Shooting

Although she was finally standing in a proper position, Ava couldn't help but squirm slightly at the uncomfortable form, feeling as if this was improper. Seeing this, Vaylah let out a small smile, "It'll feel unnatural at first, but I promise before long, it'll feel like second nature. Alright, next we do…"

Step by step, Vaylah slowly lead Ava through the various stages of using a bow. Although she had fired off an arrow in just an instant a moment before, it took years of training and proper practice to combine all the motions into one fluid action. Before long, Ava had finally come to the step just before firing the arrow, but as much as her fingers inched, Vaylah refused to let her fire.

With an exasperated tone, Vaylah said, "You need to point your elbow up further, yes, I know it feels weird, but- arghh!"

With Vaylah's help, Ava would put her elbow into the right position, but as she was about to fire an arrow, she would subconsciously lower her elbow again, causing it to be positioned incorrectly.

Thinking for a moment, Vaylah came over and patted Ava on the front of her shoulder, "You feel this? This muscle here-" Then, moving around to Ava's back, she patted in a similar spot in the back, "Needs to be balanced with this muscle here, or else you'll hurt yourself over time, so you need to get that elbow up."

Nodding, Ava stopped paying attention to the bow in her hands and the target in front but instead focused entirely on her elbow positioning. Seeing Ava had finally gotten it right, Vaylah let out a sigh. "Alright, you can fire the arrow, don't worry too much about hitting anything. Just try to remember the feeling of how your body moves and where the bow fights back. You don't want to fight it, you want to work with it, okay?"

Letting out a nod, Ava lightly released the string and watched as the arrow flew out into the field before landing. A little bit disappointed, Ava couldn't help but wrinkle her brows. On the other hand, Vaylah let out a couple of claps, "Perfect." Confused, Ava looked at Vaylah.

Letting out a smile, Vaylah said, "Forget about the target for now. They're just there because that's how this place is set up. What's important right now is your form and familiarity. After all, later, you'll be learning how to ride a horse while shooting, so even if your aim is perfect now, it'll mean a little later. A moment ago, your arrow, although it didn't go where you wanted it to, flew in a straight path and had a good bit of punch behind it. That means that you're firing the bow correctly, which is much more important than aiming in the right direction and getting a limp dick of an arrow."

Covering her mouth, Vaylah realized she had said something she shouldn't have. Blushing and turning her face away, she coughed, "Ahem, what I meant to say was, you did a good job. Although it might not look pretty, it's a much more important step."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Ava showed that she understood and gained a bit of respect for Vaylah. Although the girl wasn't good at talking, it seemed like she knew what she was doing.

Smiling, Vaylah said, "Alright, now we just need to do that again and again. Once you can fire seven out of ten arrows in a straight path like that, we can talk about aiming, alright? And take your time, don't feel like you need to go fast."

Thinking for a moment, Ava grabbed another arrow and held it in her off-hand while going through the motions step by step, trying to remember how her muscles felt, which was rather easy as they weren't very comfortable going through these unfamiliar series of actions. Toward the end, she took extra care to keep her elbow high as she fired out the next arrow.

With a swish, it clearly cut through the air and flew into the field, flying well past the first and second targets that were placed at ten and twenty meters.

With a surprised gaze, Vaylah couldn't help but look at the arrow in the distance before looking back at Ava with renewed interest. Although she had agreed to teach the kid, it was mainly because the Madam had asked, and she wanted an excuse to get out of her home to begin with. But it seemed like this girl had quite the talent. With some anticipation, she couldn't help but be excited for Ava's next eight shots. Once or twice could be called a fluke, but ten? It took some extraordinary luck to repeat such a thing ten times.

Repeating the process, Ava shot out six more arrows, taking almost an entire thirty minutes to do so, taking her time to feel the motions before firing. As the bow was rather small and custom-made, it was well suited for her size and didn't take too much strength, which reduced the burden on her injured fingers. Consequentially, however, none of the arrows could go too far, each going landing about between the first and second targets.

On the ninth arrow, Ava couldn't help but bite her lip as she felt the string slip from her finger as the repeated tension finally bore down on her, blood leaking out from under her protective gear. With an uneventful arc, the arrow shot forward in a slant towards the ground, not even making it over the short counter that marked the shed where arrows, bows, and the such were set to stand, hidden away from the overbearing sun.

On the side, Vaylah couldn't help but look at this result with some disappointment but quickly snapped out of it and walked over to console the girl, "It's alright, it happens. Do you want to take a little break before we pick it back up? I have some tea and snacks inside."

Shaking her head, Ava clenched her fist slightly to hide the slight trickle of blood and picked up the last arrow. Moving much quicker this time, Ava lifted the bow and shot the arrow in a span of seconds. Still slower than Vaylah's demonstration from earlier but much faster than the slow, measured steps she had been taking thus far. With a thunk, the arrow drew a perfect arc and embedded itself into the outer edges of the closest target.

Snapping her eyes over to the target, Vaylah couldn't help but gasp in surprise.