Journey to be a Ranger

<Chapter Twelve>

Anna woke the next day, excited for a new day. It was a Saturday, so she quickly dressed in green and gray clothes and strapped the belt with the double-knife scabbard around her waist. She slipped her quiver over her shoulders and put her cloak on, making sure the arrows stuck out of a flap she had made in her cloak. Grabbing her bow, she went to the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and ran outside. Directly, she jogged steadily to the cabin. When she arrived, she went inside the cabin and set her bow down, coming back out to practice with her knives.

The principle is simple enough. You throw it so that it spins in the air just enough for the point to be facing the target when it reaches it. The further the target, the more times you spin it.

Anna remembered how Will had explained it to Maddie, and now she tried to learn it herself. Taking a deep breath, she unsheathed her smaller knife, facing the target.

She threw it so that it spun in the air, aiming for the center of the target. It whizzed above the target, missing it. Walking briskly over to the target, Anna retrieved the knife and tried again. She practiced it over and over until she was doing much better. Then she pretended she was facing an opponent, using her smaller and larger knife, alternatively slashing and thrusting at her imagined opponent. When she had finished with that, she retrieved her bow, shooting at the target. All of her shots embedded themselves in the center or close to it, and she smiled in satisfaction. Locking the cabin, she jogged back to Erak's paddock.

"Hey, Erak!" She called out cheerfully as the Arabian horse came into view. Erak trotted over. Anna opened the gate and grabbed Erak's riding equipment, placing it on him. She mounted, using a string to pull her bow up after her, and led the horse out of the paddock. She set him into a trot, headed back into the woods where she had set up targets. When they were in sight, Anna drew an arrow from the quiver. Nocking the arrow, she pulled back smoothly, aiming for the target. She released and the arrow whizzed away, thudding into the second ring of the target. Anna drew, nocked, and fired another arrow, and it smacked into the center ring. She fired another arrow, with the same results. She turned Erak around. Anna took all of the arrows except for one out of her quiver and stuck them into the base of a tree. She closed her eyes, imagining a perfect shot. The arrow whizzing away into the center of the target.

See it. Then do it.

Opening her eyes, Anna felt a surge of confidence. Backing Erak up a few paces, she urged him slowly into a gallop. Feeling strangely calm, Anna released Erak's reigns, holding on with her legs, and drew the arrow. She nocked it and pulled back, using her back muscles as well as her arm ones, and waited for a breath and a half, sighting on the target, and released. Anna held her bow in place for a moment after the shot, knowing that the arrow could be thrown off target if she moved the bow too quickly. The arrow thudded into the second ring. Anna yelled in excitement, lifting her arms in success. She slowed Erak from a gallop, and wheeled him around to retrieve the arrow. Dismounting, she tugged on the arrow, pulling it from the target. She stuck it back in her quiver, and walked over to the tree with the rest of her arrows, pulling them out and replacing them in her quiver.

She called Erak over and stroked his muzzle, "Looks like we have another part of routine."

Erak tossed his mane. Finally.

644 Words! Sorry it's kinda short. :)

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