Someone From The Dark

Ruthless Beauty

"Alright Xena," King Mickey began, more or less announcing this exciting new beginning to the crew who were now stood together in a circle.

"Today marks your first day starting your training to wield your keyblade again, and use your powers."

I nodded eagerly as my eyes glanced at each of my friends faces, who were also smiling brightly in excitement.

"You've healed up quite quickly, so we mustn't waste anymore time. We'll begin with the basics; hand-to-hand combat and defense, also learning more moves and approaches for when you're caught off guard, or unable to use your keyblade."

The circle spread out, leaving me in the middle with King Mickey off to my side, pacing back and forth as he spoke.

"While Roxas mostly relies on his control over the power of light and his brute strength when it comes to his keyblades, he seems as an adequate beginning test dummy while you show us what you can do, so we can get to teaching you new tactics or what you've forgotten."

Roxas strode over with such a confident stride that i could have fallen over and waved the white flag immediately. Like, seriously guys, ROXAS OF ALL PEOPLE?!

He flashed a sly smirk and gave me a wink.

Ooooooh, you're asking for it now Goldie-Locks.

"Begin whenever you're ready, Xena. Roxas won't be fighting at full power, so don't worry about having to go all-out, okay? This is just to get a basic idea of your physical stats. You can start off as calm or slow as you want and Roxas will only block you for a bit, but eventually he'll start to go on offense, and that's when i want you to defend and retaliate as best you can."

"You got it." I responded simply, giving my knuckles a quick crack and i glared some-what playful daggers at Roxas. He always knew how to get under my skin, and his little cockiness was one of the best ways. We've always both been a little competitive, and it's made us out to be pretty interesting partners.

"Want me to go easy on you, baby girl?" Roxas provoked me in a half-seductive, half-sarcastic tone, as he raised an eyebrow at me.

I swung blindly at him, and he easily ducked and slid in a 180 around me to whisper in my ear; "I won't be going easy on you in bed later though."

My face flushed hard and i accidentally bit my lip while trying to dish out a come-back, but i couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to me in such a seductively blunt way.

Wait, he's trying to distract me!

"You little-" At that realization, i couldn't help but stupidly smile as i lunged at him again, this time with a little more thought put into it.

Remember your fight with Taylor... Emotions are one of the first things to distract and weaken you in the heat of a fight.

This time, i swung my right fist directly at his face, anticipating him to just directly grab my hand instead of attempting to dodge it again. Once he did, i quickly followed suit with my left, driving it directly beneath his ribs.

"Gah- fuCKKK." He moaned and he fell onto one knee, his left hand still keeping my right hand in place while he clutched his stomach with his right.

"Awhhh baby, i never anticipated you to ask me to marry you in front of so many other people!" I fakely gushed and twirled a few strands of my hair around my index finger. This caused Sora and Riku to laugh up a storm, and Kairi quickly put a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggle.

"God, you still pack a punch," Roxas laughed groggily, spitting onto the ground.

Roxas' pain tolerance was pretty high, especially once his anger started to take over and the adrenaline kicked in, and i know that i hit pretty hard, but he shouldn't be taking this long to-

In an instant, my view changed from gazing down at Roxas to a perfect frame of the clear blue sky, followed by Roxas' face hovering down over mine.

H-he had me pinned to the ground? THAT FAST?!

The group "OooooOooooo"d in response at the quick change in dominance.

Like hell i was going to be shown up by this little golden headed twerp.

I quickly planted a sweet kiss on his lips, and his eyes closed immediately, after which i took my chance and slid out from under him considering he didn't bother to pin me down.

"Wha-"

"Two can play at that game, babe."

Holding back a little to spare him, i sent a quick kick into the side of his ribs.

Growling, his arm shot out to grab my leg and drag me back down to him, but i quickly back-flipped out of his range as soon as i saw his arm move.

"Gooood, good. It seems your strength, stamina and speed haven't dwindled much,"

King Mickey spoke up, partially scaring me as i'd gotten so immersed in Roxas and I's little sparing match that i had forgotten he was even observing me.

"Switch." He nodded, and i stood still for a minute as i tried figuring out what he was referring to. I quickly remembered as Roxas practically jumped to his feet, his eyes locked on me. He had a mischievous glint in his eye, and this is when i decided i'd probably bitten off a little more than i could chew for a first sparing match in over a year.

All i saw was a flash of color go by in front of me, and i instinctively dove to the ground and rolled a few feet away, quickly getting back to my feet to face him.

Offense, right.

He wasted no time coming at me again, this time i could focus on his movement, and i could tell he was going for a similar rib-shot, like i had.

Hitting someone with enough force into the ribs or stomach- the core of the body- would usually knock the wind out of them, disabling even the most pain-tolerant people for at least a few seconds, which was long enough for most skilled fighters to take their opponent down.

This time, i simply side-stepped in order to effectively counter as he drew his arm back, and i flung an elbow into his jaw right as a shocked expression registered on his cute little face.

He staggered a bit at that, clutching his jaw between his fingers.

"Ruthless, as always." He laughed, and a thin trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"That's my girl." A smirk now dawned on his face, and he literally jumped onto me, tackling me to the ground.

This time, he was smart and pinned my hands above my head with one hand as the other slid onto my hip while he covered my face and neck in quick, warm kisses.

"N-no- Roxas- stop- aHAAAA." I giggled as i squirmed to get out of his grip, his kisses tickling me.

The gang around us laughed and "awhhh"d; even the King.

"Like i thought, Xena, you hadn't really lost any of your physical attributes, which makes training you from here on out a cake-walk." King Mickey began once Roxas had gotten off of me and helped me up.

"Your ankle doesn't seem to hinder you much anymore either. So consider today's training over, and tomorrow we will immediately begin training when it comes to summoning your keyblade. Get some rest, everyone."