Cyan slowly walks on the main street of the main city of Menagerie, having driven here after his interesting meal with that drunken Huntsman. He still wondered who that was and why he would be so careless being a human in Menagerie. Sure he wouldn't harm someone who hadn't done any wrong to him but some faunus would look at the human in a different light. Perhaps the human had that much faith in others being fearful of his weapon, that sword was definitely different from what he had seen before.
His hand rested on his own weapon, Celestial Bleu, which was an arming sword that could transform into a long rifle while in it's own sheath. Cyan had accomplished quite a few feats using that sword and he was sure he'd accomplish so much more while he was at it.
"Hello good sir, would you like a roll?" An older lady approached Cyan with a basket full of freshly baked rolls. He knew she wouldn't just openly offer this to anyone and more than likely knew who he was, however he liked that someone didn't call out his name every once and awhile.
"Sure." Cyan reached into the basket and pulled out just an average looking roll out of the bunch. He didn't want to take advantage and take more than what he was offered or snag the largest one he could see, the woman likely needed the money she'd get from selling the food.
"What took you so long?" Cyan looked from the roll he had just gotten from the woman up to the familiar voice he had just heard. Ilia Ametola stood leaning against the wall of a nearby restaurant, wearing her White Fang mask as usual.
Cyan smiled and looked at the old lady. "Thank you." Before even getting a reply to his thanks he was already past the old lady and standing in front of Ilia, tilting his head a bit. "Now… I was simply lost on the path of life."
Ilia clicked her tongue as she was about to give one of her nasty remarks, but decided to hold her tongue so to not disturb any of the bystanders that could overhear their conversation. "And what's your point? You were supposed to be here at 8 o'clock sharp," She pulled out her scroll and looked at the time before sticking it in Cyan's face, "The times already pushing 10:30!"
He laughed and pushed the phone away from his face, she was always like this even if the schedule reflected something as simple as training and tea with the Belladonnas. "I hear you Ilia, but please, try to not be so worried about things like the time. I'm here aren't I."
She sneered as she put her scroll away, more than likely wanting to push him for his reply to her little outburst. "Yes, you're here. But my training is important to me Cyan. You of all people know that."
Cyan nodded in response to her statement, knowing how much she valued her usual lessons in combat. For as long as he could remember she had always liked learning new things.
...7 years ago…
Cyan and Ilia were standing underneath a tree, Cyan in a battle ready stance while Ilia was doing her best to have a proper posture.
"No no Ilia, your feet aren't in the proper stance." Cyan pointed to his own feet, "If you don't have proper stance then anyone bigger than you will flatten you in just a few seconds."
Ilia nodded as she stared at his feet, although her body was shaking as usual she wore a look of determination. "Like this?" She tried fixing the positioning of her feet, still looking uncomfortable though.
Cyan couldn't help but to smile at her for how hard she was trying, that by itself would be what would defeat her in battle. "Yes Ilia, like that. But how about trying to be a little more relaxed okay?"
...present day…
That training then was only a way of showing Ilia to take up for herself. As much as Cyan liked to believe otherwise there was even bullies here on Menagerie, only if they knew what their life could be like outside of this island… he had seen it first hand. "You remembered everything right?"
Ilia patted the pocket where she had put her scroll. "I've got my scroll, which is at around 87%," He'd let that go. Usually he wanted her scroll to be at 100% to start the day and it likely was, had he shown up on time he knew he would have been right. She then picked her weapon from her back, the metal piercing wip that do some lethal damage with the right person and she was perfect for it. "My weapon that I hope punctures your shoulder later." As she put the wip away she point to her White Fang mask with her thumb, getting a roll or the eyes from Cyan. "And on top of that I have my mask on, something you never seem to have right."
He knew he was supposed to wear the mask and when he had to present himself before common soldiers in the White Fang he'd wear it, however when he was here with his people Cyan just didn't see the need. "You wear that mask as a badge of honor."
"Maybe because I'm proud of what I am." Cyan knew that, he knew how much being in the White Fang meant to Ilia. This was really all she ever looked forward to anymore, she used to be such a happy person but that Ilia was long gone.
"I'm proud as well. C'mon." Cyan turned to leave and motioned with his arm for her to follow, which she did as always. "So tell me, what do you hope to achieve Ilia?"
Ilia groaned at his words, "You've asked me this so many times Cyan. You know the answer."
Cyan did in fact know the answer, however he found such a question to be an important one to keep fresh on the mind. "If that's so then you shouldn't have a problem answering me."
"I want to be respected as an individual, I want humans to see faunus for what we really are and not the image they like to make of us." Ilia's words escaped her with plenty of hate and anger, a tone that she commonly used.
Cyan himself remained calm, reviewing the words of his student in his mind. "And what are we Ilia?"
Ilia scowled knowing what he meant, there was no denying that the White Fang had taken to darker methods in its attempts to gain respect for faunus and Cyan hadn't been a fan. She remained silent knowing that answering his question served no purpose other than to just start an endless argument. She didn't mind the idea of turning violent towards humans after all the suffering she had seen her people suffer and she didn't understand why he had such a hard time agreeing to that.
"We're here." Cyan hopped over the wooden fence that circled a large grassy plain that was made originally for holding animals but after moving the animals to more safe structures Cyan saw this place a perfect one for training with Ilia.
She kept silent as she also hopped over the fence, swaying her hips as she walked over to take her place for the spar he had promised her last week. "I've been waiting a long time for this Cyan."
He couldn't help but laugh at Ilia's words, quickly making a mockingly serious face. "As have I Ms. Ametola." Cyan pulled Celestial Bleu from its sheath and took a knightly stance holding the sword vertical with himself.
Ilia's eyes became slits as she took out her wip, bending down into a more ready to pounce like pose. "At your command."
Cyan nodded and spread his legs at shoulder length apart, relaxing his muscles and focusing in on his sword. He was still recovering from their most recent mission that required escaping an exploding building and he took a bit of the blast, but even so he didn't see himself struggling too much with Ilia. She was his student and although she was quite the impressive warrior she still had a long way to go. "Start!"
Ilia slowly circled Cyan keeping her pounce like state while she did so, Cyan keeping his guard while keeping his eyes on her legs. She would generally attack in quick, small jabs then draw back to repeat that process and Cyan knew this. That's why he kept his eyes there, the sudden flinch that suggested an attack and he would make his move. "You know for someone so powerful I'm surprised you stand back in fear like you do."
He smiled at her jab as he had taught her to use jargon while in battle to make up for any physical weakness. Although there would be times where she faced someone larger and stronger than herself if she could find a way into their head then she would have the advantage from the very beginning. Cyan believed in being a objective fighter, never allowing his emotions to get involved. Doing so could cost him and his comrades dearly, something he just would not be the cause of.
Finally she dashed forward and swung the whip horizontally at Cyan's waist who ducked down low and kicked at her feet. Ilia took the brunt of one of the kicks then pushed back away from him, recoiling the whip as she did so. She scowled at Cyan and he knew why, this was just a bad matchup for her. Not only was she outclassed by Cyan's knowledge and prowess she couldn't handle fights that were up close and personal. That was Cyan's specialty. "Concentrate, you'll achieve nothing when being the aggressor in a situation where the target isn't scared of you."
After getting back onto her feet Ilia tested out her right foot, the one that Cyan has successfully kicked, by allowing the majority of her weight to lean on it. She winced slightly but the pain was easy to work with being far from the worst she had ever endured. "Well usually the target isn't going to know me like you do." Ilia barked at Cyan before activating dust that had already been poured into her wip before the spar.
"You don't know that for sure Ilia, what if you were asked to seduce someone or at least get to know the person you were after beforehand?" Cyan moved the sword around in his hand, making sure he was ready to actually use it. "In that situation you'd have to rely on the element of surprise as you are right now." He bent his knees and raised the hilt of Celestial Bleu, looking ready for an attack rather than defending himself like he did moments ago.
Cyan bent back only slightly before lunging forward, dashing to the right slightly in order to disorient Ilia's next attack since the wip was on her own right side. She knew this but took her chance anyway, jumping back and swinging the whip forward as it shot out towards Cyan who rolled underneath the attack and already had the blade back in its sheath. Now Celestial Bleu was in its long rifle form and rested on Cyan's elbow who fired the weapon at her feet.
An experienced fighter would never let him/herself get caught in the air where they would be wide open for an attack, however Ilia has only seen so much fighting up to this point. Before the shot could reach her she jumped up into the air in order to miss the shrapnel. That's when Cyan smirked as he knew the fight was over. A faint whistle could be heard and Ilia cursed herself as she fell back to the ground, not falling for another second as Cyan tackled her out of the air.
Ilia's whip was knocked away from her as Cyan pushed down on her chest, removing Celestial Bleu from its sheath and shoving the blade through her shoulder pad pinning her to the dirt. A small blush appeared on Ilia's cheeks and she looked down and away from his gaze. "Embarrassed that you lost so easily?"
She scowled and pushed his chest, removing his hand from her. "No you ignorant prat! Your hand was on my…" As soon as Ilia was flustered she just as quickly fell silent as she looked down at her bust, and the moment of realization came over Cyan who chuckled, scratched the back of his head, and stood up off of her.
"Sorry, got lost in the battle." He walked up to her shoulder and removed the blade, putting it back into its sheath. Ilia's skin turned pink as she was still blushing and walked over to her whip, equipping it back to her hip. She went to say some snarky remark to him but hesitated and stopped as she looked past him. "What? Cat got your tongue that bad?" Cyan looked behind him and his eyes went wide for a moment before a smile came to his face.
"You should have more patience when training Ilia, Cyan." Ghira Belladonna stood outside of the fenced in plain with his arms crossed wearing that grin of his.
...end of chapter…
How about that for a cliffhanger? I apologize for the time it took me to write chapter 1 after publishing the prologue, I'm hoping to get these out sooner from now on. Any questions, comments, or suggestions feel free to comment or shoot me a personal message even. I won't bite.
