Crossbow Training Crossing

Log Info

• Title: Crossbow Training Crossing

• Characters: Schara, Tlanexhuani, Warrick

• Place: Festival Grounds

• Summary: Warrick's daughter is practicing firing his crossbow, and things aren't going too well. They run into Schara and Tlanexhuani, who discuss the proper practice, not just of firing a crossbow, but being in the right mindset for training. Schara is more than a bit distracted by recent events, and the group splits up to see to their own goals for the evening.

Festival Grounds, Early Evening

"Ugggh...! Dad! How do you wind this thing!?"

The sun is on its downtrend, a couple more hours left of light on a clear day shine down on the festival grounds, a few archery targets left over from training from the Alexandrian Army. Snow in patches is present, but its mainly dry ground, compared to the last few weeks. A middle aged eldanar man in a grey overcoat and a sword strapped over his back gestures to the ground. "Put your foot in the stirrup on the ground, pretending you're punching towards it on each down turn."

A teenage girl, no more than fourteen, with black hair and a smattering a freckles on her face squints at him. "That makes no sense!" she huffs, planting a large, weathered crossbow on the ground, putting her foot into the stirrup and grabbing the crank. "Grrrr, c'mon, dang it!"

"Punch, Cinny."

"I'm punching! I'm punch-" She adjusts slightly, holding the weapon perpendicular as she grabs a lever and forces it down to the earth. Click. "Ha!" Slip on snow. Crash.

Warrick laughs.

The girl pouts.

With the leaving of the light may come the leaving of others. A bronze-clad bluescale makes his way across the grounds, the open area a more familiar feel than narrow streets with high buildings and walls. The snow may not be the most comfortable underfoot, but it isn't that much heavier than many of the roadways. Hunched forward and balancing with tail, his walking spear helps as me moves with a crunch-crunch-thip. The sound of the child and laugh does draw his eyes as he nears, provoking a huffing breath.

On one of the many bleachers up in the festival grounds lied a elf in a winter jacket, tucked away somewhat from the snow and wind. The elf had a metal rod tucked into one corner of their mouth, where they were occasionally nudging through the pages of the book. Sounds of commotion did make Schara stop and look down, seeing people crashing through the snow, and a strange looking sith-makar. "Is everything alright down there?" The elf asks in a quiet voice.

GAME: Warrick rolls 1d20-4: (11)+-4: 7

Cinny gets back up on her feet, picking up the crossbow that was half the size of her. "Just you wait!" she huffs at him, reaching down for a bolt in a quiver resting on the ground.

Warrick shakes his head, chuckles dying down. "Remember, f-

"Finger off the trigger, keep it pointed down, look past where you're aiming, yeah yeah yeah, you've said it like twenty billion times!" she sticks her tongue out at him, slotting the bolt in place.

Both father and daughter cease their back and forth, two sets of slate eyes settling on the elf up in the bleachers. Warrick raises a hand. "Schara. Everything is well."

"Totally good!" Cinny chirps. "Check it!"

"Cinny-"

The girl drops to a knee and shoulders the crossbow. A moment is afforded to look beyond, but she doesn't really aim. And the bolt goes out! Aaaand... thuds in the ground below.

Cinny, however, is knocked over from the recoil, and she's sprawled out on the ground looking up at... a bluescale in bronze? "... uh... peace on your nest...?" she murmurs, embarrassed.

Tlanexhuani's walking stick moves as the girl tumbles over: not a large movement, but enough to be sure nothing is bonked. He dips his snout to peer down at the girl, a few light hissing huffs spilling forth. "Ha... Peace on your nest, wee one," he returns the greeting, head lifting during to include the man with her. "A mighty weapon to wield, no?" Then the other voice, and call to her, pulls his eyes to Schara. "And on yours..." a pause "Schara."

The elf huffs and takes a moment to flip the book closed and shove it into a coat pocket. A process that takes more time than it should with a flat gloved hand trying to maneuver it into the garment. With that sorted, she rolls off the bleacher to catch herself on the ground, where she walks over to the small gathering. "I guess you could say everything is well. Good to see you." The elf sighs. "And, right, I smell like me, I mean that to sith-makari most people have some sort of identifying smell. Should I start wearing perfume if I don't want to be recognized by sith-makari?" They wonder aloud. "Oh, but that's not important. Good to see you, Tlanexhuani."

Cinny scrambles back to her feet, her scooping up the crossbow and cramming it under an arm. "Yeah it is! Its super cool!" she grins, aiming the empty crossbow at the totally missed target and going 'pew pew, pew pew'.

"It is," Warrick agrees. "Served me rather well for many years."

The crossbow is handed off to Warrick as Cinny rushes over to Schara, her skidding to a halt in front them "Wooooah!" she grins, eyes wide. "This is Schara? Hi! I'm Cynthia! Nice to meet you Schara! And you too, Tlanixh... Tlaex... Tlan!" She sticks a hand out towards Schara to shake.

Tlanexhuani's tail sways merrily to and fro. "Ssa, Schara. If want to hide must hide scent!" He taps his stick on the snow lightly twice before it gestures towards Warrick. "Also not have others call by name when hiding." A series of light hisses leak forth before he lifts claws to chest and lowers before the girl. "Iss honor to meet you, mighty warrior," and to Warrick as he rises, "And warrior's teacher. To learn iss very ..." his claws makes grasping motions in the air " ...important. Ssa, important."

The elf looks more than a bit confused for a moment before they nod, and hold out a hand to shake, completely wooden and more than a bit awkward in it's movements. "I take it your dad told you about me? Well, yes, I am Schara, Warrick told me about his daughter, it's good to meet you, Cynthia." They manage to answer. "Ah, right, that's probably not helping things, Tlanexhuani. Not that it matters much at this point anyways. What went wrong with the crossbow? Was it now pulled back enough, was the bolt not set straight, or something else?" They wonder.

Warrick nods slowly. "Yes. Makari are very good at knowing scents. Good thing to remember." He looks to Tlanexhuani, a faint chuckle rumbling in his throat as he bows slightly towards the bluescale. "Warrick. Peace on your nest and nice to meet you, Tlanexhuani."

Cynthia takes the hand and shakes it with gusto at the start, but her brows shoot up and carefully slows down, afraid to break the wooden arm. "Yeah! He told me all about you! You can shoot beams and stuff! That's soooooo cool!" she enthuses before pulling away and to look up at the Makari kneeling down to her. "Dad's just teaching me the ropes is all."

"But still, it is important, like Tlanexhuani says," Warrick gestures to the makari. "Best to know how to use something and not need it. And for that, Schara, is that Cinny lacks proper pose and practice."

"Nuh, uh!"

"You fell flat on your rear," Warrick deadpans.

Cynthia takes this is as a personal challenge as she starts to ratchet the crossbow to prepare for another shot.

Tlanexhuani's tail continues to wag as he watches the youngling take the challenge a moment before commenting, "One day soon, that one become unstoppable." Encouragement? Compliment? Warning? All of the above?

"It would be pretty cool if I could shoot beams and stuff, but I'm no sorcerer." Schara laughs. "I just make things that generate and shoot fire, I guess? That's a bit more fair."

"It is important." They agree. "Which is why you need to determine what went wrong so you can fix it."

GAME: Warrick rolls 1d20-4+2: (9)+-4+2: 7

"Duuuuuuuh, fire beams!" Cynthia rolls her eyes, the crossbow clinking into place as she reaches for a bolt. "What if this thing shot fire, Dad?"

"I've thought about that, but its expensive, and sometimes fire is bad," Warrick hums, looking to Schara before getting down to his haunches next to his daughter. "Ok. Cinny, go to shoot?"

She slots the bolt in, and gets ready to aim-! Warrick pushes an elbow in, and nudges one of her feet. "Pull the release as you breathe out."

She takes his advice, stilling herself more to make a better shot... twang! Cynthia wobbles back, but barely manages to catch herself. The bolt lands far off. "Maaaan. Tlan says I'm gonna be unstoppable, not if I keep missing!"

"It's better," Warrick encourages. "First you must consistently miss. Then you can adjust. I always shoot high and to the right. I know this, so I aim low and left." While the daughter takes that in, Warrick turns to the other two. "What might you two be about doing, today? Is it your first time here in Alexandria, Tlanexhuani?"

"And how are you holding up, Schara?" Warrick adds to Schara, giving them a slightly concerned glance.

"Still shoot fire," Tlanexhuani points out to Schara. "Is still hot... and must learn miss first. Then learn hit. As nest-father say." The last for Cynthia, of course before turning to Warrick. "Ssa, this one not long here. Allessandria. Iss ... very different." The last words from Warrick and his look cause the bluescale to also look to Schara, though more with confusion than concern. Softskin expressions and posture are not so easily read. It's very hard to read tails when there aren't any!

"Yes, fire isn't always good. That's why it can fire electricity as well. A bit less likely to immediately catch something on fire, and if something is resistant to fire, there's an alternative." The artificer nods in agreement. "You were able to fire it properly that time, which compared to it not firing at all is a large improvement. Just need to keep improving."

The question makes the elf pause, and shake their head. "I'm not okay and I won't pretend to be, but I'll manage. Just need to keep moving forward and finding something to do."

Cynthia is a bit preoccupied loading up another shot, her now focused on learning this properly. "Yeah. Gotta... miss to hit... don't get toppled over..." she murmurs to herself, getting out a hair tie and fixing it up and out of the way.

Warrick puts his hands in the pockets of his overcoat, an idle eye kept on his daughter, but he looks over Schara. "... that's good. Admitting that. I want you to know you handled yourself well last time. I feel our chances our better when you are in the squad," he compliments seriously.

"It is very different. If you want some familiarity, the Lower Gardens is well, and the river offers some reprieve from city annoyances," Warrick offers to the bluescale. "And. Well. The TarRaCe Bathhouses are common for makari. Warm waters."

Tlanexhuani isn't sure what to make of the interplay still, but knows he doesn't know of this squad. So he listens to Warrick's suggestions. "Ssa, garden iss ... less different." A brief huff. "Less cold." The mention of waters gets his attention, though. "Warm waters? In cold lands? This one would like this." He makes mentals notes.

The elf pauses, and Schara looks genuinely confused before she sighs. "I don't know if I should be happy that you're trying to make me feel better, or are concerned you think I handled myself well last time. Still, I'm happy to help, to whatever amount that may be."

"The bath house in the colosseum district is quite nice, and really warm." They agree with a nod. "And they don't cost much to use, a couple copper pieces, at the most."

GAME: Warrick rolls 1d20-4+2: (9)+-4+2: 7

"Take it from me, Schara, Dad is blunter than a hammer. If he says something, he means it as is," Cynthia says over her shoulder, slotting in a bolt.

Warrick rubs his neck. "I am just informing you that I trust your judgement when on these guild missions. Your decisions on the ones we have been on are what the guild should strive to achieve."

Cynthia rolls her eyes. "Oh my Serri, just say you like her style," she huffs, shouldering the crossbow and firing off another shot. It goes wide. In the opposite direction. ".... wuh? Come on!" She pouts, getting up to go collect the missed shots.

Warrick gives her a side glare before nodding to Tlanexhuani. "Yes. Warm waters, soap, and cheap entry. Food is pretty good as well. Ah. Speaking of. Cinny!"

"Yeah...?" she calls back, looking for the third bolt.

"Let's get back and pick up food before dropping you off at Lomi's!"

Cynthia jolts upright, then scrambles to find the last bolt before rushing back over. "Okaylet'sgonicetoseeyoutwocomeondDad!" she rambles off, already dragging the man.

He lightly smiles. "See you two. And peace on your nest."

Tlanexhuani looks between the two nearest, then to Cynthia at the shot. "Learning better to miss!" He encourages(?). That was mentioned as an important first step. Then comes the dragging. "Peace on your nests," he offers before they pull, or are pulled too far. That leaves Schara. "This one should also go. Make camp before night too cold."

"I'm trying my best, at the very least." Schara shrugs, and sighs. "Oh! Yeah, I'm not going to stop you from going to get some food. Nice to meet you too, I'll see you around at some point I'm sure, Warrick."

"Oh, right, that makes sense. I still think you should try renting a room at one of the inns, but I'm not going to stop you. Just be careful where you set up camp. If I was thinking straight, I probably would have asked Warrick where you could set up so the guards didn't get bothered. Perhaps another time." She adds to the sith-makar, before waving them off.