Shoot For the Stars

by **Avela** on March 2nd, 2018, 1:45 am

19th of Spring, 518 AV

At the end of the winter season, Avela had gone outside the walls with a group of people to search for water. That expedition, aside from being an undertaking that was, honestly, insane beyond belief, had taught Avela two things. The first: that the world was a much bigger place than she had ever imagined. And the second: that Avela was poorly prepared for adventures of any sort. Initially, she'd reacted to the second by ignoring it and telling herself that she was just never going to leave the city again.

But the thought wouldn't go away. It was a nagging in the back of her mind when she rose each day, when she went to sleep at night. It was with her every time she went out into the streets of her city, when she looked at the faces of her siblings. When she thought about the time Asterope had fallen through the ice, and Avela had almost not been strong enough to save her. By the seventh day of Spring, Avela had given up. If the problem was that she wasn't ready, then the problem had to be remedied, or she wasn't going to be able to sleep at night.

Which was why Avela was here at the Sheathewhisps Headquarters, in between her Konti language studies and her candlemaking work, currently regretting the day she was born.

"I can't do this," Avela gasped, as she circled the training field at a flagging run, her breath coming in short pants and sweat beading on her skin. "I'm going to die."

The Symenestra woman who was supervising her, Abigaile Briarley, stood stone-faced off to the side, her eyes fixed on Avela as the Konti moved past her. She didn't say a word, her arms folded on her chest, but her stare of disapproval spoke volumes. It was Avela who was paying for the Sheathewhisps time. And if Avela did not want to do what she was assigned, Avela could very well quit.

It was a tempting thought, but it infuriated her all the same. She grit her teeth and bowed her head against the wind, sucking in a breath through her teeth. Abigaile was expecting her to drop out. Well, Avela would show her. She wasn't going to quit. She was done with quitting.

Just a few more steps... she told herself, putting one foot in front of another. Just a few more steps...

The sun beat down on her from overhead, warm beneath the shirt she was wearing. The wind was cool at the nape of her neck beneath her ponytail, under her heated skin. Every breath felt squeezed out of her as she forced herself to run, one foot in front of another, one step at a time. One step at a time.

Avela sucked in a breath through her teeth, summoning up her reserves of endurance. One more lap left, she thought, as she passed Abigaile one more time. She could keep this up for one more lap.

"Common" "Kontinese"

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by **Avela** on March 6th, 2018, 1:54 am

There was a flash of triumph as Avela passed Abigaile for the last time, a release of tension that went straight through her. She stopped running and practically fell backwards, flopping onto the ground that wasn't as hard as it had initially looked and stretching her arms out to either side of her. She might have stayed there forever, gulping down huge, grateful breaths of air, had Abigaile not decided to step up to her, nudging her in her side with her shoe.

"Get up," the Symenestra woman said.

Avela opened her eyes. "I'm resting," she said.

"Your muscles will seize up if you don't keep moving," the woman said, somehow managing to speak the words without tone or inflection. "Stand up."

Between Okana, Abigaile, and Madeira's ghosts, Avela decided, she was just done with creepy people. She muttered something ungracious under her breath and swept a few strands of her sweat-soaked hair out of her face as she rose. Abigaile led her into a series of stretches, which Avela did her best to follow along with, although her burning muscles and heaving lungs wanted her to do literally anything else.

She remembered how her muscles had burned when she tried to pull Aster out of the water and cut short that line of thought. Next time a situation like that happened, she promised herself, Avela would be able to pull her out without relying on someone's help.

Her thoughts were so focused on that that she didn't even notice they were done, blinking as Abigaile handed a canteen of water out to her. Avela took the container and, remembering the water shortage the city was under, tipped it back slowly, taking a handful of sips. By the time she was done, her body still screamed for water, but she forced herself to cap the canteen, handing it back to the woman.

"What next?" Avela asked.

Something flashed in the woman's eyes, something almost like approval. It was gone before Avela was even sure she had seen it in the first place. Her eyes drifted meaningfully down towards the bundle that Avela had brought with her, the weapon that Avela had brought to train with in the first place.

Avela grinned.

~*~*~

They moved to another area of the headquarters, away from the open space that was used for fitness classes. Here, targets had been set up against one wall, with several chalk lines on the ground marking out starting lines. They did not, as Avela had expected and hoped, start shooting immediately. Instead, Abigaile had showed her how to string her shortbow, a process that left a nasty welt on Avela's hand when she lost her grip on the bowstring one time, then had handed her the bow and was now spending time teaching her the proper form.

Avela tried not to feel impatient as she pulled the string back, trying to settle her weight the way Abigaile was teaching her. The sun beating down on her only reminded her that time was ticking away. The way things were going, she was going to go through her entire half-bell lecture without even shooting a bow!

"Common" "Kontinese"

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by **Avela** on March 10th, 2018, 3:43 am

By the time Abigaile was satisfied enough to allow Avela to actually shoot, her arms were burning, and there was a sharp ache between her shoulder blades that told her she would be feeling this tomorrow.

Endure, she told herself, drawing in another breath and doing her best to keep her arms from shaking. She wasn't going to be able to help anyone if she gave up. She would always be the person who waited in the wings, never doing anything of worth, never being able to help the people she loved.

Kairen's face flashed through her mind, and her fingers tightened their grip on the bow. No matter what Kairen said to her, there was something going on. Her little brother needed help, and Avela was going to find a way to help him. Somehow.

Somehow.

She relaxed her grip on the bow string at Abigaile's signal, letting out a sigh of relief as she lowered her arms. Relief quickly turned into cautious excitement as the Symenestra wordlessly held an arrow out to her. Avela took it from her gingerly and did her best to follow Abigaile's motion as the woman raised her own bow, fitting an arrow to the string.

Abigaile made it look so easy. Avela wondered, if she tried hard enough, would she ever be able to make it look that easy?

Abigaile drew the string back, and Avela followed suit. The tip of her arrow dipped down as she moved, causing Abigaile to make a harsh, clicking sound. Avela glanced at her own arrow and compared it to Abigaile's, which was pointed straight at her target as if it had been magnetized. She relaxed her grip and adjusted the way her fingers were closed around the arrow's fletching, then tried to draw the string back again, this time focusing her effort on keeping the arrow straight.

"When you're ready," Abigaile said, "aim the arrow at the target," The Symenestra held the arrow up, its tip never wavering, "and...loose."

She released the string. The arrow came free with a twang, hitting the center of the painted target easily. It was a thing of beauty to watch, and Avela found herself holding her breath. Abigaile turned to look at her expectantly, and Avela realized that the woman was waiting for her to do the same. So she turned away, focusing on her target, trying to keep the point of the arrow level at the bullseye.

Deep breaths, she told herself, trying to settle her nerves.

Breathe.

The arrow was as straight as she was ever going to make it.

Loose.

Avela braced herself, closed her eyes before she realized she was doing it, and let go of the string.

"Common" "Kontinese"

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by **Avela** on March 11th, 2018, 3:53 pm

Instead of the satisfying thunk that Abigaile's arrow had made, Avela heard a rather unsatisfying clunk. She opened her eyes carefully, looking down the length of the field. Her arrow hadn't even made it to the target at all. Instead, it had sailed in an arc and was lying on the ground, not far from her. She gazed down at it, feeling a flash of disappointment. Beside her, Abigaile clicked her tongue in annoyance and impatience.

"Do not close your eyes," the Symenestra said, the words carrying the strongest inflection of any of her statements that day. "This should be obvious. You will not be able to aim properly if you flinch. And do not walk downrange while there are archers practicing. I should not have to tell you that."

The last statement was said as Avela stepped forward to retrieve her arrow. Avela froze in place, then looked back over her shoulder at her. "Why?" she asked, with a nervous laugh. "Are you going to shoot me?"

She'd meant it as a joke, but the steely look in Abigaile's eye suggested that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Avela gulped and stepped back, staying behind the marked line as she reached instead for another arrow.

"Try again," Abigaile said.

Avela nodded and fit the arrow the bowstring, aiming it. This time, she forced herself to keep her eyes open, loosing the arrow. She still flinched as the bowstring snapped forward, jerking the entire structure off to the left. The arrow sailed through the air, but it went wide of its target, missing the target entirely and piercing the wooden backing board behind the target. Avela winced, looking at it. How had Abigaile managed to make this look so easy?

"Again," the woman said, and Avela reached for another arrow. This time, she tried to calm herself, fitting the arrow to the string and pulling it back.

Don't flinch, she thought to herself, focusing on her breathing. Whatever you do, don't flinch.

She loosed the arrow, keeping her eyes open. This time, when the bowstring snapped, she jumped in place a little, but the arrow flew straighter. It didn't hit the target, but it wasn't way off into the middle of nowhere either. The arrow pierced the wood just below the target circle, nearly scraping the ground.

Avela looked over at Abigaile, but the woman was merely watching her, arms folded and a critical look in her eye. Avela guessed that she knew what the woman would say.

Again.

She reached for another arrow, trying to think through what she had done wrong. Obviously, she was still nervous, but if the arrow had sailed too low, then that meant...

...She was probably aiming too low. She tried to aim a little higher, loosing another arrow.

It sailed through the air in a sharp arc, landing point down in the ground between her and the target. Avela bit back a groan of frustration and reached for another arrow.

"Common" "Kontinese"

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by **Avela** on March 15th, 2018, 3:17 pm

She let the string loose too quickly this time, the arrow snapping forward before she could even straighten it out. Instead of moving in a straight line across the field, the arrow snapped off to the side, bouncing ineffectively against the backboard. Avela let out a little groan of frustration, reaching another arrow. She was about to fit it to her bowstring when Abigaile moved forward, smacking her on the wrist with surprising speed. It stung, and Avela spun towards her, looking at her in anger.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Slow down," Abigaile said, her voice sharp. "You will accomplish nothing like this. Take aim, breathe in. Breathe out as you loose."

Avela breathed in and tried to keep that in mind, raising the shortbow again. She drew the string back, fixing on the target. This time, she thought, this time she would hit it. This time.

She drew the arrow back to her ear, taking in a slow breath as she tried to keep herself calm. Then, she loosed the arrow.

It sailed through the air, striking the target in its outermost ring. The shaft quivered before coming to a stop. Avela blinked, staring at it in surprise. She'd done it. Maybe she hadn't hit the bulls-eye, but at least this time, she'd managed to hit the petching thing.

Abigaile nodded, as though Avela's accomplishment was only to be expected. "We will work on accuracy now," she said. "You have about ten chimes until the end of the lesson. Make use of them."

Avela nodded, reaching for another arrow. This time, she was careful to keep her breathing steady, doing her best to stay patient and not rush through it as she pulled the string back, firing the arrow at the target.

~*~*~

By the end of her half-bell lesson, Avela had managed to repeat her feat a handful of times, peppering the outer ring of the target with arrows. There were still more failures than successes, the ground littered with the arrows that hadn't quite made it to the target, but Avela was feeling proud of her progress. One arrow had managed to sink into the inner ring, still offset from the center, but closer than all of the others. She hadn't been able to repeat that shot.

When she finally lowered her bow, her arms felt exhausted. She was surprised how tired she was. She'd always thought that archery was easy, since it didn't involve as much movement as the other combat arts, but drawing that bow back had taken a lot more out of her than she had expected. At a nod from Abigaile, she walked out onto the range and picked up her arrows with shaky hands, then went back to the Symenestra to settle up.

"Are you joining the patrol?" the woman asked as Avela handed her a single gold miza, payment for both practice sessions. Avela shifted in place uncertainly, thinking about it. It had been one thing to sign up for training, but the patrol...

In for a copper, in for a gold. At least while she was still practicing with them. She nodded. "I should be able to make it," she said.

"Good." Abigaile pocketed her coin without another word on the subject.

"Swimming," she said, as Avela turned to leave.

Avela looked back over her shoulder at her. "Excuse me?"

"You should swim. It will help you build muscle tone. And you won't drown." Abigaile gestured at the side of her own neck. Avela swallowed and reached up, tracing the outline of her gills. She remembered the dark water closing around her and Aster, that day when Avela had jumped in to save her.

It would be warm enough to swim soon, wouldn't it?

"I'll keep that in mind," Avela said, with a nod. "Thank you."

Abigaile nodded, turning away.

PurchasesHalf-bell Fitness Class: 5 SM, Half-bell Shortbow Class: 5 SM, total: 1GM

"Common" "Kontinese"

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