trans_9 | The Outsiders: Meeting 2

It was going to be their second meeting, and she already had an idea from Beastboy that he'd drummed up some interest in some the newly pod popped. So she'd been making alterations to the Outsider headquarters all day, from checking out the intercom and monitors Billy fixed (she needed Alex's help for that) to helping to set the new carpet in the lobby to preparing the pool for the training session. It was absolutely important that today grow well: she was going to tell the group she was trying to petition Leon to get them more involved in missions. Even if he said no, there were chances that they as individuals would be pulled into some dangerous situation and then all that training WOULD come in handy, wouldn't it? Either way the training would be coming in handy, as would meeting the people that would come to the second meeting. In a way, the second meeting was more important than the first: the second told you who was staying, who hadn't just popped in for the snacks and a few laughs. She still had those of course: chips and dip and a few sandwiches were already set up for people who were hungry.

As for her, all of this work had already made her really sweaty and stinky, so she was taking a dip in the pool to clean herself off, careful to only do so in the shallow part of the water reserved for small kids: once she was good and clean, she would flush that water out, and fill it with clean water again. For now, she wanted to make sure everything went perfectly. Of course, she was also nude for this, so she figured if Beastboy dropped in now, she'd have to dry off pretty quickly.

So far though: room were all clean, conference room was a-okay and the lobby was spotless. For the moment she could relax. She'd be ready in a few minutes.

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Fletcher looked over the scroll, immediately taken by surprise by the stances. They looked more like some kind of dance than any form of defensiveness. But Katara was the teacher.

He mimicked the first stance on the scroll, feeling notably awkward as he did so. Arms up, then down, then turn and to the side...

Katara watched him, noting how he moved, and where she could help him. In a moment, she got up and walked toward Fletcher, having shrugged off her waterbending clothes until she was just in her white undergarments.

"What you're doing right now are the first steps to waterbending. You can't actually bend the water of course, but the root of this is based on defensive movement. To be able to stand in any fight, its important to be fast n your feet and to keep balance. The beginner's training course first step is to mastering that, and as we progress, you'll find they come easier."

Katara demonstrated the same steps, slower so Fletcher could see not only Katara's movement and shift in balance of her body, but the breaths she took as she did so.

Fletcher nodded in understanding; "waterbending" was an unfamiliar word, but seeing her perform those motions did remind him of how water flowed. "That makes sense..." It didn't look anything like how Russel moved when he was fighting, but different teachers had different styles.

He imitated her motions as best he could, but even a casual observer could see he was doing it as strictly as possible, so caught up on getting the stance exactly right that he missed the flowing nature of the movements. More like ice than liquid water.

Katara nodded, then brought her hands over Fletcher's a moment. "You're doing ok, but you're missing a few things. For one don't forget to breathe: breathing is one of the most important things you can do. They can be subtle, but it has power, and you can use it when you need but, so keep that in mind."

She came over opposite him. "The more important thing, though is how you're moving: you have to have flexibility in your stance. Staying hard like a rock is only good when you know how to adjust your position. If you don't..."

She drew her hand up, and now the pool, inactive, produced a quick tendril that lashed at Fletcher and knocked him off his feet.

"...You lose balance."

So that was waterbending. "Ack!" He went flying and landed on his back some feet away. He wasn't hurt, but the breath was knocked out of him, and he winced as he pushed himself up to his feet.

Okay, so he'd definitely been doing it wrong. "How do I make it more flexible?"

Edited 2010-10-17 05:47 (UTC)

Katara nodded. She was glad he was asking a question like that: it was how he learned, it was how he would understand that anything that looked this easy had to be mastered and understood.

"A waterbender that has water as a natural element understands that our ancestors saw the water's flow, and through it understood its importance. To be flexible you have to be water at first, shifting, looking for a place to move. On this ship, you are hit with uncertainties, and they stop the flow of information that could help you. Once you realize these uncertainties are just rocks in a larger river that flows, you can shift your stance and still be strong."

To demonstrate, she took a stab at the enemy in front of her, her stance shifting, adapting to the enemy's attack. It tried retaliating but it became confused as Katara came at it in swift movement. She drew back as the enemy dissipated, and gave Fletcher a nod.

"Now you try."

Edited 2010-10-17 06:22 (UTC)

Fletcher nodded and took a few deep breaths. That all made sense. Be flexible. Be like water. 70% of his body was made of water, so that shouldn't be too hard, right?

He breathed in deeply again, then squared off as another illusory enemy appeared before him. He tried a jab with one hand, but it quickly evaded him. Fletcher's balance was off, though, so instead of realigning as Katara had, he fell over.

Hmm. This might actually be a physical thing, the more Katara watched Fletcher. He was definitely rigid, but at the same time she could also see the ability in him. She was clearly that she was simply losing something in the translation for him.She closed her eyes.

"Fletcher. What are you thinking, as you try these stances?"

He pushed himself up again and looked downward as he answered. "That... I have to get it right." He shrugged. If he was going to do something, it had to be done right.

Katara shook her head. "It is important to get it right, yes, but its not going to help you learn this. You have to lose yourself in the movement, you have to actually shift to a rhythm. If you stay bull headed, you'll always be lacking balance and the opponent can knock you down. You have to be ready."

She said this gently, then looked at him. "Try again."

Fletcher swallowed and tried to work that out in his mind. That was definitely new. He nodded and turned to face the enemy again, face set in determination.

He moved in to strike, dodging narrowly when it counterattacked. He skittered backward, eyes scanning for an opening -- not that he would really recognize one. He rushed in again, trying to do it how Katara had done it -- flowing, rhythmically. He spent so much of his effort trying to figure out the best way to strike that, once again, he was quickly knocked off his feet.

Katara watched him quietly, taking in how different this must be for him. She'd had a word with Ed about his world, and how they thought: in a way, Earthbending might have been a better martial art to teach him, buts he knew that this would be good for him too. What was more, she could see that he was learning from his mistakes.

When he fell this time, Katara helped him up. "You're doing better Fletcher, and I can tell you why this is so difficult: your whole body has to be ready to move to your opponents, and you have to protect yourself. Come on, let me show you a little more about these techniques..."

And she does, demonstrating each of the movements on the water scroll and relating how they were either good for defense or for keeping a balanced stance.

The Outsiders: Meeting 2

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