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[This is taken from the RPing dojo. Celestial wanted to actually make this a canonical rp between Rayan and Joy, and I am finally getting around to that.]

An indigo-haired man named Rayan stood in the middle of a large wooden floor, which was covered with upright wooden logs shaped to look like a faceless human. Four large overhead lights lit the room, and the small rectangular windows that lined the walls were black as space – as it was after the regular hours, Rayan had the training room all to himself.

Rayan held a flat, black cane with his right hand near the top and his left hand near the middle; the cane rested against his left hip. His posture was completely still, as if he had become one of the wooden dummies, except that his chest expanded with the rhythm of his breathing, as well as an occasional blink. His trench coat – the same shade of ebon as his boots and pants – cascaded down his figure, the hem ending at his heels; underneath the trench coat, Rayan wore a white open-necked shirt. Around his neck hung a beautiful cerulean scarf, the tail end falling parallel with his left arm.

Rayan trained his plasma green eyes on the dummy that his right foot, which was in front of Rayan’s left, was pointed towards. He saw all the vital points on the wooden figure in a single moment: neck, head, heart, gut, groin. He imagined the figure had flesh and wore a blood-drenched robe, as well. Rayan gave the figure two blood-colored eyes, long black hair, and a graceless scowl. The man’s hands rested on the hilt of the katana blade that hung at his left side.

When he stared at this figure of wood, Rayan saw Gai Himora: Rayan’s hated enemy, who had slain Rayan’s comrade.

In a flash, Rayan pulled on the cane, which separated near the top to reveal a dark-shaded blade. He lunged forward, moving so fast that his body blurred, appearing as black streaks. His sword arm dealt countless blows in motions too quick for the human eye. Rayan landed behind the dummy, his coat tail flowing, and kneeled down onto one knee. He slid his blade into its sheath, then stood and turned around. With a twist of his fingers, Rayan spun the cane around and then slammed the butt of it into the floor. All at once, the wooden bodies fell apart where they had been cut; heads, limbs and slabs of torso dropped to the floor all in unison. Rayan looked only upon the wooden corpse of his nemesis. He spat upon his foe’s head.

“I’ll achieve vengeance yet,” he said, still imagining his foe. “Mark me.”

The face of Gai grinned devilishly as the saliva turned to blood. With his tongue, Gai licked at the drops running down his cheek.

“Fool. You will never challenge me with such pathetic abilities,” Gai said. “I will enjoy breaking you as I did your friend.”

And with that, Gai’s features melted away, leaving only a wooden block on the training room floor. Rayan kicked it away, causing it to roll into the base of its body. He then walked towards the edge of the room, where a water bottle and towel waited for him. Rayan reached for the bottle, removed the cap, raised the bottle and leaned his head back. Crystal-smooth liquid slid down his throat. Rayan then placed the bottle back down and wiped his face dry with the towel before tossing it over his shoulder and walking towards the door. He still wore the same dagger-visioned look he had given Gai.

[And now, Celestial's reply, copied from the dojo...]

Joy sat in the entrance area, psyching herself up for some work on the punching bags. Her fists always ached for hours afterward and her abs would feel like a truck had rolled over them recently. She supposed she could always tone down her exercise intensity, but what fun would that be?

Today was an extremely casual day for Joy. Instead of her usual lace and flared cuffs, she was dressed simply in gym clothes. Black cotton yoga pants hugged her slim thighs and outlined her toned calves and a black tank top displayed her boyish frame simply but effectively. Her sports bra was blue and the thicker straps framed the spaghetti straps of the top, adding a bit of color to the ensemble. They also brought out the blue in her large eyes, transforming the wide-eyed baby look into one of frightful determination.

She then brought her long fingers towards her face, hooking them around sections of hair, and began to french braid her long black locks down the back of her head. Normally she would have gone with a simple high ponytail, but when she boxed Joy tended to spin around quite a bit. Getting whipped with one's own hair was never very satisfying. After the elastic was twisted around the end of her braid, Joy twirled it around itself and fixed the bun to her scalp with a handful of bobby pins.

After a few head whips to test the security of her hair, Joy stood up and wandered over to the lengths of bandages near the doorway that lead to the main training hall. She grabbed a few sets, stuck three bundles between her elbow and her waist, and unraveled the other. Joy strode into the room, her eyes fixated on the process of wrapping her left hand. Once she was finished attaching the small claw that kept the piece from unwinding, the girl looked up only to spy a man (slightly overdressed) glaring at a bunch of wooden dummies.

The very next thing she noticed was the tension in the air. Her eyebrows raised daintily, their arches outlining her surprise mixed with a bit of awe. It was quite hard to amass so much tension with only one person in the room! Her surprise turned into a tiny smirk. Well, this would be interesting, at the very least. Her passive sensitivity to vibrations in the air told her nothing more than she could already see. He was ridiculously angry.

Well, Joy thought, whatever works for him. I suppose anger is an integral part of fighting. Why should training be any different? Though this does seem a bit... excessive... Still, Joy was intrigued, and that didn't dissipate easily.

Joy searched the room for a bench and found one with a water bottle and towel set on it. She moved them over unceremoniously and plunked herself down on the bench. They ended up on the floor, the bottle rolled softly backwards and forwards until it settled beside one of her bare feet. Oops.

Not one to be conspicuous in her observations, Joy began to work on wrapping her right hand, taking her time with it. Then, she worked on both feet, carefully covering the more sensitive parts, taping her toes together and securing a length around her ankles. All the time keeping a careful eye on the man. His scarf puzzled her a bit, but she dismissed it as a quirk. A lot of people here at Ria had those, and she was definitely one of them.

When the man made his move, slicing at the dummies, Joy felt rather than saw it. The clean cuts he made with his sword severed the room's ambient vibrations. The shock waves traveled rapidly across the room and jarred against her pale skin, making her clench her teeth as the sudden end to the frequencies slapped her, leaving invisible welts. It wasn't painful, per se, but created a certain amount of discomfort to her body. The vibrations soon normalized themselves and Joy could once again see the sword that had moved so fast. Her awe was limited to the speed of the wielder, the actual results of those slashes did nothing for her. Supposedly the dummies' current state should have surprised her more, but Joy had already experienced the sword's speed and acuteness physically so a couple slices through wood wasn't very impressive in comparison.

Soon her wary bearing transformed into one of cool amusement. He was talking to the dummies! Either he had an unhealthy imagination/obsession or he was unaware she was in the room.. which could also technically point to the former. Either way, her impression of the man took a swift curve and her eyes began to sparkle with their normal mischief. Perhaps training should wait until after a confrontation with this man?

When the realization came that the man was moving towards her bench, specifically his towel and water bottle, Joy quickly moved out of his way to block the doorway instead. She leaned a shoulder against it, arms crossed in front of her unimpressive chest, both hands wrapped as well as each foot. One ankle draped across the other. She looked relaxed, but her eyes said differently. They were rather excited.

Eventually the man crossed the room, the towel thrown nonchalantly over one shoulder, his face a picture of cantankerousness. This did not deter her in the least, but rather spurred Joy to say in a lofty and slightly mocking voice: "You know, even though the school does replace them, it's common courtesy not to demolish their training devices," she paused for a few moments to build tension before adding: "and you forgot your water bottle." She rose an elegant finger from their weave to punctuate her statement by pointing to the accused water bottle.