Edit: In my haste to post this, I forgot to mention one big important thing, Airu's Theme. While this track may not fit this particular battle, it fits her character in my opinion. Her theme is Crossing Fields - English Dub by Amanda Lee (LeeandLie). I chose this particular version because I felt it captured her past and present status. All members of Team AART will have a character theme, and if you have any suggestions let me know in a review or a PM. Now, back to the chapter.
Welcome back everyone. It's been quite a while hasn't it. Only a month later than scheduled to be posted.
First, I want to apologize for that. My computer was having troubles, I lost some motivations, and other personal matters got in the way. Second, is the update schedule. I am looking to update every Tuesday in the month of August with a new trailer for When Dreams Become Nightmares. After that it will move to every other week as college will be starting up soon.
Next, I want to talk about the other stories I will be posting. DUSC to Dawn will be starting up soon, and will be posted opposite When Dreams Become Nightmares. Basically both stories will get two chapters a month, which is slower than before, but with the changing life situations this is what I feel is best for my time. If I have more time I may post more often, but no promises.
Dust will be posted once a month, when that starts up. This, along with free time, is also because it takes longer to write with two people working on it, and the chapters are much longer. Therefore, it gets a slower update.
Finally, A Hollow's Game has been canceled for now. It started good but I found myself writing into a hole. A lot of things weren't coming out right, the main character was feeling dry, he was way overpowered for what I was going for, and the mechanics of the story were clunky. It just wasn't working. I may revive it without the Gamer aspect and with different aspects, but for now it is dead.
Anyways, it's time for the first trailer. There will be four trailers for Team AART, and a Trailer for the Gullwings that doubles as the first chapter. The order of the trailers will be Harpy; Guardian; Gunslinger; and Dream. Now, without further ado, sit back and enjoy.
AART Trailers: Harpy Trailer
Silence filled the air as the young harpy, with a wingspan of six feet, enters the training room. The vast space, void of any equipment, provides a large area to spar with plenty of light from the windows above. Grey and white colors painted the room dull, but it didn't need to be extravagant.
Airu Miria tugged on the fur collar of her shirt, a brown, v-neck tank top lined with white fur. The shirt was made to accommodate her larger chest and wings. Slits are cut from the back as to not crush the hollow bones within her wings. On her right shoulder rests her emblem, a skull with two large wings protruding from behind it, tattooed in black. Her black fingerless gloves also have a white version of the emblem printed on them. A black pair of short shorts covers up her lower half, while still showing off her assets.
As she walks into the room, the harpy examined it and took note of someone standing in the corner. He wore a white suit jacket, shirt, and pants and stood with a formal posture. His white mustache and hair blend with his clothes and the wall behind him. The two lock eyes before the harpy turns to the massive doors in front of her. He nods reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small device to open the door.
The harpy reaches up to her wings, gripping the handle to the butterfly swords sheathed behind her. With fluid and practiced motion, she draws the wide, but thin, blades from their scabbards and readies her battle stance. She moves her legs out a little, crouching down and raising the blades in front of her.
From the door emerges two large suits of armor controlled by computers. Each has a large blade in one hand, each with a different colored stripe down the middle. Both easily stood at fifteen feet tall. The harpy scoffs at the sight, but remains calm as a counter appears above her with fifteen seconds. She waits patiently as the counter slowly reaches zero.
The first robot swings its red blade down upon the harpy, only for her to roll to the left to avoid the slash. The second slashes upward as she raises her blades in a defensive stance. The wide blades form a wall that the attack scrapes across, doing little more than push the harpy back. Airu growled as she began to bring her blades slightly lower.
The red blade returns, swinging down upon the harpy. She steps to the side and raises her blade to cover her side and allow the robot to side its blade down hers and prevent too much damage. The harpy hops into the air and onto the blade as she begins to run up it. She crosses her blades over her chest in an 'X' shape as they begin to glow red. With another graceful motion, she slices through the air and sends two waves of fire of similar shape to her stance towards the helm of the robot knight.
The crushing force of the robot's other hand as it strikes the harpy sends her into a nearby wall, cracking it and causing small pieces of rubble to hit the ground. As the dust clears from around her, a light green glow covers her body, protecting her from the possible damage that would have been inflicted.
As she struggled to her feet, a small amount of blood drizzles down from her lips. The harpy raises her arm to the blood and wipes it off with her thumb. "I think it might be best to end this quickly then," she muttered to herself. She sheathes her butterfly swords and rests her hands on the hilts of the rapiers at her side.
The first has a blue hilt with a golden cross guard and knuckle guard. A sliver blade with golden accents, infused with lightning Dust extends from the hilt, allowing for quick and shocking strikes from the rapier. On her other hip rests a silvery-grey rapier with four prongs acting as a guard. Within the end of the hilt resides a revolving canister of Dust that allows the silvery blade to change its elemental properties.
The two armored robots each raise their blades and swing down upon the young harpy. Before the blades can hit her, however they collide with a solid barrier of air. The harpy's body glows again as her Aura covers her body. With a mental push, the wind explodes outward and knocks away the giant swords. The armored robots stumble backwards due to loss of balance.
A sly grin forms across the young harpy's face as she draws the rapiers from her hips, the silver in her left and the golden in her right. The revolving canister rotates around to the yellow setting, and electricity crackles around the blades. With a blast of wind, the young harpy charges the two armored robots.
Her blades dance around the robots and electricity fly through the air as cuts and stab wounds begin to cover their bodies. A giant blue sword swings in attempt to cut down the young harpy with her back turned. As it nears her body, the wind wraps around the blade and lowers it enough to flip over it, using her wings to steady herself. The red sword tries to block it, but more wind holds it down as its wielder loses its top half.
The young harpy lands on the blue sword as the revolver in her silver rapier rotates to its red setting and flames erupt from the blade. She trusts forward with her golden rapier, sending bolts of lightning towards the robot before spinning once and doing the same with the silver rapier, this time sending balls of fire.
The elemental blasts crashed into the face of the last armored robot, each one peeling away the metal exterior that protects it. As the dust cleared, a large opening in the robot's armor reveals itself, giving the young harpy an idea. She rushed forward and jumped through the hole in the armor, releasing a large amount of her lightning Dust into the air. The young harpy slipped through another slit of the robot and fires another bolt of lightning behind her, activating the rest of the Dust inside the robot.
Electricity dances over the robot's body as it moves its limbs in erratic motions. Interior explosions blast holes in its armor as nuts and bolts fly from it. The giant sword falls from its grasp and its arm soon follows. Within seconds, the robot reduces to a pile of scrap metal and electronics.
The young harpy grins and pushes some of her black hair out of her face, letting it fall down to the middle of her back. Her brown eyes scan the room for anymore training robots before sheathing her rapiers. The white suit man strolls over to the young harpy with a stoic expression. "That was excellent for a f…" he trails off mid sentence to check his word choice, "for someone of your age."
"Thank you, Mr. Schnee," she replies. "I know it's hard to change your beliefs, but thank you for the effort as well, at least when I am around."
"It's the least I could do for someone my daughter cares so much about." Mr. Schnee looks down at his feet in sadness. "Promise me when you go you will find her."
"I won't stop searching until I find her, I promise."
"We won't stop until we find her," corrects another female voice. Mr. Schnee and the young harpy turn towards the small door at the side of the room. From it walks a slightly older woman with the same white hair as Mr. Schnee, but tied back into a bun on her left side, allowing the right side to fall down to her face. She wears a military style outfit consisting of a long white coat with a black vest over a white blouse and pants with black, knee-high, boots.
"Winter, you're coming?" the harpy asks her.
"Yes I am," Winter replies as she approaches the two. "I already cleared with the general and I assume you are okay with me accompanying Airu. Am I wrong father?"
Mr. Schnee shakes his head. "No, you are right." He turns his attention back to the young harpy. "Just make sure she is safe, I won't lose a second daughter."
"I'll make sure of it, Jacques," Airu replies with determination.
"Good, then I think today's training is done." Airu and Winter nod and walk towards the open door.
Well, there it is. Airu's new look and her adjusted fighting style with two rapiers. Sorry if this felt a little clunky. I started writing this in present tense like the last story, but felt wrong writing it towards the end. I shifted my writing style a bit and it feels a lot better. You should be able to tell when I started writing like that full time a little later.
Anyways, I will see you all next week with the next trailer, the Guardian Trailer.