Post by Scriptatious ! ! ! on Dec 17, 2010 19:37:09 GMT -5
Being in the forest, and in such a bright, happy forest, almost made Catherine feel cheerful. Happiness was such an odd, giddy feeling compared to her black shade of gloom. It was causing her to lose her focus more than it should have. Any normal person would have felt energized by the warm kiss of the sun. They might have, or should have, felt happy. Not Catherine, though. At least, not normally. She just wasn't the happy kind of person.
"Catherine, pay attention," her instructor snapped. Brought back to reality by his biting tones, she just barely managed to parry a thrust of his heavy wooden sword. If that had been a real sword, she would have just had a very close call with death. It was hard for her not to imagine all of the gory details. She quickly lifted her arms above her head and twisted her torso, putting her weight into the stance so that the false blades were trapped between them.
"You know, it's much easier to focus when it's not so warm out," Catherine replied with a tart smile. Her smile never reached her eyes. They were like two black tunnels, empty of any thought or emotion. They just... went through her like she was some kind of corpse with open wounds in her head. "You're feeling happy again, aren't you?" Her instructor smiled when he managed to slip into her guard land a bruising blow on her ribcage.
"Good, you should feel happy. I've always thought it was unpleasant to be around you when you're gloomy." Catherine bit back a sharp reply that could have been rude. She didn't want the overjoyed instructor to know just exactly how much that slip-up had wounded her pride. Still, she couldn't help the masochistic smile that arched her lovely rosy lips up. It wasn't hard to imagine by the strain she showed that smiles weren't generally characteristic of her. It wasn't often that anyone managed to get in a hit on her, which reminded her just how much she had left to learn.
The bemoaning of her frequent agressive or depressed moods were as numerous as the stars next to the moon in comparison. "All this talk is a bit distracting." She raised her training sword in front of her face in a silencing motion. For the next few minutes there was only the dull sound of wood hitting wood, which left Catherine time to allow her thoughts to wander.
The lazy warmth of the sun bathed everything in sight with a soft, golden glow that was rather disconcerting. Catherine was almost drawn in by the feeling that everything and everyone in the city was happy, but she knew better. She knew it was just a frivolous facade created so that people wouldn't be unhappy whining wretches.
If everyone was happy, then who ever ruled the misbegotten Takai Ueki would be able to do whatever they wanted to do. If they wanted to, they could steal away whole families and nobody would be the wiser. Abruptly, Catherine's semi good mood ended and she started a series of vicious feints and stabs that would leave her tutor with some nasty discolorations the next day. "Yet, it never lasts long," he muttered.
Breathing laboriously, the short little man danced behind his sword like it was a shield lying between the two instead of a weapon. Catherine's black, square rimmed glasses slipped down her sweaty nose and she took the opportunity to push them back up instead of taking advantage of his moment of weakness. "Don't hold onto it like it's a matter of life and death, you fool," she sang. His eyes widened, shocked that she would be giving him advice about how to hold a sword, like he was the unruly child and she the scolding master. "Hold," he said heatedly, "end of match." The man tossed the false blade onto the ground carelessly.
Catherine dropped her wooden sword onto the soft, mossy groundand stooped to pick up her bottle of water. She grasped it with her gloved hands and stood, pouring the deliciously cool liquid into her mouth. Her loose, plain clothing was stained with sweat, and her dark hair was pulled up into a knot on the back of her head.
The combat teachers at the school made it a habit to pull her hair(not very gently, either) when she left it down. She quickly packed away her bottle and bowed respectfully over her hand to the man she'd gone against that day. "Thank you for the lesson."
"It was my pleasure," he replied quickly. From the pained expression on his face, she guessed that it wasn't as much of a pleasure as he tried to make it out to be. He'd most likely be regretting it even more by the next morning. Smirking ever so slightly, Catherine began making her way out of the school and back to her small apartment.
"Magic training tomorrow," she grumbled to herself. She almost groaned. Though it was supposed to be her forte according to the school, magic was her least favorite area to train in. It involved too many complications for her liking. Every spell involved a different component that had to be researched or used. Not only that, but even with the right components spells could still backfire on the user.
Catherine preferred the more straightforward magic of destructive spells... unfortunately, they were also more draining than the ones the school were trying to teach to her. "Blast it all." Catherine kicked the toe of her shoe against the ground hard, stirring up some dust, and turned to take the stairs that led into the main part of the city.
Like everything else in Takai Ueki, the city of tall trees, the stairs were beautifully carved from wood. Sometimes the height of the elevated city made Catherine nervous, but it didn't last long. There were other things for her to worry about. What she really wanted to do was find her sister and leave Takai Ueki. She considered it more of a hellhole for its treacherous secrets than any of the other cities were for their violence.
At least they were honest about what they did. In Takai Ueki, one never knew the truth from a lie, or whom was whom, or why a neighbor mysteriously disappeared, or who was watching. At the thought of someone watching her, the hairs on the back of her neck did a kind of wild static dance that sent tingling shivers down her spine. They were shivers like the kind of shivers people got when someone "walked over their grave".
In mage terms, it was as simple as realizing that she was being tailed. "God damn it," Catherine hissed under her breath. Why did they have to pick that day to follow her around(heaven forbid that someone should follow her when she's in a bad mood, which is... all the time XD)? She picked up her pace, winding her way between ornately carved and plain buildings alike. Catherine caught glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye at times.
She kept walking until it began to get dark, and as the hours passed her mood only became more sour. Abruptly, she changed course to a narrow lane she knew led to a dead end when she decided she was fed up with the stranger following her. The grouchy woman strode quickly to the end of the alley and spun around to find... nobody.
Who ever it was had simply stopped following her. Great. Just great. she thought. Now they won't even take the time to meet me after all of the trouble they went to. Scowling fiercely, she made her way out of the dead end and made a beeline for home.
OOC// Sorry for the crappy post. x.x
[/color][/size]"Catherine, pay attention," her instructor snapped. Brought back to reality by his biting tones, she just barely managed to parry a thrust of his heavy wooden sword. If that had been a real sword, she would have just had a very close call with death. It was hard for her not to imagine all of the gory details. She quickly lifted her arms above her head and twisted her torso, putting her weight into the stance so that the false blades were trapped between them.
"You know, it's much easier to focus when it's not so warm out," Catherine replied with a tart smile. Her smile never reached her eyes. They were like two black tunnels, empty of any thought or emotion. They just... went through her like she was some kind of corpse with open wounds in her head. "You're feeling happy again, aren't you?" Her instructor smiled when he managed to slip into her guard land a bruising blow on her ribcage.
"Good, you should feel happy. I've always thought it was unpleasant to be around you when you're gloomy." Catherine bit back a sharp reply that could have been rude. She didn't want the overjoyed instructor to know just exactly how much that slip-up had wounded her pride. Still, she couldn't help the masochistic smile that arched her lovely rosy lips up. It wasn't hard to imagine by the strain she showed that smiles weren't generally characteristic of her. It wasn't often that anyone managed to get in a hit on her, which reminded her just how much she had left to learn.
The bemoaning of her frequent agressive or depressed moods were as numerous as the stars next to the moon in comparison. "All this talk is a bit distracting." She raised her training sword in front of her face in a silencing motion. For the next few minutes there was only the dull sound of wood hitting wood, which left Catherine time to allow her thoughts to wander.
The lazy warmth of the sun bathed everything in sight with a soft, golden glow that was rather disconcerting. Catherine was almost drawn in by the feeling that everything and everyone in the city was happy, but she knew better. She knew it was just a frivolous facade created so that people wouldn't be unhappy whining wretches.
If everyone was happy, then who ever ruled the misbegotten Takai Ueki would be able to do whatever they wanted to do. If they wanted to, they could steal away whole families and nobody would be the wiser. Abruptly, Catherine's semi good mood ended and she started a series of vicious feints and stabs that would leave her tutor with some nasty discolorations the next day. "Yet, it never lasts long," he muttered.
Breathing laboriously, the short little man danced behind his sword like it was a shield lying between the two instead of a weapon. Catherine's black, square rimmed glasses slipped down her sweaty nose and she took the opportunity to push them back up instead of taking advantage of his moment of weakness. "Don't hold onto it like it's a matter of life and death, you fool," she sang. His eyes widened, shocked that she would be giving him advice about how to hold a sword, like he was the unruly child and she the scolding master. "Hold," he said heatedly, "end of match." The man tossed the false blade onto the ground carelessly.
Catherine dropped her wooden sword onto the soft, mossy groundand stooped to pick up her bottle of water. She grasped it with her gloved hands and stood, pouring the deliciously cool liquid into her mouth. Her loose, plain clothing was stained with sweat, and her dark hair was pulled up into a knot on the back of her head.
The combat teachers at the school made it a habit to pull her hair(not very gently, either) when she left it down. She quickly packed away her bottle and bowed respectfully over her hand to the man she'd gone against that day. "Thank you for the lesson."
"It was my pleasure," he replied quickly. From the pained expression on his face, she guessed that it wasn't as much of a pleasure as he tried to make it out to be. He'd most likely be regretting it even more by the next morning. Smirking ever so slightly, Catherine began making her way out of the school and back to her small apartment.
"Magic training tomorrow," she grumbled to herself. She almost groaned. Though it was supposed to be her forte according to the school, magic was her least favorite area to train in. It involved too many complications for her liking. Every spell involved a different component that had to be researched or used. Not only that, but even with the right components spells could still backfire on the user.
Catherine preferred the more straightforward magic of destructive spells... unfortunately, they were also more draining than the ones the school were trying to teach to her. "Blast it all." Catherine kicked the toe of her shoe against the ground hard, stirring up some dust, and turned to take the stairs that led into the main part of the city.
Like everything else in Takai Ueki, the city of tall trees, the stairs were beautifully carved from wood. Sometimes the height of the elevated city made Catherine nervous, but it didn't last long. There were other things for her to worry about. What she really wanted to do was find her sister and leave Takai Ueki. She considered it more of a hellhole for its treacherous secrets than any of the other cities were for their violence.
At least they were honest about what they did. In Takai Ueki, one never knew the truth from a lie, or whom was whom, or why a neighbor mysteriously disappeared, or who was watching. At the thought of someone watching her, the hairs on the back of her neck did a kind of wild static dance that sent tingling shivers down her spine. They were shivers like the kind of shivers people got when someone "walked over their grave".
In mage terms, it was as simple as realizing that she was being tailed. "God damn it," Catherine hissed under her breath. Why did they have to pick that day to follow her around(heaven forbid that someone should follow her when she's in a bad mood, which is... all the time XD)? She picked up her pace, winding her way between ornately carved and plain buildings alike. Catherine caught glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye at times.
She kept walking until it began to get dark, and as the hours passed her mood only became more sour. Abruptly, she changed course to a narrow lane she knew led to a dead end when she decided she was fed up with the stranger following her. The grouchy woman strode quickly to the end of the alley and spun around to find... nobody.
Who ever it was had simply stopped following her. Great. Just great. she thought. Now they won't even take the time to meet me after all of the trouble they went to. Scowling fiercely, she made her way out of the dead end and made a beeline for home.
OOC// Sorry for the crappy post. x.x
