Shooting at Trees (Solo)

[Aello]

67 Winter, 510 AV
Location: Wilderness just outside of Ravok

It was Aello's second day living on the outskirts of town. She had slept uneasily against an old oak tree, and had failed to rejuvenate herself with a good night's rest. She had felt the need to sleep with at least one eye open, being that she was alone, and in an unfamiliar wood. The fire she had made was small, and a rather sad excuse for any sort of fire. It had gone out in the early hours of the morning, just before the sun peaked out from behind the countless rows of trees. A small pile of blackened twigs, and ash remained in their place.

Aello sighed, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep crystals out as she slowly got to her feet. Thank goodness that the trees blocked most of the wind that could be heard whistling above them, and rustling their branches, and the occasional dead, brown leaf they still held, Aello thought. Otherwise, she would have been chilled right to the bone, and would have been the forest's own, personal, human icicle. Aello laughed at the thought, the notion of tiny icicles dripping out of the side of her mouth was something she found slightly amusing.

When she had successfully rid her eyes of all the sleep crystals, she picked up all of her belongings- things she had simply piled down next to her during her slumber. First, she took her quiver filled with peacock feather-tipped arrows, and slung it over her shoulder and onto her back. She then picked up her bag and threw that over her shoulder. Last, she picked up her father's bow. She gripped it tightly in her right hand. That was something she would never truly let go of. The bow meant a lot to her, more than anyone would ever know.

Aello supposed that she would spend the day practicing her aim. She still wasn't as skilled with a bow as she would like to be, and the fact that she was in a forest, seemingly alone, made her feel as though she wouldn't accidently hit someone; but then again, after what had happened yesterday, one couldn't be absolutely certain. But then again, what were the chances of the same thing happening two days in a row?

Aello sighed, as she began stepping as silently as she could through the thin line of trees. As she walked, she had pulled out an arrow from her quiver, and fastened the knock into the serving. Her left hand was now gripping her bow, the three middle fingers of her right hand hugging the arrow that rested on the bow string. The arrow was pointed down at the ground, Aello's body was slightly hunched over, and her eyes were searching for a suitable target. She wasn't in the mood to hunt per se, so perhaps a tree with some sort of marking, or a large bush would suffice.

Aello glanced around the line of trees, stepping slowly over plants, and rocks, looking for something that would serve her purpose well enough. Within a few minutes, she discovered an old, gnarled oak tree. It's bark was a dark brown, old, and twisted. Its branches reached up high above most of the other trees. It must have been far older than the others; watched them grow up, like parents watch their children grow up, Aello thought. Aello walked over to the tree for further inspection, she glanced up and down, and noticed that there was a knot in the center of the tree, right by her head. The knot looked like a circle with another tiny circle in the center of that. It loosely resembled a target, perfect, Aello thought, as she backed up, about 11 yards away from the tree.

When Aello got into place, she took up her usual shooting stance- left foot out in front of the right, feet firmly planted on the ground. Torso twisted so that it was facing the right. Aello wiggled her toes, the anticipation; the notion that she had found the perfect place to practice was killing her, and now all she wanted to do was shoot.

Aello slowly lifted the bow up to her face. She sighted down the arrow- it was pointed at the strange target-like knot on the tree. Her fingers were slowly pulling back on the bow string, inching it closer and closer to her ear. Aello was scarcely breathing as she took her aim. She didn't want her breath to ruin everything, to throw her off, but then again, if she waited too long to breath again... well... that could only end in disaster to put it lightly.

[Aello]

Aello let go of the bowstring, the arrow shot out towards the tree, landing among its old, gnarled brown roots that poked up and out of the ground here and there. Aello sighed, she would need to practice more often if she hoped of ever being any good. She reached her left hand behind her back and swiftly pulled an arrow out of the quiver. She slid the knock onto the bowstring and lifted the bow again. Her left hand was gripping the main frame of the bow, the tip of the arrow was resting on the tip of her thumb. The fingers on her right hand were wrapped around the knock, pulling back slowly on the bowstring, inching it farther and farther back, closer and closer to her face. Aello pulled the string back, just past her ear, and lifted the bow up enough where she could look down the arrow at where it was pointing, in order to perfect her aim. She closed her left eye and slowly raised the bow as she tightened her grip on the string. The string was etching deep red lines on the tips of her fingers. Her skin was stinging, and then growing slightly numb with both the anticipation, and the pressure she was exerting upon them. Slowly, Aello raised her bow up even higher, nudging the front of the arrow upwards slightly with her thumb as she took her aim. And then, Aello let go of the bowstring again. The arrow soared through the air in a high ark, imbedding itself into the tree she was aiming at with a loud thwack. The arrow had worked its way into the tree bark a few inches away from her target. Petch! Aello thought, she was getting closer but it still wasn't good enough for her.

Slightly frustrated, Aello pulled another arrow out of her quiver, she quickly knocked it and lifted her bow to take aim. When she closed her left eye and peered down the arrow again, Aello caught sight of the previous arrow she had shot, the peacock-feathers that fletched it were swaying softly in the breeze that made its way through the line of trees. It made Aello wonder if they would up and fly away. She sighed, as she pulled on the bowstring, she wanted to keep practicing, but she found that the sight of the swaying feathers strangely distracting, which was more than likely the main reason why she never truly got to be very good at anything, she always let herself get distracted. Growing more and more frustrated with herself, Aello let go of the bowstring, the arrow soared through the air, and then landed at the foot of the tree, she rapidly reloaded, and shot without aiming. The arrow skidded to a halt, a few feet away from her. It rested in the dirt, its tip lined with dirt.

Aello sighed, and yet another thing she had to learn: not to get so darn frustrated with herself. She sighed again, and then took a moment to breath deeply, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. It didn't do much to help her calm down again. Shrugging, Aello ignored it and grabbed another arrow from her quiver. She tilted her bow down and towards the ground again as she slipped the knock onto the bowstring. She heard a small clicking noise, the arrow had locked into the bow. She lifted her bow slowly, guiding the tip of the arrow with her thumb and index fingers. The three middle fingers of her right hand were wrapped around the arrow and pulling back on the bowstring as she lifted the bow, closed her left eye, and peered down the arrow. Aello pulled the string back to her smile, and then let go, the arrow shot straight out, and landed about a foot below her target. The arrow had imbedded itself in the tree bark, splitting it, and sending tiny chips of dark brown wood flying out around it upon impact. The arrow vibrated slowly up and down for a moment, before it stopped and Aello opened her left eye. She lowered her bow, and allowed herself to exhale all of the breath that she had been holding in. She would hit her target, and she wouldn't stop until she had.

[Aello]

Aello grabbed another arrow from her quiver. She slowly laced the knock through the bowstring, wrapping the three middle fingers of her right hand around the edge of the arrow and starting to drawback as she lifted her bow again, and aimed it at the tree with the peculiar target-shaped knot. The arrow slid farther and farther back, making no noise as it rested against the side of the main frame of the bow. Aello's left hand was gripping the bow, just an inch below the arrow, so tightly her knuckles turned red, and then white with the effort. A single bead of sweat had appeared on her brow as she closed her left eye and took her aim. The arrow was still a little low, so she angled the bow up a little, and then a little more when it still seemed a bit off. Finally, she released the bow string and the arrow soared through the air. It landed with a thwack in the tree bark, just a few inches to the left of the target.

Aello lowered her bow and quickly reloaded, trying to return to her previous stance and aim from memory, Aello shot the arrow almost instantly, it landed half an inch to the left of her previous arrow. She quickly reloaded and lifted her bow again, gazing down the line the arrow made with the bow, trying to take aim. This time, she aimed an inch to the right of the target. She pulled back the bowstring as far as she could, and then let go. The arrow hit the middle of the target, lodging itself in the wood. Yes! Aello thought as she lowered her bow again and reloaded. She shot blindly, and the arrow came to a rest at the foot of the tree. Aello then reached behind her and retrieved the last arrow from her quiver. She slowly knocked it, wrapping her right index, middle, and pointer fingers around the arrow. She then guided it with the thumb of her left hand, as she lifted the bow, closed her left eye, and proceeded to aim. She wanted to make the last shot count.

Aello concentrated as she slowly moved the bow up and down, left and right, trying to perfect her aim. Her fingers were growing numb from gripping the bow so tightly, red lines etched their way into the skin surrounding the portion of the bowstring that she was drawing back. Her hands growing tired, Aello quickly released the arrow. It shot a few feet past the tree she was aiming at. So much for ending on a high note, Aello thought as she toddled off to retrieve all of her arrows and place them back in her quiver where they belonged.

[Verilian]

Aello +1 Observation +3 Archery You Question My Logic? : Okay, so the point in Observation was for locating and studying the perfect tree for target practice. The three points of Archery were actually awarded for failing as much as you did. Trust me, I know from experience, learning to shoot a bow is mostly failing over and over and then when you actually hit the target its like, "Oh wow! I finally did it... and I just failed again. Damn." Lores: Shooting at Trees is Harder than You Think Frustration is the Key to Nothing Just Keep Shooting, Just Keep Shooting (In the voice of Dory) Notes: As always, keep up the good work.