cascade | kotlc

7. Gun Training

 She leaped onto a raised cliff that cut off in a perfect semicircle curve, its walls perfectly smooth rock. Vines and ivy crossed and overlapped, swarming the cliff with lush greenery. Flowers bloomed on the side of the cliff, splashing the grey tone with vibrant colors. June couldn't help but noticie the ground was very, very far away.

"Hello, Ms. Ruewen," Mr. Forkle said when he saw her.

"Just call me June, please. 'Ms. Ruewen' is too many syllables for me to handle. June just sounds better."

Mr. Forkle smiled. "Absolutely. Did you bring your gun?"

June nodded, fetching her gun out of her pocket.

He examined the pistol gravely, looking at it from all angles. "This is a very interesting weapon Mr. Dizznee has created," he noted. "It doesn't need to be reloaded, and there's just a trigger and a safety. Exceptional."

"Yeah. Dex... he's quite good at making weapons, I guess."

"It is a very unconventional technique he chose to employ here," Mr. Forkle commented. "If I am correct, this uses alchemy to produce metal which forms itself into bullet shape?"

"Yeah. I thought it was clever. How is it unconventional?"

"Perhaps that is not the best word," he said slowly. "Let's choose... innovative. As far as I am aware, no gun has been made that ever generated its own bullets -- though, truth be told, we elves do not make guns. We choose melders."

He unstrapped his own melder, examining the silver weapon and its sleek handle. "I have no doubt a gun will easily be able to overpower a melder -- after all, melders cannot kill. But that brings us to our first point.

"I offered you a serum a while ago that allows you to not feel guilt. You took it, because you needed to defend your sister."

"If you want me to regret my decision, I will not."

"No. My point is... you must be very careful while using a gun. In particular, you need to know where to aim."

He sighed and paced around the cliff, standing dangerously close to the edge. "There are specific times where you want to kill, and times where you want to disarm or disable. You cannot kill because your impulse feels like it."

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. "If someone's holding my sister hostage, I'm shooting them in the heart."

"That's not how it works, June," Mr. Forkle said, sighing as he squatted down, squinting over the edge. "Well, sure. There are specific instances to kill. But tell me this: if the Council is threatening your sister -- do you shoot? And where do you shoot?"

June stayed quiet. "I don't know."

"Exactly. And that is what we must discover."
He paced over to the other edge.

"There are many laws and restrictions humans set in place to prevent abuse of guns. Most importantly, self defense laws and stand your ground."

"So what does that mean?"

"I will put three restrictions on how you use that gun, June. Be incredibly aware. A single mistake could cost someone's life. Do you understand?"

June deactivated the safety and shot at a fruit dangling over them. Her aim was perfect. The bullet cut through the small tendril of vine hanging onto the large, red fruit, and the tomato fell down into June's hands.

"I understand."
Mr Forkle picked the fruit from her hand, slowly turning it over. "Number one. The safety must be engaged at all times, except when the gun is in direct use."