862/Monkey Princess Training Grounds

Monkey Princess Training Grounds
Date of Scene:	08 December 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Cure Princess trains with Cure Wukong, preparing the new precure for adventure, danger and fighting meanies! But gasp, who is that on the horizon?! It's Iona! Could it be? Has her fight found the sparkle motion?! Can friendship blossom on the training field?! Tune in to find out! ... But yes, it can.
Cast of Characters:	Cho Konishi, Hime Shirayuki, Iona Hikawa
Tinyplot:	The Precure Hunter Attacks!? The Dreaded Precure Graveyard!

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Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong had invited Princess to train with her! ... Primarily because she'd invited her before and it was finally time to do it. They'd had to go to a more isolated part of the school to do it, outside. Because unlike SOME people, they didn't have magic barriers of no-property-damage. Instead they had to work on not destroying things by showing some restraint.

Wuwu was, of course, watching them... and had started off the training session by warning Princess he intended to make good on his threat. If she didn't put on a good show, he'd make Cho stop helping her. Because he wouldn't let her hold his student back. Cho said not to worry about that, he... probably wouldn't. Maybe. She hoped?

Either way, though, Cure Wukong seemed to be taking this somewhat seriously. As the moment Princess said she was ready... She came running at her, swinging the staff behind herself, bringing it up for an overhead strike...

As a distraction, while her tail lashed out and tried to trip Princess's feet from under her, then follow up with a (Not actually that hard because Cure Wukong knew she was still learning) downward swing on the other girl.

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
Cure Princess had shown up full of vigor and excitement! And then Wuwu had reminded her, and the doubt began to creep in visibily. She had started off strong, but everytime she glanced his way, she'd falter a bit and grow nervous a bit more. The weight of failing was immense to her, and the cute bluenette felt the pit of her stomach souring.

As the staff swung this time, though, she ducked low and to the side, trying to bring her leg up to deliver a kick to Wukong's tummy. Buuuuut, it was a distraction! The tail catches her foot and she EEPS as she falls flat on her butt, her face red. She almost cries, but doesn't have a chance to, as that swing is coming.

The girl rolls, her pretty Cure dress swishing, and leaps not just to her feet, but from the ground and towards Wukong, letting out a little cry of battle as she tries to deliver a few, rapid punches to her torso!

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona had been looking for Hime in the extended school breaks. Her change of heart over the matter after the talk with Cure Daybreak is genuine, even so there is so hesitation in her steps, hesitation born of the nervousness that comes from trying a road yet unwalked and the prospect of having to face everyone's reaction.

Thanks to Glasan's help, it didn't take too long in finding out her location, the noise of training also providing some help once the purple-haired girl was close enough to Hime and Cho. Despite all her years of training in being calm and collected, there is a visible rigidity in her limbs that betrays the tension she is currently feeling.

She has brought with herself a few sports drinks, just in case they were actually training like they had mentioned. "H-hi, Cure Wukong, Cure Princess", she says once she is close enough to the duo. "I see you have been hard at work, right?"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong pulled the swing slightly when the girl went down. After all, she didn't want to really hurt her. It was a lesson to pay attention in all directions, not how to cope with a concussion. But it turned out she didn't have to even go that far, because when her staff hit, it hit AIR. She stared for a moment before whipping her head around to see Princess and...

The blows hit, knocking her tumbling back. She rolled up into a ball as she went, the staff flying up into the air. However, when she un-balled, she leaped up into the air, tufts of hair flying out to become FIVE of her! She then spun in the air, sending the clones at her, who--

Missed, flailing a bit when suddenly someone was calling out to them. Cure Wukong tossed her staff down, point first into the ground, landing on it. She then looked to Iona, tail still wrapped around the staff so she didn't lose her balance. "Huh? Hikawa-san? Uhhhh... Yes! We have been! Princess is showing real improvement!"

Oh dear. She felt her own nerves sky rocketing. Was Princess ready for this? Was Fortune going to fight her? Was she going to fight THEM?

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
She braced herself when the multiple Wukong's suddenly appeared, and her hand went to the cute device on her wrist. The girl was about to retaliate when...oh no.

No no no no. Not her.

Cure Princess' visibly stiffened when she heard the voice, and she turns to look at Iona over her shoulder, her big blue pigtails partially obscuring her expression from her. "O-oh! I...I didn't have enough time!," she says quickly, scrambling for words. "I...I'm still training! I...thought you were going to give me more time before deciding..."

The stress and fear and immediate self-doubt in her young voice could be felt as it cracked a bit.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
The chief reason Iona has come here as herself and not as Cure Fortune is because she really didn't want to give the impression she was going to fight them, though that has been a vain effort with Cho's reaction, but really, she should have expected it. This has always been the situation among the three of them. It doesn't help any with her nerves though.

Iona tosses one of her sports drinks at Cho, confident that the monkey girl is going to catch it, while she approaches Hime, fighting against her steps made of lead.

"Congratulations on your improvements, Cure Princess", Iona says, personally giving Hime one of her sports drinks, waiting for her to take it before starting to talk again. If she doesn't, the purple-haired girl puts it back in her bag, with a sad grimace. "So, I wanted to talk, Princess. The thing is I wanted to apologise." The last sentence is said so low that nobody would be surprised if it went unheard.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong didn't want to say it, but well... she didn't think Princess was ready. She was getting better, but she wasn't ready to put it all on the line! She still had confidence issues and anxieties and--

And then there was a sports drink tossed to Cho and she snagged it from the air... and she, unlike the real Wukong, wasn't a perfect bastion of balance. She toppled backwards... and then flipped through the air, landing on her feet with her staff held in her tail. "Yup, totally meant to do that." No. No she didn't.

However... then... Iona was offering PRINCESS one. For a moment, she wondered if it was poisoned. But quickly abandoned that thought. Her tail moved out and... lightly nudged Princess towards it. While she didn't hear what Iona said... she was slooooowly inching forward to try and hear betterr. After all, it was hopefully something good! Ish. Goodish enough. Maybe? She hoped.

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
Cure Princess turns towards Iona as she approaches, taking some deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. It's okay. Don't be a coward. She sallows and stares at that offered sports drink for a very long, awkward moment. Just as Iona is about to put it away, Wukong gives her the tail-nudge, and she reaches out to grab it. She unscrews the cap and swallows down a few gulps. With a shimmer of brilliant light, she transform back into little Hime. She glances back at Cho, and then to Iona, looking up at her.

"A...apologize?," she asks in a small voice.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Yes, that would be it", Iona replies when Hime repeats what she said. Well, things are fine so far, so may as well continue. "I have been giving you a hard time lately, and I turned the other way when people kept trying to show me your efforts, and I would have continued doing so." That would explain why she is so out of the blue, at least in so far as it says it wasn't planned.

"I am sorry about the stress I caused you and the fact I closed myself off from everyone! I consistently chose the worst possible option, and hindered you all. That's just what I wanted you to know, so I will go now." She has already interrupted her training for her need to get this weight off her shoulders, that's enough wasting time.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong stared, wide eyed, at the other girl. "You're apologizing? What changed?" she asked before she could help herself. She wanted to dash in and hug! But... she could see Hime already on the move. And, frankly, she wasn't going to interfere in that. Her job, in this case... wasn't to interfere, it was to support. To aid her friend where possible! Which, in this case, meant watching and taking a drink of her--

... Wait, where did HER energy drink go?!

"Ahhhhh," Wuwu said, as he tossed the empty container away. "That's refreshing."

Cure Wukong just stared at her little evil gremlin of a mascot, one eye twitching. Murder didn't work on immortals. Sadly. She'd tried.

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
Wukong voices the question she is thinking, but Hime doesn't repeat it. Instead, she looks up at the other girl with a look of wonder in her big, blue eyes. "I..."

And then Iona is moving away. Before she can escape, however, Hime steps up to her and attempts to wrap her in a warm and firm hug. She buries her face in Iona's back as she hugs her from behind, or tries to.

"Thank you. I...thank you," is all she says.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Do you remember Cure Daybreak? The girl who stumbled upon our impromptu gathering?" Cho's methods frankly still sting at her, but she pushes that back down. She is not here to raise grudges. Enough with that.

"We met during a fight, and what she said after we purified the Terribad, or maybe how she said it, frankly it was peculiar", she confesses, not really sure what word is best to use for that circumstance. "So, she pushed me to see Hime training , and so, that's why I would be here. Maybe, after you two are done with today, we could start training together. If you are both ok with it, I mean." She tosses Cho a second drink when she notices what Wuwu did to the first, accompanied by an unnerved sigh. Good thing she brought enough for a second and even third round.

When Hime hugs her, she has to keep herself from stumbling, not due to the fact her movement was arrested. She just didn't expect that to be Hime's reaction. She turns around as best and as quickly the hug allows her too, and with one arm, she hugs Hime back, and with the other she pats her head.

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
The shorter, younger girl's head is patted, and she blushes a hint as she gets the side hug. "Well, I don't know what she said to you, but I'm glad she did," she says softly. She's struggling for what to say, but thankfully Wukong speaks up. She gently unwraps her arms and clears her throat, the girl taking a few steps back so she isn't crowding Iona.

"Yes! You should join us now, if you want!" And then Wukong starts and she looks about ready to wilt, before she ends up laughing, instead. She covers her mouth as she watches the monkey get knocked into next week.

"Oh my..."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong couldn't help grinning when she saw them. Yesssss. BONDING! They were all bonding, like cure girls should! And... Daybreak had done it? Wukong, for a moment, wondered... what had the other girl said that she hadn't? Daybreak...

She would need to meet this Daybreak again. Obviously she had mastered the art of run blindly into problem and... wait. No. Maybe she DIDN'T run blindly into problems and flail at them until they stopped being a problem! Maybe... maybe she learned and worked to understand the issues, slowly solving and understanding people, helping them to bond that way!

... Either way, Daybreak figured this out so Wukong had to figure out HOW!

"You could join us now!" Cure Wukong said. "We only just started and, frankly, it sounds like a good idea! And--"

"Hold on!" Wuwu snapped. "I still haven't decided if I'm even going to let Princess train with you after today, she needs to--"

"Fore!" Cure Wukong yelled. Wuwu had barely a moment to realize what was about to happen before Cure Wukong used her stick to golf drive the mascot off into the distance. She then turned back around to face the pair and lifted a fist into the air. "Let's practice together! Precure girls punching out until our punchers give out! Or... something like that!"

She then glanced towards where she sent Wuwu... "And uhhh. Don't worry about him. He's immortal. It doesn't actually do much."

However, her victory achieved, she took the new drink, opened it wide and took a long, powerful drink from it... and then choked a bit, sputtering and coughing some, covering her mouth with a hand. "I-I'm okay!" Small, steady drinks, Wukong. She just got excited.

Hime Shirayuki has posed:
The shorter, younger girl's head is patted, and she blushes a hint as she gets the side hug. "Well, I don't know what she said to you, but I'm glad she did," she says softly. She's struggling for what to say, but thankfully Wukong speaks up. She gently unwraps her arms and clears her throat, the girl taking a few steps back so she isn't crowding Iona.

"Yes! You should join us now, if you want!" And then Wukong starts and she looks about ready to wilt, before she ends up laughing, instead. She covers her mouth as she watches the monkey get knocked into next week.

"Oh my..."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
To be fair, the reason Daybreak has succeeded was out of Cho's control. Well, mostly out of Cho's control, but even if she were the world's best orator, she would have found hard to achieve what Daybreak did. It was truly a now or never moment the one Daybreak stumbled upon.

'Is that really something I could do?' is the question that runs through her mind now. But again, that was the intention sooner or later, and they are accepting her now, so what sense would waiting make? "Alright!", she smiles widely at the two Cures. "Thank you a lot, Cure Wukong, Cure Princess! I will gladly train with you, and next time, I will show up with some proposals of my own!"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong let out a happy squeal, tossing her stick into the air when she did so. "WOO! See? We're like a whole team then! All three of us will kick so much butt! And when we meed Daybreak we should invite her too! We'd be like, a full team! Oh my gosh we'd be a team..." She clasped her hands together and almost sparkled for a moment.

A whole magical girl team. She was legitimately giddy about it.

"Proposals? OH! Like dietary requirements? Or do you mean magical routine things? Like, 500 jumping jacks, three hundred tail crunches? Or do you mean like, other kinds of magical things? Either way, come on! I wanna see what kind of magic things you two do! I got stick, clones and stuff I steal from wrestling, I wanna see the neat things your kind of cure magic does!"