Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
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Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 4, 2007 19:43:12 GMT -5
"Sure!" Susan said excitedly, eager to get started, "If you're sure you've got the time?" Susan still had those Transfiguration essays nagging at her time, but they could wait. This was much more important, she decided. She could always finish it in the common room one night.
Susan stood up from her sitting position and brushed off her dress. After a moment of thought, she pulled her wand from her rob pocket and transfigured her pink dress into a pair of sweats and a plain wife beater. Much better to move around in. She stood next to Dylan waiting her hear what they would be doing.
She assumed it would be a sort hand-to-hand contact training. Susan didn't know much when it came to actually hitting people. when she thought about it, she couldn't think of a time she'd actually hit another person like she meant to hurt them. Of course she'd hit her sister plenty of times, but never to do any real damage.
Susan returned her wand to the pocket in her robes and kicked her shoes aside. She lightly bounced on the balls of her feet. Her energy level had increased greatly since she'd entered the Earth Room. Susan was now filled to the brim with energy and ready to do something, anything.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 4, 2007 20:05:09 GMT -5
Smiling at her enthusiasm, he stood from his sitting position on the rock and moved into a nearby clearing in the centre of the room. "I have all day, if you want," he said, turning back to face her and smiling. Having already been training this morning, he was aptly dressed for the occasion.
"Okay, so I've only learnt a bit of hand-to-hand so far, but it's a good base for weapons training," he explained quietly. Feeling the energy in the room, he inhaled deeply and took up a straight-backed stance. "Now, just imitate my movements exactly," he began. "And if you have any questions or want me to repeat something, just ask."
Spreading his legs so that they were each in line with their respective shoulders and focusing intently, his face revealed how deep his concentration was. One thing that was good about Dylan, was that he could switch from any mood into one of seriousness almost immediately when the situation demanded it. This was one of those times. Taking another deep breath, he began to go over the forms he had learnt from D'rorah many days previously. Having practiced them so often, over and over again, by now they came naturally to him, all flowing into one movement. Realising that perhaps it might be a bit hard for Susan to follow, he slowed his movements, depicting the difference between each form.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
|
Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 5, 2007 6:46:52 GMT -5
Susan found a spot beside Dylan, to practice the moves. She wanted to make sure she didn't confuse her left with her right, or vice versa. She followed his movement, separating her legs the same. She watched intently, taking in every movement. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to concentrate. Susan let Dylan go through the form several times before she stepped in. Susan began to recognize the moves and started at the beginning with him.
Susan was a little slower, than Dylan and she flubbed some of the actions. She recognized her mistakes, though and made sure to correct them the next time around. Susan related the movements to dance. There was both memorization and fluidity required. As she caught on, the memorized actions become more fluid and Susan kept up with Dylan, moving in sync.
The forms were soon embedded into her mind, as she could have preformed them with her eyes closed if she had wanted. It was almost fun, she realized as her eyes became less concentrated. She was much calmer and she could practically do the motions with out thinking.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 5, 2007 19:15:05 GMT -5
Watching her from the corner of his eye, Dylan mentally noted her mistakes and found himself pleased to see that they were all soon corrected. Seeing that after a while, her mistakes were non-existant and her speed was level with his, he increased his own pace. Expecting her to adjust her own tempo accordingly, the rest of his mind remained focused on the task as the forms all flowed into one movement.
Keeping it up for what he estimated was about an hour, he then slowed, eventually coming to a stop. Turning to face her, he nodded and produced a small smile. "Good," he said simply, his voice as quiet as usual. The power and resulting energy that coursed through his body would allow him to continue. "Now, these are slightly more advanced," he said, setting himself again. His legs shoulder-width apart, his eyes focused and his mind concentrating, he recalled the next set of movements with ease, having repeated them so often.
Starting off, once again going relatively slow, his body formed the correct positions. Motioning for her to shadow his movements, he gradually increased the speed as she became more accustomed to them.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
|
Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 6, 2007 7:27:01 GMT -5
Although the two at been at their training for nearly an hour, Susan realized, it had hardly seemed any time at all. Time seemed almost nonexistent in their haven, and with the energy of their element all around them, they didn't tire easily. Susan felt the thrill of learning and understanding something new. She liked learning when it came easily to her.
She easily caught on to the next set of movements. It was easier this time, because she already had the mindset. After moving a few steps behind Dylan for a couple rounds, soon Susan was even with Dylan and she was equally familiar with this new form.
She was confident with her newly learned forms, but she stayed focused. She moved in sync with Dylan, her movements becoming sharper and more precise. She continued to move assured of her form.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 6, 2007 17:55:10 GMT -5
After another hour or so of the slightly more complicated forms, his pace slowed considerably. His movements finally ceasing with an extreme amount of poise and dignity, he watched Susan for a moment and nodded, pleased with her progress. "Good," he said quietly, moving to take a seat on the ground.
Susan appeared to be a fast learner and all of her initial mistakes were never repeated. Dylan's hands resting behind him and lifting him up, they dug into the soft earth beneath him as he stretched out his legs. Allowing himself to relax briefly, his previously intensly focused demeanor was replaced by a dolefully content expression. "So... Are you ready for the next step?" he asked teasingly, a small smile playing at his lips.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
|
Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 6, 2007 23:10:55 GMT -5
Susan stayed standing, shifting feet to keep moving. She shook her hands and rolled her shoulders. She was only a little sore from her lack of movement her past couple of weeks at school. She had found the complex forms to be very much like her muggle dance classes as a child. It was nice getting back into the groove of movement again. Next, Susan rolled her neck, returning to look down at Dylan.
"I'm ready when you are," Susan said wiggling her bare toes in the grass with her hands resting on her hips. She figured the next step would be include actual contact. Susan knew memorizing forms as one thing, but understood that actually applying them would be something totally different. Her thoughts returned to the fact that she had never actually hit anyone before. She quickly dismissed the thought though. She didn't want to think about it. She would just have to get over her self, Susan decided for herself. She smiled assuringly as Dylan, ignoring her own thoughts.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 7, 2007 18:17:04 GMT -5
Nodding, he gathered himself and rose to his feet once more. "Alright, the next stage is to put everything you've learned into practice," he said quietly, resuming an attacking stance in the small clearing they had previously occupied. "So, I'm going to attack you," he began, his tone implying immense amounts of focus. "Use everything that you've just done to defend yourself," he added quietly.
Setting his body and his mind, he waited for her to ready herself before he began. Starting slowly, he sparred with her, pointing out mistakes to her forms or places she was leaving vunerable. The movements of his arms steadily became faster, more precise and hence, more demanding of her. They continued for some time, until Dylan was satisfied that she was doing everything correctly and had gone over the movements enough times for them to sink in in a circumstance such as this.
After what seemed like minutes but was probably just over an hour, he slowed his movements down, before finally ceasing his attack. Nodding a few times, he relaxed his body. "Good, that was very good," he said with a small smile. "Now if you're ready, you may now attack." Remembering the challenge D'rorah had issued him in this instance, he smirked slightly. Knowing that she would probably easily hit him, however, he did not repeat D'rorah's comments. She was, obviously, far more advanced than him, whereas him and Susan were probably evenly matched considering how little training either of them had had.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
|
Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 7, 2007 18:53:47 GMT -5
Susan had resumed her standard position and waited, almost painfully with the suspense of knowing Dylan was about to attack her. Luckily, Dylan had started slow. It was almost instinct that allowed her to respond with the correct block, and the next one too. Soon she was anticipating Dylan's next moves. She was able to practically block them, before he threw them.
Susan could feel the impact of the hours of training now. Her legs aches openly, but she was far from wanting to stop. Dylan had said it was her turn to attack now. Susan imitated Dylan's first stance, the stance he took before first attacking her. Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The energy in her was renewed and she gained confidence.
Susan opened her eyes and attacked lightly. Feeling Dylan block her motion, Susan quickly attacked at another spot, only to be blocked again. Susan kept at her attacks, throwing in a few kicks here and there. They kept at it for an hour or so, which flew by. Susan had only managed to actually hit Dylan a few times, but she was improving, getting closer and faster with each new attack.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 8, 2007 18:09:01 GMT -5
As Susan attacked, he found himself particularly vulnerable to her kicks. His frown was almost not noticeable as he continued to block her advances, and his focus became even deeper as he concentrated on trying to block the lower attacks. His upper defences were good as she only managed to breach them once, but she usually got through his lower defences. Storing in his mind the fact that he needed to practice lower abilities more, they continued their spar.
The pair finally ceased, their training so far totalling nearly five hours. Resting himself on the ground, his legs ached slightly from both their continuous usage and the impact of Susan on them. Breathing deeply, he gained new energy from his surrounds and looked up to her, his focus sliding away due to the lack of demand for it. "You did well," he said earnestly, his voice quiet.
"If you're hungry you might still be able to catch the end of lunch," he said, purposefully using the pronoun he did. He would spend the rest of the afternoon training to block his lower regions, being slightly put out at how easily she had gotten through.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
|
Post by Susan Matthews on Oct 8, 2007 19:16:56 GMT -5
Finally they ceased sparring, Susan was panting and out of breath. She leaned over, her hands resting on her knees as she began to catch her breath. Susan's stomach rumbled with the realization of how long it had been since breakfast. They had been sparring for a really long time, she smiled. It had been awhile since she'd really worked out. She knew her soreness now would be nothing compared to tomorrow morning. It was a good thing though, "no pain, no gain" right?
"Actually, I'm starving," Susan said, dramatically clutching her middle. "Do you want to come?" she asked politely as she gathered her shoes and ruefully began to place them on her feet. She noted the use of the pronoun, but thought it would be thoughtful to at least ask. She frowned slightly as she wiggled her toes from the confines of her yellow flats. It wasn't as free as barefoot, but it didn't seem like such a good idea to walk around with out shoes in other parts of the castle.
This room was like a sanctuary, Susan decided. Whenever it was rainy, or (God forbid) the ban should have to be reinstated, this would definitely be the place Susan would escape to. With a final thought, Susan retrieved her robe and wand, quickly transfiguring her nasty workout clothes back into her pretty pink (and rather random) dress. She waited for Dylan to see if he would be joining her.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 9, 2007 23:35:53 GMT -5
"I think I'll pass," he said quietly, smirking slightly as she struggled for breath. His hands felt the soft earth beneath him and dug in slightly, savouring the touch even as his bare feet imitated the action. "You go and eat," he said with a small smile, clarifying and changing positions until he finally ended up resting on his elbows.
Waiting until she left, he reminisced over the last few hours, using the time as a slight break from training. He found himself exceptionally glad, and not for the first time, that he was in good shape. A barely audible sigh escaped his lips and he stood up once more, brushing the fragments of soil from his hands as he did so.
Wondering briefly how he could improve his lower defences, he decided to practice some kickboxing. Thinking instantly that he required a book of some sort to guide him through it, considering he had no prior knowledge of the art, he opened his eyes to find a relatively thick textbook resting on a nearby rock. Moving to pick it up, he scanned through the pages happily, finding a complete guide to kickboxing within the text.
Starting from the first chapter, he first memorized and then practiced the movements, finally putting them together to form an eloquent set of forms.
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