[center] [img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/494317685505523714/716021659605270668/EmN5MKm.png[/img] [h3][color=fff79a]Kasugano Sakura[/color][/h3] Level 4: 12/40 Location: The Atomos. Talking to [@DracoLunaris] and [@Lugubrious] Word Count: 1,228 Points Gained: 2 New EXP Balance--- Level 4: 14/40 [/center] [color=fff79a]"Yeah, that's the spirit, Rika! Yeah, yeah!" [/color] Sakura encouraged as Rika mimicked her movements, making a huge amount of noise and causing damage with her massive gauntlets. At that moment Junior burst into the room and Sakura shrunk slightly. [color=fff79a]"[i]O tto![/i]"[/color] She said, smiling sheepishly, realising what he was upset about. When he glanced over at her, she waved quietly. At the idea of getting the gauntlets off, Sakura clenched her fists and nodded enthusiastically. [color=fff79a]"That's a great idea, [i]Junior-kun![/i]"[/color] She exclaimed, smiling. It was horrible that Rika literally had weapons forcibly attached instead of hands. How could she eat? It was cruel. [color=fff79a]"Koopa, huh? Cool!"[/color] Sakura said. Koopa sounded familiar, though. She couldn't quite put a finger on why. [color=fff79a]"Everyone's got muscles, [i]Junior-kun.[/i] Even koopas. And the more you work 'em, the stronger they get-"[/color] Her mouth formed into a line as Junior explained his predicament with the Best Fitness Friends and his opinion on excercise. [color=fff79a]"Excercise is not boring, it's cool!" [/color]She closed her eyes and stood up straight, indignantly. She nodded in agreement with Rika. [color=fff79a]"And fun. Wow!"[/color] She looked amazed at Junior's work with freeing Rika. [color=fff79a]"Good job! You're still wrong about excercise, though."[/color] She was conflicted, switching between congratulation Junior and strongly disagreeing with him. She decided to argue with Junior, but a bead of sweat betrayed her uncertainty.[color=fff79a] "You might be born into being bigger than everyone else, but you could be biggerer than everyone else, too! And b-besides, royals aren't just better than everyone else by default."[/color] She scratched her head. [color=fff79a]"Where I'm from, everyone gets to pick who the leader is. Everyone votes and then whoever gets the most votes gets elected Prime Minister. Or something like that- I- I didn't really pay much attention."[/color] She said. That was the best system, she assumed. She had never gotten the chance to vote before. [color=fff79a][i](Stay on topic, Sakura!)[/i][/color] Sakura internally chastised herself, slapping the sides of her head. There was something new to admire, however. Junior was done fixing Rika's hands! [color=fff79a]"Wow! That is so awesome! [i]Ranger-san, Bella-san,[/i] look! [i]Junior-kun[/i] did it!"[/color] She clapped her hands together. She laughed heartily as Rika picked up Junior and span her around. Sakura turned her attention back to Bella and her concerns. [color=fff79a]"You already know way more than any other Abyssal does right now, I bet. Come on, you can do it! None of us can stay behind! By the time you've finished explaining to the other Abyssals how they should be the leader, you'll already be the leader. That's how it works."[/color] Sakura said 'encouragingly'. [color=fff79a]"And yeah I know you tried to kill them before I'm just-"[/color] Sakura huffed, crossing her arms. [color=fff79a]"I'm just saying we might be able to convince them to be nice if they knew who Galeem was. There was a whole bunch of wars on the place where I'm from and now a lot of the world are friends anyway. And they shouldn't judge you because you never had a chance to be anything other than mean. Now you're nice. So that's- and that's- that's good." [/color] Sakura finished weakly, her tone perhaps stronger than her argument. Her morality came entirely from the heart, rather than a code of ethics. Sakura leaned against the wall. [color=fff79a]"I mean...I guess you don't have to lead the other freed Abyssals. But you seem like you wanna help, and that might be the best way. At some point our adventures will have to go on land again. Once we beat up the Guardian of the Edge of the Blue, we'll be whisked off to some other crazy place."[/color] Sakura trailed off. [color=fff79a]"Unless,"[/color] She snapped a finger, pointing at Rika as the woman reminded Sakura of excercise. [color=fff79a]"Unless you get really good with using your legs in the next few days! Rika-san, a sit up goes like this."[/color] Sakura laid down on her back. She folded her hands behind her head, bent her knees, and then pulled herself into a sitting position using nothing but her abdominal muscles. She repeated the process a few times to demonstrate. [color=fff79a]"And a pull-up,"[/color] She shot back up into standing position, glancing around the room. She looked at the door frame. It extended outward a little bit, being of bulky build. She went over there, hopped, and hooked her finger tips on the door frame. [color=fff79a]"Goes like this!"[/color] She moved herself up and down with only her finger strength. [color=fff79a]"You can do those now that [color=fff79a]Junior-kun[/color] freed your fingers!"[/color] [color=fff79a]"And as for what excercises you should do- no, it's not random! Basically, whatever muscle you want to strengthen, you do motions related to those areas. You'll know when those areas start to hurt. No pain, no gain!"[/color] She flexed her biceps proudly. Even reduced, they were still impressive. [color=fff79a]"Now, Bella-san. Today we're gonna do excercises based around increasing your leg strength and your balance. So the first thing we're gonna do iiiiiiiiis..!"[/color] She swept a pointed finger dramatically into the air. [color=fff79a]"...standing practice."[/color] She pointed at Bella's feet. Sakura realised that Bella Navire was not going to become a master of physical health in the short amount of time they were spending at Limsa. However, if she could give Bella the tools to increase her own independance slowly over time, then that would be enough. [color=fff79a]"First, we gotta make sure you can stand."[/color] Her voice took on a more serious and educational tone. She gently guided Bella back to her feet. [color=fff79a]"Try standing for 10 seconds without using anything to balance yourself. It's okay if it takes a few tries."[/color] She assured the Water Princess. Once she made sure Bella wouldn't fall onto her face instead of back into a sitting position, she briefly turned her attention to Junior and Rika. [color=fff79a]"And since you two are better at using your legs, you can practice doing this, instead."[/color] Sakura straightened her legs and bent down, touching the tips of her toes. [color=fff79a]"Try to touch your toes without bending your legs. If you can't do that, that's okay. Just try bending them as little as possible. When you get to the part where it starts to hurt, hold that pose for ten seconds. Then, release."[/color] She demonstrated, but it seemed like she reached the point a long time ago where no pose hurt anymore. She stood up again. [color=fff79a]"[i]Bella-san,[/i] you should try standing up for longer and longer. Once you're good at it, you can do the toe-touch. Then you can move onto this one."[/color] Sakura stood on one leg, grabbed the other leg, and pulled it behind her back. [color=fff79a]"It might take a while. But there's a whole wide world out there, and while a lot of it is water, a lot of the cool stuff happens on land. So I think it'll be worth it. Paris, for example, as a land locked city. Some of the streets there are hundreds of years old! That's another dumb thing about the world of light. No history. Everything just got smushed together, like, a few months ago.[/color] Sakura said. She forgot she was standing on one leg and just held herself there as she chatted.