Chihiro's Training Montage

[petabytes]

Who: Chihiro Fujisaki, seperately with Dean Winchester, D'Artagnan, and Shannon Beiste - possibly others; I'm open to other characters dropping in the threads, so long as everyone else is!
Where: Various locations
When: At various points within the week
Rating: PG, PG-13 at most.
Summary: Through the course of her personal mission to become stronger, Chihiro seeks the help of various residents who had offered to help her.


They're probably busy. I don't want to be a bother. Maybe it's hopeless, I shouldn't waste their time.

These thoughts and more had often swirled in Chihiro Fujisaki's head whenever she thought back to all of the people who offered to train her to defend herself and strengthen her body. Weighing in at less than 100 pounds and standing less than five feet tall didn't leave Chihiro with a lot of room to grow, and it was often easier to simply look at herself for a few good seconds and give up.

As the mansion's cruel tricks chipped away at her, however, her behavior began to change. Rather than being discouraged, Chihiro found her resolve. She could either give up, or bite the bullet and strengthen herself - and she had too many good friends counting on her to stand up for herself to take the easy way out any longer.

"...Alter Ego... if anyone asks for me for the next few hours... tell them I'm not available. I'll be back, all right?"

Comments

late to the party as always I am so sorry ;__;

[strangeboy]

D'Artagnan hadn't meant for things to become strained. He'd just... become busy after her confession and neglected almost everyone he knew. And he's not the kind of person who understands how to fix things once they're broken, but he's certainly the type to try. So, lessons for Chihiro were probably the best plan.

The day they meet by the fountain is a pleasant one, and D'Artagnan's brought swords-- one much lighter than his own for Chihiro-- and extra water. He smiles at her in return and waves a hand.

"You're dressed just fine, as long as you can move freely. Can you?"

[petabytes]

In response to his question, she briefly looks down at her own body, swinging her arms in a wide arc, moving her legs around, making sure that her clothing doesn't restrict her movement. To an outside observer, she'd look pretty ridiculous, but the normally self-conscious Chihiro doesn't seem to notice.

"It looks like I can," she confirms, kicking the toe of her boot against the ground. "I... I was going to try to see if I could wear one of those fencing outfits, but... they're too tight-fitting..."

[strangeboy]

D'Artagnan waves a hand. "The outfits are unnecessary and inaccurate. They're after my time, so I wouldn't know how to teach you in one anyway."

He comes to stand next to her and takes his first position, his left foot behind himself at an angle and his right foot in front. Right down to business. He's a serious teacher. He hopes she can be a serious student.

"We'll begin with footwork. Copy my stance."

[petabytes]

"Ah... your stance...?" They're starting already? "Oh! All, all right, I'll do my best..."

She looks over D'Artagnan's pose for reference, before looking back to her own body, attempting to mimic his stance to the best of her ability. It takes her some time to get it just right, but even then, she appears just a bit off-balance and weak on her feet.

"Is... is this good enough...?

[strangeboy]

Of course they're starting already! D'Artagnan has a lot to teach her, and it won't be the easiest thing. He waits patiently for her to get into her stance, examining her as she does so.

"You'll need to find your balance," he says, getting out of his own and approaching her. "If someone were to hit you here--" He motions on either side of her shoulders. "--It'd be simple to knock you down. One good push backwards and you'd go flying."

[petabytes]

"My balance? Oh..." She tries to find her footing, shifting her feet around, and somehow ends up in an even more unbalanced position than before. With a sigh, she stands back upright, and starts over, trying to match D'Artagnan's stance once again.

"I'm... I'm so small, though, I think even with a great stance I'd be easy to knock over..."

[strangeboy]

D'Artagnan raises an eyebrow. "Well, with that attitude, you certainly will." And he knows it sounds idiotic, and strange coming from his mouth, but still. He believes that a certain level of confidence is necessary for success, especially in sword fighting.

He moves to stand in front of her, his hands on his hips. "Look, Chihiro, you have to believe you're able to do this. You have to believe you'll win. That's half the victory."

[petabytes]

After trying and failing once again to copy D'Artagnan's stance, Chihiro sighs, standing back upright and resting her hands together in front of her. "I'm sorry, D'Artagnan... I wish I could be the sort of person who could reach deep inside and find confidence... but it's just not there..."

She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts before she ends up crying. "I'm sorry... I'll just try again. You... you put one foot back here, right...?"

[strangeboy]

D'Artagnan holds back a sigh. It's unfair to be frustrated with her, he knows that, but the whole situation is frustrating. This whole place is frustrating, but he shouldn't take it out on Chihiro. It's not her fault.

"Yes, one foot back and the other slightly in front. If you bend at the knees just slightly, you'll find your balance. You may not feel secure at first, but you will be."

[petabytes]

"I'm sorry that I'm already not good at this, I just..." Chihiro continues to mutter a litany of apologies as she shuffles her feet around, trying to find just the right way to distribute her weight - but before long, she finds that she's found a pretty comfortable stance that doesn't look too dissimilar from D'Artagnan's.

"...Oh... is... is this right...?"

[strangeboy]

He watches her, waiting for her to find it, and he can tell when she does, even though she still seems unsure.

"Does it feel right?" He's not going to spoon-feed you, Chihiro. It's all part of the training.

[petabytes]

"I think so... I do feel pretty stable like this..." Chihiro shifts her weight slightly. "Maybe I do have the hang of it... I guess it's a start, isn't it?"

She looks back to D'Artagnan, a hopeful smile on her face. "So... the next step, then? Am I ready to move on?"

[strangeboy]

He gives her a smile back. "Yes, that's good. You should feel reasonably stable but still be able to move. And not quite."

He stands in front of her, mirroring her stance. "This is called en garde. It's how you start in a fight. From here you'll be able to move anywhere very easily. Got it?"

[petabytes]

"Ehehe! En garde! So that's where that phrase comes from! I thought it was just something you said before you got in a sword fight..." She wants to continue on that 'it's just like in the movies', but she quickly realizes that D'Artagnan wouldn't have much of an idea of what a movie is - even though it looks like he stepped out of one.

"So... this is the default stance, then...? I should probably practice getting into and out of it..."

[strangeboy]

D'Artagnan would explain that it literally means "on guard" as in, to be on your guard and ready to attack, but that's boring and they have more important things to do.

"Would you like to practice that? I don't mind," he says. It's a good idea, actually.

[petabytes]

"Hm... I think that'd probably be for the best... if it takes me this long just to get in the right stance, I don't really stand a chance to defend myself..."

She goes back into a normal standing position, and then tries to get back into the stance - it doesn't take quite as long as it did for her to get it the first time, but still not quite fast enough.