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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
7
Total: 7 (1-20)
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 Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:04 pm
He imagined the tree as an approaching ball, thrown from the hands of an amateur pitcher. So this mental image would be of a simple fast ball coming straight at him. He shifted around, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. The sword still raised over his shoulder made small circles as the ball in his head came closer and closer. Shin waited for the right moment, the best moment to swing his bat sword and make a nice homerun tree cleaving slash. He waited and waited for what seemed like a lifetime as that ball inched closer to him.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post20 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 7 + 2 = 9 (Fail) | Successes = 8
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
8
Total: 8 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:05 pm
And then the moment finally came, the moment when the ball was in just the right place. Shin did not hesitate to dig in with his forward foot as he brought both hands forward in a rapid spin meant to hit that ball out of the park. The mental image having completed its usefulness seemed to vanish as Shin saw what was really going on, he was hacking at the tree as if he had an axe. And that just wasn't working for him, a sword and an axe are not the same after all. There was just something fundamentally wrong with his current approach.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post21 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 8 + 2 = 10 (Fail) | Successes = 8
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
18
Total: 18 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:07 pm
So as his swing completed its arc and he realized that his baseball metaphor just made him look like an idiot, it was too late. His bokken was flying once more. While he grumbled and mumbled as he bent down to pick up his misshapen piece of wood, he began to think about why his approach was wrong. Besides the fact that baseball was baseball and sword fighting was swordfighting, there was another major flaw there. A flaw he began to mule over again and again in his head before he came to any conclusion. And once he did, his eyes lit up light a Christmas tree. Knowing your enemy was half the battle after all, a victory all to itself.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post22 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 18 + 2 = 20 (Pass) | Successes = 9
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
8
Total: 8 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:08 pm
With this new nugget of knowledge in hand, Shin rushed back to his spot and got back to slicing. And his new approach was very visibly different from his original strategy. Instead of hacking and slashing like a maniac, Shin was beginning to show more of calmer side to himself. He was taking alot of deep breathes and his swinging stopped being so rough and fiery. No longer was the whole weight of his body barreling through each strike. It was almost as if he was new person but make no mistake this was still Shin Takamura.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post23 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 8 + 2 = 10 (Fail) | Successes = 9
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
8
Total: 8 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:09 pm
The only difference was that he had recognized the key to this sword fighting thing, or so he thought. And he was just trying to experiment with his new found knowledge. You see, Shin figured that the reason he was failing was his aggressive approach. And sword fighting was not the sport of barbarians, it was sport of civilized people. People who fought with calmness instead of anger, people who fought with grace. What he needed to do was to add some more grace and flow to each and every one of his strokes.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post24 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 8 + 2 = 10 (Fail) | Successes = 9
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
10
Total: 10 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:10 pm
And not too longer after he began to change it up, Shin began to see some progress here and there. With his strokes now more controlled than before, he was actually aiming instead of unleashing strikes. He was waiting, staring at the tree until he spotted any sort of opening or weakness. The tree wasn't a human being so it had no reason to hide these weaknesses, the spots of rotting or injured parts which could be easily severed from the whole. So it did not take too long for him to seize an opportunity and strike, but it was practice nonetheless.Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post25 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 10 + 2 = 12 (Fail) | Successes = 9
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LuvMonke rolled 1 20-sided dice:
14
Total: 14 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:11 pm
And so Shin would continue, striking the tree over and over again to get a grasp on of this "grace" thing. He'd first look for an opening and then take it, utilizing tight pivots of his hips and sharp strong flicks of his wrist to bring power to each strike. And gradually his form began to improve. Seeing as that was awhat he was missing before, the proper form and mind set that went into swordplay. Sword fighting is an art form, not a bunch of idiots smacking each other with sticks. It requires some of the form and grace that Shin was now acquiring. Quote: Bokken Exercises - Post26 DC= 15 | Formula= Roll + Weapon Proficiency(2) Roll = 14 + 2 = 16 (Pass) | Complete 10/10
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:13 am
The gypsies would eventually flood every single boat they owned in their hurry to get to the main island, and not a moment sooner. They ended up surprising Rain's army from behind and cutting through their ranks swiftly like a knife through hot butter, allowing the exhausted ninja in the hospital to regroup. Then the resident scout gypsy, only known as Scout spotted Rain up there preparing something that looked deadly and warned everyone, and with as much efficiency as they had come the gypsies left back to their island. Fortunately, Scout had the decency to warn the shinobi in the hospital as well, aiding them in their escape.
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kouri-chan_xx Vice Captain
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kouri-chan_xx Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:23 am
 Nodding to the boatman in thanks, the young man stepped onto the streets of the Witch Market. It wasn't nighttime, so the night market wasn't out which meant that the streets were less busy than usual. Still, the experience of being in the Witch Market was like no other. Being so close to a living volcano was always a breathtaking or nervewracking experience, depending on the type of person you were, and the strange arts the gypsies dabbled in didn't help any. On one side of the street someone was cooking up a very strange soup while a smell reminiscent of incense wafted from the other side. There were perfume shops, animal stores, anything and everything weird was here. It was a wonderful olfactory experience.
The young man stood still for a moment, seeming to exhale it all in. Of course no one paid much attention to him, on the surface that is. They had all noticed his appearance and were wondering who this man who looked so much like Batou was. The man didn't make them wait any longer as he quickly located the Despada Store and entered.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 11:43 pm
 Batou looked up with an apathetic expression as the bell at his door jingled. It was a bit early to have customers... His expression quickly morphed to a suspicious one after seeing his customer though. By reflex he went for one of his kunais that were slotted smoothly into his weapons holster. But his guest held up two placating hands and dropped his weapons onto the ground with a clunk. Judging from the volume of the sound, it was quite a large amount of them too.
"You..." Batou said suspiciously, slowly putting the kunai back into his holster. He examined his customer carefully.
{TBC!!!!! biggrin }
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kouri-chan_xx Vice Captain
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kouri-chan_xx Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:07 am
 "It's you, isn't it? Batou said carefully, but his hands still remained ready to whip the kunai out again if he was wrong. "Unorthodox disguise. But effective," he complimented who he believed to be his best friend. "Gypsy relations with the main island have worsened over the past 2 years. Now that you're actually here, you're safe."
Andou waited a bit more before finally dissipating his henge. It was more of a show of trust than anything and he winced as faint vestiges of his chakra, produced by the dissipation, drifted off into the distance. That had probably been a bad move, but it was necessary.
He looked exactly the same, and the fact that he still hadn't been caught spoke more of the incompetence of Kirigakure's units rather than his own ability. But his experiences over the past two years had changed him greatly. Change number 1 was already becoming apparent as he smiled at Batou.
"It's been too long," he said, and briefly embraced his childhood friend, former teammate, confidant and lancer. Change number 2 - the Andou of before was either greatly disapproving or nervous of basic human contact. He smirked when he saw that Batou was surprised. "My time spent outside the village has been... illuminating," he conceded.
"Take a seat, come on," Batou said, still stunned by the fact that this man who had been so deeply repressed before was freely showing his emotions. "Wait a moment," he added, before striding over to the door and closing it. After a 'click' Batou joined Andou back at the table.
"So," he said, leaning on his elbows on the tabletop, fingers clasped together and brought to his mouth in a thoughtful gesture. "What do you need help with."
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:13 am
Andou chuckled which was an odd sound for him. "I'm not sure if you can help me," he admitted. "But I want to leave the continent. Before that, I want to bring some of my former students with me. Life here right now under this government is too pointless. They should be devoting themselves to a more worthy cause, like helping Konoha against the tyrant daimyo and restoring its good name, or even helping build Sunagakure back up into a robust village. Not having their talents leeched by ungrateful higher ups." He leaned back, relaxing and draping his arms over the back of the chair frame. "I've done some scouting and the guard is terrible. But I still need a distraction on the main island... I've organised transport from the Witch Market. That's where I need your help in." He glanced at Batou who remained thoughtful.
"This place isn't going to remain unstable for long," Batou stated after some thought. "There are these two men. They'll need time, but I think they can get Kirigakure and the Water Country together. It's just a matter of time. So it would be good for you to leave now." Although Batou privately thought that Andou would make a good leader, he didn't bring up the topic. Who knows what Andou himself wanted now. "I can organise that," he said. "Ever since my Gran died, I've become more popular with the folk." He rolled his eyes. "I'm a replacement of sorts, see? It's simple for me to just start a riot."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Andou said somberly. "She was a fascinating person." That's probably the nicest thing he could have said about her. "I better get going now then. Have to find my students. Hope to see you soon, sometime." He extended a hand to Batou, who grasped it firmly in a gesture of bro-hood. "You're a good friend," he said before they parted hands and parted ways.
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kouri-chan_xx Vice Captain
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