Pathways in the summer sand [Sora]

[mrcrazycakes]

"No way! I've been practicing myself!" Sora retorted, not too pleased with the accusation. He respected Riku too much to copy his moves too much, even if his recovery did seem similar. "C'mon, I'll show you what I can do!" He said confidently, grinning now. He made a quick upwards lunge at Tidus with both hands on his sword, following up with a quick stab in his direction.

[hp=8/10]

[Spring [Complex]]

"You don't say..." Tidus mused upon hearing Sora's retort. Upon the upwards lunge, Tidus would bring his sword-staff down, attempting to bring both of the boys into a grid lock and prevent the quick stab motion he attempted to make. At which Tidus would grin as he looked his rival in the eyes.

"So you've been training by yourself eh? I guess that's the reason I haven't seen you around as much, I wonder if Riku's been doing the same?" He'd maintain the deadlock for as long as he could, in order to maintain communication between the two of them.

"So...do you think your training has been worth your whole summer vacation?"
It was a curve ball question from Tidus to be sure, but he was attempting to pry out some answers from Sora. Spending the whole summer training and not hanging with his friends? That didn't sound like the Sora he knew, yeah there was time to train but the joy of doing so was with friends. The Sora he knew would have been tagging along on Sports drills with Wakka and himself and while he did catch Sora with Selphie, it just...didn't seem enough.

Something must have been going on inside that thick head of his but...Tidus didn't know what or even how to get it out, it's not like he was even good at this kind of thing. So this was the only way he rationed he could do it.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Maybe, maybe not," Sora replied as their weapons locked against each other. He didn't want to worry any of them, especially not because of something going on with him. It was bad enough he had to, let alone drag his friends into it. Sora pushed forward, attempting to force his way past the gridlock Tidus had initiated.

[Spring [Complex]]

Sora didn't exactly say the line that Tidus wanted to hear. In fact, Tidus felt all the more frustrated because now he was uncertain if Sora was hiding something or if he had become so obsessed with surpassing Riku that he'd changed for the worse. Regardless, Tidus would pull the truth from the brunette one way or the other. As he attempted to push forward, Tidus would bend his knees and then tilt up. His whole body raising now in an attempt to stagger Sora. If he was successful, he'd be utilizing the momentum of Sora pushing forward thus interupting his charge and opening him up for a clear thrust from his staff. This thrust would serve to keep Sora back and protect Tidus zone.

He didn't want to let Sora in for close combat, not with his newfound flashy moves.

"Come on Sora, you can't be serious?"

Tidus attempted to communicate all the same.

[mrcrazycakes]

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Sora shot back, obviously not liking being questioned in such a way. That would clarify that it was something external and not him; that would be plenty. Sora was, indeed, staggered for a second, but he managed to raise his sword up in enough time to block the coming blow and initiate another gridlock, pushing forward once more.

[Spring [Complex]]

Thankfully Sora was staggered for that moment cause Tidus was surprised by Sora's snappy comment. It certainly gave away some important clues and now Detective Tidus was on the case. Thus, as Sora hit another gridlock, pushing forward once more, Tidus would speak as he did his best to block.

"So...it's not something that came from you directly but something that happened to you. No wonder. When did it happen after we met up to do all those errands?" Tidus reminded him of their little chance encounter when they went out to do some shopping. Regardless, Tidus let Sora get a bit closer, moving to the side in order to keep Sora on his toes.

"Either way you know I'm not going to drop this."

Tidus declared, thus rasing the stakes.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Fine, beat me and you can ask me about it all you want to," Of course, Sora would cave anyways if Tidus kept pressing the issue, but it would give the other boy the incentive to beat him and, hopefully, make him tell of his own will that way. Sora drew back quickly, hopefully catching Tidus off guard before coming in with a quick upwards swing, aiming to get in a solid blow.

[Spring [Complex]]

Sora was...cunning, to say the least. He drew back just as Tidus was attempting to utilize his momentum and so now Tidus would be perpendicular to Sora and somewhat blind sided by the upperwards swing. It'd stagger Tidus a bit but no sooner did he spin clockwise, attempting to snare Sora whom would be within his range.

"That was always in the plan, Sora." Tidus would say, regardless of wether his spin was successful in catching his rival but he had more to say than that.

"Of course, I'll find out before you lose regardless. After all, if it's something that happened to you and it has nothing to do with our little meetings..." He brought the staff up infront of him, holding it with both hands, not unlike a proper sword grip.

"...Then I guess, things aren't so good at home." it was the only place Tidus lacked info on. In fact, all of them lacked information on each other's family life. Had his mom not nudged him into the possibility of having his friends over for dinner, the door to getting past just "friends who met up at a small island" would never be opened.

[mrcrazycakes]

"Good luck with that," Sora answered, not implying either way what was going on. Frankly, he didn't want to talk about it, especially not in the middle of something like this. He was distracted enough to take the hit, though, and it was almost enough to knock him over, though he made a quick recovery. He didn't bother to give a reply to the statement about it being a home problem. That was exactly what it was... but Sora showed no signs of caving, darting forward with his sword ready, giving a backhand swing upward at his second rival.

[hp=7/10]

[Spring [Complex]]

[hp=8/10]

"Still trying to be like Riku I see." Tidus taunted as he was all too ready for what Sora could dish out. Of course, he took Sora's dodging of the answer to mean some truth was in his words. It gave Detective Tidus a little idea, it'd be a long shot but hey, why not? Sora was already coming in with another upwards slash with that backhand stance of his. However Tidus staff came down vertically and powerful to intercept it, forcing another lock between the two boys.

"So, you've got some problems at home...doesn't mean you turn into Riku. Unlike Riku, you're a nice hearted goof who knows they can rely on their friends for help."

He then decided to be the one to attempt to push forward in their little lock, adding some pressure to Sora.

"Unless of course you think now that you've grown, you can handle it on your own, like Riku?"

Yep, Tidus was relentless...when it came to taunting and pressure games. Let's just say, Tidus' adventures in sports had led him to face some interesting adversaries so far. Adversaries whom loved to taunt the sandy blond and get under his skin. "I hate having to borrow these tactics, it's totally not sportsmanely, even if I know I'm going to win...but more important than winning, I have to get the old Sora back, otherwise it just won't be the same!" Tidus rationalized in his heart. This wasn't just a competition anymore, wether he won or lost, he wanted to see the old Sora...that was the guy he wanted to overcome...not the Sorku 1.5 edition.

[mrcrazycakes]

"That still doesn't mean I want to talk about it now!" Sora said back, obviously angry to some extent now. Sora drew back and let loose a spinning strike, followed by a horizontal and vertical swipe at Tidus. He hated being questioned like this; he wanted to keep his mind off the problems while he was with his friends, not have them poked to death so that he couldn't get it out of his head.

[hp=7/10]

[Spring [Complex]]

His moves were certainly seasoned but his heart really wasn't in the right place. Tidus knew he was playing a dangerous game. Sora's retort was filled with anger. It truly meant that whatever he was going through was having a deep impact on his behaviour. However, Tidus' words would ring true, he wasn't going to stop. The false cover that Sora was trying to put up would be poked to death, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to get it out of his head. What it really meant was that he needed to get it off his chest, so that a solution would be in his head and...some peace would be in his heart.

"I bet you don't want to talk about it now..." Tidus barely uttered as he ducked down from the spin attack. His staff came crashing into Sora's legs as he did so, aiming to trip him up and plant the brunette on his backside. From there he'd attempt to pin Sora down should he be successful. If his strike failed, then he'd raise his staff to prepare for a follow-up strike. Regardless, Tidus was going to continue the mental attack:

"So when did you plan on talking about it? Summer's only so long Sora..."

"If this is what growing up means...I don't think I ever want to grow up." Tidus mused sadly which showed in his expression. If Sora took a good look, he'd see that this was killing the athlete. Somewhere deep down, the boy missed Sora. He could have chalked it up on bad circumstances that they didn't get to meet much but that didn't mean he liked seeing him like this. As far as Tidus was concerned, beating Sora would be a hollow victory if he couldn't pull out the old goofball.

[mrcrazycakes]

Sora took the hit and tripped, but Tidus' follow-up of trying to pin him down just met with sand. Sora had rolled to the side, coming up and letting loose a four-strike chain before jumping backwards, his eyes practically on fire. Making the brunette angry obviously hadn't been a good idea on Tidus' part if he wanted to know what was going on. "I said I don't want to talk about it," He retorted, taking up a ready stance again.

[hp=6/10]
Sora