Learning to fight

Subject: Learning to fight Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:21 pm

The world was as it should be; the sky was blue and littered with fluffy white clouds, each in taking their own unique shape, the breeze passed over the world gently, without changing the overall temperature significantly, the sun was high in the sky, raining down light and warm as it did every day, and everything seemed to be at peace. Everything, except for the Zanjutsu training grounds. There all that could be heard was the loud, repetitive noise of hundreds of bamboo blades crashing against each other as shinigami students trained with one another. Today was a busy day, since the weather outside was so nice. The breeze was light and refreshing, the sun warm and relaxing, the humidity not too high. Shinigami paired up and battled with each other, occasionally giving each other pointers and criticism.

Reikon smiled warmly at the feeling of companionship that she was surrounded by. She strolled carefully into the training grounds, taking care not to bump into anyone or step into a sparring area. Today she wore her academy outfit, a white robe trimmed in red with an emblem upon the right side of her chest. Her long, silky black hair was tied up into a messy bun, a cyan colored flower tucked neatly into the bun for decoration. Her crimson eyes were lined with black eyeliner, not too heavily, but just enough so that it really made her eyes pop out. Against the pale, almost snow white, skin, this was a very powerful effect. Her pale pink lips were pulled into an elegant smile, revealing none of the pearly white teeth that were hid away inside of her mouth. Her right hand was formed into a fist, wrapped around the wooden handle of a training blade she had borrowed from the academy so that she could practice today. She had been in the academy for quite some time now, and Zanjutsu was her worst subject. She figured it was about time she brought her nose to the grinding stone and started working hard on her swordsmanship. After all; a handful of kido and a quick wit would only carry her so far in the career she was about to take on. She would be battling hollows, traveling across dimensions, and maybe even fighting in wars or against her own kind. These things would require at least basic skills with her blade if she wanted to survive for a long time; and she planned to survive as long as possible.

As she walked along she spotted an area just big enough to have a spar in, which was completely empty. Regripping the handle of her training katana, she walked over to the area determinedly. She had no idea who her opponent would be, but she planned to challenge the first person she saw without a partner. Hopefully luck was on her side today. As she looked out into the crowd of shinigami, she saw no one who's blade wasn't poised against or clashing with another's. It seemed she would have to wait until a spar was over with. However, there was one person she had missed, a person who was also searching for a partner. It seemed luck would not be on her side today, as this person had a reputation for being both a brutal and masterful warrior when given a blade to fight with. He had no real talents with kido, but he was well-known as one of the most promising shinigami in the Zanjutsu class of her grade. He had even challenged and beaten a few shinigami from other grades. This man, known as Daisuke, would spot her before she spotted him.

Calling out to her, he waved to get her attention as he approached. Reikon instantly flinched when he came near, a habit it seemed she would never get over. The man was frighteningly close, and wielding what appeared to be a wooden nodachi. The man smiled, and introduced himself, reaching out a hand. When she stepped back instinctively, he retracted his hand sympathetically.

”You're without a partner.” He observed, taking a few steps around her so that he could take his place on the other side of her designated training area. ”So am I..So, care to spar?” He finished as politely as possible.

Reikon would smile at him apologetically, and then nod enthusiastically. Taking up an awkward fighting stance, she prepared to fight. However, he only looked at her curiously. He hadn't even taken up a fighting stance. Shaking his head, he began to speak once again.

”Do you even know how to wield that thing? Spread your legs out more, grip the blade with both hands, hold it in front of you firmly.” He instructed, doing as he had said with his own body and blade to demonstrate.

Instantly embarrassed, Reikon copied his stance and muttered an apology. However, it seemed he was no longer in the mood for verbal exchange. He instantly took three steps forward, striking full force with his blade, an overhead swing down on her left shoulder. Reikon winced, taking a step back as she rubbed her shoulder with her right hand. She had taken her hand off of the blade, it was open season. Her opponent didn't stop for a second, he instantly switched the direction of his blade, aiming a sideways slash at her ribcage. This time, however, Reikon's reflexes were a bit better. She blocked the blade with her own, being pushed to the side a bit from the force of his swing. He was strong, much stronger than her, it would take more than brute force to win a fight against him.

Placing both hands on the handle of her blade, she pushed his weapon away, rolling with the blade faced away from her so that she could quickly maneuver around his weapon and to his back. Instantly she would stand back up, slashing at his back with her own blade. The boy was a skilled fighter, though, and had been following her movements. He instantly blocked, moved to her right, and countered. This sort of dance went on for several minutes, with Daisuke occasionally giving Reikon tips, and Reikon constantly trying to find a flaw in his style. Her efforts appeared to be fruitless, however, as the twenty minute marked passed and there was still no sign of a way to win. She was beginning to lose hope, just as something caught her eye. Every time he moved his torso, he winced. He took blows on every other part of his body but his ribs, practically sacrificing his right arm once to block an attack aimed at his ribcage. This was his flaw, he was injured.

Reikon smiled to herself as she took a few steps back, readjusting her stance as she prepared a strategy. Suddenly, she launched herself at him, flipping her body in the air. Her hand touched the ground, and she spun, her legs flailing out in an attempt to kick his ribs. Instantly confused, he brought his right arm up to block the kick. Again smiling, Reikon pushed off of the ground with her open hand, sending herself back into the air with his arm as a spring board. As she passed by his exposed rib cage, she took a swipe at it. Hitting her mark, she landed behind him as he let out a pain-induced gasp. Losing no time, Reikon brought her blade up behind him, wrapping it around his throat and pressing a bit, to get her point across. She had bested him with wits, something she was rather proud of at the time.

Okay, okay. I concede. He said, raising both hands as he dropped his wooden weapon. He let out a chuckle as she drew her own blade away from his body, each turning to each other and bowing respectfully. Daisuke would then pick up his weapon, and, shaking his head, leave the area to go find another opponent.

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Subject: Re: Learning to fight Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:45 pm

Reikon would sigh, as she had been standing alone in her training spot for five minutes. Though other spars ended, and people swapped partners continuously, no one challenged her. The few that hadn't seen her spar with Daisuke figured she'd be too easy an opponent, and that they wouldn't be able to get any decent training in, the others that had seen the spar were a bit afraid of her. It was obvious she was still a little uneasy about wielding a blade, and that she had no real power behind her swings, yet the fact that she had bested Daisuke said something for her cunning and skill in battle. She suddenly felt very low; having such a low self esteem she figured everyone just disliked her, or decided they didn't want to be around her. So, she would move from the field over to the training dummies, seeing that the area was completely empty. It was a small, circular, section that was roofed over with the same wooden tiled roof that the rest of the academy had. The floor was made of wood as well, standing a few inches above the actual ground, like a little porch, except that there was no door leading into the building on this side of the academy. Within the small circular area there were several dummies, some lined up in rows and others lined up in bunches or circles to allow for extra training. Reikon had already stretched and gotten a decent work out with her last spar, so she figured she'd start with the grouping of dummies.

Taking her place in the center of five dummies, each scattered around her in every direction, she took in the details of the one in front of her. These dummies were not normal dummies, they were placed on a pole and made so that they would spin. Each arm was extended, with a wooden paddle attached to each one. This meant that when one hit the dummy, it would spin around and swing at you. There was also a lever placed upon the wall just a few meters away from her that would make the dummies start spinning at a set speed, to improve dodging and reflexes. She would begin with just hitting them, however, as she didn't feel she was quite up to such a thing as several attacks coming at her at once just yet. So, she took a well-aimed swing at the dummy's side, switching the direction of her blade instantly and bringing it up so that it struck just underneath the arm, at an angle that would cleave a human's shoulder clean off and maybe go on to strike their throat. The dummy instantly spun, lashing out at her with its paddle arm. She ducked, pulling the blade in so that she would be able to bring it back up in three seconds when the other paddle came at her. The paddle struck her blade, deflecting off and causing the dummy to rotate once again, this time in the other direction. She took her chance to pierce the dummy in its torso, before it could make the full swing, and thrust the blade through the soft padding. Stuffing oozed out of the wound she had made, and the dummy stopped dead in its tracks. Reikon stared at the wound she had inflicted, amazed at what she had just done. The whole time she did it in a decent stance, simply repeating what the man known as Daisuke had told her. Daisuke reminded her so much of her older brother that it was natural for her to listen to his every word. He had really helped her to improve, in just a twenty minute spar.

A smile broke out over her face. Maybe not all men are bad... Just most of them. She thought to herself jokingly, as she pulled the wooden blade from the fatal wound she had inflicted on the dummy. She was sure a teacher would come by to scold her soon enough, for damaging the dummies so much. It was not cheap to keep up reparation of dummies, so they liked to keep the destruction down to a minimum. Oh well.. Nothing I can do about that now.

Just as she thought, a teacher would begin to walk toward her. Reikon didn't notice the sensei at first, because she was busy swinging at the other dummies, and trying to keep up with two at once. She would strike one, block the others swing, and then instantly have to block the swing coming at her from behind. Eventually she had worked out a better system, instead of blocking, which just sent the dummy spinning faster, she would lock the paddle with her blade, then strike the other firmly, and come back around to strike the next, and repeat the process. It was working very effectively, and she figured that after an hour or so of mastering it, she could develop a way to use it on up to five dummies, or enemies, at a time. Just as she began to ponder how she would work in another dummy, and which one it would be, the teacher came up, placing her hand on one of the dummies to stop its spinning motion.

There was a sound like the clearing of a throat. In fact, it was the clearing of a throat. Reikon jumped, dropping the blade to the floor and spinning around on her heels to face the sudden noise that broke the repetitive sequence of thuds and squeaks. Instantly remembering the dummy she had torn up, and why the sensei must be there, she bowed deeply and apologetically, not being able to muster up a simple 'Gomensai'. As she straightened her back, she noticed that the sensei did not look angry, only curious. Reikon instantly recognized the sensei, it was a new sensei to the academy. Her name was Ayame.

"Reikon Hanpa, was it? You seem to have improved quite a bit in the last hour or so. I don't think I've ever seen you fight quite so... Oh, what's the word? Confidently. Yes, that's it. I've never seen you fight so confidently before." Said the woman in a sweet, almost velvety voice.

"H-hello, Ayame-sama. I was just, um, practicing the tips that Daisuke-san gave me. He's really good at zanjutsu." Reikon replied, bowing once again. She stood back up, brushing a loose strand of silky, black hair from her face. Suddenly realizing that her blade was still resting on the ground where she had dropped it, she bent down and picked it up quickly, tucking it into the silk sash that was wrapped around her waist to show no hostility toward the sensei.

"So I've heard. I also heard you gave him a good beating, good for you." Ayame giggled in response, placing her pale fingers up against her lips in an elegant gesture.

"Only because he taught me so well, and I got really lucky.. Now, um, I'm sorry, but I have to go." She would mumble, before turning and sprinting off toward the exit. On her way out she would unsheathe the wooden blade from her sash and place it in the rack, not stopping to see if she had gotten it standing up right. The resulting crash she heard behind her as she ran toward her dorm, realizing she was late, was sure sign that she hadn't.
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