towerofanimus | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Characters: Master Xehanort and [AU5] Ventus
Setting: Floor 25, the meadow.
Format: Starting in action but will follow you Mii.
Summary: Sparring time.
Warnings: None? will update as needed.

[He was out of practice and he knew it. Monster killing only did so much for his fighting skills and while he could have easily sort them out on one of the newer floors, Ventus didn't feel like that. Nor did he have any desire to seek out other keybearers. mostly due to his own reasons. Most of which boiled down to his dislike of a few, and outright fear of one. Avoidance, perhaps.

So, shadow-sparing against himself in the meadow it was. Most of the spar was still in the warm-up stage of back-hand thrusts, blocks, parries, a strike raid or two and a blizzard and aero spell from time to time. It was still early enough into the anyway that he felt he'd get a decent work out, though it hardly made up for the training that he was used to. But, it sufficed - and was a way to vent his frustration.

For now, anyway.]

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[It's practically routine. When it seems to be morning regardless of whether he's slept that day, after breakfast if his body insists on the repast otherwise simply upon leaving his room, he heads towards the floors he knows people gather on. It's easier to watch and learn when they're in clusters, comfortable with their social structure.

And then there's places like the cathedral, for quiet contemplation or open space. Similarly, there's the meadow. For whatever reason, the meadow seems to attract those who wish to train or practice their martial skills.

Today is no exception, as he encounters the entirely too familiar blindfolded Ventus going through his training. It hails back to when he'd first encountered the boy.

He stays silent, letting Ventus go through his routines, wondering if the boy will notice him, or if he'll have to make some other move instead.]

[The bad thing about his current training is that Ventus isn't as liable to pick up if someone's around or not, and so he misses Xehanort's arrival. Which could be good or bad, given that Ventus has moved more into the spell casting now - mostly blizzard and thunders along with a fire (actually a fira-strength). It's not so much the aiming as it is the quick switching between spell casting to parrying then back again.

For now, the style is still pure Ventus, if not more prone to the defensive moves, given that he doesn't actually have a target to attack or aim for.]

[He analyzes the patterns, learning and watching. It's an interesting style, more magic-heavy than he remembered teaching his Ventus, reliant on elements that had more power behind them than the speed that had been Ventus' strength. A curious divergence in training patterns. Was that from him, or was that what Vanitas had overwritten?

A curious, cruel smile. The boy doesn't know he's there. It could make things interesting... he steps closer, just within spell range. How would he react to having his spells bounced back, Xehanort wonders...]

[Not so much magic-heavy as it was on dealing damage and had been born out of of a necessity: a tiny space with little room for his own style of fighting. It was also born out of a need to do as much damage as he could in the shortest time, though that wouldn't show very well in a simple shadow spar.

Mid-strike, he shifts his weight and keyblade around - A thunder spell's cast, the words more mouthed than not.

Bounce it back if you want.]

[Raises a hand to create a bubble of darkness around himself, the outside solidifying into a latticework similar to Aqua's reflect barriers but darker in colour. Where the thunder catches the shield, it is reflected back with equal strength, the shield shattering slightly with each bolt it sends back at its caster.]

[He doesn't suspect anything until the first reflected thunder hits.

It hurts and Ventus grunts in pain but - he simply grits his teeth and rides out the pain. After so many years of abuse and pain greater than the thunder-spell, Ventus's mind considers it nothing. He simply shifts to where he thinks it came from -- and shoots off a fire-spell.]

[This one is simply dealt with, as he reaches out with his mind, grabbing a boulder and raising it up to absorb the impact of the fireball. With that taken care of, he simply hurls the boulder itself at Ventus, curious to see how he deals with it.]

[Ventus is more alert as soon as he hears that boulder leaving the ground. While most wouldn't think twice about the sound, to Ventus it's an integral part of how he fights. Not that he waits around - he's moving in the direction of the sound; experience in combat has taught him to aim for were the sounds are.

That's often where the threats are - and Ventus is fast slipping into an aggressive - far more battle oriented mindset. ]

[It's fascinating to watch him change, the style of his movements flowing into something aggressive. Xehanort picks up some other loose objects - a clump of dirt, another rock, some flowers - aiming them at Ventus from different directions and different angles, seeing which he reacts to first and how he reacts to them.]

[Aggressive and deadly to the objects that he's defending against.. But it's too easy, the power in his backhand too strong for the small things. The first one hit is the rock, and what hits him isn't even blinked at - not does it stop him.

A shift then an aero's cast, Ventus only now pausing, head tilted in concentration.

Eventually, he'll find you Xehanort and he'll be aiming for you then.]

[He concentrates for a moment, teleporting to the other side, picking up something close to where he'd been standing a moment ago and throwing it at Ventus, seeing if he still heads in that direction after the phantom attacker.]

[Unfortunately, teleporting is one sound that Ventus knows and he freezes. It's not Vanitas' teleport-sound. That sound he knows - that's engraved into his memory; how can it not be, after everything his other half has subjected him to. The pause is only minute though, and Ventus will react as he's been trained - conditioned -, given the nasty surprises that often came with that sound.

A thunder-spell is sent in the general direction of the teleport-sound, Ventus not exactly worried by whatever just hit him. It did get a grunt, but Ventus again ignores it. He can still move, still fight. Scrapes, cuts, bruises - they are nothing to the young man. A mere drop compared to the violence that he's faced in the past. He won't - his mindset can't - allow him to falter. to falter is to risk losing whatever advantage he's managed tp scrape together.

He has more important things - such as defeating or landing an actual hit on whoever this person was - he assumed it's one, given that Unversed have distinct sounds when they are summoned. It's the same with heartless... as far as he knows, anyway.

His HP would now be about down to 2/3rds. ~~About the time the mun starts to abuse cure spells~~.]

[He teleports again, away from the spell as the edges of it catch him. Now that he's a distance away he casts in earnest, beginning to manipulate the ground around Ventus in order to trip him up. Raising small sections to ruin his footing and attempt to break his hearing-related concentration, he charges up a Thundaga Shot and throws it at him.]

[Again, Ventus seems to have no trouble.... at first.

But the more it goes on, the more 'distracted' he becomes with what's going on around the battlefield, and the more his footing falters and Ventus stumbles a few times. Each stumble is noted, but it's almost impossible to pinpoint where, so Ventus does his best to compensate.

Up until the Thunderga Shot. It hits with a cry of pain, Ventus almost dropping to a knee. Yet, he only barely doesn't - his body and mind swimming with pain. Yes, it hurts, but it's not the worst he's had. But, Ventus will not allow himself the rest he badly needs - nor use a Cure spell on himself. Instead, Ventus cocks his head, shifts...

Then throws his keyblade as a Strike Raid at Xehanort - moving as well - slower than normal, though. He's not the best at fighting long range - he'd rather get in close, to be hitting his target, feel it under his keyblade...

A good chunk of his HP might be missing now - not that he cares. Ventus has literally been trained to fight until he's unconscious - what he's doing now. This is no longer a spar but a fight. One that he wants to win, and is single mindedly geared towards that.]

[He hears the sweeping sound of an airborn keyblade, noting the Strike Raid heading towards him. The keyblade pings off of a barrier around him, bouncing at an odd angle to eventually return to Ventus' hand without having connected with its target.

With that in mind, he decides to up the game a little and aims a massive Glacier Arts at him, wondering if he'll move before being trapped in the crushing ice.]

[ A barrier? Ventus frowns, but doesn't stop moving, even as he catches the blade. He needs to get in close and deal damage --

The sound of ice magic being cast stalls him a fraction before he's moving again. Not enough to dodge it fully, given that Ventus has no idea what, exactly, is being cast.

It hits him on the left side - his dominant side and hand. Ventus hisses in shock, desperately trying to call the keyblade into his other hand so that he can cast a cure. ] Come on come on..

[And taking advantage of the moment to aim a shootlock at Ventus, firing off rounds and rounds of tracking dark projectiles, waiting to see if he can get his muster together to block...]

[Ventus barely gets his keyblade into his hand in time, though there's no barriers cast - Ventus never had need nor chance to learn that. Instead, he'll swing the keyblade around, blocking as many as he can.

Though it's far from effective, given he's wielding right handed. Though he does cast a cure at one stage (When his HP is down ohhh about 1/6th), then fires off a thunder spell.

His aim is ...far from good with his right hand, though.]

[And then for fun, some mines. Not seeking mines, but just random ones scattered about. Another teleport, out of range of the thunder spell, and he's raised his blade high in order to summon a Meteor. Have fun dodging, Ventus.]

[Has anyone told you that you need to DIAF, Xehanort? BECAUSE OH GOD METEORS ARE NOT COOL THINGS.

Ventus gets himself free from the ice not long after, keyblade back in it's rightful hand. He'll look up at the sound of something coming in from the sky. It gives him pause, and while he's not one to run from a fight..

Yea, he's running; running right into one of those mines, not that Ventus will allow it to stop him. Instead, he'll keep running - right into another mine.

While he does get up, he's too slow now, too exhausted -~~out of practice, Ventus~~.

Welp, that attack will knock him out when he's caught in it.]

[With Ventus down for the count, Xehanort steps over his fallen body, tapping him lightly with his blade for the moment. He hovers it over the blindfold, before catching it on the edge of one of the spikes on his blade, pressing against it in a vague tapping motion.

It takes a bit of cajoling to get the blindfold up onto his forehead, just long enough to get a good look at his eyes and face before it slithers back into place. Even unconscious, his eyes react to the sudden light, pupils constricting quickly to pinpoints.]

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