Family Trade

Bailey smiled down at her children before turning to Shuramine. She gave Amaya a hug and then kneeled down to be level with him. "Shuramine, I understand that the bow doesn't call to you as it did for me and your sister. You are much like you father in that way. However, I can not teach someone a skill that I do not possess on my own. When you are a bit older, I will send you to a sensi for swordship training. Until then, I can only teach you what your father attempted to teach me." Bailey spoke as she picked up her own bow. "You see, your weapon isn't just a piece of metal or wood that you use. It is a part of you. You can do many things with your weapon if you trust it and take care of it."

Bailey walked into the house for a moment, dug through the cabinet in her desk, sealed it back up before coming back out to the yard. A single samurai sword in her hands as she walked across to Shuramine. "This is a family treasure from your father's side. It has been passed down through many years and it saved both his life and mine many times. One day, son, you will weild this as he did, however, today is not that day just yet. Be patient and your time will come." With that, Bailey pointed down to his bow. Each bow was engraved with a different saying. Shuramine's was in a silver lettering. Bravery is being the only one who knows your afraid.

"Woah..." Amaya said as Bailey brought the sword out. It was an impressive sword. The scabbard had beautiful, intricate designs, and the hilt of the blade looked no less magnificent. Even with the many years of age, it looked amazing. The grip on the hilt looked brand new, and it looked as though it would definitely give the user a good grip. Yet Amaya felt no desire to use a sword. With the bow she held, it was as if the weapon were calling out to her, that the bow should be the weapon she was meant to use. But seeing the sword, she didn't feel the same, although she did wonder what the blade looked like. It was pretty amazing.

"I understand." Shuramine said, ushering a small nod.

Bailey smiled and nodded as she slide the sword back into it's sheath and set it down. "So, for right now, we start with the bows." She said as she walked over to the line in the grass and waved them to her. "The bow, like the sword, acts with you. Let it become an extension of yourself, a part of your arm as much as the arrow is part of your hand. This may be difficult so do not worry if you have trouble. The bow will move as you move, swaying up and down as you breath or turn with you as you spin to avoid an attack. Your upper body should be stiff, but not to the point that you look like a stone statue." She moved the children, starting with Shuramine, into a archer's stance. "Now, we aren't going to be shooting just yet. First we want to work on posture and movements. Then we'll work on your aim. "

Amaya only half listened to what her mother was saying. Instead, she was staring down at the bow, running her hands along it's smooth surface. She snapped out of her trance as Bailey helped her get into a specific stance. She stood still, holding the bow with her left hand, and lightly twanging the string with her right. She was turned sideways to the target, so that her left shoulder pointed right at it. She looked down at the arrows on the ground. She wanted so badly to try to shoot one, just to see if she could hit the target. Getting a bulls eye didn't matter, she just wanted to be able to hit it.

By the time his mother had gotten Amaya prepared, Shuramine had already picked up an arrow and shot it, not hitting the center, but still hitting onto the target. "Hah. Too easy." He said, grinning, then looking to his sister to see how close she would get.

Bailey heard the all to familiar thud of the arrow sinking into its target and turned to look at her son. With a sigh, she just shook her head. "Shuramine, I said posture first, shooting second." She said, her eyes closed with a bit of frustration. This is why you never wanted to be a teacher, Bailey. Remember? She thought as she looked over at the target. "As glad as I am to see you are in fact able to hit the target from this distance, I wish you would listen to me just a bit more." She looked back at Amaya, who seemed anxious to shoot as well. "Oh, fine. Go ahead and have a shooting match. Why not."

Happy that her mother was going to let her shoot, she picked up an arrow and knocked it, making sure that the feather faced away from the bow. She held the string with her right pointer finger above, and her middle and ring finger below the arrow. She attempted to pull back, but found it difficult at first. She pulled back and gently relaxed the string a few times to get a hang of the draw strength, then brought the bow up to eye level. She pulled the string back so the back of the arrow touched her right cheek. She closed her right eye and stuck her tongue out in concentration. She focused on the bulls eye of the target, felt the slight breeze and adjusted her aim accordingly, and fired.

(Loo told me to sort out where she hit. Just confirming.)

Shuramine started to grin as his sister's arrow hit farther than his. "You got farther away from the bullseye than me!" He cheered, a wide smile on his face. "I believe my posture is fine, mother." He told Bailey.

Bailey sighed at both her children before looking at the arrows closer. Yes, they had both hit the targets, which was great, but Shuramine's didn't have the same power behind it that Amaya's did while it had more accuracy than hers. Looking at both targets, Bailey couldn't help but remind herself that they may be twins but were still both very different. "I don't know. Your posture would improve your power as well. Make for a deadlier hit. Amaya's posture could use some work as well, but she's going to get there. For right now, I'm just glad that you two could even hit the target." Bailey told them with a smile. "Now, come give me a hug before you go wash up for dinner. It's almost bed time."