Practices of Ice (open to all)

[~Z~]

A tall, lean looking young man stood with his arrow knocked, and was pointing it silently towards a tall, dying tree. He was focusing hard, staring down the center of the tree. "Come on..." he grunted, glaring at the tip of the arrow. The Ice Villagers were known to sharpen their spears and swords with ice, making them sharp enough to stab into anyone's bare flesh. Arrows, however, were different. They were not held directly by the weilder, and were shot over a distance, almost impossible to keep the ice on it.

Vincent pushed his energy through the bow and into the arrow, making a strong, ice tip on the arrow. He took a deep breath, and shot it, only to have the ice tip shatter through the air as the arrow shot through the air, and the stone tip slammed into the side of the tree. "Darnit..." he muttered. He started walking over to the tree, which had already had many arrows jammed into it. He was grumbling to himself as he walked, and wasn't paying attention to his feet. The edge of his shoe nicked a high root under the snow, sending him flying in a poof of white dust. "Dangit!" he shouted. He stood stiffly, wiping the snow from his shirt, and collected all of the arrows. He stuffed them back into the quiver, and stalked back to his spot to try again.

[Lia]

ooc:// interesting- ice tipped blades. Very interesting...
You are really inspiring me today, Z:)

ic://
The forest had been eerily silent until dull 'thwacks' had broken into Aimee's reverie. Running, leaping, soaring over broken tree trunks and ducking under low growing branches, she had been running at a fast pace for miles in a circuit, using her knife here and there to notch trees so as not to lose her place. The snow crunched beneath her feet, but her toes were toasty and warm under the thick shoes and the three pairs of socks she wore.

Distinguishing that the 'thwacks' were a lower, duller sound and coming at a different pace from her own, lighter feet plodding noise, she had decided to investigate, to see what was going on. Of course, she had thought as she slowed to a steady paced walk, it was an archer, someone practicing how to slay far off people with a well placed arrow. Planting her feet gently, she managed to come up behind Vincent without his noticing- or maybe it was just his deep concentration.

Aimee couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She stood behind a tree of her own, leaning against it with her arms folded for warmth. Her own skills of archery were extremely good, and she was confident that she could hit trees with the exact same accuracy as Vincent's, except even further away. However, she had never thought of ice tips, and the idea had spurred her to stay and watch the older boy practice.

[~Z~]

((ooc:// It was Shadow's old idea that never seemed to have gotten used.))

Vincent bent his knees, snatched an arrow from it's quiver, and knocked it in one swift movement, then stalled, trying to get the tip of the arrow to stay in a nice, pointed peice of ice, then he let it go. He tried to focus his energy to follow the arrow, but it seemed to be moving too fast for him to keep up with it, and the ice fell to peices a few feet from the center of the tree. He attempted a few more times, a couple of curses escaping his lips here and there, before he finally collapsed into a sitting position in the snow. "It's pointless..." he muttered to himself, glaring at the tree.

He looked at the small ring in the tree that he made with his arrows. He noticed that he had started making unusual shapes with his aiming out of complete bordome with his failure. His aim was right on, but he couldn't keep his magic focused for long enough for the ice to puncture his targets. He fell backwards in the snow, putting his hands behind his head, and looked up, but out of his perifial vision he saw a person behind him, watching.

Vincent jumped to his feet and drew his bow and knocked an arrow in a swift second, but lowered his weapon when he saw it was Aimee. "You scared me," he huffed, putting the arrow back into his quiver. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He sat back down in the snow and put his head on his hands, the bow still draped down over his elbow. "How long have you been here?" he asked, suddenly feeling embarassed about his cursing and failure.

[Lia]

ooc:// I see:)

ahhhh!!! Disintegraaaaation!

ic:// Blinking, grateful that Vincent hadn't caught her, Aimee continued to watch. Maybe, she plotted, if they used some sticky sap from a maple tree the ice would stick. And maybe not. She felt stupid for even trying to outsmart the archer in front of her. She slipped back a little, her booted feet making no sound on the ice, and readjusted her position so she wasn't standing so... obviously.

She was tiring of watching Vincent when he suddenly plopped himself own onto the ice. Huh, she thought. I guess that'd cool me down. Slowly, she moved out a little, intending on returning to the village before she was caught.

All of a sudden, she was standing like a bunny stealing carrots, with a lethal archer pointing an arrow at her. "I..." she started, feeling unprotected without her own arrow. She shook herself. This was her Tribe-mate, why was she thinking self defense?! Her unformed statement was broken off by Vincent; Aimee cowered a little under his slightly embarrassed gaze. "Sorry," she murmured, staring lightly at the packed ground. Many tracks- both human and animal- crossed the icy tundra, and it was easy for her to concentrate on the perfect coolness of it instead of the angry gaze of Vincent. She was intimidated by his height and his seeming self-confidence.

"Not long," she said clearly. "I was just..." Her eyes didn't move from the print of a deer's hoof. "Uh, the ice on arrow... It's a good idea." She looked up quickly and met his dark eyes, blushed, and looked down again.

ooc:// I think I gave Vincent too much self-esteem. Or Aimee not enough. Or something... (was rereading his application)

[~Z~]

((ooc:// Yeah... he's kind of a reject... lol. And a Klutz.))

Vincent listened silently as the girl stuttered, and smiled. He normally felt fairly awkward around other people, but he was sitting- not towering over everyone-, and she seemed a lot like him. Suddenly his minor moment of confidence was over when he couldn't think of anything to say. "Uh-um... So the uhm... Whole... Ice arrow thing... Y-you think it's a good idea?" He glanced at his hands, which he noticed was fiddling with the string on his bow. Nobody had seen him trying to practice the ice tipped arrows before, so his light skin flushed as he looked down at his shoes. He flipped his hair to the side when he thought it was safe to look up again at her, with a hoping look on his face. He didn't want to look like an idiot trying something pointless...

[Lia]

He was smiling at her. Aimee's body froze. She detested people laughing at her. She was about to turn and fling herself off into the forest, to avoid humiliation, then he started stammering. Becoming self-consciously aware that she was hovering a good three feet higher than him, although she was slouching, she dropped herself to the ground, sitting extremely straight with her legs spread out in front of her. Feeling awkward and uncomfortable, she swung her legs around so that she was sitting on her feet. Now Aimee felt incredibly stupid, so although she knew her legs would be cramping in a few seconds, she remained, and fixed her attention on Vincent. "I think it's an extremely good idea," she said clearly, fixing her haunting green-grey eyes upon Vincent. She did, indeed, and she was saying this out of pure honesty, not to please him. "Do you mind if I..." She gestured towards his bow, lying freely on the ground, requesting silently if she could try.

[~Z~]

Vincent glanced at where she was gesturing to, after keeping himself from grinning with her sudden awkward movements. "Oh, sure. It might be a bit big for you." The bow had been made to match his long arms, so it might be a bit large for anyone else in the tribe- even this tall girl.

He stood up awkwardly to pull his quiver off over his shoulder and handed it to her, along with his bow. "It's kind of hard to focus it right, though..." he muttered, tipping his head to the side slightly. He made sure not to move his feet much, afraid of tripping over them again in front of Aimee. Now that would be humiliating. "I can get the ice on it, but I can't focus long enough for it to make it effective at all..." his voice drifted off, noticing that he was probably talking too much, then he took an awkward step backwards. He glanced at his target, which had a perfect ring of arrows in it, and felt himself flush.

[Lia]

Aimee sniffed, annoyed that he didn't think she could do it. She rose to her feet ungracefully, and snatched the bow he held out for her. "I will be fine." She took an arrow from the quiver as a test, set it onto the bow, and shot it. It missed Vincent's arrow speckled tree completely, and shot off into the distance. Aimee turned to Vincent. "Sorry." She apologized for the arrow was probably lost. Grimacing, she turned away from Vincent, and set up the bow again. It had more power than she was used too, and she adjusted the strength she was putting behind the bow.

This time, the arrow fell short of her target, but Aimee was not discouraged. She set up the bow again, quickly glancing at Vincent to make sure he didn't mind her using so many arrows.

ooc:// How annoying. My computer deletes my font every time I delete cookies.

[~Z~]

Vincent leaned back up against a tree, watching as the girl struggled to get used to his long bow. He tried not to laugh at her, and actually managed to keep a straight face every time that she shot a glance at him. When she looked at him again, almost apologetically, he just shrugged. He normally went hunting for his lost arrows when he was done practicing so he didn't have to go get anymore, so he didn't really mind her using them up. He did feel a little better about himself, though... At least he could shoot his own bow better than everybody else, that was a plus.

He continued to watch her shoot off arrows, making sure to note the general direction that they went, then glanced at his feet. "Try to aim it a bit to the left... the winds blowing from that way..." he suggested blankly, trying to be helpful. He fiddled with his fingers for a while, and eventually slid down the side of the tree into a sitting position, watching how Aimee shot her arrows differently from him.

[Lia]

ooc:// *is zoning out*
[whisper=z]Have you seen the whisper feature? [/whisper]
ic://
Aimee nodded at him silently, and took his advice. Although this time the arrow hit the tree a few inches above his formation, she scowled, annoyed that his advice had worked. The wind was blowing her long hair around her face, so she dropped the bow for a second to tie it back. When she picked up the bow again, she decided to try the ice. "So... You just magic-ed the ice..." She decided to stop talking, and to just try. Aimee wasn't very experienced with magic, having not payed it very much attention or reverence. Her first few failed attempts had put her off trying at all, for her pride disliked being embarrassed. Despite the cold weather, she broke a sweat, but ice appeared.

[~Z~]

Vincent watched, grinning slightly, at Aimee's looks of frusteration when his suggestion worked. He wasn't very old, but he still had a bit more experience than she did, especially with a bow and arrow. He tipped his head to the side, resting it on one hand when she concentrated on forming ice on the tip of the arrow. When she finally got it, he grinned a little bit. "Well, you got the easy part, now to try to shoot it off..." he said, with a bit of amusement in his voice. He spread his long legs out in front of him, leaning up against a tree and watching her carefully, wondering if she would actually manage to get it to shoot all of the way to the tree.

[Lia]

Her frown deepening, Aimee turned around and cast him an evil glare, wishing he would shut up. She concentrated on the ice and the arrow, and before she could get the arrow off the bow, she found the ice whizzing forward in front of her, hitting the tree with a giant thump. She blushed. Once more, she started concentrating on the ice, and, a lot faster now, had the ice upon the tip. This time, she concentrated on keeping the heavy ice upon the arrow. It stayed, but the arrow thumped down onto the ground only a few feet away from Aimee.

[~Z~]

Vincent watched as Aimee's brow furrowed with concentration, tipping his head to the side slightly. He jumped when the ice tip wizzed forwards in front of her and into the tree, then turned, still slightly slack-jawed, to her. He decided from the glare he had gotten eariler that he shouldn't say anything, but he got up onto his toes in a crouching position, watching her focus a little bit closer. He was a bit surprised when she got the ice to stay on, but watched as it hit the ground, hardly leaving the bow. He sighed. He had no clue if anybody could ever get this thing mastered right. "Do you think I could try again?" he asked.

[Lia]

Aimee scowled slightly at Vincent, annoyed that she hadn't got it immediately, and determined to get it. She hated giving up on anything, even if it was only for a moment. "K." She gently unslung the bow from her shoulder, and walked back a few steps to put it daintily into Vincent's hands.

ooc:// I was staring at your siggy... you have his eyes SO perfect!
Sorry. Short post.

[~Z~]

((ooc:// Errmm... I do?))

Vincent murmured a quiet thanks, then took the bow and arrows back from Aimee. He held both of them awkwardly for a short moment, before slinging the bow up into position, pulling the arrow with it. He focused the energy onto the tip of the arrow, the ice building gradually onto it, until it formed it's own sharp point. He pulled the string back to his ear, aiming at the tree, then let go. He got excited for a moment when the ice stuck to it as it flew through the air, but the excitement was enough of a distraction, that it practically melted off as it hit the tree. He sighed. "It takes too much focus!" he stated loudly, getting slightly flustered with himself. He tried again, pulling the arrow and bow back in one unusually graceful moment, then let go. His brow was furrowed with concentration as the arrow shunked into the tree. He felt a flash of excitement again, only to realise that the ice shattered, and was falling onto the ground next to the tree.