Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was odd for Galena to be the first one at the park when it came to the weekly tutoring, yet there it was. Thursday and Galena was already at the park. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily. To Antiope, it just meant that her student was eager to learn.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!" she shouted out in an enthusiastic tone, clearly rather excited about something. Since Antiope had shown up late, the usual spread of tea was not set up, and it was probably a good thing.

"Let's go on a field trip today! Add some variety to all of this stuff!" The mantis senshi had a gym bag slung over her shoulder, clearly filled with various items. "I promise, it will be fun! BUT, I won't forget we are supposed to train today too! I promise!!"

"I can't tell you yet! I want it to be a surprise!" Beneath her sleeves, she had already summoned up one pesky magical cell phone, which was not visible to her student.

"It might be a bit intense... but it will be worth it, I promise!"

Rounding in front of the Captain, Antiope then insisted "Now, close your eyes! I'll do it too, but you need to close your eyes!"

It was only once her student had closed her eyes that Antiope scooted closer and placed her free-sleeved hand around Galena's. Then she closed her eyes as well.

That concentration thing was not really the Mantis senshi's specialty, but when she managed to hear that faint buzz of insect wings, she knew that was when she could press that button on her phone.

Within moments the pair was transported to an asteroid in space.

Antiope, knowing what to expect, opened her eyes first and suddenly remembered what was waiting for her at that spot.

"Oh yeah... forgot about those!" Skulls on pikes weren't exactly what most people would consider a welcome sign.

"So Gal... um... don't freak out... but you can open your eyes?"

Even as Antiope said it, she was pretty sure that freaking out was going to happen.

"...wow... you handled that better than Minny!"

Then again, Antiope also hadn't taken the skulls all that well the first time, so Galena definitely seemed to have a leg up in comparison to the other two.

However, when the Captain had guessed it, she nodded her head firmly. "Yup! At least that's what Minny told me this was... I guess I kinda believe it since I can come here... but I still don't 100% get it! Anyways, let's go!"

Still holding onto her student's hand, she began to drag her along down the path, which started as a simple dirt road with piked skulls adorning the way. The area in general was thick with bamboo, but eventually the dirt path turned into one paved with stones. As the bamboo seemed to thin out, the pair approached a large clearing with smooth grounds and tall pedestals upon each corner.

Seemingly content with the spot for now, the little senshi threw her gym bag down to the ground.

"There we go, the training grounds! There's more later... but I can't let you just have a vacation on your training day!"

Antiope, after setting her bag down, began to roll up her sleeves since today was a snake-style day. Once she had finished with one sleeve, she had to pause to contemplate the question Galena had posed.

The senshi had never really considered much about the whole being on a different world thing to process as being alien, but it did make logical sense in that regard. However, there was one thing that bugged her about the assessment.

"I was born on Earth." With her non-sleeve covered hand, she scratched at her chin as she considered stuff. "I think Minny said something about... getting memories from another lifetime or something... dunno... wasn't paying attention so much... but if that's true, then... I don't think I'm an alien... just maybe have the reincarnated soul of one?"

Shrugging it off as she did with nearly all philosophical things, she rolled up her other sleeve. She rolled her head one way as she continued to also roll her shoulders, as if she was trying to crack any tightened joints in those areas.

"So... have you been doing any homework or research on the Snake style? I know you understand it has to do with speed and jabs to weak points... but do you know what else the style heavily relies on?"

It felt a bit taboo somewhere in her mind, but the senshi put up two hands, fingers out straight pointing towards her student in the Snake style. The golden mantis idols on the top of the pedestals (which Antiope was still oblivious about) were probably frowning at the taboo.

The small senshi watched the student's movements, her face seeming to tick slightly at the way it was executed. "You seem too stiff... you are going to need to work on that!"

She then planted her feet down on the ground firmly, as was a necessity for this style. "See, the snake is known for being flexible... fluid is another word for it, even though they aren't actually made of liquid. So in doing this style, you have to learn how to make your body fluid, yet effective at striking. A snake has to strike using their full body, all the way from their spine. And so, you must be able to do the same, Gal!"

Placing her hands together, she bowed forward a bit before she started with one of the simpler forms of the style. Her feet remained firm to the ground, but with each strike to an imaginary opponent, she had to move starting from the base of her back and lashing out, seeming to get each strike out further than if she had merely struck with her arms. After she had gone through the motions, she once more placed her hands together and bowed again, to signal that she was done with the demonstration.

Rolling her shoulders out again, she pointed to her stomach. "It requires a lot of control of the abdominal muscles!"

"Too much control." No Antiope was not a mind reader, but it was evident that Galena had a need to keep herself a certain way.

Her words got slower as she widened her stance.

"...that sort of control is not control though."

With a smile spreading upon her features, she only gave one warning.

"You will have to learn quickly."

With that, she struck out with the same force she had just been utilizing upon her imaginary opponents moments ago.

She may have been a teacher in this scenario, but that did not mean she was easy upon her student.

Despite the lack of skill that Galena seemed to have with her physical movements, she still seemed to have speed that rivaled Antiope's well-seasoned work with Snake style. She was barely able to get an arm in to block the strike, and the impact was far stronger than she was expecting.

Did that mean she was going to sit and whimper about the sore arm?

Nope!

Instead, the girl once more lashed out using her whole body to add force to the strike again.

"If you have true control, you need not tell your body how to act." It probably sounded contradictory at best, but to Antiope, the logic made perfect sense.