7430/Ninja 101

Ninja 101
Date of Scene:	18 August 2021
Location:	The remains of Caldwell Farm
Synopsis:	Madison begins her sword training.
Cast of Characters:	Chizue Nakamura, Madison Evans

---

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Texts demanding consideration of moral and ethical quandaries had been constant since Owari had first assigned homework. Reading lists had been updated regularly, spanning everything from classical Samurai literature to texts on human cognition and even basic coding. Today though, today was special because Owari was finally in town again. Four PM, a set of map co-ordinates to the remnants of the old Caldwell farm on the outskirts of Happy Harbour.

    Theres a blacked out CBR sitting in front of the barn around back the farmhouse, and the ancient barn doors forced wide open to reveal an expanse in the middle that's been carefully cleared. Owari for her part sits atop the barn's roof casually, as still as a statue as she awaits the arrival of her newest pupil. She'd actually been in town for a little while of course, just long enough for her to rip apart much of the local cellular network for her own ends.

Madison Evans has posed:
    It was the coding that baffled Madison the most. What did coding have to do with Ninja-ing? Or Jedi-ing? //Nothing//. But she dutifully did her best to complete each assignment - in addition to the homework she was starting to get now that school had started, and her physical training with Spider-man at King's Landing.
    It was a lot. What is her life now even?
    With the message to meet at the farm, though, Madison carefully wrapped up her two practice swords, secured them to her bike with bungee cords, and peddaled for all she was worth for the farm. She's early - way early. It's just a little past 3:30 when she arrives, a little out of breath from the speed at which she'd peddaled through the streets. She's certainly looking up at the roof as she puts the kickstand out on her bike, and pulls her water bottle from the little holder in the bike's frame so she can take a drink. Mmmmmm. Water is life.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Owari drops all but casually from the rooftop, hitting the ground in perfect silence of course. Her mask smaller and simpler, less polygonal and more naturalistic this time. The carbon fibre sculpted to look more like traditional theatre faire, and painted in predictably dark colors but the rest? Well it's all the same, just more easily seen in daylight. That waist length hooded poncho swept up over one shoulder to lay all those pockets in her chest rig bare.

    "I'm very impressed with your purely academic side of this endeavor thus far, normally the sword would not be taught for another four months. Your performance however, warrants reward don't you think?"Her voice soft, but thankfully without that digital growl for once. "Fetch your weapons, today you'll learn how to fight with your body and not just your mind."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh!" Madison says in surprise when she hears Owari's voice. She giggles, and turns towards her - the laughter seemingly her natural response to being startled. "I didn't see- hear- well, anyways. Hi!" She snaps the top on her bottle closed, beaming broadly at the compliments. "I mean - I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing the coding?" she admits. "But, umm, usually doesn't do you any good to argue with a teacher, yeah?" She starts unstrapping and then unwrapping the two wooden swords as she adds, "I'm really doing that good? I mean - I'm certainly trying, but that doesn't always mean- anyways.
    "What do you need me to do?" she says abruptly - once she has both swords in hand, the larger of the two held in her right hand.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "If your foe is a powerful man, surrounded by wealth, political allies and mercenaries? Your sword is not always your finest weapon at your disposal."She offers casually. "You may want to learn his secrets, to hear his dealings secretly and to steal all of his wealth. Then laid bare, is when the sword comes in. It is wise to have many tools at your disposal, so they can not prepare themselves to fight you. Never let the foe know all you are capable of, always endeavor to know more than they think possible and apply this knowledge wisely."

    Into the barn she goes, becoming all the harder to see with every shadow she steps through. "Come now, Today we shall get you familiar with the foundation of proper swordplay."Securing a long stick with a tennis ball on one end, before coming to a stop in front of the little cleared area she's prepared.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh," Madison answers quietly.
    I mean. Is there anything to say Jedi can't be slicers too? There's certainly no //harm// in learning it.
    Madison follows after. She's dressed up in sensible athletic wear - stretchy and breatheable leggings, with a matching blouse, and a pair of simple sneakers on her feet. It looks neither ninja nor Jedi, but she doesn't think that matters too much for the moment. She gives the stick a curious look, then glances down at the two swords she's hold. "Do I start with just the one, probably?" she asks. "...the bigger one? The katana?" Was that the right term, she wasn't entirely sure - but she figured Owari would correct her if it mattered.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Yes, for now lets work with the larger one."Owari returns."Dominant hand above. Holding most tightly with the smallest finger, then the ring finger, then the middle and so on. Relax the thumb, and let it more or less rest in the pocket created by simply folding it over."Casually flipping that poncho down, which then alights with a simple diagram showing the correct hold. "Hold it along your centerline, right heel inline with left toes. Right shoulder brought forward comfortably, hold this and relax. Make an effort to remember what this feels like, as it is the default. You will build upon this base, but slowly."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Okay," Madison agrees. She glances around, and spotting an old, slowly rotting barrel, she sets the shorter sword on it, before returning to the center of the open space. She tries to take up the position Owari describes, right foot and shoulder forward, with her right heel turned slightly towards her left toes, and her fingers holding the grip of the wooden sword, her right hand above her left. "Like this?" she asks in a hopeful tone, looking to the other woman for confirmation.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "For now, correct. As you progress we will tighten our requirements, but today our goal is to get you to a place where you can train some by yourself."She abandons that stick for a moment, circling around to stand beside her student. "Be loose and easy, don't let yourself get rigid."Slowly drawing her own glass sword and mirroring the stance. From there she shakes out her hips, crouches down and bounces back up loose and relaxed. "We should be able to stand here like this forever, if need be. So don't tighten up, alright? If you need to take a moment between drills to open your stance and shake yourself out, that's perfectly alright at this stage."

    "Tell me when you've settled in and comfortable, and then we'll begin your first sword drill in several parts."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Loose and easy," Madison repeats, turning her head to study Owari's posture beside her. She starts mimicing some of her movements - crouching down, and bouncing, rolling her shoulders a little to get them to relax. "Okay," she muses quietly. "Okay. I think I'm good. Yeah? I mean, it feels alright, anyways."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "The sword does not cut by pushing, if it travels truly in a straight line it will merely injure and batter. We cut by drawing the blade, pulling or pushing as it makes contact."Owari steps aside and raises that sword up. "One.."And slowly draws the blade down in a sort of elliptical sweep, pausing with the sword down"Two." and up again. "One..."and back down"Two."

    "Speed comes along naturally, precision only comes with practice. We never move faster, than we can move precisely. At all times we must be exacting with our technique, never at the expense of speed or power. Smooth is fast, fast is slow."She nods softly, repeating the motion finally at full speed and for all the world it might as well be magic. The sword goes from up to down, and were it not for the breeze rustling the straw there would be no hint she moved truly at all. "Now you, be -slow- but be precise."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Smooth is fast," Madison repeats quietly, watching Owari's movements, and nodding that she understands - at least, she thinks she does. She takes a breath in, let's it out in an audible huff, and then tries to mimic the sweep of Owari's sword - hoping to get the curve right. "One... two," she murmurs, before trying to return the sword to its initial position.
    Is it perfect? Of course not. But she was trying her best to be attentive to the little details.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Her touch is, well -exactly- ambient temperature but gentle thankfully. Adjusting an elbow, straightening Madison's shoulders just a hair before offering "On the downstroke, pull gently against your hip. Imagine drawing the blade as well as sweeping it downward, running it's length against anything in it's way."

    Circling about silently to return to that stick with a tennis ball stuck on the end of it. "This needs to be as natural as breathing, so don't let your shoulders tense up. You're just moving the sword, your not doing anything dramatic."Nodding softly as she watches. "Slow and smooth, precise and accurate. I can cut bullets from the air, and I do not do this with speed. Consider it deeply."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I mean. ...speed's gotta be part of it, yeah?" Madison asks in a baffled tone. You can't cut bullets, slowly.
    Still, she makes no effort to speed up her movements, not yet. She allows Chizue to adjust her posture, trying to remember the new position, and nodding to the advise of pulling against her hip. "Alright. One... two," she repeats as she draws the weapon across an imaginary... watermelon. Yup. That's what she's going to picture. Cold, juicy, completely unobjectionable watermelons. Ain't nothing wrong with slicing watermelons in half in midair.
    "Was that better?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Much better."She returns. "Speed comes naturally with practice and natural ability. What gets people killed isn't lack of speed, it's lack of precision. I've fought hundreds, and though I am faster than any mortal human? Those who are precise are always more dangerous, even to me."And then comes that ball and stick. Holding the ball out in the path of the blade.

    "If you forget everything I teach you, remember this. Nobody ever rises to the occasion, they merely default to their level of training. Sometimes this is enough."Nodding softly. "It is not speed which cuts, it's not the sword either. It's skill and discipline, that is what wins fights. Doing exactly as is necessary, and having the sense of mind to know where to be before you have to be there. Now keep going."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "That- makes sense, actually." Don't sound surprised, Madison! She's your teacher! Geeze!
    With the ball in front of her - she continues to focus on the task of bring the sword down and through her target, while pulling against her hip to draw the blade of her sword against her target. Precision, not speed. First you get it right - then you get it fast," she tells herself wordlessly. Stay loose. Stay relaxed.
    One... two.
    As the sword reaches the bottom of its sweep, she lets out a quiet giggle. "There's surprisingly a lot to remember!" she remarks, she explain her laughter. It seems like it should be such a simple thing. Right?

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "I began training with the sword when I was six years old, as is tradition. It takes many years to master the blade, it's a simple thing of course. It's just a length of steel, just a sharp stick right?"Letting the tip of that sword strike the tennis ball, and moving it right back to where it was. Giving Madison a visual indicator to judge her swings by. "You have thousands of years of trial and error to build upon. Simple, often isn't."

    "Ok you've got this down to a decent degree, now I want you to hit the ball with the sword on every swing. Your not swinging for the fences, just touch it. Get used to what that feels like, and try to be smooth and relaxed no matter where it contacts."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "So what we need to do is figure out how to travel back in time ten years and then I'll already be great at this," Madison suggests. "Easy!"
    Is she serious?
    She's probably not serious.
    Despite her words, Madison continues to focus on the here and now. It's just her, and a wooden sword, and a tennis ball - which definitely represents a watermelon and not someone's skull. Another smooth, slow, arching sweep draws the blade of her wooden sword across the target as she continues to practice - her speed picking up just a little. She's got this. Right? Right. Precision, not speed. Draw it across the ball. Easy.
    Sure.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    That ball moves with every hit, from up high and far out to clip the tip to low and up close nearer the hilt. That said it's hardly difficult to hit, but to hit and flow through the movement is more of a challenge. " You're doing very well, just don't over think it. In time you will do this automatically, leaving your mind to study your situation and devise where you need to go next. We need to make as much of this automatic as we can, just like breathing."
    "Free your mind to consider these things more deeply, experiment with how much attention you have to pay to exactly and only this tennis ball."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "What we need is one of those training remotes from A New Hope," Madison suggests. "You know. That Ben showed to Luke. That would be //sweet//." She says this while she continues to repeat that one movement - to and through the ball, while she adds, "What if what if the 'need to go next' I'm considering is like... a cheesesteak restaurant?" she asks.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Thats where the discipline comes in."She offers softly "You should take a break from Star Wars for a weekend and try westerns, which are basically just Samurai movies with guns anyway"Oh no, nerd fight. "Fighting blind is about teaching students what you're doing already, it stops students from over focusing on the target and getting flustered."

    "Now I want you to take a step, as you swing. Half step with your lead foot, halfstep with your back foot. Do this mid swing, but change nothing else."And finally she moves that tennis ball aside to let Madison go.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Westerns!" Madison protests. "If I want a Western I'll watch Firefly!" She's grinning despite the little 'arguement.' The instruction to start taking steps is answered with a nod of her head, as she she makes the next swing. For the moment - her mind is back entirely on the action. Sweep with the blade, pull against your hip - and //now// step with the right foot, then with the left, keep the heel angled towards your toes... there.
    "Like that?" she asks, freezing at the end of the movement.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Aim to come to a stop, just as your sword reaches the end of it's swing. Start as soon as the sword moves. The aim is to complete these parts, as one smooth movement. Strive to be smooth, and precise."She nods softly, leaning on that stick and watching. "Give it a few goes, and then we'll throw the ball back in."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh!" Madison remarks in response to this feedback. She'd moved much too slowly, then! "So - if I start swinging faster - I have to start stepping faster, too?" She tries one more swing slowly, stepping with her right foot at the top of the swing, and her left about halfway through. And then - she tries it at a much faster pace, letting out a giggle as she remarks, "That's a lot harder!"
    No kidding.
    She shuffles back a little to put her more at the center of the room once more, before trying again at the slower pace.
    Man, if only Emma could see her getting actual //ninja// training...

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Exactly, everything is built upon this foundation. It's why you see even great master swordsmen practicing just this thing, over and over and over. I do this one hundred times every morning, and one hundred times every night before I sleep. For now, I want you to do this twenty times every single day. Take a little time, center yourself and practice exactly this."Nodding sagely at this.

    "Then we work on side cuts, and diagonal cuts. Then we work on combinations, then we work on sword drawing, and finally we begin sparring."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Gosh. All that?" Madison asks. It's going to be //months//! Years?
    Should she really be surprised that it takes //time// to learn how to use a sword?
    "Ummm. How long do you think it'll take to learn side cuts, and diagonal cuts, and everything, and then start sparring?" Madison asks. "I mean - if I keep practicing every day, and riding my bicycle, and you know - everything?"
    While she's talking, she continues to repeat the motion. Slash-step-step. Slash-step-step. She can see how your arms could get tired after doing this for a while - the sword is a little heavier than she thought.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "You should be able to spar me by Winter, at the rate at which you're learning. We'll begin practical lessons before that, of course. Hand to hand fighting, stealth, lock picking, motorcycle riding, and eventually computer security work."Holding up one hand, as she lifts a hand to her mask.
    "Come here, and turn around to face the farm house. Do not turn around, I'm going to show you something none see. Something even Spider-man has not witnessed."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "That's... a lot of stuff!" Madison says in surprise. Hand to hand and stealth she gets. The other stuff - well. It could come in handy, sure, but- "My mom is gonna flip if she finds out I'm learning how to ride a motorcycle," Madison murmurs. Like the sword fighting wouldn't be a problem?
    Still - she lowers her sword and nods, letting it hang by her side as she move over towards Chizue - dutifully turning her back on her teacher like she was instructed. "What're you going to show me?" she asks with puzzled curiosity.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "A street fight."She answers cryptically. Then comes the hiss of pressure as she rolls that helmet off. "There may be some disorientation, I'm right behind you. Just keep your eyes open."And with that she slips that lid down over Madison's head, and after a moment swings the armored faceplate down into place. For a moment it's just darkness, and the smell of green tea. Then the world erupts in color, as the Augmented reality displays overlays pop into existance. Giving form and color to radio waves, temperature gradients, wind, darkness and light vanish into the hyper real. Those Boken set aside <Boken-Madison> tagged off to the side. How Owari sees the world.

    "Alright, breathe deeply. It'll feel a little grating on the lungs, but it's good for you. Once you're ready I'll begin the playback."And that air is, well it has almost a -texture-. It's thick and whilst a little strange isn't automatically uncomfortable, a mixture of pure oxygen and god knows what else the Haga scientists have cooked up to maximize brain power."This one is from Tokyo, back when I was fighting with my old partner."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "What that-" Madison breathes in puzzlement. She takes a deep breath, 'tasting' the air - which is a weird sensation in its own rights, and with all the augmented reality information up, she starts to look around - though noteably, she makes sure she doesn't look towards Owari. "God this is weird. This is like... //too much// informtation. It always looks like this when you wear this? I-... man, I'd spaz out!" she remarks, letting out a laugh.
    A couple more deep breaths, and then she nodds. "Okay. Yeah. Sure. Ready."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    It's a dingy back street, rain slick and glistening under the glow of a thousand neon signs. There are no cars parked here, but the refuse is piled high. Not the place they take tourists then. A glance to the side, and the helmet helpfully tags the woman as <Black Cat>. A woman of exceptional beauty in a long black dress, seated side saddle on a broomstick with a broad pointed witch's hat set delicately atop. She speaks in a whisper like silk on the ears, and again helpfully the helmet provides subtitles. <<I'll watch your back, have fun darling>>Fanning her cherry red lips with a folding fan as the viewpoint swivels back down the alleyway.

    Two enormous guys dressed in tuxedos they seem ready to burst out of clutching pistols. Set centrally is a man in decidedly more traditional faire, Geta and kimono with a broad brimmed straw hat. A pair of swords at his side and a length of incense burning set between his teeth like a long cigarette. <<Monster with 34 faces>>Pips the display. <<Oi oi, you're her. Do you think you're going to be the end of me little girl?>>

    The sensation of speed is immediate, and things slow down perceptively as those guns come up into play. Proposed trajectories stream across the display, and yet everything rushes forward. Dancing through gunfire until she can get into range. Kanji script erupting as one man's cellphone -explodes- into fire in his breast pocket, more ballistic trajectories overlayed as she hurls a fistfull of needle like shuriken at the second gunman and dives into the swordfight.

    There is only one pass, and it's recorded in slow motion hyper reality definition. The man's draw is swift, cutting forward in a single smooth motion. You can -see- the neon signs above reflected in that polished blade as she ducks under it, her own draw tracing from the man's hip and upwards. Augmented reality displaying in gory detail the string of organs she's hitting as that blade is drawn to his shoulder. Then sliding foreward, as the swordsman keels over it's back in to hook an arm around the neck of the gunman she sprayed with shuriken and squeeze. Timers and read outs playing out in juicy detail, as he's put in the sleeper and he eventually goes down to the pavement.

    "Now are you starting to understand, this isn't like the movies. Theres no big huge sword fight scene, it's very quick. You get only one chance."Owari's voice from outside the scene, even as in the record she turns back to give Black Cat a thumbs up. The witch happily putting on a little golf clap in return. "So this is why we practice simple things, over and over and over. You get one mistake, does that make sense?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    Whatever Madison had been expecting from the words 'street fight' - it wasn't this. Inside the helmet, she's gone pale - her respiration rate is up, and her eyes are wide. As the scene played out in front of her, she lets out quiet gasps of surprise, and sharp inhales of breath.
    As it ends, she doesn't speak at first. She stands perfectly still - as if afraid to move. As if any movement might threaten her balance. Finally, she asks in a quiet voice, "He's dead now - that man?"
    Really, you have to wonder what she //did// expected. She's learning to use a sword, for goodness' sake.
    Don't puke in the helmet, Maddie. Don't puke in the helmet, she chants silently, swallowing hard.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
The display goes dark, as she pops the seal and off it comes. "The Monster with 34 faces, yes. I gave him the honor of a warrior's death, despite what he had done."And hiss, as Owari dons that helmet once more. "In Japan amateur heroes fight amateur bad guys, and when they get into it with a professional? It is expected even a Villain will grant them an opportunity to flee, Some do not but most do."Inhaling deeply, and letting her shoulders slump. "The Monster with 34 faces killed sixty five amateur and rookie heroes, he killed them horribly and did things to the bodies to attempt to keep them from passing peacefully into the afterlife."

    "He killed a young girl who had been inspired by me, who had been wearing the maid outfit I used to."Owari lets that pause for a moment, lifting that mask back up to let it click into place over that armored faceplate. "So I killed him, because prison is not always the solution. Some kinds of sickness can only be atoned for in the next world, and the best thing you can do for society is to remove them as quickly as possible."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I mean... yeah. Some people are bad, I know, I just-" Madison wipes at her face. She half-expects blood and gore to be there, but when she looks down at her hand - it's perfectly clean. She just watched someone die. A real person. A real //bad// person, but a person.
    "I- I just didn't expect to see something like that," she finally says a bit lamely.
    "...I think I'm going to sit down for a minute." She's sitting even as she says it, letting her wooden sword fall into her lap as she pulls her legs up towards her chest. Is she going to have to do stuff like that? Just because she wants to help people, doesn't mean she wants to kill people!
    "...do you have to kill people a lot?" she asks while staring at the hay.

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Ages ago, Three of the five original Ninja clans broke from heavenly service. My clan, the Haga devoted our service to the emperor in service of peace and tranquility. The Hand and the foot, fell to banditry. They fled Japan to settle in New York, where they use our sacred teachings to kill innocents."She lets that sort've float out there for a moment. "I can not return to Japan until I have slain every last one of them, and I have slain very many already. I expect I will die in this endeavor, and it shall be as honorable a death as any other."

    "I was also a Hero in Japan however, my Ninja work used to be small and infrequent. Usually thefts."She shrugs some. "I played by the rules of a hero, I killed none. Me and Black cat went our every night and protected the weak from the wicked, we were beloved. Voted best duo in Tokyo three years in a row, and best rookies our first year. I was a platinum badge member of the Tokyo Justice Society, I was respected and beloved. I had a life, a girlfriend, neighborhood cats, an apartment I loved, my best friend lived just down the block. It was great."

    "Yet I am a Shinobi, I was created in a laboratory and birthed by a Ninja family. I was crafted to serve the greater good, no matter what it costs me personally."Circling slowly around to offer Madison a hand up. "You are not a Ninja, you were not crafted for bloodshed and warfare. You are Madison Evans, and you don't need to decide who you are just yet. You can be a hero and slay none, whilst protecting the innocent with your sword. You could be a secretive swords-woman who cuts down bad men, in the dark of night. In either case you will be ninja trained, and able to make whatever choices you want with my support. However you must never allow yourself to forget, evil plays by no rules but their own."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Created in a lab? What the hell? That at least gives Madison something else to focus on, rather than just the memory of that man getting sliced open.
    When Chizue offers her a hand, she takes it, and allows herself to be hauled back up to her feet, her boken held in her opposite hand. "Yeah, okay," she agrees quietly. "I mean, I //know// that, I just- I've seen movies and all, you know? But none of that is //real//." And knowing that it's real? It makes it so, so much worse.
    But she doesn't want to think about that.
    "Why did you leave Tokyo, though? If you were so happy there. Why come to New York?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "A Shinobi is defined by duty, my duty is to slay the outlaws. I could return to Japan surely, nobody would stop me. Nobody would seek me out and try to hurt me. All the same I would harm the clan, and this work cannot be undone. I would merely dishonor myself, and put another in my place."There's a little shrug there "It's not all bad, Western women are exotic and interesting. Lots of good motorcycle roads to explore, Finding guns is easy. I mean back in Japan I might have fought one or two guns a year, getting them was a chore. Over here it's every night, plenty to keep the armory full."

    "Anyway it's very real, evil will not be satisfied with just getting away. They are going to try and -kill- you, they're going to slaughter innocents like livestock. They're going to do every unclean, terrible thing you can imagine and it's up to you to stop them. In the middle of a fight there's no escape, there is nobody coming to help. You win the fight, or they do whatever horrible things they want to you."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I know," Madison admits quietly. "And that's all pretty scary, honestly. Guess that's why mom doesn't want me doing any of this sort of stuff." You //guess// Madison?
    "II just want to learn how to help people. And how to stay safe." Because that's what Jedi are //supposed// to do. She takes a deep breath in, and lets it out slowly before asking, "Should we practice some more?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Until you can't hold the sword any longer, and then we'll break for lunch."She nods sagely, circling back around to kick that stick back into her hand. "I brought you a special treat from back home, but only when we finish."She holds that ball out in space before turning her attention back towards Madison.

    "Get your head in the game, 1-2,1-2, 1-2."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "...that long, huh?" Madison asks. Great. She offers no further complaints, though, as she steps to the center of the barn - right foot and shoulder forward, heel pointed at her left toes, right hand over her left. Alright. Oh! And relax. She bounces in place, wiggling her hips, rolling her shoulders, and letting out a quiet giggle at her own antics.
    Okay. She's ready. She glances to Owari for some sign that she's got the posture right - before she resumes.
    Of course, it doesn't take long before her arms are aching from the unfamiliar effort. This is definitely going to take some time. No wonder Owari doesn't think she'll be ready for sparring before Winter...