Luvi stood next to her archery teacher, clearly trying to maintain the same stance on her legs as the experienced archer. Given that both their arrows were notched, it was only natural that they would aim for the target.
Her teacher had taught her that the bow was supposed to be a natural extension of her body. She tried to embody that instruction, but she accidentally let her arrow fly. The shot happened so fast that she hadn’t even realized it had happened until the sound of the arrow hitting something in the distance created a small echo.
Her teacher sighed and went to take the practice arrow from the side of a tree and watched as her face fell in surprise. The girl wore a determined expression now, no matter her age. Her hands were caring for the obvious black-and-blue bruise her mishap had caused her forearm to suffer. She turned to face her teacher, who was watching her with an expression she couldn't read. Perhaps when she more developed, she would be able to decipher he was thinking.
Luvi was a little unsure of her archery skills after the trek into the woods around the city. Not that she lacked the will to go on, but rather that there was a possibility that she might reach a physical limit that would prevent her from going any further. The sheer terror of it all was that she had no idea when she would reach that limit.
She knew the thought kept her awake for hours on end, and it was inevitable that the following morning would be full of exhaustion and anxiety. Nevertheless, she was determined to go to each one of her weaponry classes like the obedient student that she was.
Luvi assumed her position simultaneously with her teacher, attempting to utilize the calm of the void to achieve equilibrium between her instincts and consciousness. Her distracting emotions vanished so abruptly that he was amazed at how fast he turned into a machine of cool reasoning and snap judgments. Though her teacher appeared even more imposing than before as his muscles bulged from his tight clothing, Luvi was momentarily unfazed.
The arrows flew without warning. Even though she was only a few years younger than the others, it was more obvious because Luvi had missed every shot in the archery contest. Flushed and knotted in her stomach, she tried not to lose her cool in front of one of the school's senior instructors. The code of the school demanded respect and honor for all, regardless of one's perceived level of skill.
"How did you hit the target with such ease?" she asked her teacher. The man gave her a curious look for a little while, his faint smile making him look like a mischievous child. However, when he realized Luvi was serious about her question, he responded coolly and patiently, showing the patience of a teacher who knew what he was doing.
"The key lies in understanding the balance and tension in the bowstring, as well as focusing on your breathing. Each technique has its own rhythm, and once you find it, hitting the target becomes more natural."
Luvi found it astonishing that she hadn't realized it could be possible, even though the explanation confirmed what she had already suspected. No matter how much the archers boasted about how quick and powerful their shots were, they still needed to have a technique to maintain consistency. She decided to practice this new approach, frowning and nodding.
Luvi had practiced with a few of the beginner level students for the remainder of the day, those who had come in because, for whatever reason, they felt behind the rest of their classmates. She had watched each of them and noted their techniques on multiple occasions before deciding to reflect on what she had discovered early in the day.
Luvi glared at the target as though it had done something to her as she stood in front of it. Before nocking an arrow, she took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly as she grasped the bow. Even though she had practiced a few times, she still found it awkward to stand with her body angled so that the target could only see one side of her face, her feet spaced shoulder-width apart. She started to realize why the archery students' aim had been so poor. How could they accurately hit a target when they could only see with one eye focused on it? Luvi brushed the idea aside because it just seemed absurd.
She mentally readied herself to shoot, just like she had seen her teacher do the day before. Luvi set her standards based on the flawless technique she had witnessed. She took a sharp breath, pulled back the string, and released the arrow. It soared through the air and missed the target entirely, landing with a dull thud on the ground. The missed shot echoed in the practice yard, adding to her growing frustration. Something hadn't felt right. Luvi was positive she would have hit the target if she had her teacher’s skill.
"You're still hesitant," a thick, syrupy voice with an accent Luvi had never heard before said. Everyone in the practice yard should have been fully engaged in today's lesson as Luvi lowered her bow and turned to face the speaker. The boy had become physically intimidating in the last few months. His husky appearance had given way to something just shy of the teacher’s bulk, and his thuggish countenance had not softened in the slightest. He moved past the archery targets that Luvi had been aiming at, flashing that arrogant smirk. “Where’s your confidence?”
With her narrowed eyes steaming with the frustration she felt in her chest, Luvi retorted coldly, "Only a fool believes that she will hit the target perfectly every time."
The boy shot back, "only a coward considers missing even before she's made the shot." The jab had been easy, but not any less painful for its lack of effort. Luvi felt her cheeks flush.
The only thing that kept Luvi from shooting at Kai for the remark he'd made there was her small voice of reason. Otherwise, she would have been acting exactly as the other boy was daring her to. Embarrassment gave way to indignant anger. With a curt nod, she assumed her stance again, while the boy just faced her directly and said, “don’t miss.”
The boy's accented words barely left his lips before the taunt struck Luvi, causing her to falter. Luvi instantly drew another arrow and nocked it, blinking in shock. With her left hand holding the bow steady and her right hand drawing the string back, she aimed carefully, waiting for the right moment. Suddenly, she released the arrow, but it veered off course and missed the target once more, landing in the dust. She was blinking away tears of frustration when she saw the boy laughing at her failed attempt.
"Fought like a true coward," he remarked before swerving around and making his way to collect his own arrows.
Feeling dizzy and fed up with missing, Luvi hauled herself up and proceeded to shoot arrow after arrow at the target until she ran out, using no specific form. Practice had become less important than letting out her annoyance at something she was positive had lost the ability to humiliate her… at least she hoped that was the case.
“Your form is all off,” her teacher said when he finished making his rounds. “You’re going to tire out if you keep going like that. No sense in even shooting if you can’t shoot it properly.”
Luvi panted and realized that he was right. She could barely feel anything but pain and pulling the bowstring back had been incredibly difficult for the last handful of shots. “So what should I do?”
“Simple. Rest,” he said with a smile. “You’re young, you have years to grow and develop. Who cares if you have to sit out for the last half hour of class? And we’ve still got to walk all the way back inside the city. I can’t have you too tired to walk, now can I?” He patted her on the head and made his way to the next student. He spoke to the ‘bully’ and told him off in a loud whisper but as usual it would have no long term effect on his behavior.
Luvi pouted but she knew he was right. “Okay, I’ll rest then.” She kicked rocks for a while and then sat against a tree, looking at the practice bow that she didn’t even own. Her parents refused to buy her her own until she demonstrated at least a little bit of promise. Although, she had been told that she would get a good one if she did improve. That was supposed to be the carrot on the stick to motivate her, but it was hard to imagine getting the carrot when her body was so weak.
