In over her head. (Open)

[raven]

Another night of hunting. It seemed like that all Raven did as of late; eat, sleep, hunt, repeat. Sword in hand, she wandered through the streets searching for some sign of the vile creatures, but tonight she was having little luck. It was then she remembered the Third District. As a child she had never been permitted to set foot there because of the vast amount of heartless.

“Perfect.” She said aloud, rather pleased with herself.

After a brief walk, Raven found herself within the first district, and it wasn’t long until she spotted a heartless either; just a little Shadow. Raven ran towards the creature, slashing at it with her blade. It wasn’t long before the creature was dead, which came as a pleasant surprise to Raven. Normally it took her a while, and several potions, before she was able to defeat a heartless.

“Huh, I must be getting better at this…” She said, admiring her sword with a pleased smile.

Her smile soon faded when she saw what was reflected in blade. Behind her, a swarm of six or more heartless were coming toward her. Raven spun around in a panic, her eyes darting from one to the other. For a moment she stood there, frozen to the spot as she tried to figure out what would be her best move.

“Stay back!” She yelled at last, knowing it would do no good.

Wildly she swung her sword from side to side in an attempt to make the approaching heartless back down. Suddenly the sword went flying from her hand and skidded across the ground with loud clang. Raven felt as though she would faint on the spot. Now she’d really done it…

[spiralnemesis]

Another day, another patrol, at least as far as Vincent was concerned. Feeling a bit tired of standing dramatically atop the roofs of the Third District, the Psychic Knight decided to take his vigilantism to street level this time around. So, jacket billowing behind him in the wind, he strode confidently about with his blade sheathed. In a state of total relaxation despite his hostile surroundings, Vincent let out a heavy yawn, indicating a hint of drowsiness in the well-oiled hunting machine that was Vincent Tempest. Though the sky looked pretty much the same as it always did, Vincent was pretty sure he'd been out and about for quite some time. He ran his fingers through his dark blue hair and rubbed his eyes, supposing to himself that it was about time he returned to the Inn for some well-deserved sleep. Rather lazily and with absent mind, Vincent shot down a Shadow Heartless that leaped at him from the darkness.

Just as he was about to turn in for the night, however, Vincent caught wind of a distressed call. "Stay back!" It yelled frantically- the voice of a young woman, and one clearly in peril, at that. Jolted into alertness by this cry for help, the Lunarian brought his hand up and wrapped his fingers around the grip of Naegling. His weapon ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, Vincent activated his spatial awareness in an attempt to sense the woman's location. Fortunately for him, she was close. In fact, she was just on the other side of the building Vincent was standing next to. For anyone else, the structure would prove to be at least a mildly debilitating obstacle. However, all it took for Vincent was a burst of telekinetic energy underneath his feet and he was off, soaring several stories up and over its roof.

"Watch out!" Vincent called to the woman as he came crashing down on the battlefield, drawing his Zweihander in the middle of his descent.

As he fell to the ground, he did a quick scan of the enemies present. There were roughly half a dozen Heartless pursuing the young woman- two Large Bodies flanked by two Defenders and two Wyverns. While no problem for a more experienced warrior, Vincent was glad that he arrived when he did- such Heartless were rather dangerous compared to the other grunts. He alerted the Heartless to his presence with a loud battle cry, intending to draw their attention away from the girl. It worked, because the Wyverns flew toward him at incredible velocities, apparently attempting to ram him. Vincent, however, was much too quick to be caught off-guard by such a straightforward assault. With two swift, fluid cuts, he had successfully torn through their bodies without losing a bit of momentum.

The Psychic Knight landed in the midst of the four remaining Heartless and was greeted by two fireballs launched from the oversized shields of the Defenders. He reacted with impeccable timing, swerving around the projectiles and leaping clear over their heads. On one, he released a furious three-hit sword combination, finishing it off just before he managed to turn and face him. The other found itself staring down a telekinetic blast. He stood charging it for two seconds to give it that extra bit of "umph", and if the the Defender's quick demise was any indication, it worked like a charm. This left him with the two Large Bodies, one of which was taking an opportunity to strike at Vincent with a wild hay-maker. He ducked under the blow and stabbed furiously into the Heartless's backside while it was distracted.

Though not finished off, the Large Body was significantly dazed. This gave Vincent time to adjust his trajectory and, with his next swing, send the Heartless flying into its comrade. Knowing of the Large Body's weakness to energy-based attacks, Vincent fired off yet another telekinetic blast, ending the battle then and there. His job done, Vincent approached the young woman, briefly checking her for injuries.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" He asked with a bright smile, slipping his Zweihander back into its sheath. "You don't seem to be injured, but I'd be more than happy to get you to a hospital."

[raven]

Was positive this was going to be the end of it. Slowly she clenched her fists, determined to at least try and defend herself against her attackers. Fortunately enough for her, that time never came. "Watch out!" Raven heard, and was startled to see a man jump right into the center of the battlefield. Slowly Raven back away from the action that began to unfold.

Raven's mouth was agape in a manner quite un-lady like as she watched the fight. She'd never seen a fighting style quite like this. What amazed Raven even more was the ease with which this stranger fought. In the back of Raven's mind there was a small voice urging her to help, to not just stand by and watch. She ignored it though, knowing full well that she would simply make matters worse if she attempted to do anything of the sort. She’d made it painfully obvious that she was no good with a sword, and knew very well she would most likely miss her target if she attempted to conjure any spells. That’s all she needed was to end up scorching the person that came to her aid…

Ashamed and defeated, Raven stood off to the side and, unfortunately, allowed herself to be the damsel in distress. Raven was so caught up in her own embarrassment that she didn’t even realize when the fight had ended, let alone that her rescuer was now standing in front of her.

“Huh? Oh, yeah… I’m fine…” She said in a dejected tone. Her eyes darted over to where her sword lay just as useless as if it were in her own hands. “The hospital won’t be necessary.”

Slowly she walked over to her sword and picked it up. She then turned to look back at the stranger, attempting to return his smile, but hers came across as more of a grimace.

“I guess I should thank you for saving me from my own stupidity.” She said, brushing her bangs from her eyes. Her cheeks were as red as her hair.

[raven]

(Sorry about that one little chunk of the post getting posted before eveythign else o.o; my computer glitched while I was typing.)

[spiralnemesis]

Vincent watched with a bit of bewilderment as the girl dejectedly walked to pick up her sword, returning his smile with what looked like more of a humiliated grimace. However, being the bright young man that he was, Vincent pieced together the reason for her embarrassment. This woman, inexperienced as she appeared in combat, seemed to be something of an aspiring hunter. It was just a bit of bad luck that she run into six higher-level grunt Heartless on one of her first outings, though such mishaps were to be expected when wandering about the Third District. Nevertheless, Vincent couldn't help but sympathize with her plight as he briefly thought back to his first days of training. In fact, as far as he knew, this woman might not have had any formal combat training to begin with. He chose his next words carefully, not wishing to offend her.

"Oh, c'mon." He replied, maintaining his friendly smile. "You weren't doing...so bad." Vincent continued brightly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I mean, anyone can get caught off-guard in the Third District."

He forced a cough to break the silence that would surely ensue, catching sight of her almost luminescent blush in the process. Vincent scratched the back of his head, desperately trying to think of a way to make the girl feel better about her performance. He knew very little of the situation, his knowledge limited to what he saw first-hand. With that in-mind, it was difficult for him to comment or give one of those encouraging speeches he was so very good at. Still, it was apparent that this woman had very little confidence in her ability to fight, and if nothing else, Vincent could help her out with that. So, the gears in the Psychic Knight's head began turning, and he formulated an idea.

"Hey, I've got it!" He beamed. "Why don't I show you a thing or two about fighting Heartless?" Vincent suggested. "I mean, everyone's a rookie at one point or another, right? I bet all you need is a mentor...say, a soldier with years of experience. And as luck would have it, I just-so-happen to fit that criteria!" He concluded in a tone as optimistic as it was enthusiastic.

[raven]

Raven glanced at the hand that rested on her shoulder. So bad. Shealmost laughed when the stranger said this. That was putting it nicely… VERY nicely as a matter of fact. But none the less, it was nice to hear an attempt at kindness rather than insults. It wasn’t until after Raven heard the man cough that she spoke again.

“Unfortunately… I wasn’t exactly caught off guard.” She said timidly, ashamed to be admitting that she was looking for trouble. “I grew up here you see, so I should have none better than to come here… but…” She stopped. “Well, I just shouldn’t have come here that’s all”

She thought about trying to make excuses for herself, about telling him how she couldn’t just sit around while the heartless roamed free. About how she knew deep down she would just end up getting herself into more trouble that she bargained for, but she was blinded by the thought of revenge, as she always was ever time she went out on one of these late night excursions. But what good would it do to make excuses? Aside from that, she’d already wasted enough of his time, why waste more of it with her other problems.

What Raven heard next she could hardly believe. A mentor? Someone who could actually show her how to fight? This was too good to be true. To be truthful, Raven never took into consideration that she might want to seek someone out to help her, someone with experience and skill, but none the less here she was talking to someone with just that. She couldn’t help but the laugh softly at his enthusiasm, now able to offer him a genuine, if not still slightly shy, smile.

“Well… After what you just saw, I think it would not only be hard, but rather foolish of me to reject such an offer.” She said with a shrug, finally putting her sword back in its sheath.

“Can I ask why it is exactly you’re willing to help me? And for that matter, who are you?”

[spiralnemesis]

"Why would I be willing to help?" Vincent repeated her question as a rhetoric, a puzzled expression on his face. "You need it, don't you? I didn't know that I needed a reason to give someone a hand."

Vincent gave a thoughtful sigh, wondering where he might begin these lessons. He thought back to his days at the academy, though found himself looking even further back to his initial tutelage under his father. He remembered starting off with the most basic of enemies; imps, wolves, sea hags, that sort of lesser mythical beast. Vincent scratched his chin and supposed that the equivalent of that would be to throw his pupil into a group of Shadow Heartless and see how things went. Then again, perhaps it would be for the best if he went over some basic techniques with her first...but on the other hand, his style of swordsmanship might not have lent itself well to someone who lacked the abilities inherent to a Lunarian. He supposed a basic combination of strikes would be a good place to start; perhaps a sequence he learned in the Far East would be adequate? Hmm... Vincent thought to himself, thinking back on the woman's earlier display of, er, combat prowess. Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply into this...I think I'll start with proper stances and angles of attack... However, his concentration was broken when the girl asked who he was.

"Me? Oh, well...I'm not from around here." Vincent explained. "My name is Vincent Tempest- I was a citizen of Baron before it was attacked by the Heartless. Actually..." He began proudly. "...I was a member of the Psychic Knights, one of the eight Corps of the Baron Army. Very best in my division, thank you very much."

Vincent smiled, hoping that his credentials were sufficient to impress the young lady. After all, she had to have some amount of faith in her mentor, because Vincent certainly didn't have faith in his ability to teach. Hell, all his life, he'd gone from battle to battle. True, he might have known how to swing a sword as well as any Master in any World he traveled to, but teaching those skills to another person would be quite another matter entirely. Still, Vincent shrugged, how hard could it be? Show her some stances and combinations, then unleash his protege on a pack of Heartless and watch the fruits of his labor.

"But enough about me. Who might you be?" He asked politely.

[raven]

Raven cocked her head to the side as she heard the man repeated her question. Raven wasn’t used to people helping her quite frankly. She’d been raised in the kind of environment where you lived for yourself, and never lent a hand to your fellow man. She herself never inherited this nasty personality trait from her parents, but still she was used to solving her own problems, even if she had no ability to do so. No one had ever offered to help her simply because she needed it. No one except Layla that is… Layla didn’t even have to ask if Raven needed help, somehow she just always knew…

Raven listened intently as the man, or Vincent as he told her, explained who he was. A slight look of confusion crossed her face when he spoke of Baron and the Psychic Knights. She gathered that Baron was his home, or it had been until the heartless had taken it… just as they took everything that meant anything to anyone. The Psychic Knights she assumed were just as their name suggested, which helped to explain a bit of the fighting she had just witnessed. Part of her was slightly intimidated by this fact… Raven had never heard of either Baron or the Psychic Knights, but she could tell that these both were very important to Vincent, and that was explanation enough for her.

“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Tempest.” She sad returning his smile. “I’m Raven….” She debated telling him her last name, but he’d already mentioned he wasn’t from around here, so she was sure he wouldn’t recognize her last name. “Raven Knight. “ Raven nearly curtsied, a bad habit from her upbringing she was determined to break. Unfortunately for her, she had already placed one foot back slightly in preparation, which caused her to sway in a slightly awkward manner as she stopped herself from curtsying . Nervously, she chuckled and regained her posture, attempting to act as though she hadn’t done anything.

[spiralnemesis]

Vincent smiled, stifling a laugh as Raven reflexively began a curtsy, only to stop halfway through and nearly lose her balance. "The pleasure is mine, milady." He said in-between chuckles, holding his hand in front of his mouth to hide his laughter. She was quick to pretend that it was a simple failure of the muscles in her legs, but he'd spent enough time in the presence of royalty to recognize such etiquette. In response, he leaned over in a formal bow, holding it for the three seconds customary when in the presence of someone of noble upbringing. He was, after all, a mere soldier, however much of a war hero he may have been- the muscle of his once-proud kingdom, so to speak. As far as Vincent was concerned, he didn't deserve any more respect than the common man. That, however, was very much beside the point. He had swordsmanship to teach, minds to mold, and an ace soldier to create. So, beginning with the very most basic aspect of swordsmanship, Vincent carefully examined Raven's sword.

"Okay, well...I dunno if you want to start our first lesson now or wait until you're properly rested." Vincent said, sympathetic to the ordeal she'd just gone through. "But I can tell you that your fighting style is going to be different from mine.

Utilizing his spatial awareness, Vincent judged the distance between himself and Raven. He could say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the space between the two measured at forty inches, and his blade reached forward about three feet. So, in what he would later call a demonstration in the art of range, Vincent drew his sword faster than the untrained eye could trace. To most people, it would have appeared as little more than the faintest shadow of a silver blur. The sword ended up pointed directly at Raven, but falling short of her by several inches. At the other end of the blade was Vincent's smiling face, still bright as ever despite having just drawn his weapon. His demonstration complete, Vincent returned the sword to its sheathe.

"Sorry about that." Vincent said, laughing as he reminisced about pulling such pranks during his days in Baron. "That was a bit mean, I guess. Me and Ricard used to do that to each other all the time, though...Heh..." He snapped himself out of his trip down memory lane. "Er, anyway. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you're using a short sword and I'm using a Zweihander. Your blade has much less length than mine, but it also takes longer for a person to swing or unsheathe my sword than it would for you to swing or unsheathe yours." Vincent explicated, taking full advantage of this opportunity to sound scholarly.

Vincent thought for a moment about the best way to summarize the advantages of wielding a shorter weapon weighed against the disadvantages. For most of his life, he'd trained with longer swords such as his own Zweihander or, when he learned the styles of Baron's more mystic swordsmen, the Zanbato. However, he certainly knew the basics of it. He supposed the best way to show Raven what he meant would be to take a swing at her and instruct her on how to counter, but perhaps she wouldn't be ready for live training until she'd gotten a good night's sleep. Vincent thought for a moment and decided that he would just continue his explanation and wait for her to make up her mind about the actual training.

"So...I guess what I'm saying is, you'll probably have better luck if you try to dodge your opponent and then counter. You know, instead of rushing headlong into battle. Wait until your opponent takes a swing, then move in while they're getting ready to attack." He explained. "Are ya with me so far?" He asked cheerfully.

[raven]

Busted. It seemed her attempt to hide an old habit had failed, and miserably at that. It seemed this Vincent character was well accustomed to a nobler life style, much like the one she had been raised in. When he swept into a bow, Raven thought she just might die of embarrassment. So much for keeping that part of her past a secret… Her cheeks instantly turned a bright crimson once more.

Thankfully he changed the subject, a nice reprieve for the now thoroughly embarrassed Raven. At least she couldn’t make herself out to be any more of an idiot could she? Wrong… wrong indeed. The next thing Raven knew she was staring at the tip of Vincent’s sword. The suddenness of being face to face with the blade held in the hands of someone who was an apparently talented fighter was enough to frighten anyone, so it was reasonable that Raven let out a tiny shriek mixed with surprise and fear.

“I-it’s quite alright…” Raven stuttered slightly as she regained her composure. His laughter helped to calm her frazzled nerves slightly. At least he had a sense of humor… Perhaps an odd one, but a sense of humor none the less, and Raven could respect that. Raven noted the name “Ricard” in the back of her mind. At a more appropriate time she would most likely want to ask who this was.

“Dodge… don’t run after…” Raven mumbled to herself. It made sense actually. She’d never even though of it honestly. Most of the time when Raven saw a heartless, the last thing she thought about was how to attack, she just thought to attack, which was probably her biggest problem that she would have to over come.

“I think I understand.” Raven’s eyes darted around nervously for a moment. She’d forgotten where it was they had been standing all this time. “Umm, would it be alright to ask if we move to another location to further discuss things? I… well, I really wouldn’t mind sitting down… Tonight’s proven to be slightly more stressful than I imagined.” She asked with a shy smile.

[Deleted]

Ravian sat on the roof tops laughing at the two people who were clumsily conversing below him. He had ran over when he had heard calls for help but had arrived finding only disappointment and Vincent helping a girl learn how to fight. He showed his usual kindness but Ravian was still angry at Vincent for his interference in a fight the last time they had met.

So Ravian watched over them trying to think of a good way to reintroduce himself to the psychic knight. He wanted to make a better impression this time. Ravian felt like the last time they had met he had proved himself inadequate and less than Vincent.
He wanted to change that.

Ravian slipped down off the roof and hit the ground with his feet making a loud thud when they made contact. Ravian walked up behind Vincent and said

"hey long time no see. Whats up?"

He then turned to Vincent's acquaintance and barely keeping himself from laughing at the girls jacket and boots said

"Hello I'm Ravian Mystya. I haven't ever seen you around here what district are you from?"

[spiralnemesis]

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Vincent said brightly, thinking of a good place for Raven to sit down and rest up. "I dunno, the night life is surprisingly dull here in the Third District...Come to think of it, the night life sucks in Traverse Town at all." He trailed off for a moment as he considered the overall lack of stuff to do except for killing Heartless. "Anyway. I suppose we'll start practicing actual combat tomorrow...er...morning?" Vincent's eyes peered up at the perpetually dark sky. "10 AM, I guess. For now, I'm sure there's a cafe or at least a bench where we can talk about proper technique." He scratched his chin and shrugged.

However, before Vincent could begin searching for a suitable place to relax, he sensed that they had a visitor. He was traveling by rooftop, as Vincent himself was wont to do, but was quick to leap down once he reached their location. Recognizing their guest as a sentient, intelligent life form rather than part of the hive mind that made up the Heartless collective, Vincent turned calmly to face him. When he saw who it was, he raised his guard just a bit but saw no reason to actually draw his weapon. The man who stood before Vincent and his "apprentice" was none other than Ravian. While he never committed any serious transgressions, he was guilty of unnecessary collateral damage, to say the least. It was true, Vincent supposed, that Ravian did assault a number of people who were ostensibly on his own side, but that was under the effects of sedatives and what must have been a great deal of stress.

Considering he was of sound mind this time- as far as Vincent knew, anyway- he would give Ravian the benefit of the doubt, which was another habit of his. Still, he would have to make sure that Raven knew to be careful around him. Though his telepathic abilities were underdeveloped, they were more than sufficient for sending a silent message to someone standing right next to him. After all, telling Raven vocally might offend Ravian or otherwise give him the wrong idea. Hey, Raven, you might want to stay on your toes around this guy. Vincent spoke to her, his voice echoing in her mind. He's not a BAD guy, but he's got kind of an aggressive streak in him. Don't worry, though, I won't let him hurt anybody. He felt that the message more or less summed up the situation. Of course, it wasn't until a few moments later that Vincent realized that Raven didn't know he was telepathic. Oh, by the way, this is Vincent! He said in a friendly tone. Sorry, I should've told you I was a telepath, as well.

"Hello, Ravian." Vincent said with a smile. "I guess it HAS been a while. I'm glad to see you recovered from your injuries. Glass shards can do a number on a guy..." He continued. "Anyway, this young lady is Raven. She's my new apprentice; I, master swordsman that I am, shall be teaching this promising warrior the way of the blade. Incidentally, she seems to be of noble descent, so try to show some respect, huh?"

He announced his position as her mentor rather proudly, clearly overjoyed to be someone's teacher. Of course, he hoped that Ravian wouldn't ask for a demonstration of her skills, considering he...well, still needed some time to work on them, to say the least. He didn't doubt that she would advance quickly, though given that her opponents thus far had likely been low-level Heartless, Vincent was quite worried about how well she would fare against someone who could shoot lightning. If anything, she might have faced some Yellow Operas, but this was quite another matter...Anyway, the point was he would have to keep an eye on Ravian with Raven present.

[raven]

Raven was just about to agree to the morning lesson, it wasn’t exactly like she had a very demanding schedule anyways, but before she could get a word in yet another man came down from the rooftops. Raven was beginning to think that this was the proper way to travel around here and made a mental note to start looking up more often…

Whoever this “Ravian” was, he apparently knew Vincent somehow. It wasn’t Ravian that caught her off guard though, it was the voice that suddenly was in her head. At first Raven looked around, expecting to see someone behind her, whispering in her ear, but of course no one was there. When Vincent finally told her it that it was him, Raven turned slowly to look at him, her eyes rather wide with surprise. Could he read her thoughts as well? How did you do that? She thought to herself, just in case he could, if not there was nothing to worry about.

Once she got over her initial surprise, Raven focused on what it was Vincent had said. Stay on your toes. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was he had done that made Vincent feel the need to give her the heads up.

Raven smiled slightly when she noted the proud tone in which Vincent announced that she was his apprentice… But was half tempted to give him a sharp elbow to the ribs when he mention her nobility… Not that it would have proved to be the most intelligent of ideas to do so seeing how skilled he was in combat…

“Nice to meet you.” Raven said at last in a polite tone, but not an overly friendly one. After what Vincent had thought… or said… Raven was a little unsure how exactly to react around Ravian just yet. “And to answer your question, I own a small apartment in the First District, but I wouldn’t say that I am from there.” As far as Raven was concerned she wasn’t really “from” anywhere seeing as how she spent the majority of her nights in hotels rather than in her own home.

[nshansen]

Shiro was wondering around the streets, on his night patrol, until he heard familiar and un-familiar voices. Shiro walked quietly over to the voices. He hid by the corner of the wall, hoping no one would notice. He peeked around the corner. He saw Vincent, Ravian, and a girl. Well, this was going to be interesting. Shiro walked out into the opening with a smirk.

"Hello, Vincent. Nice meeting you, here. Last time, it wasn't the best situation to say hello." Shiro turned his head to Ravian quickly, then back. "Now, I hope this time will have a happy ending."

Shiro looked at the girl. "So, who might you be? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be strangers. I am Shiro." Shiro asked with a polite tone.

[Deleted]

Ravian almost laughed at Vincents remark about giving the girl more respect and then chuckled at her saying she lived in a small apartment.
"Those are two contradicting statements." he said "It doesn't matter though I don't care there isn't really any royalty in Traverse Town....well not to me. I mean she really isn't different in any way, she's still human."

The best was yet to come though it seemed
"Now, I hope this time will have a happy ending."
Ravian heard and as he turned around saw his new unfavorite person....Shiro.
His forearm involuntarily sparked for a second singing his clothing.
"great" he thought "once again the pessimist is around"

He turned back to Vincent and Raven dismissing Shiro from his attention and for the first time realizing how he was probably the youngest of everyone in the town said "Nice to meet you too"and then turning to Vincent said
"You're a master swordsman?...since when? and I didnt know you were a teacher"