3rd - I may be a fool, but I intend to be a live fool.

[princeoftheravens]

Who: Matrim Cauthon and you!
Where: Inside the Nostalgia Nook
When: Morning to Afternoon
Style: [Action!]
Status: Open~!

[Today, Mat's decided to look through all the selections of longbows, and if what he's muttering is any clue, he isn't finding what he's looking for. Only really seeing all the bows on his right doesn't help any.]

Blood and ashes...Too short. And that one feels about to crack... [He reaches for a couple more, lifting them individually before putting them back with a grumble, leaning on his ashandarei a bit.]

Too light. And that one was too heavy. [He turns left to better see the selection, lifting another possible choice before putting it back with a sigh.]

This one's too tall. And all of these probably wouldn't have enough flaming range. [Bother him?]

Comments

[tsundyne]

[Yukari's pretty content with her own bow, of course. She takes good care of it, but it doesn't keep her from showing interest when she stumbles across a shop that seems to have a fairly wide selection of them. Longbows to be exact, huh...

Maybe it's this whole fisholympics thing that's got her thinking about sports again.

She can hear the boy speaking aloud and she'll slowly approach, though it's casual at first, and she won't say anything right away. She'll just pick up the one he claims was about to crack--

And eesh. It's just as bad as he says...]

...

[princeoftheravens]

[He doesn't notice her, just continuing to lift and test bows before putting them back. And so he sighs, straightening up a bit.]

Guess I might as well just carve my own. Blood and ashes, maybe then it'll have enough flaming range. [He's really not sure why he thought he'd be able to find one that'd work for him--he was used to Two Rivers longbows and even other longbows didn't have that much range in Randland the West lands.]

[tsundyne]

[So he likes to talk to himself.

...That's okay. Though it does kind of mean she's eavesdropping without meaning to, so-- putting the flimsy bow back, she turns to him with a tilt of her head.]

You carve your own?

[princeoftheravens]

[It works better than just thinking in his head sometimes, okay? This is one of those times.

Without turning around, he nods.] Yeah. It's been a while since I've done it though. More than two years.

[It was roughly two years ago that he'd left the Two Rivers with Moiraine, Lan, Rand, Perrin, and Egwene. And he knows he carved it before then, but...he can't remember when. There's someone else's memory there.

He turns to look at her, only his right side showing.]

Do you? [It's a fair guess that she's also an archer, given what she said and where they are.]

[tsundyne]

[Without even turning around, huh...

Maybe he'd known she was there all along. Or maybe he's just used to people overhearing, when he thinks aloud. But either way, Yukari tries not to think too much about it, simply going with the flow of conversation.

Two years...]

No, never. I've always bought mine...

But these are pretty lame.

[She glances around the store some more; and though she likely isn't as knowledgeable as him, she can still spot some of the more problematic bows. The locals clearly don't know how to take care of them...]

[princeoftheravens]

[Footsteps are telling. And he's not all that easily surprised anyway, even less now that he's lost his left eye.

He blinks, raising an eyebrow.]

You always bought yours? Do you normally not use longbows?

[If she used crossbows and shortbows, that would make a lot more sense to him. The borderlanders usually don't make their own bows, and the Band doesn't either. And...'pretty lame'? He assumes that means they aren't good, so he chuckles.]

Do you know a better place to get one?

[tsundyne]

[She's used all kinds of bows, really-- whatever was available at Kurosawa's shop. Which is not to say she's an expert at all or even any of them, because she's still got a lot to learn.

Maybe that's why she's here.]

I use whatever I can get my hands on, generally. My world's shop has some-- but I'm not sure if they'll be any more to your liking than these.

[Another longbow's got her attention, and she's actually wondering which shop this even is...]

[princeoftheravens]

[That catches his attention a bit more than her earlier comments. He blinks again.]

Do you break your bows a lot? Or do you keep having to run and leave them behind?

[Those are really the only reasons he can think of for why she'd use whatever she can get her hands on. It's why he left his longbow back then. I don't even remember when he left his longbow behind orz]

It's looking more and more like I'll have to make my longbow, but...may as well look first, right? [Maybe he should also see about those crossbow plans he'd been working on before meeting up with Perrin...Those'd been what he'd been planning on equipping the Band with for the Last Battle after all, not Two Rivers longbows.]

[tsundyne]

[Hmm. She notices that seems to capture his attention more, so she gives him her attention in return; but before she can answer his first set of questions, he seems to have already accepted her little invitation to visit Iwatodai's store.

He's right, at least-- just having a look shouldn't do any harm.]

Yeah, sure. I can show you...

I don't think I've had to leave my bow behind before, though. It's more a combination of them breaking and me finding better ones, I guess.

[blessedbyfarore]

[...Unhappy customer, huh?]

[Link's own bow, long since repaired, is on his back, a half-full quiver in his hands as he glances over curiously. He's been searching for the kind of arrows that he's used to, and finding a much broader selection instead.]

What kind are you looking for?

[princeoftheravens]

[So now he has to describe the type of bow...? Alright then. Maybe it'll help. He turns to look at Link.]

A longbow with a decent range. One made out of one piece of wood, preferably black yew. Hardest part so far has been finding one that's heavy enough and only a hand or two taller than me.

[He's...really kinda picky about this okay, okay. Two Rivers longbows are special.]

[blessedbyfarore]

Oh... I'm not sure I've heard of black yew. [Either way, he's pretty sure his is made of Deku wood.] Why don't you find all the ones that are the right size, then the ones that are the right weight, and then see if any of those are made of one piece?

[princeoftheravens]

[That's not a bad idea, Link. He chuckles, beginning to sort through all of the bows that are taller than him.]

If I find one that's the right size and weight, I don't think I'd care if it was one piece or type of wood anymore. [Especially since he'd meant type and not piece in the first place. My fault oops]

[blessedbyfarore]

[Link gives him a quick grin, passing over a bow that (to his eyes) looks to be a bit taller than him and gesturing to the bow on his back.] I never had to worry about looking for things like that. This one is right for me - although I guess it's a lot smaller, huh?

[princeoftheravens]

[Link has better depth perception than Mat does. Mat gives the bow he's handed a once over before putting it in one of the piles he's sorted them into. That done, he looks at the bow on Link's back.]

How long is it unstrung?

[blessedbyfarore]

Most of the time, unless I'm using it or - [A brief shrug and a smile as he lifts the quiver -] testing new arrows. I didn't unstring it at all in Hyrule.

[He does sound a little embarrassed - unstringing it was something he only learnt later, in Vatheon - but in fairness, it did survive for a good long while in the Forest Temple.]

[princeoftheravens]

[...LINK. WHY. You better sound embarrassed, because even though that isn't really what Mat was asking, he's worried about your bow now--]

You left it strung all the time in your own world? [He...assumes that's what Hyrule is. Light, Link! Even when he was bloody paranoid because of that flaming dagger, he had enough sense to unstring his bloody bow everyday! ...at least he thinks he did. He doesn't actually remember much of that, but Rand would've teased him about it if he hadn't, wouldn't he?

He takes a deep breath.]

I meant how long is your bow when it's unstrung, compared to you.

[lunaria]

[Archery has never been a sport Kurow has taken a particular interest in, but today is a day of explorations (yet again), and he's in the middle of navigating through the stock of bows. He sees the young man -- is that a polearm? -- scrutinizing the display to the right, and after unintentionally eavesdropping for a bit, he finds himself approaching, curious.]

Flaming range?

[princeoftheravens]

[He's really not used to people parroting his swearing at him as a question. Especially since, unlike whenever people parroted what he said in the west lands, they probably are wondering what he means. Instead of making fun of what he said. How is that better?

So he glares at where Kurow's voice came from.]

The bloody range is probably not even 400 paces. [Yep, flaming is just a way of swearing. Same as bloody. Two Rivers longbows can kill at over 300 paces, and have a range of more than 500 paces. He would've said these probably wouldn't even hit at 300, but....He really hopes they aren't that bad.

and that is definitely a polearm.]

[lunaria]

[Whoa, man, that glare is a little scary and unwarranted. Especially when the man is connected to a polearm, but Kurow overlooks it all enough to not appeared fazed.]

Can't you fix that? Or is it not possible to change the way they are now?

[He doesn't know much about how bows work. You shoot and an arrow comes whizzing out, and if you hold it wrong it tears your cheek off. That's about it, physics aside.]

[princeoftheravens]

[I like that description-- Mat would've run a hand through his hair at that, but he's wearing a hat and only has one free hand. So he settles for facepalming.]

You can't really fix it. At least, I've never heard of someone increasing an already made bow's range. Most of the time you just buy or make one with a better range if the one you have isn't good enough.

[lunaria]

[Rude. In a way, however, Kurow is no better, as he either ignores the gesture or doesn't seem to get it.]

Then why don't you just make it? Or you can be the first one to attempt that change. [He extends his arms outward.] Whichever sounds better to you.

[princeoftheravens]

[Mat is rude. He examines another bow before putting it back with a small sigh.]

Once I find the materials, I probably will. I wasn't sure if this place had [good] longbows, but I figured I'd look first. You never know. [He actually expected to find one because of his luck. But oh well, he wasn't roped into the Fisholympics, that's enough luck right there.]

[lunaria]

Well, they do. If you don't like 'em, you can always come back later. They might have a better stock then.

[Seconded on the Fisholympics sentiment. Kurow retracts his arms to his side, now eyeing the polearm with renewed interest. The man speaks of bows, but that arm boasts a different battle style entirely.]

[princeoftheravens]

[Mat can't see you eying the ashandarei, Kurow. It's on the wrong (left) side of him. It just looks like you're looking behind him to him.]

I might do that. Thanks for the suggestion kid. [But he kinda doubts that he'd be able to find a suitable bow for him here anyway. He'd just figured he ought to look first.

And he was an archer long before he was an....ashandarei wielder. Though not long before he was a quarterstaff wielder.]