(Untitled)

[theprobator]

Who: Vanitas and Master Xehanort
When: February 4, in the last few hours of daylight
Where: Sector 7
Summary: Xehanort prevents his sort-of pupil from turning into a lazy bum by a good old training session.
Warnings: Rated Everyone 10 and up. Likely violence and Birth by Sleep spoilers

Comments

[caliginose]

[ It had been necessary, of course, to scan the area for pedestrians and vehicles. The most trying limitation of an enclosed space was, as always, privacy.

He makes certain to ensure that they will have a little time to themselves. The barriers around the wide area of barren farmland will hold no matter what may occur within, and will deflect all but the most powerful of outside presences.

A great deal of trouble for something so mundane, but that is how the world is. Xehanort emerges from a corridor not long after his student, bent as ever, with one hand upraised.

A column of earth is blasting up under Vanitas before the corridor even fully closes. ]

[theprobator]

[spend any extended period of time in another person's presence, and one can easily start to pick up on habits-- quirks, be it in personality or fighting style or even what one keeps in the fridge. Vanitas probably should have expected little to no reaction time right off the bat; maybe he has been going soft. his stumble beneath the jutting earth is minimal, and he regains his balance nearly immediately, but it's there. disappointing, perhaps.]

[Vanitas jumps from the column of rock, and the moment his feet hit the ground hard, he takes off in a run, Void Gear extending in his hand and aimed for Xehanort's face.]

[caliginose]

[ Xehanort opens the session with practicing the same technique he always practices: standing rooted in the spot, slightly hunched, a trace of a smirk working its way onto his face.

You were defeated once already, Vanitas. His hand moves again, this time to the right, a quick cutting motion the causes the air to ripple, then burst with long, crackling strands of lightning that lance through the space between them and across the ground in a brilliant, blue-white web that causes dirt and rocks and plants to sizzle and char.

Show me that you are still capable.

Show me. ]

[theprobator]

[it would have been outright stupid for Vanitas to assume he wouldn't take a knock or two right off the bat. maybe the old man is testing his endurance more than anything- his ability to maintain his focus, a consistent fighting caliber that failed to waver at any instance of pain. he can already feel the annoyance bubbling up when a wayward bolt strikes him in the shoulder and he skids to a stop in his assault, steps back even, but he plants his feet firmly to the ground and does not flinch again. not even at a second and third hit. maybe he's not quite at the strength he was months ago, but the steady, upward climb back to it is clearly there. Vanitas still has potential.]

[his point made, he lifts Void Gear again, responding with a spell of his own: one large lump of dark energy that splits off into several smaller bursts. it's a smaller range than Xehanort's spell, but the his intention is probably similar: hit Xehanort at all costs.]

[caliginose]

[ Xehanort remains motionless just long enough for one corner of his mouth to quirk up into a smile - a pleased one, there and gone in an instant.

Then the man is rising up into the air, higher and higher, the earth under his feet and ten yards in every direction around him exploding upwards in a massive column. The ground shakes from the force of it, dirt and pebbles and flecks of plant debris billowing out in a cloud and the bolts, a few seconds too late, have only solid earth to impact. The implication is clear, as he looks down from on high: come and get me.

The air is getting colder. Colder, and colder still, and then massive shards of ice come raining down from above. ]

[theprobator]

[Vanitas barely has time to even register his frustration before the need to move and fast takes priority, and he darts to the side to avoid being crushed beneath a frozen pillar. frustration and negativity, however, are weapons, not hinderances-- if it's a demonstration of how he's improved since arriving in Siren's Port Baldy wants, then it's a demonstration Baldy gets.]

[as soon as he's able to actually get up there. Vanitas takes off toward the tower of ragged rock, a variety of weaker Unversed sprouting from his retreating shadow with each step- and although they'll spring ahead of Vanitas when he starts to climb, they're not there to attack Xehanort. they'll serve as a shield for whatever Xehanort decides to throw down at him during his ascent.]

[caliginose]

[ Clever. Very clever.

Some, though not all, of the reason he finds and will continue to find the dark half of his former apprentice so useful: so long as brittle and bitter emotions exist in a heart, his or any other, he can produce creatures of infinite number. And this fresh wave is proof enough that his powers are returning, that he is worth keeping instead of setting aside as Xehanort has set aside so many other things.

Ice, thin and sharp as needles but long as a man's arm, rip through the ranks of Unversed, the creatures bursting and dispersing but serving their purpose. Only a few of the needles make it past them, creating and opening for Vanitas to reach the summit of the freshly made earthen pillar.

Xehanort, waiting, slowly lowers his arms to his sides. ]