[ORP - BMC] Training (all) Day (FIN)

[Akina Tokuwa]

The sheer amount of planning that had gone into the formulation of the Blood Moon Court had kept Fallon busy for months. Her ticking fingers stuffed letters, ran numbers. She had long, sleepless nights with the ISS sitting in an abandoned warehouse, discussing how they wanted to proceed. Some seemed nervous of what might happen if outsiders ever learned the identity of their false Blood Moon Queen. The oaths and secrecy of the faction would protect against it, but if a Merc ever went rogue, the repercussions could be terrible.

It was Ares who slammed a fist to the concrete and said, "It is a calculated risk, and I'm taking it. Without a monarch, we will never be considered a legitimate power. We just have to be sure that anyone who is strong enough to rise from Cadet to Mercenary is trustworthy. We need to look for people who will feel stronger when they learn that they had been led -- not by a monarch -- but by someone exactly like them." Her hand softened, nails brushing the concrete.

Sets of eyes moved around the room. One of them said, "Okay, let's do it." And through the murmurs of agreement, Ares knew that the day of the Blood Moon was dawning.

They met weekly, but the day of their larger recruitment meeting was still approaching. A few cadets had joined up early, and the ISS and Mercs wasted no time in training them. The BMC didn't wait until night to train. The sun was high in the sky that day, and Fallon stood as Sailor Ares in a vast room with marble floors.

It was a gift, a token really, from one of their Mercenaries -- Super Sailor Scylla. The house was so large that it helped dampen their auras purely based on the vast distance that it was from the street to the property itself. After her parents' divorce, Jada had seen the house emptied of its staff and contents. Now there was a lone groundskeeper who kept an eye, and a maid who came to clean once a week. To all cadets, the assumption would be that the BMC had broken into this place, but truth be told, Jada had merely opened the back door. Still, Cavalier Laocoon sat perched by the door on look-out, just to be safe.

The work out room had hanging bags stretched across the ceiling and a smattering of weights and treadmills in the corner. One wall was completely mirrored so that Ares could watch herself as she wailed on one of the boxing bags. Sailor Albali held it steady, moving the bag every so often to make it more difficult. The ISS mostly worked out as civilians, but since this was an open training session, it was necessary to remain in fuku.

The Blood Moon Guardian Cat, Zirconia, was waiting downstairs to escort up anyone who came for the session.

Ares slammed one last kick into the bag and then stopped, panting. She glistened with sweat. "All right, today we do our first open training. Remember -- some of these will be our cadets. Let's play nice, but... teach them a little something, right? There is no gain without pain." The senshi crossed to a table against the other wall and began peeling white tape off of her knuckles.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Gray eyes climbed up the length of the wall to focus on on Scylla above her. This place was so massive. Sometimes it made her a little dizzy. "You call me 'boss' anymore, and I'll start calling you Merc... Merc." A slack-jawed grin climbed up one side of her mouth. Ares didn't have much of a sense of humor, but whenever the BMC was together, she felt her spirits lift to dizzying heights. Ares was a girl who missed her parallel court -- and now she had her replacement.

The tape stuck to her fingers, but she worked it into a ball, folding each piece end over end in an unnecessarily organized pattern for something that was about to be thrown. It was a glimmer of Fallon beneath the fuku. "We want them to walk out that door feeling stronger and more capable than when they walked in," she said.

The ball of tape clunked in the trashcan. "So however much it takes."  

[Silent Spy]

Sailor Requiem, a new cadet to the Blood Moon Court, was both excited and nervous as she followed Zircona's directions to make her way to the training room. The Blood Moon Court already meant something significant to her; alas, she had an actual direction in her responsibilities as a Senshi. But still, there were parts of it that concerned her. She wasn't the greatest fighter and a little bit clumsy, and she couldn't help but fear she was going to fail to meet their expectations. She had the motivation to perform well, and she hoped that could carry her far.

The house was rather large, gorgeous and emptied out. The long hallways made the walk to the room even longer, giving more time for her anxiety to grow. She paused in front of the doors. There wasn't any turning back now, she was already contracted in, but a tiny part of her wanted to hide in a dark corner somewhere. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath out, released her nerves, and crossed through the threshold.

Immediately the nerves snapped back into place, the butterfly-feeling rampant. Before her was their leader, Ares. Requiem felt the need to properly greet her. But how? A military salute? Kneel down? Commit seppuku? She felt a curtsey may be more in fashion.

"Ares," she said, not knowing what was the appropriate title to call her. s**t, what if she forgot who she even was? "Its me, Sailor Requiem," she added awkwardly.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Sailor Ares turned at the sound of a someone approaching. It was a new recruit! "Of course I remember you," she said. Stepping from the table, Ares cracked her knuckles. "I hope you're ready for some hard work." There was a hardness in her voice, but also a teeming excitement.

"Everyone," Ares said suddenly, stepping toward the center of the room with the new senshi. "Most of you have met our newest cadet, but if you haven't -- this is Cadet Requiem, Senshi of Burials. She can lock you in a coffin if you piss her off. Now, who wants to help train her today?" The senshi of smoke scanned the room for a volunteer.  

[Remove]

Sirius was running a little late to the meeting due to unforeseen home circumstances. She was slightly annoyed when she finally got out her house and as she reached the house they were meeting at she saw Zirconia and smiled, greeting her in a friendly way before following her directions to where everyone else was meeting. She was so looking forward to this meeting, she had been training herself physically for a while now and she wanted in a way to show off her hard work.

The house was slightly overwhelming it was so large. She got in to the room to hear the introduction of Requiem and found her sphere to be a little morbid though she knew better then to judge a girl on her sphere. She also chuckled a little at the thought of being locked in a coffin and was sure that it would upset a good few negas. She would love to see that in action but then that was normal for Sirius, she had always had an interest in other spheres and their powers and how they work. Of course it worked the other way as well but the negas she had met hadn't been magical in anyway that bothered her.

She had also possibly walked in at the wrong time as Ares was asking for someone to train the new recruit and so she looked slightly confused as if she wasn't sure what was going on. She didn't believe herself quite ready to train anyone else. She would at some point if she was given the chance but she wanted to make sure she could give her all to whoever she trained and as her training had only just started and she hadn't been trained by anyone before she wasn't sure how to go about training someone.

She nodded to Ares as she entered properly moving away from the door but didn't say anything as she knew a question had been asked but not yet answered.  

[kalindara]

Birhan was exploring the great marble hall while Ares and Scylla conversed. She herself had too much pent up energy to sit still and chat right now - though it was excitement, not nerves, that led her to prowl around their new digs. When she had to stand still, she bounced gently from one foot to the other, as though she was already facing off against an opponent and simply waiting for the opening swings.

The arrival of the first recruit drew her back to the others. As she walked, the transparent strips of material that made up her skirt (or attempted to) revealed glimpses of a still-new crescent moon brand, high on her left thigh.

Birhan perked up as Requiem's power was revealed. "Sounds like fun," she grinned. "If she's up for some physical training, I can take her."

Magically-wise, all Birhan could do was throw Requiem's own coffin back at her. The Senshi of Renewal wasn't sure that suffering one's own attack made one stronger in the manner that Ares was hoping for, though Birhan supposed it couldn't hurt if magical training was required. (And Birhan certainly didn't mind trying out as many powers as possible, to see who it would be best to take with her on patrols.)

The newest, still silent, entrant earned a searching look from Birhan, before the redhead returned her attention to Ares. Birhan regretted she didn't know many other senshi, and was left to wonder about the green-and-fur-clad senshi with the wild mane of hair. It would have been nice to know which senshi would be the better suited to Birhan's style, but she supposed that was partially what the training was for.  

[SpaceSalt]

Zirconia had trotted upstairs after Sailor Requiem, using the excuse of escorting to peek in on the others. While having her lurk downstairs to escort cadets up kept her busy, she still had such an urge to bounce around the others while training, giving useless commentary and maybe some 'motivation' that wouldn't do much except cause distractions.

She watched Ares talk to the new cadet and shivered just slightly, thinking of old memories, but she didn't say anything. She wanted to linger just a bit more and she could proabbly get away with that better if she stayed silent, but after she sized up Requiem, she accepted that she should probably get her butt back downstairs and stop toying with the temptation to insert herself into every conversation ever and just watch for more cadets at her post.

That was, until Sirius greeted her and she had to follow her just half way up with narrowed eyes and puff up her coat one more level of fluff, just so she'd know she wasn't fooled by that friendly tone at all. She was onto her. The senshi of canines was going to have glaring cat eyes on her back lurking, watching, staring, all the time. At least until Zirconia got over it. Just because... ugh, dogs. Dogs were intolerable.

And back down she goes. She would resist her clingy urges, but she was still going to make the extra effort to be a good girl and give directions while trying eavesdrop on everyone doing everything all the time. If that involved zooming up and down stairs all day than so be it.

 

[Akina Tokuwa]

It was no surprise to Ares that Birhan was the one who stepped up. The senshi was a physical one, maybe one of their top performers when powers were taken out of the equation, and judging by Requiem's apprehension, it seemed like Birhan's confidence might be good for the girl too. Ares made a mental note: more confidence. It should be a focus for them with the Senshi of Burials. The more confident she was, the more powerful she could become.

That was at the heart of the Blood Moon Court: power, power for everyone.

"She's in your hands, Birhan," Ares said, giving Requiem a little push. Her eyes strayed to the cadet. "You're up for this, cadet." Apparently Requiem didn't get an option, not just yet.

When Birhan turned to look at the newest senshi, so did Ares. "Oh, Cadet Sirius. I didn't see you come in late." Late. It wasn't by much, but Ares was a stickler for promptness. "This is the Senshi of Canines," she said to the group. "Who wants to break her in with her first BMC training session?" Another recruit, another new cadet. Sirius had been around for awhile, but Ares was of the opinion that her powers had gone sorely untrained. With the Blood Moon Court, she was bound to reach all the heights of her potential.

The thought made Ares's heart swell in her chest.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

(( I made a tiny oversight on something, and Random Artist was kind enough to point it out. No cadet knows that Ares is the Queen! I'm a dunce. RA is awesome. I'll chat with Spy about editing his post. The ironic thing was I told him to have her do that because I forgot that we decided it would just be better if no cadet or outsider knew that Ares = Blood Moon Queen. People have no idea which senshi is the queen. As far as they are concerned, Ares is just another Inner Sanctum Senshi! I'M DUMB. x_x ))

Ares glanced up to Scylla on the floor above, still hanging over them. So dramatic, honestly. Granted, this was coming from a girl who ran a very dramatic faction -- BUT STILL. "Sure, Scylla," she said. "Come meet Sirius." She noted the arrival and disappearance of Zirconia. They were only expecting a few more people so she could come up here to stay soon enough.

Despite their rocky reintroduction in this world, Ares was thrilled to have Zirconia by her side. It was another vestige of her lost world, and now -- they had a guardian cat to boot. Everything was coming up Ares! (She thought.)

The senshi began to walk back toward Albali and the punching bag. Apparently, she wasn't done beating up on it, this time with bare knuckles. Ares prepared to strike the bag and then stopped, turned back to the cadets. "Make sure you talk with everyone, cadets. This is your court, this is our team. We should always feel close to one another." And then she turned her back and threw a punch.  

[revenant aria]

Euterpe was late. He was always late. It would have been extremely prudent for him to be there early but no, the cadet took his time getting there. Just like everything else in life. The only times haste was required was in video games when you needed to beat the boss before his turn came around. The dull sound of an engine could be ehard outside as he directed his motorbike to the side to park in a empty area. (Everywhere was empty.)

He walked in, raising his hand, a friendly wave towards Zirconia, coming back down the stairs. "Yo. Fluffy as ever, aren't we?" His loud voice rang through the empty hall, the emptyy house only emphasizing his greeting and arrival. "If only they told me you were here. I passed by a store on the way, I could have brought goodies." He pointed out, lowering to address the guardian cat with a wide smile. He stared up, whistling at the massive expanse of their meeting place. He thought his apartment was big. This was gigantic.

"A giant staircase. You could cut down the time it takes if you just slid down." He pointed to the handrail. With that handrail, the cat might not even feel the friction with that fur. It also cut down your distance from minutes to seconds. That looked really smooth and shiny-- From the way he eyed it, one could tell that was how Euterpe was going to make his exit.  

[Krysin]

Super Sailor Nemesis was late.

Whether it was intentional or not remained to be decided, but how she strolled into the room without a care in the world very well made it look intentional. Well, if it was, she certainly wasn't going to deny it. Nemesis had happily jumped on the opportunity to ruffle Ares' feathers. The Queen of the Blood Moon Court was someone Nemesis enjoyed challenging. She'd explain it as keeping their leader on her toes.

Ares' probably saw it as outright disrespectful, almost as much so as the fact that Nemesis refused to leave the Dream Team. Her loyalties could not be severed so quickly, and she'd rather lose a Mercenary than leave her team stumbling about like chickens without their heads. She would not abandon her team, and she was damned sure that loyalty was one of the main reasons Ares had wanted her as a member of this court. What would it prove if Nemesis severed ties with the Dream Team?

"Huh, must have gotten the time wrong," she spoke as she idled in towards the center of the room. She could recognize everyone here, though she wasn't familiar with most of them. She'd met Sailor Requiem and Sailor Sirius before, and had been more fond of the former than the latter. Maybe joining the Blood Moon Court would work wonders on Sirius. Nemesis hoped, or she was going to throw her arms in the air and call it quits.

Well, not really, but she'd certainly feel like it."And it looks like you've guys already have gotten things underway. Is there a point to me being here, or can I go do some other important things?" Okay, now it was clear that she was just out to ruffle Ares' feathers. Someone had to.  

[Akina Tokuwa]

There was an unspoken headdesk as Nemesis entered the room. It was not unusual for her to be late. In fact, if she had been on time, Ares might have had a small heart attack. The Super Senshi of Decay was an asset to them, but still, her unwillingness to leave her old team caused unrest. Ares had her in mind for a spot in ISS, but it would not be possible until Nemesis left her other faction. There could be no double-dipping with ISS members.

A basket against the far wall contained red and blue boxing gloves. There was a door to a room next door, and in that room, there was a small boxing ring. Ares knew this. Nemesis knew this. The other ISS and Mercs knew this too. This was not the first time that the following battle had happened, or probably the last. Ares snatched up two pairs of gloves and pelted the blue ones right at Nemesis. "Setting a bad example," she said flatly.

The velcro scritched as Ares unlatched her red glove and slipped it on to one hand. "Sirius, Requiem -- this is your nonexample for meeting behavior." But a great example on the battlefield. "When we are late an excessive amount of times, which is more than once, the late party must start his or her training session with a handicapped sparring match." The other glove was opened and slipped on.

"Anyone can choose to spar them. I have chosen Nemesis. And I have chosen to box her. Her handicap is only the use of one hand." Ares tossed some white athletic tape to Nemesis next for her to lock her arm to her side. The entire time she spoke, Ares kept her eyes locked on the other girl. "Glove up and get ready. I won't go easy on you today."

Despite the seriousness of the words, there was an obvious playfulness there. Ares was enjoying this. There was some sort of back and forth demeanor here, even if it didn't totally make sense to the newer members.  

[SpaceSalt]

Oh good another one.
Every arrival meant Zirconia was closer to being able to hover without guilt and she really enjoyed her hovering.

Euterpe addressing her made her stop and sit up straight, giving him just the slight glare she looked at every cadet with. He did bring up treats, though, and she looked a little less disdainful. Food would've been nice. It was the thought that counted, right?

She watched him stare at the handrail and bristled her extra thick winter coat at the thought of sliding down the thing like a child. Though she was pretty expectant Euterpe would definitely attempt it. However, Zirconia had been trotting up and down steps since before he was born and there was no way she would do something so outrageously immature, no matter how easy (or very slightly tempting) it would be.

"...You'd better hurry up. You're tardy," She told the cadet with a slight harumph, a nod up the stairs, and that was all. Served him right for assuming and not bringing goodies.