Unsteady Aim

Eric stood in front of the door, once again filled with hesitation.

"Are you sure I should do this? Eric asked, looking down at the crow tucked in his arm.

"I'm sure it's not like you'll be in danger again like that bear. You just need to help him look around and you don't have to fight." Said Zeus.

With that confirmation, Eric finally opened the door.

Walking out into the clearing, Eric noticed it was empty and he and the two birds were the only ones there.

Noting that Odin was on the same branch as yesterday, Eric walked over and grabbed his bow and quiver.

"Hey Zeus, can you move up to my shoulder? I would like to get a bit of practice in." Said Eric, bending down to grab his quiver.

After letting the bird shift to his shoulder, he raised his bow and notched an arrow.

Instantly calm and composed, Eric took in a deep breath.

In a practiced movement, he fully drew and fired with a small thud as the arrow hit the target.

Seven more thuds rang out in rapid succession, all burying themselves in the target.

Out of the eight arrows, he shot only two and hit the inner circle.

Five had landed in the middle circle and one in the outer.

Eric retrieved his arrows and repeated this process several times, with every shot creeping closer to the center with every attempt.

Raising his bow, ready to start again but he heard a noise from behind.

Eric turned and dropped to one knee, drawing his bow and aiming for the noise.

"That was some impressive shooting, but I don't think I would like to be the target for the next round." Joked Conor, walking into the clearing.

Slowly allowing the string to return to its original position, Eric lowered his bow and stood up.

"I was wondering when you'd finally get here, first light was a while ago. What took you so long?" asked Eric.

"I was trying to be on time, but a CERTAIN someone refused to get out of bed until I fought her out." He said, shaking his hood.

Great, now I have to guide someone that's joking around and something that would not carry its weight, Eric thought to himself.

Walking over to grab his bag, eric said. "Let's hurry and get moving. Where do you want to see?"

Thinking to himself for a minute, Conor finally said. "Before we head out, could we spar? Seeing your shooting, I would like to fight it. BUT not with those nasty tips. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be getting up from one of those."

"Before you decline, Eric, take this chance. It will help you see how well he can handle himself and wouldn't it be better for you to fight something without the danger of injury?" said Zeus, edging on Eric.

"Fine, I should have some practice arrows, but we better make this quick, so first hit wins." Said Eric, walking into the shack.

"I'm fine with that rule, but how do we start?" asked Conor

"How about on the count of three." Said Eric.

"That's fine with me. I'll start us off then." Conor said.

"ONE"

"TWO"

"THREE"

Right, both of them said three, and they both jumped to action.

Eric instantly loosed his first arrow and jumped back as Conor charged forward with his shield.

Landing, Eric counted his arrows before grabbing his next one.

He had nine shots left, but he only needed one to hit.

Continuing to make distance, he loosed his next shot, this time at Conor's sword hand.

Eight.

Easly slashing the arrow out of the air, jumping and slashing down at Eric.

Narrowly diving out of the way, Eric shot again, only to be met by a solid twang.

Seven.

Not letting Eric escape, Conor swung his sword, barely missing Eric's arm.

Rapidly firing his next three shots, Eric aimed for Conor's head, chest, and arm, but all were deflected.

Four.

Barely able to block all three shots, it impressed Conor.

All three shots were aimed at different places but came almost simultaneously.

If he was any slower, he would have lost.

Making enough space, Eric retired his last tactic, but once again, it was ineffective.

One.

Finally getting away from Conor, Eric readied his last arrow.

taking a deep breath, he aimed right between Conor's eyes.

But he saw Conor with a huge grin on his face and he froze, unable to do anything to stop the shield from sending him flying.

Staring up into the rustling leaves he had lost.

Not only that, he had lost in the worst way possible.

He had choked, and that mad bastard was smiling.

What the hell was with that?

Conor walked up to Eric and looked down.

Still grinning like an idiot, Conor offered his hand before asking. " Do you need help up?"

"What the hell is with you grinning in the middle of a fight?" Asked Eric, taking the hand and getting up.

"Well, it was fun. Why wouldn't I be smiling when doing something fun?" Asked Conor in response.

"How can fighting possibly be fun? Are you some kind of massive idiot?" Eric asked.

"How can't it be fun, and why does everyone keep calling me an idiot when talking about this?" Conor replied.

"What is so fun about possibly losing your life? If you're not an idiot, maybe you can explain that." said Eric.

"What do you mean by possibly losing your life? This was nothing but a simple spar." Conor said with a blank look on his face, as if the gears of thought started to move.

"Why would dying be fun? Wait a minute, you choked up last minute." Conor said, starting to go wide-eyed as all the dots connected.

"So you had a fight where you saw yourself die, huh? Those are never easy to get over." Continued Conor.

"I wish it was just once. I could have handled that, but seeing myself die countless times over just breaks you." said Eric, looking down.

"hmm, that's a tough one. Can't say I can really help with this." Conor said

"Well then, how did you get over seeing it once?" asked Eric

"I just kinda did. I can't really explain it any more than that. But shouldn't we get going now?" asked Conor.