Training & Studying [OPEN]

[chore_boy]

Date & Time: Feb 21st - 24th
Location: Training Hall, Library
Characters: Coby & YOU
Summary: Nothing fancy! This will follow Coby's regular training and studying regiments, something he's going to be repeating indefinitely for the next ... forever.
Warnings: None expected.

Early in the morning, Coby woke up and left his empty apartment, content to rush to work a handful of hours in one of the local delis, putting in as much time as he could without sparing the expense of time he knew was best spent physically active. Working as a butcher didn't seem to help his sense of pride in being a Captain, but pride wasn't something that paid well enough for him to maintain rent, food and clothing. Free food tended to help, too.

He would work from Six to Ten every morning, diligently maintaining his allotment of travel time so he could arrive at the training halls on time to help anyone if at all possible. He spent the first two hours doing light training and doling out advice even if it annoyed someone--it was in his nature to want to be helpful even at the expense of being hit once or twice. When noon approached, he would separate himself and train alone for a number of hours--never exceeding eight of it. He would do simple stance and posture exercises, dead-lifting and a cyclical arena of stretching, punching and kicking until he felt his muscles tense up. Not once during his training would he seek out water or food. Starvation training was all a part of it.

Coby would leave around nine or ten o'clock and posit himself in the library, digging up a number of books he had checked out and sitting with them he began what seemed like the arduous process of logging tiny pieces of information from them in his notebooks. In reality, reaching the library on a daily basis seemed to be an immense reward to him and as he ate small and rationed pieces of fruit and meat with what seemed to be a prisoner's allotment of water, Coby tried his best to study as much as he could before the need to sleep would take him back home. It was his routine as a soldier.

(OOC: Feel free to toss times & dates in here via the subject header! Action or prose is fine.)

Comments

[lifemelody]

It hadn't occurred to Dagger to look for any sort of work. She had lived in the castle all her life, the concept of having another job simply didn't compute. So instead she would spend all her time that wasn't spent towards exploring and the library to the training hall. If Zidane and the others weren't here...she had to take care of herself. She had to be strong.

She refused to let the fact she was afraid a lot show.

Today's no difference, she's trying hard to figure out how to swing her dagger promptly at a dummy. She keeps trying to mimic how she's seen Zidane do it, though she lacks his speed and agility honed from years of practice, so it's not going so well as she keeps trying to do moves far too advanced for her (nor does it help that the dagger is clearly meant more for throwing than wielding - not that she's realized this yet).

At this particular moment when she comes into view, she's currently got the dagger lodged into the dummy, and is struggling to pull it out because she stabbed it in too deep.

"Ugh...come on!"

[chore_boy]

With a little observation, Coby could tell what the problem with the dagger had been. Rather than walking over and simply pulling it out for her, Coby sidled up next to Dagger, a towel slung over his head and shoulders. He gestured to the blade of the knife and made a little bit of a twisting gesture with his hand.

"Try and move it up and down--so the blade cuts the wood a little bit more. You need to loosen it before you pull it, since wood is much softer," He then put his hand on the chest of the dummy, just above where Dagger was trying to pull the knife out.

"I'll hold it still so you can pull it out."

[lifemelody]

"Oh Coby!" She'll look up over at him, listening to his explanation. It made perfect sense, and was almost a little embarrassing that she didn't think of it. But she'll instead nod at the instruction and starts to wiggle the blade.

"Alrighty."

A bit more wiggling, and then pulling- and it comes free! She stumbles back a little, but doesn't fall.

"Thank you!"

[chore_boy]

He would have commented grimly enough that the same applied a little bit in the same vein as a person along with a wooden dummy, but that was a bit too dark for the moment. Having seen a bayonet stuck in someone, though... He imagined it would have to be said eventually. Thankfully, not today.

Coby smiled in return and dabbed his face with the towel a bit more before circling the dummy and reaching over to fix the back of it so it was upright and proper once more.

"You probably shouldn't practice with bladed weapons on these--essentially for that reason," He frowned on it though, wondering aloud. "If we had straw dummies, though--that would work. They're less cost-effective and when training with an instrument made for jabbing thrusts..."

"Oh, but I'll go on forever. Have you been practicing very long, today?"

[charming_jerk]

Johnny rolled into the training area somewhere around 9:30am, which is plenty early for him. He's even yawning as he walks in. He gives Coby a small nod hello.

"Hey. Been here awhile already?"

[goneonenight]

Yoruichi did most of her training out on her own or with Urahara, but had decided to give the training hall a shot today. She hadn't done much fighting in exile, but had gotten back into the habit upon her return. And while most of the creatures she'd encountered on her missions hadn't been much of a challenge, there was no guarantee that would always be the case.

She showed up a little after noon, heading for a free corner where she could move freely. On the way, she couldn't help but notice a determined-looking young man (that pink hair was hard to miss), putting himself through what looking to be a fairly demanding workout. The sight made her smile a bit, the teacher in her recognizing the overwhelming drive to improve. Careful not to disturb him, she set herself up nearby, beginning her own warmup kata. Her movements were smooth and practiced, as befitting her expertise in unarmed combat; she started off slowly, gradually increasing her speed as her muscles warm and loosen.

[andagain]

Keith also arrived at the break of dawn, as known as six am in the morning. His usual practices inherited from his old training regime, which was mostly lifting weights, exercises on the treadmill, something not out of place in a regular gym. Sparring was pretty rare, and usually done for fun rather for improving themselves back in his homeworld. But seeing some people getting into it made him want to try it as well, which is why he calls over to Coby in the first place during one morning.

"Coby! Are you busy at the moment?"

[chore_boy]

"Only a few minutes," Coby responded, his shirt having been left aside and his scarf hung over it. He'd learned to no longer walk around with his mantle--as it was overly ornate and ostentatious. Smiling at the sight of Johnny, he brought one hand up and saluted informally, turning to face the hall itself.

"Did you just wake up?"

[chore_boy]

Coby had once heard of warriors who could fight days on end without becoming exhausted. Ao Kiji and Akainu fought and destroyed a set of islands in the middle of their battle, only stopping after one landed a decisive blow. In the end, Coby hadn't even been training for six hours and he'd gotten tired. It wasn't simply that he had been practicing the same punches and kicks for hours.

It was because, after his training round with Saber, he realized there were exceptionally strong people around him even in Exsilium. He went about the process of trying to reinforce his hands and feet with his Will, his limbs occasionally beginning to turn dark at their ends. Towards the end, just as Yoruichi arrived, he felt exhaustion gripping him. His lungs heaved painfully and as he stepped past Yoruichi in the midst of her warm-ups, he nearly fell against the nearby wall picking up his jacket so he could reach his Weapon.

"Good... Good afternoon, ma'am."

[chore_boy]

Coby arrived in a tee-shirt and sweat pants--an outfit denoted as the cheapest thing imaginable that he could have worn. Keith caught him just as he entered the hall, his can of energy drink held in one hand--the only thing he ever really carried with him when there. With a wide smile, he brought one hand up to salute Keith.

"Busy? Oh, not at all! Good morning, Keith."

[andagain]

"Good morning to you and good morning again!" He greeted him, saluting back and offering a pat on the shoulder. "I have a favor to ask of you." He said, while walking down the halls with him into the training areas. It was good to see him and to find out that he had made headway on working with his unusual weapon.

[chore_boy]

That sort of jovial disposition was infectious and did nothing short of brighten Coby's already good mood even further. He touched his chin and mulled over his plan for the day, deciding that it wouldn't hurt at all if he pushed a few things forward once in awhile.

"I normally begin a regiment right about now, but it's nothing so dire that I could spare it. What do you need?"

[andagain]

"Would you like to hone our abilities together?" He offered an invitation to train. He wanted to try it and wouldn't it be a fun thing? He pushed open the door to a training room, holding it open for Coby as they went inside.

[goneonenight]

Yoruichi could do these moves in her sleep, and so had noticed Coby's movements becoming more and more labored. She paused as he approached, raising an eyebrow when he staggered against the wall.

"Yo," she replied, watching him reach for his jacket. "You know, you can probably rest a couple minutes. I won't tell anyone." Her voice was easy and casual; it wasn't really any of her business, but the kid looked pretty wrecked.

[aceordisgraced]

When Phoenix trained, he liked to do so during the early day when he wasn't tired or wishing he could sleep. He spent the afternoons and evenings he had to himself at the library reading something or other, deciding it would never hurt to learn more about this island and finding the books he found on things other than Exsilium to be equally interesting.

He usually left earlier in the evening, but today he's here for later; though when Coby entered, he was just getting to his feet to put his books away and head on back. It's only because of the recognition and the fact that he likes Coby that he decides to linger after returning his book to its place on the shelf, maneuvering between desks and tables and shelves to approach the good Marine.

"Coby!" he says in a whisper when he's close enough, raising a hand in greeting. "Coby, hey there."

[silenceandcards]

It's shortly after Coby sits down and begins his note-taking. Keith read in his room most of the time, but once or twice a week he would opt to sit in the library and watch the people who used it. It was mostly to learn more about these people without getting up in their business and starting conversation. Part of it was because he was used to people moving around him, and the atmosphere wasn't uncomfortable.

He saw Coby from time to time but this is his first time approaching him. With a large tome already in his hand (something about the history of this world), he also reaches over and grabs a smaller book off the top of Coby's stack to flip it open and glance at it. He sets it back after a few seconds -- a little firmly, making a muffled but audible sound to catch Coby's attention if he hadn't already.

[charming_jerk]

"Yeah. Kinda. Out late last night." At the bars, where else? So maybe he was a tad hungover. "Tryin' not to sleep all day, but man. I could use another hour or two. But whatever, I'm here now. Whatcha up to?"

[chore_boy]

Coby couldn't have disapproved any more of alcohol and partying, but what did anyone care about what he thought? He reached up to remove his headband and fold his glasses in the same gesture, looking from Johnny over to the room that he was going to go train in.

"You should drink some water and do stretches. It'll get you ready for when you really start," Tucking his glasses into his headband, Coby began to walk off to set them down on his scarf. "As for me--I've been thinking that I would wait for someone to come in and ask for a match or practice with my Observation."

[chore_boy]

He could only smile in response. She offered a nice deal, though he couldn't exactly bring himself to respond too readily to it. Coby picked up a can of energy drink from his folded up jacket and popped it open with a sudden fizz. The drink itself radiated actual spiritual energy, which Coby took to drinking down in a slow, patient gulp. When he finished the can, he set it down--his body suddenly turning much more limber and active.

"There's no need, ma'am!" Coby smiled, punching the open air and pushing a gust of wind throughout the room with it. "I've only barely begun!"

[chore_boy]

"Of course," Coby nodded, taking off his shoes and leaving them at the doorway. Though he walked with a bit of a limping gait, once he reached the edge of the room, he pulled up his shirt so he could remove a number of high-tension springs and restraints that had been binded over his upper body and biceps. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Coby left them where they were--his gait much more smooth.

"Will you be using your suit or are we going to be sparing the room a deal of renovation?"

[chore_boy]

Coby had learned to read patiently with and without his glasses, though in the dimmer than desirable lights of the library, it was tough to avoid having to use his gigantic spectacles simply to read even the larger font sizes and though it was still a thing he did to relax himself and better his education, Coby still looked completely wiped out from his training in the midst of studying.

Sitting up with a weak smile, Coby regarded Phoenix, "Mr. Wright--Good evening! I saw you earlier, but I didn't want to disturb."

[chore_boy]

"Keith," Coby responded slowly, raising himself up only a little bit from his diligent writing. Though he spent the day training his Observation, Coby's mind had fizzled out by the time it was eight or nine. Keith had been otherwise invisible to his senses and though he realized that it was a bad thing to be blind in a crowd of people, Coby learned to trust a great deal of those around him. He smiled, closing his book on his hand--knowing that it was rude to conduct himself while his attention seemed drawn away.

"Did you need something, sir?" Earnest and eager to help--Coby still looked like he'd been beaten and left for dead earlier in the day in some capacity. In some ways, it was absolutely true.

[lifemelody]

Fortunately for Coby, she was no stranger to death anymore. It'd be hard to be so after going through the things she has. Though she won't say anything to that matter.

"Oh...I hadn't realized there as a difference in the dummies," she said, trying to cover up her sheepiness. There was so little she didn't know about all this....it was almost embarrassing.

"Only for a little while...maybe half an hour?"

[chore_boy]

Coby ran his fingers over the indents of bladed weapons from the surface of the dummy itself. It was clear there were a few stabbing points on it, likely from the dagger that she was using in the first place. Though she couldn't dislodge it in the end all that easily, it was still a pretty deep wound she made in the wood. He smiled--confident she'd do well enough if she were caught and in need of self-defense anytime soon.

"Well, it'll damage your weapon and the dummy. Though it doesn't seem like it right away, but sharp edges can dull quickly if you train with them against wood," Since admittedly, those kinds of knives were made for cutting people, not wood.

"How about this, though? Air doesn't dull a blade as quickly as a target does," Coby smiled, setting his hands on his hips. "Use me for practice."

[andagain]

Keith walked inside and did some stretches to warm himself for practice. He wasn't quite that extreme as Coby as his body was already pretty in shape before coming into this island. He drank a swig of water out of a reusable bottle he brought with him.

"It's whatever option you prefer, I wouldn't want to give myself a big advantage over you."