Fitness Training

[Oda Nobunaga]

Your lordship has requested that all units participate in a mandatory fitness exercise. You will be given a quota for laps, push-ups, and sit-ups you must complete within the next twelve hours. The bad weather is an obstacle you must overcome. You will be competing against the other members in your unit, and the best performers of each unit are offered the chance to share wine with their leader.

Objectives: First, you must complete ten laps around the camp, bearing through the rain and trudging through the mud. Second, you must complete 150 push-ups, and then you will finish off with 200 sit-ups. They must be completed within the twelve hour time period.

Rewards: Up to +3 Str.

Location: Your faction's main camp.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Amongst the unit of men standing out in the cold rain that lashed and pounded down relentlessly, stood the youngest son and child of Masayuki Sanada, Yukimura Sanada. Clad in a simple long sleeved dark blue cotton shirt and hakama, unlike most of his father's men that made up his unit, Yukimura was not overly muscular or bulky. In fact, the young master was rather lean and tall, but what he lacked in pure strength, he made up for in speed. Completely drenched from head to toe, there was a reason why they were all outside on such a stormy day. Requested by Lord Shingen himself, all units were to participate in a mandatory fitness exercise, which had to be completed within the next twelve hours.

All of them lined up, the moment the order was given, all of them would run out of the camp, to complete a set of ten laps around the camp. Though it sounded simple enough, because of the rain, the ground was muddy and hard to maneuver through. While many of the men would push themselves to get through the mud quickly, Yukimura would pace himself, keeping to the back of the pack. Each lap feeling like three, as many of the men began to tire once hitting the halfway mark, Yukimura on the other hand, was still good to go, and would gradually begin to pass many of the men as he continued on his laps. Soon enough, around lap eight, Yukimura was near the front of the pack, and when he neared the end of his final lap, he was at the front. In total, his run had taken him at least four hours, given the size of Lord Shingen's camp.

The bottom of his hakama coated in mud, there was no time to rest, as the second objective to be completed was 150 push-ups. Now Yukimura didn't possesses the greatest amount of upper body strength, but it wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he would lower himself down to the ground, and getting into position, would begin. The next three hours would be just plain agonizing. Though the other men would try to quickly complete their push-ups, even with their upper body strength, they were wearing themselves out quickly, so to ensure he didn't strain his muscles, Yukimura broke up the push-ups into sets of ten, giving his arms a chance to recuperate, as well as keep up a rather reasonable pace. By the end of the three hours, he had completed his, while the rest of the men appeared too exhausted to continue, but for the sake of their pride, would soldier on, eventually completing the push-ups.

The last objective to be completed, and he could finally get out of the cold and rain, was 200 sit-ups. Now this is where Yukimura shined. Sit-ups were not as labor intensive as push-ups, but they still required a decent amount of muscle. Rolling over and ending up on his back, Yukimura would pause for a moment, before beginning. Doing his best to keep up a reasonable but brisk pace, he didn't want to strain his stomach muscles, but he knew by the end of the exercise, he was going to be sore. His older sisters were going to fuss over him to no end, though in this case, he wouldn't mind it. He was going to need a hot bath immediately. It wasn't the easiest to finish, especially how tired he was, not to mention his muscles screamed bloody murder at him, but the moment he finished the two hundredth sit-up, he would just flop back down onto the ground, breathing in and out heavily.

In total, it had taken him 3 hours to finish the sit-ups. That was the most physically intensive exercise he had ever done, and he was just plain exhausted. Slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, then into a standing position, he'd literally drag his feet through the mud all the way home.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Sanada Yukimura: +3 Str

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro had taken a job to protect a daimyo's men, and they all seemed to be physically incapable of performing the tasks required of them. This made their protection even more difficult, as they all basically seemed like children in a Samurai's attire. Unfortunately, they were all adults, making them that much more pitiful. The daimyo, seeing this, decided he would put all of his men - mercenaries included - to a test. They had twelve hours to complete a fitness exercise, which involved running, push-ups, and sit-ups, all in stormy weather. Takehiro, along with the other mercenaries, were expected to lead the exercises, giving the daimyo's men something to strive for.

All of the men - mercenaries and soldiers alike - were lined up outside the camp, in a giant conglomerate of men. Many of the men had kept their armor on, for fear of catching cold in this weather. Takehiro, however, only adorned his hakama, to cover his legs. He would run through this barefoot, as a sort of challenge to himself.

As soon as the daimyo signaled, all of the men took off, running. The daimyo's men started off in a sprint, leaving the mercenaries behind from the start. Takehiro, along with the other men he worked with, paced themselves, starting off with a jog. Because of this, as the laps went on, the daimyo's men fell further and further behind the mercenaries, who would continue with relative ease. The laps would take a toll on them, however, causing their muscles to cramp up, especially given the harsh cold, and the rain pouring down on them.

Takehiro himself pushed through the laps as best he could, always at the lead. He was tired, his muscles ached, he could hardly see from his hair in his eyes, and his feet were beginning to numb, but he continued to push through the pain. In a matter of hours, he'd successfully finished each of the laps, being the first to make it back into the camp, and the first to begin the push-up test.

His body almost felt limp as he skidded to a halt, falling to his hands and knees. He went straight into the push-ups, only managing ten before his body began to burn horribly. He tried to push through the next ten, but only managed five before his arms collapsed under him, his face falling into the mud. He was already worn out from the laps. So, he decided he would spend a moment resting between each increment of fifteen push-ups, allowing his body to recover. With this method, he managed to complete the push-ups in a total of an hour-and-a-half, allowing himself ample recovery time.

By the time he'd finished the push-ups, most of the daimyo's men had only begun, so he took the time they'd done their push-ups to rest his muscles. This way, he could breeze through the sit-ups.

Two hours of rest would go by, and the mercenary would begin the sit-ups, and his body had almost fully recovered. This allowed him to push through increments of fifty before he felt his stomach tense up, and he'd successfully completed them within thirty minutes.

Boy, was he going to feel this tomorrow.

[Takeda Shingen]

Amakusa Takehiro: +3 Str

[Shinomori Katsumi]

[[Changing up the scenario a little bit to make it fit with Kat being a merc and all, if that's okay. ^^;]]

With a big event coming up, more help was needed than from the everyday guards. Several mercenaries were hired to help watch over a camp. Apparently some important military figure's daughter was getting married, and there were all sorts of rumours regarding plans about her being assassinated or the wedding being attacked by an enemy group. Katsumi was among those mercs brought in. Preparations were being made and Katsumi had been doing her job, keeping away from most of the others and keeping watch. Archers were highly valued and so she had been keeping watch at night, and making damn good money too, so she had no complaints.

Katsumi trained regularly on her own, but there had been talk about a highly vigorous training session to help build up the strength and skills of the soldiers, the guards. It sounded like one hell of a workout session, but Katsumi decided to join in. Hearing about the details, she decided it was a good idea. Building up her muscles wouldn't hurt. Strength was never her strong-suit, and she always wanted to improve, to better herself. It was ingrained in her since she was a small child.

The day of the session was raining. In fact, it was very rainy. She stood there amongst the men, pretending to be one of them, shuddering from the cold. It was a relief to start running, despite the mud, and she kept up with the men for the first few laps around the camp. But she was built for speed. While having quite a bit of endurance for her size, by the fourth lap, Katsumi began lagging behind, body slowing down. The cold and rain was weighing her down, and she felt sick. Dark hair and the cloth of her black kimono were plastered to her form, and the woman started to hate that damn tight wrap around her breasts. She couldn't get enough oxygen and her lungs burned, and Kat felt light-headed.

One lap... two... the men were starting to get far ahead of the mercenary, and she was practically at a crawl. The breeze chilled her to the bone and the woman felt lightheaded. She wasn't used to running such long distances, especially not like this. On the seventh lap, Katsumi's stomach lurched and she halted, leaning over. All of the contents of her stomach spurted from her mouth and she roughly wiped at her mouth. She desperately wanted to stop, to quit, but she forced herself to keep going.

It felt like ages, hours passing, when she reached that final lap, the whole time Katsumi wondering why the damn camp was so fucking huge. How many miles was that? Shit, how many inches of rain was there now? It was so hard picking up her feet through that mud. It was like tar. How the hell were the others already at the push-ups? Katsumi felt like she was dying. Fuck, this sucks.

Unfortunately, the push-ups were the worst. She rested for a good thirty minutes, four hours having passed counting the laps, before she started. Her arms could hardly support the woman, her petite form not built for this kind of work. She could pull back a bow no problem, but her own weight over and over again? Kat's strength was in her legs, and doing real push-ups was torture. She had to keep stopping, falling repeatedly on the ground, face first in the mud, arms shaking violently and feeling like an inferno was turning her muscles into ash. When she was halfway through, most of the men were done, having moved on, and Katsumi felt pathetic. How were they to believe she was a man when she struggled with ten, even five push-ups at a time?

Three-fourths of the way through, Katsumi couldn't keep going. She had to rest. It felt like she was dying, kimono entirely soaked through with mud and water. The woman crawled over to a tree, panting heavily as she rested against the trunk. It was so cold and Kat hugged her torso, clinging to herself in hopes of retaining some of her body heat. Exhaustion blanketing her petite, even fragile form, Katsumi dozed off, slumbering for over an hour.

Her eyes fluttered open and the grey sky was now black. How many hours had she been at this? Did she sleep? Through her exhaustion, the merc panicked and saw that all of the men were done now. She got back down on her hands and kept at it, eventually finishing the strenuous push-ups, close to six hours passing since she finished the laps.

She couldn't stop now, no matter how much her small body screamed and begged for her to do so. Due to her training with her father, Katsumi's lithe body was flexible, her stomach muscles strong, and so the merc didn't have nearly as hard of a time with the sit-ups. She was about ready to pass out from weariness, but her determination kept her going, and the girl paced herself reasonably, taking short breaks at intervals of thirty.

Towards the end, even with the pacing, she started to slow down and vision blurring, and when she reached that last one just in time with the twelve hours, Katsumi collapsed on her back. The merc laid in place, not moving a muscle since every single one ached and screamed in agony. Everything hurt then, and she internally cringed at the thought of how she'd feel in the morning. The soldiers and other mercs finished hours ago and were gone by this point, leaving Katsumi all by herself. She contemplated crawling over to her tent and sleeping, but the thought of getting up now brought tears to her eyes.

Finishing the session in time was good enough. She couldn't move her body, everything was in a blur, and Katsumi just laid in place. She couldn't get up right now. She wouldn't. Nope.

[[Had more fun writing about her suffering than I care to admit. >.>; Ahem.]]

[Oda Nobunaga]

Shinomori Katsumi: +3 Str.

And many kudos for the logic and having her fall behind. Very nice touch.

[Kyoya Naotora]

With men and women in the camp seeming to slack off lately, Lord Date has decreed that all soldiers participate in a fitness exercise that he would oversee himself. Naotora liked the idea, herself, and was more than willing to go through with the regimen, even given the weather. In fact, she loved the idea of the challenge; she could prove, once more, that she was more capable for this sort of work than any other samurai here. The best part was she could prove this in the presence of Lord Date.

The woman dressed warmly and conservatively, hiding her features, though this was only due to the cold and the rain. She figured, over time, the water would weigh her down, but it was much better than her muscles freezing up and being incapable of processing how she wanted them to.

All of the soldiers in the camp lined up just outside the walls, and they waited, the rain beating down on them. Lord Date gave them some speech and, as soon as he was done, a single musket fired into the air to signal the race had begun. All of the soldiers took off, and not a single one wanted to get left behind. And with the rain only building, they wanted to run through as little of the thick mud as they could. The more it rained, the stickier and thick the mud would get.

Naotora kept a good pace the entire time, not trying to go too fast, so as to avoid wasting all of her energy in the beginning. Ten laps around a very large camp, in these harsh conditions, would certainly wear down anyone, no matter their strength. Sprinting from the get-go was a mistake half the men made, cramping up less than halfway through and having to stop and slow down, letting those who started off slower pass them. Naotora was one of the ones who had gained a lead in the later laps, and she was able to hold it from there.

As the laps continued, Naotora's kimono became heavy, weighed down profusely by the excessive rain that poured down on her. Her hair began to get in her way, her sandals were tearing apart in the thick mud, and her hakama were wearing down her legs, inhibiting her speed. To maintain a decent pace, she had to push her muscles even harder, which she countered with proper breathing exercises. These kept the cramps from hitting her, but her muscles began to ache even faster.

Three hours had passed, and the woman had successfully completed all of her laps. Her breathing was heavy and her chest ached, but she still had two more trials to complete. Trudging into the camp, she opted to rest for a moment before proceeding to the push-ups.

After a half-hour of rest, Naotora began her push-ups. Thankfully, after using a ball and chain for as long as she had, her arms were strong enough that she could go through this task without stopping. She only needed to go slow, give herself some rest when arms really began to burn. Ten minutes was all the time she would take here, though by the end of it her arms felt like noodles. Noodles that were on fire.

The last task was that of the sit-ups. Normally, the girl would be able to do 200 of them in a single go, but her muscles were already aching horribly from the run, and she wasn't sure if she could manage it. She laid on her back in the mud and began, only able to get twenty done before her muscles seized up and she needed to stop. She grunted, relaxing her body, but she didn't rest for long. Two minutes, and she proceeded with another twenty. Repeat.

In total, the sit-ups would have taken about thirty minutes, but the rest she'd taken between each of the tasks added up to another two hours, and then the three hour run. Despite being so tired, she set a damn good record there. She was more "Samurai" than just about everyone she fought alongside.

[Takeda Shingen]

Kyoya Naotora: +3 Str

Why the hell did you do this SPQ Brandon!?

[Morei Haji]

"Oh man, I should've brought my running sandals..."

I looked at the field. It was large, much too large to my liking. And I had to run around this thing ten times? In the pouring rain? I knew I was going to regret this, but it was the task requested of me, and I had obligated to complete it to the utmost of my ability. Making sure to stretch unlike most of the men around me, I wanted to make sure I was nice and limber so I didn't pull a muscle or anything. The rain made me wish I had brought a parasol, but there was no time to back out now.

The drill instructor would shout, and all of us would be off. Several men took off in a sprint, apparently thinking faster running meant faster completion. Idiots. To my sides, it seemed a few others had the right idea of jogging at a brisk pace. Conserving energy in order to keep up a constant speed the entire time. It would allow us to finish much faster than the sprinters... if we managed to finish at all, that is. We'd continue running, for how long I wasn't quite sure. I was just focused on moving my body forward. We'd pass by the guys eventually who took off on their sprint, standing to the side and panting heavily, right before completing the first lap.

Alright, this seems like no problem...

The second, third, and fourth laps passed without incident. A couple of the guys around me had begun to give out slowly. It wasn't until the fifth that I felt a burn starting to rise in my legs and chest. I steadied my breathing, in through my nose and out through my mouth, in an attempt to further conserve energy and to fight off the thirst that was building up. I had to ignore it. I had to keep focused on completing my task. Laps five and six passed, my breathing became heavy, my legs started to feel like dead weight. By the start of lap eight, my pace had slowed considerably. I know I had quite a bit of stamina, but this was too much. The rain beating down on me had soaked my robe and hakama. My sandals were practically torn from all the running, and trust me, it wasn't easy to run in these things. The water had me drenched from head to toe, and my wet hair was now becoming a problem of just staying in my face the entire time. At least it looked more silver than white when it was wet.

Somehow, I trudged through laps eight and nine, and was at the start of ten. My legs... THEY BURNED! But I couldn't allow myself to stop, it would serve to delay me further when I stopped moving and allowed the pain to kick in. By now, it was only me and one other guy, and not even halfway through, he collapsed on me.

"Ugh.. Ha-Haji.. go on.. without me.." he groaned, I turned around and looked at him for a moment. "Uh.. that was the plan.. and how do you know my name..?" I asked, to which he just started shouting. "GO ON, HAJI! YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN! GO! NOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!" Scared and confused, I just left the guy there while he screamed away at me, and I continued my run, using every ounce of my strength to propel me over that finish line. Once I finished, I just collapsed on the ground in a heap, panting like crazy. "Phew... I... did it..." Everything hurt. My whole body was practically screaming "What the fuck, man?!" at me, but I allowed myself some momentary rest. I found that it had taken me three hours to run those laps... so I still had another nine on my side, more than ample time to rest.

Giving myself an hour, I allowed my body to calm down a bit, though I still ached considerably. This hour allowed several of the other men to make it past the line too, and they seemed even more exhausted than I was. Some more were still pouring in when I started my push ups. I would knock out thirty push ups at a time, rest for ten minutes, and repeat. It wasn't too difficult at first, but it started to become more of a pain as I went on. The first couple of sets was no problem, but as I went on, it just hurt more even with the much needed rest. My arms would feel like noodles, the pain in my chest would rise, and my breathing became a bit pained. In about an hour, I had finished all one hundred and fifty push ups, still making sure I had gotten my rest. However, my chest was feeling quite a burn from this, and my arms were feeling awfully weak by now. The run sure did a number on me, more than I realized. I dreaded the third task... I gave myself an another hour of rest.

Soon, I started the push ups. Laying on my back in the rain, I realized just how damn sore I was. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but two hundred of these damned things were going to be the end of me. I steadied my breathing, bringing my arms up behind my head as I started to move my body back and forth, slowly doing push up after push up. Each one was painful, but if I was patient, possible.

I would do twenty push ups, stopping for ten minutes afterwards. I had a lot of time, I could afford to rest. I would keep this pattern up, doing sets of twenty with ten minute rest intervals repeatedly. My stomach would feel tight and painful, and my breaths would feel sharp, but the rest allowed me some time to relax myself before doing another set.

Nearby, the drill instructor was shouting at another one of the recruits. "GET ON THE GROUND, YOU OWE ME SIT UPS, SOLDIER!" The recruit merely looked up at him, anger in his eyes. "I owe you nothing!" He spat in the instructor's face, and the two of them ended up beating the crap out of each other, rolling around in the mud as they had one overly dude fight.

"Uh..." I did my best to ignore it, continuing my sit ups. Though painful, the sets of 20 with the ten minute rest periods allowed me to finish the sit ups in about two hours. Upon finishing, I saw that the two of them were still fighting, I didn't know how they could keep at it that long. I got up, soaking wet and dirty from the rain and mud, walking (or limping, rather) away very sorely. Hopefully this horrible day would pay off and I'd feel stronger at the end. That would be a reward in itself.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Morei Haji: +3 Str

[Kuroshi Maki]

Seeing some soldier run by telling each other about this training camp they were heading to. A training camp sounded fun, and training was all I needed. I was beaten badly last time I fought this Katsumi and I needed to get stronger and find a goal, but maybe this was my goal getting stronger and stronger. I just got up and rain along with the soldiers, we arrived at a small base camp and there was a course were you could run laps and a area were you would probably have to do something else. I didn't know what we had to do but would soon find out. There were more soldiers gathered here. It seemed like a big thing. But I didn't really wear the same armor as they did but still I could join.

A man begun to speak as he was probably one of the higher ranked officer to oversee this training camp. He explained the meaning, we had 12 hours to finish 10 laps of running and then 150 push ups and 200 sit ups. Was he serious 150 push ups? Lucky for us we had 12 hours. As the soldiers took place at the course the time was set and we had now 12 hours to finish it. I just started to run in a slower pase some started to run fast, they were fools they will run out of gas really soon. I could finish the first 5 laps easy as I just had a normal pase but the problem with that was the time was also gonna play a factor later on. I could now feel the muscles in my legs getting tired and I tried my best to keep the pase. The last 5 laps I tried to pick up the pase to finish these 10 laps in a 4 hour radian. And this I did but when i finished my legs were soar and painful. I hadn't run like this in my life.

There were soldiers that did this easy and it made me look like a punk but that was fair. Some probably did this almost daily and were determent. I just took a break for a hour as I drank and eat a little to regain my strength. After this break I was ready to start my push ups. this probably would be the most painfull part. I still had 7 hours left and went to the spot were they would count my push ups. I dropped down and started my push ups.. the first 30 were easy but after that I could feel my arms burn and it was harder to get up and when i hit the 40 I had to take a small break just resting on my knee's for a good 10 minutes before going again. still had to do 110 more. As I went again it was the 30 were easy but then the pain kicked in again still had 80 more to go and time was still going. It wasn't that I had to finish because they said I had 12 hours it was for me to show myself I could do it. I pulled it to 40 again and took a break again as I still had to do 70 push ups.

I had to push trough the pain I just had to, pain should be erased when gaining a goal. I got back down and started to do more push ups they were slower then before but I could not give up and kept going after a while I still had to do 20 more but my arms could not push my body back up and I dropped on the ground. I was weak 20 more and I could not push myself back up. Inside a voice was heard it was that of my mother she told me I could do everything like when I was young. this just made me get that extra push you need and started to push myself back up slowly the count went down from 20 to 0. I was done only one part was left the sit ups and I had 4 more hours to go. I was going to make it.

I started my 200 sit ups at this point and this was going easy maybe to easy as I reached the 50 I could feel a small burn but that didn't really stopped me from going further. As i reached the 100 the pain was almost so intense that I felt like my abs were going to explode but I kept pushing until the 120 as i dropped, the pain was great and kept me from going further at that point. I still had to do 80 more and I could just rest and finish them later but what was the point I didn't want to give up that way. I waited a small 10 minutes before going again this time I had to reach the 80 before stopping and I started but every sit up burned and made me Grinch in pain but I kept pushing the number was going down until I had to do 10 more the last 10. The pain made me do 1 sit up every 5 minutes or so but I kept going until I reached the 200.

I made it in that 12 hours but the pain forced me to stay down for awhile. it seemed I was one of the first to finish as some took a more tactical approached at order it in time because you did had 12 hours. But I didn't care about that I wanted to see how far I could push myself. After a while I got back up and took some place just eat and drink until the 12 hours were over.

[Takeda Shingen]

Kuroshi Maki: +3 EXP

[Oda Nobunaga]

All participants receive: Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Yamabara Shou]

When Shou had awoke for the day and had seen the harshness of the weather, the pouring rain and muddy land. He had planned to unlike most days refrain from training, so that he wouldn't be weary if the order to deliver a message came to him. However fate had conspired against him, this day when one of the unit captain came to him and passed down the orders from Lord Shingen himself. All unit be they Calvary, infantry or messenger like himself, had been given a quota of training to be complete. As the captain listed them off at first Shou wasn't phased, ten laps round the camp while in this weather was bad it wasn't something he felt was beyond him, but as the captain added the push-ups and sit-ups to the list of what was required Shou realised today was going to be a lot worse then he had hoped. 

Following the captain outside, he saw the mass of troops of kinds separated out into units ready to start. Joining up with the captain unit, he prepared himself mentally for the physical torture that was ahead. Before the order to start running even came down, his clothes had already become soaked through, adding to the weight he was going to have to run with. The order came and the mass of men took off running. Some trying to impress went off as fast as they could while others, held back trying to conserve there energy. Shou try to pace himself somewhere between the two groups. Trying to get ahead of those holding back but not over exerting himself to early. The rain and wind however didn't agree, and the mud lined ground held him back and slowed him down. As the first lap around the camp there started to be a clear separation between those who were up to the task and those who were not. Finding himself closer to the back then he like Shou pushed himself to go faster. He knew that he had to. If he didn't he wouldn't have time to finish what in his mind was the much bigger task of completing the push-ups and sit-ups. 

It was by the third lap, that he had joined the back end of the leading group. The bottom of his hakama almost solid with mud, being kicked up by other runner and as he sunk slightly with every pounding step. By the fifth lap the groups of runners had almost rejoined, as those ahead slowed and those behind started to put more into running. 3 hours in and at the seventh lap, some had fallen and not gotten up. While a few pushed on harder and started to make for themselves a lead. Refusing to be beating Shou joined them pushing everything he could into running, legs starting to burn from the work. Both sweat and rain water, freezing him as the wind whipped by as he ran. The next two laps was a conflict, those with him at the front pushing the harder to be in the lead, and so did he. It was a stupid thing to do. The last lap came, and people from behind pushed forward catching up and making serious ground, while Shou drained fell behind, having pushed himself to hard. Braking of to the side, to give himself space, Shou tried to catch up once more as the end of the last lap came. With a roar of pain, he threw his all into it, and once having finished let himself collapse to the ground. 

While it had taken just over 4 hours to finish the laps, it was after just before 5 that Shou managed to get himself moving once again. Having put so much in to the running and his body demand the break. Forcing himself to roll over, his back covered in mud, and even his hair. He punch his hand down into the mud, until they reach solid ground below the mud, and kicked his toes down into the ground as well. Taking it slowly he started on the dreaded push-ups. His form was off, the cold was getting to him, and many times he found himself face down in the dirt, as his weak arms gave out under him. He felt as if he was more mud then man right now as he pushed himself up and onwards once again. Counting each push-up, he tone twisted the numbers to almost be a curse. And once the 150th came he gladly collapse into the ground once more. 

More time was wasted as he recovered, but eventually he pushed himself up once more, and to his back once again. Regretting having allowed his front to be cover in mud as badly as his back. The mud put up resistance as he started on the press up. Around 10 sit-ups in a bellowing voice shouted out over the men. "You have 4 more hours, I said 4 more hours." Cursing under his breathe at the lack of time, he lost count of the sit-up he was on and much to his chagrin, started over. He wished he had been back at doing the laps some 8 hours ago, rather then these agonising sit-ups. However unlike the push-ups were his rhythm had constantly faltered, he found himself more suited to the sit-up and eventually found a sense of timing that drove him slowly but steadily to completion. Around him, some men had given in, while other had already finished and got up to leave, and deal with there muddy states. 

As more and more people finished around him, Shou realised what time he may have gained finishing the laps he had waste recovering and on the push-ups. However he refused to give in like some. He would rather finish late then note at all and continued on. Finally the 200th sit-up came round, and he finished it and propped himself up rather then falling backward to the ground. "Done"  He shouted out and looked at one of the over seer hopefully. The man gave him a congratulatory nod. Knowing he had finished in time and not caring just how close it was he fell backward, and rested for a few minute before dragging himself to his feet and limping away in pain. 

[Takeda Shingen]

Yamabara Shou: +3 Str

Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Miyamoto Kenji]

(( Note: For RPing purposes, I'm linking together most of the SPQs that I'm having Kenji perform because of the idea I had. This is the first post of the chain. ))

Within the Dewa-Mutsu border town that the Miyamoto clan resided in, a curious thing happened.

The local Mogami governor had been replaced. There was nothing wrong with the man, though at the same time, his abilities were nothing spectacular. Discipline amongst the soldiers had come to a halt in recent times as he became lax, though beyond that, there were no outstanding issues in the soldiers stationed there, or the town as a whole. Apparently, someone higher up than the governor found flaw in his lack of discipline, and decided to have him removed from the post.

In his place, following a relatively smooth transition, was a veteran of war. His administrative abilities were reportedly on the same level as his predecessor, but as a former leader of men and a soldier himself, his bent for training and discipline was much, much greater. To emphasize this, he reviewed all of the soldiers and guards stationed in town, testing their capabilities. Though he was a contract merc, Kenji was also requested to participate, to which he agreed.

Though Kenji proved himself to be no slouch, it seemed that the whole of those present were not as proficient at... Well, much. Infact, most of the men seemed more fresh-faced than anything, as if they were recent recruits, or simply given less than stellar instruction. The overall turnout disappointed the new governor, and so, he decided a training camp would be held. Kenji was once again asked to join. Seeing a golden opportunity to improve upon himself and potentially help others do the same, he jumped at the chance. Those in participation were arranged into units, given captains whom the governor himself appointed, and set to run a number of exercises.

Today, at the crack of dawn, Kenji awoke to two things: a verbal notice to assemble with his unit, and particularly bad weather. Well, objectively bad, as the heavy rains made and kept the ground muddy. He happened to like rain, though, so he would take some pleasure in that. Determined to complete the task set before him, he set off, dressed in a light hakama and haori.

After receiving his regimen instructions, Kenji immediately took to running laps. The camp was large, and the mud and rain would make things difficult, but having traveled through similar and even worse weather, he was confident that he would prevail as long as he was smart. Thus he would let his unit run brazenly ahead, each man eager to prove themselves as scions of stamina, while he hung behind pacing himself, minding the terrain, and estimating how much time each lap took. As anyone might expect, it wasn't an easy task in this weather to run one lap, let alone ten around an encampment, but after a little under four hours by Kenji's calculation, he pulled it off. Meanwhile, most of the rest of his assigned unit was trudging along, winded from their overeager lead in the beginning.

Next were the push-ups. Kenji wandered into the yard and found a spot that was slightly less muddy than the immediate area around it. He assumed the position, already having decided in his mind how to make this work. Once again, pacing himself would be necessary, as the mud would hinder his progress, and of course, his legs were still screaming from the previous exercise. On top of it all, the rain hammered his body from above, relenting not one bit. He determined that he would take his push-ups in intervals of fifteen, going five over the accepted standard of ten per interval. This was to get the exercise out of the way as soon as possible without trying to power through the whole load at once, as well as to push his own personal limits. Resigning himself to the task ahead, Kenji breathed out, and set to work.

Each interval was more difficult than the last, what with having to readjust to the slippery mud every few push-ups. Between each set, Kenji would rest in the mud for about a minute, regardless of how long each fifteen would take. He could only afford one minute each time, long enough to collect himself and reaffirm that, yes, he wanted and needed to do this. Another two and a half hours flew by, leaving his muscles howling and begging for release by the end. His legs were just about done with, and his arms felt roughly how his legs felt after the laps.

Finally, all that remained were the sit-ups. Kenji briefly rested once more before willing himself to roll over onto his back, managing after a little while to assume the proper position. He was going to need such a bath after this, that much was damn certain, and god knows what his mother and sisters will say. He chuckled over the roar of the rain, much to the confusion of the nearby soldiers, a few of whom spared incredulous glances in his direction. His reprieve done with and expired, Kenji heaved a groan and began to work on the final leg of this fitness gauntlet.

The good thing about sit-ups was that you'd end up on your back between each one, as opposed to being suspended above the ground. The problem was that performing an excessive amount created, as one might expect, some serious stomach soreness. Still, Kenji would not complain, committing himself to each sit-up one by one, only resting for seconds at a time every now and then. After every fifty, he paused to lay in the mud for a minute, then returned to work. After a little over three hours, he made it to the end, practically reaching for the sky and grabbing at the clouds with one hand. He chuckled again, then let his arms drop into the mud. Silently, he was proud of how much time he had left, and was for damn sure going to use it to rest his aching body once he got on his feet and back home.

"Maybe I should make a routine out of this... Maybe not."

[Takeda Shingen]

Miyamoto Kenji: +3 Str

Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Zhuo Jina]

[[OOC: I spent last semester in a Buda Khi class, and we did that many pushups&situps easily by the third week of class, so I'm basing Jina's ability to complete the task from my own personal experience]]

Jina had recently befriended an Oda man, he was a small time officer and would probably never rank any higher than his current rank. The man likely just wanted to get in her pants, she thought, but he certainly was willing to help her out in any way in the mean time.

The night before over some beer, the man had been talking to Jina about Lord Oda’s command to toughen up the soldiers. The next day, he was going to instruct the men to run ten laps around the camp even though the weather was going to be bad. When the soldiers were done, they were going to do 150 push-ups and 200 sit ups. When the officer had told her this, Jina laughed at him.

What an easy task, she thought! When he questioned her about her laughter, she told him. She trained more than that every day. She could easily do the push-ups and sit ups in just 15 minutes.

“Why the hell are you giving them 12 hours to do it?! How big is your camp?"

The officer wasn't laughing. "If you think it's so easy, I'd like to see a woman try to do it."

"No problem. I'll be there." Jina rose from the table where they sat and left, the door banging behind her.
_______

The next morning, Jina was at the Oda camp at sunrise. The officer was waiting for her at the camp entrance. All of the soldiers were exiting their tents, shuffling to the training area. They were laughing, joking around. Apparently, they hadn't been told about the task ahead.

The men lined up in rows, standing next to their friends, talking until the officer showed up. Their voices quieted at his que and he told them of the task ahead. Jina smiled when she heard the whispers and gasps around her. Had these men never trained in their life? Jina thought to herself.

The task started with the laps around the camp. Each lap was probably 2 miles, meaning that there would be 20 miles total. Jina could run a consistent 8 miles/hr for probably 5 miles before she needed to rest. Jina decided she would run for a two laps at a time, then rest at the starting point for half an hour before resuming. This meant that she would be done running after 5 hours.

She started her run, the weather wasn't bad yet. By the time her fourth lap came, about an hour and a half into the task, it started to drizzle. The tracks that the soldiers were leaving in the grass quickly became muddy, making her boots stick and her clothes heavy. 

At her next rest, the took off her boots and put them next to the training area where the men stood. It wouldn't be hard to know which were hers, since her feet were so small. Nobody would think about stealing them, either.

She continued to run, the wind picking up but her feet much lighter and not sticking in the mud now. She passed many of the men, who lagged behind, their breath labored. Only a few stopped to rest, and sometimes they fell in the mud and just laid there in defeat.

By the time her predicted five hours were up, she still had two laps to go. Jina's body was sore, her lungs hurt and her breath was just as labored as those around her. She hadn't predicted the running to be this tough but she knew she had to keep pushing.

It was almost 6.5 hours into the training by the time she finished running. She rested for maybe an hour, catching her breath. The rain was actually welcome, as it was keeping her cool. She drank the rainwater, welcoming the cool feeling in her throat.

Jina was the first to complete the running exercise, but she wasn't the first to begin the next two. She knew that if she was to prove something to the Oda officer, she had to be the best.

The easiest task was saved for last. She regularly did push-ups, having watched her father train for many hours at a time back in China. She cranked out 80 of them in just 7 minutes. Her heart was beating fast and yes, her arms hurt. More than anything, though, her core that she had just spent running with was aching, begging her to stop. She was able to do another 40, she was almost done with the push-ups.

Jina's heart was racing faster now. She took a five minute break, seeing that one of the other soldiers had just finished his push-ups. He wasn't looking so good either, though. As soon as she was physically able, she did two sets of fifteen push-ups, finishing her requirement.

The last task would be cake. She did sit ups for two minutes straight, pumping out 50 of them. She rested for a minute, then did 50 more. She was half way done.

At this point, it was harder to repeat the same motion for another 100 reps, so she changed her style. She took her hands out from behind her head and instead, raised her body with just her core. At the top of the rep, she sent out two punches and went back to the ground. In the next five minutes, she was done. She laid, hair in the mud for a while. Her eyes were closed, the drizzling cooling her shaking arms and legs. 

The Oda man that she had been with the night before walked up to her after a few minutes. More than anything, he was shocked. His eyes were wide, and he was skeptical. "How?" was the only word that escaped his lips. 

Jina smiled without opening her eyes. After a few seconds, she raised her body and stood up. She looked the man in the eye and said "I think your soldiers are weak."

Jina walked off, she grabbed her mud soaked shoes and left the camp. Many of the men stared as she left, the Oda officer quickly regained himself and began ordering the men to do more and more tasks. 

Their voices grew distant as Jina approached the road away from the camp. She walked on, the rain washing away her sweat, and her tears. That may have been the hardest thing she had ever done.

She just hoped the Oda man wouldn't come looking for her again.

[Takeda Shingen]

Zhuo Jina: +3 Str

Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Wakeshima Shoji]

(I actually wrote this once before earlier in the month and lost it, and it was a hell of a lot better, so sorry for the crappiness. >.<)

Another test, huh? At least this one wasn't specifically for Shoji and was for everyone serving under his goddess's father. Even so, Shoji was actually excited for this one. There was something about the burn of a particularly intense workout that made Sho feel invigorated. That searing pain in the muscles, all of the oxygen in his lungs. It was almost intoxicating, the only things better being sex and inflicting pain and death. The blood running through his veins was hot; he was a stallion, wild and fierce. He was full of excitement, overflowing with darkness and vigor.

The night-owl actually awoke at the break of dawn readily, cheerfully even. He was outside ready to go among the first of the men, all of which were bleary-eyed but Shoji, who inhaled the cool air. It was pouring out and there was much mumbling and groaning among the men, but the weather did not deter him.

Once everyone was outside, the instructions were given. They had twelve hours to complete the training and were to run ten laps around the camp, and do one-hundred-and-fifty push-ups and two-hundred sit-ups. Shoji knew it was a lot and it was going to hurt, but nevertheless he was excited. In fact, it was part of why he was excited.

As they started and began to run, Shoji's long legs and athletic form kept him in the front. The first three laps were easy, as Shoji paced himself, even then staying far ahead of the majority of others. People were so very pathetic, and the psychopath was grinning ear-to-ear as he felt the burn in his legs.

The rain didn't let up and only grew worse, and it became more of a chore to pick up his feet each time due to the mud. But Shoji was strong and remained in the front even as he slowed. By the eighth lap, keeping up the pace was growing tiresome, sweat and water intermixed and dripping down his cool, soaked flesh. Stopping only momentarily, both kimono and sandals were removed and tossed aside before he continued on. The clothing were simply soaked and weighed him down, and the shoes were proving too much of a hassle with getting stuck in the mud.

Shoji passed by the others on his ninth lap and, being so far ahead, slowed down to a nice, brisk job for the final lap. Reaching the area for push-ups and sit-ups, Shoji sat down and took a break, slowing his breath. About two and a half hours passed and he rested for an hour, finding a piece of scaffolding on the ground from a past project with the camp, and he laid down on it, arms and legs extended as if to express that this was, in fact, his territory. The wood kept Shoji off of the mud and there was a canopy of trees overhead, so it was relatively dry there.

Nibbling on an apple, when he finished most of it, some of the others arrived. They looked at him enviously and Shoji ignored them, continuing to lightly eat before continuing the work out. While he was laying down, two men came into view, threatening about the scaffolding and how it was going to be theirs now.

Shoji simply snorted and rolled his eyes, a small smirk tugging at his lips. He took another bite of his apple and the others stepped closer, getting louder. They were making threats and were about ready to try and kick his ass. Releasing a slow, heavy sigh and closing his eyes, Shoji paused before whipping out his hand and taking a hold of the nearest foot, fingers clasping tightly around the ankle. Yanking, he brought the man down and, upon sitting up, threw the remaining apple at the one standing. They all got into a fight, and quickly Shoji put them into their places, bloodying them up. He had the time to rest, had something to eat, and was much larger than them. They didn't really stand a chance, and made a stupid mistake from being irritable and weary. Shoji was the alpha-dog and established it yet again, and the others seemed to back away and stay quiet as he kicked and punched the shit out of the two men. Kicking them as they scrambled off, the psychopath spat on the ground before grinning.

"That's right. Back the fuck off, kiddies. You can have it when I'm done."

Stretching out his limbs, the man plopped back down and rested for another ten or fifteen minutes before deciding to do the rest. The fight had wasted some time, but at least the others knew what was his, so he supposed it wasn't entirely a waste of time. Some of the others had decided to start and Shoji began with them after a relatively lengthy break (and distraction.) The scaffolding and canopy of trees made the push-ups considerably easier, as his hands and arms didn't sink into the mud. But with the long run before, after about fifty straight push-ups, there was definitely a burn in his muscled arms. From there on, Shoji did intervals of fifteen and twenty, and took breaks that would last a couple of minutes before continuing on. He finished among the couple of others within less than an hour, but unlike them he went straight to the sit-ups. The burn felt intense, it felt good. He wanted to do more and to get it done. To feel that sense of accomplishment. In fact, Shoji hungered for it.

Even with his love for the burn and intense workouts, Shoji kept with his same pace with the push-ups, taking short breaks. Even the workout fanatic was really feeling it, tiredness beginning to make him feel like molasses (not that that would stop him from being ahead!) Now most of his body burned, legs, arms, and abs, and the crunching only intensified the sensation, especially with his stomach muscles. But he was fit and determined, and Shoji finished strong, completely the sit-ups in a similar, good time.

He finished long before the twelve hours and simply laid on his back for a good thirty minutes, grinning up at the canopy of the trees, reveling in the burn. Goddamn, it simultaneously felt so fantastic and so painful, and Shoji could only describe the sensation as euphoria.

Eventually he stood up, rubbing his aching, burning muscles and moved along just as a couple of others finished. Shoji decided to eat and take a long, nice nap, before possibly seeing his goddess. That would certainly make this day complete.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Wakeshima Shoji: +3 Str

Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Katsurayama Haruyuki]

At the break of dawn, in the spring season, the spies of Date were called into a general assembly, and Haruyuki was included among them. They were shocked to know that they were called for a large fitness exercise, and all spies under the Daimyo were required to attend. A spy was caught by a dissenter within the fief, and made it an issue to smear the Daimyo's reputation, and so the Daimyo required all spies to pass the training. It worried Haruyuki much; since his birth he had a reputation for being weak in such things. No wonder he was teased that he was a homosexual when he was a child.

Remembering that thought, Haruyuki promised to himself that he would train to become much stronger, but he had not trained much when the mandatory fitness regimen came. The first challenge seemed to be running in circuit around the camp for 10 laps. It had seemed an easy task for Haruyuki as he just jogged for quite a time before he ran, but when the rain came in, the ground became muddy as Haruyuki had just finished his second lap. As the rain poured on and on, the ground became so much muddy that even jogging was a hard work for Haruyuki as the mud resisted his footsteps. He had considerably slowed as the rain dragged on and mud continuously stuck on his boots. There were some times that Haruyuki stumbled while he was trying to drag himself through the mixed forces of rain, puddles and mud. On the sixth lap it was as if half of Haruyuki's body had turned to earthenware, but he still prodded on, desirous that he should finish it before noon, though his pace might be termed as a walk due to the weight of the mud. As he was on his tenth lap, only his head seemed to be not of earthenware, but seeing that the end was near he powered himself to run as fast as possible, but as he tried to run with all that mud stuck on his clothes, he stumbled frequently, and when he was almost finished in the lap, he just dropped down on the ground to clear the first test.

Before he started the second test he let himself be showered by the rain to get rid of all the mud stuck on his body. That first task made him a terracotta soldier and so he needed to rinse himself. The second task seemed to be push-ups, and due to the rain it was impossible for him to discern the time. But it seemed that it was still not dark, and so he thought that the sun was still up. He strted on the push-ups while it was still raining, but after 17 times his arm started aching, and so he stopped for 5 minutes before he attempted again. His arm started aching again on the 16th, and so he stopped for another 5 minutes before attempting again. After 15 rounds he stopped for another 5 minutes, and the process was repeated until he could only lift himself thrice before giving up. The 150 push-ups are filled, and when he saw the sky, it was still early afternoon. After that, he gave himself a small 30-minute rest before fulfilling another task: 200 sit-ups. He quickly set himself to the task, but after 20 sit-ups he could not continue any further, and so he rested for another 5 minutes before he again attempted to make more sit-ups. But he only managed to complete 19 of them before having a rest again. he attempted again, but found that he could only make one less than before before resting, and it took him some lather-rinse-repeats before he had completed the training with 200 sit-ups. As Haruyuki laid down on the ground, he thought that he was still not capable to join the main army of the Date, since it had seemed that he was the laggard while doing the tasks of the daimyo. But with this training, he was confident that he became stronger. He just stayed on the training grounds, falling sleep while lying on the ground. It was mid-afternoon, 10 hours after the training started. At least he finished within the needed time.

[Takeda Shingen]

Katsurayama Haruyuki: +3 Str and a bath once he wakes up.

Proficiency: Fitness - D

[Mikhael]

Being a man of incredible physical stature, Mikhael wasn't exactly deterred by the physical exercise Lord Kenshin requested. While the push-ups and sit-ups required at the end did not seem like much, people failed to consider just how rough it was going to be simply running in this weather, and just how weak they'd be afterward. Mikhael was, however, accustomed to these types of exercises, and while he acknowledged it would be difficult, he was not at all going to be incapable of completing the task.

As soon as the laps began, Mikhael kept his pace steady and his strides naturally insanely long. At his regular jog, he was well at the front of the group, matching the speed of first-lap-sprinters, though without putting in nearly their effort. While the rain beat down on him and he pulled his feet through the mud, he kept his breath calm and motions consistent, minimizing the strain put on himself. And it showed. Not even two laps into the run, most of the soldiers would start to fall behind Mikhael, who was yet to show any signs of relenting.

About seven laps in, Mikhael was three laps ahead of everyone else, and he'd finally felt a strain in his legs. however, he pushed on through the laps, ignoring the pain and picking now to increase his speed to his fullest. Mud shot up in every direction with each step he took, and pulling his feet from the ground became much harder from the added weight in his feet. The rain felt even heavier now, his hair sticking to his face and falling in front of his eyes, hindering his vision. Though, by now, he'd had the course completely memorized, and any random obstacles thrown his way, he would already see coming. It wasn't too difficult, and in a total of three hours, Mikhael managed to complete all of the laps.

Finishing almost twice as fast as everyone else, Mikhael still neglected to spend time resting simply because he did not want to let his body cool down, and make the following exercises even harder after the fatigue. So, he fell to his arms, speeding through the push-ups with the best stature he could. they took very little time, about ten minutes total. From there, he set himself up for the sit-ups, powering through this rather quickly due to his incredible form.

In all, Mikhael took four hours, and as soon as he was done he changed his clothes and set himself up in the barracks to rest. He finally let his muscles cool down, and he was going to feel it in the morning.