Warming up (Open to anyone who can stomach the music)

[Guest]

She entered the battle gym and looked around. She smiled seeing that her men were already setting up for her spars as per her request. She knew that the gym had to have electricity, given it's location, so she looked around and located an electrical outlet. She plugged in her personal radio and put her CD in. She hit play and walked over to the large mat in the middle of the floor and began to get stretched out.

((hehe, hit play.))

She began with stretching out her leg muscles with lunges and such. Then she worked her back and abs with some twisting and leaning side to side. Stretching her arms last. Her first warm up exercise was a side kick. Leaning to one side she extends her leg skyward. At her height she could reach the chin of nearly any opponent. Even her son and her best friend. Two of the tallest men she knows. She alternated with left kicks and then right kicks.

She figured she needed some added incentive and something to help her control the pressure applied to each move. She didn't want to kick someone's head off. So she grabbed up a sparing dummy. She placed him standing erect in the middle of the floor. She began with her side kicks again. She knocked the head off the dummy several times. It seemed like forever before she could control the kicks enough to only rock the head back.

After she had managed to get those kicks under control she went for her personal favorite. A spinning heel kick. Back to he dummy she spins up onto the toes of one foot leading with the heel of the other foot bringing it up to make contact with the jaw of her opponent. The follow through brings her leg back down as she ends flat footed and facing her opponent. The leg that had taken air coming down a bit back from her other. From this slightly crouched position she can charge an opponent or go for a drop kick.

The problem with all this was that with her first kick, she shattered the head of the dummy and had to go find another. She found one and reattached it. Less is more. She knocked the head off the dummy several times before she got her force down enough to simply spin the body and the head of the dummy. She continued working on those first two kicks, having forgotten how much fun it was. Her mood was lifting with each kick. But it was a hollow joy. Nothing compared to the actual competition of a animated opponent.

[Casandra Lightheart]

Cas had been told V was in the arena and decided to go join her Kjay at her side and staff in hand she headed to the battle gym.

Dressed in her new sparing leathers she was ready for warm ups and she knew that was what V would be doing she normaly warmed up before spars.

"HEY V MIND IF I JOIN YOU?"

She had to yell to be heard over the music.

[Guest]

She went over and turned down the music. "Hey Cas. Yea, come on in. Whatcha been up to?" She went over and checked her flask, one last swallow, barely. She downs it and returns to the dummy. Still practicing those two kicks for a bit. They were too dangerous for her to not control properly. "How'd the cufflinks go over?"

[Casandra Lightheart]

"They went over really well, he liked them thank you."

She made Kjay lay down and stay. She set he staff against the wall and went to set up her own sparing dummy.

"Nice outfit."

She smiled and shook her head.

She began her own warm ups using the back of a chair she put her leg on it and leaned forward stretching first left then right holding each for several seconds before releasing it.

Then bent over and put her hands flat on the floor in front of herholding that for a while she stoot stright and stood on her toes and began lifiting up and loweing stretching her calf muscles. Last bit of stretching she did was to pull first her left leg behind her holding it at the ankle with her hand she leaned forward and repeated the same with right leg.

She picked up her staff and moved to the sparing dummie she slowly circled it just like she would a real person and then moved in quickly for the strike. She slamed one end of the staff into the dummies toes and then brought it up connecting with the chin.

[Guest]

"I'm glad he liked them. And hey, no making fun of my clothes. I needed something loose for now so I would have a better chance of getting my control back. I needed plenty of room to stretch. I already shattered one dummy head."

She leaned to the right for the side kick, only this time she slapped the side of the head with her foot and then slapped it the other way again. She chuckled before bringing her leg down and standing upright again. "Been working on your form I see."

[Casandra Lightheart]

She stoped and turned to V.

"You still look funny and yes I have been working on my form."

She smiled to show she was joking.

"Now when are we actualy suposed to start?"

[B.D. Adams]

A few days since Benjamin had been seen around the Inn, much to the relief of more than few people he was sure. The full moon was over and it left him feeling all the better. Never bothering to get a room he was not staying there, but he doubted that prevented him from utilizing the Inn. It was a common place for gatherings.

Time was spent at the front desk and he took a study of the Inn's general layout to discover the location of the gym. Once found he smiled and began making his way towards it. He had been invited. "You should add your name to my dance card in the battle gym," the vampire had told him and, if he was going to add his name to anything, he wanted to check out the area.

He was acquainted with many of the scents in the area, they were from people he had encountered the first time he arrived. No time was lost in filing things away, though he gained no time either with rushing to his destination. Hands left to sway at the side of his baggy black jeans, as he walked, copper-plated dogs tags thumped against the gray tank shirt he wore.

There were people in the gym. Two of them, and both known to him.

Well. Should be interesting.

Arriving at the door he entered and looked around. Moving into the gym he saw the two females Cas and the Vampire. Stretching and practicing moves, why should he disturb them? Instead he smirked and leaned against the wall, out of their way. Watching.

[Guest]

((Language waring.))

She had one more kick she wanted to work on. She lifted her left leg and hopped from her right to her left extending he right leg forward to kick the dummy in the abdomen area. The dummy was sent backwards so hard and so fast that it crashed into the far wall. "Gee, thanks, you do know I was in a comatose state for around 10 years or so, right? I don't think my leathers were going to do me much good today."

She retrieved the dummy and tried he kick again. This time i was her left leg see extended for the contact. Same result. "Damnit. I have got to get this under control before I hurt someone." She retrieved the dummy once again. "We can have our spar tonight probably. When I start working my upper body I'll know for sure."

The door opened, she had already turned the music down so she and Casie could talk, so she felt no need to lower it down any more. She didn't turn around to see who it was, she just knew. She didn't feel a sense of danger from him, he wasn't there to cause trouble or harm, he was just there. "Bon Jour monsieur Adams." Another kick with the right leg and he dummy flew back with so much force that when it hit the wall the head was knocked off.

Her attention was brought to a sharp quick pain in her right hamstring. She rubbed the area for a moment and then brought her right knee to her chest a few times to try and stretch the muscle some more. "Vith that hurt." She bent forward to rub the area of the sharp pain once again. Then she retrieved the dummy. She knew he might take pleasure in seeing her assault the dummy in such a way, thinking he had shook her concentration or something. Little did he know she had been giving that dummy hell long before he arrived. She was already on her second head.

[Casandra Lightheart]

"I know V, just trying to make a joke, you still look just as good as the day you went missing."

She was avout to turn back to her dummie when she heard V then took note of Mr. Adams.

"Hello Mr Adams something we can do for you?"

Hearing V her atention was turned back to her.

"Want me to look at that?"

[Guest]

Venis smiled. "No, thanks though. I'll just rub some creme on it later, I'll probably need it a few places after I'm done." She returned to her kicks. She wondered if he was going to speak or just decorate the room. Either way, she hoped he was enjoying the show, because she was just getting warmed up.

[B.D. Adams]

He was there simply to be there. And to watch. Something had to be said for the person who had the ability to watch without the need to do anything else and who could be still at the same time.

The position of his posture changed as he stopped leaning on the wall, arms crossed at his waist, right arm over the left, and his feet went shoulder width apart. They both had addressed him, it was only polite to do the same. "Cas. Vampire." Looking at each as he said their name albeit the second was stressed slightly more.

"There's nothing more you can do for me that you are already not doing. For now." Watching a persons form could tell something of them. Was he watching to learn about them, or watching because they were female? It could be both. "How fortunate for me that I am not the only one down here. I may make use of this facility yet, seeing who frequents it."

[Casandra Lightheart]

She looked at him a small frown on her face she bit her lip she was still not sure what to think of him, but it seemed he was not after thoes she concidered family. So for now she just let him be and went back to her sparing dummie.

She went back to her dummie and circled it again before running in and placing the end of her staff into the stomach.

[Guest]

She chuckled. "After our little exchange upstairs in the Meeting Hall, I believe it's safe for you to call me Venis." She of course was referring to his comment in response to hers. He had made her chuckle and that got him some points.

She meant him no harm at this moment, just as he seemed to mean her no harm. It seemed as though Cas was also safe. So there was no reason for her to become aggressive towards him. Although, given she had invited him to spar, she would watch what she was doing a little more closely. She didn't want him to see all of her tricks and then go into a spar against her knowing her hand.

"Cas, I need to work on my fireballs. Haven't done much with fire since I got healed. Could you help me put some targets up?" She walked over to where her personal radio was playing rather obnoxious heavy metal music. She smiled hearing one of her favorite songs.

She untied her shoes and removed them. Then one by one she pulled off her socks, tucking them into her shoes. Her hands went to the waist of her sweat pants and she pulled them down bending over as she did. The back of her metal bikini showing from under the t-shirt. She laid the sweats over her shoes and the grabbing the bottom of the shirt she pulled it up over her head.

Her metal bikini bottom was sparse to say the least. Her butt was almost completely covered, but in the front it looked like metal flames were dancing up from between her thighs. The front and back were held at the top corners by a chain that lightly pressed into her skin. As she reached over her head one could see her muscles moving and flexing throughout her body. She was slender, a size 5, but was chiseled like a body builder. Save for her chest.

Her chest was very much feminine. Much larger than one would expect to see on a woman so thin and muscular. The top half of her bikini looked to be two large metal medallions, both containing a pentacle as the crest. They were domed to fit where hey needed to. They were held together by chains as well. One between the two, one wrapped around her ribs, and one went from each medallion over her shoulder to connect the the chain in the back.

She then walked over to a pile of things that one of her men had left in the corner. There were some coated targets and some coated runners of different lengths. The targets had varying size and the runners were the same. She intended to start with the larger and wider ones and work her way back to her pinpoint accuracy.

[Casandra Lightheart]

"You got it V and thanks for the warning, I don't want to be near you when you start launching fireballs at things."

She began to help her seeing what she was going for setting up the targets and then walked over to Kjay leaving her staff against the wall.

She reached down and scratched him behind his ear.

"Come on old friend lets move a bit further back."

He stood up to follow her both moving coser to the door, he looked in Benjamin's direction and sniffed at him a few times.

[B.D. Adams]

"I like calling you 'Vampire,'" referring to Venis. There was always an underlaid roll of his voice when he said that word. "On another occasion I may use your given name while you are saying mine."

What was she wearing? Metal? No matter what it was made from it took his attention away from the wolf at his feet for a moment. He liked wolves, and not only because he was one of them, but because of the species itself. Storybooks painted them in a bad light, as always the villains. There were some 'big bad' wolves out here, they only had to be found.

Eyesight trained on Venis he bent at the knees in seeking to offer the back of his hand for the wolf to smell. There were no thoughts of trouble in his mind right now, albeit there were other thoughts. None of them malicious. "I thought chastity belts were only treated to me from the women in towers." Looking at it he knew that it was not such a belt, but the comment could not be helped. "Inviting me to the is more of an invitation than I thought." His attention shifted to Cas who was standing out of the way. "And there are two of you." He could take them both on at the same time and he was aware that the connotation of his words could have another meaning.

He knew that was not the reason he had been invited to the gym those days before, although it could be looked at in that manner. He wasn't the one that told him to come to relieve frustrations and there could be many forms of frustration.

[Casandra Lightheart]

Cas saw the exchange and shook her head, she began to relax some seeing that Kjay didn't react to him except to sniff at his hand a few times. She could be wrong about people Kjay never was, he always knew.

"No way am I going to get into the middle of a spar betwen a vampier and a lycan, and anyone who would is not in thier right mind."

There was a humor in her voice as she smiled.

Kjay waged his tail looking between Cas and Benjamin then sat down next to Cas and leaned his head into her hand to have his ear scratched and Cas was happy to do it.

[Guest]

Venis walked over to face the targets, one foot in front of the other, a slight sway of the hips as she walked. This was her normal way of walking, it just seemed more pronounced when she was in this state of undress. She could feel her hair dragging the floor behind her, she had been getting rather irritated with it as of late. But it did her no good to cut it. Look out world if she ever used a blow drier and straightened those spiral curls out. It would have fell a lot further than a foot behind her. She heard his comment and smiled. "As you wish, but I cannot guarantee I will always call you Monsieur Adams. I'm not always so formal."

She chuckled again as she played with the fireball forming in her hand. "You sound so sure that the occasion of which you speak will come to fruition. Perhaps, you should not be so arrogant as to believe such things." She laughed as she through the fireball at the target. It hit, but dispersed inefficiently. "Hmm."

She laughed at his cute little chastity belt comment. "Perhaps I am more chaste than you previously believed me to be, perhaps not. But, I am pleased that my invitation brought you here, even if it was while I was practicing my control." She through another fireball, it was a little tighter and had a better dispersion. "Hmm, still a little off."

She chuckled when Cas spoke of getting in the middle of their spar. "Is that what we are doing? I thought I was just getting warmed up and he was sizing me up." A wicked grin was added to the end of that comment. "Speaking of getting warmed up. Kjay." She turned and looked to the wolf as his ears perked up and he looked over at her. "Sorry boy, but it's going to get very warm in here in a second." She remembered how much the wolf hated seeing her engulfed in flames. She looked to Cas and Benjamin. "I'm going to burn off a little, maybe that will help me tighten the balls."

She closed her eyes and the flames began at her feet. They climbed her body and as they did her hair started to lift away from her body like it was being blown back by the wind. Her arms rose to her sides and her feet left the ground, toes pointing to the floor as she became more elevated. She remained about eighteen inches above the floor for about five minutes or so. Then, just as slowly as she had rose, she descended and was soon back upon the floor. The flames flickered out slowly. She lowered her arms and opened her eyes.

She brought her hands around to the front and held them palms facing, one above the other. Her fireball sparked to life and grew in size. Not looking at the ball she looked right at the bullseye of the target. Left hand coming back she threw the ball and it hit right on target. Dead center. And it hardly dispersed at all. It simply extinguished as it was supposed to do. "Ahh, much better." She smiled.

[B.D. Adams]

Head turned in Cas' direction. He knew that the two of them were friends, or closer, from the way they backed the other up earlier. She had moved aside now? How funny. Perhaps she actually did expect them to start fighting. Benjamin was not set on that type of spar for the moment. The pants were new, why would he ruin them without good cause?

Plans always changed.

Perhaps she was chaste. Yes, and perhaps he was a Saint. Even if she had not engaged in some activities for a while, that did not make her chaste, only made her eager. Anticipation was a wondrous thing. It had a strange way of working with a persons psyche.

Cas and the wolf were sitting off to the side and he stepped from their company, and watched Venis move about the room. She was doing her trick again with the air. If he had not been immune to it's temperature then the heat might affect him. He was not immune to the effects as a whole, but he could take it more than the average creature.

The corners of his mouth curled up in a grin and he spoke after her attack on the prop was done. "I finally know the secret to your capture of men," There was mirth in his voice. Benjamin settled to a position at the side where he could observe her destruction and see her face while speaking. In a dangerous spot? Not if she had control. And he wasn't worried about it hitting him. "You capture them in your web of hair. You must have a very strong neck."

Wind could play many tricks with loose hair, especially hair as long as her own.

"Please," he crossed his arms and rolled his shoulders back, the chain of the dog tags moving with the effort. Copper tags clicked before falling silent. "Don't hold back on my account." Chin tipped downward a small degree. "I know you do not worry about your humility if you can dress like that in mixed company. Are you afraid I'll see something I can't handle?"

As for the name. "You can call me Benjamin."

[Sky]

Sky walked into the arena quietly. He was easy to spot but probably not that easy to listen. Between the music and stealthy nature he already possesed at least. He went to the wall for a training dummy and silently began his routine. He warmed up with a few slashes at the dummy then a few quick kicks. The he burst into movements so fast and fluid it was hard to see his limbs or where hte blows landed. He would start working the dummy with his feet using his momentum to carry him upwards and keep him aloft. He would then flip in air in a fast sharp arc then come down slashes sent to the dummies face. He was small and his muscles weaker for an anthro but he definatly compensated with speed agility and an ackward technique. He was not one for humanids music and it seemed to want to put him in a rythm which he also didn't like but luxeries like dummies didn't happen in the forest.

[Guest]

Venis had seen the Anthro enter out of the corner of her eye. She paid him no more mind than he had paid them. She watched Benjamin move across the room to where he could see her better. My he was curious for a canine.

An eyebrow was raised at the mention of him knowing her secret as she prepared another fireball. She brought her hand back and was almost to he point of release when he spoke of her web of hair. She instantly burst into laughter, her toss of the fireball going astray and hitting the Anthro in the hind quarters. As soon as she was able to stop laughing she apologized. "I am so sorry sir." She wasn't done laughing after all.

She regained her composure and readied another fireball. she was paying better attention now, not wanting to throw another wayward ball. Benjamin spoke of her holding back. She chose to respond as she threw the fireball and it hit her target.

"I do not hold back on your account, I contain myself for the safety of all. And no, humility is not a concern of mine either. Nor is there worry of you seeing something you can't handle." She closed one eye as she faced him full on. Holding up her right index finger to point in his general direction she runs a tiny trail of fire across the floor and up the wall. Keeping the thin trail about three inches from him she outlines his body along the wall. The fire cuts off once it reaches the floor on the other side of him.

"I am not worried at all ... Benjamin." She smiled and returned her attention to the targets, going one size down. She was already getting her pinpoint accuracy back. She just needed to maintain it.

[B.D. Adams]

That was more like it, she finally said his name. Even paused before speaking it, as if it were added on as an afterthought. Speaking his name wasn't so hard to do and she may like the way his name rolled off her tongue.

It was a possibility.

There was another who had entered into the area and he got a flash of Benjamin's attention. He always took note of the people in the room. However, this one seemed consumed in his own work.

Benjamin did not flinch or tense when her finger pointed in his direction, he simply waited to see what she was going to do. At the first sign of fire his eyes, and only his eyes, looked to the target of the fire then snapped back to her. He liked to maintain eye contact. Over the years he noticed that many people do not prefer to look into the eyes of the people they converse with - unless it is for a romantic reason - but it was something he did. Even if it made the person uncomfortable. He doubted she was uncomfortable by it.

His nose picked up the scent of the coating on the wall. Though the room was fireproof, it did not mean that there would be no smell, or effects of flames. It only meant that there would be no damage. Benjamin took his attention from her when she was done with the outline. A turn of his head to the left and he puffed a short burst of air at the flames, or smoke, that remained. "You agree then that that is how you capture your men. It made you laugh. Must be some truth in it."

That or she did have a sense of humor. "How poetic of you to want to engrave a silhouette of me into the wall so I can be a constant source of inspiration for you."

Cocky as always.

[Guest]

Perhaps Benjamin thought he was distracting her, he would be wrong. She was most definitely finding him amusing none the less. Watching him blow out the fire that surrounded him made her smile. But his comment made her laugh. He had a nice sense of humor. "I have, in the past, found that some men find my hair rather appealing. But I can honestly say I have never had a man tangled in it ... Yet."

She returned her attention to her targets once again, fully aware that his eyes never left her. "Are you sure that inspiration is the reason?" She ran two trails of fire up the length of the runners to make sure her lines were as controlled as her balls. True, she should have checked that before outlining Benjamin, but that's the way it went sometimes.

[B.D. Adams]

He hoped that he wasn't distracting her, it would be no fun then and there would also be no point in anything of this if she was so easily thrown. The Vampire was right about one thing: He did have a sense of humor.

She lined up her targets, he had to wonder if she did that all the time or if it was just for the now due to her not having done it in a while. Either way he was reminded of a runway. "Inspiration could be for many things. You might decide to put it up and toss fireballs at it, wishing it were actually me. Disgruntled by all the things going through your head, many of which you can't do anything about, and needing to do something." His stance relaxed to a degree. What was the something? It was something. As simple, and complicated, as that.

He had to wonder about the men who found the hair to be appealing. There were those who found uses for hair as long as that.

[Guest]

If it hadn't been so long since she spared she wouldn't even be getting warmed up, let alone be throwing fireballs at targets to practice control. "Cas, Shamus said that hey had brought down some track and a mobile dummy. Wanna give me a hand setting it up?"

She headed over to where the stuff was, pausing right beside Benjamin. "You assume that you cause things to go through my head, and if I wanted to throw fireballs at you, it would be you, not your silhouette dear." She winked and continued to set up the moving target.

[Sky]

Luckily the cats second strognest elemant was fire and he had made himself resistant to fire, otherwise he would really be mad. As it stood the fireball didn't even stop him fom his intense training. While in mid swing on the dummy though a gust of strong wind came wooshing over the two. It wasn't strong enough to knock anyone down but it would send hair into faces and hte like.

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