Closed [Caesi]Let the Arrows Fly

[Asarni Zelluni]

"You, too," Asarni returned as she gathered her own squirrel, giving the arrow the same tug-and-twist movement that Caesi had given hers to remove it. Asarni chuckled lightly at Caesi's comment; squirrels were good for giving an individual meat, but these were relatively small, being as it was still the beginning of Spring. The squirrels and other animals were still fattening up from the winter. "Squirrels are always a good addition to stew," she said; she loved a bit of squirrel in her stew, personally. She was in the same camp as Caesi; she could boil water, but that was about it. For the moment, however, she was more than content to spend her time finding contributions to the cooking pot and observing her father's wives as they cooked. Her younger sisters were both showing signs of being more domestic than Asarni had ever been, which she was sure pleased her father to no end; domestic girls with many homemaking skills would find good husbands.

Asarni had just slipped her squirrel into her own bag when she noticed Caesi's attention had been caught by a rustling bush; instincts prickling, the Drykas quickly notched an arrow, not drawing just yet, but ready to. Crouching down, Asarni stepped forward until she was on Caesi's right, her attention focused on the bush as well. The upper branches were the parts that were rustling, indicating that it might be another squirrel, or perhaps a bird. Asarni noticed a small rock near her foot, and - keeping one eye on the bush - she carefully nudged it into position before kicking it into the bush.

A grouse exploded from the bush, screeching and feathers flying, and Asarni did not bother waiting to see what Caesi would do, following the bird through the air with her arrow as she pulled her bow to a full draw, breathing a quick prayer to Zulrav and whichever other gods were listening before loosing it; in a one-in-a-million shot, the arrow flew straight and true, striking the retreating grouse below the wing and lodging in its side. The bird fell from the air, landing on the ground with a dull thump. Asarni turned to Caesi with a stunned expression. "I... honestly did not expect to hit it," the young woman says, getting to her feet as she moves to her kill. "That will likely not happen again for a very long time, if ever."

OOCLet me know if that was okay, or if you'd like me to rewrite it

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[Caesi Starguide]

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A bird busted out of the bushes, it resembled a chicken in a way, though it was not a chicken. It was a grouse, that looked to be 8 pounds perhaps. Caesi let her arrow fly, however it completely missed the mark. She was a little spooked from it busting out of the bush like it did, as she was not sure what to expect. Her arrow went up and over the Grouse, landing on the ground, the point didn't even penetrate the soil. It was only a few ticks and Asarni had taken the grouse down however, with a shocked expression on her face. Caesi's face mimicked it as well, as the shot was quite lucky.

Caesi laughed and nodded her head, “Perhaps not. Good shot though.” Caesi told the Drykas woman, picking up with squirrel and handing it to her, “Could you put this in your bag? I would rather not walk all the way back to Py.” Caesi explained grinning. Once Asarni put the squirrel in her bag, Caesi looked around them.

“Let's see if there is anything at the water's edge.” She suggested to Asarni, as she grabbed the arrow with the blood at the end, to use on her next target. Going through the copse of tress, Caesi stayed low and stuck to any shadows the trees made, trying to be stealthy as she made her way to the edge of the small stream. Leaning against a tree trunk, she peered from behind it, looking around. Spotting a couple of similar animals near the water, that appeared to be sharing some type of rat.

She kept her eyes glued to the animals and their behavior, observing them more closely. They were both stocky, though one was larger than the other. Their bodies had a coat that was slightly grizzled, the colors of which being brown, black and white. The fur looked coarse and had a tan appearance to it. The most notable markings however, were the head markings that were black and white, and the fore-claws that were huge and insert into the rat. The face markings is how Caesi knew what type of animal they were, it was a pair of badgers.

Caesi threw a hand up, gesturing in Pavi Sign to Asarni, Prey, quiet . Once she had the woman's attention, she gestured once more, Two, Prepare telling her that there were two prey to prepare her bow to shoot. She pointed to herself, smaller, you larger. Shoot at same time. She told Asarni in sign, letting her know that she could have the larger of the two targets, she would take the smaller of the two.

Caesi took her own advice, she placed the notch on her bowstring, nocking the arrow. She quietly turned her body from the tree, spreading her feet shoulder length apart. Placing her index finger above the shaft, she placed her middle and ring finger below, pulling the arrow back to her chin. She let the tip of the arrow rest on her fingers, as she closed her left eye, aiming at the smaller of the two badgers. She kept her right arm extended straight, though relaxed, her left arm that held the arrow she kept relaxed as well bending the arrow so the string would not slap her arm.

She took aim, pulling back on the arrow some more, giving Asarni time to prepare as well. Once Asarni was prepared to release her arrow as well, she would give a nod to the woman, and they would fire together, or as close to the same time as they could. Caesi would release her arrow, aiming for the female badge, near the throat. The arrow would fly but miss the throat and land through the side of the badger.

OOCI think after this, we can stop on the hunting, if you would like to? We can practice Archery or what ever you wish. Just seems doubtful that there will be any more animals after the noise we have just made thus far.

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[Asarni Zelluni]

OOCWorks for me; Asarni's going to miss this one, to try to bring her lower xp in both hunting and shortbow back into play after her lucky shot in the last post.

Asarni was still shaking her head in disbelief at her luck in bringing down the grouse when Caesi made the suggestion to check the water's edge; that would most likely be the last place they would be able to find prey with the noise that they had made thus far. The older woman followed the younger, watching her footsteps so intently to make sure she did not scare off any last remaining prey that not only did she miss Caesi's first sign, she nearly ran into the other Drykas. She caught something about 'smaller' and 'larger', but that didn't clarify things until Asarni followed Caesi's line of sight to the two badgers sitting by the water's edge. Badgers were not usually considered good prey animals - often too difficult to kill - but these two were sitting on the water's edge, in plain sight.

Asarni drew her bow, carefully notching her own arrow as she took aim at the larger of the two animals, per Caesi's instruction. She let her arrow fly within a breath of Caesi loosing hers, but her aim was off; perhaps Asarni's arrow would still have struck the animal she was aiming for, had the animal not darted off when its companion squealed as Caesi's arrow hit it in the side. Asarni swore under her breath, getting to her feet as Caesi approached her kill. "Good eye, and good aim," Asarni said, her praise genuine. "It seems we each have gotten good contributions to the pot today." Asarni retrieved her arrow from where it had buried itself in the ground a few inches, carefully wiping the dirt off and checking the edges of the arrowhead to ensure it was still straight, that the arrow had not struck any rocks.

The whole excursion had only taken a bit of the day's time, leaving the two women with many more bells in the day to fill; Asarni knew that she had no desire to return to Endrykas just yet, and perhaps Caesi felt the same way. Hunting with the younger woman had been interesting, and Asarni had decided that she liked Caesi enough that spending more time with her would be no bad thing; perhaps they might become friends. Asarni had few friends outside of her Pavilion, and it would be good, her Ankhal had often told her, if she would at least try to make an effort to make friends with at least her Clan. "If you are not needed back at your Pavilion, we could practice some more with the bows?" Asarni suggested. "Syna will not leave the sky for several bells yet."

~*~

[Caesi Starguide]

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Caesi brought her dagger out, as Asarni suggested they should practice shooting arrows. “I would love to do that.” She told Asarni, as she stuck the tip of her dagger into the badger. “Just let me bleed out the badger first.” As she spoke she sliced her knife up from around the tail end to the throat, opening the badger up. She stuck both her hands inside of the little badger, it was still warm inside as she began to pull out intestines and organs from inside the animal. She brought her knife and cut at some membranes that held some organs attached, finally pulling them all out.

She brought the intestines and liver to the water, closing her eyes she sent a quick thanks to Caiyha and Semele for the bounty and providing them with food on this day. Once she sent her thanks she let go of the organs into the water, for Caiyha, since the blood seeping into the ground was an offering to Semele.

Tossing the other organs to the side, she called for Nu, who was not really successful in his own hunt today but he was getting better. The dog wagged his tail as he began to eat up his treats that Caesi had left for him. Smiling Caesi brought the badger to the water, rinsing the inside she had cleaned out then, she brought out a rope from her backpack, tying it at the neck of the badger. Taking the loose end, she threw it over a low tree branch. Hoisting the badger up about six-feet from the ground, she tied the rope end off, securing it up in the tree, as the blood trickled out of the body and on to the ground.

Going to the edge of the water, she rinsed off her hands and dagger. Returning her dagger she looked up at Asarni, “Okay let's practice. We need something soft to shoot at, that won't damage the arrows.” Caesi peered around, looking and thinking about what they could use. Then an idea hit her, “We could weave some of the tall grasses together and make a target to hang from a tree limb.” Though that may take too much time, so she shrugged gesturing with her hand Too much time, forget that idea. So she peered around again, she was not sure what they could use for target practice. There had to be something soft they could use to aim at.

“Any ideas or suggestions?” She asked the older Drykas as she laughed slightly, “I can not think of anything we could use.” Perhaps Asarni would know better then Caesi. Each Archer had his or her own technique and tricks, no matter what skill level they may be at. It would be beneficial for both to practice together, they both could learn something knew. It was just finding something to use for target practice that would be the obstacle to over-come. If they could find a rotted tree, that would be best, since the bark would be pliable and soft. They just needed to find one first.

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[Asarni Zelluni]

Now that the hunt was over, Asarni followed the same motions that Caesi did, opening her squirrel and tying her bit of rope about its tail before tossing it over a tree limb with her own prayer of thanks; there were barely any organs from the squirrel, but Asarni added them to the pile from the badger; she did not have a dog or a cat that would want them, and there was no point in attempting to bring them back to the Pavilion.

Asarni listened to Caesi's suggestion of weaving a target, but both women reached the same conclusion: It would be too time-consuming to gather the grass needed to weave a decent-sized target and then to actually do the weaving. Asarni glanced around the copse of trees they were in, her gaze skipping over the two Striders and dog until they landed on a spot just beyond the tree line of the small clearing. Gesturing for Caesi to follow, Asarni went to investigate, and found almost exactly what they were looking for: a rotted tree.

The tree was a bit further into the woods than Asarni would have liked for target practicing, but after breaking a couple of small branches out of the way, there was nothing interfering with their line of sight. "This might work," she said thoughtfully, eyeing the tree critically. There were no leaves upon it, and when Asarni reached for a piece of bark above eye level, it broke off easily, indicating that the tree had been dead for a while. The trunk was roughly half a foot wider than Asarni's shoulders, making its diameter close to four feet. When Asarni tilted her head back, she could see pits in the upper reaches of the trunk that indicated the presence of wood-boring insects and perhaps some of the birds that chased them.

Turning to Caesi, Asarni gestured a question. "What do you think?"

~*~

[Caesi Starguide]

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Caesi followed Asarni to investigate a possible target to practice on. The tree was deeper into the small wooded area, so Asarni and Caesi broke some of the smaller limbs out of the way to clear a path with no hindrance to the arrows. Asarni spoke up, stating that the tree may work well to shoot at. She watched as Asarni further investigated the tree, feeling the bark and how soft it was. She turned to Caesi to inquire if she thought it was good.

Caesi paused a moment, then pulled out an arrow from her quiver and stuck it into the rotted trunk with a good force, as far as it would go. Then she pulled it out and examined the arrow. The arrow seemed to be still good. She looked at the trunk, taking her index finger and feeling around where the arrow had went in. Pieces of trunk and rotted bark fell to the ground. The inside had a weird moisture to it, perhaps from all the holes and insects boring into it, water was trapped inside, making it rot that much more.

With a sharp nod of her head and smile to Asarni, she spoke up, “I actually think this will be perfect to use.” She said happily as she began to count her paces away from the tree. Once at 30 paces she thought it was perhaps 100 feet away from the target, which was a good practicing range. Once she was ready she motioned Asarni over to judge the distance for herself. “I feel comfortable at this distance, but you can shoot at any distance you want.” She told Asarni as she grabbed an arrow, “I like to be in the middle. Not close. Not far.”

Caesi set her feet about shoulder's length apart, with her right foot ahead of her left. Breathing easily, she rotated her hips slightly, so her lower back was flat, lowering the chest down to her stomach. Straightening her back she lowered her shoulders downward, keeping her muscles relaxed. Once her stance was comfortable to begin practicing she took her arrow guiding the shaft close to the notched area on her bow she nocked the shaft. Bringing the end of the arrow against the string, securing it and letting the arrow rest on the tip at her fingers.

She set the bow on the meaty part of her hand, just below her thumb, moving her thumb to point at the target ahead of her. Her index finger went above the shaft, while her middle and ring finger went below the shaft at the end of the arrow. Keeping her hand relaxed and flat. Caesi checked her grip position adjusting slightly, until she was satisfied with it. Extending her bow arm forward, she kept it straight, while her other arm she bent at the elbow vertically to keep the string from snapping back and hitting it.

Raising her bow arm up, she moved it just above where she was aiming. Her other arm she kept behind the arrow, so her forearm was lined up with the shaft of the arrow. Raising the bow she rotated her chest and shoulders, that way it was parallel to the arrow. Raising her hand, the bowstring came to the level of her nose. Drawing the bowstring towards her face, keeping it in a straight line, until it came back to her chin. Her index finger was near the corner of her mouth, as she moved her shoulder of the drawing arm down slightly. This helped the back muscles take over the weight of the bow, so she could be relaxed when shooting.

Once she was drawn back and the weight placed at her back muscles, Caesi looked down the shaft of the arrow. Placing the point on her target she closed her right eye, using her left eye to judge the aim. Inhaling and exhaling in a rhythmical manner, she shifted her feet slightly, making sure that her weight was evenly distributed. Keeping her bow-arm stationary, she expanded her chest with a deep inhale. With a long exhale she let the bowstring leave her fingers, releasing the arrow at the rotted tree ahead of her.

A loud THUMP was heard as the arrow sunk itself into the rotted tree and Caesi did a fist pump in the air. “That was an adrenaline rush.” She told Asarni as she laughed going to retrieve her arrow so her friend could practice next. She pulled the arrow out of the crumbling tree and returned to Asarni to watch her shoot next. “I haven't had this much fun in a long time.” She told Asarni giving her a sad smile, “I am always so busy. My conversations are usually with a dog and a horse.” She let out a chuckle as she stood at Asarni's side to view her stance and anchor point, to see the difference if there was one between the two Archers.

| Thoughts |

[Asarni Zelluni]

Asarni followed Caesi as the younger Drykas counted out thirty paces; it was a good distance, comfortable, but just challenging enough for an archery contest. She watched as Caesi drew her arrow, sighted, and let it fly; she studied Caesi's stance, watching as her hips straightened, feet shifting in the dirt beneath them. Asarni carefully studied the way that Caesi took her time, adjusting herself and bow and arrow until she was comfortable, letting the arrow fly. Asarni grinned at Caesi's enthusiasm for her shot; it was a good shot, and worthy of the enthusiasm. "That was a good shot," she congratulated as Caesi went to retrieve her arrow.

Asarni listened to Caesi's next words - "I am always so busy" - and found a sympathetic expression crossing her face. "I understand the feeling," she told Caesi. "If I wish to remain on my own, without being forced into a marriage, I must prove myself useful to my Ankhal. So I spend my days hunting, and my nights helping about the Pavilion - although my sisters are more helpful to my father's wives than I am. I have little talent for domestic skills." Asarni took her own stance now, where Caesi had stood only moments ago, and took a deep breath as she rolled her shoulders.

Asarni shifted her stance so that she was perpendicular to the tree that they were using as a target, and brought her bow up, aligning her arrow against the notch in her thumb, laying it against her forefinger on the outside of the bow to help her aim. She hesitated, trying to gauge the wind and weight of the arrow, attempting to estimate how the arrow will move through the air to reach the target. She tried to correct for the weight, shifting her aim up and to the right - but when she released the arrow, she found that she had corrected too far, and that the arrow had embedded itself into the trunk roughly another foot above her head. "Oops," Asarni said, laughing at herself. "I suppose I need to work some more on my aiming; I over-corrected." She had to jump a little bit to reach the arrow, but then she returned to the starting point with a slight smile on her face; she had been wary about Caesi at the beginning of their meeting, but she was finding that she was actually - dare she say it - enjoying the other's company.

"What do you do?" Asarni asked, curious. "What is your job in Endrykas?" She hadn't met Caesi, though she vaguely recalled the Starguide Pavilion, and as Caesi was also of the Amethyst Clan, Asarni was letting her guard drop sooner than she would have with a Drykas from another clan.

~*~

[Caesi Starguide]

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Caesi gave Asarni a broad smile, when the woman explained how she stayed busy and lacked domestic skills. Caesi was the same way actually. She preferred to be elbow deep in deer intestines then standing by a pot and cooking. Her skills with cooking was burning water, that was how little she knew. Usually she dropped her kills off for the Ankals wife or her mom to cook for the Pavilion, while she busied herself with grooming the animals, trying to squeeze in a few moments with her father. Caesi stayed quiet however, while Asarni readied herself to take her shot.

Caesi watched as the arrow hit the trunk, at a height that Caesi could not reach. She gave a chuckle, signing, practice makes perfect “You are doing well.” She reassured Asarni, grabbing the same arrow she shot previously. “I am not much on being a good wife either. I burn water when I cook.” Caesi laughed, “I prefer being out on the Sea of Grass. Away from the hustle and bustle.” She let her true feelings go, she felt comfortable enough around Asarni to do so. Though she would not say such to her mother and father, she did not plan on being married off, not any time soon. If she were to marry, it would be with someone she actually cared about, not arranged. Although it was not really the Drykas way to do such, she would find true love, one day. However, love was the last thing on the young Drykas mind. She wanted to learn to fight, to shoot, to hunt, to learn magic and webbing. She had goals she wanted to accomplish before settling down. Caesi shook her head, dismissing her thoughts, “I hunt. That is my job.” She told Asarni giving her a smile.

Getting into her stance, she brought her arrow up. Fumbling around she dropped it and shrugged her shoulders laughing, as she picked it back up. She steadied the arrow as she nocked it. The arrow rested at the tips of her fingers on her bow arm, her shooting arm was relaxed and slightly bent. The fingers of her shooting arm went around the shaft of the arrow. With her index on top and the middle and ring on bottom. Caesi pulled back the string of her shortbow, closing her her right eye she looked down the shaft of the arrow. Aiming for the bottom of the trunk, she released the string letting the arrow fly.

She did not pull back on the string far enough, taking it to her anchor point. Since she did not do this, it did not give enough force to get the arrow to the trunk. Instead it skidded on the ground, landing on the side and not even with the point penetrating the soil. Caesi looked at Asarni and chuckled, “I guess I need to pull back further next time.” She told the woman with a shrug, retrieving her arrow and returning. “What is your job? Do you like hunting or do you do something else?” Caesi inquired of the woman, as she stood to the side, far enough away to give her room to shoot her bow.

| Thoughts |

[Asarni Zelluni]

OOCDo we maybe want to start wrapping this up in a few posts? I think we're reaching the end of what we can get from this thread Sorry for the short-ish reply; I was busy but didn't want to leave you hanging!

Asarni gave Caesi a grateful smile; she listened to Caesi's next words, and then observed her stance. She could see before Caesi released the arrow that she hadn't pulled it back as far, and she made a note of what that meant in terms of how far short the arrow fell. She nodded her agreement to Caesi's suggestion, and then answered the question posed: "I like to hunt, but I like animals more. I work at the Healing Hoof; I help to take care of the animals, and keep them calm while the healers do their work," she explained. "I have always liked animals, and it is interesting to watch Denhal work. If I do not end up joining the Watch, I thought that perhaps I might like to become an animal healer."

Asarni took her turn, standing the same as she had before, but adjusting her aim once again; she was aiming for the center of the trunk at eye level. After a deep breath, Asarni let her arrow loose; this time it flew almost true, landing a bit to the right of where she had aimed, but unless she had been aiming at a squirrel, it would have been a good hit, enough to bring an animal down long enough for Asarni to have finished it off. "Yes!" she said, excited. "Now if only I could manage to do that every time when I went hunting." She retrieved her arrow, smoothing the fletching as she returned to Caesi's side. "I have enjoyed this," she found herself admitting. "I do not usually like to spend time with other humans; I find them hard to get along with usually. It helps that you are from the same Clan as me, I think."

~*~

[Caesi Starguide]

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Caesi listened to Asarni express her love of animals. How she worked with them at the Healing Hoof, taking care of them. She expressed how she would work there if the Watch did not work out in her favor. Caesi nodded, “I do not plan to just hunt forever. If the Watch does not work out...” Caesi trailed off for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders, “Not sure what I would do exactly.” She had yet to plan for failure, as she intended to not fail in her goal. Caesi planned for success and was determined to excel in her training to be a part of the Watchmen.

Caesi brought her attention to Asarni. Observing her stance and how she adjusted her aim. Her arrow flew to the trunk hitting the trunk perfectly. Caesi gave a big smile and laughed lightheartedly as Asarni's excitement swept her up. “That was a great shot. Practice is making your aim better.” Caesi said in a praising tone. “Soon when you hunt your aim will be true more often then not.” The young Drykas girl said with determination. She knew it to be true, Asarni would flourish if she continued to practice.

Caesi did not take a stance, instead she looked at the sun in the sky. It would be dusk soon, which meant there was work to be done at the Pavilion before she could sleep. Caesi needed to get back and help with what she could before calling it a day. She returned her attention to Asarni as she explained how she had enjoyed the day. Caesi nodded her head in agreement, as she too enjoyed spending time with the fellow Amethyst. “Humans and animals are one in the same.” Caesi said with a chuckle, “Most people can be related to a type of animal. Fearful as a mouse, dangerous as a glassbeak.” Caesi rattled off a couple of relations and shrugged her shoulders, “I have enjoyed our time together as well. I do not spend much time with others. Usually I hunt alone so it was nice to hunt with another.” Caesi gathered her things, giving Asarni a smile, “But it is time we part. I have to get back to the Starguide Pavilion and help with different chores before I rest.” Caesi explained, then gestured a formal farewell with her hands, “Until we meet again, friend.” She said giving Asarni a soft smile.

Once Asarni said her farewells Caesi would mount her Strider and ride with her until they parted their ways to go to their Pavilions.

OOCSorry it has taken me so long to reply. I was busy with work. But we can end it here and if you want to start another Thread before Season Change, let me know.

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