trans_9 | With all the force of a great typhooon -

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With all the force of a great typhooon -

Mulan is early to bed and early to wake, and just as early to get to the Sensoriums for practice. A strictly military woman, she's not much for meditation. Quiet reflection is for when you're on the march, and sitting around has no place in the middle of a war. Not the one she fought, anyway.

Her kung-fu reflects this. Her style is a model of efficiency, the sort of fighting that results when an experienced warrior takes a young, underpowered farmhand and trains her to hit for the maximum amount of damage that can be dealt out with the shortest amount of training time. It's not flashy. It's not refined. There's not a lot of spirituality involved. There's just Mulan, and imaginary enemies needing to be hit, and muscles in the process of being kept up.

After her encounter with Sawyer, she's more thoroughly maintaining her gender-neutral garb, still pulling her hair back, still wearing her roomy men's shirt and loose yoga pants with the plantsuit underneath. She flows through the movements of her agressive, active katas, as the sun rises over a simulation of her original training field, illuminating dew and mist over the green grass, and the sound of a rushing river somewhere in the background, out of sight in the forest behind her. A tree hung with ripe lychees shades her as she strikes, evades, and flows. In a few minutes, some of them will be breakfast.

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Katara met her in the Sensoriums after having a good night's sleep. There had been a lot of things going through her head, but her obligations never left: Mulan had wished to start meditation sessions, and Katara wanted to help her. When she arrived she was in her fire nation garb, her hair up, midriff showing and sandals on her feet. She preferred to wear this clothing when it came to this kind of weather. She was happy to see Mulan though.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "So you really are a military girl. You have the precision and discipline of a Fire nation soldiers."

Which, a year ago, would have been an insult, but Katara knew that even the Fire Nation had its positive attributes.

"Thanks! I have the medals to prove it!"

Katara she can brag to. There's a certain connection between the two of them, being girls in the same male-dominated field.

"Your dress is beautiful." It's very revealing to Mulan's point of view, but there are a lot of differences between Katara's culture and hers, as she's already learned. "Do all the girls in your tribe dress like that?"

Katara grinned. She bet she did too. Mulan reminded her a little of Lafiel: strict in her actions but hard working. She appreciated that as another similarity they shared.

"Oh this?" Katara looked down at what she was wearing and waved her hand nervously. "Oh, no way! Where I live, you would freeze if you wore something like this! No, this was what I wore when I was in disguise in the fire nation...its better clothing for the climate and freer for movement."

She honestly preferred her water tribe garb, but that wouldn't be possible in this kind of backdrop, and she doubted Mulan wanted to do that in such weather.

"Is it silk? I haven't seen silk since I woke up here."

She leans over to examine the edge of Katara's skirt thoughtfully. "It does look comfortable, but I don't think I could wear it. It's so . . ."

She's thinking "sexy," but the only words she knows to say it are mildly unflattering, and she knows that Katara isn't the sort of girl who would bare her midriff to be a tease.

". . . I mean, people here sometimes don't know I'm a woman. And you know, the other day, I was helping a man clear the city, and he had no shirt on, so I told him I was because I thought he wouldn't want to show that much skin in front of a woman, and he accused me of . . ." she airquotes - no telling where she picked that up from - "'Checking him out.' I'm engaged! How improper is that?"

She sighs. "And if I'd been dressed as a woman to start out with, I bet he would have done that from the start."

"Oh, yes!" Katara said, smiling. "It's a little revealing considering I usually don't wear something quite like it, but I guess I'm used to it now. Like I said, its only because it gives me freedom of movement, and reminds me of my world. I miss it sometimes."

Katara made a disgusted sound. "It always annoys me how its improper to show any skin as a woman but you can just go around with no shirt on if you're a guy! Don't get me wrong, I'm used to it in my world, but really, why is it that you can't dress modestly and not be thought of as a man? I mean, its your choice to wear clothes how you want. In fact, I rather like them! I bet he would have been checking you out if you were dressed as a woman!"

Katara is totally planning on helping Mulan meditate...right after some ranting,

Edited 2010-03-23 22:38 (UTC)

"Well." Mulan blushes a little. "Usually the men in my world and time don't show skin if there are women around. It's improper."

She pauses, before adding, "The first time I ever saw a man without his shirt was when I was here, for the first time, in basic training."

And it was hawwwt.

". . . anyway. We should probably be meditating, not getting ourselves angry." Or thinking about Shang's glistening abs. Oh how glorious they are. She smiles. "I don't meditate a lot. We didn't have time for it in basic training, not with the Huns moving so quickly. How do you start?"

"Understood," Katara said. "Where I come from men can't really do that anyway, they would freeze. In hotter climates, men can get away with it though. It is a double standard, but really, there isn't much you can do about it. Anyway, you're right, we do have training to do. After listening to you over the comm, I've realized I know what might help to benefit you."

Katara quietly change the Sensorium settings a bit. The backdrop itself didn't change, but now the air had the scent of sandalwood as the incense burned on four sides of them.

"To start, you have to get in a comfortable position," Katara said. "This will be the position that you think benefits you most, that helps you to relax best. When you've found it, make sure to get yourself completely comfortable: stretch your shoulders, flex and release all your tension. This will be important: its like the beginning of your ground and center. You find the spot that pleases you best, and in that position you retain focus and build a mental shelter. try this now."

Katara was already cross legged, watching her student.

'Build a mental shelter.' Okay. Well, Mulan hasn't done that before, but she has sat comfortably, so she works on that first. Releasing her tension takes a little time.

Now, a mental shelter. Sort of like a little shrine to herself. She imagines short walls, windows all around her, the breeze filtering through big, open windows.

. . . her shoulders are tensing. She relaxes them again.

Katara waited until she was comfortable, and she could see how she was fidgeting a little. That made sense: everyone always had trouble focusing at first, meditation was never something that one jumped into. That was why Katara was starting out slowly.

"Once you feel that stability, concentrate on your breathing. Picture yourself as a tree, breathing in draws in the water that falls to the soil, breathing out and growing, leaves blooming, branches stretching outward. count your breaths if you have to, but be constant. When you get better at this, you won't have to count anymore, it will come naturally."

She waited, watching.

"Private." Lafiel greeted her at the entrance, snapping her the Abh salute, middle and index fingers touching the forehead. She smiled lopsidedly. There was a certain austere purity to training grounds that had not changed in the thousand years from Mulan's time to hers. It was all too much like the Star Forces academy, but with wood and dirt instead of metal and glasstic. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Deca-commander!" Mulan snaps to attention. "Yes sir! Er - Ma'am." She grins. "Sorry. I'm not used to having female superior officers."

It takes a moment for her to get the difference. Baronh, like its distant Japanese ancestor, doesn't make gender distinctions in pronouns. "Why would...Oh, you are from a 'gender segregated' nation, right?" Meluly had told her about this kind of thing. The United Mankind operated on similar lines. "Please, show me the most advanced hand held projectile weapon available in your time. I need to determine the technology level you are familiar with." Lafiel is pretty no-nonsense, a straight to business type.

OOC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Ko_Nu ?

She nods. "I'm probably the only woman who's ever fought officially for China."

Presumably there were a couple who picked up rakes and beat some guy's faces in with woks and such, but they didn't get medals for that.

"I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow, but 'most advanced -'" she thinks about it for a minute. "Stacy, may I please have a repeating crossbow?"

One appears, and Mulan kneels down to inspect it. "I've never personally fired one, but I know about them." She looks close to remedying that 'never having fired one' thing. And yeah, tech-wise? You have a long way to take her, Lafiel.

"A repeating...crossbow?" This makes about as much sense to Lafiel as a flying chariot. Still, she has to admire the ingenuity, given the primitive tech base.

After a minute's fooling around with it, Lafiel settles the internal debate between "easiest first" and "closest to her tech level first". I'll go by use category in action.

"Stacy, two Remington pistols please." And in their hands are two M1911s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911), smooth, cold, heavy. "There are two types of ammunition a weapon can use. Projectile weapons, such as these pistols or your repeating crossbow, accelerate a projectile through a chamber at the target. Energy weapons, on the other hand, project energy at the target."

She kneels, steadied herself at the grips. "When you squeeze the trigger, the hammer falls and ignites the gunpowder inside the bullet. It accelerates down the barrel, towards the target." She aims down towards the target normally used for bows. "Align your sights with the target, squeeze the trigger gently and prepare for it to jump back." She did so. The .45 jumped back in her hands and there was a hole on the rung just outside of the bullseye.

Ron raps his knuckles on the door, beofre pokin ghis head in.

"Hola amigo! Mind if me and Rufus practice in here?"

"Sure, but who's Rufus?"

Oh little does she suspect!

"Hi hi!" Rufus squeaked, popping up over Ron's shoulder while dressed in a tiny gi and waving.

Ron, also dressed in a gi, with the Lotus Blade sanging from his side, entered.

"That would be Rufus. I'm Ron Stoppable by the way."

"Ahh!"

Girly scream!

"What is that?"

"Oh, he's a naked mole rat." Ron said, used to the reaction by this point.

Rufus bounded off the teen, and approached Mulan, looking at her quizzically.

"You 'kay?" he said in a chittering approximation of English.

"Iiiii - yes." Well, at this point, has she seen weirder? Yes. She even kneels down to get a closer look at Rufus. No need to be rude to a small animal that can . . . talk. "Sorry. I've never seen a . . . naked mole rat before."

"I'm Fa Mulan," she adds. "And you're welcome to use the Sensorium with me. This is where I received my basic military training."

She looks around the simulating camp with pride. Nice, isn't it?

"Badical" Ron said, looking around appreciatively.

"Well, came her to train, so I might as well get started." Ron and Rufus began the katas associated with Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, executing with the precision and grace of a master.

It's beautiful here - the sun lighting up damp grass and shining through mist, peaceful in a way the ship generally isn't. Zelda is perched up in a tree (Sheik had taught her to climb, where to place her hands and feet for the msot stable perch), hair in a neat braid and a loose blue tunic worn over the plantsuit, watching Mulan fighting invisible enemies.

Finally, it's enough. Zelda jumps down lightly (oof - she never could land quite as gracefully as Sheik), taking a careful step forward. "Can you teach me how to do that?" she asks hesitantly.

She can no longer rely on Link to protect her, and she doesn't think she wants to be so completely dependent on Sheik. Right now, Zelda wants to learn how to defend herself.

Mulan looks around and smiles. "I can try. I'm only a student, though. I still have a lot to learn."

She spreads her feet and bends her legs into a wide stance. "This is a horse stance. Come try it."

"That's alright," Zelda smiles back, "I can't fight physically at all, so anything will help."

Hmm... watching Mulan closely, she copies the pose as best she can, feeling a little silly and self-conscious about it. "Is this alright? Oh! My name is Zelda, by the way."

"Nothing at all?" Hmm. "Well - make a fist."

She smiles again. "Fa Mulan. It's an honor to meet you, Zelda."

She does, keeping her eyes on Mulan. "Mm... I have fought, but with magic. It's hardly the same... and an honour to meet you too, Fa Mulan." It's a bit hard to curtsy in this position, so she simply nods, giving her a smile.

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With all the force of a great typhooon -

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