Target Practice (Open!!)
Jan 11, 2011 2:44:02 GMT -5
Post by Dusty Graves on Jan 11, 2011 2:44:02 GMT -5
It was a warm afternoon, for once. By Vermont standards, at least. To Dusty, it was still colder then anything he'd ever really had to put up with, be it back home or overseas. Thankfully, though, it was still of a warm enough temperature that he could go outside and not feel like his extremities were going to snap right off if he shook them too hard. Now that classes were over for the day, and the students were free to (more or less) do as they pleased, and since Dusty himself didn't have an assignment to go on, he'd decided to take a trip to the training field to do just that, train.
Or at least, to do what Dusty considered training, that is.
He traipsed onto the field, realizing absently that it was likely a good idea to get to know the rest of the staff first before going off and doing something like this, but all the same, he had everything ready to go, to call it off now on something that was such a technicality was just impractical, at least according to him. He had a large burlap sack slung over his shoulder and a mid-sized stereo hanging from his opposite hand, and he hefted the items over to a clear area. Once there, he dropped to a knee, setting the stereo off to one side and laying out the contents of the burlap sack. Inside the bag, a lot of random components spilled out. Almost as if packed that way, a screwdriver and a simple wrench tumbled at the end of it all, landing gently onto the heap. Dusty looked, made sure all the pieces were there, and upon seeing that they were, nodded quietly to himself, cracking a little grin as he got to work.
--A couple of minutes later--
Dusty stepped back to admire his handiwork, and the clay pigeon launcher was, indeed, perfectly assembled. Dusty was a bit more proud of himself for the deed than he really had any right to be, though, considering it was only a few pieces and some bolts. Regardless, he had finished setting it up, for the first time since he'd bought it during the short break between his first and second tours of duty with the Army. He tossed the wireless remote down on the ground a few feet away and set up the stereo on a bench. Slapping the 'play' button, he walked away to the remote as a song began to play.
Dusty's foot tapped out onto the wireless remote, and the clay launcher hummed to life, rocking around lazily. The cowboy rolled his shoulders and grinned, tugging his olive-drab tight t-shirt around his back for a moment. Without warning, the first clay target fired into the air, and Dusty's hand whipped up as his eyes tracked the angle and trajectory. One eye squinted, his fingers curled into a faux-gun, index and middle fingers extended, thumb cocked out behind, and ring and pinky tucked into a fist.
"Bang."
He smirked, and felt the surge from his mind, running raw energy down his spine, through his arm, and out through his outermost fingers. A translucent pulse of energy shot out, distorting the sky around it as it fired into the clay target, shattering it into multiple harmless pieces that fell lightly to the ground. Dusty had made sure to aim the skeet shooter away from the rest of the grounds, so that no one would have to deal with raining clay shrapnel.
His grin widened as the target exploded, and his extended hand pulled downward sharply as he pumped his fist, as if he hadn't expected to hit it. He blinked a few times, preparing for the next target, eyes scanning the horizon to watch for the next target's path, ears honed for the tell-tale sound of the launcher ejecting the bird...
Just then, Dusty's ears picked up a different sound, one of a twig crackling under the music, or a leaf being stepped on, or something indicating the arrival of another person. His head whirled around on a swivel, right hand up, fingers splayed as if he were going to slap someone.
"Can I help you?"
At that moment, the launcher decided to fire it's clay pigeon. Dusty's eyes left the visitor for only a second, looking at the target out of the corner of his eye and sighting it perfectly, that same raised hand reaching out behind him and pointing at the clay target, firing another pulse without looking that, yet again, shattered the target into pieces.
Or at least, to do what Dusty considered training, that is.
He traipsed onto the field, realizing absently that it was likely a good idea to get to know the rest of the staff first before going off and doing something like this, but all the same, he had everything ready to go, to call it off now on something that was such a technicality was just impractical, at least according to him. He had a large burlap sack slung over his shoulder and a mid-sized stereo hanging from his opposite hand, and he hefted the items over to a clear area. Once there, he dropped to a knee, setting the stereo off to one side and laying out the contents of the burlap sack. Inside the bag, a lot of random components spilled out. Almost as if packed that way, a screwdriver and a simple wrench tumbled at the end of it all, landing gently onto the heap. Dusty looked, made sure all the pieces were there, and upon seeing that they were, nodded quietly to himself, cracking a little grin as he got to work.
--A couple of minutes later--
Dusty stepped back to admire his handiwork, and the clay pigeon launcher was, indeed, perfectly assembled. Dusty was a bit more proud of himself for the deed than he really had any right to be, though, considering it was only a few pieces and some bolts. Regardless, he had finished setting it up, for the first time since he'd bought it during the short break between his first and second tours of duty with the Army. He tossed the wireless remote down on the ground a few feet away and set up the stereo on a bench. Slapping the 'play' button, he walked away to the remote as a song began to play.
Dusty's foot tapped out onto the wireless remote, and the clay launcher hummed to life, rocking around lazily. The cowboy rolled his shoulders and grinned, tugging his olive-drab tight t-shirt around his back for a moment. Without warning, the first clay target fired into the air, and Dusty's hand whipped up as his eyes tracked the angle and trajectory. One eye squinted, his fingers curled into a faux-gun, index and middle fingers extended, thumb cocked out behind, and ring and pinky tucked into a fist.
"Bang."
He smirked, and felt the surge from his mind, running raw energy down his spine, through his arm, and out through his outermost fingers. A translucent pulse of energy shot out, distorting the sky around it as it fired into the clay target, shattering it into multiple harmless pieces that fell lightly to the ground. Dusty had made sure to aim the skeet shooter away from the rest of the grounds, so that no one would have to deal with raining clay shrapnel.
His grin widened as the target exploded, and his extended hand pulled downward sharply as he pumped his fist, as if he hadn't expected to hit it. He blinked a few times, preparing for the next target, eyes scanning the horizon to watch for the next target's path, ears honed for the tell-tale sound of the launcher ejecting the bird...
Just then, Dusty's ears picked up a different sound, one of a twig crackling under the music, or a leaf being stepped on, or something indicating the arrival of another person. His head whirled around on a swivel, right hand up, fingers splayed as if he were going to slap someone.
"Can I help you?"
At that moment, the launcher decided to fire it's clay pigeon. Dusty's eyes left the visitor for only a second, looking at the target out of the corner of his eye and sighting it perfectly, that same raised hand reaching out behind him and pointing at the clay target, firing another pulse without looking that, yet again, shattered the target into pieces.