"This is a Volkswagen Jetta", Eric ran his along the hood lovingly, "She has a 150 Horsepower, 1.4L Turbo and 40 MPG engine. It's practically a mini R8!"
He turned at the end and made an elaborate gesture toward the car like it was a circus act which only elicited a short applause from Liz. On the other hand, her twin was looking pretty impatience next to an undead who was very distracted with his scroll. They were all gathered on the roof of the dormitory looking at Eric and his short sleeves shirt, khaki pants that were 1 size too big and a pair of running shoes. Alma was in a pair of jeans, a form fitting T-shirt and her usual combat boots while her twin was wearing short shorts with a sleeveless blouse and loafers; her long hair tied into a ponytail. Bach was less proper than the rest of his team with his flip flops, cargo shorts and a big Hawaiian T-shirt. It was abit hot that day.
"Eric, why are we spending our Friday afternoon talking about cars?", Alma tapped her feet impatiently, "We're supposed to be doing team exercises right now..."
"Aren't we already doing this together as a team?", came her sister's bubbly voice.
"This is fine…", Bach chimed in with out looking away from the job listing on his scroll, "…as long as he doesn't start moaning about the interior he can't afford."
"Screw you, Bach."
"Alright, aright", the team leader pinch theb ridge of her nose and sighed, "Just get to the point, Eric."
He nodded and, with a practice motion of his fingers, proceeded to summon tendrils of golden light from the air which began to coalesce into a small bicycle next to the car.
"So as I was saying", he continued, "This is a Volkswagen Jetta and this abomination with wheels is a bike-
"And the sky is blue!"
"Shut up, Bach! Anyway, despite the difference in sizes, I could only make them last for at most three minutes."
"That's the name of your sextape!"
"I swear I'm going to have you executed, Bach!", Eric said through gritted teeth as Liz laughed and Alma rolled her eyes.
"So, are you saying you found a way to extend the duration?", the team leader spoke when the laughers finally die down.
"Yes, kinda, but I need Bach to give me a hand."
"Dude, I don't have any viagra in this bottomless box."
"Kill yourself, Bach", he raised the lantern toward Bach, showing a weak flame inside, "I need you to feed the bonfire, asshole."
"Ahhhh, I see", Bach chuckled as got up and walked toward his friend.
He quickly undid the latch and opened the small hatch to get a closer look to the bonfire within. The small flame was flickering as soon as air flowed into the chamber, threating to fade out and leave behind nothing but the ashes it was resting upon. Bach willed a cluster of souls to his hand and quickly shoved it into the waiting bonfire. The ember swirled into a torrent as with renewed vigor and clashed against the glass, intending to spill out through any crack.
"You know, I've been wondering what kind of souls you use to feed that flame", Liz tilted her head to get a better look at the flame.
"Just some grimm souls", Bach said nonchalantly, "They don't have a lot of things going on in their heads, mostly memories of being hungry, thirsty and fried by Beacon's electric fence."
"Huh."
"So, what the solution?", Alma asked.
"Well, it's not how can make things last longer", Eric picked up a nearby ceramic pot that he'd prepared beforehand, "It's kind of what can last longer than other?"
He put the pot down in front of everyone and stepped back a bit. Slowly, tendrils of lights began sprouting from the dirt, twisting and weaving into one another until the form of a small plant could be seen. With a final flash, the sapling solidified with a full complement of leaves, bark and roots.
"This tree can stay solid for longer?", Liz asked as the car and the bike dissolved behind Eric.
"Yes..."
"For how long?", Alma was looking intrigued.
"That's the thing...I don't know", Eric scratch his head, "I got bored and made a tree yesterday in front of the dorm and it's still there, right now, in the garden."
"Hmm..."
They all went silent for a moment, trying figure out what was different between the tree and every other objects made by Eric. They even look over the railing to check the tree Eric plant in the front yard to see if there was anything in common between the two that was out of the ordinary. Alas, aside from them being the same kind of tree, there was nothing special about them.
"Have you tried checking the soil?", Liz spoke up first.
"What?"
She pointed at the pot which made the rest of the team realize that the dirt inside had already turned into sand. Bach immediately pulled out a pair of old bronze binocular to take a closer look at the tree in the yard, its roots specifically.
"Yep, there's also sand around that thing's root", he turned around and check Eric's lantern which was already housing a very weak ember inside.
Bach promptly refueled the bonfire before telling everyone to take a step back from the potted plant. With a flick of his finger, he summoned a small fireball in his hand.
"What are you trying to do?", Alma asked.
"Following the scientific method and testing my hypothesis", he shrugged before throwing it at the small plant, "If this works, Eric is going to be a mother."
To almost everyone's surprise, the fireball didn't burn the tree immediately. Instead, the flame danced on its leaves for a few second before being literally sucked into the barks and left behind a slightly bigger and healthier plant. Then, the leaves began to spew out small embers around its edges while its roots were beginning to spill out of the clay pot.
"What did you do?", Liz was looking quite amazed by the fireproof plant.
"More like what did Fina do...", he turned to his friend, "I guess she'd just made you the new witch of Izalith."
"You're not making sense, Bach", Alma frowned as things got more confusing.
"Ok quick history then", Bach took a deep breath, "There's this flame, call it First Flame Jr., it creates life and stuffs. Then one day, a lady fucked it up, now it only spits out demons and turning other people into demons. The demons are also pretty hot, literally since they're on fire all the time and also figuratively if you're the adventurous type.
Well, its main thing used to be making up stuffs and a pseudo bonfire; it's a part of the First Flame after all", Bach clicked his tongue, "I think it's part of your soul now."
"So what? I'm some kind of demon making machine now?"
"I don't know, you need a lot of fuel for that though, and no way I'm giving you that much", the answer made Eric let out a sigh of relieve, "The thing that's puzzling me is why the three minutes on everything else."
"Because a car isn't a living thing and can't feed itself?", Liz suggested.
"Hmmm...", Bach tapped his chin, "that… actually…make a lot of sense."
"Well, can't leave these demon trees around", Alma turn her gaze from the tree on the yard to the flaming plant, "Someone could get hurt."
"I don't know, I think this one is kinda cute", Liz picked up the plant and staring the flames on its leaves, dancing like candles in the wind.
"Really?", Eric said with a smile on his face and the pride in his voice.
"Can we keep it?"
"Like a pet?", Alma raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty please?"
Alma looked at the her sister's puppy dog eyes then to the small burning tree which was looking quite amusing its two tiny flaming leaves at the top. The thing was even bobbing from side to side slightly as the wind blew across the roof.
"Alright, alright", the slightly older faunus sighed, "But you're responsible for it, okay? You and Eric."
Liz and Eric nodded profusely as the leader pinched her nose bridge. Bach gave the big tree below a quick glace before turning back to the team.
"Guess I'll go chop the big one tonight", he shrugged.
"Guess so…", Alma gave her approval then look at the fiery plant in her twin arms, "How are you two going to water or…feed that thing?"
"It grew when Bach threw a fireball…"
"Nah, Bach's gonna forget to feed it…", Eric shook his head.
"Well, if you have such little faith in me, how about…", the undead held out one of his hand with a bit of flair like a magician, "…I teach you two the way of FIRE!"
As the words left his mouth, a fiery geyser sprouted from his palm for several seconds before he closed his hand and extinguished it. His fingers opened again to reveal a small flame flickering which wasn't burning his hands at all, a fact that still amazed Liz even now.
"People can actually learn this?", Alma was looking quite skeptical
"Just some of the basic first, so I don't have to take care of the plant", he extended the flaming palm, "C'mon, anyone who wants to have a try, hold out your hand."
Liz put the plant down and reached out excitingly, quickly followed by Eric and finally Alma who looked a bit reluctant before thrusting out her hands. Bach proceed to hovered his palm over each of theirs, leaving behind a small ember burning in each one. Eric flinched when the fire was put in his hands but soon realized that it didn't burn but instead gave off quite the comfortable warmth.
"Aww, I know you like Franky", Liz smiled at her twin.
"No, I just want to learn his flame thingy", her denial didn't sound very convincing, "and shouldn't I get a say in naming it?"
"It's called Pyromancy", Bach chuckled and took a deep breath, "And EVERYBODY LINE UP!"
Hearing the sudden drill sergeant voice, the trio was spooked into a line and turned to face the team's undead who was already holding an angular shield made out black metal. A pair of stone pants was also being pulled out from his right pocket.
"Is that really necessary, Bach?", Eric asked.
"We're dealing fire and possible explosion", Bach said as he pulled Havel's legging up to his waist, "Y'all need to do some testing to gauge the potential damages."
"By throwing fireballs at you?"
"Yes, you are", Bach snapped the armor inner belt in place, "I just got the bill for the broken dummies last night and by Buddha's sagging tits, I don't want to be responsible for any more property damages."
"OKAY….", Liz hollered, "Let's get to how am I going to use this flame in my hand."
Bach nodded and promptly got into a firm stance with his shield raised while beckoning Liz to take position in front of him. Everyone else took a seat on one of the ventilation pipes.
"Right, its mostly your instinct but try imagining your souls as a great ball of energy", he began to repeat the words of a long dead pyromancer in his head, "then let that energy course through your vein toward your flame. Feed it with power but hold it back with your mind, compress in to the orb in your hand."
As he talked, Liz focused her eyes on the fire before her as she willed her souls according to his words. Her aura flows towards the fire and the girl began to feel a strange pressure as her mind tried to hold it within the imagine barrier that she put up around it. She looked at Bach as the fire began to feel uncontrollable and he nodded with his shield ready. Liz drew her arm and threw the fireball. It crashed against the black metal and the resulting explosion was only the size of a soccer ball.
"Aw, it thought it'll be bigger", Liz stomped her feet lightly.
"Well, A. that literally what she said, and B. that's good enough", Bach wave his hand to clear the air of smoke, "If the plant is going to be in our room, I wouldn't recommend huge explosion."
"Ok", she shrugged and went back in line for Eric to take his turn.
The whole process repeated as the firekeeper got in front of the raised shield, spent few seconds focusing and threw a fireball. The explosion this time was a bit bigger, even forcing the undead to take a step back to keep his balance. However, the cloud of smoke left behind this time was a lot thicker and the carvings on the black shield also lit up like embers for a while. After a few more tries, everyone agreed that Eric shouldn't be feeding the plant unless they want to trigger the fire alarm on a daily basis. Alma was the next.
"Hey, Bach", her eyes stared at the ember in her palm as she stood in front of the undead.
"Yeah?"
"In that list you gave me, didn't you say emotion affect pyromancy power?"
"That ability list? Yeah…well, they say pyromnacy strength depends on your instinct and I think emotion is a major part of it, kinda like how you perform better when you're confident."
"So if I was angry, the fireball is going to be bigger, right?"
"Well any strong emotion would do but yeah, anger would do."
"Pissed me off then."
Bach turned at Eric and Liz, who was equally confused as him, then back to the Alma who was wearing an expectant look on her face. He clicked his tongue and let his gaze drifted for a bit, trying to make some sense out of the weird and sudden request.
"Are you…"
"I know what I said, Bach, just remind me of something infuriating."
"Okay, sure…remember when our team was almost put on probation cause I sent Cardin to the infirmary for a week?"
"I actually felt pretty good about that. The guy was a douche."
"How about the time your white clothes got mixed with the colored stuff in the washing machine?", Liz chimed in from her seat.
"That was…quite annoying…"
"How about that time I accidently mixed your white blouse with my laundry?"
"That was my blouse, Bach", Liz deadpanned.
"To be fair, you two have wear the same size...and is this working, I think?"
"No, but it's getting annoying", Alma placed a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight from one leg to another, impatiently.
"Maybe we should tell something she didn't know?", Eric suggested.
"No. No. Nooooo, if you're thinking what you're thinking then stop thinking it, mate."
"It's not like you're selling them anymore", there was this wide grin on Eric's face.
"Selling what? What are you two talking about?", the team leader spun back and forth between Bach and Eric, trying to make sense of the exchange.
"Nothing impor-
"He sells booze to the first years", with a raised finger, Liz stopped Bach from dismissing the topic, "Well…used to, he had to stop when extra Atlesian securities and surveillance came in on Monday."
"He's been doing this since when?"
"After the first week of the semester", Eric stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Before now, who else knows about this?", the faunus asked slowly, the restraint in her voice was straining.
"Pretty much every student in Beacon…", Bach was trying to hide as much of himself as possible behind the shield, "…except you."
"I think it's working", Liz whispered to Eric who was trying his best to hide the smile creeping up on his face.
Frowning, Alma slowly turned to the ember in her hands. It was now a roaring inferno, constantly crashing against the invisible barrier built by her mind. She smiled wryly at the flame and turned to give Bach such the dirty look that he found his himself gripping the shield as if it was a lifeline. Alma drew back her arms like a professional baseball player and threw the best pitch she'd ever done, at least according to Liz and Eric. The crowd went wild and Bach could only manage a curse in his mother tongue before the fireball crashed into the blackened shield.
"You are all young adults here, so I'll only say it once", Glynda glared at the whole of team JNPR and RWBY who was caked in all kind of food, "No. More. Food. Fight. Or else, you'll b-
A loud boom interrupted the lecture and made the combat instructor looked out the large glass panel of her office, toward the column of smoke on the dormitory roof. She sighed audibly before stomping her way behind the desktop monitor to start flipping through the security feeds.
"Oh my…", Pyrrha cover her mouth with a face full of concerned.
"Did you mess with my dust containers again?", Weiss whipped her head around to Ruby.
"No, I did not", the girl protested then tap her indexes together nervously, "…well…maybe…"
"That wasn't any of you…", the professor exhale sharply as she leaned against the table with her elbows and buried her head in her hand.
Before any of the students in the room could hear the low groaning behinds her palms, Glynda's scroll rang, drawing everyone's eyes to it. The teacher leered at it with one eye through her finger for a few second before picking it up with a frustrated sigh. She swallowed quickly and answered.
"This is Glynda Goodwitch speaking…yes, Kozlov, I think everyone saw it…it's team ABEL…I'll come over th- I see…I'll let you handle this then…", she finally hang up, sighed and turned to the food-covered students, "You can go for now, I will send your disciplinary action later."
After all members of the two teams had finally left, Glynda slumped back on her chair and began to pulled up bunch of documents on her desktop, all were templates for damage reports. Low grumbling about student management and salary could be heard as she filled in the forms on her computer.
Lisbet blinked once, twice and for a third time before the world stopped blurring around her vision like a messed up oil painting. She tried to shake away the ringing in her ears before pushing herself up to a sitting position to look around for her teammates and her sister. Eric was found crawling right next to her, having also been knocked down from their seat on the ventilation shaft. The faunus reach out and help him up before both looked over the metal shaft.
Alma was on the floor, leaning against her arms with all of her upper body while her jaw was agape with a mixture of shock and awe. She was laying in front a huge scorch mark on the floor with a thick column of black smog rising up toward the sky, reaching at least 7 meters. However, Bach, who was at the center of the blast, was nowhere to be found.
"Holy…Shit…", Eric blurted out.
"Did you just vaporize Bach?", Liz asked, trying to process what just happened.
"I…don't…know."
"Wait…over there!"
Liz pointed toward two parallel skid marks on the ground, passed the dissipating smoke, starting from the center of the explosion. As air cleared up even further, the three was able to see that the lines led to a broken section of the roof railing, seemingly bent outward as if torn apart by a projectile. They looked at each other for a brief moment before getting up and scrambling toward the railing.
Although there were a lot of student looking back at them from the courtyard, there was no sign of Bach being tossed down, not even a splash of blood on the green grass. However, as what's left of team ABEL tried to squint harder, their scroll began to vibrate in their pockets. Looking at the screen, they found a new message in their team group chat.
Straight Down
Straight below where they were stand was an old brick building extending from the ground floor like a half-circle bulge covered in moss. The half-cone that roof was made up of neatly arranged red tiles which stood out from the more modern dormitory. However, there was a large hole in the orderly rows roof tiles in which a pair of stone boots could be seen. It seemed that the railing had broken Bach flight path into a 90 degrees turn straight down toward the building below. Another message quickly followed.
Alma, either you got talent or issues, or both.
"Wait…", Liz spoke before they could all breathe a sigh of relieve, "…that's the forge."
"The quartermaster's master forge?", Alma double checked the building, "Oh dust! It is."
"I think we need to get back in our room…", Eric's eyes darted around nervously, "…and act like we're never a part of this."
"What about Bach?", Alma protested, "We can't just leave him there."
"Sister, please, we've just knocked a hole in Kozlov's Kingdom", Liz pulled her twin away from the railing.
Alma finally relent with a sigh and all three living member of team ABEL ran as fast as they could.
Good luck
"Good luck?", Bach raised an eye at the screen in his only free, wondering why his friends sent him that.
He was crushed under an amalgamation of broken support beam, metal robot arms and what seemed to be weapons. It was the painful predicament as he had no aura to stop some of the sword, daggers and broken metal from impaling a few holes in his body, where he didn't bother to wear any upper armor. He couldn't even pull some of them out due to the debris so it was pointless to reach for his unreachable estus.
"At least it was as bad as the damn initiation ritual", he mumbled.
Bach craned his neck to looked around the room he was in to hopefully distract himself from the crappy situation until the rest of ABEL was there to pull him out. He was surrounded by a plethora of both traditional and modern smithing tools arrange in workstations positioned in a semi-circle in front of a large industrial furnace. Each of these stations includes a large anvil, a set of hammers, a set of tongs, large robotic utility arms that extend from the ceiling, a solid metal table and a large water trough.
"...fucking…hell…", Bach finally realized where he was and let his head leaned back the ground in resignation.
He quickly heard the door opened and a thick Russian like accent bellow through the air.
"Look who's decided to drop by my little shop."