rekindleme | Knights, Ninjas, and Beyond

Entry tags:

Knights, Ninjas, and Beyond

Who: Donatello, Diarmuid, and whoever else shows up. (You?)
Where: The park in District 4
When: September 13th, mid-morning
Summary:Donatello and Diarmuid run into each other at the park.
Warnings: Medieval fighting styles?

The novelty of being able to just walk around in broad daylight to get some fresh air never quite wears off, no matter how many places Donatello goes to that allow him the privilege. That's probably why he's training in the park rather than in his apartment. That and because the apartment still smells like sulfur from when he knocked over a test tube last time he tried to do his staff kata in there.

So here he is, by the pond, whirling a stick around him in complex forms and shouting.

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"Alright, just hold it diagonally in front of you like this," Donatello says, holding the swords as though they were two halves of a staff to demonstrate.

"So Leonardo moves in with one sword like this . . ." and he thrusts forward with the blade in his left hand so that the flat of the blade presses against the section of the bo staff between Diarmuid's hands, applying pressure so the child has to either clutch the staff closer to his chest, step backward, fall down, or have the tip of the blade at his neck.

"I used to counter that by stepping back and making an overhead swing, but that leaves my guard open, and then Leo moves in with the other katana." Pause. "Which is what the kind of swords Leo uses are called. Of course, with Master Splinter's help, I eventually came up with an effective counter, and then Leonardo came up with a counter to that and so on."

"Hold it diagonally..." Diarmuid mutters the words to himself as he gets the bow into the requested position. Once it is there, he nods to let Donatello know he's ready. Almost as soon as his friend launches his attack, Diarmuid has an idea where it is going and steps back to avoid letting the blade get too close. While he can see why it would be tempting to swing the staff around in an overhead swing, almost as soon as Donatello mentions it, the boy knows it's the wrong answer. He's been training with two weapons long enough to realize how much moving the staff from where it is leaves the wielder open to attack from their opponent's other weapon.

"That's right! An overhead swing is what your opponent would want you to do because it leaves you open to an attack from their other weapon. Just like your brother did! It would be better to get more distance again or to use the staff in a way that would keep it close to you!" Instead of doing an overhead swing, Diarmuid tilts out the end of the staff at Donatello's legs while keeping the top near his body for protection. "Like that! Is it anything like what you learned for a counter?"

"That's almost exactly how Master Splinter taught me to counter that," Donatello confirms, smiling as he backs away again.

"Of course, then Leo learned to do this!" he exclaims, dropping into a crouch and sweeping a leg out to knock aside the staff and kick Diarmuid's legs out from under him. If's he's successful in putting the little knight on the ground, he'll follow up with a wide horizontal slash with the sword in an attempt to force him to stay there.

Diarmuid tries to jump over Donatello's leg, but he just isn't able to get up high enough because of his size. As a result, he ends up falling backward. Even so, he seems to know that the sword swing will be coming and rolls to the side as soon as he can to avoid it. He spins around as soon as he has a chance to get to his feet and swings the staff around in an attempt to pin the sword used in the slash down.

"Did you ever manage to disarm him when he did that?"

Donatello pulls the sword out of the way of the Diarmuid's swing, but then tries to flip it around to use a backhanded grip for his next attack. Which is unfortunate because in the process he loses his grip and ends up tossing the sword point-down to stick in the dirt.

"Eheh. Oops. No, I haven't managed to disarm Leonardo in recent memory."

Diarmuid nods and falls back into a more neutral stance, "It sounds like it would be really hard to disarm him! Don't give up, though! I am sure someday you will be able to do it. Do you want your staff back now?" He holds the staff out to Donatello, "Here, and I will take my swords back. We can try something else now! Maybe you can show me your favorite move and I can show you mine?"

"Heh. The problem is that even though I'm always training as a ninja, I do other things as well. Leonardo pretty much centers his life around ninjitsu." He frowns, thinking of all the ways Leo tries to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, then brightens up again.

"Sure, let's trade back," Donatello agrees, handing the little swords back to Diarmuid and accepting his staff. My favorite move, huh?" He thinks a moment, then backs off so he has room to work.

"I dunno about an overall favorite move, but my favorite way to enter combat is like this!" he exclaims, planting the butt of his staff on the ground and bending the wood, then using it to vault forward, both feet extended. "Always a good way to put someone on their backside."

"So his work and his play are the same thing! Kind of like me!" Though, to be honest, Diarmuid doesn't train here as much as he does back home. It's hard to when there are so many fun things to learn and do, "What do you like to do besides train?"

The boy takes back his swords and then watches Donatello closely, curious to see what the ninja will do. Diarmuid can't help but cheer when he sees the move, "You fly! I can't wait until I am big enough to do moves like that! I like being up high!" As he says 'high,' Diarmuid jumps up into the air, "I want to fly just like a bird!"

The turtle grimaces. "Eheh. Not really. Leo . . . doesn't really get enough play in his life somethimes, I think. Me? Well, I like to study, work with my hands making things, play videogames, hang out with my family, stuff like that."

It says a lot about Donatello that his first (rapidly quashed) instinct upon hearing Diarmuid's love of height is to surprise him with a jetpack at some future time. He smiles. "Fly as in jumping like I just did or fly as in literally flying?" he asks.

"Video games? What are video games?" Diarmuid gets the feeling Donatello might not have quite understood what he was saying before, but he is more interested in learning about the new phrase than that.

And even more interesting than talking about something new? Talking about being up high!

"Both! Anything that will get me in the air. I would love to get to fly for real sometime."

How to explain video games to someone who's just recently learned about electricity. "Well, you play them on a computer, like the machines you use to access the network here. Like, for example, maybe on the screen there's a character, and you use the controls to make him jump around and defeat his enemies and rescue the princess. Er . . . I'll show you later, this is one of those concepts I think it's going to be hard to explain in any way other than giving examples."

Donatello grins. "You should ask Blades to give you a ride sometime."

Even though Diarmuid has picked up some knowledge about computers thanks to using the Network, he does eventually get lost in Donatello's explanation. That is why he is glad when his new friend says that he will show him later, "Thank you! I really would like to see what you are talking about. It sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Who is Blades? I don't know anyone by that name. Can he fly?"

"It's a date, then. I'll have to see if they have an arcade or something around here." Because as interesting as it might be to just program his own game, Don doesn't have the time to do anything that isn't extremely rudimentary right now.

"He's one of the Cybertronians. He turns into a flying machine."

"Okay! Let me know when you find one!"

The boy claps his hands excitedly and somewhat unexpectedly when Donatello mentions 'Cybertronians.' Even though it is a big word, it is one Diarmuid knows well, "Oh! So he is like Krok! Do you know Krok? He is a Cyber-tron-ian too!"

Hey, what do you know? He almost got it all out at once this time...

"I definitely will," Don agrees, nodding.

"I haven't met Krok. Does he turn into a crocodile?" It's an obvious question, from the data he has. Blades turns into a helicopter, after all.

Diarmuid tilts his head in thought and then shakes it, "I don't think so. I don't know what he turns into, but I think they all turn into different vehicles. A crocodile isn't a vehicle!"

Well, it could be, but it certainly would be a strange one...

"I should ask him the next time I see him. He's been having a hard time. Someone was hurting him and his friends."

"I don't think they all turn into vehicles . . . " Don replies, thinking of poor Fulcrum the bomb-former.

"What? What's going on? Who got hurt?"

"They don't? All the ones I know do!" At least, he thinks Krok does. Diarmuid suddenly realizes he can't remember if he ever asked Krok what he turns into...

"Someone was messing with the memories of Krok and his friends. They were making them forget each other! There might be more, but I know he didn't tell me a lot of the details," Diarmuid's expression saddens. "I am just a kid so there wasn't a lot I could do..."

"I met one who turns into . . . something else," Donatello says, trailing off. He doesn't want to blab Fulcrum's personal business.

"Who's messing with their memories? Why? That's awful!" The turtle squats down on his haunches to be on Diarmuid's eye-level as they converse, stowing his staff on his back, sparring temporarily forgotten.

"Never think there's nothing you can do just because you're young. There's always something you can do to contribute, even if it's only in a small way."

"Oh! I guess I shouldn't just assume then. I will have to start asking them once I get to know them," Diarmuid nods confidently, then a distressed look enters his eyes. "I don't know. There were a lot of posts made to the Network, but they only confused me. All I really could do was hug Krok and listen to him talk. I told him stories to help him feel better, but..."

The boy looks down at the ground and sighs, "I know. Steve says that too, but it's hard when my friends are sad. All I want to do is make them feel better, but sometimes I can't do it no matter how hard I try."

"It can be hard when your friends are hurting and you don't know how to help. Sometime they don't even want your help. All you can do is be there for them, I guess." Don sighs. "I've got at least a couple years of experience on you, so I can tell you that that sort of thing is always going to be hard. It sucks."

He sits cross-legged in the grass, chin in his hands. "Plus, no matter how old you get, there's going to always be either someone there who's more mature than you to make you feel like an inadequate little kid, or worse no-one like that there, and then you feel like you have to be the responsible grown-up and be the one to take care of everyone."

"I don't mind taking care of people. I want to help them!" Apparently, Diarmuid is the big brother type, even if he is just a little brother right now, "I know not everyone is like that, but I don't mind. It's just that it never feels like enough. I guess I just have to be patient until I am bigger. Then I can do whatever needs to be done to make things right for all the people I meet."

Optimism and idealism. He's full of them...

Donatello sighs, shifting his seat on the grass. "It's good that you want to help people. Every place I've visited could use more good people." He steeples his big green fingers under his chin, trying to decide how to phrase what he wants to say.

"Diarmuid, you've got a good heart. One day, you might save the world. Or, um, a world. Or the whole multiverse, I dunno. But even the greatest hero, with the most magical sword, the most loyal companions, and the fastest horse, can't change the world. You can't make everything right for all the people you meet. There are always going to be problems. Problems like there being more than enough food to go around, but some people not having any. Problems a hero can't fix without becoming a villain."

Diarmuid listens closely to what Donatello is saying, but before the teenager is even done talking, the boy is shaking his head. The shaking gets harder as Donatello continues.

"That's not right. There is always an honorable way to solve problems like that. It might be hard or take a long time, but as long as you don't give up, you will find a way. If you have to become a bad guy to do a good thing, it's not a good thing anymore!" He is very insistent about this, "Yes, there are always new problems to solve. That is why the world always will need heroes. What one hero can't solve, another can!"

Don sighs. Diarmuid's a sweet kid from the ancient past. How can he possibly explain world hunger, or the AIDS epidemic, or global warming? Should he even try?

He gives a sad smile. "I guess you're right. Though some problems probably take a whole lot of people deciding to be heroes in a small way, working together."

Knights, Ninjas, and Beyond

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