Chapter 3- Training
The next morning, Sairu woke up feeling surprisingly rejuvenated, the euphoria of the previous day playing back in his head. As he arrived downstairs at the breakfast table, Squall gave him a quick wink, which Sairu returned with a smile, taking his seat between Aerith and Squall, who sat at the end of the table.
After another silent meal between them, Squall gestured for Sairu to follow him to a door that Sairu recognised as the passage to the training room where he practiced magic, only when he opened the door, he arrived somewhere different, most likely because of Merlin's magic. The room was rather simplistic: plain white walls, polished floorboards, a giant window that allowed the sunlight to penetrate the room and bathe them in its warm glow. Sairu also noticed propped against the walls on his left and right, wooden poles, wooden swords and wooden spears. "Hey, what is all this stuff?" Sairu asked, awestruck as he looked all around him. "This is a special training room, where I generally come to practice myself, but today, I'm going to train you" Squall explained as he stood facing Sairu as the door closed behind the latter.
"Ok. To start off... Sairu, start with at least 30 sit-ups right now" he spoke harshly, gazing at Sairu coldly. Sairu could only comply and proceeded to sit on the floor while Squall kneeled in front of him to hold his feet in place and with curt nod of his head, Sairu began. In three minutes, Sairu was finished but was already feeling the strain as he rose to his feet, sweat glistening down his face, taking ragged breaths. "I thought you could do better than that. Oh well, I guess it'll just have to be baby steps. Now that you're done with the warm-up, it's time I explained what I'm training you in" Squall stated, as he noticed Sairu's breathing return to normal as he stood up straight again. "All right. What I'm preparing you for... is swordsmanship" Squall stated, getting straight to the point as he approached the wooden weapons and retrieved two wooden swords, and passing one to Sairu, who surprisingly seemed able to hold it firmly in his hand, with not even the slightest uneasiness in his grip. Squall had to admit, he was impressed, but it took more than just holding a sword to fight.
"From what Merlin told me, you're not a natural magic user. You struggle to grasp even a simple fireball, and both he and I felt that, perhaps, if you can't use magic, then a sword might be more to your strengths. You're intelligent, but your body needs the same kind of stimulation as academics for your brain. What's more, there is one other thing we were asked to give to you when you were older. You're far too young right now for it; but the sooner I train you, the faster you can get it, I think. So, be prepared" And with explanations at an end, Squall brought up the wooden sword in both hands, holding it firmly and ran towards Sairu, proceeding to catch him off guard with a vertical strike down, but to his surprise, Sairu, while indeed caught off guard at first, blocked the attack with his own wooden sword, only for Squall to break the confrontation and go for a horizontal swing that Sairu failed to see in time.
If it hadn't been for holding himself back, Squall knew that attack would have caused Sairu great injury. But Sairu's side had been clipped by the attack, and his grip on his sword failed, as he staggered backwards. Squall, although knowing it was only the beginning, nonetheless had high hopes for him. "Come on. Pick it up and let's try again. You can't let yourself be caught off-guard" he spoke authoritatively, as he brought his wooden sword into a stance, ready to continue. Sairu could only give a small growl as he reached for his discarded sword and with both hands, brought the tip level with his head, and ran at Squall with everything he could muster, and went for an almighty uppercut, which Squall easily dodged until he noticed Sairu then bring the sword down again in a reverse of his last attack, which Squall, surprisingly, struggled to block for long until they stepped back, and then he noticed Sairu panting heavily until he fell back on his rear end, his legs wobbling like jelly.
Seeing this, Squall exhaled and relaxed his stance, approaching his 'student'. "You didn't do bad at all. There were some nice moves there, but how long you can keep it up, that's going to take time to get better. All right, we'll rest for a time. We'll be moving onto the next step: hand-to-hand combat, where that friend of ours comes in" After saying this, Sairu fell backwards and as his breathing slowed to its regular pace, he found himself drifting off. As he laid there, his eyes seeing nothing but darkness, he then noticed something in the distance: two figures, bathed in a pale light; one with rather chiselled features who had longer yet identically coloured hair and emerald green eyes, another with black hair tied in a high knot with grey eyes that seemed to examine him with concern, dressed in clothes that Sairu had never seen before. Both figures stood facing him with serene smiles on their faces. Sairu then noticed that they were turning away from him, walking away slowly. Sairu desperately tried to catch up with them, but his legs suddenly felt like lead, he was running so slowly he felt as if he was running through quicksand. Just as he raised his hand to try and reach the two men ahead of him, the light suddenly intensified and the next thing Sairu knew was that Squall was looking down at him, wearing a worried expression that transformed into relief.
"Sairu, you all right?" Squall asked, concerned for his well-being, as Sairu rose to a sitting position, groggily looking up at Squall. "Huh? Yeah. I must have fallen asleep or something. Sorry about that" he said apologetically. "It's alright. You probably needed it; you were out for a whole hour" Squall responded as he sat down, cross-legged with a picnic between him and Sairu: sandwiches with various fillings, different kinds of fruit and a jug of water with two cups, laid neatly between them. "Here. Before we get back to training, let's have something to eat. Aerith made all this while you were asleep" Squall explained, as he reached for a ham sandwich. Seeing the spread before him, Sairu's stomach suddenly rumbled, and he realised how hungry he was, and tucked into a juicy red apple.
For a few minutes, they ate and drank in silence, until Sairu decided to try and make conversation. "So, why are you training me? You said it would be better for me, but I don't quite understand. And what's this thing you're preparing me for?" Sairu asked, and almost regretted it when Squall looked over at him. For a few seconds, Squall sat in silence before he set his cup of water down and said simply "When we took you in, a number of objects were found with you. One of those happens to be a very unique sword that I've never seen before..." Squall then paused as he noted Sairu's surprised expression before continuing "That's the reason why I'm training you: so that you can use that sword properly, and I felt the sooner we trained you in swordsmanship, the better skilled you would be when that time comes. But, it's still a long way off; just another reason for you to train with me and... her" "Her?" Sairu asked, confused.
Just as he finished that question, the door opened and a woman emerged in the doorway. At first glance, she was strikingly beautiful: long dark-brown hair tied near the ends, dressed in a sleeveless white tank top that exposed her midriff, with a particularly prominent chest area, a black miniskirt with a belt and suspenders. She also sported red and black fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows, red boots and a metal guard on her left elbow. She also wore teardrop-shaped earrings, a heart-shaped face and red eyes that shone with kindness and strength. The sight of her made Sairu gasp at first glance, and suddenly, his face felt really warm as he couldn't stop staring at her face. When she noticed this, she simply gave him a sweet smile; that froze Sairu on the spot, his face a deep red almost the same as her eyes.
"Ah, you made it. Thanks for coming" Squall said, rising to his feet and doing a series of stretches as he approached her. The woman then proceeded to look Sairu over, which caused Sairu to stand to attention. When she finished she turned to Squall and said "Well, at least he's able to stand up without support" Tifa Lockhart joked, with a short chuckle. "Still, by the time I'm done with him, he'll be more than a match for anyone his own age" she then stated determinedly before turning back to face Sairu, face still red. "Hope you're ready, Sairu" she stated calmly, a mischievous smirk upon her pretty face. Sairu could only nod as she spoke, but it did not go unnoticed as she then stated "Cat got your tongue? You know you can talk to me. Well then, let's get started" Tifa said and, then rose her fists into a fighting stance, at which Sairu could only gulp in horror.
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That evening, after dinner, Sairu was practically crawling to the living room. His body was covered from head to toe in bruises; Aerith had tended to them, so they didn't hurt as much as they did when his session was over; his face was also still red from embarrassment at training with a woman who was not only pretty but quite strong too, so his face was a peculiar blending of black, blue and red. Nevertheless, he was exhausted beyond all expectations, and Squall thankfully gave him a full day to recover. What's more, despite it only having been one session, Sairu's agility and stamina had improved considerably, but the drawback was the fatigue he now experienced.
Just as he sat down on the sofa, however, he heard a knock and Aerith calling to say she would answer. She opened the door to find a familiar face: Even, from the park yesterday. He didn't seem to be in good spirits as he bore a look of utter frustration. "May I help you?" Aerith asked politely. Even acknowledged her with a curt nod of the head and responded "Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I come with a message for young Sairu, from his dear friend Ienzo" "I see. Sairu! Someone's here to see you" Aerith then called and Sairu exasperatedly walked to the front door, where he saw the imposing figure of Even towering over him, his face scrunched into annoyance, as if the task was beneath him. Noticing his bruises with an observer's eye, he then spoke "Sairu, I take it. Ienzo has kindly asked you to meet with him in the park tomorrow morning at eleven o'clock sharp" Then noting the manner in which Sairu's multicoloured face lit up, Even easily determined the boy's decision. "I trust that your expression is an affirmative response" As Sairu confusedly nodded his head, Vexen sighed, exasperatedly and stated "Very well. I shall tell him you accept the invitation. Tomorrow at eleven, please don't forget". And with those final words, Even took his leave.
As Aerith closed the door behind them, she saw Sairu's hopeful face, knowing what he was about to ask. "Can I go? Please, please, please?" Sairu asked excitedly. Aerith could only chuckle at his sudden change in mood. "Sure. I'll be nearby if you need me for anything" Suddenly, Sairu gratefully ran at her and hugged her tightly, which Aerith gratefully returned. "Now, go brush your teeth and get ready for bed, ok?" Aerith then asked, to which Sairu let go of her and excitedly nodded, running upstairs in a flash of lightning. Aerith could only smile in pride, glad that he finally had a friend his own age.
"That was a tough day with all that training in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, but what made it strange at that time was the dream I had: I didn't know who those two men were, but deep inside, I guess I felt that they must be important people. What I cursed about this was that Tifa, as great a teacher as she was, it was where I began to feel awkward around beautiful women, but since being with Naminé, who herself was very pretty, I think that I'll cope better next time... Then again, maybe not."
