A bright beacon of light only makes the surrounding shadows darker… And in absolute darkness, the smallest light will shine all the brighter…
"This! This is a terrible idea!"
"Relax, sis. It'll be a-okay!"
"Father did grant his blessing…"
"See! Just open your eyes!"
Syl Arson reluctantly opened her green eyes, before shrieking and slamming them shut.
"What. Am I. Wearing!" she screamed, cracking open an eye and looking herself up and down. The petite girl felt a strong hand on her left shoulder, which was encased in a frilly silver sleeve.
"You, my dear sister, are wearing a battle-ready outfit! Whatdya think?" A voice now hated by Syl called.
"It's awful! Why are all these… Whatever they are here?" Syl grasped at the many bows and threads connecting the pieces of what was essentially an armoured dress.
Before the boy could open his mouth to speak, a pale hand with bright red fingernails covered it.
"Don't. You'll overcomplicate it. Now then…" The third person turned to Syl, "This here," she tapped the frilly skirt, "is a combat skirt, all of the modern students with brains have these now…"
The older woman trailed her hand to each segment, explaining (overcomplicating) the aesthetic perks and hidden benefits behind each one.
"Okay, okay, I get it now" Syl sighed, "So why do I have this?" she gestured to the silver bow tying up her navy blue hair.
The twins Flynn and Ava Arson looked between themselves, before giving a synchronized smirk.
"It makes you look adorable" they answered simultaneously.
Syl groaned and hopped away from the black-clad twins. "I'm going for a walk in the woods, see you later" Before leaving she grabbed a package from under the makeup table and turned an eye to her siblings. "Alone" Syl added, and slammed the oak door behind her.
Ava placed a hand on her hip. "She's meeting with her 'little wave' isn't she?"
Flynn simply sighed. "If only she could appreciate my talents, those materials weren't cheap"
Huh, Syl thought, This isn't half bad. The blue-haired teen span around, watching her skirt twirl. That, combined with the snow falling on the leafless trees, made the scene look like it was ripped right out of a bad fairy tale film.
Fortunately, Syl had remembered to wear her boots instead of the stupid lady stilts Ava had supplied. The fallen snow crunched under her feet as she marched through the darkened forest. Usually Syl pondered life or other problems that faced her during her walks, but this time she was meting someone.
Somewhere off to her left a wolf howled, snapping the young girl out of reverie. Her azure orbs slanted as she scanned the treeline, searching for the disturbance.
"Tzun, is that you?" She grabbed at a low hanging tree branch, seeing a black shape beyond it. "Tzun?"
An obsidian hand batted her several feet away. She skidded to a halt, leaving a trail of disturbed snow leading right to her.
"That," Syl brushed ice off her lovely new outfit. "Was really rude"
The Ursa Alpha roared, slamming its front legs into the ground and staring at her with those burning red excuses for eyes.
Syl's look quickly morphed from curious to murderous as she drew her weapon: a giant pair of dust tipped scissor blades.
The Grimm charged, swinging its massive clawed paw to slash the young swordswoman across the torso.
As the beast drew close, the sound of a clock chime echoed throughout the night. Slowly, the black monster began to stop in its path, before completely freezing a few feet from Syl. Everything from the breeze running through the tree branches, to the clouds moving around the shattered moon, stopped completely.
The same could be said for most of Syl, save for her eyes. Their original blue colouration had all but vanished, leaving a pair of bright silver irises with pupils reminiscent of clock faces. They darted around, briefly locking onto various objects of strategic value and stringing them together.
She spied a pair of Creep emerging from her right. The trees behind the Ursa were weak and fragile. The Ursa had a crack across the chitinous armour on its right arm. Several Beowolves had flanked her and were preparing to attack from behind. Tzun was nowhere to be seen. Nothing new there. Syl's blades were loaded with lightning dust.
Once a plan had been formulated, Syl's eyes returned to their norm and time continued as before.
The Beowolves, of which there were three, threw themselves at Syl. The silver-clad girl went prone, causing the monsters to fly harmlessly over and crash into the Ursa. Syl split her weapon in two, tossing the first half at the left Creep. She charged the second, dodging its sluggish attack and delivering a deft kick to its face, knocking it aside. This exposed its soft underbelly, which she promptly stabbed. Syl then diverted her attention to the first Creep, jumping up and over it, grabbing the handle of her weapon and pulling it through, which sliced the Grimm in half.
Both weapons now back in her hands, Syl transformed the scissor blades into long pistols and fired into the toppled mass of Ursa and Beowolf. Several grunts indicated that one of the latter had died, before the black pile separated. The Grimm looked amused that their opponent had missed all but one of them, until the trees behind the trio collapsed, impaling another Beowolf. The final wolf Grimm charged her, vengeance in its hollow eyes. Syl simply cracked a simle, having planned this all along, and fired her now recombined weapon like a railgun, blasting a bolt of yellow lightning that tore through the Beowolf and vaporized the Ursa's right arm. The beast shrieked in pain, grasping at the dark stump, until a pair of black blades entered the sides of its vision.
Syl Arson stood on the Grimm's back and clamped her giant scissors shut, decapitating the gargantuan monster. As it disappeared the young girl strode over to the writhing Beowolf, still impaled by the barren tree. She stared into its eyes, which were filled with hunger and fury, and promptly relieved it of its head.
The sword-wielder sighed. The amount of force that lightning blast had given off had caught Syl by surprise. At that moment, a subtle yellow glow caught her attention. Syl glanced down at her dress, only to notice that several of the intricate patterns were radiating golden light and emitting small amounts of electricity. That's about when it clicked in her head. Dust infused clothing…
Syl was rightly surprised; the only person she knew who could spin Dust into clothes would be…
"Ohhhhh" She sighed. "Flynn you clever son of a bi-" Syl was rudely interrupted by a white bony hand slapping her to the floor.
"Really! You're going to do this agaiiiii-ohhhh" She gazed at the beast above her; a Wendigo. "…crapbaskets"
The Grimm monster had two branching antlers extending from its pale mask, a quartet of venomous crimson slit eyes, a maw of bone white fangs drenched in fresh blood, and a pair of lethal curved blades extending from its thin arms. Its body slim, ridged and covered in pale plates of chitin. As a side note, it also happened to have some form of intelligence and stealth mentality.
The Wendigo let out an ear-shattering shriek, showing its danger to the silver-clad teen. Suddenly a teal blade sprung from the centre of its chest, silencing it. The beast glared down at the icy sword, its four eyes wide. The blade then sliced up and through its head, leaving a visible line of icy blue. It actually looked confused before its torso split in two, its head soon following.
Several seconds passed as the beast disintegrated; leaving a figure clad in black and turquoise, a jet coloured sheath decorated with teal ocean patterns at his side. The blade, its dust covering now depleted, was gracefully sheathed, a short mechanical click coming from within. From his face a pair of sea-green orbs stared softly at Syl, before the warrior stepped down and offered a tanned hand to her.
"Took you long enough" Syl grumbled, jumping to her feet.
The swordsman groaned and rubbed his face. "You're welcome, by the way"
"I could have taken him" she protested.
Kai Tzun sighed. "I'd love to see you get behind one, remember where the weak point is?"
Syl placed a hand on her hip. "I remember you missing its back for a week straight"
Tzun growled and turned around, forming a silhouette against the broken moon. "We haven't spoken in one year, three months and twelve days. What is it that you want?"
"You may a year older than me, but I know you haven't enrolled at any academy yet" she placed her hand on his shoulder. "What's keeping you?"
The brunette boy chuckled. "You got me. But you first." He gazed into her cyan orbs. "I got a feeling you've already picked Beacon and sent in your transcripts"
"You bet!" Syl's face exploded into a smile. "And I got accepted!"
"Already?" He was responded with a nod. "That's good. You'd be surprised, but I already applied too"
"Aaannd?"
"And they said yes"
She wrapped her arms around him, choking the life out of him. "I'm so happy we'll be together. Well not together-together-together-together, just together!"
"I get it, don't worry. Besides, I know about your 'preference' so to speak"
Awkward silence followed.
"Who told you?"
"Flynn" He immediately replied.
A long, drawn-out sigh followed.
"You heard nothing. Understand?"
"Perfectly!" He answered even faster.
Syl hastily checked through her supplies to forget the uncomfortable scenario. Plenty of Dust crystals for sticky situations, plenty of Lien for… sticky situations. But alas, very short supply of her modified Dust rounds.
"Well, I need to restock on ammo, fancy coming with?" She offered.
The warrior smirked. "Sure, why not?"
As they set off on the way back to the Arson Estate, a complex scope zoomed in on the pair from a distance.
"Hmmm…" A mechanical voice whispered, its user shrouded by the night. "Target acquired"
That turned out... better than expected. Even I can tell that in my absence I've improved massively on my writing. Heck, maybe I'll enjoy reading through this one.
Regardless, after the first few chapters of this are out, and you've been introduced to all of the characters, you can expect a chapter listing their weapons and semblances... or at least the ones I wish to tell at the time.
If you could be so kind to review, please go ahead. I look forward to your thoughts and constructive criticism.
Following and Favoriting would also be appreciated.
-Syl is taken from Silver, and Arson is a crime involving fire.
-Tzun is taken from Tsunami, and Kai means wind in several languages and is used in the same sense as Lie in Lie Ren.
-Ava means bird.
-Flynn means red.
-Wendigo is a cannabalistic monster in Algonquian folklore, usually portrayed as a stag or deer-like creature. Look it up when you have the time.
