A Corner of the Preserve, Saturday Evening

[intraspective]

There were few things more awesome than rounding out a day spent hard at work by getting a phone call from a totally awesome guy who was bound and determined to drag her out into the snow to train.

Okay, so her protests had been laughing and consisted mostly of 'where, when, and I'll need to change first' but shhh. She had totally put up a fight. Really.

That was totally why she was grinning up at Zack, despite the snow landing on her face, and bouncing a bit as she tucked her gloves away. "So," Ino said brightly, "materia first? Or weapons?"

She'd brought both. A call for training was way too general to do anything but.

[For the puppy who was modded with permission!]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

"We could try..." Zack pursed his lips a little, looking upward and apparently lost deep in thought.

Thinking was hard, right?

"Both!"

Both?

"At the same time," he clarified. "I mean, it takes a bit more focus to switch from one to the other, but we're just training. Maybe we alternate back and forth, to get used to swapping from physical attacks to magic?"

[intraspective]

She tilted her head at that, looking down at her hands. "I think that's a good idea," Ino said slowly, "I mean, when we go out monster hunting I ain't... so great at the switching fast. It's either all magic or ignore the magic for me."

Zack was better. She was not going to sulk about that. He had a lot more practice.

[puppy_fair]

He did have a lot more practise. That had something to do with his usual 'learn fast or die' training method, out on the field.

"You can use me as a target," Zack decided, grinning and bouncing on his toes. "It's okay, I'm good at dodging! With enough practise, you'll be able to just cast with one hand and attack with your weapon in the other!"

Like Zack did, yes.

[intraspective]

"Not with my spear I won't be," she laughed, but darted back a few steps. The darkness and the snow would make aiming an interesting proposition. "But I'm sure your big bad SOLDIER self can handle a few kunai, hmm?"

And, with that, she laughed again and cast Thunder.

Who needed warning?

[puppy_fair]

Zack didn't need warning when Thunder spells had split-seconds worth of warm-up time, did he?

He was laughing as he threw himself down into the snow, the lightning bolt sailing harmlessly past him before dissipating into the night.

"Me and my big bad SOLDIER self can handle a lot worse than a few kunai," he assured her, on his feet again before he'd even finished the sentence. "And if I can go back and forth from magic to a SOLDIER sword, then you can totally handle your materia and a spear!"

[intraspective]

"I need two hands for my spear," she protested, sending kunai flying at him as she set herself and cast Thunder again, the eerie light of it ruining night vision.

If she kept casting it, neither of them would have any real night vision to speak of this evening. Another handicap.

[puppy_fair]

"And I," there was a soft 'unhf' sound as he hit the snow again, "need two hands to use my sword, too. But if you're casting, then you don't need to worry about your spear too much, do you?"

He was now blinking zigzag spots from his eyes as he pulled himself up once again.

[intraspective]

"I'm a lot less powerful than you are, Zack." Ino had her eyes slitted against the light and against the snow and this time, rather than flinging a kunai at him, she flung herself forward to try for a kick.

To his gut. She couldn't reach his face in this sort of footing--not without falling on her butt, though give her a bit and she'd probably try anyway--and while Ino doubted it'd hit, it gave him a lot less range to get out of the way of the kunai she was using like a dagger.

HA. She didn't have to throw them.

[puppy_fair]

"So, you're saying that your spear is too heavy to hold with one hand?"

Zack had to ask to be sure. He really didn't have much of a basis for comparison, considering the fact that he could probably lift Ino in one hand, and all.

Through the fuzz of the Thunder that had imprinted itself on his retinas, he could make out motion, heading for him quickly, and he was dancing backward to avoid the foot. But it was all darkness and fuzzy shapes and yellow-white crackles whenever he blinked, and so if there was a second attack coming his way, then he was going to have difficulty steering clear of it.

[intraspective]

Ino didn't want to hurt him, not badly anyway, so she took a split second to flip her grip on the kunai and bring the rounded end of it smashing up at his face rather than the point.

He would probably prefer not getting six inches of steel aimed at his face, yes.

She pushed herself back, ducking, and then flinging one hand out to cast Thunder yet again.

Her eyes watered. Ino blinked hard.

[puppy_fair]

The kunai caught Zack along the jawline, and he nearly took a moment to recoil at that before recognizing the hum and glow of another Thunder spell in the making.

Once again, he hit the snow. This time, once he'd made it to his feet again, he was going to keep moving. None of this stationary target silliness! Where was the challenge in that?

Still somewhat dazed from the remnants of light in his eyes, he was pushing onward, trying to get around behind Ino, now.

[intraspective]

Thunder sucked in the middle of the night. A headache started up, there was no way for her to get away from the light and brightness and spots in her eyes.

And now he was moving. Brilliant. Ino struggled to keep track of him, working more by sound than by sight and turning as she did so.

Another Thunder, then, but this one wasn't particularly aimed.

Ow ow ow.

[puppy_fair]

And Zack's feet were running almost on instinct alone. There was another flash. He knew to keep as far from it as possible. Even Thunder had a range, after all.

He hit the snow again, but this time it wasn't in a roll. He was ducking, hoping that the light from the spells had left her even worse off than he was, and he was staying perfectly still among the trees.

After all, she had to look where she was aiming. Zack didn't particularly have to watch the lightning rip through the air nearby.

[intraspective]

Ino was all but blind now and operating on pure instinct as she struggled to find him. Turning in a circle, she knew she had to move, had to get out out of the open--and not daring to at the same time.

She couldn't see.

So she waited. Shoulders tense, kunai in one hand, and closed her eyes. They were useless here.

[puppy_fair]

Zack had... several options, at this point. He could cast Fire, for example, but that seemed like a bad idea to do here in the woods in the dead of night. He could cast Blizzard, instead. But crashing down on top of Ino with no warning, it could quite possibly seriously injure her. Or worse.

And so, with a little grin on his lips, he did the next best thing.

Snowball incoming from behind!

[intraspective]

Even concentrating the snowball caught her off guard and she spluttered a laugh as it hit and she figured out what it was.

"Are you babying me?" she demanded, swinging around to face the direction it had come from. Her eyes were still shut. They ached.

But, if they were shut, it meant she could use Thunder again--this time aimed where she guessed him to be from his snowball.

[puppy_fair]

"I woudn't dream of babying you," Zack laughed, and now he was scrambling through the snow to avoid the spell that was being chucked his way. "I just didn't want to burn down the preserve!"

Totally different, that!

[intraspective]

"It's too wet to burn," she scoffed, ears struggling to track him. Place him. He was moving again.

Damn him. Moving was cheating.

"Besides," she added, "you'd be aiming for me."

And there was a kunai being flung just ahead of where she thought he was now.

[puppy_fair]

Zack wasn't running anymore. Zack was skidding to a stop, wide-eyed as the bladed weapon few by so close to his nose that it actually managed to clip some of his hair.

And now he was backtracking and moving back the other way. Trying to keep it haphazard, random. He was working himself up to a run again, feet hitting heavily in the snow underfoot.

"You want to get hit by a Fire spell?"

[intraspective]

No, not really.

"Practice makes perfect," she said glibly. "It won't kill me."

Much.

Well, not permanently. She was pretty sure she could withstand a hit anyway. Once or twice.

[puppy_fair]

"Maybe not, but it'd still suck." He stopped running again, this time holding out his own hand to cast. It wasn't Fire that he was casting, though. It was Blizzard. And it wasn't aimed for Ino, really. It was aimed for a few feet behind her.

He wasn't a big fan of hitting people he cared about with spells that could snap their necks, really.

[intraspective]

It being a few feet behind her meant that Ino avoided it easily even as it came crashing down and scattering ice shards everywhere.

Okay, so she didn't manage to avoid all the shards, but...

"You are babying me!"

She could sympathize with his worry but, really, how was she supposed to get better if he wasn't trying?

[puppy_fair]

"I'm not," Zack insisted, wide eyed. "Would you drop one of those things down right on top of me?"

... Don't answer that, Ino.

"Anyhow, you got hit by some of it, right?"

[intraspective]

It wouldn't be like he'd not be able to dodge or anything! Geeeeez.

"I did," she said, still frowning in his direction. "But you're still taking it easy on me."

Because, yes, she would drop one of those right on him. Fully expecting him to dodge.

"I'm the one trying to zap you with Thunder, yeah? Fair's fair."

[puppy_fair]

"Well, I guess so," Zack replied, frowning faintly. It was dark. He could get away with frowning, in the dark!

He wasn't going to point out that if he actually managed to make contact with a Blizzard spell, it was going to do a buttload more damage than some Thunder spell would.

Instead, he was going to just swap spells completely.

He had Assault Twister equipped, after all, and running her way with his sword swinging through the air was a good way to demonstrate that he wasn't taking it easy on her, without risking a forest fire.