Vignette 17 - Best Foot Forward

It was the start of the afternoon at the training grounds at Castle Askr, and presently the draconic siblings of Realm-VI known as Corrin (the brother) and Korinna (the sister) were in the middle of honing their weapon skills on a couple of practice dummies. At that moment, a trio of faces, consisting of the mage Merric of Realm-I, the archer Tanya of Realm-II, and swordsman (as well as intern at Fortuna Entertainment) Itsuki Aoi of Realm-VII, passed the twins by when Merric noticed something that made him stop.

"Pardon me, Corrin, Korinna?" Merric called out inquisitively.

The twins stopped their practice swinging as they turned to face Merric and the other two. "Something up, Merric?" Korrina asked.

"I just noticed now, those are some peculiar-looking rings you have on your fingers," he responded, pointing to the objects in question. "Might I inquire as to where you acquired them?"

The twins looked to one another briefly, before holding up their respective hands so that the rings were in a better view. "Sure, it's nothing too special," Corrin replied. "My sister and I received them while we were training with the Rainbow Sage back in our realm."

"Who's the Rainbow Sage?" Itsuki asked.

"An old master of great renown where we're from," Korinna answered. "He's the one who created the twin Yatos my brother and I wield, along with the Raijinto, the Fujin Yumi, the Siegfried, and the Brynhildr you've seen our adoptive siblings use."

"After we passed a series of trials he set up," Corrin further added, "he helped us hone our Dragon Vein abilities before he unsealed the Yatos."

"Dragon Vein-right, the thing where you can dry up rivers or move rock paths on command," Tanya remembered. "That was a fantastic thing to see on that one mission we were on together."

"Still amazes us even now, despite our mastering it," Corrin said.

"Though, admittedly," Korinna hinted with a look of slight embarrassment, "the training wasn't without its hurdles..."

Realm-VII, Notre Sagesse...

Corrin and Korinna were in ready stances as the wizened Rainbow Sage looked them over. After stopping in front of them, he reached into the pouch on his belt and took out two rings of an ancient, unique design, handing one to each of the twins.

"Up till now, your control over Dragon Veins has been mostly used for dealing with the basics," the Rainbow Sage stated. "If you're going to face the dire threat who cannot be named in this world, you'll need to bring your skill with these natural wonders up a notch. This is where my specialized training comes in. If you'll just put the rings on..." At his suggestion, both twins put their respective rings on their ring fingers. "Good. Now, believe it or not, there's a dragon vein right under this very room. Those rings will act as focusing mediums for you to tap into the mana running along it, which you will use..." He then pointed to the large object behind him with his walking stick. "To lift this enormous statue into the air."

Both twins, surprised by what the Rainbow Sage was asking, briefly exchanged slightly skeptical looks before addressing the old man. "Well, all right, we'll give it a try," Korinna said.

"Still, I'm not quite sure how we'll be able to lift a statue that large using these tiny rings," Corrin said as he scratched his head a bit.

"Never underestimate the power of Dragon Veins," the Rainbow Sage exhorted as he walked until he was beside the twins. "Now then, point your rings at the statue, and concentrate!"

The twins again briefly exchanged skeptical looks, before shrugging and holding out their rings towards the statue. Looks of concentration soon graced their faces as they put all their thought and willpower into their ability to tap into the mana of the Dragon Veins. "Concentrate!" the Rainbow Sage repeated as the twins gave off grunts of exertion. Soon, the statue began to lurch upward, until finally it was, to the twins' mutual surprise (muted due to their trying to maintain concentration), floating a few feet off the ground.

"Kids, you're doing it!" the Rainbow Sage cheered. "You're doing it! Ha ha ha!"

"I...I can't believe it," Corrin said, in awe of the feat he and his sister were performing.

"The Dragon Vein-it's really working!" Korinna said excitedly.

"Yes! Yes!" the Rainbow Sage continued enthusiastically.

At that moment, Keaton, a member of the twins' party who led the Wolfskin tribe of Nohrian lycanthropes, walked in unexpectedly. "Hey, guys, your siblings are looking for-" The lupine warrior's train of thought was interrupted when he saw the floating statue next to him, causing him to do a double-take when he noticed the twins pointing their rings at it. "Holy-how are you two doing this?!"

Korinna was snapped out of her reverie when she heard the Wolfskin leader. "Oh, Keaton-did you need something?"

With her focus no longer on the statue, Corrin found himself struggling to keep the statue afloat on his own. "Can't-hold it-much longer-!" Soon, Corrin was forced to let go, causing the statue to drop back to the ground...right on top of Keaton's right foot.

"Whaoooooooooooooo!" Keaton howled with pain. "Whao, whao, whao, ahhhh, who, who, whooo-!" Shocked looks were on the twins' faces, with Korinna's more pronounced.

"OHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Korinna let out, her hands at her mouth.

"SORRYSORRYSORRY-!" Corrin said in a panicky manner.

"Quick, gimme the rings, gimme the rings!" the Rainbow Sage implored urgently. The twins briefly fumbled with their rings before managing to remove them from their fingers and hand them back to the Sage, who then donned them on each hand and pointed at the statue with them. "Upsidasi, upsimasi, upsidaisy...!"

With his chant, the statue was soon up in the air, allowing Keaton (still literally howling with pain) to pull his foot out from underneath. All four sets of eyes widened with shock at how cartoonishly big and flat the foot had become, with the Rainbow Sage wincing in sympathy.

"OHMYGOD, Keaton, we are so, so, so sorry-!" Korinna desperately apologized.

"It was an accident, honest!" an embarrassed Corrin added. "I'm sure Sakura, Elise, Azama, or Felicia will be able to fix it up, good as new!"

Keaton glared at them with a snarl before turning and hobbling his way out of the room, grunting with pain as he left. When the healers of the party subsequently got a good look at their patient, it was then that each knew that they'd really seen everything now.

**Author's Note(s)**

Featuring: Mel Brooks as the Rainbow Sage.