To Defend One's Honor

"How about Clan...Star?"

"No way! It's too girly."

"Hey! That's gender discrimination! A person of my stature deserves..."

"Aw, shut up already. It's hard enough already to think up a name without you constantly reminding us of our lowliness."

"Kupo! Can't we all just get along for 5 seconds!"

Saria rolled her eyes at the bickering threesome. They spent all night thinking up names for their clan and they still couldn't come to a decision. And by they, she meant Vik, Kili, and Elena. The rest of the group didn't mind what name they got, they just wanted to fill out the empty space at the top of their entry forms.

"We need something cool." Vik said, "Something that would make our clan stand out."

Kili shook his head. "Look, a cool name isn't going to make our clan stand out. I mean, look at Clan Nutsy, kupo! Who chose that stupid name?"

"I think it should be French." Said Elena, "French makes everything sound fancy."

"We don't want fancy, kupo! We're a clan, not a cooking club!"

"That doesn't mean our name can't have some class."

"Why is that the only thing you talk about?" Vik shouted, glaring at the Viera. "Are you that ashamed to be working with us commoners?"

"As a matter of fact, I..."

"SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" Said an unknown voice. Everyone followed the vibrations in the air to the source of the outburst. And to everyone's surprise, it was Yolando. "I am ssso sssick and tired of your arguing!" He hissed. "Why don't you jussst pick a name and ssstick with it!"

It took a while for everyone to grasp the fact that the bangaa could talk. When the fact finally sunk in, Elena's attitude returned. "Well if you're so smart, why don't you think up a name?"

Yolando gave the Viera a poisonous glare before turning his attention back to the task at hand. "Senbunsu Hebun" He muttered.

"Gesundheit, kupo?"

Yolando sighed. "Senbunsu Hebun." he said, rubbing his temples. "It means Seventh Heaven. According to ancient mythology, they are the highest court of angels."

Everyone automatically looked at Elena, expecting her to say something snappy. "What?" She said when she noticed the five pairs of eyes on her. "I like it." With those three words, mass cheering erupted from the group and Seventh Heaven was born.

---

Now that the formation of their clan was official, it was now time to choose job classes. The contents of the wooden crates were finally revealed. Tucked inside each of the boxes were the cheapest weapons their school funding could buy, along with a couple pounds of packaging hay. The principal said the reason they were so cheap was so they would have enough for everyone, even though seniors were seen lugging around expensive Kwingon Blades and Master Bows. On the table in front of Vik, claws of various sizes were strung together like nun-chucks. "The principal should be thankful these weapons are of such poor quality." Said Mosely, examining the scratch marks on a Rod. "Half of the people in this room want to beat him senseless right now."

"Meh. It wouldn't be the first time I got hand-me downsss." Hissed Yolando.

Vik picked up a pair of harmless-looking cat claws that looked like they would work better as earmuffs than as weapons. "Hey, we should be thankful for what we get." He said, trying to shove his hand inside a claw, "Besides, we can always break into the senior's lockers."

Mosely raised an eyebrow as Vik slipped on the claw-tipped glove. "Uh, Vik. You do know that those are..."

"Yolando! Just what are you doing over here?" A voice hissed from behind him.

Yolando seemed to shrink upon hearing his name. "It'sss him, isn't it?" He whispered through the corner of his mouth. Vik and Mosely spun around just to make sure. " I'm afraid so." Said Vik. Standing about two tables away next to a display of short swords was Yolando's older brother, Baldwin.

"Didn't you hear me?" He said, walking up to the group, "I asked you what you're doing here?"

Once again, Yolando had lost all will to talk so Mosely spoke up for him. "What do you think he's doing here? What do you think any of us are here? We're looking at weapons, of course!"

"I know that!" The older Bangaa snapped. "What I want to know is why you're over here by the claws. Warriors can't use knuckles."

Yolando stared down at his feet. "I want to be a White Monk." He said weakly.

"A WHAT!" Upon hearing those seven words, Baldwin seemed to grow ten feet tall. "Absolutely not! I will not allow it! Our family will not allow it!"

"And why not?" Vik asked, the stray cat claw flailing around wildly on his right hand. "It's a free country. He has a choice, you know."

"Stay out of thisss human!" Hissed Baldwin. "This is family business. It is a Egidio tradition that the second-born male become a Defender. I am only here to make sure Yolando does not shame our family na..." It was at this time Vik swung the loose end of the cat claws at Baldwin. He wasn't trying to hurt him; just whack him lightly on the side of the face. But he had forgotten one very important thing: the gloves were tipped. As they passed by his face, three inch-long spikes connected with the bangaa's skin. Baldwin roared with pain as blood began to ooze from the newly-opened slits under his eye.

"Holy shit! I am so sor..." Vik apology was cut short when a pair of orange scaly hands wrapped around his neck. Even if he had finished his sentence, it wouldn't have made a difference. After a few more seconds, Vik's entire life would have been choked out of him.

It took five students and two teachers to pry the sausage-like fingers from Vik's throat and three more students to keep him off. "You're not gonna get away with this!" He hissed as Vik collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. "I will not stand by as you..." Yolando clapped his hand over his brother's mouth and motioned for the others to lead him away. As soon as they were gone, Mosely knelt down by Vik's side.

"You okay?" He asked, whacking Vik hard on the back to get the circulation going.

Vik gave one final cough before wiping the sweat from his head. "I'm fine." He said after several attempts. "What's that guy's problem anyways? They were only tiny scratches. They could heal overnight!"

"Um, Vik..." Mosely placed both arms under Vik's armpits and hoisted him onto his feet. "Do you remember that movie we saw in history class about a month ago?"

"You mean the one where the wealthy merchant slapped the governor with a loose glove and the had a du..." Vik's eyes widened with the realization of what he did. "Oh crap."

---

To Vik Fellcrest and whoever it may concern,

The act you committed today has sullied my family's name and honor. I will not allow you to escape without punishment for what you've done. I challenge you to a fist-fight. 12 PM in front of the school clock. Be there or I will hunt you down like the dog you are! -Baldwin Egidio

"How do you get yourself into these things, Kupo?" Kili said as he crumbled up the note and threw it in the trash can.

"That doesn't matter right now." Vik leaned his head against the backboard of the wooden bench. "What does matter is how I'm going to get myself out."

"Kupo! You mean you're not fighting him?"

"No. I just need to come up with a peaceful way to settle this. I mean, all he wants is a chance to 'reclaim his family honor'. Maybe I can talk some sense into him."

Kili gave a typical moogle laugh; airy, high-pitched, and with the eventual 'kupo'. "This is a bangaa we're talking about." Kili said breathlessly. "Even if you were playing Go fish you couldn't talk sense into him."

---

The thing about fights in front of clock towers is that you can never be late. And with a giant time-teller looming above it, it's a pretty hard place to miss as well. To sum things up, it was the perfect location for an engagement. It was five minutes to noon and Baldwin sat in the middle of a circle of people, meditating. Apparently, word of the fight had gotten out and human nature made it impossible for someone to resist coming to watching. The long hand was only two notches from the twelve when the crowd parted, allowing a brown-haired human into the ring. Baldwin lifted a single eyelid to make sure it really was Vik. "You came." Was the only thing he mumbled.

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Said the smart-mouthed human.

"Mark my wordsss, you wouldn't be talking like that when I'm through with you."

Vik smiled his normally carefree smile. "My dear Baldy. As long as my mouth is intact, I'm going to talk in whatever way I want."

The clock struck twelve and Baldwin sprang to his feet. "Then that's where I'll start!" He shouted, punching the air in front of him. A blast of pressurized air resonated from his fist and flew straight at Vik's face. The invisible missile hit him right between the eyes, sending him curling back into the wall of spectators.

"What the hell was that?" Vik mumbled as he slowly regained his senses.

"Air Render." Said the voice above him. Vik looked up and saw that it was Yolando who caught him. "Don't let your guard down. My brother has mastered several Monk and Battle Techniques. Even without a weapon he's still dangerous."

"Thanks for the tip, but I'll be fine." Vik pulled himself up and glanced back at his opponent. He was halfway through the process of sending another volley of air at him. Only this time, Vik was ready. The missile was about tree feet from his head when he jumped up and spin-kicked it. It bounced right of his left foot and smashed Baldwin right in the belly. "Oof." The older bangaa stumbled back, rage welling up in his eyes. "Ssso, you're through playing gamesss, eh? Let'sss kick thisss up a notch." From his belt, he pulled out a fist-shaped metal glove, more commonly known as a Bracer.

"Hey, you said this was going to be a fist fight." Vik retaliated.

"Open your eyess, human. We are using fistsss."

Vik's had searched his pockets for anything that would be useful right now. In an amazing presentation of luck, the pair of cat claws Vik had been examining earlier were poking up from the bottom. Assuming that they'd give him some sort of advantage, Vik broke the chain that connected them and slipped them on his hands.

Baldwin watched awestruck as the human put on gloves meant for moogles and bangaas. "What the heck are thossse?"

"Cat claws. Why should you be the only one with hard knuckles?"

Baldwin wasn't sure if he should laugh at or pity the clueless human. "You're a joke." He said, his face a mix of the two emotions. "You know that right?

"I might be one right now." Vik said, slicing the air in front of him. "But when I smash your head into the ground, it'll be the other way around."

"Fat chance!" Hissed the bangaa, forcing his hands together into a praying position. "Chakra!" As he uttered that single word, a wave of white sparks surrounded the scratches under his eyes and his bruised stomach. In a second the skin had repaired itself and returned to its normal color.

"Woah. How the heck did you..." Once again, Vik's sentence was cut short when another volley of air, this time much harder, collided with his face. He fell backwards, cursing under his breath. "Damn. I can't even get close to him. Not while he keeps..." Vik's train of thought came to a sudden halt when he finally opened his eyes. 'Wow. He must have hit me harder than I thought."

He shook off the dizziness from the blow and took another look. It was definitely not an illusion. His hand was glowing green. "What the heck is going on?" He thought, taking a look at his other hand. It, too, was glowing. Except this time it was yellow. Things only got more confusing when Vik looked back up at Baldwin. Over a dozen streams of green light were flowing around the bangaa like an neon tornado. "What's with the light show?"

The Bangaa gave Vik a bewildered look. "Man, you've finally lost it." As he said the words, a stream of light strayed from the whirlwind and wrapped around the bangaa's right hand while another stream shot forth and connected itself to Vik's stomach. "Earth Render!" He slammed his fists on the ground, sending a wave of fresh earth in front of him.

Vik barely had enough time to get to his feet before the wall of glowing green earth smashed into him, burying him instantly. "Okay don't panic." He thought, trying to force down a mouthful of dirt so he could breathe. "Just slowly pull your way...ouch!" A sudden burst of pain traveled through his arm as he tried to move his shoulder. "Damn it!" He shouted, dirt once again filling up his mouth.

"Get a hold of yourself, Vik. Now, think back to when Baldy did that Chockro thingy." He racked his brain trying to remember what the bangaa did to heal and groaned when he realized he had to clap his hands together. "Hurry up and get it over with!" yelled his brain. "If you don't do it now, it'll only get worse." With much difficulty and agony, Vik managed to move both his hands over his chest and pressed his palms together. "Chakra!" He said as loudly as anyone with a ball of mud in his mouth. He watched in awe as a stream of green aura detached itself from his glowing cat claws and wrapped around his fractured shoulder; white sparks promptly followed. "Sweet it worked!" Vik thought. Just to be sure, he tried shrugging his shoulders. No pain. "Alright, time to get back out there and finish this."

Baldwin had enjoyed all of 30 seconds of his premature victory when a furry hand burst through the surface of the earth, bringing an extremely displeased human with it. "You're not hurt..." The Bangaa mouthed the words, for no sound could get past the lump in his throat. Even so, Vik was able to understand what he was trying to say.

"I wasn't completely unharmed. I dislocated my shoulder, you get credit for that. I had to use that clockrock thingy to heal it."

"Clockrock...?" Baldwin repeated with a raised eyebrow, "You mean Chakra?"

"Yeah. That's the one."

Baldwin's mouth fell open even though he doubted Vik was being truthful. "I know what you're trying to do..." He growled, streams of green aura returning to his hands. "You're trying to psssych me out, aren't you?"

Had Vik been paying attention, he would have heard the question. At the time, however, too many strange and confusing things were happening at once. Way too many for Vik to understand. For example, strands of green aura were cling to Vik's chest, presumably from the stream of light that had attached itself to him seconds before the pile of earth came crashing down on him. "I wonder..." Vik reached towards the stray strands but stopped about halfway. A single thought wandered into his head, imagining the streams of aura wrapping around his hands in a way similar to before. And as if it could read Vik's mind, a four of five strands of light jumped from the group and wrapped themselves around Vik's hands. Without giving himself time to think things over, Vik slammed the glowing fist into the ground, sending a wave of light encrusted earth at the Bangaa.

The wave caught Baldwin by surprise. Though it wasn't nearly as large as his own attack, the fact that a human, who could never have became a White Monk, much less learn their abilities, was able to perform Earth Render. The wall of earth fell around him, burying him up to his chest. "What the hell are you!" The Bangaa shouted.

"Um...I'm pretty sure I'm a human. Why?"

Baldwin growled as he tried to dislodge his feet from the pile. "You are ssso fucking cluelesss." With one swift motion, he yanked a glowing green hand from the dirt. "I don't know how you did that, but it'sss not going to help you. Not at all!"

As he spoke another stream of green light disconnected itself from the whirlwind and came slithering towards Vik. Curiously, he reached out and grabbed it before it could attach to him and pushed it off to the side. "Far Fist!" He heard the Bangaa yell. Seconds later, an explosion went off a few feet away. Besides getting hit with a few pieces of debris, Vik was completely unscratched.

Baldwin was in complete shock. "What did you just do?"

"You know...I'm not so sure myself." Vik looked over his right hand. Once again, strands of aura were stuck to it.

The bangaa looked like he was about to explode. "You find thisss funny, don't you? Does it amuse you to make such a mockery of my..."

"Will you shut up already!" Vik growled, glaring angrily at the bangaa. "I know I unknowingly challenged you to a duel, but stop taking this so seriously. I'm not after your family's honor and what not, I just want you to stop trying to control Yolando."

Baldwin flinched as if he had just been dealt a physical blow. "You know nothing, human!" He hissed. "The Egidio family has traditions. Traditions we are expected to fulfill. As his elder, it is my job to make sure he makes the right choices. And I say he shall become a warrior."

"Oh really?" Vik gave him a small grin. "Well I'm his clan leader and I say he can be whatever the hell he wants."

That was it. That was the very top of Baldwin's tolerance level. "You're dead!" He hissed as two powerful legs kicked against the ground, freeing the bangaa from the earthy pile and carrying him towards Vik.

"If that's how you want it..." Vik pressed two glowing green hands against the ground, causing the earth beneath his feet to burst and propel him towards Baldwin. "Far Fist!" They shouted in unison as their fists collided. The air around them exploded, sending the two flesh and blood projectiles in opposite directions. As he hit the floor, Vik heard a deafening crack before blacking out.

---

"Vik...wake up..."

As a reflex, a soft groan immediately buzzed in his throat but he chose to silence it. "Go away." Vik moaned, turning over onto his face. The voice responded to the phrase by pounding hard on the back of Vik's skull.

"Kupo? Anybody home?" It said with a slight hint of laughter. Grumbling, Vik turned back onto his back and opened his eyes. He was now lying in a white-washed hospital room hooked up to a machine that made occasional pings. He was wearing a smock that resembled a bare tablecloth complemented by bandages wrapped around his legs and arms. Lini's furry knuckles continued to rap his skull While Yolando, Mosely, and Saria stood at the end of his bed with similar looks of relief. "Morning, sunshine!" Chimed Kili, giving him a final whack in the arm.

A burst of pain shot through Vik's arm, for Kili had purposely punched the wound. "Watch it, moron!" He yelled, trying to dull the throbbing by rubbing the bruise. "After what I just went through, don't you think you should give me a break?"

Kili stuck out his tongue. "Give you a break? You were the one who got yourself into that fight in the first place, kupo. In fact, I would whack you more but the nurse would kick us out if I did."

"Leave him alone, Kili." Said Mosely. "He just got the crap beaten out of him."

"What?" Vik suddenly sat up, an act that sent jolts of pain through his legs. "I lost?"

"Technically, yesss." Hissed Yolando, "But Baldwin didn't win either." He walked to Vik's right and pulled back the curtain. In the section next to him, Baldwin lay in a identical metal frame bed. In addition to the bandages, the bangaa was wearing a neck brace and his right arm was in a sling. "He crashed into the wall." Yolando said grimly. "The doctorsss sssaid he broke his neck. It's nothing ssserious though. They can remove the brace in a few daysss. He also broke a few bones, but the white mages cured those in a snap."

"Well, that explains the crack I heard." Vik lifted his hand to eye level. There was not a trace of green aura. "Did you guys notice anything strange during the fight?"

"Kupo. You mean like you using Earth Render?"

"No. I meant those weird green lights."

The whole group gave him bewildered glances. "What are you talking about?" Saria asked, "I didn't see any lights." Everyone nodded in agreement, leaving Vik with a feeling of confusion. "It was strange how you used those abilities, though." Admitted Mosely. "Have you ever had any training."

Vik shook his head. "I don't know how I did them. I just copied Baldwin, move by move." He received even more looks of bewilderment and even attracted a raised eyebrow from a nurse who was checking his bandages. "What?"

"Well..." Kili said anxiously, "That's...erm, kinda...impossible?"

"No it's not." Vik protested. "I did it, didn't I. And I'm the guy with the least experience in this room!"

"You don't understand..." Said Yolando, "The reason it was ssso weird iss the fact you're a human."

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Earth Render isss a Bangaa-only ability. Only White Monksss can use it."

"What is even more confusing..." Mosely put in, "Is the fact that you were able to put on the cat claws and wield them without effort is equally astonishing. They were created for Bangaas and Moogles only. No human, Nu Mou, or Viera could have worn one the way you did."

Vik leaned back and held his head to his palms. Things were confusing enough as it is, he did not need this happening. "Hey, look on the bright side, kupo!" Kili said, punching him in his wound again. "Things are only going to get interesting from now on. A lot more interesting." Vik felt another groan buzz in his throat and this time, he did not try to hold it back.