⁂ tick tock, the clock is getting louder

[rainprism]

Who: rainprism & 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.]

Comments

[pullsheavendown]

[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.]

[rainprism]

[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.]

[pullsheavendown]

[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.]

[rainprism]

[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.]

[pullsheavendown]

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?

[rainprism]

[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.

[pullsheavendown]

[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.]

[rainprism]

[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 ... ?

[pullsheavendown]

[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.]

1/2

[rainprism]

[ 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.

[rainprism]

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

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

[pullsheavendown]

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.]

[rainprism]

[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.

[pullsheavendown]

[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.

[rainprism]

[ ... 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?

[pullsheavendown]

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.

[rainprism]

Aha. Was he speechless?

[The trace of his smile softens her own expression a little, though the thoughts are already beginning to stir in the back of her mind.

There's an awful lot that Terra knows that she doesn't, isn't there? But what reason would he have to bring up a thing like Roxas's second Keyblade? It's not like she said anything about going to spar with him before she left. Terra wasn't even home at the time. She just ... went.
Then again, Terra's discovery had been a surprise. Maybe he just wants hers to have been a surprise, too.

Well. He has gotten his wish, in a way.]

[pullsheavendown]

[Or he's in the woods watching right now.]

For w minute or two, yeah. But then he got over it.

There's a lot you guys know that I don't--plenty of techniques I never learned. You could say I was self-taught.

[rainprism]

[Shhh there's no need to compound immeasurable shame shh.]

Isn't that so in Sora and Riku's case, too? None of you have trained formally under a Master.

[And Kairi's, she adds silently. But she's not really missing out, is she? Aqua is inclined to think that none of them are after today's fiasco.]

[pullsheavendown]

[Suddenly: awkward.]

They haven't. I guess...I inherited some of what I can do from Sora. But he had to learn a lot on his own, too.

[And then he used the Keyblade to make heartbabies.]

[rainprism]

[Cool story.
... Wait.]

... ... Am I right in assuming that Sora only wields one Keyblade?

[Please let her be right.]

[pullsheavendown]

That's right.

[He just isn't as cool as his Nobody.]

[rainprism]

[Begins a slow nod.
Thank goodness for that.]

I see. And ... Riku?

[pullsheavendown]

Nope. Just me.

[rainprism]

Okay, then.

[She places a hand on her hip and relaxes her stance a little.]

... Any other surprises you think I should know about?