Volume 8, Episode 5: Snow White With Fight

CRASH!

"Uhhhhhh….."

Waking up quickly, I get up and draw Blizzard, my rapier and circular shield.

"HAA….Huh?"

I walk around cautiously. No one's there.

"Okay, where am I?" I ask myself. "I don't recognize these parts of where I live. Assuming I wasn't taken too far from home, of course."

As I begin my way across a wooden narrow bridge, I hear something.

"So, you have arrived."

I whirl around to see that Rozu Shuni samurai girl on the opposite side of the bridge. She readies her katana as I prepare a battle stance of my own.

"I bested you once, Child Of The Cold." Rozu Shuni says. "Yet you challenge me to combat once more?"

"If you dare imprison a figure of royalty," I taunt back. "Their blood will do all in its power to return them home! Mother and I will make you pay for this!"

I charge at her and we clash swords.

"Such a simple boy."

Rozu Shuni throws me over, winning the clash in her favor. I hit the bridge with an "UMPH!".

"Surrender now." Rozu Shuni orders. "Besting me is impossible. I am your better in every way. Much like your brother."

Her words trigger a flashback.

Yesterday

I practice more and more forms of swordplay, whether shield requiring or not. These are all the forms Jaune Arc taught me. Mei taught me some new forms, so I plan to teach myself forms I don't know yet.

"Interesting." My mother, Weiss, says upon entering and seeing me. "I don't remember Jaune, Mei, or myself teaching you that form of swordplay."

"I mean no disrespect, Mother. My teachings under Jaune and Mei may have ended, but my training overall has only just begun. Whether from others or not, I gain more and more experience by the day."

"Yes. And in time, the world will know how great you are." Mother replies. She then gestures to my weapon. "The sword you wield is as sharp as ice, and your shield can block even the most chaotic of blizzards. However, the ice that freezes your weapons and Semblance can also freeze your mind and heart. You must control this power so that it never controls you. If you, the voice of reason, are silenced, then your team will fall."

As she leaves, I smile.

Without four, a team is forever incomplete, but never defeated.

"Heh. I can do this all day." I say while getting up. Rozu Shuni and I continue to fight. "So, you think you and your sis got me, my brother, and my cousins all figured out, huh?"

After a while, we leap to opposite sides of the bridge.

"Well, here's something you might have missed."

I begin to freeze up my end of the bridge.

"When it comes to keeping my cool and actually using my reason, I've been practicing!"

I stomp on the ice, shattering the bridge and making it fall. Noticing, Rozu Shuni latches onto the cliff with her katana.

"You are smarter than I gave you credit for." Rozu Shuni says through her silver samurai mask.

"You got that right." I smile as I head off. "Well, it's been fun, but I've got mothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, and a brother I need to get back to."

However, I can't help but feel like Rozu Shuni and Beradonna Shaorongu are somewhat familiar. And I think I know what she's thinking.

Three down, one to go.