facing your inner demons {{open}}

[meepmeep]

It was a blessed release. If there was one thing Astoria took pride in, it was her ability in hand-to-hand combat. Sure, she was skilled with magic, but she liked the feeling of destroying people beneath her fingertips. As a wizard, her abilities were enhanced. She went through a simple routine of punches and kicks, slamming up against the sandbag in graceful moves that could have been a ballet. But she kept herself in shape so that her moves were fluid and that there wasn't a second's hesitation. There could never be a second's hesitation, especially when fighting the kids around here. A feral snarl escaped her lips and she launched herself at the sandbag one last time. Much to her despair, it broke and sand went all over the empty classroom. They'd turned it into a little training room for anyone who wanted to work out and not have to fight people for space to just do a couple of crunches or lift weights...Or even fight. It seemed that the Slytherins were the only ones who knew about it and even then not many people would venture into the snake's pit as it was. She pulled her wand out and murmured an incantation to fix it, and returned to her dance of punches and kicks. She'd wrapped her hands with black bandages, mainly to keep herself from injuring her skin any more. Punching mirrors wasn't becoming as it was. She liked the feeling of working hard enough to be covered in a light layer of sweat, enough to feel her muscles burn in anticipation of the actual fight. It made her happy to think that she was talented. She could quite possibly smoke out any of the other girls with her physical strength. However, sometimes she felt because she was so different and actually able to fight, it set her aside. None of them would want to break a nail over a fight. Her rage was apparent at that point, and she flung herself at it. Now she was frenzied. Her form gave way to this more maniacal sort of punching, almost desperate to get rid of the demons that seemed to lurk over her shoulders. By the time she'd calmed herself down, the sandbag looked ready to burst. She glared angrily at it, and gave one final spinning kick. It broke and she gave a small smile, collecting herself to stand up and gaze at the mess she'd just made.
"I suppose you and I have something in common. We may seem strong, but we can only take so much until we break," AJ muttered ruefully, getting ready to murmur another incantation to fix it.

[/b] ---
TAG; none specifically
NOTES; trying to boost my muse...
CREDITS; credit to callie![/ul][/size][/font]

[summer]

Summer loved to walk and write. It wasn’t necessarily a sport, but she would admit to herself that it was a form of physical activity that she was actually good at. Normally multi-tasking threw her off, but she had no problems scratching away at a fresh piece of parchment and making notes about the latest goings-on at Hogwarts as she moved down the corridors. It was going to be a busy week for her, there was so much going on. A Quidditch match that was due to start shortly between Gryffindor and Slytherin, a scheduled trip to Hogsmeade, a couple of leads to follow up on. She was pretty sure that she was going to be swamped. Which made tonight even more essential to her.

Summer was busy on her way to the classroom that she was using to write The Underground. It was one of the empty ones toward the South End of the castle and it provided her with the privacy and quiet that she needed. It was perfect. Well, perfect except for the fact that it was wildly out of her way. She hated the walk all the way down here every time she felt like she needed to write. But she supposed that without sacrifice there would be no gain...and The Underground definitely had a lot to gain. She had a lot to write tonight and unfortunately not a lot of time, she still had a Potions essay and a Muggle studies essay to complete and-

She stopped mid-walk and stared at the door that was to her left. Had she just heard...grunting? Summer bit down on her lip, a little tentative to go anywhere near what she had just heard. But then she heard it again. And the sound of something dropping. And then someone’s voice. Oh yes, there was definitely someone in there. Summer crept carefully toward the door, afraid that if she made too much noise, she would alert whoever was in there to her presence. She crept a little closer - her palms were beginning to get sweaty in anticipation. But then she heard the voice again, and she could tell from this distance exactly who it was. Astoria Greengrass. Summer wasn’t sure where the pair of them stood - she was sure if AJ knew that it was her who wrote The Underground, then she would be SOL...but as it were, the newspaper was anonymous, so she had nothing to worry about. She pushed the door open slightly and then peered inside.

”Oye...Greengrass-”

[/b] She whispered slightly through the crack that she had opened, ”What’re you doing?”[/b] She opened the door a little bit more and found herself staring into what appeared to be a makeshift gym. One that was covered in Slytherins banners, ”Woah-”[/b] She said as she stared around in awe. What was this place?[/blockquote]

[meepmeep]

The fact that someone was watching was part of the battle. She hated when people watched her, and she turned to face the little creature that had found her hideout.
It was that Summer Cresswell kid, whom she only heard whispers about.
Great.
However, she'd play the game. After all, she was angry enough already. She dabbed at her face with a towel and walked towards the door.
"Oh, by all means, come in. Welcome to the dojo," She said, sweeping her hands around to gesture to the decor of the room. It was easily distinguishable as Slytherin territory, even without the banners to emphasize it. After all, the emerald house was infamous for everyone being in impeccable shape. This was why.
She then smiled darkly, pulling her wand out and repairing her sandbag. She then looked over at Summer again, more or less not minding what the other girl did.
Contrary to popular belief, AJ was actually one of the more hospitable members of her house...When she was in a good mood, that was. In that moment, she wasn't really in either a good mood or a bad mood. She got herself into her battle stance, giving herself a nice bend in the knee before springing up into a roundhouse kick. The dull thud as her foot made contact with the newly fixed sandbag reverberated off the walls, and then she lost herself to the battle lust.
"Make yourself at home, but I doubt you'd want to be in here with any other Slytherin," She replied, her breath quickened by the exertion of hitting the sandbag.
Her body twist and jolted, as she bolted forward with punches and kicks, and then ending her sequence with a grand finale that was sure to destroy the sandbag again. She had backed herself against the wall, ran at full speed, executed a front flip, and allowed her two feet to slam down on the seam of the sandbag. Of course, knowing its weak point, it burst without any hesitation. She seemed satisfied with her last sequence, allowing a goofy grin to cross her face. She loved it when she perfected a move. Even if she did scrape her elbow in the process, she was satisfied with the mess she created. Again, she'd repair the sandbag.
"I'm hoping someone will replace the sandbag with an actual punching bag that I can utilize," AJ murmured, deciding that she'd lay down on the mat and do some twisting sit-ups to tone her core.

[/b] ---
TAG; summer
NOTES;meep...
CREDITS; credit to callie![/ul][/size][/font]

[summer]

Summer was rather surprised by AJ’s apparently...friendly greeting. After all, the pair of them had never really gotten along. That was the same old story with all the other Slytherins. She couldn’t stand the way that they were constantly trying to be the best at everything and AJ had a reputation for holding the Slytherin Princess spot. It was ridiculous really, the way that these girls clawed at each other to get on top. Summer snapped out of her mental thought process and scribbled Slytherin Princesses on her notebook. That would remind her to check it out before the next issue of the Underground came out, ”What is this place?”

[/b] Summer asked as she walked a little further into the room. She had to admit that it was impressive. Probably something that only a couple of snide Slytherins would come up with, but exciting nonetheless.

Summer’s fingertips reached out and touched the sandbag that AJ had just fixed mid-air. She was an impressive witch, Cresswell would give her that. Impressive and strangely cryptic. This was the first time that Summer couldn’t really get a read on her. Was she trying to freak her out? Trying to get her to leave? Or were they just going to stand here like fools...A Slytherin and a Hufflepuff...in the same place at the same time, forced to harbor dangerously awkward conversation.

”Make yourself at home, but I doubt you’d want to be in here with any other Slytherin.”

Summer snorted and then coved her mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly, ”You’ve got that right.”[/b] She muttered under her breath and then continued to sweep around the room, admiring the gym-like set-up that they all had going, ”Does Archer come here?”[/b] Summer asked, above the sound of fists pounding. She was back at hitting the sandbag. She stared at her for a long time, waiting for a response and then decided that it was too weird. Summer suddenly felt very awkward that she was just watching AJ work out, so she amused herself with her notebook. She flipped open a few pages, pretending to be absorbed in her work.

It wasn’t until she saw her back up against the wall and then preform an expertly timed front-flip, destroying the sandbag, that Summer’s jaw dropped open. ’Well that was certainly unexpected’, she thought with a small smile. She snapped her notebook shut and then stared at AJ, ”Maybe you should do it yourself instead of waiting for everyone else to wait on you, hand-and-foot?”[/b] She kept her voice even and calm, as if she was casually commenting about the weather, but she could feel the dangerous tension in the air. She was provoking a beast, that was for sure. She had just seen what AJ could do and now she was provoking her. Sometimes Summer Cresswell thought that she was a bloody idiot.[/blockquote]