Chapter 1: The Only Way To Win, Is To Lose
(Aeshanta, Mistral)
Aeshanta's wind were nearly perfect. The loud bursts of chilling winds, perfectly fit along with the loud clashes of dust powered weapons, determined grunts and fervent movement.
"strikes, decent. Speed, challenging. Style, could use some work" Giggles and hard metal pings continued as the two combatants dashed toward the middle of the town.
One of the participating combatants was a little older, her hair was bright orange and frizzy. "I understand your criticism, Little Tiara but you forgot one more important detail"
"and what would that be Anthea?" Tiara asked, she was noticebly shorter and possessed long red this point both girls ran next to each other. Both still swung their blades at rapid, calculated intervals.
For a moment Anthea's hazel eyes locked with her opponent's. Tiara could feel the fiery contempt of that gaze. "My craftiness, silly" At the last moment, Anthea smirked and took a quick leap above the ground.
Tiara was confused, she wondered why her rival jumped in the first place. "what the...?" Her foot collided with a solid object, she fell forward and collapsed to the ground. Anthea raised her head and saw what had caused her unexpected downfall. The town's water toteing well stood smack in the middle of the city.
Tiara rubbed her foot and picked up her blade. Anthea stood above Tiara and placed a hand on her waist "I win. "
Tiara sighed and stood up "figured you had a way to beat without actually beating me" She had a little pride in her friend.
Anthea put on her famous beaming smile "well y'know I was bound to win.." She giggles
Tiara noticed that nobody was around, not even the many vendors who populated their towns "Well I was going to suggest heading to the forge but I have a feeling she won't be there..."
Anthea resheathed her blade and looked around herself "Heavens! You may have a point"
Tiara sighed a bit and sat on the edge of the well "You don't have to pretend to be shocked. People have stopped visiting, ever since the Grimm have become more frequent.
Anthea looked worried and sat next to her "mmmhm. To some people the beautiful falls around Aeshanta isn't worth the constant worry of Grimm. Your sister would say those people are weaklings" She chuckled to herself.
Tiara smiled at the joke and took another glimpse of the statue above them, the Sun Blessed Warrior Pyrrha Nikos, her very own mother still looked beautiful to her. "yeah she would. Mother would definitely understand our plight"
"Ms Nikos would have been enough, to lead visitors here. Maybe we need another warrior of similiar status" Anthea suggested, hearing herself say made her a bit sad.
Tiara pondered on the idea, she never understood her mother's place in society. Her grandparents told her about her mother's exploits but seemed too grand to believe
"that...her...it's impossible. Mother was amazing and I could never understand her..." Tiara said quietly.
Anthea's eyes widened, she slowly turned to her "umm Tiara. How long have you felt that way?"
"years. I keep my opinions about her under wraps for years. You're my best friend so I figure.."
"mmhm. I understand. I'm not judging you or anything. I'm just..surprised" She said honestly and smiled.
Tiara giggled and laid her head against her friend's shoulder "Oh I know. Hush up" She giggles.
Anthea looked down and poked Tiara's nose "Hmm. Well maybe you don't really understand your mother like you should"
"i know. The only thing I really know about her in detail, is Beacon. The school itself"
"hmm. Sounds interesting. May I suggest enrolling there?" Anthea suggested
Tiara paused for a bit "so let me get this straight. You want to abandon the village to enroll in school? A school known for attracting misfits and prodigies..."
"oh come on..." Anthea nudged Tiara, accidently knocking Tiara off her lap. "Oops. Seems like I overcalcuted a bit.."
Tiara let her face rest in the dirt for awhile "hmmm. Beacon? Admiration? Respect? Mother? New Visitors?" Tiara sat up and crossed her legs "seems feasible. looks like I'm heading to Beacon!"
Anthea cheered and fell into the dirt herself "sounds fun. I might join you. "
"maybe you should. It could be an experience for both of us."
Both girls sighed and giggled, they were sure things were going to different months from now. It was up to them, to make sure thar change happened smoothly.
"girls. It's time for supper" A portly woman called from far away, her green eyes were passionate and showed the powerful spirit within her.
Anthea shook the dirt out of her hair "mom's calling.."
Tiara gasped and took off running without speaking
"Tiara? Tiara! wait up, what happened to the Best Friend's code of honor!" Anthea tried her best to catch up with Tiara.
Tiara panted and kept her legs moving "that goes out the window when it comes to your mom!"
The girls made it to the modest house, it only being illuminated by the large lanterns on the porch. Anthea ran inside and hugged her mother, Tiara being slightly shorter only managed to hug her waist.
The elder woman smiled "Anthea, you need to focus on your footwork. " She smiled and patted Tiara's head "meanwhile, Tiara please make sure to keep track of what is around you"
The two girls pulled back and shared a smirk. "so you WERE watching us, huh Ms Anirei?" Tiara asked
"I was a bit curious. So a took a gander at you girls sparing and I loved every second of it..."
"um mom?" Anthea noticed steam rising from the kitchen.
Her mother started to become a little giddy, her movements became more exaggerated "It reminded me of my battles with my brother. Sure, they were strong but they were ants to my wrath!"
Tiara poked her arm "Ms Tiara?!"
"the mere mention of my name incited feelings of terror and inadequacy" She grabbed a nearby spatula "when they said Nyra Anirei, things were bound to be more exciting"
The two girls face palmed "the stove is on fire!"
Nyra snapped out of it and switched back to mother mode "oh dear!" She ran and used a fire extinguisher on the raging fire.
Anthea whispered in Tiara's ear "I think we should hold off on going to Beacon. It wouldn't be nice, to leave mom with all her responsibilities..."
Tiara smiled and shook her head "I get it. We can put it on hold. Six months sound good?"
"Definitely." She hugged Tiara.
"welp. we are definitely going to be working our butts for six months. No doubt about it!" Tiara could already feel the muscle aches
(Eglines, Atlas)
"Two clips, a water bottle, maybe I could fit a another scope in here..." A young fit male was struggling in the corner in his room.
His room was wide and spacious, nothing looked to out of place. Cj believed in only keeping the necessary visible, while leaving his embarrassing hobbies tucked into the deepest, darkest parts of his room. A firm knock could be heard against his door, Cj stood up and answered.
A older, spitting image of Cj stood at the doorway "hey son. How are you doing with the packing?" CJ nearly fell to the floor, his father had a prideful smile and was definitely holding a stack of lien.
"um good, what you got their pops?' Cj had hoped that his dad just happened to be holding lien, with no intention to give to him.
Cardin giggled and patted Cj's shoulder. "it's for you via me and your mother. Don't worry we started saving this literally ten years ago, this isn't cutting into our current finances"
Cj felt more comfortable accepting the lien after he heard that "thanks pops" He pocketed the lien and hugged Cardin, the moment itself was a bit too short for all involved.
Cardin saw a larger view of Cj's room. He remembered the cracks in the wall from Cj unsealing his aura from the first time, magazines open that focused on the safety and responsibility of the huntsmen in Vale. "good luck son, I'm going to miss you big guy"
"thanks dad, I'll keep in contact and keep you guys in the loop" Cj said with tears flying down his face, he didn't notice until one landed on his cheek "oh pops I.."
Cardin smiled and wiped off the tear with his finger "Cj. I feel the same way you do right now. It's okay to show emotion, especially with me. " CJ shook his head and wiped his eyes.
"You know. when I was your age, I had a different look on life. Luckily, your mother encouraged me to express myself in some sort of way, so I wrote in a journal"
"yeah, mom told me about how angry and volatile you were" Cj tugged at his collar.
Cardin took hold of a lime green book with a white trim finish, all sorts of various covered the front of the journal "yep, meet the things that had to deal with me the most"
Cj grabbed the book and fidgeted "woah. dad. thanks" He felt comfortable holding the back, but couldn't find the willpower to even skim through it.
His father could see the doubt and grabbed Cj shoulder "I want you to read but..I understand how it might change your perception of me"
Cj felt his arms get heavy, he felt a sudden swell of questions hit his mind. "Dad, I don't think that could ever happen" Cj smiled and added the book to his backpack, zipping it up.
Cardin sighed with relief "glad to hear that" He smiled and left the room, reaching in his pocket for his scroll.
Cj looked past his door frame, scratching his chin in wonder "Welp, Dad is acting strange today. His journal..." He found extremely daunting to be in possession of a journal that chanelled the adolescent thoughts of his father.
The quiet night came around, Cj yawned and layed in bed. His tall and burly body made it hard for him to stretch, he sighed and turned to a poster hanging twenty inches above his head.
"Believe then acheive" Cj quoted the poster and tapped his own head.
Cj's scroll buzzed beside him, he answered his scroll "hello?" A monotone feminine voice came up and coughed a bit
"hey, are you Cardin Winchester Jr?" Her voice was a bit raspy.
"mmhm. why do you ask?"
"Hi there. I'm Tiara Nikos. When I signed up, I got a scroll numbet from them, saying you were my 'penpal'"
Cj giggled and pepped up "oh I had no idea they did that, well my friends call me Cj"
Tiara twirled her braids in her cot "oh, I was going to call you Cj anyhow, to assume I wasn't is foolish on your part"
Cj could hear her very distinct accent when she started to put more emotion into her words. "my bad. Um listen I don't know if you are aware but you sound like you about to start firing off memoirs of past warriors"
"oh really now, Cj. I'm from Mistral, everyone sounds like that" Tiara chuckled at how complex the joke was, it was a great mix of geeky and funny.
Cj sheepishly rubbed his head "oh I know, just being observant is all"
"I see, well I'm Tiara Nikos a.k.a the greatest warrior you will ever meet" She stood up in her cot and put a hand on her waist
Cj reached for a airhorn near his bed "sure" He blew the airhorn into the speaker of his scroll.
Tiara staggered and fell to the floor. Grumbling "clever, but I'm still the best.~" She stood up "Remember that. Talk to you later, dork"
Cj hung up and tossed his scroll to the side. He couldn't help but think about Tiara and what type of life she lived