Fall 506 A.V. 19th day 14th bell
‘The weather is cooler today’ Robin noted as he looked at the clear Fall skies before him ‘Funny, I thought it would be more cloudy’ He sighed at this as he looked at the longbow held in his left hand. The weapon could reach the height of a 15 year old boy, of which the age was he had received the longbow from his father. It was an interesting weapon to say the least, the limbs of the weapon were curved inward and set in place unlike a regular bow, which only stayed bent when strung. This gave it a bit of an advantage over the regular long bow in that the limbs could store more power when being drawed with the string, therefore giving a bit more distance and power to the arrow released from the bow.
Unfortunately that didn’t mean it was any easier to draw than a regular longbow, the draw weight behind it requiring more strength than that of a short bow. A full season practicing the weapon had only instilled the basic stance within him yet not enough arm or shoulder strength to pull the bow string back with ease ‘No point sulking I suppose, best just train so da doesn’t get on me case about it’ Thought Robin as he looked at the makeshift target before him, and by makeshift he meant it was a thick crate repurposed to be an archery target, with black and white target rings encircling each other and big petching target at the center. Surrounding the target was a black ring that was in turned surrounded by a white on followed a black one and ended with a white one.
Taking a deep breathe he took his stance upon an imaginary line, setting his feet shoulder length apart with his left forward the imaginary line and his right behind it, parallel to the line itself. Next he turned his head, straightening himself with his chin over his bow arm and pretty much looking like a straight stick as he raised his bow arm and looked down the range. The target was 30 meters away from him, more than adequate for training himself. With his right he reached for one of the long shafted arrows resting in the quiver on his back, and rested it atop of his left grip as he nocked it to the string. With a steady breath he pulled back the string with three fingers covered by his archer’s glove, pulling back till it reached it’s zenith past his ears. To pull it back he needed a mixture of back and shoulder strength so he could pull back the string this far.
He grunted as he held it still, it was still troubling to pull back the string, even worse in that if he didn’t let go pretty soon then he would misfire badly. With a quick look at the target, deciding an attempt for the center as he took in the sidewind and the velocity, adjusting his aim accordingly. Finally, with a still and steady breath he let loose the string and observed as the arrow flew through the air in an arc trajectory, for a moment he thought it was going to hit the target dead center but alas, it did nothing of the sort as it flew past the crate and landed a couple of metres behind it.
Behind him came a familiar chuckle as Robin muttered a curse or two “ Still can’t hit the broadside of a barn, can’t you boy?” Robin turned to face the voice of his father, Hjalgar, who chuckled as he held a shortbow in his hand with an arrow ready to be drawn ready to show his boy who’s the best.