Team STRM
Second Year at Beacon Academy and it was almost time for the Vytal Festival. I'd been sent on so many missions since the start of the semester that I had training pretty much down, most of which were just clearing out grim from around villages and hunting down unlawful types that were threatening the peace of the realm. Finally back at beacon I stripped off my battle garb and stepped into the shower for the first time in a week. I had the dorm to myself until morning when my team was to return, just in time for the first round.
The water felt great as it ran through my hair and done the length of my body. I washed quickly and was back out to get ready for bed in less than five minutes. Wiping away the fog from the mirror I saw my gray head of hair slicked back by the water, the four black highlights a little less noticeable as my hair ran down to my mid back. Yellow eyes stared back and examined everything about the figure in the glass as I brushed out my hair and teeth before bed. "Time for bed Mirror," I grabbed my black pajama pants, switched off the lights in the dorm and slammed into the bed, falling asleep before my feet left the ground.
The Vytal Festival, a floating arena capable of holding most of the city of Vale and capable of broadcasting all over Remnant with vendors beneath it keeping visitors of the kingdom entertained between fights. Professor Oobleck and Port were announcing this year and were having a good time doing it. Team RWBY had just defeated team ABRN, well defeat was a loose term. The fight had been a mess and while team RWBY had… decent coordination, they still had a long way to go and I doubted they would last much longer in the tournament. The heiress was as extravagant in her fighting as she was in her singing.
"About time we found you," I heard a familiar voice say nearby as a weight landed on my shoulders.
"Mir's back!" Tawny said as she played with my hair. The girl was short and light weight and was the wildest member of our team, unlike her twin, River. Her hair was shoulder length and she wore hard leather armor to keep herself light weight. River was everything Tawny wasn't, calm collected and always moving in one direction, only deviating when something stopped her. She wore a very similar armor to Tawny; the only difference was the highlights. Tawnys were orange and Rivers were a blue that changed with her mood. Both girls were about four and a half feet tall, making tawny easy to carry on my shoulders.
"Tawny please don't be ridiculous in public," River said pulling on her sisters arm.
I didn't pay any mind; I was so used to Tawny constantly being on my shoulders that not having her there was weird. I focused on our leader; at five feet and four inches she sported a set of slender plate armor without a helmet that was kept polished and sharp. She stared at me with white eyes that couldn't hide what she felt within. Her pitch black hair was short and unkempt save the K9 ears that protruded.
"It's good to see you safe Mir. I trust your mission went smoothly then?" she said coming to stand beside me.
"It went off without a hitch, nothing more than a gang of Ursa. It took some time to isolate them far enough away from the packs of beowolfs that were hanging around but otherwise it was a cakewalk," I nudged her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for going out of your way,"
She lifted an armored gauntlet to my shoulder and patted it. "It wasn't a big deal. We had barely gotten off the airship when I got your call. Although the pilots didn't really appreciate the sudden storm that appeared when it was supposed to be a clear day,"
Everyone laughed at that. And Tawny stopped playing with my hair and rested on my head. "It was really funny seeing them react to all the lightning. I saw one of them snuggle up to his ship. He even kicked at a stray bolt when it landed close by," Tawny announced. River covered her mouth with the back of her hand but couldn't suppress the giggling no matter how hard she tried.
We watched as team ABRN and RWBY left the arena and a team of officials came out of their stations around the side of the ring. Using their scrolls they reset the arena blocks while others fixed up the holes on the center platform using dust and other tools and machinery.
"What about you, girls? How was your mission?" I asked looking at each one in turn. River was the first to speak.
"It went easily enough. There were a few incidents where the white fang attacked the freight. But we held them off easily enough, especially since they were reluctant to attack another Faunus-"
"The white fang…" Silvers hand clenched into a fist and I glanced her way just in case. "They used to be so noble in their quest for equality. Now they're just a bunch of angry and misguided souls feeding of the hatred of their leaders." It was my turn to be the comforter and placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention my way.
"One day the white fang will go back to its peaceful ways, but it is us humans who must take the first step. The Faunus tried to take the first step, but we were not ready. One day, in OUR lifetimes, I assure you there will be equality… even if we have to make it so."
She unclenched her fist after a moment and sighed. "I know I say this a lot, but you were the first human I ever trusted, Mir. Thank you for accepting me into your pack." I grinned at her and nodded. I turned back to River and she reluctantly continued the story.
"The Grim however were the real problem. At random intervals they would attack in large hordes. One of them almost made the train flip. It was Silver who saved the day using her semblance to magnetize the train to the tracks."
"It was AWESOME, the train started tipping, and we were like, 'Oh no,' but then Silver was like," Tawny's speech degenerated into a bunch of electric and crashing sounds for a good thirty seconds before River slapped her sister over the head.
At that moment professor Port came over the intercom to announce the next match up. "Please come to the arena team STRM and team RAVN!" We all looked up in unison to see our faces on one of the screens and looked back and forth to each other.
"Alright time to be a team again," I said standing up straight and turning to Silver.
"We are always a team no matter how far away we are," River said standing beside me and grinning.
"She's right. No let's show them what we can do," With that Silver led the way through the corridors leading to the arena entry. As we walked Tawny never left my shoulders, preferring to take a short nap while we walked, or I walked. We made a quick stop at the contestant lockers and gathered our weapons before entering the arena, where the other team stood waiting.
I sized each of them up as we approached. All of them wore regular clothing that was either mostly black or had black accents. One of them used a clever style weapon that looked as if it doubled as a shotgun. The others used a lance that I couldn't see a gun part anywhere, nunchucks that were laced with red dusted, and a pair of reverse grip baton with large blades attached to the long end.
Silver was wielding her large spear and shield, both polished to perfection on my right. River was stretching her azure leather gloves over her hands and tightening them around her wrists. Tawny remained unconscious no matter what I did to wake her so I let her be. River would no doubt wake her once the battle started. My tonto tip machete stayed strapped to my side, I didn't want to use my masterpiece if I didn't have to.
Oobleck and port were talking to the audience and getting the pumped up for the match when the screens appeared around the battle field and started spinning to choose our landscapes. I tried once more to wake Tawny but once she was asleep she wasn't one to wake up. The first landscape was the grasslands. Tall grass rose from the ground tall enough to cover even my 6' 4" frame. The one at our backs ended up being the mountains with a storm at the top. Silver and I exchanged a glance before I shared one with River.
"3… 2… 1… Fight!" Professor Port shouted.
Team Raven charged forward and took one of us each, except me who got two. We backed off, Silver getting close to me to help defend against my two assailants. Tawny suddenly disappeared from my shoulders and the next thing I know she smashed into the three attackers that Silver was holding off. River was dodging easily around the guy with the cleaver, using one hand only on occasions where she couldn't dodge the attacks. The other was behind her back and I could see her moving her fingers as if she was moving a puppet. I turned back to Silver and found Tawny, still asleep moving through the air back towards me. I caught her and grabbed Silver by her collar and pulled her backwards as the baton wielder charged forward with the lance holder. "Get to the mountain," I shouted tossing Silver over my head and jumping away from the attackers.
Crackling sounds behind me made me duck and a moment later a wave of electricity smashed into the ground where I had been, blasting the spear and baton guys backwards. A moment later Tawny sprung from my arms and turned to her sister. "You did that on purpose didn't you!" she took out her orange leather gloves tightened them like River before reaching out to her and pulling back. Immediately River shot backwards away from her opponent, flipping through the air and landing lightly beside Tawny.
"Well maybe if you had woken up when Mir tried I wouldn't have to throw you into people," River responded calmly. I heard Oobleck start talking about what River and Tawny's semblance was.
"As twins they share a semblance, and in their case their connection manifests itself as a puppet like connection between the two of them, making it an easy matter for them to throw each other around at will," his spastic speech was always amusing to me.
"Team RAVN has made a mistake that could cost them the match. Silver's semblance allows her to channel lightning and electricity as form of attack. If RAVN wants to have a chance they are going to need to separate team STRM from their perch," Port announced.
I now stood at the head of my team Tawny and River were at my sides, slightly behind while Silver remained elevated on the mountain, using the storm as a means of covering us. Our opponents regrouped and changed their weapons into their gun forms. The nunchucks connected into a large rifle with twin barrels. He took aim above my head as the rest of the team charged forward. The cleaver holder went after River again while the spearman attacked Tawny. The baton guy charged me but I was ready for him. I had seen enough of his movements that I knew him. Before he was halfway to me I charged him in a similar manner and we met in the middle. Every move he made I mirrored perfectly as he made it. Blocking all his attacks and attacking in turn. I didn't have his batons so my attacks were adapted for hand to hand combat and every strike was timed and placed perfectly so that he couldn't guard or dodge. He was completely flustered and out of his element. After all who is ever ready to fight themselves?
I kicked him away and dropped into his stance. He hesitated long enough for me to glance at the twins and see how they were holding up. Of course as per usual they were playing with their opponent, using their semblance to switch between their assailants and to do unexpected attacks. River dodged away and before she could finish her back flip, Tawny flew over her and delivered a powerful kick to the cleaver guy's sternum, sending him to the ground breathless. The spearman was on River as her feet hit the ground. Dropping to her knees she dodged his first attack and spun out of the way of his vertical follow up. She then sprang onto his back and kicked off his shoulders, drawing Tawny in for a mighty punch that sent him backwards. Tawny hit the ground and grabbed River this time, bringing River crashing down on the spearman causing a shockwave as he was forced head first into the ground.
Baton guy was in my face suddenly. "Where are you looking during a battle?" as a mirror I followed his movements in a flash and started another clash with him.
A loud explosion from behind me and a gasp in pain alerted me that Silver had taken care of her attacker with the lightning she had charged into her lance.
"That's three members of team RAVN down for the count. Looks like this battle is over," Port said over the intercom.
I grappled my opponent and held him there for a few moments as he tried to overpower me. "Nothing is over while im still standing," he said, clicking a button on the handle of his baton the blade spun around and was suddenly a few inches from my chest. He pushed harder and started to force it down. I felt my aura rush to the tip and create a barrier to protect me but then I heard something behind me. Crackling, rapid footsteps, and the all to familiar sound of plates of silver brushing against each other. I held him for a moment longer before falling backwards off my feet, putting a knee to his chest and kicking him over me. Sure enough Silver was there shield raised and spear behind her. Electricity flowed around her and lit up her armor, eyes and hair, giving them a bluish hue. The last remaining member slammed into her shield, the electricity discharged forward and he was sent flying into the barrier that surrounded the arena, signaling a ring out. I picked myself up as Silver smashed the butt end of her lance against the ground and dispelled the electricity that remained in her system.
A moment later the twins emerged from the grasslands. River and Tawny stepped out brushing seeds and strands of grass that had attached themselves to the girls armor, stopping as they reached us.
"Team STRM wins by knock out!" Port announced loudly, before turning to Oobleck and started rambling on about the turning points and this and that.
"Nicely done everyone," Silver said depositing her shield and lance in the holster on her back.
"Thanks for the assist, Silver, he took me by surprise when that blade spun around," that would have ended badly without you," she nodded at me and we turned to the twins. "I saw you two near the end there. That was some brutal team work as usual."
"Nah, those guys were easy. They weren't as fast as you and they didn't work together very well," Tawny said placing her hands behind her head.
"Indeed, their team in general lacked any sort of cooperation and failed to adapt to any situation presented," River concluded, tilting her head. "Makes me wonder how they have survived this long as a team."
"It doesn't matter, let's get off the arena so they can get set for the next round," Silver said turning around and leading the way towards the same tunnel we entered on. "We need to decide who we are sending to the next round. Mir, you're buying lunch." I sighed and fell in beside her as the twins followed us out.
"Yay, thank you Mir!" Tawny shouted. River tried to argue saying that maybe she should pay this time but a quick, sharp glance from Silver silenced her.
"I always buy lunch."
"True but you're on a team of all girls. No proper gentleman would make a girl buy her lunch." She turned her head to me and winked. I had buying lunch since we became a team… and these girls ate more than I did. I was supposed to be saving my money for after school. Instead I was barely managing to feed myself and my team members.
"… What do we want to eat?"
This is a test chapter to see what people think of this idea and this team of OC's. I appreciate anything anyone has to say about it good or bad. I have to many projects going right now to be trying to write something that no one wants to read or is a bad idea. So again let me know what you as the reader think and I'll catch you in the next one. Eternal out.