recolle | [closed] Cue the Latin Chanting!

[closed] Cue the Latin Chanting!

WHO: Cloud, Zephyr, and Andrew
WHERE: Starting at Zephyr's dojo
WHEN: April 30
WHAT: Fire spirits taking control, wings, swords, and playfighting. What could possibly go wrong?
WARNINGS: Fantasy violence

When huge black wings tore through Cloud's skin, warping him into an inhuman monster, he laughed in carefree delight.

This was the fifth fire spirit that Cloud had played host to this month, and yes, he was counting. It was proof that he didn't need magic, or elite combat skills, or an awesome airship to make a difference. All he needed, all he had ever needed in his entire life, was a little courage and a healthy dose of resolve.

The first time he was possessed it was terrifying, and he wanted to be rid of the demon parasite as soon as possible. An immediate trip to Respartum was a trivial price to pay for an exorcism to put his mind at ease. The second time was out of a desperate desire to rescue someone else from the same fate. He had reluctantly encouraged the rogue spirit to take refuge in his body rather than run wild, endangering innocent people's lives and causing rampant destruction out of simple childish boredom. The third time, he had deliberately sought out a rogue flame because he realized that he rather enjoyed the experience of having that warmth and energy inside him. The fourth time, it was a relief to fill the strange sense of emptiness where his heart should have been.

Climbing the ladder to and from Respartum was long, tiring, and legitimately fraught with danger anyway. Now that he knew it was perfectly safe to walk around with a spirit living happily inside him, the trip seemed less and less urgent. He started putting the trip off longer and longer, an entire week for the fourth one. The fifth time, the free spirits were so scarce in Recolle that Cloud suspected he wouldn't be able to find another one. He sought one out specifically for the purpose of keeping it permanently. Why should he give it back, anyway? He deserved it for all that hard work he did to keep everyone safe.

Cloud had already sharpened all the blades in his decorative weapon collection because it seemed a horrible shame to leave them dull and useless. Today, he got the idea in his head to pack them all up and take them to the dojo so he could show them off to his kendo instructor. Zephyr-Sensei liked swords. Even if Cloud's weren't sturdy enough to be practical, no one could deny that they were beautiful artwork. Hauling the entire lot over in a canvas tarp wasn't an easy task, so Cloud borrowed a pickup truck from his former workplace to carry them.

Then, as he dragged the burden into the dojo, Cloud saw that his instructor was sporting a pair of huge, glistening black wings. It wasn't the new appendages that really captured his attention, though. Zephyr had a peculiar excited smirk on his face, but that wasn't important either. His teacher was pointing a live blade at his most novice student, an unmistakable and incredibly intimidating pose. It wasn't even a gesture of challenge. It was a dare, and an obviously lethal one at that. It wasn't until Cloud threw down the unwieldy canvas and scrambled to pick up his largest two-handed sword that he suddenly grew wings of his own.

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In Zephyr's case, the fire spirit had been one that possessed him some time earlier in the month. It felt rather invigorating to shed off the layer of propriety that usually colored his interactions with others.

He had made friends along the way, which was more than his career had given him for the past ten years.

The blade wasn't meant for Cloud, really. He had just decided to practice with his mostly decorative katana (though it was certainly still sharp enough to cause some damage in the right hands). Cloud had inadvertently timed his entrance to such dramatic perfection that he was pointing the tip of it at Cloud right as he entered.

He smirked because why hadn't he thought to compete before? Why hadn't he ever challenged another? When Cloud answered by picking up a sword, his mind was made up. He nudged his head forward, indicating Cloud should follow him before he dashed for the door, flaring out his wings once he cleared the entrance and taking off into the air towards a quieter area, where no one would interrupt.

Still laughing, Cloud managed to stumble his way outside even though his wings pinned him in the door frame. It was a shame that he couldn't bring his other play weapons too, they could have had pretend-battles with a huge array of shapes and sizes of blades.

There was never any doubt in Cloud's mind that this capricious little exercise would be perfectly safe for both of them. Zephyr was way too skilled to be hit by a clumsy beginner, even if miraculous luck was involved. His sensei also had way too much precision control over his weapon to hit anyone or anything he didn't intend to.

Cloud stumbled a few more times, struggling to operate his strange new appendages until they finally lifted him off the ground. "Wait up!"

Zephyr turned and hovered in the air, waiting until Cloud was in the air to smirk and say, "keep up."

He tilted his head. His tone playful. "Or should I tone it down a notch so you can?"

"Hah!" Briefly, Cloud considered dropping his unwieldy fake sword to make it easier to fly. Only briefly, though. What good was it to keep up if he couldn't hold up an awesome-looking weapon when he got there.

Speed, he needed speed. For that he needed focus. Subconsciously urging the fire spirit to consume his self-control so it could grow more powerful, Cloud yanked his wings inward to shoot up to meet Zeph. Granted, it was a thoroughly clumsy and poorly thought out impact, but at least Cloud managed a glancing shoulder touch to his opponent's hip. Tag, you're it?

Zephyr was certainly holding on to his. He's had a lot more practice with the wings from Cloud, so he'd give him a-- well, it seemed Cloud was a faster student than he thought. He flew back at the touch then grinned and took off after him.

"Do you know where you're going?" he asked, amused.

Managing to swivel in the air into a wobbly holding pattern, he focused on staying aloft instead of facing Zephyr for a reasonable conversation.

"No idea. Magatus is trapped. Recolle Woods has no maneuvering room. Respartum has some good open spaces though?"

He thought about it and nodded. It didn't take long for him to orient himself and take off towards the currently floating Respartum. An hour's flight shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Tiring, yes, but invigorating, too.

He turned to Cloud as they flew. "You brought quite a handful of weapons with you."

"You mean the ones I left at the dojo?" Cloud poured a little more energy into strengthening his wings, picking up a little more speed. The one he held in his hands was a lot heavier and clunkier than a normal weapon would be, and poorly balanced.

"They're ornamental. I made them. I think they look cool, and I figured you might like them too."

He huffed. "I'd be happy to take a look at them." After, though. Their current goal was a lot more enticing right now.

"I might need them as replacement weapons. We'll see how long I can keep this one intact." Definitely after.

Cloud glanced quickly down at the ground, elated at the height they'd already achieved. "We're flying, Zeph. With wings..."

"I'll miss it when it disappears," Zeph agreed. Flying was remarkable. Freeing in a way he never thought possible.

"Who says it's going to disappear?" He did a corkscrew spin in the air, almost losing control in the process but not quite, laughing at it.

"There are lots of people with permanent physical changes. Maybe we're meant to have them."

"Maybe." He hoped so. Seeing Cloud's spin, he decided to dive sharply then arched back upwards at speed. It strained his wings, sure, but it was exhilarating. Enough that he was laughing a little as they flew closer and closer to Respartum.

For a moment Cloud thought Zephyr was somehow plummeting to the ground. Happy that he hadn't just lost his playmate, Cloud began to conserve his strength for the fight ahead. Cloud's endurance would be the limiting factor here, and though he'd been working on it recently he still wouldn't be able to keep up. Might as well wring all the function he could out of his body.

He crash-landed on the surface of Respartum, dropping his sword immediately in favor of preserving himself.

Zephyr's had some time to practice but landing at speed was different. He dropped hard and skidded, tearing a hole in his pants and scratching up his legs and hand a little by the time he finally stopped.

That had hurt. But it definitely got the adrenaline pumping. As he stood, he looked around. It was hot, as expected but this was a nice open space to spar.

He turned to Cloud as he tossed the sheath of his sword aside and pointed the blade at the blond once more.

"You're new but right now we're not teacher and student. Do you accept my challenge?"

It took a bit of effort to stand back up, wings getting in the way. Cloud would get used to them eventually, he was sure. He grinned again at the sight of the blade pointed his way and scrambled again for his own fake sword.

Dragging the tip of his own weapon painfully on the hard rock, Cloud walked forward until the point of Zeph's weapon was less than a foot from his chest.

"What are your terms?"

"A fight until our swords break." Cloud's looked fit to crush his own but he wasn't too worried. Zephyr's arm was steady.

"Until mine does." Cloud couldn't bear the idea of that beautiful katana falling victim to the fun. He lifted his sword and held it high, then took a heavy diagonal swing at Zeph's body.

Still, it wasn't really made for full on combat, which was why Zephyr opted to side step that swing instead of taking it. He stepped forward with a sharp but shallow slice at Cloud's abdomen.

Feeling the air zip by, Cloud looked down and saw the gaping slash in his shirt, exposing unharmed pale skin. "NICE one!"

He followed up with a wide horizontal swing, stepping in close so that Zeph would have to put a little more work into the dodge this time.

Good call. He could see it coming but his options were relatively limited. He opted to duck under the swing (his hair not quite clearing the space in time) then rose back up to point his blade against the front of Cloud's throat, calling out his strike sharply and fiercely.

He was breaking a lot of kendo rules but they were using relatively sharp blades. The rule book was thrown out a while ago.

He did glance to his side as something else caught his attention though. Thin wisps of hair were floating onto the ground. His hair. He frowned.

Edited 2018-05-01 08:35 (UTC)

There was no kendo here and there were no rules here.

Tensing at the sword point touching his throat, Cloud's eyes were elsewhere. He stared down as a few three-foot-long wisps of black hair fluttered to the orange ground at their feet.

"Uh, Zeph?"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. It wasn't Cloud's fault, technically. But his hair was his career. Still holding the point at Cloud's throat, he reached back with his free hand to feel for his hair. A thin under layer had been shorn off.

He narrowed his eyes.

Then with a sharp shout, swung his katana, seemingly aiming to slice across his throat. He didn't blame Cloud exactly but the impromptu hair cut just upped the ante significantly.

One advantage of a huge, clunky, unwieldy sword is that it can be used a bit like a shield. Yanking up on the handle, the heavy hunk of metal was pointing down at the ground in front of Cloud's face to take the impact.

The upped ante was being met.

Effective then. Zephyr kept his sword braced against Cloud's for a moment, so he could glance down and finally take notice as to how sharp that clumsy-looking blade was.

"You sharpened it," he said, irritated and amused all at once.

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