A/N: Yes I left out the Teo and the wolf quest, it adds another layer of complexity that I don't want to deal with. And yes I left out the Shana and the moon thing, but if they never went to the mayor's house, why would I have the Shana and the moon thing?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Legend of the Dragoon, and all characters belong to their respective owners.

Testing One Two Three Testing

The next day the group continued on through the maze that was the evergreen forest. Dart was leading the group, with Shana just behind him, and Meru taking third. Haschel and Albert walked together in fourth, watching the group's flanks for an ambush. Kongol was next, Riku, and finally Rose, watching the rear.

"Riku, come talk to me." Rose ordered.

Riku walked a little slower so he would fall in place next to her.

"Whats on your mind?" Riku asked.

"You aren't very old are you?" She asked.

This caught Riku off guard. He had actually forced himself to forget his birthday on the last world, as he had seen more than a few of the men's birthday's where the "birthday boy" drank so much that he spent the next week sick. So, that made him nineteen now. But he was among a group that looked to be in their late twenties. Not wanting to be treated like the baby, and knowing that his lying skills were still shaky, he opted to turn the tables.

"Well, how old are you exactly Rose?" Riku shot back with a sneer. This visibly shook Rose, no one had ever asked her what her age was, and she never was good at lying, just half truths. But a simple solution presented itself.

"I withdraw my question. You have to be pretty young not to know that asking a woman her age is never a smart thing." Rose said, emotionlessly.

"You still haven't answered my question." Riku said, but Rose was already ready.

"A woman never has to reveal her age if she chooses not to. But anyway, lets move on to more important topics. Your darkness. Dart is a man of fire. Fire attacks against him do only half as much as they would against me or Albert. Water attacks against him do twice as much as they would against Shana or Haschel. Which leads to my question. It is undoubted that you use darkness. Yet why were you so hurt by my astral drain. Its powerful yes, but its practically useless against people or things of darkness."

"So then maybe I am a different element that uses darkness?"

"Exactly what I was thinking, so I was wondering if you would not mind subjecting yourself to a little test."

"What do I get out of it."

"My attention as a teacher of the Chidori School of sword combat."

"Explain yourself in clear terms."

"I will teach you my combos."
This was interesting to Riku, always on the lookout for new ways to use the sword. "First, tell me how your combo system works, because I doubt you started with such a complicated move as Demon's Dance. That thing was amazing."

"Yes well first you have to master every single combo before you can even use Demon's Dance, let alone master it."

"So how many combos are there?"

"Just three others, along with Demon's Dance makes four. With your skill I believe you should be able to use More and More, the second one, by the time we get to Deningrad."

"Ok, explain to me the details of this test." Riku said, thinking that with the first two he could back-engineer Demon's Dance. Maybe even make his own.

"Sure thing, basically we will attack you with the elements to see which one doesn't hurt you that much."

"Thats going to be pleasant." Riku said, mentally worried for his health.

"Ambush from the left!" Albert said.

The group fanned out in a semi-circle facing the left.

"We've got guys from the back too. Riku and myself will take them. You guys have fun." Rose said.

Riku and Rose turned to face their opponents, two dark elves.

"Ok, now pay attention, I'm going to show you the first one, Whip Smack."

Rose charged the first dark elf, and stabbed, exactly the same to the opening to Demon's Dance, a hard thrust to the middle of the torso. She then swiftly withdrew the blade and slashed across from left to right.

"Whip Smack."

The elf took a knee, but was not dead yet.

"Riku, you finish it off with Whip Smack."

Riku charged forward and thrust, but he had charged too fast and was unable to withdraw the blade quickly enough to complete the combo. Regardless, the elf had taken too much damage and pitched forward into the dirt.

"You ran too fast, slow down. Take care and time your strike and speed correctly, now take down the other one."

Riku charged the other one. A successful impaling, and the curved tip of Betrayal allowed for an easy withdrawal, but he withdrew at the wrong angle, and the elf used this to jump to Riku's left, out of the range of a slash. She then charged him and gave him a falling ax kick, similar to the one that Haschel had used to finish that five ring move. Riku took the full brunt of it on his left shoulder, feeling like something had dislocated. Riku again charged the now shorter distance, and with perfect timing and perfect momentum stabbed, withdrew, and slashed.

"Whip Smack." Riku said. Followed by unsummoning his keyblade and shoving his shoulder back into place. He had seen it done enough times in the infirmary to know how to do it. A quick cure and the damage was healed.

"Acceptable. You did the move right, but left out the core of it. I'll explain later. Let's rejoin the others."

The group continued on. A roar from the front attracted everyone's attention. In the clearing ahead was wounded bear. And it looked pissed.

"Same tactics guys. Surround and kill. First attack to me, then in dragoon level." Dart said.

"What's dragoon level?" Riku whispered as they fanned out.

"Every one hundred sp is a level. We call them dragoon levels." Rose replied.

"Not exactly." Rose said louder, as the group moved in. "Riku is taking my place. I've already perfected all my attacks. I'll let you guys have fun for a while. It's been a while since I could relax in a battle. If things go bad I'll pitch in, but until then get killing."

Riku shrugged. He was getting rather sick of these tests, but any chance to improve himself was not to be missed.

"Right, so Riku has a Dragoon level of zero. You follow Kongol."

"Got it."

By now the group had surrounded the bear, and Rose had jumped into a tree for a better view of the fun.

Dart charged.

"Madness Hero!"

Shana released one of her arrows. It hit the bear square in the chest, then exploded, knocking it down.

Albert failed to complete whatever combo he was working on. He got to the fifth hit, then just had to jump back due to an overbalance. He had just recently acquired this, his fifth combo, and was still working the kinks out of it.

"Five Ring Shattering!"

"Hammer Spin!"

"Inferno!" Kongol said.

Riku waited till the giant had started his leap back before charging. The bear was now bleeding in several places. Riku planted his left foot, and put everything he had into the thrust. Just as his arm fully extended, he pulled it back, using the natural bounce to withdraw the blade. However, he had under corrected for the bounce and the sword was too high. Riku tried the attack anyway, and was knocked away by one of the bear's claws before the attack could connect. Riku was slammed into a tree.

Dart again began Madness Hero, and with the final blow, the beast's head was split in two.

Shana rushed over to Riku, and pulled out a healing potion.

"No. I'm fine." Riku said, and cast a quick cura on himself. The bruising from the attack as well as the punctured stomach were healed right before Shana's eyes.

"Well then, no more potions for you." She said, and stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Riku asked to Albert.

"She likes being mother hen to all of us. You were the first person to refuse her aide, and she took it to heart." Albert replied.

"Women. Never will understand them." Riku bemoaned.

Rose knocked her hair back, and jumped down. "What went wrong?"

"It was my fault. I have been trying to do this damn blossom storm for a a week now, and still nothing. It's just too fast for me." Albert said.

"And you Riku?"

"That bounce is tough to predict sometimes."

"That 'bounce' is the basis for the Chidori school. I was surprised you figured it out so quickly, but thats useful. It means that I won't have to teach you from the beginning. You have great talent in discovering the core so quickly. However, if you fail to master the bounce, then you will be as good at it as Dart is with chopping vegetables."

Everyone else seemed to get a kick out of it, though Riku wondered what was the story behind Dart and the vegetables.

"So you are taking an apprentice Rose, how very unlike you." Haschel said.

"Hopefully he won't be too much of a hinderance."

"Everyone ready? We are moving on." Dart said, trying to change the topic.

The group again headed out, coming upon the base of a windy staircase.

"We camp here." Dart said.

Kongol, Albert, and Haschel helped get the tents set up, while Meru and Shana worked on building a fire. Riku, Rose and Dart, went off into the forest, looking for a meal.

After a few minutes of wandering, a crash behind them caused all three to turn, and there was another bear.

"Myself, Rose, Riku." Dart said, calling out the order as the three spread out to surround the bear. The bear charged at Dart first, clawing at his chest plate. His armor protected him a little, but there was some damage done. Dart swung his sword, and the bear retreated to the middle of the circle. He then charged.

"Madness Hero!"

Dart finished his combo and jumped back just as Rose began Demon's Dance. However, just as she did her third stab, the bear counter-attacked. Rose was caught of guard and was impaled on a claw.

Riku ran forward and stabbed the creature in the back. He used the bounce perfectly, and before the creature could even turn around, he had severed it's spinal cord.

"Whip Smack." Riku said.

The bear's legs gave out, allowing Rose to stab the bear through the bottom of it's jaw up through its skull. She then disengaged herself from the claws. She opened one of her pockets and removed a healing potion. But Riku stopped her and cast a curaga on her. The wound closed up, leaving exposed white flesh. Something in Riku stirred upon seeing it.

"Thats a very useful trick Riku, keep it around. It reminds me. Dart, Riku does not know what his element is. And I am sure that it is not Dark."

"But he used that darkness spell."

"Trust me, I've figured this out, he's not dark. So, could get get a test organized while Riku and I clean and carry dinner back?" She said, indicating the dead bear.

"Sure."

Riku lifted the beast's right arm, while Rose carried the left.

"So what did you learn?"

"That the bounce depends on how I start the stab. If I have it coming in at a slightly downward angle, the bounce pushes the blade just where it needs to be."

"Very good. Keep this up and I might get to show you More and More."

"Great. So who does the cooking?"

"Shana used to, but she burned everything. Now Kongol does it."

"Kongol?"

"As a gigantos living on your own, it was either cook well or starve."

"I see, but what is a gigantos?"

"Thats what he is. Don't tell me you haven't heard of a gigantos?"

Riku shook his head.

Rose sighed in exasperation.

"Gigantos were the 103rd species. They do not have great mental capacity, but as you can see, their physical capacity is quite great."

"Species?"

"What rock did you crawl out from under? Each specie was created in a certain order. Minitos the 104, gigantos the 103, humans the 106, dragons the 105, and winglies the 107."

"What was number 108?"

Rose was silent.

Riku took the hint and stopped talking until they got to camp. Kongol cleaned the animal, washing it in a nearby stream, and throwing the organs far from camp to distract scavengers, easily lifting the whole thing. He then cut the hide off of it, and threw it in a pile. He separated out the meat by where it was from, splitting it into two piles. Riku watched earnestly as the giant put the hides back over the second pile, that which was from the flanks and legs and shoulders. He then took the parts from the back and stomach and salted them, cut them into large steaks, then slapped them on a large metal slab that Meru had put over the fire. The steaks sizzled as soon as they hit the iron. After a few minutes, the giant flipped them using his ax. The side that was exposed was mouthwateringly browned, with a few specks of black for a nice crust. Another few minutes and he said, "Food done." Dart (being flame resistant...sort of) grabbed the steaks off of the metal and stacked them on Meru's upturned hammer. After a few minutes, they were cool enough for everyone else to touch, and so everyone grabbed one and began cutting and eating on what could be called plates, but they looked like they doubled as bowls too. Riku, not having a plate, grabbed his and used the flat part of the keyblade. After Kongol had finished his piece, he went back to his supplies and pulled out a giant sized pot. He moved the metal slab and put the pot in its place, suspended a few inches of the tops of the flame. He, Dart, and Haschel (who had already finished) began cutting the remaining meat that had been stored under the hide into small cubes. They spread these cubes over the still hot metal slab, turning them until they too had turned that lovely brown color all over. They were thrown in the pot, along with a lot of water and a small tub of red stuff that Riku couldn't make out, as well as a few random vegetables that had been found. The giganto stirred the pot, making sure that there was plenty of liquid, which had now turned a rust colored red. He then covered the pot and went down to the stream to wash his hands, meeting Dart and Haschel, who had already finished. When Kongol got back, Dart made an announcement.

"Rose has requested that Riku be tested to see what element he is. She has already sworn that he is not Dark, so Shana, I believe light is next.

"Ok Dart." She said with a smile. Riku had a feeling that their relationship was progressing rapidly. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, then blinding light engulfed her. When she emerged, she had the wispy white wings and matching white armor, and her bow had now been upgraded from a simple wooden thing to something that looked like it had come off of an animal.

"Now Riku, be absolutely still. This is going to hurt." She shot an arrow at Riku, hitting him in the right arm.

She was again bathed in light, and returned to her normal form.

"Heal yourself." She said. Riku didn't have to pull the arrow out before healing, it had gone right through it had been so powerful. It had hurt a lot. He cast a cura.

Shana shot another arrow at him. This one hit his left arm, and got stuck in the arm. Riku pulled it out and cast a cure.

"Now Riku, did the arrow from my dragoon state hurt twice as much as the arrow from the regular state, or did it hurt less?"

"Hurt twice as much."

"Well, he's not light."

"Next." Rose said.

"The next portion of the test will consist of Kongol throwing magic items on you. The reason it's Kongol is that his magic attacks can't really hurt much."

"Please continue with the test. I'd like to get this over as soon as possible."

Kongol nodded, and threw the first item.

A bunch of rocks started floating around Riku, and shot beams at him, then all four of the rocks crashed into him.

"Now compare that pain to the next one."

Kongol threw the second item.

A small tornado grew up out of the ground, its speed cutting into Riku, then it abruptly died.

"Hurt the same." Riku cast a cure, even though the damage was not great, he didn't want to get screwed by the next attack.

It was good that he did, as the next attack sent six icicles flying into him.

The next one was of course the opposite. A huge flame erupted at his feet, burning Riku's face and if it hadn't been for the icicle's water, it would have burned his clothes.

"Same." Riku cast a cura, that definetly was not pleasant.

"Haschel, do you have any plans to test for thunder, as there is no opposite?" Rose asked.

"Something like Shana's."

Haschel then charged forward and hit Riku with a strong left punch to his chest, then a right to his chest. Finally, he pulled back both his hands, charged up, and hit Riku with both. Riku fell down due to the impact.

"Ferry of Styx."

Riku shakily got up, but Haschel had already transformed into a dragoon. His armor changed from a Karate vest and pants to a purple organic looking armor. Haschel flexed his purple wispy wings, and took off. He then charged forward and punched, and then flew back up high, charged down again, punching the other side of Riku's chest. Then he flew back up and came down again, hitting Riku's chest again. He then flew straight up, and came crashing down on Riku's head with his legs just as if he was doing a giant back flip. He then flew away, charged up a blast of electrical energy, and fired it at Riku.

Riku was knocked back. And immediately cast a cura on himself.

"That hurt, but about equally, which is surprising considering how powerful that dragoon attack looked."

"Oh, I was holding back a lot on that attack. I was using the summon four gods combo, which is half as strong as the Ferry of Styx."

"So if he's not thunder, then I guess that means he's...what is he Rose?" Dart asked.

"Non-elemental." Rose said with a bit of curiosity. "While we as a group have not fought a non-elemental, I have done so in the past. Usually only powerful monsters and winglies are non-elemental. Yet again we come back to the winglies. Riku are you positive you are not a wingly?"

"I doubt it. I can't say for sure, but if we come across one, maybe they can tell."

"We'll do that." Rose said, "Meanwhile, just so you know, Non-elementals can use every sort of magic."

"So can I." Dart said.

"Yes you can, but can you say that your fire magic is not more powerful that your earth magic? And you know exactly how weak your water magic is. Non-elementals can use all magic without any disadvantages. So a non-elemental would cast a spell at about a midway point between your wind and your fire magic. Also, non-elementals have a resistance to all elements. This resistance is about the half-way point on your resistance to fire and say...light for example. Finally, I have heard a rumor, though I can't confirm it, that non-elementals do not have resistance to non-elemental spells." Rose said.

"What's a non-elemental spell?" Meru asked.

"Exactly. The last time I heard a non-elemental spell was used was during the Dragon Campaign by Melbu Frahma. So no one knows for sure."

"Um excuse me? The Dragon Campaign? Whats that?"

"I will tell it." Dart said, "The way that Minister Noish told it to me in Serdio, another country."

"It all started eleven thousand years ago."

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My apologies, to all LoD fans who have stayed so far through the absolutely terrible descriptions of all of the combos, and to all the Riku fangirls that have just seen Riku completely abused. My apologies, but if you can figure out a way to have him tested without causing him pain, then I would recommend reviewing! And finally, I don't know why these chapters turn out so long, but I just keep writing and writing and then I check the page number and I'm already on page six, so I stop there. Next chapter, the Dragon Campaign. And, is Riku a wingly? (probably not, unless it helps me out, I wanted this world to be "just another world" not a homeworld for Riku, but if something works out...) Additionally, digital homeade caramel candies (one of my specialties) to the person who figures out the Chidori school AND why I used it (it should be pretty self evident if you've seen a Chidori.), and if you want I guess I could use you in the story somehow. I've invented enough names, might as well not have to invent more. However, be warned that named characters have a nasty habit of dying.