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 Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:46 am
Sanidine might have been busy, but he never sacrificed helping Bellite when she needed something. She was an ally--and an assistant to his cause. He needed to make sure she stayed on his side--and alive--if she was going to help him figure out how to fix Evan.
Evan, who he hadn't really let out of his sight--or, at least, hadn't left unattended--since Lysithea had kidnapped him. Currently, the youma was scurrying around the makeshift training area Sanidine had constructed for Bellite. He watched as the youma carefully hopped from one tire to another in the obstacle course.
He had brought Bellite down to his little area of Negaspace and was letting her do her stretches--important, moreso today than usual, because he wasn't going to have her run the course and practice on a training dummy.
Today, he was going to test her.
He rolled his shoulders and turned to face her.
"You've been making a lot of progress. Those training dummies don't really stand a chance anymore." He planted his hands on his hips. "...You ready to have a go at a real fight?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:13 pm
Bellite seemed surprised, this hadn’t been what she was expecting at all. Normally when she came down to the training area it was just for practice, and that was fine, she liked practice. Practice was easy and predictable...and safe.
“Oh...you uh...you think I’m ready for that, sir? Don’t you think I’d be better off fighting with a lieutenant first? I mean, that’s at least a logical step up from a training dummy, right? You really think I’m cut out to go up against a general as I am now?”
Because...she really wasn’t in this game for the fighting. She was not even remotely interested in getting her hands dirty...she was a researcher, and liked it that way. She could talk, she could schmooze as well...but fighting? Especially against someone as strong as Sanidine?
“...Have I messed up somewhere? Displeased you? Is this some sort of punishment?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:34 pm
Sanidine cocked his head to the side and gave her a scrutinizing look. "Bell," he said, sounding faintly exasperated. "I'm capable of pulling my punches. I know your weaknesses better than you do--I've been taking notes and trying to get you to correct them. Remember? I'm not going to hurt you," much, probably, "But you've plateaued. You're getting bored, I can see it in your face. When you get bored, you stop learning--and worse, you get sloppy."
He cracked his knuckles. "You've been doing really good so far. I want to make sure that you're retaining what you've learned. So--relax. A Lieutenant wouldn't go as easy on you as I'm going to. This is just a trial, all right? So go ahead, take a stance."
He gestured for her to move towards an open space with him. He planted his feet on the ground but seemed ready to move in an instant. "I want you to come at me--with all you've got. I want to judge your speed, your accuracy, your power. I want to make sure that the first Senshi who gives you a hard time learns his lesson--and I want to make sure that you get to make it home. That's all this is, all right?"
...He needed to know that she could fend for herself. He needed her.
His eyes drifted to Evan, for just a moment.
He wasn't making enough progress in his investigation. They needed to work harder.
She needed to get stronger.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 6:28 am
Bellite sighed and nodded, dragging her feet slightly as she made her way over to her general, summoning her bell as she neared him. How was she supposed to fight him? There was no possible way she could win this fight...even if he did promise to go easy on her. What was easy for him anyway? He’d only maim her gently? Well, that was a relief.
“So uh...I’m assuming you just want me to go ahead and come at you as though you were a training dummy, right? Whack all the stuffing out of you with my bell like I do with them?”
Well, it was a plan at least and she sighed, shaking her arms and legs as though to get the tension out of them. Even though she was warmed up from practicing, it felt as though the fear of actually fighting a living being had stiffened her all up, which was absolutely not what she wanted right now.
“All right...well. You asked for it. Literally.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Bellite went into her focused mode and rushed at Sanidine, her bell raised to strike.
This was just another practice. And he was just another dummy.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:36 am
Sanidine was faster than her, and stronger, and despite his typical delight in reveling in power differences, this was different. Bellite was his responsibility--her success was his success. Her failures, his.
He let her run to him, watching her form, her posture. He moved to side step--not fast, but quick enough to tap her on the shoulder where she would have been wide open.
He wasn't aiming to hurt her--instead, he stuck a small, pink sticker on her shoulder. He had a small sheet of them in bright, neon colors.
"I can tell you're holding back," he said, peeling off a second sticker as he waited for her again. "Your arm is stiff, it's leaving your side open for attack. Just relax, Bell. Don't worry about hurting me. I've been in more fights than I recall. Fists, sticks, pipes, glass. Don't hit me in the head, but everything else is free game, and everything else I can heal from. Come on," he instructed. "Try again. A little more confident. I know you can do it, Bell. Just relax. This is just training. Trust me, like I trust you."
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:01 pm
“I’m not trying to be stiff.” Bellite looked down at the sticker on her shoulder with a mixture of disgust and amusement. She supposed it was a good way to figure out where her weak points were...but it was kind of humiliating. “I am coming at you just as I do with the dummies, and you move, so you’re a dummy with a very large advantage...that’s almost not fair, General.”
Especially if he had been in all of these fights...he knew how to move. He knew what to look for and what to expect...she was a librarian for goodness sakes. She wasn’t a fighter and never had been.
“You’re going to see more flaws in my...my everything I think. If you had put me with someone who hadn’t had as much training and experience as you, perhaps I would be doing better.” Not that she was trying to criticize him, because she wasn’t.
Drawing in a breath, Bellite tried to calm herself. There was no use whining. She had to learn to fight, and Sanidine thought this was the best way, so she tried again, working to loosen her movements and strike him with the bell she held in her hand.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:05 pm
Sanidine watched carefully, eyes scanning her posture while she moved. This time, even when he sidestepped, he waited too long and the bell grazed his elbow. Even as he moved though, he stuck another sticker, this time on the forearm of her freehand.
He made a disgruntled noise as the bell struck his funny bone so he rubbed at it.
"If it makes you feel better," he pulled off a sticker and stuck it on his elbow. "I've got weak spots too. Not many, though, so be proud. Good job. Though, be happy I didn't stick you with a less experienced fighter. You're more likely to get hurt. I don't want you hurt. So," he looked at her seriously. "That's why we're not using the usual dummies. The Senshi attacking you won't be a still target. I just want you to be prepared, all right? I want you to make it home in one piece."
She wasn't any use to him battered--and, despite all of the bitter emotions blossoming in him, she was a sweet woman. He didn’t want her to get hurt--especially when Evan liked her so much.
Especially when she was working so hard to help them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:06 pm
She really was beginning to hate the stickers. If this was how things were going to be, well. Well it only meant she had to be better...she had hit him, after all...and maybe, just maybe she was starting to figure this out. A little, at least. “Well, thank you. I want to make it home in one piece too, that’s a pretty darn good goal, I think.”
Bellite was watching him now, really watching him, trying to get a feel of how he moved...because that was important. He had said as much...well, now it was time to try. She had an idea...and was almost excited to try it…
...Almost.
“All right, here I come again, General. Be ready!”
She moved towards him, raising the bell once again, trying to concentrate, and instead of smacking him with the bell, the lieutenant changed direction and raised her other fist to punch.
...Hopefully that tactic would work as well as it did in the movies.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:11 pm
Bellite's tactic worked; Sanidine was watching her posture with the bell, watching her footing, watching the little things he'd seen as her weaknesses--and he'd missed the fist hitting him.
Her fist hit him in the shoulder and he let out a surprised grunt before taking a step back to rub the area.
"All right," he said, nodding approvingly. "That was good. That's the sort of thing that will keep you alive. Very good, I'm proud of you. I'm not pushing you too hard, am I? ...I want you to practice on more than just dummies, but..."
He clucked his tongue. "I don't want to turn you off from the idea of sparring. Do you want to call it quits for fighting me, and go back to the dummies for a bit?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:11 pm
It had worked, and Bellite felt just the slightest bit smug. He hadn’t even seen it coming. It was perfect. “I think I can do things like that...it’s misdirection, right? I’ll start reading up on battle techniques, perhaps that would help me in all of this...of course, having something a little more useful as a weapon would help too, but as you said, that will come with experience.”
Hesitating, she took off the stickers that he had placed on her and stared at them for a moment. “If you have the time, General...I would like to go over where I went wrong, and if you have tips to improve that. I really do want to make you proud...I’m sorry I’m so slow at physical strength...I appreciate you taking you time to help me grow, I really, really do.”
The lieutenant curled her fist around the stickers and shrugged. One day, she wouldn’t have any of these on her. One day she would have a training exercise and she would come out on top. And everything would be great.
...And one day, Evan would be back to normal too. That would be great.
She just had to keep working as hard as she possibly could.
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:12 pm
Sanidine watched her with a keen eye; the faintest smile drifted across his face once more. His eyes drifted just over her shoulder, where Evan seemed to have given up running through the course. Instead, the youma had found a tire he liked and curled up into it, apparently as if it were meant to be a bed.
Sanidine's eyes lingered for a moment and then returned to Bellite's face. He nodded and gestured for her to join him at the desk he had set up. "We'll go over everything and try again. You're getting better," he assured her; he didn't want her to feel like she had displeased him. He had a lot of pent up anger, but none at her. She was making more progress than he had expected, so he was still happy to have her around.
He'd brought her into the Negaverse; he wasn't going to let her go by unprepared. He'd make her stronger; he'd make sure she succeeded.
For herself, and for him.
But mostly for Evan.
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