Practicing/Forgetting

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Summer at the mansion with Ti and Kagyou was fun but there was one downer. Henric Flippen Lee! She knew that he was Kagyou's shadow but come one he should have stayed that way but no she kept bumping into him everywhere! It got to the point where she had gotten good at playing off how uncomfortable he made her. The bright side was that Hoshi wasn't in the mansion to much. She was a dedicated student for once. When she wasn't learning she was practicing what she had learned so that everything would sink into her body and she wouldn't have to think about anything of it anymore.

Today Hoshi was back at the pole. She could see that Ti had been out here earlier. The pole had changed. It didn't matter anymore. Hoshi could take anything this thing could throw at her now. Hoshi kicked at one of the arms then spun out of the way before an other came down trying to crush her. Her experience in the mansion was good for more than the development of her skills. It had been a lesson in the stillness she was so itching to get. Her eyes remained brown as she ducked and weaved out of the way of the swinging arms. Her hands where blurs as she landed hit after hit. Her hair adding grace to her movements it seemed.

The copper shone in the soft winter's sunlight along with the sweat she had broken attacking the training pole. It wasn't that it took a lot out of her but Hoshi had kept going even when she knew she could easily avoid anything that it threw at her. Hoshi wasn't only training she was trying depretley to prepare herself for class, for the common room, for everywhere that she would run into that wax work face of his. Hoshi was trying to master ever aspect of herself. She thought she had mastered it a long time ago but it seemed that control had slipped even from herself.

 

[Tichondrius Illitharis]

Striding towards the pole, Tichondrius was mildly amused and impressed that Hoshi should be out here practicing. He watched as she attacked the pole with extreme fury. Tilting his head to one side, he continued to watch her. Her forced summer with Henric must've gotten to her. She is definitely faster. Yes. Most definitely faster. Fast enough now, he thought, as she struck, dodged and counterstruck, her hair trailing in her wake. Idly, he noticed how good she looked with her hair streaming out behind her. Leaving the present he had brought with him behind a tree, he motioned for Hayate to watch it.

Tichondrius closed his eyes, focused, and covered the relatively short distance between the two of them, sweeping his leg around in a strike. As she started, and dodged, he moved into another strike, keeping up the relentless assault. Like he had guessed, she managed to dodge or block most of his hits, keeping up with him, but just barely. The few hits that got through, he pulled to prevent much hurt. Finally, he leapt backwards, away from her. Eyeing her, he nodded, satisfied. "Well done, my apprentice. Very well done indeed. You have learnt the aspect ... of speed." Stretching out his hand, he opened it to reveal the snake symbol in his hand, having deftly sliced it away during his parting strike. "Congratulations," he said, smiling.

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Hoshi couldn't even lie to herself in saying that Ti's attack had not been a complete surprise but Hoshi was ready. She jumped his first strike while winding around to strike him. It wasn't often that she caught Ti, most of the time she was busy either blocking or getting out of the way. He did catch her though a small number of times. This combined with the work out that she had with the pole left her breathing hard. Hoshi took a deep breath then bowed. "Thank You Tichondrius- sensei." She said now more normal.

Hoshi smiled back with noted realife on her face. She hadn't known who was going to find her out here but she was kinda hoping that Ti would. Hoshi was more dedicated to this than she was to most of her classes here. It seemed that Ti was as good (Or better) a thief as she was. The only thing was that Hoshi used her skills to steal things from the Ravenclaws. It was a small amount of fun for her and Hoshi almost always put it back from where she got it after a bit.

 

[Tichondrius Illitharis]

Tichondrius bowed in return. He went to the tree, retrieved his bag, and sat down. Reaching in, he grabbed a bottle of ice-cold water, twisted the cap off and drank deeply, not touching the lip of the bottle, then offered it to Hoshi. Settling himself down more comfortably, stretching out his legs and leaning back against the tree, he whistled, loud and sharp. There was an answering screech, and Hayate swooped down on him, landing gently in the soft grass.

"So, Hoshi. Did you enjoy your holidays?" he asked, looking up at her, as Hayate nibbled gently on a piece of meat that Tichondrius held out to him with one hand.

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Hoshi took the bottle and drank the same way that Ti did. Her hands where raw and red from the fury that she had attacked the pole. It wasn't from the power that she was using but from the amount of times she had actually hit it. She savored the pain though. It cansled out everything that she had been felling while she had been practicing. Hoshi leaned against a tree and looked up. "Other than the fact that I kept bumping into Mr. Wax at every turn. I quite liked your house." She said with a brillent smile. Hoshi had gotten to the point where she could sneer and make fun of Henric like she would any other person without feeling all that much in front of others.

 

[Tichondrius Illitharis]

Tichondrius grunted. He saw how red her hands were, and without thinking, reached over and pulled one of them over for a closer look. "Hnnh. Do take care of yourself; it's not good to practise too hard and injure yourself," he said. Keeping hold of her hand, he reached into his bag and pulled out his omnipresent spray bottle, and sprayed her hand. The liquid was cold, and inherently cooling, relieving some of the pain. Pulling over her other hand, he repeated the process.

"Mr Wax, eh? Good name," he said as he worked. "Henric does keep his face unnaturally expressionless." Examining her hands closely, he nodded, satisfied. "There. Try not to overwork yourself." Scratching his back, he adjusted himself, stretching his legs out. "It'll help you know. Assigning him such a nickname. Your mind is a powerful thing. I read once that a guy froze to death when he was trapped in a freezer container overnight. Only thing is, the freezer was spoiled. The guy literally froze himself to death with his mind." He reached out and tapped her head lightly. "See? Your mind. Powerful. Who knows, maybe you get good enough, you can play around with his mind."

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Hoshi let Ti do what he did. "Pain often helps me become numb. My emotions often turn into pain. One that I don't like to deal with so I find a way to inflict phisical pain on myself so I can deal with what's going on inside better." Hoshi admitted. She didn't know if he would think that she was just doing this so she could better inflict pain on herself. She wasn't. Hoshi loved to fight, she loved the way her body moved when she practiced this. "You right though I should be more carful." She said exsamening her hands now. They had gone back to the fair color of the rest of her body.

Hoshi let her head fall back on the tree she was leaning against. "Messing with that mind is like messing with a nesting dragon's eggs. I find that thought funny but really I could get hurt. I read about that man too. I found it kind of intresting that one can kill one's self with just thier mind. I was wondering if it can be done to others too." She said laughing a little. She was happy that she could make Ti laugh by calling Henric, Mr. Wax. It was based on the way he could keep that mask on at all times, just like a wax work figure.

 

[Tichondrius Illitharis]

Tichondrius chuckled. "Everything that's fun can get you hurt. Playing around with people's minds is more of a challenge, but definitely more satisfying." He paused, looked around. Seeing no professors or prefects in sight, he rummaged into his bag and drew out his katars, showing them to Hoshi. "Smuggled them on to the grounds after my ... altercation ... in the Forbidden Forest a while ago." The blades gleamed in the sunlight, the rune-inscribed blades catching the light brilliantly. Slipping them both on, he gripped them tightly, then flicked his wrists. The blades swung backwards smoothly and noiselessly. Tichondrius grunted in satisfaction, then swung the blades out again. Then he remembered.

"Which reminds me. I never really got you anything for Christmas, what with one thing and another," he said. Not to mention that, he thought to himself, a slight shudder running down him at the thought of that incident. He pulled out a small elongated package and gave it to her, then passed her another one. "First one's from me, second one's from Sakura. She really likes you, you know," he said.

The first one was a miniture knife, too small by far to be of any use whats over, save to open letters. It was wrought of embossed steel, and had a small single emerald at the end of the leather-bound hilt. The middle of the blade was engraved on both sides with a small line of words; Control thy emotions, lest they wreak havoc upon thy soul. The second was a braclet similar to Tichondrius' one, save that it had emerald crystals instead of silver. "Sakura has a habit of making those bracelets," he said. "I suspect its because its the only thing she knows how to make without injuring herself."

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Hoshi laughed and shook her head. She liked Sakura too and it wasn't just because they shared the same middle name. Sakura reminded Hoshi of her cousin Ai. A mind slower than a snail but with energy to burn and a smile that made everything that they have done go away. She took the bracelet then put it on her wrist over the black wrist band that she had donned that morning. The carcters on it meant four roads but the carcter for the word four was super imposed with the carcter for death. It was her family's curse one might say.

Hoshi took the tiny dagger, studying it with the ends on the fingers of each hand. She read the inscription. "Thanks Tichondrius- sensei. I will keep it close though controlling my emotions is something that I have never been really good at." She said with a soft laugh. She put the decorative dagger in the band on her sweat pants while thinking. She wasn't attractive at the moment. Yes she still had her pretty face and good figure but it wasn't being shown off but hidden by the clothes she was waring. Finally Hoshi slid down a tree to sit down. She smiled laughed at what she had said again. "My emotions take control of me most of the time." She said in a joking manner but it was true. At this point she didn't know that this would be the last time she would be joking with a light heart.