The first rule of Fight Club is... - Open to Ion and Sync [Trabia Garden - Thursday Night]

[shotaball]

He'd stopped along the way a few times when he found a place to take photographs, so it took about twice as long as usual to reach the Training Hall. Ritsuka just couldn't help himself when it came to photography. As they approached the hall, he perused the pictures they'd just taken with a satisfied look on his face. Ion was very photogenic so

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[the_empty_me]

"Don't try to order me around, Fon Master," Sync spat, finding everything about the situation to be endlessly frustrating and aggravating. Endlessly. It had been this way since time out of mind, Ion scolding Sync in various ways, and always the older boy was infuriated at it. Like someone with so little experience in the real world could possibly know why Sync was doing what he did! "And don't laugh at me, either!"

Especially since the terms 'garbage' and 'bastard' both hit a very raw nerve, and especially when it came from Ion, of all people.

The older brother irritably shoved Ion's hands aside, suddenly storming away until Ritsuka was shielding between the two, then he stopped to look over his shoulder. "As for you? I thought you'd still be feeling the effects from the mission; you know that I don't slow down when I'm training." It was an unspoken, yet binding agreement between them; if Ritsuka slowed down, then Sync would leave him behind. The reverse was also true; if Sync was useless, then he didn't want anyone to stop and help him out of a false sense of pity.

Not for garbage like him.

[will_of_lorelei]

"I'm sorry, Sync..." He hadn't meant to hurt Sync, who was always easily 'hurt' in some way despite the fact that he had no problem with harming others. Once more the reunion fell short of tear jerking, and he sadly watched as his brother stormed away from him. Of course Ion was the type to try and find some good out of any situation, quietly tagging along until he stopped next to Ritsuka and tilted his head.

"It's getting awfully late," He started with a smile. "Why don't you stop for today and we can get something to eat? You must be hungry after all that training." Not to mention that he was a little famished as well, but there were more important things to deal with; like making up for whatever friction he caused between his new friend and Sync. Friends should always fight alongside each other, not at one another!

[shotaball]

Silence was usually the best plan when Sync was this riled up, and it was a tried and true method for dealing with his parents, at least. Ritsuka watched his partner storm off, waiting until he spoke to him again before raising his eyes to meet his gaze. It was true that he was still feeling the pain from their last foray together, but Ritsuka refused to be left behind. He was relentless in his pursuit of his goal, refusing to give up any ground if he could help it.

Everyone thought that his size spoke of his ability, but Sync was one of the few who knew how far Ritsuka would push himself. The nurses and doctors in the infirmary here gave him far better care than what he could do by himself at home, meaning he could afford to test his limits. Even if Ritsuka was small, he was surprisingly hardy and he hated it when people, especially Sync, underestimated him. "I don't need you to slow down, I need to be with you when you're training or I'll never pass the exams. I asked you before to let me know when you're coming in here so I can join you."

He felt Ion step up next to him and Ritsuka relaxed slightly, remembering that Ion knew nothing about his and Sync's relationship or Ritsuka's past. Ion seemed to be the sort of take things on his shoulders unnecessarily, so he turned and smiled at him reassuringly. He wasn't all that hungry, but Ion had come all the way from Daath, and it was likely he hadn't eaten. "If you'd like, I can take you to the dining hall. Visitors are allowed there as long as they're escorted." He glanced at his partner and sighed internally. If he could figure out how to get the two of them to just sit down and talk, maybe things wouldn't be quite as bad. Optimism wasn't Ritsuka's forte, but when it came to family, it was all he had.

[the_empty_me]

"Hmph, you should be." Sync knew that Ion apologized to everything under the sun- and probably to the sun, whenever it was too hot or something- but it still vindicated him. Ion was always coming after him, that was the way it should be. Even though... even though that was a false perception. It was pity from a Fon Master, which meant that it was actually of no value at all.

Frustrating, every single time Sync saw Ion he ended up wanting to punch something! And yet decking the Fon Master would be a bad idea from a logical point of view, so he couldn't even take out his frustrations on the source. Just great.

"Fine, I'll grab you the next time I'm out here, and I'll put you through your paces." Which he'd have to do anyway, to make sure that Ritsuka had recovered well and could keep on going. It really wasn't as bad as it sounded, though; he drove Ritsuka hard, but only because he drove himself harder, and neither wanted to be left behind. That meant that they had to do the best they could, always.

As for Ion, though... Sync gestured for the two of them to go on, not wanting to spend any more time than strictly necessary with his twin. "Go ahead and escort the civilian. I bet the idiot didn't even bring his guardians along, so him getting hurt in the Garden could lead to diplomatic problems with Daath. Which he could have prevented if he'd done it right."

[will_of_lorelei]

"I hope it wouldn't be a burden, especially since it's so late and all." To Ion, everyone else came before him, so as long as people didn't have to go out of their way for him he'd be fine. This could probably add to the reason as to why he left without his guardians even though he felt really guilty for worrying them.

"You don't have to worry about me, Sync." He reassured. "I informed them of my whereabouts on my way here and that I was going to return no later than tomorrow." If there was one thing that Ion lacked severely it was common sense with strangers, and many a time his Guardians found themselves running after him all over Daath to keep him from getting abducted. And as usual he remained completely oblivious to the dangers, much to their dismay.

"And besides, you can protect me, right?" Ion took a step forward and tilted his head, smiling. "It's what brothers do after all, they protect and take care of each other." But it didn't take long for the Fon Master to see the flaws in his words, quickly bringing a hand over his mouth before dropping his head towards the ground.

"I guess I didn't do a good job at it if you came here... I’m sorry."

[shotaball]

"Good, I need the practice." Ritsuka was happy to pull Sync's thoughts away from violence toward his brother. Even if he didn't know why, he could always tell when Sync was ready to punch someone in the face and the only source of aggravation was poor Ion at the moment. What he said was true, too. He needed to elevate his pain tolerance because Tear wasn't always going to be around to heal him when it got bad. Even if the three of them always traveled as a pack, the possibility of her being gone or tied up in something else existed and he needed to prepare for that. "Maybe later on tonight. Ion can stay in my dorm to keep him out of your hair."

Or so he hoped.

Turning to the boy in question, he motioned toward the door and said, "It's not a burden, I stay up late anyway and the dining hall is open all the time."

Ritsuka didn't know a lot about political relations, but it didn't take a genius to know that the Fon Master getting attacked at a SeeD school spelled trouble. He was about to respond to Sync when Ion spoke up, causing him to flinch. It was what brothers did, but he doubted Sync would want to hear those words.

[the_empty_me]

It was a good thing that Ritsuka was working so hard to quell Sync, because diplomatic incident or not, it was getting harder and harder to keep from punching his twin in the face or doing something just as drastic. With Ritsuka's efforts, the SeeD might just have been able to get out before he snapped. With normal situations, something might not have gave in.

But then Ion said those cursed words.

Instantly Sync spun around, his green eyes blazing as he stormed right up to his brother, jabbing his fingers at the other's chest as he started shouting like it was the last spiel he'd ever get to say. "How dare you apologize!? It was your fault that I'm here in the first place! You took everything away from me, and you have the nerve to say 'I'm sorry'? Yeah, 'brothers' protect each other, that's why I spent two years of my life trying to survive while you were the precious little Fon Master! You got everything, I got nothing, and then you expect me to protect you? First of all, I don't have a brother, and second of all, why don't you just-"

But what he said was drowned out by a tremendous roar. Live monsters were kept in the training area, the better to simulate real combat. Sometimes, that lead to accidents. In this case, said 'accident' was a massive T-Rexaur, its maw more than large enough to swallow one of the three whole, and now charging right at them.

And despite himself, Sync immediately darted towards it, gesturing for Ritsuka to stay put. "Make sure the Fon Master stays safe, retreat if you have to!"

[will_of_lorelei]

Ion quietly took his punishment, letting Sync expel all his anger on him, knowing full well that he deserved every bit of it. Though he was startled when a deafening roar cut off his brother's voice, green eyes widening at the sight of the monster now charging at them.

"SYNC NO!" Ion cried out, desperately grasping for his brother to try and pull him back, only for his hand to meet thin air in the end. Said hand clenched and the boy's body gave a violent shudder, watching helplessly as the latter rushed towards the monster. His mind and body were now in heated dispute, forcing himself to stay put and not follow Sync, knowing full well that he'd be of little help if got hurt.

Oh, all of this was his fault! If he hadn't gotten Sync so angry they would've already been out of the Training Hall. But instead he had to rub more salt into his twin's wounds and distract him. Ion glanced over his shoulder at Ritsuka, his expression completely petrified of what was going on. No matter how strong Sync was he knew that he stood no chance to something so big!

So he did the first thing that came to mind: turning his attention back to the T-Rexaur, the Fon Master clasped his hands together in a prayer-like motion. Ion then started to chant, closing his eyes when the tips of his fingers began to tingle and the floor beneath him began to glow.

[shotaball]

Ritsuka had moved almost at the same time that Sync did, wanting to keep the brothers apart before things came to violence. Just as he reached out, however, the roar hit him like a shockwave. As Sync ran off to stop the T-Rexaur from attacking, Ritsuka stepped in front of Ion, readying himself for what was about to happen. It was going to be tough, Tear wasn't here and Ritsuka was still just a student. Still, they had to manage somehow - they couldn't let a freak accident in the training hall take them down.

"Stay behind me, Ion, and you run if things get bad, got it?" He turned and was about to order Ion back when he noticed that the floor was glowing. What the hell was this? He'd heard that the Fon Master had powers, but he'd never witnessed them or heard anything beyond that simple fact. He couldn't lose focus though and keeping Ion behind him, he turned his attention to Sync. The link was there, it was ready, he just hoped he could hold out. "Sync, I'll take care of the Fon Master, you just kill that thing!"

[the_empty_me]

Sync wasn't durable, but he was fast, and the T-Rexaur only had a few areas of the body it could actually attack with. Tail and jaws, its claws were only vestigial. At the least, he could distract it and get away when Ion was off to safety, then seal it into the training center until more SeeDs could be brought in.

But then he heard Ion singing. And he'd be a pretty sorry piece of garbage if he couldn't identify a Daathic Arte going off. But that was something he could do, he didn't need a loser like the Fon Master to cast it for him! "You'd better get ready to catch him, that idiot will collapse right after-"

His words were cut off as the T-Rexaur took advantage of his flailing to smack him with its tail, sending him flying off to the side before chasing after him. It was at times like this he was tremendously glad he had someone to soak his damage.

It almost made up for having the Fon Master with him.

[will_of_lorelei]

If Ion hadn't been concentrating so hard on his Arte he would've gasped out when Sync was whipped away. But instead he was solely focused on gathering all the energy in his body, manifesting it into the powerful spell. He was at a serious disadvantage, however, since the attack was meant to be close-ranged, but he wouldn't have been a proper Fon Master if he weren’t able to improvise just a bit.

So with a final push, Ion dropped down to his knees and pressed his hands onto the ground. The light that had surrounded him suddenly rushed forward across the floor at a tremendous speed, reaching the T-Rexaur in practically no time at all. It circled the space underneath the treacherous monster before suddenly erupting upwards into a spectacle that practically illuminated the entire area.

Though Ion hadn't the time to see how much his attack did, as his vision started to grow foggy when he tried to stand up. The Fon Master stumbled, legs wobbling violently until they could no longer hold his weight and he collapsed back onto the floor.

[shotaball]

Everything happened so quickly - this was why Ritsuka wasn't a combatant. Ritsuka turned to watch for Ion when he suddenly felt the full weight of the T-Rexaur's tail slam into him. He grunted, dropping to his knees and feeling stars explode across his vision when Sync hit the floor. The bruises began to form instantly, blood pooling beneath his skin from the force of the blow. He wasn't down though and he looked up in time to see the attack hit the T-Rexaur dead on.

He shielded his eyes against the light and his cat ears flattened against his head when the explosion hit. The glow died and he heard Ion fall behind him. Despite his injuries, Ritsuka turned and grabbed the Fon Master, shielding him with his body. Ion was too big for him to move quickly now that he was dead weight. He had hoped that the monster would be dead, but the floor shuddered with a huge step and he knew the horrid truth.

It wasn't dead, it was pissed.

The creature was hurt, and heavily so, but the pain fueled its anger and it roared again, turning its head towards its attacker. Ritsuka glanced back and just hoped to whatever gods existed that Sync would hurry.

[the_empty_me]

Sync barely acknowledged the hurt that Ritsuka had taken on his behalf- that was just their assigned duties, no point in calling attention to that fact- and instead glanced at the Fon Master. That Idiot had, of course, knocked himself out with a Daathic Arte that had, of course, not done the job. Such a moron!

As the T-Rexaur started charging towards Ritsuka, Sync once more took off, his incredible speed making him catch up easily. His fonic artes, unlike the Fon Masters, were now based more on 'sounds' than on 'singing'; such as now, when a low howl of rage made fire stream around his body, the heated air making his spinning leap blaze with red-hot fire as he tried to go right through the T-Rexaur.

Of course, despite the power of a Fonic Arte, the fact remained that Sync was a very small- if very furious- boy, and the T-Rexaur was a very large and very durable creature. While the flames left a burn on the T-Rexaur's flank, Sync proceeded to bounce off of its toughened hide and sprawled on the ground, caught off guard just in time for the creature to turn and open its massive maw.

All because of That Idiot Fon Master.

[innocent_shine]

"Twei Rei Tsuae Croix Ryo Twei Tsuae..."

Before the T-Rexaur had a chance to make a meal out of the distracted SeeD, an eerie chanting filled the arena. A pool of darkness spread from below the creature and purple gas spewed out. The T-Rexaur swayed for a moment as it inhaled the noxious fumes, and it finally fell, landing on the ground with a loud crash.

"It's sleeping, not dead. Don't delay in making your escape," Tear clarified, stepping out from seemingly nowhere behind Ritsuka and Ion. She didn't know exactly how long this battle had been going on - Tear just arrived at the Training Center, but she had seen and heard Ion's Daathic Arte, so she knew that there was something going on.

Luckily, no one seemed to be injured, but Tear had to wonder what the Fon Master was doing in an area full of live monsters without a proper guard.

"Is everyone alright? I'll heal whomever needs it before we take the Fon Master to safety," Tear offered, although she had the feeling that Ritsuka would be the only one needing a First Aid spell.

[will_of_lorelei]

Ion was definitely down, but not completely out as he watched the scene unfold before him. He barely had the strength to lift his head up, and smiled weakly when Ritsuka came bounding to his side after his attack. His friend looked a little worse for wear, which would've puzzled the Fon Master if he hadn't been so tired.

In fact, he was so out of it that he hardly noticed the floor shaking when the T-Rexaur drew closer until his brother's furious screaming filled the air. Ion looked up just in time as Sync unleashed his fiery attack, but was horrified when it was met with minimal results. His heart was racing, and despite having no strength left he tried to sit up. But it was no use, and Ion watched helplessly when the creature opened its mouth-

... And collapsed.

Now Ion was just confused, or at least until another voice appeared behind them. The boy did his best to look over his shoulder at the owner, as the chanting had stirred something from the back of his head.

"That hymn... it..." But he was simply too tired to continue talking.

[shotaball]

Sync's attack met with minimal results and Ritsuka screamed for Sync to move as the T-Rexaur turned its massive jaws toward him. He let Ion go and stumbled forward, trying to get to to his partner even though he knew he wouldn't reach him in time. His head was pounding from the force of the earlier blow.

Then the creature just...stopped and fell heavily to the ground, shaking the arena and throwing Ritsuka off balance. He turned and looked over his shoulder and blinked as Tear appeared behind them. He hadn't even noticed she was there. If it was only sleeping, then... "Take Ion out of here, I'll get Sync."

He could be healed later, right now, they needed to leave the area and fast. Ritsuka got to his feet again and sprinted across the hall floor toward Sync. He knew his partner would be alright, but he had to get to him in case that thing woke up and caught them off guard. If they were too far away from each other... Well, there were flaws in even the best plans, weren't there. "Sync, get up, we have to get out of here!"