[center][b]Summary:[/b] Carmen finally shoots her arrow. Everyone is surprised. Seven keeps annoying Annie. Not a lot of people are surprised. Crash is a klutz. Nobody is surprised. People keep conversing. [i][u]Really[/u][/i] nobody is surprised.[/center] [i][u] - Mercy - [/i][/u] Mercy smiled at Ara and nodded at her. “Great! Grab some kit and get stuck in” She encouraged noticing that Carmen had already set herself up for her first shot, she moved over towards the other woman. “Careful...” She murmured. “Stand side on, feet shoulder length apart stand upright...release the tension from your body” She instructed more for the others to hear as Carmen seemed to already know what she was doing. “Point the bow towards the ground and place the shaft of the arrow on the arrow rest. Attach the back of the arrow to the bow string with the nock––the small plastic component with a groove for this purpose” Mercy continued looking at the other students, because Carmen had already prepared herself to shoot it was easy enough for the others to look at what she had done. “Use three fingers to lightly hold the arrow on the string. Most commonly, the index finger is held above the arrow and the middle and ring fingers below. This is called the Mediterranean draw or "split finger" style” Mercy demonstrated the hold on her own bow as well. “Hold your bow arm outwards toward the target. Your inner elbow should be parallel to the ground and the bow should always stay vertical. You should be able to look straight down the spine of the arrow” Mercy instructed pointing at the way Carmen was holding her bow. “Draw the string hand towards your face carefully! And find an anchor point somewhere around your chin, cheek, ear or the corner of the mouth. This will be your reference point, it must remain consistent from shot to shot” She explained. “Take care not to relax too much or to keep pulling back once you reach the anchor point, or you risk ill-targeted shots or losing power” She added as an extra. “Next take aim at the target, you want to focus on the centre of the target erase everything else from your mind except for that target” She told them. “And when you’re ready, Release the arrow by relaxing the fingers of your string hand. But remember this! Once the arrow has left your bow and is heading for its target, move your draw hand back and finish the shoulder rotation” She explained. “Keep your bow hand steady until the arrow hits its target and watch your arrow fly” She grinned. “Give it a go and don’t worry if it doesn’t go right the first time practice is key” She smiled encouragingly. Though at around that time she felt something wet collide with the side of her head, causing her to squeak in surprise and hop to the side, she lifted her hand to her face, she wasn't drenched but neither was she lightly splashed instead the orb had been somewhere in between. Holding her bow in her other hand she wiped the water from her face and pushed her hair back behind her ear ignoring the cool water soaking into her shoulder she looked in the direction the orb had come from raising her eyebrows at Lily. "What was that for?" She called to the other woman, grinning despite herself. "Magic using is cheating" She poked her tongue out childishly at Lily looking around for a way to pay the angel back whilst keeping an eye on the students shooting. [i][u] - Margaret Clementine - [/i][/u] [i]Loading database.[/i] ... ... [i]C://Drive loaded. Initiating Life-Support systems. Overload Mode initiated. Analyzing D://Drive. D://Drive loaded. Bringing in files from C://Drive... C://Drive files loaded. Initiating power system.[/i] An orange-haired girl opened her eyes, finding herself laying still within an opened cryotube. She stared at the light that mercilessly shone down on her eyes, only to realize that she was unable to see any light. The girl wondered if she had yet to open her eyes. She had opened her eyes. Darkness enveloped her. Something felt off. Something was wrong. The orange-haired girl attempted to move her body, but it refused to move. She even tried to lift her finger. Thankfully, and surprisingly, it slowly moved like an inchworm. Relief. Relief. She felt relief. The girl promised herself to remember what she just felt. The girl lifted her body slowly- and gently- out of the tube. She felt strange. Strange. She felt strange. The girl promised herself to remember what she just felt. Slowly, and strangely, the girl crawled out of the tube. She fell on her head and felt pain. Pain. Something she felt familiar with. It was a welcoming sensation, yet she lacked the proper emotions to experience the joy of feeling pain. She squirmed on the floor, unable to think about what to do in order to get back on her feet. [i]Initiating Movement Support Systems.[/i] The girl barely managed to get on her fours. She slowly rose, apparently growing taller...- She realized she just stood up. The girl, wondering about what she felt about her situation, stood still. Nothing was in her sights. A pitch-black bucket covered by a lid... that was where she was. Black. She felt afraid of it. Fear. She promised herself to remember fear. The girl walked. She walked up to darkness, only to bump into something. She waved her hands around her as if she were blind, though she technically was right at the moment. The girl spent thirty minutes inside the room she was inside, attempting to find an exit out of the cramped place. Her body moved slowly, so she had to proceed with caution. She promised herself to remember caution. The girl caught something. It felt like a handle. So she pulled it. The girl blindly walked out of a storage room within the Range Dojo. She managed to completely walk past Nikola T. Lovelock, who fell asleep on the desk he was at due to the fact that no one really went to him. Not that the teacher even cared. The girl saw two blips of red, though she decided to ignore them. The girl walked and walked... before falling on her head again. The orange-haired girl decided to stay still for awhile. [u][i] - Seven - [/u][/i] Seven titled his head as he heard the teacher wanting to punch her...weird... He turned back human, being naked as usual. He then stood in front of Annie and yawned. "Really? That's weird hhhmm.... okay but whatever I can't really use my powers to punch you though I can't fight!" Seven joked around and yawned again he then punched Annie lightly well very lightly as he wasn't really feeling up to punching hard. [u][i] - Annie - [/i][/u] She rolled her eyes and grabbed his fight with her hand, unfazed by his now nakedness. She pulled on his wrist and sent him vaulting over her. [b]"Rule number one. Punch like you mean it, every time."[/b] She barked, her glare harsh and unforgiving. [u][i] - Alex - [/u][/i] [hider=New Appearance][img=http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/43/5b/d8/435bd81a7fe42aa6913e90b544653a5c.jpg][/hider] He sat in a corner of the magic dojo, staring down at the floor, a rather bored pixie, which never led to anything good. He took in a deep breath and let it out, looking up around the dojo. There were a few people around but then again, maybe he was just imagining it. Maybe this woman wouldn't teach him at all. He made a small horse sound in frustration and then stood up. Doing magic in here wasn't going to help him much anyway. He needed the wildlife. With that, he turned and left without a word. He turned his heel outside and entered the forest, walking among the plants and local wildlife. Using a small amount of energy, he pulled a few leaves from the branches and made a small necklace out of them. [i]Yeah, this'll be useful in a fight.[/i] He shook his head and ripped the necklace apart. His expression turned more... stern as he became more focused. He pulled down a wall of leaves and attempted to throw them at dangerous speeds. It didn't quite go as he planned, instead the leaves just sort of... flew up into the air and then floated back down. He threw his hands down in frustration, causing a torrent of leaves to fly around him. i][u] - Kathy - [/i][/u] "What?!" Kathy couldn't hide her surprise and disbelief at what Carmen told her. She looked at Ara, then Carmen, and repeated the cycle a few times. "You're kidding... Right?" There were certainly similarities between the boy that had teased them back in the bar and the girl before her now, especially when she grinned with a mischievous look in her eyes, but accepting they were the same person was an entirely different matter. But at the same time... It was so unbelievable that it seemed rather strange for Carmen to be attempting to pull the wool over her eyes with such a tale. [i]'Oh dear... This is getting confusing.'[/i] Her mind was basically going in circles, wondering if it made more sense to believe Carmen or not. For the moment she decided to keep an eye on things and see how they went, settling on a very neutral and grey-zone of thought where she neither denied or accepted Ara's identity. "And at least you know the theory. I doubt my knowledge from the theatrics of Hollywood would be helpful at all." She added, smiling at Carmen. Kathy smiled, enjoying the jest quite a bit. "Oh, you never know. Being able to get health from knocking into crates might be pretty useful for you." Grouping with everyone else around the targets again, she let out another small laugh when she felt a poke to her side. "Hey!" Looking at Crash she told him, "You're supposed to show people that you can handle a real arrow, not the potential dangers of letting you have one." For good measure, she also made a poke at his side with her gloved hand, not using her arrow because even the non-pointed end seemed like it would be painful if she jabbed too hard by accident. Listening carefully to Mercy's explanation she watched the instructor and Carmen carefully while noting how she was supposed to take aim. Carefully grasping the bow and a single arrow in her hand, she copied was doing... Then stopped for a moment in the middle of drawing back the string. [i]'... It's more resistant than I thought.'[/i] Taking in a small breath, she slowly relaxed the string once more before she drew it back again, keeping her arms steady despite the foreign strain. She wanted to actually draw back further towards her ear as the anchor, but decided to settle for the corner of her mouth since she didn't quite trust herself to be able to hold too much more additional strain from the string yet. Focusing on her breathing, she stared at the target in front of her. In and out. In and out. She stopped her breathing for a second after breathing out, then released the arrow in the next. Kathy followed through with the motion and watched the arrow sink in just milimetres left of the target. "Ah..." She was a little disappointed, even if she knew it wouldn't have been that easy. She looked around to see how her friends were doing, only to see something that looked like a suspended bubble of water start flying towards Carmen. [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][/u] Carmen looked over to see Garden next to her, looking quite lost and confused. "Well, I...I don't actually know how to explain it, really. I learned from books," she replied. "You'd have the best luck asking Mercy to tutor you. It is what she's here for after all! ...You're welcome to stand next to me and watch, if you'd like. That's the only way I know how to teach." As if on cue, as Carmen prepared to fire, Mercy began explaining it to the rest of the group. Noticing that she was being effectively used as a demonstration, Carmen felt like she was getting away with something...and also pressure. Although she knew how to shoot and was about to, she didn't know any of the terms Mercy was using as applied to what she was doing. She had just copied what she had read, and it was natural enough for her. So, she just kept quiet and assumed that since Mercy wasn't telling her she was doing anything wrong, she was somehow doing it all completely right. [i]Well, good to know that I learned it correctly,[/i] she thought. She had never been totally confident in learning...well, everything...from books and other media, but it seemed the archery books had served her well. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember why exactly she went to the trouble of learning how to use a bow and arrow, but was glad she did. "Well, we'll see how the theory translates to practice," she replied to Kathy, ready to test it for herself. Concentrating back at the task at hand, she was about to fire her first shot when she was suddenly hit square in the ribs with an abnormally large amount of cold water. Whipping around on her heels to see and apprehend whoever threw it, she instantly didn't care when she saw it was Lily. For some reason, seeing Lily always put her in a better mood...not that she wasn't in a great mood already. "LILY!" she called out, smiling. "Want to shoot with me?" she asked brightly, as if the drenching as nothing more than a greeting. Normally she would be upset at being soaked, but it had only soaked her dress, which was a beach dress and thus meant to get wet anyway. "Come on, it'll be fun!" she encouraged Lily. She really wanted to spend a little more time with her than a few seconds before having to run off and demolish crossdressing guys with a foam cannon. [u][i] - Lily - [/i][/u] She smiled at Carmen's reaction and giggled at Mercy's. Even if the angel didn't remember her, at least she still had a sense of humor. Lily ran over to Carmen and grinned widely. [b]"Of course I do. That's what I'm here for. Though, I do wish I could use my powers. As useful as a bow and arrow are to me, they won't always be readily available."[/b] She said, turning to Mercy. Lily saw both forms of projectiles as important but even she knew her gun wouldn't always be a reliable weapon 100% of the time. Then again, neither would her powers. [b]"Well, wither way, I need training for both."[/b] She finished, smiling warmly over at Mercy. She turned to Carmen and grinned. [b]"Now, I've only ever shot a bow and arrow once or twice and it was for fun so, we'll see how this goes. She picked up and bow and one arrow and nocked the arrow pointed down. She pulled the arrow back, her stand just a bit off and let it go swiftly. It plummeted straight into the ground, as one would expect. [b]"Yep... Just because I've done it before doesn't make me great at it."[/b] She said chuckling. [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][/u] Carmen smiled back at Lily as she ran over to her. "Well, perhaps we can try out the magic dojo after this?" she suggested. "Then you'd be able to work on your powers. I'd like to do the same myself," she put in. "Perhaps you can teach me how to use a gun?" Watching Lily's first shot, she grinned. "Hey, you have more experience than I do. I just know the theory," she said, bringing her bow back up to where she had it before. "Now...let's see how much theory can help me," she said. After an annoyingly long time aiming and getting everything [i]Just So[/i], she let the arrow fly. When it hit one of the target's outer rings, her eyes went wide in disbelief. "I hit it?!" looking at Lily, as if desperate for an explanation other than that it was her doing. "Beginner's luck, surely?" [i][u] - Crash - [/i][/u] Crash raised his eyebrow at her amusement dancing across his face. “Are you sure? If I do that I run the risk of getting ‘Crash hurt’” He pointed out to her. “And lots of splinters” He added with a smile which swiftly turned into a grin as she laughed at the poke, he rolled his eyes playfully as she told him off in a way. He sighed recoiling away from her poke [i]Really shouldn’t start these things you’ll always lose[/i] He grinned at her. “Yeah you’re right...” He agreed moving over to his target he turned side on following Mercy’s instructions but as he lifted the bow his gaze slid to Kathy watching her take her first shot, a soft smile on his face at the concentration evident in her expression. He pulled his bowstring taut and held it up to his face, using his cheekbone as his focus point, however he wasn’t really focusing his eyes slid back to Kathy watching as she fired her first arrow which was only slightly short of the target. “Crash!” At that moment someone shouted in his other ear causing him to jump so violently he jolted backwards his bow lurching up as he released the arrow into the sky, grimacing at it shot up into the glare of the sun. “Ah...shizzwizz” He murmured, moving away from where he was stood looking skyward as he waited for the inevitable pull of gravity. “Heads!” He warned the others, squinting towards the sky though he couldn’t see anyt- TWANG! – Crash jolted backwards catching his heel with his other foot he ended up falling back onto his back with a soft thump and a drawn out groan. Unsurprisingly the wayward sucker dart was now stuck to the center of his forehead...he huffed in annoyance. “That was really uncalled for Koop...” Crash muttered, staying where he fell, momentarily sulking at being caught out... -Margaret- Margaret squirmed. She quietly squirmed and squirmed, slowly leaving the Range Dojo. The girl did not seem to mind moving out like an earthworm staring at people practicing archery. She could see several blips of red floating in the air. Margaret decided to observe the red colors floating within her dark vision. The girl slowly picked herself up, though she felt something heavy weighing down her head. After taking her time to stand, the orange-haired girl took a step toward the lights. She slowly approached the strange light, walking as if she would tip over at any second, her expression completely devoid of creative faces. She did not seem to know that she herself had color. The recently released woman approached one of the lights (Matt), softly raising her arms. She seemed to want to touch the red color, for she walked toward the color like a zombie. If nothing interrupts her, she would simply rub the reddish color out of curiosity. [u][i] – Garden – [/u][/i] Garden gave an awkward smile and just continued inspecting the bow. “Oh okay Thank you for answering Lady Carmen.” She curtsied to her then stood near her, inspecting how she does it. Then Lady Carmen was suddenly drenched with cold water; she turned around to see another woman who by the name of Lily that Lady Carmen said she didn’t want to bother their conversation so she walked away a bit and continue to look at the bow. “This is just so…interesting… I wish I could build something out of it…” She said as she sat on the ground and clearly inspecting it. She stood back up and looked at Lady Mercy and then asked. “I am really sorry Lady Mercy but I don’t follow about this bow and arrow…” She said as she scratched her head in embarrassment. [u][i] – Seven – [/u][/i] Seven then was vaulted over the girl as she was fell on the ground landing on his feet perfectly. “Really? But I don’t have anything against you! You are quite interesting for me to really punch unless you get on my nerves but really…that’s impossible…” He gave a sly smirk and licked his paw. Seven then ran towards Annie with all his might just to test things out…for fun and punched her. [u][i] - Lily - [/u][/i] Her face dropped for a few seconds before quickly pulling back into a smile. [b]"Of course. I'd love to teach you how to shoot."[/b] She told Carmen and then turned to watch the girl shoot. She was... much better than Lily, at least in theory. She looked like she was a 'by the book' sort of person which Lily never was and never will be. She always figured it out the hard way. She'd been tricked by a book once, she wouldn't again. She had to figure things out on her own like always. She felt the hard steel of her pistol on her back, hidden to the eyes of others and her mind went back to her times spent as a human. It wasn't exactly her brightest moment though... She smiled. She did do more good things than bad, right? She'd saved enough people to make up for her mistakes, right? She shook her head slowly and smiled over at Carmen. Slowly she lifted her bow and grabbed another arrow. she nocked it and pulled it back, pointing it down. Her eyes came her as she glared at the target. With determination, she quickly lifted her bow and let go. The arrow wizzed in the air, hurling itself at the target. It hit the second ring from the outside. She smiled to herself and then turned to look at Carmen. [b]"I prefer going with my gut most of the time."[/b] She explained, giggling to herself. [u][i] - Annie - [/u][/i] She smiled as Seven came after her. Much better. Still.. bad but much better. She wanted to test his strength so she stood still and let the boy punch her steeling herself for the impact. [i][u] - Matt - [/u][/i] Matt waved as the group except Lily left to a different part of the archery court. Watching what Lily did, he put the arm strap on his left arm, picked up the bow (even though he had it upside down), knocked the arrow, and aimed at the target. As he pulled the arrow back, he was suddenly drenched in water from head to toe. He turned to see a laughing Lily, enjoying his misfortune. Before he could do anything about it, Carmen shot up, just as drenched as he was, and began chatting with her. [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][/u] Carmen stood and watched Lily's second shot, smiling when the arrow hit the target. "Looks like you don't need the book like I do," she said. "If you improved that much in one shot, I bet you'll hit the bullseye on the next one," she guessed. She was thoroughly enjoying herself and readied her second shot. Pulling the arrow back and spending approximately two minutes less time than before to aim, she let the arrow fly and it hit one of the middle rings. "Well, it's an improvement!" she said, moderately pleased with herself. Thinking, she added, "I wonder what different bows feel like. Maybe I'll try another one sometime," looking over all the different bows around her (Lily and Kathy's, specifically). [i][u] - Lily - [/u][/i] [b]"Here. Try mine."[/b] Lily told Carmen, smiling as she handed over her bow. She didn't feel much like continuing anymore anyway. She turned to look at a drenched Matt and giggled again. [b]"A bit wet, are we?"[/b] She jeered, smiling widely. [i][u] - Matt - [/i][/u] "Er... Somewhat?" Matt asked, not knowing if he should laugh or glare at Lily. So instead, he just stood there, a tad shocked. [i][u] - Lily - [/u][/i] She chuckled a bit and then turned to watch Carmen should she decide to shoot. [b]"Well... What are you waiting for? The target's not going to hit itself."[/b] She teased Carmen, sticking out her tongue. [u][i] - Seven - [/u][/i] Seven step back and did a hand stand then he did a flip. He then tilted his head and gave out a loud meow. “Want me to continue? Cause I don’t see any point on doing this…” He licked his paw hand and smiled. [u][i] - Annie - [/u][/i] [b]"If you see no point, then there is no point. Feel free to leave."[/b] She spoke softly, suddenly very tired. She walked over to her seat and sat down, her legs crossed. [u][i] - Seven - [/u][/i] Seven yawned again but he walked closer to Annie and turned back to his bakeneko form. “But I told you I am interested in you! If you want to get rid of me then try because I am going to hang out with you for a while now” Seven said as he curled up into a ball and yawned again. [u][i] - Annie - [/u][/i] She stole a peek at the cat now curled up near her and sighed. [b]"What might hanging out with me entail?"[/b] She asked curiously. She'd all but given up trying to get rid of him for now. So much for a calm relaxing day. [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][/u] Carmen raised one eyebrow when Lily offered her her bow that quickly. Taking it from Lily's hands and putting her own down next to her, she said "oh, well thank you! You can try mine if you'd like." Looking over the altogether different bow, she didn't really know how she would calibrate herself to it. It seemed she pondered for an abnormally long time as Lily poked fun at how much time she was taking. "Oh alright, if you insist," she responded playfully, with a grin on her face. Putting an arrow in the unfamiliar bow, she drew it back and aimed at the target. She aimed dead center, to see how the bow would shoot in her hands. The arrow was released and, predictably, it arrived below the bullseye on one of the outer rings, but pretty centered. Carmen couldn't decide which bow she liked more, and turned back to Lily. "Well, this complicates things," she said with a chuckle. Since she was at a loss for what to do considering Lily no longer had a bow in her hands, she decided to ask. "So...what would you like to do? I'm happy with anything." [u][i] - Seven - [/u][/i] Seven looked away at the distance, yawning and licking his fur. “I don’t know you just… it just is! The world is such a wonder there are many things to be interested in!” He smiled but then licked his paw. “Even though it hurts you or just plain kills you… there are so many thing just to be interested in…” His voice went dark for a quick second then Seven licked his paw again. [u][i] - Kathy - [/i][/u] Kathy's concentration was quite admirable when she fired the first arrow. She didn't really get a second attempt in because her attention was swayed by the two different things occuring on either side of her. First, there was Carmen that had suddenly become soaked in the middle of ranged practice. Where the water had come from was beyond her, but judging from Carmen's outburst it had apparently been a part of Lily's ability. Before she could ask if Carmen was alright, a second distraction suddenly came from her other side and by the time she turned back around from it, the musician had gone to join her other friend. The second distraction 'surprisingly' (lol) came from Crash. Upon hearing 'heads', she immediately looked up to see if anything would come flying at her. Luckily for her, Kathy needn't have worried in the least. The flying projectile had returned back to the one that launched it and landed right into the middle of his forehead. She couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Good shot." Inwardly she also thought, [i]'Though the decision not to give Crash real arrows is getting to be an increasingly smart decision with each passing second.'[/i] Relaxing her bow by her side, she walked over to him and pulled the sucker dart off of him. "In a sense, it's quite an amazing feat to shoot yourself in the head with an arrow." She commented, smiling down at Crash.