Hello all, please enjoy chapter 3! Thanks to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and reviews; you people keep me going.
Ren watched from a distance as Pyrrha ducked and flipped around her opponent. She dodged Neptune's trident artfully, ducking and weaving under his stabs in what almost appeared to be a graceful dance. Each motion flowed into another, each narrow dodge was simultaneously a precise attack with her spear. She wielded Milo with confidence born from years of practice, forgoing stronger defense to focus on attacking. Ren admired her swiftness, she was keeping Neptune on edge with what looked like little trouble.
Part of Pyrrha's defensive strategy was to keep from making any contact with his trident in any way, so as to keep from being shocked by its electrical dust properties. Although she was already quick on her feet, the fight with Neptune was turning out to be a great way for her to showcase her nimbleness in her effort not to make contact. If he watched closely, Ren could see that she had earlier magnetised the trident, further helping her avoid its punishing sweeps and thrusts.
Pyrrha quickly wrapped the fight up. Incorporating a spinning maneuver into her next dodge, she pulled Milo's trigger, rocketing the spear forward mid-spin, catching Neptune completely by surprise and knocking his trident high. She followed up with a shield bash, striking him in the face with the edge. Ren flinched; even with aura, that had to have hurt. Nora cheered from her seat next to him, getting far too wrapped up in the fight.
Pyrrha finished the match with a leg sweep, knocking Neptune down. Before he could get up, Milo's edge met his throat. "Alright, that's enough." Glynda's voice rang out. Pyrrha's fierce expression faded immediately and was replaced with a kind smile and what was perhaps a slight look of regret. She sheathed Milo and Akouo on her back, providing Neptune with a helping hand to get him back on his feet. He happily obliged, hopping up to brush off his jacket and readjust his skewed goggles.
"That was an excellent match, well done!" she congratulated.
"Hey, thanks P-money! That shield to the face came out of nowhere. I dig." He gave a thumbs up and flashed his incredibly handsome smile. He made to fist-bump, but Pyrrha misinterpreted the gesture and ended up high-fiving his closed fist. Neptune took it in stride, walking out of the arena back to his team. Jaune gave Pyrrha a thumbs up, a gesture she gladly returned as she made her way back into the seating section.
Glynda began commenting on some of the fight's more notable points, but Ren had become distracted and tuned her out. A certain green-haired beauty had caught his eye, he looked freely at her while the rest of his team was busy congratulating Pyrrha. She sat with a bored expression, a strange dichotomy in the gleaming sunlight. She slouched in her chair, one leg crossed over the other, her arms likewise crossed. Somehow, she managed to look majestic even considering her bad posture.
Her half-closed eyes suddenly flew open and she stiffened in her seat, straightening. In a split second, she whipped her head to the side, staring deeply into Ren's eyes from across the room. "Caught!" she mouthed, showing teeth with a playful smile. Ren smiled back, inclining his head in defeat.
"You got me," he mouthed back. He threw in a wink for good measure. She widened her eyes as if impressed by his audacity. She then held up a small brown square. Ren squinted. Ah, a wallet! He nodded to show he understood. Emerald's smile grew; she pointed to Mercury who was sitting in front of her, playing a game on his scroll. Ren was confused for a second, until Emerald mimed stealing it from his pocket. He snickered behind his hand. While normally he would frown upon that kind of behaviour, he wasn't inclined to defend the silver-haired casanova wannabe.
Agonizingly slowly, she spread the leaves of the wallet apart with deft fingers, maintaining eye contact with him the whole time. With her index and middle, she pulled a small wad of cash from the folds, ending the motion with a quick snap of the wrist. Ren watched in fascination as she pocketed the money, closing the wallet. Emerald pointed at her eyes and then Ren's in turn. Ah, she's telling me to watch closely. He checked behind him to make sure his team was still talking amongst themselves, then turned back with a nod. "Ready," he mouthed.
She leaned forward, slowly lifting the edge of Mercury's jacket. Over the next twenty seconds, she inched the wallet closer and closer to his back pocket. Finally, the edge of the wallet was touching the top of the pocket. She held up a finger to Ren, mouthing "Now we wait." She apparently saw her opportunity soon after; Mercury shifted in his seat, and Emerald was suddenly leaning back in hers once again. Ren's eyebrows rose in surprise. That was incredibly fast, I could barely see her move! She looked proudly at him, smiling at his expression. He gave her a silent applause, giving her a smile that he hoped showed that he was genuinely impressed.
His attention was brought back to his team when Jaune involved him in the conversation with a hand on his shoulder. "Did you see that spin move? Pyrrha, you were so awesome!"
"You certainly were," Ren added. "It was an excellent match to showcase your nimble footwork. Well done."
"Thank you, I tried to take a couple hints from you, actually. Did I do well?"
"Certainly! You were quick, but always seemed to be on balance. But more importantly, how did you feel about it?"
She flashed him a warm smile, "It felt wonderful, I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of it." Truth be told, Pyrrha had already mastered quick footwork and Ren knew it. But whether it was modesty or perhaps because she simply wanted to become better, she had asked for his advice and was doing her best to learn from his quick movements. She's nothing short of amazing, he concluded silently, knowing such radiant praise would make her bashful.
Glynda had apparently wrapped up her points about the match. She looked over the rims of her glasses to her scroll. Typing in a few lines, she looked up and scanned the room, choosing the next combat participants. Her eyes settled on him. "Mr. Lie Ren, how do you feel about a match before the class is over?" Any match with Pyrrha would be a tough match to follow, but he didn't feel insecure about it. Whether or not that was due to his self confidence or that he and Pyrrha had completely different fighting styles, he wasn't sure.
Ren stood up. "Of course, professor."
"Do you have anybody in mind for a sparring partner? Perhaps somebody who hasn't sparred in a while." Ren looked around the room before a twisted smile crossed his face. Jaune was taken aback; it was not a look he recognized his teammate was capable of making. Ren looked to Emerald, who realized his intent immediately. The wordless message that passed between them wasn't caught by anybody else, but to the two of them it was as clear as day.
"I want to fight you."
Her grin and narrowed eyes were the perfect response. "Bring it."
Less than a minute after issuing his challenge, Ren and Emerald stood on opposite sides of the sparring room. "Remember," said Glynda, "the fight is over once one of your auras reaches the red zone. Please keep this in mind during your sparring session, and act accordingly." She made sure the two of them acknowledged her before stepping to the edge of the room.
"Good luck, Renny!" yelled Nora, standing up and shouting through cupped hands. Jaune and Pyrrha watched with interest, giving smiles but otherwise remaining quiet so he could concentrate. Mercury didn't seem interested in his partner's fight, choosing to devote his attention to his scroll rather than watch Emerald.
Ren pulled Stormflower from his sleeves, spinning the pistols in each hand for show. Emerald copied the movement, pulling two green revolvers from behind her back. He couldn't tell, but long underbarrel ridges suggested some sort of unfolding blade could be present. He made a mental note to watch out for that. Emerald took a ready stance. "Hope you're not afraid to hit a girl," she laughed.
Ren let Stormflower give his response, the mounted blades springing to full length with a metallic snap. He readied himself as well, formulating a plan of attack. Her revolvers seem to be ranged weapons, which means I'll want to get in close as fast as possible. If he were fighting somebody with a weaker weapon, he would take the hits while running forward to attack. However, Emerald's revolvers looked quite powerful and he didn't want to take the risk of his movement being impaired during his rush. The first attack was often the most important one, and Ren did not want to waste the opportunity through overconfidence.
Ren was moving forward right as the starting sound became audible. He sprinted with blistering speed, sliding on one knee as Emerald fired four shots in rapid succession, faster than he thought possible. Her quick trigger finger did little to account for his low slide, however, she had apparently expected him to dodge either by jumping up or to the sides; her salvo had not accounted for a downward dodge.
Spinning on one knee, he planted his opposite foot in the ground and spun into the air, his bladed pistols swinging in punishing arcs as he struck at her with six rapid strikes. She had gotten her revolvers up in time though and the strikes bounced off harmlessly, pushing her back a few feet. When he landed, Ren barely had time to register the two blades that suddenly extended from her revolvers; he only just managed to bring himself into a defensive stance while Emerald counterattacked.
Ren was faster, but Emerald had turned out to be much more nimble than he anticipated. She swung her kukris in wide arcs, spinning on the balls of her feet to deliver slashes aided by centrifugal force. She danced forward, firing another two shots at him point blank before finishing her attack with a vicious leap. Ren dodged both the bullets in time, then leapt backward into a back handspring to dodge her double slash. Her kukris smashed into the floor, cracking the hard stone where he had stood a split second before.
Ren landed and dropped to his knee, emptying both of Stormflower's magazines at her. A good third of the bullets hit, the rest straying wide as Emerald leapt to the side. She landed in a solid stance, immediately spinning. She threw her arms wide as she turned, the kukri blades coming loose from her revolvers and flying in quick circles around her, connected by chains. The movement caught Ren completely by surprise; he paid for his hesitation by taking a blade fully to the face.
The next swings he was able to dodge more easily, if he saw them coming, the blades weren't actually too much of a threat to one as fast as him. He kept a close eye on Emerald as she retracted the chains, the blades reattaching themselves to her revolvers. She paused to grin at him. Ren had gotten first blood, but Emerald had scored an equally solid hit. He watched her for a moment, reassessing the threat. The combination of revolver and chained kukri only served to make her more dangerous at a distance. If he could get close, her combat prowess would remain largely unchanged.
He closed the gap, launching into a flurry of quick strikes from above and to the side with his pistols. Emerald blocked them easily, returning a couple strikes of her own. Ren suddenly dropped to the floor, placing both pistols on the ground to use as a platform. Emerald guarded low, expecting him to attack her legs. Seeing her take the bait, Ren kicked out, catching her squarely in the chest. The kick knocked her onto her rear; Ren held Stormflower and stood on his hands for a moment more before jumping back to his feet.
His showmanship earned him a couple cheers from the audience and a snarl from Emerald. He could tell she was having fun, and returned her foul expression with a smile and a wink. His smile was quickly wiped off his face when Emerald retaliated with a second rally of shots, emptying her revolvers. He hadn't had time to reload Stormflower, and paid the price by being unable to do anything but dodge. Three of her shots hit, he felt each impact heavily. While not as powerful as Ruby's Crescent Rose, Emerald's shots had about the same strength as Pyrrha's rifle. The shots that connected took a chunk out of his aura, Ren felt the customary coldness that came with the pain of his aura straining.
Ren attacked with a flying kick, but Emerald had plenty of time to prepare. She dodged the strike effortlessly, spinning on her heel to slash at his body with her kukris. Avoiding the attacks, he sheathed Stormflower and resorted to a complicated series of open palm strikes and a quick succession of kicks that kept Emerald on the defensive. She managed to block the majority of his attacks, but her revolvers were slightly too cumbersome to fully counter his quick fighting style; a few of his strikes slipped through her guard, battering her chest and abdomen.
Unrelenting, he kept up his attack until her back was against the wall of the training room. In a desperate bid, she lashed out with both her blades, dropping her guard completely in favor of creating distance. Ren leapt backward as Emerald jumped into the air and kicked off of the wall.
When he rolled to his feet, Emerald landed in front of him, placing her revolver to his chest. The room was silent in anticipation. Ren stood ready, but didn't move. Don't you know, Emerald? You're out of bullets. I counted them, you've fired all twelve of your shots.
"Checkmate." She fired the revolver, knocking Ren down and onto his back. He stared at the ceiling dumbfounded as Glynda stopped the match. I. . . What? But, you were out of bullets. Could I have miscounted? The possibility was so slim that he didn't even want to consider it. However, he had lost the round, so was there really any other explanation?
"Excellent work Miss Sustrai." Glynda wrote down some notes on her scroll. "Mr. Ren, well-fought. I'd suggest you be more careful when counting the amount of shots fired. You've proven you have a knack for it, but you shouldn't rely solely on that. . . exceptional. . . skill of yours. It may have costed you this match, after all."
Emerald gave him a hand to help him up, which he gladly took. "Understood, professor," he said. Brushing himself off, he took in the grinning girl in front of him. "That was a fun match, thank you." Emerald panted slightly, small beads of sweat gathering on her arms. As opposed to her generally sarcastic nature, she looked genuinely happy with herself.
"Thank you," she responded. "Hope I didn't damage your pride too much back there."
"Damaged pride aside, it was excellent to fight somebody so fast. I may have some competition when it comes to speed now." The two shared a laugh and then split up, Emerald going to the bleachers, and Ren to his team. Students began to file out of the auditorium, the end of his fight signaling the end of class. Before she walked out, Ren noticed that Ruby had struck up a conversation with Emerald, no doubt to fawn over the older girl's weapons.
"Ren, that was amazing!" Nora congratulated him. Jaune and Pyrrha approached as well, offering their congratulations on the flashy match. Pyrrha had changed into one of her signature ugly sweaters; Ren still wasn't sure how she managed to pull them off so well.
Although he felt good about the fight, one thought stayed in the back of his mind for the rest of the day. Had he really miscounted Emerald's bullets, or was there something else going on? Either way, he would take care of it. If the problem was with him, he would practice to refine his hearing. And if there was something fishy going on? He was going to get to the bottom of it.