Chapter 10
Packing up
"Okay, so you've been doing this every night we go to bed early since school started?" Misty asked incredulously.
All four members of team DAMD were currently sitting in their dorm, Dia and Misty sitting on one side with Amethyst and Daff sitting adjacent them on the bottom bunk, having all gotten up in time to talk about this.
The dark haired Faunus nodded looking at the other two girls with bright emerald eyes that spoke of nothing but confusion and slight irritation at the current situation.
"I don't see the problem," her partner had shrugged, "It's not interfering with school or anything," he said defensively.
Dia nodded, "Except for our Sunday morning training sessions which she's been unable to stick landings that she usually considers child's play," she said scowling.
The whip fighter raised a hand in front of herself indignantly raising a single finger, clearly saying 'One time!"
"It's been more than once so don't even," Dia responded, shaking her head. "You know half the time we go to bed early it's to get a head start on the training room."
There was a moment of silence, no one having any idea where to go from there, Amethyst clenching her fist, Dia's eyes hard and Misty and Daff looking away awkwardly.
'Why do they care? So what if I missed a handful of landings because you decided to set a team training session before the sun even rises.' The feline girl thought bitterly.
"I have an idea!" Daff said his frown replaced with a smile, "A timeframe every week where no one on the team has any authority over the goings on of the other members," he suggested with a wild and self-satisfied grin on his face.
"What do you mean exactly?" Misty asked, confusion laced with a bit of hopefulness that this whole scenario could be over and done with.
"It's simple, every week, between the last bell on Friday to noon the following Saturday we are all allowed to do our own thing, no team exercises or anything, sleep in, run at night... Go out to the tavern..." he proposed, hesitating at the last one, having figured out long ago that the other girls on his team weren't overly fond of alcohol. "It's like a break from each other, a dedicated time for Amethyst to do her running, Misty and Dia to get their solo training in or whatever else and me to sit down and find some good reading."
Another moment passed with the silent contemplation of this idea. It wasn't a bad one by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, even Dia in her rising diligence to get team training in, a commitment that was slowly but surely beginning to be endorsed by Misty due to the impending Vytal Festival. It just seemed like a great compromise, and yet there was just one thing that the team leader had to clarify about the idea.
"You read?" She asked Daff.
"I do," Daff said indignantly.
"Do comics really count as reading?" Misty asked.
The swordsman had to think about that for a second but before he could come up with an answer, he found both himself and the duelist laughing along with a few chuckles from their leader and a smile from the mute member of the team.
"Alright, from the end of class Friday to noon Saturday are free time, but if we're to do this, I expect us all to be ready for an afternoon training session.' Dia explained her condition with an all or nothing air about her and her statement was followed by nods of approval from the rest of the team. A compromise worth taking to heart.
"And now with our lovely team meeting... Who wants breakfast?" Misty asked, "Before we start packing."
Meanwhile, as the cafeteria began filling up with students, above them in the topmost room floor of the academy in the headmaster's office two figures sat across from the headmistress of Shade.
Angel Rain and Shad Sno sat in front of the desk, the sparring teacher leaning back whilst the field medicine teacher sitting up straight with her full attention on her superior.
"So, you want us to take over your role while you go and watch the little brats beat the crap out of each other in the tournament?" Professor Sno asked, a look on his face suggesting he was only a moment away from putting his feet on the headmaster's desk out of ego and spite.
"I will not just be watching the Tournament, Sno." Professor Sang returned leaning forward and putting her hands under her chin. "I will be investigating the threats that Qrow reported and I will be keeping the students safe." She responded with her trademark emotionless voice.
"Be that as it may, this still seems very unconstitutional, are you truly certain it's wise to go poking around in Vale, they take the rule of law much more seriously than Vacuo." Professor Rain said imploringly, the voice of reason and arguably the only rational and sane teacher in Shade, certainly living to her unofficial title.
"Rain, I am not asking for your whining, nor am I asking you to do anything. Right now I am telling you what I am doing and banking on the fact that I know you can't stand to allow the disorder that would reign over this academy should Sno be left in charge without someone holding his leash." The red-clad huntress said whilst the sparring teacher, rather than act indignant at the comment, simply rolled his eyes.
"Now I have some preparations to do, the qualified parties all know to get ready and I will have to follow suit. Dismissed." she finished, getting up and leaving the two professors to ponder the last moments with their boss.
"You know." Sno said, "I wonder how many favors I could get from Bones if I let him build that Rabbit fence in the greenhouses."
"Don't even think about it." Angel responded scathingly.
The hours passed, teams assembling all their belongings until midday when the light travelling team DAMD proved first finished packing.
The team opted to spend this time in an incredibly fruitful pursuit. Minding their own business and entertaining themselves in their dorm room.
"I can't wait until we get to Vale," Misty commented from her position, lying on her bunk bed with her scroll in front of her face.
"Right, you probably miss fighting for the cameras," Daff commented his head deep in his X-Ray and Vav comic
"Oh my, that's the smallest thing... hot showers after training, Daff, it's the best feeling of all time," Misty said with a tone of dreaminess in her voice, even though her eyes weren't lifting from her scroll.
Amethyst was lying on the top bunk with a book in hand, reading over the field medicine chapters that had yet to be assigned, a worthwhile waste of time in her mind considering first aid was the particular subject that she was a true novice at. Her eyes being the only part of her, she had been moving and drowning out the conversation her teammates had been partaking in only to be pulled when her name was called.
The feline girl rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself off the bunk so her head and upper chest were over the edge and she was looking at Misty who had called her.
"So Amethyst, you ready for the tournament?" The duelist asked.
Amethyst hesitated for a second, cameras spooked her to no end, they meant a face was put to memory and that was something she had no experience with. It was a part of her that went so far as to be the power of her soul, the ability to fade into the background. But regardless, the infectious smile of the Atlas born duelist got through the ice and got the assassin to grin and nod.
"Sweet," Misty said looking back to her scroll and unpausing the video she had been watching. Clearly a replay of one of her old fights, the girl in the video dueling another fighter with a lance. The moment Amethyst got a look at the opponents face however is the moment she felt her heart skip a beat and her grip on the bed to falter almost sending her crashing to the ground.
The face that met her was that of a dog Faunus, with a pair of floppy long ears out of his rustled wine red hair. Motion became a blur as she watched that fighter, a visage that made her think of her friend... "No, Mason is gone and there's nothing you can do about it Amethyst."
The assassin of the team must have been staring blankly for some time in her head because the next thing she heard was a voice of concern mixed with humor from her partner.
"Hey Amethyst, blood's going to start running to your head if you stay like that," Daff joked, but with a definite air of concern in his voice.
The girl in question shook herself from her stupor and pulled herself almost instantly back up onto her bunk shaking her head as if shaking the very thoughts out of her head, a motion that sadly didn't work entirely.
"I can send you the recording if you want Amethyst," Misty offered, "Just one of my recorded fights before coming here,"
"And you are watching it, why?" Dia asked with an unmistakable note of derision in her voice.
"To see how far my skills have progressed, there's no such thing as perfection when it comes to the art of dueling and it's always good to look back and reflect on the mistakes one makes." Misty responded to her partner's comment.
"You put too much thought into it, you hone your reflexes and instincts and let your body carry you to victory," Dia said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.
"And what happens when someone stronger or faster shows up?" Misty asked accusingly.
The words of the first pair of the team were drowned out by the other two. Daff and Amethyst looking at each other and sharing a silent nod, both agreeing it was not worth it to stop their teammate's discussion. It was like they were opposite sides of the same coin, the instinct and the technique.
In that moment a voice came over the intercom.
"All students attending the Vytal Festival, report to the auditorium with the items they wish to take with them." rang out the voice of Professor Sang.
"Well friends and comrades, our destiny of victory lies ahead of us," Misty said smiling as she pulled her suitcase and began walking in front of the others.
Destiny awaited them alright, but unbeknownst to the sweet little hare of Shade, it was a much darker fortune waiting to embrace them.
A/N - So... I'm still alive, and team DAMDs adventures are far from finished, my apologies. I took the break between arcs a chapter early.
So I should be back on track, maybe a day or two extra to get back into the swing of things but for the most part my schedule should be back on track.
Anyway I'll see you lads and lasses next week.
Until Next Time Ashbringer36 Out