Monster Camp

Even though Claire and Anthony hadn't realised, something was watching them. Someone who had barely attempted to reach towards the lone teenager enjoying a moment of stress and solitude when the counselor showed up. It didn't feel rage of frustration and merely observed as it was doing previously. It's two purple eyes would dimm, going unnoticed as the creature retreated back towards the depths of the forest.
It wasn't time yet, their signal wasn't ready, it wasn't given. And patience was the mother of all sciences. All that could be noticed was a rustle of the leaves and the quietness of the birds as it made its way back.
 
Izzy bit down on her bottom lip to hold in a little snicker as Eliza proofed her 'innocence'. She's pretty sure the redhead hid it somewhere. There's a lot of places one can hide something as small as batteries. Besides, the guy looked like he could use something that isn't videogames.

She wasn't very keen on archery though. It seemed like it involved a lot of pointing and aiming and keeping things steady - all of which she was just really no good at. Maybe she could skip this activity and no one would notice.
 
Claire... honestly thought about it. She had quit 8 months ago but being around these kids and Nina's intensity and Abel's bizarre... self, the temptation was there. Except then she saw the careful way he looked at her (behind a toilet, too) and she got the impression that accepting a cigarette might say something more to this kid than just 'yeah, I want a cigarette.' She didn't want to risk encouraging him.

That would be inappropriate. She was already down a peg for allowing him to keep the cigarettes but she knew how hard it had been for her to quit. Anthony walked off and she looked out into the forest. There was something glowing there and it sent a shiver down her spine. She looked away and hurried after the teen, reminding him not to get caught by anyone else before jogging of to pass him up and help get the others started on archery.

Eliza took the bow smiling brightly. "Thanks!" Then she accepted a set of three arrows and wandered over to where they would be getting started. Recalling their conversation before she'd been interrupted the redhead looked for Naomi, "You ever shoot arrows before?"
 
Once Hroth had arrived at the archery range with Leon, he grabbed one of the bows and a few arrows. With a practiced touch, the black-haired boy pulled on the bowstring. The weapon was gripped, ever so lightly, in his left hand. The length of the bow bent backwards letting Hroth's forefinger touch the corner of his downturned frown. With a concentration that was normal for the boy and a slowness that was rarely seen, Hroth released the tension in his arm. Slowly, the bow returned to its original shape.

This was what Hroth had been looking forward to. He had always had a fascination for weapons, especially those of the medieval kind. With the slightest of smiles, Hroth went to the range itself. He wondered how far the targets would be. 10 to 20 meters he could hit dead on. Maybe up to 50 meters but not much more.
 
Naomi watched the gaming kid with a bemused face. Had he been accusing Eliza of something without any proof, Naomi would have jumped in to defend her new roommate. From what she'd seen of the redhead so far, though, the chances of her stealing some batteries were pretty high. So she kept quiet, watching the situation diffuse and then carrying on to the archery area.

She looked at the bow Eliza was holding. "Nope. It can't be that difficult though, can it?" She asked with a laugh, walking over and picking up a bow of her own. She picked a few arrows and then returned to where Eliza was standing. "Are you any good?" She asked, nodding to the bow Eliza was holding.
 
Eliza laughed and shook her wild mane of hair. "Nope! I've gotten a bit better in that I can get the arrow to go more than falling at my foot but beyond that?" She made a face and laughed again.

"It's fun, though." She shrugged and waited for Claire and Abel to go over the proper instructions before pulling the bow taught and letting it fly. It landed several feet to the right of the target but she got some distance. "Nice! I've never gotten so close before," the redhead beamed. "You should see David, he's absolute shit at it." She made sure that he heard her, though, and if he looked she'd stick out her tongue, playfully.
 
Abel watched the kids as they started shooting their arrows with an almost alarming rate of hitting their objective, what was to say... hardly anyone did it.

Klaus got a bow himself, and the amount of arrows he was supposed to, three. He chose a goal near the girls so he wasnt far from the group, and got a feeling of the bow. He had done this loads of times, it was a great method to hunt unsuspecting birds and get dinner. He tensed the string and positioned himself, pulled... and let the arrow fly through the air towards the goal, hitting it practically in the middle. He hadn't lost his touch in the past month he guessed, and daily practice for years made it expected of himself, and he had met his own standards. He shot his second arrow with a similar result and looked around at the others beforr shooting the third.
 
"Hey, Leon, bet I can beat you in archery." those words shocked Leon out of his focus of the other children, looking back to Hroth, Leon grinned "Oh, You're on." moving at a quicker pace towards the range with his new friend. Leon hadn't really ever touched a bow, he had watched hunting programs with his father when he was younger. He moved past the sad thought and quickly picked up a bow and a hand full of arrows. Hroth was already practicing, holding is a specific way that Leon felt he should try practicing as well. Holding up the bow he flexed his arms to pull back the string. He was smaller than average for his age, making pulling the string slightly difficult as it strained his arms. Slowly he pulled the arrow back as far as he could, till the string was touching his cheek like he had seen Hroth do. Without warning he Accidentally let the arrow loose down the range, with no aim or actual precision the arrow landed about a foot away from the target. Looking back at Hroth with somewhat surprised looked, he quickly smiled, "see, Can't be that hard?"
 
Nico glared at Abel but grabbed a bow and arrows. When the counselor's back was turned, he pretended to take aim at him, though he wouldn't really release the string. Not like he could actually shoot anyway. Stupid camp, stupid counselor. Maybe if he wrote his mom about how awful the staff was she would come and pick him up. Not with his luck.

"I don't know how to do this," he complained to no one in particular. He watched Klaus and Hroth and tried to copy the other boys' movements, but the arrow just fell to the ground harmlessly as he tried to notch it. "See? This is stupid. I can't do it."
 
Naomi did the best to notch an arrow, but for a solid minute it kept on slipping off. She grit her teeth, ready to quit, and tried once more, slower this time. It finally got on. She let out a triumphant laugh, pulled back the string and let go. She hadn't taken the time to actually lift the bow to give the arrow any sort of height, however, and it landed in the ground a foot away from her, at most. She huffed. "I take it back," she mumbled, very quickly plucking the arrow from the ground. She looked to what Eliza was doing, eyebrow raised. "How do you do that?" She asked quietly, trying to copy what she did and failing somewhat.
 
David breathed in and out, inhaling and exhaling rapidly as he lined up the shot. The scope had the target perfect within sights, he had copied his posture from everything he found on the internet and he drew the drawstring and arrow back the perfect amount. It was picture perfect.

SO WHY WAS THIS HIS FIFTH TRY TO HIT HIS FIRST TARGET?!

He didint understand! The math was there! He was doing it all right! Why is it that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even come close when he shot?! Already he had almost taken Santa's (He thinks that was his name? Something Claus?) eyes out earlier!

The goading from Eliza didn't help either. He had sworn that he would upstage her this time dammit! He was not going to have a repeat of last year! Watching her draw and fire like some sort of professional had lit a spark of anger and mild jealousy in his heart. He would do this!

He stopped his rapid breathing, inhaled calmly and let loose his arrow. It flew straight and true, heading towards the target. "Yes!" He cries, holding his hands in the air in jubilation. Then the arrow flew right past the target. "No!" He cries, sinking to his knees.

Then there was a thunk that didn't sound like wood on wood and suddenly David's dread grew.
 
Hroth raised his bow up, notched and ready. With an exhale he aimed and released. Hroth's arrow flew true for twenty meters, hitting a target farther away than anyone else's. Then a thunk sounded out across the range. The arrow had fallen short, hitting just under the bullseye.

"Damnit." Hroth grimaced as he realized his fault. He had been aiming for the bullseye. Quickly, Hroth adjusted his aim, and let two more arrows fly with little pause between them. Both hit the center of his target. Two more thunks, almost inseparable, sang out across the clearing. Hroth turned towards Leon.

"Ten bucks, you can't beat that."
 
Abel's eyes had widened when he felt a sharp, very unexpected pain on his knee. He looked down to see one of the arrows, David's arrows, sticking out of his knee. Sticking. Out. Of. His knee. He grimaced, unlike the pained expression he had made in the begining when the arrow actually hit him. He reached down and grabbed the arrow, pulling it out from his joint, causing the wound to bleed. He then suddenly but quickly, alarmingly so, he threw the arrow forwards with his hand as if it was a dart, and it hit the center of a target, Davids target, and fell to the ground.
"THAT'S HOW YOU FUCKING AIM" He yelled, fuming, his fistd clenched by his sides... this was going to limit his movement if he didn't heal it.
 
Nico stared in awe as David literally shot Abel in the knee. He had been joking before, but the older boy had actually gone through with it? No- from the look on David's face, that had completely been an accident. A hilarious accident... until Abel turned on his heel, screaming like some sort of terrifying monster loosed on the camp. When the counselor threw the arrow back their way, Nico flinched, fully expecting it to hit David, barely relaxing as it only bounced harmlessly off the target. Damn... he had known Abel had a few screws loose, but this was messed up.

"It was an accident," he heard himself interjecting recklessly on David's behalf. "The other counselor told us not to go grab our arrows while people had their bows up. It wasn't his fault he missed, and he wasn't expecting anyone to be in the range." Nico's heart was pounding in his chest with the adrenaline, but screw it. He was gonna take any chance he could get to argue with Abel, especially when he actually had a point.
 
Leon studied Hroths posture as he shot his first arrow hitting the target even if just slightly below bulls eye. After Hroth cursed and knocked a new arrow, Leon noticed him aiming higher than he did before. The next two arrows hitting dead center with satisfying thunks, Impressive, Leons thought cut short with a loud scream coming down range "THAT'S HOW FUCKING AIM," quickly looking over to see Abel looking like a madman, blood oozing out of his knee.

Leon looked to see David further down the line wide eyed, Did he actually do it? Holy shit, Leon laughed. not loudly but laughed none the less.
Looking back at Hroth still laughing "I Think David beat you there bud,"
 
Hroth looked over to where Leon had gestured. Holy shit! David had hit Abel. Damn, Hroth couldn't keep it in,

"Hahahaha, holy shit that's hilarious." Hroth's better judgement decided to leave him for a moment, "Nicely done David! Nicely done!" Hroth yelled out to David. Of course, he immediately sombered up afterwards, certain that Abel's furious gaze would turn towards him in a moment.
 
Seeing everyone else trying out the bow and arrows (and mostly failing) was starting to make Izzy want to give it a try now. It couldn't possibly be that hard now , could it? She picked up a bow and three arrows for herself. Just as she had nocked an arrow a loud yell almost made her drop the bow and arrow altogether. What was going o-

Oh. Someone shot Abel (of all people). It was probably an accident but at this point she wouldn't even be surprised if it wasn't. She set the bow and arrow down and turned to the two boys laughing at the scene. What was wrong with them?

"Holyshit, did-did he actually shoot him?"she asked Leon.
 
Claire was in the middle of helping someone else with their posture when she heard the weird sound of the arrow. She ignored it until all the other kids had grown silent, a few snickers.

... And then there was Abel yelling. She turned in time to see him throw an arrow with surprisingly accuracy into a target. "Oh, shit." She muttered, jogging over. "Abel, uh just sit here. I'll be right back with the first aid kit!" She really, really hoped the wound wasn't that deep because her first aid training did not cover severe trauma.

He really should have left it in to stop the bleeding.

Thankfully the first-aid kit was nearby and she grabbed it hurrying back to Abel. "Sit down," She reminded him so she could take a better look at the leg. Claire considered making David learn but decided it wouldn't help anyone at the moment. Hope and Justin stepped up and decided that would be enough archery for today. "Maybe we should go inside for the arts and crafts!" No one really liked her station much, but Hope suggested it with a false sense of brightness. Abel had always been a little odd, but she'd never seen him like that. Justin seemed worried but Claire was the best one to actually perform first aid so he contributed in ushering the other kids to the next session.

---

"Here," the redhead helpfully adjusted Naomi's finger position while holding the arrow. "Now let it go." It would go a few feet further rather than falling at her feet, but not far. "Don't worry, it took me months of practice before I ever got the arrow to go a few feet in front of me." She smiled helpfully. A trouble maker she was, but she was not a bad person.

Eliza did stop helping her bungalow mate to watch David's last attempt and she winced watching the arrow go into the counselor's knee. Ewwww. That was.... Disgusting. There was some mild concern for Abel's well being--she never disliked him, despite his oddness--but anyone who could pull an arrow out of their knee was bound to be fine.
 
Anthony took his sweet time getting back to the group, having decided to stop by his bungalow first to drop off his cigarettes and Zune. As a result, he arrived just in time to hear Abel's yelling, and to see the albino counselor pull an arrow out of his knee. His eyes would go wide, equal parts confused, impressed, and worried. It was a little bit funny as well, seeing how he assumed it was one of the weirdos shooting a different weirdo. He'd keep an eye on the scene, even as he moved as far from it as he could, trying to find an unclaimed set of arrows and a bow.

He'd end up setting himself up near Eliza and Naomi, but not exactly close either. He hadn't picked up one of these in...well, at least five years. His dad had gone through a Renaissance phase at one point, around the time he was ten or eleven, so he remembered going to a lot of different fair grounds over the weekends. Got to shoot some arrows, throw some axes and knives, saw a bunch of people joust. Barely got to do any of it himself, considering how young he had been, but its not like Tony had never picked up a bow before.

His first shot barely hit the target, but at least he hit it. The second got marginally closer to the center ring, but again, not close enough to really count. At least he was hitting what he was aiming at, that alone was enough for him. He wasn't a perfectionist like his Father. He wasn't anything like dear old dad. With a deep breath, he'd nock his third arrow, draw the string back as hard as he could, take another slow breath to steady himself and his aim...and release. His final arrow would strike far truer than his previous two, again not exactly being a bulls-eye, but actually landing within centimeters of the center ring.

Tony hadn't noticed yet that the fletching feathers on the last arrow had cut his thumb and index finger as they'd left his grip. Its what he got for not wearing a glove during archery, and for not remembering the proper way to hold and nock a bow.
 
Naomi did exactly what Eliza said, and huffed a little at the result. Why start the months off with something so difficult? It wouldn't get people into the right mindset, she thought. She was just nocking another arrow when she heard the yelling. She jumped a little and the arrow slipped from the which made her scowl in the general direction of the noise. The scowl quickly faded away when she saw the full scene. "What the hell?" She whispered, looking at the boy that had shot the arrow. It was the boy that Eliza had been talking to before. Had he seriously shot a counsellor?

It didn't look like he'd done it on purpose. If he had, that would have been a bit too far. The guy was weird, but he didn't deserve to be shot. How the hell had he just pulled the arrow out of his leg, though? And why wasn't he just rolling about on the floor screaming? That had to have hurt, badly. She shuddered at the sight of the blood trickling down his leg, and looked away to the target in front of her. She might have been the queen of scraped knees and elbows, but she hated the sight of blood.

She didn't really feel like shooting any more, feeling like a slip could lead in someone needing proper medical attention. She half heartedly shot her last arrow into the ground, just a couple inches farther than her last one.
 
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