A new pack brought with it a chance for yet another new start. She was so excited that she almost had not slept the entire night, wanting to experience this new land in all its glory at every part of the day. Still, without much sleep she had risen with the sun, leaving her armor and cloths where they lie and taking only her bow and quiver. Truth be told she was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep for another hour or two, but as a creature of habit it was next to impossible for her to get back to sleep without engaging in her morning ritual of practicing one of her skills. In her earlier youth her late father had instructed her teachers to start her days early with some form of rehearsal of the prior day's lesson. Whether it was a lesson of etiquette, a sequence of fighting forms, or a recitation of old poetry the lesson did not matter she was woken before the sun and made to repeat what she had learned. It had proved to be a powerful reinforcement throughout her education allowing her to return to bed if she repeated correctly and keeping her awake if she did not. Over time the habit stuck with her such that she woke every day before dawn without any prodding whatsoever. On days such as this she cursed the habit with the most eloquent expletives she could think of, but nonetheless Cassia knew the ritual would have to be complete for her to get any rest. Her brain would not let her rest until this burned in routine was completed.
Marching out to the nearest stump she could find, the mahogany maned wolfess set about prepping the easiest challenge she could think of from her training. Around the old stump were several pieces of rotting wood, old branches and bark, likely pieces of the old tree that the stump once was. Selecting the most evenly rounded branch and propping it against the stump, Cassia proceeded to walk ten full strides away. Jaw set and somewhat heavy-eyed Cassia drew the first of her goose-fletched arrows in her bow. The goal of this exercise was to hit the stick three times without moving it from its original location. She was allowed five shots total. Her instructors had made up some bizarre reason as to why this drill was important and she had failed it several times. The trick had come when she had learned it was okay to take a couple of calculated misses for the sake of success. Her routine would be satisfied in moments and she'd be back to bed in no time. [/html]