Training, in various ways...

[morganknight]

After a few days -- weeks -- however long he'd been here, Morgan had finally settled into what he considered to be an adequate training regimen, for those times when he wasn't needed in Medical.

As a general rule, he began his day in the Sensorium, shaping it in the image of the mountaintop dojo he favored. One lone building atop a peak in the midst of a mountain range, lacking walls so the cool, thin air could drift through as he ran through forms and katas. A path wound its way around the peaks, and the frigid springs that formed small lakes and streams that poured off the edges in grand waterfalls. Next to this path ran a series of poles on which he ran, or jumped, when his regimen called for that sort of exercise.

Training in a simulated environment like this was old hat.

After he finished there, it was off to the river, where he (with some effort) persuaded his plantsuit to retract till it resembled closer to a bathing suit than anything. For what felt, at least, like an hour or two, the Akashic stood motionless in the river, submerged up to his neck. Legs spread, arms out, and hair streaming behind him in the current, he meditated. Harmony and moving in tune with the universe were key to his philosophy, after all. The currents, the flow of water around his fingers and limbs, and the silence were magnificent for that sort of understanding.

Then, off to the W.I.T.C.H. bus! Since Kaya had so kindly allowed him use of its training facilities, he made good use of that offer. This section of his training he devoted to melee weapons -- primarily his sword, of course, but he allotted time for other swords, staffs, daggers and knives, and tonfa as well.

And last, perhaps the oddest of all training exercises if one didn't know that to the mind of an Akashic, all things are martial arts: Morgan returned to the sensorium, not to fight or exercise or run, but to play. Electric guitar in hand, voice lifted in defiance of his one-held belief that he simply sounded terrible, and whatever backing was necessary conjured by environment, he rocked out, mixing up from simple guitar covers to lead guitar and vocals in full songs.

That lasted until he was exhausted, satisfied, or -- admittedly -- hit hard enough by nostalgia that continuing became prohibitive. Then it was time to clean up, relax, and see what else he had to do.

Comments

[morganknight]

"Not bad," he said from atop the pole, watching. "Do you do any hand-to-hand fighting, or do you focus on the sword?"

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"I was trained in the art of the sword since I could walk," she explained, "although I had not been explained why, I later figured out it was because the legendary Zenithian weapon was a sword. Alena was the one in our group who employed her fists in combat."

[morganknight]

"That just speaks all the more highly of your skill then," he said. He hopped down to the pool with her -- choosing to obstinately stand on top of the water.

Yes, he was showing off.

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

If Sofia was impressed, it was honestly hard to see with her stoic expression. She jumped down and stood by the water's edge.

"Is this the work of the sensoriums, or can you really walk on water?" Better to ask.

[morganknight]

"No, I can really do it," he said, amused. This girl practically had 'tough nut to crack' written in large neon letters above her head. "I wouldn't be learning anything if everything I did was sensorium tricks!"

[slime-earrings.livejournal.com]

"Then I apologize. I have seen a few others taking advantage of the Sensoriums unique abilities to do similar things." It wasn't that Sofia didn't approve of using them to their full advantage, but they did tend to mess up her acceptance of reality.

"So you are a fighting mage from your world?" She knew a few of those, Kiryl being the most prominent member.

[morganknight]

"That is technically accurate, but somewhat misleading," he said. "I don't go 'casting spells' or whatnot; everything I do that could be considered supernatural is just an extension of my training and ability."

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

There weren't that many who could do that in Sofia's world, so that left her somewhat confused. You either were able to cast spells, or you were not. Terms like chi or supernatural extensions were not familiar concepts.

"I see," she finally said, unsure what to ask next. There was silence for a few seconds before she spoke. "What else can you do?"

[morganknight]

"That's a pretty broad question. The things I'm best at are dealing with living beings, and forces. Walking on water is, if you really get right down to it, just making sure the force I exert on the water is equal to the force it exerts on me."

He glanced down at his feet, then back up at her with a grin. "Wanna try?"

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

So a sort of magical manipulation of gravity, her brain decided, to put it into terms someone from her world would understand.

As for doing it herself...she wasn't too sure. It wasn't that Sofia didn't trust the man (even if she partly didn't), but rather the idea didn't seem...well she could swim just fine, she didn't need to float on water as well.

"I'm not sure," she finally admitted. "It is an interesting skill, but I can fly over bodies of water if I desire."

[morganknight]

"I can do that, but not very easily," he admitted. "Flight was never my strong point. Then again, I rarely have call to get over bodies of water just all on my own anyway, so this is mostly for fun in any case!"

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

Therein lied Sofia's biggest problem.

"...I haven't done that many things in my life for fun," she replied. "I had fun with my childhood friend but..." that brought back all sorts of bad memories of how she had been murdered. "Being the Chosen Hero did not give me much time to enjoy things. Apart, perhaps from the casino or two we visited."

Her world was bizarre, sometimes.

[morganknight]

"Seems like you should change that," he said, thoughtfully. "Now seems like the time, right? It isn't as if there's much Chosen Heroing to be done here on the ship, not all the time anyway."

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"The Ohm could attack us at any second," she replied. Testy testy. Finally with a sign she relented just a tiny bit. "But I suppose if my friends saw me now, they'd be telling me the same."

[morganknight]

"They could, and I'd be the last person to say you should slack on your training! But you can't swing a sword all day, it's not healthy. There's a limit. Besides," he said, smiling, "we'll be ready if the Ohm come no matter what, right? It's too deep in our blood for us NOT to be prepared."

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"I just don't swing my sword all day," she corrected. "I also hone my spells and magic skills." SAME THING, REALLY. But she was too used to it.

"But you're right..." And now she wasn't sure what to do.

[morganknight]

"Well, there's no real difference for me, but I sympathize anyway. Still." He folds his arms expectantly, looking at her. "What do you LIKE to do?"

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

She thought about it for a minute.

"I enjoy sword sparring against opponents." It wasn't that Sofia didn't have side hobbies, but having done it most of her life, if she had hated it, it would have been a terrible thing, right?

But it did make her quite boring.

[morganknight]

At least Morgan laughed, instead of scorning her. "I can get behind that, actually, but I feel like, having encouraged you to do something fun, I really ought to stay away from the overt training-like fun."

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"And what is your suggestion?" Because if you were going to suggest she bring lunches to someone, the answer was going to be no. THAT BROUGHT BAD LUCK okay.

[morganknight]

Given what she'd told him... "I suppose playing an instrument is out of the question?"

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"Maybe if it was a triangle," she said, remembering the jokes the sisters had said about her.

AND THAT WAS AS MUCH HUMOR AS YOU'D GET FROM OUT OF HER. Probably.

[morganknight]

"I could always teach you, though I'm only familiar with the electric guitar." Which might be a bit obnoxious... or hey, maybe she'd love it...?

[zenithianhero.livejournal.com]

"Why would a guitar need to be electrical?" she asked back. At best, she'd seen parts with their lutes, but nothing powered like the technology here. It seemed almost counter-productive, truthfully. But hey, she wasn't saying no, at this point.

[morganknight]

"Because the signal is electrical, it can be amplified or altered a lot more readily than a normal guitar. That allows more musical versatility, as well as making it possible to make the strings more responsive with less precision, allowing for faster or more tricky play."

Hopefully that was a good answer?