Title: Speed
Warnings: Some minor Birth by Sleep spoilers, but seeing as it's pre-BBS, there shouldn't be too many. Hey, I can't catch everything. Also, being pre-BBS, like probably two months or so, there may be certain parts that make Ven seem a bit young. Also, minor amounts of blood and injuries. Nothing to worry about though.
Special Notes: Thank you so much to Divine Wolfe, even though she may not realize it. Just by reading her Disciples of the Keyblade story I have gotten a lot better at making them not too OOC-ish, in my opinion.
The four Keyblade apprentices stood at attention in the grand Training Room, listening to Eraqus's usual morning speech. Ven stifled a yawn. It was way too early to be awake, even if they were only meditating for the time being. No, the actual training wouldn't come for another hour or two.
"And therefore," the Master continued, "I asked my good friend Master Yen Sid to make this." He gently tossed a piece of armor to Hana, who caught it in surprise.
It was shaped almost identically to the two pieces of armor Aqua wore over her upper arms, except there was only the one. And, where Aqua's arm guards each had a round yellow stone set into the upper portion of them, the gem on Hana's was a dusty rose-pink. She secured it onto her arm curiously.
Ven smiled at her, and she turned her head slightly to let a curtain of hair fall in between the two of them. He turned crestfallen, and Terra chuckled.
"It's okay," Aqua murmured to him once Eraqus had left the room. They were seated on the ground, about to start their meditation. "She's just shy, that's all."
Ven wiggled about on the floor, adjusting his position time and time again. "I can't get comfortable," he complained.
Terra snickered into his palm, then resumed his utter stillness.
"Sit like me," Aqua suggested. Ventus twisted his torso and pelvis around until their poses were identical. "Better?"
"Not as much as I'd like," he said.
"If any part of your body feels tense, relax it," the blue-haired apprentice told him.
Ven gradually let his shoulders drop some, and worked on easing the muscles in his neck. "Wow, that is better."
"Try to focus on something else, too," Terra grumbled, wishing the others would just sit still and be quiet.
Ventus let his thoughts wander, eventually settling on an image of the night sky from the highest spot in the Land of Departure. In his mind's eye, meteors zoomed across the black expanse of sky, and he drifted off into an almost sleeping state. On the far edges of his mind, he wondered what the others were thinking about.
Before he knew it, Master Eraqus was back, announcing that they could get up and would begin training after breakfast.
Ven shoved one last cinnamon bun into his mouth as the four protégés trooped outside. Eraqus stopped suddenly and Ven bumped into Hana before assuming his position in their line. "Sorry," he whispered.
She simply stood at attention while their Master spoke. "We are going to work on combat training today," he informed his students, pacing back and forth in front of them, "for Hana's benefit, seeing as she has never trained with us before now. Terra, Aqua, I would like the two of you to pair up with each other. Hana, you'll be sparring with Ventus. If you require it, feel free to use your armor."
Hana bowed, but shook her head politely. Clearly she didn't think she needed it. She and Ventus moved away a bit to give Terra and Aqua some room and all four summoned their Keyblades. Ven spun Wayward Wind around in his grip a few times while he waited, then stopped, deciding to see what Hana's weapon looked like. It had a heart-shaped handle made of what looks like white feathers, and the slender shaft started out white but was colored silver toward the end. The teeth were shaped like the spiky part of a drawing of a fireball. The keychain was also shaped like a fireball. She looked curiously at the reversed way he held his Keyblade, with it pointing behind him instead of towards the opponent.
"You may begin," Eraqus said, after seating himself on a nearby boulder.
Terra immediately charged Aqua, and she sent up a blue crystalline barrier as she cart-wheeled out of the way. For only a second, Ven was distracted by his friends as they thrust, grunted, and slashed at each other. Hana seemed oblivious to their noise, however, and never took her eyes off of Wayward Wind.
The two of them flashed towards each other, then clanged Keyblades and broke apart, bouncing back to and fro for a full five minutes. Ven's eyes were wide with anticipation and curiosity. He couldn't believe it. Hana was almost as fast as him. Wait- where'd she go?
Suddenly, he had a mouthful of dirt, and there was pressure on his back. Aqua and Terra froze in astonishment, unable to believe what had happened. Ven spat and craned his neck around. Amazingly, Hana was sitting on his back, Keyblade pointed at his unprotected neck. He shook his head in shock. "Alright, you win," he muttered at last.
Eraqus chuckled and helped them both to their feet. "Congratulations Hana," he smiled at the youngest protégé, "I do believe that is the fastest I've seen anyone take Ventus down. I'm very surprised at your agility level."
She dipped her head in contentment and sat next to Eraqus's rock, eyes riveted on Terra and Aqua as they continued their fight. Ven grumbled about beginner's luck, but took a seat on his Master's other side to watch his friends.
Terra jumped back as Aqua brought a downward slash where his shoulder had been and sent a front jab at her with Earthshaker. She brought Rainfell up to block and used her free hand to freeze the ground a bit under Terra's feet. He skidded back a pace and shot a fireball at her, then countered with a side swipe from his blade.
Aqua back-flipped out of the way and sliced upward with her weapon, effectively striking home on his arm and causing him to shift his weight, because their Keyblades were no good for this close of a range.
Spinning on one heel, Aqua used the butt of Rainfell to knock Terra backwards, and he breathed heavily, his eyes flashing in anger. He brought Earthshaker around and sliced across her fighting arm, forcing her to switch her blade to the non-dominant hand. Ven could clearly see that that would be a big disadvantage for her.
Terra was relentless, swinging his Keyblade at her from all different angles so quickly that she had no time to counter. It was all Aqua could do to block his attacks. Forced to switch to the defensive, she didn't even notice when Terra brought his open hand around and shot a fireball right at her.
Knocked to the ground, Aqua tried to raise her Keyblade to defend from the downward strike that would've smashed right into her head, had their Master not intervened.
"Enough," Eraqus shouted. Terra's hand twitched to the side, and his weapon came crashing down in the grass less than an inch away from Aqua's body. "Terra, Aqua, I let this continue to see what would happen, and while I am impressed at your skills, I am very disappointed. The two of you practically killed each other," he growled.
Terra bowed lower than usual, placing a hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry Master. I don't know what came over me."
Eraqus pulled Aqua to her feet. "Be that as it may, I did not train the two of you to be so very bloodthirsty," Eraqus pulled Aqua to her feet and placed a hand on her cut arm. "Cure."
Green sparks sank into her skin and the blood dried up as the injury healed itself. Aqua looked crestfallen at her Master's words. She bowed gracefully, and did not rise for a long time. "I'm sorry as well Master. I should have stopped the battle myself when I noticed Terra going too far."
Ven jumped up. "Don't blame yourself Aqua!" he shouted. "There's no way you could have stopped him when you were so busy trying to defend yourself!"
Eraqus stroked his graying goatee. "Ventus is correct Aqua," he said calmly. "There was nothing you could do. All of you are dismissed for now. We will commence with more training later. I suggest you rest up, for we will be working late into the night."
The four apprentices trudged back to the castle in silence, after a chorus of "Yes Master"s from all but Hana, who still hadn't spoken to a single one of them. Ventus began to wonder if maybe the trauma of losing her previous Master had caused her to become a mute.
If you haven't already guessed, this entire fic will be from Ven and Hana's perspective, but mostly Ven's. Also, if anyone wants to give me ideas for future chapters, that would be much appreciated, because I get blocks so very often.
And if anyone has an idea of what Hana's Keyblade Glider should look like, I have no ideas whatsoever for that, and it's going to be needed for later chapters. So if you have an idea for the shape/design, please tell me!
As always, please review! Reviews are like little chocolates filled with love, and I really enjoy seeing what you guys have to say.
