Closed Contrast of Diamond and Amethyst[Nhadia, Aran]

[Aran Windblown]

45 Fall, 513AV Aran rolled his shoulders, stretching and yawning slightly as he walked out behind his family's tent to take care of his Strider, Anyalvis. "Hey, boy," he murmured, holding a treat out on the flat of his palm. Anyalvis snuffled it for a moment before inhaling it off of Aran's hand. Aran laughed, patting Anyalvis affectionately. "You're a pig," he chuckled, moving around to hunt down a brush. He finally found one under the blanket he used for riding. Aran began grooming Anyalvis, humming idly under his breath. It was looking to be a good day, for Fall. A bit crisp, perhaps, but the sun would help mitigate that. As Aran was grooming Anyalvis, he stroked his hand over the white hair on the stallion's hindquarters; remnants of their first disastrous hunt. As always, remorse pricked him; if only he'd been smarter, then Anyalvis would not bear these marks-- but those were thoughts that could not help, and thus were worthless thoughts. Snorting softly to himself, Aran finsished grooming the Strider, and then quickly tacked him up, double-checking to ensure that the blanket was not rubbing the hair the wrong way, and that the yvas was secured properly. Grabbing his bow and quiver, Aran decided that he would practice his archery; he hadn't in quite some time, and his skill at it was... minimal. As in, he had none. Aran swung aboard Anyalvis and then turned the stallion away from the camp, heading for the area that had been set up just outside of Endrykas as a practice range for those wishing to work with their ranged weapons. It was a clearing approximately twenty feet long and ten feet wide, with frames of painted skins set up at one end of the clearing. The skins had rings painted upon them; the rings were red, and set inside of each other, so that there was a smaller ring inside each, for a total of five rings. Aran was surprised to see that there was already someone at the range this early in the day; a woman, going by the style and length of the figure's hair. "Hello," he called, dismounting and giving Anyalvis a dismissive pat, allowing the stallion to graze freely. "I don't think I've seen you around here, before."

[Nhadia]

Nhadia was an early morning person, and had been for as long as she could remember. She found them to be peaceful, and easier to get things accomplished. On this particular morning, she had decided she would get some training time in at the range, hopefully before others showed up, and it became crowded. It wasn't because she was shy that she tried to avoid crows of people during her practice, it was just that she just found it easier to concentrate on what she was doing when no one else was around. Nhadia didn't take a lot of things overly serious in life, but her martial training was one of those things.

She was in the process of packing her things up, when she was startled by the voice of a male greeting her. Looking up from her pack, she heaved it over her shoulder and offered the stranger a greeting in return. "Good morning." She watched for a moment as his strider went to graze, and then looked back at him as she began replying. "Well, i've been around pretty often, but mostly early. Real early. It's good and quiet here then" Pausing, she smiled and then extended her hand. "I'm Nhadia."

[Aran Windblown]

"Aran," the man replied, shaking Nhadia's hand firmly. "I usually work with horses more often; I don't usually work with weapons. Amethyst Clan, you know." He offered Nhadia a grin before gesturing to his bow. "I'm actually pretty useless with this," he confessed. "I rarely come here. Honestly, I'm more afraid of accidentally hitting someone with a stray arrow than I am of being laughed at." Aran chuckled. He stepped to the side, and then looked up at the skin Nhadia had been using. "You're pretty good," he commented, offering the woman a smile. "Perhaps you could teach me?"

[Nhadia]

"Ah part of the Amethyst Clan, how do you enjoy that?" After shaking his hand firmly, she let hers fall back at her side. "Well, being able to shoot an arrow properly is definitely a skill you want to have. You just never know when it's going to come in handy, yah know?" An amused smile crept across her lips as she considered the possibility of him accidentally shooting an arrow into someones behind.

He had suggested a lesson, and for a moment she considered making up some excuse as to why she couldn't. It wasn't like she really had anywhere else to be, but she didn't really consider herself as much of a teacher. She bit her bottom lip as she thought, but then let out a quick sigh and said, "I mean, I guess I could show you a thing or two, but first I need you to show me what you do know. I need to see your form, and what you need to work on."

She set her pack back down, and grinned back at him. "I'm no pro though, so I can just show you the basics really. Maybe enough that you can actually hit the target and not some unfortunate person."

[Aran Windblown]

Aran grinned. "It's great, working with the Striders, breeding new and better horses in every generation." He listened intently as Nhadia explained what she could teach him, and he nodded when she was done. "I do not even have the basics," he confessed. "So even if that is all that you can teach me, or show me, that will be more than I had before." Aran quickly unslung his bow, double-checking the tautness of the string, before he removed an arrow from his quiver and checked the fletching and arrowhead. Then, he notched the arrow on the bow, raised the bow, drew back, aimed, and let the arrow fly. As he'd expected, the arrow soared over the top of the skin, clearing it by at least a foot. Aran let out a small chuckle, turning to Nhadia with a grin. "See what I mean? Completely useless."

[Nhadia]

As he explained that he didn't even know the basics, and found herself a bit surprised that he had gone all these years, and nobody had even shown him that much yet. Her brow rose in surprise and then fell, as she nodded and then watched him in action. She grimaced behind his back, but then smiled encouragingly as he turned to face her.

"Well, we definitely need to work on your stance." Positioning herself behind him, she began explaining the importance of stance. "This is the very most basic part of archery, if you want to be consistent than you need to know how to stand. First you need to make sure your feet are a shoulder width apart." With her right foot, she made two marks on the ground where his feet should be positioned. "You also need to make sure you have found your balance, and that you are standing tall with your back straight." She then grabbed on his shoulders and attempted to pull them back towards her a little bit. "Try not to be too stiff, and relax your knees a bit."

Once he was in the proper position, she made her way in a semi circle around his body, checking to see if his stance looked decent.

[Aran Windblown]

Aran saw the small smirk on Nhadia's lips, and he couldn't help but grin. He followed her instructions to the letter, standing straight and tall as Nhadia circled him. "I have not seen you around Endrykas before. You look almost as old as me; it seems odd that we've not met before," he commented, lifting his bow and drawing when instructed to do so.

[Nhadia]

When she was satisfied that his form was decent, she went on to reply to him. "Well, lots of people come and go around here. I suppose it's possible that we just were never introduced before. Who knows, maybe you did see me around but you just don't remember." She shrugged and then went on with her lesson.

"You should always hold your bow the same way each time you shoot. It helps you become accurate and gives you a consistent draw. You need to work on your grip, and make sure it's comfortable but not too tight. As long as your grip is firm, the bow isn't going to go anywhere. You want your wrist to be straight, but you don't want it to be stiff as a board."

She stood to the side, and pretended she was going to shoot her bow. Her body formed a T shape, and her left armed was in a locked position. "You want to make sure your arm is locked, and that you pull back on the bowstring until it gets to your nose and lips. Try and not to stop the drawing motion, until you are done, and your elbow should end up just about here.." She then lifted his elbow so it was just slighting above shoulder height.

"Keep your eye on the target, and when you are ready to shoot, relax your hand and let the arrow fly." She hoped that he would hit the target this time around, but she also knew that learning took a lot of practise. With the basics she just showed him, in time he should show signs of improvement.

[Aran Windblown]

Aran nodded; her explanation made sense. Then he listened intently to her instructions. He carefully adjusted his grip, taking his time until it felt comfortable; firm, but not tight. He spent another moment angling his wrist until it was loose, but straight. Then he mimicked her draw, carefully pulling the string back, holding his left arm outstretched and locking his elbow, drawing the string until his right fingers were near his mouth. When Nhadia adjusted his elbow, he let her; he kept his elbow there for a moment, allowing his muscles to gain memory of how the whole position felt. He practiced a few more times, drawing, holding, and then slowly releasing; he didn't want to dry-fire, he knew enough about archery from listening to other hunters to know that dry-firing was never good for the bowstring or even bow as a whole. When he felt confident that he could at least get close to the target, he lowered the bow once more, pulled an arrow from his quiver, and notched it. He took a deep breath, then resumed the position; feet shoulder-width apart, elbow locked, wrist loose but straight, string pulled back level with his lips, elbow up just slightly. He took a deep breath, and then let the arrow fly. A dull tunk rewarded him; he hadn't hit anywhere within the painted circles, but he had at least hit the skin. He laughed in delight. "Better than any other time I've tried!"

[Nhadia]

She looked him over as he put her instuctions to use. His feet were the proper length apart, his body was forming a T, and everything about his stance looked proper to her. When he notched the arrow she held her breath as he let it fly, hoping it would hit the target. She was met with relief and happiness when it sunk into the skin, not near the cicles, but it was still a good start.

Laughing along with him she gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Good job! Now all you need to do is keep practising that technique, and before you know it you will be landing arrows in the painted circles." She felt pretty proud of herself, this was the first time she could recall actually teaching someone else a skill that she knew.

"So what do you do for work around here? I mean, obviously your not a hunter. You mentioned the Amethyst clan, but are you breeder or what?" She eyed him curiously, wondering what he did to contribute to his clan.