Summer Training[Sora]

[mrcrazycakes]

"Cool!" Sora replied, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head. Silly; you can't play ball underwater! "So what are we doing now?"

[The Bilby Guy]

"Well, I have to do some laps on the back of the island. Training for big game at the end of the summer, ya? Want to join me?"

Wakka was of course referring to a huge ball game played by the kids every year to celebrate the end of summer. Pretty much every teenager on Destiny Islands participated, except for Riku.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Of course! And thanks for helping with my swimming," Sora replied, his grin growing wider as he gave Wakka two thumbs up. He really did appreciate the 'lesson' of sorts; you never knew when you would have to know how to swim fast, be it for a race or something else. "It was a lot of fun!"


(... Just because I want to make sure, how am I doing as Sora? :U)

[The Bilby Guy]

[You got the character. Don't worry about it. XD]

"Glad I could help out," Wakka said as he began to make his way around the beach, walking under the bridge to reach the door to the rear side of their playground. "I want you in top shape for the game, after all."

Wakka opened the wooden door to let Sora through.

"Maybe I'll actually manage to get you on a school team this year too."

Wakka laughed after he said this. he hadn't been able to get Sora into school sports in all the time he'd known the kid. Riku didn't do them either so Wakka figured Sora was probably imitating the silver-haired prodigy in that regard.

[mrcrazycakes]

"I dunno about joining a school team, but I'll do my best at the ball game!" Sora replied, his grin not diminishing one bit. He didn't really like school sports; he'd rather play and have fun at home and with his friends. Plus, Sora had heard some of the other boys would get violent if they lost, and that was something he didn't want to see.

He followed Wakka out to where the other boy was going and stretched his arms. They were starting to get a little stiff now that they weren't being used to push him through the water, like usual. It always felt weird. "Ready when you are!"

(Can you tell me anyways? XD I want to make sure I'm doing a good job. -has a bit of a perfectionist streak-)

[The Bilby Guy]

[If you were bad I'd have ended the thread already. Ask me in the cbox next time, please. I don't like OOC talk in threads.]

Wakka stood at the beginning of a path that went around the back of the island. A wooden bridge in front of them led to a raised area of land with a tower, built generations ago by their parents and their parents' parents. The zip lien at the top that led to a higher area of land on the other end of this side of the island was something they had added themselves, though. This side of their playground was well-known for foot races and obstacle challenges.

"Hey Sora, you ever notice how you and I are different from Tidus and Riku when it comes to the races back here?"

[mrcrazycakes]

"...Huh? ... I never really thought about it," Sora admitted, shrugging. he really hadn't; he always raced for fun... and, of course, for the right to brag that he beat whoever he was racing at the time. "What do you mean? I don't think I get it..."

[The Bilby Guy]

Wakka wasn't surprised. He didn't peg Sora as someone to analyze themselves while doing something, but to just do it. That extra level of enthusiasm and focus was probably a key reason he was the only one around who actually could compete with Riku sometimes. Wakka was no match for either of them.

"You and me, we're not as agile as those two. We can run with the best, but our climbing and jumping don't really compare. That's where we get slowed down the most, so we have to move smart to save time and make up for it."

Wakka was thinking of Tidus in particular. The boy was younger than either he or Sora, but his Basic Parkour skills made him incredibly swift in races.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Hm... I guess," Sora replied, shrugging again and frowning just a little bit. He never really noticed; he always got so caught up in running as fast as he could and not running head-first into something that he never really watched whoever he was racing. "I usually just try not to hit anything like I did that one time with the tree."

Sora winced in memory of the event. Racing Tidus, running head-first into a tree at full speed. He'd almost knocked himself out doing it, too. He'd had a lump on his head for two weeks after that happened. "So, ready to start, Wakka?" He asked, his usual cheerful grin returning. Standing around and talking was okay, but he was just a little too eager about the whole running thing to want do do it for too long right now.

[The Bilby Guy]

Wakka chuckled. He could see potential in Sora, but because of the youth's power-driven attitude he didn't usually make use of much agility. Sure, they could both roll and tumble, but Wakka found Sora's lightweight frame should be more agile than the teen currently was.

"Three... two... one... go!"

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora put himself into a sort of mini-crouch, psyching himself up until Wakka shouted 'Go!'. Almost as soon as the word left the older boy's mouth, he was up and running, grinning confidently. Running was always a lot of fun, even if they weren't racing.

[The Bilby Guy]

Sora ran over the wooden bridge toward the next part of the beach. Wakka chose a different route, dropping down into the shallow water below and running alongside the bridge. he would end up behind Sora, but running in the water offered more resistance to his legs and would help him build speed.

"Don't think this means I'm going to let you win!" he called up after the boy.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Okay, you're on!" Sora called back, taking Wakka's challenge and grinning wider. NOW it was a race, and he would NEVER not try his best in a competition, even friendly ones! He pushed himself to run faster now, not wanting to lose.

[The Bilby Guy]

Wakka reached the wall of raised land at the end of his lower route and jumped up. The redhead grasped the edge of the wooden wall and managed to pull himself up onto the sand above. By the time he'd gotten there Sora would have already made his choice. Would the kid run the long way down around the beach, or did he climb the tower to use the zip line instead?

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora chose to run. The zipline was fun, sure, but it'd be more fair if he ran instead. The zipline was kind of fast, even though the tower up to it was sort of high. It would've been kind of unfair, from his point of view.