InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "30 chars? But I wanna say more"

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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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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