Summer 2, 124
Fluffy had been going to one particular faelnir archery range for the last few months or so in order to get better. This day she was doing yet another test to see how much she had improved. While she showed many signs of improvement, she was still very green. She wasn't even a tiny bit stronger despite all her training, though she had grown a little more used to the rigors of exercise so she was able to last a lot longer. She had also gotten a little better at moving around since running was always part of the routine her instructor laid out for her.
Fluffy's thin frame lifted and fell as she did a handful of pushups as fast as she could. Then came the situps, of which she could barely complete three. Then she ran around the safe area of the range, stopping several times in the process. She'd made so little progress that she'd managed to convince Kage to hire a faelnir instructor. Fluffy's instructor was quick to make note of her improvement as she rested but it would never be enough to lift her spirits.
"You just have to keep working at it. Progress takes a long time," the instructor said to her. "Make sure to keep on routine and eat as much meat as you can." He kept going on with the general advice that he'd told Fluffy a hundred times before.
Fluffy couldn't tell who was at fault for her lack of progress. It was either her genetics or the instructor's teaching style because she had definitely put in the effort. She ate well and she had actually made an effort to come to the range semi-regularly. She'd been told over and over again that beginners progressed quickly, but she didn't.
"Maybe some people can't get strong," she thought as she toned out the instructor's spiel. Before he'd finished speaking Fluffy decided she was done going to the range for a while. She stood up and said, "I think maybe I need to take a break. Let's stop the lessons for a few weeks and then I will see how things go."
"Erhm," the Instructor said, "that's fine, but your master already agreed to the payments. You might have already paid for them, I'll have to check the paperwork."
"No, I don't want to pay for any more lessons until I make a decision in a few week's time." Fluffy demanded. "I haven't made any improvement in forever. It's always the same lessons and I know you said you can't give me other exercises because I'm not strong enough but it's still grown tiresome. You owe it to me to let me out of my payment agreement if things aren't working out." By the time she was done she was more shouting than speaking. She was visibly angry and looked ready to fight someone despite being the weaker of the two.
The Instructor just stared at her with a puzzled look on his face. He then frowned and opened his mouth to speak but Fluffy interrupted him again. "Oh save it. I'm out of here." Fluffy grabbed her bow and stormed off. She knew she ought not to have taken out her anger on her instructor but she couldn't help it.
She realized that it was going to be very awkward if she did decide to keep going to that range after that exchange. She didn't even know if she would be allowed back. Kage would likely be very angry at her if he found that she caused a commotion. As far as she knew everyone that tended that range knew one another so it wasn't like she was going to get an instructor that didn't know she had gone off on someone. She had lit that bridge on fire and was trusting her future self to sort through the mess.
Fluffy was still angry after walking all the way to another range so she could practice shooting in a new environment. She went over to where a group of men were swinging swords at raised bags of hay. Others were shooting arrows.
She found one of the bags that wasn't occupied and started shooting arrows at one. Each shot was sloppy and drew an angry yell from the depths of her soul. She was lucky that she couldn't pull back on her bowstring very hard because her poor grip made the weapon shift rather dangerously.
She was not focused on form at present… instead, she imagined that the sack of hay was her last instructor and that she was finally getting revenge on him after all that money she "wasted" at the range. She would have happily kept on going until she ran out of strength but someone came to bother her.
"Excuse me, are you part of the lesson?" asked a woman faelnir who looked to be in her thirties. The only thing Fluffy found remarkable about her was that she had tied her hair in a rather impressive bun. Otherwise Fluffy was quick to call her ugly and old in her mind because of her sour mood.
"No," Fluffy said while trying to keep calm. "I didn't know there was a lesson going on. I thought this was here for anyone to use." This was a lie of course. Fluffy had just thought that she could sneak right in. If she had actually tried to be sneaky she could have probably blended right in… but the thought of changing to another form didn't work because they wouldn't fit in with her current clothes.
"We're training, and you've interrupted us with your… whatever this is." The woman waved her arms at Fluffy. "So kindly leave us be, Inari, unless you want to pay a small fee."
Fluffy laughed, "no way I'm paying for this. It's just a bunch of hay? It's basically free."
"Maybe, but it's not free. Someone had to go collect it all and haul it over here. And that someone me. So pay up." The woman had always had a sword in her hand and really there was no reason for any of them to be fighting, but tempers were hot.
"It was an honest mistake," Fluffy said as she forced herself to put on a complacent smile. She handed over what she had in her pocket which wasn't much but it seemed to satisfy the woman who Fluffy assumed was in charge.
"Great! Now follow along with the rest of us. And feel free to use a practice weapon if you want. There's plenty lying around over there." The woman went back to the front and resumed her demonstration.
Fluffy opted not to use a practice weapon. She liked how her own bow felt in her hand and using someone else's seemed so cumbersome to get used to. So, she shot her bow, mimicking the motions of the instructor, who she could barely see because there were other students in front of her.
She couldn't tell if she was even learning anything because the instructor just wanted them to practice different kinds of poses. Methodically shooting in a dull routine was the exact opposite reason why she brought a bow. If she ever thought about using her bow in the wild she pictured herself going wild, like a monkey.
She never in her life pictured herself dancing around elegantly with a weapon. She grew bored quickly and had to fight from thinking about how much she wanted to become more powerful. She didn't care how she got power… she just knew she wanted it.
"If you're going to pierce through anything but skin you're going to have to hit them with all you've got so pull all the way back on the string," said the instructor. She didn't have much else advice to give to her hopeless student.
"Like this?" Fluffy asked before ferociously shooting an arrow that actually made it into the hay.
"Yes. Try standing like this as you aim once you get a hang of the motion." The instructor then hurried to help someone else.
That was the only time Fluffy felt like she got something out of the lesson. Fluffy didn't have much of it to go around which made it all that important to make use of what weight she had. By the end of the lesson Fluffy's target was full of holes by the end of the lesson, which was something she took pride in even though it was not any sort of accomplishment.
She found her way by the house she usually stayed in when she visited Græntún. It was empty, but she liked to keep tabs on it to make sure it was in good condition. Afterwards, she headed back to the portals so she could get back to Kage. Though she'd had a long training session she knew that the aelf would have tasks for her at home. With any luck, he would be too busy with rebuilding his treant army to give her much work.
Feeling satisfied, Fluffy cleaned herself back up and went out of the door – it was time to find another boyfriend.
