dysproslogs | Target Practice [OPEN]

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Target Practice [OPEN]

Who: Zoe and OPEN
What: Shooting stationary objects and doing chores
When: Flammedi, 21th of Rosefrucht
Where: Outside the Gazelle and Child and in the nearer environs to it
Rating: PG probably for mild space-western swearing

First on the list of things to do that morning: target practice. Zoe settled herself in at the shooting range beside the Gazelle and Chine, the side meant more for gunners than for rangers, and took aim again and again at the targets there. She needed to keep her hand in, when she wasn't going out targeting living things, and she hadn't enough rank-- or money-- for a horse of her own to go out with, so the moving target range wasn't available.

Plus, she kept trying to get the gun to change shape, like she'd been told it would do, but it so far stubbornly remained a shotgun. She favored shotguns, fair enough, but she sure did wish she could get a shape change in practice rather than out in the field some day when it would take her by surprise.

Then came an early lunch and walking out some of the horses that the more higher-ranked archers had taken out for the morning, and taking them back in to groom. At least that was an easy enough chore; she'd rather have that than mucking out their stables, which she did yesterday. Besides, that let her lead the horses around the nearby streets, and see who might be out and about. After a few weeks here without many friends, she was starting to open up at least a little and greet people.

Just a little, though.

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Zoe, who had been about to take another shot, paused and glanced over at her watcher. She'd known he'd been there, but since he'd just been watching, assumed he wasn't interested in chatting. She was okay with that.

"Doin' what right?" she asked, without lowering the weapon. At least it wasn't pointed at Tieria. There wasn't any malice in her voice, just a kind of bland politeness with a hint of wry amusement. "Shootin'? Pretty sure I know how to do that."

The fact that she wasn't surprised by his calling out earned her point for being alert. Though her question had him raised a brow because he thought it was obvious he wasn't commenting on her ability to shoot. Making no move to leave his spot yet, he continued, "Changing your gun's shape. Weren't you trying to?"

It would be good if he learned something from her about it as well since he was considering subbing into a Gunner. He wasn't worry about being able to shoot but the ability to change his gun according to his wish was something he wanted to understand further. There was so much in this world that made little sense and while he was perplexed by them, he wanted to understand them nonetheless.

"Huh. Didn't realize I was bein' that obvious about it." She offered a slight smile, and finally lowered the shotgun. "If you've got any advice on that, I ain't gonna turn down a little help."

Most of the Gunners so far hadn't been terribly helpful, whether because she was from somewhere beyond this city, because they thought she needed to learn for herself, or some other inscrutable reason. She didn't recognize this fellow, though, except for one of the other "strangers". So she cocked her head and asked, "You ain't one of th'Gunners, are ya?"

He nodded, looking down on the clothes he was wearing and realized he hadn't put his Knight's gear on because it was his off day. Without them, he would be no different than others in the generic clothes he bought from the local stores. "I'm not." He wasn't going to tell a stranger anything else until she prove to be trustworthy enough.

Back to her first question, it wasn't as if he could actually tell if she was really attempting what he suspected her to be. He could be wrong and wouldn't mind being told otherwise. Though, in all honesty, he really did want to try catching the gun shape shift, which was why he talked to her in the first place. "You have no difficulty with your aims, I can only assume your hesitation is due to your effort in trying to change it's shape." Pause. "The person who briefed me said it change according to your will. Perhaps you're thinking too hard." And thus, lost focus but he kept the last part in his mind, finding it unnecessary to elaborate.

"Or maybe it's that I don't really trust that it's gonna do what they say," Zoe admitted wryly, resting the muzzle of the gun on the ground and leaning on the stock. "Pretty far-fetched, a gun that changes shape without havin' any gears or movin' parts to do it with. Or it is, where I'm from."

And even if she wound up accepting that the little monsters were magic, and their arrival here was magic, and other people might wield magic-- all of which were still entirely conditional, since she hadn't quite accepted all of that yet, either-- magic guns were just something she was having trouble with.

That was something he understood and could very well relate to. Ever since the first day, he had been told about magic by people who came from worlds where magic were prevalent. He didn't believe any of them, until he had monsters breathing fire after him in one of the castle's dungeon. He was still skeptical, as he should be when dealing with foreign subject, but he was a lot more willing to consider their possibility than to dismiss them as nonsense now. It helped that the First Aid he was taught weren't entire first aid in the conventional manner either. Even if he didn't believe in magic, everything that happened around him had said otherwise. It would be unwise if he were to continue living in denial about something that could possibly affect his own safety in this strange world.

"Far-fetched and yet you're holding one in hand. It's good to be reasonably skeptical about them but if you don't accept or trust the weapon you're wielding, then you're only endangering yourself." It was no secret that this world wasn't safe, so he assumed she would understand his implication.

And that wasn't condescending at all. Zoe raised her brows, considering whether to point out she was, as far as she could tell, older than he was, and plenty experienced. She didn't need some purple-haired young man to tell her just how dangerous this place was.

"Well," she said after a beat, expression bland, "until my brain figures out how to trust it, I got my own. Didn't exactly come here unprotected. And in the meantime, I practice, an' see what I can make of it."

If she was offended, he didn't catch it since he wasn't trying to be condescending to her in the first place. Since he used to be in position of power, that disposition carried over in his behavior. By no means was he trying to assert his authority or talk her down. He was only pointing out what he thought was an obvious thing to do in order to survive. He did however, caught her dismissing tone and raised a brow to that.

"How will your conventional gun fair against magical monsters? They don't exactly wait for you to figure out how to change them in the middle of a battle. Some of the ones I've seen can't be hurt by normal attacks." After trying to cut them several times and ended up almost being magic fodder, he will make sure he can defend himself the next time he tried climbing that castle.

"Far's I've been told, this gun don't do any better against things a regular gun can't fight, too," Zoe pointed out. That wasn't even something she'd expected it to do, and was pretty sure it didn't do. "It ain't a magic gun, don't shoot nothin' more than regular bullets and buckshot, same as my own shotgun and pistol. Jest has magic in it to change shape dependin' on how you shoot it. So... usin' this one instead of what I brought with me ain't really gonna help me much."

Though she did suppose maybe that was the thing. She did keep trying to shoot it like the shotgun it looked like. Maybe if she tried shooting it like a handgun it would oblige by turning into one? It was a thought.

That wasn't what he was told, so he raised a curious brow at her. "Your guild's guide said there's an elemental attack in the Gunner's skills set. Is he mistaken or are you missing vital information about something you would be learning in the near future?" At this point, he was leaning towards the guide who briefed him earlier rather than her who seemed quick to dismiss points he brought up. He wondered briefly if he had somehow grated her nerve by pointing out what he thought was her problem in her gun exercise but figured there wasn't anything worth being angry about.

When she brought up something new to him, he gave the gun a short glance. So far, he hadn't met enough people who came from worlds that had access to technology and she was one of the few. "What type of gun did you brought with you?"

"That's only in a specific circumstance, and a particular gun shape," Zoe countered blandly. "Which ain't this one. Every other kind, every other circumstance, it shoots regular old bullets with no magic 'sides what you paid to put in 'em. Gotta have extras on you, in fact, and it's plenty possible to run out." If he'd listened to the guide, he'd have gotten that, too, she was sure. "I ain't even so sure that's a property of the gun, but instead somethin'... we learn." Which bothered her a little, really.

At his question, she rested the locally-made shotgun across her shoulder. "I brought one with me that's a lot like this. Shotgun type. Also got a pistol. They're both back in my room, if you wanna see 'em. Why? You familiar with this kinda thing?" That'd be a change. Nobody so far that she'd spoken with had been the least bit familiar with weapons.

"You're missing the point, isn't it? There's a reason why there is an elemental attack in your skills set as well as why your gun can shapeshift. It's not something that either of us are familiar with but if they are not important, they won't be taught in the first place and neither would they insist you use their gun. Whether it's this type of gun or not is irrelevant when you cannot even wield your intended weapon efficiently." He paused to consider her worry and continued, "With how the monsters behave in the castle, I find the ability of your shape shifting gun an advantage. If you really have this much trouble with it, I suggest you take a trip beyond the hall of the castle. Find someone trustworthy and go as far as you can. If you can't learn by theory, learning by experienced would be better."

"What caliber?" A question that would obviously be tell tale sign of his knowledge. "They are common weapons where I came from."

At this point, Zoe was done with the lecture, so she just decided to ignore it. He, after all, was not her captain or her husband. If some purple-haired boy a decade her junior wanted to act like he understood better than she did what she was up against, she didn't need to argue with him. She knew all that, after all, and it wasn't making her learning how to do this any easier.

So she gave him a weary look, and said simply, "Thanks, kid. I'll keep that in mind next time I can get a ranker to take me somewhere. If you wanna talk shop, though, c'mon over and have a look for yourself." She waved him into the currently otherwise empty target range, hefting the gun for him to examine if he wanted to.

If she didn't want to listen, he wasn't going to waste his advice on her. Though, when she called him kid, he was a little annoyed by it. Did he behaved like one that warrant it? It didn't occur to him how young he appeared to others since no one addressed his age back home, at least not directly to him. That and age was a complicated matter to someone of his origin. Still, he was annoyed, especially when he realized it was probably because of his 'age' that she was disregarding him in their conversation. His impression on her, clearly plummeted at this point. How shallow.

"Tieria Erde. If you must refer to me, then use my name." He didn't bothered hiding his displeasure even though he accepted the gun to examine it. Checking it carefully, it didn't seem different from a normal gun be he knew it was and it was obvious from the way he handled it that he was trained in using firearms. He was tempted to take it apart but it wasn't his gun. "Have you taken it apart before?"

"Zoe Washburne. Now we're introduced." She handed over the weapon, watching him handle it with mild interest. Yes, he knew what he was doing. Why hadn't he come to this guild from the start, if he was already comfortable with the weaponry...? As far as Zoe was concerned, after all, there really wasn't anything else here that would really compare to a good shotgun (or rifle, or revolver, or whatever it happened to turn into).

"Sure did, at least to th'extent I could without bustin' it. Nothin' really obviously special about it. There's a few pieces that don't seem to do much aside from look pretty, but if they're part of the shapeshiftin' process, I can't tell how." She shrugged, a little frustrated to be showing herself ignorant in front of the kid who liked to act superior, but honest enough that she wasn't about to hide it. "I know weapons, but I ain't any kinda engineer."

He listened to her while he continued examining it, already mapping the gun out in his mind. It wasn't hard considering what he did for a living and while he wasn't as good as Ian, he was a Gundam Meister and a gun as basic as this was nothing in comparison to the Gundam they were all tasked to pilot and repair. Plus, he was with the development team, he can and knew how to engineer weapons.

"I am. Do you mind if I take it apart? I will put it back for you." If it can shapeshift, the mechanic must be from within or entirely magical on it's own. "Though, it would be better if you had learn to shapeshift it. Then we can take it apart in different gun mode and check for irregular and shift in the internal mechanics to make comparison."

"Yeah, I'm sure a lotta things would be better if I could make it shapeshift." Like this whole conversation. She could have been showing off instead of letting some boy talk down to her. Then again, she was starting to wonder if he wouldn't have found something to lecture about, if he hadn't had that. "Knock yerself out, if you feel like it. Jest make sure you can put it back how y'found it. I ain't gonna go to my guildmaster an' ask for another one this early on."

"Alright."

Taking the gun with him, he set it down on the table and took a seat before extracting a small tools case from his pocket. Carefully, Tieria started dismantling the shotgun with experienced speed, setting the down accordingly. While he was doing so, he looked over every piece of the shotgun and took some detailed note in the mini log book he brought with him.

"You're right about some of the seemingly useless pieces. I took note, so when you can shift this gun, let me know so I can take it apart and see if there was anything we can learn from the shifting."

With that said, he put the shotgun back again and handed it back to the owner. "Thanks."

Zoe watched curiously. She mostly hadn't bothered with more than a screwdriver when she investigated it herself. This fellow was apparently more specialized in his deconstruction. She rather wanted to know what he was writing down, but despite his attitude, she thought that peering over his shoulder would be rude enough to make up for it.

"Or y'could jest ask somebody else who's managed it," she suggested with an amused little smile when he spoke again. "Might be quicker. But sure, I'll letcha know."

Closing the log book and packing up the tools case, he snorted at her reply. "I've already asked. None of the natives would let me take their gun apart. Though, it's an understandable reaction. I am an outsider after all, no one would trust me to handle their personal weapon."

Standing up, he wiped his hands clean. "I'll wait for your good news then." With a nod, he turned to leave.

"Suppose I ain't that surprised to hear it. They ain't always th'most trustin', 'specially of somebody who didn't show up to their own guild. So-- sure thing, mister Erde." She rested the gun over her shoulder as he stood up, muzzle pointed safely at the sky. She'd double-check to make sure he put it back together right after he was gone. "Here's hopin' it don't take too long."

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Target Practice [OPEN]

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sorry late! sudden family vacation!

no worries! :)

\o\

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holy crap I forgot. super sorry!

no worries, no worries :) it's about wrapped, anyhow!

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