Xavier Institute For Higher Learning

[Screech]

Amanda stood almost dumbfounded. Had she used a sword before? Never! She knew *about* swords, and fighting styles, from books but she had never actually handled one. "Ummm...no. Never used one before. I.. kinda know some stuff, but never actually used it"

She pulled her hair back and tied it into a ponytail. "But I'm willing to learn. Just let me get out of this baggy stuff" She pulled off her jumper, revealing a small white t-shirt underneath, and tossed the jumper to the ground. An accomplished gymnast, she hoped that her skills would transfer well

Bryn handed over one of her pactive swords, and Amanda grabbed it by the hilt, immediatly feeling the weight of it. She smiled nervously. "A bit heavier than I expected..."

 

[Vixandra]

Bryn

"Its the weight of the swords I use to fight with. Hold on a sec, I'll be right back."

A couple of flaps and I was airborn, soaring on wings of ebony to the small ledge outside my room. I slipped open the window and hopped inside to grab the head-bopping pair of shinai from the closet along with a lighter training sword.

Returning, I landed next to Amanda, though the force of the landing pushed me to my knees in the grass. Standing I brushed the grass of my pants and handed one of the shinai to Amanda.

"These are Japanese practice swords called shinai- they're made out of struts of bamboo tied together," I said, holding mine up and pointing to it. "This string here can make the sword struts tighter or looser. These won't actually do lethal damage- but they sting like a son-of-a-bitch. The tigher the string the more stingy they are."

After taking off my sword belt, I laid all the spare practice weapons as well as Hugin and Munin (I'd forgotten to take them off earlier) down on a bench. A deep intake of breath and a hiss brought my wings back inside me, slipping away with only a few black feathers to show they'd ever been there.

Turning back to Amanda, I took a defensive pose while explaining what I was doing. "Put my wings away for now- I've taken shinai hits to them and it hurts in ways I can't describe in polite company. Now, the white cushy part is the grip, that disk the guard. Some people refuse to use guards on thier shinai- I find it important because I'm not fond of broken thumbs."

I moved beside her and explained the basic guards and the basic attacks, always falling back to a central guard possition. "Always return to your center guard- any attack and any guard can come fromt here. Sword fighting is not, despite what some say, a set in stone act. True combat requires fluidity and adaptability. Dexterity's handy too."

The rough basics covered, I moved in front of Amanda, sword in the center guard. "Now, try to hit me. Not my sword, hit me."

 

[Screech]

Bryn went through all the basics, and Amanda thaught she was picking it up fairly quick. Fluidity. That she was quite good at. Dexterity. Yeah, she was kinda deterous. She lacked pure power, but had managed to live quite well without it so far.

Bryn moved back round to Amanda's front and raised her guard. Amanda took a deep breath and tried to focus herself. It was kinda funny really. Here she was with a girl she'd only met today, and already they were outside sparring with each other! Sure, some would sit and listen to music or something, but not Amanda, and it appeared not Bryn either!

Amanda took a step to the side, and swung out with her practice sword, hoping for a lucky early midriff strike, and return manuver

 

[Vixandra]

Bryn

I moved to block Amanda's shinai with my own, keeping my feet where they were. I knew the first few rounds were not about a new swordswoman having thier bodies bruised and welted, but about gaining that confidence that its okay to strike out at another. Its okay to hit them.

"Good cut, Amanda," I said with a nod. "Keep 'em coming, sweets. Its okay to hit me- heck if you hit me, its my fault for not guarding well enough. The worst you can do with these is raise a welt or bruise someone, they'll break before anything more serious happens. Okay maybe a broken finger or thumb but that's without the guards on. With the guards, we're good."

I let her strike at me, surprised at how easily she picked it up.

"Alright, my turn," I said as I moved into the offensive, aiming a shot for her upper thigh- an area that I knew from experiance would sting but not cause any real damage if I hit. I didn't swing full power because that would have been unfair but I didn't hold back too much either. Teaching is often a find line walked between telling someone how with the learning and partronizing them how with them just getting angry. So I didn't pull all the power out of my swing, just enough to keep myself from really hurting her- three day welts are not fun.

Whether she blocked or not- that's up to her, I mused as I moved with the swort for the strike.

 

[Screech]

Amanda was starting to get the hang of this! At least, she thaght she was... A second strike was blocked, and then Bryn moved in on the offensive. She moved with an amazing grace as her shinai struck out at Amanda's thigh. Giving a statled yelp which, in all probability sound like a mewl, her gymnastic training came into it's own, and she moved into a sideways flip - the shinai tocuhing nothing but air as Amanda stumbled apon landing and ended up on her backside.

She looked up almost apologetically. "Was I, ummm, supposed to just use the shinai?" She clambered back to her feet and dusted herself off before moving into the standard guard position, her face becoming a picture of focus. "I'm gonna do this!"

 

[Vixandra]

Bryn

I watched her jump, eyes wide, and bit back a giggle as she landed. "That was awsome!"

"Dodging is almost always a better option then blocking- it leaves you open to move back to re-engage your opponent on your terms, not thiers," I explained. "For now though, I think we need to work on standard blocks with the shinai before we go to fancy dodging, which I think you'll pick up in a flash or two."

I tighened my grip on my sword with a smile that showed I was having fun. It had been a long time since I'd had someone to spar with that didn't have decades of experiance over me. And I'd never sparred with someone cat-like so it was a learning experiance for me too.

"Lets work on attacking, blocking and moving between the two for today," I said, "then tommorow, I guess, we can start adding ground based dodging in. You're a natural at this, it seems, Amanda!"

 

[Screech]

Amanda grinned and half closed her eyes. "You think I am?" So many compliments! Probably a natural, awsome dodge, it was a good job Amanda didn't get faint that easy, or she'd be on the floor fanning herself! Her face was flushed red, even though you couldn't really tell without looking close.

Bryn looked like she was having fun, and Amanda had to admit that she was enjoying this too! She wandered if she was starting to understand what it felt like when you had fun with someone else

"Ok, here I come!" She moved in closer, and braught her shinai up, and then swiftly down again in a diagonal stroke. Bryn would probably block it, she thaught, as she was the teacher. Butso what? This was fun!

 

[Vixandra]

Bryn

I started to dodge out of the way when my foot hit a rock and I slipped, the shinai striking my left upper arm with a solid *twap* sound. The slip and the hit put me on one knee, my sword coming up in what would have hit Amanda across the middle.

Instead she jumped back nimbly and I nodded in approval as I hopped back up. A glance at my bare shoulder showed a lovely welt reddening there. With a grin, I launched a volley of attacks at Amanda, scoring occasionally, getting hit myself when I didn't dodge or get my own sword up fast enough.

After about twenty minuets of back and forth I called a stop, sweating myself in the warm sun. I took a seat in the lush grass, laying my shinai across my lap. "Gods, its been too long since I shinai'ed. Most my practice in the last year has been with Hugin, Munin and my training swords based on them. So what do you think? Want to keep learning? I didn't hit you too hard did I? Storm said that there's a weaponsmaster here, though I don't remember who. Maybe we could get a class together?"

 

[Screech]

Amanda was panting after suck exhertions, and collapsed into the grass, still holding onto the shinai. Her body was starting to ache,and she'd gathered a fair number of bruises and welts that would probably stay around for several days yet. They stung on first contact, but it had moved to more of a dull ache. No doubt they'd flare up unless left alone.

Her chest moved up and down rapidly as she panted, laying on her back. "That was... the most... exhausting thing...I've done... in ages!" She sat up and smiled. "But it was fun!" Fur seemed to have one advantage when it came to sparring, it seemed. It softened the blows somewhat. Unfortunaatly, it did build up heat alot faster!

Amanda wiped her hand across her head, feeling the traces of sweat sticking the her fur. She'd need a shower for sure after that! "Uh, yeah. Probably be Logan. He's the, uhhhh, phys ed tutor for the juniors. He's, like, trained in various fighting styles. It'd be cool to attend his class. Never really thaught much about it before"

Amanda rubbed her forarm and smiled slightly nervously again. "A-heh. Don't worry about me. Got natural padding!"

 

[IDreamofBunnies]

The twins wandered around some more eventually coming across Amanda and Bryn dueling. Babette laughed merrily and clapped as she watched, "What fun! Is like fencing?"

 

[dragonrazor]

Chihiro stepped out from another doorway. She smiled, recognizing the stances, and shook her head at the Frenchwoman's question. "It's more like high speed Tai-Jutsu. I didn't think anyone else still practiced, let alone with shinai. I, myself, prefer kunai or boken."

 

[Jeremy Davis]

::Thad shook his head and laughed. He liked hanging around with Nori. She had a great sense of humor and was very likeable.::

I can imagine, though I'd probably be the only one that could swim with you if you were going to charge the warters.

::He walked back over and flopped down the bed beside her again, then took his pillow and whalloped her with it. Once again the though of asking her if she wanted to move into his room with him crossed his mind, but he was almost positive that the teachers wouldn't go for it. He swallowed and then decided just to ask her.::

You know if your roommate drives you crazy you could always move in here with me. I have the room...

::He looked around at the mess on the floor and all of his stuff, then added.::

Well I could make the room...

 

[Jeremy Davis]

"Listen to Rogue's bright idea." Havok says smugly.

::Gambit's voice came over the speaker as they played back the message.::

Stormy, Rogue and I were just talking about what happened earlier today with Havok and Kitty and she had an idea I though would help da others see what we had to go through in Germany. I'll come up in a few days to have dat talk you wanted to have with me. Seems like everyone wants to have a heart to heart with da Cajun since I've been back. Talk with you soon.

::The click of the phone hanging up ended the message.::

 

[Ithica]

Storm

Storm looked over at Havok confused about what he had to be so smug about. She tried to keep from laughing.

"So let me get this straight, you intercepted a message for me from Gambit. And he is hoping to fill in any missing information about what happened in Germany. Well, thanks for giving me the message but maybe we could find something more productive to keep you busy."

 

[Ithica]

Surge

"I don't know about that. I don't think I could go swimming with you. I image you'd sink right to the bottom. I'd say like a ton of bricks but I think it would be more like the Titanic or a bowling ball, maybe like a car."

She tried to dodge the pillow and laughed when Thad asked her to be his roommate. She looked around the room and said,

"Oh yeah, I can see it now. I can see Storm and Havok helping me with my things. I'll move right into your closet. It'll be great. Just be sure to let me out every so often."

She hit him with a pillow and said,

"My roommate's ok. It just pisses me off that Sooraya is always doing what other people tell her to do."

Nori jumped off the bed and said,

"Do you want to go down to the kitchen and scrounge something up to eat."

 

[Shaq]

Havok

Alex's face doesn't even crack a smile at Ororo's joke.

"You don't see what's coming do you?" he turns his back and mutters under his breath "No wonder they took you by surprise."

He begins to walk further into the War Room. He seats himself at a chair and turns back toward Storm.

Raising his voice he calls back "I don't need you to find anything to keep me busy. Without the Professor and Scott there is plenty of work to go around. Why don't you check on Kitty and see how far along she is on running info on this android?"

 

[Ithica]

"You don't see what's coming do you?"

Storm watched Havok walk into the War room and wondered what he was muttering about. He gave what sounded like a dismissal and Storm answered,

"Why don't you check on her? She is doing you the favor. But before you go, why don't you enlighten me as to what I fail to see coming."

 

[Shaq]

Havok

"Wow" Alex thought.

"I didn't see that coming."

He'd expected Storm to leave after his brusque tone with her. Instead she stood before him questioning him about matters he wasn't prepared to answer.

"Uh, she's not doing me a favor! She's trying to protect this school! Hell, is this place even still a school? Don't you realize how much things have changed? The Professor's gone. Jean, Emma, Elizabeth. None of our top level psychics are here which means for the first time the school is vulnerable in every way imaginable. Fantomex and Juggernaut inflitrated us. They pretended to be people they weren't. I'm not about to let that happen again whether it is some famous pop star or robot we have to protect ourselves. For a time, we should restrict enrollment into the school."

 

[Ithica]

"I support us being more cautious, Alex, but I'm not going to start turning people away that need our help. People are going to betray us and whether we have a psychic or not, is not what is going to protect us. Fantomex and Juggernaut infiltrated us while we had the most powerful psychics with us."

Storm stopped and tried to see if any of this was getting through to him and continued.

"I don't believe that turning against each other is the way to solve our problem with security. We could no longer keep Wizard with us because he could not work with a team. Is it any different than what you are doing? You are trying to dig up dirt on anyone, turning on even your own teammates, trying to find who is going to betray you. You wonder why no one trusts you, maybe you need to try trusting the members of your team. It's hard to trust someone who treats you like you have a knife pointed at their back. What is bothering you? Something has been up since before everything went wrong with Fantomex."

 

[Shaq]

Havok

"Nothing bothering me except we maybe letting our enemies sleep with us under the same roof Storm."

Havok begins to access a comm link.

"Kitty? Havok. Where are you on the research I assigned you? I want to know who this robot is and what he's capable of."

 

[Jeremy Davis]

~He laughed when she brought up the fact that he would sink.~

Ah so long as the band plays til the end....

~He sorta felt dejected when she said that she wouldn't be joining him in his room, but agreed that he did use up almost every inch of the room with his bad habit of just tossing his CDs around. Then smirked when he got hit with the pillow.~

Yeah, maybe we should try to be personable with the new students too. This place could be a bit overwhelming at first if you remember.

~He used his foot to gently make a path from his bed to the door.~

 

[Vixandra]

Bryn

I was aware of our audience though I didn't fret over it.

Instead, I looked at Amanda. "Glad you're not too banged up. I figure once you're comfortable with the shinai we can move to something more solid, be it a boken or a wooden sword like whatever takes your fancy. If I don't have a blade you like, I can email my brother, have him craft something. He'd like the challange."

I looked over to the people in the door way and waved. "You guys can come over if you want, no need to lurk in the doorway."

 

[Ithica]

Storm

Havok brushed her off and she watched him while he tried to talk to Kitty.

"How are you and I going to run this school? I didn't come down here to argue with you, but that is difficult when I see you trying to find traitory in a harmless message from a teammate, and in people seeking our help. This school is going to continue to be a safe haven for mutants for when Xavier returns. When it stops being that then monsters like Fantomex have won."

 

[IDreamofBunnies]

God how boring, do what you want I'm going to sleep.

Babette looked downwards, put her hand over her midsection and whispered, "Frère bon de sommeil cher."

She looked back up and walked further into the room at Bryn's invitation. She listened to her explain about advancing to different swords, processing the English fairly quickly.

"Maybe there is foil or épée and we can fence? I know how."

 

[Screech]

"Work my way up to other swords? I guess, so long as they're not too heavy an' all" She smiled and wandered absentmindedly what her life would be like if she did learn swordsmanship right up to Bryn's level.

As soon as Bryn looked over Amanda's shoulder and invited some others who had been watching to come closer, she froze. People had been watching her? Even ehile she wasn't wearing that much? Feeling incredably embarrased, she darted to one side and grabbed her jumper, quickly pulling it back on and smiling very nervously

"Maybe there is foil or épée and we can fence? I know how." Amanda shrunk away, feeling very self-concious, and letting the question be aimed at Bryn