Sand and Arrows [training/solo]

Lexiara made her way some distance from the city, the horse and buggy she had rented from Ishaq loaded with some supplies, her bow, her quiver full of arrows and five small straw targets. Ishaq had been kind enough to show her how to bind them together for target practice and had also made sure there were a couple of barrels of water and food in the buggy for her. She traveled until she found an area with an outcropping of rocks that would offer shade and set up camp before setting up the targets for practice.

She had made sure to fletch plenty of arrows for this practice session, knowing as she practiced a new ability, she was likely to damage more arrows than usual. While her normal techniques were fine for single targets, she needed to be able to hit more than one thing at a time and she aimed to correct this issue. She knew it would take some time for her to master shooting more than one arrow at a time, but she had faith that she should be able to master the ability with plenty of practice and patience. But dark was falling, it had taken her longer than expected to find a suitable area for her activities so she tended to the horse and preparing dinner. She would start fresh in the morning, well-rested and prepared for a grueling day.

[236/1000]

The next morning, she rose early from her slumber, feeling refreshed and cheerful. The sun was just barely nudging over the horizon and it was still cool across the sands. After a quick snack of fruit, she began stretching out her arms. They would be receiving quite a work out until she mastered her newest idea for a move. She gave the horse a quick oat and some oats before snagging up her bow and moving to the line of targets she had put up. To warm up her muscles, she went through the fluid, almost meditative, act of nocking an arrow and releasing it. One by one, she hit each target several times until she was convinced she was appropriately stretched out.

She intended to start out slowly and carefully nocked two arrows, her fingers delicately arranging until she was confident she had them aimed accurately. The first release had one arrow landing and the other flying several feet wide of the second target. She hummed in concentration as she nocked two more arrows. Again, only one arrow struck where she was aiming and she huffed lightly to herself. It took her several more attempts before she even managed to hit the second target and it was nowhere near the area she was hoping to land the arrow. She kept trying, pausing only to gather the arrows and grab another snack for lunch. By the time the sun had begun to fall, her aim with two arrows was getting better and before she stopped for dinner, she had managed to hit two targets dead center twice. Pleased with her progress, she stopped for the evening, feeding the horse before she fed herself.

[519/1000]

The next day was the same routine, a warm-up followed by diligent training until she could consistently hit both targets accurately. Once she was confident she had mastered two arrows, she nocked three. And then the process repeated, much in the same fashion as before. This time, she hadn’t even managed to hit all three targets by the end of the day. It took her another three days to master three arrows and she ended each day completely exhausted and her arms aching from all of the work. At night, she slept like the dead and she woke a little bit less refreshed each day. When she finally became satisfied with her progress with the three arrows, she took a day off to rest.

Leaving most of her camp behind with the buggy, she took the horse to an oasis that was a fairly short ride away and spent a large portion of the day resting in the shade, letting the horse eat fresh grass, and taking a quick swim in the stream. Her muscles thanked her for the day of rest and she felt recharged as she rode the horse back to her camp. Dinner was a roasted hare she had snared at the oasis and she lay back on her bedroll in content, knowing tomorrow would be a greater challenge with attempting four arrows.

[745/100]

It was at four arrows that she noticed a problem. She could not hold the bow vertically and properly rest and direct the arrows between her fingers. The top arrow that rested atop her index finger was simply not stable enough to be adequately controlled. She pondered on the problem before deciding to try holding the bow horizontally. She found this method offered her a better horizontal range and accuracy in her shots and she smiled at herself. After several more days of practice, she was moving on to five arrows. The transition from four arrows to five arrows was more natural than her previous transitions.

It took her two days to hit all five targets and another 3 days before she was even remotely satisfied that she could hit where she was aiming with each arrow. She did not relent in her efforts, though and with a couple more days, it became a more natural motion. Her supply of arrows was dwindling, and she mourned the loss of so many of them for practice, but she knew it would be worth it to master such an ability. For every broken arrow, she salvaged the feathers as best as she could and each night she worked to attempt to repair what arrows she could. It wasn’t many, sadly. But she had finally succeeded in her goal, she could target and hit five targets with one single pull of her bowstring and this made her happy. That night, she packed up non-essential items, making sure she did not leave anything behind. She would start for the city first thing in the morning.

Multi-Shot:

[1016/1000]
[exit]