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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 0:23:51 GMT -5
Briala strode out onto the training grounds, breathing in the fresh afternoon air. "Ah, lovely day for training on the good ol' training grounds," She said out loud to herself. "Though, of course, that is exactly what they were made for."
Briala didn't want to spar at the moment; besides the fact that she didn't know anyone to spar with, she wanted to get in some practice with her bow. Sadly, the use of a bow and arrow weren't very useful in the Fort. Before she always used blunted arrows to keep away intruders, or nonblunted ones against vermin. Occasionally she used an arrow for the clever purpose of knocking down a fruit from a tree, or an arrow with a rope tied to it to get something out of reach. But there were no intruders, no vermin, and all food and other items were within easy reach. So her bow was left to decompose sadly in its case.
Briala didn't want that to happen, so she decided to get in some practice. She carried her bow and quiver around with her all the time, the bow strung and slung across her back, and the quiver of arrows laying directly over it. Even if she never needed it, it still comforted her to have it with her. Anyway, she had everything with her, so without further ado, she reached back and pulled her bow out of its case, walking over to an archery target placed in a clearing.
Rolling her shoulders to loosen them, Briala reached back and selected an arrow from her quiver. Examining it quickly for any defects, she placed the arrow delicately across the bow. She held the bow up and drew the string back so her thumb was touching her cheek. Squinting her eyes at the target, she carefully aimed then let loose the arrow.
Thunk! The arrow hit the target and was buried about halfway in the thick, padded fabric. Briala winced; it would take forever to get the arrow out. She really should have stood back. Examining her aim, she pouted slightly. The arrow had hit a few inches to the left of the bull's eye.
"Oh shoot! I must be getting really rusty! That was terrible!" Briala lamented to herself, bracing herself against the target and attempting to draw the arrow out. It was difficult work, and occupied her attention completely.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 14:26:17 GMT -5
OOC: Do I detect a fanatical novel-length poster? BIC: On the odd occasion that Linx decided to actually go to the training grounds to practice as opposed to using the range in the back of his shop, he tried to make it clear what his intentions were. Many a beast would prefer to engage him in some paw-to-paw than watch him mess around with a repeater. For this reason, aside from his customized bolt repeater and a few spare magazines, the mouse was completely unarmed– There were only a few times he could be seen with clothing but no weaponry underneath over the past six months. Upon approaching the target range, Linx found it to be, oddly enough, nearly entirely deserted. What truly shocked him, though, was to see an otter with a bow. That particular weapon had been rendered obsolete several times over, thanks to Linx's inventions and their becoming standard issue, and he was appalled to observe it in use at all anymore. What sort of backwards archer is this? A bow?...Obviously, a bow was far more simple and rugged than the relatively complex machinery that constituted Linx's type of weapons, but what did that matter, especially here in a target range? Linx tried to keep the disdain off his face as he strolled up beside the target and glanced to this newcomer attempting to pull an arrow out of it. "You need any help with that... Arrow, there?"
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 17:41:30 GMT -5
*OOC: That you do, my friend ;D*
Briala looked up as a mouse came over to join her at the target. She didn't know what she was more puzzled by: the odd weapons he was carrying, or the contempt that he was trying to disguise in his voice. Had she done something wrong? Did he see her miss and think her incompetent? She gave up wondering about the weapons; she had seen them in other places, when she thought about it, but she still had no idea what they were.
"No thanks, I think I've..." Briala cut herself off as the arrow broke free of the target, sending her reeling back. She almost fell, but she braced her hind legs and rudder tail against the ground and managed to keep her balance. "Got it!" she laughed breathlessly, her heart pounding slightly from her near fall.
Briala examined her arrow, and was disappointed to see that the tip was completely shattered, rendering the arrow useless. She definitely needed to make more arrows, soon. "Is there anyone I can talk to about making more of these?" She asked the mouse, holding up the arrow. "Oh, I'm Briala," she added belatedly as an introduction.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 17:45:20 GMT -5
"That's great, Briala, uh... Who can you talk to about making more arrows?" Linx certainly didn't do arrows anymore. He hefted his repeater in his paws and actually switched to using one paw only, his left paw on the foregrip. "Not me. Maybe some fletcher out there? There aren't that many of those, now that those things have been rendered obsolete. Which brings me to..."
The mouse now looked down at the weapon in Briala's paw. It looked like the oldest bow he had ever seen. Of course, all bows did to him now. What's she doing with one of those things, anyway? "To ask why you even have a bow."
OOC: People are online so much here (particularly myself) , it can become kind of inconvenient. ...Meh.
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 17:51:58 GMT -5
Briala pouted slightly; she usually made her own arrows, but it would be nice to have a professional help. Oh well. Let's see...I'll need some ash or olive wood, feathers for a flight...Briala began to list what she would need to make her arrows, and thus was only half listening to the mouse.
"What? Why do I have a bow?" she repeated the question, sounding bewildered. "Because I've had one for...for forever, really. 9 seasons, if my math is correct." She looked down fondly at the bow. She had made it almost by herself, using a technique an old friend had taught her to make the arrows she shot go faster and farther. It was getting a bit battered, but she still loved it. She spent a lot of her time carefully maintaining it, so it wouldn't wear out too quickly.
"What's wrong with a bow?" Briala asked the mouse, whose name she still didn't know. "Do you use those instead?" she inquired, pointing a paw towards the odd weapon in the mouse's hand.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 17:58:07 GMT -5
"Yes... Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you who I am!" Linx immediately felt something like a complete idiot. Master of Weaponry and you can't even talk to a recruit right... Of course, he felt a bit justified thanks to this Briala's carrying a bow, of all things. That was like heading out to battle in scale mail. Completely useless. "I'm Linx Exotic, the fort's Master of Weaponry. And... I invented this weapon, the bolt repeater."
He took a breath before continuing. While speaking, the mouse started to walk over to about 40 feet from the target, slowly. "This weapon I'm holding my paw succeeded the bow and particularly the crossbow a while ago. Why? I'll be blunt, it's better than the bow in nearly every aspect you can think of. Accuracy, rate of fire, even reliability. How odd that a weapon far more complex than a bow is more reliable in it," Linx remarked while taking his position. "...I suggest you move away from the target."
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 18:07:55 GMT -5
Briala immediately did not like the mouse's arrogance that his bolt thingy was so much better than her bow. She faithfully ran through her bow's positive aspects in her head: It's long range, the comfort of it in her hand, the amount of arrows she could shoot at once. It was important to her, one of the two most important things to her, and here was someone saying it was useless, because there was something better. Right then, Briala decided that she would never use the bolt repeater. It was probably stupid, but her stubborness would insist she stick with her bow. Let them use bolt thingies.
Briala crossed her arms and stubbornly stepped a few paces back from the target, eyeing the mouse (Linx, he said his name was) with slight irritation and interest. She was curious about this bolt repeater, even if she wasn't going to use it. "Fine, show me the greatness of the bolt thingy," she said with careless indifference, though her eyes were steely.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 18:12:38 GMT -5
Linx didn't need Briala to move any farther from the target than perhaps an inch or so from the bullseye. But now that she had gotten a reasonable distance away, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Nonchalantly slapping a magazine into the repeater and cocking it with equal casual deftness, the mouse braced the weapon's stock against his shoulder, inhaled, and exhaled halfway before squeezing the trigger.
The bolt thunked into the target about an inch above the bullseye. The next struck a bit down and to its right. Once he had gotten through all but the very last bolt, Linx had punched a perfect nonagon around the perimeter of the bullseye. His last shot hit the target's dead center, which was actually a hairsbreadth to the right of the actual bullseye's center. Once his magazine was completely depleted, which had taken him under twenty seconds to burn through, the mouse lowered his weapon just long enough to reload, taking perhaps three seconds more. Then he pointed to the target with his foregrip paw. "Just take a look at that."
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 18:26:41 GMT -5
I don't care, I don't care, I don't care... Briala coolly examined the target. At first, she had wondered what he was bragging about; none of his bolts had hit the bullseye except for the last one. But when she got a closer look, she saw he had made a circle. She had to admit, it was fast...A bow's fast too...and accurate...you could do the same! Reliability she couldn't remark on, but Linx had a reason to be proud of his weapon. However, he did not have a reason to be contemptuous of her bow. She didn't think she could trust something that shot bolts itself. What if it stopped working? Then what could you do? Hit people with it?
"Nice," was all she said at first, examining her surroundings for the best way to show her own shooting prowess. "However..." She trailed off, thinking of something. Her old training thing could work. Without another word, she set about setting up her area. First, she knocked down the stand for a target so it lay flat on the ground, then she dragged it to one end of the clearing. Then she set up 2 more targets across from each other, with herself in the middle. She now had a triangle, with the flat target as the point and the two other targets as the sides, with Linx behind her and out of the triangle.
Briala took a deep breath and delicately selected an arrow. With exaggerated care she examined it, then carefully placed it on her bow. Raising it towards the flat target, which was all the way across the clearing from her, she aimed, tilted upward slightly, and fired.
Seconds later, two more arrows show into the air, all whistling towards the center of that target. Whirling around, Briala sent 3 more arrows in quick succession into the target to her right, then spun around to face the one on her left, using her tail to keep herself balanced. Three more arrows clustered in the center of that target, and she spun one more time, this time facing Linx. Without any hesitation, she sent one more arrow in his direction. It passed a fraction above his head and embedded itself in a tree a few yards back.
Briala grinned. It had been good to use her bow again the way it was meant to be used. She set about busily examining it to see if it had sustained any damage, not saying anything about her very recent display.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 18:33:24 GMT -5
OOC: Having to read all that was almost as bad as having to wait for it.
BIC: Linx had gotten within an inch of putting one between Briala's eyes when she put one less than a foot above his. His combat reflexes had to be forcefully restrained... As did the reflex to duck. One thing bows couldn't quite live up to repeaters in was velocity. Except for longbows, those were only bested by the repeater rifle. In any case, he looked around at the targets, then Briala, then grinned. "I take it you've been practicing with that for forever and a half," the mouse started. "I've only been practicing with this thing for as long as it's been around... Less than a year. Your display is quite impressive, even if you really overdid every part in which you could act. As a warrior, you have my respect."
As before, he had to take a breath before continuing. "I'll disregard how quickly you can, obviously enough, learn to use a repeater, and skip ahead to the part that matters. To be honest, I really don't care if one beast uses a bow. So many use repeaters that every battle we get in will be won by a long shot, anyway! If you want to use one of those things... Whatever. I don't support them in the slightest, they get outdated more and more by the minute... At least they're not crossbows," he muttered half to himself. "Anyway, nice show, and... In case you're wondering, yes, the bolt repeater is actually an excellent melee weapon, you can crack a skull with the wooden stock attached, and the muzzle takes a bayonet."
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 18:44:16 GMT -5
*OOC: Well you are just going to have to deal with it lulz!* ... You've been practicing with that for forever and a half...A thin compliment buried in a lot of dismisal and contempt. Briala snorted very unlady-like, thinking over what she was going to do now. She wanted to be a good warrior, but she didn't want to resort to automatic weapons. It wasn't the same if it wasn't your strength, your aim, your release that allowed the bolts to go flying through the air. Briala didn't see fighting as just a way to win; that would mean all that mattered was killing and maiming the other side. It was an art, something she took great pride in. What was the point if you simply pushed a button, and the machine does the work for you? Briala decided she would continue with her practicing and training. If Linx wanted to, he could stay. Or if he wanted to, he could leave and practice with his wonderful bolt thing. Ignoring the mouse for now, she began to create a training area just for her. She dragged targets around until they were where she wanted them. She was determined not to give up on her bow. "If you're going to stay, I suggest you either move or help," she said breathlessly. The targets were a lot heavier than they looked. "If you keep standing there, you'll be in the way." She wondered if she really should have the temerity to kick someone out, but she figured that she was here first. First come, first serve, and all that.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 18:54:26 GMT -5
OOC: Fighting, an art? ...Well, I suppose it is for Linx when he invents everything he uses... But no, it's just killing and maiming people. ...And the point of fighting is to make the other guys lose. BIC: Kicking an officer out wasn't a very good idea. Linx walked over and grabbed one of the targets by its rear support with just one paw, lifting it clear off the ground and holding it like a feather. It was actually pretty heavy, but he was used to that. "Hold it. Where do you want me to put this?" Realizing he'd made the irrevocable blunder of alienating Briala, Linx felt regret set in. Incapable of reversing the initial impression the otter had of him, all he could do was what she asked. It wasn't just the least in his case– It was the most. Standing there, waiting for an answer and ignoring the mounting pain in his arm, he felt like he did a year before. Hopeless. You have a recruit that doesn't like you and you're beside yourself? What's the matter with you!?It might have lain in his inability to enjoy anything but constant conquest. Satisfaction with what he already had was nearly impossible to achieve, and actually losing ground was a joke. Or, more appropriately to the situation, a nightmare. Just the idea of one potential friendship being blocked off, and everything crashed down around Linx's ears.
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 19:07:07 GMT -5
*OOC: -_- my words of wisdom are wasted upon you * Briala looked up from the target she was currently dragging. She wiped a paw across her forehead, examining what she had already. She was trying to make a row of targets, with each one set a bit to the side of the one in front. "Over here, a bit to the left of where I am," she answered shortly, quickly setting up her own target before walking back across the clearing to get another. Honestly, she was surprised Linx was helping. Somehow, she had gotten the idea that he would either leave, or ignore him. Shows just what she knew. Oh well, she appreciated the help. Normally she hated anyone helping her, but for something like this, sometimes others could be...helpful. "When you've put that one down, get another one and put it a few yards behind it, and a few feet to the left," she ordered, automatically becoming bossy. With something she knew how to do, she tended to order others around. Not on purpose, of course.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 14, 2008 19:11:43 GMT -5
OOC: It's not wisdom to me. In real life, I despise fighting as a whole. In character, I'm Patton. And kind of mentally unstable. BIC: "Yes, Mistress," Linx resentfully muttered as he carried the target over and carefully set it down. What was he doing, bending to the whims of this recruit he barely even knew? One that he already knew despised what he treasured? He felt his emotional barriers yet again cracking as he walked off to find another target. By the time he had made it to where the next target lay, he was collapsing inside and it began to show in his body language. Hopefully, he wouldn't arbitrarily burst into tears or anything, he didn't want to make a bad first impression... Wait, he'd already botched that one. And now the Master of Weaponry, the mouse respected throughout the entire fort, was being torn apart by this subordinate otter who simply disagreed with him. You're crazy. You're... You're not stopping, are you?
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Post by briala on Mar 14, 2008 19:19:26 GMT -5
"What was that?" Briala asked sharply, hearing Linx's sarcastic muttering. "I'm sure you weren't complaining about something you so graciously offered to help with," she said smoothly, her eyes narrowing. Any little bit of power, and she was a right proper tyrant. Oh well, as the saying goes: Like it, or lump it. If Linx didn't want to help, he could leave. Simple as that.
Briala was curious to see that he seemed to be having trouble with the next target. If anything, he seemed to be...crumbling. How odd. "You alright?" she asked gruffly, as if she didnt' care. Good overlords didn't care about their servants, after all. But she was worried that something might actually be wrong. What if he wasn't supposed to be doing heavy work? Briala remembered a time she had been badly injured by a tree branch. When she tried to continue working and doing stuff, she had been hurt even more and been forced to rest for a week. What if the same thing was happening here?
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