auroraexpress | The Ninth Trial

It is not much, but thank you. Please give them a test.

[a shot, if you will.]

[ He shifts his posture before lifting one of the guns up towards the target. His breathing is slow and steady as he aims carefully, taking his time. In, out. In, out. In, out. In--

On the next exhale, he fires the gun. A blast of orbal energy comes charging out, bright and clear and very easy to follow as it heads unerringly to the dead center of the target he'd aimed at. ]

Hah! There you go.

[ He's pretty pleased with himself. ]

[she watches him carefully as he lands his shot.]

Very well done. What sort of ammunition is that...it feels familiar?

It's an orbal gun. I had to pay extra for 'em in the shop, but they're what I'm used to.

[until u remember the thing]

Hmm, yes, those extra charges are certainly something.

[her tone is a little annoyed for a moment.]

That said, it seems they are strong enough for use. It is easily repaired, anyway.

[ Until he remembers the thing, that's true. ]

Haha, well it's more convenient anyway-- unlimited ammo! I'm pretty sure gunpowder guns pack more of a punch, though.

[ He carefully holds the gun back towards her. ]

Wanna give it a try?

Yes, sir.

[She holds her hand back out for it.]

[ That's still pretty hot. ]

Alright now when you're aiming, you're gonna want to aim with your dominant eye... assuming you have one, you might be different. You're gonna want to align your sights-- [ He uses free hand to indicate what he's talking about. ] --so that the top of the front sight aligns with the top of the rear sight. Now, when you're aiming for your target, there's three things you're gonna need to keep track of-- your front sight, your rear sight, and your target. The further your target is, the more important it is to keep your focus on your front sight.

When you feel ready, press the trigger to the rear and don't try to anticipate when the gun will fire. Just go with it.

[crow pls

it's hard to tell what her eyes are doing because, blindfolded.

But she absorbs his instructions like a sponge.

She doesn't need to breathe, but it's a habit she's kept up with and she remembers-- on the exhale.

She fires, and it isn't far from the centre. She does not look very surprised, either way.]

[ Honestly, he just assumes she can see through the fucking blindfold somehow. He hasn't seen any proof against that theory. ]

Heh! You know, somehow I'm not surprised you're that good right away.

It needs work.

[She frowns ever so slightly. Just slightly, at her performance. It's still a miss to her, but this is something new. She knows that. There is a lot of hard, nose to the grindstone work to genius and she has done her time.

It's just odd to see her not hit closer on the target no matter what it is. She has not done that in a while.

What is not strange is that there appears to be a lot of overlap in techniques, but she needs to adjust her thinking; trust the sights, not compensate for them.

He never told her how to breathe, but she fires again on her exhale, and it's still close--excellent for someone who's never fired a gun before--but she's still not quite there.]

Obviously. No one's perfect on their first try, no matter how gifted you might be.

[ He watches her second shot. ]

And anyone who says they'll never miss, even when they get really good, is lying to you. And themselves.

Agreed, sir.

[~~Hawkeye can't miss~~

It is a little odd to aim directly for the target. The archer's paradox is that to hit the target, you cannot be aiming directly for it. It's odd and strange and different, and she expects these things. What she is doing is using a gun, not extending a part of herself.

But she is driven, competitive, enjoys learning new things, and does not like doing things by halves, so she is going to keep practising if he does not make her stop.]

[ He's going to let her get about three more shots out, curious to see if she can hit the target in five tries. ]

[all her shots are very close to the bull's eye and actually very close to one another. She has a very good sense of control, but she still does not hit it.]

[ He holds his hand out to get his gun back. ]

I get the impression you've got some kind of experience with aiming for a target.

[She does not want to give it back, yet, but does not hesitate to do so, only giving it a final look once he has it. It belongs to him, it's as simple as that.

Even if her mediocrity is grating.]

What gave you that impression?

[ He puts his guns away at his hips and back to wherever the hell they are. ]

It's the way you aim... there's an air of ease to it, like you're used to it. Maybe not with a gun, but... something.

[SEROIUSLY. WHERE DO THE GUNS GO!!! she is mystified all over again.]

I see.

[well, she won't elaborate. she isn't being cagey or not open, she just feels like a bit of mystery. if he asks, she'll cop to it.]

What a thoughtful observation, sir. Thank you for the lesson.

[she bows a little, respectfully]

[ He's curious, but it's not really relevant right now so he'll leave it alone. ]

Of course, it was fun. Now it's my turn to learn-- that water filtration method you mentioned?

I may as well teach you two, since we already here. Having a solar still would be too convenient at sea, but if you ever adrift at sea and have nothing but the clothes on your back, filtering seawater through fibrous clothing will absorb salt molecules and increase potability. If you are on an island, with wood, you've significantly more options with charcoal. It is a natural absorber of harmful substances. It is good to take if you've been poisoned, somehow.

[ He nods, listening intently. ]

That's really handy to know.

The last method assumes you have a few more resources--perhaps you've gone camping, but have simply run out of water--namely...

[And something begins to take shape in her hand. It's a water bottle--literally. In that she's shaped a bottle of water.]

A bottle, perhaps two. One for gathering, the other for filtering. Perhaps some coffee filters, paper towels, silk, or cotton swabs. They will prevent the materials from leaving. Cut the bottom of the bottle.

[The bottle reshapes and its bottom becomes open and shorter.]

Poke a hole in the lid. Ideally more than one to increase the rate of filtering.

[She removes the lid and holes appear before she reattaches it.]

Now, the more layers of materials you can add the better, but they may not be available to you. However, charcoal is very important and should go in first after the plug.

[she does not have any on her but wood chip constructs appear in her bottle for demonstrative purposes.] If you've any extra paper towel, that can follow, if not, gravel, and then sand. These both work to trap any particles between them.

[These she gathers herself from the beach adding to the bottle.]

When gathering water--[and here she makes another bottle]--cover the opening with some cloth to prevent larger particles from entering and contaminating the source.

[She crouches low to gather some and pours it into the bottle. Nothing comes out the other end just yet, but it will. Eventually.]

It is a lengthy process, but simply done. Any questions at all?

Nope, I'm following. The magic examples are really helpful.

[She brightens a little, her face turning pink.]

Ah, are they? I am glad then. That is another square, I believe.

[She pauses, thinking.]

I wonder if we can make bonds out of these, thinking about it.

[too bad she think about this during Crow's display of modesty, that sure af had an impact on her]

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