Post by Aiami Lin on Jan 17, 2016 1:10:13 GMT
Growth comes from new experiences and time spent dealing with adversity.
Aiami knew that, but she was amazed by just how much she had grown in the few months she was gone from home. Perhaps not in maturity, though she had become more aware of just what a ‘life and death situation’ really was. No, her most notable increase was her strength. Her spiritual power and energy. She had to have at least doubled her ability, if not more, judging by the display she was putting on at her hometown temple.
After being lost and wandering the world for far too much time, she had returned to Kota Town and spent some much needed time with her family. After a week of taking it slow, Aiami had decided to get back into the swing of things by visiting the temple she trained at for her most of her life. She slid back into the group forms and drills rather easily, enjoying the feeling of doing them again after so long.
When free practice rolled around, her old friends, Aka and Ao, wanted to see if she learned anything during her travels. Aiami responded to the friendly challenge eagerly, looking to see if her growth gave her any new edge. To her surprise, she was only doing as well as the twin brothers, even with them, maybe even a little worse. They didn’t feel any more powerful, which led her to realize what was holding her back.
Gently setting the weighted vest and skirt to the floor, leaving her in just her gi, Aiami began to roll the muscles to stretch then with the new weight. Sure enough, once the spar began anew, Aiami found it was more than easy to keep out of the way of both of them. It was almost thoughtless. She was surprised by her own speed, in fact. Aside from one or two altercations, she had spent most of the time just training hard while travelling.
To her, it felt… simple to move through their blows, twist, thrust out a leg to the left and an arm to the right and knock them away. They nearly landed on their rears, but they stayed standing, trading a look of surprise. Aka grinned, standing straight, rubbing the spot where he was struck. “All grown up, it seems like.”
Aiami couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, but she shook her head. “It took a lot of close calls. I just learned a thing or two about fighting, that’s all.”
They spoke for awhile, mostly Aiami detailing to them some of her (mis)adventures while beyond. As they did, Ao ended up looking quite comical while trying to put on the weighted clothing. Partly because of their mass, partly because they barely fit the big man.
Not long into the afternoon, they said their farewells, Aiami donning the weights once more, before heading home.
The trip back and a cold glass of water later, she was standing in the kitchen, taking a moment to breathe. Which was when she heard artificial high notes, energetic bleeps and vaguely electronic voices from the living room. Curious, she followed the noises to their source.
Reiji, her younger brother was on the couch, schoolwork in front of him forgotten as he palmed at a controller for some sort of game console, apparently intent and focused on the screen before him. So much so that when she sat down next to him, he hardly noticed. The screen was featured a bright background, which broke out into dim flashes every once in awhile when one of the two figures on screen was struck. Some sort of fighting game, then, she thought. She had never been much into video games, but she remembered school friends who were. And now Reiji, she mused.
When match concluded, her brother whooped in victory before turning Aiami. “Hey, sis! Want to play some?”
“Uh, sure. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll give it a try.” She reached out to grab a controller.
“Serpent Master EX!” He said enthusiastically. “It’s really fun, actually.”
“Oh, alright.” Her tone was somewhere between bemused and amused, leaning to the latter. “How do you think you’ll do against an actual fighter?”
“Pfft, it’s not like your skills are going to translate to pushing a button.” Reiji said dismissively, navigating through the menus to a ‘versus’ selection. When he pressed it a character select screen popped up, and he began fervently searching for a character.
Aiami noticed she could scroll through the options as well, and found herself raising a brow at some of the selections. “These are… some really weird characters.”
“Uh-huh. My friend says they’re all based off some real people. Sounds silly to me.” He shrugged.
She made a noise of agreement as she continued looking through, increasingly confused. She snapped out of it when her brother began complaining. “Hurry up, there’s only like, twenty options.” He said in a tone of exasperation only a teenager could summon.
Aiami grinned and shook her head, finally starting to decide, commenting on his choice as she did. “Captain Nova?”
“Yeah! He’s actually real, I guess. I read about him once or twice in the news.” He nodded.
“You read the news?”
“Everyone should, sis. Just because you’re too busy dancing instead of learning doesn’t mean everyone is.” He rolled his eyes.
She snorted and returned to it. She selectively avoided any fighter considered a ‘saiyan.’ It struck a little home. Finally she chose one. “Serpent Master, hm? He looks like a martial artist, I suppose.”
After confirming their choices and a stage select, the screen darkened before their selections made some very stylistic entrances. Some pre-battle banter ensued, something about a ‘black belt in stupid’ (which drew a snort from Reiji) before it actually started.
Reiji was off first, easily closing in to start laying down punishing combos and maneuvers right away. Aiami, who had only just realized she didn’t know what she was doing, flailed awkwardly. She got in a few lucky hits, mostly by falling back on what is universally recognized as ‘button mashing,’ before her brother drew back, expertly flicked some buttons, and then the onscreen Captain Nova flared, flying down from the air to kick and then pummel the Serpent Master into submission. The screen dimmed and then ‘Captain Nova Victory!’ appeared on the screen in bright blue letters.
“Hey, maybe the next game will be called ‘Nova Master?’” Emitted from the speakers before going back to the character select screen.
“See, told ya, sis.” Reiji beamed at her, taking much joy in rubbing it in.
“We’ll see about that. Let’s go again.”
And so it continued into the night, even after dinner, the two siblings furiously competing to best one another. Mostly it was Reiji winning, but near the end Aiami had learned enough to at least give her a fighting chance, scoring one or two victories of her own. Eventually, they both fell asleep on the couch, proving that despite their differences, the bond between siblings was strong enough to overcome, with the help of a game, that is.
Aiami knew that, but she was amazed by just how much she had grown in the few months she was gone from home. Perhaps not in maturity, though she had become more aware of just what a ‘life and death situation’ really was. No, her most notable increase was her strength. Her spiritual power and energy. She had to have at least doubled her ability, if not more, judging by the display she was putting on at her hometown temple.
After being lost and wandering the world for far too much time, she had returned to Kota Town and spent some much needed time with her family. After a week of taking it slow, Aiami had decided to get back into the swing of things by visiting the temple she trained at for her most of her life. She slid back into the group forms and drills rather easily, enjoying the feeling of doing them again after so long.
When free practice rolled around, her old friends, Aka and Ao, wanted to see if she learned anything during her travels. Aiami responded to the friendly challenge eagerly, looking to see if her growth gave her any new edge. To her surprise, she was only doing as well as the twin brothers, even with them, maybe even a little worse. They didn’t feel any more powerful, which led her to realize what was holding her back.
Gently setting the weighted vest and skirt to the floor, leaving her in just her gi, Aiami began to roll the muscles to stretch then with the new weight. Sure enough, once the spar began anew, Aiami found it was more than easy to keep out of the way of both of them. It was almost thoughtless. She was surprised by her own speed, in fact. Aside from one or two altercations, she had spent most of the time just training hard while travelling.
To her, it felt… simple to move through their blows, twist, thrust out a leg to the left and an arm to the right and knock them away. They nearly landed on their rears, but they stayed standing, trading a look of surprise. Aka grinned, standing straight, rubbing the spot where he was struck. “All grown up, it seems like.”
Aiami couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, but she shook her head. “It took a lot of close calls. I just learned a thing or two about fighting, that’s all.”
They spoke for awhile, mostly Aiami detailing to them some of her (mis)adventures while beyond. As they did, Ao ended up looking quite comical while trying to put on the weighted clothing. Partly because of their mass, partly because they barely fit the big man.
Not long into the afternoon, they said their farewells, Aiami donning the weights once more, before heading home.
The trip back and a cold glass of water later, she was standing in the kitchen, taking a moment to breathe. Which was when she heard artificial high notes, energetic bleeps and vaguely electronic voices from the living room. Curious, she followed the noises to their source.
Reiji, her younger brother was on the couch, schoolwork in front of him forgotten as he palmed at a controller for some sort of game console, apparently intent and focused on the screen before him. So much so that when she sat down next to him, he hardly noticed. The screen was featured a bright background, which broke out into dim flashes every once in awhile when one of the two figures on screen was struck. Some sort of fighting game, then, she thought. She had never been much into video games, but she remembered school friends who were. And now Reiji, she mused.
When match concluded, her brother whooped in victory before turning Aiami. “Hey, sis! Want to play some?”
“Uh, sure. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll give it a try.” She reached out to grab a controller.
“Serpent Master EX!” He said enthusiastically. “It’s really fun, actually.”
“Oh, alright.” Her tone was somewhere between bemused and amused, leaning to the latter. “How do you think you’ll do against an actual fighter?”
“Pfft, it’s not like your skills are going to translate to pushing a button.” Reiji said dismissively, navigating through the menus to a ‘versus’ selection. When he pressed it a character select screen popped up, and he began fervently searching for a character.
Aiami noticed she could scroll through the options as well, and found herself raising a brow at some of the selections. “These are… some really weird characters.”
“Uh-huh. My friend says they’re all based off some real people. Sounds silly to me.” He shrugged.
She made a noise of agreement as she continued looking through, increasingly confused. She snapped out of it when her brother began complaining. “Hurry up, there’s only like, twenty options.” He said in a tone of exasperation only a teenager could summon.
Aiami grinned and shook her head, finally starting to decide, commenting on his choice as she did. “Captain Nova?”
“Yeah! He’s actually real, I guess. I read about him once or twice in the news.” He nodded.
“You read the news?”
“Everyone should, sis. Just because you’re too busy dancing instead of learning doesn’t mean everyone is.” He rolled his eyes.
She snorted and returned to it. She selectively avoided any fighter considered a ‘saiyan.’ It struck a little home. Finally she chose one. “Serpent Master, hm? He looks like a martial artist, I suppose.”
After confirming their choices and a stage select, the screen darkened before their selections made some very stylistic entrances. Some pre-battle banter ensued, something about a ‘black belt in stupid’ (which drew a snort from Reiji) before it actually started.
Reiji was off first, easily closing in to start laying down punishing combos and maneuvers right away. Aiami, who had only just realized she didn’t know what she was doing, flailed awkwardly. She got in a few lucky hits, mostly by falling back on what is universally recognized as ‘button mashing,’ before her brother drew back, expertly flicked some buttons, and then the onscreen Captain Nova flared, flying down from the air to kick and then pummel the Serpent Master into submission. The screen dimmed and then ‘Captain Nova Victory!’ appeared on the screen in bright blue letters.
“Hey, maybe the next game will be called ‘Nova Master?’” Emitted from the speakers before going back to the character select screen.
“See, told ya, sis.” Reiji beamed at her, taking much joy in rubbing it in.
“We’ll see about that. Let’s go again.”
And so it continued into the night, even after dinner, the two siblings furiously competing to best one another. Mostly it was Reiji winning, but near the end Aiami had learned enough to at least give her a fighting chance, scoring one or two victories of her own. Eventually, they both fell asleep on the couch, proving that despite their differences, the bond between siblings was strong enough to overcome, with the help of a game, that is.