Characters of a Minor Sort (jesschars) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-05-31 17:33:00 |
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Current mood: | curious |
New Watcher
Who: Jamie and Ethan
Where: The Church Ethan Hangs At
When: Monday, 4/19, Afternoon (Uh...it took us a while to finish.)
So, Jamie didn't have a Watcher. It seemed that happened to girls quite a lot around here, what with people suddenly having to move and QUITTING and such. Anyways, she was in the market for a new Watcher. instead of getting one that was already in the business of...watching, though, Jamie decided to 'outsource.' She knew of one guy that she trusted, and wanted to know if he would do the job for her. Sure, he could say no, but it didn't hurt to ask, now, did it? She walked into the one place that she knew he could be at, looking around for him.
One of the church's priests found Jamie wandering within it's walls and kindly inquired if she needed help and it was revealed that the young lady was looking for Ethan. The priest, Father Thomas, guided the girl to the basement where, hidden away in discreet location, was the entrance to the training facilities running underneath the church. The Inquisition was very strict about keeping things hidden and secret, but Thomas trusted Ethan with his life and anyone else's despite his "crimes" according the organization. It was why the priest let Ethan stay at the church whenever he was in Los Angeles and to be very honest, Thomas always thought of Ethan as the son he'd never be able to have.
Priest and Slayer found Ethan and another man circling each other with swords in hand. Both the Hunter and man were dressed in gear that hadn't seen the fashion scene in centuries as well as the weapons in their hands; Both carried a broadsword and short sword, although it appeared Ethan had lost his as it was embedded in the wooden floor not far off. The Hunter's dark haired opponent had both weapons and was slightly crouched while Ethan stood tall, holding his weapon almost like a baseball bat until the dark haired suddenly lunged forward. Ethan swung his sword down, blocking the attack and the spun in the opposite direction, swinging his weapon around. The movement brought the Hunter's sword to the back of his opponent's neck, effectively ending the fight.
The dark haired man turned, glaring at Ethan a moment before a slow, crooked grin crossed his face. He stepped forward as he sheathed the broadsword and with his free hand, the two men gripped forearms in departure, "Ethan, always a pleasure." The dark haired man turned, discovering Father Thomas and Jamie and said over his shoulder to Ethan, "You have a guest." He nodded to the priest and bowed ever-so-slightly in Jamie's direction, "Miss...Father," he murmured, clapping the priest on the shoulder as he walked by.
Ethan was in the middle of stretching and turned at the mention of having a guest. Pleasant surprise lit his face and the flat of the sword rested across his shoulders, arms hanging lightly on it. A jovial grin broke out on Ethan's face, "Jamie!"
Jamie followed the priest down the stairs and watched in amazement at the sparring going on. She had seen swords and stuff before, had even handled one a time or two, but she hadn't seen any of the sorts of...was it armor that they were wearing? Well, except in like, history textbooks, but that wasn't what she meant. She had never seen any of it actually being used.
She smiled up at Ethan when he said her name. "I didn't realize that you were quite so handy with a sword like that, Mr. Ethan," she said to him as she walked a little closer to him. "Kind of guessed, but it's a different thing to think it and to see it up close and personal, you know?"
She looked around the place. "Wow, this is a lot of stuff. Even our place doesn't have quite this much stuff in it." Mainly because they couldn't fit all of this in the basement of Chloe's Sugar Shack. They really needed a bigger place, and soon.
Ethan was just barely winded by the little spare he had with Gerald, the dark haired man who was walking away. The Hunter chuckled at Jamie's words, maneuvering the sword off his shoulders so that the tip of the blade touched the ground while he looked around the training area and shrugged. Of course, Ethan had grown up around such a place his entire life and he didn't think much of it; It was just a part of who he was so he shrugged a little, "This place is nothing compared to their headquarters in Italy. The Hunter straightened and sheathed his sword then, crossing his arms. His amused little grin was still in place as he gazed back at Jamie a moment before glancing behind her shoulder toward Father Thomas. Ethan bowed slightly in the priest's direction, "Thank you, Father Thomas," and watched as the man of the cloth headed back upstairs. Finally, the Hunter asked, "And what can I do for you this afternoon, Jamie?"
She had sort of assumed that he was able to fight. Even the geekiest looking Watchers seemed to be able to fight well, it seemed, at least in some way or another. She was just glad that she had been proven right to assume that he could just now. "Right. Why I am here." So, how to phrase this? "You seem to have an understanding as to what I am, right? The Slayer stuff."
"Indeed," Ethan replied with a single nod of his head. The Hunter did leave off the part where, if he was still with the Inquisition, it would've been his orders to kill her. However, he'd burned that bridge when the Order had turned his back on him and threw him out for seeing a witch despite ample proof that the woman hadn't been a threat. But, witch's were witch's in the eyes of the church. There were few people that Ethan trusted implicitly, Gerald and another member of the Inquisition, Robert, were two. The three of them had grown up together, trained together, endured harsh climes together. Ethan would willingly give his life for them as much as he would for any innocent he was obligated to protect if was necessary.
The trouble was, Gerald had political aspirations within the organization and Ethan worried that if he got wind that the Hunter was talking to a Slayer, Gerald would use it to his advantage. Luckily for Ethan, Gerald wouldn't be staying for long as he had to get back to Rome soon. He'd worry about that bridge when he came to it.
"Well this might sound kind of like it's coming from left field," Jamie said, fiddling with her hair nervously. "I'm without a Watcher, the person who trains Slayers. I know you're not a Watcher technically, but you seem to know just as much as they do, so I was wondering if you could train me?"
His gaze flicked toward the stairs, making sure that he and Jamie were alone. Ethan then stepped into her and murmured an apology for invading her personal space. With hands folded behind his back, the Hunter continued speaking in a low tone, a smile on his lips, "It would be a privilege, however..." Ethan's gaze continued to roam about the training room, because even church walls had eyes and ears, "In this building you cannot say what you are," He leaned back to see if Jamie understood his meaning.
She nodded when he told her that she couldn't say what she was. She looked up at him. "Why not?" she asked softly, making sure to keep her voice low as well.
Folding his hands behind his back, he nodded his head toward the stairs as he started for them, "Because...the people I used to work for do not exactly..." Ethan paused in both step and words, trying to find one that wouldn't be offensive, "...like your position." The Hunter started toward the stairs again, leading Jamie back up to ground level.
She followed him up the stairs as he led her up to the ground level again. "I'm not sure I understand," she said as she thought on his words for a few moments. "Do they not like Slayers at all? Technically we fight the same thing."
Ethan held the door open for her, a barely contained sigh coming from the man, "This is true, but the Church isn't exactly warm and fuzzy when it comes to the supernatural."
She nodded. She knew that it was *something* that made her the way that she was. She wasn't normal by any means. Still, she wasn't a BAD person, per say. Of course, he didn't seem to work with them, anymore, or not nearly in the capacity that he had. "And you're different from them. Why?"
The duo eventually made their way out to the courtyard, really it was just a small garden the nuns kept neat and tidy with necessary plants, herbs, and a few decorative flowers. Ethan had been silent while they made their way outside, thinking about Jamie's question and coming to the conclusion that perhaps it had been inevitable that he'd left the Inquisition. Growing up he'd always bent the rules, gotten into harmless trouble, things the group would overlook...until he'd done something they couldn't anymore.
Stooping to pick a mint leave, Ethan finally answered, "Because someone very special opened my eyes."
She waited a while for him to answer, wondering personally just what it could have been to make him change his mind about something like that. Even if she had known that he was a minor trouble maker in his youth, it still would have taken a lot to remove yourself from such a major belief. "May I ask who it was?" she asked when he finally responded.
Ethan kicked at a stone, watching it skip forward a few feet. Looking up, he turned his gaze to Jaime, "A girl I'd been seeing for a year turned out to be a witch." He paused, thinking something over before continuing, "I struggled with it, at first," The Hunter shrugged, "Then I came to the conclusion that someone as kind as her couldn't be considered evil just for...what she was." A sardonic noise came from Ethan, "The people I worked for found out, of course, and I was expelled." 'Expelled' was a nice way of putting it. Threats of all kinds had been made during the whole process, but by that point, Ethan hadn't cared as long as Irene wouldn't be harmed.
Jamie listened quietly as Ethan told her about what happened with his former order. "I'm sorry that it had to end that way," she said to him. She was curious as to what had happened to Irene, but was afraid to ask, lest it be something bad.
Ethan shrugged, "There's no need to apologize, Jamie." The Hunter smiled a little, "It's in the past and she's safe. That's all I need to know." Taking a seat on a stone bench, Ethan invited Jamie to do the same, "Now then, I suspect you have a lot of questions."
She smiled back at him and sat down with him. "I do have some questions," she said to him. "Right now I'm just trying to put them into words. What exactly are we going to train, for one? I don't exactly have a lot of experience."
Ethan smiled and chuckled, "Well, we can certainly remedy your inexperience with book learning and physical training. However," The Hunter gave Jamie a serious, considering look, "From this moment on, you will be leading a difficult life, Jamie. There will be things you want to do, but cannot because of the duties of what you are." Ethan paused, letting her think about that for a moment, "...Are you prepared to lead such a life?"
"Because I'm doing so many fun and interesting things now," Jamie muttered. Well, there was Jason, but, if things were going to really develop at all between them, then she'd have to tell him anyway. This just bumped it up a bit. "I'm ready."
"Excellent!" Ethan beamed a little and then started going over a basic training routine for Jamie. At the end, the hunter turned to the girl and asked, "Can you be here after school tomorrow?"
She nodded. "Tomorrow after school sounds great," she said to him. She was ready to really get this into high gear, actually. Maybe be worth something as a Slayer. Which meant that her and Jason had to have a serious talk soon.