1379/Learning the Long Bow

Learning the Long Bow
Date of Scene:	03 April 2024
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Rei starts teaching Bow how to use the yumi and discuss their worlds, parents and paralells.
Cast of Characters:	Bow, Rei Hino

---

Bow has posed:
After some texting back and forth, Bow asked Rei to meet him on campus for some lessons on using the Kyudo bow, because the blasted thing was confounding to him. Meeting Rei at the entrance to the school, he gave her a brief tour, explaining that school was out for the semester, would be in session in a couple of weeks again - so she has time to sign up still - and that Prom started in a couple of days.

Finally arriving at the archery fields in the Sports Pavilion, he grins. "They're really fancy. Nothing like what was back home - which was usually just an empty field." he admits, rubbing at the back of his head. "So I usually use a short composite bow. It's compact, quick and easy to draw and fire and I'm deadly accurate with it - but the bows they want me to use here just seem so... ungangly. It's like... I play the violin, but also learning to play the lute type thing."

Who plays the lute anymore? This guy.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "taking up multiple instruments must mean you've got quite the brain." Rei had given a smile, and had agreed to a tour of the school she decided she'd be joining. Her father had agreed that it was fancy *enough* after Rei had pointed out that it had a high degree of foreign students and some quite fabulously popular children also attended. She was walking along with Bow, looking prim and proper in a skirt and nice blouse and jacket to give a good appearance. Her hair was tied back with its red bow -- she had Miko duties later, she had explained.

    "And it's true, yumi are typically much longer than most Western-style... or I suppose other types of short or long bows." Rei gives a grin over to Bow.

Bow has posed:
"Or, I'm just scatter-brained enough to make it work." Bow offers cheerfully, not exactly a put down on himself, it's just how he parses it all. "I'm glad your father agreed to let you attend. I'm sure Minako is estatic." That said in a light tease, but no push on it. But they turn their attention to the lesson, as he gets out his smaller bow that he uses. It's finely made, with it's horse-head carved handles, hand-wrapped leather - it's clear that he takes very good care of the weapon and keeps it in near pristine condition. Offering it to her if she wants to check it out, Bow considers.

"...yeah. The whole shift in the center of gravity is what throws me. It's like, when I used that, I want to be right between the handles if I want to go straight. The yumi is like... lower? I think?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    "I haven't told her yet." Rei admits quietly, and she gives a soft huff of her breath, and accepts the finely made bow. She handles it very carefully, looking over its form, the horses, the leather -- could be something from offworld, she realizes, and she gives a smile, and she offers it back to Bow.

    "Yeah, the hold is far lower down. There's a slightly different method to its use." she replies, and she picks up one of the school's bows.

    she puts the tip of it against her foot, and bends it to string it taught.

    "I would also kind of figure you're... preeetty busy considering the clubs you're already part of. Why pick up archery club?"

Bow has posed:
Accepting the bow back, Bow slips it back into place, which is henshin space, really. Watching Rei as she sets up, Bow considers her question as he takes a yumi of his own in order to shadow her. There's a thoughtful hrm.

"Well, the thing is, Rei, I... I was always busy back home. There was always something going on. And I'm only in the band outside of the archery."

"I suppose I want to learn - I don't know how long I'll be on this world. Or what I may need to learn. So, this is part of me trying to integrate a little." he admits to her. "And if this is what I have to use to be part of something I love, I will."

"I mean, it's like asking why you're changing to the Academy from the school that you're currently in, I think? You want to be... part of something, right? Sense of belonging? I guess... that's more me." he admits with a laugh.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Or *maybe* I'm tired of nuns." Rei answers stoicly. "Change happens regardless of us wanting it or not." she sets some arrows at the side, and looks over to Bow.

    "You didn't pick coming to this world, I bet. But you're here. I didn't choose to go to the school I do. That was my father's choice." she states. She pulls an arrow, nocks it, and draws back.

    "Kind of like working with Fire. Fire warms hearths and destroys cities alike."

    And she lets out a breath, and releases the arrow, striking the target easily.

Bow has posed:
"I chose to find a way to save my home. It brought me here." Bow offers pragmatically. "Now I wonder if it was something else that was supposed to be shown to me." At that, he pauses, his head tilted like a dog would at a dog whistle and then reaches up to rub at his ear - the one with the earring and he frowns for a moment.

"Yes, I know. Stay on task." he mutters aloud, before he draws up one of the arrows. "I'm glad your father decided to let you come here. And that you have the best experience you can have." he offers to her.

And this time, he tries to settle in, gathering the arrow and he starts to draw it back, but again, is watching where Rei has her hands set, which may not exactly work for him, because of the difference in height. "Ugh." he grumbles as the arrow hits the target, but high. "...this is so weird. Glimmer would be soooo disappointed. And probably giggling."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Then I'm glad you didn't give up on it." Rei replies enigmatically to Bow with a slight smile. She chooses not to comment on her father's permission. She was going to whether he wanted her here or not.

    "Do you often have trouble staying on task?" she questions thoughtfully, and she watches a moment as Bow nocks, draws, and releases. She gives a soft 'hrm' sound, and she steps forward.

    "May I help?" she offers, her eyebrows rising up.

    "Glimmer -- is she a friend of yours? Or... a mascot?"

Bow has posed:
"Oh. No, my mascot likes to remind me to stay on task." Bow flicks the earring he's wearing lightly. "She believes we should only do what we need to do to complete the mission and nothing outside of that. We... don't agree." he explains, getting ready to try again.

He's never been one to reject help. "No, feel free. I'd be happy for the assistance!" he says with a sunny little smile. Then suddenly, a snicker.

"She's cute enought to be a mascot!" he admits with a laugh. "But no, Queen Glimmer Brightmoon is my best friend, and the ruler of the Brightmoon kingdom on Etheria. I had heard she was here... but apparently, she was being impersonated by a shapeshifter known as Double Trouble." Welcome to Etherian naming conventions. They're quite practical.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Mmn." Rei states thoughtfully. And she reaches out. She adjusts Bow's hands first, where he's holding the yumi, how he should be holding the arrow, the adjustment of the angle of the wood of the bow.

    And with a foot, she slightly alters his stance, his legs a little further apart.

    "Like all things, there is a balance to Japanese archery. Feel the ground beneath your feet, and how it's supporting your knees. Your ankles. Feel it in your hips and the muscle of your lower back. Feel the pull of the wood and the string. The settling of the arrow's shaft against you. See the tip. Focus on the tip peircing the target through. When you master your form, you will master the release and capture the bullseye." Rei states. "And don't forget to *breathe*." she reminds him, and then takes a step back.

    "That must be difficult for you, seeing a dear friend impersonated by someone else."

Bow has posed:
As she makes the adjustments on him, Bow pays attention, committing the movements and placements to his memory. "I didn't see her myself, it was more from Adora. Another friend from home. There's a few of us here now." he admits to Rei as he considers.

He's used to the center of his shoulder blades being the center of his draw - the adjustment is new, but one he can adapt to.

He's following her movement and aims downrange towards the target.

"The main things I've been busy with is those Eclipse zones. I thought a new one was popping up the other night. Turned out to be a trap. Ended up in some type of... game show? trap thing." Breathe. Remember to do that. It's important.

A moment later, he's drawing in that breath, holding it before releasing. This time? The arrow strikes nearer the bullseye - he's not quite got out all of his thoughts of how to use the shorter bow - muscle memory is a pain to change.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Good." Rei states with a slight smile. "Three hundred more times, and you'll be hitting the bullseye every time." she comments, and pats Bow on the shoulder very lightly.

    "Oh. I hate it when people get pulled into traps like that. Happened to me once or twice." she admits, and she almost seems to... steam.

    "Makes me so mad that I didn't catch it, but in general I'm running after someone who has brains the size of a peanut and consistency of miso."

Bow has posed:
"I'm in that last statement, and I'm not sure how I feel about it." Bow comments back with a wry little smile. He remembers her comparisons to him and that girl with the peanut/miso brains. A little wink at Rei, before he chuckles. "It may be more than that, Rei, to be honest - I've fired so many arrows in my life, I kinda lost track..." he admits.

"Though I guess when you compare that to... well... how many times the group of you all seem to have gone around, you probably have me beat - which is why I asked for your help." he points out. Another arrow drawn to be fired.

"Everyone keeping you up to date on things?" he asks her between shots. "Anything I can do to assist, or help catch up on?" He laughs a little. "I offered to be sent off to the Dusk Zone so our group could win. Good thing that didn't happen, or I'd probably had to rely on that same girl to come find me."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Three hundred with the yumi, focusing on your stance. Then we'll work on aim." Rei points out, sticking her chin up slightly as she gives a sniff.

    "I took it up because I had a dream about it. Phobos and Deimos confirmed that I'd used archery in my past life." Rei explains, and she gives a wry smile.

    "Usagi I do respect. If anyone else made that comment about her, I'd probably be cross about it. She may drive me to the brink of patience, but she's my friend. And you will never find a more honest friend." she states, and then she takes a deep breath.

    "I could probably use a refresher." she admits, and she draws her own bow, and releases the arrow. Bullseye.

Bow has posed:
"Three hundred with the yumi. Got it." Bow repeats, not having an issue with repetitive use with the yumi, as he considers the thoughts about dreams. "Glimmer got those from time to time. Visions, I mean. I assume it's because of the closeness with the runestone and the ley lines and all that. Earth has similar ley lines. That's what Sunbreaker has been building the Eclipse Towers on, which is messing those up." he explains.

"Usagi's a good person. I've only met her a couple of times, but from what I seen, if you're comparing me to her, I'm flattered." And she might want to be embarassed. "She's someone I'm glad to know and would be happy to call a friend." A small smile. "Though I know more about Mamoru. He's very nice." Another arrow fired. Only 297 to go.

"So, what can I help with? I know a little, not as much as some. I know that there are... the rainbow crystals, I think Mamoru called them, going around. You'd probably need to talk to Usagi on that."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Mamoru is also a good-hearted person. As is Makoto, Minako, Ami -- you'd be hard pressed to find better." Rei replies as she focusees, and unleashes another arrow. It's almost medatative for her.

    "Each in their talents is strong, and we cover each other's weaknesses where we can. I would imagine most... groups of 'friends' are like that. So, tell me about Etheria, your home? Your friends? You mentioned a couple where here already?"

Bow has posed:
"Not as large of a group as you have." Bow admits as he prepares another arrow to fire. Drawing it back, he thinks about it. "There was two of us, originally. Myself and Princess Glimmer. I was away from my home - I had convinced my dads that I was off at college, instead, I had joined the Rebellion to try to free Etheria from the Horde." he explains, releasing the arrow and striking the target, before starting to repeat the process all over again. "Glimmer and I were out checking on a weird signal I had gotten on my tracker pad, and in a clearing, we found a sword. Just then, we were attacked by a Horde force captain. In the ensuing fight... well, we discovered, much to all of our shock, that the Force Captain turned out to be the one that reacted with the rune stone in the sword we found - and she became She-Ra, the champion of Etheria." Another arrow fired, target struck again. "That was how Adora came into our circle." Again, repeating the process.

"So, Glimmer and I took Adora home - she had been told all her life about the Princesses being these evil people that oppressed the people of Etheria and that they were these liberators, but it was like... totally opposite." he explains. "The horde were using these control chips to enslave people..." A pause for a moment as he turns around, pulling down his shirt collar so she can see the small white and green disc embedded in his neck. "...like this, to turn them into their unwilling slaves." His attention returns to the target practice. "So, Adora, when she was in the Horde, has a childhood best friend too. Catra. She became a Force Captain after Adora joined the Rebellion. So... Catra was you know. Reasonably upset about that." he repeats the firing motion. "...but it turned out that well - unresolved feelings and that clearly spilled over to here, because of that... whole thing where Adora got exposed to dark energy. And you read how that went, I'm sure."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Mm." Rei replies thoughtfully, and she draws an arrow. Nock. Draw. Release. Breathe.

    And she pauses, as Bow shows her the green and white disc. There is a look of absolute disapproval on her face there, and she straightens up.

    "Classical conditioning to keep their troops in line and control the narriative. Forcing their control over the unwilling and rebellious, sounds like they're a lot of fun at gatherings." she murmurs quietly, stretching her fingers a moment, and then she gives an upnod of her chin.

    "That chip -- it's... inactive, right?" she broaches the subject with a little more delicacy than she would ordinarily bring up. "Otherwise, have you considered having it removed?"

Bow has posed:
"Barrels of monkies fun." Bow adds with a small smirk, as he's repeating his own motion, firing another arrow, only giving a brief pause as he considers how best to answer that question. Finally, he decides it's for the best to answer honestly. "It's active - but, rewired." he explains with a reassuring smile.

"Crystal Hope uses the chip to share information with me in real time when I need it - like early on, learning the language of this world and such." he explains. "She usually uses it now to complain at me that I'm not staying on task for our mission of recovering Adora's runestone and returning the Etherian time line - even if I keep pointing out that the sword that this Adora has is not the same we knew about, and may not even work."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Crystal Hope, hmm." Rei pauses in her archery, and reaches up to rub her shoulder.

    "So it's like a smartphone connected directly to your head?" she narrows her eyes a moment. "That must be frustrating when you're trying to... you know. Contend with the other parts of life that make you whole? You can't *just* be for the mission. That's no way to live a life. I might not be the most *friendly*, but even I have hobbies."

    Like Archery. Fire reading. Reading historical fiction manga.

    "So this Adora is an alternate version?"

Bow has posed:
"She also keeps the magic within me under control. I didn't have magic on Etheria. I was the normal guy. That was pretty awesome. Not as awesome as this." Bow comments with another shot, another target hit as he considers her words. "I mean, she doesn't interfere much." he admits with a shrug.

"She's let me make friends, learn more about this world, date even." he points out. "I have my hobbies and things - and I do need to concentrate on mission sometimes. After all, a whole world rests on the mission, right?" Another grin, this one a bit more somber.

"From what I gathered? From what I can hypothize. One of the two. Either she's from an alternate Etherian... or... as she put it - we're at two different places on the same timeline. She told me a little about what happened to her. It doesn't completely mesh with I remember, but there's gaps in my memory I can't explain, so she may be right. I don't know for sure. But she said the sword I was talking about shattered - and she forged a new one with magic."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "I can't even imagine being a 'normal person'. Not having gifts." Rei admits quietly, and she draws up another arrow.

    "I remember my life before, but it's... like it's an old dream. I was born here to my father, who loves politics more than he does me -- everything is about the optics. A daughter who is a dutiful miko? Who attends a prestigious school? Who doesn't get in trouble? All optics."

    THWIP. THUNK. The arrow shudders.

    "If he found out I was coming to Radiant Heart for other reasons than to be classmates for optics, he'd pull me from the school."

Bow has posed:
As Rei explains her life, Bow laughs at first. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with being the normal guy. But it was cool, having these abilities. Even if it turns out that it was temporary." he shrugs his shoulders in thought at that. Would it be nice to keep them? Yeah, he has to admit it would be.

He watches her fire again and explain what her life is like currently. He shudders. "I thought the same thing with my dads." Bow finds himself admitting. "One of my dads served in the old Rebellion, the Princess Alliance, before it fell to the Horde. He was so against me even thinking about joining the Rebellion." he admits. "So. I told him I was going a made-up University for Archival Historians instead. They wanted me to be a librarian, like they were." There may be some paralells going on.

"Anyway, due to a comedy of errors with Adora and Glimmer, they found out the truth. And when they did?"

Relaxing back, Bow draws back and fires, releasing the arrow towards the target. "They were really accepting and more upset that I didn't tell them from the start and hid my friends from them."

The arrow hits the bullseye.

"But I know this world is different and he may not be as understanding. My apologies."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "I'm glad that you found your friends, and that your family was accepting of why you had to hide the truth from them." Rei replies. She breathes out, and fires. She reaches for the next arrow, and finds that she's fired all of hers.

    "Though I imagine having double the 'dad jokes' made growing up difficult. So many dumb puns." she gives a wry grin over to Bow, relaxing as she examines her target.

    "A parent's first job is to protect and nuture their children."

Bow has posed:
Firing off his last arrow and striking the target again, Bow grins. "That was... like ten. Only 290 to go." he says with a a little laugh and give sa nod to Rei. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

A pause.

"But it's also a parent's responsibility to know when to accept what their child is and let go." he points out to her. "But then again, that's my world. I could be wrong here." he admits with a little grin.

"I thank you for the pointers. The advice. And the conversation." A small smile offered to her. "I'm looking forward to seeing you around school!"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei smiles. "That's part of nurturing, you hold them until they're ready -- and then release, letting them fly." she states, motioning to the arrows.

    "Of course, Bow. Thank you for trusting me with your world. I look forward to hearing more about Etheria. And if you need me for anything --" she states, and holds up her phone, which has a little crow charm.

    "You can have my number."