Syaoran Li | 李 小狼 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cardcaptured) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2018-01-14 06:04 pm
cardcaptured) wrote in recolle2018-01-14 06:04 pm
Entry tags:
[OPEN] ☽ Be careful making wishes in the dark
WHO: Xiaolang Li & YOU!
WHERE: Various locations throughout the city! (Subway tunnels, the woods, and Rec U campus library being notable ones, though)
WHEN: All throughout January!
WHAT: JANUARY CATCH-ALL! Sword training, sword sparring, sword researching, proper and improper uses of magic talismansXiaolang please don't set things on fire, trying to explore the subway tunnels (and maybe possibly getting sick near the end of the month)
WARNINGS: None for now? Will update in case anything changes, though!
i
[If you're out near the Retrospec mailboxes some evening shortly after the dome goes up in the city, investigating or picking up your own regained items, you may see a certain boy pulling out a handful of intricately designed paper slips from his mailbox, confusion flitting across his face.]
'Fire'...?
[If in response to his words, one of the slips suddenly bursts into flames, gained a surprised yelp from his end, hastily dropping the bunch of paper to the ground before attempting to put it out. Oddly enough, the paper itself doesn't seem to be getting burned up? Strange.
Unfortunately, this isn't the last incident of this either-- throughout the month, you may find Xiaolang tucked away somewhere, perhaps some alley or secluded area of a park that's not surrounded by flammable things, trying to test the limits and the triggers to these mysterious talismans, succeeding in some areas and failing badly at others. Want to know where that weird bolt of lightning came from? Or why this trash can is suddenly up in flames? YOU CAN BLAME THIS CHILD. (He's trying his best, okay--)
He does manage to get a hang of the fire talisman a little easier than his thunder one, though, so you may also spot him during the darker times of the month, holding aloft a burning bit of paper, brow furrowed in concentration but keeping the flame steady. Maybe it's good to stick near him in case you forgot your own light source? Just don't wind up distracting him too too much, lest you want a flare-up.]
ii
a [Of course, the talismans aren't the only thing he's preoccupied with this month-- outside of the agreed training sessions with a few people, along with the fencing advice from Leon and sparring with Sakura, Xiaolang's been practicing on his own with his sword in the outskirts of the woods, because he's anything but not driven to improve upon things. It's nothing too ambitious or risky-- it's mostly just going through the forms and techniques already shown to him by the others, but applying it to the actual weapon he has on hand. After all, if he was going to eventually fight with it, he had to get used to how the real deal felt in his hands, didn't he? Occasionally, though, he slips and fumbles a move, either from the poor lighting from his electric lantern, or his thoughts momentarily drifting to other things (or other people) and he bites back a (PG-rated) curse because of it. More towards the end of the month, he looks a little more exhausted as he goes through the motions, which begs the question-- has he even rested at all between all of these practices and training sessions? The answer is probably nope. Someone get him to chill, please--]
b [You may also spot Xiaolang during the weekday afternoons (and possibly some evenings) in the Recolle University campus library, surrounded by various books on swords, Chinese weaponry and their respective fighting techniques, jotting down various notes and deeply focused on his work. There's various science and engineering books mixed in there as well, along with his regular homework, and it begs the question-- what's a middle school kid even doing here in the first place? And does he really need all of these books? Maybe he might be hogging one that you might need? He might relinquish it, or he might not, depending on how you ask.]
iii
a [With everything else going on this month, with the sudden lack of daylight and getting accustomed to the new items Retrospec had sent his way, exploring the tunnels had been a little lower on Xiaolang's priority list. But it was certainly on there, though-- after hearing and reading so many accounts of the odd workings and history of the city, he wanted to do a little first-hand research himself for once.
But does he call anyone else to join him on this quest? Nope. No use dragging other people into any danger he may possibly be getting into. Hence why he's using the current darkness to his advantage as he attempts to sneak into the subway entrance, book bag full of supplies on his back-- although attempts is probably the key word here, as trying to move stealthily with a sword shoved down the back of your jacket is pretty much next to impossible. Maaaaybe it's not the best idea to let an actual thirteen year old go in here by himself??]
b [If, by some miracle, he winds up in the fourth subway car with you (and hasn't already called it a day and deemed things too dangerous thanks to the creeping vines and Rodents Of Unusual Size), he's going to be digging through the various vinyls and audio equipment, taking photos of them with his iPad for curiosity's sake-- that is, until one of his memories starts blaring across the screen in the car. Any of them will cause him to drop whatever he's holding with a resounding crash (hopefully not his iPad??probably his iPad) as he gapes at the scene unfolding, although if it's one memory in particular...]
T... THAT WASN'T A DREAM?!
[... maybe that wasn't something you wanted to say out loud, Xiaolang???]
c [Should he manage to avoid any other danger while in tunnels (or at least, successfully wield it off thanks to his baby sword skills and talismans) and wind up in the grand hub, he's just-- going to be taking photos of everything. If not with his iPad (which may or may not be cracked thanks to his clumsiness back in the fourth car), then with his phone, capturing every store front and wall and ceiling, although if you're with him and try to enter one of the establishments, he's just going to grab your sleeve with a shake of his head.]
Don't. We don't know what could be hiding in there.
[The Retrospec shop, however, remains an exception, as Xiaolang all but bounds into the store, hands on whatever papers or books that may hold the most information. He had only received the app once the Retrospec building had closed down, so he never had the opportunity to properly look into it, but now that there was all this material here to research...
By the time the chime rings out for the last train, Xiaolang's about three-quarters of the way through the guide, taking photos of each and every page to look into for later, and he murmurs--]
That's... crazy. Did they really have the technology to manage this sort of thing?
[... what's crazier is if he can make it to the train before it leaves the station, with how laser focused he is on the book.]
iv - WILDCARD
[If there's anything else you want to do for January with Xiaolang, hit me up over @![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
Urameshi to plot things out!! I am down for anything and everything so don't be afraid to ask :9b]
WHERE: Various locations throughout the city! (Subway tunnels, the woods, and Rec U campus library being notable ones, though)
WHEN: All throughout January!
WHAT: JANUARY CATCH-ALL! Sword training, sword sparring, sword researching, proper and improper uses of magic talismans
WARNINGS: None for now? Will update in case anything changes, though!
i
[If you're out near the Retrospec mailboxes some evening shortly after the dome goes up in the city, investigating or picking up your own regained items, you may see a certain boy pulling out a handful of intricately designed paper slips from his mailbox, confusion flitting across his face.]
'Fire'...?
[If in response to his words, one of the slips suddenly bursts into flames, gained a surprised yelp from his end, hastily dropping the bunch of paper to the ground before attempting to put it out. Oddly enough, the paper itself doesn't seem to be getting burned up? Strange.
Unfortunately, this isn't the last incident of this either-- throughout the month, you may find Xiaolang tucked away somewhere, perhaps some alley or secluded area of a park that's not surrounded by flammable things, trying to test the limits and the triggers to these mysterious talismans, succeeding in some areas and failing badly at others. Want to know where that weird bolt of lightning came from? Or why this trash can is suddenly up in flames? YOU CAN BLAME THIS CHILD. (He's trying his best, okay--)
He does manage to get a hang of the fire talisman a little easier than his thunder one, though, so you may also spot him during the darker times of the month, holding aloft a burning bit of paper, brow furrowed in concentration but keeping the flame steady. Maybe it's good to stick near him in case you forgot your own light source? Just don't wind up distracting him too too much, lest you want a flare-up.]
ii
b [You may also spot Xiaolang during the weekday afternoons (and possibly some evenings) in the Recolle University campus library, surrounded by various books on swords, Chinese weaponry and their respective fighting techniques, jotting down various notes and deeply focused on his work. There's various science and engineering books mixed in there as well, along with his regular homework, and it begs the question-- what's a middle school kid even doing here in the first place? And does he really need all of these books? Maybe he might be hogging one that you might need? He might relinquish it, or he might not, depending on how you ask.]
iii
But does he call anyone else to join him on this quest? Nope. No use dragging other people into any danger he may possibly be getting into. Hence why he's using the current darkness to his advantage as he attempts to sneak into the subway entrance, book bag full of supplies on his back-- although attempts is probably the key word here, as trying to move stealthily with a sword shoved down the back of your jacket is pretty much next to impossible. Maaaaybe it's not the best idea to let an actual thirteen year old go in here by himself??]
b [If, by some miracle, he winds up in the fourth subway car with you (and hasn't already called it a day and deemed things too dangerous thanks to the creeping vines and Rodents Of Unusual Size), he's going to be digging through the various vinyls and audio equipment, taking photos of them with his iPad for curiosity's sake-- that is, until one of his memories starts blaring across the screen in the car. Any of them will cause him to drop whatever he's holding with a resounding crash (hopefully not his iPad??
T... THAT WASN'T A DREAM?!
[... maybe that wasn't something you wanted to say out loud, Xiaolang???]
c [Should he manage to avoid any other danger while in tunnels (or at least, successfully wield it off thanks to his baby sword skills and talismans) and wind up in the grand hub, he's just-- going to be taking photos of everything. If not with his iPad (which may or may not be cracked thanks to his clumsiness back in the fourth car), then with his phone, capturing every store front and wall and ceiling, although if you're with him and try to enter one of the establishments, he's just going to grab your sleeve with a shake of his head.]
Don't. We don't know what could be hiding in there.
[The Retrospec shop, however, remains an exception, as Xiaolang all but bounds into the store, hands on whatever papers or books that may hold the most information. He had only received the app once the Retrospec building had closed down, so he never had the opportunity to properly look into it, but now that there was all this material here to research...
By the time the chime rings out for the last train, Xiaolang's about three-quarters of the way through the guide, taking photos of each and every page to look into for later, and he murmurs--]
That's... crazy. Did they really have the technology to manage this sort of thing?
[... what's crazier is if he can make it to the train before it leaves the station, with how laser focused he is on the book.]
iv - WILDCARD
[If there's anything else you want to do for January with Xiaolang, hit me up over @
no subject
[Although, for the briefest of moments, he feels like a monster, seeing her upset expression on her normally sweet and cheerful face. But... no. She had to learn to take criticism, especially for things like these, when her well-being hung in the balance. Xiaolang may have been blunt about it, but if it was to help her improve, he'd put aside his own feelings (realized and unrealized) to make that happen. He just... hoped she didn't hate him by the end of all of this.
He slips back into his starting stance, anticipating her next attack, and seeing her move more nimbly this time was gratifying. It was still a little slow, to his eyes, but better than before, more accurate to her usual athletic nature. He parries her sword before it can hit her intended target, knocking her blade to the side with his to throw it off the mark. In an attempt to drive her back, he swings his practice sword upwards towards hers, hoping to maybe hit her weapon with enough force to get her to stumble a few steps behind, or even possibly disarm her.]
no subject
She's still learning, and trying to be conscious on her attacks in not wanting to hurt him, to be able to stop if he can't defend against one though. Mostly, it's her footwork and strength behind the attacks that she needs to work on. Her timing.]
no subject
It wasn't as if Xiaolang was great at this either, though. To a trained professional, this probably came off as a couple of kids flailing away with a couple of swords, but he was genuinely trying to put whatever bits and pieces he knew into something cohesive. He's been practicing on his own, in order to memorize and perfect what he learned, so those bits, at least, he was semi-good with. As she comes in with a new strike, he tries to quickly catch it against his own sword, though his feet fumble slightly with the effort. He pushes his false blade against hers, using his strength to try to drive her back.]
You're still moving a little slowly. Work on that.
no subject
[She hopes. She thinks. She's trying to balance speed with putting what they know and have learned so far into practice, with the different forms and all, and what feels natural. Instinct, in how she moves. And not being too fast as to potentially accidentally end up hurting him during their practice session.
She does step back though, not wanting his practice sword to end up breaking or anything. And not wanting him to get hurt if it did. Which probably leaves her open again for another attack on his end.]
no subject
... yeah. Just a little. But you can improve.
Now focus.
[And that's all the warning he's going to give as he takes advantage of that opening of hers, lifting up his practice sword briefly and angling it in another direction, before slamming it back into her own. Had his practice sword been metal, the clash of their weapons would have resounded throughout the apartment, but as it was merely foam (very sturdy foam, mind you-- it wasn't in danger of breaking any time soon), the collision didn't sound nearly as impressive. The attack is followed by another strike, and another, each from a different angle, closing in on her with his strength and unwilling to let up until he's landed a hit or driven her against a wall. Xiaolang was an ambitious boy, a single-focused boy at times, and unfortunately, that had also bled over into their swordplay. Sakura was going to have to worry less about harming him, and concentrate more on being aggressive.]
no subject
[Sakura for her part is at least able to raise her weapon to block. She's not so much worried on the noise - at the least, since Leon had okayed this. But more on either of them actually getting hurt from this. Not that injuries would be anything too new, given her athleticism in gym class and in her cheerleading but still. She tries to stand her ground and defend against the strikes that keep coming.
After the third or fourth strike, she tries to counter. Striking with her own weapon in an offensive in getting her sword raised up a little more, though ready to stop if he doesn't defend before it actually hits his chest.]