Shooting Things Always Brings Peace To The Mind (Axel and Ceru)

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat pulled the bowstring back, narrowing her eyes at the bulls-eye twenty yards away, arms steady. With a quick slip of her fingers, the arrow sailed through the air and struck the target. Not a perfect shot, but still meeting the mark. She reached for the next arrow, her mind calling out the steps to keep it from wandering to some... unpleasant things. Pull back the string... aim at the target... and release. Good. Pull... aim... and release. Pull, aim, release, and repeat... and repeat... and repeat. With each 'repeat' she drew a new arrow.
    That was the only thing Cat focused on, keeping the arrows flying, one after another, to find its place somewhere in the red center of the target. Once she ran out of projectiles, she briskly went to fill her quiver, and continued at the next target station, not sparing a second for those troubling thoughts to catch up with her.
    She fell back into her previous rhythm, her mind feeling refreshingly clear. Pull, aim, release, repeat.
    But then another voice, achingly familiar, wove its way into her mind. "Who was that, Edward?"
    Her stomach clenched, her breath coming out sharply. The string released with a small twang, and the arrow skidded through the loose dirt and debris below the archery target.
    She let out a growl of frustration, and tried to force the thoughts away, yanking the bowstring back again with extra force. Her left hand tightened around Heliakos's handle. She raised her bow, the dark, polished wood reflecting the sunlight softly and calming her nerves just a little. Pull, aim, release, repeat. She forced herself to think nothing but that sequence, again and again at a quick pace. The lump in her throat tugged at her, but she didn't dare let herself lose focus. She couldn't... Her teeth clenched. Pull, aim, release, repeat, she thought, almost forcefully.

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel saw Cat at the archery range, which was strange because he remembered her leaving. Axel decided it would be a good idea to confront her, after of course giving her a classic Axel welcome, what says welcome back better than robbing a person after all. Axel saw she was obviously focused on shooting the targets. Axel decided to have a little fun with that. So, watched for a couple of shots, learning the rhythm Cat had fallen into. once Ax figured that out he nimbly plucked the arrows out of Cat's quiver, gently enough that she wouldnt notice the sudden movement, and just like that her quiver was empty.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat shot again, her calm focus now replaced by a somewhat despairing attempt at ignoring the voice that was haunting her. She just couldn't let herself dwell on it. Couldn't dwell on the place she thought was home... She exhaled sharply, then reached back for the next arrow. Her fingers touched nothing but empty air.
    Stiffening, she slung her quiver off her shoulder, turning as she did so. For a second, she didn't move, looking into the empty quiver she had refilled only a few shots ago. Then she turned her head slowly, the figure in her peripheral vision being revealed as an all-too-familiar person.
    She lifted her gaze to meet that of the taller half-blood's. "Axel," she said, her expression calm and composed, revealing none of the inner turmoil she had been feeling only seconds earlier.
    Honestly, she didn't know what to think of the spiky-haired demigod. He had become quite infamous for being the biggest thief among the children of Hermes, and Cat had had the honor of being the first victim, when he stole the iPod Nano right out of her pocket upon arrival to camp. He had returned it though, stating that it wasn't his kind of music. She had wondered on multiple occasions why she held herself back from punching him in the face for that. No one was allowed to touch her music. Not her iPod, her ukulele, her... guitar... Her thoughts trailed off, as she remembered where her beloved Fender guitar was. She'd probably never see it again. Her hand instinctively went to the pocket in her dark gray cargo pants, where her guitar pick hid.

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel smiled when Cat turned around, obviously slightly confused at first. he absently turned one of the arrows in his right hand, the others he held in the left. "welcome back" Axel said grinning. He saw Cat stuff her hand into her pocket, something she did whenever she interacted with him after their first meeting. Axel didnt necessarily count Cat as a friend, but she hadnt tried to kill him, which most of the camp had at some point or another. "I thought that you would be attending school right about now"

[Catryn Greyling]

"Welcome back," Axel said with a grin, turning the arrow he held in his right hand. The others were bunched together in his left. "I thought that you would be attending school right about now."
    Cat swallowed back the injured retorts she felt like snapping out. "No," she said simply. "Decided I'd rather stay at camp." Her tone was slightly guarded, and she hoped he would hear the silent warning that she was not in the mood for that topic. "Could I have my arrows back, by any chance?" she said, changing the subject deliberately.

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel could tell by Cat’s voice that she wasn’t telling the truth. There was definitely another reason for her coming back. He knew it had to be related to her family, perhaps her being there made it too dangerous for them, or for Cat. Axel’s suspicion was that sshe was lying was confirmed when he saw a slight change of her tone, and when she tried to change th Regardless Axel knew that he didn’t like talking about his own problems, So he figured that whatever Cat’s reasons were for coming back, they were her own business. So he decided not to push the issue, and didn’t feel like meddling anyway. It wasn’t his problem, and she didn’t want his help, so he wouldn’t give her it. “Admit it, you just couldn’t stand the idea of being away from me and my charming personality.” Axel said jokingly to lighten the mood, as he returned the arrows to Cat.

(you can join Anytime now Ceru )

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat grabbed the arrows from Axel. She gave him a cross look, but otherwise ignored his teasing remarks.
    She turned back to the target, dropping all but one of the arrows back into the quiver. She went through the steps again. Taking extra time to aim carefully, green eyes narrowed shrewdly, she let go of the bowstring. The arrow hit the center, and Cat pressed her lips together, only partially able to enjoy it. The previous day's events were still lurking in the back of her mind, making it impossible for her to feel completely right at the moment. However, she was glad Axel went along with the subject change and didn't push it, though she wasn't sure whether he was being considerate, or just didn't really care anyway. Either way was fine, really.
    She bent to get another arrow, preparing to shoot again, wondering if she should say something to him or just keep practicing.

[Cerulaen]

((Well, let's see how great my posts go when I'm tired. And pfft, let's see if Ri can get some answers...))

   Reminiscent of another meeting, a very particular dagger spun its way out of no where, past the daughter of Apollo and son of Hermes, to lodge itself into the target before another arrow could be shot. It was planted on the thin outer line of the bulls-eye; not perfect, but considering the distance it had been thrown from, pretty d*** good.

   "Been practicing some more, Sunshine?"

   Daquiri casually walked up to the two demigods, blatantly ignoring Ax as she addressed Cat. She was surprised, to say the least, to see the brunette girl back at Camp. She knew Cat had left to go back home to her mother to start the new school year. Seeing as she was here now, she could only assume something had gone awry; whether or not she wanted to know, that all depended.

((So, apparently it's a thing that Ri calls Cat "Sunshine"...))

[Catryn Greyling]

[Riiight, bulls-eye... Gosh, what's wrong with me? xD Forgot that word.]

    When a dagger flashed out of nowhere and struck the edge of the red circle, all Cat could do was blink in blank surprise for a few moments. Then she recognized the elaborate hilt decorations, and her eyebrows went up.
    "Been practicing some more, Sunshine?" a familiar voice said then.
    She whirled to see the familiar face of a certain redheaded girl. She smirked, lifting a sly eyebrow at Daquiri and jerking her head towards the target. "So have you," she replied evenly.
    On the inside, she was actually surprisingly glad to see the strawberry-blonde. Unfortunately, Daquiri knew of Cat's intentions to go home for the school year, and there was a chance she'd be expecting some sort of explanation. But not right now, Cat hoped. She lowered her bow and blinked at her expectantly, waiting to see if the daughter of Aphrodite had anything else to say.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri glanced back over at the placement of her dagger on the target, then shrugged her slim shoulders. "You haven't been gone that long." Speaking of which, the red-head arched a blonde eyebrow at Cat in a silent question, to which she received a silent answer. Seeing as Ax was still standing there, Daquiri nodded slightly in understanding. Even though it wasn't even her story to tell, Daquiri didn't find Ax listening to them to be the best course of action--or the most desirable one.

  So instead, Daquiri voiced a different question: "You been practicing anything besides shooting?" The brunette had shown herself to be fairly capable with several other weapons besides just archery and Daquiri wondered if she'd decided to use any of them more. The Camp encouraged learning multiple weapons, and Daquiri herself had taken up trying to learn a few others. On her lonesome, though, of course.

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel saw the dagger fly by, immediately recognizing the dagger. which belonged to Daquiri. he turned and saw the daughter of love. "not a bad throw, Red. but i dont see why you would wanna throw your weapon away in combat." Axel said. he could tell that Daquiri was also curious about why Cat was back. but she also seemed to pick up on the vibe that Cat didnt want to talk about it. though that may have been due to her being a child of aphrodite, they could read people's emotions even better than Axel could, or perhaps it was just because the two were best friends.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat pressed her lips together. "Not really," she admitted. She smirked then, and added, "I have had a slight urge to get into throwing knives. I feel like I might need some practice with those."
    She remembered the last (which happened to be the first) time she had tried to use a throwing knife. Not something she was proud of. That was something with her - whenever she performed poorly, she just had the urge to do it again, practice until she got it right, even if it was something trivial that someone suggested she try, like skipping stones. She would get those stupid little rocks to bounce on water no matter what.
    What Daquiri had said in the arena came back to her. Did your daddy give you those magic shooting powers? She looked down at Heliakos, and the arrows sticking out of her quiver. She wondered, not for the first time, if that had been true.

[Cerulaen]

Daquiri finally turned to Axel. She raised an eyebrow a little at his new nickname, but she didn't say anything. It was a h*** of a lot better than 'Love Bird,' at least. "Whether I throw it or not all depends on the situation, Stone," she said dryly. "I'd rather know every aspect of my weapon than die because I thought one of those skills was useless."

   Then at Cat's comment, she turned back to the brunette with a slightly devious smirk. "Well, let's get you some practice right now, then," she said smoothly. "You stand here and hold Beauté de Sang," she directed Cat, pointing her to a spot while handing her her own dagger. "And Ax, you stand over there and play the pin cushion. Sound good?"

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel gave a cocky grin at the suggestion. Even though Daquiri probably didn’t think he would take it seriously. "You know what, that actually sounds exciting." Axel then reached into his bag, which had been slung over his shoulder and pulled out an apple. Which he had originally planned to eat. "How about we see just how good your aim is, Cat." Axel said walking down to the target. Axel wasn’t scared; his natural fast reflexes would make him be able to make sure the knife didn’t hit anything too important.

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat smiled, gripping the elaborate handle and taking her position. She waited, watching with faint amusement as Axel cockily sauntered over to the target, apple in hand. She had to admit, she hadn't really seen that coming, Axel taking Ri's caustic statement as a challenge (she really should've, though). And it wasn't like she wasn't already super determined to do this; this simply added just a little bit more pressure. In other words, this had just become a little more awesome.
    Of course, there was that silly little doubtful voice in her head (she liked to call it Claudia, meaning lame) that worried about actually hitting Axel. That, obviously, would be quite bad. But hey, they had an infirmary for instances like this, not to mention Axel himself seemed pretty confident and not scared in the least. He could probably duck in time if he could tell the dagger was veering off course.
    Probably.
    She looked to Daquiri, giving the girl a devilish grin. "Alright, Barbie doll. Show me how it's done."

[Cerulaen]

((What's this? Ceru is posting? It must be a miracle.))
 
   Daquiri's smirk thinned to a line and she raised her eyebrow when Ax actually volunteered to go. But then she shrugged. It would actually be fantastic if he was accidentally maimed.
   “Accidentally.”

   “Alright,” she said, putting a hand on her hip. “First step—don’t call me a doll.” Then she pointed to Ax from his position a few yards away. “We’re aiming for the apple on his head—Ax, put the apple on your head!” She interjected her own sentence with a yell at the boy. “Now,” she said more quietly, “pretend to aim for the apple… and aim for a not-very-crucial body part, instead. Or, you know, a not-so not-very-crucial body part.” She shrugged. “He volunteered. Not our faults.”


((My thoughts are rather...mixed up right now. Hope that all makes sense.))

[Catryn Greyling]

[Hallelujah, miracleness! And Miracle Whip.]

     Cat cracked a sarcastic smile when Daquiri reprimanded her nicknaming. "I'll stick with just 'Barbie' then, if that's fine," she said dryly.
     She piped down and listened as Daquiri gave her instructions amidst yelling at the son of Hermes. When the red-headed girl lowered her voice and changed directions on where to aim, Cat raised an amused eyebrow and let out a soft laugh.
     "And how, exactly," she asked, "do I hit him with the blade rather than the hilt, like I did last time with the dummy?" If there was some sort of specific way to predict how the weapon spun to make sure the right end sank into the target, Cat was sorely unaware of it.
     And although she wasn't a fan of the infamously klepto Axel Stone (and who was, really?), she had to disagree with Daquiri's rather nonchalant attitude about purposefully skewering the boy. Was she being serious? She couldn't tell, but with the little she knew about the temperamental girl, it would be safe to assume that she was. Cat, though, was set on that apple.

[Axel The Bunny]

Axel put the apple on his head, and that little voice in his head seemed to be screaming at him that this was a bad idea, but like always he ignored the voice. After all what was life without taking risks, and Axel had done more dangerous things before, his attitude was a mixture of boredom and slight amusement. “You gonna wait till the harpies come out?” Axel said, there were a few other people around, looking at him as if he were crazy, which he probably was. “Come on Cat I have things to steal.”

[Cerulaen]

((Euuurgh, sorry guys >.< You should seriously keep bugging me about replying to this topic, because otherwise I just forget...))

Daquiri tapped a nail against her lip, considering Cat's question. "Well, each step away from the target is about a half-turn of the knife," she said. "My particular knife is balanced evenly, which, now that you mention it, is only really for people who know how to throw them." Looking around as she thought for a moment, she spotted one of the racks with the practice bows on them, as well as a table littered with several other weapons. Walking over to it, the red-head scanned the tabletop in hopes of what she was looking for. She gave a small noise of approval when she found it and plucked it from the array.

"This is a better one to practice with," she said as she handed the practice dagger to Cat while taking back her own. "On this one, the blade is weighted heavier than the handle--which I personally find to be easier than a weighted handle, but whatever. Apparently physics works differently for some people." As cynical as she was being, Daquiri was actually enjoying this a bit. Yeah, yeah, everyone could pick their jaw up from off the ground. She still wanted to take advantage of the chance to "accidentally" hurt Axel. "Either way, this should make throwing easier, since it does some of it for you. I know you've got aim on your side at least, so just remember--almost all of it's in the wrist." Daquiri demonstrated the movement with her own dagger, doing it at a slow pace so the gestures could be followed.

((And it' been almost a month... *sigh* We should just madly finish this topic so we can get onto actual plot-developmental shutffs.))

[Catryn Greyling]

Cat rolled her eyes at Axel, giving him an I-don't-care-your-life-is-not-important look, then quickly turned her focus back to Daquiri, who was answering her question.
     She eyed the distance between her and her target critically as Daquiri went off, trying to determine the number of steps it would take. If she estimated incorrectly, the throw would do nothing but have the hilt knock into the target bluntly. Again.
     Daquiri returned with another weapon in hand. Cat grasped the practice dagger and handed Daquiri hers, listening intently to what she was saying, smiling wryly at the point about physics working differently for some people. She wondered in the back of her mind how the girl had learned how to throw daggers in the first place as she copied her movements, slowly making the languid movements at regular speed.
     She glanced up at Axel, then Daquiri, wondering if she should give it a shot now. Claudia kept poking holes in her confidence from within her mind, so she mentally kicked Claudia in the face. She zeroed in on her target. With a deep breath, she drew her hand back again.
     And she whipped it forward, releasing the blade.

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