Afternoon Topic:: Sword Dance (Moonie)

The afternoon classes were packed as usual, the crowds piling in as the dojo filled with the sounds of thumps, grunts, and the occasional frustrated crying to boot. The place was alive with activity just the way Ree liked it. It made the place feel productive and strong as the instructors within were pushed to the limits of their skills as they tried to teach them to the students that gather in large numbers during the afternoon hours. The chaos was beautiful in the place, making the young woman who walked along the halls quite proud to call this place her home away from home.

With a smile on her face, Ree would continue down the hall moving to open windows here and there to let the stuffiness out the building. While the building was typically fine on a hot day, today they had to pull out the big fans and even open windows to get the temperature just right thanks to the AC deciding to take a vacation. Ree had called the maintenance guy over an hour ago so she wasn’t sure why things weren’t back on track already.

Yes, she believed in a good sweat, but too much sweating also caused its own problems. For one it was a miserable state to be in and two it was never a good look for any school or business to have those coming into it wheeled out on stretchers because they passed out…so the young woman hoped that the maintenance guy would come soon before said scenario actually happened.

Regardless of the heat, Ree managed to keep a smile on her face as she paused in a small room to grab a cold bottle of water from the small fridge there. She would take a moment to drink a bit of the water, the cool liquid like a divine blessing to her dry throat. She would only take a few swallows of the liquid before re-sealing the bottle and taking it with her as she went back into the hall way and out the door that led to the outside training grounds.

Unlike the inside, the outside was quiet as everyone flocked inside to escape the heat; however, for Ree she did not mind this as she followed the pathways outside for a bit before veering off a bit to go down a less trodden path between the thick trees around the area. She move her way along the path until she found one of the more private training grounds of the dojo.

In the area was a bench and small rack where well kept swords rested and thankful no one else. Happy that she was actually alone and not disturbing anyone, Ree would drift over to the bench to rest her water bottle there before she turned to focus on the racks of wooden swords. Moving over the rack, she would take up a rather hefty one and give it a few swings to test the balance before nodding satisfied with the item.

With the sword in hand, she would move from the rack and go to the center of the area becoming still to listen to nature and settle herself until she was one with everything around her. Once she had found her balance, she would begin her sword practice doing a few practice swings before moving into the semi-slow almost dance like movements of sword play as she took care to practice each step to perfect the art.

Ironically enough, stealth was the one thing Selenus was designed to perform, yet one of the things he'd been least implementing lately. Maybe it was because years of doing anything not to get into situations in which he'd have to take action had taken their toll on him... or maybe he was just lonely and subconsciously wanted to be noticed. Either way, the point still stood that he needed to be more careful with his overall presence. Shame, too; He'd always been a fan of socializing... Well... "Always" meaning "Since a few months after Newman forced him to make friends." in this case. At the very least, he still had some friends that he could socialize with discretely, and the situation didn't exactly mean he couldn't make new acquaintances... he'd just have to be discreet and cautious when approaching people. Or preferrably, he'd wait until they approached him.

With all this in mind, Selenus opted to not engage in his usual Metro sneak-in routine, and instead decided to simply foot his way back home. He'd sneak in between alleyways in the less well-off areas and take shortcuts wherever he could, hoping to get back home in time for his little get-together with Nola and Tatsui without being spotted. One particular shortcut he took implied hopping through the trees of Ori-Shiki Dojo's training grounds instead of walking all the way around the whole damn Dojo. He'd follow this shortcut until he'd detect someone practicing her swordsmanship skills near a sword rack. Entranced by the movement of her blade, Selenus simply sat and watched from the shadows cast by the leaves of the tree he was currently on.

She would continue to practice her swings in a controlled, graceful, yet powerful way. While she practiced at a slower pace than the art actually moved at, if she needed to she could indeed turn this dance into something deadly. Even if her blade was not sharpened, this sturdy wood could break a bone or two if need be.

Always be prepared. That was her motto and thought as she continued to practice, the heat slowly causing beads of sweat to form on her body and in turn drip off with her movement.

Perhaps she would’ve continued on with her dance, but as she pivoted on her foot to bring the sword around to the left, she would find herself halting in her actions as her honey brown eyes landed on the strange creature that sat in the shade of the trees seeming to watch her. Still in a hunched position, she would study the creature over the tip of the wooden blade that happened to be pointed in its direction.

It seemed like a creature similar to a dog, but she had never seen a dog that seemed to be made of metal before, so what was this thing anyway? Was it harmful? Curious, yet cautious Ree would relax her position slowly as her blade lowered a bit and her head tilted at the creature.

“Well, aren’t you a curious one?” she would begin as she placed the sword in the belt of her uniform watching the other carefully as she did so. She wasn’t sure how to approach this one, so tried a tactic she had used with animals before.

“Come ‘ere pup. I ain’t gonna bite ya,” she said as she held out both hands before her slightly like she was about to offer a small hug as she beckoned for the creature to come to her with her hands. It was a curiously cute gesture from the woman that was known to be tough as nails on her students, but even so she didn’t seem to be hostile or mocking of the creature. She just did what she knew worked.

On that note, a pair of beady black eyes watched the scene below quietly, its feather head tilting here and there watching to see just what unfold from this.

While the art of swinging a weapon around efficiently without losing balance or grip was certainly commendable, it seemed to put a great deal of physical stress on the woman, as her body started to prespire and her skin showed symptoms of high internal body temperature. Selenus wondered just how much time of practicing martial arts it would take a regular person to get used to the muscular soreness that was bound to follow such displays of skill.

His thoughts would find themselves interrupted by the sight of the young woman stopping dead in her tracks with her sword pointed towards him. Selenus doubted a regular sword could do much to him, but the presence of a possible threat was very clear. Cautiously, the robot wolf would place the wires of his tail on the handle of one of his hip-knives, ready to let it fly at the first sign of aggression. He would instead be surprised to see the woman put the sword away and make welcoming (if slightly demeaning) gestures towards him.

Tail still ready to throw away, Selenus would, against his better judgement, slowly and cautiously approach the woman. Now out of the shadows, the woman would be able to see all of his features.

Sword dancing. It was a style that required much from the body to perfect and even demanded something from the mind. In the wrong hands this style of martial arts was frustrating and too demanding, but to the determined and disciplined it was like a fine dish that took time to enjoy. Piece by piece. Step by step. Sweat drop by sweat drop. One slowly mastered the art of the sword until it became as easy as tying a shoe or riding a bike.

While the work out still gave her a good sweat, she hadn’t worked herself long enough to cause her muscles to scream just yet. She wasn’t a novice just learning this stuff after all, so it would take a bit more work to get the burn to set in. The sweat however, was another matter. It was a pretty warm day, so her body naturally did its job to cool her off. She didn’t mind the sweat and would’ve probably been soaked by now had she been allowed to continue her training. Alas she was interrupted by the strange creature that had been watching her from the shade of the trees.

While at first she had remained unsure of the creature, she thought that maybe by not seeming so hostile would perhaps keep the creature from attacking. So beckoning it, she watched as it stepped out into the open her small smile fading as she got a good look at what was before her. What...what was this? Her eyebrows furrowed as her hands dropped to her side and she stood up a bit straighter. This thing wasn’t a normal creature. It seemed to be more metallic like...and that tail. Did that creature wires from the tail wrapped around a weapon?

To this, she would tilt her head as she kept her stance relaxed and ready for anything.

“Are you planning to attack me?” she would ask her voice calm and even as she watched the other with a neutral expression wondering if the creature could understand her. Sure it came out of the shadows, but most animals did when she did performed her beckoning action. Curious animals did that, but... something more than an animal went for a weapon or approached with the caution this one did. This one was indeed curious, but if it thought she would falter or be easily over run by fear due to a weapon presence, the beast would find itself very mistaken. While still non-hostile, the woman remained confident and alert as she kept quiet for now studying the beast.

While Ree watched the creature before her, the black feathered watcher would let out a caw as it hopped on its branch remaining hidden in the tree. The sound was almost as if the bird was anticipating something to happen; however, whatever happened would be left up to the pair below the trees.

"Only if you plan on attacking me first." He'd say as he stopped, tail still wrapped around the handle of his knife. She seemed confused by the situation, but that was a very common way to catch your enemy off-guard. He'd know; He'd applied that same trick before during his weapon years. "What was the deal with pointing your sword at me like that? If you didn't want me watching you practice, you could've just asked me to leave, no need to threaten me!" It was regrettable that he had to be this cautious around people, but after yesterday's events, he knew he'd have to bump his cautiousness up to eleven.

Ree would watch the other with a calm expression as she kept an eye on the weapon its strange tail was wrapped around. It was true that she had pointed her weapon at the other, but unless this creature was more squishy than it looked, did it really have anything to fear from a wooden sword? She had to wonder as she kept a careful study of her potential foe. To the statement made, the woman would tilt her head as from above another caw was released before a rather large black bird took came down and landed on a lower branch of a nearby tree as if to get a better look at what was occurring. Not seeming bothered by the guest, Ree would answer in turn.

“You think I would actually give you a chance to approach if I planned to do that?” she would ask seeming a bit annoyed by notion as a hand went to her hip and a frown crossed her face. Yes, she ran a dojo and yes she had automatically taken a defensive stance against the being when she saw it, but honestly was that not a human reaction? To freeze and carefully observe the odd thing before you before making some rash action? Or was she the only one that thought in those logic patterns? Maybe. For one she and this being before her did not work on the same logic that was for sure.

As the creature spoke out to her the woman would let out a huff as she crossed her arm.

“I was in the middle of practice, happen to turn and freeze. The weapon was naturally pointed in that direction due to the move set,” she would explain as she watched the other quite peeved. "I kept the sword pointed at you because it was taking me a moment to actually comprehend what I was seeing. Yes, this is a wooded area, but large dogs aren’t exactly a common thing around here let alone talking ones. As for observing me practice, I could care less about someone or something watching me. I am watched all the time after all. However, I do care when people assume things about me. I don’t know what your problem is pup, but I suggest you take things down a notch or else we are gonna have some serious problems,” the woman said as she gave the other a stern look. It seemed that even though the situation was quite odd, the woman was able to hold her ground well enough against the talking creature as she continued to study the being watching to see what it would do if anything at all. Right now she appeared to be quite peeved with the attitude. She did put away said sword before calling it over had she not? So what was the deal?

Reluctantly and against his better judgement letting the weapon go, Selenus would neatly place his tail behind himself in regret. "Right. I apologize, I... have a bad tendency of jumping to conclusions." What would've been the honest thing to follow that "I" with would have been an "am paranoid as all shit ever since I became a psyche terrorist" but I don't think I need to explain to you why that would've been a bad idea. "I didn't mean to irritate you, I was simply being cautious." Studying the woman once again, Selenus would find that... the sword was made of wood? // "Am I really that paranoid to the point where I'm confusing wood for metal? // In order to further let the woman know that he was sorry, he lowered his head in a traditionally canine display of remorse.

Ree would continue to watch the other with a frown on her face. Under normal circumstances she might’ve been more hostile towards her offender….and while she tried to stay mad at the creature, she found as she watched it, she simply could not.

That action of regret, the apology... Ree would hear and see all of it and in turn her earlier agitation and frown would fade. She would sigh lightly as she looked away and scratched her head. She was feeling a bit bad for being so hard on the creature.

“Well, I suppose I can’t be too hard on you. I mean we don’t exactly know each other, so maybe you have legit reasons for doing what you did,” she would say and then letting her hand drop, she would look back at the creature with a small smile. “Alright. Alright. I’ll forgive you just this once. Let’s just consider this a lesson learned and start over, k?”

From here, her stance would change as she stood up straighter and bowed slightly to the other.

“Welcome to Ori-shiki Dojo. My name is Ree Claire,” she would say as she stood up straight again and tilted her head at the other. “What is your name and what brings you to our humble establishment?”

She would finish her talk with a smile and friendly. It appeared she really was going to give the other a second chance.