((This, my friends, is why you don't let me have free reign over stories and tell me to follow my heart. MY HEART IS A GOOFY MUSICAL HALF THE TIME. Enjoy and laugh at.))
When he awoke again, the placement of the sun in the sky made Riku estimate late morning, which indicated he had only napped a few hours. It worked perfectly with him. No use sleeping the day away. He was warm from the sunlight, but refreshed with the cold salt-water breeze. He pushed himself up, and stretched out his kinks as his mind quickly recounted his location and responsibilities. Was Tidus still “training” with Kiri? What exactly had she been planning to show him? He was cursing himself for not thinking to ask. He headed to the back of the island to check on them, shoving down his worry but bringing up his guard to prepare for whatever awaited him. He swung open the door, and somber expression broke as he stared in disbelief.
Being the seasoned fighter he was, Riku was fairly sure that training usually entailed some sort of… curricula.
Kiri swept her arm to the horizon, eyes staring down the path of greatness. “You must be swift as the COURSING RIIIIIveeeeeer!”
Tidus planted his foot on a log, pointing his sword out to the ocean. “With all the force of a GREAT TYYYYYPHOOooooon!”
Scratch that, he was pretty certain that it usually entailed some sort of instruction, or lesson, or… general serious practice.
“With all the strength of a RAGING FIIIIIIRRRRrrrre!”
They both came together, throwing their fists up in the air. “Mysterious as the DARK siiyiiide of- THE MOOOOOOOOOOON!”
No actually, he knew this was just utter nonsense.
Kiri spun away, hand on her heart as she cried dramatically to the sky. “Time is RACING toward US! Til the Huuuuuuns-“ she spun and pointed directly at Riku. “ARIIiiiiive!”
Said Riku stepped back, wide-eyed and suddenly very on guard. “Wait- no.”
Tidus spun to follow her line, grinned, and pointed at him as well. “HEEED my EVERY ooooorDEEEER! And you might-“
“Don’t you dare.”
“-SURVIIIIIVE!”
“Don’t even think about bringing me into this.”
Kiri huffed, and both of the (horrible, Riku might add) singers marched toward him. “You’re unsuited for- the raaaaage of war!”
“So pack up!” Tidus jabbed the air toward him. “Go home, you’re throooooough!”
“How could IIIII-“
Riku deadpanned. “Seriously?”
“Make a maaaaaan-“
“This is ridiculous.”
Both took deep breaths. “-OUT OF YOOOOOOU!”
Riku winced, twisting one finger in his ear. “Alright, I get it, I’ll come back later.” He muttered and turned on his heel to duck back through the doors. “Weirdos.”
Whatever else they were singing about was completely lost on the boy as he shut the door behind him. Tidus and Kiri sung through the closed door, giving him the joys of having to still hear their awful tone deaf chorus. He sighed and cursed himself for getting worked up. This seemed more like a ploy to annoy him ten to mess with the forces of darkness. Whatever. He would get a chance to talk to her later when all of… that was done and over with. As long as Tidus was still safe.
“-OOOOON!” Kiri stepped back, pointing to Tidus dramatically. “Alright, solo training montage finale, go!”
Tidus dropped his stance and readied his blade, striking at his invisible enemies.
“BE A MAAAAAAAN!”
He swung as swift as the coursing river.
“BE A MAAAAAAAN!”
With all the force of a great typhoon.
“BE A MAAAAAAAN!”
With all the strength of a raging fire. “HUWAH!”
“MYSTERIOUS AS-“ “HUWAH!”
“-THE DARK SIIIIIIIIIDE OF-“ “HUWAH!”
“-THE MOOOOOOON!”
“HUWAH!”
The last of the notes hung through the air, crashing waves and rustling leaves applauding them. The pair looked hesitantly at each other, before they whooped and cheered into the air. “YEAH!”
“Oh man I’m so pumped!” Tidus started laughing as he doubled over. “Can’t believe that actually worked.”
“See? What did I tell you?” Kiri smiled triumphantly. “A war chant brings out the fierce warrior in us all! And a true battle cry will strike fear into the hearts of your enemies!”
“If you call that scaring. He looked like we just entered the loony bin.”
“Well that’s his loss. I can’t be going away giving all my secrets. Now, let’s get back to the basics. Your stance and strikes are good, but your aim is a little… yes?” She asked at his raised hand.
“I’m hungry.”
She faltered, frowning in confusion. “Again? You just ate this morning.”
“Uh, yeah, for breakfast. It’s lunch time. I’ve been moving around and stuff all day!” He dropped his arms and leaned forward, drawling dramatically. “I’m staaaaaarved!”
Kiri leaned back from his whining and finally sighed in defeat. “Ugh, alright fine, go find something to eat. But for this, tomorrow we start training at dawn.”
“At dawn? Are you kidding? It’s Monday! That means I sleep in since I’m skipping school!”
“What? No, it doesn’t! It means you wake up at a normal time, and spend that time doing something equally productive.”
He grimaced in disbelief. “…You serious? You act like you’ve never played hooky before.”
“I didn’t.” she huffed, one finger pointed skyward as she straightened her back and spoke swiftly. “School is an important and integral part of our culture, development and community. Each day is another opportunity to improve yourself and learn more about being a productive human being in our society. If you can’t see that, you’re better off doing menial labor to let the true academics flourish!”
“…wow.” Tidus breathed, in complete awe at her drive and conviction. “You… are such a nerd.”
“I-“ The name made her flush before she pointed off to the distance. “Just go eat already!”
“Alright, alright,” he waved her off and tromped off. “Nerd.”
She spluttered, arms rigid by her sides. “Uggggh, stupid jock! WHAT DO THEY KNOW ANYWAY?!” She yelled after him, before crossing her arms. “The rest of us have to actually work to fit in school.”
-
“Done already?” Riku asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah, have to eat, after all.” Tidus shrugged before rolling his right shoulder. “Man she’s such a slave driver. She’s almost as bad as coach, except this time I’m the one getting all the attention.”
Riku stared at him wordlessly, before informing somberly: “…Sorry to have to tell you this, Tidus, but you still suck at singing. You really ought to get your munny back.”
“Oh ha, ha, very funny. I meant the real training. That was just something she did to improve morale.”
“Improve morale?”
“Yeah. Oh, and add background music to my training montage.”
Riku gaped at him in disbelief. “Your what?”
“Training montage. You know, that part in the movie with a bunch of clips to show time passing-“
“I know what a montage is, Tidus.” Riku interrupted, and he looked like he was completely lost. “I’m just… trying to figure out if you guys realize how ridiculous that sounds.”
“Hey, you don’t have to believe me, but while we were doing it, I was so pumped, like I was gonna take on the world. She’s weird, but she knows what’s what. Just wait until I’m done. I’ll finally whoop you after all these years.”
Riku highly doubted that was going to happen, but it did pique his curiosity. The athlete seemed so sure of himself. And now that he thought about it, why was he getting so into it? Sure they played when they were kids, but this was taking it to another level. “…I’ll believe it when I see it.” He finally said.
“You will. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tidus clapped his hands. “This warrior in training’s gotta get some chow.”
Riku followed him with his eyes as the younger boy marched off, most likely toward the ocean to catch some fish. “Warrior in training, huh?” He murmured, turning his attention back to the door. “We’ll see about that.”
-
Kiri held onto the wooden sword, and did a few practice swings, mirroring his stance as best she could. It was difficult when her feet kept dragging. She adjusted and added a few of her own testing blocks, eyes distant and unseeing as her vision wobbled and doubled. She lunged forward, then back, readjusting her balance mid-step. She went straight forward, swinging down, across, then lunging, bones aching and muscles screaming, but grit her teeth, and went into a spin to strike. She faltered, breathed in, and cried out as she whirled to slam the sword against the tree. She grabbed onto the tree to hold herself up, vision spinning as she mentally cursed and rubbed her eyes. She shook her head, trying to clear her double vision, but had to lean against the trunk to get her bearings back.
“You look like you could use the break more than him,” Riku observed.
She jumped and snapped back to face the intruder, cursing herself for completely missing him approaching her. “I- what are you doing here?” She demanded to Riku. “I thought we scared you off!”
And then Riku blinked as an incredulous realization hit him. “…Is that what that was all about?”
Kiri froze, glanced at the sword, then back up at him hopefully. “…no?”
He scoffed with a quirk of his lips. “Figures as much. So much for “improving morale”. I thought that whole “training montage” bit sounded a little strange.”
“Hey, it is about improving morale!” She argued. “The training montage is the most important step to becoming a true warrior! After the hero’s determination wins the heart of the audience, of course.” She informed as a matter-of-factly.
Then Riku’s smile faltered as he watched her incredulously. “…you seriously believe that.”
“Don’t question my teaching methods!” She warned and pointed the sword at him accusingly. “You’re just jealous you don’t have my awesome training secrets!” Instead of rising to her bait, Riku raised a brow at the sword questioningly. Noticing what she was doing with the weapon, Kiri huffed and set it back down by the tree. “Now what do you want?”