XSRA's Flame Chapter 37: Stark Brothers
Xera's POV
I stretched my arms over my head as we all walked out of the ice cream shop. It was a little past midday and the sun was on its way back down to the horizon, casting its orange glow across the city of Vale. The coliseum in the background honestly looked majestic by the way the sun hit it, but that wasn't enough of a distraction for our eminent destruction.
Staring at the scroll in my hand, I contemplated the potential death threats, possibility of actually dying, expulsion, or worst of all losing my access to Ozpin's coffee supply. I shivered at that last thought and re-read the message in my hands for the up-teenth time.
-I'm sorry to inform you that Skyla has officially destroyed yet another ice cream shop. I take full responsibility and will pay for the damages; however I'd like to further push my request for indestructible ice cream machines if at all possible.-
"Whatcha doin?"
I looked up and saw Skyla gazing down at my scroll excitedly. Letting out a strained sigh, I handed the scroll to her as we turned and began walking down the sidewalk. I caught Destiny and Mordant out of the corner of my eye and realized they got caught up in the collateral damage. Giving an apologetic wave to them, I turned back to my partner.
"You know, I think this makes thirteen." I stated, stuffing my hands in my sweatshirt pocket as we walked.
"Thirteen? Has it really been that many?" She asked, still staring at my scroll.
"Mhmm. Although I think you destroyed the one downtown twice. You know, the one by Anna's café. I don't think that guy will see a girl in purple the same way ever again."
She giggled challengingly and extended her arms out to the side, "Are you kidding? I'm going back there tomorrow and you know what, I'll have you with me in case I need backup." She smiled cheerily.
If only she knew.
"I'm sorry Sky, but I can't come with you tomorrow. I'll be busy all day." I responded,adverting my gaze and watching the people walk by on the other side of the street.
"Oh? Got plans with Blakey Boo again?" Skyla teased. I could literally feel her playful gaze on the side of my head.
"No. I need to do this alone." I muttered, bringing my gaze to the ground and watching the sidewalk pass by under me as I walked.
I couldn't see it but I knew my partner was pouting.
"Hey, mind hitting send for me?" I asked, looking over to her out of the corner of my eye. Yup, she was pouting.
She gave it some thought and nodded her head, "Yeah sure." The familiar beep sounded as she hit the send button on my scroll.
"Okay thanks. Now whatever happens will be because you sent the message." I smiled teasingly as I grabbed my scroll from her and put it back in my pocket.
"Hey! No fair! You're the one that typed it!" Skyla whined, kicking the ground as we turned the corner and started walking toward the airship docks.
"But you…" I pointed accusingly as we approached one of the Beacon airships, "…sent it."
She huffed in defeat as we met up with the rest of our group. We all decided to head back to Beacon together and talk about what happened in the arena as we eat.
"Hey guys! Where've you been?" Ruby called out, waving us down.
"Yeah, what's with the delay? I'm hungry!" Rex exclaimed, clutching his stomach in fake pain.
Skyla skipped up and joined the group, "Oh, we were just getting ice cream."
If one would say that just a few words can stop all conversation and strike fear into the hearts of everyone in ear shot, then that would be an understatement. What I just witnessed was pure terror that spread from face to face as I watched amusedly at each person's reaction.
"I-is…is the shop keeper alright?" Pyrrha asked concerned, holding a now unconscious Jaune.
My partner nodded excitedly as she pointed behind her in the general direction of where we came from. "Yup, he's totally not dead or anything."
Pyrrha didn't seem to find any comfort in those words so I elaborated. "He's fine Pyrrha. No need to worry."
"Are you kidding?! How are we not supposed to worry? This is the tenth time this has happened AND IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK!" Weiss exclaimed, frustrated and clenching her fists.
"Actually that would make thirteen." Skyla stated nonchalantly, placing a hand on her chin and looking up in thought.
Yang spoke up as she was rubbing Ruby's back and trying to stop her from shaking more than she already was. "Relax ice queen, it's not as bad as destroying a club or something like that."
Weiss's frustration grew as she glared daggers at Yang. "Relax!? You want me to relax! How can I if I know that this city will be destroyed within a month?!"
"I estimate 2 months actually." Ren corrected.
"Ooooooh! I can make it half a month if you want. Just say the word and the next ice cream shop I see will be pulverized!" Nora cheered, whipping out her massive gleaming hammer and slamming it into the ground. She put her foot on it as she looked off into the distance dramatically, as if she was scouting out her next target.
"I don't think that was the point of this conversation, Nora." Ren stated stoically before placing his hand on Nora's shoulder.
Allix just shook her head as she was sitting down on a nearby bench. "It's one thing to destroy a building on purpose, but it's an entirely different thing to do so accidently without meaning to." She chuckled as she watched the bullhead approach from the distance.
"Yup, you said it!" Sun said in a relaxed tone as he was comfortably sat on the other end of the bench. "You guys shoulda seen what Neptune and I did to a casino a while back." He laughed as he reminisced on the bench.
"That both scares me and excites me. But I'm afraid to ask." I stated.
"Yeah, I wouldn't ask." Sun grinned as he stood up. "Anyway, I'll see you all later. I need to go meet up with good old Neptune again." He waved us goodbye as he walked off.
The bullhead landed as we all bid him farewell and turned to board the airship. I sat next to Blake, her eyes were glued to her current book so she was probably only vaguely aware of the group conversation earlier.
"You know, you still never told me what you plan on doing tomorrow." She said, her amber eyes peaking over the top of her book as she leaned against my shoulder.
I sighed as I leaned back, "There's just some place I need to be."
She hummed in recognition, "And I can't come with you?"
I gently shook my head as I looked over into her eyes, "No. Not yet anyway."
The airship took off and we began our short journey up to Beacon academy, pretty soon we reached our cruise speed and would reach the school within 10 minutes. The flight was uneventful aside from the usual conversations and we landed within no time at all.
We all walked off and decided to head straight to the cafeteria to both celebrate and eat as a group. Most of us didn't make it through to the next bracket but that didn't stop Yang from declaring we celebrate back at Beacon for those that did.
Skyla's POV
It's interesting how many people are happy despite losing something. I for one would probably be upset and kill someone if they got annoying.
But the others in our group that did lose were happy for the others who did make it.
"Eh, maybe I should learn a thing or two from them" I thought.
I walked in line for a meal and came out with a pie instead. Because I'm that awesome.
I took a seat beside Xera and Allix and was across from Weiss who was currently giving me a strange look.
"Where did you get that pie?" She asked.
I shrugged and took a bite, "Lunch lady."
"They give out pies?" Xera asked.
I nodded.
"Oh random question," Ruby began, "I remember you guys talking about how you got together with Jax and explored ancient temples! Did you find anything?"
Xera shrugged while I raised my hand happily.
"I got an ancient artifact!" I exclaimed.
The entire table was all ears to this story, interested in the price or the looks of my artifact.
Slowly, I raised the fork I was eating my pie with and pointed at it.
"I found this fork in there."
Yang's eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"A fork?" She asked.
I nodded. "Yeah! It was on a large pedestal with a spot light on it and I almost died with all those arrow traps protecting it. I thought it was cool looking. Beside it was this golden monkey thing but I thought the fork was so much better." I explained.
"You mean the Ancient Monk lost almost three thousand years ago by the monks of Kerilor?!" Weiss asked slamming her hands down onto the table.
I shrugged, "I guess. Did it have an emerald?"
"Yes!"
"Oh then that's it." I said.
"You could have gotten a priceless artifact that could have been worth millions and instead you got a useless fork?!" Weiss half shouted.
"It's not useless. It makes for a very good eating fork!" I said taking another bite from the pie.
"And that's all it does?" Allix asked skeptically.
I moved the fork around my hands and looked it over curiously. "I guess" I mumbled.
I lifted the half empty pie tin up to scrape the pie crumbs. When I almost reached it, I must have clicked something on the fork because it suddenly shot out into a spear, severing the pie tin and almost hitting Ren in the head. Luckily, he had moved swiftly to the side as if it was an everyday thing.
We stared at the fork in shock before I start cheering.
"My fork is a spear! I've been using a weapon for eating!" I exclaimed.
"Check it out!" I waved it around.
"So you got a spear-fork. What did you and Jax get?" Rex asked Xera.
As if he heard us calling, Jax appeared plopping down in an available seat.
"I got my bowl." he said.
"So you got a fork and you got a bowl. Xera please tell me you didn't get a plate or a spoon." Allix said.
"Nope I didn't get something like that." Xera responded vaguely.
Jax whipped out his bowl and offered the table some gummy bears, "I found my bowl much like Skyla did with her fork spear thingy." He stated casually while snacking from said bowl. "But there was this old guy saying that whatever you put inside it, will be a never ending storage of it. So he said most people chose money."
"And then in the middle of the old man's speech about responsibility, this goofball dropped a single gummy bear in there and boom! Thousands and thousands of gummy bears spill out!" I added.
Everyone burst into laughter.
"I wish I could have seen that!" Yang exclaimed.
"Speaking of seeing, did you see that Zerath dude fight?! Crazy! He totally demolished people!" Rex said, moving his arms around in a rapid manner of recreating the scene.
Anna sunk in her seat slightly but she had to admit, "Yeah, he was a pretty good fighter."
"Aww, come on Anna. You did great! It's not every day you come across a guy like that." Rideat commented, leaning back in his seat.
"Yeah! Wasn't his name Zerath Stark?" I asked slowing to a stop.
Blake's ear twitched from behind her bow as everyone looked towards Xera curiously, a sudden realization dawning upon them.
"Xera. Isn't your last name Stark?" Ruby asked.
Xera looked at them, half unwilling to admit it and half nervous.
"Yeah..." He mumbled quietly
"Are you and that Zerath competitor...related?" Weiss asked looking at him.
A heavy silence settled around our little group, the usual craziness was gone in an instant. Blank kept herself hidden behind her book but her gaze was cast in Xera's direction.
Finally, Xera broke the silence.
"Yes."
Alright, sorry for the short chapter, but this was just going to be something that leads up to the next chapter. Oh, and hey, look at that. Now all his friends know about Zerath. The next chapter will have that mysterious guy in it, you know, that kind of obvious masked and cloaked competitor. Yeah him! And, since he'll be coming up soon, I might as well say that Shadowbane2243 was right on the money with his comment on who he was. That was Dante from 'Hero of Remnant' by andy2396. So, that should be interesting. Anyway, Favorite…Follow…REVIEW…have a good one guys!
Cya :D