PM to join A Novice's Hunt (Sophia Sunshore)

[Jei]

Jei of the Dancing Dagger
15th of Summer, 518 Years after the Valterrian

Hunting. It was one of the most useful skills a person could have, and hunters were near revered as some of the strongest in many, if not all, places. The ability to bring down large animals with enough meat to feed families would never be taken for granted, and someone who was able to do so with consistency was godsend.

So it was, in Jei's sarcastic opinion, interesting that he'd never yet been taught to hunt, or even carry a bow. Perhaps it was because he and his Clan knew he was meant to be one of Myri's steadfast soldiers from Blooding to death. Maybe it was his own fault: he never once showed or vocalized an interest in learning, preferring his small blades to ranged weaponry.

Either way, he found the lack of training inconvenient. Syka was still a relatively small settlement with a relatively small population. Small enough that he'd be able to remember everyone's names, if he was inclined to. Small enough that it was far better to rely on one's own skill to take down creatures for food than it was to rely on another.

And so, Jei's hand glided over the curved shortbow that lied on the table in front of him. There were a few others, all similar in shape, but sized differently. He couldn't tell which would be best for himself, but hoped that he could tell by picking it up....

Which he couldn't. He picked up on and held it up, then put it back. Then another, different sized, held it up, and set it down. They felt the same. And on he went, and found each felt like the last, which felt like the first. His face would have burned from embarrassment if he was one to care about how he looked doing stuff.

"A Myrian doesn't know what bow to pick?" Jei raised an eye at the question and turned back to the feminine voice, locking eyes with a woman that looked more native to Falyndar than most of the other settlers. He was about to ask how she knew he was a Myrian when he remembered that he neither hid his race nor wore a shirt, which left his tattoos and the Prowess Mark on his chest on full display.

"I never trained with one," he admitted, motioning to the bows with a hand. "And I can't feel a difference between the sizes. They feel the same in my hand." He turned back to the selection and plucked at a string. The man wasn't sure whether this woman was only commenting or whether she was going to help, but still had to make a decision.

"I can spare some time to help you. My tools aren't going anywhere," she said and set down a few items she held. She moved to Jei's side and picked up one of the shortbows, one of the larger ones, and thrust it into his hand. "Draw the string back and tell me how it feels."

[Sophia Sunshore]

Sophia had spent the last couple of days trying to acquaint herself with her new home as much as she could. The rainforest and its glimmering white shores had turned out to be as wild, if not more so, that the seas she grew up on. She had realised just how much she had relied on her Pod for most of the things one needed on a day to day basis. Food especially had been gathered and cooked by others - Sophia was left to entertain the younger children most of the time so she had never really had much of a chance to learn how to forage, hunt and prepare anything.

It was for this particular reason that the young woman had enquired after bows. It was easy enough for her to find fruits and other edible plants in abundance here, but she was finding it much harder to come by meat. Her fishing skills were definitely not up to par, and there was absolutely no way that she would be able to take down anything on land unless it walked right over to her and offered itself up.

Sophia had been directed to a woman named Indigo. They had told her that she had been on Syka before it was Syka and was filled with information, including the use of bows. She found herself now at the mercantile, peering at a small selection of the ranged weapons as Indigo explained to her the differences between them. She had decided as soon as she'd laid eyes on them that the shortbow was preferable. The longbows were huge and they just looked so unwieldy to her, especially given her stature and the fact that one might be using said bow in the trees.

Indigo was inclined to agree, and had left Sophia to browse for a moment while she tended to something else. She picked a bow at random of the table and moved away to see if she liked it - truthfully all the shortbows on offer looked the same but she was sure they weren't when you got into it.

Footsteps sounded and she looked round, but instead of Indigo returning it was a young man, his tanned skin covered with marks both inked and scarred, but it was the one in the centre of his chest that told her where he was from. He didn't pay her much heed, heading straight for the bows she had just been admiring and so she returned to examining the one in her hand.

A place as small as the mercantile made it easy for her to hear the exchange between the newcomer and Indigo. At the woman's offer of help, Sophia chimed in. "Indigo, sorry, would you help me pick too? I know I want one of the short ones but they all look the same to me." Indigo inclined her head. "Like I said to this one," she made a slight gesture toward the Myrian man, "you need to see how it feels. They all will do the same job, but it needs to be comfortable. That is the most important thing. You have picked up a smaller one which is good for you, so try it out."

She wasn't entirely sure how to 'try out' a bow, so she held it in what she thought was something similar to the correct stance. She'd seen bows being used before, so how hard could it be really? She held the body of the bow in her right hand and stuck it our straight in front of her. Her left hand she used to pull the string back. It was much harder than she thought - there was a lot of resistance, but then again that made sense when she thought about what it was supposed to do. She managed to get the string pulled back to imitate the image in her mind, and then she let it go with a twanging noise and and exhale of breath that she didn't realise she'd been holding in. Sophia wondered if the Myrian was doing any better and glanced over to see.

[Jei]

"You should be using your dominant eye to decide which hand you use to draw the string, else you won't begin at your strongest," she said, watching as he held the bow in his off-hand, his left, and drew the string back as far as he could.

Being a shortbow, it didn't draw farther back than about his bicep, but he could feel the weight on it. Heavy enough that he didn't feel like he was going to snap the bow because he could draw it farther than it was meant to, but light enough that he could get it back and hold the position. He liked the feel of it in his hands and found why its size was so attractive. He moved the bow around and found that, despite the location, his ability to move with it drawn wasn't too impeded by the tables and shelves.

"What is my dominant ey- SHURAK!" He shouted as a solid, meaty whack interrupted his question. He dropped the shortbow as his right hand carefully covered a section of his forearm from view.

His pain was obvious in the way his eyes teared and he curled around his wounded forearm slightly. He hissed quietly in Myrian, even taking a step away from the bows for a chime. "Bows are shurak," he said with a touch of anger to his tone. Jei's jaw was set in anger and his eyes flashed, as if the wound immediately made him a cornered animal and he was ready to strike at the slightest movement.

"Oh, we should find an arm guard and perhaps a glove for you two," Indigo off-handedly commented before she turned back to the blonde. "Don't do what he just did. Do you know your dominant eye?"

She beckoned the woman closer with a hand while her other lightly tapped the still-pained Myrian on her shoulder to (successfully) gain his attention. "Hold your arms out in front of your face and make a triangle with your forefingers and thumbs," she said, assuming they'd understand without her having to do so.

Jei, though his face was still soured from such an embarrassing moment, did as she said, making a large triangle by using both of his hands. He seemed to ignore the angry lash on his arm even though the split skin began to bleed slowly. "Frame something with the triangle and close your left eye. If your something stays in the middle of your triangle, your right eye is dominant. If it doesn't, then it's your left. Easy."

He thought it was stupid, needing all of this to know how to shoot a bow. Blades were easier - you simply jab the pointy end into a deyhan and twisted until they finally embraced death.

All the same, he found his right eye to be dominant, which made sense as his right hand was dominant. He remained tight-lipped as he watched the woman that seemed to have come with Indigo, though his eyes seemed to linger on the tattoo on her forearm.

[Sophia Sunshore]

The man appeared to be having an easier time than she was at pulling the bowstrings. It wasn't that Sophia didn't have any strength, just that she hadn't had to use her muscles in this particular way before. She returned her attentions to the bow again, tugging lightly on the string.

Sophia was too busy examining the weapon in her hands to hear what Indigo said next, so she practically leapt out of her own skin in alarm as the Myrian shouted his exclamation of pain. With a mildly worried expression on her face she looked back over as the bow he had been holding clattered to the floor. He was clutching his forearm, pain evident in the grimace he now wore.
She flicked her gaze to Indigo, who seemed mildly indifferent about the whole situation. Sophia nodded once at the suggestion of a glove - if it would stop that from happening to her, she definitely wanted one. "Don't do what he just did." She pressed her mouth into a line to stop herself smiling. It wasn't the mans pain she found funny, but Indigo's completely nonchalant tone of voice.

"Do you know your dominant eye?" Another shake of the head. Sophia moved closer to Indigo as the woman regained the attention of her other 'student'. She placed the bow back on the table and then turned to face the opposite wall. Following the spoken instructions, she held her hands out in front of her with fingers and thumbs making a triangle, focused on the end of a shovel handle that was propped up and closed her left eye. It stayed firmly put and she turned back. "It didn't move so..."

Sophia looked over at the Myrian, noticing his eyes lingered on the mark that covered her lower left forearm. He would notice that it was no mere tattoo as the grasses actually swayed in a breeze, the hair of the horses and the feathers of the eagle ruffling too. Indigo nodded at the pair of them. "Okay good, you both need to be holding the bows in your left hands then, so you can pull the string back with your right."

Sophia picked up the bow again, this time holding it in her left hand to test out what the woman had said. She had no idea if her stance was correct, but she mimicked what she had done earlier - feet a little apart, arm straight out in front. She tugged on the string with her right hand. It felt incredibly different than before, much more comfortable.
"Are we able to practise outside before we pick which one we buy?"
Surely the pair would need to try and actually shoot something to be able to choose their weapons, hopefully not loosing any arrows in the process.

[Sophia Sunshore]

Indigo nodded at Sophia before moving over to where the various types of arrows were on display. She selected a few and then motioned for the pair to join her outside. The Svefra followed her down and over to the side of the Mercantile. The Myrian man didn't appear, seemingly choosing to stay inside, and Sophia assumed that he had chosen to tend to the nasty welt on his arm.

The shortbow she had previously selected was held loose in her left hand, and she looked to Indigo for guidance. The dark-haired woman was spinning one of the arrows in her hand as she examined the trees before them. She turned to Sophia and fixed equally dark eyes on the young woman.
"Well, we need to see if the bow is a comfortable fit for you. We have your dominant eye sorted, so stand for me as if you were going to shoot an arrow at that tree there." She indicated at a palm not too far away from where the pair stood.

Sophia paused for a moment before orienting herself so that she could aim at the palm. Her body was side-on to the tree, left foot forwards, and she raised the bow in front of her with her left arm held out straight. Her right hand was gripping the bowstring, and she shot a hesitant glance at Indigo before pulling it back. Her hand hovered just away from her cheek, the muscles in her arm straining to keep it there. After a few moments Sophia relaxed, letting the string loosen and the bow was lowered again.

She looked over to see Indigo watching her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I'm not letting you try with an arrow yet." Sophia grimaced. "That bad?" With a shrug, the other woman stepped over. "I've seen worse. You have the general idea but you need a lot of refining. Adopt the stance again, but just keep your hand on the string, don't draw." Sophia did as she was asked, taking up a stance as identical as she could to her previous try.

Indigo moved closer and tapped Sophia's right foot with her own. "First of all, your feet need to be shoulder width apart. You don't want to be overbalancing. And make sure they're parallel. When you get more skilled you can move the back foot around a little, but don't try it until then." Obligingly, Sophia shuffled her left foot until she stood comfortably with her feet as instructed. She felt sturdier immediately.

Next, the woman placed her hands on Sophia's shoulders and gently applied pressure to them. "You need to relax your shoulders. You're drawing them up to your ears which will cause you all sorts of problems." Sophia took a deep breath in, and then dropped her shoulders down on the exhale.

"Okay, that should be fine for now with this part, just make sure to keep your body straight like you have it and turn only your head to the target. Remember your feet and shoulders. Next we need to work on how you were drawing, because you won't be hitting anything with what you were doing there."

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Before we draw, we need to sort out your grip on the bow. You're gripping the thing like it's going to run away from you." Instinctively, Sophia loosened her hold slightly, and colour rushed back into the knuckles of her left hand. "I just don't want to drop it..." Indigo nodded. "You won't provided you hold it properly. And a loose grip is actually safer." Sophia raised her eyebrows at that and a smirk twitched at the corner of the other woman's mouth. "Sounds odd but it's true. The tighter you grip that bow, the less control you have over your aim."

Indigo gently adjusted Sophia's hold on the bow. The thumb and forefinger just connected together to form a loop, with the thumb sat on the top. The rest of her fingers were loosened so that they rested on the front of the bow. Finally, her hand was tilted slightly so that he knuckles formed a line that went at an angle to the bow itself. "It doesn't feel very safe to me..."

Indigo chuckled. "It won't for a while. Your instinct is to grip it as tight as you can, so this is counter-intuitive. I've tried to set you up there as close to perfect as I can. So long as you have your fingers in those positions you should be okay, even if you're gripping a little tighter. With time it will start to feel comfortable. Try not to move it while we work on the string."

"You have the basic idea there, but generally we only pull back using three fingers." She tapped Sophia's hand to indicate which fingers to remove. "Okay now draw back again." Sophia pulled on the string until her hand was hovering near her face once more. From the corner of her eye she saw Indigo shake her head once.

"You pulled too far back, and you need to have your string much closer to your face. Relax a little first, and then we need to set your anchor point." Sophia did as she was told, her hand now hovering somewhere in front of her face. "The easiest way to anchor a shot is to have your fingers under the middle of your chin, with the string touching your chin and the end of your nose." Sophia glanced at Indigo in alarm. "Don't worry, that won't hurt you at all."

Reluctantly, the Svefra did as she was told, drawing her hand back so that she was touching the underside of her chin. The string sat over the end of her nose, and she definitely did not like the feeling. "Do I let go now?" Her words were slightly mumbled thanks to her hand holding her jaw shut.

Indigo scanned her once more and twisted Sophia's left arm slightly. "Make sure your bow elbow has the inner side facing in. If it's facing up, that's how you end up with injuries like our friend inside. Now you're good to go. Just relax your hand and let the string loose."
Sophia did so, her breath leaving her in a whoosh. "My arm feels all wobbly." Indigo nodded slowly. "It'll take you time to build up the muscles. Also remember to pull through your back, not your arm. Want to try with an arrow?"

[Sophia Sunshore]

Indigo handed Sophia a single arrow, and showed her how to set the arrow onto the little rest on the body of the bow. She pointed to a little dent on the end of the arrow above the feathers. "That's the nock, you sit your string in there." Sophia manoeuvred the arrow so that it sat against the string. "Okay, you're ready to draw, try and remember everything I showed you for your stance."

Sophia made sure that her feet were securely on the ground, shoulder width apart. Her grip on the bow hadn't changed much since Indigo had helped her adjust, so she simply tried her best not to clench her hand in a death-grip before raising her arm. Before pulling the string back she paused. "Am I still going for that tree?" Indigo nodded and moved a couple of steps behind her so that she was safely out the way in case of a wayward arrow.

Gripping the string with three fingers, she slowly pulled back the arrow. Her arm was already a little tired from holding it so long earlier, but she tried her best to remain steady, touching the bowstring onto the end of her nose. She checked her left arm and made sure her elbow was rotated correctly - that was one piece of advice that she definitely would not forget! Sophia squinted at the tree ahead, and let the string slide out of her fingers.

The arrow flew wide, missing the tree and Sophia lowered the bow. "That wasn't too bad for your first shot." Indigo stepped back up beside her. "But I missed." The other woman smiled. "Not by that much." Sophia looked down at the right hand where the fingertips were stinging and had turned bright red. "Hm we'll want to find you a glove and probably an arm guard to be safe. How did that feel?"

"Well, not too bad I don't think. It wasn't too hard to do, although my arm is definitely tired now." Indigo went over to retrieve the arrow from where it lay near the tree. "You need to remember to use your back muscles to pull the string, don't do it through your arm. Your form was not that bad at all, just remember the proper way to hold everything and keep practising." Sophia nodded, flexing her fingers.

"If you're happy with that one, shall we go and find you the rest of the equipment?" Another nod from Sophia and the pair headed back inside the Mercantile. Indigo found a glove that fitted Sophia's small hands and an arm guard. Sophia paid for those, along with the shorbow itself and a handful of arrows, before thanking the woman. "Anytime, remember your proper stance and just keep at it." She left the store with a wave, and the hope that soon enough she would able to hit a stationary target.

ooc :

Shortbow, arrows, archery glove, archers arm guard: 33gm

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Character: Sophia
Experience Awarded: Shortbow +5, Observation +5, Socialization +3, Logic +1
Lores Awarded: Shortbow: They All Do The Same Job, Pick One That’s Comfortable For You, Self: Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Shortbow: How To Properly Draw A Bow, Shortbow: How To Hold A Shortbow, Shortbow: Proper Stance/Body Position, Shortbow: Draw The Bowstring With Three Fingers

Notes: Shortbow, Arrows other gear acquired. Make sure your ledger is noted for the purchase of 33 gm.

As always PM me if you have issues.