Shooting Off Steam (CLOSED)

(no problem! Catalina is great )

A voice caused me to look over to see a girl, who I recognized as Catalina, the daughter of Demeter with a love for archery. I remembered first meeting her and thinking her skill in archery was inspiring for someone who had put in so much time and energy for honing her passion. It surprised me I hadn't noticed her before. I guess I was so excited to be doing archery that everything else had become oddly unimportant.
A smile slipped onto my face easily as she asked me how my morning was. I was glad to have someone to talk to and hang out with while shooting arrows, especially if we shared the same passion for it.
"It's been pretty good," I replied. "Finally getting to do some archery puts me in a good mood," I said. I wondered how long she had been here. Had she just come in and I hadn't notice and that's why I hadn't seen her?
"How long have you been shooting?" I asked. I looked at the target she had been practicing on. It was hard to gauge how many of her arrows had connected with the hay bale, having had many others shot into it before.
I gave up on trying to be Sherlock Holmes. That wasn't my job, that was Quintyn's. She probably could have told me how long Catalina had been here just by looking at her shoes or something.
Waiting for her answer, I decided to take a target closer to hers as it would make it easier for us to talk. I pulled the arrow I had put to rest and already had connected to my bow, tugging on the string with familiar force, my three fingers in position. I let the arrow go when the feather brushed my face and shot it into the target, aiming to leave room for an arch as it soared through the air. The sound of the sharp whoosh, accompanied by the familiar thump as it hit the place I aimed for filled me with relaxation.

I watched Catalina shoot, constantly impressed with her talents. Then again, it didn't take much to impress me.
I pulled my own arrow, and hesitated to notch it to my bow string, twirling it with my index finger and thumb as I peered around the range. There weren't many demigods here. Usually there was at least three or four, but currently it was only Catalina and I. It was like a ghost town, which wasn't necessarily as unsettling as one would think.
My gaze directed to the moving targets as Catalina shot her arrow at it. It sprung an idea in my mind, as I had been itching for a challenge with the bow and arrow for a long time.
I envied campers who used swords or close range objects like my friends Luke and Quintyn. They could easily go up to someone and ask them to spar, and they may or may not get a challenge, but with the bow, it wasn't as easy. You had to get creative. Not so surprisingly, I sucked at close range battle. I never knew where to hit, or when, or even what, and I had been taking swordplay classes since my first year two years ago.
I looked at Catalina with a grin.
"Hey, sweet shot," I praised. "Think you're up for a challenge?" I walked closer to the moving targets, hoping she would follow if she was up for it.
"The game is, that you have to hit a moving target, but you cant aim. You just have to pull an arrow and let go. Whoever gets the most arrows in a target wins."
This was a game I played when I was bored, or just felt too un-serious to shoot and goofed around while alone in the range, with only myself to potentially injure.
To show her what I meant, I quickly pulled an arrow to my string and let go without so much as hesitating once it was lined up to the target.
The arrow flew through the air at an awkward angle, and hit the board at it's edge. It reminded me of my first time shooting a bow and arrow. Being the son of Apollo always gave me an advantage, but without aiming, it definitely wasn't a big advantage, obviously, or else I would have gotten it way closer to the middle.
I looked at Catalina with an inviting smirk.

Watching her arrow whiz just by the moving target made me want to give myself even more of a challenge. These natural gifts of mine with aim were more unfair than I'd figured. Plus, I wanted to feel good about myself if I actually DID get an arrow into the board without the help of my fathers godly blood running through my veins. Notching another arrow to my trusty bow, I came up with another plan.
I took a quick look at the moving board coloured in white, blue and circled stripes. It slid from left to right and I followed it to get a feel for where it should be when I let the arrow go. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for a moment before I pulled back the string of my bow, letting the arrow go as soon as the feathers brushed my cheek.
My ears perked to the familiar whooshing sound the arrow made as it took off, and I opened my eyes. The arrow had connected with the the ground right under where the board was. At least I hadn't missed the board completely.
I could practically see my competitive father sitting on his throne on Olympus screaming 'What are you doing, boy!?' as he watched my game with Catalina. I brushed the sudden picture away.
It was an Apollo child trait to be competitive, and I was, I wanted to win this as much as the next archer would. Only difference is that I wanted to win it fairly, and if I was using my uncontrollable gifts, I wasn't doing that right. Truthfully, I could have just pretended to be bad and aimed to the side more, but I definitely didn't want to go THAT easy on Catalina. I wanted to match her. She was an incredible marksman and I knew that. I had way too much respect for this kaikamahine to let her win.
I turned to her and took a bow, holding my hands out to the target in a courteous motion to signal her it was her turn. I straightened my back as she took my place and grinned at her.

I took my place as she stepped off, and pulled another arrow. I took a deep breath in and did the same as last time. I closed my eyes, pulled my arrow and lifted my bow. I didn't take aim, and once the string came slapping back to it's original state, I opened my eyes to see where the arrow went.
It landed in a white circle far away from the bullseye. I raised my eyebrows in surprise that I had actually hit the target with my eyes closed. I definitely wasn't complaining though.
The target continued it's near hypnotic movement back and forth, three arrows protruding out of the board and each no where near the center.
"One of us has to hit it soon," I said shooting a joking grin at Catalina as I moved and she replaced me. I waited for her shot, not doubting that it would be a good one. She had hit the target cleanly in her last move. Her aim was definitely a deadly force to be reckoned with. I stood back and watched expectantly, rocking back and forth on my feet with my hands behind my back.

I raised my eyebrows at her comment as I took my place in front of the moving target.
"I'll make sure to do better," I said, returning her smirk with one of my own. I pulled an arrow from my quiver once again and nocked it to my bow easily.
The target moved left to right at it's steady pace I was now becoming more familiar with. It wasn't going to be long before I could feel where exactly the arrow was going to go.
I closed my eyes and took a steady deep breath in. The target clicked as it reached the end and started it's journey to the other side.
As if on cue, I raised my wooden bow in my clenched fist and pulled back the string tightly. The bow contracted with the string, and once it brushed my cheek and tickled the very tips of my ear I let it go.
I opened my eyes to see where it went. The target had a new arrow protruding from it's board. The arrow stuck on one of the red circles. The third one, closest to the yellow center at which I was still trying to hit.
Pride welled up inside me. That was the closest I'd gotten to the red this whole game. I took a step to the side to let Catalina take her place.
"That close enough?" I asked her with a grin.