrif drew back slowly and gauged how the string felt across all his fingers. He tried to even out the pressure so that it would be a little easier to set the arrows free. He pulled back to his draw length and then held it there for a few seconds adjusting his fingers on the string. Not the distance but rather the amount of leverage and pressure he was applying on the string again so he could even out the amount of pressure put against all the fingers. He got it where he thought it should be and he then took aim at the target. He gauged the wind from the feeling he had of it whipping his body as well as the small amounts of sand being kicked up from the gusts whipping the surface. When he had made all his calculations he released evenly and the arrow was sent outward to meet it’s intended target. It hit and buried itself just off the center most ring of the target. “Well done, now why is two or even three arrows so incomprehensible for you? You seem to have a single arrow down…Again until you hit the dead center you’ve proven nothing to me. Precision and Accuracy are key.” She said as she watched. It was true she was a harsh instructor, but her methods were sound. “Yes Mistress.” Serrif answered as he again drew back and prepared his next single arrow. He concentrated and learned from the arrow before. He needed to distribute the pressure a little more evenly. He adjusted more and gave the upmost concentration to these fine adjustments. He thought and moved his fingers accordingly. Eventually he got to where he believed he needed to be. Again he released the arrow to hit it’s intended target. This time the arrow got into the center ring but was just a little more center then the last arrow. Serrif nodded some then Ildin chimed in. “Good but I said dead center didn’t I?” She raided a brow and looked to him. “Continue.” “Yes Mistress.” Serrif said as he didn’t even sigh, he knew that was disrespectful and a waste of time and energy. Instead he knocked another arrow and drew the string back. He made some more fine motor adjustments. He could feel the air and he made some more adjustments for wind. He again adjusted the pressure across his fingers again. He made some assumptions as he did so. Where he was aiming was no different than where he would aim if he had the arrow between his index and middle finger. So there were a few things that could have happened to cause the arrow to behave this way. He likely wasn’t releasing in perfect harmony. He replayed his last two releases in his head. He recalled his index finger was still hanging up some. He needed to make sure that this didn’t happen. Otherwise the effect it had over distance was indeed multiplied causing the arrow to miss center. He breathed in and exhaled slowly. When he was done he released this time in perfect harmony. The arrow jolted and hit dead center. “Now that will do just fine. Memorize how that feels; how your fingers feel on the string and how the release skims across your fingertips. This is key. Three more times then we can move on.” “Yes mistress.” He drew another arrow and copied his actions from earlier. He had indeed memorized how the bowstring felt across his fingertips. He assumed for someone like Ildin the feeling was indeed natural. But it was far from this for him. He was still gathering the feelings he needed for fine tuned sharpshooting with bow and arrow. But he was getting somewhere indeed. He focused and then gauged all the sensory input from the bows string. He focused and took aim. Again in harmony he released the arrow. It struck right next to the previous arrow that was center. “That will work. Again.” She prompted. Serrif instead or responding drew another arrow. This time the sensory input was a little less foreign to him. He judged all of it little by little. He drew the string back and then took aim again. Everything was coming into place now. Every little piece fit perfectly into this skill. Every bit of sensory input had a place and he was beginning to be able to tell when something was even off of normal. His body was becoming more and more tuned to this skill. He was becoming proficient. Was this what becoming proficient felt like? He released and the arrow again hit near dead center next to the other arrows. Ildin nodded. “Again.” Serrif didn’t answer drawing another arrow from the quiver. He pulled back the string with an almost graceful fluid motion. Ildin was becoming quite proud of her newest student. He learned well and was really taking to this skill well. Her only question was what would become of him later. How would he use these skills? She had seen his scars and this worried her but at the same time drove her to train him. On one hand he obviously needed some peace in his life; however at the same time he could use this skill to reap revenge. She had taken a chance with him; hopefully this wouldn’t come back to bite her later. He released and again the arrow hit centimeters off center. Again an acceptable shot group for her. “Good, now try two again.” She instructed.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Serrif nodded and then hoped all this work would pay off. But he could already see some significant differences in his fine motor skills. His fingers were a little more dexterous and he had more control over them than before. He pondered did he have more control or was he just more aware of them? An interesting question that he wasn’t going to have an answer to anytime soon. He pulled two arrows out and held them between his pointer and index fingers as well as his index and ring fingers. Now this didn’t feel as odd as it had before. It was slightly more familiar; which meant that he would be able to control it all a little better than he had originally. He had to watch how the flight of the two arrows was different than the single arrows he was letting loose before. Seemed the flight paths had a decent amount of variables in it. Too many for him to try and calculate or even begin to imagine how to calculate. However trial and error was a good enough system for him right now. And honestly it was the only system he had that he could use. He took his stance that he remembered so well from his first lesson with Ildin. His feet square and his body slim line to the target. His left shoulder facing the target itself. His feet were planted, the source of his stability here. He centered himself physically and mentally. Calming his emotions and clearing his mind. Ildin watched carefully and swore she could see when his mind cleared. It was interesting he seemed to have more control over his mind than she gave human males credit for. His facial features relaxed and his muscles loosened up. She nodded and smiled internally. He had learned how to calm himself. She admitted she had been unsure about him. She sensed the pain and anger within him. And she hoped that this would help him find inner peace. It seemed that it had indeed done just that. She continued to watch as he then slowly opened his eyes and looked back over to the target. He knocked the arrows and held the bow across his waist the arrows facing downward. He was getting used to the way the arrows felt in his fingers. They didn’t feel as foreign as before, however they did still feel odd. He imagined after a good bit of practice this feeling would eventually go away. He took measured breaths as he then looked again at his target. He measured the distance in his mind and then leveled the bow taking aim at the target. The arrows still felt odd in his fingers; but not as they once had. But they did feel odd. He shook that feeling as best he could as he then pulled back on the string. His draw was even and deliberate. Every movement had to be when he was under the watchful eyes of Ildin. She didn’t pride herself in teaching ignorance. She taught and he listened every word of hers was as precious as pearls to him. The movement was fluid as he pulled back the appropriate amount. The entire time keeping pressure across the string even to allow for an accurate and precise shot. His fingers had grown a little more used to the pressure and the fine tuned skills that was now required of them. A noticeable difference that Ildin saw as well. He measured the pressure and it felt familiar. He gently released the string and sent the arrows to target. They flew and he watched the brightly colored feathers to see the flight path. Much better than before. He could see that almost immediately. They met the target in a tight grouping, however they were low right. An improvement but in reality it didn’t count if the target wasn’t hit. While his mind was there Ildin was somewhere else. “Clear your mind. Then try again.” She instructed. It seemed she was trying to get him to find a deeper peace while he was worried only about hitting the target. “It isn’t about the target, it’s about you and your inner peace. Find it and you can manage anything.” She paused then spoke again. “It isn’t about the target.” She emphasized. How could it not be about the target? He thought as he then decided she was the mistress here. She was the teacher and he the pupil. She would know where he was still trying to almost blindly claw his way through all of this. But it still puzzled him. How could the target not be what this was about? How could all her teachings boil down to just peace. He wasn’t sure but he did know that again he was her pupil. Her wishes would have to be his actions. If he wanted to continue this. And he did want to find peace; he was just not sure how he would find it this way. “Yes Mistress.” He said as he then nodded and would try to do as she asked.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

He closed his eyes and then tried his hardest to clear his mind of everything. But there was so much going on inside. He was thinking about the temple. All the things he had yet to learn. What his responsibilities would be later that day. How he held a delicate balance in his own hands. Maybe his responsibilities weren’t as earth shattering as some of the higher healers who held literal life and death in their hands in almost a daily circle. But he was important nevertheless. He had to be careful almost continuously. He didn’t want to do anything that would damage or kill someone. He made medicines as well; he had to be extremely careful because some of them he mixed required concentrated precision. If he messed things up and that medicine got used on someone…the damage could be irreversible. He was well aware there were checks and balances, plus he was sure most of his mixtures were carefully reviewed by in the least three sets of eyes before they were ever even used. And even then most of the healers mixed their own. He knew he was still not fully trusted. Mostly because he wasn’t a Konti; and he knew he would never be. He wasn’t sure if there was even a place for him here. His spirits dropped as he sighed and continued to ponder almost infinitely. “Focus.” Ildins familiar voice broke through. “I don’t have time for you to ponder existence.” She said sarcastically. Serrif nodded and then decided for his own good he would just push it all away. He could ponder later. Right now he had to focus here. Everything else needed to take a back seat and well he needed to be here. So he shot his thoughts from his mind. His pulse lowered, his anxiety decreased. Ildin nodded watching him. He was finding peace. She admired him in an extent; well maybe not admired as much as respected. He had come from much. And to come here and work to integrate himself as he had was respectable. He would just have to learn how everything worked. He would have to know to better settle himself. She was sure he still had some demons in his closet. She was sure of this. But hopefully she could teach him through settling oneself anything was possible. He needed to find peace. She knew this and was afraid if he didn’t he would destroy himself from within. He was indeed quite competent. He took orders well and had performed admirably. She had seen a climb in his skills and above all he wanted it. He wanted to perfect himself. Which she was sure was his driving force. She saw his body begin to settle. He was no longer pondering. His mind was clear and his body was ready to do what she had instructed him to do. He rose his head and looked not at her but at the target. His mind settled he could hear almost nothing. The other senses were gone; he had tuned them out. He could feel his heart beat. Every pump of crimson liquid counted. It was amazing how complex the body was. He readied his arrows. He notched them carefully the motions feeling familiar; a good sign. He remembered everything he had done before. This time he needed only small adjustments to reach an acceptable conclusion. Arm extended bow at the target he breathed in synch with the movements. Serrif would miss it but ildin smiled. Finally he had tuned his body with his action. It had been a long time coming. He had learned how to stretch his abilities; how to constantly challenge himself. But until now he hadn’t tuned his body with his actions. This made his actions even more fluid and exact. Her smile was true and she dismissed it as not to let him see. But she was indeed glad she was seeing this kind of improvement in him. Every time she turned around she was seeing improvement in him. Maybe those long runs had finally pushed him to really examine himself. That was the point; well that and to see how long he would stick with it. And so far he had surprised him. By now many of her other pupils had quit on her. But not Serrif; no he was indeed driven. But by what was indeed a good question. From what she saw it was self improvement. He wanted peace. She remembered he told her when they met that he came here to find peace. And it seemed like all he needed was a point and kick in the right direction. Serrif released the arrows. The flight path was far more acceptable than the first grouping. It seemed this finding one’s inner peace really had something to it after all. They flew, the path true and easily spotted by both Ildin and Serrif alike. The arrows met and then whatever happened just was. The results of his centering himself was obvious. The two arrows were almost dead center, only a few inches apart from each other; which was acceptable to both of them. “Again.” Ildin said as Serrif then nodded and simply moved to notch another grouping of arrows.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Serrif’s mind was in neutral. He did as he was instructed without question. Clear of any rogue thoughts he was able to concentrate completely on the task at hand. Every little detail met his eye and nothing no matter how large or small escaped his mind’s eye. His attention was focused yet split among the many separate tasks that needed to happen in complete perfection. Every movement played out in his head before he even set them into motion. He went over the movement in his head again and again to familiarize himself with what he was about to do. And when he felt comfortable he then turned those thoughts into action. His body still centered and his mind clear he moved to action finally. Every movement once premeditated in his head was easily executed. He brought the two arrows onto the string and then faced the bow to target. His eyes judged distance. His fingers measured pressure and spacing. Everything seemed correct to him and in place. He pulled back and made his mark. The bow was bent in a half moon as always as it applied equal pressure across the bow. His pulse again lowered as he adjusted his breathing. He didn’t notice his arm muscles screaming because he chose not to feel them. He was focused and now his mind was checking everything one last time before he released his arrows. His pressure across the arrows was equal, the spacing was indeed even as well. The wind was relatively calm, it wouldn’t hinder his flight path. The target was clear, nothing but him and the target now. The arrows were straight to the bow. Ready for release. He then evenly released the bowstring from his fingertips and the arrows streaked to meet the target. He had aimed to straddle the center of the target, and would receive exactly those results. Ildin nodded then spoke. “You’ve finally found the wonders of your inner peace. Remember what you learned here. You can accomplish much when you are at peace.” Serrif nodded. “Indeed Mistress you can.” “That can conclude this morning’s session. Pack up.” She said as she watched her pupil. Serrif again nodded and then pulled the arrows out of the target first putting them away in the quiver. He then broke down the target and packed it away. The entire training area was broken down in a matter of minutes and there he stood ready. “You’ve gotten quite good at this. Come with me and then I will release you to the temple.” She then started off in the direction of the Suvai Pavilion. The walk wasn’t long and neither of them talked the entire way. It was like they were just enjoying the serenity of the breaking morning. Serrif was glad he could start his day off this way. It was refreshing and well quite enjoyable as well. He liked the calm serene mornings, and nights as well. But the mornings for some reason seemed even more quiet and calm than the nights. This was something he may ponder later but for now he was just enjoying his walk with Ildin. They eventually reached the pavilion and she motioned. “Set the bags bow and quiver there; then you are free to go.” “Thank you Mistress.” He set the bags down and bowed respectfully. Then with somewhat hurried feet he was off to the temple to do whatever tasks awaited him there.

[Alice]

Serrif Von Chatlyn

Experience: 5 Longbow, 2 Observation, 1 Meditation
Lores: Trusting One’s Mentor, How to Shoot with Multiple Arrows, How to Position One’s Fingers on the Bowstring, Releasing One’s Fingers in Perfect Harmony, It’s not about the Target, Shooting with Inner Peace, The Power of the Mind

Comments

Beautiful thread, I especially admire how you advance Serrif’s character development in a self-mod thread. His story is so interesting to read, and I’m looking forward to what he’ll do and achieve next.