View source for Central Park Training

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/01
|Location=Manhattan - Central Park
|Synopsis=Tifa, Aerith and Maira go through some light training session.
|Cast of Characters=Tifa Lockhart, Maira,  Aerith
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Well then, this was a fine day to be at the park, wasn't it?<br /><br />Sun shining through the trees, wind in one's hair, plenty of people playing with their animals or lounging on the benches. The best part was there was plenty of room for a few more... interesting things. So it was that Aerith invited Maira to Central Park, and Tifa along with her. It'd be nice to see Maira again after the past few days... what with the business of finding Serendipity and all the trouble it'd gotten her into.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart finally got out of her chocobo suit! >_</ Well at least for now. She gets to relax a bit, until the next artifact's location is found at least. She's still waiting on the call for it.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira has been busy too. There is a momentum in the air as of late, and it seems to be carrying them all forward at a quicker pace. <br /><br /> Maira is all too happy to see the sun. She appears in the park in a light yellow sundress and a wide brimmed sunhat, her head tilted toward the sky to soak up the heat of the sun on her face. She smiles, giddy with energy, then skips on over toward Aerith and Tifa. "Hiya!" she greets, before flopping onto the grass and laying back. "Such a nice day! Living in Traverse Town, I really miss the sun...."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith knelt and placed a hand on one of Maira's shoulders. "Yeah, Goug's the same too. I think I might set up shop here instead of there, much more open." She glanced back at Tifa. "Actually, I'm here to show you something. I've been training on my own a lot lately, and I figure I've gotten it down enough. I'd like your... expert opinion... on how I'm coming along." She cast her gaze toward Maira again. "Wanna see something cool?"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart smiles and nods, moving beside Aerith, crossing her arms "Let's see what you got then, hm?" She just wants to see, not test it out yet. Aerith is definitely not up to the task of taking down the barmaid without her spellbook yet at least.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira giggles, nodding. She rolls over onto her stomach and places her chin in her hands, watching Aerith and Tifa. "Alrighty!"

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith stood and rolled her shoulders, walking a few good feet away until she was clear of both Tifa and Maira. Her staff... wasn't in her hands just yet. It was against a tree about five feet away from where she now stood, and she rubbed her hands together. "I sure hope this works like I think it will," she muttered as she stretched out her left hand and, by extension, her will. Some of what Synestria taught her had stuck, and now she had to test it.<br /><br />Her eyes narrowed in focus as she tried to make her plan work...<br /><br />...And grinned as the staff shot from its resting place against the tree toward her, snatching it from the air just before it smashed into her. Awesome.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart grins, clapping her hands "I see, using your magic to get your staff back? That's pretty neat." She wouldn't need that kind of trick herself, even without gloves she'd still have fists and legs after all.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Indeed, to disarm Tifa one would actually have to remove her limbs. Maira whistles appreciatively at Aerith's trick. "Oooouu...handy!" she comments. <br /><br /> Beside her, Uist has arrive and sits down to watch the women who are likely going to spar, a longing in his eyes.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith turned and whirled the staff over her head, ending up in a fighting stance with one end angled slightly upward. "You think that was cool... watch this!" With that, she started the first steps of the form she'd been working on since Tifa started practicing with her... only this time it wasn't clunky or stumbling.<br /><br />Her turns carried with them grace, the staff swinging through invisible rows of enemies, clearing them out of her way. Each whirl of the staff was in defense, each block and deflect with purpose. And every time she struck, her staff rung out, clear as a bell, a sign of proper momentum.<br /><br />But the new thing was that when she leapt into the air and brought her staff down in a grand smash, as if finishing someone off... a spark of pale green energy flashed along the staff. Once the weapon hit the ground... it made a severe impact. That wasn't her magic or materia, that was something else.<br /><br />She moved with such speed her weapon was a blur, and within a minute and a half, give or take a few seconds, she set herself back into the stance she'd started in, and then stood with a gesture of respect.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart whistles at that "Well you definitely improved alot in a short time." She claps her hands "Your form is getting really good!"

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira stares, open mouthed and clearly impressed by the graceful and surely deadly dance Aerith performs. "Wooow..." she says, grinning. <br /><br /> Even Uist is smiling. His expression is one of nostalgia, though he fears to reach for the memories that are floating just below the surface of his thoughts.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith smiled and headed toward Maira, the staff over her shoulders. "Well then, I think that's a good opener for what I have to teach you today!" She cleared her throat. "First things first, how've you been sleeping?"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart tilts her head "I've been sleeping fine here. Although a bit on the move with everything going on." She never shows any signs of tiredness though, she's used to it with the barmaid work.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira blinks. "I hope you are not going to try to teach me THAT," she replies, to which Uist chuckles. "I've been sleeping...alright. About as usual. Nothing especially bad," she replies with a gentle smile and a shrug.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith glanced over her right shoulder with a giggle. "Tifa, I wasn't talking to you." She turned back to Maira again. "Awesome. I just wish I could reach into that head of yours and figure out how to stuff those nightmares back in the dark hole they came from... but since I can't do that, I'm going to teach you how to control yourself." She lifted her right pointer finger. "I didn't say control your magic, because magic is energy. That's all it is. But, that energy is tied to emotions and thoughts, because what we think and how we feel guides what the magic does."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart lifts her shoulders "I wasn't sure." She smiles though, and moves over to sit on the bench, waiting to see what Aerith will have to teach today. Even if its not toward her, she can still take in the knowledge at least. She's not an ancient and can't hear the voices, but it doesn't mean she doesn't believe in them either.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira sits up then, nodding. "Alright! I'm ready!" she replies to Aerith. She recognized that this is necessary, and beneficial to herself and those around her. She hopes poor Ivo's eyebrows are growing back in... <br /><br /> Uist crosses his arms. "She did well last night. Kept her magic under control against Heartless."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith nodded. "That's good. Now all we have to do is make that a constant." She took a few steps to Maira's right side. "Of course before I teach you anything else, I'm gonna have to understand what all you know... and how well you know it. Take your materia off and show me what you can do without it."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart crosses her arms, and one leg over the other, watching quietly. There isn't much she can add in to Aerith's teaching when it comes to magic really. If she's strong with her fists, Aerith's definitely stronger with magical energies. All she can do is use some boosting materia.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> The wild-haired woman nods to Aerith, poising her hand over her opposite arm. The materia there begins to glow and form into her hand, which she lays on the grass one orb after another until there is a little pile of them in the grass, glowing lightly. <br /><br /> Maira takes a deep breath then, glancing toward Uist. "Well, this is where it gets kind of weird...like, I said I could do healing, but Uist sort of...helps?" she replies, then determines it would be better to just show her. Maira and Uist look at each other intensely, both gathering their will. Uist begins to manifest on the material plane, his form made of luminescent mist that drifts toward Aerith and graces her with a healing energy that managed to be both warm and cold simultaneously. It is the general equivalent of a cure spell. <br /><br /> Uist is visible to Tifa for only a couple of moments before he lets go, fading back into his usual spirit form, unseen except for Maira and Aerith.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith didn't need much healing, her rest took care of that, but she felt the magic at work anyway. Though one couldn't rightly call it magic, it was more like... an understanding. She smiled as she realized what Uist was being used for. "You're using him as a focus then."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart tilts her head a bit as she sees Uist for just a moment. She hmms. Well, not like Maira never talked about him, but she never got to see him precisely either. Shee guesses that's what the world looks like to Aerith and Maira sometimes.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira tilts her head, thinking. "A focus?" she asks. She's not sure what Aerith means. Uist says nothing, though his expression is thoughtful.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith points at the materia in her staff. "A focus is something you direct your energy toward in order to use the magic. Materia already have the energy of someone else's memories and emotions in them, so you don't really have to do much but channel your will toward them, and the magic just comes by itself. It's why a bunch of people use it extensively..." She frowned just slightly. "Which makes it a crutch."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart nods "Most people don't know magic, but have magical energies. The materia just replaces the learning of the magic, borrowing someone else's knowledge to cast it. That's why you can only cast the kind of magic the materia holds. If you could learn how to do the magic yourself, you wouldn't need the materia anymore.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira nods some, understanding dawning. "Oh, I see. This is just the way we've always done things. A lot of the things I do involve Uist. We're a team, like you said," she replies with a smile. <br /><br /> Maira looks to Tifa, nodding some. "Right...yeah. Well, I can also do this," she said, then holds up a hand, gathering a will to spark her magic. Flame pops up from her fingers, flickeringly gently in the breeze. "I'm not sure I can do much more than this though..." she says, examining her fire. "Its...hard to keep it focused. It wants to get bigger." <br /><br /> With Maira's magic, with her fire, it is more that she has to put all her effort into restraining it rather than making it manifest.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith nodded. "You're right. It /wants/ to get bigger." She took a few steps away. "To spark a flame isn't hard, it just takes a bit of will and the right amount of passion. But the fire is alive, and it breathes, and it's hungry." She nodded. "Give it some juice, but keep it contained."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart hms, watching the flame a bit in Maira's hand "Well that's still more than I can do without materias."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira nods, releasing her control some. The flame bursts down her arm full to her shoulder, stretching toward her heart. Maira winces from the control it takes to force he will on the fire to try to make it go back. That was more than she'd intended. "Unng too much," she says. <br /><br /> Uist reflexively reaches toward her, placing a hand on her shoulder. His cold passes into her, and the flames begin to recede.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith nodded. "Well then, it does tend to do that." She placed a hand on Maira's forehead. "The big thing about control of fire is by tempering it with your will. The stronger that is, the more control you have over it. Of course if you get angry or excited, or even afraid, the flame feeds off of that and picks up steam... but it also becomes harder to control."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira nods a litte, the flames extinguishing. Maira lets out a sigh. "I guess there's nothing much to be done but practice, huh? Somewhere safely and not flammable..." she adds, looking around at all the very burnable trees and what not. She'd have to find somewhere suitable.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith smiled and headed toward her. "Let's just not use fire for the moment. Control of energy, like I said, is control of yourself. So if we're gonna make your self-discipline more potent, there are a few ways to do it. Fastest way is just to sit down, be quiet, and put your mind under your control." She chuckled. "It's also the hardest thing to do." She glanced over her right shoulder, at Tifa. "Tell her why that is exactly."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart tilts her head. Aerith is asking her for what she has to say here, and she's not sure what she's talking about "I don't know what you mean?" She's gladly answer, but magic is nother forte.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Just...sit still and be quiet? That might seem easy for some folks. Not Maira. She twitches at the very idea! "uuuuh....that's going to be hard, yeah."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith chuckled. "Oh come on, you mean you haven't meditated before?" She knows it's a blanket statement, but she's also teasing. The flower girl turns back toward Maira. "The reason this is so difficult... is that your mind is going to keep telling you three things." She pointed them out as she held up her fingers, ticking one of them off as she named the reasons. "This is silly, this is ineffective, this does nothing for you."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart ohs "You're talking about meditation. Well yeah, your mind just WANTS to be active. When its not active, its sleeping. Doing this while its awake doesn't please it at all really.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith smiled. "And because it wants to be busy and consatntly moving, it's going to judge your every action, trying to decide if it's best for you or not. Since you're trying to get it to shut up and take a few minutes to chill, it'll do everything it can to stop you."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira laughs a little, nodding. "Yeah, that sounds like my mind alright! I can't even seem to stay still when I'm sleeping never-mind when I'm awake! Sometimes I sleep walk," she informs them. <br /><br /> "But I'll try...if you can sort of tell me how?" she asks, obviously willing to give it a go.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith placed a hand on Maira's forehead. "Well, first things first... take a seat." And she sat alongside Maira, taking in a breath of fresh air. "What you're going to do is very simple. Sit with your back straight, eyes closed, and just breathe. This isn't going to sleep, it's staying awake while putting your brain to rest. Sounds weird, but trust me... this'll help a lot." She glanced toward Tifa. "You wanna join in, or are we going to be here by ourselves?"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart smirks, standing up "Well, I might as well work a bit on my magical power too, hm?" She moves to sit down with the others in the grass, crossing her arms over each other, taking a deep breath as she closes her eyes.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Maira nods, straightening her back as she copies Aerith and Tifa's posture. She rests her hands on her knees and closes her eyes. She breathes, as instructed. <br /><br /> All seems to be going well! <br /><br /> Many moments pass. Her breathing assumes a deep rhythm. <br /><br /> Then? <br /><br /> FLUMP. That is the sound of Maira hitting the grass after having fell asleep.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith chuckled and shook Maira's right shoulder. "Yeah... you might want to try again." She glanced toward Tifa. "We should probably do something about her concentration."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Snore. She's down for the count. Uist looks to Aerith and sighs, shrugging. "She had a long night. She's tired. I'll work on it with her as well. Might want to just let her rest for now."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart opens an eye. She's not asleep at least "Yeah, well its not easy at first hm?" she giggles a bit.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith nodded and stood, picking Maira up and headed for the hotel. "Let's get her squared away, and we'll work on how exactly we can get her brain to be quiet for a bit." She glanced toward Tifa. "You know, the fact that I'm getting better at this whole staff thing means that sooner or later, we're gonna spar." She didn't say 'might', she said 'will'. Because it's the usual way to test one's skills.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart stands up, helping Aerith up with Maira "Well, that's how we'll know your progress for sure hm? If you can stand up to me. I might not be the strongest around, but keeping up with me should be a minimum, don't you think?"

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Aerith nodded. "Yeah, just give me a few more days to get the whole thing down. Then I'll be ready." She held up her right hand. "No materia, first one to give up loses."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tifa Lockhart nods and smiles "It will be my pleasure to test your skill when we do." She's strong enough to take Maira on her own, so they head together to the hotel like this.