Completed Arrows Fly

[Rayt]

17th of Spring, 517 AV

Holding his newly purchased shortbow and one hundred shortbow arrows he took out the key that would tug him toward his newfound home in the wolf's caves. He looked around the unfamiliar buildings and streets as the key tugged in the direction he should head toward. It seemed to be different each time he set out into the city. It had taken him most of the morning to find any sort of marketplace to buy a bow and a set of arrows. He had a rudimentary knowledge of archery and he wanted to practice his skills, after all if he was going to be adventuring he would most likely have to defend himself and if not that at least hunt for food for him and Henry and possibly any other raptors he would care for.

He opened the door to his room and stretched out a bit, patting Henry on the head, "Morning Henry, how's the perch?" Henry screeched seemingly in response.Rayt always wondered if the bird could understand him. They seemed so intelligent.He knew the Wind Eagles of Wind Reach could communicate with their Endal Riders,but to say those were special cases were an understatement. Could all brids hold that sort of intelligence? Could all animals? Plants even? He smiled at his philosophic musings. It was fun to think about but the truth is Henry couldn't communicate with him and it wasn't like he spoke owl. He put on the falconer's glove he kept by Henry's perch that he had set up in his room at the wolf's cave. Fastening it to himself with thick leather straps Henry almost immediately flew onto the glove, his thick raptor talons sinking into the thick leather, "alright Henry I thought you could get some air while I do some archery practice. You've been cooped up for a while" he said as he started out the door.

After some time he found the gateway and exited the city making his way through the close wilderness, never losing sight of the great stone giant he had met when he first set out to enter the city. As he made his way through a grove of trees he allowed Henry to set himself on a high branch allowing him to take off the falconer's glove. Taking out the bow and his hundred arrows he set his eyes on a tree he estimated to be fifty feet away. He scuffed his shoes on the ground to make a mark in the dirt under his feet. Gripping the bow in his left hand he looked at the tree ahead of him. The tree had a distinctive notch in it about the middle of the tree that he set his sights on to. He lifted the bow with an arrow between his forefinger and thumb in the right hand, both the arrow and the bow still felt awkward in his hands as he tried to steady his aim. Knocking an arrow, his eyesight narrowed as he looked down the shaft to the notch in the tree he held his gaze toward his target for a solid minute, pulling the bowstring taut and let the arrow fly.

A solid thunk sound let him know he hit the tree...and he missed his mark by a mile. Several feet above the notch his arrow was found sunk into the bark. He sighed and cursed as he walked the fifty feet to the tree. He wasn't proficient at archery, but missing a target like this would mean the difference between a kill or just startling an animal he would most likely spend an entire day tracking at average. He had only been on one hunting trip in his life, and he had not killed that deer his hunting pack was tracking. Rayt kicked the ground near the tree. If he couldn't catch anything this season he would run out of food for Henry let alone any other raptor's he may catch. He tugged on the arrow and it snapped in his hands, "well...that's one arrow down" he said throwing the stump of the arrow shaft to the ground walking back fifty feet and staring down the tree once again. "Let's try for two" he said raising the bow once again. Determined he set his sights on the tree again and raised the bow with unsteady hands.

[Rayt]

Five arrows were yanked out of the tree, now splintered wildly in random places by the arrows Rayt had fired. There was no rhyme or reason to the holes, no cluster to show any sort of accuracy. It was as if the holes had been randomly made and the tree wasn't purposefully fired upon by a novice archer, as it had been. Rayt's fingers ached and a few even bled from the constant brush of the bowstring against Rayt's fingers each time an arrow let loose.

Sitting on a tree stump Rayt let out an exasperated sigh in exhaustion, letting the bow fall to the ground, the arrows still piled up near the freshly made mark. Henry hooted above him and Rayt smiled, "I don't know Henry...maybe I'm going to have to buy your meat somewhere rather than bagging some wild game. Where would I even keep the remains of my kill?" As if in answer Henry swooped down and caught a mouse within the blink of an eye and returned to his perch on a tree limb to much on his fresh kill. "I suppose you're a better hunter than I am Henry" Rayt sighed and picked up the bow from the underbrush and went back to the mark and eyed the tree. Rayt eyed the notch and locked on to it, determined to hit it once as he had not done so yet, Rayt raise his bow and knocked an arrow. Once again his hands shook with unsteadiness and his aim was poor. The bow still felt awkward in his untrained hands. With the release of an arrow, Rayt tried to put as much power in the drawing and release as he could but failed gloriously. Rayt's fingers slipped at the last moment and he fired into the ground a few feet from his mark, the head of the arrow solidly buried in the dirt.

Rayt knocked another arrow, and another and another. Each one failing even to reach the tree let alone hit it. He breathed slowly and focused. He straightened his back and eyed the notch with intense determination and raised the bow. His hands slipped on the polished wood as his hands were soaked in sweat now from all the effort of firing one arrow after the other and with blood from the cuts all over his fingers. Each time he had fired his bow it was painful as the string would slice a shallow, and sometimes deep, cut into his skin. Rayt drew the bowstring back with an arrow firmly in his grasp. The bow shook and he tried to calm himself, yet his hands were still unsteady. His aim was still poor. He fired the arrow off when he was almost positive he had the notch in his sights. The arrow flew the air traveling fast to meet it's mark...and landed next to the tree.

Rayt cursed and drew another arrow searching for his mark and wildly knocking the arrow in place furious at his inabilities. Rayt drew the arrow, only to have it slip from his hand he was holding the arrow with and release unexpectedly straight through his forearm, thumb and nearest finger.

Screaming in searing pain Rayt fell to the ground in agony and a spray of blood. Rayt gasped and watched as blood leaked from his wound. Henry hooted in what could only be described as panic and flew off. Ryat tried to get up but felt himself grow dizzy and fall to the ground, his forearm and hand aching and throbbing and burning in horrifying pain. The last thing Rayt remembered was a faint voice calling out as he slipped into unconsciousness brought on seemingly through the shock of shooting himself and the loss of blood.

[Rayt]

A burly man ran through the streets of Alvadas screaming for help. None came to the man as he knocked on doors of houses that would not allow the man entrance. Rayt laid in a motionless rag-doll like figure in the man's arms as he carried Rayt through the city seeking medical attention. The man had all but given up after chimes upon chimes of time passing while Rayt murmured in a dazed state from bleeding out. The man had bound the wound with cloth, since then the cloth had been saturated with blood. Rayt did not have much time left to bleed. The man then saw a saving grace, a towering white marble building in the distance. Running toward the building he reached the door and pounded on it, "This man has been shot, he needs a doctor please where can he get help?" The man was set to turn around when the door opened and he came inside.

Time was lost to Rayt. . Waking up, Rayt looked around the white colored walls for anything resembling familiar. His head rang with an aching headache as he sat up. Immediately Rayt knew that this was nowhere he had been before. Vaguely he remembered being out in the wilderness and shooting arrows wildly into a tree. He went to move from the flat table he had been laying on and realized his left arm had been immobilized. panicked he looked at the wooden splint he had on his wrist going as far as the tip of his thumb and then reaching up halfway up his forearm. He could move all of his fingers save for his thumb but the index finger was painful to move and had a deep cut on it. A woman walked to his bedside and calmed him, "Knock it off dear, you're not that bad" she said in a thick accent he couldn't quite place. She was blonde and fair skinned and her calming tone and demeanor seemed to soothe him into actual words rather than screams.

The woman recanted the tale she had heard from the woodsman and the events she had witnessed. Apparently a hunter had seen an owl frantically flying around, it's talons covered in blood. He decided that the owl must have killed something and followed the bloody tracks in order to snatch up the bloody remains of the kill, hoping that the owl hadn't eaten it. The hunter found Rayt and carried him to Alvadas where he sought medical attention. Rayt had been out for at least eight bells. Rayt sighed as the woman told him about his injuries and how long he would the splint should be on for. She also gave him a wooden "V" shaped instrument with a spring between the wooden prongs and told him that was for his grip strength. He would have to squeeze that together daily in order to return to normal strength once again. He nodded and left the building, thanking the woman for her miraculous efforts and looked at his left hand and the wooden tongs walking home slowly and thinking about things. How in the world am I going to use my bow? How am I going to train my birds? This might be the worst thing to happen in my life. I really hope this isn't permanent... He cursed under his breath as he walked, the key in his right hand pulling him onward toward his home and where is Henry?

He got home and the kindly woman who ran the inn called him over. "I've seen you around here and I've seen your owl". She says cheerfully and goes into the back. She comes back and motions to the floor. Rayt hears a cheerful hoot and sees Henry walking along the floor chirping at him excitedly. Rayt smiled and thanked the woman. Back at the room Rayt sighed and collapsed on his bed, Henry resting on his favorite perch. "Henry, this isn't going to be an easy season. I just hope I can nab a few falcons so we can eat now. I can't make traps like this I'm going to have to steal the eggs from a nest. I'm sure there is a few ospreys or falcons, in fact I saw some while we were out there flying about. Their sure to have a nest somewhere close. I feel bad about it but sooner or later I'm going to have to procure some eggs and get to hatching". Henry hooted in what Rayt perceived as agreement, "Yeah...good night Henry".

[Faradae]

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