[CIRCUS] Practice Makes Perfect (Open to Circus Members)

[Leiwinn]

Timestamp: Winter 7, 510 AV Location: Somewhere between Sunberth and Zeltiva Leiwinn had been on the road for many days now, along with all her other circus companions. They weren't the most impressive crew, and Leiwinn had not really gotten a chance to know very many of them except for perhaps Cheska. Today had proved to be no different as she walked along next to her ox she had oh so fondly given the name, Petching Cow! When they finally stopped to rest for the night Leiwinn went about her usual business, setting up her tent and helping gather wood, start a fire and anything else that needed to be done. As she was gathering her wood an idea came to her, and she kept a few choice logs for herself. If asked, she simply said, "I'll throw them on the fire later. I need them right now." Once everyone was settled Leiwinn wandered a short distance from the main camp, finding herself a small clearing. The logs were all of decent size, some larger than others, and the idea was to cut them... with her body. Break them was a more correct term, and while she normally would have done it with her hands, most of the logs were to thick to even try. The plan was to put on an impressive show though, so she would have to break some with her hands, and some with other body parts. Leiwinn had witnessed her master punch a hole through a plank of wood using only his fingers. Leiwinn was nowhere near that good, but she understood how it was done. These weren't planks, however, these were logs, and there would be no punching holes through logs. Leiwinn paused, wondering what the best method for doing what she wanted would be. Deciding to start with the basics, she set up two thick logs side by side, then laid another one across, about as thick as her wrist. Leiwinn rested the edge of her hand on the branch, taking a deep breath, then tested her aim a few times, striking but pulling back just before hitting the stick. She knew all this was unnecessary, but it had been a long time since she had broken a board. Finally Leiwinn struck, chopping the log clean in half with a loud crack. It hurt, but the pain was only fleeting and there was no damage done to her hand. Leiwinn nodded, satisfied, then laid one of the broken halves across. The shorter the log, the harder it was to break, so this would be twice as hard as the previous. Leiwinn took her time again, and when she struck the log broke in half just as before. The difference was, this one hurt a hell of a lot more! Leiwinn danced around, holding her hand in pain, then shook it in the air as if trying to fling something off of it. When the pain finally died down and she regained control of herself she quickly looked around, making sure nobody had been watching, then knocked down the two supporting logs. She was done with the hand chopping for the night, not wanting to overdo it before she was ready. In the future she would stick to thinner logs, and hopefully boards once they got to Zeltiva, at least until she build up some endurance. Leiwinn stared at some of the other logs, choosing a short fat one from the mix. This log she threw into the air, watching as it rose and fall, then just as it passed eye-level she kicked out, connecting with the lock and sending it flying at a nearby tree. The log didn't break, but it smack into the tree with a loud thud and fell to the ground. Leiwinn thought for a moment, then nodded to herself. Picking up two more sticks, she threw them into the air one after another. As the first fell she kicked out, landing a solid hit and sending the branch flying. She struck out at the second stick an instant later, almost missing it and sending it in a twirling arc to the ground.

[Jokor]

Jokor was just bored out of his mind, looking for something, anything, to do.
"At least in sunberth you got some excitement every other day." He lay down on his back into the grass."Though at least I get regular food here."
Jokor's curiosity was peaked when he saw Leiwinn wander of from the main camp holding a few log's under her arm
I wonder what she is going to do Jokor thought a few moments about that. on one hand it could give him something to do, on the other hand, she was pretty scary and would probably be able to let him be in a world of hurt if she was doing something that she didn't want other people to see. Taking the right decision Jokor pushed himself on his feet and quietly sneaked after Leiwinn making sure that he couldn't get caught.

Hiding behind a decently sized bush and making sure that nothing stupid would be able to let her notice Jokor carefully peered through the bush, silently lifting a few twigs so that he had a better view. Seeing her put a few logs on top on each other, though he didn't got a good view because she was standing in front of it.
"What the heck is she trying to do?" Jokor silently muttered to himself, pretty sure she was to far away to hear him. After he heard a loud crack and he saw her move to get another log, seeing the broken pieces on the ground. Jokor blinked in surprise. How did she do that? He tried to get a better look at what she was doing this time. though again he didn't get quite the good look. This time however the crack was accompanied with a short yell of pain and jokor nearly got himself discovered when he almost burst out in laughter.
As he got a hold of his muffled snickering he looked back through the twigs just seeing her throw two sticks in the air and tried to kick them out of the air, barely succeeding at that. A rather large grin came onto Jokor's face, this could actually be fun to watch for a few minutes. Besides that thing what she did after hurting her own hand could lighten up the meals around the campfire, maybe she made some more mistakes. He carefully looked if she showed any sign of noticing him before relaxing only a little bit.

[Leiwinn]

Leiwinn was not satisfied with the results of her attempt. A year of living off the left over wealth of her master had made her slow. She was determined to prove to herself that she could still do it and so she gathered up the two sticks and returned to center field. Throwing them into the air again she kicked out. This time she hit both branches dead on, sending both of them flying. Nodding to herself, satisfied with her results, she grabbed another branch from her pile. It was time to take it up a notch, she decided as she positioned herself and got ready to throw. This time she threw it high, watching as it rose then fell, gaining speed. In the blink of an eye she twisted her body, pivoting on one foot as her other food left the ground coming around in a full reverse roundhouse, cracking into the branch and sending it flying. Jokor couldn't be sure if Leiwinn heard him earlier, but the flying log seemed to be heading right for him. If he didn't move, he was likely to get smacked in the face. Leiwinn didn't take time to retrieve her log instead bending to grab another one, thicker this time. This log she braced against a tree, then took a step back and kicked. The log broke right in half under the force of her blow, aimed dead center at the log. Leiwinn grabbed up the two pieces then did repeated the process with the remaining logs, now no longer really practicing but working to break them down to put in the fire. She made no indication she noticed Jokor's presence, but after having a log launched right at him, he couldn't be sure.

[Jokor]

Jokor's eyes widened as she threw up the big log following it with his eyes as it dropped down. He blanched in realization as he saw leiwinn kick it to his direction.
He jumped out of the way, though the log still hit him on the shoulder. Jokor bit his tongue to stop himself from shouting.
What in the god's name is she doing? Jokor glared at leiwin from behind the bush, hoping for her own good that that was dumb luck. Or else he might just pay her a visit in the night, A cheeky grin spread on his face as some ideas to take her back for that flashed through his mind.
Pushing them temporally to the back of his mind he quickly made sure that he was again hidden by the bush.
He carefully peeked through the bush checking if she did hear his noise or not and if he should make a break for it or if it would be safe to stay in his hiding place.
Seeing as she didn't do anything that would tell him that she noticed him Jokor just kept watching as she continued to break the logs into smaller pieces with her hands. Hoping she would never try that on him.

[Leiwinn]

Several cracks rung out as Leiwinn's hands and feet connected with various logs, and she was rather satisfied with her task. She would be able to use this exercise in one of her acts, she figured. Ideally she would have multiple wooden boards and stack them in larger and larger stacks, breaking all of them with her hands. She had seen such performances herself and knew they drew a crowd. It would take a lot more practice and conditioning, but eventually she would even be able to incorporate bricks and other hard materials into the act. Whatever it too to draw more of a crowd and ultimately, more mizas to her pockets. Leiwinn continued to break the logs she had with her, and once complete she began gathering them up. At some point during her task it dawned on her that she was not alone, and after having determined that whomever was watching her was not a threat she decided it would be smart to wait until they decided to show themselves, rather than startling them with her knowledge of their presence by calling them out. That thought didn't stick for long, however, as it seemed that whoever was in the bushes was too shy to come out. Sighing to herself Leiwinn began gathering up her logs and dropping them into a single pile. There weren't very many logs, and she knew they'd need more before the night was over, so after a moment's consideration she spoke out loud, without turning to face the location she believed her stalker was hiding. "So are you going to help me gather more wood, or are you just going to sit there like a log?"

[Jokor]

Jokor just looked through the bush as Leiwinn continued to chop the logs to pieces with her bare hands, the thought to help her never even crossed his mind.
"So are you going to help me gather more wood, or are you just going to sit there like a log?"
Jokor shot up in surprise as Leiwinn called him out.Quickly repressing the ingrained reflex to hightail it out of there as fast as he could.
"How the petch did you find me!" Jokor blurted out,"I thought it was just a coincidence when you kicked that log at me!" Jokor glared at her and just walked towards her, a grumpy expression on his face.
"Why do we need so many wood anyway, cooking doesn't need that much wood and we can sleep in tents so we don't freeze to death?" He bent over and picked up a few parts of the log, thinking it would be better to obey a women that could probably hand his own ass on a silver platter.
"So why where you breaking those logs with your hands anyway? Wouldn't a sword work better. You could have blackmailed essik to do it."

[Leiwinn]

Leiwinn hadn't known where Jokor was or even if anybody was actually there for that matter, so she was quite amused to hear that she had accidentally kicked a log in his direction, though her face didn't show it. She had only suspected she was being watched. Suppressed snickers and just that feeling you get when eyes are upon you was all she had to go on, and had nobody responded to her request to show themselves she would have continued about her business, figuring she was just being paranoid. "Let's just say years of training make it hard to sneak up on me," she bluffed. "Why do we need so many wood anyway, cooking doesn't need that much wood and we can sleep in tents so we don't freeze to death?" Leiwinn shrugged, dropping another log onto the small pile. "We might not need it tonight, but if it rains tomorrow the wood will be ruined. I have a cart that's going to waste and I'm sure we can make a tarp from my extra tent, so I figure we might as well pack some extra just in case. I don't know about you but I like my food hot and my campsite warm." Leiwinn had actually rarely gone camping, and didn't know if what she said was all true, but it made sense to her. If the wood got wet it wouldn't burn, so why not guarantee they have some dry wood? "So why where you breaking those logs with your hands anyway? Wouldn't a sword work better. You could have blackmailed essik to do it." To that Leiwinn smiled and examined a log. "We're a Circus. We are in the business of being impressive. You tell me, what's more impressive? Chopping a log with a sword or an axe, or chopping it with your bare hands?" Leiwinn shrugged and dropped the last of her logs on the pile, then turned to face Jokor, awaiting his response.

[Jokor]

"Let's just say years of training make it hard to sneak up on me," Jokor just gave her a nasty look, irritated that she held it back.
"Come on, can't you be a bit more open?" Jokor scowled either not caring or not noticing the hypocrisy in that sentence.
He dropped his logs on the pile.
"I don't really care about hot food, food is food right," He shrugged and picked up another log, throwing it on the pile.

"We're a Circus. We are in the business of being impressive. You tell me, what's more impressive? Chopping a log with a sword or an axe, or chopping it with your bare hands?"
Jokor just shrugged,"probably with you hands," An amused smirk slipped on Jokor's face. "Just don't don't jump around like an idiot when you hurt yourself." He repressed a chuckle. "That is going to be a funny story, Leiwinn jumping around like a drunken moron and all because she kicked a log." He looked at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, those almost promising that he would embellish some parts just to make her look bad.

[Leiwinn]

Leiwinn gave Jokor a sideways look, "Yes, I'm going to be open with the man who draws weapons on his companions and spies on women from the bushes. That sounds like an excellent idea." Leiwinn turned away, glancing down at the logs again. There were plenty enough there, but she didn't feel like heading back to the main camp yet. She had been waiting for a chance to speak with Jokor alone and didn't want to pass it up, despite her apparent distaste for the man. The truth was, they seemed to come from similar lines of work. Both prowled the back alleys, Jokor a thief and Leiwinn a killer, although he probably didn't know she was an assassin. Nobody did, as far as she knew, and she had no intention of spreading the secret just yet. Giving them an excuse to stay longer, Leiwinn started gathering more wood. Her response to Jokor's jibes were merely a shrug and a slight laugh. "Say whatever you want, but know one thing." She turned and gave the man an icy glare, "My hands aren't the only weapon I have. You don't want me on your bad side." Her gaze immediately melted into a cheerful smile, the exact opposite of her previous look, and she said, "I might make you think you're a chicken for the rest of the trip." Leiwinn was a hypnotist, that much was no secret, but did she really have the power to make Jokor think he was a chicken? Maybe not, but he had no way of knowing that.

[Jokor]

"Yes, I'm going to be open with the man who draws weapons on his companions and spies on women from the bushes. That sounds like an excellent idea."
Jokor just scowled at Leiwinn, "I never drew a weapon on a companion of mine! get your facts straight!" He glared at leiwinn as she turned away from him and continued to gather wood, seemingly ignoring her.
Jokor gritted his teeth in irritation as she began to laugh,was she mocking him?
"Say whatever you want, but know one thing." She turned towards him and gave him an icy glare.Jokor just crossed his arms in defiance and glared back.
"My hands aren't the only weapon I have. You don't want me on your bad side."
Jokor was a bit thrown out of balance from the cheery grin that slipped on her face next though.
"I might make you think you're a chicken for the rest of the trip." Jokor just looked at her with a blank look on his face for a few seconds silently debating to continue harassing her and he might get hit by that freaky magic thing or do the boring thing and let her go.
Jokor chuckled a bit after he made his decisionawide mischievous grin on his face.
"Well you can try but remember it probably ends sometime." His grin darkened, "And I don't sleep a lot."