Letting Arrows Fly [Kovac]

[Aose]

14th of Winter 512AV Aose stood on an empty Archery Range, across the way was a large round target made of wood and painted circles. Her quiver rested on the ground by her foot, it was cold and the yasi still never did purchase a coat like she was going to. Her arms were shivering, but she wasn't quite ready to just go home, the Yasi Instructor sent her this way not because of her great skill in shooting, but for her enthusiastic outlook on it. She was good with the bow, but not an expert or master of it. That would come in practice. Bracing her bow with a foot the Yasi had to find something to keep herself active and warm. If she remained standing in this cold she'd freeze up and shooting would be useless. So she decided now would be a good time to string her bow. It was a shortbow, that much was noticeable, but unique thing was that the Yasi's bow was already in the curved formation of a bow, meaning it was composite and once the string was pulled tautly into place she'd have a bow capable of putting an arrow into an inch thick piece of lumber from ten yards away... Easily. Getting the string over the first end was easy, she just knelt down and slipped the arrow over the lip of the bow before standing once more and pulling the string taut while she pushed with all her weight on the curved arm at chest level. This proved difficult for Aose as she started to push down on the bow's arm and the force of it was too much and she stumbled backwards as it recoiled on her. The string slipped from her hand as she landed on her back, a red mark ran the width of her palm exactly between her thumb and index finger all the way across in a straight line. “Bloody hell.” She gritted her teeth and tried to string the bow once again.

[Kovac]

Kovac tugged on his katinu, grumbling under his breath. The Yasi instructor had sent the girl out to the Bent Arrow for a lesson. The reason given was that this Yasi was very promising, even at ten winters age, and that she could benefit from a lesson away from the drone of the yasi ranges. So Kovac agreed, and taking up his bow and quiver of practice arrows, headed out for the short walk to the outdoor range.

As he climbed near the plateau housing the range, Kovac could see the redhead. "Foolish girl." He muttered to himself, seeing she had no coat. Fortunately, the magic that shielded the shooting area kept the fierce Kalean wind from whipping across the rocks.

Kovac could see the small figure struggled with stringing her bow, Aose's weapon won a small victory as it sprung her backwards. As Kovac strolled up to the ginger, he glanced down at her on her back, examining the red welt across girl's palm.

"Thats a lot of bow for such a little girl." He offered flatly. Taking up her composite bow in one hand, he took hold of her unmarked hand in his other, helping the Yasi back to her feet. "But I admire your spit." The Avora held up the girl's weapon, examining it, then offered a wry smile. "Its a fine bow, and my weapon of choice." Kovac reached up and pulled his own bow from his back, a composite short made from laminated dark wood and horn.

"Now, lets get these stringed." Tucking his own under his arm, Kovac set one end of Aose's bow on the toe of his boot, between his toes, slipping it into a permanent dent left from countless stringings. Then, taking the upper recurve, the archer leaned over, strong arms and back bending the powerful bow. "Now, string it." He ordered.

As he held the weapon bent, he continued. "So, I am told you have some chops when it comes to archery. How do you feel about that?" Attitude played a lot into the success of an archer. Enthusiasm, apathy, timidity, cockiness, confidence and fear all played part in an archer's performance. He was curious about Aose's motivations.

[Aose]

Aose knelt before Kovac and grabbed a hold of the string. The hand that was marked stung when she curled her fingers around the string and tugged it upwards. Straining with teeth clenched, muscles quivering, and eyes squeezed shut the young girl managed to pull the string up over the tip of the upper arm and released the string so it sat in it's proper location on the bow's arm. Once she was sure that she had the string in place she took the bow from Kovac and pulled gently on the string, ensuring that it was set in place and wouldn't snap on her. Satisfied with the tension on the string she looked at the instructor, “I find your words kind, but I hear sarcasm in your words. Why don't I just show you?” Aose turned towards the target, feeling the breeze tug on her bangs and the wisps of hair that she had tucked behind one ear. Wind coming from the west. Roughly three seconds strong, which translate to... She paused, her eyelids sliding shut, her lips muttering numbers and distances. roughly three miles per bell... Which translates to a thirty degree angle difference from center to compensate. Aose's eyes snapped open, her eyes immediately took in the target forty yards away. From her height and distance Aose could see the top quarter of the target, meaning she was at the foot of an incline that increased by rough increments of ten yards. Forty yards away, ten yard increases at roughly ten yard increments means I need to rise my bow another twenty-five degrees upward... Lifting the bow up with her guide arm the young archer's whole stance shifted to accommodate her mental calculations. Even if she was wrong and wasn't going to hit the bull's eye, Aose knew she was to still hit the target. Taking in a deep breath Aose knocked an arrow into place with her right hand and pulled back on the bowstring, holding the arrow in place with her index and middle finger bracing it as they curled around the string. The thumb of her guiding arm braced the arrow where the shaft of the arrow crossed the bow's body. Feeling the breeze Aose sucked in a breathe just as the fletching of her arrow started to tickle her cheek. Pulling back the string applied a ton load of pressure on the young girl's arms, the strain causing her arms to tremble. The holding her breathe forced her body to quit trembling and allow her mind to concentrate on the target at hand. Opening her eyes, the yasi ignored her wind blown bangs and could see her target as if it was standing three feet from her on level ground, in her mind's eye that is. Once centered on the target Aose released the bowstring from her fingers at the same time the yasi let out the breathe she was holding. A sense of calmness flooded her body as she watched the arrow first arch into the air, the wind took over quickly and pulled the arrow in the direction of the target. The flying piece of wood found it's apex quickly and started to drop, Aose could tell even then that she was off in her trajectory, and the solid thunk that echoed in the air told Aose that she at least hit the target. Lowering the bow from her firing position Aose's mind cleared of it's inner thought and the Yasi could see the feathers and a small portion of her arrow wagging at her with the wind's help. Not dead center, but good enough. Turning to the instructor she looked up at him, “Good enough for ya?”

[Kovac]

Kovac watched as Aose strained to pull the bowstring over the string nock, the loop settling into the grooves. Without a word she took back her bow, tugged on the taut string and looked up at the Avora.

“I find your words kind, but I hear sarcasm in your words. Why don't I just show you?”

The mongrel had to laugh, the girl was as plucky as her bowstring, and he let the confident Yasi's comment slide by. Instead, he folded his arms over his chest, shrugging in his katinu and watched as Aose moved to the firing line. The instructor had a keen eye for technique and skill, and he would assess everything that Aose did as she fired her first shot.

His first observation, and pleasant surprise, was that the girl did not rush. There was great patience in her approach. In fact, for a moment, Aose didn't move. Kovac scowled as she stood there with her eyes shut, until he realized what she was doing. Clever girl. When the youngster finally nocked her arrow, the Avora could see the wheels turning behind her intense blue gaze. She was calculating. Only after she was confident of the factors that affected her shot did she raise the bow. The archer inspected her stance and posture. Feet well placed, fletching to the cheek. He could see her muscles quiver as she drew back the strong bow to full draw, but she wisely held her breath as she aimed. There were minor things to work on, and she needed to work on strength so she could relax a bit as she shot, but Kovac was pleased with the care she took in preparation.

Finally, Aose loosed her arrow, and it sailed with credible accuracy to the target with a satisfying thunk. When the Yasi held her bow steady until the arrow landed, the half-blood could have cried. She even had follow through. Aose was far ahead most of the yasi several years her senior. Finally, they sent him someone he can actually work with. He did not want to let on though, not yet.

Kovac stepped forward, expressionless. "Not bad kid. You hit the target, and you took your time, already head and shoulders above your peers." Glancing down at the bow, the teacher made a smacking noise with his mouth. "That is a lot of bow for you. You have some skill, but you just need a bit more work to get all you can out of it."

Reaching down, Kovac grabbed her upper arm. The thin shirt she wore did not keep her pale skin beneath warm. "You need to build up these, and your shoulders." The Avora poked at her upper back. "Those muscles will help you become better than just good. Because you have to work so hard to pull back the bow, you are hunching up your shoulders, that affects your stance. Also, it is forcing you to grip the bow too tight, that can actually twist it enough to throw off your aim."

"I want you to try again, with a few adjustments. But first, I want you to tell me why you want to shoot. I know you do, because you care enough to do it right."

[Aose]

When the instructor finally decided to voice his opinion and his criticism on Aose's first shot the yasi had to clench her teeth together, “Not bad? Most children my age can't even get that close to a target that far away on their first shot! Of course I am in a league better than they are.” She was definitely smug in her actions and words, but she was only being herself, confident and sure willing to back it up, if the need risen. When he grabbed at her arm and started making comments about needing to build up her muscles she snarled and yanked her arm back, “First off, don't touch me. Secondly, I'm only ten, what did you expect me to have? Muscles like yours” She touched his arms with her bow, “I have time to grow and build my muscles, besides, I hit the target, as you said.” When he gave the reason for her needing to build muscles the yasi nodded, Easier, to pull string back, improve stance, more relaxed grip... So basically he is calling me too tight to shot bow? This time Aose gave a growl, but didn't express her thoughts in words. When Kovac asked his final question, Aose gave pause. Her expression went from annoyance and fierceness to an expression of sheer confusion and wondering. Why do I shoot? The yasi turned to look at the target, seeing the feathered butt sway in the breeze, It is because that is what the Endals use to fight with, because I want be in Endal... Aose went to open her mouth and give that response. Yet when the words decided to stick themselves to the roof of her mouth she closed her mouth and once more stared at the target with her arrow. Closing her eyes Aose mentally stepped back through the process she had just underwent... Measure the speed and direction of the wind, calculate and fix the first parameter to firing straight and on target. Estimate the incline or decline from you to target... Why do I want to shoot bow? Why?... Bring bow up and pause, bring target to right in front of you in your mind's eye, centering arrowhead to bull's eye... Pull back knocked arrow and string until fetching tickle cheek. Why do I want to shoot bow? Once satisfied steady shot by inhaling deeply and holding breathe. Verify the shot and release the arrow, exhaling at the same time. Do not lower bow until you are certain it either hit something, preferably the target. So really though why do I want to shoot bow? Aose couldn't think of a reason as she processed the steps she took to take her first shot, looking up at the sky the yasi sighed a bit of relief as she felt the breeze brush her face, allowing her eyelids to slide shut as she sighed. “It is the closest I will get currently to feeling the wind in my face and hair. To feel like I am soaring through the sky.” Opening her eyes she looked at the instructor, “I want to soar through the sky, I dream of becoming an Endal, but I don't shoot bow because of that, I shoot because it gives me some feeling of soaring through the sky above, seeing the world below. I shoot because it is what I do. I lose myself in the moment and nothing matters. Just the soaring of arrow and spirit.” Good enough old man? "Why do you teach?"

[Kovac]

Why you little bitch! Kovac thought. If she would have spoken those words to Bow Master Tysala Bursar the woman would have beat the girl within an inch of her life. Kovac's hand balled into a fist at his side, and he seriously considered grabbing the little twerp by the scruff of her skinny neck, turn her over his knee and beat her arse until she cried like an infant. His fist suddenly opened and he raised his hand, poised to backhand the sassy Yasi across her face.

But Kovac held his peace, seeing the juvenile rage soften as she considered his last question. He realized, she had never pondered why she liked to shoot before. Finally, she spoke, her answer the one he had hoped for. Aose shot because it freed her. Every Yasi wanted to be an Endal, that was enough for some, but rarely produced a really good archer. This one had great promise, and, secretly, Kovac admired her sharp spunk. However, he would not tolerate it aimed at him.

"First, I will say and do want I want, you little shyke, and you will do well to watch your mouth and listen to my instruction, or find yourself one day as a Dek scrubbing up bird crap in the aeries of the Endal you so adore. You are not an Endal, yet, you are a Yasi, and I can as easily beat you and send you back bawling as I can teach you something. It would be easier for me."

"Now, let me finish. You have great potential, yes you are better than the others. Can you be better, don't be a fool and not accept it. Yes you are just ten, and scrawny. But you are growing, and if you start now training those muscles, you will be able to wield the strongest bow before those lazy kids can string their mama's bird bow. Do you want to know how freeing it is to shoot? Wait until you go out there," Kovac pointed out over the expanse of the Kalea range and the vast Unforgiving below them, "shoot into the sky and see how far your arrow flies, how far you can reach with it, sail with it. Don't waste the gift you have, and don't be satisfied with just being good."

He met the girl's gaze again, nodding. "And I teach because they make me. That, and I get the chance to find the diamonds in the rough. I hope you are a diamond, Blue Eyes, and not a hunk of coal, or I will chuck you away."

[Aose]

When Kovac went off on her for her attitude Aose immediately felt ashamed, she knew that she had overstepped her bounds with what she did, yet she didn't apologize to him. Words have already passed, can't take them back. When the older of the pair of archers made his point across to Aose that she could excel in what she thought she was already doing excellent with he directed her sight to the expansive Unforgiving and the Kalean range The yasi gulped, what he was trying to prove to her sinking in rather quickly. Yes, shooting out there would be the greatest feeling ever. I do believe that I could do it... No, I know I can do it. Nodding to her inner monologue of determination she looked up at the instructor. “You teach because they force you, yet at the same time you teach because you are hoping to truly find someone that is like you. A pupil that shoots not for the thrills or some goal that almost all of the castes want to do, but because they know that even if they don't obtain that most majestic and often sought after spot in society, they can at least get some satisfaction and fulfillment in their skills.” Aose blushed when he called her 'Blue Eyes' then shook her head, “Name's Aose actually. But if you really want to call me Blue Eyes, I guess I can't stop you...” She nodded, looking back out at the Unforgiving and the Kalean Range. I will test my skill amongst your foliage and unknown terrain and gain a new level of emotional fulfillment.

[Kovac]

The Avora saw the Yasi's countenance change, the arrogant defiance giving place to more pensive thoughts as she joined Kovac as they looked out over the beautiful wild country beyond Skyinarta. Youthful blue eyes lifted again to the half-breed archer. This time, the child's gaze was not indignant, but thoughtful, bearing an understanding beyond her station.

Yes, this little one understood. Kovac marveled at her perception, how she seemed to peg his thoughts better than he himself may have. She was all Inartan at heart, a strong persona even before she reached her teens.

"You are right, Aose. Usually, someone who loves what they are doing will excel above someone who is doing it as a stepping stone for some perceived prize." The girl looked out again across the Unforgiving. "Those are the ones that don't make you nuts when you try to teach them."

"Now, Blue Eyes, lets get you ready to go out there with me. Nock another arrow and stand to the line. Do everything you did last time, but this time, try consciously to keep that left shoulder down."

[Aose]

When the instructor told Aose to nock another arrow and step to the line she obeyed, not something entirely out of her character, nor was it entirely illogical for her to do so either… he was her mentor, and she knew the importance of the lesson he was teaching her. What I did last time… Just try to keep my left shoulder down. Once more Aose repeated the steps she did before, minus the stringing incident, her hand still smarted from that before. There was definitely no hurry to repeat that step again. Pulling the arrow back so the feathers touched her cheek the young Yasi analysed the layout before her once again. Without thinking the Yasi had immediately lined her body up so that she was already using the wind’s direction to her advantage, it was becoming instinct to her at this point in time. Once Aose had her gaze staring down the length of the arrow’s shaft, she could see the top of the target’s cresting edge. Okay, rise the arrow up to cover the cresting land… Her bow arm shifted up, this being her left arm forced her shoulder to rise with it. Aose paused at the approximation she had come up with for the land crest and had to force her left shoulder to drop back into position. Instinctually her arm lifted a hair higher, compensating now for the shoulder drop. Just the shift in her shoulder’s positioning took a fair amount of the strain her arm took earlier when firing and shifted it down the main trunk of her body down into her wide spread feet and into the ground below. She felt anchored more securely. With the wind’s direction and the angle she was looking at the target compensated for, the yasi knew she had to compensate for the wind’s strength, a simple task, her bangs brushed repeatedly across her forehead several times during her preparation phase. In gauging the wind’s strength that way Aose voluntarily released some of the tension of her bow string, allowing the feather tips to tickle their way to the corner of her mouth, a smile traced her face for a moment as she took a deep breath and concentrated once more on the target before her. Once again she could see the target before her as if she was able to reach out and touch the bull’s-eye from where she stood. It was a miracle that her mind’s eye was able to do such a task, it made shooting so much easier for her. Having to consciously drop her shoulder down as she took in the breath Aose realized she didn’t have to take any steps to correct her stance and positioning. She was set. Holding her breathe the yasi’s body went still as she eyed the target in her mental image. Without a sound Aose released the bow’s string, the arrow glided from the bow into the open air... It crested the hump of land between target and archer and gracefully whistled through it’s apex with Aose’s releasing breathe carried along with it. A solid thwack indicated to Aose and Kovac that she had indeed hit the target. Dropping the bow to her side, her free hand resting gingerly at the edge of her quiver. Allowing her mind’s eye to clear she strolled towards the target. Once she hit the top of the small hump the young girl dropped her free hand to her side, her eyes gazing at the target... … It was then that her mouth gaped open, with such a small correction her body’s position the novice archer had managed to land the arrow into the ring just outside of the bull’s-eye. Yes! Excitement and glee took over her normally sassy attitude and she bolted towards the target in a hurry, pausing at it to examine the location of both her arrows. The one that quivered with the wind’s help for the last chime was a hand and palm’s width away from the second arrow, well, of Aose’s petite hand and palm. “Such a simple adjustment of my body… I don’t believe it. Such a small adjustment and it made such a world’s difference in final placement of the arrow.” Aose was pleased with that, she knew she had yet to land a bull’s-eye since she started picking up the bow and arrow. It was still an amazement to her to get that close. Aose turned back to Kovac, “I bet even at my age you couldn’t get a shot that close to the center of the target. Could ya?” She smirked. OOCheh, I hope I didn’t overplay her skill in the Composite Shortbow. BTW fixed minor errors I saw. >.<

[Kovac]

Kovac stepped closer, but off to the side of Aose as she readied her next shot. Shouldering his bow, the Avora hugged his katinu around him tighter to ward off the cold, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched. The Yasi took the same careful approach to her preparation, making adjustments as she saw fit to compensate for terrain and the elements. Kovac was pleased to see a conscious effort to keep her shoulder down, even as it felt unfamiliar to her.

Finally, Aose released the arrow, which flew true, the telltale thunk of the head sinking into the stuffed target indicating it reached its destination. From Kovac's position, it appeared to be a rather good shot. This was confirmed when the girl reached about halfway down the firing lane, when she broke into a run towards the target. A small smile crossed the instructor's lips as Aose expressed her amazement at the difference a small adjustment could make.

"Yes, and the greater the distance, the more difference even the smallest change can make in your accuracy." He added to her revelation. But his teaching was interrupted by the youth's boastful statement. With a scoff Kovac laughed. "At your age I was putting game arrows through Vivianas at a hundred paces." Of course, it was a boldfaced lie. He hadn't even seen a one of the tiny beings at her age, let alone had the skill, or nerve, to shoot one. "Don't get cocky, kid." He admonished.

"But..." he added with a wider grin,"You learn fast, and there aren't many your age that could make a shot like that." Kovac admitted she has much potential, so he decided on a challenge that he rarely if ever presented to a Yasi so young. "Come over here."

Kovac lead Aose to the end of the ranges, where several different types of targets were set up. "If you are going to grow up to ride an eagle, you are going to have to learn to shoot at moving stuff." Jogging down to the end of the lane, Kovac pulled forward a contraption with a target on an arm, the other end weighted, all held within a frame work. The Avora gave the target a shove, and it began to swing back and forth, like a metronome. He ran back to the firing line and his student.

"Now, do everything like you have been. But now, watch the target, learn how far to lead it in order to get an arrow into it."