fandomhighdorms | The Salle; Thursday Afternoon.

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The Salle; Thursday Afternoon.

Warming up a little as she waited for John, Setsuna started to wondering exactly how this might work. It sounded like a really good idea at the time she came up with it, but going over the technicalities had her doubting whether this would be effective for not.

Well, only one way to find out, really. She still had a creeping feeling that, no matter what she try to teach him, John was still going to end up as demon fodder.

[[ Set's there to meet

apocalypsesoon but the salle's definately open! ]]

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"...Are you ready to take this seriously, now?" Setsuna asked, still a little annoyed at him wasting her time like that. "Because this is serious stuff, John..."

"I am. And that was serious. If you've got a sword, I want something that's as quick but with a longer reach." He tests the katana out more, finding the balance.

Setsuna gave her nodachi a look; he did have a point with the whole thing about reach, although, really, the pole and her longsword were about even. "Well," she said, "a lot of them rely on an actual blade..."

"Right. Martian Pig Sticker's more of a lance, really. Not very swordy." He continues some kata with the sword, getting a feel for how it moves and limbering up.

Setsuna watched his kata closely, trying to guage the level of experience with Eastern styles. "Before we start," she said, "how familiar are you with the concept of chi?"

"I've heard of it. Way to focus the energies of a person, facilitate healing inside a person, project attacks outside the person. I've done meditation, exercises, but never had anthing noticable happen to me. Not sure if it's real and I can't do it or if it's just kung-fu bunk."

Setsuna nodded a little. "It isn't just kung-fu bunk," she assured him. "In fact, it's crucial for these techniques. A lot of demons, I dare even venture that most of them, cannot actually be harmed with just weapons. You need something extra, like magic or, in this case since I'm not very magical and I don't believe you are, either, the manifestation of chi to cause an energy attack...."

She paused and studied John's face. "Am I making sense so far?"

"Yeah. I've tried to do this before. Mom had me training with some mystical blah blah guy, which was total ass, as all he did was just get drunk and make me whack a tree with a practice sword, telling me I was doing it wrong. Asshole. Telling me to focus don't do shit, dickwad!" John wasn't exaclty shouting, but he wasn't talking to Setsuna, either.

"Um. Sorry." He looked sheepish. "Fun childhood memories." He paused.

"So I could learn to focus my chi?"

Setsuna just sort of stared at John for a bit after he revealed such, uh, fun childhood memories. Sounded like he had quite a sensei...

"Um, yes. We'll be reaching some troubles with this if you can't even bring yourself to focus it, considering you'll need to use it in your attacks. But you do have some familiarity with the concept; that's good. Would you like to see if you can rekindle some of those old teachings? ...The...um, correct parts of it, not the parts that sound like utter bullcrap."

"All for the correct teachings, sensei," he said with a lopsided grin. "How do we begin?"

Setsuna....couldn't help preening a little at John calling her sensei.

"Well, let's just focus on the channeling part now, and then we'll work it into the weapons once we've got a control. Close your eyes, and start breathing deeply. Focus on the way the breath enters and leaves. Try to keep some of it as it enters, hold onto it, control it..."

Eyes closed, John started the routine. John knew the schtick. Except, what if it's not schtick?

He shook his head, and concentrated.

[is chi focussing/channelling something that anyone from negi!verse can do?]

Setsuna had a hold on her chi almost instantaneously. She cracked open an eye to glance toward John to see how he was doing, or if he was all thinking this was a bunch of...what had he called it? Kung fu something or other.

JOhn ws not trying to think it was a bunch of kung fu hoey, so... that's what he was thinking of. Like a white elephant.

He now thought of a white elephant. Focused on it, tried to channel it, breathe through his trunk, flap his ears, white elephant trunk brushing Setsuna's face searching for a peanut...

"Are you feeling anything different?" Setsuna asked after a moment, having trouble reading John's face. "A new sort of energy, or anything of the like?"

"Not unless you're feeling something playing with your hair."

He shook his head, blanked it, thought of white square on black background, and focused again. and everything became a chess board.

He sighed, eyes cloesd. "Little help?"

Play with....bwah?

"Well...what are you...focusing on?"

JOhn opened his eyes and looked sheepish.

"I was trying to not thinkg of the CHi thing as a load of hoey cuz I can't get it to work. So I stareted thinking about it cuz I was trying not to think about it, and that got me thinking about the white elephant thing, and I tried to focus on that and then it was searching your hair for peanuts. And this is why I shouldn't be allowed around sugar." facepalm.

"I want to get it, though. DO the Chi thing. Tired of being bitchsmacked around by everyone. I wanna do the bitchsmacking."

Setsuna blinked. A lot. "No wonder you're having trouble; your mind is everywhere. You need to centre yourself, John. You need to block everything out of your mind except for yourself, and your strength. Picture...your strength getting bigger, larger, pulsating with energy."

JOhn tries to picture that. That doesn't work.

He blanks his mind again. HIs mind pictured snow, like a TV turned to a bad channel, and a red dot in the snow, growing bigger, bigger, bigger. It blotted out the snow, engulfed him, and turned everything white. His breathing was slow.

"Okay, how do I know if I have it?"

Setsuna had to take a moment to be aware of her own chi before answering, because she barely even noticed it anymore. "Stronger," she said. "I can't garauntee that it would feel the same for you as it does for me, but, when I have control of my chi, it feels as though there's a centre of gravity here," she settled her hand there, "in the chest, that feels like it's pulling outward, aching to be used..."

John concentrated more, trying to make it stronger, bigger, faster, harder, protectier, and started doubting if it would ever work, that he'd always be a failure and it was just like with Ass Sensei where he'd never amount ot anything and never protect anyone and he felt a mixture of blue and red, like they were weaving.

~~because if John can tap into his Inner Emo, he can just Hadoken his enemies. kaaaaameeeeeehaaaaameeeeeehaaaaaaa!~~

Setsuna gave him a moment, starting to feel restless from holding her chi for so long without using it. "...Anything?"

"....I think so," he said, concentrating. "Is it supposed to feel like blue and red?"

That was a little different, but it also made sense. "Perhaps. Those might be the colours of your chi." Setsuna paused thoughtfully. "...I suppose mine feels like white, so it's entirely possible that you may have it. Focus on that, try to build it, contain it."

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