Latest revision as of 16:43, 31 May 2016

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura Akemi has been meaning to get to this for a while. What would she even do? How would she even teach Madoka how to use her powers? By all rights, even though Homura now has a bow of her own, Madoka should know it better than Homura does... so what could she even teach her, even as a veteran?

    It seemed impossible for one Puella Magi to really train another, yet Mami Tomoe was able to train several Puella Magi, at least two who ended up being highly skilled veterans. Homura wasn't too proud to humble herself before Mami and learn her methods, but she never really seemed to find the opportunity.

    So she had spent the last month and a half trying to answer that very question. How to train Madoka? Now, at least, she thinks that she has an acceptable answer. It will be a learning experience, as much for Homura as for Madoka.

    So she's invited Madoka to a place from Homura's history, an important place to her due to memories of things that never happened. At least not in this timeline. It was a short walk from the bus stop, but still out of the way enough that they wouldn't have to worry about being noticed.

    Homura tried to hold Madoka's hand as the two of them walked to the familiar bridge.

    There have been a few changes since Homura had been there last. The highway overpass was still there, acting as a concrete ceiling to this makeshift Puella dojo. The concrete flooring was clearly meant for pedestrian use, and that remained the same. There were also a few empty drums around, almost discarded, and probably no one would care if they had a few dents in them. However, when Homura had been here last, it was a sealed-off construction zone. It still is, but that construction has advanced a bit.

    Now there are the skeletons of buildings, outer walls set against their frame, surrounding the underpass. Construction vehicles are still scattered around the area, left unprotected. Steel beams are laid out in orderly piles, but most of those are outside. In the underpass, it's just the two Puella Magi.

    Homura's face is, perhaps for the first time in a long while (at least in front of Madoka), stoney and serious. This isn't a time to allow herself get distracted by her gorgeous and cuddly girlfriend. This is a time for her to ensure that her single most important person is able to keep herself alive. Aside from one minor setback, they had been doing relatively well on that front. They did at least as well as almost anybody else did. However, being 'average' wasn't good enough for a Puella Magi, because as Homura well knew, 'average' for a Puella Magi is 'dead within a month'.

    "Before we get started, I want to say that I'm only acting out of concern and love for you. However, that means I'm going to have to push you. Hard. It won't always be fun or pleasant, but it's important that you learn." She delivers this with her stony gaze, but after saying it she does offer Madoka a soft smile, if only for a moment.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    When the idea of being trained properly by Homura was broached Madoka was all for it. This might have happened a week or two sooner, except she had been very busy studying for her Infinity Finals, of which she was still eagerly waiting the results. It was actually pretty easy for Madoka to get into the mindset to be ready to learn as well- she'd be going from cramming on book knowledge in preparation for a test to cramming on combat knowledge in preparation for fighting Witches.

    If being a Magical Girl was something taught in school it would surely be her favorite class though, and so as opposed to Homura's stony, serious expression her own is bright and excited. A smile is set solidly upon her face and there's an energetic bounce in her step. That isn't to say she isn't taking all of this seriously; her eyes are moving around to the oil drums and various construction zones around them in case they'll come into play. It's just... being a Magical Girl is something she'd wanted for a long time once she learned she had the potential for it, and she enjoys being one very much. The circumstances are horrible, naturally, but that doesn't mean she can't make the best of a bad situation.

    Homura speaks and her eyes flick to the veteran Puella, offering a warm smile to go along with a nod, "I understand, Homura-chan. If you're going to train me it means you'll do everything you can to make sure I'm able to protect and defend myself. Even if it won't be easy I know you're only doing your best to make me better."

    Deciding she'd better be prepared now that they're on location Madoka holds out her hand, her ring springing into it's full-sized egg shape. It flares brightly with her pink magic, only for a large number of tiny arrows to burst out from it, the gem itself seeming to dissolve into them as they stream trails of pink magic. The arrows encircle her and the streamers wrap around her, the arrows tugging them tight and seeming to squeeze her, bathing her in sparkling pink magic. With one final tug from the arrows something seems to give and all at once her Puella Magi outfit pops into existence on her, the arrows suddenly free and all flying towards her chest before merging into her teardrop shaped Soul Gem.

    Now properly attired for magical training Madoka closes her eyes and smiles at Homura before while giving a small giggle.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura watches Madoka's movements, not just her joyful bounciness but also the motion of her eyes. Homura's momentary warmth is gone. Mostly. There's still a spark of warmth in her eyes for Madoka, but it's still hidden behind her stoney, serious face.

    "You're eager to begin. That's good. You're already looking around your surroundings, and I can only imagine that you're trying to anticipate my actions. These are all good skills to have, and those are the kinds of skills I would like you to sharpen."

    She reaches up behind her head, flipping her hair behind her. "For a magical girl, it's vital to understand the heart of your enemy. Both as a savior, understanding compassion for one who has lost their way, and as a warrior, understanding the intentions and plans of a foe, but we will get to that later."

    She places her hands behind her back, clasping one hand around the other, pacing around in front of Madoka. "Before I can teach you these things in detail, it's important you know how to properly learn. More essentially, it's important that you know how to teach yourself, because there are details about magic that simply cannot be taught through words alone." She spins on her foot, pacing in the opposite direction. "And before I can teach you that, I must first teach you how to think, and how to view the world. As arrogant as that may sound, there are 'right' ways and 'wrong' ways to look at things."

    "Several different people seeking different 'correct' paths will eventually come to the right conclusion. For example, Tomoe-san, Sakura-san, and I all have very different ideologies, different goals, and different methods. However, during Walpurgisnacht, when it was necessary for us to do so, we all separately perceived the need to work together, because that was 'correct'. Different doctors using different methods of diagnosis will also, if their methods are correct, reach the same conclusion. In all things, it's not necessary to be like every one else, so long as your way is in line with the truth."

    Homura realizes that she's ranting. Or rather, she's lecturing. Well, she's teaching isn't she? May as well roll with it this time. She turns to Madoka, taking one step forward.

    "Above all else, Truth is essential. Truth may hurt sometimes, and you may be disappointed by it, but it is not Truth's duty to conform itself to your wishes or ideals. It's your job to acknowledge Truth for what it is."

    "Consider Reality in the same way that you would a friend. You wouldn't hold your friends up to ridiculous standards, nor would you force your friend to behave as you desire as if they were your slave. You would accept them as they were, and attempt to understand them. Even if that friend has flaws, flaws that you thought you could fix, you would still consider them and try to understand them even as you worked to change them." Homura isn't mentioning her own name here, but it's probably not hard to guess she's talking about herself.

    "You should treat Truth in the same way. You don't, for example, ask yourself 'why can't 2+2 be equal to 3? Can't anyone see that it would be better that way?' Instead, you accept math for what it is and understand that it is the nature of things. All truth, all learning, and all wisdom should be treated with that level of respect."

    Homura stops, and clears her throat. "Sorry for the conceptual stuff, but excellence comes from wisdom, and wisdom comes from understanding. I intend for you to be excellent, Madoka Kaname, so it's important that you be understanding. You will see things and you will learn things, some that are wonderful, and some that are truly horrible. In many of these things there will be a lesson to learn. Never reject an honest lesson, no matter how harsh."

    She's putting on a confident face, and hoping that she doesn't sound like an idiot. She isn't in henshin. Not yet. She doesn't intend to until she gets to the more... visceral parts of training.

    "If you've got all that, I'll move onto methods of teaching yourself, not only in knowing it in your mind, but in your body and, for a magical girl, you soul. It's good for the mind to know, but the body doesn't learn from words. It learns from repetitively doing."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka watches as Homura goes into lecture mode and listens carefully. Understanding the heart of her 'enemy'? If her enemy is a Witch she certainly has to do that if she intends to save them, and though she's loathe to fight other magical people there is little doubt that's something she'll have to do at various times. Luckily trying to understand people and convince them to be better is something Madoka does by her very nature. Trying to understand their specific plans not so much, but she'll keep that in mind.

    When Homura starts pacing back and forth Madoka follows her with her eyes, standing in a somewhat relaxed position herself. "I don't think that sounds arrogant at all, Homura-chan," she replies, trying to keep her comment short so that she doesn't interrupt. Riventon is probably the perfect example; he thinks it's okay to hurt people to get what he wants- clearly a very 'wrong' way to look at things!

    "With the Dark Kingdom too," Madoka adds when Homura mentions various Puella realizing they had to pull together to fight a dire threat, hoping the example will show Homura she understands her reasoning as much as merely adding another data point.

    The Truth. That's... interesting, and Madoka has to think in it for a moment. She has already had to confront several very harsh realties with the way the world works, and they're probably the exact ones Homura is thinking about; the ones that have made her cry time after time when she first learned about them. Madoka is very capable of accepting the truth... only not immediately. For the truly difficult issues she tends to have to sit down and think them through. When the universe itself is cosmically unjust it takes some serious contemplation for her to think of how to handle them, or just to keep on going when learning of them.

    Her expression goes from fun and games to somewhat more serious, "I understand what you're trying to say, Homura-chan, but I don't think I can completely agree. It's true that your friend might have flaws, and even ones that you can't fix. Sometimes it's the flaws that make friends so endearing, or are so integral to them they wouldn't be the same person without them. But..." She looks into Homura's eyes, trying to catch them while shaking her head, "If there are flaws deep enough and wrong enough that they would destroy your friend, I don't think you should have to accept them. I think you should try to change them no matter how impossible it seems, once you recognize them. And I think Reality is the same way."

    Her chin lifts a little, and she closes her hand and holds it over her chest, "I know you're only trying to tell me not to get hurt by refusing to admit that something won't work, or that there are things that happen that I won't like, but I don't think it would be wrong to try to make things better by trying a different way that might work and keep bad things from happening; not when magic and miracles are real."

    Afterwards she nods a little to the mention of self teaching, ready to move on to them unless Homura has objections to her previous comments.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura slows down her pacing, and comes to a pause, at Madoka's last response. The previous ones were responded to with nods, because they were right, but the last one... She frowns slightly.

    Homura taps her chin. "I don't... think I really made my point clear. That's not at all what I mean. When I say 'accept', I do not mean that you need to roll over and pessimistically think that it will never change. All of us became Puella Magi because we wanted something to change and were willing to do anything in order to get that."

    "I'm not saying to not try to change things, and I survived for over a decade holding onto the idea that I could change something. I'm not saying not to do that. When I say 'accept', I mean more like... acknowledge. If someone you know suffers a terrible wound, I'm not saying you have to just watch them bleed. That's not what I meant when I said the word 'accept'."

    "It's more..." She pauses, holding her hands in front of her as if she were trying to grasp an intangible idea with her hands. "... you need to acknowledge that the wound is there before you can do anything about it. Being in denial of it won't help, and won't make it go away. The only thing that will make it go away is understanding that it is there and knowing how to handle it. Doctors work through skill and knowledge, not denial. Even when it comes to experimenting and finding new medicines, that's not a denial of the truth. That's more like an exploration of the truth."

    Holding up a wagging finger, Homrua says, "It's a common misconception to think that pessimism and realism are the same, but that's not real truth. That's not understanding. Pessimism would say that we all should have died at least four times by now, but we are still alive and that is reality. That is the kind of thing I'm asking you to acknowledge."

    Homura scratches the back of her head with one hand, and makes a slowly sweeping gesture with the other..

    "The antithesis of self-honesty is not optimism. The antithesis of this would be... something like Queen Beryl. She wouldn't accept that the boy she loved... actually loved someone other than herself. Her unwillingness to live with that lead to her selling her soul, bringing a world to ruin, and eventually her own destruction. A more sane person would've at least been aware that he was not happy being with her, no matter how brainwashed or mind controlled he was. That is the kind of mindset I am telling you to avoid."

    "I am not in any way trying to discourage Hope or Optimism, rather you should make a distinction between what you want and what you have. If you see a nice dress in the store, that doesn't make it yours, but just because it isn't yours now that doesn't mean you can't go into the store and buy it. Truth is just as much about how things can change as it is about how things are."

    "Even my own destruction..." Homulilly. "... was because of something I refused to accept. In fact, every time I've seen a Puella Magi refuse to handle the situation she was in, she either died or became a Witch." The corner of Homura's mouth twitches slightly.

    "... but even if you don't understand what I'm saying now, I think it will become clear in time. It's not that I disagree with your attitude of trying to find a better way, but you aren't going to even start looking for a better way unless you know that there is something wrong with the way things are now. I'm not telling you to roll over, I'm telling you to avoid mental blocks in your thinking."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka nods a little as Homura corrects her, picking up the difference quickly with only a little clarification. Which... makes it a little awkward as Homura continues on the subject for quite some time. There are a few times when Madoka almost interrupts, starting to open her mouth, but in the end keeps it shut until Homura is finished.

    By the time the lecture is over Madoka's eyes are closed and a sweatdrop has beaded onto the back of her head.

    "Eheheh... I think I understand now, Homura-chan! You can't fix a problem if you don't admit it's there in the first place. I don't think there's any need to worry about me acting too much like her," she notes about Homura's mention of Beryl, "but I'll try to keep an open mind that there might be things I need to recognize about myself, too." Which... is somewhat hard to believe to her if only for the reason that she has long been her own worst critic. It doesn't hurt to be careful and make sure new bad habits don't start to form, though.

    She tilts her head a little and opens her eyes back up, smiling to Homura again, "What's next?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura nods, finally picking up on Madoka's growing awkwardness well after the fact she was talking for way too long about it. Her stony face keeps her from showing her embarrassment for once. Half of looking cool is not showing weakness after all. "I didn't think you would act like her. Not you specifically. Even at your worst you're still better than that. She was just an example of someone going too far in the wrong way."

    She clears her throat. "Well... as long as you understand what I mean."

    What was she going to say? Oh right. Teaching yourself. "Anyways the whole point of saying all of that leads to teaching yourself, because you can't teach yourself unless you are honest with yourself. If your aim is off, you need make note of that and work on it. If you are too slow to act and enemies are catching you before you can attack, you need to make note of that and work on it. I'll do everything in my power to teach you what I think you should know, but the responsibility to learn is still on you."

    She begins to pace again, casting her eyes towards Madoka. "There is a saying I want you to remember. An ameteur practices until she gets it right, but a professional practices until she can't get it wrong. If you want to survive and live to a ripe old age of 17, you need to be the professional. That means constant training, constant sharpening of your skills, and constant practice. Expertise is as necessary to you now as breathing was before you contracted."

    She stops, and pulls out a smart phone. "Now that I've said all that, I'd like to get into more practical things. It can be hard to notice your own mistakes in the heat of combat, and in fact I'd tell you not to focus too much on that except when it's necessary to do so. These days we have cameras and drones that can track you during combat and make a recording that you can review later. As long as you think you have something to learn, I want to try to record your battles and play them back. Your practice sessions too, I'd like to record those. We can look for bad habits or other things from a position of comfort, when we don't have a hundred Familiars bearing down on us."

    "Also..." Homura holds out her hand, and a purple orb made of magic appears before her palm. "... on the subject of 'never getting it wrong'..." The orb crashes against her hand, washing over her entire form and becoming her henshin. When her shield and clothes completely form, she instantly, as if moving and attacking were one motion, aims her palm at a nearby barrel and fires a purple blast of energy at it. The barrel explodes on impact, launched well into the construction area nearby.

    "... I knew that I could hit that on the first try. I knew it, and was confident of it, because I've performed that move maybe a thousand times. Probably a lot more than that. You know how to walk with ease because you do it every day and have done so for years. I want combat to be as..." ...easy? Easy is not the word Homura should choose here. "... natural to you as walking. In some ways your magic does that for you, but there are still things to learn and master. There's... a bit more to teaching yourself than looking for bad habits and practicing over and over, but unless you have questions I think that's enough lecturing for today."

    Homura reaches into her shield and pulls out several colorful spheres. They're the kind of balls you'd find in a ballpit or something similar. They are light and likely won't hurt if one is struck by them. "I'd like to get to more specific exercises, if you don't mind."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka listens without all that awkwardness from before when Homura ties admitting the truth to identifying weaknesses and areas on which to improve. "Okay, Homura-chan! You're right, I should do my best to try and get better. The better I am at fighting the better I'll be at saving and protecting people, which is what I always wanted this power for. I know I would be very hard on myself if someone got hurt because I wasn't taking it seriously enough."

    More pacing and more of Madoka's eyes following Homura. The constant training and skill sharpening note gets a nod from her, and she tilts her head a bit to the side. If they're fighting Witches all the time, wouldn't that be constant practice? But maybe practice isn't the same thing as specific training...

    When it comes to taking video footage of fights and training Madoka takes a playful approach, "I don't mind if you want to film me and take pictures of me, Homura-chan!" She holds her hands behind her back and twists from side to side a little, smiling softly. She's definitely teasing, but she's also acknowledging the point. "It would be nice to see how I do in real battles without having to worry about it at the time," She adds more seriously.

    Homura henshins, and Madoka smiles a little to herself. It was much more understated than the way she did it herself, but very cool. The attack towards the barrel catches her slightly by surprise and she watches as it flies off into one of the construction areas. She taps her chin a little, looking at one of the other barrels. Her hands glow with pink magic and she brings them together, forming her bow and instantly drawing the string back and firing.

    Her aim is far off from the barrel, and the arrow shoots past and into the side of the bridge beyond. Normally when her arrows miss their target and hit something behind they burst harmlessly into sparkles. Not this time. This time it bounces off at an angle, reflects off the roof and ground several times before hitting the bridge wall on the opposite side, streaking past Madoka and spearing itself straight through the center of the barrel, punching a hole in both sides before continuing on, only then disintegrating upon hitting another wall. "I think if I had to pick one thing I'm most confident on, it'd be my aim!"

    She looks to the colorful balls that Homura produces, suddenly fidgeting her fingers a little against her bow. "...those aren't going to be for me to shoot at, are they?" Madoka asks, sounding suddenly nervous.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura smiles this time. "Good. That's exactly the right attitude. The better you are at fighting, the better you are at saving people, and the more able you are to make the world a better place."

    Homura can't hide her blushing when Madoka teases her, though she tries very hard to keep her unreadable expression. The cute girl currently teasing her is her girlfriend and apparently no amount of serious face is going to stop Homura from being teased by that. She allows herself a small smile when Madoka responds more seriously, even giggling slightly.

    Homura watches Madoka take aim, and true to her nature Madoka doesn't miss. She hits rather expertly. "I see you've already been taking this seriously. That's good to know. I had thought to look up several books on archery, but considering the way our magic works I'm not surprised that they weren't necessary." 'Serious' may not be the best word, but Homura still has to give credit to Madoka's ability. "However, I'd caution against showing off too much in the middle of a fight. Maybe I don't need to tell you this, but in a battle you want to be efficient."

    Homura may not have heard Madoka's earlier unspoken question, but as an afterthought she does mention, "... Fighting against Witches and Familiars also provides practice, and currently that is how I keep my own skills sharp, but it's hard to focus on developing specific skills while under pressure. In situations like that, people have a tendency to lean upon what they've already mastered instead of trying something new.However, once you reach a certain level of skill, fighting Witches will be more than enough to cover your practice needs."

    Homura then notices Madoka's nervousness, looks at the ball, and then looks at Madoka. "Madoka-chan. You wouldn't be afraid of a familiar, so please don't tell me you're afraid of a toy." Homura walks over to a nearby column of concrete, sets up a tripod and puts a camera on it. It's not recording yet, but it's ready to.

    She turns back to Madoka saying, "It's important that you know how to perform under pressure. Being able to hit moving targets is necessary. Dodging attacks that come your way is also necessary. Didn't you just say you were confident in your aim?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka smiles at the praise of her attitude. She's happy that Homura appreciates her attitude, both as a friend and a trainee. When she gets the dark-haired girl to blush her smile softens a little, looking playful for another moment when Homura giggles.

    "I know," Madoka agrees about the need to fight efficiently. "That's something I taught myself recently, actually. I thought it might be a good idea to be able to surprise people by attacking from different angles." A short pause, "Other than from above, I mean." Anyone who has seen her fight seriously would know to expect that particular attack, after all. "I used it to show off just now, but I think it could be useful later, too."

    She's happy when Homura's words address her thoughts, not even having had to ask the question to get the answer she wanted. She's also pleased she was on the right track already. "If you need to lean on something you haven't mastered you're probably in a pretty desperate situation," she notes. "Would something like that would be more of a trick, or a trump card?"

    When Homura notices and calls out her nervousness she laughs more and holds her hands up, waving them a little, "It's not that! I'm not afraid of getting hurt. More... I'm afraid of looking silly when I can't jump out of the way of balls that come at me from out of nowhere. If you threw them at me while you stopped time I haven't figured out how I'd be able to avoid them yet." And finding away to defend against attacks coming out of frozen time -is- something she's thought about. Just because her ally is the one making use of such attacks right now doesn't mean an enemy won't appear with similar or similar appearing abilities.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I agree. It's a good way to keep your opponents guessing." Homura is okay with that, as long as that's what Madoka's using it for. She normally wouldn't assume otherwise, but she'd rather err on the side of being a nag than on the side of being negligent. Especially if she's being the teacher.

    On the question of a trick or a trump card, Homura considers. "I don't know. Depends on how good you are with it. To me the term 'trick' is interchangeable with 'technique', unless you're using it specifically to deceive someone. Trump card could apply to anything that you hold off on using until a critical moment, and it's pretty common to keep certain techniques hidden just so that your opponent won't expect them."

    Homura starts to throw one of the balls in the air and catch it. "In a way, you could say that certain Witches also have trump cards that you need to watch out for. Tiro Finale could be considered a trump card. That ricochet technique of yours could be a trump card if you used it at the right time."

    Afraid of looking silly? Well, Homura can at least understand that. "It's true that I'll be using stopped time, not only to throw these but to get out of the way. However, I'm not going to be as ridiculous about this as I could be. The goal of this exercise is to simulate fighting multiple fast moving targets, such as familiars. Your goal is to avoid getting hit while also shooting down all of the balls I throw at you. When the balls run out the exercise will be over, but next session I'll be bringing even more of them."

    Homura catches the ball one final time, and holds it before Madoka. "These things are cheap, so don't worry about smashing them. Don't worry about looking silly, the only people who will see this are you and me. Now, should we top off your Soul Gem or are we good to go?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Okay!" comes the reply from Madoka as Homura agrees the technique is a useful one. She trusts the veteran Puella's opinion, so hearing that she thinks it'll be good at it's intended use. Then she gets more technical on different abilities and how they might be used and what that might categorize them as, and Madoka listens carefully while making a soft hum.

    The ball being tossed and caught brings her attention back to the moment and the upcoming practice. "So I need to avoid them and shoot them at the same time?" Madoka considers that for a moment before smiling. It's true that having to shoot them all will make it more challenging, but being able to shoot them down before they get to her also means a certain portion of them can be dealt by a means other than dodging. "That sounds difficult, but it probably will be similar to fighting a swarm of familiars. Some Witches have a whole lot of them!"

    When she's told they'll be the only ones seeing the video of her getting pelted with dodgeballs Madoka eases up a bit, and when asked about it she checks her Soul Gem and shakes her head, "I'm good!" She shifts a little on her feet, her expression changing to something more serious, expecting the balls to begin appearing around her at any time.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura tilts her head at Madoka for a moment, considering her. She is actually good at this, but Homura can't help but wonder how long it'll be before she doesn't need to train Madoka. There are probably years of lessons that Homura could essentially teach but there's also a certain level of competence that is just magically granted.

    Well, the best she can do is cover everything, and if Madoka is a quick study then that's just all the better.

    Homura nods to Madoka's question. "At the same time, yes. If you can shoot while moving, all the better." Homura grins slightly. Then she's gone.

    The little red light of the camera is blinking. Homura did mean it when she said that no one would see it except the two of them. At least, that was her intention. If it ever becomes necessary to show someone else (it probably won't) then Homura could always ask Madoka first. Either way, she has no doubt that she could keep that promise anyways.

    Several balls appear shortly after Homura vanishes. At first there are only four or five of them. Then twenty or so, then fifty, then easily over a hundred. None of them are attacking. Each one bobbing up and down in the air, staying in its same relative area despite some erratic movement. (Actually, Homura is catching them and throwing them again mid-timestop.)

    Then five come, launching at Madoka, and for each one that she shoots down, two more take its place. For each one that she dodges, Homura catches it after it's 10 or so feet past her and throws it again. They come from every angle, but at least they aren't hard to take out. One shot, no matter how weak, seems to be enough.