For Zell

[noblerworld]

It certainly hadn't been intentional that Seifer's hut was so close to Zell's, but that was the way of things and, today at least, it worked to his advantage. Seifer thought it was time he payed his neighbour a visit. Time to see just how strong the Chicken had got anyway.

So he stood outside Zell's hut, just after the break of dawn and started chucking pebbles at the door.

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[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell blinked. Was Seifer acknowledging that his fists were a respectable match-up to his gunblade?! He tried not to get all jumpy, but it was hard. At least, he figured, these rules meant this wasn't going to turn into the kind of duel Seifer had with Squall where they both got their scars. Probably?

"Uh, okay. You wanna spar right here behind the hut?"

Zell really hoped Polly had gone to the Compound for breakfast. She'd freak if she walked up to Zell and Seifer sparring.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

"Why, you got somewhere else you need to be?" Seifer replied as he drew his gun-blade and stepped back in to a ready position.

He was happy to spar in Zell's doorway, to be honest.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell started wondering what would happen if he lost. Zell looked up at Seifer. The guy was about a whole foot taller than he was, AND he had the reach of his gunblade. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

"Okay..."

He didn't want to object, otherwise he knew he'd be called a chicken-wuss on the spot. He readied his own stance and waited for Seifer to act.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer spun his gun-blade confidently and charged, spinning his body to bring the blade sweeping round at full force.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell's eyes widened as he dove and rolled out of Seifer's arc. He came up quickly and watched for his next move. Zell was waking up quickly but was still feeling a bit dull. He hadn't yet thought up an attack plan and was just focusing on not getting taken out right away. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if Seifer took him down right in the beginning.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer didn't need to step within Zell's reach to hit him so he wasn't going to.

He'd block the guys fists with his weapon if he had to but for the time being he stayed on the offensive, chasing after Zell with blow after blow aimed toward his body.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell really wished Seifer would go for his head instead. The body swipes were too low to duck easily and too high to jump easily. He kept out of the way and only made a couple lame pretexts at fighting back.

He started to wish Squall was around. They had fought Seifer together as a team. Zell had always feared Seifer when they were young. He started thinking of Seifer beating him and having a reason to start teasing him again. He heard the distant memory of Seifer leading the chant in the orphanage, 'Crybaby Zell! Crybaby Zell!'

And for one terrible moment, he just stopped when he shouldn't have.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer took full advantage of Zell's hesitation, swinging the blade higher so that it stopped just a hair's breadth short of his neck and then withdrawing it and tapping it, gently against his chest.

Well that had been disappointingly easy. So much for his hope that Zell could ever be a worthy rival.

"Once a chicken, always a chicken," he said dismissively with a cruel grin as he withdrew the blade and took a step back. "I don't know why I bothered."

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

It felt as if the floor had dropped out and he was in free fall. What had made him freeze up had actually happened. He messed up. And now Seifer was dishing out the ridicule. Holy crap!

Seifer's usual cruel attitude and that look he was giving Zell quickly turned his shock into anger. What right did this jerk have to drag him out of bed when he had been working to two in the frickin' morning and then declare him worthless for one wrong move? Did he really have to feel superior to everyone else? Why does he get off on that? And instead of falling apart as he had always done when he was younger, Zell found his new sense of self-worth rising up.

"I am not a chicken, Seifer! I am a hero, something you'll never be."

Damn! Had he actually just stood up for himself like that?

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer's grin faded slightly at that. What right did this idiot have to say that to him?

"Words," he replied, with false casualness, "don't prove anything."

"You come looking for me, spouting off about how strong you've got, and when I give you a chance to prove it, you can't even make me sweat. Some hero!"

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

"Being a hero isn't just about fighting, Seifer. It's about caring about people and ideals bigger than you, and being part of a team. But if it's a fight you want, let's go again. I'll give you a real fight this time."

Zell moved much more confidently into a fighting position.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

"You can care all you like," Seifer replied with a sneer as he raised his gun-blade again. "Means nothing if you're too weak to protect what you care about."

There was no smile on his face when he charged this time, no anticipation of enjoying a battle, he was just going to put Zell down as quick as he could and then walk away.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell was determined now to show Seifer once and for all that he wasn't weak. Seifer probably expected Zell to dodge away from him, but instead, Zell charged as well. He was getting under the swing of his blade and began to swing out his fist.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

The unexpected charge forced Seifer to check back, mid swing, so he could protect himself with his blade. He blocked the outstretched fist with the flat of his weapon but it took the wind out of his attack and he slowed almost to a stop, caught in a moment of transition between pulling out of his charge and being able to dodge back.

Seifer was a naturally aggressive fighter and he disliked being put on the back foot but he was capable of fighting defensively if he had to. He still had the longer reach, after all, he just needed to force Zell back far enough that that could come into play.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Armed with his combat gloves, Zell had no qualms giving the flat of Seifer's blade a good whack. Now that he was up close, he began giving Seifer all kinds of trouble with small jabs, kicks from every angle, even going in with his knee towards his stomach. Unlike Seifer's gunblade style where everything focused on one weapon, Zell's attacks could come from any of his limbs, and he could mix it up more. Instead of going for one devastating blow, Zell was peppering Seifer with a little of everything. This kept Seifer defensive, and probably more important, annoyed. Seifer was able to fit in a few attacks, but Zell was managing to avoid or counterattack, then continue pressing him.

There was no hesitation this time. This time was for real. Zell was all business, now and wasn't about to shut down like he had the last time. He couldn't afford to lose again. He wouldn't lose again.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

This fight really wasn't to Seifer's taste. He gave up more and more ground, fighting almost entirely defensively as he used his blade mostly as a spinning shield, unable to really go on the attack himself for fear of leaving himself open.

Zell hadn't got through his guard yet, whatever else he was, Seifer was undoubtedly very good at fighting, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Zell was too close for Seifer's superior reach to come into play and, due to the rules he himself had set up, he couldn't take a blow in order to land a hit either, which would be his usual method when fighting with the stronger weapon.

All he could do was up the speed as much as he could, move his blade faster and with more purpose as he tried to match Zell's four limbs with his one weapon and gain a bit more space to swing it. Back at Garden, there had been very few people who could keep up with him at full pace.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Squall and Seifer hadn't been the only ones with a rep in combat training. Zell had also been making a name for himself. But never against Seifer. Zell had always managed to have some kind of problem and found himself at the end of Seifer's gunblade whenever they squared off. But not this time.

The way Seifer was whirling his blade now was kind of a pain in the ass. Having to be able to not get sliced meant he couldn't fully commit to many of the small attacks he was making. At least Zell kept at it and didn't let Seifer get away from him. That took a good amount of work in itself. Zell started going for Seifer's feet. If Seifer didn't watch it, the martial artist could trip him flat on his back where he'd lose for sure. Zell grinned as he started doing it, because he knew Seifer would probably feel like Zell was screwing around with him. Ankle kicking didn't meet Seifer's high standards of glory. But, it was a serious tactic. Just as Seifer started shifting focus all the way down, Zell suddenly let a fist fly high up and attempted to score a point.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer dodged fast enough that it was only a glancing blow but it still hit him.

"1 point each," he said, evenly, after a little pause and his expression was equal parts surprised and dismayed before it resolved into a furious mask. "Go again."

He stepped back, to give himself the full reach and started swinging his blade with as much intensity he could bring while not over committing and giving Zell a chance to close the distance. The difference between his tactics this time and the last was immense, this time he was treating Zell with respect and not giving him an inch to maneuver in rather than just assuming victory would be easy.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

When his hand connected with Seifer and they both stopped, Zell blinked with surprise. He....won one? He didn't dare break his cool with Seifer by celebrating or anything, but he was doin' a mental victory dance.

But it wasn't too long before Seifer was starting up again. Zell went back into a fighting stance. Seifer wasn't going to make getting close to him easy this time. It kind of looked like he was swingin' his sword really hard, so he decided to slack off a bit and let him do most of the work for a while. Zell was giving ground and making sure he wasn't being backed into a corner, but also looking for opportunities as well.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer was doing his best to do what Zell had done to him, keep up the attack with enough force that just defending against it took up all their energy.

Only instead of using multiple attacks to keep his opponent guessing, he was using his full reach to completely restrict Zell's movement, his blade flicked out to meet a limb as soon as any of them moved, while his body was held back out of reach. If Zell gave up ground, he pursued but if Zell tried to counter, he would drop back and all the time he was moving from side to side, feet and hands working furiously as he tested Zell's guard from all angles.

In fact he was working so hard that Zell might have reasonably expected him to tire, if he could keep him at bay for long enough. Back at Garden, Seifer had always preferred quick victories after all. But, the truth was, his endurance was exactly what he had been working on the most since he'd arrived on this Island and been unable to use spells like haste. He spent two mornings a week being pushed to the limit by James Barnes and his cardiovascular conditioning and as much as he hadn't expected Zell to push him as hard as that, he was prepared for it.

He was too angry to notice it, but this was as good a workout, as good a test, as he'd had in a while.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

A lot of opponents would have gotten tired out by now with all of the exertions Seifer was making, but he seemed to keep on going. Zell wasn't exactly resting, either. Seifer was forcing him to dodge and, on occasion, leap out of the way. And whenever Zell tried attacking, Seifer countered.

Zell decided to give Seifer a few strong attacks of his own. When he had the distance, Zell came flying towards Seifer with a jump-kick.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer moved as fast as he could when he saw Zell jump, trying to side step the blow and then be on top of Zell when he landed.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell missed Seifer by a very small margin. Landing, he turned and saw Seifer coming at him. Zell feinted one way and saw Seifer's blade coming down to meet him. He switched directions, but there was only so fast he could go with his footing with landing, feinting, and shooting off another way.

Seifer was skilled enough to change the direction of his swing, and Zell felt the tap of Seifer's gunblade on his forearm. He stopped and turned towards him.

"Oh man, you got me. That was pretty good though..."

He hoped Seifer would at least be in a better mood since he had won another round.

[noblerworld.livejournal.com]

Seifer nodded as he sheathed his gun blade.

"2-1," he said smugly. "Good workout. Though next time, I won't go so easy on you."

And with that, he turned to walk away.

[spirited-hero.livejournal.com]

Zell called out as Seifer walked off.

"See ya, Seifer."

He scratched the back of his head. Had he just earned some respect? Zell kinda thought so. That'd be really cool. As much as Seifer was a big bully and jerk, Zell really desired Seifer's respect. How couldn't he? Seifer had teased him a lot, so if he stopped that and started training with him...

Total redemption! No more Chicken-Wuss.

If only it was possible to get the guy to not be so mean all the time...