[Serena Miller]

Serena was continuing to make a point to visit the other facilities that the school had to offer now that she was a little less nervous about being around people.  The crowds still made her head spin, but being in the less crowded areas really wasn't so bad.  At the very least, she had enough courage to walk around and see what was there now.  Her eyes lit up when she realized that not only did they have a training area for Pokemon, but they had one for the students as well.  After being cooped up inside for so long, she was starting to feel a little out of shape.  It made climbing Mount Magmadyne for the first time far  more difficult than she expected.  While she wouldn't say she was weak even now, she could definitely feel the difference.  Now, she knew that she had a way to fix that feeling and it felt great.

Of course, she probably appeared more out of shape than she actually was, something that always embarrassed her.  Serena was strong and agile, but her wide shoulders and hips and overall stocky build made her look somewhat fat.  There were some hints of muscle, but much of it was hidden under her somewhat squishy exterior.  She could never lose weight no matter how hard she tried or how active she was, so she had given up trying long ago.  At this point, she just blamed it all on bad genetics.

Serena got up at the crack of dawn to get to the outdoor archery range early.  There was nothing better than the morning sunrise, and the feeling of fresh dew on the grass.  At this hour, it wouldn't be nearly as hot as it would be in the afternoon, and Serena just honestly loved mornings.  It was the perfect time to get some archery practice in.  Her Growlithe, Natalia, followed dutifully behind her, also looking happy that she was spending less time in her dorm room.  

Once she got there, she pulled her bow out of its case, slung the quiver over her shoulder and pulled out an arrow to shoot at one of the targets.  Even though the draw weight was pretty heavy for such a small bow, she was still able to pull it back almost effortlessly.  It was a little harder than it was when she left home due to her lack of practice, but it wasn't that noticeable in the end.  What was noticeable was how much worse her aim was.  She was only hitting the center about one in every three shots, and most of the others were hitting the next ring.  It was a little disheartening to see that, but it just proved she needed more practice to get rid of her rustiness.  Fortunately, she should be able to stay here all morning.  Even her Growlithe seemed content to just lay on the grass and enjoy the sun.  There was nothing stopping her from staying here until she got hungry for lunch.

[Blaise Cain]

The athletic grounds. Blaise walked around the site, his Dratini Gallahad sat on his shoulders. The two of them looked about alertly as they explored the new area. Well, new to them. Not a bad place, he thought. And besides this was more his speed. More than the library, at least. Blaise could already envision himself spending a lot of time here, just working out and taking advantage of the facilities. He was, after all, a student. These things were here for him to use. He'd be a fool not to utilize them.

But for now, he'd content himself to a quick run around the track. It would do him some good. He'd barely had time to do anything else since he arrived at Gray Haven. The new school certainly kept him busy. Though sometimes it was an inconvenience, he'd let it slide. After all, this was the closest he could get to being a real trainer. At least for now.

His feet beat against the track, as he rounded the corner. He liked running. It put a good feel in his muscles, and it made for an almost meditative experience. Certainly, it was in his best interest to run when he could. Perhaps he could start a routine for running. Yes, routines were good. His mother had always told him that. They built discipline. Discipline built skill. And skill, though he believed he had it in ample supply already, was what he wanted. He was going to be a dragon tamer. There were no unskilled dragon tamers. That's what he learned in Blackthorn. The strong will of the dragon type Pokemon made that an impossible thing to be.

Eventually, he came to a walk and then a stop. He was done running for now. And besides, he still had things to see here. Like the archery range. He was surprised that the school had one. But he supposed that's what separated an academy from just a plain old school: many more resources. He walked across the way to the archery range. A girl was there, red haired, red uniform. From the Lava Dorm? Probably, he thought. She was firing at the targets, placing her shots. Blaise had to admit: for someone who had never shot an arrow before, he was impressed that she hit the target. Even more impressed when she hit the center. Now that was a good shot, he thought.

"Hey," he called to her, "Nice shooting!"

[Serena Miller]

"Eh?"

Serena turned her head in surprise. Fortunately, unlike in potentially dangerous situations, she didn't feel the need to just immediately point her weapon in the strange noise's direction. The sudden jerk of her body did make her point the bow away from her target, and since she was just about to release for her next shot it went wide, hitting a target two targets over from the one she was aiming at, and embedding itself into the side of it with a loud twang as the arrow shook back and forth. While she was glad it didn't hit the person trying to talk to her, her face still flushed a little in embarrassment for still making such a silly mistake.

Of course, that mistake didn't embarrass her nearly as much as being complimented. She still had no idea how to handle that because not only was what she was doing not that impressive, it just never happened to her. If her mother was watching this, she'd be asking why Serena couldn't hit the target twice in a row. Or five times, or six times, or twenty times, or fifty times or one hundred times. Hitting it once was really nothing special in the end. She didn't understand why she was being praised for doing something so simple. She still wasn't quite sure how to react, but much like the last time this happened, the image that came to mind was the one of her mother berating her for not accepting a compliment that didn't really seem like a compliment to Serena. The other person she spoke to like this seemed to think it was a normal reaction, so maybe it really was what people were supposed to do?

"U-Um...Th-thank you?" Serena still wasn't so sure. "I um...I um still need more practice," she paused for a moment, swaying uncomfortably, "Um...s-sorry."

That seemed like an awkward place to end her part of the conversation. It didn't really offer him something to respond to directly, or what she thought was an obvious way to continue to talk to her. She also believed it was something she needed to do, so when she failed to think of anything else to say she was failing him somehow. When she failed someone somehow, she was supposed to apologize in her mind, no matter how minor it was, or even if the other person probably wouldn't even recognize it as on offense. It was still important to own up to these things in the end.