Arrows' Flight (Dymphna, Arand)

[Dymphna]

"Pleasure to meet you Arand," Dymphna said with a beaming smile as she dismounted her Strider. "Dymphna Whitefeather of the Opal Clan." She let out a small chuckle as she went about waiting for Sam with her hands on her hips. "This is going to be so fun. I'm so glad you're letting us practice with you, Arand." The young woman loved meeting new people.

[Arand]

Arand took note of Sam' not mentioning his pavilion, but spoke nothing of it. He figured Sam had his reasons for not disclosing that piece of information. Arand then peered at Dymphna as she dismounted.

"Sure, why wouldn't I let you practice here?" Arand asked rhetorically as he tried to conjure up a smile. If Arand was being awkward or a little bit rude by his tone of voice, he didn't mean anything by it. Meeting knew people was not one of his strong points.

Arand once again took aim at the target. He took a deep breath and released the arrow. Although the shot was not as good as the ones he had made when he was alone, it was better than his previous few shots. He glanced around his shoulder to see if Sam and Dymphna had started any practice themselves. He was curious to see what the couples skill level was with the bow.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam appreciated the stranger's tact, and watched as he drew back his bowstring and let fly his shaft. It seemed they were of a similar level of skill, which was to say low, but he thought no ill of Arand for it. He himself had suffered a long hiatus from hunting when he had been a slave in Sunberth, and hunting was hardly the only skill important for a Drykas clansman. With a smile for Dymphna, he began to string his short bow. "I have better luck running down prey than shooting at it," he admitted with self-effacing humor, "so bear with me." Setting himself up several paces from Arand so as not to interfere at all with his own training, Sam stuck several arrows into the turf beside him, then nocked one, glad of his new bracers, and sighted a target. There was no need to be nervous, he told himself. Just because Dymphna and Arand were here. He breathed in and out, taking his time. He wasn't a terrible shot when he had the luxury of time like this. In a battle or a hunt, when time was of the essence, his aim could go more easily awry. As the bow breathed with him, bending and relaxing with each inhalation and exhalation, he found a sort of internal rhythm and loosed his arrow. It sped away with a bit of a buzz. Had he held the arrow wrong and messed up the fletching? He wasn't quite sure, but at least it hit the target, if not exactly in the vicinity of the center. With a self-deprecating smile, he turned his head to see if the others had been watching or if they were busying themselves with more of the same.

[Dymphna]

“Fear of being shot by a novice?” she asked Arand with a bright smile, completely unfazed by any social awkwardness that might have been there. Dymphna wasn’t watching either of them. Instead she’d spent her time looking at her borrowed bow like it was some sort of creature she’d never seen in her life. She turned it one way and then the other. It wasn’t that she’d never used one before, in fact she had. But she was sorely out of practice, and part of her had hoped to never see a bow in her hands again. She gave a quick glance to the two men with her before turning her attention nervously back to the bow. Stepping carefully, she hooked the string on one end. As she bent it, though, despite her best efforts she wasn’t able to get the wood to bend enough to get the sinew’s loop about the other end. And so she shifted, hoping another position would work better. However, this worked worse… The bow slipped, smacking the back of her knee and causing her to topple over onto the ground. She flopped her arms and legs out with a huff, staring up at the sky. She was fairly sure her cheeks were burning red.

[Arand]

Arand carefully observed how capable his new companions were with a bow. Sam seemed just as capable as Arand was. Dymphna on the other hand just the opposite. She managed to use the bow against herself, which is quite the feat when you think about it. Fortunately she didn't seem injured, embarrassed yes, as seen by her cheeks which suddenly lit up, but not injured.

Arand returned back to his own archery practice. He released another arrow and it looked like a great shot...until a gust of wind came along mid flight. The wind knocked the arrow off of its path...very far off its path actually. The arrow completely missed the target and flew into a pile of hay. Arand stared blankly for a few seconds in order to take in what just happened. Arand hung his head and walked toward the haystack to retrieve his arrow.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

While he might have fired off a few more arrows and allowed Dymphna to pick herself up and dust herself off, Arand had to go find his arrow, so Sam didn't feel safe firing. It was bad form to shoot a fellow Drykas. Especially in the back. Especially on accident. So he set his bow aside and sat on the ground next to Dymphna, picking up her bow and setting about stringing it for her. "I promise I'll embarrass myself worse in front of you before long," he said with the assurance of one who knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he spoke the truth. The short bow bent at the behest of his muscles; he was strong, though his muscles were nothing to brag about, whipcord lean. Once he had it strung, he plucked it a few times to test the tension. "Are you all right?"

[Dymphna]

Instead of getting up off the ground, she just sort of stayed where she was. Her feet swayed back and forth as she watched what Sam was doing, taking in the best method which to string a bow. Then she turned her head to peer at Arand, attempting to gauge his skills and general reactions to things… She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he was the serious type. “Oh…” She glanced at Sam with a grin. “I’m fine. The ground here is just particularly comfortable.” As if to bring that point home, she stretched and put on a rather good job of pretending to relax and get cozy. “If you think my archery skills are impressive, you should see me around a cooking fire. Second nature. Like a Strider running. I am prime first wife material as long as no one cares too much about eating. Take note of that, Arand.” The grin only got bigger as she looked back at Sam.

[Arand]

Arand searched for the missing arrow among the haystack, but with little luck. He contemplated simply forgetting the arrow and carrying on with his day, but soon enough he saw what looked like an arrowhead sticking out of the back side of the pile. He grabbed hold of the arrow head carefully, and slowly pulled the arrow from the haystack, being sure not to cut himself. He tucked the arrow back into his quiver. Arand glanced back at Dymphna, who seemed to be enjoying her time on the ground. Atleast she could laugh at herself, Arand probably would have stormed off and beat himself up for the rest of the day if that were to happen to him. But regardless, Arand let loose a small smile in response to Dymphna's comment.

"Noted" Arand said with a small grin.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Well, I should go talk to Daed Whitefeather," Sam said with a wicked little smile, "and see if I can't get a discount on a humble first wife for a humble pavilion." He laughed and probably would have sneaked a kiss if Arand hadn't been there; it looked like he might be laughing at them on the inside. Oh well. Feeling rather playful himself, he rolled over until he got his feet, crouching for a moment and smiling at Dymphna. His acrobatic skills were humble, but something he intended to work on, mostly so he could perform more tricks on horseback. He was an able rider, even a good rider, but some people were more easily won by flashy tricks than mere capability. Plus, how awesome would it be to vault a somersault off of a galloping Strider's back, land on a rampaging glassbeak's, and slit its throat? Drykas. Warrior. Extraordinaire. "Come on," he urged, offering her his hands up. "Get up and I'll help you. Perhaps Arand will take pity on us and help too."

[Dymphna]

“My father would likely pay you extra to take me right before dinner has to be made… You best develop a taste for burnt food if you do that.” She laughed her bright laugh, unafraid to make fun of herself. “But you better hurry up, Sam… I think Arand’s considering…” She laughed again amused by Sam’s antics despite them not being the best. He was getting better at acrobatics, and she was enjoying watching that happen. Grabbing onto Sam’s hands, she hoisted herself up off the ground. “Do you have the heart to help us, Arand? I’d run away screaming if the situation was reversed and I’d just watched you take yourself down with an unstrung bow. Sam has a vested interest in my getting better at this point… He spends too much time with me, and I guess he’s worried I’m going to shoot him accidentally…” She grinned then at Sam, reaching out to playfully poke his side.