Preparations [Open]

[starlightace]

If one were to pass by the Sensoriums today, one might hear some rather loud noises coming from inside - and if one were a mage, one might sense some blistering magical power being released from within the room.

After her little incident (what with collapsing from overexertion and all), Nanoha had managed to convince Fate, arguing that if the blonde girl didn't want her to go overboard on training, she'd have to be Nanoha's training partner. Naturally, Fate had agreed. It was a good thing, too, because Nanoha knew that Fate was someone who was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with her, meaning they could push each other to grow stronger... even if she did have to be reminded not to go easy just because they were close.

"Axel Shooter."

The two of them were flying in the air high above a simulated park, flashes of pink and yellow magic arcing through the clear blue sky as they traded fire. Trying to keep her distance from her friend's melee, Nanoha flew backwards, weaving to make herself a harder target to hit, as little pink orbs sprung into being around her, jetting at the other girl one by one.

They had to be ready for whatever the Nightmare King was going to throw at them, mentally and physically.

(ooc: Come in, interrupt them! If you want training, if you want to just hang out and chat, or if you want to watch two high-powered mages going at it just shy of full-tilt. :D)

Comments

[thunder-ace.livejournal.com]

The sparring match was doing wonders for Fate, and it wasn't just the workout. She loved training with Nanoha, and between this and the recent lack of nightmares, she was feeling much more energized than she had been in the past week or so.

"Plasma Lancer."

Several yellow orbs surrounded Fate before shooting forward, intercepting Nanoha's own attack. The pink and yellow magic bullets clashed and canceled each other out, leaving Fate free to fly forward, Bardiche raised.

[starlightace]

Fate was coming at her much too quickly for her to counterattack, and Nanoha's eyes went wide as she began to evade, but her arm came up just in case.

"Round Shield."

The disc spun into being, shielding her from the attack just long enough for Nanoha to put some distance between them, summoning more of the little orbs to attack Fate. She knew she was no match in a close combat fight for Fate, so she had to keep her distance.

[thunder-ace.livejournal.com]

"Sonic Move."

With the boost in speed, Fate was able to easily weave in and out of the barrage and move behind Nanoha, all in barely the blink of an eye.

"Scythe Form."

The head of Fate's Device twisted as a yellow crescent of energy formed, and Fate slashed her new weapon forward. There was strength behind the attack, but not enough to seriously hurt Nanoha should it connect.

[starlightace]

That blistering speed was something Nanoha was entirely too familiar with, and it wasn't something she could easily keep up with. She spun again, erecting a hasty Round Shield once more... and when Fate's attack connected, she squeezed her fist shut.

"Barrier Burst!"

The shield detonated in a focused explosion that directed its destructive potential out at the one who had hit it.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

After her dream and talk with Sheeana and Alia, not to mention posting a spot for her friends to gather, Katara had marched herself back to the Sensorium. She had done this with a degree of difficulty: after all, Matt had shown her a WATER ROOM. She may as well have been at the Spirit Oasis, the vibe there was so tranquil and spiritual. Still, peace of mind would be had when she felt she was strong enough to handle herself and people around her. The shake up with Alia had left her with more questions, more curiosity over how far back things between her and the voices went. It was a lot to take in.

So when she entered the Sensorium, ready to give herself some more training, she was not expecting it to be occupied. What was more, she was also not expecting pink orbs springing out of the air. She was surprised momentarily but relaxed when she saw one of the occupants was Nanoha, though the other girl she was sure she hadn't met yet.

But there was little time for pleasantries when a rogue pink orb was coming at you. With the snap timing of the budding student of a Bene Gesserit, Katara moved out of the way and erected an ice wall, which was demolished immediately by another pink orb. She couldn't help it: she laughed, happy to see that she was getting even faster.

[starlightace]

Nanoha normally prided herself on her control of her attack magic, but Fate was faster than she'd remembered, and there was no time to keep control of her Axel Shooter - she focused instead on evading the girl's sweeping scythe, glad that there was no one in the room with them. Sloppy, perhaps, but Fate was an intimidating opponent.

...until it clicked that there was someone with them, and she was right in the path of one of her attacks. "H-hey!" Nanoha called out. "Watch out!"

She tried to regain control of the orbs, knowing Fate's reflexes were good enough to stop attacking her, but it was too late - thankfully, whoever it was was able to erect a defense. Still, to Nanoha's chagrin, she shouldn't have had to.

And now, as she swooped lower, she recognized the figure. "Katara, are you hurt?!"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara grinned, bringing her head out of the now demolished ice wall. "No, I'm all right Nanoha! I've never seen you guys do this before, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But I guess you guys are training now, aren't you? I didn't mean to get in your way!"

She really didn't but had to admit she was feeling far giddier than she'd expected. There was something about the reaction time, the speed, that made her long to be at a fight again. It was stupid, of course, she wasn't one to bring a fight for the fun of it, but to finally be able to use her limbs in something other than just computer simulations felt wonderful.

"I do want to watch you guys, if you don't mind. I haven't really seen powers like this yet, it was great! But if you happen to shoot a little crazily into the field, I don't mind that...I kind have some training I have to do myself."

But as she got closer, it made sense why they were doing this, and her casual attitude diappeared.

"The Nightmare King?"

[starlightace]

Nanoha's smile thinned slightly at Katara's question, and she nodded. "Yeah... the Nightmare King. We need to be at the top of our game for whatever he throws at us, don't you think?"

It wasn't like Katara was 'getting in the way,' though. It was just a spar, after all, and... come to think of it, had they met yet? Nanoha turned, calling out into the air to Fate. "Fate-chan! Come here! You should meet Katara!"

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

Vivio couldn't help but watch her parents train. With everything going for them, they had to do something to keep up. Part of her wanted to join in, to be part of this, but she knew they wouldn't let her.

For the moment, though, she opted to sit in the sidelines, cheering her parents on as they sparred.

[starlightace]

Well, she'd lost this particular spar, but as she saw a familiar head of blonde hair watching her and Fate, Nanoha straightened up for the interest of setting a good example, ignoring the protest in her muscles as she flew downward.

"Hello, Vivio!" she called out with a smile. "How long have you been watching Fate-mama and me?"

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

"For quite awhile now... you two were amazing up there!" Vivio said. "I have to admit, it was great seeing you up there again...!"

She ran up to Nanoha so she didn't have to come to her. "Are you doing okay, Nanoha-mama?"

[starlightace]

Well, truth be told, she was actually pretty sore, but she nodded anyway. "Oh, I'm fine! Hehe, you don't have to worry, Vivio. We know when to stop."

She touched down, walking over to her daughter. "You aren't here to train, are you?"

[forced-unlife.livejournal.com]

It was unfortunate for Khel that misfortune just seemed to follow him on the meatship. For him, Murphy's Law might well have been as immutable as the Law of Gravity on a terrestrial body, and this was no exception, as magic bullets and attacks from both Nanoha's and Fate's side closed in on the exact spot the death knight had the pure bad luck to be standing on.

He could hardly have been blamed for his distractions, even as explosions went off around him and the two young women sparred and battled in the air above him. He was still thinking on his confessions to Sheeana, and of his history he had shared with her. Even when a stray blast kicked up dirt and rock not ten feet away from him, he barely reacted at all, except to unthinkingly raise one arm to keep rocks out of his armor.

Fortunately, his own inherent abilities as a death knight were more than capable of protecting him from such attacks. He was nigh-immune to magic, and what was his misfortune quickly became the problem of the two mages, their spells reflecting back at the ones who cast them in the first place. "Have I interrupted something?" he asked, barely noticing the attacks until they had already rebounded off him.

[starlightace]

There was a certain level of spatial awareness that came with being an aerial mage, and Nanoha was aware of the beam headed right back in her direction as soon as it had reflected... but it still didn't give her much time to dodge. She juked to the side, narrowly evading the hit, before looking down at the ...man? Yes, it was a man - Khel, she knew - who she'd almost hit.

"We're just sparring," she called out as she sunk to the ground. "Are you all right?"

[forced-unlife.livejournal.com]

"I'm quite all right, Lady Takamachi," Khel replied. "I mostly ignore magical attacks anymore. They have to be almost impossibly powerful to hurt me."

[starlightace]

"Oh, well... that's good, then." Nanoha still looked embarrassed nonetheless as she swooped lower. "Is that something you learned how to do? Or is it just natural?"

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

When all you can see if energy, a battle of magi is the best form of fireworks. So naturally, Blin had to watch. He hadn't seen anything like this since that fight a few years ago with Onslaught (what a stupid name for a villain. It's like calling yourself 'life sentence'; you already know how it's going to end), and just witnessing it made his bandages itch for old time's sake.

So naturally, he couldn't just stand and watch; he had to say something.

"Shiny."

William Barlow, blind master of the obvious, everybody.

[starlightace]

Nanoha was swerving around Fate's most recent attack to launch her own counter when she saw the other person down on the ground, and held up a hand to her partner. "Ah, wait! There's someone else here!"

"Hello!" she called down to Blin. "Can I help you with something?"

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

Blin smiled and pushed his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, ye need pay me no mind, lass. Saw the power down the hall, thought I'd see just what mages training looked like. Turns out, remarkably similar to disco..." He shook his head. "Please, continue. I'l be fine."

[pocketloli.livejournal.com]

Rein was directing her ride towards the Sensoriums and she tugged at her ride's hair. "Here we go!"

She marveled for a long moment at the training and then squeaked as Nanoha's shots flew towards us. "Look out!" exclaimed Rein.

[lackofdarkwings.livejournal.com]

Matt was calmly watching and ready for that though. He held up a hand and the shots impacted harmlessly, spinning in place as he reached out and the empty bauble in his and flared to life. "I got it," he chuckled to his passenger as the magic was summarily absorbed into the trinket.

"Yo! Nanoha, Fate!" he called out, waving at the pair.

[starlightace]

Geez, she really hard to learn not to aim anywhere near the "entrance" to the place. Still, she saw that Matt had been prepared and that it hadn't done any damage in the long run.

"Hey there!" she called back, waving to the guy and tiny girl.

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

Kala was sitting, mostly out of the way--even if she'd just gone into the line of fire to look for a few seconds, studying the way Nanoha and Fate moved, her eyes flicking back and forth. It was Rising Phoenix's burble that made her all too aware that a barrage was headed her way. The bright flash of her armor engaging dimmed as her round shield flared and then sizzled as the concussive force of the shots scooted her back a few steps.

She took it in stride, though, and let out a soft grunt.

They were hard hitters, for sure.

[starlightace]

Another figure in the line of fire - they really should have put warning signs up or something, Nanoha decided - but the strange thing was that, for a brief moment, she'd seen the telltale sign of a Round Shield... another mage?

Was this the one that Rein had told her about? "Are you all right?!" She called out as the smoke from the blast cleared.

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

"I'm okay," Kala said, projecting so her voice reached Nanoha. "I caught them in time thanks to Rising Phoenix. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just...studying." Light glinted off her gold and white armor as she absently generated a breeze to help properly clear the smoke. Kala shielded her eyes from the way her hair whipped around her head, then settled heavily about her shoulders. At least she had that clearing cycle down-- it was left over from training with Audis.