Blood, Sweat and Lead [Closed/JT/Ludwig]

[Yun Fēng]

Winter's dew morning already broke into the desolate clearing, a sole shadow danced around the old stone flooring as it was silently going through the forms, his feet slapped stone while fists and open palms swerved in awkward directions . Hakuda has many variations, old styles were created for war while some more recent lean towards the "art" side.

Yun utilised an old variation developed by the Feng family, one of their five main styles of combat that specialised in disabling the opponent physically through the use of diverting the weight and power of coming attacks while hitting pressure points and these intentions shrouded by a variety of feints.

Although it sounds complicated, it was still one of the easier styles of main five, mostly due to the starting steps and motions can be memorised like a dance routine, could also look like some weird one-man tango, from what Yun heard from some squad mates who likely tried to cheer him up with that comment but only to suffer his ire once he learned what tango was.

His brow scowled as the mind became clouded with irrational chatter, enough to trip into his own sweat after one wrong step. "Got too focused again, too slow, not enough awareness..." Yun rolled over to greet the sky above, white vapour flew out as he steadied his breathing while voicing personal setbacks and screw-ups, vocal irritation regressed into silence as he started to think of these failures instead, wasting more breathe will just tire him out for longer after all.

Yun's physical condition wasn't up to par nowadays, probably focusing on serving the Shihoin household had taken a toll on this old routine and made him more lanky, lack of distinct muscle and weak. one of his sprawled out limbs slammed the stone floor in protest, a part of himself telling to get up and stop wasting time, or was it annoyed of his inability to continue a once simple routine that didn't end with him huffing on the floor, he didn't even finish half of this set yet.

Frustrated and slightly tired, Yun's breathing calmed significantly soon enough, allowing him to throw himself up once more and tackle the steps with a purpose, just finishing half of the set would satisfy the rogue now. Once again sounds of stamping feet, rushing fists and fixed breathing filled the near barren and cold training hall.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig groaned some to himself, another night he spent out and about in the evening instead of in bed given his mind's constant reminders on his past amongst other things. Karvaldia had tried to help by offering to talk to him but Ludwig had respectfully declined, instead asking to be left to his mind and the moon the evening before. At some point he'd found a bench in some hall he didn't even recognize initially, but if he was honest with himself he had been tired and minor details such as knowing where specifically he was in the Serietei were very much secondary to him at the time. When he finally awoke it was only a few hours later but just enough that the evening was being ran off by the rising morning sun.

Rising up from the bench and rubbing away the last temptations of sleep he came to realize a couple things. First it was a lot colder than he remembered it being the night prior but thankfully he had his unique haori which had practically wrapped around him like a blanket while he slept. Secondly he was in a training hall, definitely not his squads as this was far large and more accommodating to a mass amount of people. Although at this early in the morning it looked more dead than anything aside from his last curiosity. The sound of movement and slapping of feet to the floor.

Curiosity sparked he quietly made his way towards the source of the only noise around. It didn't take more than a couple minutes at best until he spied the source of the sound, a younger looking Shinigami practicing some variation of martial arts. How curious, it really came off more like a dance routine if the viewer didn't pay attention to where the martial artist's arms were going. Ludwig gave a soft chuckle at this imagining the poor soul who'd be taking some of those hits this Shinigami would eventually give. Perhaps this was louder than he realized given the otherwise silent room but at the moment he just stood watching with a curious look in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. There was always something encouraging to him about watching and if they allowed, helping the younger Shinigami. One could never quite realize where they would go or what if they were still very young their abilities with a zanpakuto would be. The possibilities were quite honestly endless.

After a few more moments of standing and watching Ludwig in his best attempt to be quiet walked over to a nearby bench at the opposite end of the room to continue watching. Maybe if he stayed around long enough he could get an idea or two from this Shinigami for one of his cartoons to utilize. Or maybe he'd fall asleep again, Ludwig was still pretty tired considering he'd gotten only a few hours of sleep and in the back of his mind darker thoughts were doing their best to work their way forward. But for the time being he was going to do his best to get the most out of watching this one's martial arts.

[Kitai Yoru]

10 paragraphs, 50 TP awarded since none was mentioned.