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Tweak says, "I like cupcakes!"

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
2008-08-22 08:37 am UTC (link)

A notch up wasn’t as easy as Katara had anticipated it might be, but she wasn’t wholly unprepared. Even though she lacked a good night’s sleep, she was still quick and as fluid as a beginner with a staff could hope to be. If the waterbender hadn’t already been rather adept at anticipating attacks, she would have been a bumbling failure at this, but she was quite good, and her skill showed as Xena inflicted attacks from more difficult angles at a faster pace. A few more hours of sleep definitely wouldn’t have hurt, though.

As Katara moved her staff to block each blow, mindful of her fingers, her sleep deprived mind recalled something she had forgotten: Toph. The earthbender had shown interest in learning swordsmanship from Xena when the waterbender had broached the subject. She had completely forgotten about it, and she felt guilty now that she remembered. Toph’s door was right across the hall from hers, yet she’d failed to even think of knocking on it. Because her concentration had gone awry momentarily, the next hit from the warrior woman the Water Tribe femme blocked skimmed off the end of her staff and planted into her thigh with a noticeable thwack. Her teeth clenched against the pain as a grunt sounded in her throat, but she didn’t stop; she continued to block the blows. Determined to do better, her concentration went back to what she was doing. She could broach the subject of Toph when they paused.

Katara’s hands ached, her fingers especially, but it was a good ache. It meant she was getting into shape, doing better. It meant she was getting stronger. Her braid bounced and whipped along with her movements as she attempted and mostly succeeded to block each blow. She could feel her confidence rising within herself as she noted her own improvement, her own abilities. She wasn’t a great waterbender by luck, after all. Perhaps she would be able to become a great staff wielder in time. Hopefully a short amount of time. It wasn’t that she was impatient, but she had completely mastered waterbending within three seasons after she found two different masters. Then again, she’d been born with the ability to waterbend and had shown signs of it at a very early age. Waterbending was as easy to Katara as using a boomerang was to her brother Sokka. They just had a natural gift that practice had improved, but learning other styles, other uses, was more difficult. She believed in herself, but she knew it might take a bit longer to master a staff than it had taken to master waterbending.

Katara noted the momentary smile on Xena’s lips, knowing it was one of praise and approval. That was definitely a good sign. However, the beaming feeling in the waterbender’s chest was cut short as she saw the change in positioning of the warrior woman’s stance and saw her staff moving at an alarming rate at her lower legs and feet. Without a second thought, the younger femme leaped into the air to avoid the blow, but she was a bit too slow and the other woman’s staff nicked her foot, sending her stumbling to regain her balance when she landed. Luckily, she lose control completely, but as soon as she could possibly manage, she was in position to block more oncoming attacks. Her foot was not free of aches from the blow, and the Water Tribe femme wondered if it would bruise.

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bravely
2008-08-22 10:46 am UTC (link)

Xena had seen the waterbender's attention waver for a moment and she had taken a hit to her thigh. But, for the most part, Katara was doing well. Sometimes her form was not right on par, but she was doing better than most beginners would. She appreciated the skill that the girl brought into her training and she worked with it.

After another hit to her foot, Xena decided that it was probably a good time to stop. She knew that the places where Katara had taken a hit probably stung, if not throbbed with pain. "Let's take a break. I think we've done enough for today." She didn't apologize for the hits Katara had sustained to her person, there was no reason to. Her attention had caused her to respond too slowly to block the attack adequately and that wasn't Xena's fault.

She walked over to the weapon's rack and leaned the staff against it. Leaning down, she picked up her sword, chakram and whip and put them back in their respective places. "You are doing very well, Katara. Your attention seemed to slip a few times. Do you have something on your mind?" She asked the question casually as she buckled her scabbard on her back.

Crossing her arms, one hip cocked up, she watched the waterbender. She could see the swelling beginning on her hand and knew that she would have bruises on her foot and thigh as well. That was, unless she healed herself, but Xena had no knowledge of that ability. "I think next time we train I will bring my friend Gabrielle with me. She knows the staff better than I do."

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