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| Gaining a Mentor Dani Style; [Pyrrhic - PM to Join] | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 6 2014, 04:30 PM (560 Views) | |
| Mirage | Apr 6 2014, 04:30 PM Post #1 |
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April 11 Afternoon - After Classes for the Kids One of the first things Dani decided to do upon her return was to get reacquainted with the student population at Xaviers. While there were old faces who were glad to see her back (or perhaps dreading the day she decides to take them for a gym lesson) a few new ones sneaked in and those were the ones she needed to get to know first. Students who had been at the school longer would know how easy it was to get a hold of her and how to hold her attention. The newer ones, well they didn’t know much about Dani other than any crazy rumor the kids spread. She particularly liked the ones about Beast being Einstein reincarnated and found it difficult to dissuade some of the more gullible students from that opinion. Finding Ros wasn’t a problem as she bumped into him and gave him a quick once over simply stating, “You. You’re new. Meet me at the grounds after class. I’m going to need a favor from you.” She didn’t know what the young boy thought and let him head towards class or whatever his day entailed, while Dani spent the morning searching through her archery equipment and things that had been sent to her over the week. She had a variety of bows and arrows, but primarily stuck with those designed for youth and beginners as she didn’t have any intention to make Scott become a real Cyclops. Dani was setting up the last of her equipment when she saw the young man and smiled. “Alright, left or right handed? We’re going to bond today. With archery.” She pulled his arm out and examined the length of his arm and pretended to poke his eye to see which eye gave the fastest reaction. Satisfied with the information, she gave a quick run through of archery describing the different bows and how the length and weight of the bow came into play. She wouldn’t give him any actual bows yet as she wanted to see if he had any real follow through, but ground rules needed to be set. “Alright, first things first. This is a dictatorship, meaning whatever I say goes. I think you’re going to accidentally shoot something that’s alive, other than the target then it’s game over. Give me sass, and well you just made the wrong woman mad. Capiche?” She looked at him and smiled. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. We’re bonding. Anyways, a few more rules. Mention Katniss, the Hunger Games, or Peeta at your own risk.” Truly Katniss had nothing on her, if she said so herself. "We will practice at the pace I set and most importantly you have to be honest and upfront with me. Because as you can see I shoot straight. Now stop slouching.” She grabbed a bow that was appropriate for Ros and gave it to him. No arrows yet. “Alright, the key is to hold the arrow with the hand you don’t write with. You pull the string with your writing hand. I’m right handed so I hold it with my left hand like so, and pull the string with my right hand just like this.” She added in details about one’s stance to the importance of having a clear mind. Gazing intensely at the young man she made a, “hmmm,” sound as she watched his form. Dani walked up close measuring the way his arm moved, the way he stood, and how his eyes locked on to the target, but his form was lacking to her. She could tell by the way his body reacted his mind was racing with a million thoughts, some good, some bad, or maybe simply stress from the day. She didn’t need to be a psychic to know his thoughts were elsewhere. He could be stressed to impress her, intimidated by her, or simply worried about his performance which could all cloud his mind. Heck, Ros could have a terrible song stuck in his head on repeat. “Bow down. What’s going on? You seem distracted.” She cocked her head to the side. “Alright, let’s do this. You tell me a little about yourself. I’ll tell you a little about me. Once we loosen you up we get to practice. How does that sound??” |
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| Pyrrhic | Apr 7 2014, 02:45 AM Post #2 |
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Ros's school day went about as usual. He did the class work, took notes for studying later on in the day, and tried not to crash into anyone in the hallway on his way to the next class. If it wasn't for the fact that there were classes involving mutations, and that this was also where he slept at night, he could have thought that this was just any other normal school that you could attend in the United States. Not very class was a winner, and there may be times when Ros still felt as though he couldn't quite settle in entirely. There were expectations of him that he just did not feel comfortable with trying to meet. Curious as Ros might be about his powers, he did not want the pressure of exploring it. All in all it would have been like any other day if he had not run into a teacher in the hall. Or at least Ros was going with she had been a teacher. The lady had been older than him, and she gave him more of a command then asked him a question. The teen had been so bowled over that his tongue did not work until well after he was left behind in the hallway. The command played over and over in his head, and he was trying to decipher it until the rest of his classes were over. Any sane person would have just brushed off the whole affair and just gone on with their life. Ros realized that and wondered why he was so clearly mad. Oh sure there were suspicions of insanity in him with the way that he would say things that were apparently random, but that was something that you just grew use to with him. It wasn't being crazy, just not bothering to slow down enough to tell people how his thought process worked. As mad as he must be for showing up, he was wondering if this lady was more hatter like. "Right handed?" Ros asked, literally thrown off balance as she grabbed onto his arms, and jerked back as she went for the eyes. Ok, he was a little crazy, but he wasn't going after someone's eyes. Wait. What was that she said? Archery? He was by no means athletic. Ros only passed gym at his old school because the main requirement was changing out of jeans and boots. He could count on his two hands how many times in the past year they actually had a gym activity that required more than just walking around the room. Typical sports just wasn't his thing. One sport that he could get behind though was archery. It just wasn't taught in his school. "You mean with bows, arrows, nocking them, perfect ends archery?" he asked, more shocked then anything. Ros was a book worm, and while The Hunger Games did have a good deal of archery in it, that was not the first series that Ros's mind jumped to. Instead he remembered the story about a small teen who never met his parents and became a hero to many. Not because he was an expert swordsmen, or that he had some great magical powers. Will had been scrawny throughout the entire story, and it was through his clever mind and his skills with a bow and arrow that he had accomplished so much. Using his powers for range practice with Cyclops wasn't the ideal way for Ros to work on his aim. Ros took the bow from Dani and nodded his head at the dictatorship. Being a student meant that you were already in part on the less fortunate end of a dictatorship. Unfortunately it meant that Ros couldn't speak up about what he wanted to say. It just didn't feel right having the bow held in his right hand, his body facing towards the left. Not only that but he was wondering if his was just some sort of elaborate set up, some trick of the staff to get him to try and use his powers. Dani also said something about him shooting something living. Ouch. Now that was a low shot. Ros winced at the comment, the target down the way looking fuzzy to him. It wasn't that Ros wanted to hurt living things. Everything that he had been doing since coming here was a direct result of trying not to hurt anyone. Dani must have figured out that something was on his mind and gave the command to put down the bow. It would seem that bonding over archery meant having him actually top. So much for the dictatorship. "It would help if I knew who you are and why we're bonding," Ros admitted, "I'm Ros by the way. And I probably should let you know I'm not trying to hurt anyone. It just keeps happening." |
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| Mirage | Apr 9 2014, 02:28 AM Post #3 |
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"It would help if I knew who you are and why we're bonding," Ros admitted, "I'm Ros by the way. And I probably should let you know I'm not trying to hurt anyone. It just keeps happening." Dani learned early on if you really bothered to listen to people they would end up telling you more than they intended. Granted, at times her listening skills were not the best, but with the little guy she had to listen. He mistook her slight jab at injuring someone and personalized it way too much. She meant hurt someone with an arrow. He should have gotten that, but instead he freaked out on her. Which meant his powers were probably not under control. And that they scared the hell out of him and/or others. That was a terrible situation all around and she could relate to that feeling well of having a power that caused others to fear you. Literally. “Alright, I’m Dani Moonstar. Miss Moonstar to you.” Though truth be told she sort of preferred kids calling her by her first name, but she knew Sam and Scott or someone else would balk at the lack of formality. “I use to be a teacher/mentor here, but things got complicated so I had to leave. Now that I’m back, I’m trying to get to know the new students who I didn’t get a chance to meet properly the first time. Which includes you.” She grabbed her bow and arrow and looked at the target board firing with ease and proficiency. “The thing about archery is that you know if your mind is cluttered when you can’t make a smooth hit.” She shot another and instead of it being centimeters next to her previous one it was off by an inch. “That was a bad shot.” She put the bow and arrow down and looked at Ros, wondering what the best words were for this situation. “Ros, I’m sure you don’t mean to hurt anyone. I don’t think any of us do, but some of us get stuck with the short straw in the draw if you know what I mean.” Searching through all of her equipment she found a blunt edged arrow that wouldn’t cause any harm to the teen boy and threw it at him, hoping he knew how to catch. “When my power first manifested it was awful. People were scared to get near me. I didn’t want to use it, because it meant making others suffer. However, that’s the funny thing about mutant powers. You can’t learn to control them, until you use them. And you can’t learn archery if your mind is not clear and filled with guilt. Those are the bows we are going to be working with by the way. Any more questions? I’ve got plenty of answers.” |
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| Pyrrhic | Apr 9 2014, 06:11 PM Post #4 |
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The secret to archery, Miss Moonstar said, was to have a clear mind. Only problem was that Ros couldn't get his mind to shut up, at least not without a book in front of him. He was thinking of everything from what order he was going to do his homework in, how he really had to make sure that Blue was getting attention from his parents, and why on earth hadn't Miss Moonstar given him an arm band to keep him safe from the bowstring? With Will it was that he had been just overly excited and curious. Ros however excited as he might be, didn't even come to a full draw before he had been told to put the bow down. "Right, empty mind," Ros said, giving the bowstring an experimental tug as it was still in the down position. It was kind of startling the amount of effort needed to get it to do so, even if it wasn't hard per say. Of course there had to be some resistance in the motion, otherwise the arrow wouldn't want to fly as quickly away and wouldn't have enough force to do anything other than clatter harmlessly against things. The different types of bows he knew would effect the pull weight, based upon the bow length and the curve of it. Recurves were a little easier then long bows if he was remembering what he had learned from Ranger's Apprentice right. Once more Miss Moonstar took an action that startled the teen. He had been focused upon holding the bow and was taken by surprise when she threw the arrow at him. One hand was occupied with holding onto the bow, and as such could not be used to try to deflect or catch the arrow. His unoccupied hand went up in front of him. The arrow wasn't caught so much as it clattered against his hand and fell to the ground in two pieces. Ros had only the smallest film of the green stuff on his hand, but it had been enough to take its toll on the arrow. "Dammit," Ros said simply, pissed at himself more than the fact that the arrow was broken. Nine times out of ten he didn't have any of the stuff clinging to him. Nothing had happened when Miss Moonstar was yanking his arms, and certainly nothing when she had been jabbing at his eyes. Why was it that he hadn't triggered it then? Why now? Not that he would have rather had it happen when she was holding him. The closer the person was to him, the more both parties could be hurt. "I can't use them until I can control them," the teen mumbled sheepishly as he bent down to pick up the broken arrow. He wanted to learn how to shoot archery, but with this he couldn't hit anything. And given how he almost garrotted himself with the bow string when he ducked down, it pressing up against his throat as he stretched forward and grabbed the half with the tip rolling away, he probably would end up doing something wrong again soon. Straightening up Ros contemplated the two ends of the arrow he now held. "Isn't this suppose to be a sign of peace?" |
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| Xombie | Apr 10 2014, 12:42 AM Post #5 |
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In a not so rare moment between training sessions, Zoe was on her bed reading a good book. She ate up good books like most people ate breakfast. Escapism, that was her lot in life. Books, computer games, movies, fantasies in general where she was some kick ass heroine and not just the living dead girl. She had just got to the end of one chapter when she looked out her bedroom window and spotted the archery lesson going on outside. For a brief moment she considered how fortunate she was to have a view of the grounds before deciding to get off her lazy ass and join in the fun. Zoe jumped off her bed and did a quick inventory on what she was wearing. She stripped off her jumper and swapped it for a tighter fitting tee. Loose clothing and bow strings did not make good friends. Archery was one of the few things that made her appreciate her humble bust. Boobs and bow strings did not make good friends either. Jeans were good, she slipped on some sneakers and bolted out the door, down the hall, down stairs, more doors, and headed for the grounds. Once out the front door, Zoe walked more nonchalantly for the pair she had spotted. She kinda recognised them but knew neither name. Zoe swallowed her shyness and dug up her hidden reserves of self confidence. “Isn't this suppose to be a sign of peace?" ::Looks more like a sign of pieces. I’m Zoe, is there any chance I may join in your Archery session?:: Zoe spoke to both Ros and Dani, trying to make her psychic voice sound as friendly as possible. |
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| Mirage | Apr 10 2014, 02:00 AM Post #6 |
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Ros wasn’t listening to her and she found his hesitation absolutely adorable. (Even the broken arrow managed to not irk her as it usually would as Dani loved her bows.) What she didn’t like was his refusal to practice his gifts. They were a part of him and she knew more than anyone how damning gifts could be. Had she been younger, she would have pouted, because she thought she made quite the compelling speech, but this was one difficult nut to crack. “Well perhaps this isn’t the peace sign I was looking for.” Then another voice entered her mind and she turned around to look at the girl who arrived. Another new one. How many kids enrolled since she left? She would need to look that up as quickly as possible. Instead of laughing, which she wanted to do at Zoe’s not so subtle observation she simply delicately lifted an eyebrow and tried to size her up in all of about twenty seconds before returning her attention to Ros. “One sec.” Dani was quick to address people and let them know when it was their turn to speak. This was not a Ros speaking type of turn. She held out the compound bow to Zoe, but took it away, before her cherished bow could be taken from her. “Of course you can join. First you have to pass the test. Name. Power. And list a reason why it’s important to become proficient with your power.” She then looked over at Ros. “Don’t listen to her yet. I don’t know if she’ll give you bad advice.” With a slight grin Miss Moonstar wondered if perhaps the best way to get them to open up was to simply have them talking with each other. Once again she looked at the bows and decided that Ros having a compound bow was to his benefit as it would be a bit more forgiving should his form not be perfect. Zoe though, looked like a spitfire and the type of gal that would surprise her. She didn’t put it past Zoe to be an expert at archery. Tilting her head to the side she took in a long deep breath, because she was certain Ros was overwhelmed, angry, or simply being a teenager, which Dani had long since forgotten what it was like...well minus the fights. She hadn’t forgotten those. “Ros, what else do you need to know about Zoe, before she joins our merry archery lesson? Any secrets you wish to know? Do you even know her?” She paused simply to breathe as she was now excited that this solo lesson had become one with two students she could get to know better. “Now aren’t you glad I ran into you this morning, kid?” |
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| Pyrrhic | Apr 11 2014, 10:22 PM Post #7 |
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Frowning at the hand that had the green on it Ros grunted in response to what Miss Moonstar had said. He didn't mind that she was telling him to hold on while she greeted the newest arrival to the range, he hadn't noticed. Ros was barely aware that there was a voice in his head. It was already crowded enough up there with all the random trains of thought he had, all of them intersecting at some point or another and just in general was hard to separate what he was thinking from the voice that was speaking to him. Instead of taking note of the voice in his head he was focused on other matters. So far Ros hadn't figured out how to get rid of the green stuff without having it fly off his body. On the plus side it didn't seem to want to cut his clothes. With a resigned sigh Ros tried rubbing it off on his jeans which seemed to work a little. Now he could safely shake his hand free of the stuff. It traveled only a few inches away from him before it died out. Ros looked up and for the first time was truly aware of the presence of the newcommer. She was nearish his age he'd guess, but he was kind of terrible about getting ages of people right. After age two they started lumping together based upon which decade they were in. Before Ros could say anything to greet the fellow teen Miss Moonstar made a comment to her about saying why it was important to practice using their powers. It was one of those moments where the timing was just perfect and Ros's face turned beat red as he looked at the girl for the first time. Not because he had been flustered by the sight of her, though his eyes did widen at the whole lifeless appearence, but other than that he wasn't reacting to her looks at all. No, what had turned Ros's face the color of a tomato was Miss Moonstar talking about listing reasons why it was important to study using their powers. Ros got that, if he hadn't he'd have put up with whatever outcome the trial would have had. His life would have been over, but at least he'd be home on his birthday, and he'd be able to keep an eye on his parents. It was just Ros did not want to hurt anyone, which would mean no using his powers. Not that it made any difference if the arrow he had busted was any indication. That green stuff underneath his skin had it out for him. When he wanted it to do something, basically make it go away, it didn't, and when he didn't it did. He'd learned how to make it show up, but the vanishing act was a lot harder to get a hold of. He was a little humiliated that he couldn't even practice with his powers without something going wrong. "Haven't met yet," Ros said in regards to the girl. If they had met Ros would have met it. She wasn't in his classes. "Might have seen her in the hallway once or twice, but that'd be it." Had he paid attention to the voice that had said hello in his mind Ros might have a better idea of who the girl was, or at the very least, known that her name was Zoe. There was the feeling that he should know it, like maybe one of her friends had called out to her. At this point there wasn't really a way that he could figure out how to ask for it without sounding like an absolute idiot for not remembering. It worried him a little that Miss Moonstar was so excited. He had not known her long and he already was getting the feeling that joy for her would mean something painful for him. "I think I better be glad you ran into me. It's a dictatorship after all right?" |
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| Xombie | Apr 13 2014, 08:53 PM Post #8 |
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::Zoe Beals. Codename Xombie. That’s with an X, cause X-Men:: Zoe shrugged indicating that people should just accept this. ::My power is completely passive, I’m a brain eating zombie minus the brain eating. Since I can’t rely on an active ability, I have to go the alternate route and become proficient at butt kicking so I can protect the people I care about:: The tone of voice said keen Girl Scout with extra mustard, which was likely par for an aspiring student at Xavier’s. Being the cheeky sod that Zoe was, she was watching to see if she got a good reaction for the zombie bit. If she got a jump from somebody then she was having a good day. Zoe took a moment to look Ros up and down. She hazarded a guess that he was younger than her, judging by the face and fuzz, but he was half a foot taller and likely still growing in the way boys did. All in all Zoe thought, he would be rather striking in a few years time. Most people seemed to think Zoe was younger than her 18 years, due to her small stature, inner child and young voice. It was impossible to judge by her face due to her full body skin suit. To be fair, in fifty or even a hundred years time, some people might still think her 15, Zoe had no intention of growing up, only older. The green stuff seeming to both belong to and bother Ros had not gone unnoticed. He wasn’t about to get sympathy, empathy or even pity from Zoe. One; it wasn’t really her style, and two; she couldn’t really empathise anyway even if she wanted to. ::You know Ros, you must really control your emanations, or your gonna give girls the wrong impression. And your cute enough to have great social potential, don’t want to ruin that.:: Zoe could have sent this to just Ros, but she sent to Miss Moonstar too. A joke shared is more fun. |
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| Mirage | Apr 16 2014, 12:02 AM Post #9 |
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Everyone knew Dani believed in the philosophy of tough love. It wasn’t that she didn’t observe the green goop or acidic content that wanted to scream out for attention, it was simply that she had seen worse. For instance the young dead looking female in front of her, had it much worse. Time would tell what would happen to her body once it deteriorates, but she was adjusting based on a quick two minute observation. Ros well...his powers sucked. Dangerous liquid that squirted out from your body would make anyone nervous, but that was the silly thing about teens. (Something even she herself was guilty of in the past.) They always seemed to think the less they used their powers the more control they had over it, and the fact was the opposite was true. You can’t control what you don’t practice. She’d have to beat that lesson into this kid. Now Zoe, though. She was something else and Dani liked her spunk and quirky jokes, even if Ros seemed to want to die from embarrassment. Teen boys were so adorable as they always made her think of Sam, Roberto, and Doug when they were younger and unworldly. As much as she would have liked to add innocent to the equation with Roberto there never really was anything innocent about him. She could only reminisce so long, before she went back to work. “Alright jokester,” she told Zoe with a smile. “Go shoot. Impress me.” Now, Dani knew her tone was a bit aggressive, but she was certain that Zoe had something special about her, beyond the fact that her powers seemed to be extraordinarily impossible. It took a lot of resilience to be able to manage the cards life dealt her, which meant the young woman had to have come up with several coping methods. It made her hope some of that optimism of hers would rub off on Ros. “Alright Ros, we gotta get you to calm down and not secrete green stuff at the slightest provocation. Yay, SAT word there. So good, you two are now friends and if not, fake it until after this lesson.” She went up to him and looked at his jeans then his hands assessing the threat situation. She hadn’t gone over the student files, but she was certain his had some destructive capability due to his nervousness and bleak outlook that the next time he used them they would all be injured. He was much too nervous and agitated, which probably only made him lose even more control over his power. “So, when was the last time you used your power Ros? I mean willingly used it? Might explain a lot.” She paused. “I have an idea of what we will do whether your answer is terrible or amazing. And it’ll include Zoe. She seems like a good sport. Up for a challenge Ros?” Dani turned to look at Zoe and smiled. The girl definitely was someone she wanted to mentor too, whether Zoe wanted the friendly advice or not. She enjoyed softer personalities and those with quirky bits of humor, which the young girl fit the bill quite nicely. “See, I knew this girl had spunk. Now let’s see how much work Ros will be doing based on a simple question.” |
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| Pyrrhic | Apr 18 2014, 05:35 AM Post #10 |
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"I think that my bad boy attitude will just bring them back round," Ros said to Zoe with a grin. About the most hardcore thing about him was the nick in his ear, and that had come from an incident involving french fries and seagulls. If she could joke about him turning the girls off, he could joke about him drawing them in. There was no way anyone could think of Ros as a rebel once they had the opportunity to know him. Ros was a firm believer that rules existed for a reason, and that manners were something that parents should invest time into teaching their children. He'd grown tired of screaming children in his dad's book store that parents ignored. To anyone who had any lingering thoughts that Ros was a rebel all they had t do was look at his homework, done to completion before he would go to bed at night. If that did not convince them there was always the stack of books that marked his territory. Rebels do not read Lord of the Rings or Terrier. The zombie thing was certainly an eyebrow raiser. Zombies did not make much of an appearance in the books that Ros had read. Vampires, yes, ghosts, sure. Every so often there might even be mummies or werewolves, but not as much with zombies. He could only think of one book that had anything to do with them, and that had been a collection of short stories comparing the living dead with unicorns. There were plenty of different kinds of mutants all throughout the school, but he had yet to meet someone who was a unicorn. Ros grumbled slightly, head ducked in embarrassment about being caught having issues getting the last of his green stuff free of him. Having pointy things tossed at him didn't exactly give the message that this was a safe activity. Maybe that was why he had been able to break the arrow. After all his powers first kicked in when he was in danger, and then again when his family was at risk at the trial. It wasn't like Ros had wanted to use it to break the arrow. He had just wanted to catch the stupid arrow. Now it was a question of when he had last intentionally used his powers. Ros had a feeling that if he were to say he never had things would not go well in the whole not humiliating himself department. He'd brought up some of the green energy before, only in small amounts, and never when he thought that someone would be hurt. But that was with no purpose other than his unavoidable curiosity in the thing. Well it was the closest he could come to an answer that might make Miss Moonstar happy, so it was what he went with. "I brought some out once, but I couldn't get rid of it," he admitted. By now his hands were clear of the last bits of energy. A quick check on the lengths of his arms and a glance down at his legs confirmed that he was safe. Whatever kind of unique energy he produced, it liked hanging around his limbs, especially near the extremities. And that was half the problem. The only way he knew to get rid of it was to direct it towards something, and unfortunately the other half of the problem was that there tended to be people around that could get hurt. "It doesn't like to leave me." |
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| Xombie | Apr 22 2014, 02:51 AM Post #11 |
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Zoe eagerly took the proffered bow from Miss Moonstar and briefly familiarised her self with its setup. She grasped the handle in her left hand, gently, barely supporting the weight of the bow. She took the string in the hook of two fingers of her right hand and pulled back to her cheek whilst straightening her left arm in one smooth motion. As Zoe and Dani were nearly equal in height, their arm span was likewise similar and thus was their draw length. Like wise it seemed their draw weight was close too, corresponding to similar strength. Zoe was likely a little weaker but had the advantage of no fatigue. Zoe eased the tension from the string until it was relaxed in her grip again, justly letting the string go from full draw without an arrow knocked screwed with the bow and put a target on your back from the bow owner. The closest target was ten yards away, the sort that used five smaller targets arranged in the pattern of dots on the five side of a dice. In a long day or practise, even for novices, if every arrow was aimed at the same bull’s-eye, it was inevitable that you would hit one arrow with another and break both. The five target setup pretty much eliminated this risk to equipment. Zoe squared her self up on this target and nocked an arrow. She drew back, left arm almost straight, just a slight bend at the elbow so the string didn’t hit her forearm – again where most would suffer fatigue from the slight bend, she did not – sighted through the peep sight, through the top pin of the five-point pin sight and at the centre bull’s-eye. Zoe steadied her aim like a robot, or a psychic entity as the case may be, and unleashed projectile hell upon the littlest circle. Well, pretended to unleash hell in the fantasy fiction playground of her head. It was just a plain aluminium arrow travelling at a mere 300 plus feet per second. It did hit the bull’s-eye though so that was good. Zoe repeated the motions with another four arrows and got another four bull’s-eyes. Not perfect dead in the center bull’s-eyes but in the circle. After a year of practice, she would be a piss poor student if she’d performed any worse. Zoe looked back at the others to make sure nobody was aiming anywhere in her direction and safely walked up to the target and pulled free the five arrows. She then walked up to Ros and playfully elbowed him in the ribs. ::Don’t fret your little ego. That’s a year of practice. At thirty yards, it’s fifty fifty whether I hit the bull’s-eye and I still cant judge lead on a moving target.:: She offered the most excellent bow back to Miss Moonstar ::You've got some nice equipment Ma'am.:: Her psychic voice spoke to both Dani and Ros with cheerful warm energy. |
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| Mirage | Apr 23 2014, 01:39 AM Post #12 |
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“You brought some out...once.” Right, that answered her question. Ros, pretty much avoided all use of his power and that was the confirmation she needed. She felt for the little guy. Destructive power, sensitive soul who maybe hurt someone he cared about or even a bystander. They were the ones that should possess all forms of dangerous powers, because in the end if they learned to overcome their fear, they would be most responsible with it. It was the one who had no reservations, the ones who were beyond fearless and were reckless that people needed to worry about. Those people had the tendency to become influenced by bad apples waiting to pick them. “Well, maybe you should-” And then Zoe became her favorite student ever (never mind you that Dani didn’t have a real gym class, or any class for that matter) by showing off her skill level with five straight bull’s eyes. Impressive. Once that small pixie girl came up to chide Ros, she smiled warmly at the pair. “If I had been your teacher, you would have become a teacher’s pet by now,” she told Zoe with regards to the archery. “Either that or you would have convinced me to start an archery club.” Giving her an approving nod, she walked over to Ros and put her hands on his shoulder leaning in to whisper, “I would bet you have it in you to give Zoe a run for your money but,” she squeezed his shoulders just then waiting to see how he would react, “you fight against your own nature. It’s a part of you and you have to learn to let it go. Learn to manage it, otherwise you’ll be nothing more than a scared animal, and that’s not what being a human or mutant is about.” She moved away from him and grabbed the bow and arrow looking at him before paying attention to the target. “Sometimes, a bulls eye is nice.” She shot one arrow. Then two, the second arrow landing perfectly in the center, breaking through the first arrow. “However, sometimes you get a curveball.” She swung the arrow up as if about to point at a bird and shot quickly, arrow after arrow, going down a vertical line on the target. “See, sometimes it’s not always about fancy moves, but simply control.” Moving towards Zoe she looked at her and began to surmise where she was. “We have to assume Zoe has a fair bit of control over her power, but that only came after trial and error. Same thing for you Ros. You’ll never be able to learn the fun things in life if you don’t tackle the biggest obstacle you’re facing-you’re power.” Speech over, it was time for business. “Gotta learn using your power doesn’t mean you’ll hurt everyone around you. Why don’t you hit that target with your powers instead of a bow and arrow? Can you use your powers against the target or only people?” She looked at Zoe compassionately and then back at Ros. “She’s past being hurt. And if I get hurt, it’d just be my fault for suggesting this exercise. So go, show us what your power can do to that target.” Dani then moved over to Zoe and grabbed her arm gently pulling her away from Ros. “We believe in you.” As an aside she turned to Zoe and whispered, “We also believe in our safety.” |
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| Pyrrhic | Apr 24 2014, 05:32 AM Post #13 |
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Warning alarms were going off in Ros's head. Miss Moonstar did not get far in her sentence, but he had a good idea where it was headed. She wanted him to do the same thing that was asked of him in any class that remotely touched on his mutation. Why was it that nobody got he wanted to figure some of it out on his own first? His powers had been wildly out of his control at the trial, and he did not want that to happen again. Still having anyone get so close to him when he had his powers working just compounded the problem. It felt too much like when he had to give an oral report in class. Whether Zoe had picked up on that fact or not, Ros was glad when she provided a distraction from him. Her shots had been impeccable, beautiful in their own rights. From where they were standing her arrows were lost a bit in fuzz to him, but with the way that Miss Moonstar swooned over them Ros knew that the zombie had hit her marks. He wasn't an idiot, school had taught him that you never want to be the teacher's pet. All it did was draw unnecessary attention to yourself. As long as Miss Moonstar was focused upon the other person with the bow he did not have to try to do anything stupid. If only Zoe had managed to distract Miss Moonstar just a little longer. The dictator came over and was resting her hand on his shoulder. It probably was meant as a comforting sort of thing, like she wanted to encourage him. Sadly the action did not do either, just made him feel all the more awkward. He was still getting use to having longer limbs and his voice squeeked at times. Somehow getting a handle on his powers seemed like a kind of stupid idea when he couldn't even get his body to act normal. Why did so many mutants have their powers kick in when their bodies were the least in control? "Forget about the whole being a mutant thing for just a minute," Ros said, only partially trying to be argumentive. There was something that Miss Moonstar had majorly overlooked. "I'm not going to beat Zoe. I don't even know what she was aiming at." It was the first time that Ros actually admitted to not having the greatest eyesight. Up close he could make things out well, but distance messed things up a little. "I don't have any athletic skills. I can't make a three pointer, and I'm not going to be able to outshoot her." Now came the kicker, addressing his powers. They weren't all that further from the targets than he would be in Cyclops's class, but he didn't know if he could reach that far. Problem was that when you purposefully under perform you don't know what your limitations really are. "Being a mutant is my genetics, not nature. Making sure I don't hurt anyone, that's nature." The teen chewed at his lip, fighting back a multitude of thoughts. Could he hit the target? First of all would his powers work on the target. "In theory my powers should work on it. I cracked the witness stand, and that's made of hard wood instead of hay covered in some kind of fabric. Muslin? Canvas?" Lip chewing wasn't enough for a situation like this. Ros began to nibble on his thumb, his eyes focused on the targets down the way. He poked around inside himself, finding that there was plenty of that green energy, waiting for him to ask it to come out. "Don't know if it will reach that far though." It helped that Miss Moonstar made Zoe take a step back. Being able to hit the target from such a distance meant that he'd have to bring up more energy than he really wanted to. Still he had to shut Miss Moonstar up about his powers if he wanted a chance at shooting the bow. He placed it down beside him gently, took two steps closer to the target, and summoned up that weird green stuff. It started off at his feet, then raced its way up to his arms. In the end it spread from his fingertips to his elbow. With a gesture it would move away from him. But at the last second Ros hesitated, and rather than traveling forwards, a bit flew back in his face, and his eyes involuntarily snapped shut, his arm jerked, and the shot went off. With how much did not go back at him though there was still enough that the stuffing from the target went flying out as he cut into it. "Never again." Ros said turning to face them. His jaw was set firmly and there was steel in his eyes. There was nothing that Miss Moonstar could say that would get him to change his mind. If he had not taken the hit of what had gone backwards they could have gotten hurt. "You've seen it once and that's enough for us all." |
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| Xombie | Apr 26 2014, 09:36 AM Post #14 |
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Zoe practically stomped up to Ros and with her hands on his shoulder gave him a piece of her mind. ::Ros, Ros, Rosrosrosrosros, you have come to the wrong school if you think anybody here will let you get away with that attitude you silly idjit of a boy. Nobody, and I mean nobody gets to do the whole self pity crap around me just because they don’t like what power thy got. I cant talk to my Mum on the phone, I cant kiss a boy,:: or a girl Zoe privately thought, ::or even enjoy chocolate. Look, I can understand that you don’t want to hurt anyone, I’m a big softy too, but the only way to not hurt anyone is to not be there, but if your not there then you can’t protect them either. No you’ve got this amazing ability to throw destructive green stuff, just like you can also throw a punch, a kick or a few choice words. Knowing how and when to use any of these abilities takes practice, lots of practice:: Now Zoe stood next to Ros with her right hand on his right shoulder and faced Dani. ::Now, let’s pretend I’m your BFF and Miss Moonstar is a mugger. She wants to take all your money, and if you’re not really careful, your life too cause she has a gun. Now you can throw a punch or a kick but as soon as you make a move, she will pull the trigger. Orrr :: Dramatic pause :: Orrr you can throw the right words, and get her to back off, but she is high on meth and isn’t listening to none of your shit. That my big protector just leaves option three, flick out the green stuff. Slice that gun in half and scare Miss Moonstar away. You get that right and you will feel like the king of the world, you will feel absolutely fricken awesome, and because you had just saved poor little me,:: She tipped toed and pretended to whisper into his ear. ::I would be very grateful, you catch me?:: Zoe let Ros go and gave him his space. She spun on the spot and gesticulated at random. ::We’ve got Banshee and Iceman and Storm and Siryn and plenty more who have all had to learn how to control and manage their powers so they could protect the people they care about. And right now, that includes you. Don’t you owe it to them at the very least to give everything you’ve got and not let your own fear beat you?:: And if that little pep talk didn’t do the trick, then Zoe would help Dani put fear of failure into Ros instead. |
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| Mirage | Apr 30 2014, 03:34 AM Post #15 |
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Quite frankly, Dani was impressed with what Ros was able to do, even if it flicked back into his face and didn’t do exactly what he wanted it to do. She didn’t expect him to do much, not because he couldn’t....but because teens that don’t train properly have less control than others. It was a simple given, so the fact that Ros was able to do that much was quite impressive to her. In fact, she was going to hug the little bugger when he started ranting about how he could never do it again, lives hurt, people die, it was the kind of melodrama she expected from those secretive heroes who hid behind masks. Dani was the type to think no one should hide their identity, but then again, not many people thought like her. Just as she was about to be disappointed and explain to Ros that his self pity would not win brownie points with her, Zoe took over and took one for the team, basically giving the boy the type of encouraging talk you needed before the fourth quarter of a hockey game where you were down by a point. It sucked. You didn’t think you had it in you, but you knew you had to try. For the fans. And well, Ros needed to try-for his friends and family if no one else. (Because if he had wanted to do it for himself he would have been curious about his powers long ago.) “Zoe, you’re a queen. Ros, buckle up. Here’s my inspiring speech. Learning about your powers suck. There end of story. You’re going to make mistakes. You may hurt others, even yourself, but if you don’t bother to learn, you’re going to hurt more people in the long run, when you have a power malfunction and don’t know what to do.” She grabbed the bow she picked out for Ros and roughly (though not intentionally) shoved the equipment into his hand. “I tell you to shoot that bullseye today, five times in a row will you do it? No, of course not. And you want to know why?” She waited to see if he would dare mention he was a loser or whatever popular self loathing term teens were attracted to these days. “It’s because you’ve never tried it before. You don’t become Michael Jordan-” then she thought about it and tried to find a more recent athlete he could relate too, “Lebron overnight.” She stepped back to eye him and then threw her hands up, because she knew he wasn’t listening. Listening was something teens never did and she felt Ros was one of them. Dani wasn’t really cross, just exasperated, because in the end, she felt he was only hurting himself. “You want to know what my powers are? I bring out everyone’s worst fear and make them relive it and experience it. Try being the girl everyone is scared of, by the way, not a fun way to make friends since everyone was scared to death of me. Yeah, I was a bit emo about it,” emo was the cool word the kids used now, “but I had to suck it and learn how to do it. And the bigger problem with sucky powers like ours is that if you don’t handle the base power, you won’t be able to handle all of the additional powers that keep cropping up. I can do more than just scare you,” she said that last part with a mischievous smile, which any teen would have either accepted or interpreted as a sinister smirk. “Ros, you don’t want to try today, fine, but you can’t be the guy that scares everyone away because of your power. That’s my schtick and it quite frankly didn’t work when I used it as an excuse. You can however, learn archery to create inner calm, so you can practice with your powers later on. It’s all about being fully in control of yourself anyways. You just don’t know that yet, and even if you claim you do, you don’t. Otherwise, you’d be begging one of the adults to train you every single day. Like I did, when I was younger.” She leaned over to whisper to Zoe, “I may have gotten in more trouble than Ros when I was a kid,” she confessed. Happy with Zoe’s optimism and her realistic advice, she knew Ros would have to listen to one of them, but if he didn’t she had the best idea ever as of right now. “Oh and you know what, I got an even more amazing idea now. I’ll be your mentor! And Zoe’s! Great idea huh? No need to thank me. I love helping teens, even if I kinda hated being a teen, when I was one. It sucked, but friends made it worth it. Being an adult is much better and I plan to make sure the two of you cross that finish line with flying colors. How does that sound guys?” |
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8:58 AM Jul 11