(Untitled)

[batghoul]

WHO: Open!
WHERE: School of Thunder Dojo
WHEN: Any time from now until next Saturday (you can specify in the comments or play it loose)
WARNINGS: Punches! Kicks!
SUMMARY: Anything you want to do at the dojo, whether you're a teacher, current student, or totally new person.
FORMAT: paragraph to start, but then whatever. Feel free to tag around

Comments

[batghoul]

A few minutes after the dojo closed for the evening, Raph was no longer alone on the rooftop. Her arrival had been completely silent, and maybe he'd noticed her arrival. Or maybe she'd just seemed to appear from nowhere. She'd been trained by the best, after all.

A long, tattered cape whipped around in the wind, and a mask concealed her eyes. Her clothing was completely black, save for the white bandages wrapped around her arms, a yellow utility belt, and the golden bat on her chest that seemed to stand out most of all. It wasn't difficult for a trained eye to tell that she was the same girl he'd been watching: she held herself with the same supremely controlled poise.

She remained silent for a few moments as she seemed to size him up. He wasn't human, but moved sort of like one. And he'd obviously had training. And if he could be a danger to the kids that frequented the dojo, that made him a person of interest to her.

"You were watching the dojo. Why?"

[batghoul]

Her muscles tensed almost imperceptibly at the word 'assassin,' but quickly relaxed again. If he was good enough to recognize how she'd been trained, then that meant that he was probably pretty formidable himself.

"I'm not an assassin," she responded bluntly. It may have been how she was trained, but she'd left that life behind ever since that fateful day ten years ago. It bothered her a bit that someone could watch her and still get that impression. "Most of the kids are... from bad homes. Teach them to, um... keep them off the streets."

"Black Bat." She bowed slightly after he did. He clearly knew who she was without her costume, but the codename would do for now, until she was completely clear on his intentions.

Any time

[doubleoohbaby]

Bond's not been at the dojo long, perhaps a month or so of helping out with a couple of classes a week when he gets time away from work, teaching either judo or boxing depending on the day and taking no shit from the kids. He says he only does it as an excuse to beat up kids legally, but there might well be other reasons behind it. Maybe. But just try getting him to admit to that.

He's just finished off a boxing class, mostly consisting of kids in their late teens- the sort who have little else to do with their lives than drink, graffiti and punch things, so at least this gives them outlet to punch things without being arrested. There's a few still eagerly pummelling the crap out of provided punching bags, while James perches himself on a bench off to the side and occupies himself with carefully unwrapping his hands while watching.

[batghoul]

"They're, um... really into it," Cass said, leaning against the wall next to Bond as she watched his remaining students. He was one of the instructors that she didn't know very well, but she'd observed him long enough to get a bit of a feel for his personality and his teaching style. And she couldn't argue with the fact that he was quite good at what he taught.

[doubleoohbaby]

"Hm?" Even with her presence, he wasn't entirely expecting conversation so the words take a moment to sink in. He takes his eyes away from the teens just long enough to spare Cass a glance a quirk of a smile. Since he's joined the dojo, Bond hasn't really had much time to get to know the other instructors, so he's still careful around them. And Cass.

"Oh. Yes. Seems like they're enjoying themselves enough."

[batghoul]

It was understandable. He'd probably heard her say a total of ten words during his time at the dojo, and she wasn't exactly known for being a brilliant conversationalist. But part of her job was knowing her instructors, so she got right to the point.

"You're good. Where did you learn?"

Sometime on the 3rd

[a_relative_hero]

Joel had mostly been laying low since his less than stellar encounter with Bellatrix. The whole thing had thrown him off massively so he took some time to just sit and recover.

He couldn't sit around forever though, boredom and knowing people might be looking for him eventually drew him back out. With bandages around his arm where he'd been cut and several bruises, Joel's staying a bit after class for some extra workout time. He's picked a punching bag and decided to work on hitting it several times both for practice and to work out some frustration.

[batghoul]

Cass hadn't really given the bandages and bruises a second thought. Injuries were to be expected in their field of work, after all. But as he pummeled the punching bag, she recognized something else in his body language. She wasn't as good at helping people with their problems as Steph, but she was his teacher, and she could listen pretty well.

Waiting for a lull in his punching, she appeared next to him. "Something's... bothering you."

[a_relative_hero]

When that lull comes and there's suddenly a Cassandra next to him, Joel just about jumped out of his skin. He blurred, whipping around and thankfully stopping himself from throwing any reflexive punches. He had no desire to be flipped or thrown or anything like that. Calming, he sighed.

"Yeah. There is," he replied, maybe just a little too worn out to bother trying to hide it today.

[batghoul]

She didn't move a muscle as he whirled around to face her. Most people seemed to have that reaction for some reason.

"Want to talk?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Tuesday

[small_berserker]

Lily slipped in quietly and observed a class in action from afar. She didn't do anything to draw attention to her presence, but she didn't make an effort to hide herself, either. She had a question for the instructors, and she wanted to ask it in private.

She was gaining better self-control, and she had only experienced one blackout since November. Her current strategy was to punch concerete anytime she thought she might lose control, for as long as it took to get herself back in control. She had been consciously avoiding combat classes at the Institute. She told herself and others that she already knew how to fight and didn't need them. However, she knew she would never be able to get fully in control until the day came that she could fight without losing herself in the combat.

[batghoul]

Cass was just finishing up with a class when she noticed Lily enter out of the corner of her eye. She dismissed the kids and grabbed a towel as they filed into the back room. After wiping the sweat from her face, she walked over to where Lily stood.

"Hi," she said with a small smile. "Are you here to, um... enroll?"

[small_berserker]

"I was thinking about it," admitted Lily. "But I've got um...special circumstances."

She wasn't sure exactly how to phrase the problem to ask if the dojo could help her. Certainly, until her control was where it needed to be, she couldn't train with anyone who couldn't handle her at her worst. That was why she wouldn't touch the combat classes at the Institute. She might have considered training with the more experienced fighters, but only if they knew what they were getting into.

"Could we talk somewhere private for a minute?"

[batghoul]

"Uh, sure," she said, leading Lily back to the small office that Selina usually used when taking care of the dojo's business. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and motioned for Lily to have a seat in front of the desk. She plopped down behind it, and it still felt weird for her of all people to be sitting at a desk.

"So. Um. Circumstances?" she asked curiously.

Monday

[callmenataku]

Meiran had been checking out places to train ever since her husband had came back from his trip and effectively shown her up with his new abilities. Most of the places she's tried had proved less that adequate for her skill level and, if truth be told, the instructors hadn't been able to work around her personality. She wasn't expecting much more out of this dojo but she promised herself to give it a try before trying to pull a stunt like Wufei had. Besides, with him working she had little else to be doing during the day.

She stood at the edge of the various people practicing, hands on hips as she observed and tried to evaluate the place's worth to her.

[batghoul]

There wasn't a huge crowd in the dojo since it was a holiday, but Cass was instructing a small handful of younger kids in the center of the room. They were the least fortunate in the dojo and Cass had gathered them together to go out for hamburgers later and then to see the City's firework display.

But a holiday was no excuse to skip training. A semicircle of kids stood around her, and she demonstrated a roundhouse kick with perfect form. After a few more repetitions, she instructed them to train in partners and broke away from the group to walk over to Meiran.

"Hi," she said with a friendly smile. "Can I, um, help you?"

gets off hiatus and slams into this a week late

[callmenataku]

Meiran watched the children practice with a look that was almost pleased. It reminded her a bit of her own childhood, training with the other clan members under the elder. It wasn't the same style as she had been taught and she realized it was not for the same reasons, but she did like seeing the younger generation keeping up with some tradition.

"Yes." Meiran turned to Cass. "I've been needing for a place to train and wanted to look at this dojo."

:)

[batghoul]

"I'm Cassandra. I run the dojo." She stuck her hand out toward Meiran in a friendly gesture. "Can... watch my class. If you want." She motioned toward the kids, who continued to practice their kicks. After all, if they didn't, it'd be double push-ups later.