A/N: I have a nice little playlist of "muse music" playing as I write, so this should turn out pretty well. Mikol, thank you for reviewing even after I've been absent so long. Cap'n, I expect you to review no matter how long I've been absent because I do the same thing for you, but thanks anyways XD. Same goes for ye, Mer.
"Val, don't wave that thing around like that. You could hit someone," Reno reminded Inwë for the tenth time. It was probably about four in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise. Despite the lack of sleep, everyone who remained in the group was alert and tense. They estimated that they had maybe five more hours until Sephiroth and the others showed up in the quarry, and that was a painfully short amount of time to teach a teenager how to use a katana. However, the girls were fast learners, if a bit clumsy. As Reno reprimanded her, Inwë gave him an innocent smile.
"Are you saying that out of personal experience?" she inquired sweetly, letting her eyes wander to Reno's EMR and then towards Rude. Reno gave her an annoyed look.
"That was an accident." Inwë laughed and playfully twirled her katana. The Turks had vanished an hour ago and returned with two well made if plain katana. The blades were identical, each three feet long (counting the hilt) and surprisingly light. Reno refused to say where he and Rude had found them, but Inwë was almost positive that hers had a bloodstain on it.
"Ok, so I think I'm ready to practice!" the authoress said cheerfully. Reno sighed.
"You're just going to get beaten again."
"It's not my fault that Cloud is our teacher! Whom else am I supposed to spar with?" Inwë protested indignantly. Cloud, who was busy showing Amaya how to parry a blow from the side, looked up and glared at Reno.
"Do you have to aggravate her? Just fight her yourself if you're tired of her whining," he said quietly. Inwë grinned evilly and slowly turned her head to stare at Reno.
"Oh no! No way! I'm not fighting a girl!" he stammered as he backed away.
"Sexist! SEXIST!" Inwë and Amaya chorused. Vincent rolled his eyes from his perch on a small rock ledge and kept cleaning his gun.
"Fine!" Reno squawked, "Fine! I'll show you what the Turks are made of!" With that he lunged at Inwë. She was a little slow, but she managed to dodge to the side. Reno stumbled a few feet and turned around for another hit. Inwë parried it, then slashed at him. He parried that blow in turn and aimed a kick at her face. Inwë wasn't expecting that and lost her balance when she tried to dodge. She tripped over her own feet and landed hard on her backside.
"Laugh and I will kill you," she snarled as she pulled herself to her feet. It was too late. Reno had dissolved into a fit of laughter.
"Sure you'll kill me! Assuming you don't fall and land on your -!" Inwë slammed the hilt of her katana against his stomach as hard as she could. Reno doubled over, his laugh turning into a racking cough.
"How…the heck…did you get…that close?" he panted while Inwë glared at him.
"You were laughing so hard that you didn't see me in time," she replied coolly. Reno laughed again before he started coughing once more.
"I was goin' easy on ya," he answered with a roguish grin. Inwë snorted and twirled her katana around a few times, then dropped it.
"Ah. Oops. Remind me not to twirl this thing – I'm not very good at it."
"Just concentrate on not getting killed, all right?" Hatori sighed as he walked past with a bucket of water to use to put out the campfire.
"Good point," Cloud agreed. Inwë scowled.
"Right. Ok, Reno, care for a rematch?" she asked the Turk with a wicked smile. He shook his head.
"Lemme catch my breath first, 'kay?" Inwë wagged a finger at him.
"You just know I'll beat you again!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Val." Inwë rolled her eyes skyward and bounced over to where Cloud and Amaya were getting ready to have a mock fight. Cloud tipped his head to one side.
"Amaya, how about you and Inwë duel? It's not fair for me to fight you."
"Yes, sir!" the girls replied simultaneously with cocky salutes. Cloud groaned.
"Don't die." Inwë and Amaya drew their weapons and slowly started to circle each other.
"Our fellow Turks are really missing out," Inwë said sadly.
"Big time," Amaya replied. Inwë jumped forward suddenly and slashed at her friend, purposefully going more slowly so she would have time to parry. Amaya parried it easily and stabbed at Inwë more quickly. Ah, so we're not pulling punches, the authoress thought with a grim smile. She twisted out of the way just as Amaya's katana headed towards her and slashed at her friend's back with the blunt side of her blade. Amaya seemed to be anticipating that and moved out of the way just in time. Inwë barely managed to block a slash aimed at her face. She backed up several feet and stood there, breathing heavily as Amaya did the same. They nodded to one another. Inwë lifted her sword in a high guard, just as she had learned from watching Kingdom of Heaven. Amaya took a more subtle approach and walked towards her friend, only lunging at the last second. Inwë parried the blow, but just as she was about to strike, Amaya got her sword past Inwë's defenses. The pair froze, Amaya with her katana at Inwë's throat and Inwë with her blade half-raised in an incomplete movement.
"Uhh…do you yield?" Amaya asked awkwardly.
"Well duh."
"Oh. So I win?" Amaya slowly backed off with a curious smile on her face. Inwë let out a slow breath.
"I'm doomed."
"Don't take it so personally, Elf," Norrington reminded her sternly. He had been watching the fight alongside Cloud and was nodding his approval. Inwë gave him an exasperated look.
"Cloud's right, I won't last three seconds against the Mouth."
"Don't be so optimistic, Inwë!" Cloud reminded her with a wry smile, "And good job, Amaya. You're not bad."
"Thanks!" Amaya replied with a broad grin. Inwë smiled too and gave her a thumbs up.
"You really were good. I didn't even see that last attack coming. Maybe you should duel Reno now…?" Reno looked up sharply from his small breakfast of bread and leftover beef jerky.
"Nope, sorry guys. I just got done eatin'," he answered quickly.
"Oh, I bet you're worried that you'll get really beaten this time," Inwë challenged him. The Turk bristled, muttered something under his breath that sounded like a string of curse words, and glared at the ground. Amaya opened her mouth to add something when Vincent stood up on his ledge and peered towards the quarry.
"Amaya, may I use your telescope?" he asked. Something in his tone put Inwë on edge. Amaya nodded and went over to her backpack, returning a moment later with her spyglass.
"Here you go, Vincent," she murmured as she handed it to him. He didn't thank her, only looking through the spyglass. After a few moments he shook his head.
"I can see Sephiroth's group heading towards the quarry."
"They're up early," Inwë muttered dryly. Cloud ignored her and climbed up onto the ledge. Vincent silently handed him the telescope.
"Yeah, they're heading towards the quarry. It looks like they have our friends with them." Inwë exchanged a sidelong glance with Amaya.
"This is it, guys. Be strong, Amaya-san. Get our friends and then get the hell out of there," the authoress said with an odd note in her voice. Amaya twitched automatically as her friend swore, but didn't say anything.
"Should we show up late? That'd be fun," Reno wondered sarcastically.
"What'll be fun is quoting Kingdom Hearts II when I know Cloud doesn't remember saying any of those lines!" Inwë chattered suddenly. Cloud and Vincent gave her odd looks.
"Forget I said anything." Amaya moaned and buried her face in one hand.
"Please, for the love of all we hold dear, don't do anything stupid," she growled. Inwë looked indignant.
"I never do anything stupid, my dear Amaya-san! I will be serious through the entire encounter and get there by foot – comfortably and invincibly!"
"You just have to quote Ayame, don't you?" Hatori asked with a deathglare in the authoress' direction. Inwë grinned and nodded.
"Yep! Nothing like a little insanity to brighten our current moods!"
"Can I knock her out?" Reno inquired with a hopeful grin.
"No!" Cloud, Vincent, and Norrington replied in unison. Rude and Reno sighed and stood up.
"Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's crash this party!" Reno said fiercely.
"And don't forget to bash a few heads while you're at it," Inwë muttered.
"Wish us luck – we're going to need it," Norrington murmured grimly.
"Good luck," Amaya wished. Inwë picked up her sheathed katana and nodded to her friends.
"Let's do this."