Target Practice(open)

Rodents. Olivia held no love for those tiny creatures, not even rabbits. Actually, rabbits were her most consistent prey. Well, prey was a loose term. Targets were a better term for what she used them for. Sure it wasn't exactly a kind thing to do but having real, moving targets was pretty essential to her. sparring didn't really get her the right kind of experience, and it carried the possibility of being embarrassed, something she couldn't accept. She had to look perfect and that meant practice, whether she liked to admit it or not.

She raised her bow and peered out onto the field in front of her. Today rabbits and mice were her targets. This clearing usually didn't have much else in it. Every once in a while there were ground hogs, but they were a waste of time, they were big and slow. More than slow, they usually just stood in one place, looking for hawks and even though she was in a tree, they never took notice of her.

She loosed an arrow, pinning a rat to the ground, then smiled. It wasn't easy to get such a small target, but she had improved even since arriving at Bellamuse. "nine of ten." she muttered, drawing another arrow, waiting for movement in the grass or in the trees, itching to finish her day. A twitch in the leaves and her arrow was off, soaring through the air to meet whatever poor creature had made a move.

Exercise, it was something the Huntsman school in Atlas harped on more than almost any other topic. So often had Scott been issued the order to 'get up go out and run' that the words floated in the back of his mind every time he slept. The words haunted his very dreams and so the Atlasein went out every day after he slept with the sole purpose of running until he could no longer think, it was the only way to clear his brain of the pestering thoughts.

This day had been no different, the transfer student awoke mid-morning having a class free day, dressed himself in light, breathable pants and a hooded shirt. Only the sword and leather armor vest didn't quite seem to fit, but Scott had been trained to always travel armed; besides working out without the weight of his equipment would be pointless as the whole point to training and exercise was to become one with his weapon, to become perfect. So it was that Scott found himself running through the Skylight Woods two hours later. The man was fast approaching the end of his session and could think of nothing better than a shower and some time spent towards relaxing.

Breath heavy, yet steadily Scott was fast approaching the edge of the treeline, where he knew there to be a open field of grass that few people or creatures visited. Feet propelling him forward the man felt his elbow brush against a bush to the side of his path, the contact set the leaves to shaking and swaying. Scott ignored the distraction as he probably brushed that same bush a dozen times by now on his runs. No Scott was focused entirely on the field ahead, so it was purely luck that saved his life when a arrow flew in from above slicing a line across his armor, the chest now marred with a long furrow from the arrow head.

Had Scott or the arrow been coming from even a slightly different angle the missile would have skewered the student dead on his feet. Reacting on instinct the man hit the earth in a hard roll, scrambling to put a tree or bush at his back; anything that would offer protection from another attack. When he was hopefully in a safe location Scott drew his blade and scanned the trees for his assailant, but he found no one. "Hey! I'm a student of Syne Academy, would whoever just shot me please identify themselves!"

Olivia's eyes widened as a realization hit her. "Oops" she said under her breath. She took a moment to consider her options. She could always just run away. That would be easy...unless he was faster than her. Then there would be problems. She also could always fire a few more arrows to scare him away, unfortunately she would probably get in trouble for that. She might even end up with a fight on her hands...though that could also happen with her final option, doing what he said.

She sighed. She didn't like being being bossed around or even following orders but that seemed to be the best option at the moment. She hopped out from her hiding spot and strided into the clearing she had been hunting in. "My bad, thought you were a rat." she said, ignoring any negative connotations that might come with her words. "And what a coincidence, I'm a student there too!" she said with mock excitement.

"Name's Olivia. Now its your turn, come on out." she said firmly. She put her bow away, onto her back. "and your name please."

Hidden behind the leafy coverage of the forest Scott strained his eyes searching the treeline for his assailant to no fruition. The student was left with several thoughts running through his mind over the sudden attack, could it be some kind of test? Perhaps a hazing ritual for new students? The warrior had no information to go off however and every thought he had was little more than speculation.

Suddenly a voice called out from the treeline, a woman's voice no less. "A rat?!?! I'm a little big for whiskers and cheese." Scott mumbled to himself about the comment the voice had shouted back to him in reply to Scott's earlier question. When the voice proclaimed to also be a student of Syne it made the Atlasein hesitate about what to do next. The woman openly proclaimed to be a student as well, which was probably true as half the people in Bellmuse were students or teachers of the academy.

Looking over his shoulder into the clearing Scott was graced with the sight of a attractive women currently holstering her bow on her back. Scott knew that didn't immediately make everything OK, but it was a start. Walking out from his hiding place Scott kept his sword in hand, but it hung low at his side in a nonthreatening manner. "Hello Olivia, I'm Scott..." he said stepping into the clearing, rather unsure of where to go from here. "Nice shot by the way, had you waited another second you probably would have skewered my lungs."

"I dunno, you do sorta have a mousey look to you." she said, laughing. She strode towards Scott, deciding that they were friendly. They were at least friendly enough that he didn't think she was going to shoot him...she hoped he would forget about that little snafu rather quickly. She wasn't sure whether that rumor would help or hurt her, but she was also pretty sure she didn't want to know, since her main goal was keeping the majority of people under the illusion that she didn't ever practice.

"What brings you out this far." she said, a bit critical of him. "Running around the academy isn't good enough?" she poked his chest, "You know there are grimm out here too, and I doubt they would have missed you." she continued, teasingly. "And an ursa's claws don't have quite as much room for error as my arrows do. That step forward would have left you in two. Be careful dude" she said, raising a flirtatious hand to her face before flicking his forehead.

"Don't suppose you want to walk a girl home?"