Squeeze the Trigger
Thunder rumbled from a spout when a plume of smoke gushed from the barrel, the sound near deafening to his own ears as Rickter looked from the hand which pulled the trigger, toward the very rogue who stood confidently with it in just a single hand. From where he stood atop the valley the Circle of Wandering remained swept by a gentle breeze, cooling what little warmth lingered from the sun as a shift in glance revealed her score. One ceramic pot down. Four more were lined up next to the shattered pot, each waiting to be blasted with a kinetic caster shell as Hannah chuckled.
"Think you can hold one of these without wetting yourself?" She prodded with a raised eyebrow, her grin a stark reminder of the type of humor she carried around.
"... Only if I clench hard enough." He remarked still with a bit of reluctance toward the weapon. While the idea had been sound before acknowledging it was one thing, Rickter still hadn't quite found it easy or comfortable to possess such a weapon. Probably because the sword had been his biggest focus up until he Pacted with a shield. Although the idea of using a gun was potentially useful, the wolf had a lot to learn before he'd ever be fully comfortable in doing so. The rogue still found humor in his remark at least.
"Ideally the goal is not to clench. You want to work on your training with this, ya?" Hannah's grin remained strong as she rested a hand on her hip, the held gun pointed away from her as she rested her elbow. "A lot of it is prediction. You'll get better at your aim with practice, but first, you'll need to get comfortable with the grip of a pistol." She then handed the gun over to him, which Rickter took cautiously before letting the handle rest in his palm. Comfortable with the grip she had said.
She clearly knew enough to be a gunslinging pro most of the time, and now, they'd be going together down into the Warrens for yet another journey. "Feels... dangerous." He admitted with a raise of his brows toward Hannah, the rogue already quietly giggling to herself as she watched.
"Wait 'til you shoot it." The grin flashed wider as she spoke with satirical enthusiasm in that sentence. "First, we'll get you acquainted with your gun, then, hopefully, you'll have another physical long-distance tool in your arsenal. You can't beat that now can you?"
"I want to be able to pull off controlled ranged attacks with my magic, so yes, this will certainly help in the long run." Though Pacting a gun would definitely be an interesting subject to tackle further down the road. It would have to be another time at the very least, for the moment, his focus focused back on the weapon in his hand.
"Steady the barrel of the pistol over your other arm." Her tone quickly became more committed. "That'll help you get a feel for the recoil, as well as a bit of minor practice with your aim." Rickter did as she instructed and rested it over his left forearm, and positioned it to where he could at least get a decent aim down the sights of the barrel. "Now envision the face of the poor bastard you wouldn't mind putting a bullet into." Her nod toward one of the few urns resulted in an amused grin, leading the wolf to questionably gaze up at her for a moment.
"And if I don't have such a thing?" The wolf passively entertained while he focused back on lining the barrel's tip toward one of the urns.
"Then you truly are a man with few grudges." The remark earned a light chuckle out of him. Rickter honestly found the humor Hannah possessed often strange, but over the past few months, they had honestly grown closer. She teased him unsparingly to be sure, but he'd found her sense of compassion where others would see vexation instead. She was a person who genuinely cared, and with a chip on her shoulder much like Rickter himself also had.
The wolf held the pistol firm as he considered the final latitude of the barrel, and finally, gave the trigger a gentle squeeze of his index finger. The firearm's blast thundered loudly as the blank caster shell missed the mark, hitting near where the urn had sat instead. Regardless of his poor aim, Rickter focused more on the recoil that shook through his forearm, as the jolt through his hand felt the kick of a recoil upon firing the handgun. The rogue clearly had to stifle a laugh, before she approached his side once he finally rose to a full stand. "Clearly overthought the shot, but that's beside the point." Her lips twisted into a playful grin not unfamiliar to the wolf. "How do you feel?"
"Definitely not my usual kind of weapon." He admitted before handling the gun for closer inspection. "It makes me wonder how it'll function as a Pact weapon though."
"Oo, yeah. I remember that story," Hannah remarked with a cross of her forearms, "Telion said it's unpleasant to experience. How does that power work anyway?"
"I channel my aether into a weapon I want to take into my soul. To forge a Pact with a weapon, you must reinforce that aether through combat." Rickter elaborated with the lowering of his firearm, an inquisitive glance shot to Hannah as he pondered her train of thought.
"Well, certainly not a power I'll be asking for. You just, what, hit around with the weapon a few times and that binds it to you?" She reasoned with curiosity found in her inquiry, leading the wolf to lightly chuckle when he looked back down at the firearm in his hands.
"Sort of. Aether is part of the soul, I feel, so in essence you're binding the weapon to your soul. Only a piece of it though. Binding a gun would likely require more than just firing it at things, not to mention the effort needed to reload it each time." The logic was sound but the practical application of it? He'd essentially be using it as a blunted weapon instead, which, if he did Pact the firearm one day then it could very well be useful for his arsenal.
"That's why you've got the three barrels, like me, three chances to put down your target before he gets anywhere close to you." The wolf gripped the firearm by the barrel and rested it next to his hip, focusing on Hannah more now that the lessons in shooting were finished.
"You sure you want to come down into The Deep with me?" The wolf checked with a tilt of his head, leading the rogue to lose her smile and consider the question he'd asked.
"I promised Telion I would, since she needs to stay at home. Am I thrilled? Not really. But I've got your back either way, Rickter, just don't put me in a position where I have to save your ass." Though her tone remained serious there came another playful grin, after about several seconds of her watching his reaction in turn. The wolf could only grin in turn when he thought about it, raising his eyebrows with a slight tilt of his head in contemplation of the idea.
"Gods only know what'll happen then."
"The favors I'll cash in when we get back." She then teased him further, before her hand moved to whip back out her pistol, and she aimed for the second urn in line. The thunderous pop of her gun brought out a minor jolt in Rickter's shoulders, as he could only wince from the sound that assaulted his ears. Nevertheless, her targeting was on point when the second urn shattered from the blast which pulverized the ceramic container. "You're gonna owe me big time when we're done."
"I'm sure we'll work something out," the wolf mused as the rogue blew off the smoke trailing from her gun, "why don't you show me how to take one apart? Firearms need maintenance to continue working properly, no?" In high spirits Hannah twisted to turn toward him, the smile she still wore ever wider once she strutted close.
"They do, but, you've still got two shots left. And there's still one more urn..." Her head tilted suggestively toward the only target left standing, her gaze expectant of Rickter as he could only sigh for a response. "Go on!" Her cheery enthusiasm followed with another playful giggle, as the wolf took his time to brandish and aim the firearm in his possession.
When the sound of gunfire popped off once, and then twice, neither one of his shots managed to clip the urn.
Searing 12th, 121st Year
"Think you can hold one of these without wetting yourself?" She prodded with a raised eyebrow, her grin a stark reminder of the type of humor she carried around.
"... Only if I clench hard enough." He remarked still with a bit of reluctance toward the weapon. While the idea had been sound before acknowledging it was one thing, Rickter still hadn't quite found it easy or comfortable to possess such a weapon. Probably because the sword had been his biggest focus up until he Pacted with a shield. Although the idea of using a gun was potentially useful, the wolf had a lot to learn before he'd ever be fully comfortable in doing so. The rogue still found humor in his remark at least.
"Ideally the goal is not to clench. You want to work on your training with this, ya?" Hannah's grin remained strong as she rested a hand on her hip, the held gun pointed away from her as she rested her elbow. "A lot of it is prediction. You'll get better at your aim with practice, but first, you'll need to get comfortable with the grip of a pistol." She then handed the gun over to him, which Rickter took cautiously before letting the handle rest in his palm. Comfortable with the grip she had said.
She clearly knew enough to be a gunslinging pro most of the time, and now, they'd be going together down into the Warrens for yet another journey. "Feels... dangerous." He admitted with a raise of his brows toward Hannah, the rogue already quietly giggling to herself as she watched.
"Wait 'til you shoot it." The grin flashed wider as she spoke with satirical enthusiasm in that sentence. "First, we'll get you acquainted with your gun, then, hopefully, you'll have another physical long-distance tool in your arsenal. You can't beat that now can you?"
"I want to be able to pull off controlled ranged attacks with my magic, so yes, this will certainly help in the long run." Though Pacting a gun would definitely be an interesting subject to tackle further down the road. It would have to be another time at the very least, for the moment, his focus focused back on the weapon in his hand.
"Steady the barrel of the pistol over your other arm." Her tone quickly became more committed. "That'll help you get a feel for the recoil, as well as a bit of minor practice with your aim." Rickter did as she instructed and rested it over his left forearm, and positioned it to where he could at least get a decent aim down the sights of the barrel. "Now envision the face of the poor bastard you wouldn't mind putting a bullet into." Her nod toward one of the few urns resulted in an amused grin, leading the wolf to questionably gaze up at her for a moment.
"And if I don't have such a thing?" The wolf passively entertained while he focused back on lining the barrel's tip toward one of the urns.
"Then you truly are a man with few grudges." The remark earned a light chuckle out of him. Rickter honestly found the humor Hannah possessed often strange, but over the past few months, they had honestly grown closer. She teased him unsparingly to be sure, but he'd found her sense of compassion where others would see vexation instead. She was a person who genuinely cared, and with a chip on her shoulder much like Rickter himself also had.
The wolf held the pistol firm as he considered the final latitude of the barrel, and finally, gave the trigger a gentle squeeze of his index finger. The firearm's blast thundered loudly as the blank caster shell missed the mark, hitting near where the urn had sat instead. Regardless of his poor aim, Rickter focused more on the recoil that shook through his forearm, as the jolt through his hand felt the kick of a recoil upon firing the handgun. The rogue clearly had to stifle a laugh, before she approached his side once he finally rose to a full stand. "Clearly overthought the shot, but that's beside the point." Her lips twisted into a playful grin not unfamiliar to the wolf. "How do you feel?"
"Definitely not my usual kind of weapon." He admitted before handling the gun for closer inspection. "It makes me wonder how it'll function as a Pact weapon though."
"Oo, yeah. I remember that story," Hannah remarked with a cross of her forearms, "Telion said it's unpleasant to experience. How does that power work anyway?"
"I channel my aether into a weapon I want to take into my soul. To forge a Pact with a weapon, you must reinforce that aether through combat." Rickter elaborated with the lowering of his firearm, an inquisitive glance shot to Hannah as he pondered her train of thought.
"Well, certainly not a power I'll be asking for. You just, what, hit around with the weapon a few times and that binds it to you?" She reasoned with curiosity found in her inquiry, leading the wolf to lightly chuckle when he looked back down at the firearm in his hands.
"Sort of. Aether is part of the soul, I feel, so in essence you're binding the weapon to your soul. Only a piece of it though. Binding a gun would likely require more than just firing it at things, not to mention the effort needed to reload it each time." The logic was sound but the practical application of it? He'd essentially be using it as a blunted weapon instead, which, if he did Pact the firearm one day then it could very well be useful for his arsenal.
"That's why you've got the three barrels, like me, three chances to put down your target before he gets anywhere close to you." The wolf gripped the firearm by the barrel and rested it next to his hip, focusing on Hannah more now that the lessons in shooting were finished.
"You sure you want to come down into The Deep with me?" The wolf checked with a tilt of his head, leading the rogue to lose her smile and consider the question he'd asked.
"I promised Telion I would, since she needs to stay at home. Am I thrilled? Not really. But I've got your back either way, Rickter, just don't put me in a position where I have to save your ass." Though her tone remained serious there came another playful grin, after about several seconds of her watching his reaction in turn. The wolf could only grin in turn when he thought about it, raising his eyebrows with a slight tilt of his head in contemplation of the idea.
"Gods only know what'll happen then."
"The favors I'll cash in when we get back." She then teased him further, before her hand moved to whip back out her pistol, and she aimed for the second urn in line. The thunderous pop of her gun brought out a minor jolt in Rickter's shoulders, as he could only wince from the sound that assaulted his ears. Nevertheless, her targeting was on point when the second urn shattered from the blast which pulverized the ceramic container. "You're gonna owe me big time when we're done."
"I'm sure we'll work something out," the wolf mused as the rogue blew off the smoke trailing from her gun, "why don't you show me how to take one apart? Firearms need maintenance to continue working properly, no?" In high spirits Hannah twisted to turn toward him, the smile she still wore ever wider once she strutted close.
"They do, but, you've still got two shots left. And there's still one more urn..." Her head tilted suggestively toward the only target left standing, her gaze expectant of Rickter as he could only sigh for a response. "Go on!" Her cheery enthusiasm followed with another playful giggle, as the wolf took his time to brandish and aim the firearm in his possession.
When the sound of gunfire popped off once, and then twice, neither one of his shots managed to clip the urn.
"Gold goes so well with a diamond like me."
"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Hannah"
"Rickter" "Hannah"
