[OTA]

[roeh]

Who: Everyone!
What: Sparring, training etc
When: All day March 2nd
Where: A fancy pants gym in the far shore
Summary: There's a war going on and it won't be won sitting around twiddling your thumbs. Time to work up a sweat and earn yourself a few bruises and bragging rights in the process.


Turns out the far shore isn't devoid of some of the more earthly facilities enjoyed in life. Not the least of which is a gym. And not just one of those, hot cramps, 24/7 affairs but a whole arena that looks like it might have been plucked out of some classical epic. A real gym for the stars. Or the gods as it were. Upon finding it, it leaves Shepard with just a few ideas and today is the day they come to fruition. A couple days back, guests and residents alike recieve a mass invitation with the time and the place to come spar, train and otherwise get together to work out this situation.

The Main Event;
The largest space is dominated by a number of sparring rings for everyone to take advantage of. And off on the sidelines is ever possible melee weapons one could imagine. It's the perfect time to work on your skills before another wave of ayakashi show up to catch you and your shinki off guard. Some of the rings are even dotted with practice dummies for those pairs that are still figuring out exactly how this god and shinki thing works together. Or perhaps you'd like to pick up some new abilities. You never know when you might be caught off guard with only a bottle opener and a ball of twine to defend yourself. Just grab a partner and have at it.


The Shooting Range;
You didn't think the far shore's most vocal gun advocate would leave this out did you? But it's not just guns that stock the racks at this range. Bows and arrows from all ages as well as a rather impressive collection of throwing knives lay amidst the firearms. You might even find the odd slingshot or two if you really look hard enough. But target practice is target practice which makes this the perfect time to engage in some friendly competition with your neighbor, regardless
of the weapon.


Combat Instruction;
Perhaps some of you come from a world where war is the furthest thing from your mind. Where the worst you have to worry about is whether or not you passed that last exam or when that girl down the street might finally notice you. But to some, your recruitment into the battle against the Ayakashi is just one more stage in the mundane fight that's followed you for most of your life. There's novices and experts alike and this is where both can come together to share their skills. We're all in this together brogamis.


The Water Cooler;
More like a whole corner of the gym that's stocked with not only water, but juice, energy drinks, power bars and all manner of refreshments. There's a pile of clean towels for those of you that really work up a sweat and a bin for you to kindly dispose of them. After a hard day of hitting the gym, it's always nice to relax, unwind, maybe shoot the shit with a few new friends. Or enemies. No one said you had to get along and that was the last bag of chips after all.

Comments

OTA

[sleepingknight]

[Yuuki is, shock and surprise, armed with a sword. However, she won't just go out and practice by herself. There's not much she can train at without properly moving targets, honestly.

So instead, she'll just watch people as they train, taking in their movements. Even if noticed, she'll only grin and wave with all the cheer in the world. Nothing wrong with seeing how others do, right?

On the other hand, if you need a sparring partner? Getting her to join you will be a piece of cake. Really, just you try her.]

[arealhardnose]

[It feels good to hold a sword again, and far more familiar than Elsa could've imagined. Even though she'd basically been a whole other person last year, all those memories are still in her mind. In the aftermath of the final battle, Elsa had resolved never to think of them again, because she hadn't been the one in control at the time, and therefore she wasn't responsible for what she did-- what she was made to do as Mesogog's general.

Now, as she grasps what should by all accounts be a weapon she has never used with the confidence of a sesoned warrior, she wonders about that choice. It hadn't been her, but for all his evil intents, Mesogog had left her with a gift, in the end -- and now she gets the chance to use it for good.

At least now there's not the stress of actual battle to deal with. She'd done well under pressure, but does she really remember how to fight? Is it something she can do at will?

Sword in hand, she walks between sparring rings, watching how everyone fights with their weapon of choice. The part of her that's just a teacher wants to go back to her temple and read or dance; the part of her who fought because she wanted to destroy, though, believes she can take anyone here.

Best to start slow. That girl over there seems nice enough, and with any luck, she'll be skilled with the sword she's holding and treat Elsa kindly in the ring.

Elsa approaches her with a slight smile, forcing herself to look relaxed, mostly succeeding at that.]

Hello. Would you mind sparring with me? My shinki has decided not to join me, so I need a hand.

[sleepingknight]

Oh-- hiya!

[She doesn't seem at all put off by the request, at least! Unlike Elsa, she's completely at ease, and it shows in how fluidly she turns to the woman.]

Sure, sure, I don't mind! You wanted to practice with a sword too?

[She needs to get some sparring in herself, so that works out just fine.]

It looks clear, so we can probably start right away! Oh, and-- can you fly or anything, or should we stick to the ground?

[What.]

thought it was time for these two to meet~

[roeh]

[Much as Shepard is probably itching to swing by the shooting range, she knows it won't do her any good. This was about improving, as a warrior, as a god. And she was a god that was paired with a sword. A sword who made an excellent sparring partner himself. But there were lessons to be had in variety, as well as an opportunity to see just how much that training had been paying off.

So as she stalks the rings, it's Yuuki, with sword in hand that she notices first. She's been at this for barely more than a week but already Shepard can tell the girl carries it with a sure hand. Perfect.]

You look like you know how to use that thing. [She comes up from behind with her own sword in hand, though it isn't her intention to startle. Sneaking up on people is just a natural instinct.]

Excellent!

[sleepingknight]

Oh!

[She doesn't seem too surprised, turning quickly and fluidly to face Shepard.]

You're right! I sure do!

[...She's not exactly humble about it, either.]

[okitactless]

[And try her Yamato will! He hasn't forgotten their conversation on Yukine's message board, and he doesn't bother to hide his happily expectant look as he approaches. His own practice sword sits snugly on his hip, one hand resting comfortably on it.]

Are you ready to spar now?

Main Event

[piphilologize]

[ When, why, and how would all be perfectly reasonable questions to ask about the present situation.

But answers, predictably, aren't going to be forthcoming from the resident megalomanical artist. At some point, a great heap of what is apparently garbage appears in of the sparring rings, and it's sheer luck that no one is using it when Minamimoto makes his grand entrance. Teleporting the finished artwork in takes some imagination, but he's overall satisfied with the height of his weirdly stacked random junk and scrap metal.

Hey, training with zeros is clearly garbage, but watching them from atop his heap and jeering seems like a reasonable use of his time. He's sprawled comfortably across the tail end of a car that was sticking nearly upright in the pile, looking as smug as a cat on some particularly satisfactory perch.

Loosely held in one of Sho's hands is a megaphone, perfect for inflicting color commentary and random nonsensical math-speak on the unwary. ]

[returnedfromtheline]

[Yukine can't help but gape for a moment at the sudden apparition. What. The. Hell.

Yep, he would love to ask at the very least why this guy has dumped a heap of garbage into the middle of the gym.

As he walks up to the base of the heap a second careful look shows him that the passive shinki isn't around. Well, probably not a bad thing he's not being literally dragged around this time.]

Hey.

[Yukine casually plants one foot on a jutting piece of something that might have been a guardrail as he looks up at the god whose name he still hasn't gotten.]

What's with this? You're taking up space, you know.

Re: Main Event

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki is heading back from the lounge area with a handful of energy bars (some of them should taste good! After all, they're divine, and most of them are chocolate) when he realizes that there is a very large heap of metal sitting in the center of the largest room in the gym.

Well, metal and junk.

His mouth drops open.]

Uh.

... [And is that Susano'o on top of it? The same guy who was talking about crunching the whole world up the last time Tsuzuki met him?

A few more stammered syllables escape before Tsuzuki manages to hit on a non-provoking greeting.]

Want some help cleaning this up...?

[Or, at least, it sounded good to him.]

[dominatriarch]

[ She was perfectly content sitting in the bleachers or benches or on the side. After all, this was a shinki training event. Why not let the shinki train? If she joined in (no matter how much she was itching to punch something), that would make it a bit of an unfair playing field.

But then there's this guy.

She approaches, head tilted ever so slightly as she tries to make head or tail of the Heap. ]

Susano'o.

[ Her shawl shifts on her shoulders as she looks up at him and there's an evident furrow to her brow. That's definitely him up there. She can't fault him if he doesn't recognize her. After all, she isn't in her battle gear. She actually looks the furthest from a war god right now. ]

Mind explaining what all this is?

[shiitan]

[Instead of scolding him for making a mess or even just asking him to clean it up, Ross was just going to pry a chunk of scrap metal free from the pile. That was one thing, but him following it up by chucking said piece of scrap metal at the resident artist was another. Ross was not above taking advantage of easy targets.

And that was putting it nicely.]

You're noisy.

Re: Main Event

[okitactless]

[Yamato definitely isn't the best match for a bunch of newbies either, but hey, at least he's trying. ...Beating them to a pulp without understanding what the problem is counts as trying. ...Look, it's better than what Sho's doing, okay.

Yamato isn't terribly easy to irritate. But riled up and eager to fight, the guy sitting on his trash throne seems like a perfectly good opponent.]

You look very comfortable, but why don't you come down here and fight?

Shooting Range/Open

[sweetdeath]

Hey, look at that!

[Tsuzuki slings a quiver over one shoulder, and picks up one of the bows, glancing over at the archery butts lined up downrange. It's been a couple of years since Hisoka showed him the proper posture, but he's pretty sure he remembers the basics, and a bit of long range practice wouldn't be a bad idea.

Maybe he can try tying ofuda to the arrows....]

I didn't know they kept the archery range in the gym. Hey, have you ever tried? Want to give it a shot?

[roeh]

[Is that Shepard strolling up behind him? It totally is. In fact she was hoping he'd show up to this little affair. It'd been his job to find the archery range after all but now she'd beaten him to it. Like hell she wasn't going to give him a hard time about it too.]

Maybe I ordered it special just for you. [She comes right up to his side and drops an arm on his shoulder all buddy buddy.]

OTA

[dominatriarch]

Water Cooler

[ For once, she's sitting by the refreshment stock without Kazuma in sight. Maybe she sent him off to kick some ass. Who knows? But she's got a box of Caloriemate and a bottle of water for him if he gets back. She doesn't seem to be dressed for training. Just a simple dress and a shawl over her shoulders. Clearly she's only come to observe rather than participate. But if she is approached, she will turn her attention to you matched with an offered towel.

Come take a break? She looks kind of bored to start. ]



--

Combat Instruction

[ She's decided to pull herself up from the bleachers/benches/near the water cooler and actually wander around. It sounds like a good idea to assess the new recruits, after all. While mingling with them during the welcoming banquet was a good idea, she didn't have enough time to see if everyone was combat capable. Now is a great time. And maybe test them. Yeah. Testing sounds like a good idea, too. After all, if you're out there on the field, Ayakashi aren't going to wait until you're facing them to attack.

So you'll probably catch sight of her by the corner of your eye. She might be watching your stance, head tilted and hand resting on her chin. But when you blink, she might have moved on or she might have disappeared entirely. If she's moved on, you may be safe. Heck, you can even probably ask her to spar with you. But if she's disappeared, you'd better move....

Because there's the blade end of a bamboo sword being swung right at your head. ]

combat instruction

[arealhardnose]

[Now that she knows she can, in fact, fight, Elsa has been focusing on mastering what she remembers from last yera. Her body knows what to do more than her mind does, so it's forms and swings, the very basics of sword fighting. She's not as sore as she thought she'd be after spending so much time at this; for all that she'd literally been enslaved last year, at least she'd come out of it in peak physical condition.

So when she catches sight of Bishamon's sword in the corner of her eye, she moves almost without thinking about what she's doing, shifting out of the way so the sword misses her, though not by much -- the blade whistles past her ear in the second before Elsa rights herself. With the momentum, she whirls to face Bishamon, swinging her sword out to strike back.]

Combat Instruction 1/2

[sleepingknight]

[It looks, for all intents and purposes, like Bishamon's blow will strike true. But at the very last second, with a speed inhumanly absurd, Yuuki turns and snaps her own weapon up, swatting Bishamon's blade from its trajectory.]

Combat Instruction

[returnedfromtheline]

[Yukine is watching on with a lineface. In his opinion this is all mostly useless. Sure, the gods need to know how to fight hand-to-hand, but not so much for the shinki.

He will allow that good reactions are important though. Like how Kazuma-san had trained him to use his borderline.

So while he's standing there watching, a movement- a sense makes him react before he even has to think about it.]

Line-!

[His hand whips out a borderline as he jumps back, cutting the end of the bamboo sword off. He's a bit pissed, being attacked out of the blue like that--

And then he sees who had swung at him.]

Bishamonten? [crap?] ...Sorry 'bout your sword.

Combat Instruction

[outwardinsight]

[ Having good senses doesn't always translate into the right reflexes, and Hisoka's a great case study in the phenomenon. The worst of it is, it's his strong spiritual sense that hampers him here. He even recognizes Bishamon off to the side and then right there.

Freezing is the wrong response, but she's a god and he panics.

The crack of the bamboo sword is loud, and it's not until Hisoka hits the ground halfway across the room that he registers what just happened. ]

Combat Instruction (1/2)

[shiitan]

[All in all, Ross' stance was on the slightly unusual side. It was the stance of someone who was clearly self-taught, and favoured power over speed. Even so, his stance had little to do with his skill level, which was unfortunate for the people who thought he would be an easier opponent to deal with. However, a face-to-face spar was much different from a surprise attack.

When she swung her sword at him his instincts took over, and he turned with a fierce look on his face that wholly contrasted with his previous indifferent expression. He blocked the blow, albeit a bit more forcefully than necessary.]

Shooting Range

[outwardinsight]

[ It had surprised Hisoka somewhat when they'd gotten the invite. It's such a practical idea to share information and train together, and it takes absolutely no convincing on anyone's part to get him there. It's just too bad that, now that he's here, actually being properly social isn't his style. He's going the whole nine yards today, practicing kyudo in traditional Japanese garb. He's a patient, precise archer that takes care to observe each step of the proper technique.

He'll take some breaks, though, and end up trying to surreptitiously watch anyone else out there to see what they're capable of or might even approach them if they seem too out of their element. ]

[sleepingknight]

[Yuuki admittedly sticks to the general fighting area, given her expertise is in swordplay. Her movements are twirling, almost dancelike - if dance involved also slicing people up with each and every opportune movement.

Eventually, though, she wanders over to the shooting range. This isn't just about polishing up current skills; she's here to learn, too!]

Hey, you made it!

[MARCHING RIGHT UP TO HIM although she doesn't get up in his business like the last time. She remembered!

We'll see how long that lasts once she notices his weapon of choice.]

Wow, you know archery?!

Main Event

[nailed_navigation]

[Choosing to leave Veena's side for just a little bit, Kazuma chose to take his time and idley watch as people pair up and faught. Perhaps he could be enticed into a battle or two, especially if one cared to get a lesson in hard knocks. After all, Kazuma is one of the original shinkis here and already taught one particular student.]

The Water Cooler

[roeh]

Ever since arriving, Shepard hasn't allowed herself the chance to mingle with the other residents of the far shore. At first it was just out of stubbornness -- she didn't need attachments to a place she had no intention of staying -- but really it isn't like her not to get familiar with those around her. If nothing else they could prove to be a source of allies, information and the like. At this point she was only hurting herself. And it looks like there would be no lack of new people to rub shoulders with either, so there was no time like the present to polish her skills.

That's what draws her to the refreshment table, towel draped around her neck after a brief but vigorous workout. She's got a bottle of powerade in hand she tosses it at the first person who looks like they could use it. "Catch!"

[arealhardnose]

It's not her fighter's reflexes that kick in just now, but her high school teacher ones. Expect the unexpected, be ready for anything, watch out for teenagers trying to be cool or rebellious, et cetera-- Elsa flinches a little, but she still catches the bottle of bright blue powerade coming her way in both hands (she has put her borrowed sword in its scabbard, which hangs off a belt loop at her left hip).

"Thanks." She cracks it open and takes a long sip, surprised as she always is by how not sweet the drink is. "Definitely needed this." Even though she's in shape after her year as a warrior and the years of dancing prior to that, she's not superhuman-- wait. She's... not human now, so that's kind of a bad comparison. Well, the sentiment stands. "It's nice to get to swing a sword around without something attacking you."