Dianlinn looked over as the large man blew his whistle in a shrill shriek, and she watched as Sarkaska Gaidin hopped over the wooden trestles that barred the students from inadvertently fetching arrows too soon, and tossed a few short-fallen shots back at the girl whose alley he stood in. “Now, you’ve each shot a bow about fifty times. Toward the last ten to fifteen shots for each of you, I’ve noticed that most of you have begun trying to aim: that is, rather than blindly loading and firing, as I instructed you, you looked toward the target,” Sarkaska thumped an archery butt with a few arrows bristling out of it, “and tried to hit it. Some of you had some rather amazing beginner’s luck, but that will soon peter out. What you need to develop before that happens,” Sarkaska said, lifting, fitting, and firing his bow in a single motion, “is skill.” Dianlinn nodded her head as she listened to him, knowing what he spoke of. Most of her arrows were on her target somewhere, though it had taken a while to get used to the bow in her hands.
“More precisely, skill in aiming.” The Gaidin's voice called out, cutting through Dianlinn's thoughts as she looked at her target feeling a moment of pride.
“The first step in aiming is to embrace the Oneness, ko’di: whatever you call it, be it the Flame and Void or what have you.” There were near as many names for the empty state as there were Nations of the Wetlands, every one having a different way of thinking about it. The Aiel did not have a name for it, it was just a focus that came from dancing the spears, and the fact that they did not fear the coming of death.
“From within the Oneness, turn your focus to the target. You might need to turn the lathe of the bow parallel to the target, even lay it flat,” the Gaidin said, demonstrating, “but at some point, you will find you can stare down the arrow to its estimated landing area. As you practice aiming, you will find this state comes faster and faster.” He shot off three more arrows, all three making a neat triangle within a finger’s width of one another.
“I want you to recover your arrows, assume the Oneness, and aim each shot at the archery butt. Wait until you hear my whistle before recovering shots that did not make the target. Re-fire those. You may break for lunch after all of your arrows are in the target.”
Dianlinn waited for his whistle before moving down the range, though when she did she did so quickly and with a purpose. She collected her arrows, and all of the girls, Athilin's, too. She gave the girl back her arrows without a word, before placing her own in a quiver and waiting for the Gaidin's whistle to start firing her arrows once again. She drew in a breath, held it, wrapped herself in the expectation of death, and as she released the arrow she breathed out slowly. This one hit the outer ring once again, and she reached for another arrow without looking down, and set it against her bow before she was breathing in and letting another one fly.
“More precisely, skill in aiming.” The Gaidin's voice called out, cutting through Dianlinn's thoughts as she looked at her target feeling a moment of pride.
“The first step in aiming is to embrace the Oneness, ko’di: whatever you call it, be it the Flame and Void or what have you.” There were near as many names for the empty state as there were Nations of the Wetlands, every one having a different way of thinking about it. The Aiel did not have a name for it, it was just a focus that came from dancing the spears, and the fact that they did not fear the coming of death.
“From within the Oneness, turn your focus to the target. You might need to turn the lathe of the bow parallel to the target, even lay it flat,” the Gaidin said, demonstrating, “but at some point, you will find you can stare down the arrow to its estimated landing area. As you practice aiming, you will find this state comes faster and faster.” He shot off three more arrows, all three making a neat triangle within a finger’s width of one another.
“I want you to recover your arrows, assume the Oneness, and aim each shot at the archery butt. Wait until you hear my whistle before recovering shots that did not make the target. Re-fire those. You may break for lunch after all of your arrows are in the target.”
Dianlinn waited for his whistle before moving down the range, though when she did she did so quickly and with a purpose. She collected her arrows, and all of the girls, Athilin's, too. She gave the girl back her arrows without a word, before placing her own in a quiver and waiting for the Gaidin's whistle to start firing her arrows once again. She drew in a breath, held it, wrapped herself in the expectation of death, and as she released the arrow she breathed out slowly. This one hit the outer ring once again, and she reached for another arrow without looking down, and set it against her bow before she was breathing in and letting another one fly.