notch, draw, loose
#1
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Vesper had never dreamed as a pup that she might hold weapons in her hands; truthfully, she hadn’t known there existed weapons for a long time. Once or twice the little family of coyotes would come across a luperci wielding a knotted branch as a primal sort of club, but the canines in their section of wilderness were feral despite what shape they were capable of taking. It wasn’t until later that she’d run across daggers and swords, maces and axes, and bows and arrows.

But here she stood, the carved weapon in her hand, a quiver of arrows she’d had a hand in fletching leaning against a rock close by. She had learned the very basics of how to hold and draw the weapon already, but it was not polished by any means, and she’d yet to actually get a projectile into a target.

Her only comfort was that there were others worse than her; some of the younger coyotes, or those reliant on tooth and claw like her, might be having trouble. Her sister might, too, although Sparrow seemed more entranced by luperci lifestyle than Ves had been when she’d first joined the clan.

Thought of her sister made her frown momentarily, but she shook her head. Nothing bad had happened since her sibling had joined Inferni, and their interactions had been pleasant—or, pleasant on the other’s end. She was still a bit reserved, cautious, almost timid about reconnecting with her. The arrogant girl she had been wanted to push the smaller female away, but the mensch she aspired to be now knew that they needed their bond in mind as well as blood.

A croak from above made her jump, and she smirked slightly as she saw the raven circling overhead. “Boy shooting today?” Stark questioned, swooping in slightly closer to talk. He made a teasing sound. “Not just feathering?” He’d been interested with the process, or maybe he just wanted an excuse to hang out with her more. She found it easier to bond with the bird than her own sibling.

“I’ll probably end up feathering you,” Vesper responded, flashing him a grin. “I won’t be good; you’re probably better off staying away.”

“Stark warning all Inferni birds,” he cawed, maybe laughing, and flew off.


380
Assuming this is taking place about the same time as the other archery-related threads. :3


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#2
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Kinda assuming things regarding where their meeting point is, since you didn't specify a location.


So much was going on lately, almost too much for the coywolf to keep up with. Teaching, cutting wood, building, training for future attacks - and she also started taking horse riding lessons from Myrika. Her legs had started to hurt in ways she had not known possible. She tried to ignore the soreness and reminded herself that it would be all worth it in the end; she had to get used to pain in all forms if she wanted to be able to take down Inferni's enemies.

Alma set out with her quiver on her back, and her bow in hand. She doubted she would actually have to use it today, since she was teaching someone, but figured it was best to bring it in case she needed to provide a demonstration. Her route took her from the caves, to the open space in the waste, and finally led her to their agreed meeting point at the edge of the Forest of Nod. It might have even been the same place they had first met, when she had taught her to whittle, but Alma couldn't tell. It was a different season and the landmarks had changed slightly.

She arrived just in time to see a raven fly away from the scene. Had she been able to hear their conversation, she likely would have had a thousand questions for them both and might've derailed the event that supposed to occur. As it was, she just smiled and waved at the scarred woman. "You ready?"

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Photo from here, table altered from here.

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#3
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Footsteps announced the approach of her instructor for the day, and Vesper offered the Discens a small smile. Her eyes found the arm that had been injured by the dog, although she quickly realized her mistake and hoped that the glance had been subtle enough. It occurred to her that she didn’t connect to enough of her clan mates as friends in the true sense, but at least she was on top of their protection, and it was getting easier and easier to organize things.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” the Optio grunted, turning toward the forest. She ogled the nearest tree, deciding that would be as good a target as ever unless Alma had a better idea (which was plausible, since Ves had almost no idea what the hell she was doing). She cleared her throat and decided it would be best to inform the other woman what she knew, just so they wouldn’t have to go over the lessons again, but as she spoke she realized it was a pitiful amount of knowledge.

“I know you’re supposed to hold it something sort of like this,” she said, and tried to adopt a strong stance. She lifted her arms, holding the bow with her right as her dominant left hand found the string. Raising the weapon, she pulled back the string to her cheek—and then slowly lowered it, rather than just letting the stupid thing go.

“Or something,” Vesper muttered. “I haven’t actually, well, shot off an arrow yet.”


252
Yeah, that's what I imagined!
Also, feel free to assume Vesper is sucking at this! xD


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#4
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some powerplay. Not sure if there's too much going on here or not.


Alma didn't notice the glance to her injury, as she herself had forgotten about it. Now adays, preparing to fight the Boreas took up most of her time, and the blonde woman was only occasionally in her thoughts; a fleeting thing she pondered while practicing her knife-combat. Today, she was the farthest she could be from the rust coyote's mind.

The orange-haired coyote appraised her clanmate's stance, nodding slightly. "That is good, but you should try to stand straighter and not lean back so much - like this," she set aside her bow and held her hands up to form a T shape. "Your arms are the top hand, and your spine is the vertical hand." She paused for a moment, to allow the point to sink in. "The string should touch your snout; if it's behind it, you are drawing it too long. The string should only be pulled as long as the arrow is. Otherwise, you risk breaking it."

Alma waited another moment for the scarred woman to adjust her stance, and then nodded. She picked up her own bow, then pulled an arrow from her quiver. The orange-haired coywolf nocked the arrow, aiming for the tree in the way Vesper had. "Now, when you release the arrow, the bow will jump a little bit. You need to position your fingers so you don't stop it from jumping and yet don't let go out of it either. Like this," she demonstrated by gripping the bow so her index finger touched her thumb. "You can let other fingers touch the bow, but they need to be relaxed - only your thumb and index finger should be stopping the bow from moving."

There was a pause as Alma turned her gaze to the tree. "So, when you release the arrow it should go like this... watch my hands." She aimed for the middle of the tree, then loosed her arrow. The bow did jump, but not out of her hands; her fingers prevented that, without also causing the arrow to lose its strength or veer off course.

Alma lowered her bow, and turned to Vesper. "Now you try it. Don't worry about hitting anything right now; just get used to the bow first."

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Photo from here, table altered from here.

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#5
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Vesper was beginning to get used to not knowing things, although it had been a large struggle when she first joined the clan. She had been an arrogant scrap of fur as a loner, and her pride had made her feel invincible. It had come as a mighty shock when Helotes had assaulted her under the cold stars, leaving her scabbed and limping for days afterward. Even then, she’d had trouble showing her weakness to her clan mates, and she’d gotten defensive whenever someone was better than her at something.

The Optio had matured with her promotion in the ranks, however, and she was a little nervous but also eager to see what she had been doing wrong (as long as she hadn’t completely failed). She glanced over at the ginger-haired woman as she demonstrated the correct posture, and Ves smirked; her posture was always a feral hunch, especially when she was self-conscious in her form.

She stood straighter as instructed, and glanced at the string to gage how long it should be drawn back. Her blue eyes slid to her tutor as Alma aimed at the tree, showing where her hands were placed to keep it from jumping. She nodded, shifting her fingers on the wood.

“Sure,” Vesper replied with a crooked grin in the woman’s direction. She nocked the arrow, making sure that it was in her grip, and drew the string back just enough, near her jaw. She moved the bow in the general direction of the tree then released the string.

The arrow shot farther than she had expected with her skinny arms, though it disappeared into the foliage, and the string snapped back on her arm. She yelped but managed not to drop the weapon, instead hissing and rubbing it. “I have a feeling I’ll be covered in welts when this is over,” she muttered, and glanced over at her comrade again. “How do I actually aim?”


322


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