InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It was NEVER that big."

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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