InsaneJournal

Tweak says, ""Manos" The Hands of Fate"

zaria (bravely) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-07-04 10:30:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 6, katara, xena

Day 6
Who: Xena & Katara
What: Training
When: Morning
Where: Training Room
Rating: PG
Status: Complete

Xena had risen early, as was her habit. She showered and dressed, grabbed some light breakfast from the kitchen and headed for a room she had seen during her exploration of the resort. It was a big room, with several weapons on racks along the walls. There was a thick pad on the floor, and she assumed it was for sparring. If someone fell, they wouldn't get hurt too badly.

She entered the room and shut the door behind her. It was mirrored, as well, so that you could watch yourself as you trained. She looked around her for a moment, noting that the room was void of any other persons. She unstrapped her scabbard from her back and leaned her sword against the wall. She also unhooked her whip and chakram and set them next to the sword on the ground. She wanted to warm up before she started practicing with her sword.

While she and Gabrielle had been in India, they had discovered yoga. Gabrielle had been more into it than Xena had been, but Xena still did it sometimes to appease her friend. She was doing it now because some of the positions were good stretches and she had to admit, however reluctantly, that it was kind of relaxing.

She went through a few positions, watching herself in the mirrors. She'd grown used to mirrors. They hadn't existed in her time. The only thing she could rely on for a good reflection was some highly polished metal, or a still pond. When she felt sufficiently loose, she returned to the wall and pulled her sword from its scabbard. She turned and found a sparring dummy in the middle of the room. It hadn't been there before and it was slightly eerie. But, since no one else was still in the room, and she would know if there was, she chalked it up to a quirk of the planet.

She began her dance, because that's what it was. It was an elegant display of her skill. She slammed her sword into the dummy time and time again, stabbing and sweeping the blade through the air. The dummy never seemed to display any damage, but a thin red line would appear each time she struck it somewhere. By the time she finished, she was slightly out of breath and the dummy was covered in thin red lines.

She smiled, satisfied. But her smile vanished when she heard the door creak open.

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k_waterbender
2008-07-04 04:22 pm UTC (link)

So far, Katara had had an easy, somewhat eventful life in the resort. It was nice when she stopped thinking about all the trouble her family and friends might be in while she was here. There was nothing she could do about them right now, though, so she stopped most of her self-pity. However, today was going to be another good day; she could feel it.

With a large, languid stretch, Katara left the warm furs of her bed and entered her bathroom. The waterbender took a long, relaxing soak in her bath before getting dressed. As was her habit, she brought along her water skin. Her hair was fashioned in the same Water Tribe braid with the hair loopies that she favored.

She went to the kitchens, and ingested a small breakfast of a mango and cold tea before setting out. There were still places she hadn’t explored, and people she had yet to meet, so she set out to peruse her options once more. She wanted to make sure she knew the entire main building before she went decided to fully examine one specific place- like the library in which she was very interested.

A thought occurred to her as she explored that the Planet, knowing at least a little about the great power it had, could add rooms and activities on whim. What if she spent every day of her life here exploring and never once even came close to discovering everything? She was almost put off her search with that thought. The waterbender even stopped right in the middle of a hallway filled with closed doors she hadn’t yet seen. Maybe I should just give up looking around… Then she shook her head. The fact that more rooms could be added should daunt her. In fact, that was all the more reason to continue. So, her walking and peeking and perusing brought her to other rooms and other places. Most of them were empty so she was able to look around for a while without interruption.

At last she came to another door and opened it. Someone was actually inside this room, though. There were weapons everywhere and a mat on the floor that looked rather soft. The woman inside was probably the most muscular woman she’d ever seen in her life, though strangely it didn’t subtract from her femininity too much. The Water Tribe femme smiled warmly in an attempt to ease some of the tension. “Hello. I’m Katara. I… just got here a few days ago.”

She took a step into the room and looked around it. Her brother would have been in heaven. As it was, she wasn’t skilled with any weapons other than her precious water. She lifted a staff from its position on the wall. Maybe having a weapon skill could be useful. Aang even used his staff sometimes to bend and it worked wonders for when some wretch knew the pressure points to cut off a bender’s chi.

Her attention turned back to the taller woman as she attempted to make small talk. “Have you been here long?”

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bravely
2008-07-04 08:10 pm UTC (link)

Xena turned when it seemed as if the person was going to enter, and not merely look in and continue on their way. She found that it was a young woman. She was quite pretty, dark hair and blue eyes. Much like her own. She smirked slightly and lifted her chin to her, in sort of a greeting. "Hey. I'm Xena." She looked her over, deciding that she was capable, even if she wasn't sure in what just yet. She had something about her, a confidence that most girls her age didn't have. At least not the ones Xena knew. Most of them were pretty naive.

"I've been here a while longer than that. About nine days now I think." She shrugged. She hadn't really been counting, at least not since Gabrielle had arrived. She watched her pick up the staff and examine it. "Do you know how to use one of those?" Xena walked to the wall where her scabbard lay, and she sheathed the sword. She would clean it later, not that it had anything on it that might ruin it. But, it was habit.

She picked up a second fighting staff and twirled it around her hands, then behind her and then tossed it up and caught it. She could be kind of a show off, sometimes. Though she was never overconfident. That made her weak. She never underestimated an opponent. It could be the end of her if she ever did.

"My best friend, Gabrielle, this used to be her weapon of choice for many years. She's taken to the sais lately, though." She twirled it again, absently this time. She wondered if the girl could spar, and if she couldn't, she wondered if she could be taught. Xena was itching for something to do, some way to be useful. She had begun to perspire lightly, a thin sheen of sweat gathering on her brow and at the hollow of her throat.

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k_waterbender
2008-07-05 06:52 pm UTC (link)

Xena… That was an interesting name. She’d never heard one quite like it from her home world. However, it seemed to fit the woman perfectly. It was a strong, confident sort of name. She wondered if it meant anything near what it sounded like. Perhaps it meant something like a saber-tooth lion. They were strong and confident.

Nine days seemed like a long time to have been stuck here. Sapphire eyes looked at the test dummy and noticed the red lines covering it. Perhaps Xena was letting her aggressions out on the Planet’s things. Katara knew she wouldn’t have minded showing the rock her wrath, even if it wasn’t in any way actually harmful to the Planet.

The Water Tribe femme’s brows furrowed when Xena addressed her question, but understanding hit her when she remembered she was holding a staff. Katara looked down at the long, smooth surface of the weapon and blushed lightly. “Uh, no. Not really. I’ve only ever seen others use them. I never really needed to learn how to use a weapon like this.”

The young woman watched in awe as the warrior- for it was obvious now that that was what this woman’s profession, or at least hobby, was- lifted a similar staff and revealed some of her prowess with it. This woman seemed to be highly skilled with more than one weapon. She’d seen how Xena carried her sword, and now this staff. Perhaps the older woman was skilled with more than even those two weapons. After all, it wasn’t impossible. The warriors of her tribe were skilled in various weaponry. “My friend, Aang, used to use a staff, too.” It wasn’t really a staff, but a glider that folded up in such a way that it could be used as a staff, but that wasn’t really important. It was nice to have some common ground with this woman who she hardly knew. Each having a friend who had favored a staff was a shaky, but good start.

Katara watched as the warrior woman twirled the staff again. The movements she used with it were similar to Aang’s, but the girl also saw potential for it to be used with the same kind of battle art she favored. Perhaps learning how to use a weapon like this could be very beneficial in a plethora of ways. Small sparring matches could even be held if she learned how to use something like it because it wouldn‘t be such an unfair match if she didn‘t use her waterbending.

“You seem to be experienced with this. Do you think you could teach me how to use it?” The waterbender asked. “That is, if you really want to. I don’t want to you to put yourself out or anything on my account.”

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bravely
2008-07-05 09:53 pm UTC (link)

Xena stopped twirling the staff and rested the butt end on the mat, she nodded when the girl said she hadn't had any training with the staff. "Do you have experience using any kind of weapon?" It was sometimes easier to teach someone to use a particular type of weapon when they were already used to using another one.

She nodded again to the mention of her friend using the staff for a weapon. "It's Gabrielle you want teaching you, not me. But, since she's not here at the moment, I suppose I will have to do." She smiled slightly and gestured her onto the mat. "Sure, I could probably teach you a thing or two. C'mon, it's no trouble at all." She stepped back as she stepped forward.

"First thing's first. You'll want to be able to hold it properly, as well as get the stance down. It's no use if you get your staff knocked out of your hands, or get knocked over yourself." She put one hand on one end of the staff almost a foot from the end, and her other hand closer to the middle. "This is how you'll want to hold it. This gives you the space to use the open end for defending yourself, or for disabling your opponent, and still keep a good grip on it. It also keeps your opponents a good distance away."

She stepped forward slightly and whipped the staff down, causing it to waver, and make a whipping sound in the air. "Do you see how flexible it is? This is not a weapon generally used to kill. But it hurts if you're struck by it." She swung it down and slammed it on the mat to demonstrate. It made a loud thwack and a temporary dent in the soft mat.

She stepped back. Holding the smaller end with her left hand, the middle of the staff with her right. She put her right leg forward. Her foot pointed forward, along with her torso. Her left leg was back, foot pointed away from her body. "This is how you'll want to stand, at least, when you can. It keeps you balanced, centered. It is harder to knock someone over when they are standing this way." She then moved to put both feet together, facing forward. "As opposed to this way. Got it?"

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k_waterbender
2008-07-05 10:45 pm UTC (link)

Katara’s head nodded slowly at Xena’s question. How would this woman take it that the younger could manipulate water? Her brother used to tease her and tell her she was only playing with “magick water.” Maybe this woman wouldn’t be too shocked, though. She seemed intelligent, and the waterbender got the feeling she might also be well traveled. Maybe in this one’s world things like that weren’t so strange. After all, she didn’t dress anything like anyone she had met so far. Just because none other had witnessed bending before didn’t mean the warrior woman hadn’t. “Yes. I’m a master waterbender.”

To eliminate the need for the question of ‘what is waterbending,’ she plucked out the stopper on her water skin and drew the water out of the container in a clear stream with a smooth motion of her arm. With a movement from her other hand the water swirled into a sphere that distorted anything a person saw through it. “I’m hoping having some battle skills like this will help me with other weapons.” In one more fluid motion the water returned to the water skin and the plug was in place once more.

Silvery-sapphire eyes lit up with delight, and a broad smile spread over Katara’s lips as Xena accepted the challenge of teaching the waterbender how to use a weapon. Katara stepped forth onto the mat the woman had motioned toward. “I’m a fairly quick learner. I just hope I don’t let you down.”

Katara listened with rapt fascination as her new instructor explained the necessary stance needed on the weapon and the reasons behind it. It always helped to have a teacher who could explain the whys and hows of something like this. Understanding was key. The waterbender’s hands slid down the staff to grip it as Xena did, then she moved her body into the same position. This was easy for her. Bending was all about the proper forms and stances and movements a person made, along with the spiritual energies involved. At this point, though, the training in stances she had helped a lot. This one was even familiar.

She watched Xena’s movements, and the motions of the staff carefully. It was strange how flexible the staff actually was, as it seemed far sturdier in her hands. Katara felt she had chosen well, though. Killing was not a sport of which she was fond, but disabling an opponent was okay in her mind. Her eyes watched the muscles move as the older woman smashed the staff into the durable mat. It was good to know that despite it’s apparent flexibility, the staff was still a strong weapon. Yes, she had chosen well.

Katara nodded as Xena showed her the stance again. “Yes. I’ve got it. I was taught this stance by the master waterbender I learned from.” Even if she was learning things over that she already knew, it wasn’t really the exact same deal. This time she had a solid weapon to be held right in her hands at all times. It would be strange to have to have the same sort of grip and movements, though. That would be a challenge- one for which she was ready and excited.

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bravely
2008-07-05 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Xena watched the waterbending with fascination. This girl had powers she had only seen one other person use before. Person was a term used lightly as it had actually been Poseidon, the God. She didn't know that a mere human could manipulate water that way. She had already decided that the girl couldn't have been from Xena's own world. She had to have come from somewhere else to have powers like that.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Xena got over her shock at the waterbending, mostly because the girl seemed so adept and unfazed by it herself. She watched as Katara once more stoppered her waterskin and then took the proper stance, as Xena had instructed, holding the staff properly as well.

"Good, that makes this training a little easier." She wasn't aware that magic took any particular training in stances, but she supposed anything was possible. She moved herself back into position and held the staff out.

"The space on the staff between your hands is for defending yourself as well. Keeping it held out from your body, parallel with the ground will help you ward off other attacks. Although, it does not stand up as well to a sharp sword. It also takes some time to get used to the vibrations that spread through it after a strong blow."

She pulled the staff back, pointing it at the ground slightly. "The shorter end here is for reenforcement. It lays flat against the underside of your forearm and gives a little added leverage. You may have bruising there for some time while you practice, but your body will get used to it eventually."

"Let me see you practice the defensive stance." She demonstrated for her; moving from the ready stance, with her staff pointed slightly down, to held straight out in front of her, both arms parallel with each other, and the staff parallel to the ground. Her legs were in the same place, though her right knee was slightly bent.

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k_waterbender
2008-07-06 12:53 am UTC (link)

Katara had stolen a glance to check for Xena’s reaction. She noted the flicker of surprise and figured the woman’s world wasn’t similar to her own, however she looked almost as if she had seen something like it before. It was nice that at least someone in her world had displayed something akin to waterbending. At least that’s what the Water Tribe girl thought. The warrior had an unreadable face at some points, but at others her eyes showed something more than her stoic demeanor and expression. The waterbender smiled when the woman said she was sure the younger would do fine. “Thank you.” It was always nice when someone believed in her abilities.

As Xena spoke, Katara mimicked the movements slowly and not quite fully. She simply wanted to get a bit of a feel for things as her instructor taught them before she actually tried to do them. It wasn’t that these were difficult moves by any means, but they were informative and she was already enjoying the explanations. She moved again and positioned the staff so the shortest part aligned with her forearm. “It’s okay. If there’s bruising, I’ll just heal it.” Sometimes bruising was involved in any kind of training. It was inevitable. Luckily, she had other gifts aside from waterbending to ail in hurts like that.

At Xena’s command, the waterbender gripped her staff more tightly and quickly held it parallel to the mat, arms locked straight in front of her, and right knee bent slightly. “Like this?” Katara asked with a small uncertainty.

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bravely
2008-07-06 03:22 pm UTC (link)

Perhaps the girl was not only adept with the control of water, but could also heal with magic. Xena was no stranger to magic, so that didn't shock her too much, either. She stepped forward when the girl demonstrated for her and nodded, but she leaned her staff against her shoulder and reached out to bend her elbows slightly.

"If you lock your arms, you run the risk of getting your arms broken. If there is no resistance, you could get an arm dislocated, or your elbow or wrist broken, but if you leave some room for give, you can protect yourself better." She nodded, then stepped back. "Try again."

She watched her try once more, and then nodded. "Good." She went through the motions of the defensive stance once more. "Now let's try to get you used to taking blows." She waited for her to get into the defensive stance before she brought the staff down on her own. She wanted to get her used to the vibrations, but not hit too hard. She wasn't ready for the full force of her strength.

She smacked her staff down on Katara's and then stepped back, waiting for her reaction. She did it again, and then again. Harder each time, but still not as hard as she could. "You are not always going to have an opponent who hits you where you expect them to hit. So you will need to anticipate their actions and be prepared to block it. You can switch sides easily with this staff, just move your hands to the opposite end as you turn."

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k_waterbender
2008-07-06 05:53 pm UTC (link)

“Oh,” Said Katara, “I didn’t know that.” She had never had to deal with bracing her arms against a blow to a weapon. She had only had to brace her body against a blow from a weapon. It all made sense, though. She didn’t want to hurt herself badly just because she couldn’t hold her staff correctly. The young woman allowed her elbows to bend slightly. That actually felt better, too, more natural than the stiff lock she’d had on them. Katara moved back into her starting stance, then tried again with the defensive stance- this time heeding Xena’s advice and keeping the elbows bent slightly, though the rest of her body was much the same.

When they moved on to actual blows with the staff, the vibrations throughout it as it was hit was a bit jarring. Katara was ready, though, and retained a tight grip on it. She felt each blow getting harder and understood the reason. The vibrations, if started out on a severe level of hitting would probably make the staff too difficult to maintain a grip on it.

Katara was actually good at anticipating attacks. Waterbenders often turned a defensive attack into an offensive one by using the attacker’s strength against them. “Move my hands? Like this?” She asked and turned away from Xena to demonstrate what she thought might be what she meant. She moved into a defensive stance, then turned back toward the other woman while she slid her hands from their positioning to the opposite positioning on the other end of the staff. It was a bit rigid as it was her first attempt, but she thought she might have done it all right. “I know that was a bit stiff, but that was the basic motion, right?”

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bravely
2008-07-07 09:46 am UTC (link)

Xena nodded at the demonstration of the turn. "Yes, like that. It will be stiff until you get used to it. But after practice it will become a fluid motion and second nature." Xena watched her continue to practice the defensive stance, turning and dropping, turning and dropping. She nodded her approval and knew the girl was a quick learner.

"We are going to focus on defense before we go into offense, and we probably will need to spend some time on defense before you're ready, but you are learning quickly. Still, there is no point in carrying a staff if you only know how to use it against someone. If you come up against someone better than you with the staff, you will end up hurt most likely." Xena explained things as she saw them. She had learned a lot of defensive moves herself before she ever knew how to attack.

"I think you have the first defensive stance down, do you think you can try to block some of my offensive moves?" Xena held her own staff ready. "Remember that the area between your hands is the best for blocking attacks, it's more stable and less flexible, but you can still use the open end as well." She moved toward her and began to rain a series of blows down. She aimed for the staff instead of Katara, but different parts of the staff at different angles.

Her blows were not strong or very quick, but they would cause the vibrations through the staff that had been demonstrated before. Xena mostly just wanted to know if the girl would be able to anticipate her attacks.

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k_waterbender
2008-07-07 06:59 pm UTC (link)

Katara nodded and went through the motions again… and again… and again. Soon enough the motions began taking on a smoother flow. When she stopped thinking about it as an object in her hand, and an extension of herself, it was ten times easier. Water she never even had to think of as anything other than an extension of her own person because she felt so connected to it. It was harder to think the same way, especially with an actual physical weapon held in her hands, but she was starting to get a better idea of the whole thing.

The waterbender only smiled as Xena announced she would train her in defense for a while before even thinking about offense. That was perfect for her. Defense was more important than offense anyway, in her mind, because defense could so easily be turned into offense while it was a lot more difficult to turn offense into defense. The warrior was wise to have realized that and acted on it.

“Yes. I think I can.” Katara answered. She processed the information about the best area for blocking with the staff for intended use.

The attack blows started off rather simply, and the Water Tribe femme had an easy time of deflecting them while keeping a good hold on the staff. A couple of times Xena came closer than comfort to hitting the girl’s hands, but those were usually Katara’s fault. She knew the warrior woman was aiming for the staff alone, and movements of deflection came from the waterbender. Stop thinking about it as something separate, Katara… She told herself as she switched her hands to the other side of the staff to turn and block another blow. It’s part of you right now… It’s an armored extension of your own hands… The vibrations bothered her less and less as her thinking pattern changed to incorporate that thought. It was easier to hang onto and to keep the hits away from her hands.

She knew Xena was going easy on her with the hits and with predictability, but if she hadn’t the girl would have been pummeled. However, Katara was very good at deciphering where an opponent would strike from her training with waterbending, and she did very well with that part of the training.

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bravely
2008-07-09 10:23 am UTC (link)

Xena could see that the girl was catching on, and quickly. She was focused and thoughtful. It was refreshing. She was glad that the desire to learn wasn't just an offhand thing. It was being taken seriously. Xena smiled wryly to herself.

There wasn't much dialogue between them as they practiced and trained. Each time, Katara got better and better. And Xena grew more and more tired. She'd already had quite a workout before the waterbender had arrived. She would be sore later, but she didn't mind. It meant she was still alive.

Katara was better than most novices in weaponry, in that she could anticipate the attacks to a degree. Xena wouldn't go full force for a long time, not until she was sure she wouldn't hurt her too badly. Katara was going to get hurt. It was how it worked. But, she didn't want to break anything. As it was she was coming rather close to her fingers where they gripped the staff.

Xena stepped back, breathing harder than normal. Chest heaving she leaned on her staff. "You're doing well. Better than most when they first learn. I think it will come to you easily." Suddenly, Xena took her staff, turned and swept it into the backs of Katara's knees, sweeping her off her feet.

Xena stood over her and looked down. She reached a hand down to help her up. "Just don't ever let your guard down. Be prepared for anything." She helped her to her feet and stood back. "Do you want to keep going?"

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k_waterbender
2008-07-09 08:23 pm UTC (link)

Katara could feel a light sheen of sweat beginning to form on her brow and between her shoulder blades as she practiced. She could feel Xena’s movements increasing in speed every now and again, though she knew the warrior was still going easy on her for which she was thankful. The waterbender was also glad she had braided her hair back that morning, as she had been contemplating letting it stay down. Although, some strands of hair had begun to loose themselves from the plait.

Her breathing wasn’t quite as heavy as Xena’s, but she attributed that to the workout the woman looked like she’d been having when Katara had walked in on her. The Water Tribe femme took up a similar pose, leaning on her staff a bit as she received the light praise from the other woman. In such a relaxed position, she realized later than she would have been had she been on guard that the other’s staff was coming at her. Her eyes widened and she tried to block it clumsily, but her staff didn’t even make it behind her when she was suddenly swept off her feet. With a grunt she landed on her back, the backs of her knees throbbing lightly.

When the woman told her never to let her guard down, she smiled and laughed as she took her hand and moved to her feet. She repositioned her hands on the weapon. “If you’re still feeling up to it.” Katara quipped with a grin.

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bravely
2008-07-11 10:07 am UTC (link)

The girl was tireless, or so it seemed to Xena, who was clearly tiring. She smirked and cast her eyes toward the ceiling for a moment. "You know, I don't think I am." She gave her a small smile. "I was doing a little training myself before you came in. And it's been a while since I practiced anything. Maybe we could try again tomorrow?"

Xena didn't have any idea of what might be coming the next day, and her words were sincere enough, even if they couldn't be kept. She would find Katara again, or the girl might find her again for another round of practice in the future. "It was a pleasure, Katara, but I think I'm going to go back to my room and shower. I feel like a pig." Referring to the sweat coating her face, arms, back and the area between her breasts.

She put the staff back and picked up her weapons, placing them back at her hips and on her back. Giving Katara a nod, she stepped out of the training room and headed back to the room she shared with Gabrielle.

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