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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Apr 25, 2018 23:24:12 GMT
Adeline tried not to feel too jittery about this. It was her idea, after all. Axel was the best person to go to if she wanted to get better at fighting. Pitch was worried enough about her, she didn't want to be a burden to him like she had been when Thrax was running around. Still, she couldn't help peeking over her shoulder every now and then, half-expecting Ariel to swoop down on her at any second. Her old paranoia was returning, although she was determined not to let Ariel cause as much as damage as Thrax had. As she looked over her shoulder, she spotted Pitch's Nightmare not too far away. She saw it every so often when she went out and about, but only because she was looking for it. Nobody else seemed to notice it, and that was a good thing. It had to remain a surprise if it was ever going to catch Ariel off-guard. She just hoped it wouldn't get too protective during her training with Axel. Sure, she'd warned it before-hand what she was doing and that Axel wasn't really going to be hurting her. She just hoped it understood. She let out a breath as she looked around for Axel, wondering if he was already here.
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Post by skyeknight on Apr 27, 2018 12:18:16 GMT
Axel had to stop for coffee. With his last shift at the bar before his 'self imposed' day off, he needed it to wake up. Things didn't wrap up until around 3 am and they had to clean the bar after that so it wasn't until 4 am until he got home. Still, Adeline came to him seeking help. He wasn't about to turn her down. Besides, the coffee was helping. He took it black. The bitterness cut right through any of his sleep fogged brain. Yet, when he got there, he already spotted Adeline at their meet up point, an anxious bundle of nerves.
"Yo. Didn't expect you here so early." he said.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Apr 27, 2018 23:21:15 GMT
Adeline turned at the sound of Axel's voice. He seemed relatively calm, despite the reason they were training in the first place. Then again, he wasn't in any real danger from Ariel. As long as Adeline didn't try to run, she wouldn't be going after him. "Well, you know what they say: The early bird catches the worm," she said, trying to act casual. "Thanks for meeting up with me. I know this is kinda...short notice." She brushed a lock of black hair from her face, trying not to launch into full apology mode. She worried that people were tired of telling her to stop apologizing all the time.
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Post by skyeknight on Apr 30, 2018 14:37:33 GMT
"It's no problem," Axel reassured her. "If I can help, you know that I will."
Axel didn't mind helping Adeline. She was a good kid. Demons were also protective of what was theirs. Whether that was people or possessions. Adeline also probably came to him, because unlike Pitch, Axel would treat this seriously and not treat her like a delicate flower. No. Right now, Adeline was coal and Axel the heat to make her into the diamond she wanted to be. It was never wrong to want to learn to defend herself. Not to mention she told him there was a power within her that she couldn't fully control. That alone could be dangerous for her.
"So... what is it you want to work on?" he asked.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Apr 30, 2018 23:51:43 GMT
Adeline let out another breath before answering Axel's question. "I want to know some more moves, to build on the basic stuff that I know," she said. "When I go up against people, I usually have more power. I've got magic and demon blood coming together. That can pack a wallop. But I don't know how to use it." She hesitated for a moment before adding "And my...emotions, get the better of me." Being in a fight always made her frightened, mostly because she was afraid of losing control and her demon side popping out. If Ariel showed up, she wanted to know enough where she could keep her at bay until Pitch showed up. If it was her and the Nightmare against her at the same time, they could probably put up a decent fight against her until help arrived.
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Post by skyeknight on May 1, 2018 12:39:21 GMT
Axel sighed, considering all of this. Adeline expected to overpower her opponents by sheer strength alone. It would work, if she was up against a human. He would have to try to encourage the use of strategy. Her future opponents could be bigger and stronger than her. Which didn't necessarily mean anything as long as she was faster and smarter. Axel sighed before cracking his knuckles. He supposed he had his work cut out for him. Adeline didn't seem like the fight who had ever been in a street fight (aside from one that was a life or death situation). When fight or flight responses took over.
"Alright. Did you stretch and warm up before you got here?" Axel asked, "Because I'm not going to take this easy on you."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 1, 2018 22:49:45 GMT
Axel was quiet for a long moment, and Adeline couldn't tell if he was just thinking things over or was speculating that maybe this was a hopeless cause. She could understand why he'd think that. When most people heard about a witch/demon hybrid, they expected a bad-ass, not some scared little girl. But she kept reminding herself that she didn't need to be an expert in this. She didn't have to beat anyone she fought, just hurt them enough so she could get away. "Oh, y-yeah. I warmed up and stuff," she replied at seeing Axel crack his knuckles. His comment about not going easy on her made her smile a little. "Good. I don't want easy," she replied. Ariel certainly wouldn't go easy on her. She'd probably try every dirty trick she knew, just like Thrax did.
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Post by skyeknight on May 2, 2018 15:11:53 GMT
"Alright, well I'm going to attack you. You defend yourself," he informed her.
It didn't normally work like this. If he was truly attacking her, he wouldn't have given her any warning whatsoever. This Ariel wouldn't extend the same courtesy. However, Axel also wanted to see what she was capable of. His contact with witch's that had demonic powers were limited to just Adeline herself. So he stalked forward, a fire starting to burn at his finger tips and then up his arm. He could control the fires for her. He wouldn't burn her, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself. Then he lunged forward, arm extended and snarl beginning on his lips. He probably looked frightening, but that was good. He wanted to see what she would do under the pressure.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 2, 2018 23:10:33 GMT
"Okay." Adeline nodded before getting into position. She reminded herself to keep her feet apart and her hands up. When Axel suddenly lunged forward though, her eyes widened and for a split second, she felt afraid. Axel in combat was something she'd never seen before and it was a little disarming at first. But then her fighting instincts kicked in and she managed to use her magic to make a small wall pop up between her and Azel. Defensive moves were usually what Adeline instinctively went for. Being aggressive was something she thought a little bit more about before actually doing it.
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Post by skyeknight on May 4, 2018 1:30:04 GMT
"So you've got defense down," Axel decided.
But she had hesitated, even with his advance warning. He saw the panic flicker across her face. She wasn't used to street fighting to make it through the night. She hadn't needed to worry about living on the streets or how each day could have been her last. He hoped she never had to. Adeline was a good kid. But good kids didn't do well in bad situations. So he took a deep breath. Waiting for her barrier to weaken.
"Again."
He lunged again, this time the fire from his hands burning against her barrier. Testing who was stronger. His flames or her concentration.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 5, 2018 20:22:35 GMT
Adeline just gave a little nod. Yeah, that was pretty much what she was good at: just dealing with the blows as they came until someone stronger and faster could come to her aide, that someone usually being Pitch. Sure, she'd manage to protect him when Thrax had hurt him with the emerald dust, but Thrax had been pretty worn down by that point. Adeline had managed to send him running with just a hard blow and a fierce look. That wouldn't always work. Axel came at her again, his fire blasting against her magic shield. The two could probably go at each other like this until their energy was spent, but Adeline didn't want to wait that long. She focused for a moment until she sent an electric pulse through her shield. With any luck, it would be enough to push Axel back so she could put some distance between the two of them.
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Post by skyeknight on May 7, 2018 2:43:28 GMT
Axel felt her electric as it pulsed through the air and pooled into her barrier. He jumped back, feeling the tingle of sparks and the smell of ozone in the air. So she could defend and use her defense as offense, but she had yet to come at him. Her magic was more reactive than proactive. It was good but she wouldn't always have the chance to put up a shield and just rely on that. That took time and by keeping the shield up, it drained magical energy. If an opponent had more stamina she would be helpless.
"Not bad. But can you attack me directly?" he asked.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 7, 2018 23:36:15 GMT
Adeline squirmed at Axel's question. It was the million-dollar one to be sure. Usually, she only attacked directly when she was pissed off, and her demon side happened to come out. And even then, most of her direct attacks had a lot of blinding anger behind them. Anyone who was clever could find a way to dodge them and wear her out. That was what Vanitas had done the one time she ran into her. She let out a breath before magic energy covered her hand. She curled it into a fist before throwing a punch. Her aim was accurate, but there was still hesitancy in her movements. The old paranoia of losing control and hurting someone still lingered in the back of her mind, and it subconsciously affected how she fought.
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Post by skyeknight on May 7, 2018 23:57:48 GMT
Axel's fires managed to burn up the energy of Adeline's spell before it hurt him. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. Perhaps because he was a friend or perhaps because she simply didn't want to hurt anyone. He didn't know. But she needed to get over that. Her enemies were going to try to hurt her without any restraints. He sighed. So his goal was going to be to take a pacifist and turn her into a fighter. Give her the skills she needed to be levelheaded and strategic while she was fighting.
"So that's your weakness." he mused.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 8, 2018 0:14:03 GMT
As expected, Adeline's offense hadn't been very impressive. Axel could tell that right away. "I'm sorry. I just..." She sighed, trying to explain how she was feeling. "For so long, I tried to avoid any conflict or fighting 'cause I was afraid my demon side would pop out. I'm still afraid it might emerge if Ariel proves to be too much. Now, for the first time, I'm not running away and hiding. I want to prepare myself so I'm not so helpless. But...that fear is still there." Losing control meant that innocent people might get hurt, and she didn't want to add to the weight of the guilt she always carried around with her. Thrax may be gone, but she still carried the guilt of all he had done, and still felt like a lot of it was her fault. Her worst fear was Ariel doing the same, or ending up being worse. Thrax had hurt innocent civilians, and Pitch. What if Ariel did more than that? What if she went after Adeline's parents? Or her friends? She couldn't bare the thought of any of them getting hurt because of her.
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