(Flashback)Way of the Bow(Solo)

[Cade]

Fall, 495av

Mercenary Captain Arturus Breuner, a human male in his older years, led the way into the armoury and stood aside allowing the young Cade, age ten and the other mercs to enter into the room, which was darkened by the lack of sunlight, with only being lightly lit by oil lanterns that flickered off the array of weapons..

He paced over to one wall that contained crate boxes stacked along shelves.

“There are many types of ranged weapons in this world, today you will learn the basics of the composite shortbow. The arrows in these crates are the ones that we use on the targets. Get a few dozen, or your sorry shebs will be walking thro and from the target on retrieval errands for your missiles. Take the larger quiver for them too, for if you slow my lesson down I will make you pay the price for wasting my time.” The Captain warned as he waved at the tubs for his adopted son and fresh mercs to select some arrows for themselves.

Grasping a composite Shortbow, Cade looked into the crate and began to inspect a few of the arrows. They were nothing special, and after choosing a length that went with the longbow, he began to fill his quiver. Readying the bow, he drew an arrow and gained a feel for the draw string and the recurve of this specialized weapon. The flex was definitely to his liking. Releasing the drawn gently, he looked at the Captain for he could feel the his gaze upon him.

"Cade! Does the slipper fit?" Art sarcastically lashed out at his new son who become very well aware that the rest of the mercs already had their weapons and quivers in order and were formed up in a learning formation. Cade already knew what was coming and was already falling to the ground as the Captain's lips began to widen “ ON YOUR FACE AND GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH UPS YOU LITTLE SHITE”.

“While we wait just for a moment, for this pup to finish” Art said, referring to Cade, “perhaps someone could share with me what you should look for in the arrows?”


"Captain!..." a young merc replied while Cade was still licking dirt "After many uses an arrow gets worn and begins to fray and warp. The fraying or the warping may not be seen by eye so one would need to feel the shaft for the problems."

“Good answer soldier.” Art answered back. He then after Cade was finished his push ups ordered them all out of the armoury.

Captain Breuner Halted the formation perfectly inline of the archery range, giving them the ‘Left Turn’ so they could face down range. The old man had cruel eyes that was mixed with centuries of knowledge.

“FRONT RANK!…..FIVE PACES FORWARD…MARCH” With drilled talent the front rank marched the five paces halting on the firing line with Cade on the far right. “ LISTEN UP, I WANT TO SEE WHAT I HAVE TO WORK WITH. FIRE ONE SHOT AND TRY TO HIT THE TARGET” Art yelled to make sure the new mercs understood. “ On your own time fire then head to the back of your respected file for the next rank to fire.”

Cade took up his stance feeling the all seeing gaze of Art upon him while he drew a single arrow from his quiver. The half blood myrian drew the bow string with the notched arrow. Breathing three times and letting loose on the exhale he sent the shaft sailing towards the straw manikin. The arrow sank into the left leg, lower then what he was aiming for as the target was the manikin’s chest. He didn’t spend to much time admiring the shot as he quickly fell from the firing line and formed up in the back file for the next rank.

Once finished with their first volley of arrows down the range, Art formed them all up for the lesson to begin.

He spat with a cold face of disgust. "Guess we're going to start from the beginning and work our way up."

[Cade]

Taking his bow, Art ran his hand along the shafts of it from top to bottom and along the bowstring. "Once you prospects have the bow you are comfy and pleased with, you'll be wanting to keep it maintained as weathering and continued use will have a serious impact on the condition the bows are in.” Art snapped his finger and a sergeant brought forth beeswax and a jar of oil. "The oil and beeswax are your major elements for keeping your bow in fighting condition. The wax for keeping your bowstring versatile and from fraying. The oil is for conditioning the wood for use and for non use of the weapon." Art gave back the items to the sergeant. "Now, safety is another issue. Short and sweet, do not EVER point your notched arrow at anyone the intent to kill. the most effective way to remember this can be to not notch the arrow till need to. Your fingers may slip and it does not ought to be pulled back fully to launch the deadly arrow to cause injury or death.”

Art paused, his eyes sizing all of them up. "And you'll get an opportunity to shoot some arrows and apply this knowledge, except for currently it is a ton of listening. Are there any queries before I continue?" There was none.

"Here are the tell signs of wear and tear. One would be in seeing stress lines along the wood of your bow or gaps within the metal where the wood meets. Either repair it or get a replacement” Art said whereas inspecting his own bow. "Another one would be once using your oil and beeswax the bow still seems like it's stiff and your string shows signs of fraying then the bow and string would need replacing. The arrow falls within the same wear and tear after several uses they have a tendency to warp and chunks taken out. Using your eye..." He took an arrow and held it in front of him with the fletch to his nose and one eye shut. "Looking down the shaft you'll be able to see if it's still straight. without straight and sensible arrows the bow is useless aswell" Art place his arrow back in his quiver hanging behind him.

Within the loose training formation, Cade looked upon his own bow for the precise faults Art described repeating the similar for a couple of his arrows. Most of the formation was doing the same.

"Lets move on. the following set of factors go hand in hand so as to attain a well-placed shot. Stance, aiming and follow-through." Art then moved off from the formation seizing the archer‘s stance on the firing line.

"You will see my legs are apart shoulder-length, one is directly in front of the opposite. The one foot facing towards the intended target and therefore the other facing to the side. "Art explained. "Pulling the string is not as simple as it appears, particularly when somebody has never done so or when the enemy is in sight and your blood is pumping and heart racing." along with his one hand Art pulled back the string in an exceedingly experienced fluid motion and held it. "You'll notice that I pulled the string with my two fingers and thumb." Art then relaxed the bowstring and grabbed for an arrow, notching it. "The arrow is ready along the notch within the bow. The fletch is placed in between your two fingers and thumb. do not hold it too tight or it will not release properly and therefore the front of the arrow may swing aloof from the notch."

Art then pulled back the bowstring a second time, now his eyes straight ahead looking down at the target. "in time and intensive practice you all be capable to hold this position for an amount of time as your arms become stronger. Even the strongest of men who have not fired a bow weren't ready to hold it back for over a few moments. But, when waiting for the enemy to urge in your line sight and range, a few minutes might feel like an eternity. To aim, you need to align your eyes, arrow and your target all at once as if they're one. a couple of centimetres off and you'll miss your target by a decent feet or yards.”