|
Post by inakamoto on Feb 13, 2017 17:19:02 GMT -5
Haruhi held a finger to her chin. She saw Mulan's gesture, and surmised she wanted her thoughts on what her definition of 'control' was. The trouble was finding the right words to describe what she was aiming for. She didn't want to come off as ignorant or silly-minded, but she also knew she had to be honest about what she wanted. After a couple seconds of mulling it over, she took a quick breath.
"Control, right," Haruhi spoke, "well...for me, at least, I guess it sort of means...mastery. See, what I'm looking for is being stronger. Not just making my powers better, mind you. I mean...more focused, more...confident? What I'm trying to say is...um..."
Haruhi could visually see her train of thought careen out of control. Whatever she was trying to convey no doubt was lost on all present, and her head drooped slightly from the embarrassing display.
Hulk's answer was a bit more simplified and direct, "Not getting mad."
Haruhi couldn't help but envy Hulk's simplicity.
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Feb 13, 2017 17:30:26 GMT -5
Mulan listened patiently as both Haruhi and Hulk spoke of what control meant to them. It was clear that Hulk had a more precise idea while Haruhi's was vague. However, both had given her the basic framework they would need in order to benefit at all from what she could teach and she slowly nodded her head as she took in this information.
"I see. What both of you seek to control isn't that different from what most people want. We all seek to control aspects of ourselves and the world that surrounds us but often we mistake control for other things."
She closed her eyes for a moment before slowly lowering herself to the ground and sitting with her legs crossed.
"Please, join me."
|
|
|
Post by inakamoto on Feb 21, 2017 9:02:33 GMT -5
Haruhi and Hulk were a bit slow joining Mulan on the ground. Haruhi was unsure how best to approach without seeming too eager, while Hulk stepped a bit awkwardly around as he took a spot next to Mulan. As he planted himself on the ground, a minuscule tremor could be felt beneath them. As Haruhi assumed a cross-legged position near Mulan, she looked over her position, trying to figure about how to best position herself. It might've been silly to assume whether or not the position was important, but she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
As she sat down, Haruhi looked sideways over at Hulk. He seemed to be ready to begin, his gaze fixated straight ahead as he awaited Mulan's instruction. Her sights then focused on Mulan. She hoped she was doing everything right, although a part of her expected to hear some kind of correctional instruction about her posture.
"Okay," Haruhi said after taking a quick breath, "ready."
Hulk simply nodded, signalling he also was ready.
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 6, 2017 0:22:46 GMT -5
Mulan waited for the two of them patiently but even after they had seated themselves in front of her she didn't speak. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She repeated this several times without looking at or speaking to either Hulk or Haruhi. The only noise in the tent at that point was their breathing and the distant sound of the circus.
In fact, she continued this for so long that it seemed like she might simply be ignoring the two of them while she practiced her own meditation. However, this idea was quickly dispelled when she suddenly spoke without opening her eyes.
"Control as most people perceive it is an illusion. They think that to control something is to bend it to their will, to gain complete mastery over it and never fail in exacting their will over it. It is within this false belief that they set themselves up for failure."
She paused once more, taking in another deep breath that seemed to ease the tension from her entire body.
"It is like being caught out at sea in a riptide. We see the shore before us and believe all that is needed to reach it is to swim against the tide. We must move against the obstacle, must power through it using whatever tools are available be they our strength or wit or experience."
Here she paused once more before opening her dark eyes and staring at the pair sitting before her.
"Tell me. Have either of you two been caught in a riptide?"
|
|
|
Post by inakamoto on Mar 12, 2017 9:50:56 GMT -5
Haruhi's attention hung on every word Mulan spoke. She always liked to think of herself as open-minded, and ingesting new knowledge always seemed to come easy for her. Though, this time around, she had to repeat the words in her head to really get her meaning. After mulling over the words, it was clear...that Haruhi had only a vague clue what Mulan was trying to get at. Still, this was only the beginning of the lesson, so she held her tongue, and continued to listen.
Hulk had even less understanding of what Mulan's meaning was. Then again, he wasn't trying to really think in depth about what she wanted to convey. The words seemed to enter one ear, and flow out the other. He was starting to feel a bit bored, though he tried not to show it.
Mulan's question seemed like an odd one, and both hesitated to answer. As Haruhi thought back, she recalled one of the tests GLaDOS had made her take part in during her time at Strato-Form. Basically, she was dumped into a jet-stream pool, and given the task of pulling herself to safety while being tossed about in artificial currents. She remembered feeling helpless during the whole ordeal, and a sense of panic holding her heart tightly as the world around spun out of her control.
For Hulk, the closest he could recall was during his wandering through the wilderness. He'd been pursued by a group of military commandos, and they managed to corner him at the edge of a cliff. The set off some kind of explosion that broke apart the stone formation he stood on, and he plummeted to the river below to what they must've assumed would've been his doom. He remembered hitting the water, then the river bed, and then, his vision went dark. His earliest memory after that was of a deer licking his face as he lay on the river bank, with no clue how he got there.
"Once," they both said in unison, neither of them feeling the need to elaborate.
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Apr 15, 2017 0:27:33 GMT -5
Mulan was watching both of them in perfect silence, her dark eyes seeming to reflect their images back at them in that moment. She waited and even when the silence had stretched beyond the point that most people could endure, she made no move or noise to break that silence. It wasn't until the two of them spoke in union that she finally reacted, nodding her head.
"Then you know that struggling against such a force is pointless, yet control in its truest sense of the word still exists. So let me ask you this one question. How is it one can overcome such a force, this riptide, if it is too powerful to control? How can one escape the inescapable pull of the currents that surround them and push them away from the goal they strive for, the shore they wish to reach, the control they strive for?"
Once again she fell silent, maintaining her position with ease and grace. However, her eyes seemed to speak into that silence, seemed to stare deeply at the two individuals sitting before her. And they seemed to say they already knew they answer, they just had to find it.
|
|
|
Post by inakamoto on Apr 21, 2017 17:51:01 GMT -5
Haruhi's gaze dropped slightly as she thought about Mulan's question. Thinking back to the memory of the jet-stream pool, she remembered being unable to save herself, despite her attempts to focus her own powers. In the end, it was Alpha-7 who had saved her. This always seemed the case, whenever she and Konata were in a bind, it was one of their teammates who came in to save them. In a way, her whole life seemed like an uncontrollable current, a torrential stream that seemed to enjoy tossing her from hectic situation to hectic situation without any sort of rhyme or reason.
Hulk put his hand to his chin as he thought about the question. In terms of forces trying to pin him down, he always simply fought back against it. It seemed like the default answer to any problem, for him anyway. But, he could recall moments where fighting got him nowhere, and he needed help, like how some of his teammates would need him. He was wondering where Mulan was going with this string of questions. Then, he thought back to the river. He was unconscious at the time, and yet, when he awoke, he was on the shore, through no effort of his own. He never really thought about it then, but he just assumed the current pushed him to the shoreline. Was that the point she was trying to get at?
"I...I'm not sure how to answer that," Haruhi said in a softer tone.
Hulk paused a moment, unsure how Mulan would react to his answer, then he spoke, "Don't fight?" He didn't want to show it, but the way Mulan stared at them, it made him feel a bit...tense.
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Apr 23, 2017 22:38:32 GMT -5
Mulan had continued to watch them with her dark eyes and a neutral expression on her face. However, at Hulk's words her lips slowly turned at the corners until she was giving them a small but genuine smile. It transformed her face from something cold, distant and almost reptilian to something warm and supportive.
"That's right. Just like escaping a riptide, sometimes the way to gain true mastery over something is to simply give yourself over to it completely. Don't fight it, don't struggle to control it. Merely release yourself and let the tide carry you and before you even know it, you will find yourself back on the shore you struggled so vainly to reach."
|
|