What Was I Thinking? (Harper)

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan was headed down to the archery range. He hated that place, mostly because he wasn't good at archery. He had had three years to improve here, but he hadn't, he just kept with the things he knew. It was now coming to bite him in the butt. You should of practiced and improved here you idiot, his head was scolding him. Even without Kath you could of become pretty decent, but no, you just slacked off on it and forgot about it now you're about to get your butt whipped because of it! Ryan seriously wanted to tell that voice to shut up, but how could he when it was all in his head? Yeah, he was now going to down to the archery range to challenge this girl named Harper. Great, she had been the one to suggest the challenge, so he guessed that she was good at archery.

As soon as the word archery had left her mouth, Ryan knew he had already lost. If the challenger picked the topic, then usually the challenge was the one who was good at it. Why pick a challenge if it was going to just land you flat on the face? Well, he may do that, just being him, but for other people. So now, Ryan was guessing that Harper was Apollo's kid, maybe. He could be wrong, of course, his hunches weren't the best, usually. He took off his bow and and arrow and waited for the girl. Half of him hoped she had forgotten and he could just forget this. The other half of him wanted to get challenged at something that was hard for him. It was the only way you learned. You fall flat on your face, but then you improve and get back on your feet again.

[Harper Marowski]

If there was one thing that Harper wasn't, it wasn't someone who forgot about things. So here she was, walking down to the archery ranges with a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows on her back. She had absolute confidence that she'd win this challenge with the Ares boy named Ryan. Despite her disadvantage in archery compared to her fellow cabinmates, Harper was still quite skilled with a bow and arrow - enough so that she could probably overcome just about everyone else in camp... other than her siblings. However, Ryan was not about to find that out. With determination in her eyes and in her step, it was obvious that when Harper arrived at the archery range, she meant business.

"I'm surprised you showed up," she commented wryly as she arrived, swinging her bow around with a grin on her face. She came to stand a few yards away from Ryan, and began arming her bow. Without looking at him, she said, "You know, I'll give you one more chance ot back out. If you're scared you're about to lose a challenge, you can run back to your little cabin and we'll forget all about this. But, if you really want to... we'll see who the better archer is." Harper smirked as she made that last statement, considering as she already knew who would win this little challenge. Was she being a little overconfident? Maybe, just a little. As Harper finished stringing her bow, she pulled out an arrow and looked at Ryan expectantly.

"Name the target," she declared, glancing around at the many targets that were placed around the range.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan looked up as he heard footsteps. So she hadn't forgotten, that was good. Wait, or was that bad? Probably both; yeah, both, Ryan was still undecided on that. It wasn't that he cared getting beat by a girl, he had lost to a girl his entire life. His aunt had been the one who made him question if he really was a son of Ares. If he was, why couldn't he just of beat her in everything? He had no idea, but none of that mattered now. The only thing that did matter was him focusing on trying to shoot an arrow onto a target. His stomach half sank. Into a target. Archery, the one weapon he hated, mostly because he wasn't good at it, and that was his fault.

"Surprised you showed up," Ryan snarled back at her. Yeah, she looked pretty confident on this, no wonder she had picked archery as the event. He glared at her, even though she wasn't even looking at him. She had set herself up a few yards away. "You're on," he snarled. He wouldn't back away from anything. Once an idea was in his mind to do something, he was going to carry it out, no matter what it took. He accepted this challenge, so no way was he backing out of this now. He didn't care about winning (which he knew he wasn't going to) nor loosing. He just cared about the challenge of it. Challenges just made you better, challenges along with training. He shrugged. "Whichever," he said indifferently.

[Harper Marowski]

"Hmph." So the boy Ryan hadn't lost his attitude, she could see, not that she really minded. Well, she did, but at the moment it didn't bother her since Harper knew that her archery skills would soon put the boy in his place. Besides, she had grown used to aggressive males this year at camp, for some reason. She'd just encountered so many, that Ryan's was almost like a second-nature - she knew how to deal with it. Although, with Ryan it was different. She hadn't found any holes in his armor. Then again, she didn't really want to. This archery challenge was to let out the pent up frustration she had gained, and the feeling of victory would be rather refreshing.

"Alright, then," she said when Ryan obviously showed no preference at the target. She glanced around at the dummies and the targets that were placed strategically around the arena. She spotted a target about forty feet from them. It was close enough that Harper knew she had a clear shot at it, and it wasn't too challenging for Ryan. At least if she won, she wanted it to be completely fair. Her being the daughter of one of the twin archers already gave her an advantage over Ryan. "That target. Right there," she said, pointing. "Each of us has five arrows. Whoever gets the most closest to the bullseye wins. Sound good to you? Good. Alright, you want the first shot?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan had to admit, it seemed like this girl had experienced people like him before and realized that she just needed to deal with it. Good, there was one in this whole freaking Camp of other half bloods. He knew she was going to win this, and he bet she knew it to. Why would she pick a challenge that she had a possibility of loosing? Maybe this would make him want to practice archery more and master it, eventually. Hopefully by the time he was seventeen. Or, that may be his goal, he got it done in two years with his aunt, give or take, but he had never tried learning a weapon on his own.

He watched as she picked out a target. It didn't look to bad. He had never really been in here a lot. Only once with Annabeth, she had taken into the arena and they had gotten into a fight. She had won, he wasn't really surprised. He knew he was fighting a hopeless battle here as well, but he'd just give it a try. Nothing to loose if he lost, it would probably just make him try harder to learn it later. He shrugged. "Fine by me," he said. He wondered who her parent was. Probably one of the twin archers, but that didn't mean it had to be to make her a good archer, it'd just give her advantage. Okay, five arrows, closest to bulls eye wins. Sounded fair.

Ryan started to think about the two months he had spent with his aunt on this. "Fine," he said, shrugging indifferently. He had to be as thick as fog. Oh well, he had gotten himself into this, he wasn't backing out of it. He aimed his arrow at the target, pulled the string and shot it. Darn Wind Left Effect, or whatever his aunt had told him about that wind that made your shots bend to the left. The wind took the arrow that Ryan had shot to the left and made it fly a couple of more inches beyond the target. The arrow stuck in the ground about a foot ahead and left of the target. Fun. He looked at the girl. "Your turn."

[Harper Marowski]

Harper had to admit, that the boy was taking everything with a stiff upper lip and didn't complain about anything. Which, for her, was a very good thing. She didn't like whiners. Harper had never been much of one herself, mainly because she hated being hypocritical and she also knew that whining never got you anywhere in life. Arguing, maybe. Persuasion? Sometimes. Toughing through it? Always. It was a lesson she had learned while traveling the world with her mother and being around so many people that only told her 'no'. And even though Ryan was unnecessarily aggressive most of the time, she had to admire the cool way which he took everything.

"Not bad," she decided to say when she observed his shot. "You just didn't anticipate the wind. I'm sure you would have made it otherwise." Harper wasn't usually one for flattery or compliments, but considering as she knew she was going to win, she didn't want it to seem like she was a snob about it. So Harper raised her bow, closed her eyes, and sensed her surroundings. The instant she opened her eyes, she loosed the arrow and it flew straight and true. But it didn't hit the bullseye, but the ring surrounding it. She shrugged. "I'm not as good as my cabinmates," she admitted to the younger boy. "But good enough to get by. Your turn again." She leaned against her bow.

Who knew? Maybe she could teach him something so that he wouldn't be so angry with her from now on. She was getting tired of dealing with people who hated her.

[Ryan Simons]

Over the years, Ryan had just learned to what his aunt referred to as just 'sucking it up'. He wasn't one for moaning, groaning or complaining or whatever over things. When he was young, he learned that it never got you anywhere, especially in the household he had lived in. If he ever complained or anything like that, it was never pleasant for him. The only thing that ever got you anywhere was fighting, really. Or in his world, anyway. Just toughing it out, rolling with the punches and fighting for it. Whatever 'it' was. There was never really anything materialistic to fight for at his aunt's house. Usually his fight was just to stay alive, he really hated his aunt for putting him through Hades just to dump him in another one.

He shrugged as the girl said it wasn't bad. "Whatever," he said indifferently. He was still in the mind set that he was going to loose this challenge, but he had gotten himself into this, so he was going to give it his best effort and see this through to the end. He so wished that he had improved in the three years he had been here, but he didn't. No matter, the past was in the past now, all he could do was to strive to become better for the future. Ryan watched the girl notch and shoot her arrow. Pretty good. Not as good as her cabin mates. The twin archers were Apollo and Artemis if he remembered correctly. He was sure that Artemis wasn't allowed to have kids, so that meant that Harper was Apollo's kid, most probably. He just gave a nod as she said it was his turn once again. Joy, more epic fails.

Ryan took his bow and an arrow. Okay, one down, four more to go. Sure, he was a son of Ares (or that's what he thought, anyway) but that didn't mean he could master anything in a few minutes. Heck, it took him two years more or less, almost all day training to get each weapon he knew mastered. He was getting a feeling that since he didn't have his aunt anymore, that archery was going to take him much longer to learn, if he still wanted to keep it. After this, he was sure he probably would want to learn and improve. He aimed the arrow a bit more to the right so the wind had room to carry it with it and shot it. At first, it looked like it would actually make it somewhere between the center and the end, but instead, the tip of the arrow lodged itself into the very rim of the target, all the way to the left.

[Harper Marowski]

Well, Harper had to say one thing - this boy was determined. Of course, she'd already made that observation but a second glance told Harper just a little more. She could tell he knew that he was going to lose, but he was still doing this anyway. That fascinated Harper to no end, considering as she had never met someone who would stick it through like Ryan was doing. Most of her friends, or people she challenged or was challenged by, gave up in the middle of the challenge becuase the knew there was no way that they would win. And yet, Ryan was still here, even though he had that same look of defeat in his eyes... kind of.

This brought on a new wave of respect for him. So Harper looked at his shot, and decided to compliment him again. "Better," she said, slowly beginning to feel like she was more of a teacher rather than an opponent. "But I guess it was because there was no wind that time. Just keep yourself steady so your aim isn't so off. Because I really don't want to win this by a landslide." Harper smiled jokingly and swung her arm up as she took her next shot.

The arrow embedded itself right next to the bullseye - one more centimeter up and it would have been in. Harper couldn't stop the proud grin that came to her right then, and she put a hand on her hip to take a good look at it. The grin just kind of melted into a smile as she gestured to Ryan. "There you go. This is going to be your third try," she reminded him, adjusting the strap that attached her quiver to her back.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan wondered if everyone was as bad as archery as he was or it was just him. He was more the blade person. Spear, daggers, disks and swords were more his style, aside from the bias that he had learned them first. Archery... well, he didn't really know it and he was off teaching himself for the first time. This challenge could help him a lot by one: watching the girl, since she seemed to know what she was doing; and two: it was a challenge, and any challenge helped improve someone. He knew that he was going to loose from the moment archery left her mouth, but he had agreed to it, so he was riding this through to the end. Win or loose, it didn't matter, what mattered was the challenge. Why call it a challenge if you just give up in the middle of it?

He wondered if his knowledge of him loosing was showing on his face. Ryan wasn't much into tune with facial expressions anymore. He looked at her, gave her a slightly confused look and then just shrugged as she said it was better. He had heard the term 'better' as in 'you've got to do better', but never as in sort of a complement way. Especially towards him. He nodded. Okay, slightly weird she was giving him advice, but she knew what she was doing, so he'd take it, he guessed. He wasn't the best fighter in the world and never would be, there was always someone out there who was better than him and he knew that. He was still willing to learn from his elders and betters. Ryan wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, he never could identify teasing or joking around anymore. "You probably will," he said indifferently with a shrug.

The son of Ares watched as Harper shot her arrow. Wow... it almost hit dead center. He could of done that with a dagger or a disk, or a spear, but not with an arrow. Why? They were all throwing things to center, that was it! Oh well, whatever, he was learning archery, so no point in thinking about that now. "I can count thanks," Ryan growled, stringing his next arrow. Yeah, he was pretty lucky. He knew his name, how to speak English, some math, some science, weapons, the alphabet, more weapons, how to count, and more weapons... and that was pretty much it. He aimed, pulled back and fired at the target. It sailed towards it and down to the outer ring where it lodged in.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper looked at Ryan once more, as she couldn't help but admire his tenacity to carry this through. She knew that she'd noticed it before, but it simply struck her again and she wished she could be just as tough as he was. Yeah, he was a right nasty little fellow - full of bitterness and seemingly a hatred for the world he lived in. Harper didn't wish that kind of attitude on anyone, considering as she figured it probably really messed with his social life. See, Harper was not the sort who could live for long periods of time on her own, separated from society. She needed to mingle, because even the simplest of interactions with other human beings helped her get through even the toughest of days.

So she felt a bit of pity for him, but instantly Harper threw away the thought. She knew that folks like Ryan absolutely despised pity and sympathy, so she didn't let it show - which was another thing that Harper was fairly skilled at. Shielding her emotions was one of her strengths, because often she didn't like people seeing her vulnerable and weak. All because she was usually open about the truth and all that sort of stuff didn't mean she liked people seeing her as weak or someone who wore her heart on her sleeve.

Her thoughts were broken when Ryan snapped that he could count. Harper just shrugged. "Sorry. I wasn't implying that you were stupid or anything," she commented, and looked at his shot. She shrugged again, this time like the shrug was a comment on where the arrow landed. "If you're having a problem with altitude, always aim higher than you're target if the wind is blowing at your arrow. Here." Harper swung her arm up in a graceful arc, but this time paused to show Ryan where her arm was and let the arrow loose. A grin spread across her place as the satisfying thunk! signified that the arrow had landed exactly where it was supposed to. A perfect shot - a bullseye.

"See? I know you probably don't like me telling you what to do, but maybe it will help. It could come in handy someday, and you shouldn't get killed because you never learned how to do it properly," Harper added thoughtfully, looking where her arrow had landed rather than at her opponent.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan sometimes seriously hated himself for not practicing archery the three freaking years he was here. He had just kept practicing the weapons he already knew. It was probably because archery was new and he wasn't that opened minded about anything. Take Dark Fighting for example. He had been absolutely horrible at it; his aunt had given up teaching him after a week, which had been most unlike her. Aunt Kath never had stopped teaching Ryan something before, so it had made him sort of suspicious for a few days. Ryan had never really had a social life. Ever. It was one of the things that had scared the heck out of him when he first came to camp. He had gone from an isolated spot where he had only seen, at maximum, three people at a time, to a very populated camp. Ryan was used to being alone, he could be left alone for long periods of time and he didn't mind it. He didn't need others; Ryan was a loner, he was just antisocial and solitary.

The son of Ares was still really bad at identifying facial expressions. He was okay with vocal expression, but not facial. His aunt never showed him many faces, those he did know, he sort of forgot after a while. Starting form nine years ago, Ryan had become good at hiding emotions. He had the developed the complete I Hate The World and just plain hatred and indifference shield; the demigod had managed to maintain that for a very long time. However, it just wasn't a shield anymore. After nine years of living by it, it was now him. Ryan was taught that he couldn't let his emotions interfere or have any part in fighting. He started living that when he was seven. Emotions just lead to him making stupid mistakes. He was upset about his two friends' deaths, he got beaten up pretty badly and scarred. That was how it worked at his aunt's house. She hadn't given him any time at all, just forced him to focus, fight and forget, which he failed horribly at for the first two months.

"That's been a first," Ryan growled in an undertone, rolling his eyes. He nodded, taking her advice again. Hey, he may of been disrespectful for a lot of things, but if someone who was his better at something gave him advice, he took it. That and if someone beat him in a fight or challenge. If he lost, he didn't push it, the result was never good. He knew he wasn't invincible, his aunt had proved that to him way to many times while he was living with her. Annabeth had proved, just a few days ago, that he wasn't the best fighter ever as well. He wasn't and he never would be. There was always someone else out there who was better. Ryan analyzed her form as she stood still then watched as the arrow hit the bulls eye. That was pretty good, Ryan had to admit.

So she had hit the bulls eye. Only by a sudden miracle would Ryan have the chance to win now. Leaning weapons didn't take over night, much slimmer a chance in a couple of seconds. He was so going to loose now, but whatever. What had to annoy Ryan the most was when someone accepted a challenge, then just walked away when they knew they were going to loose. Why call it a challenge when you don't even stick with it the whole hundred or so yards? Ryan was staying, he wasn't leaving until he finished this challenge with Harper. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Harper started speaking to him again. He nodded and shrugged slightly. His aunt had told him what to do his entire life, so he didn't really mind. What the girl said was true though, this could help keep him alive. "I'll take advise from my elders and betters," he said in a neutral voice.

Two months with his aunt, now the rest was up to him. Learning archery was probably going to take much longer than learning his other weapons. Fourth arrow. He aimed it, keeping what Harper said in mind, aimed a bit above and shot at the target they had been aiming at. The arrow soared towards it and landed in almost the exact same spot that Ryan's third had landed in, only slightly higher. He looked at the places that his various arrows had hit. It seemed it was getting slightly better. Just slightly. So what if it was just slightly? Progress was progress and practice was practice.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper watched Ryan's form very carefully. He'd commented that he took advice from his elders and betters, and she didn't blame him. When she'd first come to camp three years ago, she'd been the absolute worst swordsman. Of course, it was probably because in her frequent traveling and fairly normal life leading up to her introduction to camp, she had barely even touched a sword before. Archery, she had a natural talent at because of her father. Fencing and swordmanship, on the other hand, were her worst weaknesses in fighting. Her hand-to-hand combat weren't exactly the best either, though she'd taken a few self-defense courses from her mother over the past sixteen years.

And as he shot his next arrow, she couldn't help but notice that there was a slight improvement. Almost as if she were a teacher who'd just seen a good test score from her student, Harper's face lit up and a grin spread across her face. From a passerby, it might have looked like she was happy because, at this point, it was somewhat obvious that she was going to win. But to someone who knew Harper, one could tell that it wasn't joy from smugness. It was one of pride.

She nodded approvingly and realized that their little challenge was coming to an end rather quickly. Harper wasn't really anxious to prolong it, but she wasn't really ready for it to be over either. She didn't want to go back to her boring old schedule just yet. Because actually being better than someone at archery was making her feel a lot better, considering as she hadn't bested anyone from her cabin in a long while. Writing, singing, and healing was more of her forte, not fighting out on the fields. Which reminded Harper that tonight, at the bonfire, she'd have a solo when the Apollo cabin took to singing their usual songs. The joy on her face turned even more proud at the thought, and she grinned to herself.

"Fourth shot," Harper muttered to remind herself. She swung up her bow and shot the arrow straight and true. She hadn't really been paying attention to where it was going, so the arrow landed on the outer ring of the target, but safe enough that there was no way it would fall off any time soon. Harper huffed in dissatisfaction. "Well, that wasn't what I'd planned," she then grumbled. She looked at Ryan and swung her bow around in her hands. "Looks like this is your last shot - and don't worry - I'm pretty sure you knew that already." Her smile was friendly enough as she continued. "Maybe you'd like to do this again sometime, though? Like, I'm not asking you out or anything, but this was kind of fun. Refreshing, for me. Maybe I can help you with your technique or something later. What do you think?"

Harper wasn't sure if she was expecting a one-word answer or not.

[Ryan Simons]

That was probably the one thing he was honest about. Ryan would take advise from people who were older and more experienced with fighting. Aunt Kath had bossed him around all the time to no end; she had told him to learn and to take advantage of what other people told you when they criticized your fighting. His aunt had taught him to respect those who were better than you, because you weren't the best, she even said that she wasn't the best; there was always someone out there who could easily beat you. So, here Ryan was, learning from a daughter of Apollo. She was probably older than him, and quite obviously, the one who was much better at archery. Ryan would listen and respect her advice, but not necessarily her; maybe her, given a few years, but as of now, probably not.

Ryan wasn't that surprised that there was a slight improvement when he shot off his arrow. He still needed a lot of work, but if he wanted to, he could gradually get better. Harper was showing that positive, happy emotion, but Ryan couldn't really identify it. He was good at vocal emotion, he couldn't read facial expressions anymore. His mind began to think on how his aunt taught him. She had just drilled him, a lot; sparred with him, played games (that were usually really dangerous) and... that was it. That was how he had learned dagger, staff, disk, spear and swords. Ryan had studied kungfu with his aunt, but he didn't really like it. The son of Ares liked handling weapons much more.

Four arrows down, one more to go. Ryan was actually surprised at how fast this had gone. Not that he was eager to stay long or stick around more than he needed to, but this had been interesting. He looked at the arrows around the target. Harper was defiantly going to win. No doubt in his mind about it. This had been a good challenge, and it had actually made him have a spark of interest in archery again. Maybe he wouldn't drop it; he decided to keep practicing it. It wouldn't hurt to know another weapon; he may never be as good as he as with the other weapons, but it didn't hurt to try and become decent. Ryan's forte was more sword and dagger; he'd use disks if necessary, but he just used them for throwing. He didn't really think you could fight fight, close combat with disks. They didn't have a handle or anything you could hold while jabbing your opponent.

He watched as Harper's arrow lodged itself into one of the outer rings. He shrugged as she heard her huff in dissatisfaction and she said that she hadn't planned it that way. "It was still an alright shot," he said indifferently. "What's done is done, no reason to linger over things past," he said in a slight growl. He rolled his eyes slightly. "Life isn't a planned map; a lot of things in life won't be what you planned," he said, taking his bow off his back and aiming an arrow. "Roll with the punches," he growled. Ryan looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know," he said flatly. The son of Ares looked at her as she offered to do this again. Ryan shrugged. "Fine by me," he said. It was a break from just training by himself; not that he'd be into company anytime soon, but still. He shot the arrow at the target. It lodged itself two rings away from the center and to the right.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper was kind of amazed - it was the most words the son of Ares had ever spoken to her in one try. She knew he was far from being the social butterfly that she happened to be on occasion, and that he probably didn't even like being in her company all that much, but it was still seen as a start to the young daughter of Apollo. She didn't know what it was, but she seemingly was beginning to like hanging around kids who were anti-social. She hoped this wasn't going to become a regular thing with her, because Harper really was an upbeat sort of person.

But when Ryan agreed to do this again, Harper nodded and grinned. She was, in a strange way, quite happy that he'd agreed. "Good," she said almost decisively, almost as if she were agreeing to the same exact thing. Which, in an essence, she was. She was agreeing to help him, though she wasn't sure if he'd see the next time a challenge or a helping session. He'd improved just from this challenge, and she was sure that with more practice and guidance, he would be a fair archer. Maybe. "Because I need an archery partner."

With that, she swung her arms and bow up in a graceful arc and shot her last arrow. The one was another good shot as it sunk into the wood of the target. Just a little less than an inch over to the right, and it would have been a bullseye. She smiled, knowing she'd obviously won the challenge, and she turned to Ryan with friendliness in her chocolate brown eyes. She offered her hand to him. "Good challenge," she said with a grin, holding out her hand for him to shake in what she thought was a good show of sportsmanship. At least, that's what she'd learned as a kid. "We really need to do this again sometime, I think. I can help you out." She watched him carefully, unsure of how he would react.

[Ryan Simons]

Wow. That had to be the most he had said to her since they had met. Ryan half rolled his eyes; he wasn't that great at socializing and he'd never really be a social butterfly, but he wanted to get better. The fifteen year old never enjoyed anyone's company; he didn't really like just hanging around for the fun of it, he was usually just training. Ryan was beginning to wonder how many happy and upbeat people this Camp could hold before it started to drive him nuts. Well, this place was already a living Hades because of all the people in here; the particularly happy people where just making it worse.

"Fine," Ryan said, shrugging. The son of Ares was fine with being able to improve his archery skills, because, well, he sort of needed to. Archery could come in useful in life. He would still probably be better in the blade section, but at least he had a shot of becoming slightly better and getting decent at working with a bow and arrow. Ryan didn't really mind working with Harper, she turned out to be a good challenge and pretty alright teacher. She knew what she was doing and if she did, that was all Ryan needed; he'd learn if he wanted to, which he did. Right now he was looking at them being partners (well, more her helping him) as a helping session, which he didn't mind at all. He would suck up his pride and let others help him with weapons if necessary. "Alright," he said. "Fine by me," he said, shrugging.

Harper fired her last shot and it landed an inch away from the bulls eye. She had clearly won, he nodded. "You too," he said mildly. He looked at her hand, sort of confused; he didn't take it. His hands were, for the most part, very scarred up and rough. Mostly from the game of Catch the Dagger, but there were scars there from other things as well. Ryan shrugged again. "You probably can," he said indifferently. "You have done a bit already," he said. True, he could be really disrespectful for a lot of things. However, if someone was better at something than he was, he'd respect that and accept help with the weapon if he knew he needed it. He'd also respect the end of a fight or challenge, he wouldn't push it, that never worked well.