Taking Aim (Basic Archery - Self-mod)

[Verus]

Second Cycle, Third Brightening, Imperos

This brightening, Verus had decided that he would go out and get some practise with the bow he had been given when he first signed up with the West Wardens two months ago. So now he was at the target range, the shortbow in hand and the quiver on his back.

For the first little while Verus simply watched as the other people fired of their arrows into the target, frequently getting close to the bull’s-eye. Watching the technique and how they held the bows Verus finally decided it was his turn to try and hit the target. Lining himself up with the target about 50 yards away, the rhagrhnd pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back. Fitting it against the bowstring he raised the bow up in a tight grip with his left hand. Sighting down the shaft he pulled back with his right hand, as far back as he could and after one final check to make sure the arrow was still lined up and then he released...

The arrow soared through the air, rising as it spun in tight circles. It did not take long for the arrow to cover the ground between him and the target... well not the target, the ground behind the target. The shaft passed completely over the target and landed in the grass behind it.

Cursing to himself, Verus looked at the other archers planting their arrows in the targets as easily as breathing. After a moment, Verus pulled another arrow out and tried again. Pulling back on the bowstring he aimed a little lower this time before releasing. The shaft covered the ground just as quick but it came up oh so short, planting itself in the ground in front of the target.

'There has to be an easier way to do this,' Verus thought to himself as he pulled a third shaft from the quiver. Just as he was fitting it against the string an elvin lady approached him, "Whoa now. Your stance is all wrong. First time? Let me give you a few pointers," she aid to him as she put a hand on his arm stopping him from firing the third shaft.

"I'd be grateful for them, ah..." Verus said, extending his hand in greeting.

"Lieutenant Alarra, and you are?" Alarra answer him with a smile.

"Private Verus, ma'am."

"Okay, let's get started. The first thing you need to work on is your stance. Your body should be straight; feet shoulder width apart with your toes on an imaginary line running to the centre of the target," Along with giving the instructions verbally, the lieutenant also demonstrated the stance. "Right handed, okay. Midway between the base of your thumb and index finger and then straight down to the other side of your hand, that is where the pressure should be. Now you place the arrow against the string, your index finger is above the shaft and the next two fingers below the shaft. The string should be gripped in the first joint of you fingers. With the arrow now knocked, extended your bow arm and pull the string to the corner of your eye. Once you have your target picked, release..." All these steps where down slowly with care in making sure Verus saw it all. At the end, she let the arrow loose. Sure enough it flew down the field and landed with a satisfying thud in the centre of the target. "Now it's your turn."

"Okay," said Verus as he got into the stance. Feet shoulder width apart and toes lined up with the imaginary line. Gripping the bow in his left hand where he had been shown. He knocked his third arrow, the first finger above the shaft and the next two below. Now he raised the bow, straightening his left arm and pulling the string taunt with his right. Looking down the shaft he waited into the tip was pointed directly at the centre before letting the string go.

[Verus]

This time the arrow did strike the target. Firmly embedding itself near the bottom. He may not have hit where he had aimed for he had at least hit the target, and that was a lot better then he had accomplished before. He was in a better mood now that he was doing better, however slightly and he drew another arrow from his quiver intending to hit the centre this time.

”Hold up a sec,” Alarra told him putting a halt to his next try. ”Before you empty your quiver we have some more work to do. Now, when you aim you want to keep your dominant eye open and close the other. With you open eye, look straight down your arrow. Relax your hands and the arrow will fly, but do not lower them. You want to keep the bow up and your eye on the target until your arrow hits. Along with aiming comes physics. There are any determining factors to where the arrow will land once you’ve released it from the bow. The one you need to keep in mind mainly is that your arrow does not do in a straight line. The feathers on the shaft cause the arrow to spin and it will rise and fall as it flies. Because of this, the distance from the target is a vital aspect of shooting, and you will come to be able to judge distances with great skill. Right now we are fifty yards from the target, so your arrow should rise and fall to nearly the same height as you fired it from. If we were closer, the arrow would rise but not fall back down, as far so you would aim lower. If we were farther, the arrow would rise and fall further, so you would need to aim higher. Now, a factor in this is also how strong your pull is. The stronger your pull, the longer the arrow will fly straight without rising. The same goes vice versa. The weaker your pull, the arrow will rise sooner. Now with all these in mind, try and hit the target.”

It was a lot to digest but Verus did his best. Nocking an arrow, he went into his stance and pulled it back to his cheek. ”Whoa, when you pull back, don’t use your arms. Use the muscles in you back and you shoulders. Now try it again,” Alarra said, before he could fire the arrow.

Nodding, Verus let slowly eased off until bow was no longer taunt. This time he used his back and shoulder to pull back the arrow, and it was a lot easier. Once the arrow was to the corner of his eye he closed his left while looking down the shaft with his dominant right eye. Alarra had said at fifty yards, aiming at the centre would be best. And because he did not yet know how strong his pull was he could not factor that in, so the arrow was pointed directly at the centre. Once satisfied, Verus relaxed his hands and true enough, the arrow flew towards the target. This time his aim was a lot better, the arrow landed above the centre by about six inches.

[Verus]

”Good, you’re improving nicely. Now that last shot, either you aimed high, or your pull is strong. If you aimed at the centre, then your pull is strong in which case you need to aim lower at this range. It sounds complicated now, but you’ll get used to it and adjusting your aim with be second nature in no time,” his teacher said. ”Now, another factor in which you will get used to is wind. This one is quite easy, once your able to judge how strong the wind is. If the wind is blowing to the right, you have to aim more to the left. Depending on how strong the wind is will determine how far over you have to aim. This brightening is calm, so you wont be able to practise that. But you will shoot in the wind someday and you should be able to make the adjustments easily. Now you know you have a strong pull so you should be able to make adjustments and hit the centre of the target. I want you to shoot five arrows and see how good you have become.”

”Okay then,” Verus said. Falling into his stance he pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back. Fitting it against the string he pulled back with his back and shoulders. Lining up the arrow with the centre of the target he aimed a little lower this time before letting it fly. Once the arrow landed he lowered his bow and drew another arrow from the quiver. Lining up he let the arrow loose again. He performed this three more times, each time adjusting his aim ever so slightly, up and down factoring in how strong his pull was. After all five arrows had hit the target Verus lowered his bow. He felt like he had done quite good but he looked to Alarra to find out here judgement.

”Not too shabby, not too shabby at all,” She said as she studied the target down range. The last two arrows had hit the centre within two inches of the one Alarra had planted earlier. The other three weren’t as close but they were still good shots and all within five inches on the centre. ”Two out of five in the centre. But I’m betting that you have found your strength and could hit the centre nearly every time… well at least at this range,” she said with a smirk. ”It’s time to move further down the range.”

[Verus]

As they walked further away from the main complex of the West Wardens, the targets got further and further downfield. After a short walk, Alarra stopped. ”This distance is one hundred yards from the target. Now you know how to shoot, I want you to hit the centre of the target,” the elf told him.

”Shouldn’t be too hard,” Verus told her as if it were a fact. Maybe he was a little bit cockier then he aught to, but oh well. Once again the rhagrhnd fell into his stance, nocking an arrow he pulled it back to the corner of his eye took a moment to aim and let the arrow fly. Holding his stance he watched in disappointment as the arrow flew, and didn’t even make it to the target. Lowering the bow he looked at the arrow for a moment before realizing his mistake.

”Remember what I said…” Alarra started with a grin on her face, as if she had known he would make the very mistake.

”I know, I know,” Verus interrupted her, letting his annoyment show. Drawing another arrow he pulled it back to his eye, this time he aimed high. The last target had been fifty yards; this was one hundred, double the last. So he factored that into this shot. Taking careful aim this time he let the arrow fly, holding steady as the arrow found the target. Roughly ten inches off centre.

”I’m impressed, some people have to take a few shots to find their aim when starting out. While that was a good shot, you didn’t hit the centre. Try again, start out where you just aimed and adjust it with what you now know.”

Verus didn’t reply this time. Instead he concentrated on the shot. Setting an arrow against the string he pulled it tight and started out aiming where he had the shot before. This time he lowered his aim a little. The distance, his pull strength, the location the last shot had found all ran through his head as he took careful aim. When he was ready he relaxed his hands and the arrow flew… and landed with a thud in the centre of the target.

”Good shot,” Alarra complimented him. ”Now I want you to do it five more times.”

”Alright,” Verus said in acknowledgement. This time he did not need to find his strength, he had learned how strong his pull was at the last target so his shots were more accurate this time. Out of the five shots, three of them hit the centre of the target, the other two came within six or seven inches.

”Good, you learn quite fast,” Alarra told him. ”But there is one more target that I’ll get you to try before calling it a day.”

[Verus]

Once again Verus and Alarra made the short stroll down the archery range. Stopping near the end at an empty lane Alarra turned to Verus. ”This is one hundred and fifty yards to the target. It’s a hard shot to make for a beginner but I want you to hit the centre at least once,” the elvin lady told him.

”Alright,” Verus said. This time he wasn’t cocky; he had learned that it was harder the last time around and he did not want to make a fool of himself. Stepping up to the imaginary line from his place to the target he got into his stance. Pulling an arrow from the quiver on his back he nocked it and pulled with his shoulders and back. He started out with his aim as it had been for the target at one hundred yards, then he raised it. It wasn’t double the last one but it was a considerable further target to hit. His aim was above the target by the time the rhagrhnd was satisfied but he felt confident in it and he relaxed his hands. As before the arrow flew through the air, this time though it had a noticeable arc in its path. Holding his position he waited until the arrow hit the target before lowering his arms. While the arrow did not strike the centre of the target it did hit, nearer to the top of the target then the centre, but it was not a bad first shot at this range. ”So, what do you think?” He asked his teacher.

”Very nice,” the elf said in congratulations. ”You remembered to factor in the distance. I think you could do the five shots now, lets see how good you do.”

As before, Verus put his toes to the imaginary line. Getting into his stance he nocked an arrow and took careful aim. This time he aimed a little lower then before and let the arrow fly. After five shots he lowered his bow and turned to Alarra. ”So, how’d I do?” He asked her. He knew that only one arrow had hit the centre but the other four were quite close.

”At this range, and for a beginner you did quite well,” She told him. ”You’ve got the basics down, at this time the only thing I can tell you is practise, practise, practise. You might find someone later to teach you more advanced shooting, but you did good.” Looking up at the suns, Alarra said, ”Well, I have to go. Remember to practise.” With those last words and a hasty salute returned by Verus, Lieutenant Alarra turned on here heal and headed back towards the main complex of the West Wardens.

[Verus]

The next brightening after his daily duties in the West Wardens had been finished, Verus was back to the archery range. Alarra wasn’t around, but Verus knew the basics and he was here to practise, not to learn more. A breeze was blowing from the left today as Verus strung his bow. He was at the fifty-yard targets; he would start out small and work his way up.

Stepping up to the imaginary line he had learned about the brightening before he held the bow in his left and pulled an arrow from the decreasing supply in his quiver. Snugging the butt of the shaft up to the string, Verus pulled back as he had been taught and aimed down the shaft with his right eye. Once he was satisfied with the aim he released the arrow which shot forward and thudded into the centre… no, it found it’s way to about three inches right of the centre. Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Verus examined the target downrange. It took him a moment but he remembered what Alarra had said yesterday about the wind being a factor in your aim. Pulling another arrow from his quiver he pulled back, this time he concentrated on the wind as he brushed past his cheek. It was blowing left to right today, not to hard. Enough to put his arrow off three inches thought as he had learned with his last shot. With these factors in mind, Verus adjusted his aim accordingly. This time his shot was good and landed nicely in the centre of the target. Since he did not want to waste too many arrows, he only used two more. The first slammed into the target only a fingers width to the right and the second hit the centre.

Now he moved further down the range to where Alarra had told him the distance was one hundred yards. Once again Verus assumed the stance he had learned the brightening before. This target was further, so the rhagrhnd determined the wind would have more time to play with his arrow as it covered the distance. With this logic, Verus pulled back an arrow. Sighting down the shaft he compensated for the distance first by adjusting his aim a little higher then where he actually aimed for. Next he adjusted the aim to the left a bit, more then he had on the last target but not too much. Taking a breath, he exhaled half of it and let the arrow fly, holding the bow in position as he exhaled the other half breathe. The arrow flew nicely but it landed of centre a bit, it was slightly left of the centre. Where the arrow landed told Verus that he had over-compensated for the wind and he should not aim so far to the left. Drawing another arrow he pulled it to the corner of his eye and aimed down range. Satisfied he once again relaxed his hands and let the arrow fly off towards the target. This one pleased him as it landed in the centre of the target. One more arrow was shot at this range to make sure the last had not been a fluke, but when the last arrow landed next to the one in the centre he grinned happily and moved on to the one hundred and fifty yard targets.

’One hundred and fifty yards,’ Verus thought to himself as he toed up to the line. Pulling the first arrow for this target from the quiver on his back he pulled it tight to the corner of his eye and began the aiming process. First he remembered how he had had to put an arc on the shaft the last brightening so that was the first correction he made to his aim. Next was to factor in the wind. He started by aiming to the left as far as he had for the one hundred yard target, then he aimed it over just slightly more. Once happy he released the arrow and watched as it landed in the centre of the target. He was getting good at judging the factors; well at least at the three distances he had been aiming from. Two more arrows were fired off at the one hundred and fifty yard target before Verus called it a day, the first landed slightly off to the right while the second made him proud as it landed squarly in the centre.

With his bow strung over one shoulder, Verus headed back to the barracks of the West Wardens complex to leave his gear and find something els to do.

[Verus]

”Whoa, hold up a minute, mate,” Verus heard someone call as he headed back towards the main complex. Turning around he saw a human male coming his way, it seemed the comment had been made at him.

Waiting until the man was close Verus looked at him questioningly and simply asked, ”What?”

”You’re a new recruit aren’t you? Well you better be to not take care of your bow like that. You keep it strung like that and your bow will be useless before the end of the cycle. You have to learn how to take care of your bow, if not you wont be able to hit anything with it,” the human told him. ”Okay, your bow develops kind of a memory if you keep it strung. When you first strung your bow did you notice how straight the bow was? When you string it, it will bend and if left to long won’t bend back as it is supposed to. An arrow is fired by the release of tension in your bow, which comes from pulling back on the string, which bends the bow. If your bow is bent from the get go, then there will be no tension to fire the arrow and you might as well use it for firewood. So unstring your bow, mate.”

’Makes sense,’ Verus thought to himself. He was glad somebody had cared enough to notice his mistakes. Pulling the bow off his shoulder he gently unstrung it and watched as it straightened out as the man told him it would. ”Thank you, sir.” Verus said. He was not sure what rank this man was so he held out his hand for a shake instead of a salute.

”No problem mate, one more thing. When shooting, do as little as possible in the rain. The water will soften the wood and it will gain that memory I talked about earlier. So when possibly leave it out of the rain. It’s about dinnertime, so I’ll be off now. Remember what I said though, adieu.” With those words of goodbye, the man left Verus alone for a moment before the rhagrhnd continued on the path he had been on earlier back to the barracks.

[Grim]

Approved.

-Grim