Pathways in the summer sand [Sora]

[Spring [Complex]]

A Mid Summer afternoon

The Destiny Island crew all had different mornings and circumstances that they dealt with at home. In fact, there was a bit of disconnect regarding everyone's home life because everyone's concern was usually life on their island playground. Today was a bit different, for you see..Sora would have a letter in a bottle waiting for him in the morning. Delivered bright and early by a particular sandy blond.

It's content were simple: "Summer's almost over, let's settle things." - Tidus

Tidus of course slaved away the past few days with chores so that he could clear up the last days of summer. There was a few things that needed to be done. First, the Summer Festival was coming up, no way were the Destiny Island Crew going to miss that and of course...he needed to check in on Sora's progress. Tidus had been having a lot of adventures this summer, so what of his rival?

Yep, Tidus made sure that they'd have the island to themself for this little venture. A few practice swings were given as he stood prepared on the docks, awaiting Sora's boat to arrive.
"I hope you're ready for this, Sora."

[mrcrazycakes]

"I can't believe summer's almost over..."

Sora's boat pulled up to the island a few minutes later, Sora hopping onto the dock and tying down his boat before going to meet Tidus, wood sword in hand. "Okay, we're tied as of last time. Winner of this one is champion until next summer. You ready to lose?" He asked, grinning. This kind of thing was normal around the end of summer; they'd all try to outdo one another so they could mess with their rival about being on top through the school year. It made it that much easier to look forward to summer... although, they still had plenty of time.

[Spring [Complex]]

Tidus looked at Sora, like really gave him a good look.
"So, I take it your recent growth has made you cocky?" Tidus responded with his own grin before his expression turned serious. He turned his back on his friend/rival at that moment, his head looking up to the bright sky overhead.
"Summer's almost over...the festival is coming up too. Being champion during the festival, doesn't that sound awesome?" he let the question linger in the air, the summer breeze blowing over the island for that moment before he walked from the docks over the shores of their island. He'd take his position as he held his staff behind him.

"Before we begin, I wanted to ask you. How's Riku?"

Totally a left-field response. Truth was, he hadn't seen much of Riku this summer. Heck he'd barely caught sight of Sora, minus his stow-away actions with his crew or even that time he was doing errands. Yeah, it was weird for the crew to not be...together during the summer. Perhaps their destiny was being crafted in the summer sand.

[mrcrazycakes]

"No, I'VE been practicing," Sora replied with a grin and a thumbs-up. No way he would think being taller meant he could beat Tidus; height had nothing to do with anything. Well, it kind of did, but not in this particular instance. "Yeah, I can't wait for it to come around. I heard they're gonna have fireworks like they did the year before last."

Sora was caught off guard by Tidus' next question. Riku? Well, he'd seen him around, but he hadn't seen much of his overly-mature friend himself... he'd been busy with other things. Practicing with his new skateboard and his fighting skills. He was getting good. "I... haven't seen him much lately. I think he's in one of those moods like when he wants to go somewhere really bad. I'm kinda worried though; I don't think it's ever gone on this long... I haven't seen him around here much either."

[Spring [Complex]]

Hearing Sora's response about practicing would have made Tidus smile and inside, he certainly did. Whereas Wakka was more concerned with sports and just having a good time with everyone (as was Selphie), Sora, Riku, and Tidus...competition was in their veins. However, after the Fisherman experience...Tidus needed to think a bit more seriously. He was an Ace Athelete, how much more time would he have before he needed to take his sports life to the next level?

Just now Sora mention that this years festival was going to have fireworks. Ah he'd miss having those at the last festival, so it was quite a welcome return. However, just seeing that his friend and rival was growing up was what really got Tidus thinking. News about Riku caused the sandy blond a visible frown, the innocent days of competition were slippign away.

"You know Sora..." his hands tightened along his staff, yet it remained behind him as he looked towards his opponent.

"Time has been moving, it never stops. This year (oh boy if we go by Japanese school system we're sunk x.x er...hmm plothole for all of us, geez) school's only going to get tougher, after all we're moving up the ranks. I'm not even sure if I'll have as much time for our little games next summer."

At that moment, he took a seat in the sand. He'd begin to draw random lines in the sand, trying to find the best words to say how he felt.

"The fact we didn't spend as much time together this year bothers me. It's not like we can get this time back, so we can only look forward to more good times...right?" he aimed this question at Sora cause, for better or worse, Sora was like...well he was a "sempai" as it were. An older boy who was a bit more experienced due to age. Tidus wasn't so sure he was ready to "grow up" and seeing his friend/rival go through it had certainly put him off a bit.

Yes...Tidus was definitely still a kid.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Gosh, I'm sorry Tidus... Everybody was busy this summer, I guess. I wanted to hang out with everybody too, but I guess... we just weren't supposed to... or something," Sora said, attempting to put it how Riku would. Sora saying it his way wouldn't work. But now he saw that Tidus was upset a bit about something or other. Was it... growing up? It hit Sora too, and he just shook his head. He just... he couldn't bring himself to worry about things that far off. He'd always just lived his life day by day, not a care in the world. He didn't want that to change just because he was getting older...

"Well... I guess we'll just have to take things as they come. I'm not good at worrying about stuff for long; I just can't do it. My look on it is to find something you like to do and keep doing it until you're the best; if you're good enough at what you do, you can always find a job doing it, I know it! ... Sorry, I don't think I'm making much sense. I can't really explain how I don't worry about it. My dad always said that I could get hurt bad by somebody and still be happy, 'cause that's the kind of person I am. Tidus, you just keep getting better at sports; I bet you'll be one of the pro players when you get out of school, you and Wakka!" He said, doing his best to find a way to encourage Tidus. Perhaps one of the downfalls of his endless optimism was that getting him into a bad mood was very hard... but Tidus' question had hit that lever in his brain that made him start thinking seriously....

He didn't really want to grow up... but he was ready. He would face every challenge that came at him with his head held high. If he didn't do that, his friends would be worried about doing it like he was; he just couldn't let that happen. He'd face growing up like he faced everything else, even if he was a bit scared of what would happen when he grew up himself (Or, at least, he was when he thought about it happening).

[Spring [Complex]]

Tidus wasn't impressed by Sora's attempt to address the situation the way Riku would. Regardless, the dirty blond remained quiet while Sora had the mic. The compliment at the end of his speech was...well it was Sora, he had a way of perking people up. Still, he was going to have to call the brunette out on his earlier statement.

"About what you said earlier...If that was all you said, I was going to say that you've changed."

Tidus looked Sora directly in the eye. No longer was he drawing random lines in the sand. Now was the time for him to be truthful with his rival.

"Actually, scratch that...you have changed. Taking on lines that Riku would say, not exactly the Sora I remember. Perhaps your growth spurt and your training is to blame."

Tidus sounded deathly serious at that moment. Using his staff, he'd prop himself up. Standing erect, he'd inhale deeply as his eyelids closed. He was thinking, something Tidus didn't exactly do very often if you were to believe Selphie.

"There's no doubt that Wakka and I will continue to become great athletes. We have a...Hmm, a Captain/Star relationship? No...a Coach/Athlete relationship? Nah that's not right. We're best friends, we grow off each other's experiences, together we're stronger. Gaining trength on your own, doesn't seem like your style...sounds more like Riku. Maybe you've been hanging out with him too much."

Tidus then moved the Staff directly to his side, easing into a battle stance.

"So how 'bout it Sora, still think the old you is inside? If so, then you won't be able to beat me."

The official challenge, the spar was definitely on...unless Sora had something to say?

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora frowned and crossed his arms. Maybe he had changed, without him noticing... Tidus was right. He'd never really done that before. Something must have changed. Maybe it was things at home taking their toll... But that was for another time. Tidus had issued his challenge. "Yeah right! I've beat you plenty and you know it! How 'bout first to ten wins for this one?"

Sora grinned, glad to have something to yank his mind out of troubles elsewhere as he took a fighting stance. But it wasn't the one he was known for; he stood mostly straight, bent forward just a bit with his sword held in his right hand, backwards at the moment, and his left shoulder facing Tidus. "Y'know, Selphie always told me you think even less than I usually do; i never thought you'd start acting like Riku!"

[hp=10/10]
[*Ahem* Going by my Struggle Tournament rules, the first one to land a hit on the other ten times (In this case) is the winner. Damage won't be considered to your actual HP, but rather to your hits counter, which will use the HP bar for neatness.]

[Spring [Complex]]

"Ha, me acting like Riku? Now you're definitely going down!" he chuckled before the grin plastered his face. Staff held out in his right hand, at a diagonal as if he was wielding a Katana instead of a staff.

"Heh, Sora's even changed his fighting style. He's really grown into someone I can respect but still..."

He didn't want to admit it but what he liked about Sora was that positive charm of his. You couldn't keep Sora down, nor did he feel too "old". Wakka sometimes came off a bit like that for Tidus, though Wakka always had good intentions. It was why he considered the orange/redhead like an older brother/coach at times but they were best friends, no doubt. Tidus didn't have any tricks up his sleeves, at least that was how it would look to Sora. Honestly it was easy to doubt Tidus had done any training at all.

Still, that didn't mean Tidus wouldn't attempt the first strike. The little guy was quick, lunging forward as his right shoulder aligned perpendicular to Sora's form. His staff coming down to slash diagonal in an attempt to get the first of ten strikes.

[hp=10/10]

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora's block was quick, whipping his sword forward and up in a single motion and supporting it on impact with his free hand before darting in, pulling something like a double-strike. His wood sword went forwards, like a normal sword, in a backhand slash, before coming back to the position in another, Sora making a brief leap backwards to put some distance between them. "How d'you like that?"

[hp=10/10]

[Spring [Complex]]

The double strike caught him off-guard, to say the least. He'd feel the backhand strike against his shoulder. Thankfully these "sparring" weapons didn't hurt as much considering but wow. Sora was definitely packing a punch, not unlike their previous match.

"Keep doing something until you're the best at it huh Sora?"

Tidus mused to himself before he began to circle Sora. He made no move to close the gap, he simply sought an opening in his new form to strike with. [hp=9/10]

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora laughed, throwing the whole of his mind into this little tournament between friends. He didn't leave enough undevoted space to be able to worry about troubles that, for a moment, seemed so far away.

Maybe... I'm the one who needs the encouraging words this time...

A stray thought told him, but it was quickly forgotten in a spinning surge that brought Sora within striking distance, swinging his wooden sword upwards and forwards, it swinging up to a forward hold in order to extend his reach that bit more it needed to get a hit in on Tidus. Couldn't get distracted; he had to stay focused for now.

[Spring [Complex]]

Keeping on the move allowed Tidus to be more nimble in this circumstance. Sora was attempting to gain reach on the sandy blond. He needed to close the distance and enable a strike. Sora's moves were quick and fluid but in his effort to close the gap, he forgot a big factor. Tidus had much more "reach". Thus as Sora spinned and attempted to close the gap, Tidus would take the time to strike his legs, then slip under his guard as the motion moved upwards in order to thrust his staff at his chest and push him back.

"Geez, Sora's practically become a pro at this over night. I've been forced to use moves I was planning to save for Riku."

Despite his inner thoughts, Tidus' expression didn't change. He simply remained stoic, not unlike Riku would be in this situation. The air of "seriousness" that Tidus brought before still remained but he had no words for his beloved Rivalyet.

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora took the two hits, the second blow knocking him onto his back. He rolled backwards, planting his feet on the sand in a recovery that, previously, would have merely been Sora falling butt-first into the sand and having to get back up. He'd been working hard to keep his mind occupied so he didn't seem troubled around his friends. It seemed to have worked so far. The brunette charged forward, left shoulder first with his sword, backhand again, ready to block a coming blow.

I won't let myself lose!

[Spring [Complex]]

"Oh now I get it, looks like you've been training with Riku. What, you weren't strong enough to beat him on your own? Even that fancy recovery of yours is like Riku's sneaky counter he always uses!" Tidus taunted his rival but proceeded to circle instead of charge in for a follow-up strike. This was sound advice for he'd been hit by Riku's counter far too many times in his haste. No, Tidus would...continue to observe just how strong Sora had become and perhaps he could draw out that old Sora from this new and improved one, little by little.

"Come on Sora, prove me wrong...show me you're still in there..." Tidus pleaded but only within his mind.

[HP=9/10]