Frato had then shared a Burmecian upbringing with Fratley. The Burmecians
were rather uncomfortable with the idea of having a half-caste in Burmecia
at first, but eventually they accepted Frato.
---
Frato was being shaken awake by his father. Frato grumbled and rolled over, wishing to get more sleep. He was shaken a second time.
"Come on Frato get up." Lion-heart said firmly.
Frato then opened his eyes and looked at the rain outside. It was very early; the sun had not yet risen. Only the darkness and gentle rain could be seen in Burmecia.
Frato eventually forced himself onto his feet and then looked at his father. Lion-heart had a stern look on his face, although he didn't seem to be angry.
"Get dressed, take this and come downstairs." Lion-heart commanded whilst handing Frato a rather short spear. The spear was shoulder length to Frato, who was only about half the height of Lion-heart. Lion-heart left the room to leave Frato to dress himself.
The eight year old quickly got dressed and took his new weapon and rushed down the stairs. The day had finally come; he was going to train to become a Dragon Knight.
As Frato reached the bottom of the stairs he saw Lion-heart and Fratley smiling at him. Fratley was used to waking up early as he had been training for three years already.
The three then went outside into the garden. Fratley went away from the group and begun training alone for he had learned what Lion-heart was about to teach Frato. Lion-heart faced Frato.
"As you are probably aware, the time has come for me to train you." Lion- heart stated, looking into Frato's broad smile. "Becoming a Dragoon is no easy task and requires skill, strength, determination and dedication. You think you're up to it Frato?"
It didn't take a second for Frato to decide.
"Yes sir!" Frato boomed, still smiling madly. He couldn't wait to start.
Lion-heart then led Frato to a barrel with a target painted onto it. He then showed Frato how to hold his lance properly, as Frato was holding it in such a way that he was pointing it sideways.
"Before I can teach you anything else, you must first learn to use you lance properly." Lion-heart explained. "I want you to hit the target in the centre with a charging attack."
Frato nodded then focused his attention onto the barrel. He ran forwards towards the barrel with his lance outward. The lance pierced the barrel easily. Frato looked to see how he did, and found he was at least an inch away from the target.
Lion-heart took one look at where the lance had planted itself. He shook his head and said "You're not quite there, try again."
Frato removed his lance and tried again to pierce the target. He failed again, but this time he was closer to the target. Frato tried again, and again, and again, and eventually...
"I did it!" Frato beamed, smiling intently at his lance which had pierced the centre of the target. Lion-heart looked at the lance to check.
"So you did." He admitted. "Right, let's move on to the next exercise."
Lion-heart quickly moved the barrel away to prepare for the next exercise. Frato was swinging his lance, trying to get used to the motion. Lion-heart then drew his own lance, which was a lot longer and looked a great deal more powerful than Frato's. Frato looked at his adopted father with his eyes wide open. He dare not think what might be coming next.
"Now you know how to use a lance, you must learn to defend and attack with it." Lion-heart said without a single hesitation. "We'll start with attack; you attack me by swinging your lance downwards. This way I will show you how to block it as well."
Frato did as he was told, and swung his lance vertically towards the ground beneath his father's feet. Before his lance even touched Lion-heart, Lion- heart moved his lance across him to block the strike. Lion-hart then moved his in such a way that it caused Frato to back off, even if Frato didn't intend to.
"Good strike Frato, now let's see if you can block it!" Lion-heart commented, before swinging his lance at lighting speed in the same motion at Frato. Frato had little time to react, and just managed to move his lance into the same position that Lion-heart had used to block. Lion- heart's lance hit Frato's with such force Frato's lance was knocked to the floor. However, the strike had been stopped.
"Nice try Frato, but you need to tighten your grip. You would have been spared from that strike, but easily defeated afterwards." Lion-heart concluded. "However, practise makes perfect."
Frato stared dumbfounded at his father, and then at his lance that lay on the floor. This was much harder than Fratley and Lion-heart made it look. However, Frato wasn't going to give up now. He had dreamed about becoming a Dragon Knight, and he was determined to live out his dream.
He picked his lance back up and nodded at his father. Lion-heart swung his lance down again in the same fashion as before, and Frato blocked it. This time he managed to keep the lance in his grip. He then pushed his lance forwards, which took all of Frato's strength due to the power of his father's strike, and just managed to push his father back.
"Excellent Frato, that's more like it." Lion-heart complimented.
Lion-heart trained Frato in several other different forms of blocking and attacking, and although it took quite a few attempts for Frato to master each block and attack he never lost hope.
There was something in Frato, an urge to fight, that awakened from within him when he started his training. He enjoyed every blow he struck and blocked and he was focused to improve his strength and technique.
"Now for the next exercise." Lion-heart announced after putting Frato through the basic blocks and attacks. "One of the Burmecians main strengths lies in their feet. The Burmecian ability to jump has been credited and abused throughout the centuries and has given us a great advantage in battle. A Dragon knight must learn to jump effectively."
Frato then looked slightly worried, he was only a half-breed. Did he have the Burmecian ability to jump to extreme heights? He looked down at his feet, which looked quite Burmecian, were it not for his pink skin that lay over them. There was a very thin layer of fur over his feet, and claws instead of toes. It was hard to tell whether they were more Burmecian or human.
Lion-heart looked at Frato and gave a little smile. "This is going to be interesting. Have you adopted the jumping ability from your Burmecian side? I want to see you jump as high as you can."
Frato took a step backward, bent his knees as far as they would go and propelled himself into the air as high as he could. He left the ground with extreme speed, and Frato saw the ground fall beneath him. How high Frato had reached surprised even him. He was on the same level of the air as the second floor of the house. He then fell back down to Gaia and landed on his feet.
Lion-heart made a little noise of satisfaction. "So you do have the ability to jump. You didn't jump as high as Fratley on his first try but you came close."
Frato just breathed a sigh of relief, he could jump, and he could still become a powerful dragon knight. His dream had not faded because of his race.
Lion-heart was not satisfied with just seeing Frato jump. Being the strict teacher that he was, he made Frato do some jumping exercises involving jumping on and off walls in a ricochet, jumping across the garden in a single leap and even having him evade attacks by jumping.
After they had finished their training, Lion-heart decided that they would finally have their breakfast. Both Fratley and Frato were ravenous, and were grateful to finally receive some food. When the three entered the house April was already up and nearly finished preparing the breakfast.
Lion-heart seemed in a hurry to eat his breakfast, and for good reason. He had to attend to his Dragoon duties, one of which was to guard the King of Burmecia and the royal palace. He was running late after giving Frato a longer training session than he intended.
Fratley seemed to stare at Frato while he ate his breakfast. After Lion- heart had finished and was getting ready to leave and when he was sure April wasn't listening, he finally asked Frato something.
"Frato, dad will be gone for most of the day and mother will be busy looking after the house." Fratley said between mouthfuls of food.
"I know that Fratley, but why would that matter?" Frato answered, still chewing his food. Fortunately his parents weren't paying him any attention.
"Well, I was hoping that you and I could spar outside." Fratley said looking hopeful "It's just that training alone all day is dull, I've grown tired of it fairly quickly."
Fratley always trained outside when his father was doing his duty, Frato often watched.
"Spar?" Frato asked confused, he had no idea what the word meant.
"You know, fight. Only we don't try to kill each other." Fratley explained. "You feel up to it?"
Frato was about to reject the idea, he knew they could wind up getting injured. However, something stopped him from saying no. An instinct inside of him was telling him to say yes, he wanted the challenge of fighting his older brother, he wanted to become stronger. Eventually the instinct took control with a little help from Frato's curiosity. He wanted to know what a battle would be like.
"Okay." Frato finally answered. "Sounds like fun."
"Alright. We'll spar in the garden after breakfast." Fratley said smiling, just before putting more food into his mouth.
-*-*-
Disclaimer: I do not own FF9 or any characters or locations in it. If I did, there would be a FF9-2. Frato, Lion-heart and April are mine, sort of.
Authors Notes: Yes, I'm back with my sequel and I will finish it.
Gabi-hame: The reason I chose Alexander is because it originated from the crystal. In Madain Sari, Alexander is mentioned on the eidolon wall and was feared by the Summoners. I will explain further later in the story. Also, what is an AU or a canon?
Breeze of Summoners: I'm glad you like it. Seeing as I'm two chapters ahead of what's posted it may be a while before I can add more description. I'll try to anyway.
Guardian 1: In Terra, there IS a machine that is measuring battle power or something similar in the laboratory in the game. Plus, the invincible landed well outside Burmecia. Alexander was summoned by the two jewels that Eiko and Dagger had. If you dislike this fic, I suggest you click the big red X in the top right corner. Ignore the submit review button and leave me alone. It's only the first chapter and you still manage to pull out an essay of flaws and things you hate (most being the latter). Why waste your time?
---
Frato was being shaken awake by his father. Frato grumbled and rolled over, wishing to get more sleep. He was shaken a second time.
"Come on Frato get up." Lion-heart said firmly.
Frato then opened his eyes and looked at the rain outside. It was very early; the sun had not yet risen. Only the darkness and gentle rain could be seen in Burmecia.
Frato eventually forced himself onto his feet and then looked at his father. Lion-heart had a stern look on his face, although he didn't seem to be angry.
"Get dressed, take this and come downstairs." Lion-heart commanded whilst handing Frato a rather short spear. The spear was shoulder length to Frato, who was only about half the height of Lion-heart. Lion-heart left the room to leave Frato to dress himself.
The eight year old quickly got dressed and took his new weapon and rushed down the stairs. The day had finally come; he was going to train to become a Dragon Knight.
As Frato reached the bottom of the stairs he saw Lion-heart and Fratley smiling at him. Fratley was used to waking up early as he had been training for three years already.
The three then went outside into the garden. Fratley went away from the group and begun training alone for he had learned what Lion-heart was about to teach Frato. Lion-heart faced Frato.
"As you are probably aware, the time has come for me to train you." Lion- heart stated, looking into Frato's broad smile. "Becoming a Dragoon is no easy task and requires skill, strength, determination and dedication. You think you're up to it Frato?"
It didn't take a second for Frato to decide.
"Yes sir!" Frato boomed, still smiling madly. He couldn't wait to start.
Lion-heart then led Frato to a barrel with a target painted onto it. He then showed Frato how to hold his lance properly, as Frato was holding it in such a way that he was pointing it sideways.
"Before I can teach you anything else, you must first learn to use you lance properly." Lion-heart explained. "I want you to hit the target in the centre with a charging attack."
Frato nodded then focused his attention onto the barrel. He ran forwards towards the barrel with his lance outward. The lance pierced the barrel easily. Frato looked to see how he did, and found he was at least an inch away from the target.
Lion-heart took one look at where the lance had planted itself. He shook his head and said "You're not quite there, try again."
Frato removed his lance and tried again to pierce the target. He failed again, but this time he was closer to the target. Frato tried again, and again, and again, and eventually...
"I did it!" Frato beamed, smiling intently at his lance which had pierced the centre of the target. Lion-heart looked at the lance to check.
"So you did." He admitted. "Right, let's move on to the next exercise."
Lion-heart quickly moved the barrel away to prepare for the next exercise. Frato was swinging his lance, trying to get used to the motion. Lion-heart then drew his own lance, which was a lot longer and looked a great deal more powerful than Frato's. Frato looked at his adopted father with his eyes wide open. He dare not think what might be coming next.
"Now you know how to use a lance, you must learn to defend and attack with it." Lion-heart said without a single hesitation. "We'll start with attack; you attack me by swinging your lance downwards. This way I will show you how to block it as well."
Frato did as he was told, and swung his lance vertically towards the ground beneath his father's feet. Before his lance even touched Lion-heart, Lion- heart moved his lance across him to block the strike. Lion-hart then moved his in such a way that it caused Frato to back off, even if Frato didn't intend to.
"Good strike Frato, now let's see if you can block it!" Lion-heart commented, before swinging his lance at lighting speed in the same motion at Frato. Frato had little time to react, and just managed to move his lance into the same position that Lion-heart had used to block. Lion- heart's lance hit Frato's with such force Frato's lance was knocked to the floor. However, the strike had been stopped.
"Nice try Frato, but you need to tighten your grip. You would have been spared from that strike, but easily defeated afterwards." Lion-heart concluded. "However, practise makes perfect."
Frato stared dumbfounded at his father, and then at his lance that lay on the floor. This was much harder than Fratley and Lion-heart made it look. However, Frato wasn't going to give up now. He had dreamed about becoming a Dragon Knight, and he was determined to live out his dream.
He picked his lance back up and nodded at his father. Lion-heart swung his lance down again in the same fashion as before, and Frato blocked it. This time he managed to keep the lance in his grip. He then pushed his lance forwards, which took all of Frato's strength due to the power of his father's strike, and just managed to push his father back.
"Excellent Frato, that's more like it." Lion-heart complimented.
Lion-heart trained Frato in several other different forms of blocking and attacking, and although it took quite a few attempts for Frato to master each block and attack he never lost hope.
There was something in Frato, an urge to fight, that awakened from within him when he started his training. He enjoyed every blow he struck and blocked and he was focused to improve his strength and technique.
"Now for the next exercise." Lion-heart announced after putting Frato through the basic blocks and attacks. "One of the Burmecians main strengths lies in their feet. The Burmecian ability to jump has been credited and abused throughout the centuries and has given us a great advantage in battle. A Dragon knight must learn to jump effectively."
Frato then looked slightly worried, he was only a half-breed. Did he have the Burmecian ability to jump to extreme heights? He looked down at his feet, which looked quite Burmecian, were it not for his pink skin that lay over them. There was a very thin layer of fur over his feet, and claws instead of toes. It was hard to tell whether they were more Burmecian or human.
Lion-heart looked at Frato and gave a little smile. "This is going to be interesting. Have you adopted the jumping ability from your Burmecian side? I want to see you jump as high as you can."
Frato took a step backward, bent his knees as far as they would go and propelled himself into the air as high as he could. He left the ground with extreme speed, and Frato saw the ground fall beneath him. How high Frato had reached surprised even him. He was on the same level of the air as the second floor of the house. He then fell back down to Gaia and landed on his feet.
Lion-heart made a little noise of satisfaction. "So you do have the ability to jump. You didn't jump as high as Fratley on his first try but you came close."
Frato just breathed a sigh of relief, he could jump, and he could still become a powerful dragon knight. His dream had not faded because of his race.
Lion-heart was not satisfied with just seeing Frato jump. Being the strict teacher that he was, he made Frato do some jumping exercises involving jumping on and off walls in a ricochet, jumping across the garden in a single leap and even having him evade attacks by jumping.
After they had finished their training, Lion-heart decided that they would finally have their breakfast. Both Fratley and Frato were ravenous, and were grateful to finally receive some food. When the three entered the house April was already up and nearly finished preparing the breakfast.
Lion-heart seemed in a hurry to eat his breakfast, and for good reason. He had to attend to his Dragoon duties, one of which was to guard the King of Burmecia and the royal palace. He was running late after giving Frato a longer training session than he intended.
Fratley seemed to stare at Frato while he ate his breakfast. After Lion- heart had finished and was getting ready to leave and when he was sure April wasn't listening, he finally asked Frato something.
"Frato, dad will be gone for most of the day and mother will be busy looking after the house." Fratley said between mouthfuls of food.
"I know that Fratley, but why would that matter?" Frato answered, still chewing his food. Fortunately his parents weren't paying him any attention.
"Well, I was hoping that you and I could spar outside." Fratley said looking hopeful "It's just that training alone all day is dull, I've grown tired of it fairly quickly."
Fratley always trained outside when his father was doing his duty, Frato often watched.
"Spar?" Frato asked confused, he had no idea what the word meant.
"You know, fight. Only we don't try to kill each other." Fratley explained. "You feel up to it?"
Frato was about to reject the idea, he knew they could wind up getting injured. However, something stopped him from saying no. An instinct inside of him was telling him to say yes, he wanted the challenge of fighting his older brother, he wanted to become stronger. Eventually the instinct took control with a little help from Frato's curiosity. He wanted to know what a battle would be like.
"Okay." Frato finally answered. "Sounds like fun."
"Alright. We'll spar in the garden after breakfast." Fratley said smiling, just before putting more food into his mouth.
-*-*-
Disclaimer: I do not own FF9 or any characters or locations in it. If I did, there would be a FF9-2. Frato, Lion-heart and April are mine, sort of.
Authors Notes: Yes, I'm back with my sequel and I will finish it.
Gabi-hame: The reason I chose Alexander is because it originated from the crystal. In Madain Sari, Alexander is mentioned on the eidolon wall and was feared by the Summoners. I will explain further later in the story. Also, what is an AU or a canon?
Breeze of Summoners: I'm glad you like it. Seeing as I'm two chapters ahead of what's posted it may be a while before I can add more description. I'll try to anyway.
Guardian 1: In Terra, there IS a machine that is measuring battle power or something similar in the laboratory in the game. Plus, the invincible landed well outside Burmecia. Alexander was summoned by the two jewels that Eiko and Dagger had. If you dislike this fic, I suggest you click the big red X in the top right corner. Ignore the submit review button and leave me alone. It's only the first chapter and you still manage to pull out an essay of flaws and things you hate (most being the latter). Why waste your time?