soul_logs | [Open] Morning Training!

Entry tags:

[Open] Morning Training! - February 25th

Characters: Everyone!

Location: Training Grounds, Shibusen

Rating: PG-13 for violence

Time: 6am to 9am

Description: Every morning in the city, Morning Training takes place to prepare the guests of the city for the war. It's handwaved most days, but approximately once a month this gets played out in a log. This log takes place on February 25th.

Official Areas:

FAQ: Questions answered by Maito Gai
Breakfast: Run by Cinderella, Katakura Kojurou, Saya Tagaki, Yugo
Batch One: Beginners under the age of 15. Run by Auron, Steve Rogers, Deryn.
Batch Two: Adult beginners. Run by Maito Gai, Tifa Lockhart, Cloud.
Batch Three: Intermediate fighters. Overseen by Hyuuga Neji and Ling Yao. Please see list of random sparrers.
Batch Four: Experienced fighters, for sparring with each other. Overseen by Haruka.
Weapon Transformation: How to find your form. Run by Yuuri, Spirit.
Soul Perception: If someone doesn’t know by now. Run by Azusa.
Partner Training: How to work together as partners. Run by Tassadar; Maka and Soul; Shizuo; Eve; Crona and Ragnarok.
Weapons Handling Training: Run by Genesis Rhapsodos, Tenten, Kerrigan.
Shooting Range: How to Shoot. Run by Leon, Naoto.
Meister Ability Helpers: How to find it out. Run by Death the Kid, Edgeworth.
Finding a Partner: For unpartnered Meisters and Weapons to mingle and find each other. Overseen by Sasame.
Fighting Witches: Speak to an actual Witch and find out some of what you're facing. Run by Cybele.
First Aid Training: Training run by Naomi Kimishima, Megumi, Kira Izuru.
Medics: A place for the medics to get to know each other and mingle.
Watch: For Watch people (and prospective new members) to gather, talk, and train.

Hug Brigade: Come get hugs!

For training via sparring:
Katakura Koujurou
Hyuuga Neji
Steve Rogers
Crona
Maito Gai
(Various NPCs available upon request)
Partner vs Partner sparring is also good!

Feel free to make your own open threads!

Breakfast
Ryoki [Open]
Bakura [Open]
Yami Bakura [Open]

Batch Two
Flora [Open]
Santana [Open]
Mitsuba [Open]

Batch Three
Takuto [Open]
Mithos [Open]

Batch Four
Amateresu [Open]
Raidou [Open]
Lili [Open]

Shooting Range
Death The Kid [Open]
Yami Bakura [Open]
Bakura [Open]

Finding a Partner
Stripperella - Meister [Open]
Ryoki - Weapon [Open]
Amateresu - Meister [Open]
Demona - Meister [Open]
Bakura - Weapon [Open]
Flora - Weapon [Open]
Londo - Weapon [Open]
Yami Bakura - Meister [Open]
Leo - Meister [Open]
Hades - Weapon [Open]
Yako - Weapon [Open]
Jules - Weapon [Open]
Kei - Weapon [Open]

Watch
Stripperella [Open]
Takuto [Open]
Duke [Open]
Neji [Open]
Mithos [Open]
Aion [Open]

General
Saya [Open]
Stripperella [Open]
Darcia [Open]
Ryoki [Open]
Gai [Open]
Demona [Open]
Takuto [Open]
Bakura [Open]
Kanji [Open]
Amateresu [Open]
Naoto [Open]
Raidou [Open]
Auron [Open]
Flora [Open]
Yami Bakura [Open]
Junpei [Open]
Leo [Open]
Aion [Open]
Hades [Open]
Itou, Qilby, Megumi, castmates [Closed]
Spirit [Open]
Hanabi [Open]
Qilby [Open]
Ed Elric [Open]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Perhaps it's BREW's way of forcing us to form strong bonds with the people we're to fight alongside, instead of closing ourselves off with the ones we know and love. As complete strangers from other worlds, what should happen if there was no reason to take each other into confidence? If something should happen to our loved ones, if they were sent away before us? Who would there be left to help us through that tragedy?

[he shakes his head.] No, I believe we're meant to form new families-- to learn to take others into our hearts. Only the beauty.... Or tragedy of it is that once we've been sent back home, it'll be as if nothing had happened. There's no lasting sorrow upon parting, but neither are there any fond memories.

[le smile.] But it's no reason not to reach out at all. I hope others see that the same way I do.

[he needs people's trust -- ed's trust -- after all. it's such a useful thing, that. it's just a shame it can be taken advantage of only once.]

[Looking over at Qilby, he frowns a little. It was unfortunately true--when Ed first arrived here, he'd distanced himself from a lot of the people, just like he had at home, but the difference was he'd had Al at home. Without his brother here, Ed felt more alone than ever, something that had led him to tentatively form bonds with people here, enough even to resonate.]

Heh... people are like that, aren't they? [His frown slowly turns into a sad smile as he looks down at his hands.] Can't stand being alone, no matter where we are. But you're right; we wouldn't fight together otherwise.

[And unfortunately for Ed, trust is something Qilby is easily acquiring. How many times did he wish for this type of conversation and advice from his own father, despite believing he didn't?]

There are few things worse than true solitude. [it's a weird thing to say. somewhat out-of-character for him, but said with such conviction, it's probably a little startling.

a pause, and then, abruptly--] All of those things I asked you earlier-- I have an idea that our powers are a direct manifestation of our souls' unique energy. It may explain why the "same" people can show up in Death City a second time around with a different soul and, in turn, a different ability. Or why everyone brought here receives a power, whether or not they already had one in their world. The common link between us all is the soul that we were also given.

[he raps his knuckles on his notes for emphasis.] That's what I plan on studying. If I'm correct, imagine if we could come up with a way of enhancing our powers by interfering with our soul's very energy -- its wavelength! How quickly the tides of war would change, then!

[another pause, this one almost expectant. it seems he's testing the waters for something...]

[Ed stares at Qilby, for the first time feeling a slight chill go down his spine. Qilby's idea makes him feel uneasy, even if he's not sure why. He's heard something similar before, and the terrible things that the Homunculus and whoever led them wanted to do with souls all with the idea of creating something better comes back to him.

But he wonders if he's too suspicious, too paranoid. He casts his eyes down, thinking a moment before answering, his voice slightly on edge.]

How would you go about interfering with souls' energies?

The same way you interfere with any energy expressing itself as a wave -- with another wave. I believe that's the basis for resonation between partners, yes? Two soul wavelengths, in sync, overlapping to create one more powerful?

[he doesn't elaborate on the concept any further than he has to -- he was gauging ed's reaction, and he got it. it's disappointing, to say the least.

qilby tones it back. less eager, more entreating. his words and arguments are like honey, all the more to attract flies with.] How many guests that pass through here actually end up partnering with another? [it's a hypothetical question that of course he knows the answer to; he checked the records. a mere forty-two people, out of a "force" of nearly two hundred. just twenty one pairs to fight a stagnating war that has no end in sight.] There's so much untapped potential in those for whom partnership is not an option, for those who're simply too weak and unattractive as fighters for reasons beyond their control. If there's a way to give them the power to take up arms, then it seems unfair not to do so.

[Ed doesn't say anything for a moment, trying to set his mind at ease from the reeling of at one moment hanging on this man's words and the next feeling uneasy at his suggestions. There's corruption everywhere, but Ed found himself wanting to believe in Qilby.]

You're talking about a way to enhance the soul, but how can you say that it wouldn't change the very nature of the soul? Even partner resonation isn't without its toll... [He speaks from experience from resonating with Hades.] And those are natural powers within this world. How would you go about artificially creating something similar to that?

Not entirely artificially-- using existing souls, those of Witches, or kishin eggs. [he gestures as he speaks, in a very practiced way.] As it is right now, these souls must be consumed in order to absorb their power, and only by a Weapon. Now I know several people-- [a wry smile.] --and I count myself among them, who have some qualms about eating what are essentially corrupted souls.

If the same effect could be achieved by simply harnessing their energies rather than taking them into our bodies, then anybody would be able to benefit from the souls. Meisters, like myself, included. And it shouldn't change the nature of one's soul any more than it would if they were simply swallowing it. [a pause.] Theoretically, of course-- but it's not theory I'm unfamiliar with. Look here.

[after a slight hesitation, he flips to a page in his notes. there's a sense that he's exposing himself here, putting himself out further than he has before simply by allowing ed to see these papers he'd kept so guarded earlier. it seems to be a gesture of trust.]

This. [a drawing of a cube-like device that looks mighty similar to another cube-like device right here in the city. he taps his forefinger on it.] It was undeniably this device my brother and I invented countless millennia ago that made our people as great as they were. Among other things, the Eliacube was a way to harness far more energy than we'd normally be capable of channelling in our own bodies, allowing us to perform great feats of our own magic. It acted as a sort of... Battery, if you will. I believe the same idea can be applied here.

[another pause, in which he appears to take a great interest in the ground.] ... It's far too early to be telling you all this-- I'm not sure why I have.

[He goes to look closer at the drawing, studying it a bit. He lets his gaze remain on it for a moment before he sits back and looks at Qilby more as if trying to figure out if there's a way this could all be a corrupted plot. But he's used to conspiracy coming from a government, not a single person, an old man at that.

But Ed hasn't made up his mind about Witches souls or kishin eggs. He knows he has to fight them and has been doing it out of necessity, but something about using their souls for energy raises too much conscience for him.]

...Maybe we're wrong, to be doing what we're doing. Using the corrupted souls to get stronger. Are we really releasing them at all? I mean, I know we have to stop them from killing people, but does consuming them afterwards actually free them?

[He waves a little hand at Qilby's last statement.]

It's not that it might not work...! It's just that... they were all humans once, right? It's right to use them to our own ends, if we don't know what happens to them afterwards.

[His gaze clouds over a little, watching the other man.]

Maybe we shouldn't be fighting this war...

[what a bleeding heart. it's those exact sorts of sentiments that kept his own people's wings clipped and flightless. he's not going to let the same thing happen to him, here.

qilby's brow furrows, and his voice drops, as if sensing how difficult this is for ed.] Yes… It's all well and good talking about the theory of souls-- but when it comes down to actually dealing with them, it's a good bit tougher, isn't it? [he shakes his head, the creases in his brow deepening with his frown.] I don't presume to have the answers to those questions any more than I can presume about the souls themselves... There're those who'd say that their owners gave up their humanity once they made their choice to kill for power, and there are the cynical few who'd say that choice is what makes them inexorably human. It wouldn't be a judgment I'd make for my species, and I imagine it's not one you'd make for yours either.

All I can say for sure is that as long as the war stretches on and this world remains broken, there'll be people whose souls become corrupted, who force others to put them down, and who continue to make your questions relevant ones. So as far as I'm concerned, the sooner it ends, the better.

[he shuts his notebook and lays it on the bench by his side.] But in the meantime, I'd like to come up with ways to equip people with the power to keep saving lives, in lieu of my own power. [an attempt at a hopeful smile.] And who knows-- perhaps if they didn't have to consume these souls doing so, it'll give me -- or you -- the chance to answer your questions. Perhaps come up with a way of freeing them, as the case may be.

[Once again, Qilby has steered Ed back onto a path of interest with the mention of saving lives. Because really, that's all any shounen hero wants to do.

While he doesn't smile, a bit of his troubled expression seems to ease off and he nods slightly.]

It's worth looking into. Anything is, since we don't have any kind of knowledge about most of this stuff and the ones with knowledge won't give it to us. I've often felt like there's no way to get stronger here without partnering up, and without strength, we let people die. If there was an option in which people could fight without consuming souls, I think more would join in this war.

[Finally, he offers a small smile.]

If I can look over your notes and plans more, I'd want to help.

[And by this, he means he won't blindly help but would need more information to make sure he's not doing something he finds morally unethical.]

[a bullet dodged. it doesn't matter if he can use ed or not, but when the time comes, he won't need a little brat speaking up and saying he "always had a bad feeling about his research" or some such nonsense. it's all about covering his tracks...

qilby laughs.] If you can give me some time to translate them into English for your convenience, then we have a deal. [he'll also need the time to edit all incriminating passages. which there're a lot of.

a pause. when he speaks up again, his tone is even, measured... determined. no matter what ed's verdict on this work will be, it's clear the eliatrope's going to pursue it.] I let my people perish by not giving them the strength to fight off our attackers. This isn't my home, but I'm not going to let it happen a second time.

[Ed's smile grows slightly, giving a nod to Qilby.]

Yeah, I'm with you. They're not our people, but we can't just let them get killed off by these monsters and witches. I don't want to sit back and pretend I can't do anything if I can.

[He gives a glance around before standing up, stretching out his limbs as his gaze falls to him.]

I'm gonna get back to training. But keep me updated, okay?

[he smiles and leans back, gently shooing ed away. you've got more important things to be doing right now.]

Of course, I mustn't keep you all morning. You'll hear from me soon enough -- don't worry about that.

Good day then, Ed. [enjoy it while it lasts. interesting times are on the horizon.]

[And he's none the wiser. Or practically. Ed gives Qilby a grin and nods.]

See you around.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open] Morning Training! - February 25th

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these two are gonna kill us, I'm quite sure of it

kill with emotion, or with how long these tags end up??

haha how much they talk. stupid scientists!

stupid scientists...

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