Description:
What had Gabriel been up to all of this time. Studies, studies, faith. That sort of thing. She was always up to this and now was no real different. Not expecting anything to change or happen, the crusaader of light didn't bother with tournements when they didn't affect her goals. . She was instead using her time to just putz around, in the truest sense of the word. This. . Was. . putzing.
Currently seated in the relative outskirts, she was meditating, in a sense, probably praying and to what or about what, who knew.
Likewise, Ingrid had been dithering around for quite some time, doing little to further any goals other than a vague one that requires her to train and become more powerful. She was, of course, meeting new people and continuing to study with her private tutor, but even with those one might easily say that her life had become stagnant. And even so she has remained unaware of that fact, simply wandering through life and going through the motions, not realizing that her life had become a bit boring.
She's on a nice little walk when she stumbles upon Gabriel, not recognizing her at first from a distance but doing so once she's closer up. The thought of leaving her alone doesn't so much as cross her mind. She may be praying or meditating, but it's been so long since they'd last met that Ingrid felt she probably wouldn't mind a little interruption. "Hello, Gabriel." A light smile as she walks up from about fifteen feet away.
It is truly hard to tell what Gabriel is thinking because she usually responds to just about every situation the exact same way. Unpleasantly. Even if she likes you. However she doesn't look annoyed too long, only at first and then she rises to give a bow. It had been a while and interestingly enough, she did manage to get along with some people, Ingrid being one of them.
"Greetings Ingrid-san." she says simply enough, as though it didn't matter where they met or how weird that might of been. The converstaion continues,
"You are well I hope. "
When she's given a bow, Ingrid responds with a polite curtsy. "I am, thank you. I trust that you are as well?" She stops once she's only a few feet away, and looks around. "It's fairly peaceful here, isn't it? I imagine once it's a little later the road will get noisy, but for now it's rather nice." She then thinks back to the last time they met... "It has been a while, hasn't it? And even longer if you discount the last time since it was simply a match in a fighting league. I do feel awful, you know. I've been simply terrible about keeping in touch with my friends. How have things been going, for you?"
"I have had no difficulties, " replies Gabriel. It is a simple reply. She vaguely does recall the match though, that is of some note as it was a fairly significant loss. Then again she knew the power she was against, it was not the sort she fairs well at and didn't seem to take personally.
"What brings you this way?" she asks politely,
"I have been meditating lately and attempting to complete my class assignments."
"That's good to hear." What brings her this way... that's a good question, one that actually makes her thing. "I'm actually not sure. I suppose I just felt like going for a walk, and here I am." Ingrid nods her head a little. "I suppose I've been doing things fairly similar to that." She tilts her head a little, and then smiles to Gabriel. "Talking about it makes me wonder if I should have been doing something a little more... fun. Don't you think? We are in our youth, after all, we should enjoy it more." There's an amused look on her face as she says this.
"You have been considernig your youth?" Asks Gabriel in a inquisitive tone. She didn't seem to fully grasp this concept and for a moment just stares. It then starts to dawn on her that there might be more to this. She presses her lips together, hesitates and then.. and then.. asks,
"What did you have in mind?"
It isn't that she was not willing to try something new, but the look Ingrid had made her uneasy, as though the suggestion might be somewhat frigthening. Not that Gabriel was prone to firight, at least she didn't think she was.
Ingrid smiles with that amused look on her face, "For a moment now I have, yes. I don't know. But rather than just doing the same things over and over I feel like I should try and find something a little more exciting." She pauses and then says, "Oh, I don't mean things like going to drinking parties and otherwise acting like a silly teenager, I'm sure you know I'm above that sort of behavior. But adults do always say that youth is when you're in the prime of your life, so don't you think we should take advantage of that?"
"I have heard rumors," admits Gabriel with a thoughtful look, then continues, "But I can not say for certain I have experienced any of this first hand. It would interfere with my studies, trainng and most importantly, my faith." She nods a few times as if this was a certainty but then tilts her head in consideration.
"However I might consider ingrid-san, if you had thought of something you wished to do." She did afterall have some faith in this partiuclar individual.
"Surely your faith does not ban all that is exciting, Gabriel? After all, is it not exiting to convert the masses, and to know that you please your Goddess?" That's probably neither here nor there, but Ingrid believes she's made her point to the zealot. "And things can only interfere with school as much as you allow them to. Would I be wrong in assuming you have the strength of character to show restraint?" Simply put, she's trying to play on Gabriels ego.
"Perhaps, then, maybe you could incorporate into this idea of excitement something you already know so well- fighting, perhaps? That can be exciting, can it not?"
"Exciting. . " Repeats Gabriel slowly as if she's really trying to make sense of this. Eventually though, she gives up and sighs deeply.
"You may have a point Ingrid-san, I do not believe there is anything immoral about having fun in a pure and innocent manner." She concludes, perhaps the ego attempt had some flaws, mainly that it required Gabriel to understand fully what was being said to her, apparently she was not certain she did.
"However, I am not entirely certain everything I do for my faith would be otherwise moral."
"Well then there you go. If it's pure and innocent then you should indulge in it more often, don't you think?" Ingrid isn't quite sure what she's getting at, or even referring to, but she tries to just go with the flow, as it were. "As for your faith, wouldn't it be your Goddess who decides whether or not it's moral? If it wasn't moral, why would you be doing it for her, after all." Perhaps implanting the notion that if god(ess) says it's okay it's moral into Gabriels head isn't the wisest idea, but Ingrid doesn't have any qualms about it.
"It is very important that members of the faith can act in a manner they see fit to ensure the goddess' will is upheld.. I do not know about indulgence." The crusader of light presses her lips together. She frowns and looks down.
"However I imagine some relaxation must be required for the success of the will of the Goddess."
She didn't look to be too sure about all of this. She decides to go out on a limb,
"Is there somethign in your mind? I think you of all people would not need fear of impurity."
Ingrid smiles at Gabriel, and lets out a soft laugh. "One can indulge in things that are innocent as well as things that are impure, Gabriel." She then taps her chin a little, "To be honest with you, I was thinking about finding a way that I could spend more time with my friends while still meeting new people and having fun."
She gives the Justice student another smile. "Though it might seem silly, I believe I've found a way. Why not create a fighting team for just that purpose? One could practice or simply meet up with friends for good reason, and then challenge other teams to fight."
Ingrid smiles at Gabriel, and lets out a soft laugh. "One can indulge in things that are innocent as well as things that are impure, Gabriel." She then taps her chin a little, "To be honest with you, I was thinking about finding a way that I could spend more time with my friends while still meeting new people and having fun."
She gives the Justice student another smile. "Though it might seem silly, I believe I've found a way. Why not create a fighting team for just that purpose? One could practice or simply meet up with friends for good reason, and then challenge other teams to fight."
Ingrid nods her head. "A team, yes. I know that the 'teams' that are around now don't seem to do very much. But what would happen if we began actively challenging them? And just think, if you decided you needed to be more serious rather than having fun, it would be a great way to find people to 'purify'."
"Just yourself and I?" She asks. Gabriel had some knowledge of teams and what she was pretty sure was that most teams had more than just two people, but why not just two? A look of thought.
"Though I do not know that maybe competitions have engaged more than two on each at a time.." She considers further.
A finger strokes her cheek. Somewhere a leaf falls to the ground, dancing in the air gently. You could say this was happening to Gabriel.
"I find this proposition interesting."
"Perhaps at first, but I'm sure we could find others we would both find suitable for a team, Gabriel. A two person team might be a tad odd, after all." Ingrid smiles, "Like I said, I'd use it as a way of keeping in contact with friends. What better way to do so than to train with each other and fight against other teams?" A nod. "I was hoping you would."
"What other friends?" asks Gabriel, apparently she hadn't thought about that part. Ingrid probably knows more people, probably gets along with them. This might cause some trouble for her since there weren't' very many people she got along with that well.
"Who would we challenge first?" she asks, in an attempt to change the subject, apparently internally.
"I'm not sure at the moment, to be honest with you." A sudden laugh. "That is actually an answer to both your questions, isn't it? Suffice to say, I haven't thought this idea out fully, it simply occurred to me so I brought it up." Ingrid brushes her hair back behind her shoulders. "I'm sure we could find someone to test our strength against, however. I'm sure we'd make a fine team."
"Very well." Gabriel replies and dips her head and shoulders in a deep and respectful bow. There was plenty of people she wouldn't mind doing this sort of thing against, but there was also plenty of people she might want to go against. What she was most worried about was nothing happening at all.
"We must be organized, let us choose the first team registered with a group like the organizers of Saturday night fight in an alphabetical listing."
Ingrid looks amused at the methodical nature of Gabriels speech, though she doesn't outright laugh. At the bow, however, she returns a curtsy, keeping it nice and formal like Gabriels deep bow. "Thank you for accepting my proposition, Gabriel. And yes, that is an excellent idea, we'll do that for sure."
She then folds her arms across herself and twirls a lock of hair around a finger, "But we do have one thing to do first. We need a name."
"A name?" Truth be todl, she didn't think that far ahead. That was something else.
"I am not one who chooses this sort of thing." She admits, having drawna a total blank and taking a very long time to do it.
"What do you think is a good name?" She asks, hopefully. Perhaps Ingrid can save her by well, having better ideas for names.
"Hmm..." Ingrid tilts her head and looks upward at the question. "Perhaps we should pick a name that would describe us well." She continues to think for a few moments.
Silence.
Ok, this is taking her a while. Finally she snaps her fingers and turns to Gabriel. "Well, you were saying that I was one that shouldn't need to worry about purity, so how about the 'Pure Hearts Team'?"
"I find that name acceptable, if you feel a name is truly needed." The crusader of light decides and then frowns thoughtfully. She starts to pace a little, looking more thoughtful. This whole idea, it was starting to show more and more merit. Then suddenly she stops.
"When will we begin? Is a name not better used..?" She looks over at Ingrid and gives her a determined look before conitnuning.
" Pure hearts, we must begin soon then."
Ingrid nods her head, "A name is all but required in an endeavor such as this. It's so much easier to refer to who they fought as 'the Pure Hearts Team' rather than just two powerful young fighters whose names they'd forgotten. And aside from that, it makes everything much more official, does it not?"
She then smiles, "An excellent idea, Gabriel. Starting as soon as possible, while this idea is still fresh, would be by far the most prudent course of action. Now we simply need set up a fight between us and another established team. The question is... who?"
"Who indeed.. Perhaps opponents whom we mutually respect. Opponents who are themselves very strong." She considers this for a while and then looks at the sky as if trying to ask for something divine, some sort of inspiration, then it comes.
"The shooting stars." She seems set in this decision.
"Though I have never met them they appear to be the most well adapted for fighitng, true rising stars."
Gabriel turns more to Ingrid now, a steely gaze in her eyes as if she were now preparing for something, something hugely important.
"Yes, those are both things we'll need to consider..." The young womans head tilts to one side as she thinks it over, and then Gabriel speaks up once more before she can arrive at her own conclusion.
"
The Shooting Stars? I'm... afraid I haven't actually looked up anything on any of the pre-existing teams, Gabriel. Who would they be?" Probably not the response the zealot was hoping for.
This response was acceptble to Gabriel who replied as if it was quite simply the question she expected to hear,
"They are a group of younger fighters still making their own names. They fight for I believe good causes, but I have not met them personally. I believe them ideal because they are a team of rising stars without a great deal of negative attitude. " she nods a little, apparently thinking that this was a good thing,
"Less to be grudgeful about.
"Very well, then. They sound like an excellent choice. If there's more than two of them I suggest we decide which two to challenge. I suppose that would require a fair amount of research, but that's easily done." Ingrid smiles to Gabriel, "I believe that's all settled for the moment, then. Shall we go do something fun in order to celebrate our new team? Go out for coffee, or practice music, perhaps?"
"Yes, I think it would be fair to practice music, I do greatly enjoy musical practice," Gabriel replies, thinking that it was the best solution. Thinking about the shooting stars now was almost useless. She takes a moment to consider it. She pulls out her old hello kitty notebook and makes a few notes about this.
"Thank you, Ingrid-san." Gabriel offers with a bow without futher explaining.
"Wonderful. I admit to not having my hardingfele on me, so perhaps we could pick it up at my apartment and then pick up your violin? Or we could practice there, if you have yours with you." At the bow Ingrid smiles, "Thank you as well, Gabriel."
Log created on 09:52:06 09/08/2007 by Ingrid, and last modified on 21:12:40 10/05/2007.