1st day of spring, year 519AV
Inhale and keep the string back as you hold your breath for a moment. Imagine the arrow hitting the target where you want it. Then you let go off the string and keep your arm steady, the arrow gliding through the air towards its target. It was a slow day and Uerta didn’t wish to leave for a hunt the first days of spring. He had little experience with traps and tracking and felt he shouldn't be a bother upon any group. Some practice with the bow however was always welcome and it was a way for him to clear his mind on bad days or when he felt annoyed.
The arrow hit the target but it wasin the fourth ring from the middle which elicited a sigh from Uerta’s nose as he raised pulled out another arrow and repeated the process. Relax as you raise the bow, pull the string back and inhale as you focus on the target. Hold your breath as you adjust the aim from the last shot and let the string go. Finally feel the tension against your arm as the string comes to a stop and you exhale. The new bow was good but he had to get used to it and soften it slightly before he felt comfortable taking it on a hunt. He did miss his old one despite how it had clearly started to show its age.
This time the arrow hit the second ring, still on the left side and Uerta nodded to himself slowly.
Another arrow was laid upon the string, he inhaled with the string pulled back before adjusting his aim once more before letting the arrow fly. Spring had started and most people were at the market right now. The first day of spring.. A new year… He was happy the winter was over since the storms got to him and he couldn’t relax for most of the season.
Third ring from the middle and this time to the right. He had overcompensated this time and he cursed himself for it in his heart as he pulled out another arrow. After placing it against the string he closed his eyes and took five deep breaths before slowly opening his eyes again. Trying to put the last three shots out of his mind but keep the experience from them.
He kept shooting in sets of three, stopping to close his eyes and trying to clear his mind from the last three shots after every third shot. He wasn’t sure why he did it but he found it had helped him when he started. Every set was different and he didn’t want them to influence another apart from improving. Just shooting blankly had led to him losing his patience and becoming more and more annoyed with each miss while this had let him group up his shots and try different things each set. So he kept shooting until he ran out of arrows and had to retrieve them.
Twelve hits and eight misses was the result of the first twenty shots, none had hit the center and most had been to the left side between the fifth and third rings. He was not pleased with this but he knew it was his own fault more than anything else, only a bad craftsman blames the tools. So it was with a frown that he walked to the target to retrieve the arrows from the ground and target. Inspecting each one to make sure the shaft, fletches and head were still intact and he hadn’t damaged them in anyway. Although most of the sets were done the same way he always did two of them crouched and two on one knee. Both made it harder to aim thanks to the longbow he used but they were valuable experience for hunting he had found. It was rare for you to be able to do a proper shot as you would on a range out in the wild after all.
Only two arrows of these four sets had hit and it was annoying but a clear reminder of his lacking skill with the bow. So after collecting all the arrows he paced back while thinking of the shots he had tried too hard, overcompensated or just didn’t shoot good enough. There was not much else to his mistakes than him being bad and the best way to correct that would be to keep doing it. So once more did he start the sets from the first. Closing his eyes and taking five deep breaths before opening them again and focusing on the target, raising the bow and pulling the string back, inhaling, holding his breath while making the last adjustments before relaxing his fingers to let the arrow fly.
Dead center. Uerta allowed himself a smile before pulling the next arrow and took a deep breath before taking another shot, this one hit the first ring to the left and the smile was gone from his lips. Until he could make all three arrows hit the center dot he’d keep going, or until the range got more flooded and he couldn’t focus. One perfect set was the goal today and he would try his best to get it. The third arrow barely hit the target at all which let Uerta to think ‘Pride before fall…’ with a smirk as his eyes closed and he placed the nock of a new arrow on the string while closing his eyes. Five deep breaths with the target in mind as he sunk down onto one knee.
The arrows flew one after another with a slow rhythmic thudding as they all managed to hit the target this time, two in the outermost ring and one in the third. It was better than before which was good enough for now as he pushed himself up to shoot standing again. Three hits, all in the fourth ring, two on the left and one to the right. The next three sets were all misses.