Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
Two weeks after the Festival of Hearts... It had now been almost three months since Sienna had been freed from captivity, and while Amon and Edel did their best to make sure that she was cared for and tried to make sure nothing traumatizing dared enter the range of her senses, there was only so much that they could do, and they weren't going to be around her all the time.
So, it was about the perfect time to learn an important life lesson: self-defense.
Not only would it help her to defend herself and prevent something like this from occurring again, but it would help her socialize more by bringing her to an actual class. Plus, free lessons, unlike a certain someone...
"Still can't believe there's no 'lover's discount,'" Amon said in a mock-whining tone. It was a bit of a journey (what, with the bag and the extra case, along with some buggers nearly triggering Sienna twice), but they finally made it to their meeting place with Edel.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Jul 20, 2017 5:02:01 GMT
A certain redhead they knew had already been there since way earlier while waiting for the 'students' to arrive, and she figured she could approach and greet them before other things.
"You didn't give me a discount on those sparring bots either, so we're even." She stated with a flat tone, although there was a very subtle hint of amusement quipping at the corner of her lips. Besides that no-previous-discount fact, she'd be paying for Sienna's classes already - which was rather ridiculous in itself since she was the one teaching the class, but also equally unavoidable since profits for it went into her guild's funds first instead of straight into her pockets. So she'd rather refrain to paying for two people's expenses if it could be avoided.
It was right on time to start class already though, so she gestured to the worker in the back for him to close the entrance and the curtains, and then turned to face everyone else. It was happening in the same building Amon had been with Skye before during that little incident about Pearl being stuck to a punching bag, but right now there were no bouncers, dancers, gymnasts nor any sort of entertainers around. Counting with Sienna and Amon, there were 20 people attending, and 15 were girls; quite a skewered rate, although the ages varied.
"Good afternoon. We have a few newcomers this time so, for who doesn't know yet, quick refresher: my name is Edelweiss, and I'll be your main intructor for this. Classes start at 3:00pm and end at 5:30pm every friday. The entrance closes at 2:55pm, so don't be late or you'll miss the whole day. The girl by the benches is Amelia" She gestured with a hand towards Amethyst and the girl responded with a silent little wave. "and she'll be the nurse in charge of treating you if you fall wrong, bruise or sprain something, or otherwise start feeling ill in class - but she's just here in case an emergency or accident happens, and you're not going to get actually hurt from the usual lessons. The lad handling towels in the back is Liam, don't mind him, he won't be interfering much. And for today, we'll start with showing you guys a few beginner motions, have you rehearse them, and then some exercises to check your individual physical conditions so we can tailor the lessons to better suit you all. Any questions?"
This while situation seemed surreal to Sienna as she stepped into the building along with Edel and Amon. The males comment earned him a small smile no one got to see. Once she'd clawed her way back to the land of normalcy she'd quickly noted the pairs relationship. She'd not said anything about it but enjoyed the banter they had, often seeking it out to chase away the fear an anxiety she still was often gripped by. It was proof that people could have honest connections. Not that she didn't know this before but having been in a very awful one for nearly two years that was not as one-sided as she'd have like to admit, made her question how things worked. It did her good to see them but this thing they were attending.. she was a bit nervous. Very nervous She lined up with the other people there, noting she probably wasn't alone in her scandals but it didn't appease her nerves much. ON the way there she'd had a small episode so hopefully she had it out of her system for now.
What had once been a way of life was now becoming annoying. She hated that she felt the need to run and hide all the time. She'd hated it begin with but now it was just debilitating. She needed this class. While her inner confidence was ready visibly she still looked shaken up, though the spark her eyes used to glow with had been slowly returning.
Amon couldn't help but return a smile at the little banter, placing the bag and case off to the side before turning his attention to Edel's introduction.
At the request for questions, he merely shrugged.
Everything made sense to him.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Aug 24, 2017 0:05:06 GMT
"Alright. Whoever of you need to change outfits you can do that at the restrooms in the back, and for those who'll just be peeling off layers you can leave your discarded clothes by the benches."
Considering how the weather had been slowly growing warmer by then, it was no surprise to see a lot of the people present were in very casual or at least summer outfits. A few here and there seemed to be wearing something specific to do exercises in as well. But it was noticeable how about half of the class went ahead and simply stripped down to underwear levels in under 5 minutes.
"During a real life situation you usually will be wearing something more restrictive than you currently are, but if you ever need to choose between the safety of your body or of your seams, I hope you'll pick the first. ...And I also hope this is unnecessary to mention, but the people in this room are expected to behave civilly and professionaly and I'll not tolerate random little quips on anyone's undergarments - I'm talking to you, Mrs. Abbot."
"Tch." And now there's a visibly pouting old lady standing next to Sienna.
"Now then, we can start by how to escape neck and hair grabs... Any volunteers to help me go through the motions?"
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Sienna was not too keen on the sudden strip session that was going on around her. She stepped away from one half naked person only to see another and another and more. Everywhere. She wanted to just run but refused to allow herself to just take off and insteasd steeled her nerves and stayed in place. She didn't take anything off though and just settled with being in what she ahd on. The idea of even kind of taking off her clothes made her chest tight.
She was in slacks and a long shirt and a vest as well as gloves, boots and socks. She just didn't want to be exposed. After a moment or two she decided to at least kick off the boots.
And then she asked for the unthinkable. A volunteer. She panicked a bit inside her head but did manage to keep from bolting out of the room.
Amon took off his vest, shirt, extra pouches, socks, and boots, leaving him in his pants and simple tank top. Furthermore, he had opted to wear his "normal" arm, so that the only thing that betrayed the illusion was the mechanical shoulder and the metal plating and burn scars that were more visible thanks to the tank top.
Might as well get as comfortable as possible for the first lesson.
And might as well bite the bullet while he could...
"Why not..." he said with a slight sigh, raising a hand and stepping forward.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Sept 11, 2017 7:58:21 GMT
It'd be nice if there had been multiple volunteers, so that the redhead could have shown them how to move while also verifying and fixing any position mistakes from a third person point of view. But as it should have been expected, in a class full of newcomers who in their majority were easily-startled and never participated in or even seen any sort of self-defense lesson before, volunteers were a rarity. It was already a little bless to have one this time, even though Amon's uncommon height made it a little trickier to use him as a first example. Oh well, she could work with it still. "Alright, come here." Gesturing for him to approach and taking a step to the side to open space for him at her side, Edelweiss figured she should start with the simpler motions that could more easily be shown slowly or in smaller steps - and let both the mechanic and the rest of the audience get used to things before going ahead and showing the ones that only worked when done quickly or that needed precautions to avoid hurting.
"I'll be showing 9 motions for the first part of class, but they're easier to remember if not seen all at once. So once every 3 are finished I want you all to form two rows (one row for the attackers and another for the defenders) and practice each move with each other when it's your turn - and once you've done it move to the end of the opposite row, so everyone gets to practice in both. Defending is the main focus of these lessons, but being in the opposite role will give you a better understanding on what your opponents can or can't do." She started with as an overall explanation. "Since we only have one volunteer, I'll be the assailant role this time."
She moved to stand in front of Amon and reached out an arm to place a hand on the top of his head, then went ahead while explaining things mid-motion. She did each version twice, the first one very slowly so that Amon and everyone could follow and understand what she was doing and asking him to do, and another at the normal speed the move should have on average.
"If your hair gets grabbed, the first thing you do is grab the person's wrist. Use both of your hands for this and be firm. Second, flex your legs slightly and lower your gravity center. After that there are two options: 1- lower your spine foward (like in a deep bow) and take a step to the side, without letting go; that'll pull your aggressor down and twist their arm (if you twist the arm further up it'll pop, so do not twist your classmates' arms further). Or 2- pull their elbow upwards while holding their wrist, pin the person's arm between your head and chin and move your hand that was on their wrist to pull their head down; this second one is harder to pull off, but puts you in a better position to flee immediately (just be very careful of your classmates' eyes when trying this one, alright, I don't want anyone getting blinded).
Full-motion examples:
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Sienna watched in quiet awe as the motions were shown off before her. Could... she actually do something like that? She was rather small, and weak, weaker than normal anyway. And would she even be able to think straight if she was attacked again. NO one was going to attack her, right?
Shaking her head she tried to will her negative thoughts away. She had come to get stronger. So that next time, next time she wouldn't get hurt. She looked around at her fellow students, some looked as nervous as she felt, others looked almost calm, which was kind of scary to her for some reason.
She turned back to the front of the class though to see if more was going to be said. Did she need to partner up with someone now?
Amon turned back to see people beginning to partner up...as well as their smol, nervous friend who was slowly becoming the odd one out.
Giving Edel an expression between amusement and apologetic, he quickly approached Sienna before anyone else had the chance to.
"Don't worry, we can partner up..." he said with a small smile, patting her head a little.
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Oct 20, 2017 5:42:12 GMT
"Alright, go ahead and pair up." She nodded to the class in general, then spared a look to watch Amon instantly walking towards Sienna. She couldn't help but smile at that. It would be alright, as an instructor for this Edelweiss couldn't coddle Sienna too much over the other students, but she could trust Amon would be making things easier for their unnoficial little sister.
"Once you've all practiced in both positions and got the hang of it, we can get to the next moves."
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Sienna's gold eyes peered around the room, no one looked even remotely interested in partnering up with her. Her lack of presence probably didn't help any.
But like a real hero Amon swiftly came her way. She was happy even if it wasn't readily visible on her face. But also disappointed in herself for having to rely on her friends and a bit unsure since she didn't want to hurt him either, even if it was an accident. But she had to get over that.
Taking a deep breath she steeled her nerves and nodded. "I-im ready!" She proclaimed boldly, well bold for her mousey habits of late.
"Alright then..." Amon said with a small chuckle, keeping his left hand on her head. "I'll let you go first."
Kept his left hand on her, to not only allow her to see what a real reaction would look and feel like, but to also allow himself to know what said real reaction would look like, due to the fact that nigh anyone could attempt these moves all day and his right arm would barely budge.
In any event, he continued to coax and coach her sparingly, saying things like, "That's it," "There you go," "You're doing great," "Take your time," "You have all the time in the world," and the tried and true, "Good job!"
"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible! And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people!" - Taryn, Nerf This
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Oct 27, 2017 5:43:03 GMT
Once Edelweiss could see all of the class had practiced the first set of motions, she called for a volunteer again to get through the next ones - they had gotten just past the hair grabbing stances, and now was about to starting showing how to escape and counter neck grabs: while being grabbed with one hand, then with both hands (in three different ways), against a wall, and on the ground.
"Now I know these motions are more complicated than escaping hair grabs, so don't worry if you don't get it right on the first time and keep practicing until you get the hang of it. These are still useful against people stronger than you. Having brute strenght helps, but what they need to work is creating momentum as you move, and we'll be working on building up your core strenght in the second half of today's class."
Like during that first demonstration, the movements were separated into sets of 3, in progressive levels of difficulty. However, the last trio actually required physically hitting the attacker to work, and that being so Edelweiss needed a more experient student to help going through them. "Alma, you come over here this time, please?" A nod in the audience, and the teen who was called moved, a subtle limp noticeable as she went forward. She was a blond freckled girl in a pink undershirt and bloomers, who walked up to the front of class by dodging around Amon with a little more distance than would have been strictly necessary.
The lad who'd been setting towels in the back of the room also approached to hand out padded vests and crotch protectors to anyone while they were playing the assailant roles during practice.
Sienna watched the motions shown and tried to steel herself on doing them. She took a few more moments and some reassurances form Amon that she wouldn't hurt him, he'd be Fine she nodded that she was ready. She and Amon successfully completed the first set. She even felt a little hopeful that this thing would work out okay.
But that feeling didn't last long.
The next set of actions were showed and she did as she had before. She tried to recall them each in order but something about the way the hands went over the neck rattled something loose. But she shook it off and continued on.
Amon made the grab again and she knew what was going on. She knew it was just a drill, to practice. And her partner in this was Amon, practically a brother. But it would seem that nothing could kill her innate will to survive. She unfortunately recalled the moves so the moment his hand made contact with her neck she kicked it into high gear and ducked down and brought her arms up to shove him back violently and then brought her leg up hard and fast at his groin. She then turned and started to run off and away as if she were back in that room all over again and the door to the room was the exit.
Last Edit: Nov 4, 2017 4:13:46 GMT by Sienna Black
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