Indoor Track

Roy nodded as he breathed a little through his mouth to regulate his respiration. Feeling his pulse get back to normal he noticed that his feet were probably going to be jet black, and that he would have to wash them later on tonight, curse it, he thought. That screwed his chances of getting in a walk. Mentally shrugging Roy turned his attention back to Megali after nodding in response to her.

"Did you have anything specific in mind that you'd like to try out first? Some of the equipment over there is quite nice, I've used most of it before. If you'd like to do some striking later I think we have some punching bags around here too."

Roy looked over at Claire, whom he felt slightly bad for leaving in the dust. There was no way he could have expected her to have ran with them though, that just wasn't her thing and he understood. When he caught sight of her he gave a wave of his hand and a small smile to her, then motioned towards the equipment, trying to tell her that they would be over there, and she could come if she liked.  

Roy turned back to Megali again and readied to follow her where she wished to go from this point on. She was clearly extraordinarily fast, and Roy doubted she would not be good in other areas of physical fitness. But he was very curious to see just how good she was. He doubted that she would perform any less impressively with any of the equipment here than she had on the track.

She simply shook her head in response to Roy's question. Turning from the hips, she headed for the interior of the track before climbing over the padded barrier separating it from the rest of the exercise equipment. Lacing her fingers behind her head, she stretched her back a bit as she wandered among the various constructions of metal and cable modern men and women used in their training. It was all so sleek and utilitarian that she could vaguely surmise the intended uses for most of them. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that almost all of them had small illustrations explaining how to operate the machines. The knowledge that even people of this era were occasionally confused by these devices brought a small smirk to her lips.

Eventually, her wandering brought her to a padded bench with a long bar sitting in a small rack on top. She cocked her hear to the side and reached out to examine it. Unlike the others it did not have illustrations so she decided to go on instinct. Grasping the bar with one hand just shy of the midway point, she gave it a few experimental swings. It was rather heavy. A training spear perhaps? That would certainly explain the blunted ends but with such weight it would be rather easy to kill a person with it. Deciding to leave it for another day, she gave it a light spin before returning it to the rack where she had found it and turned back to Roy.

"Lead me to these bags. I wish to see how they are used."

Roy watched as Megali inspected the equipment, looking over everything with a very curious eye. He saw her go to the bench press after a while, she seemed unsure of how to use it, and ended up grabbing it with one hand and swinging it around almost like a weapon before putting it back down. Curious.

She had not seemed to have seen a bench before, strange for one so fit, but he assumed then that her fitness must have been derived from very basic, archaic training. Running, push ups, climbing, rocks and such. Not a bad thing, but Roy definitely preferred the ease of equipment, and the way in which you could target a specific area of your body with it. Roy brushed these thoughts aside as she turned round to him and asked him about the punching bags.

Roy knew exactly where they were, and rarely went a weekday without smacking them silly. He had used gloves for a while when he was younger, but he slowly had taken them away for the purpose of hardening his body to the point of not needing a glove. He doubted Megali would use them either, even if gien the chance.

Roy nodded his head in their general direction and responded. "Follow me." Before walking a little ways to them, they were a decent ways away from all the other equipment, given that the people using them needed a considerable amount of area to do so. Especially for a martial artist like Roy. When he found he saw a selection of gloves lying in wait on a table/ Me motioned to them with his hand and told Megali.

"Those are the gloves, a lot of people put them on before striking the bags to protect their hands. But if you've spent time strengthening your body then you should have no problems with this. Might get a cut or two but I doubt it."

Roy looked over the bags, there were many of them. Some attached to beams, others stands, a few on poles in the ground. Roy preferred the stands. He had to add weight to one of them when had first come however, he had knocked it over with a kick and it nearly landed on another soldier. There were three poles attached to this stand, two on the sides, one on the back. Each had about 150 lbs to it.

Giving it a glance Roy turned his side to the bag and in the same motion stepped towards it with his farthest foot and using this momentum he let his other leg carry it in to the bag with a swift side kick. Execution was flawless, and he brought up his guard two hands near his side with open palms . The bag quavered as it struck harshly against the pole and rattled the weights moving it back an inch. Roy knew he would need to put more on if he wanted to use a really strong kick. As it was it would do fine for just warming up.

He turned back to Megali a small smile on his face as he grew excited at the aspect of getting to watch her striking. He said to her. "These are the bags, heavy, held up striking targets. It is pretty simple, which I'm sure fits you just fine. Want to try it out?"

Roy stepped back to give her room if she wished to use that bag as well, but he would follow her to which ever one she was going to use, and inspect the way she fought from there.

Stepping into line behind Roy, Achilles made her way towards the punching bags. Though several variations were present, the common features were apparent enough and it seemed as if the only real difference was the means by which the leather sack was held up. Space nearby had been cleared away to presumable allow people room to move freely. The nearest pieces of equipment were more of those benches she had seen before with the weighted poles. With Roy evidently eager to demonstrate the manner in which the bags were used, Achilles took a seat at the nearest bench to observe his movements.

It was a far cry from what she had normally seen on the battlefield of her day. Facing down armored legions, a kick such as that would be the furthest thing from her mind. Then again, times had changed since her fall and according to Roy his form had a long history of its own. The fact that it survived into the modern era said much about its effectiveness. Seeming satisfied with his short demonstration, he turned back and invited her to demonstrate her own skills. The basic concept of striking practice was simple enough though the targets had changed a bit.

"I may strike it in any manner I please?" she asked, making sure that there were no hidden restrictions she had failed to pick up on.

Roy nodded his yes to her. But was unsure of why she was asking unless she suspected that she might break them, or that they might do something she hadn't expected.

"Anything you'd like should be fine. If you strike one that is held by a chain from the roof and it goes back really far, it might come back at you. But other than that theres not much more to keep your eyes open for. I might recommend you throw a practice strike first, maybe a few punches just to know what it feels like before you strike it full power."

Roy wasn't worried that she would hurt herself necessarily, but just to err on the side of safety he had given her that advice. Maybe it help her decide on how to strike these targets, deter her from one thing or assure her of another. Needless to say he was excited see whatever she did however.

It was as she had initially guessed; any strike against these targets would be acceptable. Surprisingly though, Roy had felt the need to warn her of the possibility that the bags would strike her. "Throw a practice strike" he said. Very well then, she would do just that. The only question that remained was what precisely she would do. Roy's kick had been an adequate demonstration and though she doubted that was the extent of his power, Achilles guessed that he had intended to impress her with the way his strike shoot the equipment. That settled it. The only acceptable path would be to outdo his demonstration. Regardless of his familiarity with this device, Achilles would not allow herself to fall behind in the field of combat. In fact, taking Roy's suggestion to heart, she believed that she had uncovered the proper use for the heavy bar resting on the bench.

The Greek woman rose to her feet and nodded once before making a half turn back towards the racked bar. Reaching out she gripped it firmly with one hand before raising it over her shoulder. Turning back towards the hanging bags, she torqued her body, combining the muscular strength of her legs, core and upper body to hurl the bar like a javelin. The polished steel pierced the still air like a shining missile, driving into the bag hanging from the chain until the distressed leather could take no more and split before it. The continued momentum of the bar plunged it deeper into the training equipment, burying the tip in the soft stuffing before finally coming to rest. With the metal bar still protruding awkwardly from its hide, the bag continued to swing back and forth, the chain making faint creaking sounds as metal rubbed against metal.

Roy watched curiously as she resolved to outdo him once more, he saw her go to the bench press she had been inspecting earlier, she grabbed it again, this time differently. What she did next, he had he hated to say, almost hoped for.

He might have been able to stop her, might have told her not to use a weapon or break the bag. Might have. If this wasn't worth whatever mess they had to clean up later. When Roy saw the bench press bar get launched towards the bag, and rip through it, even just as the dull rod it was he smiled.

Roy laughed out loud as the bag just continued to sway with the bar in it. He sighed happily and took off the top of his Gi, leaving only a black muscle shirt on underneath. He threw it on to the table with the gloves. He had worn it because it had offered him a lot of flexibility, but yet still an official look. However, now all things aside it was time to get a little more primal, and considerably rougher.

He turned his head towards Megali and said.

"I like it Megali. Thats the best use I've ever seen anyone get out of a bench press bar. But I think we should probably just stick with our hands and feet for now. I'm not sure how many spare bags we have and if we break them all we might be out of targets."

As an after thought Roy asked her while he looked around for a new bag to go at. "So you've clearly been trained with the spear, is that your weapon of choice? Or do you prefer something else?"

She allowed herself a satisfied smile as she watched the bar bury itself in the hanging bag, completing her self-imposed challenge. The heavy weight of the bar now made sense to her. If warriors were taught to hurl spears using these weighty lumps of metal than manipulating a proper spear would pose little to no challenge. Unfortunately for her, she was completely wrong. Roy's surprise at her feat illuminated that it was entirely out of the norm. Despite Roy's cheer at the accomplishment, Achilles couldn't help but feel a twinge of frustrated anger at the revelation. Though she had risen to meet her own standards, she had once again misunderstood the damnable world she had been brought into.

Dismissing whatever the "proper" use of the bar was as inferior to her own improvisation, the hero of the Trojan War settled her hands upon her hips. Even with Roy's rather endearing passion for the exercise, Achilles was quickly losing interest in the striking bags. Wooden versions of it had been the standard for weapons training in her day and she had long since lost track of the time she had spent honing her skills upon it. Piled atop that mountain of experience, such exercises could no longer hold her attention.

Shifting at the hip again, Achilles settled herself back into a sitting position on the padded bench before crossing her legs "Indian style" and finally resting her hands on her knees. "It is my favorite. None in all of Greece could match me with it," she said, unconsciously revealing a another small facet of her identity. Catching her mistake after the words had already left her mouth, she attributed her uncharacteristic lack of care to the sudden discovery of a person willing to engage her as an equal person rather than some strange relic. She made another mental note to be more careful in the future. Roy had been kind so far but that was not enough for her to trust him with her identity just yet. "What is yours?"

Roy didn't actually learn to use any melee weapon, none truly masterfully. He was ok with the stick, or a club. The knife could just be used along with his style, it being more of an added bonus to his martial arts than a weapon proficiency.

Roy smiled as she told him it was her favorite, but was confused again when she said Greece. It would make sense that if she was of greek origin certainly...but. It would make more if she was from ancient Greece. She was foreign for sure but more than that. She didn't look out of place in America, she seemed more out of place in the world around her.

Roy let none of these betray him however and merely kept his smile, he didn't know what her background one, and he doubted she was Doctor Who, so he resigned himself once more to patience, he would wait for the answers. He would not draw them out. Roy saw that as she talked she clearly had grown bored of the punching bags. That was alright with him. She him intrigued him a little bit more anyhow, and he was eager to jump at the chance to converse with her.

He made his way over to her and thought about his response for just a moment before he spoke aloud.

"To be honest. I haven't trained with many weapons your probably familiar with. Mostly just with bare handed fighting. And guns. I'm sure you've seen some since you came here. They are missile weapons." Roy laughed a little anticipating a rather negative reaction to this. He laughed because he felt it so strange that someone would find being an expert with fire arms and martial arts a disappointing way to fight. He tried to explain to her a little better "I know that probably disappoints you, and I'm sure you could care less for guns. With the enemies that I fight however, it's good to keep your distance. And if there not the kind of enemy that I'd need a gun for, then honestly, they won't last long against me weapon or not. I suppose I might make the excuse that my body is my weapon of choice, and I have trained solely in that."

Roy let his pride shine through just a little bit as he spoke about his physical prowess. He might not be as good as Megali, which had yet to be proven in his mind. But he was, a good fighter, and there was almost no human opponent that he felt he couldn't handle. He spoke with no lack of confidence, and tried to impart on her the seriousness of his actual skill. He wasn't boasting, he wasn't trying to one up her. But he didn't want her to think of him as "unreliable, or disappointing." Partly because he liked her, wanted to be friends with her. Partly because that was simply not true.

She regarded him in a slightly different light as he closed the distance between them. His appreciation for martial arts had been one thing but the air about him now had changed. He was finally allowing his pride to shine through a bit. The sudden shift in itself was enough to give her a small smile but she drew additional enjoyment from the worldview his words revealed to her. Keeping distance was a good idea against his foes, was it? Achilles surmised that he was referring to monstrous beasts and demons. At least, that was the purpose of this group as Steeler had explained it to her.

"I wonder how he what he would say if he knew how it once was," she mused, thinking back to her own era when the border between humanity and the supernatural was so much thinner and bronze was the only defense one usually had. Regardless of all that, he had enough pride to claim that anything less than those monsters would fall before his fists. It was a bold claim. While she approved of such spirit, she could not deny that she was eager to challenge that boast nonetheless.

"You are mistaken. I do not resent firearms. It is only natural to make use of all that you can for victory. That is what it means to be the best."

That, more than anything bothered her in this new era. She was a warrior born, raised to be the greatest combatant of her generation and she had succeeded. But despite all the effort put in to achieving that title, it meant little when the very definition of combatant had changed. She barely understood how firearms functioned, let alone claim any sort of familiarity with their use. It was one more thing on a very long list of skills she needed to remaster if she was to become a part of the world again. However, the scope of that list continued to weigh heavily on her, at points appearing utterly impossible. Then again, the impossible always did provide the best challenges.

Roy was happily surprised at her response, he agreed with her on that statement. He thought she might have deemed them cowardly however, an inglorious way to beat ones opponent. He was beginning to see however, she wasn't so much so concerned with winning in the way she knew, so much as just winning no matter what. It was a good mentality for a warrior to have.

Roy responded to her with much of what he thought to himself.

"Ah. This surprises me. But I think I am beginning to see. Megali, I am assuming that even though you do not hate them. You do not know how they function. Just knowing what I do of you, I think this bothers you. And I think that you don't just want to learn to use one, but I imagine you probably want to become the very best with them to. Correct me if I am mistaken."

Depending on her answer Roy was possibly going to offer to teach her to use firearms if she wished for it. He knew enough about it to get her on her way, in this place, with her drive. She would have no problem taking that to the next level. However, he knew she probably wouldn't enjoy "needing his help." Thus making her inferior. He imagined, that she might just settle for an equal. At least he hoped so. If she was willing then he would ask her to teach him to use a melee weapon of his own. He wasn't sure yet, and come to think of it, he would probably just ask her what she recommended. He thought that such a deal could work out well for both of them.

As Roy continued to speak, Achilles' smile slowly started to fade and she quirked a brow in suspicion. She knew that this man was perceptive but she had obviously underestimated just how much his eyes could see. Once again he brought up memories of Odysseus and his clever tricks fueled by an almost otherworldly observation. Those skills had picked apart her pride, her very way of thinking to convince her to set sail for the shores of Troy and eventually, her doom. To say that she was on guard for any and all of those skills in the modern era was an understatement. She straightened her back a bit, taking on a slightly more regal posture bordering on standoffish.

"You assume too much. Who are you to tell me what I dislike without knowing me?" Tilting her head, she averted her gaze from him, her face visibly hardened. "As if I have any need of help to be victorious," she said in a softer tone, more of a grating growl to herself than an outright statement but still easily audible to one standing as close as Roy was. Even by the most ridiculous standards, it would be difficult to construe Roy's carefully chosen words as an insult. However, to maintain her absolute ego, Achilles felt compelled to respond as such if only to hold up her sense of superiority even as the collar of a prisoner clung tightly to her neck.

Roy nodded, it was a fair point. He didn't really know her, just about everything that he did know about her however, was in what he just said. In every category she had such an urge to just win, she never once for a moment doubted herself, which was good. But Roy gathered that she didn't doubt, because there was no room in that heart for doubt, to full of confidence, and he was sure, pride. Overly prideful, in his opinion. She was good, all the things that she knew would help her in the field. He would give to her that she might even be the best. But a bullet, which you cannot dodge, does not care how long you have trained, nor how good you are. It will rip through your skull before you even see it coming. He doubted she knew how to fight against guns, they seem a relatively knew idea for her. He didn't want her to die. And if she refused to adapt to the situation around her, she wouldn't last in battle. That was just a fact.

Roy did not soften on this, though she had become defensive. Even discounting his care for her well being. He refused to be treated like someone beneath her. He got the feeling that though she was a good person, if he let her, she would walk right over him. He also thought to himself, that someone like her, and humans in general. Never really respected someone that just kissed up all day. Degrading themselves, just so they could bask in the shadow of someone else. Disgusting. Such a person might make a decent dog, but not a friend. Roy would settle for nothing less than that.

"I would admit Megali, I do not know you. That well. But from what I have seen of you, and know of you so far. I thought what I had said might have been true. But to put things bluntly. The enemies that we fight, they are beyond, human abilities. Physical abilities at least. You could be, the greatest warrior to ever live. But these monsters, not even the greatest ones. Make that look like nothing. Guns, cannot be dodged, cannot be skillfully blocked. They can be avoided, but that requires knowledge of how they work. In this day and age, guns are common. One bullet, through almost any organ, through your head, your neck, will kill you. Just one. And there are guns like my own that have fifteen bullets, waiting to fly, with the pull of a trigger. We're human. We can't avoid that.

Roy was not harsh with Megali, but he would not be cowed or become apologetic. He never intended to insult her and would not act like she had a right to feel that way. Roy sensed she was closing off, she did nothing to hide that. But he was sure that she was listening to his words, she needed to, so she could tell herself about how they weren't true.

Roy sighed just a bit as he thought about speaking once more. He wanted to say to her that her pride would get her killed. That she was over confidant and that that would just leave her dead on the field.  

But she just seemed so overwhelmed by everything...Her pride, it wouldn't let her admit that everything she had done to become such a great warrior needed to be added upon, and that she couldn't do this alone. She was learning a new language, coming in to the modern world it seemed for the first time. It was almost like trying to learn to live an entirely new life in a little bit. Like being born an adult, and expected to act like one even though you don't know how. It must be hard on her. Roy was moved to sadness, but he dare not show that. She would see it as pity, and that would make things so much worse.

"Listen Megali, you don't need me, and I don't need you either. But that doesn't mean we can't benefit from each other no? I don't know how to fight with a melee weapon, does that mean I'm dependent on someone who does? No, it doesn't make me worthless.  Don't let your pride be your downfall. Let's be equals, I won't settle for anything less that. Let's teach other. Let's BOTH become better because of it."

And there it was. For a while now she had wondered what it would take to prompt a crack of thunder from this man and evidently she had finally done so. In the face of her overwhelming ego, Roy's own pride has risen up and drawn a line in the sand. He went on about guns and monsters, the frailty of humanity in the face of modern weaponry. Throughout it all he hammered upon the risk of destruction that her pride carried.

He wasn't wrong.

Odysseus' rhetoric had played a large role in her participation at Troy but if she was being truly honest, the prophecy that her greatest glory awaited her along with her death had been what convinced her. She was so confident, so damn sure that she would be able to overcome the odds and carve her name into history without falling. Despite how many she cut down, despite how close she had come, she had failed in the end. Was it all because of her stubborn pride?

No. No she would not accept that. The great Achilles did not fall through fault of her own. Random chance had spelled her doom. A single lucky shot guided by deities supporting the Trojans had killed her, not pride. It was true that war and weaponry had advanced beyond her time but perhaps that was for the best. When even the likes of Hector crumpled before her, it was time to seek even greater heights. This new era was nothing but the next chapter of her legend, a new challenge to be overcome like all the others.

"He hasn't the slightest idea who he speaks to," she thought to herself, deciding to forgive such an outburst. Besides, in a strange way this further showing of a backbone had made her like him even more, especially with his intentions to become her equal laid bare.

"You will have your wish. I do not acknowledge those content in my wake. So long as you try to walk by my side you will be my comrade." She turned back to face him squarely, her blue eyes locking onto his to simply stare for a while. Her body language, previously closed off and defensive, had opened back up considerably to fully recognize his pride. "But you will fall every time. I seek only the pinnacle and I will stand there alone. To do any less would be worthless."

Roy listened as she told him that she would comply with that, that she was acknowledging his equality. That had gone much better than Roy had feared. He wasn't so much worried, as he was concerned that he would drive her off. It wouldn't do either of them good to have bad blood between the two of them so close to the start of the game.

That last line, made him smile. Roy looked her in the eyes when he spoke. Cooly, calmly. Without the possibility of not being deathly serious.

"Challenge accepted; my friend."

Cracking into his usual smile now, a little more lighthearted, definitely a little more carefree. He asked her a very simple question to ease things up a bit.

"Hungry Megali? We could grab some food if you'd like. Seems like we might have done what we could here for the moment."

Once again, he was taking her statements in stride. An impressive feat really, considering the time it had taken to built that sort of relationship with even her trusted Myrmidon back in the day. His smile did much to break the relative tension of the exchange and signaled an end to the process of establishing their borders.

The prospect of a meal did not go unappreciated by the Greek. She had not eaten prior to beginning her daily exercises and though it had been far from the forefront of her mind with the constant stream of activity, now that Roy had mentioned it she became distinctly aware of a slight hollowness in her stomach. Pressing her palms against the padded bench beneath her, she engaged her shoulder muscles to lift her body into the air before uncrossing her legs and allowing them to touch the gym floor once more. There was a pleasant rush of blood to her lower extremities as she rose to her full height, settling most of her weight on her left leg.

"Yes. I would like a meal," she said plainly, pausing only to blow an errant lock of hair back into place among the bangs concealing her right eye.

Roy continued to smile lightly as she responded, and nodding his head he went to retrieve his Gi from the not to distant table. While he did this he was made very aware of the cold temperature of the floor against his bare feet, he normally didn't go wandering around the base without shoes but he didn't really care to take a detour to stop and and get them from his room. Wouldn't matter anyway, his feet were already filthy.

Roy laid his Gi over his shoulder as he came back to her, just in time to see her bow a strand of hair out from in front of her eye. Roy said to her.

"Wonderful, cause I'm pretty hungry."

All the while Roy didn't let a small smile drop from his face, he startd to walk towards the mess, and he assumed she would follow. He felt no reason to specifically request that she did however, even though it was innocent enough he felt after their big, "shoulder to shoulder" stand off moment thing that that might be a bit counter productive towards that. She would follow him if she wished, and that would simply be that.

As he walked however he wondered if she wanted to speak a little bit more, or just dwell in silence for a little bit. He asked her aloud a simple question, and judging by how she answered he figured he could probably get a feel for her mood. "So what do you like to eat?"

---------------------> Post continued in Mess Hall. Also. Exiting to Mess.

"It does not matter to me. I will make do."


=====>Exit to Mess Hall