towerofanimus | Fear and hatred by association [Backdated to the 19th]

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Fear and hatred by association [Backdated to the 19th]

Characters: Xion and anyone she stumbles upon
Setting: Floor 2 briefly, then floor 3, Floor 25, & Floor 1
Format: Action to start but I'll follow you
Summary: Given what happened the last time she got a collar checkup, Xion is not thrilled about her next one. This leaves her in an irritable and jumpy mood for the rest of the day. Also she may be keeping an eye out for certain people, given what happened. ~~Castmates I'm looking at you~~
Warnings: Angst/self-blame, potential mentions of kidnapping and trauma, etc.

[ Floor 2 & 3 ]

[Xion doesn't hang out for long after her collar checkup is over, merely bidding farewell to Axel and heading upstairs to the library, where she finds a random book on some topic she's vaguely interested in, walks over to a chair and jams herself down in it, visibly tense and unhappy and frustrated.

It should be pretty clear that reading isn't helping whatever is bothering her, judging by the fact that here eyes aren't really moving around the page a lot. She also has a tendency to - every once in a while - shut the book, put it down, stand up, and walk back over to the shelves, where she pulls down another book seemingly at random.

It's pretty clear that - as much as she's trying - her mind is elsewhere, and not in a very happy location.]

[ Floor 25 ]

[She's horribly out of practice and she knows it. Between her arm being hurt, being asleep for so long, and all the other things the Tower's thrown her way, her movements feel so rusty... A part of her wonders if it wouldn't be better to do this on actual monsters, the way she used to fight Dusks back in the Hall of Empty Melodies in The World that Never Was. At the same time, it seems foolish to invite trouble in the Tower, and Floor 25 is one of the clearer, more open spaces that she knew about. Maybe there was somewhere on one of the new floors she could train better later.

But for now, she's on floor 25, Keyblade in hand, practicing a series of blocks and basic strikes. The movement helps burn off some of her frustration and unhappiness, and just overall there's a certain... feeling like she's missed this, strange as it may seem to her later. Plus if she ever runs into Vanitas again, she wants to be ready. She doesn't want to be taken by surprise, left for her friends to save and get in trouble for her sake. Maybe she should talk to Aqua about starting those lessons soon...]

[ Floor 1/Dining Area ]

[Grilled fish for dinner. She isn't quite as tired of it as she was getting of soup last month, but she still wishes there was more varieiy to the foods the kitchen provided sometimes. She picks at her plate halfheartedly, sitting in a corner of the dining area, occasionally glancing up and around to see if anybody else is nearby.]

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[The Organization had never bothered too much with training - not her at least, though Roxas had told stories of some guy named Phil at Olympus Coliseum. So long as she was able to collect Hearts, what did it matter how refined her technique was? She'd undertaken most training herself, wanting to be useful to the Organization.

... but that was a long time ago.

Now she's doing it to protect herself, and those she cares about. She doesn't want them hurt or anything because of her ever again.

The voice from the stairs makes her turn - she'd just finished a combo, so extending the spin a little bit more wasn't that hard, so she was able to slide to a halt facing the stairs and see who it was who'd spoken, though the voice was familiar. She freezes upon catching sight of the arrival, though. Xehanort.

She lowers her Keyblade slowly, though she doesn't ease up on her stance. What should she do...?]

Yeah. [...] A little bit.

[He hangs back, not wanting to make her uncomfortable by approaching so soon. Perhaps if she relaxes more. For now, he's merely curious.]

Pardon me, I did not mean to interrupt. Please, continue if you wish.

[He guestures casually for her to proceed.]

[Well. It's... not like she really has any other ideas what to do. Nodding a little jerkily, she turns and resumes her practice. It helps distract her some, though she's constantly aware that he's still watching her.

That awareness causes a slight departure from her pattern though. Up until now she's been focusing mainly on her basic three-strike pattern - the slash, thrust and spin - sometimes jumping up and practicing midair strikes as well (two slashes and a spin), as well as blocking every now and then. Overall, up until now she's been focusing mainly on getting used to feel of everything again, helping her body remember old movements.

Now, though, she's improvising a little more, adding in strikes and moves she isn't as used to. It shows - sometimes she overextends or shifts her weight too much in one direction or the other, making herself stumble. Unfortunately, that doesn't help her relax - even if she doesn't trust him all that much, she still realizes on some level that she's being watched by a Keyblade Master...]

[He watches her casually. He's not about to critique her style, although he would quite like to. He does indulge himself slightly though, allowing himself to approach her during a break between forms...]

If you adjust your grip like so... [his hand gently cups hers, shifting where she's holding it by the merest fraction, fingers delicately winding around hers to show just how much pressure to apply - and then off and away as though he was never there] you'll balance the blade's weight more effectively for your swings.

[She starts a little and sucks her breath in as his hand closes over hers, adjusting her grip ever so slightly, but before she can really react, he's gone again. After a moment's hesitation she gives her Keyblade a couple of experimental swings.

The feeling is just a little different, but better, the movements easier. It'll take a little while, to break a year's worth of bad habits, but she'll definitely try to remember. ... even considering the source.

Lowering her Keyblade, she looks down and away.]

Thanks.

[He nods a bit, already her swings have improved in form quite a bit. She already has the upper body strength to wield, it's a matter of breaking all the tendencies she's got to get her into a proper form.

He'd forgotten what actual training was like. The last part of Ven's training had been preparation to mould him into the X-Blade, and had been a rush of ascertaining his light and darkness to balance them out. Of course he hadn't been entirely receptive to the change in regime...

A little fun couldn't hurt, could it?]

Perhaps an actual target would be of assistance... one fights differently when one is facing something real.

[You're getting the chance of a lifetime. Something most people would dearly love. Too bad you don't know it yet.]

Feel free to attempt to strike me.

[She feels the darkness before anything else. It resonates in her scars, a churning burn just below her skin. Despite herself, the pain is so unnatural that she winces. It's strange to feel this kind of power in the peaceful meadow, and alarming enough that she draws Stormfall.

Aqua treads quietly as she nears the source, not willing to alarm a potentially hostile force to her presence. Her heart does an unpleasant flop and then drops to her stomach when she finally comes upon the dark presence -- she shouldn't be surprised, really. Magic reacts to its own.

There's a girl near him. She's wearing a coat like Riku described to her. But she has a Keyblade. Aqua narrows her eyes at Xehanort. She doesn't raise Stormfall, but the Keyblade is tense at her side regardless, magic flowing through the weathered metal. The mars on her face ache.]

Xehanort.

[It's the only acknowledgement she gives him. Her voice is just as tense and cold as the rest of her.]

[No, she doesn't know the opportunity Xehanort was offering her. She's so caught off guard that she actually takes a half a step back in surprise, eyes widening. This... was getting rapidly over her head. She'd thought he was just going to watch maybe, not... this. And after the month she's had, she's not eager to obviously antagonize anyone in the Tower. Especially the person in front of her.

From a practical perspective she knows he's right about fighting differently against an opponent. And this could just be an innocent attempt to help her with training. She honestly doesn't know his motives. And that's... really what scares her. The offer is an innocent one, after all. But after her talk with Riku, she knew who was standing in front of her, and who he would become.

It's a distinct relief then, when she's saved from having to answer by the arrival of a third person.

At least until she sees who it is.

If she hadn't been thinking about contacting her soon enough, she might not have recognized her - they'd only spoken once over the network, and it hadn't been for too long. The scars hadn't been there before either. Aqua.

She isn't fully aware of how poor relations were between Aqua and Xehanort, though the way Aqua addresses him is a pretty good tip-off. All she knows is... this... isn't how she'd wanted to meet the person who'd offered to teach her for the first time. She takes another, larger step back, unease flitting across her face.]

[It's not hard to tell Aqua is there, as she does little to mask the light exuding from her. His expression doesn't change outside of perhaps a slight narrowing of eyes and the merest twitch at the corner of his mouth as he considers this.

Aqua's been here longer, chances are that she was the one the girl was seeking to train with - until recently, she was the only master, after all. Another one destined to turn their back on the world, another heart lost forever to the banality of light. That the tower is so full of such lost causes drives him to seek to rectify this somehow, to balance things out properly...

Whatever Xion would have done or chosen is lost. From here on out she would be influenced by the female master's lead. Sad... light does not breed individuality.

He turns, inclining his head a little in a gesture of polite greeting.]

Aqua.

Edited 2012-04-25 23:34 (UTC)

[Aqua glances towards the young girl very briefly, noting her reaction. She frowns a little, but the look isn't hostile -- it's worried.

Her gaze returns to Xehanort, but she approaches the black-haired girl. She doesn't dare take her eyes off the other Master and she doesn't bother masking her distrust. It only fades once she looks at the young Keybearer again, to be replaced with worry. She keeps an eye on Xehanort out of her peripheral.]

Are you alright?

[She wonders if this girl is one of her to-be students. There are only so many Keybearers in the Tower that she doesn't recognize. As it is, she's more concerned with the well-being of this young girl than confronting Xehanort again.

It ended so well last time, after all.]

[Xion looks down as Aqua heads in her direction, tensing a little, though she doesn't back up any more than she had a moment ago. She doesn't know what Aqua is going to say or do. It's almost as though she's expecting some kind of scolding, though that might be her own feelings about this situation leaking over.

At the question though, she looks up uncertainly before her eyes dart back towards the ground.]

I'm fine.

[As well as to be expected at least. She's not hurt, or anything. Just... tense and confused and uncomfortable about the situation she'd suddenly found herself in.]

[He can see that discomfort, and takes a step back, still smiling pleasantly. Aqua clearly expects the worst of him, but he's not about to give her that satisfaction.]

There's no reason to fear, here. There are little dangers to this place.

[Aqua finds herself upset by the position that the young girl has been put in, and internally more enraged at Xehanort for trying to draw more fledgling Keybearers into his teachings.

She straightens and turns towards Xehanort, glare in full force again.] We're standing right in front of one.

[Given what Riku had said, Xion isn't inclined to disagree at all. That, and the reactions from Naminé and Ven when she'd spoken to them - when his name had been mentioned as one of the people who saw Xion as someone else.

Her hand tightens a little on her Keyblade at the exchange though. A part of her half-expects this to turn into a fight - one that she should probably not be a part of, with her one-year's experience at best. While she doesn't actually look at him, she does lift her head a little, and turn it in Xehanort's direction, wondering how he'll react.]

[His eyes shift a little bit, looking to the left and right as though questing to see just who she's speaking of - while he recognizes that she means him, he gives little outward reaction to her claim.]

I didn't realize assisting a learning wielder was dangerous. [He shrugs, his arms held out in a passive, open gesture.] As a master, it is one of our duties, after all.

You're a danger to anyone you take under your wing. [Her response is almost immediate. The "look at Ven and Terra" is implied. Without even mentioning Vanitas.

Inwardly, she can't help but wonder who this girl is. And maybe if she'd prefer Xehanort's training. She hoped that wasn't the case. But she can't really ask now.]

[Aqua's words make her shift uncomfortably - and a little guiltily.

A part of her wants to say something, feels like she should, to try to interrupt the tension that was so thick she could cut it, explain what had happened, maybe. Another part of her really wonders if it's better to stay silent.

Then again...]

I-I'm sorry, I was just trying to practice... I didn't mean...

[Her voice, already quiet, trails off. Her words are fairly clearly meant for Aqua though.

She takes another step back, bowing her head and closing her eyes.]

[Aqua seems to be acting hastily, out of her own anger... while he would love to spend some time getting those seeds to sprout, he'd rather focus on Xion for the moment. He can see the guilt in Xion's movements, giving him an edge into the conversation.]

My dear girl, there is no reason for you to apologize. One must train in order to keep up strength and skill. I merely meant to facilitate your learning, as a proper master would. Had I known that Aqua would be so... angered by such a simple gesture...

[Aqua's attention is again redirected to Xion. Guilt gnaws at her stomach, and her expression softens. She dutifully does her best to ignore Xehanort's words.]

You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong-- I didn't mean to frighten you.

[She gives all of her focus to Xion, because listening to Xehanort just makes her angry. How dare he act like his motives were anything but selfish? How dare he make her into the bad guy here?

She bites her tongue. She can't gratify him with a response or she'll just look even more unapproachable and probably scare the hooded Keybearer even more.]

[She knows at least part of what Xehanort is saying is true, but she doesn't want to hear any more. She really doesn't. She wants this to stop please just stop stop acting like you're not a bad person or that you care just go away-

She turns her head to the side a little, her face constricting, even as her hands tighten. Then Aqua's words make her open her eyes slightly and shake her head.]

I'm... I'm not scared, I just...

[She doesn't want to say this in front of Xehanort. Except she doesn't want to be misunderstood, not by the person she'd asked to teach her. Her voice is still quiet though.]

I didn't want to meet like this.

[In other words, yes Aqua, this is one of your to-be students.]

[She's already given herself to the light. It's depressing in a way - she was such a curiosity, someone that had she come out of her shell he was sure he could have had an interesting association with. Now, under Aqua's care, there would be no such chance.

They're both ignoring him now with a vengeance, and while he would have preferred to stay and speak further there is little point. His words would fall on deaf ears. If anything, it makes him a little sick. Something must be done, but it won't be done here.

He inclines his head in a slight bow to them both.]

Ladies, if you'll excuse me...

[Then he turns, walking a few steps before focusing a portal around himself, whisking himself to another floor to leave them to finish their business.]

Meet? [But, Xehanort says something right after that. It takes all of Aqua's willpower not to glance to him.

As soon as she feels the darkness gone from the area, Aqua's shoulders slump marginally in relief, as the tension of being prepared to attack leaves her.

Xion's words register only after that. She goes down through her mental list of names. Both Soras, both Vens, both Rikus, and Kairi, she had been aware of. The only name that hadn't been familiar to her was...]

Are you Xion?

[She shoots half a nervous glance in Xehanort's direction as he disappears, her own tension easing slightly - though not entirely - upon his departure.

At Aqua's question, she nods wordlessly, looking down.]

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Fear and hatred by association [Backdated to the 19th]

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