[Class] Fight: Attack - Earako - PASSED

[HarukiMitsu]

The red-head eyed the list in his hand one last time as he made his way out to the forested area the class was to be held in. From the information he'd received it would seem that archery would be best for the girl. Attacking from afar was the best bet for anyone who couldn't take a hit and keep going. Thus the area had a few targets set up around it. Various heights, various angles, and he'd bothered to set up a few obstacles in the way of them, as if the trees wouldn't be enough. Just to make sure she didn't think a target would always be in the open.

Aside from that he'd left two bows off to the side for use and arrows. Plenty of arrows.

Likely there'd be a lot of broken arrows, or simply ones that ended up in bushes. He had no intention of rummaging too far to save any, so it was best to keep more than enough around for practicing with. After all, it was his job to make sure she'd be able to use this on her own in the future.

Which left him questioning it again... why was he subbing for a battle teacher? It definitely wasn't his forte. He'd read enough books that he knew the forms, but he definitely wasn't a perfect replacement for it. Even with knowing the 'perfect' form that each book stated differently, it didn't mean he'd manage of bull's eye.

Well, the girl was supposed to be here soon. Hopefully the fact that he'd chosen a covered area would help sunlight issue.  

[lithle]

Michael, after some debate ("But the teacher doesn't like you Da'"), had agreed to drop Earako off a reasonable distance from the actual practice area. So Earako came alone. She was dressed in her 'practical' clothes. Black velvet slacks that fit reasonably close against her skin, and a matching shirt, one of two she owned where the sleeves did not flare dramatically at the wrist. She hated it, of course, but shockingly, she wasn't sulking.

She'd thought she would, and she'd planned to. But after what had happened to Savius, she'd decided that she had to learn to fight. The world was not as safe as she'd thought it was, and her cousin would not always be there to take the blows for her. She was going to learn. She could, if she wanted to.

She carried her parasol of course, but as she got under the shade of the trees, she closed it, the extra protection unneeded. Her sunglasses stayed firmly in place, as they did every day, no matter how shadowy the setting.

And there was the teacher! Earako's pace actually slowed when she spotted him, she returned to the carefully measured pace of a proper lady. She wasn't late, after all, so there was no need to run. And she liked this teacher, so it was important to impress him. He'd let her see her dragon egg first!

"Good afternoon, sir." She made a quick bow, which was the next best thing to a curtsy (and she couldn't curtsy in slacks).  

[HarukiMitsu]

The sound of footsteps drew his attention to the path that led up to the area. So he'd been blessed, the 'father' wasn't with her. That saved him some trouble(mainly sending the man away) and time for that matter.

"Good afternoon, Miss Earako." Haruki finished adjusting one target before heading over to pick up a bow. "Today, seeing as this is a battle class, you will be learning the basics of archery." It was likely obvious, but stating it was part of his job.

"Archery should fit you well due to being able to strike from afar. This will benefit you greatly when it comes to flight as well as avoiding injury." He picked up one of the bows from and an arrow before turning to a target. Demonstration was the first part of teaching. "Using a bow is simple enough if you memorize the form. It requires a good eye for aim and precision." He lifted the arm and notched the arrow, drawing back as he aimed at one of the targets. It was simple enough if you followed the books. Pull back just to the point explained, take aim, and let it fly.

Thunk.

Once again books proved to work well enough. Maybe because he had at least fifteen archery novels he'd read. Either way the arrow had hit the target. Not the bull's eye that Lilly could pull, nor as fast, but he'd still gotten mid-range points for it. It wasn't bad for someone who never practiced. "The main thing that would allow you to use a bow skillfully is practice." He concluded as he lowered the bow and glanced at the pale girl.

"Nothing will be easy at first of course, but I'm sure with a bit of practice a bow would be quite useful for you. So are you ready to learn." Because if she wasn't there was no point for anyone to be out there that day.  

[lithle]

Earako stood still, her ability to become completely intent on whatever was interesting at the moment taking over. She watched how Teacher handled the bow, and watched the arrow fly at the target. She smiled when it hit, refraining from the urge to clap her hands. Teacher wouldn't like that.

"Practice," She echoed, with a little nod. She could do that, indeed her Da' had already told her she would be doing that. He seemed to find the idea of her knowing how to protect herself even more important than she did. Bad things happened, he said, and he wasn't about to let her be unprepared for them. This was the first step.

"Yes, sir." She answered the question promptly, staring up at him through her glasses and looking as serious as a pre-teen albino bat could. And then as a thought struck her, she bit her lip, the pose of earnest readiness fading. "Sir, will I have to be really strong to pull back the string?"

Vimber, who had followed Earako in, sized up Haru quickly and decided him no threat to her Special. Not fun enough. Not shiny. Content with that, she curled up by one of the trees for a nap.  

[HarukiMitsu]

He nodded at the single word. Despitethe fact that he chose not to take up most things he taught as hobbies he did believe in repeating something to improve at it. Such was the way of life. So he held the concept high on the list of things to do when you where interested in something.

That and he just disliked lazy people.

As for the second question. "It depends on a lot of things, but some physical strength is required to use a bow. Such is the case with any weapon." He set down the first bow before selecting one that was more to Earako's size. "This is a compound bow. It's designed to be easier on the archer and require less strength to wield. A bow that's ideal for someone who is first learning archery." He selected a few arrows as well before moving to a spot before the simplest target and waiting for Earako.

"The arrowheads we're using today are known as target points. Ideal for practice. They're used mainly used for piercing through targets." He held up one briefly to show her.

"Before we begin though, let me state a few safety precautions. First, never dry fire. That means to fire the bow without an arrow. This can damage the bow. The second is that you never draw your bow while pointing at another person that is not an intended target. Ensure that you have precise aim before firing so not to injure anyone that you didn't intend to." He assumed these skills where to be used in self defense. Someone would be hurt eventually. "Lastly, if you are ever practicing with other archers, learn your bow against a target before you go behind it to hunt for an arrow. This is to alert them to your pressence in the area."  

[lithle]

The young bat listened with clear interest, and followed the red headed man obediently over to the first target. It hadn't looked so hard when Teacher had done it, but she wasn't quite so naive as to believe that she would have the same easy time with it. Sewing had taken her some time to master, and her guess was this to be simular.

When he mentioned shooting people, she stopped nodding and winced, the idea certainly didn't appeal to her. She knew there were bad people in the world. Between Da's protectiveness and Savius's lecture, that was clear enough. But hurting them was for other people. People like Da' or heros like Keanu.

She'd just have to learn to be really good, so that she could shoot people in the foot... or something.

"Sir, how do you aim?"

Maybe she was getting ahead of herself.  

[HarukiMitsu]

He noted the wince, but continued his speech only pausing at the end. The question that came from it all wasn't the most fitting, but still something he could answer. It helped he move into the next section of teacher her anyway.

"Aiming is based off a stance which is what you will learn in a moment. First, seeing as you don't seem to be one to go outside much." And this was her first time with a bow. "You'll want abracer and a tab." He stated leaving her at the target to fetch them. He'd nearly forgotten about that. Picking up to the objects he headed back over and held them out to the girl. "Wear the tab on your dominant hand, it's to protect your fingers. The bracer is worn on the inside of your opposite arm to protect it." He didn't need children hating the class because they ended up a little hurt.

He waited a moment for compliance to that before holding ou the composite bow. "Now, I fired one arrow earlier, why don't you see how well you can mimic that and I'll correct any mistakes before you start learning to aim. Remember, don't actuall draw the bow, simply act as if you where."  

[lithle]

Earako took the objects quickly, looking them over with a frown. Not very pretty. were they? When she made her own, she'd embroider them. Maybe red on black? Yes, that'd match Vimber. But nevermind. Without difficulty, she put on the tab and the bracer, the logic of the objects coming naturally enough.

The bow, on the other hand, felt strange in her hands, it didn't fit there, and she held it at arms length, as if it might be dangerous. Which it was. But Teacher was talking, and that meant that she had to deal with it, no matter how little she wanted to.

A visual learner, it was easy for Earako to picture Teacher firing the bow again, she'd watched so closely the first time. She could see it, the stance, the arrow flying.

What she couldn't do was imitate it. She tried, placing her feet carefully, and trying to turn her body in just the same way. But she was rigid with tension, the bow held like something poisonous. If anything, it was her care that made the whole thing look so awkward. She was doing her best to imitate it exactly, adjusting and readjusting, and failing to find to find a position comfortable for her.

Now how had his arms been? This angle and that, right?  

[HarukiMitsu]

Not too bad... But definitely not right. Still at least she was trying.

First off, she had the bow in her wrong hand. "You hold the bow with your non-dominant hand." Not something he'd expect her to pick up on from just watching one arrow shot. After helping her adjust that he helped to show her how the stance was meant to be by adjusting the bow in her hands so it was held right. "Don't think of it as hurting someone. Think of it as protecting yourself and others." He stated hoping she'd stop holding the bow as if it would bite her.

"Your stronger arm is used to draw back the bow, it allows for a steadier shot." He finished checking to make sure her arms where at the right angle and the bow was held properly. With a nod he held out an arrow to her. "Now that you have the right posture remember it. Let's see if you can shoot now. Aiming is much simpler to explain once you have the bow in place. You generally want to shoot with the angle a bit higher than your target if it's at a distance. However aiming is something that takes more practice than knowledge. Try firing a shot at the target first. Make sure to draw the bow back far enough before you shoot." He crossed his arms and watched to make sure she kept her posture while shooting. Correcting people was easy when you had the various stances memorized from the books. He could just judge off of them.  

[lithle]

Earako allowed Teacher to help her hold the bow properly, switching her hands and trying to allow herself to feel comfortable with the weapon. Protection, like Keanu said he wanted. But she didn't want to be a protector. She just wanted to make things pretty. She'd seen, with Da', with Lithle, what being strong could really be like, sometimes.

She bit her lip. It didn't matter. Teacher was right. She just needed to stop thinking of it as something to hurt people with. It was, like a toy, kinda. A weird toy that wasn't very fun. Her stance became slightly less tense, and she made herself focus on the target.

This part made sense. It was like threading a needle. The arrow would be like the thread, and the bullseye would be the eye in the needle. It was a matter of steady hands and percision. She could do that.

Or... not.

She did her best to imitate teacher, but her grip on the arrow was not so confident, and despite warnings, she didn't pull back far enough. The arrow flew forward, and definatley went toward the target. It just... buried itself in the dirt a few feet shy.

"Oh!" Earako's face fell. So it wasn't as easy as threading a needle. "I'm sorry sir. I'll do better."  

[HarukiMitsu]

Could be worse. Could have definitely been better, but... it could have been worse. "Of course. Still, you did better than I expected." Somewhat of a lie, he expected perfection from the children. Which was why being Revon probably wasn't a fun thing, but he also expected there to be slip-ups. This must have been one of those.

He handed the girl a second arrow, deciding he'd retrieve the first before long. "Your aim was correct. This time draw back father, the string won't cut you, also try aiming a bit higher. It could get you a bit more distance. Shooting a bow is nothing like guns where you want your aim directly at them. Depending on the force you apply by drawing back the bow. You'll become more used to it with practice, but remembering the concept of it first off is quite important." Most people needed it drilled into their head a lot anyway. "Now try again, this time draw the bow to it's full extent."

They'd just keep at this until she could hit the target most of the time. A new arrow for each new shot.

((Meaning, you can RP multiple shots until she's hit the target 2-3 times I suppose. Then we'll have it that she gets to be talked to about a new target. WOO! This is to save both our time.))  

[lithle]

Earako nodded at Teacher's words, but said nothing. She would get this right. She would show him that she could get it right. And then she'd be safe. Or, at least, safer.

She readied the second arrow, drew back, and shot. It actually reached the target, but instead of hitting it, it went off to the left. Oops. She could do this!

Frowning now, she picked out another arrow, and kept herself carefully focused on the target, bow tilted up, string drawn back as far as she could. It was just like threading a needle, right? At least her hands were steady. The arrow flew through the air toward the target and--

Thunk!

She'd done it. Earako gave a breathy little giggle of joy, bouncing in place before regaining her composure. It wasn't a bullseye or anything, but it'd hit the edge of the target.

Four more attempts yielded three more hits, the last one hitting one of the inner rings. Sure, the one previous had flown over the target, but she was getting somewhere.  

[HarukiMitsu]

The second time was a bit better. At least she was shooting far enough. The third time was always the charm as the saying went though. "Much better." That he could work with. A few more shots were sent. Three out of four. Not too bad a ratio, even one that was closer to the center. Perhaps a fluke since the others were not yet following the trend. Still, good enough.

Now to try something else. "Alright, next shoot that target. Once you hit it switch to that one. Circulate between the three targets as you hit your mark. I real combat it is highly unlikely that your opponent would stand in one spot, being able to redirect your shot and aim quickly is important." This would just get her used to aiming by sight rather than shoot and test. So the first target was a bit higher set to a tree branch. The third was hanging from a brach. Which meant if she hit it id would sway. That was the hardest of the tree since it could potentially move due to wind or other variables that might come up.

Still, it wasn't as if he wasn't asking too much. She'd figure it out. In the meantime he'd just grab the whole quiver of arrows for use. This could also take a bit of time.  

[lithle]

Earako frowned at the next target. It was high! She didn't like that. Maybe she could fly up to it? But Teacher hadn't said she was allowed to fly, and she thought it might be difficult trying to fly and shoot at once. She'd be moving, and that meant that it'd be harder to aim.

"Yes, sir." She murmured, picking out an arrow, and carefully aiming for the new target. She hesitated before shooting, but when she finally let the string go, it hit the target she was aiming for. Not well, but it hit it.

"And then the next one." She was speaking more to herself than to Haruki, she didn't even glance in his direction. Instead, she focused on the third, hanging target, frowning as it swayed a bit. She could do this.

Ready, aim, miss. Oops. She hadn't shot high enough. Ready, aim, miss. Too much to the left this time? She couldn't do it. This target was wierd. She took longer at her third shot, reminding herself to think of it like sewing. She just needed to focus.

Thunk. She'd done it!

Earako made her second circut of the targets, as ordered. The first, she hit easily. The second took her two shots, but this time she hit the third on her first attempt. Did that mean she was getting better?

She still wasn't hitting the middle.

"Am I doing it right, sir?"  

[HarukiMitsu]

He returned with the arrows shortly after and simply watched at the girl practiced. Both that she hit the targets and her form. She seemed to remember well and it was showing in her shooting. Which earned her the title of 'good student' for the time being. That's what people got if they met his general expectations.

"Yes, you're doing well." He stated tapping the arrows in thought for a moment. Let's see, one more excercise before the last test. "As you've probably noted, there are five targets over there. Practicing hidding all of them, this includes the ones that are partially hidden." He stated quickly before starting off a bit to one side. The final test was something he only half expected her to manage. If she even hit one it would be enough really. Now to just get some leaves.