Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 14, 2007 16:16:28 GMT -5
Yagyu Renzukan was not a vicious man, nor was he one to seek out confrontation, but when he decided that it was time to hone his skills, he was a vicious training partner and teacher. For now he was alone though, just him and his blade. His eyes stayed open as he settled back into seiza. The samurai took three deep, cleansing breaths in an attempt to purify his soul and calm his mind at the same time. On the height of his third breath, he began to move. Slowly, reverantly, he leaned forward drawing his katana from the saya as he lifted his right knee. He would stand up in one swift, but still respectfull motion, drawing the sword behind him and eventually up and over his shoulders. From here his left hand moved out, pointing at an angle toward the floor a few feet away.
He stepped forward, his left hand staying motionless as the rest of his body fueled the heavy swing. The blade stopped as the tsuba hit his left hand and slowly the Yagyu samurai would allow blood that wasn't really there to drip off of the blade before he notoed(sheathing the blade). This was his ritual. He preformed Kaishaku before every training session to remind him that the greatest deeds that he could ever do would not be on the battlefield, but in the quiet of a friends home.
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 14, 2007 17:04:30 GMT -5
The soothing, combined scents of jasmine and vanilla would mix with the natural scent of lavendar that was all over Kyoto and easily calm even the most troubled person - male and female alike. That was the only sign anyone would have that the Shogun was nearby, though it was only likely that Renzukan would know she was there. After all, he spent the most amount of time in her prescense anyway, and knew her best.
Her raven hair was up in two pigtails that hung down to right about her knees and they were tied up with two dark blue ribbons, one on each pigtail. Her kimono was short sleeved and hung down to her knees. It was one of the few times the woman was not in her formal wear, but not many people would recognize her. Whenever she wasn't in her shogun wear, she seemed to be a totally different person.
The crimson eyes of the Shogun were locked onto a scroll as she walked into the same area that her trusted vassal was training in. He was the only person - save the Shogun of Kyushu - that the Honshu Shogun even came close to trusting. Andra's crimson gaze came up just in time to see the man moving around as he trained. She said nothing, made no signs she was there, and simply watched. As he finished, she made her prescence known, if it hadn't been already.
"Hello, Renzukan-san," she said, her voice as soothing as the scents that were always around her.
((Clothes))[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 15, 2007 8:28:06 GMT -5
Renzukan sighed under his breath. The Shogun's presence would not go unnoticed. She was quite possibly the only woman that he couldn't have and she was definitely the only woman that he had connected with on anything other than a physical level. Even though he was beneath her in even his own eyes, he still felt the need to keep her safe for reasons other than his position as her vassal. He'd grown to like her and that was something he had yet to understand completely. He wasn't supposed to get attached to those he served, he was a guard and nothing more.
"Good morning Kinimoa-sama." He turned to her and bowed deeply. One of his eyebrows lifted slightly at the attire she had chosen. It wasn't the least bit unpleasant, and to be honest, it was rather practical dress compared to what she normally wore while performing her duties as Shogun. His left hand stayed on the tsuka of his katana, thumb hooked over the tsuba to keep the weapon in the saya until ready to be drawn. At which point his thumb would release the weapon from it's case. He doubted very much that he would need to take such actions. They were safe from the outside world while inside of her castle-like home and he doubted anyone within her staff would be stupid enough to attack her after hearing about how ruthlessly Renzukan protected his Shogun.
'Were we schedueled for a training session today? Argh, can't remember. Well if we are, it will probably be a quick one. She's a much quicker learner than I used to think.' The Yagyu's mind rambelled on to itself, splitting his attention between thought and action as he dropped into Iai Heiza, a half-sitting, half-kneeling posture that was a more alert form of Seiza.
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 15, 2007 12:31:41 GMT -5
Andra's hand would be what stopped him from dropping into the Iai Haiza posture. "Please stand up, Renkuzan-san. I consider you a friend, and I don't want friends treating me as more than just a human being," she said. "And call me Andra." She smiled at him as she looked him over. It was a sort of fail-safe maneuver she had adopted over the years. She was sharp, and had only missed one weapon hidden on anyone in her company, and that was one of the foreign diplomats. She knew what weapons he had, and where they were hidden.
"How are you doing, Renkuzan-san? I know we don't have any sort of training session today, but I was walking around and saw you here," she said, smiling. "Why is it that this seems to be the place you are most?" she teased.[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 15, 2007 13:44:04 GMT -5
"That way I'm easy to find when you need me Andra-chan. Besides; solitary training is important to one's growth as a swordsman and as a person in general. That's what I was told at least." The scents that the Shogun always seemed to bring with her started to fill his nostrils and he returned her smile. He felt a bit uneasy with using her given name, but if she had requested it, he'd do his best on remembering. A soft tap to his side loosened the weapon and he allowed it to drop almost completely to the floor before catching the sword and laying it gently off to the side.
"I suppose I'm feeling alright. I feel as if I've been slacking off in my training though. I can't seem to remember a few of my favorite katas." A glazed over mournful look filled his eyes, as if he was talking about friends being killed. In his mind; it was rather similar. His ability to fight and to kill was his lively-hood and even something as miscule as katas were important to honing that skill. He let the feelings of slight inadaquecy go, realizing that his shogun stood before him still. She was indeed a sight to behold and he couldn't help but feel good around her. "And what might you be doing this fine day Andra-chan?"
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 15, 2007 14:40:17 GMT -5
Andra smiled and then watched him as he moved. She was glad he decided to call her Andra, and even more glad that he added 'chan' to the end of it rather than 'sama' again. As he spoke of slacking off on his training, she watched him. He was the closest thing to a friend she had in Kyoto, so she wasn't about to let him suffer, if she didn't have to. "Renzukan-san, when you can't remember something, all you need to do is meditate somewhere quiet until you can," she said. "At least, that's what I do."
The Shogun moved next to him and offered a small smile. "I've been as okay as I can be. Busy, but alright. Hokkaido is running low on food, apparently, so they seem to think they need more, meaning another ship will be leaving Nara soon," she told him. "Also, I was thinking about teaching all of my staff how to recognize who has hidden weapons. What do you think?"[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 15, 2007 15:05:41 GMT -5
Renzukan nodded slowly at her advice. "Yes, I know what you mean. Unfortunately, I don't meditate like others very well. My meditation comes from katas and concentrating on the positions my body takes while performing them." At her question concerning her staff, he nodded again. "It can only make my job easier, so I say go for it." A soft, light-hearted chuckle would follow his statement.
The Yagyu samurai cracked his knuckles one at a time, each pop sounding more painful than the last. He wandered lazily over to a nearby wall and pulled down two sets of escrima sticks. A she walked back over to his charge, he grinned. "I've got a practice drill I think you might enjoy. It's good exercise and very relaxing." he commented, offering her a pair of the sticks.
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 15, 2007 17:52:26 GMT -5
Andra raised an eyebrow as he said that he had a practice drill she might enjoy. Hey, she might. It's not like she had that much time to actually do something she enjoyed anyway. She nodded once and took the sticks from him, frowning at them slightly. It might have just been that long since she had seen a weapon, but she couldn't remember anything about them.
"As for your meditation, maybe you should come with me one day while I'm doing my own meditation, Renzukan-san," she said softly. The offer would be one of the most unexpected offers ever. Andra had never actually asked anyone to go with her to her meditation ground. No one knew even where it was. The meditation ground was the only place that Andra went without any guard. She kept her eyes on the sticks as she asked him.[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 15, 2007 23:23:50 GMT -5
"I would love to accompany you during your meditation Andra-chan. You know how worried I get when you go off on your own. But are you sure that I wouldn't be intruding? I've known you for a long time now and you've never taken anyone with you before." His voice had dropped it's usual seriousness in tone that he held while speaking with her. In fact; he was being more informal with her than he'd ever been. It dawned on him that he'd offered her the short training session and had forgotten to elaborate. "Oh, the sticks....I want to teach you a drill called Seek." He examined the sticks that he'd kept for himself and grinned: perfect. They were just the right length, about two or three inches longer than his own forearms and they were a nice, sturdy bamboo.
He separated the weapons, taking one in each hands. "Just mimic my motions for now." he instructed. With his left hand he brought the first stick up and under his right arm, the bamboo shaft pointing behind him. His right arm folded back towards itself with the bamboo shaft point behind him and resting on top of his shoulder. "This is going to be our starting position." He stepped back and waited for her to adopt the position. If she got it down well enough, which the Yagyu man was sure she would, he would move on to the next part of the exercise and show her the striking pattern. It was a simple, three-hit, pattern that was rather repetitive, but an efficient teaching tool none-the-less.
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 16, 2007 11:00:14 GMT -5
Andra offered him a rare smile and nodded. "I wouldn't have invited you if I thought you were intruding, Renzukan-san," she stated calmly. "My father used to tell me that it was better to have one secret place that nobody knew about than to reveal that secret place to a person you didn't know," she told him. Renkuzan, having probably heard her father speak at least for one day, would know that Andra's father often spoke in riddles, and confusing sentences.
She watched what he was doing, and then did it almost like a mirror, except, as usual, she added her own little spin on it, spinning both bamboo sticks in her hands once before mimicking his motions as he asked. Her smile had faded, and she was now in her standard mode for training, and that was a sort of emotionless, dead-serious mode. It allowed her to have no regrets for what she did, and allowed the enemy nothing to prey upon. She knew that Renkuzan wasn't technically an enemy, but it was automatic now.[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 16, 2007 21:42:47 GMT -5
'I guess she is finally getting to trust me, or at least she's getting comfortable around me. Thank god. It's so much easier to watch over a person when they trust you.' He snapped back from his thoughts as she struck the pose that he had shown her. He turned himself and slid into a position in front of her and off to the side a bit so that she could see his movements perfectly. "Alright then, let's get started." His first motion was to swing his right-hand stick high, about level with his own chin. As he did so his left would be drawn out across his body in a wide ark to prepare it for the second series of three. The second strike would be preformed with the right hand again as he brought it down and back toward it's original side. The third strike, and the one that would complete the series, was back up in the same direction as the second at about temple height. It was indeed a simple set of maneuvers and he was sure that the shogun would pick them up rather quickly. The real fun would begin after that.
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 16, 2007 22:23:12 GMT -5
Andra watched him, her crimson eyes taking in every single detail as he moved. She then nodded once and copied him to the letter. As she finished, she stood, waiting for the next part which, knowing Renzukan, was bound to be more challenging and more entertaining. The shogun knew her request had been extremely out of character, but she knew the dangers of going somewhere by herself, especially a meditation ground.
((OOC: Sorry it's short... I'm brain-dead right now.))[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 18, 2007 13:26:14 GMT -5
[Gunna PP just a smidge so that I can make a bit longer of a post and you don't have to dedicate another post to just copying another short set of motions.]
Renzukan was impressed, but not suprised, by Andra's quick study of the moves. He showed her the next set of moves which was exactly the same with the left hand. As she mimicked him, he swumg around so that he was facing her. Their left-hand sticks would clash on the third strike. He grinned, showing his teeth. The samurai's canines and the bicuspids directly next to them were sharper than most people's. They'd been filed down over the years by Renzukan to add to his arsenal of intimidating features. If he could convince a man that he was a demon and therefore prevent a fight ending in someone's death, then the pain he'd gone through for these teeth would be worth it.
He launched into another series of three strikes with his right stick, exactly as he'd shown his shogun, hoping she would catch the idea behind the game. Right-Left-Right Left. Seek was a rather boring game by principal, but when played correctly it was his favorite game. 'Perhaps we should just skip the basic stepping around and go right into the fun stuff.'
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Post by ♠Andra♠ on Jun 18, 2007 13:31:47 GMT -5
Andra had mimicked him and then his stick clashed with hers, and he grinned, showing the intimidating teeth that she had seen before. They may have intimidated some people, but Andra had never been frightened by appearances.
Andra didn't move as they did their little left-right game. She was beginning to wonder how much longer the same moves would go on, and if she could incoperate some of her own spy-like moves into the simple back and forth match. Not waiting for any visible answers from him, Andra continued to move and then ducked down, spinning around on her left knee as her right leg swung out at his feet. Whether or not he fell from the cobra-fast movements wouldn't deter Andra, who was back on her feet in the next instant, and ready to block his sticks with hers as though she hadn't done anything.[/size]
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Renzukan
Samurai
SPAM: Self-Defense in a can
Posts: 101
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Post by Renzukan on Jun 18, 2007 13:45:19 GMT -5
Renzukan grinned as his self-aimed question had been answered. She tripped him, or at least she attempted to. He ducked down, curling almost into a ball as she spun. When her leg finally made its way around, all it would meet was the stick in his left hand as he performed a low backflip, using the bmaboo shaft as a reference point to the ground. "Aiy. Now that's what I was hoping for from you Andra-chan!" he exclaimed as they resumed the simple portion of the exercise. A set of left, then a set of right strikes was followed by an even wider grin. Both bamboo sticks moved together now. He struck from the same direction with both shafts, still following the same pattern of attack though.
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