The Pistol

"I- I can't!"

Sophia said

"Huh? What do you mean you can't?"

Eleonora responded with an annoyed tone.

"I mean that I've never used a weapon! I can't just start shooting!"

"I said I'm gonna teach you how to use it. Now quit your whining and follow my instructions."

Eleonora said.

"Aim for that tree."

She said as she pointed at a leafy tree.

Sophia sighed and tried to position herself, bringing her hands to her body and dropping her head a bit, and gripping the gun from its low point.

"No no"

Eleonora exclaimed. Sophia turned to look at her. The captain approached her and began to move her body.

"Here. Bend your elbows slightly. Don't drop your head, you should bring the pistol to your eyes. Also, you're holding it wrong."

Eleonora said positioning Sophia. The princess didn't say a word just listened carefully.

"Now do it again."

Eleonora backed away a bit and Sophia tried the position again. When she did it she looked at Eleonora for approval.

"Good. Now place your hand on the trigger."

Eleonora said

"Are you sure?"

The princess asked with a worried tone

"I don't want to shoot by accident"

"You won't. The is not loaded yet."

"Oh"

Sophia positioned herself again. Closing one eye and putting her finger on the trigger.

"Don't close your eye. It will just make it more difficult for you to shoot. Find which is your dominant eye and present that eye center with your body."

Sophia did just that.

"I believe my left eye dominates"

"Great, you're like me. Now pull the trigger."

Sophia took a deep breath and pulled it. A small click came out of the pistol but as Eleonora said, it was not loaded. The princess turned to look at Eleonora again. She smiled as she saw her nodding.

"Good job, princess. Now let me show you how to load it."

"Isn't it a little too soon for me to start actually shooting?"

Sophia asked

"You're a runaway princess that gets attacked every 3 days. It's never too early to learn how to shoot."

"Oh, yeah, You're right."

The princess smiled softly.

Suddenly, Eleonora threw 2 small bags toward her again. Sophia almost dropped them but luckily managed to grab them.

"You need to stop doing that!"

Sophia said stomping her foot on the ground.

"Never. Seeing you struggle to catch them is quite funny."

Eleonora said with a slight chuckle.

"What are these anyway?"

Sophia asked looking at the bags in her hand.

"Cartridge with gunpowder and bullets. Come here"

Sophia walked towards her.

"You see this? This is called a pan. Open it and put a little bit of the gunpowder, like so but don't overdo it, and don't forget to close it up "

Eleonora said. Sophia began to slowly pour some powder into the pan.

"After that, put a little bit into the barrel and then put the paper where the gun powder was, inside the barrel."

The captain explained, showing Sophia where the barrel was.

"Good. Place the bullet on top of the paper."

Sophia took one bullet and did exactly as she was told.

"Now take this stick, otherwise known as a ramrod, and push the paper and bullet inside."

The princess struggled a bit with it but managed to do it.

"Now put the ramrod back and put it from a half cock to a full one"

Sophia's eyes widened. She turned to look at her captain with a shocked face.

"Wait what?"

"I'm talking about the gun still. This here is called a cock, princess."

"Oh, right right. My bad"

Sophia with a nervous chuckle.

Eleonora rolled her eyes before laughing.

"What now?"

"It's ready to fire. Position yourself and point at the tree again."

Sophia gulped and took a stance. She pointed at the tree just like how Eleonora told her earlier.

She stood there for a while ready but hesitating to shoot.

"What's the problem?"

Eleonora asked.

"I'm a little scared to do this. Considering I've never done this before."

Eleonora sighed and came closer to her.

"Everything will be fine. If it will make you feel better, I learned how to shoot when I was half your age and I had 0 injuries."

"Really? How long ago?"

"About 20 years, now focus."

The princess took a deep breath and concentrated on her target.

Eleonora backed away a bit.

Sophia put her finger on the trigger and pulled.

It shook her a bit and she began to cough from the smoke that came from it. She looked at the tree only to see that she had completely missed it.

"Damn it!"

She sighs in frustration.

"Well, looks like we might need some more practice."

Eleonora said with a small chuckle.

"Don't make fun of me! It's my first time!"

"I'm not making fun of you but I have to say, Christina with one eye shot better than you when I taught her"

"You taught Christina how to fire a pistol?"

Sophia asked

"Yeah? A month after we met. Strangely enough, she had never used a gun before. Anyway, load the pistol and try again."

...

The two stayed for over 3 hours. It took more than 15 bullets before Sophia was finally able to shoot the target.

"Yes!Finally!"

Sophia exclaimed in excitement.

"*yawns* Took you long enough. Bravo princess."

Eleonora said, clapping her hands.

"Now, enough for today. I believe both of us are pretty tired."

Eleonora exclaimed while stretching.

"What? that's it? Aren't you gonna teach me more stuff??"

Sophia asked

"I will next time. You learned how to load and shoot didn't you? It's all you need for now."

Dissatisfied with her answer Sophia crossed her arms.

"Huh? What's this now?"

"It's not even past lunchtime. Can't we do something more than just go back to the ship?"

Eleonora thought for a second before smirking.

"Princess, if you just want to spend more time with me, you should just say so"

She said crossing her arms to mock her.

"N-No! I didn't mean that! I just meant that it's bright outside so we can do more than go back to the ship!"

Sophia said

"Sure sure, whatever you say, princess."

Eleonora said with a mocking tone.

"Okay fine. Let's do something more than just go back to the ship."

"Great! I mean if that's what you want"

Eleonora chuckled a bit while gesturing for the princess to follow her.

"Wait, Captain. What about this?"

Sophia said looking at the gun in her hand.

"It's yours now."

"But I don't have anywhere to put it. I can't walk around with a gun in my hands."

Sophia exclaimed

"Oh yeah, you're right. Here take this."

Eleonora said as she unbuckled one of her belts that had a gun pocket on it.

"No don't!"

Sophia yelled but Eleonora just smiled and threw the belt at her. This time, however, Sophia was able to catch it.

"Good, you're learning. Now put it around your waist and placed the pistol inside the pocket. Put your robe on to hide it."

"Yeah I know that much"

Eleonora didn't say anything just smirked and crossed her arms as she watch the princess put her robe on.

"Okay, I'm ready"

"Alright, let's go."