InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "turn around, bright eyes"

zaria (bravely) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-08-08 23:00:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 10, katara, xena

Day 10
Who: Xena & Katara
What: More Training
When: Late Morning
Where: Training Room
Rating: G-ish
Status: Complete

Xena had spent the last several days with Gabrielle. And they had been good. Very revealing. But, they hadn't done anything very strenuous, and she needed to work out again. It was late morning, and later than she would normally seek out some physical activity, but it was never too late in her opinion.

She locked the door and decided to go back to the training room she'd found before with all the weapons and dummies and cushioned floor mats. But then she remembered that she was supposed to be training Katara in the use of a bow staff. So, she looked up the girl's room number in the lobby and headed that way, backtracking a little but it didn't matter.

She was dressed in her usual leather armor and copper plating. Her sword was sheathed on her back and her chakram and whip were at her hips. She knocked on the door marked E104 and stood back to wait for her to answer. She didn't even know if she was in her room, but if she wanted to make sure the girl got some training in, this was the first place to look.

"Katara, it's Xena. Do you want to work with the staff some more today?" She called out against the door after she'd knocked.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-19 12:27 am UTC (link)

“I will definitely take you up on that offer.” Katara had never really used a boomerang, as she’d never really gotten the hang of it, but it would still be nice to compare and contrast them. Maybe even just viewing Xena use a chakram would give her an idea of the differences.

The warrior woman was a good teacher, but also a hard, fierce one. That didn’t deter the waterbender for an instant, though. Compared to Master Pakku, Xena was kinder in personality, but they were both fast paced, skilled, and rough in their training of students. By the end of the raining of the first set of blows, Katara was breathing heavier, a couple droplets of sweat beaded at her hairline, and her hand hurt- though not so badly as it had when it first happened. She knew nothing was broken, but she expected a dark bruise to appear later.

Thankfully she was a healer, but she didn’t request a moment to heal herself. In the heat of battle, one opponent wouldn’t ask for a moment to heal oneself. In most battles, people would kill or be killed, or at least go for incapacitation. The latter was Katara’s preferred method, as taking lives simply wasn’t something she ever wanted to do with the power she wielded. This wasn’t really the heat of battle, but she continued to refrain from taking a couple minutes to heal her hand. In training, people got hurt. That’ was simply the way of it.

Katara only took a second to think about Xena’s question before answering, “Yes. I think so.” Her hand had been hit pretty near the beginning of the first rain of blows, and she’d only gotten better. Moving it up a notch definitely could be handled.

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bravely
2008-08-21 11:56 am UTC (link)

Xena had never been described as "kinder" than anyone. And if Katara had spoken the words aloud, Xena would have scoffed without hesitation. Xena was kind, in her own way, she just lacked patience. She was used to leading, and when someone didn't want to follow, it irked her. Katara's willingness to learn kept Xena from snapping at her. Of course, if Katara had no desire to learn, they wouldn't be here in the first place.

When Katara answered her question in the positive, Xena nodded her approval. Good, the girl wasn't a quitter, either. Sometimes once someone found out how difficult something was, they didn't want to do it anymore. But Katara had spirit and Xena could appreciate it. "Good." Without asking if she was reading, Xena began to volley more attacks her way.

They came more swiftly and deftly, from more different angles. She put a few spins and flourishes into the attacks and tried to keep the girl on her toes, guessing about where the next attack would come from. As soon as she could deflect one opponnent well enough, Xena thought that she and Gabrielle could teach her together and see if she could ward off two attackers at once.

She knew that Katara's hand must hurt. These flexible fighting staffs were painful if aimed at the right body part, and the nerve filled digits were one of the most painful. A blow to the ribs or back could be handled with more tolerance than a blow to the delicate fingers. But, the girl continued to defend herself, and Xena admired that as well. She smiled momentarily before slamming the staff hard in a downward sweep.

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