(OOG -- this is a post written jointly by myself and Rune. I haven't written for Aishou before, though, so please bear with me. ^_^)

There was a sharp crack as the sparring rig snapped backwards, its restraints pushed to the limits by the force of the blow. A moment later another attack crashed into it, sending yet another groan of protest through the training device.

Darius wiped the sweat off of his brow, staring at the indentations that his punches had made in the bag. He had been practicing almost nonstop for the last three hours, trying to find... what?

That question sent him back to his seat for a moment, the same puzzled look that had overcome his face since the match deepening. It was almost as if the act of fighting were... familiar. A stirring of somthing deep within, a memory that had passed long ago.

"Ah hell." he swore, rubbing his temples with his fingers. Here he was, fighting for his freedom after being sold into slavery, and he was thinking about philosophy. He ran this tips of his fingers along the collar the surrounded his throat... it wasn't wired with explosives or anything like that, but it was an reminder that SOMEONE thought that they owned him...

'As if someone could own such a wild spirit as yourself, Kellen.' That is what that shadowed man had said. The bastard knew something... Darius simply couldn't ignore the itch that he had seen him before. Hell, he was having that itch alot lately. First that explosion back in Lahan, and then that man... what would be next.

With a rapid movment, Darius stood and resumed pounding on the sparring rig. The wood cracked, shuddering under the repeated force of the fighters blows. "Damnit!" Darius screamed, emphasizing his oath with an explosive blow. "DAMN IT!" he swore again, and several seams on the rig popped, sending a bit of sand onto the floor. "GOD DAMN IT!"

The snap kick that he sent into the bag ripped it completely off of the wooden rigging, and across the room. It slammed into the wall with such force that the seams were snapped, and sand exploded across the room. Darius stood there, his foot resting inside of the inch deep depression it had made in the wooden frame of the sparring rig.

"My, but you seem angry." a soft voice said from the doorway. Darius glanced over, and watched as a young woman brushed the sand out of her thick auburn hair, and walked into the room.

"Well, its not as if I have had a good day." Darius replied, withdrawing his foot from the frame and pivoting to face the young woman. And stopped.

-Woah- Darius thought, raising and eyebrow. -Why did that happen... that same feeling as with Aishou...- She was slender, but carried herself with a grace that betrayed some type of fighting training. Thick auburn hair fell past her waist, and she looked at him with the most mysterious pair of eyes...

He shook his head, realizing that he was staring. "I'm sorry about the sand... I didn't know that you were standing there." Darius replied, running his hand though his blonde hair. "If its any condolence, your pretty stealthy... I didn't see you there, and that's pretty hard for someone to do to me."

"Perhaps you weren't paying attention... I've been watching you practice for a while." she replied, her voice sending a shiver down Darius's spine.

-Damn, I've heard that voice before.- he thought, as he sat down on the bench. The young woman was still speaking, and he had to scramble to catch up on what she had said.

"But you were pretty focused on what your doing... and if you'll pardon me for saying so, you seemed rather angry as well." She walked over to him, and sat down next to him on the bench. "Care to talk about what made you angry enough to destroy the sparring set I was planning on using?"

Darius hung his head, his fingers running over the collar around his neck. "Just... life right now." he sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. "The last few weeks have not been the most pleasent in my life, that's for certain. This damn tournament, my traveling companions... everything!"

"It started a few weeks ago..." Darius started, beginning to weave his tale out before him. His trip down from Robert's house. The battle in Lahan. The two mysterious Gears. The explosion. The flight through the woods. Aishou. The battle following. His arrival in the slave pens. The tournament.

It was then that he stopped. "I'm sorry... I just wasn't thinking." he said, still staring at the floor. -My God, I've spilled out a good portion of my troubles to this girl, and I don't even know her name... but this feels like the most natural thing in the world for me to be doing. Like I've done this all the time.- Well, he could fix at least one of those problems... "I've been laying all of my trouble down on you, and I don't even know your name."

The young woman smiled, and extended her hand. "My name is Elanore Liuna. But all of my friends call me Elly."

Darius clasped the offered hand in a warm, double handed shake. He then turned her hand over and dropped a quick kiss into her palm. "Darius. Darius Kellen." he replied warmly. "Elly... that's a beautiful name. It kinda familiar..."

"Perhaps you've heard it before. And its alright... I don't mind listening to you. It helps to keep my mind off of my other problems." Elanore replied, smiling back at Darius, slowly pulling her hand back and blushing slightly. "Sounds like you've had it pretty tough... pity for that poor person who you faced back out on the ring."

Darius chucked at that, but stopped at Elanore's next statment. "I trust you'll be a bit gentler on me that you were on that sparring bag, however."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Darius asked, blinking in surprise.

"I said that I hope your going to be a bit easier on me than you were on the punching bag." Elanore replied, her eyes sparkling with a mischevous glitter. "I WAS coming in here to practice, and I'm not going to be stopped by the fact that you've demolished the equipment. So your going to be the replacement."

-------------------------------------------------

"You ready?" Darius asked.

Elanore stretched one last time, arching her back and limbering her joints to loosen up her movements. Her hair was once again tied in a looped ponytail, secured with Kyoko's ribbon so it wouldn't get in her eyes or tangle around her arms.

Satisfied, she nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. I have better moves than that sparring set, but I'm still no master."

"Come on, you won the first set of matches didn't you?" He settled into a different stance, complimenting her own. He was no stranger to martial arts, in any case......

She shrugged uncomfortably, remembering the blast of power she had thrown at her opponent less than a day ago. Power she had never even known existed within her. Wasn't that man supposed to tell her about such things? "I don't really...... know how I did that. It just seemed to come...... naturally......"

Elanore paused, staring at him for a moment. His face...... No, his eyes, and his smile......

"Are you there, Elly?"

She blinked. "Sorry....." How many times was she going to make herself look stupid in front of other people? And he was so nice too. So nice...... She smiled. "Let's get started, shall we?" She lashed out suddenly, aiming a high kick for his collarbone --

-- And his arm was there to meet her. In one lightning movement he grabbed her ankle and twisted, sending her in a tumbling roll that she barely managed to get out of on her feet. She regained her balance easily enough, and paused, facing Darius.

"Aren't we supposed to be fighting nicely?" he asked with a grin.

Elly shrugged. "I had to see how fast you were. Sheez......" she shook her hair out, massaging her shoulder. "Maybe I should have settled for that broken sparring set!"

"Sorry..." His sheepish grin sent a shiver down her spine.

**What in the...... What was that?** There was something so familiar in that expression...... Elanore hid her sudden surprise by rubbing her eyes, as if the dust still floating in the air disturbed them. **Do I know him from somewhere?**

She heard footsteps, and Darius appeared beside her. "Are you hurt? I tried not to hit you that hard......"

"Yeah...... I guess this isn't much of a practice session is it? Two blows exchanged, and me rubbing sand out of my eyes." They did sting, a little. Rubbing them seemed to help, but they teared anyway, blurring the floor. "I guess we're taking a short break."

"That's okay." He shrugged. "I wanted to tell you...... I'm sorry for dumping all of my problems on you like that. I know I've already said this......"

She took one of his hands, hardly thinking. It just seemed...... natural. "Don't be sorry. We all need to confide in someone, and I'm happy I was able to help you that much." She smiled slightly -- more of a grimace. "I haven't had the best week either, to be honest. I guess misery loves company......"

He chuckled. "So what happened to you? I don't see any collar......"

"Oh, I can't top your story!" She smiled. "No, it's not what happened...... at least not recently. Not...... really." An image of the golden-eyed man flashed breifly before her eyes. "It's what I can't remember that bothers me."

"I know the feeling."

"I......" Elanore shook her head, this time rubbing her temples, as if the ether-headache had come back. "All of the sudden I'm 'back where I belong'. That's what they tell me. The...... the tournament just opened a big floodgate, and the past is becoming more and more important when I meet people who remember...... but I just...... I can't recall."

"At least you know people who can remember for you," Darius said, sighing. "I'm not even that lucky. I'm still drawing blanks."

She looked at him, still holding his hand. There was something hidden very deep behind his eyes. She could feel it just by how tense he was; something even he couldn't reach, in his own mind. And it was driving him over the edge. Maybe it was the same thing that had driven his anger to such a point that he completely demolished that piece of equipment. The frustration of knowing something was just out of reach......

She knew it well. Here was someone who could understand......

**Oh, get over it Elly.** She released his hand and gathered her hair, putting it back into a ponytail. **I'm probably all wrong anyway. He has friends that would know more about it than I do.** At least her eyes had calmed down -- the sand had been washed out, finally.

"Well...... Shall we start again? I think I can stand a little punishment now."

"Well, I'm open to that."

Elanore started, turning to the voice. Then she stared in something bordering on amazement, though she hoped it didn't show in her face.

Another girl, about her own age, strode forward and pushed past her with a sharp look that reminded Elly of Xeilia, moving to position herself beside Darius. Yet is wasn't her rudeness that caught her undivided attention, nor the familiar way she draped herself over Darius.

It was her face. Her hair. Auburn, pale, with sharp blue eyes...... She could have been looking at a close cousin, or even a sister. And again that distant feeling, as if she should -know- who she was looking at......

The feeling receded, and she looked askance at the girl. "Pardon me?"

Darius shrugged away, though the girl kept her grip on his arm. "This is Aishou," he said quickly, before she had a chance to retort. "She, and another...... friend of ours were with me when I was captured."

Elly nodded to Aishou, struggling to remain indifferent. Was this why he had been so nice to her? Because of her resemblance to this girl? "Nice to meet you." The words came out as if dragged, and a flicker of amusement sparked in Aishou's eyes.

"Thanks." She didn't return the courtesy. Instead, she turned to Darius again. "Why are you wasting time with her? We need to get on with our practice session. Or do you -want- to lose tomorrow?" She leaned close, and Elanore stepped away from them. She knew how to take a hint. Besides, she didn't want to impose on his time; with an extra bout against Lord Ariath tomorrow, he would need the workout.

"Elly!"

Elanore turned again, and grinned when she saw Kyoko running across the room.

"I've been looking all over for you!" Kyoko exclaimed, swiping her hair back, out of her eyes. "You said you would be back in half an hour. I thought you had taken a lunch break or something, like yesterday." She leveled her gaze at Elly, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know just how many food vendors there -are- in Bledavik during fair season?"

Elly laughed, patting her friend's shoulder. "You couldn't have checked all of them. I don't see any sunburn."

"I wised up and came back here, that's why."

She bit her lip to keep from laughing again, and pulled Kyoko forward, facing Darius and trying to ignore Aishou. "This is my roommate, Kyoko."

He smiled crookedly at Kyoko, seemign amused by her tirade. "Darius. This is Aishou."

The four stood awkwardly for a moment, silently appraising eah other, before Elly finally broke the spell by backing awa a few steps, drawing Kyoko with her. "I have to go," she said apologetically, smiling for Darius. "I'm supposed to be back at my rooms for a meeting, so......" She shrugged, finding it hard to take her eyes off of him. "It was nice talking to you......"

"Yeah......" He brushed his bangs back, softening his own smile. "Thanks for listening. Look......"

Aishou elbowed him in the ribs, turning away from the entire scene with a sour expression on her face. "Let's get started, Darius. We don't have all day you know."

Elly waved, and turned to go with Kyoko. She wanted to say more, but...... she just couldn't bring herself to do it with Aishou there, watching. She would have another chance tomorrow, in any case.

She couldn't wait to see who would win. No matter what had happened today, tomorrow was going to be one memorable fight......