The Echoes of Legends (Rai/Invite)

[Cara Dunn]

Something was weird.

Cara never denied she was a good shot, took pride in it.  Something about the bow she'd been using recently was off, however.  It didn't matter what sort of trick shots she did; the arrow always hit the first time she tried.  At first it had seemed like a fluke when she'd tried to learn different tactics, but now she had to wonder.  It looked simple enough.  Nothing fancy decorated the curved wood, no golden string for her to pull back on.  But there was still something about it.

So she was looking into what the bow was made of  She felt stronger using it, too.  So she figured there may be something in the deceptively simple make.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

As Cara's hand traveled the length of the bow when she came to the handle, with the bow facing her, she would feel something that hadn't been there previously. There was a carving of the letters E H and O, at the top, middle, and Bottom of the handle respectively. She could feel these were important but other than that they seemed plain...

[Cara Dunn]

She stopped as she felt the letters on the handle. Her fingers traced over the letters, certain it hadn't been there before. She pulled out her PT to take a closer look, wondering if the handle was as old as the bow was or if there was any signs of it being messed with.

A part of her was pretty irate that someone had messed with her bow.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

Upon touching the O it would light up dimly. According to her PT the handle and the wood of the bow were the same age, that is to say, the PT scans came up as inconclusive for age AND material.

[Cara Dunn]

She paused at the lighting up and eyed the results on the PT. She didn't use one back home, but they were pretty handy at the Academy. And supposedly better than that. Shaking her head, Cara rolled her eyes and returned to her physical examination.

"Now what do we have here?" Keeping hte bow so that it faced her, she run her finger over the O again, feeling the change in the leather and looking to see if a more confident touch did anything.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

When Cara touched the O again she would suddenly realize was no longer standing where she had been. It looked like she had traveled back in time the smell of alcohol, meat, and fire. All around her were people watching eith great interest. Though she wouldn't recognize any of them. But she might notice the odd choice in clothing. It look she had been cast back in time to the age of Greeks. A woman was standing in front of her.

"So, you are the next who wishes to try your hand at my late husbands challenge? Please step forward."

I'm front of Cara on the ground would be a bow without a string.

"The first challenge is to restring my husbands bow."

The woman would then hand Cara a Bow Srring.

[Cara Dunn]

What even just happened? Cara tensed, looking around to find herself no longer at Cabal, but somewhere else. Some place that looked like they didn't know what electricity was, or had been. Or running water, for that matter. The scent of a feast or gathering filled the air, smoke and meat and a strong stench of alcohol.

"I am." She did her best not to make it sound like a question. Did she hit her head or something? "My name is Cara Dunn." She looked from the woman to the bow, a kind she'd never seen before in her life. It was an odd shape, practically bending back on itself. It woudln't be able to be strung the way her bow back home was.

Taking the string with a nod, Cara would fist test the string to see how it felt, if it was stiff or worn from many uses. Then she would go over to the bow, running a hand along it to see just how it was made as well as indications of where she needed to start. Hooks, holes, rings, anythign like that.

That and she got a chance to admire it and gather her thoughts.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

The string was good and sturdy, used but not worn out, the string at a small noose at each end. Which she would conclude was meant to latch on to the small carved out notches on the tips of the bow. However before Cara could do anything more the string was yanked from her hands.

"I'll be damned if this pathetic sight will best me! Don't even bother waisting our time!"

A very large muscled man would say shoving Cara aside. He would go and pick up the bow latching the string onto each end of the bow without bending it. The string was FAR too loose and fell off immediately. The woman that had given Cara the string shook her head.

"You must bend the bow back into its correct position in order for the string to be attached properly."

The man was rewarded by laughter from the on lookers in the crowd. His face flush with rage he tried to forcefully bend the bow back by using his raw strength. He would succeed in getting into position, but it took so much effort to keep the bow bent he could tie the string! After a few minutes the man, defeated, would give up and slink back into the crowd. The woman once again took the string and brought it to Cara.

"I believe it is still your turn."

[Cara Dunn]

Cara's eye twitched as some random person yanked the string out of her hand after the challenge had already been issued, turning on her heel to face him, hands on her hips.

"Where'd your mother raise you, a ditch?" Not that she'd expect him to agree to follow up on it, but no one was stopping him or speaking up for her, so she assumed they either already knew the outcome or this was normal here. Not that she couldn't speak for herself. Hands planted on hiips still, she watched the man go to work. She shook her heard, already able to tell that the string was far too loose to be of any good. As expected, even with the hint, the man was just too determiend to brute force his way through whatever this challenge was or whoever set it up.

Nodding to the woman as she was once again handed the string, Cara walked up to the bow, giving the room a brief look to see if she'd be interrupted again, then returned to her work. The bow itself was more curved than she was used to, but she'd been stringing bows ever since she was big enough to use one.

She put the loop of the string at the top end of the bow, then repeating the process for the bottom curve. It did leave a lot of loose string at first, but she ignored any catcalling or insults and laughter, focusing on the bow as she pushed the string down further on each side to ensure the bowstring wouldn't go anywhere and create tension. A little more difficult than back home, but she'd already see what happened if you forced the bow without being prepared to keep up with it.

She held the bow with one hand at each end as she stood up, placing one foot on the string for tension as she eased the wood into its proper curve, letting the tension of the string guide her for any signs of tension or flaws that would cause it to snap back at her as she continued to use it to pull the bowstring fully taught and the bow open!

Hopefully.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

Cara would have a pretty decent go of it at first and people would start to go silent, however, the bow string started to slip! She was moving slowly enough to prevent it from flying off. But she would have to stop or else she would lose to the bow...

[Cara Dunn]

Cara slowed to a pause as the string slipped, easing back a bit to readjust it and inspect the bow once more, looking for any additional holes or rings while she still had her hands on it and no one could claim her chance was over.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

Her inspection would reveal nothing new. The onlookers were silent though, watching.

[Cara Dunn]

"One of those, then." Pulling her foot free of the bow, she adjusted the string while it still had room to slip, planting the bow so that she stepped with one leg through and baced the bow with her other foot, allowing her to keep a hand on the string as she continued to let the bow guide her with how far it would be able to stretch. Keeping a firm grip, she would continue to try straightening it, using both hands and feet as well as her own weight for tension and to keep it from slipping.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

It would take a few moments but... success! The bow was nice and taut. Strung every so perfectly. The woman takes the bow and inspects it.

"You've done well, and passed the first challenge!"

Everyone starts murmuring to each other. No one else had even been able to string the bow to this point! What challenge was next?! The woman would lead everyone to a set of large doors. Upon opening them everyone would see inside was a series of axes all slammed into the ground with small holes in the bases. If Cara got perfectly level with them she would notice there was definitely a slight curve to them.

"Now, using my Husbands Bow, you must hit the Target dead center. There."

She would point. Cara would definitely see a small target at the otherside of the room...

"Take your aim when you are ready...,"

[Cara Dunn]

A satisfied grin split Cara's face as she felt the string remain in place, ready for a deft hand to fire when ready. Satisfied, she let the woman do the same, eying the axes that were set in a perfect line before her. It was a lot, and she would need a solid hand and perfect aim to make it ot hte small target at the end of the row.

What was this challenge even for? She'd been so irritated with the jerk from earlier that she hadn't questioned it. Just like she still wasn't sure what she was doing here, or how she got here. But it felt right that she needed to do this to go home, whatever else happened.

Drawing a deep breath, she lined her aim up with the line, shifting her position as she knocked an arrow to match the arc. There was a second of silence, then she loosed the arrow with confidence towards the target through the handles. She'd been practicing her trick shots before; she had confidence now.

__________________

A Wooden Bow (+5 ATK, +5 SPD): This simple, unassuming bow is said to have been held by warriors of legend. Once per thread Cara gets an automatic success attack; can't be blocked or dodged (Can be researched)