Saturdays On Campus (IC)

[Aoiroo]

Saturday, November 19th 2:38 PM

The school very empty on Saturdays. Especially this one as there was no school the following week. There was something of a national holiday in which almost all the Claremonters had packed up and left the previous day to visit families scattered across the nation. Etain had nothing like that herself, though she was sure Millie was going to prepare some large meal on that day as she had been grocery shopping for the spector the last couple of days. Really a very strange experience, it was a good thing that Millie knew all the brand names she wanted otherwise Etain would of been completely lost.

Either way, while she was spending the rest of the week at Parkhurst for the holiday, she wanted another day at least to train at Claremont. With a much larger budget there facilities was far superior then those at Parkhurst and with the gym almost completely empty she, ohh wait a minute there was someone there. Etain spotted the girl almost as soon as she'd entered the gym. She didn't recognize her immediately and didn't know if she would be recognized either out of her usual victorian attire and in the shorts and t-shirt she used for gym clothing. Still she walked forward and looked at the girl,

"Why hello there."

[Scuffles]

The last week had been pretty wild for Glow, having arrived at a new school, met a dazzling array of powerful young students and discovered that her classes were definitely going to be a challenge. The chaos seemed greatly reduced this weekend however due to a holiday, so she had jumped at a chance to visit the surprisingly empty gym.

Ooh I need to get in here more, So tight! she thought as she stretched out.

With her warmups completed, she was just setting up for a tumbling run across the mats when she heard a voice behind her and turned to face Etain with her hands on her hips. "Hi!" she answered as she tilted her head to the side and chewed on her bottom lip, trying to put a name to the face she had seen around the campus once or twice. "Nope I got nothing!" she grinned. "I'm sure I should know your name, but I've met so many people this week that I'm having trouble keeping up. Sorry!"

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled as she approached the other girl,

"Well I would think not, we have yet to meet afterall."

She held out a gloved hand to the other girl,

"My name is Etain, I am in the fourth year classes. Though I have to take a couple of extra courses. What is your name?"

She hadn't really met anyone new in a while, she had been very busy afterall. She still needed to find a way to get adequite papers, but the school had shut down for the semester since students and facilty were so busy. She would probably be able to get some by January was what they had told her.

[Scuffles]

Kristin smiled as she took a step towards Etain and clasped her hand firmly. "I'm Kristin. I just got here like a week ago, so everything is a bit of a blur!" she said with grin. "I think I'm finally starting to get settled in though, so I thought I'd give myself time out and get in here and practice some gymnastics, maybe hit one of the bags for a bit!"

"I didn't really think I was going to find anyone else in here!" She said as she stepped back. "It's so quiet around with everyone heading off for the break. Does that mean you're not from around here either?"

[Aoiroo]

"Well practice is always good, I am not very good at acrobatics myself. I came to do some basic exercises since the gym always has such nice equipment."

She started to stretch a little as they talked, the not being around there comment made her smile,

"You could say that. I have no one I will be visiting for the holiday, at least not that I am aware. I may be pulled into anothers celebration though there is one I know that is happening in the house I live."

Millie definitely seemed like she was thrilled at the idea. With all the food she was making, she wondered who all would even be about to eat it.

"Things around here seem fast, but the pace is actually rather reasonable for youths our age. This world spins rather more quickly when our time is not structured I have heard. I know for certain the vacation times certainly pass before we even get settled."

[Scuffles]

"Well I guess it's better to be busy than to be bored!" Kristin replied with a grin, then stepped back out onto the mats. Sizing up the distance she had to work with, she took a deep breath and then dashed into a simple tumbling run that finished with a front somersault. The landing had a bit of a stumble and she turned back towards Etain with a little bit of a frown, saying "Guess I'm out of practice!".

Hopping up to sit on a balance beam, she reached out towards one of the heavy punching bags with her mind. A faint green glow rose around it as she gave it a push and set it swinging. With a grin she looked over at Etain again. "I'm supposed to be practicing with my telekinesis more than anything else, but do you want to wrestle or something? It's just way more fun!"

[Aoiroo]

Etain looked at the girl for a second after she finished stretching,

"You are certainly more agile then myself. It seems to me that you should be practising exactly what you are supposed to be practicing. As much as the gym is practical for such application, telekinesis does sound like the ability that you came to Claremont to conquer."

She walked over, they were at the same eye level,

"Do you not trust yourself enough to train it on your own?"

[Scuffles]

Kristin met Etain's gaze for a moment, then looked down at her feet with a sigh. With a gesture and a moments concentration she lifted a dumbbell off a nearby rack and floated it over, then snatched it out of the air.

"Picking stuff up, moving it around, putting it down, I can practice all that stuff without being too worried about breaking anything.." She said with a grimace, "But I don't dare try to test my limits too much without supervision, I might end up damaging the building or something. And besides, I don't think the headmaster would like me practicing by lifting his car!"

A grin played on her face as she hopped back down off the balance beam. "I'm also supposed to practice using it to defend myself.." She said as the air in front of her shimmered with a faint green glow. "I can't really do that without someone to throw stuff at me though!"

[Aoiroo]

Etain looked at Kristin with the same smile,

"You are looking at this problem with too narrow a view. You do not have to go bigger, you simply have to do better with what you already have. For example."

She closed her hand and opened it and a butterfly appeared. It flew out and grew larger and larger before it burst and spit into several little butterflies that scattered and then faded into nothing,

"My power is illusion, what you see is not what has happened, but I can use it for much more then that. Even if I can cover a larger area with butterflies or make it appear that we are in the middle of the dessert, it is much simpler to practice illusions that revolve around altering my appearance rather then the area. For instance,"

Two other Etains walked out from behind her talking in unison,

"I can appear more then one place, or"

She disappeared but her voice was still there,

"Not appear at all."

She reappeared though this time she was behind Kristin,

"Application is much more important then volume. Grabbing and throwing things can be a very effective method, but it is certainly not the only one. Have you ever used your powers on yourself, have you ever tried flying?"

[Scuffles]

The appearance of a butterfly in Etain's hand brought an expression of wonder to Kristin's face and it was all she could do to keep herself from clapping in glee when it burst into a shower of smaller butterflies.

"That's really .." she started, but whatever she was going to say was halted when she found herself facing three Etains instead of one. "Wow that has to.." she began again, then stopped with a raised eyebrow as the other girl disappeared completely. "Alright that seems seriously useful!" She decided as Etain appeared behind her, turning on her heel to face the illusionist once more.

"I can use it to harden the air around me. Sort of like a shield or something." She replied. "And I can do this.."

Concentrating fiercely Kristin looked down towards the gym mats, her telekinesis packing the air tightly into a dense shelf at knee level. With her face still creased by a frown she stepped up onto the shelf. Her feet sank into it slightly, but for a few seconds she managed to hold herself a few inches above the floor.

With a wince she released her concentration and dropped lightly back down onto the mat. "It's hard, I can't do it for very long just yet." She said with a shrug. "But once I practice and get a bit stronger I might be able to fly! I can use it to thump things as well." She grinned as she reached out and gave the punching bag a mental punch, then shrugged again as the sound of it echoed around the gym. "Practice makes perfect right?"

[Aoiroo]

Etain watched the girl create sheilding as well as semi-solid objects via nothing more then air compression and concentration of her powers and raised an eyebrow as she clapped her hands instead,

"Practice does indeed, that is very clever. You may even be able to compress the air into an attack that would be a nearly invisible projectile. I would not of thought to use it like that. However, I was refering of a much more simple method. Though the other method you have develop would certianly be useful for making cushions or catching and taking others I am certian, why not simple use your power to lift up yourself like you do any other object?"

[Scuffles]

Kristin shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I've tried moving myself, pushing myself, even whacking myself. It doesn't work. For some reason I haven't been able to affect myself at all". Agitated, she bounced up and down on her toes and swung her arms back and forth almost as if she was using the movement to bleed off excess energy.

"When I was back home before I came to Claremont the Magpie called it a mental block or something and said I'd probably be able to work it out as I get a little more confident. Hasn't worked so far!" With a shrug she stopped bouncing and looked curiously at Etain, her head tilted to the side as she asked "Did you have trouble with the illusions when you first started using them? Or were you always skilled with them?"

[Aoiroo]

"That does sound like quite the problem, I knew someone who had a mental block when I met her as well. She could not speak even though she was able to communicate telepathically though she eventually overcame it, which is great because she has such a beautiful voice."

Etain smiled at the thought of Eve, it really was only one of the very nice things about her. Though the next part she had to think about as she looked up for a second,

"When I originally gained my powers I had two problems, one I had a very hard time making things feel realistic, everything for example would be grossly oversized or far more colorful and vibrant then they actually were, making my illusions easier to identify and thus to break. Though that may of been because I was quite small then,"

She put her hand down to her knee,

"About that tall or so as my mother would put it, so everything did look much bigger and where I was from the world always seemed much more colorful to myself then everybody else. It took me a great deal of time to adjust so that things would be completely perfect so the senses matched completely in a way that no one would notice the difference. As you said of course, I did practice quite a bit."

[Scuffles]

Kristin smiled. "Mini-Etain making super bright, enormous, pretty illusions would be absolutely adorable!" she laughed as she pictured it. She's absolutely gorgeous as an adult, I can't imagine how cute she must have been when she was little!

"I can't imagine how much mischief I'd have gotten into if I'd had my abilities when I was little .. although I guess I'd be a lot better with them than I am now.."

Her face turned thoughtful as she considered the rest of what Etain had said. "So do you know what your friend did to work through her mental block? I've been just trying for a little while each day to affect my own body with the telekinesis in between my other practice, but all I end up doing so far is frustrating myself and making it harder to practice on the rest of my drills!

[Aoiroo]

"I am not sure,"

Etain put a finger on her chin,

"She did not tell me, but you can probably ask her yourself. Her name is Eve Martel, she is a senior here at Claremont."

She glanced around,

"Well we cannot practice flying, how about we practice accuracy. You can pick things up and throw them, how well can you do so? It is rather important to actually be able to hit someone if they are threatening you. I am not as good at hitting people from affar as I am at hitting them close up myself. Though it is rather useful I must say, especially since you cannot yet fly."

[Scuffles]

"Hopefully I'll get to meet her sometime, that sounds like an interesting story!" Kristin smiled as she jumped back up to sit on the balance beam once again.

"Throwing things is pretty hard" she decided. "I think it's different because the thing you're throwing isn't coming from where you're standing, it's coming from where you picked it up. I haven't quite adjusted to that yet.

"I can still throw things fairly straight. I could hit a dartboard or something most every time. People move though, so even if I throw on target I can still miss. I can affect people directly though, so if I can see them I can hit them. Or grab them. No dodging that way!"

Kristin shrugged. "I still practice both obviously. Can't have too many skills!"

[Aoiroo]

"No, you cannot, though sometimes it does pay to specialize. For example, how are your combat skills in particular? Your power is probably very useful, are you very good at fighting without them?"

It was a straight question. Etain could fight fine without her powers, but found that her teammates had some trouble in that area. John and Morgan were fine, but she doubted Brian or Victoria would last very well if they were somehow nullified. She might be able to nullify Kristin's herself, though she would never do such a thing without permission or proper cause, it was usually quite rude.

[Scuffles]

Kristin grinned at that. "Without my telekinesis? I doubt I'd win all that many fights really. I know a little bit of Judo and wrestling, so I'm a bit tougher than I look and I might be able to choke someone out if they're really really bad. Worked OK for looking after myself at my old school, but I don't think it would stack up that good around here!"

The subject of fighting had her even more animated than usual. "Once I get properly settled in and catch up on the schoolwork I want to check out some hand-to-hand fighting classes. Judo, kickboxing, maybe even learn some weapon skills. It's the best fun and I don't think it's ever a bad idea to know how to fight! And besides, collecting bruises and bumps is a great game!"

Kristen looked at Etain curiously and wondered if the question led anywhere. "I guess from your asking that you know how to fight without the illusions?" She asked. "Being able to do the mind-bending stuff and knowing how to land a good shot all at the same time sure sounds.. formidable?"

[Aoiroo]

"Well I guess I would have to be pretty formidable. My illusions are are purely mental, and as such do not work on anything that lacks sentience or has thorough mental sheilding. Robots and golems are an example, so I have trained to master to the best of my abilities the art of,"

She walked over to her bag and pulled out a very flowery and lacey parasol. She gave the handle a quick twist and slid out the silver glint of the blade,

"Fencing,"

She pushed the sword back into it's flowerly sheath,

"But I am also skilled in unarmed combat as well, though I am in that I am not very physically adept especially in the strengh area."

[Scuffles]

Glow blinked. "Is that a sword in an umbrella? Can I see? I think I want one!" She jumped off the balance beam again and crossed the mats towards Etain. "That might just be one of the coolest things I've seen since I got here! Whatever made you want to put a sword in your umbrella?"

A mischievous grin crossed her face. "And what do you do if it's raining AND you need to fight someone at the same time?". With her bad joke for the day spent, she looked thoughtful again for a moment. "Learning to fence or maybe fight with a staff or something would be fun! And it's not like I'm ever going to be strong enough to lay people out with my fists, so maybe it would be a good idea to have skills like that as a backup for if I can't use telekinesis for some reason! Do you teach?"

[Aoiroo]

Etain chuckled at the younger girls reaction,

"I do not know if you would be able to acquire one on your own, this was something I had made as a custom comission to a weapons manufactor. Also I do not let other people handle my weapon on the principle that not many people know how to handle it and it is quite sharp."

She smiled however as she picked it up herself and unsheathed it again letting the other girl examine the blade even if she would not let her touch it.

"I really do not like being caught in a situation where I may not have a weapon available but most places frown upon people casually carrying weapons on their person and I even if I could conceal the weapon it would still show up on security cameras. As for fighting in the rain."

She pushed a button on the sheath and the umbrella end popped open,

"I would hold the sheath in one hand with the sword in the other, the components are perfectly able to work alongside one another."

She sheathed the umbrella as the girl continued to chatter about the possibilities,

"I can probably teach, but you are likely better sticking to a school instructor. Many of the staff are very well trained in weapon uses and they can likely provide you with a weapon of your choice to train with as well. The facilities are very well equip for students taking an interest in such things. Though I do not think they would have any swordbrellas on campus, it is not a thing usually accesible for combat."

[Scuffles]

Kristin peered at the blade closely and marveled at the quality and sharpness of it, then laughed out loud as Etain demonstrated her plan for swordfighting-in-the-rain. "I didn't really expect you to use the umbrella at the same time you know! hey you could get that bit made out of some kind of strong fabric and use it as a shield too! And being able to take a weapon anywhere really does sound like a good idea. It'd set of metal detectors though wouldn't it?"

"I don't think I should be allowed to use a sharp weapon though, I'd probably slice and dice myself." she decided. "A staff or a baton would probably be safer, the worst I can do then is give myself a nice collection of bruises. And training partners probably would do that anyway so it's not like it'd be any worse!"

"If you could tell me how to find the teachers for that kind of stuff that would be great!" she said, clearly still enthused with the idea.

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled,

"I do not think they make fabric like that for umbrellas, though I can check and if I wanted to move it through a metal detactor then clearly I would just make it so it appears quiet. As for teachers, I am not sure which ones teach such things. I was trained before I entered the school so I have not taken much more then the bare minimum of combat training simply because my schedule does not permit me to do so. I am sure if you ask the gym teachers or headmaster they would gladly provide you with a teacher."

She put the umbrella back into her bag before looking around,

"We can probably see if they have some training weapons around her though, so you may test to see whichever you prefer."

[Scuffles]

"OK, I'll check next time I have gym class!" Kristin replied. "Oh I think they have racks for practice gear over there.." she said with a vague point towards the other side of the gym. "I'll go look!" As energetic as ever she jogged across the gym and ducked under the balance beam this time instead of going over.

"So if you didn't train here, who taught you?" She asked curiously as she went. "I thought most people came here to learn about their abilities as well as for school work? Oh but I guess if you had yours when you were really little you would have plenty of time to work on them before you were old enough to come here?"

She stopped in front of a rack full of training weapons and gear. "Hey look, there's loads of stuff in here that looks like fun!"

[Aoiroo]

"Indeed I was, I was trained in both combat and my powers from a young age. It did leave me quite unprepared for everything else I am afraid, and need to take several remedial classes to stay up to task with the rest of my grade."

She followed the young girl to the weapons rack and went down the row. There was an extensive collection though nothing with a sharp edge was actually available. She reached through it and pulled off two of the shorter wooden bo staffs.

"Would you like to try these then, I am almost certain they are available in extendable versions as well."