String it up(Attn:Shaylor)

[Blade]

Light Rurak had forgotten what it was like to be in leadership, Right now that meant, training all the time which also now that meant he had just finished up training 3 at a time and was starting on another personal training session for a recruit named Shaylor.

 

He hadn't really seen her around much since she had first come through the gates. Of course, he hadn't gotten hurt lately, so that would make sense. His last encounter with Shaylor had ended badly. It wasn't that he couldn't handle someone flirting with him, but it had been a long watch and his mind had still been groggy. Well...not something to dwell on. Rurak was actually surprised that Shaylor had time off to train.  Medics never seemed to have much free time. Archers on the other hand...no horses to take care of, no weapons to sharpen...speaking of weapons...

 

Heading off to the fletcher, Rurak stopped by to pick up some arrows. "Now these are the best you've got right?" "Of course sir, and at cut rate prices for an officer such as yourself." Rurak picked up an arrow and sighted down the shaft. The arrows looked good, but he was still going to have fire these for a while and winnow them down to a matched set. Fishing around in his pocket, Rurak came up with the necessary coinage and headed for the range to test the new batch of arrows.

 

The resistance of the string felt good, it always felt good. Drawing the arrow to cheek, Rurak took a breath and held it, eliminating all distractions, it was just him and the target. It was only a 100 foot target and the arrow went right into the center of the ring. Not dead center, but close enough. Rurak became lost in the rhythmic flow of knock and loose, knock and loose, quickly forgetting all concepts of time.

[Christine]

Shaylor had never felt so free and happy but still very useful.  Sergeant Irei had put her to work immediately, and Shaylor already felt her hands would fall off from the constant scrubbing and work she had begun to endure.  However, after a week, she had been told that she must also train with a weapon, and upon showing off her Gladius, was told she could also pick up a ranged weapon.  Well, that was no choice at all, it would be a Short Bow, or something like that.  Maybe she could spend time with Rurak again…

 

She had scribbled him a note, an unofficial one, stating that she was supposed to pick up a secondary weapon and if he would teach her archery.  The sword training was set up by the Sergeant and she had yet to meet her teacher, but was excited none-the-less to begin in those lessons.  However, for now, spending time with Rurak would be pleasurable enough.

 

Pulling back her hair with a ribbon, allowing the curls to flow down her back, she smiled at herself in the mirror, making sure that her clothes were perfect.  The training clothes that she had been provided with were simple brown breeches, a tan loose shirt, and proper fitting bindings.  Along with her boots, she felt perfectly set.

 

Heading off towards the Archery Yard, she got lost a few times, having to ask for directions.  She nodded at everyone, trying to show respect, and used her “sirs” and “ma’ams.”  Eventually, she made it to the Archery Yard and saw him standing by himself.  He had a bow with him, the one he had carried the first day, which he was using to shoot arrows into a target that was some distance from him.  The arrows were across his back and she saw a second bow leaning against a fence, which she guessed was for her. 

 

Walking up behind him, she waited till after he let loose an arrow before tapping him on the shoulder.  “Hello there stranger,” she said as he whipped around, jumping back.  Shaylor giggled to herself, and he straightened himself up, as if nothing had happened.  “Do I call you Rurak or Sergeant, sir?”

 

Shaylor

[Blade]

Rurak was suddenly startled out of his reverie by a light tap on the shoulder. Turning quickly, Rurak found Shaylor standing there waiting for him. He took a quick glance up at the sun...yep, it was about that time, it was easy to get lost in these things, especially with the absolute focus that Rurak tended to favor. "Shaylor! Good to see you! Hey, looks like the quartermaster got you fit nicely. Just one moment, I need to go collect my arrows." Heading out to the target, he carefully looked over the different arrows then took out the 25 in the closest grouping to the center and bundled them together, slipping the rest of the arrows back into his quiver. It had been rather full to begin with, but that was what it took to get a matched set.

 

"All right, now as for your first question, go ahead and forget the sir. I'm never a stickler for pointless rules like that. I only enforce the sir if someone's being...well...you might guess where that thought is going." Reaching over to pick up the smaller bow, Rurak held it out to Shaylor. "Now, I've taken the liberty of finding a bow for you. I had to make some estimates on things, such as your strength so if we need to go find you a new one we can. The bow's draw has to be fit to you so if anything feels off let me know."

 

Rurak reached around behind where the bow had been leaning and handed Shaylor a set of new arrows to go with the bow. "Your bow is shorter than mine so I needed to get you some shorter arrows...these are yours. There are a lot of things we can cover here with bows, so I'm just gonna teach you some simple bow maintenance and of course how to shoot properly on your own and in a group. I need to get a feel for how well you shoot though and what I need to teach you so if you'll just fire some shots down at that target. You don't have to hit it, I just need to see your stance and shooting more than anything."

 

OOC: Just go ahead and shoot some arrows and do whatever, I'll get a feel from your posting for which direction you wanna take this.

[Christine]

OOC: don't hate me lol

 

IC:

Rurak smiled as Shaylor did and she almost wanted to giggle and bat her eyes.  Light, this is an Army base, not a flirting ground! Straighten up, girl!  "Shaylor! Good to see you! Hey, looks like the quartermaster got you fit nicely. Just one moment, I need to go collect my arrows."   Shaylor looked down at her clothes and noted how tight they were on her figure.  So, he had noticed...

 

He walked to the target and she watched him fiddle with the arrows.  Shaylor had never held a bow before, let alone done archery, so this would be an interesting lesson.  At least with her sword, she knew what she was doing, albeit her knowledge was small. "All right, now as for your first question, go ahead and forget the sir. I'm never a stickler for pointless rules like that. I only enforce the sir if someone's being...well...you might guess where that thought is going."

 

Shaylor watched him bend over and grab the small bow she had seen laying against the fence.  Taking it as he held it out to her, she let her hand wrap around the wood securely, getting a feel for it in her hand.  "Now, I've taken the liberty of finding a bow for you. I had to make some estimates on things, such as your strength so if we need to go find you a new one we can. The bow's draw has to be fit to you so if anything feels off let me know."

 

Shaylor nodded and thought back to a few moments before when Rurak had been shooting the bow.  Light, he had used all his muscles in his arms, and Shaylor didn't know how much of that she had.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea... "Your bow is shorter than mine so I needed to get you some shorter arrows...these are yours. There are a lot of things we can cover here with bows, so I'm just gonna teach you some simple bow maintenance and of course how to shoot properly on your own and in a group. I need to get a feel for how well you shoot though and what I need to teach you so if you'll just fire some shots down at that target. You don't have to hit it, I just need to see your stance and shooting more than anything."

 

Shaylor nodded and took the arrows in hand and let the quiver rest over her back like Rurak's was.  Taking out one arrow, she stared down at her feet for a moment to spread them apart, as if to start dashing, somewhat like Rurak's had been.  Looking at the target, she held the wood in one hand straight out in front of her , her arm parallel to the ground.  The arrow she slid against the string and held it there for a moment, her right arm bent at the elbow, and she tried to pull the arrow back to her ear to let it loose. 

 

Unforunately, she got it not much more than half an arm's length before she felt the pain and let it loosen, seeing it get not much more than 15 paces from where she was standing.  Well, it wasn't the target, but at least it was over halfway there.  She looked down at her feet for a moment, slightly embarrased at her complete failure.  Failure was not something she could or would accept.  Looking back at the target and trying to ignore Rurak, she tried it again, only this time she started with her arm bent towards the ground to get the arrow balanced properly before raising her arms. 

 

This arrow got a little further than the previous, and Shaylor sighed, disappointed.  This was going to be a long day.

 

Shaylor

[Blade]

Rurak stood to the side and watched as Shaylor took her shots. Immediately he noticed a few things that he needed to address. Normally while teaching archery he had large numbers of students that he had to teach at the same time so he could only give tips here and there correcting form as he passed the line of students on the firing range. Today though since it was a private class so to speak he had a lot more leeway to give more personal instruction.

 

"All right" Rurak said stepping forward. "First things first we need to correct that stance of yours, it's causing you all kinds of problems." Stepping forward Rurak got in close behind Shaylor so as to better be able to correct her form. He was practically standing on top of her really, and in a normal situation he might have realized how awkward this might be, but when it came to archery, he was lost in his own little world. "Spread your feet to shoulder width." Rurak said. With a slight hesitation Shaylor did so. "You want to keep your feet about shoulder width apart to keep yourself planted when you're firing. The most important thing about having accurate shots is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Now, I'm going to show you the proper stance for firing the bow." Reaching around front of Shaylor, Rurak placed her hands in the proper position, then brought her arm straight out to the side. "This is where you need the bow to be. It's important to be here because otherwise you can't get all the power you need out of it to draw the bow back, that's why you were having so many troubles. Your arm uses these muscles here" Rurak said, lightly tracing his hand along her arm and down the right side of her shoulder. She seemed to shiver slightly as his hand moved along. Well...it was cold outside Rurak thought to himself. "Now, for the next part, to draw, point the bow down, and pull back with your left and push out with your right and slowly bring your bow horizontal as you're doing that. This is the easiest way to draw the arrow. Any other way is going to be wasting your strength."

 

"All right, now that we got those most important things out of the way, I'm going to teach you some pointers on how to refine your accuracy." Reaching around front again, he placed her hands back in the proper position. "The best way to fire is to establish some markers for how far to draw back, as well as some ways to create lines to sight onto your target. One of the best ways is to bring your bow back so that your thumb rests right behind your jaw here" Rurak said cupping his hand lightly under the underside of her jaw. Again she shivered slightly. Maybe he should get her a cloak? no, that would hamper her firing. "After that, place your nose to the tip of your string. This gives you a line to sight on. After that, you move your body only from the waste. Never move your arms to fire at a target, let your waist and back do all the moving for you. Again, this helps you minimize extra motion, and also keeps that line for you to sight on things. Now, let's go ahead and help you practice that part." Rurak said reaching around front and helping her draw the bow, otherwise she would get tired after only a few seconds of holding the bow at full draw. For this part he had to be pressed up against her. She was 6 inches shorter than he and so he could smell her hair. He reached around and helped her draw the bow, bringing it back behind her jaw, waiting until she sighted it in. She seemed to be taking a little extra time for some reason...and was she leaning into him? No, that had to be his imagination. "Now" Rurak said quietly. "Minimize your breathing, when you are about to fire, right before then, Draw in a breath and hold it, then fire, and release your breath afterwards. Breathing throws your aim off just slightly and can be the difference between a kill and a miss...very important things while you're out on the battlefield."

 

"Now, for the last part, figuring out distances. Your bow has certain tendencies and arrows have to drop eventually, there's a general rule for how far the arrow drops depending on distance. for the first 40 feet or so your arrow will fly flat, then start to drop off. Because of that, you need to raise your bow about an 1/8th of an inch for every 20 feet beyond 40 your target is. These numbers change some over greater distances of course but that is the general rule. For now that's what you'll practice with at least. Now, using that let's see how you do with that." She seemed a little disappointed for some reason when he unwrapped his arms from around her. Maybe she had been expecting more instruction? Well...the basics of archery were pretty...well basic. He expected some vast improvements in her skills though.

[Christine]

OOC: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I don't even know how to respond.