Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

[bitchprince]

Arthur scraped his throat after everyone had arrived. "I hope you all enjoyed Reno's presence last week. Today, we'll be concerned with two things, reservists," he said, "First of all, I hope all of you have taken the time to visit the Magical Reserves at work some time during the past few months. If you haven't, please do. They are hard workers, and worthy of our trust." After a pause, he continued. "We will all at some point encounter a foe using forces we don't understand." Thank God for that 'we', or Arthur never might have managed to get the phrase out of his throat.

"In such case, it's important not to panic, and to keep some kind of plan ready. A way to shield or shroud yourself. Keep hidden and strategize, or think on your feet, use your surroundings. I am not necessarily speaking of magic here; running into technology you don't know might have the same devastating effects." ...Boy, was Arthur happy he'd learned about guns before running into anyone using them.

"I'd like to open the floor for debate about the best ways to deal with an attacker who uses powers or materials you don't have a direct grasp on. How would you improvise? Likewise, if you have such a man-- or, er, a woman. If you have such a person on your side instead, learn from them. Find out what your fellows are capable of. That way, you won't wind up underestimating their abilities in a fight, and cheating yourself out of a good partnership." Cough. "On either end, understanding is our greatest tool. It might even bring you friends where you used to see enemies."

Arthur crossed his arms. "Secondly, we'll be repeating an old exercise," he said, "Pick a partner. One of you hides in the preserve, setting a trap, the other tracks them and tries to take them out." Beat. "Without lethal weapons, if you please. That will be all. Get to it."

[[ open! ]]

Comments

Arrive/Mingle

[bitchprince]

There are sandwiches! And... no cookies. It's an Arthur day.

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Good thing Dinah brought some Beaver Buzz and a bag of cheezy chips expecting that, hunh? And yay, stalking day!

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"...really?" Jennifer said out loud, a little twinged. "Our exercise is 'The Most Dangerous Game, Home Edition?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[bitchprince]

"Our exercise is 'how not to get killed in the woods'," Arthur replied, lifting an eyebrow, "But call it whatever pleases you, I don't care."

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy's list of reactions to Arthur's spiel went something like this:

1) A slightly smug smirk about being ahead of the curve on watching the Magic Reserves at work, even if half of it still made no sense to her.
2) An eyeroll of 'duh' at his point about not panicking.
3) A resigned sigh over all the 'think on your feet, use your surroundings' stuff that she'd heard from her Watcher a million times, but was somehow 95% less compelling when she had to hear it from a guy. (Constance hadn't been her originally assigned Watcher, female Watchers being few and far between; even at the age of six Kennedy had mastered the art of pitching a fit.)
4) A dangerous upward twitch of her eyebrow at 'if you have such a man,' luckily disarmed by 'or, er, a woman.'
5) A skeptical look and a disbelieving snort at the description of the exercise.

"... we're playing hide and seek. Seriously?"

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[bitchprince]

"It's not hide and seek," he said, promptly. "It's a military exercise. I suggest you get moving."

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy rolled her eyes. "Psht." Somehow she was extra bratty around Arthur. Why was that? "Only if you have a drill-sergeant type of term for yelling 'it,' but it's still hide and seek."

Re: Arrive/Mingle

[intraspective]

Ino leaned back in her tree and nibbled on a sandwich as she thought about the exercise.

Discuss!

[bitchprince]

How do you cope when you run into an enemy who doesn't use means you're familiar with? How much do you know about your fellow warriors' special abilities?

Hide and Seek

[bitchprince]

Which Arthur still insists is not hide and seek, but a brilliant tactical exercise.

Re: Hide and Seek

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat was totally hiding.

Under his hat brim.

At least until someone came along to make things a little more interesting, that is.

Re: Hide and Seek

[bitchy_smurf]

"If you're attempting to use a cloak of invisibility, it isn't working," Illyria informed him helpfully.

Re: Hide and Seek

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Even with my eyes closed?" Mat asked, closing them.

It didn't help, possibly because he didn't have a cloak.

Re: Hide and Seek

[brat_inslayage]

About twenty seconds after she'd started into the preserve, Kennedy'd already figured out that a New York kid trying to hide in the woods was already at a serious disadvantage. If she'd been doing this inside a building, that might've been a different story, but here she was kind of screwed, not to mention didn't have the first clue about how to set a trap. Plus she was leaving tracks a mile wide.

No way was she going to give up, though (stubborn girl), so she gathered up a pocketful of acorns (yay cargo pants) and... crouched behind a boulder.

Yeah.

Re: Hide and Seek

[bitchprince]

After a minute, Arthur looked away from the (terribly boring) back of the dorms in order to look towards the forest and see how well she'd done obcuring her tracks. ... apparently by obscuring them not at all.

He followed her tracks with ease, his eyes trained mostly on the ground until he'd made it further into the woods. Well. There was a boulder up ahead...

He crouched lower, the sound of his own footsteps carefully obscured.

Re: Hide and Seek

[brat_inslayage]

Did we ever mention the part where Kennedy's strengths did most definitely not include patience? Besides, he wasn't a vampire, she wasn't expecting him to move silently. (Her world view could use a little less duality in spots, but she wasn't there yet. Oops.)

She happened to glance to the side, noticing her own fairly distinct boot prints, and cringed. Stupid stupid lack of pavement. Stupid giant gaping hole in her training. Maybe she could sneak over toward that tree and get behind it? It was wider than she was, and there was no sign of Arthur yet, so...

Kennedy rose halfway out of a crouch and started scurrying toward the tree. It was only a couple dozen feet away anyway...

Talk to the Guys

[bitchprince]

When they ping in.

Re: Talk to the Guys

[bitchprince]

Arthur was there, of course, and fiddling with his gloves a bit in a show of nonchalance.

In reality, it was because he wasn't sure these gloves technically fit anymore, considering that they were starting to wear with age. Hm.

Re: Talk to the Guys

[puppy_fair]

Zack? Was so there.

And he wasn't going to grin like an idiot over Hide and Seek again, honest.

He was actually biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning over Hide and Seek. That was dedication!

Re: Talk to the Guys

[future_sandworm]

Leto was here too although the mun, sadly, is not.

OOC

[bitchprince]

And off to the jaw doctor for me. Blargh.

Re: OOC

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Good luuuuuck! And yay shirtless Bradley! Keep picturing him if they have to drug you up!

Re: OOC

[bitchprince]

See, now I can't hear the phrase 'shirtless Bradley' without thinking about the commentary on the first few Season 2 eps and Bradley loudly counting his own shirtless scenes.

Re: OOC

[brat_inslayage]

I just spent half an hour Wiki-surfing through articles on variants of hide-and-seek and other children's games.

It was ridiculously fascinating, but.

*SHAKES FIST*

Re: OOC

[bitchprince]

Oh, you love me, bb. Don't lie.