Hitting the Mark
Break the Targets, a specialized challenge focused around a smash combatant's ability to locate and break targets scattered around an obstacle course that was uniquely designed for each contestant. What was once a highly popular test of skill hosted alongside the main tournament has now since been retired since the 3rd tournament. As of now it has been restructured into a simple target practice shooting gallery located in the lower levels of the Smash mansion for tournament participants to come and practice their aiming skills at their own leisure…
In the blink of an eye, an energy shot was fired from one of the booths in the shooting gallery. Tilted in angle and with uneven trajectory, the energy blast just barely hit the intended target located on the back wall.
"0ooh shoot" Isabelle said as her grip on the smash tournament regulated blaster tightened out of mild frustration. She had been at this for nearly two hours and only now was she able to hit the targets, but just barely. Her aim was still inconsistent and poor at best.
Taking a breath to calm down, Isabelle took a second to reposition herself on her stool after the recoil from the last blast threw her somewhat off balance.
"Relax, that was a pretty decent shot" Wolf said reassuringly. He was standing in the stall right next to Isabelle also practicing his aiming with his own Blaster. "You're getting better. You're starting to hit the outer rims of the targets now."
"I suppose so…" Isabelle replied meekly.
Recently Wolf and Isabelle's team had been participating in battles where smash licensed items were allowed. Rulesets for matches changed often during the tournament, so it wasn't unusual to see teams carrying around items from the storage lockers in the practice arenas. Mixing things up every once in a while kept everyone on their toes.
Sometimes this made the matches more unexpected, fun even. Despite this, Wolf typically didn't bother with using items as he felt it was better to stick with his own weapons that he was acquainted with. Isabelle however decided to try her hand out on various equipment that was given to them hoping it would help level the playing field between her and some of the more powerhouse members of the tournament. It's true that what Isabelle lacked in physical strength she made up for in her assortment of unorthodox tools she used. But creative application though it may have been, once Bowser burned her parasol with his fire breath Isabelle realized she needed to try something different.
Over the course of the last few weeks in-between an uneven mixture of wins and losses, Wolf had noticed one thing during these item matches. That aside from being inexperienced with most of the weapons provided, Isabelle was having a hard time aiming ranged weapons properly. Being unusually generous and figuring that he had nothing to lose, Wolf offered to help Isabelle practice her aiming which led them meeting here at the shooting gallery.
"I'm sorry that it's taking so long Wolf. It's hard using these energy blasters." Isabelle said
"No need to apologize, it's just a matter of getting the hang of it"
"That's just it though, I'm not too comfortable with using a heavy-duty weapon such as this."
Wolf snickered a tiny bit with what Isabelle said. "You're kidding right? The intensity on these blasters has been set so low that they're practically toys, you'd be hard pressed to be able to harm anyone with these things beyond a slight stun"
"I'm SERIOUS Wolf." Isabelle said sternly as she looked at him with a serious face. "It may not fire any bullets or lethal energy blasts but it's still a gun and I've never used one before these item matches started."
Wolf just closed his eye and sighed. "I suppose that's fair, in terms of ranged weapons I've only ever seen you use that slingshot of yours, anything with more fire power probably would seem "heavy-duty" to you."
"Exactly, it just doesn't feel right to me."
"You'll get used to it with time. The more you practice the easier it gets." Wolf then fired off his own blaster, hitting the target dead center and shattering it to pieces. Isabelle couldn't help but be amazed at Wolf's aiming skills. The entire time that both her and Wolf had been at this shooting gallery, Wolf had hit and destroyed every single one of the targets lined up for him. For someone with only one working eye, his aim was impeccable.
"Just give it another go." Wolf said as he flipped a switch at his booth which caused a new target to spawn in place of the previous one on the back wall.
As instructed, Isabelle prepared herself for another shot. With a tight grip on the trigger she fired off the blaster. Just like last time, the shot misses the center and only hits the rim in the same place as before.
Disappointed but not surprised, Isabelle thought for a moment and figured it was time she spoke up about something. "I don't think it's just my handling of the blaster Wolf….the targets are a little hard for me to see." Isabelle stated.
"Oh?" Wolf took a quick side glance at the targets on the back wall and then back at their booths, roughly measuring the distance with his eye. "They're only about fifteen or so meters away, it's not that far."
"Maybe not for most people but I'm near-sighted." Isabelle plainly stated.
"You are!? Why did you say anything sooner?"
"I mean...I can still see the targets at the back of the room, they just look kinda blurry. Also, I guess I didn't want to make a fuss or seem like I was making excuses for my poor aim."
Starting to feel a little embarrassed, Isabelle turned away from Wolf and simply looked down at the blaster she was still holding. From Wolf's perspective, he felt as though she was intentionally trying to avoid his gaze. Thinking back, Wolf realized that Isabelle being near-sighted explained a few things, such as why she stuck to using her slingshot in place of any other ranged weapon. It was probably the only projectile weapon she could properly use with her range of vision.
Then it hit him, Was Isabelle not open about her condition beforehand for fear of making excuses because she thought she was dragging her team down? Their team had had a few losses recently and given Wolf's competitive attitude maybe she didn't want to cause any conflict.
Truth be told, ever since Isabelle stitched up his arm, Wolf had tried keeping his harsh attitude for winning subdued. He hadn't shown any signs of being frustrated (at least in terms of battle results) with his team unlike when the tournament first started. But perhaps Isabelle was still weary of that side of him.
"If you're having troubling seeing the targets from that far away, then let's make a little adjustment" Wolf readjusted a dial on Isabelle's booth causing the targets at the end of the room to slowly move closer to them. The targets stopped about 6-7 meters away them.
"Better?" Wolf inquired.
"Yes, very much so."
"If you're having trouble with something speak up, don't hesitate because you think you're making excuses."
"Alright Wolf I will, thank you."
With the target now comfortably within Isabelle's range of vision, she once again prepared to fire off another shot at the target. However, she still looked like she was having difficulty, her balance was off and she still looked like she was holding the blaster nervously. This caught Wolf's attention and gave him an idea.
"Here, let me help you out a little further." Wolf said as he got up from his booth and stepped over to Isabelle. To her surprise, Wolf positioned himself right behind her. His body was lightly pressing against her back and tail with his head right above hers, slightly to the side. His arms reached out around her and gripped the blaster with his paws, which laid over her own paws holding the handle. Wolf's body practically enveloped Isabelle.
Though Wolf didn't see it, Isabelle began to blush profusely as she was practically nestled in and smothered in-between Wolf's chest and arms, she could practically feel his body heat radiating off of him and onto her. It was a bit of a sudden shock to Isabelle, but it was also oddly comforting being in his embrace. Being so close to him like this, it didn't really occur to Isabelle until now how much bigger Wolf was compared to her.
"Okay so what you're gonna want to do is hold the blaster like this." Wolf said repositioning the gun a little closer to Isabelle's face which broke Isabelle out of her little fluttered daze.
"When aiming a gun or any kind of ranged weapon it's important that you get a good feel for the scoop, which means aligning your sight with the target."
Isabelle tried her best to follow Wolf's advice, though the current Smash blaster model had no aiming scoop, she was still able to line up her sight with the center of the bullseye styled target after about a minute.
"Keep your arms steady as you hold the blaster" Wolf said as took his left hand off of Isabelle's and firmly gripped the barrel of the blaster to help keep it in place.
"And lastly, stiffen your body as you pull the trigger to embrace for the little bit of recoil you'll feel from the shot."
With that in mind, Isabelle held her positioning and pulled the trigger. In an instant, the shot fired fiercely from the blaster and hit the center of the target dead on, breaking it into pieces.
"I GOT IT!" Isabelle shouted enthusiastically.
"Well done." Wolf said in congratulative manner. He couldn't help but grin alongside Isabelle who looked as if she won first place in a local shooting contest. "now give it a try on your own"
Using the advice she was given, along with the hand's on demonstration, Isabelle geared up for another shot. She flipped the switch on her booth causing another target to spawn in front of her. Isabelle stiffened her body, took aim, and fired. Though a little off centered, the blast still hit the general middle area of the target, destroying it.
"looks like you're got the hang of this now, as I told you it just takes a little practice." Wolf said earnestly.
"It's all because of your advice. Thanks for the Help Wolf, I really appreciate it." Isabelle said with a smile on her face.
"Don't mention it." Wolf replied.
As Isabelle continued to practice firing the blaster with Wolf along side her, neither had noticed that they were being watched but someone close by.
On the opposite side of the large room containing the shooting gallery, there was a smaller subsection of the target range specifically designed for Bow and Arrows. While practicing his archery, Young Link had also been observing his two teammates for the last 10 minutes or so. Unintentionally at first, but he was made aware of their presence after hearing their voices. To Young Link's credit, it was hard to not notice a pair like them. Seeing Wolf helping out Isabelle put a content smile on his face.
"Heh, glad he seems to be softening up a little bit, even if it's only around Isabelle." Young Link said to himself before turning around and resuming his own target practice.
Author's Notes: Look at that, dialogue from a different character who isn't Wolf or Isabelle, took a little while but it happened. Don't worry though, the next chapter will have some actual interaction With Young Link and Lucina so look forward to it. Also, something to note, from this chapter onward I'm gonna start branching out a tiny bit to other characters (but mainly just the Young Link and Lucina) to help give the story a little more depth now that I have a good ground work for the setting. Keep in mind that this is still gonna be a Wolf/Isabelle centric fic.
One Last thing. I have a small announcement, recently I have talked with my good friend Jonathan who provided me with the cover art for the Fic. We decided to start collaborating and he is doing illustrations for each chapter! Sadly this website doesn't allow uploaded images other than fic cover art, so If you're interested you can go check out the chapter illustrations on either his twitter account that I mentioned at the end of the first chapter or the version of the fic I posted on The Archive of our Own website.