Keme RunningBear
June 18, 2015 8:45 PM
Archery Club Meeting! by Keme RunningBear
Keme was only just finished setting up the MARS Sports Room when it was time for the meeting to begin and the members to join him. He was really hoping that someone would continue with the club after he graduated, but he wasn’t really sure there was anyone who was really qualified to teach others how to shoot a bow and arrow. Perhaps those who are in the club already would simply want to still get together and just shoot at targets after he was gone. He hoped anyway. He put a lot of himself into this club. He had stepped out of his box in order to even start the club and he really wanted it to succeed after he was gone. But that was all out of his hands really.Having decided that he would continue his future amongst his own tribe instead of outside the lands, Keme had begun the transformation process that reflected his tribal pride. His hair had grown to his shoulders, he wore a beaded necklace around his neck that his mother had made for him, and on occasion wore embroidered shirts that were symbolic of his heritage and were created by his sister. He had even given Willow a necklace that his mother had created as a show of affection. Over the summer, Keme had participated in the Sun Dance ceremony and it just reminded him of his love for his people. Being away from them for most of the year, not speaking his language to anyone, not going through the same traditions with everyone, he had gotten lost along the way. But he was back now and in full force.
“Good Afternoon everyone!” Keme greeted the members. He had decided to hold the meetings Saturdays in the late afternoon in the hope that it wouldn’t affect anyone who played Quidditch or mess with any other club that the school had. Hopefully, this time would work for everyone each weekend. “For anyone knew, I am Keme RunningBear, I’m a Seventh Year Aladren and I have been doing Archery since I was a small child and it’s something that is a large part of my life.” Keme explained to the new members. “In fact, after graduation, I will be one of the new coaches for Archery for my tribe. I’ll be taking on the youngest age group and teaching them how to shoot.” He was really excited for this step in his life. Although his future wasn’t entirely set, at least this small part was.
“Everyone who has already been in the club, go ahead and pick up the bows that you are most comfortable with and set up your targets to the distance that you know you can hit. Once you’ve gotten in a few practice rounds, feel free to move the targets.” Keme advised. “To the new members, i’d like to see how everyone does with a starter bow first and if I feel like you’re experienced enough, we’ll move on from there. Sound good, everyone? Any questions?”
Subthreads: WOO!...? by Sammy Meeks
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Keme RunningBear
Archery Club Meeting!
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Sammy Meeks
June 25, 2015 3:03 PM
WOO!...? by Sammy Meeks
This was gonna be Sammy’s year. She was getting involved, making friends, doing stuff--it was gonna be great. She wanted to join some clubs, and the first on her list of interest was Archery. It was, she was pretty sure, an Olympic sport, which made it a *~*~*sport*~*~* and therefore of more interest to her than, say, art club or book club or whatever else this school had.The kid running it seemed pretty cool. Sammy liked his hair immediately; it was longer than her own and, from what she could see, looked a lot thicker. She kept her hair short because it was more practical when she wanted to run around and play and do things, so she wondered why he, a teenage boy, would want long hair. As Keme--that was his name--mentioned going back to a tribe after he graduated, though, Sammy decided that it was probably a cultural thing, which if anything only made it cooler.
Being new, Sammy did as instructed and found, through some deliberation, which bows were starter bows and grabbed one of them. The only problem was… she didn’t really know how to use it. Like, at all. So she stood back a little bit and watched some of the other kids do their thing. The thing was, Sammy didn’t want to watch; she wanted to do the thing. So when she saw one kid who seemed in particular to know what they were doing, Sammy decided to approach them. Making sure their bow was lowered so that she Wouldn’t Get Shot (that would suck), she tapped them on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me. Can you, like, show me how to do that?”
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WOO!...?
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Clark Dill
July 08, 2015 12:25 PM
"HOO!" is the appropriate follow-up, right? by Clark Dill
Clark was back for his second year as an archer. He wasn't sure he would ever touch a bow outside the club, but it was oddly calming, being able to put aside everything else and just focus on the target, his stance, and his aim. He was still only a fourth year, but the CATS were already starting to loom in the distance, and he was glad for the quiet time Archery Club offered.He picked out a bow - he stuck with the beginner variety for now, though he figured he'd advance himself beyond that in a month or so, after he remembered everything he'd forgotten over the summer. He kept his target at a fairly close distance, too, since it had been a few months since he last loosed an arrow. He could always move it back later if he wanted to increase the difficulty.
He'd just finished emptying his quiver and lowered his bow when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The tall blond looked down at the younger student in mild surprise that she would ask him for help, but then he glanced at his arrow-filled target and realized that by not really challenging himself, he must have looked like he knew what he was doing. He probably should have started with a more distant target but he'd been kind of expecting his summer growth spurt to affect his ability to shoot as badly as it had affected his ability to fly. Apparently, there were advantages to not having muscle memory that dated back to when those muscles belonged to a body that was three feet tall. As what little muscle memory he did have for archery came from only last year, the relative change seemed small enough to adjust to quickly.
"Oh, yeah, sure," he agreed after only a short moment of gaping surprise. "Let me get my arrows back, and I'll be glad to show you the basics." He hurried to collect his arrows once an all clear was called for people to safely do so, then Clark returned to the girl.
"I'm Clark, by the way," he added, since he was pretty sure he didn't know her from class, Quidditch, the library, or even the Aladren commonroom. Since he was wearing a t-shirt with the TARDIS on it instead of his robes and therefore lacking his House badge, and his excessive height might have made him look older than he was, he added, "Fourth year Aladren."
"Anyway," he continued, getting into to lesson properly, "You hold the bow like this with your left hand - you are right handed, right? - with your knuckles up and the bow parallel to the ground. Now, knock your arrow like this," he demonstrated how to rest the arrow on the bow and hook the notch at its end against the bowstring. "Oh, and make sure the guide fletching - the feather that is a different color - is facing up. That's important. Okay, now put your fingers like this around the arrow, but don't squeeze it. Just turn your bow upright and pull the string slowly back to your cheek. Aim, and let go." Clark demonstrated the draw and loosed the arrow as he'd been shown the year before. His arrow flew forward, thunking satisfyingly into his target, even if it was high and to the right by several inches.
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Clark Dill
"HOO!" is the appropriate follow-up, right?
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Sammy
July 12, 2015 2:40 AM
Yep, followed by eleven exclamation points. by Sammy
The most distinguishing feature Sammy noticed on this kid was that he was pretty tall. Or maybe she was short. Or both. Whatever. No matter which way you sliced it, he seemed like a giant, and she was rather proud of herself that she had even managed to reach his shoulder. (Of course, the second most distinguishing feature she noticed was that he had some pretty nifty blond hair. Sammy was evidently on a hair kick. So sue her.)“Yeah? Cool beans,” she grinned eagerly at his positive response. Sammy was glad this guy was being so cool to her, promising to help her learn the fundamentals and stuff. He didn’t have to do that, and she really appreciated the gesture. She only had to wait for him to retrieve his arrows from their newly dug holes in their target, which, despite the relatively minimal distance to travel and effort to extract, felt like the longest six seconds or so she had ever endured.
“I’m Clark, by the way. Fourth year Aladren.”
Although a bit surprised that he was only like two years older than her given the size differential, she didn’t let it spook her out and mess up her response. Being rude would just be… well, rude. “Sammy Meeks,” she returned happily. “Second year Pecari.” The year and House was a bit of an afterthought, but she figured since he gave his, it was only polite. “Also, side-note, cool shirt.”
But then it was all business as her grey eyes firmly planted themselves on Clark’s middle area, specifically his arms and the bow and arrow they contained and manipulated. Sammy watched him with more diligence than she managed three out of four times she went to class, she was so sucked into this whole archery business. It was just so cool! “Nice shot!” Sammy beamed immediately after he released the arrow (and without even actually checking its position on the target.) “Can I try now?”
Sammy lined up her knuckles like Clark said and knocked her arrow on the bow. She noticed a moment later though that the fletchy-feather-majigger was upside-down, so she had to un-knock the arrow and redo that part. “Nailed it,” she joked as she went on. As she pulled back on the string, her left eye closing instinctually for aim, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth like it would somehow make her focus better. And then all at once, bzew! The arrow was off, zipping through the air and sinking just into the edge of the target; another inch and it would have missed it entirely.
But for Sammy, that was victory. “Hey, I did it! Woohoo!” she celebrated. “Thanks, man! I feel so, like, hunter-gatherer! After years on the hunt, I hit the wild boar at last! My family eats tonight!” Realizing how quickly her scenario had verbally escalated, she grinned sheepishly at her awesome instructor. “Heh. I did the thing.”
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Sammy
Yep, followed by eleven exclamation points.
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Clark
July 22, 2015 10:03 AM
Eleven? I did not know that. *makes note* by Clark
Clark grinned at Sammy in pleased delight when she complimented his shirt. It was always a little surprising but also totally awesome when one of his muggle sci fi references or tributes was recognized and appreciated here at Sonora. There were times he wondered if the school was actually as pureblood heavy as it seemed to him or if he just had a negative bias or if his House and Year placement had merely caused him to mostly encounter an unrepresentative cross-section of the population. He wondered idly if he could conduct a survey to find out.But that was neither here nor there. Right now was for archery and showing Sammy Meeks how to do the basics. When she asked to try, he nodded and said, "Of course," but that seemed to be just happy coincidence since she was already knocking her bow. She realized her mistake with the guide feather before he could point it out and fixed it.
She loosed her arrow without giving him the opportunity to correct her form, but there hadn't been anything major wrong and the arrow thunked into the edge of the target. "Whoo!" he cheered for her, because hitting the target at all on the first try was something to be proud of.
He grinned at her excitement, too. Maybe it was just because he mostly knew other Aladrens, but he ran into even fewer genuinely happy people than he did non-purebloods. It was refreshing. "I hope your family really enjoys their straw target beast feast tonight," he joked back. "Do you have a good recipe?"
Turning back to the activity and instruction at hand, he continued more seriously, "Just one suggestion for your next shot and I'll let you figure out the rest on your own - that's half the fun of the sport, figuring out how to improve - but before you develop bad habits, try to remember to keep both eyes open. I know it seems counter-intuitive, and a lot of the guys in movies close one to sight down the shaft, but if you have both eyes open you can take advantage of depth perception and judge distances better. It takes a while to get used to though."
He took another shot at his target, moving slowly and taking particular care in his two-eyed aiming so she had time to see it being done, but not narrating his actions this time. The arrow flew across the short space to his target, thunking into the second ring to the left of the bulls eye this time. Not bad. Not bad at all.
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Clark
Eleven? I did not know that. *makes note*
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