voidtreckerexpress | Glorfindel at Fight Club, post Fiddlesticks Mission

Glorfindel arranged to meet with Madoka to teach her how to use her bow, after reserving the gym for that purpose. After all, you really couldn't do archery practice if everyone else was in there playing a ball game. Or if you did, it would need to be on purpose with everyone aware of the situation and not teaching a beginner.

He set up some targets at the far end of the car while he waited.

Glorfindel was looking forward to learning more about the tonfas. It was a weapon that he was not familiar with, but wasn't as foreign as one of the 'guns' so many spoke about.

While he waited for Cassie, he went through a few of his own warming up routines using one of the bamboo practice swords that he and Drizzt had made.

Cassie approaches with her tonfa in hand, along with another set which she has acquired through handwaved means. She tosses them in Glorfindel's direction.

"Think fast."

It's true, we don't want any very, very unfortunate accidents happening with some poor ball game players...

Madoka makes sure to not take too long to come over though. She's definitely the sort of girl who hates to keep anyone waiting - she's just too polite and nice for it! In fact, she probably would have shown up even earlier if it wasn't for the fact that she was still kind of fussing over Maru post-mission.. But considering how much he's been sleeping since they returned from the beach, she figured it was probably safe to let her cat sleep in bed by himself while she went out to practice with Glorfindel.

Which is why the girl enters the gym by herself right on time, immediately politely bowing as she spots the man setting up targets.

"I'm here..!" She uprights herself again with a small smile. "Thank you so much for being willing to teach me, sir.."

Glorfindel didn't have to think, he just caught them. "Ah, they're just like yours! Excellent!" He bowed properly to her.

"First lesson is...?"

Glorfindel turns and bows back. "It is my pleasure, Madoka, I assure you. Teaching was one of my favorite parts of my job, back home, but I don't get to do it very often anymore."

He walked over to her and smiled down at her. "First we're going to do some stretching and warmup exercises, so you don't end up too sore to pet Maru! He'd object, I'm sure."

"First lesson is the easiest one," Cassie says. "Your base stance. The advantage of a side handle is that you can use both forearms to defend against weapons."

She enters her base pose to demonstrate.

"So we'll start with the easy part by having you block."

She laughs at the last part.

"Well, I'm sure he'd forgive me if he was asleep.." Besides, Maru is never too demanding for pets. Maybe it's since he's a cat rather than something more easily attached than a dog.. Still, Madoka can greatly appreciate the fact that Glorfindel is close enough to her favourite kitty to make jokes about him when he isn't there, so her smile is very genuine.

"But that does sound like a good idea! I don't do a whole lot of exercise, so I might get really sore otherwise."

"Alright," Glorfindel said. He took the same stance as her, mimicking both the foot position and the position of her arms. "I think I'm ready." Of course, only time would tell.

"All right. First, stand like this, and put your arms like so. And gently to the side, stretch," he said, demonstrating the position and the motion. "Hold for a count of five, then we do it on the other side as well."

[He'll lead her through about 4 stretches for the various arm and shoulder muscles, 1 for the torso, and another for her back and legs. Let me know if we want to go over any in particular?]

(ooc: nope, that description is fine by me! c: )

Madoka makes sure to keep up with all of it! It does look like she has to put quite a bit of effort into it, since she's not used to stretching at all, but at the same time it's also obvious that she's full of determination to try and do this right all the same.

She lets out a breath once they're done with all of it. That already felt like a workout in and of itself to her!

"Phew.. So, is it time to start shooting arrows now?" Someone might be a little over excited here.

Cassie begins reaching out and striking with her own tonfas, sometimes swinging them, sometimes using them as extensions of her own fists. She's fairly confident that Glorfindel will at least be able to react to attacks as he sees them.

Glorfindel laughed. "Next we work on your stance! But it does involve holding the bow. Even magic bows can hurt if you don't hold them right." He picked up the bow he'd gotten on that first aborted mission and showed her what he meant.

"See, if my shoulder is hunched, if I draw the string, I have to go around my forearm? Imagine releasing the string now. It would hit me. And sting. A lot." He did not actually draw the string. Dry firing was a bad thing, and plus, he really didn't want to smack himself in the arm, magic healing or no.

His first couple of blocks were awkward as he got used to the weight and how they moved with him. But he slowly started to get the hang of it he thought.

"It's kind of like fighting with two swords. Sometimes you block," he brought his hands up, crossing the tonfas and keeping her strike from hitting him, "and sometimes you deflect. And sometimes, you do both." This time he crossed, then stepped aside and turned her punch away, pushing her off with the top baton.

"And just as quickly..."

In a single motion, Cassie keeps her momentum through his parry and turns her body through another strike. The handle turns with the motion. Whatever it hits, it's going to hit hard...

He laughed as he caught the blow mostly on the tonfa, though not as smoothlyas he'd like. "Ah! Fast! And that stings a bit!" Fortunately for him, he was both experienced with pain and a very fast healer. The red mark was already fading.

He stepped back, shook it off and resumed the position. "Shall we go again?"

"We can," Cassie says.

"But maybe I should let you give it a try. Did you see how I did that?"

He nodded after a moment of thought. "I think so."

Without another word or even a blink, he punched her as she had him a moment before.

[ooc: He's going to pull his first punch. He thinks she's as tough as a Dunedain, but wants to be sure before he commits fully.]

"So you have to make sure to stand straight?"

She holds out her hand, making the bow appear in it again much like she did the last time she showed Glorfindel it. Thankfully Maru's presence isn't required to be able to use it like this. Now she can actually use it to practice her stance!

Cassie throws out her own tonfa to block. A mighty clink fills the chamber as they meet.

She smiles. "Good. Now try again but harder. And without telegraphing."

She can tell when someone's holding back. It's sensible of him, especially during training. But she knows from what she's seen from him that he's got more in the tank.

"Exactly. You have a good beginning." Glorfindel walked around her making some suggestions. "Shoulders back just a bit more, and keep them down. Foot just a bit more to the right...good."

"Now, let the bow go. Relax, and shake out your arms. Then we're going to practice getting into the right stance a few times. I want it to become as natural as running up and hugging someone." Glorfindel smiled at her.

Glorfindel goes again, this time at about 50%, but making it look like about 75%, a common trick he used on his own trainees. It allowed them to think they had a bead on his levels. It was a lovely punch, only slightly telegraphed this time. Mostly because he grinned just as he started.

Now this one's more like it. She actually has to try in order to block that one.

The sound is loud and satisfying.

"Much better," Cassie says. "Of course, the key to fighting with tonfas is fluidity as much as strength.

"Try it again, only this time, return to a guard position as soon as it's blocked."

"Ah.."

Why did he have to pick that example of all things! Madoka was busy trying to practice the stance, but she lets it go for a moment when Glorfindel mentions the last part. Her cheeks are slightly rosy.

"I don't know if that's that natural.." With people she's close to, sure! But there's definitely a huge wall right on the border between people she's super close to and people she's slightly less close to, an that wall is Madoka's natural shyness preventing her from doing it as easily with the latter category. "B-But.. I'll try my best anyway!"

She raises the bow again, trying to keep in mind what he told her as she tries to find the right stance.

"This feels kind of familiar to me anyway, somehow.. Even though I've never done archery before."

Glorfindel nodded and went again, this time kicking the speed up by 10%, doing as she said, grinning at her. "This is fun!"

Glorfindel laughed. He loved it when she hugged him and hoped that she'd feel comfortable doing it any time with him, but it was also cute when she got all flustered like that.

"Good. Then let that feeling flow through you." He watched her and corrected her stance a bit as she wavered a bit the other way. "Again, please."

Cassie blocks and moves in for a return blow - this one an uppercut, which he blocks too. She returns the smile.

"Yeah. I've always liked fighting with tonfas. It'd been a while since I'd carried two into a real fight."

Madoka sucks in a deep breath, trying to regain her calm again after getting so flustered before. She has to be serious about this! Or she wants to be, anyway.

"Okay!"

The girl drops the stance before moving back into it again.

"Are my shoulders alright like this?"

"Shake it out, relax a bit more between times," Glorfindel said.

He checked out her stance by walking all the way around her. "Shoulders are good, but turn at your waist a little less. You want to face this way, while your head faces that way," he reminded her. "But you are getting the hang of it."

This looked like a good combination of speed and power, Glorfindel decided to stick with it for a bit.

"I can definitely see the appeal. Weapon and shield in one. For a low tech world, such as mine, they could be handy." He threw another straight shot at her, followed by a slash from the other arm, just to see how she would block the combination. "Unless you're up against a balrog. Then they'd just catch on fire."

"Yeah, they tend to get used for lower level engagements on my world, too."

Cassie actually has to back up to deflect these strikes.

"You're a fast learner."

She returns with a flurry of her own, beginning with jabs from the guard position before she tries to catch him off guard with a right cross.

"I could teach you some Forms if you'd like to do stuff that just looks cool. It's kinda like fight dancing."

"There really are a lot of steps to it, huh.."

But although she's saying that, she's trying really hard to not get discouraged! Her first instinct is to get kind of hard on herself for not getting it right off the bat, but the rational part of her brain is attempting to tell her that no one is good right from the start.

Madoka is still trying to listen to his instructions and correct her pose like he's pointing out though.

"How long did you have to practice before it became natural to you..?"

She almost caught him with that right cross, but she was right about him being a fast learner. Plus, he was an experienced fighter, even if the weapon was new, and he had fast reflexes.

"I really would. I find that Forms help to ingrain movements into muscle memory," he said, grinning at her. "Plus, fight dancing just sounds fun." He finished with another short flurry of attacks, not really trying hard to hit her, more trying to spot the different ways there were to block.

"Excellent question, and that one was really good, please do it again," Glorfindel said. "What you are doing right now is just training your muscles to fall naturally into this position, which takes as long as it takes. We'll do it three more times today and then move onto target practice, which is also fairly important in archery," he added with a wink and a grin at her.

And Cassie will happily show him every one of the ways to block that there are.

"It's fun to get to pretend to be Cynthia Rothrock for a bit."

Beat.

"Though I'd settle for Jean-Claude Van Damme in a pinch."

At least Madoka isn't a total idiot. She knows he's just making a joke when he's winking like that right after he says it.

Which is why - even as she's still practicing - Madoka is probably joking just as much in return when she says: "I'd hate to argue with you, mister Glorfindel, but I'm pretty sure that might even be the most important part.."

"I suppose you might have a point," he said with a very distinct twinkle in his eye.

"Okay. This time, as you draw the bow, you are going to manifest an arrow and go ahead and shoot it at the target I set up down there." Before judging her actual shooting it was best to check her aim!

Glorfindel nodded. "Would that be more impressive if I knew who either of those were?" he asked.

He followed along with every block, checking at least one with a second identical blow to be sure he got it.

"Sure would," Cassie says.

"Not sure if either of them have movies in the train's collection. Though I know my dad's got at least one."

"Alright!"

There might be a slightly excited spark in her eyes as she answers that. After all, Madoka does want to make sure to have the proper stance at all.. But there's no denying that the actual firing of the arrow is the most exciting part of archery, isn't it? She really wants to try it out under his guiding eye!

So she does as he says. She makes sure to take on the stance again as best as she can, pulling back the bow while actually letting the magical arrow form this time. The girl pauses a moment, looking at the target, and then aims and releases the string.

.. Surprisingly enough, it's exactly on target. Maybe not perfectly so, but very, very close. Very surprisingly close for a beginner. Was it just a lucky coincidence?

Madoka doesn't seem to judge it herself though, instead quickly turning her gaze back towards the elf.

"How did I do, sir..?" She even seems excited to hear that! She wants to do well!

"I wouldn't mind watching with you, if you wanted to?" Glorfindel offered. He had no clue where to even begin, so he usually watched what was playing. Which, when it was half through, made for some confusing narratives.

"Though, I may have questions," he said, being honest. He tried not to ask during the movie, but sometimes it was necessary, as he lacked certain frames of reference.

"Very nice!" Glorfindel was definitely one to give praise where it was due, and even if it turned out to be a beginner's lucky shot, it was owed proper praise.

"It looks like due to the qualities of the 'arrow' that you don't have to adjust for the ventilation. That is excellent." She wouldn't need to learn to compensate for wind. And maybe not even for distance. That was amazing.

"Fire off another?"

Cassie stops in her tracks for a moment, letting her hands drop to her waist. The thought of Glorfindel watching Johnny Cage movies is...well, it's something alright.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess nothing's stopping you from watching Ninja Mime, is it?"

Beat.

"I'm not sure if your world even has ninjas. Or mimes."

Madoka looks really relieved when he says it was nice. Glorfindel is an expert, so his opinion on this weighs pretty heavily with her.

"Ah, right.. I didn't even consider that yet." Sure, there may not be a whole lot of wind here in the train in the middle of the void, but she knows that's definitely different in the worlds they go to. It's probably since her arrows are just made of magic rather than any actual material arrows are made of, huh..? Sounds like she got lucky to have it a bit easier than most.

But as he tells her to do it again, Madoka nods and fires off another arrow. This one goes well too - still not in the perfect middle of the target, but close once more, though this time on the other side.

".. It's strange, but something about firing like this feels familiar.." Maybe that's why it's going well?

"Neither of those," Glorfindel confirmed. "But thanks to Edge, I do know what ninjas are. What are mimes?" he asked.

"Have you ever shot a bow or practiced marksmanship before?" Glorfindel asked. "You are showing a lot of talent, for certain!" She had a very good eye, definitely.

"Mimes are...a little hard to explain. Or justify."

A long pauses as she searches for a succinct explanation.

"They're like clowns or jesters. Only their whole thing is that they don't talk and pretend to be interacting with invisible objects."

There's a very brief moment where she thinks, but then Madoka slowly shakes her head.

"I don't think so, although.. um, I guess it depends a little on what you would count..? I had a dream before in this place where I did fight something with a bow that was very similar to this one. Maybe I remember it from that dream somehow..?"

Glorfindel at Fight Club, post Fiddlesticks Mission

Closed to Madoka, and to Maru if he wants to tag along

Closed to Cassie Cage

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just madoka this time! c:

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Re: just madoka this time! c:

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