Shift: NOT a Werewolf Story

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Trust Naught Your Eyes

I was writing this while the stupid pirates of the Carribian (or however you spell that) who I've come to love were killing each other over some supposedly youth-giving water or something. Please don't criticize the terrible composition of this chapter.

To Kiela's credit, she didn't show any signs of surprise. In all honesty, so many unlikely things had happened to her that she no longer felt it, either. After Lakra's announcement she just dragged her bow over and placed it in Lakra's hands.
"I see that you have used it since we last met." Lakra began. "Were you met with any success?"
Kiela shook her head. "Every time it use it my arrows never find their mark. It's like trying to throw water, you'll never hit anything."
"Well, that's why I'm here. Pather has requested me to teach you the use of he bow. So, let's see you shoot!" She gestured to a ring that had been carved in the bark of a tall aspen. The circles were incredibly neat, as if the wood had held the shapes for eternity. Kiela gestured at the bark.
"Is that your work?"she asked. Pather just grinned and tossed a thin knife in his right hand.
"Alright!" Lakra declared, clapping her hands together. "Let me see you string that bow!"

***

"No, no no." Lakra said, for the thirtieth time. "The index feather points out so that it isn't shorn off when you fire." She pointed at a feather that was a lighter grey than the rest. All day she had had Kiela memorizing care, maintenance and the parts on a bow, and teaching her the correct stance. Kiela had only fired three arrows all day, and they had gone way off course. Although Lakra and Pather were quite different, their teaching style was almost the same. Neither if them would allow their pupil to progress if they did not understand perfectly how to do something. This was the part that Kiela hated.

"Alright," Lakra said, calling for a break. "You may eat and we will take this moment to review the parts of a bow."

Kiela wolfed down her food while Lakra quizzed her.

"What is this called?" Lakra asked, gesturing to a leather nub on the gut string of the bow.

"It's the nocking point." Kiela replied.

"And what is it used for?"

"You nock the arrow below it. Ouch!"

Lakra lightly rapped her knuckles with one of the arrows. "You nock above this point. How many times must I remind you?" She asked, exasperated.

Kiela's ears smarted in shame, but Pather just laughed. Instead of leaving when Lakra was teaching, he had been lounging on a rock, eating. Kiela looked over to see him pulling a bird' s wing apart, joints snapping.
She winced.

"Again." Lakra commanded, and Kiela listed all of the parts she knew, pointing at their places on the bow.

Finally, Lakra raised her hand. "I think its time for you to try shooting."

Kiela's heart leapt, and she gathered her weapons eagerly.

Lakra scuffed a line in the dirt with her torn moccasins and she gestured for Kiela to stand behind it. Kiela drew back with one finger above and two fingers below the arrow, just as she had been taught. It rested just beneath her ear and her muscles quivered, trying to keep it in place.

"Keep your thumb together with your index finger." Lakra said quietly, and Kiela made the adjustment. She aimed, and released, the arrow flying through the air...

Thud. It landed two feet away from her, resting on the ground. Kiela sighed in defeat.

"Actually," Lakra said, breaking the silence. "That wasn't that bad. You must keep your arm in place to follow through or else it will steal all of your momentum."