The sound of an arrow whizzing through the air, followed by a high-pitched sound of frustration ripped the usual silence of the Ancient Forest's edges to shreds. The arrow that Sanohe Shouka had just shot from her new, wooden bow had planted itself unceremoniously in the ground, feet away from its intended target; namely, a small mark in the trunk of a tree a little ways from where she was standing, and the eleven year old was clearly not impressed.
Shouka had come to this forest, partly to escape the hot sun, but most importantly to train, a few days after meeting someone named Masaru in the Susukino District, who had told her all about the shinobi world. It had been, frankly, horrifying to the girl, and still a little hard to grasp, but it had also been a slap to the face. A wake up call? Whatever it was, what he had said had bothered her enough to make her want to try and gain some ground with her shinobi-clan-born classmates.
Which was all fine, but on the way to the Ancient Forest she'd walked past a weapons store; and, using the infallible mantra of 'why not?' had stepped in to see if she could round up some extra kunai or senbon. There'd been a bow for sale, though, with a set of five arrows- and since it was the last one on the shelves, the gushing shopkeeper convinced her to buy it for dirt cheap. It took some convincing, but Shouka eventually caved and purchased the bow. Of course, the shopkeeper had 'forgotten' to add in the cost of the arm guard, finger tab, shooting glove, quiver...
Dumb con artist, Shouka thought glumly, nocking another arrow. Dumber me for falling for it. She drew the string back unsteadily- why were bow strings so ridiculously hard to pull back?- and her shoulder flared up in retaliatory pain. The eleven year old hissed and released the string, and the wooden arrow went soaring through the air before landing close to the first one, still far away from the tree.
I used all my arrows, and I didn't hit the target once? She was starting to think she wasn't cut out for this. No point in coming out here just to give up now. Heaving a sigh, she went to collect the arrows that now littered the small clearing. She counted one, two, three, four... but not five. Shouka definitely remembered the last arrow landing a few feet from her, but it was nowhere to be found. Where could it have gone? The girl left her clearing, stepping past the nearest row of tall trees in search of her lost arrow. When she didn't see it, she pushed ahead, risking going a bit deeper into the forest.
I'll just... get a new one. She decided after a few minutes of searching; one little arrow wasn't really worth venturing into a forest that was rumoured to be full of ghosts and crazy axe murderers. She turned to head back to the clearing, when she realised that she didn't actually know which way she had come from. Her mouth was starting to feel dry, but part of her wondered whether this turn of events wasn't a little... predictable?
[Edit: Changed 'old' bow to 'new' bow. Whoops.]
Shouka had come to this forest, partly to escape the hot sun, but most importantly to train, a few days after meeting someone named Masaru in the Susukino District, who had told her all about the shinobi world. It had been, frankly, horrifying to the girl, and still a little hard to grasp, but it had also been a slap to the face. A wake up call? Whatever it was, what he had said had bothered her enough to make her want to try and gain some ground with her shinobi-clan-born classmates.
Which was all fine, but on the way to the Ancient Forest she'd walked past a weapons store; and, using the infallible mantra of 'why not?' had stepped in to see if she could round up some extra kunai or senbon. There'd been a bow for sale, though, with a set of five arrows- and since it was the last one on the shelves, the gushing shopkeeper convinced her to buy it for dirt cheap. It took some convincing, but Shouka eventually caved and purchased the bow. Of course, the shopkeeper had 'forgotten' to add in the cost of the arm guard, finger tab, shooting glove, quiver...
Dumb con artist, Shouka thought glumly, nocking another arrow. Dumber me for falling for it. She drew the string back unsteadily- why were bow strings so ridiculously hard to pull back?- and her shoulder flared up in retaliatory pain. The eleven year old hissed and released the string, and the wooden arrow went soaring through the air before landing close to the first one, still far away from the tree.
I used all my arrows, and I didn't hit the target once? She was starting to think she wasn't cut out for this. No point in coming out here just to give up now. Heaving a sigh, she went to collect the arrows that now littered the small clearing. She counted one, two, three, four... but not five. Shouka definitely remembered the last arrow landing a few feet from her, but it was nowhere to be found. Where could it have gone? The girl left her clearing, stepping past the nearest row of tall trees in search of her lost arrow. When she didn't see it, she pushed ahead, risking going a bit deeper into the forest.
I'll just... get a new one. She decided after a few minutes of searching; one little arrow wasn't really worth venturing into a forest that was rumoured to be full of ghosts and crazy axe murderers. She turned to head back to the clearing, when she realised that she didn't actually know which way she had come from. Her mouth was starting to feel dry, but part of her wondered whether this turn of events wasn't a little... predictable?
[Edit: Changed 'old' bow to 'new' bow. Whoops.]