Perfect Practice Makes Perfect (OPEN)

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien walked through the Neutral lands, thinking to himself. He tried not to wander too far from Crow lands, since he could be called in at a moment's notice. He eventually came upon a forested area, it might have been a nature park or preserve. It looked lush, teeming with fresh plant life that had overgrown since the disaster. Trees surrounded the area, and as Lucien walked through, he looked with wonder at the display of nature overtaking the city again. It really was the way of the world.

He stopped in a small clearing, and sat down against a tall tree. Since joining the Crows, his obsessive-compulsions had died down exponentially, whereas before he wouldn't have been able to even go near this area.

Still, if he found a bug crawling on him, he would flip his shit.

Finding that this place blocked out most of the sounds of the city, and the sun shining down was quite peaceful, Lucien took this rare opportunity of peace to try and flex that muscle he just learned was there.

Activating his Qi in small bursts, it was much like you would do with another muscle to tone it. Tense, relax, tense, relax.

And, of course, to any observers, it would basically be Lucien disappearing and reappearing every few seconds.

[Rina Vade]

The city was returning to nature. That was how the world worked. Humankind had built on the land; cutting down the trees and driving away the animals. This wasn't their land. The plants and animals were here first.

It was fitting that mother nature re-claim what was hers.

Taking a deep breath of the crisp air, Rina turned her face to the sun and let it warm her skin. What a beautiful secret in the middle of this crumbling, disastrous city. Soft footfalls could be heard and Rina opened her eyes to see a doe standing not merely a foot away. Awed, the raven-haired woman stood still, watching the timid creature as it approached her in curiosity. The deer moved slowly, ears forward, dark eyes soft and intelligent. Rina dared not move as it touched her arm with its nose, snuffing at the sleeve of her shirt. She held back a laugh. This was amazing! Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the deer turned and was gone. Rina let out a breath and smiled. That had just made her day all the more better. She continued her walk and soon happened upon the oddest sight. Someone sat against a tree, their form flickering in and out of view! Was that a type of Qi they were using?

Without bothering to conceal her footsteps, Rina approached, curious. As she did, the deer she had seen earlier bounded past, it's movement stirring up a soft wind as it vanished into the trees. She smiled once more before turning to watch the person as he continued to disappear and reappear, wondering when he was going to notice her.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien heard a sound like a deer running past, and turned to look, deactivating his Qi. It was there that he saw a woman walking towards him with curious eyes.

Oh?

Lucien had been caught, so he knew there was no use just trying to activate his Qi and remain unnoticed, and he knew that it created ripples if he were to move. So, he would stand up, slightly timid, for he didn't know who this girl was, or what her intentions might be.

Looking her over, the tall slender woman gave off an air of grace, and it seemed she was also appreciative of the nature. She was only slightly shorter than him. It might be that she wasn't approaching as a threat, so Lucien decided that it would be wise as to not cause aggression, but he would still be ready if it came.

"Hello, there," He said with a relaxed tone, waiting for a reply.

[Rina Vade]

Finally, he noticed her, and Rina stopped where she was. She didn't want to appear to be a threat. An unnecessary fight was the last thing she needed right now. "Hello there." his tone was relaxed and friendly.

"Hi," she replied in a quiet tone, her expression blank. Only her azure gaze gave away the fact that she was curious. "That was your Qi you were using, wasn't it?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her head to the side. "It looks so much more useful than mine. You're lucky." she was a little jealous. It would be so cool if she could become invisible. There was a lot more someone could do with such an ability. On another note, she was sort of glad that someone else had found this secret grove among the rubble.

She turned her eyes toward the trees, watching as a pair of birds descended onto a branch and began twittering away. With the slightest hint of a smile, she asked, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien listened to the girl's curious tone. She thinks he's lucky for having this Qi?

"Uh, thanks. Yeah, it was my Qi. What's your ability?" He tried to make a bit of conversation.

In response to her musing about the nature, Lucien would smile peacefully and reply, "Yes, it is. I'm glad I found this place. It's really relaxing."

And, in truth, it was. Kind of like a small getaway spot, to strip off the city, to just return to nature. In truth, he missed it, even though he used to not even go near it. Maybe he was getting a bit more sentimental, too.

[Rina Vade]

Turning her eyes away from the trees to look back at the person standing before her, Rina said, "I'm still in the process of figuring it all out. So far, I find that I can feel the emotions of others, I can tell whether they're good or evil by their "aura" and I can pick up on memories, thoughts and impressions left behind by others. If they're strong enough, that it." she gave a shrug of her shoulders and pushed her hair back from her pale face. "I don't really know what I could do with my Qi, but I don't think it'd be much."

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien would stare in wonder at the description of her ability. That sounded pretty useful!

"That's a great power! Being able to tell a person's intentions just by looking at them? That almost makes me want to trade!" He smiled. Almost

He would step forward so that he was only about three feet away from the girl, smiling.

"So, what do you see in me?" He asked, with genuine curiosity.

[Rina Vade]

The tang of curiosity made her laugh a little. "Well it's quite obvious that you're curious, despite how casual you're trying to be about it." she said, smiling back.

It was unusual for someone to actually ask her to tell them what she was sensing from them.

Looking thoughtful, she let down her mental walls and opened her mind up so as to take in what she could from the boy in front of her. His aura was white. And it ha streaks of gray in it. "You're not evil. That's for sure." she began slowly, blinking. "But it seems that you've probably done some things that aren't entirely out of good intentions." she paused thoughtfully, then shrugged. "But who hasn't these days? It's rare to find someone with a pure aura."

Her thoughts drifted to the little girl who was an experiment. Nill. Despite all that she had been through, her aura was pure white. The child still retained her innocence.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien would try to hold still, as he saw she was concentrating. When she spoke, he would listen, intrigued. Good intentions? Guiltily, he thought back to times when good or evil didn't come in to the equation, just personal satisfaction. I really was selfish back then, wasn't I?

When she finished talking, he could see that her mind was wandering. He let her be for a moment while he thought, and then replied.

"Interesting. I guess I'm glad I'm not evil," He smiled and halfheartedly laughed.

"I'm Lucien DeChain, Crow. Nice to meet you, miss...?"

[Rina Vade]

Soon, she realized that she had been letting her mind wander. She looked back at the guy as he spoke. He was glad that he wasn't evil. She gave a small smile as he paused and then introduced himself.

The name was only slightly familiar.

Probably someone from the school. Either way, it didn't really matter. "My name is Rina Vade. Nice to meet you Lucien." she offered another smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Unfortunately, with such a Qi as hers, guarding her emotions had made the task of showing them difficult.

[Lucien DeChain]

As Rina Vade introduced herself, Lucien would smile back, noticing her eyes didn't quite smile as much as her face. It gave him a pretty clear indication that, well, she wasn't emotionally here, so to say. He paid it no mind, though it was pretty common nowadays to be guarded.

"Nice to meet you, Rina Vade." He finished. As he stepped back and sat against his log again, he would offer her a seat.

"I just found my Qi a little while ago, and, as you noticed, I was practicing it. I was wondering if you could help me a bit?" He had a few ideas to bounce off her, and just having someone watch him was more help than he could ask for.

[Rina Vade]

Unlike hers, Rina saw that Lucien's smile was pure. He wasn't as emotionally guarded as she was. Inwardly, she snorted. "Emotionally guarded? More like fucked up."[/I] she thought. Her Qi messed with her emotions like that.

As Lucien spoke - and motioned for her to go ahead and sit beside him, Rina tilted her heard, curious. Help him? With his Qi? Taking a seat beside him as he had offered, she asked, "How?" while pushing her hair away from her eyes and wondering if she should tie it back or not.[/color]

OOC - Sorry I'm being lazy And my muse has escaped again lol

[Lucien DeChain]

{OOC: No worries friendo. Muse, she is a fickle mistress..}

Lucien would wait for her to sit down, and smile as she did. Her hair seemed to be always in her eyes, at least covering a third of her face. It bothered him at a cellular level. He even thought he saw a flyaway strand! The humanity!

Trying not to become a bother for his new acquaintance, he would try his hardest to ignore it, and say, "Well, I've noticed my Qi only works perfectly in certain situations. For example," He would activate it, becoming invisible. "I can remain perfectly invisible for as long as I stay still. But when I move," He would wave his arm up and down, letting Rina Vade see the ripples in the air. "You can see something there."

Satisfied with his explanation, he continued. "So, I was wondering if you could help me discern what movements can be seen, and what can't. Your aura-seeing could also help me decide if I can still be detected with those sorts of powers, while invisible."

[Rina Vade]

A sense of anxious annoyance stung her mind and Rina glanced at him curiously. She noticed him trying not to look at her hair as she pushed it back and wondered why. "Does my hair bother you?" she asked, not in an irritated way, but because she just wanted to know.

As Lucien spoke, Rina listened and then nodded as he finished. So that's how he thought she could help him.

"Alright, well first off, yes, anyone with the ability to sense emotions would be able to detect you if you're broadcasting them." she began pointedly. "If you want to remain hidden from ones such as myself, then you'll need to learn to suppress all emotions. As for an aura, that I don't know."

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien nodded at what she said, carefully taking in all detail. In response to her asking about the hair, Lucien would become slightly embarrassed, and shake his head profusely. Then, after her explanation about emotion, he would reply.

"Suppress all emotion? I don't think that's possible for me. As you can tell pretty clearly, I'm an emotional guy." He chuckled awkwardly.

He would deactivate his Qi, becoming visible again, so Rina Vade could see his facial expression.