Triggering Change [Natasha/Violet]

Violet blushed, embarrassed that she didn’t even know the safety was on. She didn’t want to look that stupid in front of her Aunt, but oh well… At least didn’t seem to bother her. They immediately started back up, and she made a note of where the safety was before they continued. She clicked the safety on, off, on off… a few times, just to memorize it’s placement and position for future reference.

Violet did her best to mimic any motions that her aunt made, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger. The first time that loud pop happened, Violet flinched. It clearly startled her and she almost dropped the damn thing, but she kept hold.

“Heh… loud,” she said and then aimed at the target again. Taking a breath, and now anticipating the sound, she fired again and again and again. Her aim actually wasn’t horrible. Violet had tried multiple melee weapons before this gun, and this just felt natural. After emptying the clip, she pulled the trigger two more times before realizing she was out of bullets. “Crap… I don’t have anymore. That was dumb.”

"Oho! Lookit you gettin' the hang of this firearm thing. I can tell someone's developin' a preference."

Violet's natural prowess with a firearm was hardly lost on the southern lady with laser focus. Of course, in all that excitement, Violet fired off so many that it left her chamber empty. Natasha walked over, appraising the weapon in silence. Then, something dawned on her. Pondering her idea for a moment, she posed a simple question to Violet.

"How well can ya manipulate reishi nowadays, sugar?"

Violet’s face distorted to a mixture of fear and embarrassment. She fiddled with her fingers, looking to the floor. “Well, I…” Violet let her arms drop and hang in shame. “Kind of, but I am not very good… I made a scythe for a while, but it was always unstable. I can’t make a bow… or a sword. I’m… horrible at it, honestly.”

Violet looked at the gun and she smiled softly, “This is working well though…”

"Might I make a suggestion if yer so fond of that explosive lil' rascal?"

Natasha carefully took the gun from her hand. She needed it to provide the woman with an example. If she didn't have the skill to form a spirit weapon and manipulate her reishi that way, why not alleviate the process a little and use the gun as a conduit to release the reishi she absorbed? The process wouldn't be easy, obviously, but there was perhaps precedence for it, yeah?

Or who knows, maybe she could replicate the shape and form of this same spirit weapon? Sky was the limit, but first... the example. Exhaling softly, Natasha absorbed reishi from the atmosphere, focusing a small amount on the gun to avoid overheating and overwhelming the weapon. In the next instant, she fired off a single round of reishi toward another target.

"Why not make a gun? Shape's easy enough, ya don't need to worry about running out of bullets... and you can always have two on hand to ensure you never run out of firepower. How does that sound?"

“Make a gun?” Violet looked at the handgun for a while. She did her best to memorize the shape, looking at the front, back, up the barrel, and the trigger. It felt much more complicated than a stick with a sword, but a gun was much smaller…

Taking into account the lessons she had previously gotten, learning how to take in the reishi and exert it in a solid form, violet did her best to make a gun. It took a while, since it had been a while since she tried, but after a few minutes, Violet found herself successfully making a gun. It wasn't beautiful and had very little decoration or anything that let it stand out, but it was definitely a gun with a sight and trigger.

"This... was much easier than anything else I tried..."

"Ain't it, though? I can tell yer a natural at wieldin' a firearm. Might be that Miller blood runnin' through yer veins---the good kind, at least. Don't worry, I consider your mother an outlier."

Offering that genuine praise in her customarily playful tone, a proud expression painted the woman's pleasant features as she clapped her hands in applause. To some degree, she genuinely meant that, though. There was none of that undeserved sense of superiority emanating from her at all. Of course, she supposed that made sense since that witch likely abused and ridiculed her. From the way she approached and responded to her initially, she certainly felt justified in that belief. These were great baby steps. As one whose spirit weapon primarily manifested into the form of a myriad of guns, this was mighty nice to soak in.

"Light humor aside, though, I genuinely do reckon it might come from a place of simplicity. Ain't nothin' hardly wrong with bows and swords, but they require an investment in martial prowess, constant movement, and rapid-fire thinkin'. In all fairness, half of that still applies to usin' a gun, but as long as you maintain good focus, possess an honest intent to fire, and get a good eye on yer target, I reckon it's always a little easier to wield somethin' like this compared to a bow or a sword. Plus, it's easier to carry around. Always a plus, right?"

"I’m not sure Mom was a Miller… Maybe she’s adopted and your Dad never told you. It would make a lot more sense, since she's nothing like you...”

Violet stared down at he simply made reishi gun as Natasha explained things. She was right… Simple was often much easier for Violet to catch onto. She could do more advanced things later, but for now, simple was the best option.

“How… Like, how do I…” Violet held up the gun toward the target and pulled the trigger, but of course nothing happened. She didn't know how to shoot reishi, yet.

"Ah, yea. Part two. That makes sense. Alright, so here's where I provide ya with an example of how I do things. So, first things first..."

Natasha's spirit weapon would once again manifest in the familiar shape of a pistol. Placing her fingers smoothly against the trigger, a collection of ambient reishi filled the weapon's chamber. In the next instant, a bullet of reishi was fired, bolting forward to hit a moving target with resounding accuracy. Repeating the method for emphasis this time, she collected reishi and released another burst of energy to hit another. Turning back to Violet, Natasha explained the phenomenon in detail.

"Quincy lesson number one. Most of our offense is found in our ability to collect and manipulate reishi. We draw in the ambient reishi in the air - or as I like to call em', lil' blue drops - and weaponize em however we see fit. My desired form of weaponization just so happens to be collectin' said drops into the chamber of whatever gun I chose, and turnin' them into bullets or even somethin' close to heavy artillery. Now, lemme see you try it, sugar."

Violet actually caught on when Natasha explained it. She knew what reishi was and how to shape it, but that always felt so forced, and Violet always thought something wasn’t working out in her mind. Collecting “lil’ blue drops” and moving them into the chamber of her gun was much simpler, more her.

Violet nodded and took her gun up again, aiming at the target. Narrowing her eyes, she took a breath and collected the lil' blue drops and focused them into the chamber of her reishi-made gun. It didn't move as smoothly as she would like, definitely not quick enough to defend herself, but this was new.

Once the lil' blue bullets were where in place, she pulled the trigger. To her surprise, the bullet actually went. She was so surprised by it, in fact, that she squeaked, stepped back too quickly, and tripped over her own foot. Luckily, she wasn't holding a real gun anymore, because it might have gone off in the building.

"Easy there, pumpkin! I gotcha."

Focused as she was on Violet, it was relatively easy for Natasha to catch the woman as she tripped over, holding her up with a playful grin, softly chortling at the humorous sight. Her niece was adorable - how could anyone be mean to someone like this? Once she gathered herself properly, Natasha offered her praise for a good first effort. It wasn't the cleanest, but she did achieve most of what she laid out. Any progress was good progress in her eyes, after all.

"Gettin' used to the pop is the next step. Don't worry. Yer spirit weapon ain't there to hurt ya. Much like the actual gun ya have, these weapons are meant to be forms of protection whenever yer in a pinch. Once you've got that down, defendin' yourself against the average human shouldn't be an issue."