Training C: Insomina... Its a Killer. ATTN: Any

[Asher Devias]

Insomnia… such a horrible thing. Well… maybe not. Asher always seemed to get plenty of things done during the hours when his peers and instructors were sleeping. While the rest of Balamb Garden was off in its little dream world, Asher would be hard at work in the training center, further honing those growing combat skill. The Training Center was the only place open at this hour of the night, and it beat the hell out of staying in his dormitory all alone. Besides… it wasn’t like he couldn’t get into the others parts of the Garden if he really wanted too. The lazy night staff couldn’t keep up with the thief turned mercenary in training. That wasn’t his plan tonight though; he was still on Headmaster Cid’s hit list after putting laxatives in the cafeteria food two weeks earlier. It had been a glorious prank and he had almost gotten away with it, if someone wouldn’t have squealed on him. Those thoughts were the farthest thing from his mind at the very moment as he dove head first to his left to avoid the gaping teeth of a T-Rexuar that was aiming to eat the young mercenary in a single bite.

Ok… so maybe fighting a T-Rexaur all alone wasn’t the best idea, but he thought he could handle it! It wasn’t the first time he had fought one, so he knew what it was like. But it was the first time he had fought one all alone. Asher hit the dirt in a cloud of dust shoulder rolling through it and back to his feet and running away from the monstrous reptile behind him. The carnivorous killer charged straight at him and Asher kept moving as fast as his legs would take him. His agile form ran straight up a tree and he kicked off at the top of his run flipping back wards and toward the charging beast. Landing on the beast’s head Asher drove dagger strike after dagger strike into it’s thick hide, really wondering if he was doing any damage at all. It was bleeding, but it sure as hell wasn’t slowing down any. A mighty shake of its head and Asher was sent flying, careening end over end until he hit the ground in a heap several yards away from the T-Rexaur.

A sharp pain erupted in his body as he landed on his side and the air rushed from his lungs. Struggling to breath he rolled over to his side to watch the animal that might succeed in finally killing him. Damn… he instantly wished he had chosen a different area of combat expertise. Maybe heavy weapons, that way he could have blasted the damn thing with a rocket launcher. Asher drug himself up to his feet once more, slowly gathering his wits about him. His face was a grimaced mask of pain and anger. Slowly he slid two daggers free from their sheathes and faced his enemy once more.

“C’mon you bloody abomination… show me what you got…”

[Seifer Almasy]

A slow smirk crept across his lips as Seifer watched from the shadows. One thing he would say about the kid, he had spirit, even if he had bit of a little more then he could chew. The razor sharp gun blade would tap gently, quietly against his right leg, simply waiting. He would give kid a few more moments with the beast, a few more seconds to see if he could handle it, or if he was going to need to some help. Oh, he could picture the look of pure annoyance on Asher’s face if he jumped in right now, he knew exactly what the kid would say, almost exactly what he would say if he was in the same situation. I was just about to finish it off. The very words echoing in Seifer’s ears brought an almost silent chuckle from the man.

Wincing as the beast’s tail caught Asher full in the torso and flung him across the training area, he figured it was about time to step into this fight. A quick check of his gunblade and Seifer moved from the shadows. His jacket came off in a rush and he flung it up into the air, just enough to catch the eye’s of the T-rexuar. That was all he needed. As it turned to look at the jacket Seifer launched his attack. A powerful leaping slash aimed directly at the muscled neck of the reptile. As soon as the razor edge opened flesh he pulled the trigger and easily forced the blade through the flesh, muscle, and bone severing the head from its body. One strike… that’s all it took, showing Asher that there was still much room for improvement. Although, he doubted it would have taken one strike if the T-Rexuar hadn’t already been weakened from the vicious onslaught of the SeeD Cadet. Black boots crunched into the soil as he landed and he could already feel his friend’s heated glaze.

Laughing quietly he slowly swaggered over to where his jacket had fallen and he reached down to pick it up before turning back to Asher. He was pretty banged, but he had to give it to the kid. It wasn’t very often that a lone cadet almost took out a T-Rexuar. It was no secret that out of the upcoming crop of cadets taking the SeeD exam that Asher was perhaps the most combat comfortable. He was almost ready. Now if they could just get over the temper tantrums, just like the one that was about to erupt.

[Asher Devias]

Asher had been tossed around like a rag doll for most of the second part of the fight, not even getting a chance to breathe let alone collect his thoughts to cast a spell, or better yet summon Gilgamesh to his aid. The young man was unaware of his mentor watching from the shadows, and it wasn’t until he was thrown broken and bleeding to the dirt again that he saw his friend coming to his rescue. The familiar sound of the blast from a gunblade and Asher knew that this battle had come to and end before that reptile’s large body even crashed into the dirt. He rolled over onto his back and looked at the roof of the training center so high above them and simply shook his head. He knew that he wasn’t going to win, but that still didn’t stop him from glaring at Seifer, he wouldn’t let him think that he was ever going to lose. Mustering his energy once more he rolled over until he was sitting with his legs crossed and looking at him.

“I was just about to finish that damn thing off… I didn’t need your help.”

They both knew that was a lie, but neither one of them liked to admit defeat. Asher had learned most of his ways from the very man standing before him, they acted so similar it was almost scary. Asher slowly rose to his face, a brief look of pain crossing his features before he shoved it back down. He wasn’t going to let him see that he was hurting, that was out of the question. Slowly he shuffled through the dirt and made his way over to where his blades were resting across the floor of the training center. One of them was even lodged in the skull of the T-Rexuar still and it would take a hefty pull just to free it from the bloody thing’s skull. Asher simply shook his head after freeing his trapped blade and sheathing it.

“Next time I’m bringing grenades… thanks.”

[Seifer Almasy]

Seifer would only shake his head with a snicker. The kid was just like him, Squall had been right. He knew just how he was feeling and he wasn’t going to tell Asher that he was being stupid for trying to fight a T-Rexaur all on his own, hell he might of actually beaten him if he managed to get a second to collect his thoughts and summon his GF. Seifer non chalantly wiped the blood off the blade of his gun blade with a gloved hand before replacing it back in the sheath at his waist. The jacket was slipped back on over his shoulders and he would only nod once. Even though he had jumped in to help him, Asher hadn’t exactly been doing a horrible job. He even felt a sense a pride when he looked at him.

“I figured I’d go ahead and help you out a bit, besides… you have class tomorrow.”

Snickering Seifer would glance down at his watch and then back to his protégé. He should be in bed, but what could he do about it? Sure he could send him to his dorm, but that didn’t mean he was going to sleep. Who knew what he would do in his dorm room. Yawning he would stretch his arms and then rest his hands behind his head, fingers laced through each other, simply watching the young man gather up all those knives. He was trying to not show that he was in pain, it was almost amusing the lengths that he went through just to impress him, and he really didn’t have to do it. After he made his way back over Seifer pulled out a small vial full of a blue liquid.

“Take this… and take your ass to bed. If I get a call from Trepe tomorrow that you weren’t in class, bumps and bruises from a T-Rexuar are going to be the least of your problems. Understand?”

Seifer’s outstretched arm held the potion out to Asher, he didn’t know if he was going to take it or not. Hopefully he would, he was looking pretty banged up. But knowing Asher he would simply walk away and not take the potion simply to not act like was hurting. That wasn’t going to happen this time, he would hold him down and pour it down his throat if he needed too.

[Asher Devias]

Asher eyed the potion warily for a second, he was pretty beaten up and even with a potion he was going to have to go to the infirimary tomorrow, he was pretty sure of that. He hated looking weak, but he wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight if he didn’t take it. Reaching out he took the potion from Seifer’s hand and even stumbled a bit, bumping into him and almost falling over. But just as fast as it happened he regained his balance and offered and apologetic shrug of his shoulders. The potion was slid into one of the pouches on his weapon harness and he would look back at Seifer nodding as the man spoke to him.

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll be in class. Jeez… Later.”

The thought of having Seifer pissed at him wasn’t a pleasant one, his workouts would be hell, not to mention he wasn’t going to be taking it any easier on him in combat training. Letting out a deep breath he would offer another nod in Seifer’s direction before he started out the door of the training center and making his way down the long hallway, gloved fingers trailing gently against the wall. As soon as he was out of Seifer’s sight he would grin a bit and pull that potion out of his pouch and down the thing in one large gulp. That would help, but he was still going to have to get a few things checked out in the morning. Reaching in his pocket he would pull out a silver and red cell phone, grinning once again before slipping it back into his pocket. That soft snicker would escape his lips and he exited the training center making his way back to his dorm for the night.

[Seifer Almasy]

The potion vial left his hand and the surprise wasn’t lost on his face as Asher stumbled and literally fell into him. So maybe he was bit more hurt then he thought? Seifer’s cyan colored eyes looked over the young man once he had regained his balance. The shrug was accepted with a nod nothing more needed to be said. He wasn’t going to make the kid feel like he had failed, and he wasn’t going to baby him either. Just look out for him a little bit, that way he knew he wasn’t completely alone in this world.

“Yeah, get some sleep and go see the Doc in the morning before class. Night.”

Seifer watched as he walked away and he shook his head with a snicker before looking back at the T-Rexuar lying in a heap on the floor of the training center. Raising his hand up palm toward the dead creature he focused his will and casted a Fira spell at carcass. A reddish orange hue swirled around his hand before the fire manifested and shout forth and crashed down upon its intended target. The smell of burning flesh swirled around entering his nostrils and covering the training center. That would take care of everything. Seifer dropped his hand to his side and let out a sigh. That kid was going to be the death of him. Shaking his head once more he half laughed to himself before reaching into his pocket to grab his cellphone. Except it wasn’t in his pocket… patting his body down his eyebrow rose slightly and then he remembered Asher bumping into him. Two and two were put together and he whirled around to see if he had made it out of the training center yet.

“That little shi… ASHER!”

But it was to late, he was already gone.

(Thread Closed.)