Body and Soul 4

[Phoenyx]

The gentle sound of Pipe music resonates gently through the Circle as the summer sun shines down.

In the central quad, a lithe shape moves slowly through the kata of T'ai chi, breathing slowly.

In.....

Phoenyx spins slowly, balancing on one leg and stretching out her limbs.

.... and out.

Phoenyx releases the pose and opens her eyes. She moves slowly to the center of the grassy quad and adopts a locus position, waiting.

Over to one side, there is a sports bag with pads. Her trenchcoat and weapons (a pair of knives and a pistol) and placed neatly on top of them.

Phoenyx will be doing another self-defense class and meditation.

This is an open scene that also helps any characters looking to build up those physical skills!

[Guru]

Fitness, training, meditation, these things were like music to Guru’s ears. He was fairly physically active outside of his studies, his workout routine was an ingrained habit at this point so besides the possibly sparring this was pretty typical for him. He came jogging up with a gym bag over his shoulder decked head to toe in athletic gear, black Under Armor under layer to regulate his temperature and absorb sweat. Pair of Adidas athletic shorts and a simple white tank top that hung closely to his form.

He took off his Aviators and tucked them into a side pocket of the bag as he set it on the ground and pulled his yoga mat from the straps along the bottom of it before slowly, religiously unrolling it. He slowly, and unfortunately not very quietly shuffled and shifted until he could match Phoenyx’s position and begin cycling his own breathing not wanting to break, more than he already had, the calm still silence of the moment.

[Crystal]

Who would have thought that Crystal would find himself at a self-defense and meditation class? Certainly not this Mastigos.

Then again, he hadn't expected to almost go toe-to-toe with actual magical dinosaurs, so there's that. Plus, Phoenyx' style of leadership sorta impressed Crystal. If anyone was to get him to meditate it was her.
Since he didn't own any workout clothes whatsoever some cheap stuff off the rack had to do: a white t-shirt and grey short sweatpants not worth mentioning. If there was any halfway serious fighting going on today, 'underprepared' wouldn't begin to cover it. But hey, he brought a bottle of water!

The music was a bit too on-the-nose for his taste, but Guru being there was a pleasant surprise. Frankly, the Shaman didn't strike him as the meditating type either. Huh.

Well, this was awkward - apparently he was the only one present who didn't know what to do. Also, who even owned yoga mats anymore? Crystal shrugged as if to answer his own question and waited for Phoenyx to either notice him or at least vocalize some instructions. Fun!

[Phoenyx]

The Arrow opens her dark eyes slowly and looks up at the approaching mages. After the somewhat disappointing turnout of previous sessions, it was a relief people were taking her offers seriously.

"Good morning," she says to them both with a small smile. She unfolds gracefully and stands, moving to turn the music down to a quiet background level. "I hope you are both well?"

Looking around she looks at the difference between the two attendees. "I am usually here for my exercises, but I do things less intently when beginning with others." If she realizes the blunt statement could be condescending, she doesn't notice. There is certainly no malice in her voice. "I am not sure if anyone else will appear, but we should start with what it is you are more interested in developing. I can tailor our session appropriately. We can prioritise one of three areas - fitness, self-defense, or meditation. An understanding of your own ability would also be useful."

The Arrow's voice is calm and level. Something about it, and her in this quiet setting, radiates self-assurance.

[Guru]

Guru rolled onto his knees and then transitioned to standing quickly following Phoenyx’s lead as he instinctively brushed off his shorts which were already smooth and clean. He offered Crystal a wide, if surprised, smile. This didn’t seem to be his scene from what he could tell, he was more the high society, or low society clubbing type. Not that Guru was one to talk there, that thought immediately dismissed the rest. “’Sup Buddy! Thanks for doing this Phoenyx, sounded like fun to me.”

“I usually work out in the park or a gym but happy to get my fit on with friends. As far as areas where I need improvement I won’t need any help with meditation already pretty good at that. My workout is good, let’s see; I jog, I do parkour, light lifting mostly for definition, yoga, swimming for light impact days.” Each one he listed he ticked off a finger, his brow furrowing like he was forgetting something, because he was. “That’s all I can remember right now. Most of my fight experience is from getting jumped so I wouldn’t mind some pointers on that front but I wouldn’t say I’m inexperienced, I’m just not, very, good.”

Magic was the great equalizer there but in his mind this would defeat the purpose of the lesson better to rely on his own skill and ability first and fill in with magic only as needed. That was the ideal at least. “I also know which end of the gun to point forward but not much more. There’s a reason I usually use a shotgun, not the most accurate shot either." He was still his excitable self, but eager to burn off his seemingly endless supply of energy.

[Crystal]

"Sup!" Crystal couldn't put his finger on the 'why', but something about Guru made even those bro-ish expressions seem non-cringy. The First Talon deserved a more polite greeting, however. "Good Morning. I'm doing fine, how are you?" He sounded pretty chill, but Phoenyx's dexterity was pretty damn impressing. He remembered her flying through the Astral Space like in those martial arts movies - that definitely checked out here. Fortunately Guru provided a comfortable partner to play off of, someone to feel safe with. In the Warlock's experience, once you were tripping balls with someone in a crowded club you kind of automatically vibe.

But fuck, Guru wasn't one of those Thyrsus that just sculpted their bodies into fitness magically, he was basically doing every sport you could think of. Crystal became more and more sure that he was going to lowkey embarrass himself today. "Yeeaah, exercise. Lately I haven't been able to get to that as much." Which was true, but the full truth was that he wasn't ever that big into it - her bluntness was therefore appropriate and frankly refreshing. "I was also kinda hoping to get some first pointers about self-defense. You know, in case I run into Thunder Lizards again." Meditation wasn't really his thing: being alone with his thoughts? No thank you.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx nods, watching each of them in turn. "I am here regularly. It is a peaceful place, especially when I live in the tower. You clearly have a good regime. Keeping things flexible makes sure each form has an impact." She nods. "Well, I can do shooting some other time if you were interested, but that is not what I was planning for now."

Looking at Crystal in turn, she gives him a small smile. "I am well, thank you. And no matter. I want to make sure people have the opportunity. Self defense sounds like it is the focus for you both. In that case, we should warm up and stretch in preparation. Then I can make sure your basics are solid." She offers another small smile, then sets off at a jog around the edge of the quad.

"Come on! a good warm-up is essential to all exercise!" She calls back.

[Guru]

"Shit, you know, not much." He said with a laugh as he answered Crystal and when he spoke on exercise Guru looked at his outfit and that grin spread further and further until his thoughts were clearly written across his face. Guru wasn't buying that exercise was a part of Crystal's daily regiment. "Shit most people don't, it's just a good way for me to burn off energy."


It had started that way at least, then it turned into a ritual, a habit and thankfully it was a healthy one. "Shit well I'll try and swing by more often if you want a workout buddy. Though I know plenty who prefer to do it solo too. Thanks! Yea shooting can wait, probably don't want to do it out here anyway." He honestly didn't know if the quad was equipped for the activity but he'd heard there was a defunct time machine here too so he wasn't willing to discount it either.


"Sure. Stretching is good, don't forget to hydrate either don't want a cramp or pulled muscle." He didn't move into yoga or anything fancy after that. He just began to push his limbs and body to stretch out those muscles, push out the lactic acid and get his form into function.

[Crystal]

Crystal nodded at Guru. Yeah, 'not much' tracked since they were both here instead of anywhere else. Hearing about Phoenyx living here made the Mastigos see her in a different light - he could see why Kaze and her didn't click on some level.

But then the time for small-talk was already over. Crystal took a sip of water - heeding his Guru's advice - and put the bottle down before joining Phoenyx in her laps. While he was no athlete he wasn't terribly out of shape either, so this was fine so far. At least it wasn't prehistorically humid in here. Once he thought he found a rhythm, he dared talking at the same time. "So, what exactly is the idea? Boxing? Some special Magic-jitsu?" He was thrilled about the prospect of non-mundane stuff so he might as well get the question out of the way now.

[Phoenyx]

The Arrow watches Guru for a moment, then nods. "It would be good to train with people again. I usually trained with people in my Order, but I doubt it will be too different." Talons she could understand had been few and far between. Guru seemed like he took his routines seriously - maybe it was time for a change.

Magic-jitsu draws a confused look from Phoenyx. "No, not at all. Those techniques are far too advanced. I am trained trained in martial arts. Most of my techniques come from there." The light jog does not phase her. "Magic is powerful, but only as good as the person that wields it. All Initiates of the Adamantine Arrow have a focus in their physical training as much as mental. Our bodies are the connection we possess into the universe, the vessel through which we may interact. And like any other tool, it must be maintained to keep it suitable for it's use." She switches to skipping sideways so that she can look at Crystal.

"It is important to be flexible. Some people have come to me who could not throw a punch, so after warming up, I will assess your skills and advise ways for development. Have you done any form of fighting before?" she asks.