Welcome to Gaia! ::

Reply [Classrooms]
[Melee Class] Balance & Focus: Earako

Quick Reply

Enter both words below, separated by a space:

Can't read the text? Click here

Submit

Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:55 pm


A propor girl... that was what he'd read, which was a wonderful start. To be mindful and respectful of your teachers was the only way one could truely learn from them...

Fighting from a distance... hates close contact, and hates magic... the teacher had made a mental note to discuss this... To balance was not just the ability to stand on one foot, but the ability to work in many situations... balancing both body and mind, which included one's skills.

It also said she was nervous around men... a curious thing... A nervous body was an unfocused one, which he hoped to help-- but also presented a problem. To aleviate it, a female technician stood off to the side... closer to the building.

The classroom was set outside, to give the bat full range of her wings, set out behind the large corporation... close to, but not against the canyon's ledge. The sun was just about to set... a bit late for a class, but the lighting around the tall building provided enough for Kayin to see, and he assumed the bat would be able to do much more in this lighting. He waited there for his student, shuffling about his supplies with one hand as he read over her file held between his fingers in the other.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:51 pm


The bat, known as she was by some for her outlandish outfits, no longer arrived at battle practices so adorned. Still, one could sense a touch of, or at least a longing for, glamor in the black suede pants and fitted black hoodie peppered lightly with ruby rhinestones. Her sunglasses were off for once, the fading light didn't hurt her eyes the way it might have a few hours earlier. Behind her, a groggy Vimber walked with surprisingly sedateness, butting Earako on occasion with her nose, but not growling in her usual manner.

Arriving in sight of the teacher, Earako paused, taking in the situation with a haunted, uneasy glance. There was something there all right, in the way her eyes stopped on the teacher, in the way she seemed to fall still. One could almost see a cold descend over her, see her shoulders square, her expression go from amusement at Vimber's nudges to absolute blankness. She couldn't control the situation. She could, however, control herself.

"Go sit." She commanded the dragon, her voice a drifting whisper devoid of the affection one might expect. And Vimber, knowing well her partner in this room, did so after giving a growling promise that she would watch. Earako, however, was already moving forward, approaching until she was just a bit out of arms reach. At least he wasn't a magic teacher, she told herself. That at least, was something.

"Sir. My name is Earako. I believe I am to train with you?"

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:11 am


The slight pause, uneasy look... it was all very easy to read. It wasn't a good habit, either... fear could be used to an opponent's advantage.

Kayin smiled none the less, nodding politely to her introduction. "My name is Kayin... its a pleasure to meet you." he set aside the folder... gesturing to the technician standing to the side. "This is 598, she'll be supervising our lesson today." the technician gave a smile and a slight wave at the introduction.

"if there's anything you need, or at any time you feel uncomfortable with the training, remember to let myself or miss 598 know, alright?" it wasn't terribly hard to tell he was trying to accomidate her uneasy nature, but it was written all up and down in her files... "If you don't have any questions, I'd like to get started.... lets see... I assume you've learned propor streaches from your previous teachers?" he rose an arm, streaching to the side... "We'll start with those, do whats comfortable to you. If I see you need improvement I'll let you know."
PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:58 am


"Hello, Miss." It was difficult to say whether the introduction of a safe observer effected her. Her tone was still icy, her face expressionless. Still, she was polite. One got the impression that even if she was fighting for her continued existence, Earako would be polite about it.

At the teacher's instruction, she gave a short nod. "Yes, sir." She murmured, before settling to the ground and beginning to reach for her toes. She could just reach them. While Earako spent hours a day on target practice, whether it be with knives, guns, or bow, she didn't pay nearly so much attention to the immediate upkeep of her body. When she had demands of it (as she had once demanded that it be graceful) she practiced and pushed until she mastered the skill she'd set her mind on. But she was otherwise generally unaware of the good stretching and working out might do her.

So, with some hesitance, she began to follow the motions she'd seen her father do when he worked out. First reaching for her toes in front of her, then spreading her legs and reaching for each individual foot. She was a good observer, and mimicked the motions fairly well, but no tension left her, which made the stretches a bit less effective.

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:43 pm


(( Sorry about the delay! If it's taken too long, feel free to report this class to get the credit.))

As Kayin streached, he also watched his student... Eyes following each movement. She was fairly good, the movements were right... however... They were rigid, stiff... it was no doubt in relation to her level of anxiety at this moment.

It wasn't long before the teacher stood straight... looking at her with a slight frown, though more worried than anything dissaproving. "Stop... stop stop..." he sighed, shaking his head "Your form is right..." he noted, "But watch..." moving into one of his streaches, he let his eyes shut... each motion fluidly moving into the next. He bent to the side-- to the right, rolling slowly into a back-bend... then to the left... he finished by rising back to a normal stand slowly. "Now watch what you're doing..." he tensed his muscles, moving through the same motions-- however this time, with the rigid tension of his body, they became staggered, and shakey in their motions.

"Could you see the difference...?" He spoke as he rose back, waiting with a small smile for her to answer his question.
PostPosted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:50 am


((Thanks for letting me know that you'd started things back up.))

Earako was not without her flaws, or her strengths. Indeed, often as not, her traits were double edged, as helpful as they were crippling. Perfectionism, for example. The fear she had of allowing others to see her at less than her best. Oh sure, it meant she often did well when she put her mind to things. But it also meant she tried to avoid doing new things. Things she hadn't yet mastered.

And here he was showing her how much better she should be doing at something as simple as stretching. If she'd been fully herself, if she hadn't already locked down, one might have seen the threat of tears in her eyes. As it was, she only frowned, which, if nothing else, was the most expression she'd yet shown.

"Yes, sir," she responded, her usual whisper still remote, but touched now with the barest hint of emotion. "I don't believe I can do it as you did."

And if she couldn't, well she wasn't about to embarrass herself by volunteering to make the attempt a second time.

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:53 pm


(Not a problem, I assumed you'd stopped looking at it due to my inactivity.)

Each teaching experience was always a learning one as well, especially with a new student... methods that made one excell could cripple another... it was a dangerous, slow paced effort on his part... and it seemed he'd taken a wrong step.

The only thing to do was smile, and backtrack. So he waited for her to speak-- ignored the stark frown for now... there was no reason to dwell on it, afterall. What help could that give his student? "Of course not..." he chuckled a little, lightheartedly... "No one can-- I've been doing this for years. That's why we need teachers, right? You know, the first time I tried that, I fell on my butt."

He paused there, waiting for his student to try again... but when she didn't seem to volunteer that much, he spoke up again "But you know... I think you can do better than what you just showed me, that's what I'm trying to teach you now. When you're at home, by yourself, in your room... Or wherever it is you feel comfortable, you can't possibly be so tense..." he paused for a moment to think-- then moved to sit, right where he was. "Have a seat."
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:57 pm


The frown faded from Earako's face as Kayin spoke. In its place, nothing. But the frown was gone. Whether or not that was a good sign was certainly up to debate, though. At least a frown was something. At least a frown indicated that on some level, the being that called itself Earako was still present beneath the icy exterior.

Still, she listened. Earako was good at listening. And his words made sense. She knew how to practice. She knew how to make a fool of herself when there was no one watching. At home, when there was only family around, she could do this. Do it until she got it right. Maybe. If there was some reason. If it would make her safer, make her better.

At the instruction to sit, Earako's stillness took on a new dimension. She seemed to weigh the instruction, glancing to Vimber, then back at Kayin. It seemed for a moment that she would disobey. But, no.

She sat, once again leaving space enough that he would not be able to grab her without serious effort and movement. She was a good judge of such distance, her sewing had given her an eye for measurement. She was silent. The instruction didn't seem to require response beyond obedience.

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:17 pm


The teacher wasn't sure wether the loss of a frown was good or not, not in the least-- but he chose to take it optimistically. It was good... if you beleived being neutral meant you could work easier towards happiness-- Kayin knew that not to be true, but that wasn't his job right now. He was here to teach her how to focus on her body-- not the world around her.

He made no movement.

Not one.

Not physical, nor verbal... he stayed in the exact position he'd sat down in, smiling at his student. That was it though-- sit. How long would it stay with that nervous atmosphere though? How long could someone who was on edge sit and do nothing...? That was what he wanted to see.
PostPosted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:12 pm


Sit and watch and...

Huh?

Nothing was happening. The teacher didn't even seem to be moving. The ice was a facade, it was armor she had built. It was something she controlled, no matter how the situation left her grasp.

But sitting? It wasn't built for that. It wasn't intended for inaction. Suddenly Earako didn't know what to do with herself.

At first, it wasn't so bad. She folded her hands in her lap, fixed her gaze on a distant point that allowed her to avoid looking at the teacher. But even she couldn't remain frozen in such a pose forever. Her fingers began to twitch and fiddle, irritation began to find its way through cracks in her otherwise perfect mask. Her posture, though still close to ideal, eased into a slightly more comfortable pose.

Her eyes jumped to the teacher, then back to the wall, and Earako, without even intending to, sighed.

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:44 pm


Kayin couldn't help but be reminded of the title of his class-- balance and focus... This girl-- young woman, she had focus. She had more focus than she knew what to do with, in his opinion... So the only thing left to teach was Balance.

He watched her movements-- fidgets here and there, fingers moving, head and eyes turning to aleviate the stress that would inevitably build up without any outlet. Kayin knew that ice-- knew that if you kept moving, it would be fine-- if you were moving, even in the snow, you weren't harmed. But the second you sat still was when it became dangerous to yourself.

At the sigh, he did offer one little hint at what they were going for, "Where do you feel most relaxed? Personally I think of the forest, hiking..." he smiled almost nostalgically, glancing out to the darkness that had come around them... The sun had set some time ago. "But wherever it is you feel most at place, think of that... rather than thinking of where you are now."
PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:35 pm


The teacher's words had her tensing again, falling back into the sharp perfect lines of disipline as the sound of his voice reminded her of why she'd built her shell at the first place. The displeasure left her expression and though she watched him as he spoke, it would be difficult to say whether or not she actually saw him.

Still, she listened. It was part of the role she played. And she was, deep down, the girl she'd always been. A good girl. An obedient girl. If anything, the ice existed to allow her the room for obedience without fear. But the order itself, well, that was difficult.

Her mind fluttered through a list of places, any place, any safe place. Home, where her Dad was, where her Cousin waited, promising to keep her safe. The quiet of the yard with Vimber curled close.

Every anywhere.

But she couldn't settle. The pose that allowed her to obey fought that same obedience, fought the danger of an order to relax.

Finally, after a slow breath inward, she let her gaze again rest on the teacher, "Sir? Why are we doing this?" A pause, "Will it make me stronger?"

She didn't sound annoyed, didn't sound much of anything, though it was the first true question she'd asked. She needed to know. Needed something to hold onto, something that justified forcing past the fear.

lithle


Kayin Gamba
Crew

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:54 pm


Kayin waited patiently, there was no hurry here... atleast not until her parent came to pick her up, he would simply wait it out. With the patience of water slowly beating down a rock, sculpting it-- smoothing it...

He waited until he heard her voice again... smiling slowly-- he gave a firm nod. "Yes." Questions were good-- questions meant you were thinking, and if you were thinking... surely you would come to your own answers. "When you're tense, you're very vunerable... You become like the prey to any predator you'll face-- stiff, waiting to be picked off-- If you're calm... collected, if you're in control of your body... Then you won't be seen as prey-- only another hunter." he took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly to further bring his own sense of relaxation.

"That is the balance you need... Dominate your fear, don't let it dominate you." Though it was true she'd found a way to control it... the fact she had so much difficulty leaving that safety net was the problem-- like now... were that defense met with one contrasting idea, it befuddled her... Atleast, that was how it seemed.
PostPosted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:48 am


Earako allowed herself to hear his response, turning his words over in her mind, checking the logic for flaws. What he said made sense and that made the class, however strange, important to her. It was not such a great thing to wish to be safe. Was it? Sometimes it seemed as if classes like these were not an answer, that it'd be easier to hide away and not have to learn to cope. But she was not immune to loneliness, nor was she without curiosity. Going out was still necessary, and it was best to do it correctly.

Once again, she frowned, an expression that was fast beginning to seem the only she was willing to manage.

"I see," she said at last, as the frown left her lips. Though her words remained settled at a near whisper, one could almost read curiosity behind her clipped statements. "So, I must picture some place relaxing? And if I do it right, it will help me when there are-- when I am frightened?"

lithle

Reply
[Classrooms]

 
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum