Zell entered the Training Center, intending to find a way to get away from the needs of others for a while.
He had been busy for the past several months, putting out "fires" as a SeeD, those fires being minor incidents brought on by other paramilitary groups; an attempted coup in Esthar, a missile theft in Galbadia, and several kidnappings of prominent government figures' family members. Ever since the Sorceress had been defeated, the Gardens had been flooded with requests from nations wanting aid from the great SeeD organization, and those nations were willing to pay out the nose to get that aid.
And the hostage situations! Hyne, it seems like every damn day, some loons with old Galbadian military hardware decide that the best way to make any money is by holding hostages and demanding payment. Never mind that the success rate for those loons was nearly zero, but what kind of idiot would think that was a good plan to begin with?!
He had found himself with a rare day off, as Commander Leonhart told him to take some R & R, saying, "Zell, you have to relax. Take a day. Heck, take two." Squall said that. To me. Mr. Stick-Up-The-Butt told me to relax. Hyne, I must need a vacation.
Its my own fault, I suppose. My skills pay the bills. I'm too good. This was broadly true: he did have one of the highest success rates of any SeeD, and an injury rate of nearly zero. His weaknesses, however, always seemed to come from interpersonal relationships, and how others saw him. Sure, they would always say that he was steadfast, funny, loyal, and some would even say clever under pressure, but it would always come back to his most obvious trait: he was simply too immature, too impatient. It was why he hadn't been tapped to be a squad leader, even though he had a decent degree of seniority over the newer SeeDs.
Still, though, he was always busy, and decided that a couple of hours of meditation in the Training Center would be helpful in centering himself, and helping him relax. He had prepared well: in addition to his regular gear, and the GFs which gave him more strength than a regular human could bear forth, he brought Oreson stakes. The stakes were to be stuck into the ground; when activated, they released a wavelength of light, that, though harmless to the human eye, caused discomfort to monsters. As a result, they tended to stay away.
Walking out towards the back of the center, he stuck the stakes in a circle measuring about 25 feet around. He reasoned this to be unobtrusive to the natural wildlife, and giving him enough room to fully perform his kata.
The stakes activated upon his vocal command, emitting what was to him a harmless pink light. He limbered up with exercises designed to both physically stimulate him and mentally prepare him for his familiar ritual, and then began.
Advance right-jab high-block crescent kick
retreat low-block sweep stomp
right-jab left-hook southern cross right-uppercut
jab jab jab jab jab jab jab (alternate, alternate!)
He began to speed up, as the feeling of his old familiar ritual swept him up with it:
Chop-right Chop-left Axe-kick-leftfoot roundhouse-kick-right
cross-block catch deflect counter spinning-back-fist
shot to the nerve clusters (faster Zell, faster)-
The roar of a T-Rexaur startled him from his routine. He hadn't noticed it until it was relatively close, less than 100 feet away. This particular one was blind, and had been for a long while. It had survived many seasons, taken many mates, and produced many offspring. Its hide showed the scars of both fights with students and fights with other monsters. It had battled other T-Rexaurs in the past, and come out the victor in a contest in which either death or victory could only be had. This one would not be deterred by the Oreson stakes, for its eyes, long ago blinded by an especially powerful spell, no longer governed how it perceived its kingdom.
Zell gauged the distance between himself and the T-Rexaur, mentally debating whether or not to do battle with the dangerous reptile or to seek cover. His own warrior's spirit, however, could not let him flee; this monster had come to his domain! He would lose his domain only in death! Zell didn't vocalize his thoughts, and probably didn't even understand them; they were not from his brain but from his pride and his lust for battle. He didn't come here for a fight, but by heaven he wouldn't run from one either! He stood his ground, and waited for the giant reptile.
The T-Rexaur charged, then, attacking in a rather uninspired fashion, going for the quick death by biting at Zell. It was somewhat surprised, then, to find that Zell was no longer where it's jaw was, but rather three feet to the left, readying a punch.
Zell delivered that punch into the reptiles maw, shattering his target, which was a large, prominent tooth. The monster swung his head towards Zell, and again missed, as Zell leapt over the head and landing next to one of the legs of the beast. Wasting no time, he delivered a crippling crescent kick to the T-Rexaur's femur, not breaking the bone but cracking it all the same.
The T-Rexaur was injured, but not defeated. Using its animal cunning, it feinted a bite at Zell, and as he dodged, the monster brought its tail around to attempt to smash the young invader of its realm.
The blow caught Zell only glancingly, knocking him 15 feet away. Zell, standing up quickly and taking inventory of himself, surmised that he had a cracked rib, and bruised his hip on the fall. Damn, got overconfident there. Won't let it happen again.
Should I use magic? If I hit it with a couple of blizzard spells, I'm certain it will go down. And yet...He didn't know why he suddenly felt it wrong to use magic. Perhaps, he felt that a degree of parity had to be kept to. Both were only fighting with their bodies and wits and skill. It was a contest of intelligence, cunning, and toughness, and Zell wanted to win honestly. Smiling, he sank into his stance.
Seeing its quarry injured, the T-Rexaur hobbled towards Zell, attempting to finish the job. As it bent down to try to chomp Zell in half, Zell suddenly jumped onto its snout and performed a punishing axe-kick to its cranium, dazing it. The beast had never been in this much trouble before, and it understood that. It made a motion to attempt to get away, but Zell was having none of that.
The creature was going to try to kill me! He raised a shining fist, the end result of years of training, and smashed it down into the monster's skull. Kill Me?! Again, a ki-powered fist, and this time he felt something crack upon the blow, though he wasn't sure if it was his fist or the dinosaur's skull. Not if I kill you first! This shot cleaved through the skull, destroying the creature's brain and utterly killing it. He stopped punching after about a minute, finally understanding that his punches were doing nothing but turning the monster's tissue into soup.
Zell's breath came in short, heaving bursts, as he looked down at his fists, covered in blood and grey matter. A small part of his brain noted that his right index finger was broken, and that the shards of skull had pierced the skin on both hands. Oh yeah, didn't put on the gloves, did I? He chuckled a bit. Better get Doc to look at it. I must say, I do feel relaxed, after that, though I don't quite know why.
Zell picked up his gear, and left the warrior behind, at least for a while.
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My first in a while. I have no idea where this came from.