EarthDawn: A Brave New World - ED [Misthal]

[Misthal Thorn]

At about this hour, while others might be doing their particular thing, Misthal was sitting before a archery range that he had chosen and set up himself, carefully carving yet another arrow for his quiver, as he judged the different distances. His bow was unstrung before him, waiting for him to prepare it, and test his capabilities once more.

His quiver sat beside the bow, and each arrow within he knew, by feel and touch as he knew his own name, they called to him, even now... As he reached out momentarily to touch the quiver, he felt them, like little birds waiting and wanting to fly, but not quite able.

Carefully using his carving knife he carved the last few sperethiel letters he desired into the shaft of this arrow, even as he finished applying the glue to the feathers, and carefully set it aside to dry. Up until this point, there wasn't really anything much to see, other then him working and designing his arrow artistically. Now, however, as he stood up and strung his bow, strapping on the quiver, was something about to be worth seeing.

Drawing the first arrow from his quiver, he set it into the bow, even as he felt the eagerness of each arrow.. and suddenly he let loose, quickly as possible, arrow after arrow went into the dozen targets he'd set up.

[Stargaizer]

The arrows were loosed, each one hungrily eating up the distance between them and the target. They buried themselves into the targets like a long lost lover's embrace. Mishtal could hear each one whistle in flight, and could actually tell each arrow by its' slightly different sound. The satisfying thunk of arrow hitting target followed each whistle.

After the rush of emptying his quiver as quickly as possible, Misthal took a deep cleansing breath. Dark temptations lingered in each thrum, whistle and thunk of his discipline; and each archer had to find his own way of coping. Each arrow had hit a target, and while most were clustered around the center, some were in the middle ring, and at least one was just barely clinging to the edge. It was while he was surveying his results when his nose caught a faint whiff of a pleasant floral scent. There weren't many in the kaer with the influence or ability to wear perfume or use scented soap, but Vera Kea was one of the few.

He hadn't heard her approach, but her quiet clapping helped him find her quickly. He turned, and she was approaching him from what had been behind him just moments before. Even though she was a human, she had a very elven form; long and lithe. She was wearing the archer's favorite wardrobe, pants and a long sleeved shirt that were both tight enough to stay out of the way, but loose enough to allow freedom of movement. And, as another sign of her status here, her clothes were all leather. By all appearances (except her full brown leather outfit) she was smooth as silk, and though Misthal knew different, her voice did nothing to dispel the image she was projecting.

"You did well guiding them to their targets. You still need some practice, but you are doing well. Practice is good and The Way of the Archer is a way of life, but that doesn't mean that still doesn't mean that you have to live here at the ATF. Go, have fun, learn the ways in which our Way interacts with others. You'll be back here soon enough."

[Misthal Thorn]

As Vera spoke up, he turned around, and took a moment to take her in, she was worth a look or two, as beautiful as she was. Of course, she was his teacher in the Archer's Way, something that had been distracting at first, but he knew he wasn't the only student who found his teacher attractive, as long as name-giver's lived and taught one another, that would be true.

He appreciated that she was his teacher in the Archer's Way, she was a very good teacher. She was also older then him by a few years, but not by much, though as a human, he would outlive her by centuries, assuming something else didn't kill him first.

He unstrung his bow, and went to the targets and began to pull the arrows out putting them back into his quiver as he did. "Perhaps, but I needed to feel the hum of bow and arrow today, to clear my thoughts, so I came here for a bit of practice."

He inclined his head to one side, quizzically as he observed her. "Shouldn't the same be said of you, honored teacher or did you decide to watch over the school today?"

[Stargaizer]

Vera smiled an easy smile and nodded slightly. "The way of the master is different from the way of the student. If you continue as you have with your studies, one day you will learn of that." She gave a slight chuckle.

"Here, let me help you put these away and then you can go home, or to wherever it is elf kids are hanging out these days. Deal?"

She was already moving toward the nearest target before he had a chance to answer, but she was still wanting to hear it.

[Misthal Thorn]

He nodded at her statement about helping him, as he pulled out the arrows she didn't, and all of them returned to his quiver. "Not really a kid anymore, Vera, but I suppose I should go home, or at least drop in on the central square of the Kaer." He paused a moment, to check the rest of his gear, before he prepared to head out.

[Stargaizer]

Vera gave him a smile and a wave as he left the school headed home. His feet knew the way, so there was little need for him to pay more attention than was needed to keep from running into anybody while he walked home. So he let his thoughts wander.

That is, until his ears picked up some guy muttering about 'stupid windlings' and how they were given more freedom than 'those flying insects' deserved. When he spotted the source of the complaining, he noticed a pair of humans whose fronts were covered from head to toe in red... paint?

There was a trail behind them that lead back down the side of the street that they were trying to walk unobtrusively down all the way to an alley that was similarly coated in red.

Misthal's elven archer eyes keenly spotted a windling hovering above one of the buildings and staring down into the alleyway.

Continued here