Open Bowing is Archery

[Akka]

5th Spring 514 A.V — The Feathered Shaft

Anxiety can fill you up completely. Akka would rather work alongside a woman, but was nonetheless hoping that Kalvin could teach her what he knew about bowing and fletching. She was constantly eager to learn more of that art, little was of greater importance to her than expanding the traditional family knowledge in bow making. When she arrived at the shop, Akka stared at the building and noticed how deep she was breathing in. She felt self-conscious and dangerous. Long was the walk as she took about six steps inside. Nobody was by the first section of the building: she looked with curiosity at the embroidered fabric that divided the front section from the workshop. “Mr. Wilde?”, she called and waited. She waited for a long time, and that didn't make her any more anxious. The tranquility and silence of waiting has always been comforting for someone with a mind like hers.

When he appeared through the fabric, Akka stared at his face as if she could learn so much from his expression and clothes. And she could. Once introduced and invited to the workshop, she sat down at one of the stations and took a deep breath in. “Man, did I miss this...”, she said more to herself than to the man that was sitting down working across the room. Her fingers touched the wood and went all along it, sensing the fibers that would become a fine weapon, if she did everything right. And that was never a simple task, no matter how good you get. She immediately remembered the things her grandmother would tell her when she was working on her bows: “Bowing is ambition. Never be satisfied. There are legendary bows one will never make again, try to be better than yourself, try to provide the best bows for your fellow horsemen and horsewomen, and most importantly, keep the best bow for yourself”.

It took a while for Akka to snap out of it, her eyes were closed and she was seeing herself sitting down by her grandmother's table, in the family workshop. She was still so young, but Tropo had already chose her, and that is the point where her memories start — every remembrance from before her strider chose her was a void space in her mind. Her fingers moved across the table, as she picked up the oak and tilted it in her fingers, examining the material and looking for knots, twists and limbs. Once done, Akka looked at the tip, and placed the wood against the table to start pressing it, looking for its natural curve, the moment when, as her grandmother would say, the bow finally starts looking at you.

She didn't like working inside. It felt dark and too hot. The wind of the grasslands used to give her a better feel of connection between the wood, nature and the exercise of archery by the horseclans. She wished she could work by the entrance of the store, but feared asking the owner for that. Still didn't even talk to him very much, and yet wanted to split and make her mess working by the entrance. At least she would have something to look at, and people to talk to. Not a possibility for someone so anxious: she couldn't ask him. Breathing in, she picks the wood up and places it against her shoe, the other tip being held in her hand. Reaches for a knife on top of the table, and smiles to the perfect metalwork. “Nice tools”, she thinks to herself.

[Nivel]

Nivel's Patron Knight had other plans for the day, leaving Nivel free to do as she pleased. Since the pycon had been doing all sorts of training since she became a squire, the pycon felt that it would be a nice change of pace for Nivel to relax and get more familiar with the Syliras. She had been wandering aimlessly for the better part of the mourning, dropping into what ever building or store seemed to catch her eye. While doing cartwheels along the stone path she could have sworn she heard the sound of a strange bird. It was very faint and could have easily been all in her Nexus but Nivel was sure it came from inside the building she had just past. Being curious by nature it was almost impossible for her to resist investigating. “It sounds like a mystery is afoot.” she thought as her bat shaped ears flapped rapidly in amusement. The large wooden door in front of her was heavy but after pulling it for a few ticks she was able to pry it open enough for her small frame to enter. Nivel found herself in a room filled with glass cases that seemed to have mostly strange crescent shaped twigs with detailed carvings etched into them. The pycon was very confused by what she was seeing. “Are these some form of art?” thought Nivel as she continued to scan her surroundings. She wanted to get a closer look at the strange objects, but they were high on a pedestal and out of reach even with extensive stretching. Nivel was about to give up and look for the source of the bird call, when she spotted some drapery behind one of the displays. she was certain she could climb it allowing her a better look at the odd looking twigs. Nivel gave a good tug to the velvet drapery that was nailed into the wall to see if it safe to climb, after a few good tugs she felt confident enough to ascend. She stretched out her thin arm and grabbed tightly onto the fabric, doing her best to pull her body weight up. It was much harder than the pycon had though and she was already breathing heavy. She had gotten up about half way when the fabric suddenly jerked, Nivel looked up to see that the nail that held the fabric was coming out. “uh oh” was her only thought as the nail shot out and the Drapery came crashing down. Nivel could hear movement coming from behind an embroidered curtain...it was beginning to look like the pycon squire was in a bit of trouble.