Alright, new chapter for the week. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it was fun to really go into it, especially for the moment that I promised last chapter.
I hope you all enjoy this one!
Chapter 11: Differences
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.(Chapter Start)
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June 14th
Friday
Clear
Azura never thought that sitting on a bench could be a hard process until he met Summer.
"What do you mean it's fine?! You ran into a criminal!" Summer cried out, looking at him like he was taking this too casually.
"Of course it's fine. Nothing happened anyway." Azura replied.
"That's all fine and everything, but what if he comes back for more? You don't know the city as well as you should!"
"I told you the story already, give it a rest. It won't stop me from going back out into Vale tomorrow."
"No! You made us leave you for a few hours, and look at what happened when we did! Luna was throwing all sorts of fits while you were gone." Summer said, throwing her hands into the air.
"Come on, I'm right here. Plus, I bet that she was fine with it."
A look over at where Luna was floating showed that she wasn't pleased with the choice to leave her.
"Alright, fine. But it's not like anything truly dangerous happened. Plus I'll be going out in broad daylight this time." Azura said.
"Nope!" Summer said, a pout on her face.
Azura groaned. "Really? You're doing the same thing as her!"
"I did it first. Ruby does what I do! But, that's not the point! From now on, other than specific circumstances, me and Luna will refuse to keep you out of sight. You clearly can't handle yourself without trouble following you."
Azura sighed, looking to Luna. "You can't be agreeing with this."
A shake of her head showed that she would be agreeing with this. Azura had no choice but to accept his fate.
"Fine, do what you want. I wouldn't be able to stop you if I could."
"Of course you can't! You're stuck with us, Azura." Summer said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Ugh, you are actually like an adult version of Ruby." Azura groaned.
"Good." Summer said, with Luna nodding her head in agreement.
"At least you two are friends again. Well, since I agreed, I want to set one rule."
Summer looked at him, a frown growing on her face. "Fine. What's your rule?"
"Well, it's rather simple. If I ask you to leave me for something in a combat situation, I want you to do it."
"Only if the situation truly calls for us to do it." Summer replied.
"Deal." Azura said.
"Well, I'm glad that's out of the way. Will you be taking an airship out to Vale tomorrow?" Summer asked.
"Yeah, it'll be easier."
"Is anyone expecting you?"
"Uh, Velvet is. I think it's just her."
Summer blinked dumbly. "Ok. Did you exchange scroll numbers with her?"
Azura smiled sheepishly. "No. But, we're meeting up for the ten in the morning airship."
Summer rubbed a hand against her forehead. "Why you are going out there so soon after what happened?"
"Because she asked me to join her?"
Summer sighed before letting a smile out. "Fine, we'll go tomorrow."
"Good. Now, can we go to combat class? There's another team battle today, and I might actually be put in to fight. Nothing against my team, but it gets pretty boring to watch the fight when you never get to participate in them."
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.(Line Break)
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"Can I have team Ruby come down for their team fight?" She called, then looked over at where Azura and everyone was. "As for team Juniper...can Miss Valkyrie and her partner sit this one out for Mister Heart and his partner."
It had actually happened. Azura and Pyra could actually participate in a team fight for once. At first, Azura couldn't even believe it. Miss Goodwitch had never actually allowed either of them to fight in a team fight for one reason or another, but today seemed to be a different day.
"Did...did we just get called down to be in a team fight?" Pyra asked.
"I think we did."Azura replied quietly.
They were standing, but not following after Jaune and Pyrrha. It took Nora giving them a push to get them moving.
"Come on, slowpokes! You finally get your chance!" She exclaimed loudly.
"Good luck, you two. I'm sure you will be excellent out there." Ren commented.
They quickly caught up to Jaune and Pyrrha, who were discussing the upcoming fight. They brought them into the quiet discussion when they saw them.
"So, Azura and Pyrrha have the most experience fighting against them. Azura for Blake and Ruby, and Pyrrha against Yang. I suggest that we have the two of them be our main offensive, Pyra can be the backup offensive, but should try to counter any ranged attack and to control the battlefield. I'll be with her to defend her from anyone who gets past until we can regroup." Jaune said, breaking down his thoughts as they reached the stairs.
They all quickly agreed, and Azura noted just how confident Jaune has gotten. His planning and defense had been getting better, so he could be trusted in his role.
"Wait, what about Azura's ghosts?" Pyra asked.
"I have Luna with me." Azura responded instantly.
"And the other one?" Jaune asked.
A look over towards Ren and Nora showed Summer sitting nearby. "Not fighting."
"Ok. That's fine." Jaune said. "Let's go."
They split off, Azura and Pyrrha stepping forward, while Jaune stayed in front of Pyra. Pyrrha stood next to him, lifting a fist towards him, and Azura responded to their usual routine by finishing the fist bump.
Team RWBY followed a different plan for this team fight, with Yang and Blake standing opposite of them, while Ruby seemed to be looking for some weakness between them. Weiss was in the back, readying Myrtenaster.
Pyrrha leaned towards his ear, speaking to him. "Summon Luna only if we get overwhelmed. Even with me, it'll be difficult to hold off all three of them, and Pyra can only control so much of the fight. Luna can be our surprise card, even if they expect it."
"Right." Azura said, then looked over to Luna. "Don't destroy them so easily. We're first year huntsmen-in-training."
Luna nodded.
"Ready?" Goodwitch called, looking between them all. "Begin!"
Ruby shot off like a rocket towards them. Pyrrha quickly dragged Azura towards her body, shielding the slash of the scythe that clanged off of the shield. Azura felt his weapons suddenly hold no weight in his hands, readying himself to be thrown forward. He was sent towards Ruby a moment later, letting the momentum slam into her, which sent her a few feet away.
Yang was on top of him as soon as he had full control of his weapons again. Dodge to the left, dodge to the right, then hop up. Azura had done hand-to-hand with her often enough to tell her basic combo, quickly punishing it with two jabs with the dagger, his slash from his sword missing her by an inch.
Pyrrha leapt past him, taking over on fighting the brawler as Ruby came back in with a spiral slash that he had to duck. They came to blows, blocking and trading blows with each other. A downward slam from her scythe looked like she missed on purpose, before she spun herself with her semblance, slamming her body into him. They rolled a few meters away, with Ruby ending up on top.
She wasn't able to take advantage of it as she was struck with a small blast of fire. Azura quickly got up, seeing that Pyrrha was now going against Yang and Blake at the same time. He started to make his way over, before noticing that Weiss was no longer behind them. He looked around wildly, trying to find where the small girl was, finding that she was speeding towards him. With no way to dodge in time, he did his best to block the rapid thrust of her rapier when she made it to him. Azura attempted to kick her away, which she flexibly dodged with a slide backwards after pushing off of a black glyph.
"Well, aren't you a dancer, ice queen." He commented.
Weiss smiled with a look of false sweetness. "Just dance, pretty boy."
And dance they did. Weiss was graceful, moving around him like a predator, while he was forced to play her game. Her ice dust was whipping his hair around, and he could do nothing but wait as she built spiraling walls around him. When Weiss stopped her assault to launch herself down from her ice perch, Azura used his dagger and fired lighting dust out towards her. The girl felt the shock, but did not freeze up like Ruby had done before.
Azura could still take advantage, knocking the rapier out of the way with the dagger, and letting Weiss slide her aura along the blade before infusing some aura into his arms to push her away from him with the blade. Luna came down from the top of the walls, grabbed him, and lifted him out of it. He could see that Jaune was currently trying to hold Blake off, while Ruby was fighting Pyra. Pyrrha was still going against Yang, and a look at the board showed that they held the aura advantage.
"boost me towards Jaune! Quick!" Azura yelled to Luna.
She quickly crouched and linked her hands together, throwing Azura towards Jaune once he ran forward and jumped off of her hand with the boost. Azura landed, building up aura in his feet, and launched towards Blake and Jaune. Blake saw him, and jumped away, letting him slam into the copy of her as it shattered on impact.
"I have Pyra. Go to Pyrrha!" He said.
Jaune nodded, running off. Azura ran over to where Pyra was, slashing towards an unsuspecting Ruby. he continued after her stumble from his hit, slashing with both weapons forward, which was blocked by Crescent Rose's shaft. He twisted his sword hand under the shaft, stabbing his dagger forward towards her, and Ruby was forced to retreat with her semblance.
Azura took a moment to take in the fight. Jaune and Pyrrha were currently trying to hold off all three parts of team RWBY, and were clearly struggling.
Pyra was standing next to him. "What should we do? Ruby will cause problems if left alone."
"Alright, new plan. You hold Ruby off, and I'll help them. Luna, go with her. I'll go and make you visible." Azura said.
Pyra didn't even agree, just rushing off towards Ruby, with Luna hot on her trail. Azura wasn't worried about losing the surprise attack with her, he knew that Ruby was strong in a one-on-one fight. Pyra would need the help.
By the time he got there, Jaune was pushed to the ground. Azura fired off more lightning dust and heard an audible gasp from Blake as it hit her in the side. Azura continued to fire off more shots towards her before Pyrrha transformed her sword into its spear form, the tip of it turning black as she spun around with a speed that could match Ruby. It forced Yang and weiss off of her, and knocked Blake off of Jaune.
Azura grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him back up. The blonde looked tired, and a quick glance told him that Jaune was actually the lowest in terms of aura, despite having the most of it out of everyone. Azura was reminded of the fact that Jaune had the least amount of training out of all of them.
"This isn't something I can handle." Jaune said, catching his breath as Azura stayed alert.
"Just be a tank for us. Plans won't work against such a sporadic team like this. Blake is weak on aura as well, so just last against her, ok?"
Jaune nodded, fully facing Blake as she got back up. Azura felt Pyrrha rest her back against his.
"For the Mistral champion, I'm having a hard time against them. However, Blake's been discoordinated this whole time, which has been our saving grace so far." She said, giving the two of them an overview.
Jaune sighed. "I'll take Blake, you two can take Yang and Weiss."
Pyrrha and Azura stepped forward as Jaune turned to face Blake. Yang was shaking her hands out and Weiss was once more readying her weapon. Pyrrha raised her shield, keeping Miló in sword form. Azura kept his weapons up, going into a defensive stance.
Black glyphs appeared under Yang and Weiss, slingshotting forward towards Azura and Pyrrha. Yang slammed into Pyrrha's shield with a punch, and Azura swiftly sidestepped Weiss. With no time to waste, Weiss summoned a ramp that wrapped back around and skated up it to drive herself back into him.
It was fast, piercing into his aura like a drill as he dropped to the ground. Rolling quickly, he dodged the burst of fire dust that was fired towards him. The thought of dust not being as effective against her ran through his head, and he got back on his feet. Weiss summoned more glyphs at her feet, zooming back towards him. Azura threw his dagger upwards as he brought more aura towards his arm, grinding her rapier against it, before grabbing her wrist.
Weiss gave a yelp as the momentum she had was thrown out of balance, giving Azura control as he slashed with Red Fox, feeling her aura starting to weaken. He was about to drop her aura into the red, but he felt a hand grab his sword arm as Pyrrha yelled for him to watch out. He was yanked backwards, sliding his back on the ground. He saw Yang in the air, raising a fist to land down on him. Before she could hit him, Jaune came in front of him, holding his shield in two hands. He physically shook as her fist slammed into his shield.
"Out of the way, blondie!" Yang yelled.
Jaune was swatted out of the way, but Azura had already taken the chance to move out of the way. Seeing that he had no weaponry, he readied himself to dodge. He was tired, the fight having required a lot of aura and stamina. Miss Goodwitch's voice was heard through the fight, announcing that some fighters had been taken out.
"Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, and Pyra Sol have been taken out of the fight."
Azura felt fear grow in his heart. "Well, crap."
Yang laughed. "Got that right, Snow. Let's go."
She leapt towards him, giving barely any time to dodge. He could see Pyrrha in the background, moving like a trained huntress as she held off Weiss and Ruby. His weapons were sitting nearby. He needed some help before he could get to Pyrrha.
"Luna!" He called out.
Yang knew what that call meant, speeding up her relentless assault as she tried to end their fight. One good hit was all that she needed, one that Azura struggled to not give her. A few seconds later, she slammed a fist into his arm. He gasped in pain, gritting his teeth as he held his ground as Luna flew down onto Yang with a swing of her blade.
The skirmish was over in seconds.
"Yang Xiao Long has been taken out of the fight."
Azura didn't have time to scold his mother, shaking his head to clear it before running to grab his weapons. Only Red Fox was nearby on the way to Pyrrha, his dagger seeming to have been kicked away. She was dancing around as Weiss and Ruby rushed back and forth, dodging and blocking with everything that she was worth.
"Luna, with me!" He called out towards her, before moving towards Weiss.
He caught her as she was about to slide back in for another hit, slamming his sword into her rapier. He shifted his weight on one side and pushed onto her body. Weiss was forced to slide away with another glyph. One more glyph was formed under Myrtenaster as it flew towards Weiss, with the girl grabbing it with her hand.
As Azura raced forward at her, having no ranged option to attempt to stay away, a black glyph was formed in front of him, and he slammed into it. He looked wildly around, seeing that he was surrounded by the glyphs, trapped at all angles. He slammed his sword into it, and while he could see that it would do damage, it was very minor.
There was only one method that could possibly break the glyphs easily. Shield Break. Looking at the board, he could see that he had enough aura to sacrifice to break it. Focusing his breathing, he calmed himself to focus. He crouched down, drawing his sword arm back as his left arm was left in front of him, stretched out. Aura flooded into his right arm, his sword forming a soft veil of aura around it.
He launched Red Fox forward, piercing it into the glyph in front of him. The glyph cracked and splintered into several pieces before shattering, dropping the entire cage of glyphs. He dropped to his knees, feeling the effect of such a drop in his aura.
Arms grabbed him and dragged him up. He shook his head, seeing Luna looking at him. Once he was stable on his own feet, Luna rushed off behind him. A look over at where she went showed her cutting off Weiss from attacking Pyrrha. He had to get moving, feeling his arm groan as he raised his sword again, his legs moaning as he started to speed walk towards them.
His energy seemed to return to him as he actively kept his aura up, starting to run as he felt a second wind fill him. Ruby was running circles around Pyrrha, leaving the warrior with nothing to do but try to predict where she would attack.
"Pyrrha, shield up to your right!" Azura yelled as he continued to shorten the distance.
Blindly listening to him, Pyrrha put her shield up to her right. Ruby quickly attacked from her right, Crescent Rose crying out as it grinded on her shield. Azura jumped in after it, slashing downward towards her. Ruby quickly dodged, only to be slammed into Pyrrha's spear.
"Ruby Rose has been taken out of the fight. Weiss Schnee has yielded to the fight. Team JNPR is the victor!"
Azura laughed tiredly, with Pyrrha joining him after a few seconds. Azura looked over at the board that showed their aura levels. Everyone that was taken out was all in varying levels of red from eleven to fourteen percent, while Weiss and Azura stayed in the low twenties. Pyrrha was sitting at thirty seven percent.
"How did you even manage to keep such a good amount of aura? You had three people on you for a while!" Azura exclaimed.
The redhead looked genuinely flustered. "Er, well...guess I got lucky?"
"That's my partner for ya! She's fantastic!" Jaune exclaimed as he walked over with a smile on his face.
Everyone gathered together as Goodwitch waited. This was the moment that every team dreaded after their match, where Goodwitch would give a consensus on how their team were doing.
"I will do the victor first, as I usually do with these Fridays. Overall, team Juniper is very well put together. I can tell that mister Arc has put in some time to get to know his team and their abilities, giving fair roles to each. Individually, miss Nikos stands at the top. An excellent show of skill, showing a way that a huntress would work their way out of an unfair fight. Despite that, be sure to call for help if you need it." She said.
Pyrrha nodded quietly as Goodwitch continued.
"Mister Arc showed his good tactical side at the beginning, even accepting his weakness and taking the easiest role, even if it was a needed one. However, he also failed to keep his team organized in a clear fashion, even if they organized themselves to fit the fight. Miss Sol fought the most clean out of everyone, even if miss Rose still took her out. You did not use half of your semblance, but I am aware of the level of control you do not yet possess for it. Train with it more."
"Of course, professor." Pyra said.
"Mister Heart has shown the ability to persevere in a situation he has no control over. He swiftly dealt with any issue that came up, seeming to possess the same skill as miss Nikos. However, we must remember that his semblance is aided by what seems to be a rather skilled fighter, and that mister Heart is still a first year student. Think about what would happen if he did not have that kind of assistance."
Azura looked over at Luna, who had already become invisible to everyone once more. She smiled at him, looking rather proud of everyone.
"As for team Ruby, you all performed rather well individually. But, as a team, you were lacking. I suggest that you speak amongst yourselves to figure out what causes it. You are all dismissed, that was the last team fight."
Ruby looked like she had been shot in the heart, looking downcast as Yang wrapped an arm around her and walked off. Weiss and Blake were staring at each other, a passive heat seeming to build up.
"Uh oh." Was all that Azura muttered before walking off with his team to clean off the sweat and exhaustion.
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.(Line Break)
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June 15th
Saturday
Partly Cloudy
Breakfast was an awkward affair for team JNPR. Yang was quiet and kept glancing at Ruby, who was picking at her food with little interest. Weiss and Blake were actively avoiding looking at each other. The argument that team JNPR heard from team RWBY's dorm last night was not finished, from the looks of it.
It was hard to watch, and even harder to be around. Tension seemed to drag them towards the ground, and Azura was itching to get away from it. Luckily, he had an excuse, since he had an airship to catch in ten minutes.
"Alright, I have somewhere to be in Vale. I'll be back later, see ya!" He said rapidly, standing up and moving away from the table.
"Er, yeah! I forgot to mention that Azura asked me to accompany him."
Azura heard Bake exclaim that, stopping after a few feet and turning to look at her. She was looking at him with some hope of escape.
"Yep, she's with me. You ready?"
She looked happy for the first time today, and Azura was surprised to even see a smile on her face.
They exited the building, and Luna and Summer had joined them by that point. Just as he was about to ask why she was joining him, his scroll went off. He took it out and found that he had a message from Pyrrha.
"We need to talk soon. It's about the team. We're all going to be involved, and it can wait, but I wanted to give you a heads up."
"Yeah. Thanks for letting me know." He responded quickly before putting the scroll away.
"Everything okay?" Blake asked, looking over at him.
Azura smiled. "Yeah, nothing to worry about."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Weiss and I are fighting."
"I figured as much. Does it have to do with the team fight yesterday?"
"Yeah."
Azura nudged her shoulder. "Hey, you wanted to escape from that. So, no more dreadful talking about arguments."
Blake nodded. "So, where are we going?"
"To meet Velvet. She asked me to join her for something."
Blake tapped her fingers as she crossed her arms. "Will she mind my joining you?"
Azur shrugged. "I don't see why she would. She likes everyone."
"If you say so."
He nudged her shoulder again. "Just be yourself."
The rest of the walk to the airship docks was in silence. Once they got there, Azura heard a soft and accented voice calling out to them.
"Azura, is that you? And who is your friend?" Velvet asked, her rabbit ears slightly tilting in question.
He quickly turned around, spinning on his heel. "Ah, Velvet! I just got here actually. And my friend over here is Blake Belladonna."
"I can introduce myself." Blake commented.
"Bah, you're quiet enough for it to be needed." Azura said.
Velvet was watching them with a giggle. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Blake."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Velvet." Blake said, looking rather uninterested.
Velvet paid it no mind. "Well, I assume that she will be joining us?"
Azura nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind."
Velvet shook her head. "It's no problem."
"So, where are we going?" Blake asked.
"An orphanage for Faunus. It's in a…less financed district. Anyway, I go and put half of the funds I get from missions to it, just to help out. I'm here to do that."
"I admit, I am a bit confused. Why did you ask me to join you if you were going for a simple reason?
Velvet shifted, looking embarrassed. "Well...some of the kids were begging me to bring a friend."
"You couldn't ask your team?" Azura asked, even more confused.
"Well, Coco doesn't like kids, for starters. Fox said no when I asked him, and Yatsuhashi is a gentle giant, but he's busy today. So, you were the next person to come to mind."
Azura smiled. "Well, I don't mind. Let's get going before we miss the airship."
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.(Line Break)
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Velvet wasn't wrong when she said that it was a less financed area of Vale. Compared to the sections of the city that Azura has seen, this was the most rundown. It wasn't horrible to look at, or outdated, but it clearly wasn't given proper upkeep that most of the city had. Even the area around Junior's club was more cleaned up than this.
"This is horrible. I had hoped it would have changed since I last saw." Summer said.
"Well...should we get going?" Azura asked.
Velvet walked forward, like she was used to the dreary area. Blake sighed, walking behind Azura. As they walked, Azura kept noticing the drastic differences between what Beacon students found when they explored Vale from the docks and what they would see if they explored this far.
The buildings looked dirty and unpolished, paint peeling off of some buildings and stone and brick wearing down on others. Beyond that, the next big difference was the one between who populated the place. In the more well-financed areas that Azura had seen in Vale, the majority of the people there that he saw were Human, with a few Faunus around. But here, it was the opposite. Lots of Faunus, but there was still a fair amount of Humans in the area.
The adults all looked as worn down as the buildings, as tired as the atmosphere felt. Some of them were looking at them, only to look away when Azura looked at them. The few children that were around were playing together, their parents hanging nearby, talking quietly.
"The kids are the only energy here." Blake said quietly.
"Yeah." Azura murmured, before speaking louder for Velvet. "The orphanage is close by, right?"
"That's correct. We'll be there soon." Velvet said, looking straight ahead.
Luna's tail kept flicking back and forth, hitting his back every other second as she held his arm. She had built the habit of hanging on to him ever since his last talk with Ozpin, not that Azura minded.
Summer was the only other one with no reaction, looking on passively. She was the reason that Azura wondered what a full hunter saw in their days killing Grimm.
Like Velvet promised, the orphanage was rather close. It wasn't a particularly eye-catching building, but it was certainly larger than the other buildings nearby. It was a plain, brown colored building, with small windows around the building.
They walked up the few steps that was before the door, with Velvet knocking on the door. After waiting a few seconds, an old lady opened the door, peeking her head out. Upon seeing Velvet, she smiled.
"Oh, hello dearie. I'm glad that you could make it. And who are these cuties?"
Velvet moved to introduce them. "Well, this is Azura. He was the one I asked to come with me this time. And he brought his friend, Blake, along with him. I figured that wouldn't be a problem, would it?"
The old lady laughed. "Never, come on in. And welcome, you two. My name's Lucie, but everyone calls me Lu."
She moved to the side, allowing all of them to enter the building. The inside of the building looked similar to the outside. An unpolished brown wood and red carpet, with a few paintings of landscapes littered around on the walls.
"Now, if you two don't mind, me and young Velvet will be right back, so just wait in here please. I'm sure she told you why she's here." Lu said, turning away towards a side hall.
Velvet followed after her, leaving Azura and Blake to look around the place. Silence quickly filled the rest of the space, broken by the occasional noise coming from the other side of the place.
"I wonder just what kind of children live here." Summer commented.
"Hopefully happy ones." Azura answered absently.
Blake sighed, and Azura realized that he had forgotten that she was there.
"Talking to ghosts now?"
"Hey, I've been doing that for a while now!" Azura defended.
"Come on, it's not like we have nothing to talk about." Blake commented.
Azura shrugged. "It's not like we talk often anyway. If at all…"
Blake didn't respond.
After a few more minutes of sitting in silence, Velvet and Lu returned from the same place they left for.
"Now, I know Velvet was asked to bring some friends with her by the kids. You know, she'd be a great mother." Lu said, cackling as Velvet blushed and sputtered.
Lu coughed as she stopped laughing. "Well, let's go see them, I'm sure they'll be delighted to see some new faces."
Leading them towards the back of the building, the main lobby quickly opened up to a much larger area. The same decor was in place, but on a larger scale. Tattered beds were strewn along the walls, keeping the center area open. Toys and books were laying around, old and used.
A group of six children were in the center of it all, messing around with an assortment of toys. All but one of them were Faunus. Out of the five Faunus, three of them were male dog Faunus, with two of them seeming to be brothers with brown colored hair and ears, while the last one had a black hair and a pair of ears. The last two were female cat Faunus, one with a pair of gray ears, and the other with a golden yellow tail and hair. The Human girl that was playing with them had brown hair that was wildly matted, like she had been rolling around on a bed. They all looked like they were about twelve of thirteen.
"Come here, dearies. We have company." Lu called out, a large smile on her face.
They all made an assortment of noises, getting up and scrambling over to where they were. They were all smiling brightly, and Azura noted that their clothing was more of a mix of garments more than anything. It served as a reminder of where they were, but Azura refused to let a frown out in front of them.
"Are these Velvet's friends?" One of the dog Faunus yelled out.
Velvet laughed and smiled softly. "They are, Damien."
Despite the question that was asked, they seemed more excited to see Velvet more than them.
"Oh, Velvet, can you share another story with us?" Damien asked, this time much quieter.
The rest of them started calling out that they wanted to hear more of her stories. Velvet was practically forced into it, not that it seemed that she minded. She actually seemed rather glad to be able to tell another tale of being a Beacon student. Summer split off to watch Velvet tell a story to the kids, probably reminiscing about helping Yang grow up, if Azura had to guess.
"That poor girl, the children just adore her for her storytelling." Lu said, laughing. "Not that I would know if the stories are true. Honestly, they should be growing into teenagers and finding things to do outside of here, but they still stick together like a pack. I might have to sit them down for more lessons about the real world, the old woman that I am." She finished with another bout of laughter, as if laughing at her own joke.
"They do certainly seem like a lively bunch." Blake commented.
"Aye, they certainly can be. It's enough to tire me out all the time. But, we do have a quieter one here." Lu said.
"If you don't mind me asking, where are they?"
Lu laughed. "Course I don't mind, dearie. And the lass's name is Aurora. She's only eleven, but...the other children won't play with her." Lu said with a sigh, looking tired just thinking about it.
"Why?" Blake asked.
"Well...she's different. In more than one way. You'll have to see for yourselves." Lu said, motioning for them to follow her down another hall.
The sound of the children and Velvet grew quieter as they walked further down the hall. A few seconds later, Lu stopped in front of a door. She breathed in deeply, releasing it after a second before knocking on the door.
"Aurora, honey, can I come in?"
Yes." A voice was heard, a lisp coming out on the s, elongating the letter with a slight undertone of a hiss.
Azura and Blake shared a glance, thinking the same thing. A snake Faunus.
Lu opened the door, slowly walking in. Azura and Blake shuffled in after her, with Blake slowly shutting the door after them. The room was draped in shadow and the sunlight only shone enough to see in the room. A girl was sitting in the corner of the room, wrapped in a blanket and book in front of her.
She looked deathly pale, with bleach white hair and pink eyes that stared at him and Blake. She looked exactly like any human child might, but it was easy to see the scales that lightly framed her cheeks and arms.
An albino snake Faunus was before his very eyes. He didn't mean anything bad by thinking it, but he never really thought about the types of Faunus that could exist.
"These are two people that Velvet brought with her today. I thought that you would like to meet them."
"Thanks." Aurora said, her lisp becoming deeper from her excitement. "Who are they?"
Azura decided to speak up, albeit quietly. "My name is Azura, and my friend is Blake. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet...me?" Aurora said, tilting her head.
"Yes." Azura said, smiling.
A glance over at Blake showed her staring blankly at the girl. He nudged her, and Blake was quick to figure out what was going on, letting a smile out.
"Oh...thank you." She said, as if unsure.
She shuffled closer with her blanket, her pink eyes wide and bright. Azura sat down, cross-legged on the ground. Blake followed his example, while Lu stayed standing.
"Won't you come out to play, Aurora?" Lu asked softly.
The girl shook her head, and Azur finally noticed just how long her hair was. It trailed down past her shoulders and could be seen to the middle of her back, where it was cut short.
"They don't like me."
"It's not you, sweetie. You know that." Lu said, reaching out with a hand.
Aurora flinched away from it, so Lu put her arm back at her side. "It's my ability…"
Lu looked saddened by the words, shaking her head slowly. She walked forward towards Azura, bending down to whisper to him. "Her semblance lets her see your emotions."
She bent back up, moving to the door. "I need to check on the others. I hope Velvet hasn't been overrun."
She left the room, leaving the three of them to sit and look at each other. Luna was sitting next to him, her fox tail wrapped around his back while her ears twitched.
"I'm sorry. I can't stop it." Aurora said.
"That's okay." Blake said, finally talking once more.
The girl shook her head. "You don't like it. You're scared...scared of what I can see. You're like the others. They won't play with me because of it."
Blake looked at him, and he could see confusion wrapping her mind. She clearly had no idea that it was possible. She looked like she wanted to leave.
"It's okay. I can stay here." Azura said, giving Blake a light smile.
She nodded, getting up and leaving the room without saying anything else.
"Are you...okay with my ability?" Aurora asked, staring at him.
Azura smiled. "Of course. I have nothing to hide."
"Honesty. You hide nothing if you don't have to."
"Mostly true. I have lied before."
Azura wasn't sure why he was telling this to a child, but he figured getting her to trust him a little would help.
"Your emotions are warm. They feel comfortable. Do you like yourself?" She asked, shuffling a little closer, dragging her book with her.
"Yeah, I do."
"What about your lady friend? She's filled with warmth too."
Azura was shocked. "You can see Luna?"
"No...I can see another shape next to you." Aurora said.
Azura activated his semblance, allowing Aurora to see Luna.
"Well, there you go. She's my mother."
Aurora's pink eyes shone brightly. "Oh...do you want to read with me?"
Azura smiled. "Of course."
He couldn't help but feel his heart grow warm as the girl smiled at him. He would have to thank Velvet for this chance.
.
.(Chapter End)
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And there it is. This was originally planned to just be a moment for Velvet to shine, but I felt that this was important enough of an idea for me to not skip out on. You'll be seeing a bit more Velvet for this reason, so I hope you like Velvet as a character.
Well, I hope you liked the chapter! Have a nice day/evening!