Oct 12 02:22:07 107 PA - Brief Encounter
From Chronicles
Oct 12 02:22:07 107 PA.
LIBRARY GARDENS: Brief Encounter
In the center of the Kingsdale gardens, secure within the library, the peaceful tones of the place can be felt quite clearly. It is here that the monk Sarah has come to relax, and practice his skills, far removed from the noise and hustle and bustle of the main streets. His movements are relaxed and slow, but utterly in control. He makes no striking motions, but instead parries all manner of blows thrown by the air, parrying low blows with his knees and shins. This is a graceful dance of martial power, and is quite attractive to watch.
As he's becoming more and more familiar with the city, Gabriel steps into the library gardens without hesitation, his hands clasped at the small of his back. He's quietly humming a slow tune, and somewhat winds around the borders of the gardens like water circling a drain. Apparently not wanting to interrupt what is clearly a more serene daily exercise than his own regimen, he says nothing to the other man, simply finding a bench and sitting, his arms stretched out across the bench's back.
Eyes closed, Sarah continues his motions. Working his muscles out, stretching and centering himself in one simple flowing exercise. He knows you are there though, having heard the humming. As his motions come to a rest, he sinks down into a seated lotus position, feet bare and slightly soiled with the rich earth in this place. He breathes easily for a long moment, then opens his eyes, his gaze flicking twice across the area, then landing and staying on you. "Good morning Gabriel."
Gabriel's head dips in recognition. "Sarah. A little early to be out finding your energy center, isn't it? Or are you perhaps trying to come down from the high of breaking up bar fights?" There's a friendly snicker in the last question. He adds, "I do my exercises in the morning. You roll out of your sack, hit the ground, exercise, eat, finish exercising." There's a shrug, and the note is followed with, "At least, that's how I learned. It seems to have worked fairly well for us." Us? Whatever.
Sarah offers a relaxed smile. "It's important to find your center no matter what time of day it is. Meditation, basic kata's and a small meal to sate the hunger. The bar fight... was unnecessary, I interfered where I should not have. I see that now. It's why I was thrown aside so easily."
Gabriel shrugs it off, "Hey, everybody makes mistakes. If we didn't we'd be what... angels? Gods? Sounds rather blasphemous to me." He then looks rather sideways at the man and asks, "As a warrior monk, is this your entire regimen? I met some Shao-lin when I was on a mission in China in '51. They were really impressive... but when the Communist Chinese came through, they didn't last long."
Sarah ponders this for a moment. "I doubt the monks you are familiar with were bulletproof. The normal projectile ammunition of this world does nothing to me. Doesn't even leave a bruise." He tells you, to give you a little perspective on things. "The soldiers here have very little outside of artillery level equipment that can harm me."
Eyes roll. "Yeah, I hear that a lot." He takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out slowly. "Is there a single person left on Earth that doesn't have, -" he begins to count off fingers, raising them one by one "-bulletproof skin, a mind that can kill people, magic that would enrage the Pope but make Druids smile, robot things in their bodies, frantic drugs in their system... um, am I leaving anything out?" Gabriel then smiles happily and pats one of the pockets over the left side of his chest. "I think that she likes me better this way."
Sarah shrugs, unable to answer that for you. "I'm sorry, I'm not from this world. I came from beyond the blue tear." He answers for you, and he stands, his legs leveraging all the power he needs. "My skills and abilities come from about fifteen years of constant training, every day all day save for when we slept. Even they we were trained to meditate in place of sleep whenever possible. Robots and magic and mid powers I don't know about, other than speaking with the wormwood. I used to do that, but cannot anymore."
