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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Nov 29, 2015 10:25:12 GMT -5
A single eyebrow rose in question as she looked to the bulky weights. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? But she wouldn't offer such words and allow June the pleasure of her fumbling after speaking so confidently. The reference to her adorable qualities didn't go unnoticed, but she figured it was best to leave it be for the time being.
The redhead had bent to retrieve the weights, but glanced up as the other stepped forward after the short silence. She had thought this was meant to urge her into wrapping the weights around her limbs.
"E-excuse me?" A rapid blink was given as she looked up from her half kneeling position. But a sudden shrug of her shoulder was her way of dismissing the awkwardness of the situation. She returned to her full height and rested her faux blade against the wall so she could press her palms against June's. When her body moved closer, her hands slid outward making the whitette's fingertips rest against the crease between her long digits and palm. She wasn't much taller than June, though she still had a bit of growing to do yet. This made it easy to barely tilt her head and have both sets of red hued gazes meeting each other this way.
Being this close to someone wasn't really an issue, seeing them halfnaked, in fact, was. She hadn't been raised with siblings and had dressed herself since the age of four, making nudity a fairly new concept. So her slight grin showed she was at easy for now. Of course, she knew there had to be measuring equipment around here somewhere though. Whether June's request was to do with judgement of her or wishing to not waste time finding the chords, it didn't exactly matter. She would do as was requested of her. Now that they were toe to toe amd their bodies barely an inch or two apart she waited to be told she could return to attaching the weights to her limbs.
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Post by June Kohma on Nov 29, 2015 12:05:19 GMT -5
A warrior required many disciplines beyond physical prowess. They needed a mental fortitude to resist all kinds of distraction and of course, they needed to have a sense for what is and is not worth it. June had lied about her measuring instruments outright - to test these disciplines in her partner. A they pressed together, she let out a soft purr, followed by a light laugh, followed by finally pulling away.
"Alright, so we can size you pretty easily with that." she joked. "But I'm afraid we need to train the mind as well as the body. Had you been my opponent I'd have just had so many ways to have my way with you."
Word choice.
"Be cautious. Like I said before, everything is training while we're here. Especially if you're looking to handle armor. Now strap those weights on and resume your stances."
June returned to a storage trunk by the armor, and sat down on it, crossing her legs and watching intently. Zephyra had potential, but she needed to be thrown around a little bit before she truly understood what it meant to be fully aware of all things at all times. That's why June was able to keep up, even in matches she had no prep time for. She never let anything escape her gaze, and sharpning her eyes like that had earned her a few 'eyes of a demon' comments.
Every motion should be observed. Every dialogue should be questioned. Every motive should be considered. This was not only the author's way of offering advice on NPCs in Dark Souls, but a good discipline to impart onto Zephyra. June would be testing this more with some tricks later.
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Nov 29, 2015 21:05:06 GMT -5
"Had I been your opponent, I'm fairly certain it wouldn't have mattered if I was pressed against you or strapping on these weights or facing you head on. You'd have your way with me either way."
Touche? Perhaps.
Her words were spoken toward the floor as she worked on the weights to go around her ankles. It was obvious she had at least some experience with the items since they were strapped on with ease. Only a few moments later she had her wrists tightly strapped as well. Her limbs waved a bit, as if testing the weight on them before she grasped the hilt of the sword once more. Zeph knew it wouldn't be the weight of the armor that would get to her, but the bulkiness. In order to compensate she tried to imagine metal circling her limps and how much space it would take up. All her moves would need to be exaggerated. Further sweeping, higher hold over her head.
Even as she began the paces of her exercises with the weights she spoke softly, her voice not affected by her swift movements. "But, if you believe I need mental training as well, I'll take all I can get."
"A slate for you to write on as you see fit. Mould me into the perfect sculpture, paint me as your Mona Lisa."
These words that followed were more of chant or mantra. Obviously the girl had heard them spoken one too many times. By this time, she was still moving swiftly, her form still impeccable, but the room was a bit stuffy and sweat was beading at her temples. June had said armor was Hell's Fire anyway, so she might as well get use to it.
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Post by June Kohma on Nov 29, 2015 21:44:17 GMT -5
So, she was aware. Well, that did make things easier. June wasn't one to often encounter problems she couldn't solve without sheer force, so this would be treated no differently. She would train her protege with force. This meant the weight would be upped eventually, the drills would get harder, and the psychological warfare if one could call it that may increase as well. At least for today.
"Looking good." she joked, noting the compensation of form to accomodate imaginary armor. "I barely had to explain a thing on this one. Good sign. But..." she approached again, gripping the blade with her hand without a care for safety. "This needs to be brought in just a little bit. You're overcompensating as you are right now. Here." her hand began to lower against the force of her student, and she simply ignored any resistance. Her movement stopped when the blade was more reasonably placed, and then she released in that same moment. She debated for a moment on whether or not she should tease more at Zephyra's weaknesses, and realized she didn't know enough of them to do so with yet. For now she would just continue the exercises.
"Now swing at my chest."
Wait what.
"Hard as you can. But only the chest."
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 1, 2015 7:08:53 GMT -5
The compliment went unspoken of as she focused on the shift and pull of muscles. She was so focused she blinked when June grasped the blade and forced it into a better position. Of course once she noticed the woman was moving her, her muscles relaxed slightly to make it a bit easier.
She had begun to resume the movements so that they would be a little less awkward, but June's voice brought her to a complete standstill. Sure, she had a chest plate on and pain didn't seem to really register with her, but.. To hit her fully? Even if it was only a wooden sword. Zeph's 'brows came together and there was definitely a second of hesitation. June seemed to have a thing with beening hit. First a punch to the stomach when they were training and now a sword hit to the chest? Apparently it was easier to judge someone's strength when you felt the hit yourself rather than having them hit a training dummy.
With a resolute nod, the redhead shifted her stance and trained her gaze on her friend's demonic hues.
Here went nothing.
She drew the sword's back toward her hip, the tip behind her before lunging forward to sweep the blade at her chest with as much force as she could manage. If June remained still the blade would connect with the left side of her breast plate.
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Post by June Kohma on Dec 1, 2015 20:25:50 GMT -5
It was hard to really be sure of her pupil's power without feeling it, and June knew better than anyone how to tank a hit. She stood ready and allowed herself to be hit, the blow clearly making a clashing sound effect as she stepped back a few paces from the force to prevent herself from toppling over. Things would be easier to judge this way, so she had to just take the hits as best as possible.
"Phew." she let out, noting the indent in the armor as well as the throbbing in her side. "Haven't felt a blow in a while. That hurt."
She said this, but she also laughed as best as she could without coughing.
"Now I've got a scale to measure what I expect out of you." she nodded with energy. "Once I get my wind back, we'll do some more. For now you can either take a breather with me, or practice some more stances."
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 2, 2015 6:53:17 GMT -5
The ring of the hit echoed around her even as she stepped back and placed the sword's tip against the ground. A worried gaze travelled from the dent to June's features. Sure, she had laughed about it and had asked for it.. but it still made her uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea of hurting her friend. It crossed her as odd though, she never had reservations of attacking Bridgette like this.
"You alright?"
It seemed she choose to take a breather as well since she let the pommel rest against her ribs and her arm dangled over the hand guard. Then thinking it over for another second, she moved the sword to lean against the wall so she could inspect what her hit had caused. A hand delicately traced the indentation and a frown pulled at her lips. She had expected to hit a bit harder than this, but luckily she hadn't. It probably would have caused the armor to crumple against her ribs and kept June from breathing right.
"Blocking it with your gauntlet would have let you know my strength just as well, sensei. And you wouldn't have needed to take the brunt of it."
The redhead finally looked up to meet June's gaze and the worried look remained even if she knew the whitette could take hits much harder than this.
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Post by June Kohma on Dec 2, 2015 14:04:53 GMT -5
While her theory was technically and objectively correct, June didn't like to take the easy way out on things. She decided to clear that air right away.
"You're not wrong, but I also think you can only tell so much from a block rather than a full impact. " she shook her head. " what you delivered was powerful and I would only know how much I needed to do to block it rather than how much I needed to, you know? Knowing the power gives it context. "
She did notice that concern was more from a personal standing than a training one though. Because she would have reacted the same way. They were closer than she thought she'd be with anyone from campus, after all. And she was not only a disciple, but the first at that. And a dear friend. There was no way she wouldn't have reacted the same way.
"Don't worry your pretty little head over me. Until you've taken a blow like that without armor, you don't realize how much armor actually helps. Broken bones are not fun. "
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 2, 2015 18:06:54 GMT -5
"I wouldn't expect broken bones to be much fun, you cheeky woman." Zeph gave a roll of her eyes and a crooked grin.
"My nose wasn't even broken and it hurt like Hell!"
This time she chuckled and drew her hand back from the bend in the armor. That hand lifted to brush back a few stray strands of hair that dangled infront of her eyes. Zeph tipped her head to the side and placed her hands on her hips.
"I get that you wanted to know the full range of power, but you put yourself at risk a little too much.. You sure you're okay? I really didn't expect your armor to crumple like that. I guess I have more strength than I realized."
One hand moved to the back of her neck, which she rubbed at as is she were bashful of felt guilty about what had been done. Which, of course, was a mixture of both even though she had been asked to do it.
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Post by June Kohma on Dec 2, 2015 18:55:17 GMT -5
"I've taken worse hits, don't worry about me okay?" she was quick to assuage concern, feeling that there was no cause for it. "I promise, this won't set me back."
Her words were fine, but her stance was clearly shaken. It was relatively new to her to feel winded, or more accurately it was a feeling she had long forgotten. She kind of enjoyed being able to be pushed that far, if only by her own choice. It was refreshing to remind oneself of one's humanity sometimes.
"I think you've got what I need. We can definitely push this further. "
Uh...
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 2, 2015 19:04:34 GMT -5
A nod rocked her head, albeit a reluctant one. If the armor wearing female before her said she was fine then all she could do was believe her.
"Alright.." Her hand fell back to her side and she turned to go retrieve of her faux sword. Zeph's step stuttered a bit as she heard her last words.
What?
Before she could stop herself the question spilled past her lips.
"What.. do you mean? I have what you need?"
She kept her back to June as she grasped the hilt of the wooden pole, keeping her confusion and possibly a bit of hope, hidden.
Wait, hope? What am I thinking? Idiot. Stop that. She's talking about training.
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Post by June Kohma on Dec 2, 2015 19:08:48 GMT -5
"To explain that, you need to know first that my reputation as a demon is well earned." she laughed a bit, allowing herself to think back fondly, or at least she thought it was fondly.
"I've taken on things leagues above me. I've bested wild animals in their own habitat. I've broken bones with hardly a fifth of my strength. Its been years since I've felt winded."
She mused with the tip of her finger to her lip, tilting her head.
"And yet, here you are. My armor is barely dented and yet I feel this way. Like the wind is gone from me. Why do you suppose that is? "
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 2, 2015 19:20:08 GMT -5
Of course, she knew her reputation was well earned. It was a part of why she admired June as much as she did. Not only did she sport the scars to prove her story was true, but on their first meeting she had easily guarded herself against her own skill. Which at that time, she thought was pretty high.
Now that she had something to keep her hands busy, Zeph turned back to June, her confusion still easily read.
"Uhm.. my skill baffles you?"
She grinned a bit, though it was obviously a nervous smirk. Trimmed nails tapped lightly against the hilt as her feet shifted and she lifted the weapon as if showing it off.
"Really, I don't know.. Maybe you just weren't expecting such a hit from a wooden weapon?"
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Post by June Kohma on Dec 2, 2015 19:31:32 GMT -5
There was a lot she realized she had left open. Time to clarify.
"You're one of the most skilled people I know of your age group. if not the most skilled period." she decided finally that it was too cumbersome to leave the plate on, she she went through the process of removing the top half of her armor without breaking her sentence. "I trained my entire life to get to where I am, and someone younger than me is clearly doing the same thing. It's like you're the missing half of my life that I needed at your age."
June. Word choice.
"I haven't been able to push myself as hard as I'd like to with anyone on Astraea. It's been six years since I could go all out. Now that I can, now that I remember the exhilaration of all or nothing moments, I never want to give this feeling up. You're picking me right back up where my last equal left off."
JUNE.
"I guess what I'm getting at here is I haven't had anyone push me this hard since Arceia. I needed this. I needed you. So thank you for coming with me here."
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Post by Zephyra Dónall on Dec 2, 2015 20:12:16 GMT -5
Zeph's lips had parted and never closed. She hadn't expected the words that came from June. Not at all. All she could do was watch the woman and try not to stumble over silly words that wanted to spill out denying what she heard. With each compliment that was sent her way her cheeks turned a dark shade of red until her skin practically blended in with her hair.
"Th-thank you.." Her voice was soft and she had to fight the urge to duck her head. "I.. don't know though. There are plenty of people out there that skilled. I just try my best."
Now she did begin to fidget. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other. What could she say to all that?
"I'm glad I could be here.. I've never had this experience and.. well, uhm.. You're the closest friend I've ever had. I'm really glad I met you."
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