piratejournal | 002 - written, audio/action for the Spades

Entry tags:

haruta,
rogue

002 - written, audio/action for the Spades

Funny how ~~shit~~ stuff [She catches the language and, out of habit, corrects it. Nevermind that the professor isn't here to scold her or tell her she has to set an example. It hasn't been long enough for habits of a year to be trained out her.] changes in a week.

Funnier still that I'm kind of getting used to it. Not as bad as I thought it'd be, actually. Not too different than going somewhere with my team. I've got good people looking out for me, too. That helps.

I don't know what to think about this place. My hunt for pyramids is going to have to wait, though. If anyone sees any, though, let me know. Especially if you've got island names. I'll see about checking them out eventually.

[Because Acpocalypse is her second priority. First, the slavers. Marco's brothers. Ending what they've started.

Then she'll worry about seeing if it could be Apocalypse behind all of this.]

Thanks,
Rogue

[After some seconds, perhaps the time it took her to decide it, she draws something next to her signature.]

♠

[Private to the Spades:]

Hey, y'all. Sorry t' be a bother.

I'm a little restless. Not bad or anythin', but I need t' blow off some of the stress. Lot goin' on in my head, y'know? An' no Danger Room t' run sims in.

So, who wants t' go a few rounds? Throw a couple of punches, practice a little? No powers, jus' a workout an' spar.

I'll be on deck if anyone's interested.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're the new girl, right? Not sure if your timing is good or bad on joining the crew, but welcome to you anyhow.

What kind of fighting style do you have?

[It's a boyish voice, because Haruta is the King of gender befuddlement in the Spades]

Knew what I was gettin' into when I joined. Heard Marco over the journal an' tol' 'im I was with 'im.

[Because, hey, if she's made a mistake? She made it. It was her choice, and that makes it acceptable.]

Sorta an MMA style. Kinda got taught a lot of different things an' they all got mixed in. 'Long with some gymnastics.

If Marco's good with you, so am I. [Haruta says with a smile in her voice]

[MMA? She's not sure on the term is all. But she might get the idea at least] Gymnastics is good. So you're more a hand to hand fighter? Any sword training?

Thank ya.

Hand-to-hand, an' I know how t' use a bo staff. Don' have one, though I'm thinkin' 'bout gettin' one.

Hmm. [Bo staff, huh? Not her specificity but she knows how they work well enough. She even has one...]

I might be able to help with that. Not that it's good enough for real combat, but I picked up a couple to help train others with. Some wooden swords, couple of beat up staffs. Wont serve you well in the field, but if you want to practice with em, just ask.

Might help t' stay sharp with 'em. Never really learned anything with swords. Prob'ly be a good idea t' learn, though, huh?

Can't hurt. One either account. You said you'd be on deck, right? Gimmie a few minutes and I'll meet you there, if you want a few lessons.

That'd be great. An' yeah, I'm on deck.

See you in a bit then.

[She needed the distraction anyhow, and training a newbie was always a good distraction. It was part of her job anyhow.]

[Hitting the Armory room she pulled out training swords and a bo staff. When she hits deck, she has the tree of them in a hand and over a shoulder. A large gold saber at her hip. She's dressed in white pants over blue shoes. Her shirt wasn't her normal green tunic, but a black and green button up, worn long with a belt around it to hold her sword.]

[Her appearance is very boyish. She looks young. He voice and tone tends to come out boyish as well.]

[as Haruta comes out on deck she spots the girl she doesn't know. Clearly the new one. Coming up to her she lowered the three weapons to rest them, tips down on the deck.] Rogue, right? I'm Haruta. One of Mrco's brothers.

Right. Nice t' meet ya.

[Unlike others from her world, Rogue doesn't offer her hand, even gloved. She's been trained out of that since a young age. Avoid physical contact as much as possible. Fighting's been the one exception, and she understands why, now. Because her purpose when fighting is to be her own weapon. To strike and grab with her bare hands once her powers manifested.

Weapons' training will help with that.

She smiles at the boy, as she takes Haruta to be, especially after the word 'brothers.' The age? Doesn't bother her. Just because someone's younger than her doesn't mean they've got nothing to teach her.]

Thanks for offerin', by the way.

[It's okay, she didn't offer a hand anyhow, mostly because she's a pirate, and handshakes were reserved for deals not greetings. Getting too close to someone like that could be a problem sometimes. Not that she felt there was one here, but it's been trained into her brain almost the same as it has with Rogue.]

[And that would be the other funny part of Haruta's appearance. She's in her mid thirties. Not that one can tell, as she does come off ridiculously young.]

No problem. It's part of my job with this crew. That and it's a good distraction from thoughts. First... [she takes the staff and holds it up, then tosses it with a hand so the girl can catch it. It's battered, beaten and has nicks in it. But it's still usable.] Until you get a proper one, you can use this. I keep it in the Amory otherwise.

[Rogue catches the staff and twists it in her wrist. She makes a few quick, practiced movements with it, checking the weight and balance. Different than the muscles in her body think it should be, but she can adjust to that easily enough.

She can't expect to find a Thieves' Guild staff here.]

Appreciate it.

I'll take good care of it.

Aww, it's just a piece of wood. If it gets broken, we'll find a new one for training.

[She moved to sit on of the wooden swords to the side, and then carefully took her real one off, propping it against a wall to the side of the deck, safe and out of the way. No sense using it, but she likes to keep it near.]

So, what can you do with the staff? How much training do you have in combat?

Got ten-ish years with MMA. Karate started at seven, moved to some judo, little bit of jiu-jitsu. Kickboxin' from fourteen t' seventeen. An' just general combat for the last year or so. Only practical experience I got.

[She shifts her grip on the staff, moving it experimentally as she lets her mind sift through what it knows and what it doesn't know if knows. To movements that feel natural and speak to at least a decade of experience with a weapon of a very similar make.]

Staff's a little harder t' explain. Got the muscle mem'ry, but don' know how many years went into that.

[She took in a lot of that. For Haruta, she's into hand held weapons, blades mostly. With Haki she's sharper of course, but in natural talent, she's a hopper. Gymnastic almost. Toss a blade in her hand and she's deadly. Years of training.]

[She smiled at the girls list of training though, and brought the wooden sword up in a lose grip, a side long stance, for now, alsmot fencing style, with her other hand behind her.]

So, what you're saying is I wont have to hold back too much. Promise I won't do any damage. [The far hand could just be see, giving a 'come on' wave with her fingers.]

Let's put it this way:

[She's definitely smiling as she says it.]

I'm still learnin' what I know. And I don' mind bruises.

[She had plenty from the Danger Room and just the fights the X-Men found. Few bruises might make her feel more at home, actually.

Rogue shifted a bit, gripping the staff with both hands. It takes only a moment for her to decide, subconsciously, what to do, and her body goes with it. She knows not to argue with those impulses. The personalities might be gone, but the body still knows. The training is somewhere in her mind, buried deep, woven in with her own.

She darts forward, seemingly striking to bring the bottom of the staff up, leading with her right hand, but, once close, she drops down and takes the staff with her, swinging it with her left hand in front at the other's knee.]

That makes you worth teaching, you realize.

[a simple comment, but it was how she felt about it. A few bruises didn't mean anything if it taught a person to to not get them. If they can learn to avoid the hits they can manage to keep their limbs and stay alive, right?]

[Seemed sound to her.]

[As the girl moved she stayed in place a moment, eyes judging how she moved, what she might steps to do. They don't call her the Frog Prince for no reason, so as the staff came low near her knees, her legs pushed her up, in a hop over, and her sword gracefully swung around to behind the trail of the staff, wood barely touching wood as it followed her movement, tapping it lightly before arcing away and back, her feet landing a half a foot back. If she had a second sword in hand, Rogue's hit would have taken a hit. Instead she grinned, letting Rogue take the offensive still.]

[Rogue did her best to twist around as her opponent took to the air, trying to defend the weak area that was her back. The sound of wood on wood, light as it was, told her of the imminent danger -- if this had been a real fight.

But her body reacted like it was. At least to some degree. As she twisted to try and keep facing Haruta, she abandoned one hand's grip on the staff to arch back in a single-handed handspring. She landed in a kneel and took the staff up in both hands again, poised defensively in front of her body.

The first reaction -- possible, in this case, with only one opponent and not one who'd gone straight in for the kill the moment an opportunity was there -- was, it seemed, to put distance between herself and an enemy. Give herself time to regroup.]

[Feet light on the deck, she stepped back a moment, sword in hand and eyed the girl. Good reactions. Left herself open, sure, but her recovery was good. and the handspring was impressive. Haruta could respect someone who put that level of movement into their weapons battles.]

[Since the girl went defensive, Haruta took no time now to move, feet light as she stepped in to close the distance. A simple move for now, swinging at the staff itself. Intending to do a few hits and swings, to see how well she blocked on coming attacks and what she would do to break them.]

[First hit aimed right for her staff, the second coming from left, then a right, and then anything to meet her blocks until she found her opening to return fie, or back off.]

[Where did her movements end and Gambit's begin? Rogue didn't know. But she moved with the staff and the attacks, blocking with practiced skill, even as she tried to grasp the way her body wanted to move. She gave over to the instincts, though.

Understanding could come later. Reason could come later.

For now, she just needed to know how to move when. She could train her conscious mind to use these skills. For now, she blocked the attacks, stepping when she needed to do. And when Rogue saw a chance, she aimed a single-handed strike with the staff at Haruta. A little wild, but that was the point. Because when she made the strike, her other hand lashed out to aim the heel of her gloved hand at Haruta's wrist holding the sword.

A simple move to attempt to disarm.]

[Haruta was one of the Whitebeards greatest swordsmen, though not the best in all the world and maybe not even the best of the Whitebeards, but she was made the 12th division commander for a list of reasons, one of them being her skill in combat. But also in training.]

[She could have laid Rogue out several times with little thought, but where was the lesson in that? She could have sped up and whacked her a few good ones here and there, but again, what good was that. This was meant as training, but more... as a way for the other to blow off steam (as well as for Haruta to see how she fights).]

[The blocks were good. Steady. And as the attack came in, she grinned, a bit impressed as it happened. A little wild, but not bad at all. She could see the other had something planned. Her hand came up, palm taking the force of the staff and fingers wrapping around it, twisting the grip in an attempt to disarm the other. Mean while, the hand that came for her sword hand made contact, though her hand purposely dropped the sword, twisted around to grab hold at the girls wrist, and tried to twist her around.]

[The end result twisted Rogues hand carefully, and with little pressure, around her back, the bow staff wedged in between the girls body and her arm, but also shoved down past the girls knee. A kick of the staff could bend the girl to her will. But she didn't take it that far, grinning.]

Not bad. I like your guts in movement. [She let both staff and girl go, sliding back to scoop up her dropped wooden sword a moment later, moving back to tuck her free hand behind her back, sword tip turned to the ground, resting.] Where did you learn?

Dislocate it and go back. [She gave the remark as she moved the arm Haruta was holding. It was a kind of shrug, just to indicate what she was talking about. That if this was a dangerous situation, if she had to, she'd dislocate her own arm to get away, to vault back over Haruta.

It'd hurt, but it'd be better than being trapped.

But this wasn't that kind of situation. So she stepped back, giving a kind of nod.]

With the staff? Kinda learned from a friend of mine.

[She nodded in understanding. It wasn't that kind of situation. She'd be a horrible teacher if she harmed those she was working with just to prove a point. There was much more talent to bringing it to a controlled point and stopping then there was in breaking arms or dislocations.]

[But, she did understand, and the fact the girl would consider it was smart.] Smart. If I hadn't been tracking your movements, a move like that would take out a lesser fighter. Disarm them and leave them at your mercy. Do you put a lot of thought in your actions, or roll with instincts?

Hand-to-hand I've been taught to think and move at the same time.

[She moved to sit on the railing, balancing on it. The staff waited at her feet.]

With somethin' like the staff? I don' know it well enough t' think. Just learnin' what the instinct is right now, then I can learn t' think an apply it.

[Which sounds kind of crazy, actually. Without an understanding of her powers, it probably doesn't make any sense. But Rogue isn't really considering that.]

[It actually doesn't sound so crazy to her.] Most people start that way. They pick up a weapon, start to run on instinct and swing wildly. Fight hard. Fight fast and sometimes unpredictable.

[She moved to the wall, taking up the other wooden training sword, holding both point down, hands on the butt and out to her sides. This felt better then moping about over how slow they were going in finding her brothers.]

Once you understand the weapon better that way the thinking comes easier. Over thinking things in the early stages tends to leave you with mistakes. To me it sounds, and looks like you're in the early stages of fighting with it, but have potential to go places with that staff.

[she lifted a hand to wave the girl back down to be ready.] Stay on the defensive. Block everything. I'll bring them in slow enough, but let's see those instincts in action.

[Part of her wishes Gambit was there. Right then. Because she wants to feel it again, that indestructible, inexhaustible feeling a tap from him gave. Pure energy. And the staff in her hands. Something she only just touched on using in her own training. Enough to help him in New Orleans but nothing like what she felt in the training rooms after he'd touched her.

And because the skills don't come and stay perfectly the first time. Another tap or two and she'd have most of his experience with the staff.

But Gambit isn't here. So, she has to learn the old fashioned way. Which, in a way? Is kind of fun to think about.]

Got it.

[She gets off the rail, takes the staff up, and slides into a defensive position.]

[she smiled, glad to see the girl wasn't a easy quitter.]

Alright. I'm not aiming for body attacks. Just going to see if you can keep up a defense and figure my moves. Stick to your intuition, once you get comfortable, start trying to read my movements and figure where the next might come. We'll keep going until you give or I back you into a corner.

[Right, there was space confinements to keep in mind too.]

[Haruta kept it simple to start, exaggerated swings going from left to right, right to left. Some up, some down. At first there was a readable rhythm, predictable, but then it shifted to something more erratic. A flinched move here, a round house hit there. She'll pick up the pace after a bit as well, bringing both swords in faster, to be blocked upper and lower at once, or to see if she can move from one hit to another swiftly.]

[When the movements started, Rogue did her best to let her mind go. A strange mix of freedom and control. Freedom to let the muscles Gambit knew how to use do their thing, control to keep herself just using the staff. Because she needed to focus on one thing at a time.

Now wasn't the time for integration.

Gambit's personality was gone, that Cajun drawl in the back of her head. Which made it harder to seek out and grasp his training, the way his school wanted her body to move. But she kept up with Haruta for the most part. A few got by her -- mostly when she was thinking too much -- but she kept going. When she needed to move, when her feet wouldn't hold her in one place any more, it wasn't back or forward, it was to the side, almost circling.

Trying to avoid, at least for now, getting backed into a corner.]

You've got a team? What do they do?

We...

Guess we try t' save the world? There are a lot of people who try t' hurt other people, that kinda thing. We stop 'em.

Sounds like it's pretty important work.

It is. We do what we can, at least.

You guys save the world, right? What do you save it from?

Usually small scale stuff. Natural or not. Only jus' had t' deal with somethin' that wanted t' take over the world. Beat 'im, though.

I guess this place isn't as bad as it could be. I mean, I like to think of it as a really extended cruise.

[Just on a less fancy ship. And with far less comforts from home.]

I don' mind it too much. I mean. Sure I will. But right now? Could be worse.

Mind not saying that too loudly? You never know who might be listening in.

I find it's "things can' get any worse" that makes things happen. Admittin' they could? Don' see the harm in that.

Let's see if you still feel the same way once things actually get worse.

I ain' real good at "quiet" m'self. I'd rather be doin' someone some good.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

002 - written, audio/action for the Spades

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