pew pew MAYHEM

[issala]

WHO: Kas & Open
WHAT: Someone suggested archery.
WHEN: Today, mid- to afternoon
WHERE: To the left by the stables.
NOTES: Brackets or prose is okay!

Alayre was the one to blame for the idea to pick up archery, although it was a sound idea. Most scouts were proficient in it, and Kas' skills with daggers left a lot to desire - so it wasn't strange that the teen had borrowed a bow and quiver from another scout, setting up a dummy in the open area by the stables and attempting to hit it.

It... wasn't easy. Drawing the bow was a bit of a struggle for a youngster with little muscle to his body, and his aiming was way off. The walls of the fortress saw a lot more arrows than the dummy, but the boy didn't give up. Stubborn as a dwarf, he pulled another arrow, trying to not knock it on his little nubs again. His hand was bleeding a little, sliced on the fletching by holding the grip wrong, but it didn't seem to dissuade him, either.

It wasn't until he had emptied the quiver that the teen sat down where he had stood and sighed dramatically. "This is stupid."

Comments

[el_tybs]

It's the sound of something hitting stone that draws his attention away from gathering some straw from the stables - he got permission! Stopping in what he's doing, Sam ventures out from the barn, though doesn't have to go far to see what is making the sound. He tilts his head curiously at what he finds.

He doesn't remember there being a dummy set up at that spot before, and it eventually occurs to him that the guy is probably trying to not grab attention. Otherwise it would have made more sense for him to be trying this on the other dummies and targets.

For a while Sam just watches, listening to frustrated grunts and sighs when an arrow doesn't hit its mark. He's about to leave to go back to what he was doing when he hears a light thud and a loud sigh. He only sees the guy's back, but it's easy to see how dejected he looks, even from this far.

Slowly, Sam moves closer, but makes sure to keep a safe distance. He's had daggers thrown at him before for speaking up, he didn't fancy getting an arrow. "Well you did a lot better than I would have done."

[issala]

The teen gives an even more frustrated noise when he hears someone had watched him fail horribly. Biting his lip, he turns a bit to see Sam and then huffs a little. Guy looked like he could use a bow easily with that build, and he was taller than Kas.

"Well, good to know I suck as much as the random guy watching me." It's mostly a toothless retort since he's so dejected, and he slowly gets up from his seat in the grass to brood (not pout, it wasn't manly to pout!).

He had never hared a dummy as much as he did right now.

[el_tybs]

Sam visibly winces at that. He hadn't meant to upset the guy further. Perhaps it would have been better to have said nothing, but honestly it was hard not to seeing as he had actually done a good job.

"Ah, that isn't what I meant at all." Sam rubs the back of his neck and ventures a bit closer so he doesn't have to talk too loud. It didn't seem the other guy wanted others knowing what he was doing.

"I couldn't even draw a bow, let alone shoot one. You shot every single one, with enough power that you could send it across the distance to hit the wall. That's really impressive."

[issala]

Kas eyes the man and frowns a bit, rubbing the back of his head. He's not sure how to be civil, and he was used to humans just giving him shit and setting him up for a fight. It hadn't really been that way here, but you never knew.

He's getting praise again, and the teen just isn't sure how to handle that.

"I should go back to the knives. It's easier." The young qunari says, looking back at Sam with a small sigh. "The scouts all use bows, though..." He didn't want to be different. He wanted to be valuable, an asset.

Not the kid who can't shoot a bow.

[el_tybs]

Sam isn't sure if the comment means the Qunari wants to be a scout or if he wants to be like the other scouts. Probably something not to pry into just yet.

"You know how to use daggers? That's impressive." Sam smiles at that. "Those are a bit versatile than a bow. Have you considered maybe using throwing daggers instead if you're more comfortable with them? Nobody wants to mess with that." At the slight wrinkle in his nose, it's obvious he's had just a bit of experience with that.

[issala]

Kas takes a moment to see if the guy was mocking him, but it didn't sound like it. Carefully, he puts the bow down and then pulls out one of his 'knives'.

It's a shank, really. Just a sharpened, rusted piece of metal with leather wrapped around it as a handle.

"I can... kind of use them. I mean... I know where to stick 'em, but I've never used them in a fight. Dunno about throwing daggers, though..."

Curious, he grasps the homemade weapon a bit tighter and then lobs it towards the dummy. It's not weighted at all, however, so it just bounces off the wall.

"...vashedan."

[el_tybs]

Sam stills for a moment, his eyes widening a bit, half expecting the knife to be thrown at him - wouldn't be the first time. Once it is obvious that he isn't going to be a target, Sam relaxes. At the swear - he thinks it's a swear, he doesn't know the language - Sam moves a bit closer to get a better look at the setup.

"Maybe we should ask someone who does know how to use them in a fight?" her offers hopefully being helpful in that regard. "My expertise isn't in sharp pointy objects."

[issala]

"I dunno... people are really busy and I don't wanna be..." He pauses, straightening up a bit. "I can do it on my own!"

He wanted to be valuable, to be worth something, and what use would he be if people had to help him with everything? he'd just be another useless brat, and Kas refused to be one. Not again.

Not when he had some value, for once.

"You a warrior or something?"

[el_tybs]

Ah, so that's what this was about. Wanting to be useful, but not getting in the way. He could respect that. Very different from his own thinking and personality, he didn't have issues with asking for help. Each their own though.

Sam chuckles at being asked if he is a warrior. He isn't, but with the way Krem keeps throwing him around he could probably be pretty decent if he tried. "Or something is about right."

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell knew that sound, almost as well as the beat of his own heart. The tightening of a bowstring, the thwap of the release, and... yes, even that frustrated sigh.

He'd been there. Still was, on occasion.

Approaching, he peeked gently around the corner, and waited for a moment for the young quanri to run through his last arrow before speaking.

"Everyone starts somewhere," he said softly, expression friendly. "The important thing is you're trying."

[issala]

The teen is so dejected that he doesn't even yell at Max for spying on him or anything at that, instead just sighing again, dropping the bow and running a hand through his hair.

At least the human wasn't mocking him. Kas was pretty sure he couldn't handle that right now.

"I didn't even hit the dummy once," he complains with an ill-hidden pout. He would have felt a lot better of he had at least hit it anywhere - but no, the arrows were all in the wall or in the grass.

He rolls his shoulder a bit to ease the ache there, and then rubs the blood from the cut on his pants. Good thing he wasn't using his scout uniform at the moment.

[dreadinquisitor]

"But you hit something," Maxwell replied, moving around the corner to join the younger man in front of the dummy. "That's half the battle. The rest is time and practice."

He smiled gently, and gestured to the bow.

"I have some experience, and I'd be willing to help, if you'd like."

[issala]

"I hit the wall!" He protests, glaring at Max. "Last time I checked we're not fighting a wall!" If he couldn't even hit a stationary dummy, how was he going to survive out there where the enemies moved and there would be people fighting he shouldn't shoot?

At the offer to help, the teen looks uncertain. "You probably have better things to do. I'm not gonna be in the way of more important things. I came here to be useful, not being a burden." He tries to straighten up a bit and look proud, but his dejected features still shine through.

[dreadinquisitor]

"Your arrows all went in the direction you wanted and you can account for them all," his smile pulled, a small and friendly smirk. "Believe me, it can go a lot worse."

He'd seen it.

"And I joined the Inquisition in order to help. I think this qualifies, especially if you can then turn and help others with it. That's why you're trying to learn, isn't it?"

[issala]

The boy pauses at that, warring with himself. His tiny pride was fighting with the need to actually hit the damn dummy before his fingers fell off. The fact that his distrust of humans hindered him as well was slowly getting worn down by weird friendliness.

"Um..." Kas glares down at the bow and then up at Max before he shoves the weapon forward towards him. "I'm gonna be a scout. I need to make sure I can fight... so... I guess it isn't for me as much as it's for the other people I'm gonna be with."

It's not easy for him to admit it, and he moves away just as quickly. "I'm not owing you anything, though!"

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell took the bow as it was thrust at him, but he made no move to get closer when Kas pulled back, and he only shook his had at the last shot.

"I'm not asking for anything. I just appreciate a chance to talk shop," he joked, winking one blue eye. Then gesturing to the dummy, he added, "Why don't you gather up your arrows, and we'll get started."

[issala]

He's not sure he believes that, but the teen does go to gather up his arrows neatly in the quiver. One had broken, so he tosses that to the side to take back to the fletcher later.

"Okay... show me," Kas grumbles, blue eyes meeting blue as he tried to look indifferent about it. At least the guy seemed interested, and he'd ride on that human boredom for a while.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin, taking a break from seeing to the needs of rift-folk and repairing Skyhold, pauses to watch Kas' demonstration as the noise draws her over. She doesn't draw attention to herself, preferring to observe until that dramatic sigh catches her sympathy. It's a sound she's made many times herself, during practice of a different kind. As he sits down, the Vashoth mage heads over.

"No, it's not. You know, before I discovered my magic, I thought to become an archer, too. I can't tell you how many times I missed before finally hitting something. It was worth not breaking that damn bow in half like I wanted to." And then when she began her other training, there was the frustration of learning control, but that's less relevant to the situation.

[issala]

The boy turns his head to look at Korrin, and then he turns his attention back to the bow in his hand. It would probably have been broken in frustration already if it didn't already belong to someone else. He didn't fuck with other people's weapons.

He kind of wants to yell at her, tell her she isn't his mom so stop being weird, but he holds his tongue and listens, instead. A sign that he might be maturing a little bit, at least.

"I didn't hit the dummy even once, not even near it... and now everything hurts." His shoulders, his sliced hand, his slightly aching horns from where he kept knocking the arrows while drawing them.

[gatheringstorm]

That sliced hand is noticed and one of the bandages she'd taken from the medic area just happens to find itself on the ground next to him. Total coincidence, that. Or not, but she won't draw attention to it with words or gestures. It's up to him whether or not he makes use of it.

"That's because your grip needs adjusting. I can show you, if you want." It's been a long time since Korrin's picked up a bow, but she remembers a few things that might make it a little easier for him. Hopefully her aim won't have suffered, since she's not expecting her skill with a staff to cross over.

[issala]

He discreetly picks the bandage up and wraps his hand with the slightest bit of an angry blush. Kas was glad that she wasn't fussing, though. Letting him keep his tiny and fragile male pride.

"My... grip?" The teen looks at his hand in confusion. That didn't make sense to him, but Kas supposed that it could be possible to hold it in the wrong hand, or too tightly...

Korrin's offer to help him makes him tense up a bit, and he looks down on the ground. "You have better things to do. Mage stuff. I'm not gonna be a burden on anyone!"

[gatheringstorm]

"Who said you were? If I want to be all nostalgic about archery, that's on me, isn't it?" Korrin shrugs, glancing to the dummy. "Maybe I just want to see how rusty I've gotten." That isn't actually an untruthful statement, now she's mildly curious to see how her tutelage holds up with time.

"Besides, I've already been sent out and just got back the other day. They're not going to need me right this minute." Either way, it's a welcome distraction from thinking about Haven. Or the Herald. Or the upcoming funeral.

[issala]

He glares at her even more, trying to see if he could pick up any mockery in her voice or words. It... seemed pretty genuine, though. Kas didn't really expect that.

"Um..." The teen hesitates for a moment, then holds out the bow to her. "Okay. Shoot things. I'll watch."

[gatheringstorm]

The glare is met with a stoic expression, not reacting to that temper. Accepting the bow, Korrin nods. She examines it from end to end, critical but in the end satisfied with its quality as a weapon. Shifting into a better stance, she then draws the bow slowly, making her adjusted grip prominent. It certainly seems easier on the hands, and the way she raises it and holds it taut provides a much smoother firing. Her first arrow doesn't hit dead-center, but it does catch one of the limbs of the training dummy.

"Damn, that was a little off. But like I said, it's been a while." She's one more for action than excuses, though, and tries again, this time striking closer even if not dead on target.

[issala]

His blue eyes are fixed on her, watching every movement as Korrin draws the bow and then fires. Kas frowns as she misses the center, crossing his arms. He doesn't say anything, though, because she did hit the damn dummy - and that's an improvement from his own failures.

She also didn't slice her hand, which is definitely a good thing. All that just from adjusting her grip?

Her next shot is much better and he looks a little bit impressed. "You... how did you do that? Show me!"