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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 3, 2008 10:51:07 GMT -5
D'rorah nodded at Caitlin's selection of weapon. "I have seen such an item used before, though I have never had the opportunity to use one myself." Her eyes wandered over the weapon Caitlin held. Clearly, it could be incredibly dangerous to onesself if used without proper training. Even a modified weapon, with no sharp edges, would cause serious injury. That would lend some difficulty to Caitlin's training, especially since D'rorah had never wielded one herself. "I will need to find more information on this weapon," she remarked. "I would not feel safe attempting to train you to use it until I have had some experience with it myself."
She reached out and selected a matching urumi, trying to get a feel for it in her hand. It was all too easy to visualize the blade snapping back unexpectedly and severing a limb or possibly worse from its bearer. Tentatively, she stepped away, hearing Aiden's decision to remain with them even as she regarded the urumi in her hands. "Very well, Mister Christian. Select a weapon, I will be over to assist you shortly."
Stepping away from the others, where she could not harm anyone besides herself, D'rorah gave the urumi a few tentative swings, paying careful attention to the kinetics of the blade. It was light... and would likely be a fair match in combat for one who could move lithely and quickly. As the blade recoiled on itself, D'rorah reacted just in time to save her arm, though her sleeve was ripped from upper arm to wrist. Nodding to herself, she walked over and replaced it on the wall. "I believe we will begin with hand combat for you today, Miss Collins... I will find more information on this weapon so that perhaps I will be able to train you without either one of us killing or dismembering ourselves."
Turning to regard Zane, he seemed well at home with his gauntlets. In fact, the look in his eyes was enough to tell her that they were old friends of a sort. "Well chosen, Mister Bishop. I should very much like to see what you have already learned with your weapon. She smirked lightly. "Perhaps you and I might spar for a bit somewhat further into this session... I may forego my swords for a bo, in fact," she arched an eyebrow in a teasing manner, knowing that not using a metal weapon to fight would regain some of the advantage back to her.
"Have you decided on a weapon, Mister Christian? I see you seem to have a familiarity with swords. Would you prefer to fight with one or two? And what style? If you like, you may use mine. I will be switching weapons for this session."
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Post by aidenchristian on Jul 4, 2008 1:49:12 GMT -5
"An excellent observation. Name's Zane. Mr. Bishop to D'rorah, Zee to everyone else. Please excuse my . . . unfriendly reaction earlier. I don't much like surprises, and having you kick in the door and nearly stun me would qualify, yes?"
Aiden was slightly taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor from the boy who had nearly cursed him with an unforgivable spell. But nothing about the boy suggested that his new ways were at all forced or in any way unbefitting of this boy’s, Zee’s, true feelings. Aiden smiled lightly. ”I would suppose so, yes,” [/b] he said Zee. “But it only slightly qualifies.”[/b]
Aiden was never good at jokes, especially in situations where he felt uncomfortable. And being in a room with three near strangers, regardless of how harmless they seemed on the out side, left him a little on edge. “The name is Aiden, by the way,”[/b] he said to Zee with another smile. “Aiden Christian.” Zee’s attention was soon drawn by D’rorah and Aiden was left to contemplate his weapon of choice. He eyed D’rorah’s sword, perfectly balanced and perfectly crafted. Soon he was lost in thought. He had always loved training with his mother, in fact their sessions were some of the most enjoyable parts of his life.
At one session, his mother had given him the greatest privilege he had ever received. She looked Aiden in the eye, drew her sword and handed it to him. He looked at the marvelous piece of work in his hands. The long, curved, black blade was forged from pleonaste, a destructive and very powerful mineral. It had the ability, if used correctly, to shatter steel blades. The black blade shone brilliantly in the daylight. The blade blended gracefully into the elegant dark green hilt, around which, a shimmering gold vine wrapped, continuing onto the blade. It was balanced perfectly for dueling. It was remarkable that this piece of functional art was created by a master swords craftsman, Marie Anne Lefèvre, his mother. “Use it,”[/b] She said to him. “You deserve it.”[/b]
Aiden’s daydream was interrupted by the sound of D’rorah’s voice. "Have you decided on a weapon, Mister Christian? I see you seem to have a familiarity with swords. Would you prefer to fight with one or two? And what style? If you like, you may use mine. I will be switching weapons for this session."
“Did I hear you tell Caitlin that the room can present me with any weapon?”[/b] He asked D’rorah. It was worth a try. Aiden, driven, moved towards the wall. He filled his mind with every memory he could of his mother’s sword. He lightly touched the wall, hoping that somehow his thoughts would be transferred. He looked at the wall, unchanged. Disappointed, he set his bag on the ground, an uncharacteristically loud thump following. He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he knelt beside his bag, opened it and reached in. Without thinking, he whispered ‘Accio Orla’. His near trance was broken with the feeling of a rounded object hitting his hand. He looked about the room questioningly and pulled out a sheathed sword, Orla, the pride of his mother. ‘What a remarkable room,’[/i] he said in awe to himself. He rose to his feet and turned to D’rorah. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to use my own sword.” [/b]
[]
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Jul 6, 2008 18:51:36 GMT -5
Out of the corner of her eyesight, Caity could both see and hear Zee and Aiden conversing in an apparently friendly manner, which was an improvement considering their likely first impressions of the other. At least it seemed Zane could carry a semblance of decency when he wanted to. As far as she could tell, the pair were joking despite their wariness, and she turned her attention back to D’rorah.
At her words, Caitlin nodded. It would be an act of pure stupidity to attempt teaching something you yourself had never learnt or studied. She watched silently as Dee took hold of a weapon and attempted to wield it, jumping violently as the metal flounced back to cut open her sleeve. That looked... vicious. Very vicious. Suddenly unsure that she had picked the right weapon for herself, Cait reasoned that the very reason for her reluctance was because of its very nature as a weapon – it was designed to hurt people, designed to be vicious. Of course she wasn’t going to like it. Whatever she chose would be the complete opposite of herself.
"I believe we will begin with hand combat for you today, Miss Collins... I will find more information on this weapon so that perhaps I will be able to train you without either one of us killing or dismembering ourselves."
Had it not been so cliché an action, Caitlin would have gulped nervously. As it was she just nodded again, not making a sound but the fear showing through in her eyes nevertheless. Hearing Zee’s name, she turned and was slightly alarmed to see him looking so comfortable with the gauntlets. It didn’t surprise her that he knew how to wield a weapon, but being in the Room of Requirement with him and lots of metal items made her nervousness increase. Even though D’rorah and Aiden were both there as well, that irrationality refused to be reasoned with like she had reasoned with herself only a short while earlier.
“Accio Orla. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to use my own sword.”
Aiden’s whisper attracted her attention, as did his next words. “You... have your own sword?” she blurted out without meaning to. It seemed that even those who weren’t lightfighters knew more about fighting than she did. Not that she wanted to learn how to fight, but knowing already would definitely provide an advantage.
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Zane Lucifer Bishop
Slytherin
[green]6th Year Slytherin[/green] Elemental Master of Metal
You people all have to learn. This world is going to burn.
Posts: 483
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Post by Zane Lucifer Bishop on Jul 7, 2008 13:09:13 GMT -5
Zee slipped his hands into his new toys, an eager look in his eyes. Of course they fit exquisitely since they were essentially custom made for him. Soft leather made up the base gloves, and over these were fitted numerous interlocking plates of fairly thick metal. The plates covered each hand completely but still allowed full movement. The final plate on each fingertip was somewhat cone shaped, fully enclosing each tip and essentially giving him pointed claws. Each plate that enwrapped his fingers sported at least one short metal spike that curved slightly back, ensuring that anything struck by any part of either gauntlet would be ripped apart. The metal reached to Zee's mid forearm, affording him ample blocking capability. Twin blades extended sixteen inches from the back of each wrist at about a fifteen degree angle to each other. They were pointed and double edged, and if he could catch a blade between the two, twisting his wrist and tearing the weapon free of the hand that held it would not be difficult. The metal of the gauntlets themselves was a dark gunmetal grey, while the blades themselves were blackened. All in all they were not very lustrous. Holding his metal shod hands up for inspection, Zee flexed his fingers, nodding as the soft leather interior and perfect fit of the interlocking plates prevented any squeaking or scraping. His head turned toward D'rorah as she spoke to him, a crooked grin forming at her mention of using a wooden weapon against him, even if it meant wielding something she was likely not quite as proficient with. " Really now D'rorah, where is the trust?" Winking, Zee looked back to his blades, though he caught Caity once more staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Her discomfort at seeing him armed was hard to miss, but rather than launch into a tirade about how irrational that was given every interaction the pair had ever had, he simply shook his head and sighed. " It certainly isn't over there." Turning his attention back to Aiden as the boy pulled a sword from a bag much to small to hold one, Zee took a few steps closer to the boy, tapping one clawed finger against his lips as he examined the sheathed sword. It felt odd to him, not entirely metallic. There was indeed metal in it; Zee could feel it, could hear it singing. Yet its song was somehow muffled. He doubted he could exert as much control over than weapon as he could virtually any other sword. Annoying, but not crippling. " Beautiful. Orla, is it?" ((OOC, here's a mostly accurate representation of Zee's gauntlets. You'll have to imagine the blades and *cough* ignore the blood. They're clean, for now.))
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 9, 2008 16:54:01 GMT -5
D'rorah watched as Aiden summoned a sword from the bag he carried... his own sword apparently. Immediately the thought came to mind that anyone practiced enough to have his own sword would likely be helpful as an ally. Considering the enemy the Lightfighters were up against, it might quickly come to the point that they would be in dire need of all the help they could get. And, since traditional magic didn't affect creatures of the Shadow Realm, those who could wield weapons were far more useful than those who could nimbly duel with a wand. "Very well, Mister Christian, please feel free."
She admired the sword for a moment and had the sensation that there was some sentimental significance to it, but didn't dig any further in to identify the feeling, not wishing to violate Aiden's mental privacy any more than she already had done to keep the group safe.
“You... have your own sword?”
She heard Caitlin's statement on the edge of her own thoughts and nodded, seemingly to herself. "After today, Miss Collins, you will have your own urumi. It will be very helpful to have your own dedicated weapon... once your have learned its intricacies, and the subtle ways it moves, you will find you prefer it to any other. In fact, knowing that this particular one will not be able to leave the Room of Requirement, it will be necessary to have one comissioned."
She could almost hear Zane's assessment of the sword as he looked over it. She was certain he was intrigued by the composition of the blade. In fact, D'rorah herself was also fairly intrigued, knowing it was not full metal. She wanted to ask more about it, but decided that, for this session, it would be best to be underway. There would be plenty of time to see the sword in action and perhaps ask directly about it after practice. And, in a period when her time was so precious and scattered amongst so many activities, it seemed only logical to get on with the training for now.
"Very well," she remarked, turning slightly so that she was addressing the group as a whole. "We begin warmups with physical forms, no weapons. As none of us technically have any weapons which are identical, I will be forced to break the weapons training into groups. Miss Collins, you and I will work together on hand combat in the Kalaripayattu style. We will not progress to your actual weapons training until you are confident in your movements without the weapon. Mister Bishop, Mister Christian, I will pair the two of you together for the time being. I expect you to spar cleanly and limit actual injury." And no use of Elemental Magic, Mister Bishop, until we are more secure in knowing that this new participant is trustworthy she added, sending the silent thought directly to Zane.
"First formation!" she directed, "Miss Collins, mirror me and I shall correct you." We waited for the group to line up, standing so that she would face them and be able to see and correct any variations in basic stance. When she was satisfied everyone was ready, she began going through the formations slowly, correcting where she saw the need for all three members, Zane less than the others because they had already trained together previously. And, of course, Caitlin the most of all because it was her very first lesson. When they reached a point where she was confident in the motions, D'rorah directed Zane and Aiden to move slightly away from herself and Caitlin so they might practice at hand combat.
"Now then, Miss Collins, of the ten movements you have just been through, I want you to block an attack from me. We will go very slowly, so that you have ample time to identify my actions and respond. No force, only fluidity of movement at this time." To demonstrate, she very slowly moved through an attack motion, as though she were suspended in a slowly instant replay. "Respond in the same tempo. Speed we will work on later."
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Post by aidenchristian on Jul 10, 2008 1:44:29 GMT -5
“Beautiful. Orla, is it?”
Aiden nodded and smiled at Zee. Aiden could sense an air of wonderment around him, almost as if he knew the sword was different even without the sheath being drawn. He could hear Orla’s song, ready to be let free. The sound in his head that of a wet finger on the top of a wine glass. He began to unsheathe the sword, partially to show Zee that it was in fact special, and partially to gaze at it, as he had done in his childhood. He slowly pulled the sheath down, exposing an inch or two. The black blade shown brightly, the delecate gold vine shimmering in the light that it had not experienced in so long. He was ready to expose the entirety of the blade when D’rorah’s voice broke his thoughts.
“We begin warmups with physical forms, no weapons. As none of us technically have any weapons which are identical, I will be forced to break the weapons training into groups. Miss Collins, you and I will work together on hand combat in the Kalaripayattu style. We will not progress to your actual weapons training until you are confident in your movements without the weapon. Mister Bishop, Mister Christian, I will pair the two of you together for the time being. I expect you to spar cleanly and limit actual injury.”
With a sigh, Aiden resheathed his sword. The thought of teasing it, and maybe the fact that he was paired with Zee, made his stomach form a knot. Not that he didn’t like Zee, more of he was nervous to spar with a student who would use so lightly an unforgivable curse. The sound of D’rorah’s voice cut through his mind again, this time muffled. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he knew she was speaking. He looked up to try to read her lips but her mouth remained still, though her eyes were fixed on Zee. He looked to Zee, and the back to D’rorah. ‘Did she just…?’
Aiden quickly brushed off the thought that D’rorah and Zee were communicating telepathically. He knew that it was an umcommon feat. And if they were, surely he wouldn’t be able to hear it, especially since he had spent so much time blocking himself from his mind that he was sure his abilities of that kind would be limited. Although, he had had the vision with Caitlin by the lake. But for a third time, his thoughts were broken by D’rorah’s voice. This time, he knew she was speaking.
They went through the formation warm-ups, most of the formations Aiden recalled having learned. He followed D’rorah carefully, correcting his mistakes on the formation he wasn’t sure of. As he finished the last formation, he heard D’rorah address Caitlin and they began to work together. Assuming he and Zee were to do the same, he grabbed his sword and unsheathed it quickly and gracefully. The blade sang its pining tune, released from its prison. He moved the sword gracefully about him, getting a feel for the sword again and to taunt his new sparring partner. He looked Zee in the eyes and raising his eyebrow asked, "Shall we?”
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Jul 10, 2008 18:39:30 GMT -5
"After today, Miss Collins, you will have your own urumi. It will be very helpful to have your own dedicated weapon... once your have learned its intricacies, and the subtle ways it moves, you will find you prefer it to any other. In fact, knowing that this particular one will not be able to leave the Room of Requirement, it will be necessary to have one commissioned."
Caitlin nodded, still a little unconvinced. “Helpful” as having her own weapon might be, she very much doubted that she could ever prefer to have her own weapon. If it was someone else’s then she could keep that distance between herself and the metal object. But preferring her own urumi... that would imply some sort of attachment to it, and she never wanted to feel any feelings other than dislike of things purposely made to cause pain or kill. But Dee should know best about what was needed, so she said nothing to the contrary to the Ravenclaw’s statement. Even if she had no idea where she was going to hide such a thing all day long... She certainly didn’t want to be carrying around constantly, hidden as a belt. Having that thing with her 24/7 – it might mean that she was always prepared, but she’d always be a little uncomfortable. Aiden’s apparent attachment to his ‘Orla’ sword was something she wished to avoid.
"It certainly isn't over there."
A small, annoyed frown came onto Caity’s face at Zee’s comment. Could he really blame her for not trusting him? After all he’d done, he expected automatic trust, even when he was in this room, where he’d hurt Dylan, and was carrying weapons? He didn’t know about her internal battle concerning her attempts to trust him, but her gut instinct telling her not to. Yet he continued to make those sly, snide comments, as if that was going to make it better? Sure, it might make her feel guilty – and was doing so right now – but she already felt guilty enough. He didn’t need to pile any more on her.
And it wasn’t just him... she was not at ease at all in this room, with all these weapons. She had never really been at ease in the Room of Requirement. It was where she found out about the Shadow Wars, and Mallan, and where Dylan had been tortured, and where they’d brought D’rorah to save her from corruption. Caity couldn’t think of one time when she had been in this magical room and actually felt completely comfortable.
“We begin warmups with physical forms, no weapons. As none of us technically have any weapons which are identical, I will be forced to break the weapons training into groups. Miss Collins, you and I will work together on hand combat in the Kalaripayattu style. We will not progress to your actual weapons training until you are confident in your movements without the weapon.”
This time Caity nodded a little more confidently, having seen Vijay practice Kalaripayattu and teach it to other students of his previously she was a little more familiar and comfortable with that. It could be viewed as exercise, rather than learning to fight. And not having to use the urumi yet was a plus, as was working with D’rorah. Of all those in the room, excluding herself of course, the leader of the lightfighters was the one who Caitlin would put the most faith in, even if she could be over-formal at times... well, all the time really.
”Mister Bishop, Mister Christian, I will pair the two of you together for the time being. I expect you to spar cleanly and limit actual injury.”
D’rorah’s immediate allowance of letting Zee spar with Aiden showed how she did in fact trust him not to kill the other boy. Of course, she had added on that extra order at the end, but that was just common sense and would apply to anyone. More evidence that Zane could in fact be trusted, and might perhaps stop her gut instinct making her so nervous around him. And maybe then he’d stop making all those comments... She hated feeling as though she hadn’t done something or acted as she was supposed to, and Zee seemed to have a talent of making her feel like that.
As they started the training, Caitlin left all thoughts of Zee’s trustworthiness behind, beginning just after D’rorah started. She tried her best to mirror the older girl’s movements but constantly found herself either falling behind, going in the wrong direction or just messing up completely. It was just copying – it shouldn’t be this hard. She was acutely aware of how she was being corrected more than either of the other two and it made her more flustered, which led to more mistakes. It took a while, but eventually she began to go through the movements with less errors, and then D’rorah stopped, indicating that they were moving on from that.
"Now then, Miss Collins, of the ten movements you have just been through, I want you to block an attack from me. We will go very slowly, so that you have ample time to identify my actions and respond. No force, only fluidity of movement at this time. Respond in the same tempo. Speed we will work on later."
Watching the slow attack motion, Caity couldn’t help but wonder what a full-speed attack would be like. This looked as though it would be hard enough. Nevertheless, she did as she was told and tried to ignore the two boys. Unsurprisingly, she made mistakes, quite a lot to be honest, but after about five minutes began to improve. ‘Fluidity’ probably wasn’t the best way to describe her movements, but at least she was improving slightly. This wasn’t enjoyable, but at least she wasn’t really getting hurt, and neither was D’rorah. She didn’t look over at Zee or Aiden to see if they had been hurt, however much she wanted to check. She also knew that she needed to keep her concentration – the moment her mind wandered, like it was now, she lost track of the movements and made a mistake. And blocking... at least she was learning defence, rather than attack, right now.
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Zane Lucifer Bishop
Slytherin
[green]6th Year Slytherin[/green] Elemental Master of Metal
You people all have to learn. This world is going to burn.
Posts: 483
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Post by Zane Lucifer Bishop on Jul 10, 2008 20:26:53 GMT -5
Zee's eyes remained on the blade as it was partly revealed. The gold inlaid into the blade was beautiful, and also brought a smile to Zee's face for another reason. The more metal, the more control he could exert over the weapon should it become necessary. Zee didn't like taking unnecessary risks. He arched an eyebrow Aiden's way as D'rorah mentioned they would be sparring. He caught the shift in the other boy's attention between himself and D'rorah as she amended her instructions in his mind. Perhaps this boy had some mental prowess as well.
"No worries D'rorah, I'll only pull that ace if he does prove untrustworthy."
He thought the words back then put up his occlumency barriers. While Keaira had free range of his mind and he was beginning to allow D'rorah more access as well, Zee wasn't about to chance this boy poking around where he shouldn't be. He shrugged and smiled mischievously, putting forth a supremely confident front.
"No injuries then. I'll be gentle."
Removing his gauntlets and setting them aside, Zee stepped into line and prepared for the warmups. He recalled the motions, the various stances, but not perfectly. It had after all been some weeks since he and D'rorah had last trained. He refrained from paying attention to the mistakes of the others, knowing that Aiden's would fuel the pride that he often battled against and that Caity's would inspire pity that she would not likely welcome. And so he focused on his own improvement, correcting what he did wrong as D'rorah pointed it out.
Once their muscles were stretched and their blood flowing smoothly, D'rorah and Caitlin moved over to one side while Aiden moved the other way, retrieving his sword and unsheathing it. Zee watched expressionless as the boy performed a graceful flourish, clearly a taunt and perhaps an attempt to unnerve him. In response he simply smiled and held his arms out to his sides. The gauntlets, lying several yards away, rose from the floor and quickly closed the distance to their master, each slipping smoothly onto its accompanying hand. Zee examined them briefly, flexed his fingers, and turned his ambiguous smile back on Aiden.
"Fair warning: despite all my boasting I've actually no idea how to use these. If I accidentally put out one of your eyes, I apologize. But hey, that's why you've got two, yes?"
With that he began walking casually toward the boy, blades swinging easily at the ends of his arms. In truth he had never faced a sword wielding opponent before excepting D'rorah in practice, and he had never used these in any of their sessions. He wasn't sure how this would play out but figured any opportunity to make his opponent nervous was golden. It was after all a tactic he often used against real enemies. Why not in practice?
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 12, 2008 16:59:51 GMT -5
D'rorah found herself pleased with Caitlin's progress... to a point. That point ended where Caitlin's focus ended. Obviously it was her first time, and mistakes were expected, even encouraged as tools for learning. However, a lack of focus wasn't something that could be tolerated this early on. No, she wouldn't allow her fighters to develop habits like this in the very beginnings of their training.
When they finally stopped, D'rorah bowed slightly to her opponent. "You have progressed well for your first lesson, Miss Collins. However, I expect more focus from you in these sessions. Distraction will never serve you well when sparring... even in friendly competition like this, it is too easy to injure oneself by allowing the mind to wander. And the habits you learn here will carry over into any application of your skills. You must be focused on your opponent, emotions cannot be allowed to interfere with actions."
She thought for a moment, assessing Caitlin briefly. "Mister Bishop!" She raised her voice above the noises of Aiden and Zane's sparring to be heard. "Please come assist me with a demonstration of proper focus and combat procedures, for Miss Collin's and Mister Christian's benefit."
She turned to face him, smirking slightly. "No need to be quite so gentle with me," she remarked, remembering her admonishment that he and Aiden not injure one another. "However, as Miss Collins is learning hand combat, that is what we will demonstrate. Watch closely, Miss Collins."
With that, she stepped into the middle of the room, waiting for Zee to join her. It would be a refreshing exercise. The goons provided by the Room of Requirement had been good exercise, but not really worthy adversaries. They were mere constructs of the room, not thinking, intelligent beings. She had faced Zane before and knew he was a worthy opponent. She would temper her skill so they were more closely matched, knowing he did not have quite as much experience as she... it would be... fun.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Jul 14, 2008 17:40:40 GMT -5
Finally they came to an end, Caitlin tired but not completely exhausted. She had certainly improved throughout the session – even she could work that out. But she also knew that as time had moved on and she had become more tired, she had gotten distracted more frequently and much more easily – D’rorah only confirmed this with her words after bowing slightly. Caity nodded her head in thanks and reply.
’Emotions cannot be allowed to interfere with actions?’ Well that’ll be difficult... I’m not exactly great at keeping what I think to myself, unless I just stop speaking to everyone... which I have been doing. But that won’t work if I’m in the middle of fighting someone. Is that why Shadow Warriors need to separate from emotions, or whatever it is?
“Okay, sorry,” she replied aloud in her usual, quiet voice, and determined to try and keep her focus next time. She just got distracted very easily... Feeling D’rorah’s assessment she waited, a little nervously, for whatever decision the Ravenclaw would come up with. The one she did eventually come to was a little surprising, but Caity stepped back immediately. If she didn’t have to fight anymore, she wasn’t going to complain. And she wasn’t really worried about anyone getting hurt – they could both look after themselves. And it would show her what she needed to be aiming for... in the very far future of her training, she suspected.
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