sirenspull_logs | ⁂ tick tock, the clock is getting louder

Entry tags:

aqua,
roxas

⁂ tick tock, the clock is getting louder

Who:

pullsheavendown
When: Backdated -- Jan. 11th
Where: This general vicinity.
Summary: A Keyblade Master and a prodigy sneak in a quick sparring session before the weather gets too bad. Migrating this log from LJ.
Warnings: Just good old-fashioned pummeling anticipated. Will update if necessary.

[It. Is positively. Frigid outside.
Three layers of thin clothing, a pair of boots, and a secondhand coat would be all that protects Aqua from the biting chill, were it not for the crackling orb of self-contained fire that is hovering beside her.

She's waiting for the other half of this sparring match ... and keeps herself busy by hopscotching from one foot to the other while scanning the horizons, pausing every so often to stretch.]

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[What she does, however, is slowly raise a finger to point at Oathkeeper (it was the second to appear, so logically ...) as she makes some attempt to salvage her self-control.]

That's ... [ Do not stammer in front of your student, Aqua. Do. Not. Do it.

She clears her throat, regaining a bit more composure.]

That's an interesting illusion.

[Once again, he's forgotten something--forgotten that she's forgotten. His dual wielding shouldn't be a surprise to her, but of course, it is. So he blinks at Aqua, surprised himself, though perhaps not as much as her.]

Illusion? My Keyblade? [He lifts them slightly and taps them together with a clink.] It's not an illusion.

[No, no, no, no, no. Lowering her weapon, she places a hand stubbornly upon her hip.]

I said no special abilities, Roxas.

[Wanting to impress her is one thing, but ... come on, cheating? He can't pull a fast one on her like this.
... Never mind how convincing the emanation of that extra Keyblade may be. Or how solid he's making it appear.]

Dismiss the decoy and use your real weapon.

[Look. LOOK how disappointed she is in you right now.]

[Suddenly he feels as if he's done something wrong. The look on Aqua's face, her tone--maybe he should get angry at the way she's accusing him of cheating. But he knows full well that he's not a normal wielder, and she's ten years behind the times.]

It's not a decoy. It's not any kind of trick.

[His voice is quiet, sincere. Maybe even a little hurt, although he's not intentionally going for the kicked-puppy look.] I can dismiss it and use just one if you really want me to. But that's not how I usually fight.

[The sincerity in his voice has a disarming quality about it -- one that causes a flaw in her sternly cynical expression.

... Still, though.

Resuming her defensive stance, she raises her chin with a touch of haughtiness to Roxas. One Keyblade... two, three, four Keyblades. What difference will it make in the heat of battle? Illusions will fall away under pressure. And ... even if that second weapon is a conjuration, she's inclined to wonder how he intends to use it to his advantage.]

Very well, Roxas ...

[ Have it your way.

Her original plan remains. She'll focus her energy on evasion and evaluation while he focuses his on taking the offensive.]

Attack me with all of your might.

[Roxas eyes narrow as he observes her demeanor. Not much change, which means she either doesn't believe him or doesn't believe him enough.

Fine, then. It doesn't matter. He could tell the whole story, explain why and when he gained the ability to wield two Keyblades, but that's a wound he has no intention of reopening now. And there's a faster way to convince her.]

All right.

[There's a brief moment when he shifts his footing, and that's the only warning before he streaks forward, Keyblades out. He's not attacking with all of his might, but an awful lot of it.

Aqua's the Keyblade Master here. Might as well make her prove it.]

[Aqua is firm in her stance, shifting herself slightly only when the indicator that he is about to move. She plants the heel of her back foot, her empty hand forward, Keyblade behind her.

He's ... a little slower than she expected, unless he's toning down his dash to throw her off. Maybe it's because she's subconsciously expecting this to be a sparring match with Ventus, not Roxas.

Either way, she's not moving until one (or both) of the actual weapons are on a collision course with her body. Swing away.]

[She's as ready as he is, but Roxas' one advantage is that she doesn't know what to expect from him. That's fine.

He strikes at her as soon as he's closer enough, then pivots immediately for a one-two attack. This is where his seed differs from Ven's—he's never been on the receiving end of a dual-wielded attack, but he's certain anyone he fights has to look sharp to avoid a painful result.]

[Real or not, Aqua has only faced two weapons in battle when they belonged to two different people. This is far from the same thing, and to mistake it for something similar would be setting herself up for immediate failure.

A full backbend spares her from the first blow entirely, but the second strike grazes the hem of her coat sleeve as she springs away from striking range, booted heel whipping upward to attempt to clip him in the jaw on her way over.]

[Her foot just misses him, or is so close that he only feels it as a sharp breeze across his face. He's is lucky that he already knows something of how she moves in a fight, otherwise his head might be ringing now.

Which doesn't mean he's going to be less aggressive in the slightest. Roxas' eyes narrow as he focuses on Aqua's trajectory and hurls Oblivion at her. A split-second later, he charges forward, ready to strike out with Oathkeeper and call the other Keyblade back to his hand.]

[The dark Keyblade -- it's the first Keyblade he summoned, so she's certain that it's the genuine one -- is coming at her fast and hard. In the fraction of a second that she has to contemplate her next move, she squeezes the hilt of Brightcrest. She may be able to deflect it if she puts all of her might into one swing, but ... better to stand by her resolve to remain solely evasive. It makes a much more effective point.

The weapon and Roxas are both coming at her simultaneously -- albeit the weapon is slightly faster, and the weapon is what she intends to be careful of. The real weapon.

The kid has some oomph to his attacks, so ... if sparring with Terra has taught her anything, a bit of fluidity will push that momentum right past her.

Eyeing the angle of Oblivion's spin, she maneuvers herself accordingly -- swooping flexibly to her left with a swift spin. She has actually turned her back on her attacker to watch the black Keyblade hiss past her, non-verbally and purposefully welcoming whatever strike he aims to make with the farce of a weapon.

We'll see how his illusionary conjuration stands up against the solid form of a Master.]

Edited 2012-03-02 04:10 (UTC)

[Part of Roxas can admire the ease with which she dodges Oblivion. Even 'dodge' doesn't seem to be the right word; it's too clunky, not at all representative of her graceful movements. Part of him wonders if that can be taught or if it's something innate in her.

But the rest of him is focused on his own movements. Normally he would never hurt Aqua, but she'd asked for this. Attack me with all of your might.

Hopefully she'll block his attack with her own Keyblade, or pull another last-moment escape. But if she does, it'll have to be through her own efforts, not his holding back. Roxas strikes.]

[Roxas strikes ... and that last minute block, evasive maneuver, anything -- it never comes. It was a conscious, deliberate decision to allow herself to be hit by what she thought would be a flimsy imitation of a Keyblade.

What she got ... was the force of a blow stronger than anything Ventus has ever landed upon her and a resulting gash that runs from her shoulder to the opposing rib cage. Not surprisingly, she stumbles forward with a sharp cry of pain, the grace demonstrated in avoiding the thrown Keyblade just a shadow of a memory.

Aqua staggers, flirting with the prospect of staying on her feet for a second or so before dropping to one knee, gripping her chest to steady her heart and hissing through what would be another shout.]

Aqua!

[For all his determination just moments ago, Roxas is nearly as surprised as she is. He really expected her to dodge, block, strike back, something, not stand there and take the blow.

His Keyblades are gone in a brief shimmer. As quick as he can, he flicks his wrist and casts the best Curaga spell he can manage. She's bleeding. It still doesn't seem real.]

Are you okay?

[After taking a few generous gasps of air -- has the wind been knocked out of her, or is she just that shocked? -- the Curaga spell washes over her, lifting the pain and mending the open gash. All that remains now is the jarring cold against the exposed skin on her back.

Even so, she doesn't rise to her feet just yet. Her mind is still catching up with what has just transpired. Slowly, she begins to shake her head in disbelief and opens her mouth to say something ... then decides against it.

No. There's no point in defending her decisions. There are no excuses. She was wrong ... she is wrong.

Her head is suddenly heavy with shame ... so she lowers it.]

It wasn't ... an illusion. It wasn't. You were right.

[Guilty thoughts war with indignant ones. Roxas hadn't expected this match/teaching session to result in anyone bleeding, but he hadn't been the one so sure of himself that he hadn't even bothered blocking. And this isn't the first time she's considered him a liar; just like before, he's proved he isn't.

But he came here to learn. Roxas isn't sure what anyone is learning from this.]

I told you it wasn't.

[He takes half a step forward, ready to give her a hand up if she needs it. But something keeps him from reaching out to her himself. It hasn't always worked out so well before.]

[Roxas's learning experience may be lost on this fight, but Aqua's is not. Gently, she reaches over her shoulder to touch the tender place where a wound used to be, the numb, thoughtless question of whether it would scar or not floating in and out of her mind.

She sees him step out before him, but she's not ready to rise just yet. What's more, she can't stand to look at him.]

But ... how?

[Aqua knows that this has been strike number two with Roxas. It's a terrible start on her way to formally training a pupil as a Master ought to ... it's ... humiliating, even. She'd been such a fool!

The question isn't meant to sound like she's grasping at straws, searching for a leg to stand on to justify herself, but it comes from a place of sincerity. If Roxas were to walk away from her right now, she wouldn't blame him at all.]

How is that possible ... ?

[It always comes back to that question. He should probably have a prepared answer by now, but that would involve spending time thinking about something Roxas desperately wants to forget.

He steps back and to the side, looking down at the ground for a moment.]

It's a long story. But they're both real Keyblades.

No one else I know uses two. I guess I'm kind of a special case in more ways than one.

[Special. Abnormal. They're pretty much the same thing.]

Edited 2012-03-02 20:27 (UTC)

[ Special case ...

In her daze, she mistakes the thought for something spoken aloud, she and haunches a little lower.]

I'm sorry.

[Sorry for ...]

Roxas ...

[She can't stare at the ground and hide. She can't let herself react the way Terra would because she knows that's the wrong way. The right way ... the right thing to do would be to say it to his face. Inhaling slowly, she pushes herself away from the ground, rising from her half-kneel to her full height all on her own. Whipping Brightcrest into proper carriage, Aqua formally dismisses her weapon.

When she speaks again, she's looking him right in the eye. It's time to come clean. Simple as that.]

... I was wrong. I'm sorry I thought you were being untruthful, and I ... meant to teach you a lesson by allowing you to strike at me.

Edited 2012-03-02 20:36 (UTC)

[Swallowing hard. Only now does she let herself to avert her gaze elsewhere.]

It was in incredibly poor taste. I got what I deserved.

I'm not a liar. I know things are...different when I'm from. Not what you're used to. But I can't explain everything. I just know what I am and what I can do.

[It had stung, even if he could understand her disbelief. For the first year of his life, all he'd wanted was the truth, even if he was blind to some of it. And the truth was exactly what he hadn't gotten. To be accused of falsifying things—twice now—bothered him more because of that.

But Aqua was a friend, or had been. She could be again. And Roxas knew full well what it was like to make a mistake you wanted to take back.]

Aqua...

It's okay. No harm done.

[Nothing unfixable.]

[Obviously, she has a bit of a ways to go before she ought to go off and teach any of the younger wielders. Yeah, the situation with Roxas and his dual-wielding is something of a special circumstance, but ...

... It's been a noble demonstration of her ability to confront an unfamiliar situation. Underestimation like that against a real threat would have killed her. Aqua may be a Master in rank and title, but ... as far as experience goes, she lacks the years of World exploration and self discovery that traditionally follows passing the examination. This ... this is what happens to unprepared wielders, not seasoned Masters.]

No ... it isn't okay.

[Roxas has not failed her. She has failed Roxas. And Ventus, and Terra, and Kairi, and every other person in the Port who sees her as someone who should know better. It isn't okay for her and she can see that it isn't okay for him, either.]

It's really not. What I did was wrong.

[A heavy, hastened sigh.]

... Please, let me make this up to you somehow.

[Well, it's not like he can really argue with her. Even if silently agreeing doesn't make him feel better.]

All right...if you want to, I mean, I guess that would be okay.

[Knowing she gets it is enough for him, but she looks a lot more upset than he is.]

Terra was pretty surprised too, the first time we sparred.

[ ... Plus one thing to hide from his old friend, she supposes. That dries out her expression pretty quickly to something more even and unreadable.]

Is that so?

I kind of sprung it on him in the middle of the fight, though. [A trace of a smile appears.] But I get why it's surprising.

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