Author's Note: I know I still have two more finals to go, but as a treat, I will upload this chapter now. This is the day we've been waiting, the first day of the Vytal Festival Tournament!
-Chapter 29-
Day of the Festival! First Round!
The sky was orange as the leaves were red. Several crows flew by through the orange sky. Ruby stood in front of someone's grave, smiling downward at it, although looked kind of sad, too.
"Hey, mom." She said, lowering her hood. "Sorry that I haven't visited by in a while."
The grave had an inscription that says "Summer Rose – Thus Kindly I Scatter."
"Things have been…well things have been pretty busy. Oh! Dad's here, too, but he is…you know…uh, Dad." She shrugged. "He's still teaching at Signal, but he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you."
She then looked at her mother's graveyard sadly. "I miss you, too."
"But, good news is I haven't gotten kick out of Beacon…yet! So, that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helped a lot. Keep her in line…that was a joke. She's actually a great fighter! You can tell that she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss, Blake, and Ellix. Oh! They are my teammates! Together, we form Team RWBYE! And yes, before you ask, that does a cause a lot of confusion. It pronounced like my name, but some people say it like "Ruw bye" or something similar. And, yes before you ask, well again, Ellix is the only guy in our team, but no funny business! He is just my friend and good teammate. He's really strong, too and I think I have a feeling there is something going on between him and Yang if you know what I mean. Just don't tell Dad about that."
She giggled to herself, and then looked at her grave again. "Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends and then I met some…well, let's just say, odd teachers. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: 'like mother, like daughter.' I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. It is the same for Ellix, and he had no experience when he came in to Beacon, but he learned a lot ever since we form into Team RWBYE. He's a real fast learner! But, anyway, I guess Professor Ozpin will tell me and Ellix the reason someday. Funny that the more I get to know him, the more he's sounding like Uncle Crow."
Suddenly, a bark was heard from behind her when she noticed it was Zwei and her father.
"Oh! Looks like Dad's back! I gotta go! He's dropping me off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on to his next mission. Wish me luck!" Ruby put on her hood and walked away, but she turned and said one more message, "It was good to talk."
She then jogged back to her family as a group of crows fly by.
Transitioning to a new scene, crowds were cheering in the stands as several cameras broadcasted live the match, so people around the world can watch the tournament. In the arena, it was a field of icicle, frozen glaciers and volcanic earth. My teammates fought against our opponent, Team ARBN from Haven Academy.
At the sportscaster's desk, two familiar teachers were making comments on the current action going on in the arena as they speak through their microphones.
"Well, well! This is another astonishing and exciting match in this wonderful 40th annual Vytal Festival!" Professor Port stated. "Wouldn't you agree, Professor Oobleck?"
"It's Doctor." Dr. Oobleck said, annoyed, but then changed his mood. "And yes Peter, I think it's safe to say that this match may be the closest we seen of the four-on-four round of the tournament!"
"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum!" Port said through his mic. "And, if this is your first time watching, allow us to break down the rules."
"The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds; teams, doubles, and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant! In this tournament, your only attribute being tested…is skill." Dr. Oobleck explained.
"The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round, followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!" Professor Port exclaimed.
Dr. Oobleck pushed up his glasses and said, "And yes, Peter, these certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to spectate on! I don't think anyone tuning in around the world is going to disagree with me on that!"
Ahh, and why would they?" Professor Port said, looking perplexed, but then changed to his happy self. "Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBYE of Beacon, and Team ABRN, of Haven."
Back to the match itself, the girl with green hair and blue sweater named Reese steered her hover-board through the ice as she twirled herself until her board got launch at Blake, but she was able to knock it away, but only for Reese to direct it back at her.
Meanwhile, Yang was fighting against her opponent, Arsian, who was a girl with curly hair like a cotton candy and dark skin. She was posing and doing some kind of kung-fu moves. They collided with their fists against each other. However, Arsian used her rope dart to tangle up my teammate and landed a kick to send Yang skidding on the ground to the other side of the arena, where she slipped on the icy floor. Yang tried to get her balance right, but Arsian rushed forward and knocked her back further.
Nearby, Nadir Shiko, who was a male fighter with a pink hair, took this as an opportunity to aim at Yang with his assault rifle before he was interrupted unexpectedly by a burst of cold blue explosion behind him.
"Got your back, sis!" Ruby exclaimed.
"But, who's got yours?" She turned to see the last member of the opposing team, Bolin.
He twirled his staff, ready to fight Ruby when a black snowflake glyph appeared to his left and Weiss kicked him through it to a rock.
"My BFF!" Ruby shouted.
"No." Weiss replied as she ran off.
"Yes." Ruby whispered to herself as she pumped her fist.
My teammates fought Team ARBN, but they were very good fighters that they were equally matched.
"My, my! This match is possibly the most exciting one ever! Team RWBYE and Team ARBN are head to head, and none of them have fallen yet!" Professor Port exclaimed.
"Indeed, Peter, but according to the display, each of the four members of Team RWBYE's aura level are lesser than the aura level for the members of Team ARBN! As of now, it seems that Team ARBN has advantage over RWBYE!"
Ruby, and the girls gathered together standing side by side as they panted heavily.
Team ARBN were standing together side by side as well.
"Hmph! It looks like we are equally matched!" Bolin stated.
"However, it is us that will win and move on to doubles round!" Reese said determinedly.
"You guys are good, but it is us who will win!" Yang fist pawned together.
"Yeah! We will never go down!" Ruby yelled, although looking quite tired.
Team ARBN rushed forward when they were stopped by a rapid blast of energy bullet coming from the side, in-between them and the girls.
"Don't forget about me, guys!"
They all looked up to see me, crossing my arms and standing on the top of a hill, which was half volcanic and half icy.
"Oh yes!" Professor Port remembered. "Unlike any teams in this tournament, Team RWBYE has their fifth member fighting in!"
"That's right, folks! In the history of Beacon Academy and possibly in any academies around the world, Team RWBYE is the first team of five students! Folks, please welcome their fifth member, Mr. Ellix Knight!"
The crowds cheered loudly as I jumped off from the hill.
"Ellix!" Ruby yelled.
"What!? We're fighting 5 fighters all this time!?" Bolin gasped.
"Is this even legal!?" Nadir questioned.
"If you folks out there thinking this is unfair, then let me say to you all obviously; R, W, B, Y, and E. What that spells; Team RWBYE, that's what!" Professor Port stated.
"Like what we said before and what my colleague here is trying to say right now, Team RWBYE is a team of five, and since this round is team round, it is perfectly allowed!" Dr. Oobleck added.
"It does not matter! We will take them down, all of them!" Arsian exclaimed.
I looked at my teammates as they looked at me, relieved except for Weiss, who was pouting as waved her index finger at me.
"Were you watching us fight all this time!?" Weiss yelled, scolding at me.
"Kind of." I said back at her. "I was just waiting at the right time. Now…"
I looked at Team ARBN as they looked at me.
"Now, it's Ellix's time!" I said as I posed with my sword out. I always wanted to say that, just like how Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles did when he was first introduce in Smash!
We all rushed forward to the center of the arena. Nadir used his assault rifle, shooting at me, but I blocked them by using my shield barrier as I rushed forward when I was stopped by Arsian. I somersaulted back and rushed forward with my gauntlet in its punching mode.
Arsian dodged to the side and jabbed me at my chest as I faulted back, but I resisted the pain. I summoned out my sword, attacking her back. However, she dodged every of my move.
Before she made a move, I got a vision. She was about to do the same trick, this time making me trip. The vision stopped there. She was about to do that trick, but by focusing, I teleported, surprising her when I strike back from behind with a punch on the back.
"Oof!" She got back, and countered back at me with a kick, but I easily dodged to the side, grabbed her leg, and threw her away to the out of the arena.
"Well, that was nice! Arsian is out of the ring, meaning she can't proceed to fight back!" Professor Port said.
"Dang it! I lost my cool!" Arsian moaned.
Meanwhile, my teammates were taking care of the rest of Team ARBN. Weiss used her power to freeze the three members as they were trapped in a ball made of ice. Once it rolled to Yang, she punched so hard that it broke into many pieces, sending the entrapped members of Team ARBN flying out of the rings.
The buzzer sounded as Ruby cheered in the background.
"Yes!" Yang cheered.
"And that's the match! Team RWBYE is victorious!" Professor Port declared as the crowds cheered in the excitement.
"We…did it?" Weiss asked, looking around and sounding surprised.
"WE DID IT!" Ruby jumped in the air joyfully. I looked around as I listened to the cheers of the crowd, waving at them for our victory.
We got out of the Colosseum and went to the ground near the academy.
"Is anyone starving?" Ruby asked, hunching over with her hands on her stomach.
"I may have worked up an appetite." Blake said, looking calm as ever until her stomach growled like a monster, much to her embarrassment.
"My stomach and I agree with your stomach, Blake. Let's get something to eat." I said, rubbing my stomach as it growled too, but not as loud as Blake's stomach.
"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here." Weiss shrugged her arms sarcastically.
"It's okay, Weiss. I forget about the fairgrounds, too." Ruby said, taking her shoulder, but she knocked Ruby's arm away from her.
"I was being facetious?" She replied.
"Gah! Well if you were hungry, why didn't you say so!?" Ruby freaked out.
"Come on! I know just the place." Yang said as we followed her.
While following her, Weiss stopped and checked her Scroll. She glared at it, looking displeased as she put it back, not answering it.
"Hey! Might be hard to eat without this!" A familiar voice called us from behind us.
We looked around, revealing to be Emerald as she was holding up a wallet. Ruby panicked as she frantically checked all of her pockets.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
"Good to see you, Ruby." Emerald laughed.
Ruby went up to her and took the wallet back from her and putted it away. "Oh! Thanks, Emerald! Oh. Guess I dropped it. Girl pockets are the worst!"
"What's up, Em?" Yang greeted.
"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome! And…" Emerald said, then looking at me specifically. "You came out of nowhere, Ellix! That was heck of a cool intro!"
I blushed a little and said, "Well, I thought it was kind of little bit…dorky."
"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Blake said.
"You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates." Weiss stated, pondering in thought.
"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.
Emerald titled her head up in thoughts until she came back reality. "Really well."
"That's great. Uh. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together." Ruby suggested to her.
"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." She looked back at Mercury, who was sniffing the inside of a boot, looking perplexed at it. "…introverted. Really socially awkward."
"Ooh, yeah, I could see that." Yang nodded.
"Yeeaahh." I nodded, too.
"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald wondered out loud.
"Well, as the great leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision…"
"We put it to a vote." Weiss stated out loud.
Ruby looked nervously as she backtracked. "Yes, so, but I decided to put it to a vote."
"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake said.
"I will happily represent Team RWBYE." Weiss curtsied proudly.
"Yeah, we're going to kick some butt!" Yang said, pounding her fists together.
"And we are thinking Ellix go to singles round, but we are still undecided on that." Ruby said.
"I see! Well, if Merc and I see you down the line, we won't go easy on you." Emerald laughed.
"Wouldn't have it in any other way!" Yang smirked confidently back at her, so for Weiss.
"Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights." Emerald said as she turned and walked away from us.
"Have fun!" Ruby said happily, waving at her.
"See you later!" Emerald replied as she waved back at Ruby before turning back around again.
We went to a food stand that Yang was talking about. We sat on our chair. The stand owner was that same store owner of Dust Till Dawn.
"The bowl of usual, please." Yang said as a huge bowl of noddle popped in front of her.
"Uh! I want the same one please." Ruby stated as another bowl appeared in front of her.
"Is there one with less fat and salt…" As Weiss was saying her order, the bowl of noddle passed to her. "Okaaaayy…"
Blake nodded to the owner as he nodded back. He rushed into the kitchen and came out from the other door with a bowl of fishes, presenting in front of Blake. She drooled at the feast in front of her as her eyes sparkled.
"I think I will have the spicy flavor one." I said. The owner quickly cooked up a bowl and gave it to me.
Weiss gave him the card.
"Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion!?" Yang asked surprisingly.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." She said until her joy was crush when the owner showed that her card was declined.
"What!? How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!"
Blake looked around panicking as she attempted to slide the bowl of fishes closer to her until it was taken away by the owner. "Noo!"
"Maybe I could help?" A familiar female voice said. We turned to our side, seeing Pyrrha and rest of Team JNPR.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Aw, you don't have to…" Yang shucked.
"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.
After that, we were quite stuffed. Nora gave a huge burp. Surprisingly, Blake did the same as her day dreamed about the fishes.
"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked to Pyrrha.
"Of course! It'll give us energy!" Pyrrha said determinedly as the shopkeeper took all the bowls away.
"Yes. Eating food before the fight will help you, but you outsiders should've eaten something lighter."
My team and I looked to our right while Team JNPR looked straight ahead. Approaching to us was Kuro, Kojiro, and Aki.
"Yo! Kuro, Kojiro, and Aki, you guys are here!" Ruby cheered.
"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Ellix, it is so nice to meet you all again!" Aki said happily.
"Yo ho ho ho! It is pleasure to meet you all again since last week." Kojiro laughed.
"It's great to see you guys again." I said, grinning.
"What's up, guys!" Yang waved at them.
"Pleasure to meet you all again." Weiss said.
"Who are these guys?" Pyrrha asked.
"They are our friends from the village of Human and Fanus we went to. They are Kuro, Aki, and Kojiro." Yang explained to JNPR.
"Oh! So, you guys are the people we heard about it from RWBYE!" Ren remembered.
"It is pleasure to meet you. I am Aki." Aki introduced to Team JNPR by bowing down to them.
"Yes, yes we are, but I am not interested you silly outsiders anyway, except for you, Blake Belladonna." Kuro said, glaring at Blake.
"You have not changed a bit." Blake replied in a serious tone, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I smelled your fish a mile away, so I decided to see what's up and here I found you." Kuro sneered. "I saw your fight and I got to say…it was not bad, but it lacks a thing here and there."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake growled at him. Both of them stared at each other like two cats ready to get into a fight.
"By the way, you mentioned about eating lighter or something…" Jaune said.
"Ah, yes. You outsiders are such a pig, but that explains how Ellix and Yang ate when they stayed at our academy. And here I thought the other students at this Bacon Academy are strong, but I guess I was wrong."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at Kuro, slamming her hands on the stand. "And to correct you, it is Beacon, not Bacon."
"Bacon? Where!?" Nora jumped in excitement.
"No, Nora. He incorrectly said our school name 'Bacon' when he meant to say Beacon." Ren explained.
"Ooohhh, but I would like to have some bacon by now." Nora moaned.
"Can we not say bacon too much?" I might barf." Jaune said, holding his mouth.
Kuro just laughed. "Exactly proving my point!"
"Kuro, don't be rude to everyone!" Aki scolded to him.
"Whatever." Kuro shrugged. "Anyway, our fight will start soon after a Team called SSSN or whatever goes. Hopefully, some teams from other academies are strong as they claim to be. I recommend you, Blake Belladonna and your friends if they want to, to watch our fight. It will be more spectacular than how you outsiders fight. See ya around."
He walked away, leaving us and his fellow teammates.
"Wait up, Kuro." Kojiro said before he turned back around to face us. "Yo ho ho! We will meet again."
Kojiro chased after Kuro, catching up to him. Aki turned to us and said, "Sorry, guys about Kuro's altitude. He…is no that kind to anyone who's not from our village."
"He's sure was friendly." Ren said sarcastically.
"Again, I am very sorry." Aki apologized, bowing down to us.
"Oh, no, no, no! You don't have to apologize like that, Aki." Ruby said, waving her hands panicking.
"Yes, like Ruby said. It is that partner of yours who should apologize." Pyrrha stated seriously.
"Exactly." Blake nodded.
"I know, but please forgive him. He does not take kindly to people not from our village." Aki said. "Well, I got to catch up with my team. I wish you all good luck in this tournament. See you again very soon."
She turned and ran up to chase her team.
"So wait, why was he like saying your full name, Blake?" Jaune asked curiously.
"Oh, she and Kuro are like rival." Yang explained.
"Very pesky one I have to say." Weiss said, crossing her arms.
"Well." Pyrrha said. "I hope you show him lesson, Blake, when you fight him."
"Don't worry, Pyrrha. I will make sure he will pay back." Blake said calmly, yet determinedly.
Woah, tension is already high and today is still the first day!
"Would Team JNPR report to the battlegrounds immediately!" Professor Port announced through the speaker.
"Yes! Like they were scheduled, several minutes ago!" Dr. Oobleck added.
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha said. "Wish us luck."
Team JNPR walked away, although Jaune still looked queasy.
"Go get them!" Ruby cheered.
Shortly afterward, he headed to the Coliseum through one of its tunnels and headed to our seats. Emerald and Mercury were walking behind us, but went to the left as we went to the right. Yang glanced at them when she turned around.
I noticed her and said, "Hey, Yang. What's wrong?"
"Hmph?" She hummed, looking at me. "Nothing, Ellix."
We found a perfect seat for us, sitting down as the match was about to begin.
Meanwhile, Emerald and Mercury were sitting at their seat, with Mercury eating on a large cup of popcorn
"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury said while munching on his snack.
"Tch. As if we didn't already know." Emerald snickered.
"Oh, come now." Cinder said from behind them. "Even if you know how the story ends, that doesn't make it less fun to watch." She took a kernel from Mercury's bucket, her eyes glowing in red with her fingertip and the kernel popped into popcorn, which she ate and enjoyed it.
"Hello again, folks! The moment has arrived! It is now Team JNPR of Beacon Academy versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" Professor Port announced to the crowds
The crowds cheered, but we cheered louder for our friends.
As each team readied their poses, the surrounding arena transformed. One half became a gray mountain with small rocky outcropping while the other half turned into a land of green pine trees, forming a small forest.
"Three, two, one, begin!"
Both teams launched forward at each other.
Author's Note: And that is that. I still have two more exams coming, but like I said, this is a treat and please expect more after I finish the rest of my exams. Again like the previous chapter, thank you for everyone who answered the QOTC. I don't have any special QOTC for this chapter, unfortunately, but any constructive criticism is always welcomed or a simple comment. Anything you want to say as long as it is appropriate is OK to me! I want to give credits to Roosterteeth for well done in the series and also credits to RWBY wikia for the character dialogue. This chapter is based on the first episode for Volume 3.
Next times in Tales of Ellix Knight, it is Kuro, Aki, and Kojiro's turn to fight! See you guys again soon.
