InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Oh? You're walking towards me?"

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
2008-07-06 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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