75th Day of Winter 509 AV Jaeden stood in a small clearing within the forest as a light snow fell through the thick of the evergreens that grew around him. Simple sounds of the breeze and birds distracted him from what would otherwise be a deafening silence. His luck in hunting food as of late had been poor. Of course, there wasn't much to be had in snaring small and medium game, especially during the winter season where many of the simply laid dormant. Jaeden slipped his pack from off his shoulders as it thudded to the ground kicking up the light flakes of snow into the air. Reaching along the back of it, he slowly unraveled a small cord that kept a long wooden shaft tied to the back of the pack. The beige colored surface of the wood shined in what little light managed to filter through both the storm clouds and tree canopy above. The wooden shaft itself curved slightly along both ends and had a brow leather hand grip at it's center. It was long, over six feet by first looks alone and had sever decorative carvings along the shaft itself. Closer inspection would reveal another element in the wooden shaft itself. Something white, perhaps ivory. "Well, it certainly looks nice," Jaeden said as he looked it over for a moment before reaching into his belt pouch, "but for the coin I paid for it, I'm hoping it's not just about appearance." Jaeden pulled a long string that had a looped tied along both ends. One end of the string he looped around the bottom end of the wooden shaft before bracing it with his right foot. Then, holding the other end of the shoft with his right hand and the string with the other, he slowly started to bend it as the muscle in his right arm bulged through his clothing. The string lightly slid through his free hand until his thumb and index finger caught the loop at the end. Slight grunting escaped Jaeden's lips as he bent the shaft, of what was now obviously a composite bow, far enough to loop the other end of the string to the along the top end of the shaft itself. He slowly released pressure until the string itself went taught with pressure. Jaeden grasped the bow by it's handle with his right hand and then raised it up level with his body. "That doesn't feel right," Jaeden said before switching hands. "Ahh, better." Jaeden slid his middle and index finger along the bow string, twanging it a couple of times. Then, gripping the bow shaft tightly, Jaeden pulled back on the string, exhaling slightly as muscles in both of his arms went taught. "More difficult then I thought it would be," Jaeden thought to himself as he slowly let the bow string move forward again. Jaeden then looked to the felled log he had set up earlier. It was close to two feet thick and was leaned up along a nearby tree. He began pacing for a moment away from it, getting some distance to adequately challenge himself. When he was about thirty yards away, he turned and faced the tree. He stared at it for a long moment, focusing his eyes, letting all other distractions melt away. Then, with an released breath he said, "Well, maybe a bit closer," before closing the distance to twenty yards instead. Finally, Jaeden drew a common longbow arrow from his quiver. Notching the arrow into the string, Jaeden slowly drew the arrow back, holding the bow up level with his shoulder and drawing the string back far. He breathed slowly as he kept his eye on the target as he tried to keep his hand as steady as possible. Finally, he released the string of the bow as a sharp twanging sound followed it. The sound that followed after that was loud cursing as Jaeden dropped his bow, hopping up and down a couple of times as his right hand quickly began rubbing the skin along his wrist. "Shyke! Shyke! SHYKE!" Jaeden yelled as he whipped his arm down a couple of times hoping the cold air would numb the sting some. "Wrist guard, forgot the wrist guard!" Jaeden picked up his bow and brushed the snow off it before stomping over to his pack with a annoyed look on his face. Reaching inside, he pulled out a long leather strip with strings attached to it. He began slipping the wrist guard on as he looked to the log to see where his arrow had hit. He then let out a deep sigh as he found the arrow was nowhere in sight. "I may have to go buy more arrows," Jaeden muttered to himself. "I truly am a novice at this." Jaeden then began pacing back away from his target, and turned towards it, once again drawing an arrow from his quiver. "I'm glad I didn't decide to start with moving prey," Jaeden said as he drew an arrow again, "else I'd be at this for months." |