07-07-2024, 09:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-07-2024, 09:22 PM by wetwilleh. Edited 1 time in total.)
North of Kyoto, a woman in a bright red sweatshirt and pants slowly stalked through the mountainous forests north of Kyoto, carrying a black backpack. The ancient city of Kyoto-- now finding itself a member of the Keihanshin metropolitan area-- is an ancient one. Between the wooden temples of Old Japan, and the concrete and steel behemoths that now dominate the city center, the entire lowlands of the Kansai plain have been claimed by human development. But up north, in the mountains, remains virtually untouched. Far too mountainous for urban construction, these forested highlands remain some of the most preserved natural areas within all of Japan, with only the occasional shrine honoring one of the many kami breaking up the undisturbed beauty.
There is not much in the world that calms the woman, but if there is a place on this earth that would, it would be these hills. There's a certain tranquility up away from the city, and even the more developed countryside immediately bordering the city center, that is not only missing, but in many cases diametrically opposed, in modern civilization. Sure, she only truly ever tried to brave the journey through this forest initially in less-than-ideal conditions, back when it seemed like her entire life was falling apart. But even after Vega found her, even after she had access to anything old money could buy, Akane still found herself returning back to the highlands, to clear her head.
After the semi-public freakout in Panama, and the middling results in the Prospect Bowl, Akane knew that she needed to use whatever little free time she would have left before her world would be subsumed by football to return back home, her real home, before she's carted off to god knows where across the world. There was just so much that the prospect had to get out of her system, all the stress and disappointment in her foray in Latin America, and not a lot of time to actually process it. After being the undisputed queen of the Japanese gridiron, Akane was beyond ticked off that she felt like she was just another body within the world of international football. Despite her team, the Baja Barracudas, being hyped up before the contest as having an elite defense-- with Akane being recognized as one of the potential stars of said team-- the end result was complete mediocrity. They only won one contest so far, and that one contest in turn by a single point. While the safety made a critical play that likely saved the game for the Barracudas, her effort was barely noticed in the final statline, which ranked only middle in the pack for the Baja defense.
Bluntly, Akane felt like a failure. She didn't make the immediate impact that she thought that she was going to accomplish in the Prospect Bowl. While her tape in her college days still spoke volumes, the woman still could only think in terms of how her draft position must have tanked throughout those games. The woman relied so much on her sheer physicality to dominate the game, yet when push came to shove, the other defenders were outgunning her for tackles. Sure, her tackles may be more brutal than O'Fare or Absolue, but they never led to the same sheer volume of forced fumbles that Akane was used to. She wasn't turning games around with her strength anymore, and that made her, at best, just another body.
As the woman continued to stew in her own thoughts, she eventually found her way to the area within the forest that she was looking for, a secluded cave nested deep within the woods. This cave was special to Akane, for it is, during the worst moments of her life, where she sought refuge. It represented, as far as anything in this accursed world could possibly be, some sort of safe place. As Akane peered inside, a small smile started to form on her face. It still was undisturbed from the last time she camped out here. Granted, there wasn't much to disturb; a blanket for resting on was the main accompaniment, with a small lamp and, more recently, a football (for practicing not letting go), being some objects that the Yajin permanently kept in the cave. Beyond these light amenities though, Akane perferred to keep her secluded adobe light; she never knows if someone else, man or animal, will notice this hideout, and there's nothing valuable here that she'd miss if it ever came to that.
The prospect threw her bag on the floor of the cave, and then kneeled down to open it up. Her hands dug for a few seconds, feeling for a particular object, before eventually pulling out a tupperware container. Akane then stepped out of the cave, walking a short distance over towards a small clearing. There, the safety's eyes came locked with perhaps one of the few visible elements of human activity in the forest; a makeshift shrine. There are many shrines up in the Kyoto highlands dedicated to the countless kami. They serve as pilgrimage sites for locals willing to take the hike up into the wilderness, and places where holy men and women can try to continue to live a somewhat traditional life away from the modern city. The shrine Akane is looking at, however, would be found on no map, and is recognized by no one but herself, for it was indeed she herself who built it.
Originally just marked by a few sticks she arranged in the ground in a pattern, one trip Akane took post-meeting Vega involved her making a more permanent shrine in the area. Built in a crude facsimile of a hokura, it certainly wasn't going to win any awards for stunning architecture. But for Akane, it was important that the wooden edifice was there at all in the first place. Akane's relationship with the traditional shinto beliefs of Japan is complicated, and in many cases outright heterodox, but one thing she definitely keeps to her heart is the belief that she is just one part of a wider natural world. Humans exists in nature's world, and not vice versa, and it was important to recognize that. Otherwise, humans lose sight of what's important, and that leads to... well, modern society, bluntly.
The woman approached her DIY shrine, and opened up the tupperware. Inside was a cut of raw tenderloin, which the safety deposited next to the wooden edifice while bowing. Usually, if food offerings are given, an offering of rice or tofu was the traditional offering. However, Akane never felt those were appropriate for her. Inside of her heart was a warrior, a fighter, a predator. After all, why else would she get into those rage-trances otherwise? Therefore, it only made sense that, if there was any kami out there that were watching over her, they'd be similar predatory nature spirits. They wouldn't want rice, they'd want meat. Something to satisfy their own hunger.
The prospect finished the ritual with a symbolic muted clap (she recalled it had something to do with the Buddha? She wasn't entirely sure), before bowing again. Akane then walked away from the shrine, towards the real purpose of why she returned back to her makeshift camp: to train. There was no weights, no treadmills, no punching bags, no modern equipment at all in these training grounds. Bluntly, though, she didn't feel like she needed it. Everything she needed to do to work out, was available here in the forest. Pull ups? Tree branches. Cardio? The uneven terrain made it perfect for steps. Weights? Just find a big enough rock. Everything Akane needed was already here, and in her mind, just as effective. Mankind got strong way before the invention of modern sports science, and god willing, would need to get buff once civilization finally collapses.
Akane lined up in front of one of the trees, a great Japanese maple, and took a deep breath. Then, a second later, she charged straight at the tree, hitting it shoulder first in a checkdown-like motion. Of course, a fully grown, mature tree could easily take the brunt force of Akane, and it was the woman who was flung down on her back. Akane got back up in her feet, took another deep breath, and charged again. And again. and again. Her mind went to those blowhard pundits, like Stephen A. Madden, who doubted her, and imagined his face on the maple. And then she screamed at the tree, before charging straight into it. Then she imagined her competition, such as David Corrigan, as the face on the tree, and similarly slammed her body against him too. She went through the list, of other Guardians that publicly gotten into feuds with Barracudas, imagining herself throwing her entire weight against them. Each slam only knocked Akane back down, but she threw herself back up.
Then, she imagined her own fellow safeties, such as Linz O'Fare or Victoire Absolue. They were allies for now. But they were future competition. Competitors for draft stock, competitors down the line for the DSFL and gods willing the ISFL. Their faces went on the maple, and she slammed against them. Even the other Baja Boys, such as Jonathan Dailey and his luscious hair, he was potential competition. He needed to be knocked down. Everyone did. Another slam. And another. Every enemy that Akane ever made in her life, she pictured in that maple, and slammed against it. Old teachers, sukeban ringleaders that tried to pick on her... even her own parents. Akane made sure to slam against the tree multiple times for them. Practically everyone she ever met in her life that she bothered remembering-- everyone but Vega-- found their way in her mental war. Including, as she slammed against the tree one more time, she pictured herself. The greatest enemy. The one she hated the most.
It took a while for Akane to get back on her feet after the last slam. Not only was she physically spent, but perhaps even emotionally. So many emotions were rushing through her head, so many repressed memories coming back. But she refused to back down. Even if she couldn't defeat them now, she could defeat them in spirit. Keep charging, keep fighting, never giving up. But for now, she needed to rest. She swung as much as she could, and she did a pretty damn good job at it, if she could say so herself. Yeah, the maple was still standing, but that's ok. It's a strong, healthy tree. She had no chance to ever fell it; that's the point. She wouldn't have done it to a weak tree that couldn't take the punishment. This wasn't her forest to destroy.
After a few minutes of panting on the ground, Akane slowly pushed herself back on her feet and went inside the cave. She reached into her backpack once more and grabbed a water bottle. Sitting down on the blanket, the woman started chugging. Slamming yourself against a tree repeatedly until exhaustion is, well, exhausting work. Every animal, humans included, need water to sustain extended exertion. Nothing wrong with fufilling base desires whatsoever. As she voraciously consumed the clear liquid, her mind went back to what else she was going to do in her workout. Perhaps she should go back to the maple; there was a branch there at just the right height and eveness to work as a great bar. She should focus on doing pull-ups there, to build up her upper arm strength. Speed was an issue she was having on the field; it wouldn't be a bad idea to figure out a good path to start running laps around. If she can keep her momentum going around such a hilly enviroment, she can certainly do the same on the flat gridiron.
The prospect finished the bottle of water and slammed it down on the blanket. Once she was done working out, she'd clean up her trash. It's not good to leave plastic around in the forest. But right now her bag is full (including more water bottles; she needs to keep hydrated the entire workout!), and there would be little point stuffing it back in the bag until she was done for the night. For now, she just got back on her feet, and headed once more towards the maple. The woman walked up to the branch in question, and after a brief second of concentration, jumped up and grabbed the branch. Akane's body started to tremble under the stress as she pulled herself upwards, lifting her head above the branch, before dropping back down. She repeated the process multiple times, getting herself into a deep rhythm. The woman only just begun her secluded workout in the forest, and she had no intention of stopping anytime soon...
There is not much in the world that calms the woman, but if there is a place on this earth that would, it would be these hills. There's a certain tranquility up away from the city, and even the more developed countryside immediately bordering the city center, that is not only missing, but in many cases diametrically opposed, in modern civilization. Sure, she only truly ever tried to brave the journey through this forest initially in less-than-ideal conditions, back when it seemed like her entire life was falling apart. But even after Vega found her, even after she had access to anything old money could buy, Akane still found herself returning back to the highlands, to clear her head.
After the semi-public freakout in Panama, and the middling results in the Prospect Bowl, Akane knew that she needed to use whatever little free time she would have left before her world would be subsumed by football to return back home, her real home, before she's carted off to god knows where across the world. There was just so much that the prospect had to get out of her system, all the stress and disappointment in her foray in Latin America, and not a lot of time to actually process it. After being the undisputed queen of the Japanese gridiron, Akane was beyond ticked off that she felt like she was just another body within the world of international football. Despite her team, the Baja Barracudas, being hyped up before the contest as having an elite defense-- with Akane being recognized as one of the potential stars of said team-- the end result was complete mediocrity. They only won one contest so far, and that one contest in turn by a single point. While the safety made a critical play that likely saved the game for the Barracudas, her effort was barely noticed in the final statline, which ranked only middle in the pack for the Baja defense.
Bluntly, Akane felt like a failure. She didn't make the immediate impact that she thought that she was going to accomplish in the Prospect Bowl. While her tape in her college days still spoke volumes, the woman still could only think in terms of how her draft position must have tanked throughout those games. The woman relied so much on her sheer physicality to dominate the game, yet when push came to shove, the other defenders were outgunning her for tackles. Sure, her tackles may be more brutal than O'Fare or Absolue, but they never led to the same sheer volume of forced fumbles that Akane was used to. She wasn't turning games around with her strength anymore, and that made her, at best, just another body.
As the woman continued to stew in her own thoughts, she eventually found her way to the area within the forest that she was looking for, a secluded cave nested deep within the woods. This cave was special to Akane, for it is, during the worst moments of her life, where she sought refuge. It represented, as far as anything in this accursed world could possibly be, some sort of safe place. As Akane peered inside, a small smile started to form on her face. It still was undisturbed from the last time she camped out here. Granted, there wasn't much to disturb; a blanket for resting on was the main accompaniment, with a small lamp and, more recently, a football (for practicing not letting go), being some objects that the Yajin permanently kept in the cave. Beyond these light amenities though, Akane perferred to keep her secluded adobe light; she never knows if someone else, man or animal, will notice this hideout, and there's nothing valuable here that she'd miss if it ever came to that.
The prospect threw her bag on the floor of the cave, and then kneeled down to open it up. Her hands dug for a few seconds, feeling for a particular object, before eventually pulling out a tupperware container. Akane then stepped out of the cave, walking a short distance over towards a small clearing. There, the safety's eyes came locked with perhaps one of the few visible elements of human activity in the forest; a makeshift shrine. There are many shrines up in the Kyoto highlands dedicated to the countless kami. They serve as pilgrimage sites for locals willing to take the hike up into the wilderness, and places where holy men and women can try to continue to live a somewhat traditional life away from the modern city. The shrine Akane is looking at, however, would be found on no map, and is recognized by no one but herself, for it was indeed she herself who built it.
Originally just marked by a few sticks she arranged in the ground in a pattern, one trip Akane took post-meeting Vega involved her making a more permanent shrine in the area. Built in a crude facsimile of a hokura, it certainly wasn't going to win any awards for stunning architecture. But for Akane, it was important that the wooden edifice was there at all in the first place. Akane's relationship with the traditional shinto beliefs of Japan is complicated, and in many cases outright heterodox, but one thing she definitely keeps to her heart is the belief that she is just one part of a wider natural world. Humans exists in nature's world, and not vice versa, and it was important to recognize that. Otherwise, humans lose sight of what's important, and that leads to... well, modern society, bluntly.
The woman approached her DIY shrine, and opened up the tupperware. Inside was a cut of raw tenderloin, which the safety deposited next to the wooden edifice while bowing. Usually, if food offerings are given, an offering of rice or tofu was the traditional offering. However, Akane never felt those were appropriate for her. Inside of her heart was a warrior, a fighter, a predator. After all, why else would she get into those rage-trances otherwise? Therefore, it only made sense that, if there was any kami out there that were watching over her, they'd be similar predatory nature spirits. They wouldn't want rice, they'd want meat. Something to satisfy their own hunger.
The prospect finished the ritual with a symbolic muted clap (she recalled it had something to do with the Buddha? She wasn't entirely sure), before bowing again. Akane then walked away from the shrine, towards the real purpose of why she returned back to her makeshift camp: to train. There was no weights, no treadmills, no punching bags, no modern equipment at all in these training grounds. Bluntly, though, she didn't feel like she needed it. Everything she needed to do to work out, was available here in the forest. Pull ups? Tree branches. Cardio? The uneven terrain made it perfect for steps. Weights? Just find a big enough rock. Everything Akane needed was already here, and in her mind, just as effective. Mankind got strong way before the invention of modern sports science, and god willing, would need to get buff once civilization finally collapses.
Akane lined up in front of one of the trees, a great Japanese maple, and took a deep breath. Then, a second later, she charged straight at the tree, hitting it shoulder first in a checkdown-like motion. Of course, a fully grown, mature tree could easily take the brunt force of Akane, and it was the woman who was flung down on her back. Akane got back up in her feet, took another deep breath, and charged again. And again. and again. Her mind went to those blowhard pundits, like Stephen A. Madden, who doubted her, and imagined his face on the maple. And then she screamed at the tree, before charging straight into it. Then she imagined her competition, such as David Corrigan, as the face on the tree, and similarly slammed her body against him too. She went through the list, of other Guardians that publicly gotten into feuds with Barracudas, imagining herself throwing her entire weight against them. Each slam only knocked Akane back down, but she threw herself back up.
Then, she imagined her own fellow safeties, such as Linz O'Fare or Victoire Absolue. They were allies for now. But they were future competition. Competitors for draft stock, competitors down the line for the DSFL and gods willing the ISFL. Their faces went on the maple, and she slammed against them. Even the other Baja Boys, such as Jonathan Dailey and his luscious hair, he was potential competition. He needed to be knocked down. Everyone did. Another slam. And another. Every enemy that Akane ever made in her life, she pictured in that maple, and slammed against it. Old teachers, sukeban ringleaders that tried to pick on her... even her own parents. Akane made sure to slam against the tree multiple times for them. Practically everyone she ever met in her life that she bothered remembering-- everyone but Vega-- found their way in her mental war. Including, as she slammed against the tree one more time, she pictured herself. The greatest enemy. The one she hated the most.
It took a while for Akane to get back on her feet after the last slam. Not only was she physically spent, but perhaps even emotionally. So many emotions were rushing through her head, so many repressed memories coming back. But she refused to back down. Even if she couldn't defeat them now, she could defeat them in spirit. Keep charging, keep fighting, never giving up. But for now, she needed to rest. She swung as much as she could, and she did a pretty damn good job at it, if she could say so herself. Yeah, the maple was still standing, but that's ok. It's a strong, healthy tree. She had no chance to ever fell it; that's the point. She wouldn't have done it to a weak tree that couldn't take the punishment. This wasn't her forest to destroy.
After a few minutes of panting on the ground, Akane slowly pushed herself back on her feet and went inside the cave. She reached into her backpack once more and grabbed a water bottle. Sitting down on the blanket, the woman started chugging. Slamming yourself against a tree repeatedly until exhaustion is, well, exhausting work. Every animal, humans included, need water to sustain extended exertion. Nothing wrong with fufilling base desires whatsoever. As she voraciously consumed the clear liquid, her mind went back to what else she was going to do in her workout. Perhaps she should go back to the maple; there was a branch there at just the right height and eveness to work as a great bar. She should focus on doing pull-ups there, to build up her upper arm strength. Speed was an issue she was having on the field; it wouldn't be a bad idea to figure out a good path to start running laps around. If she can keep her momentum going around such a hilly enviroment, she can certainly do the same on the flat gridiron.
The prospect finished the bottle of water and slammed it down on the blanket. Once she was done working out, she'd clean up her trash. It's not good to leave plastic around in the forest. But right now her bag is full (including more water bottles; she needs to keep hydrated the entire workout!), and there would be little point stuffing it back in the bag until she was done for the night. For now, she just got back on her feet, and headed once more towards the maple. The woman walked up to the branch in question, and after a brief second of concentration, jumped up and grabbed the branch. Akane's body started to tremble under the stress as she pulled herself upwards, lifting her head above the branch, before dropping back down. She repeated the process multiple times, getting herself into a deep rhythm. The woman only just begun her secluded workout in the forest, and she had no intention of stopping anytime soon...