"I'm more than a name."
"Hmph." Vernal smirked. "Prove it."
Weiss ignited a glyph beneath her feet. After a moment to charge, she surged forward. Vernal simply stood her ground. Weiss was on her in an instant. She cut laterally from her right. Vernal blocked with her left chakram ring at an angle, allowing Weiss's own momentum to carry her off-line. When her enemy's balance sufficiently faltered, Vernal struck diagonally upward across her body with her right ring. Weiss took a step forward, avoiding the blow by centimeters. In the same motion, Weiss attempted a low cut. Vernal blocked and launched into a spin, lashing out with her weapons. Weiss propelled herself backward out of the way, a short hop from upon a glyph.
Vernal charged. She raised both rings before herself. Weiss noticed the guns buried within them a split-second before they fired a burst. The heiress defended her face with a glyph, but she knew this left her lower extremities vulnerable. Vernal ducked low, striking for her opponent's exposed legs with both rings simultaneously. Weiss bent her knees and brought her sword point-down to block. Doing so put her inside Vernal's guard. She tried to slip up with a quick cut. Vernal pivoted with a sidestep. She spun again, but this time made contact with the back of Weiss's head. Weiss stumbled forward from the force of the blow, narrowly avoiding a second swipe in the process.
Weiss twirled to face Vernal just in time to see the bandit girl again charging at her. The heiress lit a glyph under her feet and jumped up. Vernal passed harmlessly underneath her. In midair, Weiss formed a trio of spikes from ice Dust and sent them at Vernal. The three made contact, but shattered harmlessly against Vernal's Aura. The bandit faced her enemy and raised a ring. Weiss jumped to the right to avoid a bullet.
She leapt twice more on glyphs, keeping herself mobile as well as off the ground. She turned to face Vernal after the second jump. The plan had been to propel herself toward the girl, but that was thwarted when she saw not a bullet, but an entire ring hurtling toward her. With a surprised gasp, Weiss jumped straight upward to dodge the throw. The second ring came for her between jumps. She barely had time to form another glyph above herself. Weiss flipped upside-down and launched diagonally backward, toward the floor.
Logic would dictate that, since Vernal had already thrown both her weapons, she was now unarmed. So, Weiss was shocked to find another ring seeking to make contact with her cranium. Weiss leapt to her right, deflecting a bullet with Myrtenaster as she went. Did Vernal have multiple rings? No, she had nowhere to keep them. How was she doing this, then?
Weiss ducked low upon a glyph so a ring could sail over her head. She jumped backward, once again closer to the ground. She batted away another ring, and pushed off to her left to avoid a burst of metal slugs. She couldn't run. Wherever she went, Vernal was on top of her. The bandit threw a ring. Weiss smacked it away. She jumped to the right, trying to gain altitude. A ring bounced off the floor and sailed toward her. Weiss tried to block, but too late. The ring caught her under the armpit. She rose into the air from the impact. A ring bounced off the ceiling buried itself into her midriff. It fell with Weiss as she crashed into the floor. The heiress bounced after a sickening slap. She managed to swing her legs down and land hard on her knees.
The discarded ring lay on the ground in front of her. Weiss watched in annoyed awe as air currents kicked up below it. The weapon flew away from her. Weiss followed it to see Vernal barreling toward her, brandishing her paired hoops. Weiss stood and raised her sword just in time to block a lateral scissoring attack from Vernal's blades.
They locked up for a second, but Weiss knew she couldn't stay like this for long. Vernal had the edge in physical strength, something the bandit doubtless realized as well. Weiss brought up a knee. A glyph atop it cracked against Vernal's weapons. The repulsion forced her hands apart. Weiss capitalized on this new opening to launch a pair of thrusts. One connected with Vernal's nose; the other, her heart. The bandit girl caught a third stab between her right ring and twisted, effectively locking it with the sword. Vernal threw a simple punch with her unoccupied ring like a knuckle duster. Weiss tossed up a glyph which the ring bounced off of. She turned her rapier to yank it free.
Weiss went or a stab. Vernal blocked with one ring, then sliced diagonally with the other. Weiss deflected the attack with a hanging guard over her right shoulder, then whipped her blade around into a downward slice. Vernal caught the blade in the crux of an X formed with her rings. Weiss couldn't retract her blade in time to block Vernal's front push kick. Weiss uprooted and sailed back a few feet, proving once and for all the disparity in strength between them.
The heiress slammed into a pillar she hadn't even noticed was there. Stars swam in her vision while she somehow managed to keep her balance. She heard more than saw Vernal approach. Weiss shook the cobwebs from her brain and raised her weapon high. Vernal's rings slammed down into the sword. The bandit pressed down, squashing Weiss against the pillar.
Weiss knew there was no version of this exchange where she came out victorious. She had to move. The heiress formed a glyph underneath Vernal's feet. It turned black. Vernal looked down at it. A flash of pure white light launched her a few feet straight upward. As she game down, Weiss met her with an upward slice. Another glyph sent the bandit girl away at a shallow angle.
The heiress propelled herself on a glyph. She sailed past Vernal, striking as she went. Vernal cried out in surprised pain Myrtenaster claimed a chunk of her Aura. Weiss landed on a glyph and came back from the other direction. Vernal was hit up as the previous blow had sent her down. Weiss flipped and launched toward Vernal for a third time. Myrtenaster found purchase. A repetition of the process found her striking up at Vernal once again. All of this in a matter of seconds.
Weiss could maintain this sort of attack all day. She geared up for a fifth pass. This time Vernal was ready. She righted herself in the air and tossed both rings at differing heights. Weiss wasn't prepared for this counter-attack. The rings struck true, knocking her out of the air. She had no wish to relive the crash from earlier in the fight. She cast a large amount of ice Dust. A frozen structure rose from the ground. The ice curved and smoothed until it formed a makeshift ramp.
Weiss twisted her body around. Her right shoulder landed on the ramp. She slid down the icy construction. A somersault at the bottom of it saw the heiress on one knee, having returned to the ground. The ramp blocked her view of Vernal. She planted Myrtenaster in the floorboards. A large glyph formed in front of her. A quartet of mystical swords twirled around a center point.
"Oh, no you don't!" Vernal shouted.
A distant gust of wind assaulted Weiss's hearing. That could only mean bad things. She looked up to see a ring curve around each side of her improvised ramp turned wall. The summoning glyph planted Weiss in place. She couldn't dodge. She couldn't block. Her only option was to watch as the projectiles converged on her head. The opposing forces squished her forward between them. She toppled onto her hands. The glyph shattered and vanished as she fell into it.
The ice behind her was rent along a thin line close to the ground. The upper portion shattered and came down as Vernal stepped over what was left. The rings returned to her hands.
Weiss knew herself well enough to realize her Aura reserves were running thin after so many heavy blows. It didn't matter. Her friends needed her. This was to the time to run, but to fight. Weiss got to her feet and readied Myrtenaster.
With a savage war cry Vernal jumped at her target. She spun through the air, her blades a lactating buzz saw of death. Weiss pivoted a quarter turn and stepped back. Vernal sailed harmlessly past her. The bandit landed with her knees bent. Weiss shot herself forward and cut down at her. Vernal crossed her rings behind her back and blocked. She dropped low and spun around in an attempt to sweep Weiss off her feet. The heiress hopped over the kick. Vernal made to shoot her out of the air. A glyph hurtled Weiss backward, away from the bullets.
Vernal charged. Weiss cast a tiny glyph on the floor in front of the bandit. Vernal's foot came down upon it. The repulsion effect forced her to miss a step. She stomped the flung foot back down. Any momentum she may have had vanished in an instant.
This little slip up gave Weiss all the time she needed to go on the offensive. She sprinted forward, ramming her tip into Vernal's forehead. While the girl reeled Weiss spun around and came down with a terrible strike to Vernal's shoulder. The bandit punched to break her enemy's stride. Weiss faded back to avoid it. Vernal stepped with her and cut downward twice. The heiress blocked. Vernal spun and cut down again. This one Weiss slipped, crouching at an angle to avoid it. From this lowered position she sliced up and caught Vernal in the ribs. Vernal took it in stride and launched a vicious toe kick. She hit Weiss under the chin. The heiress took to the sky. She stuck her feet out. Shockwaves ran through her body as she landed upright a few feet away.
In a flash, Vernal was on her. She struck vertically with both rings. Weiss put her sword up just long enough to stop them. She then disengaged and tried a lateral cut, but was blocked. Vernal threw a quick combination, cutting forehand right then left with alternate rings. Weiss avoided both. She stabbed to gain a little distance. Vernal layered her rings together one atop the other and let the sword slide between them. She stepped forward, right into Weiss's face as she bound their weapons.
The girls struggled. Vernal's lips curved into a sinister smirk. Weiss's instincts fired on overdrive. Every nerve in her body screamed for escape, but all to late. Vernal pulled her triggers. What shot forth was not a pair of bullets, but rather pure lightning. Weiss cried out in suffering. Her Aura shattered. Vernal kicked her in the ribs. She rolled away, stopping in a heap several feet from her.
Pain shot through her chest as Weiss rose to her hands and knees.
"Looks like your Aura's down, Princess." Vernal said as she strutted over. "Give up now and I'll make it quick."
"I would never—" Weiss said, her voice a strained whisper. She slowly rose to her feet. Her piercing blue eyes burned into Vernals. "I would never lose to the likes of you!"
Vernal scoffed. "Have it your way." She assumed a fighting stance.
Weiss readied herself to pounce, then remembered that without her Aura, there was nothing to power her glyphs. She'd have to win this under her own power. She raised Myrtenaster to strike, but was interrupted.
Ruby cried out. A white light filled the room. Blinding and intense, it overwhelmed her every sense for a moment. Weiss whipped her head around searching for the source, but stopped. This light seemed familiar, in a way. Yes, she'd seen it before. The night Beacon fell, when Ruby froze the dragon. This was the Silver Eyes she'd been talking about... whatever that meant.
A gunshot reigned. The light faded quick as it came. Weiss looked to her opponent. Vernal was still reeling from the sudden flash. She didn't know what it was. Weiss did. This was her best chance. She gave point and closed in, a shout on her lips. Her blade met Vernal's waist, but refused to penetrate. The girl still had Aura to spare. Weiss pulled back to strike again. In the gap between attacks, Vernal put a knee in her stomach. Weiss stumbled back. Without anything to help absorb the blow, she took its full force.
Vernal closed the distance. Weiss could hear Cinder shouting—presumably as Jaune—but didn't care to listen. She had bigger problems. Vernal punched twice with her rings. Weiss avoided both. The heiress answered with a short stab. Normally, she would have gone for something much bigger. Her time for taking chances had passed. Vernal, of course, knew this. She was irritating, but not stupid. The bandit pressed forward, swinging her weapons around in an intricate pattern. Weiss couldn't follow it. She rolled off to one side, cutting at Vernal's legs as she slipped past. The bandit tripped and landed on one knee.
Weiss ran toward her enemy. In response, Vernal spun to face her and dropped onto her back. In the same motion, she thrust her legs out. The soles of her feet caught Weiss on the midriff. With a great heave, Vernal threw her legs back and tossed Weiss over her head. Myrtenaster tumbled from her grasp to clank along the floor.
Weiss flew several feet through the air before skidding along the floor. She felt something in her chest give way, most likely a rib. With a pained grimace, Weiss got to her knees. Vernal hadn't followed her, or else she'd already be on the offensive. Weiss needed this time to recuperate, to plan her next attack. The sounds of battle raged all around her. Cinder said something. Jaune shouted in response. Weiss didn't know what they were talking about.
In the seconds which followed, all Weiss knew was pain. She felt something long and hot like fire enter her back, and burst through her chest. Wide eyes crept down until they beheld the spear which stuck out from her body. Blazing agony overtook her entire being. Her hands shook as they inched closer to the impalement. She needed to get it out, but pain clouded her judgment. Gasping breaths escaped her lungs, though she found it hard to breathe.
Imminent death was not what it seemed in the books. She always thought her life would flash before her eyes, but all she could think of was how much it hurt.
The spear disintegrated. She fell forward.