A/N: Hey guys, I was trying to write something else a while ago when this popped into my head. It's not very long, but I'm publishing it anyway. I may make this into a collection of one shots that take place during time jumps. Let me know what you think. Thanks, and happy reading!
Disclaimer: Descendants is property of Disney Channel. I make no claim to own the characters, and have only written this only with love for Descendants and its characters. Thank you.
"Hey!" Jay turned around as Taylor, Tiana and Naveen's son clapped him on the back.
"What's up?" Jay and Taylor had played together on the tourney team, until the season ended a couple weeks ago. While Jay was happy to have some free time, he missed hanging out with the team.
"You trying out for Swords and Shields today? It's in the arena by the gym." Jay gave Taylor a confused look.
"What's that? Sword fighting?"
"Yeah," Taylor grinned. "It's kind of like fencing, but more intense. You can use the entire arena, and even some of those moves you usually do through the kill zone. You could probably dodge some attacks really well with those flips you're always doing." Jay gave him a funny look.
"So it's just like a regular swordfight?" Taylor didn't know how to respond. What did Jay think was a regular swordfight?
"Sure?" Jay nodded, seeming satisfied with his answer.
"Cool, I'll bring Carlos." Taylor nodded, trying to hide his doubt over the smallest member of the tourney team as Jay said goodbye and ran off to find Carlos.
When the two boys arrived at the arena, they found Coach Jenkins reading off a clipboard.
"I'm glad to see you boys trying out." He handed them masks with mesh guard on the front. When they looked confused, he explained, "They're to protect your face." The two boys nodded and put them on, but kept them raised. They were already subconsciously analyzing the small arena they stepped into. The walls were padded, and there were large blocks scattered about the room. Bleachers overlooked the arena from a balcony above, where Taylor and a few of the other guys from the tourney team were sitting. Taylor waved, and Jay and Carlos waved back. Other boys had filtered in from the locker rooms, and the coach called all of the boys over with a sharp blow of the whistle.
"We have two spots open on the team from last year. Most of you have been fencing since you were little, but ROAR is not for everyone. It's not just fencing. Someone can attack you from all angles. Use your environment to your advantage." Carlos looked at Jay. That sounded easy enough. "Captain?" The coach stepped aside. Ben smiled at the guys trying out for the team.
"Hey guys, I'm the team captain of Swords and Shields this year. Everyone grab a sword and let's see what you can do." He held out a quiver full of fencing swords, and Jay and Carlos scoffed.
"They think those are swords?" Jay asked his buddy. Carlos cracked a smile.
"Apparently."
Ben had heard their short exchange, and mistook their joke for confusion.
"These are the practice swords. We only use real swords when we're in full padding." Jay nodded, realizing that Ben had heard his comment, and kept his mouth shut. He and Carlos grabbed swords and got into two lines with the rest of the guys. Ben got in line on the other end and called out orders.
"Salute." Carlos raised his eyebrow at Jay in question. Jay gave an almost unnoticeable shrug, and copied what the other boys were doing. Carlos did the same.
"Lower the point." They followed the other boys again, and Ben called for the guys to lower their masks.
"Assemble."
The other guys began to sword fight, so Jay and Carlos followed. Jay quickly disarmed Ron Fitzherbert while Carlos dueled Doug's cousin Garrett, crouching and sliding along the floor to evade his opponent's attacks. Jay jumped up on one of the blocks and used the wall to flip around Alexander Bjorgman. Ben noticed what was happening, and stepped outside of the boundary lines, raising his mask. He and the coach watched in stupor as Jay and Carlos slowly disarmed everyone else, finishing in a position back to back.
Carlos whispered, "Jay, what do we do now?" Luckily, Ben answered that, by stepping back into bounds and clapping them on the shoulders.
"That was great!"
"That was some of the greatest sword play I've ever seen," the coach said excitedly. Surprised at the recognition, Carlos said,
"If you think we're good, you should see Mal." Jay nodded.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight her."
Chad scoffed of course, saying "Mal? Sword fighting? Girls don't sword fight." Jay and Carlos stared at Chad in surprise.
"Of course she does," Jay said. "Evie can hold her own, too."
"Yeah," Carlos looked at Chad confused. "You have to know how to sword fight." The rest of the boys had looked at Jay and Carlos like they were crazy. The coach broke the tension.
"Well, welcome to the team!" Carlos looked to Jay, who shrugged, and they each accepted a uniform from the coach.