Chapter 14
The annoyingly insistent call of the alarm clock heralded the arrival of a new day. Fastidiously Ella turned it off and looked: 7 AM. Time enough for her to do her morning routine and have a hearty meal to get her ready for today's classes, which started two hours later. So she got out of bed, started with a few stretches…
Then her nostrils were suddenly flooded by the smell of food being cooked, and it was such a delicious scent that her mouth watered. After a moment's struggle she resisted the temptation to investigate on the spot and managed to hold her curiosity at bay until she was done with her routine. After that, she went out the door to see who was cooking at this hour in the morning… only to see the Doll in a maid outfit doing the cooking.
Much to her surprise.
"Good morning, Good Hunter," the Doll greeted as she kept her attention on her cooking. Ella quickly noted the state of the kitchen: one large bowl was used, an empty cup of yogurt, a few opened bags of ingredients lining the counter along with a bunch of broken eggs in another bowl, and there were a few pieces of cut fruit lying on the cutter board, with some more fruit already sliced and separated into two smaller bowls. Other than that and, oddly enough, it looked relatively fine instead of a mess.
Doll's skill in the culinary arts was surprising enough, but on top of it, Ella did not recall ever buying her any new clothes to wear.
"Um, Doll, where did you get that outfit?"
"I merely changed," was the reply.
"Wait what do you…," she paused as she thought back to the demonstration of her powers during the meeting. "Oh… right."
After remembering that little event she went onto the next subject. "So… what are you cooking, Doll?"
"You will see." She answered with a calm sweetness yet being cryptic. "Please, have a seat."
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She went to the dinner table and saw that the utensils (save for the dinner plate) were already set up for her. She took a seat and waited as she watched. She had known the doll since the night of the hunt; she was the physical and kinder version of Maria, could make friendly and soothing conversations, maker of fine tea, had the ability to transform blood echoes into power, tended to pray for the Hunter's safe return, and she was a caretaker of both Gehrman and the gravestones. To see the doll cook and do something else was something she would not have expected her to do. Sure, the doll had done some house cleaning yesterday, much to her surprise, even after she stated she would stay here working as a house maid. Just what else could she do, she wondered.
"It is done," the doll announced as she took the finished plate in both hands. She set the plate in front of her to reveal a fancifully made crepe; stuffed with cut strawberries, peaches and bananas, and fruit jam. The sugar sprinkles topped on the edges of the crepe were added as more flavor. She stared in awe down at a plate which could have been made at a five star restaurant.
"This looks… wow." She muttered.
"Please, try a bite." The doll encouraged. "You might like what you taste." Ella picked up the fork and knife and went to work in cutting off a good piece. She stuck her fork and took a bite…
A plethora of flavors exploded in her mouth, drawing her into a moan of pleasure as she chewed the piece of crepe. 'Oh my gosh this tastes so good~.' She had her eyes closed and smiled in bliss, taking her time as she took another bite.
"I thought you could use a healthy meal to start your first day, Good Hunter."
"This is so good!" Ella said happily as she then took a drink of her orange juice. "How did you get so good at cooking?"
"I just know. I have no recollection of how I came upon that skill. I have to suppose Flora had something to do with it." Then she added with a slight bow: "I still do hope this will be enough to serve you well, Good Hunter."
"I appreciate that you're doing all this for me," she responded as she looked back up at her sympathetically, "but you don't have to be all formal with me. We're still friends, aren't we?" The doll had been there to comfort her sanity whenever she came back from the hunt. She would always listen, and would give such soothing advice whenever the Hunter had a crisis. Eventually, she formed a quiet bond of friendship with the doll, even though she knew the doll was only real within the dream. Now that she had been made real in reality (much to her shock), she still considered her as such.
"I know, but this is how I am." The doll made the faintest of smiles that only she could see. Ella smiled back and went back to enjoying her breakfast. The two remained silent, and she was almost done with her meal when she heard her Scroll going off in her bedroom. She got up out of her seat and quickly jogged to her room, just in time to answer it.
"Yes, who is it?" She asked on the Scroll/phone.
"Good morning Ms. Fall, this is Port. I've called to be in need of assistance if you have the time." Another thing about being an assistant was she had to also help the other professors on whatever they need assistance in academically. She soon learned of that after reading the job description (which Ozpin had forgot to mention to her; either on purpose or otherwise), and although she was assigned to work with two professors, it did not mean she was exclusive to working with two.
"Of course, what is it that you need help with?"
"Wonderful! I simply need your help in capturing a Boarbatusk for my Grimm studies class. Think you are up for the task?"
"Yes, I'm up for it, but you're going to have to wait a bit, I just got up."
"I understand, take your time but not too long, we have two hours to spare. I'll be waiting for you at the courtyard. Good day, Ms. Fall."
"Good day." The line went dead and she soon went out to finish her breakfast in a quick manner.
"Who was that?" The doll asked as she watched her devour her breakfast.
"That was Professor Port." She explained after swallowing her food and finishing her drink. "He needs my help in capturing a Grimm."
"I see… and does capturing Grimm have to do with being a hunter?"
"Not really." she grabbed the dirty plate and used silverware and took them to the sink. "It's simply for Grimm studies."
"Oh, I suppose that makes sense." Ella then went to her room and gathered her clothes. After taking a quick and thorough cleanup and her Huntress uniform put on, she was soon out the door after 25 minutes.
"I'm heading out, take care." Ella bid farewell before closing the door behind her and headed out. The doll soon went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes, and planned out a new cleaning routine for the day.
Capturing a Grimm (mainly a boarbatusk) was almost easier said than done, but eventually, after fighting off a pack of beowolves and a few ursai, they eventually caught the boar Grimm by having it blindly rolling into the cage. They were now back on the courtyard, with the cage being carried away on a flat cart. Port was soon joined by Ella as they took the Grimm to the school, and soon to the back of his class for storage until class had started.
"Thank you again for the help, Ms. Fall," Port said when they were halfway to his class, "but I can handle the rest. You may want to head on to class then, and good luck on your first day!"
"Again, it was no problem." She smiled as she broke away from pushing the cage. "Good luck with your class as well, professor."
"Ha ha, you better believe it!"
As she went walking to the locker room she looked down at her watch, showing to her slight surprise that it was 8:36 AM. She did not have to worry much, though, the arena (which in fact was the amphitheater) was not that far, so she took a brisk walk down to the locker room at a slightly hastened pace. The room was built conveniently to the left and right of the amphitheater, so whenever a student is called upon to grab their weapons to make ready to battle, they would simply have to walk through the passageways and into the next room down the stairs. Thankful of her good thinking, she took advantage of its use and planned ahead by placing her staff uniform in her locker. She had this plan set up in case a call for assistance were to have come up before school had started, and when her assistance was all said and done, and with enough time, she would only have to go to her locker to change. The only thing she had to worry about was making sure no one was around.
Plus it did not hurt to thoroughly clean her locker before placing her uniform inside, that would have been awkward.
She was already outside, and just when she was halfway around to the locker room back door, left of the amphitheater, her Scroll suddenly went off. She answered the call and put it to her ear.
"Yes, who is it?" She asked.
"It's me, Glynda. I'm calling because Ozpin had asked that I accompany him for the time being, so I'm going to need you to take over as a substitute until I come back."
"I understand, I'll take care of it." She would be lying if she said she was not nervous about this. She was trained to teach and waited for the day she would take over teaching, though she did not expect it to be so soon. The only thing keeping her together was the reminder of Glynda and Eileen's sound advice.
"Thank you, I know you will do just fine. Just follow what I had taught you, and the rest will go smoothly. The Scroll Pad and the earpiece will be lying on the podium for you to use. Good luck on your first day."
"Thank you, and good day." She hung up her Scroll and hastened to the locker room. Luckily, no one was in there at this time, and after changing into her red dress uniform, she went into class four minutes before it had begun. Many students were already here, and she soon felt many eyes sighting down her way as she made her way to the podium. Some were seated while the others were just standing. Just as Glynda said, the unopened Scroll pad and the earpiece laid on the podium. She took them both off the podium, place the ear piece to her ear, pulled the tablet open as it automatically turned on, and proceeded to log herself in. She looked at the time clock on her tablet after logging in to show that it was 8:59 AM, and without further hesitance she made her way to the center stage.
She looked up at the crowd of mixed year students with little fear as most of them were focusing on idle conversation. She was fearful inside of failing her duty, but she swallowed down whatever fear she had in her, and when the clock struck 9, she breathed in before she attempted to gain all their attention.
"Ahem…," she tested the earpiece, and when the whole crowd heard her voice, they went silent, and looked to the single woman standing on stage. "Good morning everyone, and to the many who are returning here, welcome back." She welcomed with both confidence and smooth talking. "Normally professor Goodwitch would be the one conducting this class, but circumstances required her attention elsewhere. So she has left the position unto me as a substitute for the time being.
"I understand that many of you have not met me before, since I had taken this position three months ago. Well allow me to introduce myself." She then placed her free hand upon her chest in introduction. "I am lady Goodwitch's assistant; professor Ella Fall. And I expect to be given the same respect that you give to your teacher.
"Now before we begin; who among you are first years?" She saw individual hands rising up from the crowd, and soon counted about ten of them attending class. The hands that were together in a group of four were a full team attending, while the other hands raised were individually by themselves or with a pair. "I see, then I assume you all have come from a combat school. This class is exactly as its name suggests, but there is more to do in this class than simply beating each other up." She heard a few chuckles from the crowd. "As you all know, the Vytal tournament is coming up within a few months, so we will be going over the rules and spar types to help you prepare for the upcoming event. Now, are there any questions?"
Some first years raised their hands, and Ella quickly pick the one in front. "Yes, you."
"How do we join the tournament?" The first year Huntress-in-training asked.
"That is a good question," Ella replied. "you and your team can choose to join the tournament, but to participate, your team must qualify in both skill and teamwork in order to compete. Which is why this class, and the other arenas we have in this school will help you all to push yourselves to be better. Next question." They raised their hands, and this time there were a few. "Yes, you."
"What kind of sparring matches will we be going through ma'am?" Asked the first year Huntsman-in-training.
"You will all be going through three types of matches: the team matches, where two teams will be sparring against each other. The doubles match, where teams of two teammates compete against the other. And the most common of all; the singles match. These categories are part of the tournament, and we will be explaining this more in detail in the future.
"Now, are there anymore questions?" No one else but one raised their hands. "Yes?"
"I never heard of an assistant before, what is that?" The third year Huntsman-in-training asked.
"An assistant is a lower ranked staff member who works under whichever professor they are assigned to. They assist in whatever is needed to get done, and when there is a time when the professor they work for is away on assignment, they are expected to take over as a substitute until that professor returns. We do not always work exclusively to one staff member, however. We work with more than one professor on whatever task they need help in getting done. Does that answer your question?"
"So you're not really a Huntress but more of a servant?" He answered/asked rather sarcastically. Ella was not amused.
"I chose that position and had to earn it through initiation, just like everyone else," she explained in a calm, no nonsense tone. "Meaning I had to fight through a horde of Grimm and alphas, kill a King Taijitu from the inside, and slay a giant nevermore. All to simply grab a relic and then head back in one piece."
The crowd went into muttering amongst each other of this new information. None of them knew anything about professors having to go through initiation to earn their place, but then again they did work as hunters back in the day, so it should have come as no surprise. Still, hearing about a King Taijitu being killed from the inside was unsettling, and something no one would have expected to hear. The students looked upon their substitute teacher with newfound respect.
But the conversation was not yet over: "So if you did all that fighting, then you wouldn't refuse me if I challenged you to a duel?" This he said loudly with a boastful grin, pointing a finger towards Ella.
This request had made Ella's eyebrow twitch upwards in curiosity. Glynda once explained to her that students had the right to challenge their teachers to a fight only for educational purposes. Although facing a teacher in combat is downright madness given the real difference between master and pupil; in this way, the student would be able understand what he or she is truly lacking in from the teachers observation during combat. When it comes to academic improvement, it had been seen as the best way to understand oneself. Many students today would not dare fight a teacher for that purpose, all because of Glynda's Semblance. This time their substitute teacher did not look to be a show-stopper.
"And may I ask why you wish to battle me, Mr...?" She asked, waiting for him to introduce himself.
"Arver. Roy Arver." This he said with the assurance of someone who had practiced his lines. "I'm a third year student, and I want to know my flaws and weaknesses. Who better than you to teach me?" He then crossed his arms and waited for her answer with the beginning of a smile on his lips, everyone else suddenly shocked into silence and also waiting to see how she would answer.
After a small bit of consideration on her part she finally made her answer.
"All right, I'll accept your duel," she responded stoically. She had no need to fear about explosives ruining the stage floor. She had already seen time and time again how absolutely resilient the floor was to explosive Dust. "Let's go and grab our own gear and make ready then."
He did not need to be told twice as he left the amphitheater at a quickened pace, a small, leering smile being shown on his face as he went to change. Meanwhile Ella went into thinking of what weapons to use for this duel.
After almost seven minutes of preparations, both teacher and student soon stood on the amphitheater's stage (being used as the arena floor), but Ella was rather away from the stage as she went about setting up the fight. She had the Aura bars on the holographic display, setting up a barrier to keep the bullets and debris from flying into the crowd, and soon went about controlling the lights — all were soon shut off except for the ones focusing solely on the stage, giving the combatants the illusion of being just the two of them alone. Ella soon appeared under the lights, without her earpiece, and still in her uniform save for the change in flexible leggings and her weapons of choice; simply two wooden batons, with their ends being wrapped around in leather to form as the handle.
Only now, without the crowd getting in the way, did she examine her challenger. By the look of him, he was just as tall as most of the people in the amphitheater at 5'6". He had fair skin, brown eyes, and his red hair was unkempt with a blue bandana wrapped around his head. His attire was unusual: he wore a red undershirt, a zipped up orange and blue hooded sweatshirt, cargo jeans, combat shoes and black fingerless gloves. His armor consisted partially in straps of iron armor covering vital areas such as his chest, shoulders, arms and legs.
"So," she started, "want me to go easy on you, or hold nothing back?"
"Hold nothing back. I can handle it." There was confidence in his reply as he got into his combat stance and brought out his weapons of choice: two shortened auto shotguns painted in a mix of blue and orange, with their buttstocks being shortened for better handling. What they would shift into she could not tell right away.
"Alright then," she gave a hidden smirk as she got down into her combat stance. "Ready… Begin!"
Roy was the first to quickdraw on the attack as they shot out Ice Dust pellets. Of course, at the same time Ella for her part had used her Old Hunter's Bone, hidden beneath her attire to activate her quickening ability as she instantly dodged the ice pellets in a trailing cloud of smoke. He tried to get a hit on her, but she was too fast as she dodged two more rounds, unsheathed her batons and landed several blows, forcing him to jump back to recover. Ella pressed her advantage and dashed in for another hit; this time he reacted faster, managing to parry the onslaught with his weapons and shove her away. Again he tried to get a bead on her, and again she scurried out of the way and the pellets hit nothing but air.
Roy was beginning to regret letting her go all out, but the moment he was aware of it he refused to give in, anxious to prove himself to his team. Ella had forced him to fight defensively, dodging his shots, darting in, landing a hit, and pulling back before he could retaliate, and in this fashion she had worn down his Aura by a half. Anger swamped him and took control, and when the substitute teacher dashed in for another strike, he jumped back, had his guns shift into twin axes, and parried the blow to again shove her backwards. Only now, he did not try to hit her with his guns, as it had proved ineffective, but instead swung his axes at her, frustration lending further strength to his attack as he tried to pry open her defenses.
The shift from ranged combat to melee would have surprised Ella before, but it was now that the endless practice matches with Eileen proved worth the time and sweat invested, as her reflexes took charge without conscious thought on her part and her sticks absorbed his assault, her Aura protecting them from the edges of Roy's weapons. Student and teacher clashed again and again, as they each blocked, dodged and prodded for openings, and it did not take long for her to see the patterns on his fighting style and tailor hers to counter him.
Once again Roy was forced on the defense, and despite his training amongst his team and against other Hunters-in-training, he was falling behind in keeping up with her aggression. He did not want to lose to another teacher, especially one who was a substitute. He did however have one more card up his sleeve, and he just had to time this right to get things back in his favor. He shoved her back again, harder this time to give him room as he purposely dropped his guard, and when Ella charged in to finish the job, he smirked when he activated his Semblance.
His Aura glowed orange, then the sound of a thunderbolt erupted, and a powerful concussive shockwave tossed Ella away and sent her careening and tumbling back. The impact stunned her briefly, but she snapped out of it and flipped herself back up mid tumble. 'That must be his Semblance,' she thought, 'but why didn't he use it earlier?'
Roy did not give her time to improvise a response. He dashed towards her and again triggered his Semblance. Again she was blown away, and managed to skid to a halt a mere few steps away from the edge of the arena. She had to get out of there, lest he knocked her off the battlefield and won the match, so as he again charged her and triggered the concussive blast she activated her Old Hunter Bone and teleported away from him. Sloppily, as it turned out; in her haste to move to a more advantageous position she had miscalculated the distance, and was hit again by another shockwave.
Roy's smirk grew wider, becoming more confident and arrogant that he would finally be the top dog again here. He had pushed her to the edge of the stage, and all it would take was one more hard push to do so.
"Time to end this!" He said arrogantly as he brandished his axes before charging in to finish the job in style. He jumped into the air with his axes raised high behind his head, ready to bring them down on her to damage her Aura before pushing her out of the arena. Instead of standing her ground like he planned, however, she dashed away from him right before he used his Semblance, being far enough away along the edge of the stage and leaving Roy at somewhat of a loss.
Ella stayed crouched, eyes narrowed at her opponent, her mind racing of what to do. Soon she moved sideways, and Roy started moving as they went in circles. Still reeling in the reason why he did not activate his Semblance sooner, she went over what she had learned from him. She was obviously the superior one when it came to close quarters combat, her brutal training under Eileen having paid off, but his Force Pulse trumped that advantage. Whenever they got close to each other he would glow, and she had to back away, lest she was buffeted by another concussion. But then a thought struck her: he could no doubt trigger such pulses with ease, but how often? Maybe he had to wait a bit before he could call upon it again?
She ran toward him, her training batons held in reverse grip as she activated her Quickening again. Roy charged in next with his axes at the ready, and soon they clashed again. Ella parried an attack and swung her baton to his face in retaliation, but that was blocked by his quick reaction and shoved the weapon from her, leaving her looking wide open to attack as he swung his axe at her. She dodged the swing but had to quickly redirect a shotgun pointed at her face as she smacked the weapon aside right before he pulled the trigger. He missed his target, and got punched in the stomach by her baton before being struck on his left cheek from her other baton. She was about to continue her assault, but he immediately retaliated by activating his Semblance, making it her cue to back away. He exploded with a pulse, and it was mere inches away from her as she dashed back away. Just as the wave was disappearing within a millisecond she immediately dashed right back in, much to his surprise as he got kneed in the face.
1
She was counting the time in her head as she whacked his face twice with her batons and kicked him in the stomach to keep him off balance.
2
He tried to fight back and tried to push her back, but she would bat away his weapons and continue to assail him as she hit him in both the chest and face, and kicking him in the side.
3
His body began to glow, making it her cue again to fall back as the pulse exploded forth from him. Now she knew he had a flaw in his Semblance, and she exploited it mercilessly as she immediately dashed right back in. He was prepared this time. He had his axe ready in his right hand and a shotgun held up, pointed at the Huntress as he fired shot after shot at her, but she was too fast with her Quickening as she was up close and upon him again. He deflected a few strikes from her batons, and tried blasting her away at point blank range, but again her experience and Quickening ability outdid him as she went in circles around him.
The few seconds were up again and she dashed away from the short blast radius, only to dash right back in for another round. He tried a combination of attack and defense to try and regain what he had lost. He used both axes to keep her at bay, and when he managed to push her away he meca-shifted his axes to shotguns in one swift movement before firing them both at her, but she dodged from side to side, and when she came at him he launched himself off the floor with a boost from his guns as he was now above her. She looked up at him, he pointed his guns down at her and fired, but she neatly sidestepped and the shots missed her. He continued firing at her, but as he landed his guns clicked: he was out of shells, and he barely had time to change his guns back to axes when she came back for him. His weapons shifted too slow too late when she was in the air and gave him a flying hard kick to his chest. She knocked the air out of him and made him let go of his weapons as he went careening and skidded on the hard floor.
A horn blared, telling it was the end of the match.
He groggily got back up into a sitting position, frustrated at this new defeat. He looked around to see that she was nowhere in sight, but when the lights came back on a few moments later, he saw her standing near the podium with the Scroll pad in her arm as she then walked up to him.
"Your fighting style was commendable, if somewhat questionable," she stated as she walked up to him. He looked the other way, which made her raise her eyebrow, confused yet curious to know what was wrong. "Is something—"
"Excuse me! Coming through!" She was halted by someone pushing his way through the crowd of students. She looked out to see that this boy was coming towards the stage, and looked back to the downed student to see that he looked rather nervous for some reason. Once he was finally in view from the crowd and getting onto the stage, she could tell he looked to be angry at him. He had dark skin, sharp blue eyes and black hair. He wore a red vest, tan cargo shorts and combat shoes. He also wore black fingerless gloves with leather wrapped around his wrists.
"Hey, partner, uh…," Roy said nervously before getting bonked in the head. "Ow!"
"What did I tell you? Stop challenging every teacher you meet!" He scolded him.
"Excuse me, who are you?" She asked quietly, some irritation seeping into her voice.
He turned to face her and introduced himself. "My name is Sean Rockson, I'm the leader of team SRAW (straw). And this stubborn bonehead here—" he pointed behind him with his thumb, disapproval written in his face "—is my partner."
Roy tried to defend himself: "Oh, come on, it's not like you didn't want to either!"
"Yeah, well I'd rather be smart about it and get stronger by working as a team!" Rockson back.
"You said he's challenged other teachers before?" Ella asked Sean.
"Yeah, but it's not just this school. He's been challenging teachers since he attended a combat school, and since then he's been learning everything the hard way."
Roy grumbled something unintelligible, but she ignored it and addressed him: "So what would've happened if you did manage to beat me?"
"Well, uh, I would've been proud that I've gotten strong enough." He answered nervously. It was only a half-truth, and his team leader was not amused:
"Actually, he'd be gloating about it for the next month," he 'clarified' deadpan.
"What the heck, man?!" Roy exploded angrily.
"Is this true?" She asked Roy as she looked down at him sternly.
"Well, um… yeah. It's true."
"Is that so," she noted in a perfectly neutral voice that nonetheless sent a shiver down Roy's spine. Then she let out a long breath. "Look at me." Slowly he obeyed, dreading what he would find on Ella's gaze.
But he did not expect these words from her: "You fought well, caught me by surprise a couple of times and managed to last for quite some time, but there was one thing you were lacking in. And do you know what it is?"
He pondered for a little bit before giving a guess. "Uh, better reaction times?"
"No. Observation." She watched him, expecting his expression to lighten up, but puzzlement knotted his brow, so she explained: "To win a battle, one must observe their foe while in combat. In doing so, you'll learn their style, their fighting patterns, even their Semblance when given the chance. And once you find a fault in their abilities, you exploit it. Just like I did when I fought you.
"So when faced with an opponent who is powerful, simply improvise and observe before making your move. But be warned, your opponent will be learning about you, too, so it's a race — whoever finds their opponent's weakness first wins. Do you understand?"
He pondered on the words for a bit, but then he changed his demeanor which kind of weirded her out.
"Wow, that was the best advice anyone has ever given to me." He then clasped his hands and brightened up at her, weirding her out that he changed his demeanor so quickly. "You're the best!"
She gave him a quizzical look and hesitatingly replied, "You're… er, welcome…" Then she turned to his partner: "Is he usually like this?"
"Yeah, there's something I forgot to mention," he explained. "He respects strength."
"I see." Then she coughed into her closed fist. "I appreciate the respect, but I believe we need to continue with class."
Sean nodded. "Yeah." Then he looked down at his still sitting partner and pulled him up. "Come on, Roy, let's get off the stage."
"Okay I'm coming." He replied with annoyance as they got off the stage/arena. What the two did not realize, to everyone's shocked expression, that while Roy's Aura was in the red, Ella's Aura looked as if it did not go down even an inch. It was all thanks to her fire Dust infused fingerless gloves (which no one even noticed) that she was able to gain her victory. Even if Roy did manage to make a dent in her Aura, she would secretly use one of her gloves to replenish her Aura.
Then she turned to address the crowd of students as she typed away at the pad. "Okay, let's have this class back in session, shall we?" She typed in the commands as she continued. "We will still be having the singles matches, and this time it will be through random selection." The holographic screen was switched from the Aura meter to a pictured list of attending students, spinning like a slot machine until the names had stopped. "Zachary Opal and Tanner Brown," she called, "please go change and return here."
After almost an hour of watching students combat each other and the substitute addressing their strengths and what to improve upon, the bell finally rung initiating the end of this hour's class. Ella walked to the podium to set the ScrollPad down and return her training batons to the locker room when she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around to be greeted by her superior, Glynda Goodwitch.
"Oh, Glynda, it's nice to see you," Ella greeted with a smile. "Don't worry, I had everything under control."
"Are you sure?" Glynda questioned. "I can say with confidence that you can teach rather well, but your fight with Roy was… questionable."
"What do you mean questionable… and how did you know about that?"
"Me and Ozpin were watching you through our Scrolls," she explained. "The real reason I did not come earlier was to see how well you can handle the students on your own. you've done well, but I would recommend avoiding combat with the students for now."
"But didn't you say a student can challenge a teacher to a duel for the sake of education?"
She nodded yet quietly sighed at the reminder. "That I did, but Roy is somewhat of a different story. Plus from what I've seen, you were using your Semblance in secret to win your battle. A bit underhanded, don't you think?"
"Fights are never fair when on the hunt," she defended.
Glynda sighed in resignation. "I suppose it's true to some degree, but this isn't a hunt. From now on, you are not to duel any of the students without my permission, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." She agreed as she nodded.
Glynda then looked towards the entrance to see the next crowd of students coming in. "We'll talk more about this later. My Scroll Pad and earpiece, please." The professor extended her hand, waiting for what is hers.
"Here you go." She set them both onto her hands, and right away began logging herself in and setting the earpiece to her ear.
"Well done with using the Scroll Pad by the way." She complimented.
She nodded and stood next to her superior while everyone was gathering. Now that she was no longer the substitute, her job now would be to assist in a number of ways. From showing combat demonstrations to breaking up fights after combat, to make certain that order shall remain intact. It may not be the most exciting job besides watching the fights between students, but it does give her insight into what each Hunter-in-training was capable of.
She was still in her musings when…
"Hey!" The familiar voice of a young girl called out and reached her ears, breaking her out of her train of thought as she found the source to be Ruby Rose along with her team. She was waving her hand to get Ella's attention, giving her a jubilant smile that was adorably infectious. Ella chuckled under her breath as she smiled softly and waved back. The girl was quite satisfied to have gotten her attention, but when she looked at her partner Weiss, who looked rather to be lost in thought, she went into some realization and went silent, putting on a face that seemed impassive but focused. That made Ella cock an eyebrow curiously at her quick change in behavior.
As soon as everyone was accounted for this hour's class, Glynda began to speak.
"Good morning, students," she announced with such kindness for a teacher, "and for the first years present; welcome to Beacon."
School was long over, and Ella was walking down the academy's halls, heading back to her apartment while in thought. Today's first day of combat class was an interesting experience to behold to her, especially when given the upclose knowledge of what the students were currently capable of. Although she pridefully would claim that none of them could hold a candle to her and those working here, she still reminded herself… that they are students, handpicked and willing to learn and train to become the best they can be.
Throughout her hours of being Glynda's assistant, she had watched and analyzed many students combating each other, visually learning their strengths and weaknesses. She did get to witness a few students she was familiar with attend to combat, with two particular students being very eager in some way which would either amuse or disturb her, depending on anyone else's point of view.
During the second hour of class, Yang took to the arena stage, and from the Good Hunter's observation, the blonde haired brawler was every bit the unarmed fighter, and probably better so than the others, save for her shotgun gauntlets/bracelets. She was strong, skillful and capable but rather reckless. Her strength in her punches comes from her Semblance to what she had gleaned from Glynda. The girl could take damage and then give it back even harder, and although it costs Aura when taking damage, the growing damage she gives back was more than enough to compensate for that weakness. That may have been her greatest strength, but her other weaknesses come from that of her fiery attitude and fighting style. She mostly uses her fists more than her feet, so anyone with more agility on their feet or have a martial art that counters her skill set would give her a hard time. She was also a hot head, and her anger can be a volatile issue in combat, making her more unpredictable, as shown on the video with her battle with the two Ursas. She instantly became enraged and on fire all because one of them took a strand of her hair, and Ella had thought that if someone acted as a serious nuisance to her she could blow a gasket, too.
The girl needs to control her temper, to use her anger as a weapon while keeping herself focused. If not, then she would be bound to realize a painful reality.
After lunch hour, the next hour of class had team JNPR among them. Nora took the arena floor rather in a near instant when she sent her opponent flying off the stage with her giant mechanized hammer. The Good Hunter had to admit she was pretty strong to achieve such a feat of strength. She fleetingly wondered what kind of workout routine she took everyday to be strong while staying in that sort of shape. Her strength, her wild personality, and her weapon can do some major damage on the battlefield, but her wild demeanor makes her a loose cannon, and if left unchecked she could do more harm to her team than to her enemies. That was why Ren was her partner. He knew her better than anyone, and would know how to keep her in check. The Huntress-in-training had yet to show her Semblance, so she could not say or what to make of it.
The next member of team JNPR took to the arena, and the one Huntsman-in-training who puzzled her since this afternoon; Jaune Arc. His fight against Sky Lark was very much one-sided to her obvious surprise. He made no tactical plan, no defensive or attack strategy, and his fighting style was a mess. He tried to put up a good fight by charging in and hoping for the best result, but that always ended in failure. She had yet to even see his Semblance in action. She wondered how and why he was here, but perhaps it was simply bad luck on his part. The only hope she had for him was to improve his prowess in combat in the weeks to come.
As she pondered on, she stopped and perked up when she suddenly came across someone very familiar by random chance. It was Weiss Schnee, being lost in thought just as before as she walked alone, but she looked more puzzled, troubled perhaps, and by the way she had one hand under her elbow and her other rubbing her chin. She remembered her conversation with professor Port during lunch hour. Apparently, Weiss was upset with Ruby's position as leader, as was evident during and after her volunteered battle with the boarbatusk. So when Weiss suddenly found him by chance and explained to him what she thought, he gave her a verbal dose of reality. So he suggested that instead of fretting on what she did not have, she should savor what she currently did have. To hone her skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person she can be.
Such wise words to live by in her opinion, and it was the right thing to cut her down a peg to see the reality of being outside and away from home. This time Ella had the chance to know what was on the girl's mind, and perhaps guide her.
"Good evening, Weiss," Ella greeted as she had her hands folded in front and slightly bowed. That got the heiress out of her thoughts in surprise as she looked up from the floor.
"Hm? Oh! Greetings. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fall." Weiss greeted formally in kind as she made a curtsy in return.
"The pleasure is all mine, though I'm curious. Where is your team? Shouldn't you be with them?"
"I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, to figure out what I should do for the time being." She answered cryptically, but the Hunter knew what and who she was referring to.
"I see, and does this have to do with Ruby Rose perhaps?" Weiss faltered with her eyes widened with short surprise. Just as the surprise came it quickly disappeared as she recomposed herself.
"It is, but how did you know?" She asked.
"I would call it a woman's intuition," she shrugged, "but Professor Port explained to me what happened while on lunch." then she turned and gestured forward in the direction the girl was going. "May I join you?"
She nodded, and the two walked through the halls together as Ella continued. "So, if I may ask; what's on your mind, miss Schnee?"
"I've been pondering on what to do," she answered. "How I can contribute to the team."
"Hmm, have you also thought of a way to reconcile with your partner?"
"I, well… I haven't gone that far yet." She admitted, then her expression turned to being a little irritable. "I mean, how am I suppose to deal with a leader who doesn't seem to look past her childish nature?"
"Weiss, she's fifteen." She reminded. "So of course she's not exactly at that age just yet. You know, I was a little surprised that you could get angered so easily by a child." She smirked a bit at the jab she made.
Weiss softly growled at the comment as she looked up at the assistant professor with narrowed eyes as the assistant professor continued. "You must admit, though, she does have the capability, but her potential is untapped. Now if only someone were to guide her to better herself as a leader…" She left those words hanging for the girl to figure out, and she did not have to wait long when the heiress perked up in realization.
"Then who better to guide her than her partner." She finished, astonished that she did not figure that out sooner. She suddenly stopped, followed by the Hunter as well as the girl slightly bowed with her hand on her chest in thanks. "Thank you so much professor."
She still smiled softly as she bowed back. "It was no problem, just thought I'd give my two cents. But I would suggest that you go and talk to her soon."
"I will, I just need to clear things up before I do."
The Hunter nodded in approval. "Well then, I suppose I must go. It was a pleasure to speak with you." She bowed before walking the opposite direction. Weiss continued on to where she was going when suddenly…
"And Weiss?" The girl turned around curiously to see her looking back at her. "Try to be the best teammate she'll ever have. Good night, miss Schnee." And after that, they walked their separate ways. Ella walked through the halls to her apartment while Weiss continued to be in thought, this time with a clearer mind than before until she eventually went back to her team's dorm that night.
It was nighttime. The back alleys were damp in this time of the night. Meanwhile, Ella sat hunched up against the damp wall, covered in dirty clothes and a tattered cloak that was not hers. She had her naked hand out, with her palm turned upside down as she tried to concentrate on her Semblance, trying desperately to summon that flame to keep her warm for the night. She did not think it would be this hard to do so, but after spending several nights surviving the streets of this city, she realized it was more complicated than that.
So after opening her eyes and seeing that she had not summoned a flame, she sighed and tried again. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her Aura, believing it was the only way to make it work. Suddenly, there was a flicker in her blackened vision. This flicker motivated her to keep concentrating, and the flickers became more frequent until it soon had become what looked like a solid, warm flame. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly at her success, but she frowned when it reminded her. She was cursed with what she discovered, and she grew to hate yet needed what she had in order to survive.
While concentrating on the small flame she conjured engulfing her hand, there were somewhat quiet, crunching footsteps reaching her ears. She gasped under her breath in fear, so she extinguished the flame and prepared to escape when she hesitated and looked at her would be attacker.
"Well now. Never thought I would see sorcery like yours in this day and age," said the stranger. He sounded rather rustic, perhaps middle aged, and spoke in a strangely pleasant tone she had never thought to hear from anyone, but she still remained wary of him, ready to run if he made any sudden move. The stranger seemed to notice her tenseness, and he raised his hand up to try to show he meant no harm, but she was just about ready to run the other way when he spoke again.
"No need to be scared of me little girl, I did not come here to hurt you. In fact…." He lowered himself to one knee. "I've been looking for a talent like yours."
Ella looked at this stranger kneeling in front of her, uncertain of what to do. She put one foot backwards before a question formed in her mind. "What do you want with me?"
"What I want?" He asked himself to her. "Well, you don't seem to have a roof over your head now do you?" The dark haired girl lowered her guard a bit as she broke eye contact with the man, looking away as she looked down in both embarrassment and shame. He saw the action as his answer as he then continued. "All I want is to take you in as my own, to raise you as my own. But more than that, I want to take you in as my apprentice."
That got her to be a bit stunned and curious as she looked back at him again. "Apprentice? What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said," he replied. "This world can be a dangerous and unforgiving place, even for a child such as yourself. You come with me, and I will teach you the means in which to live. I'm what they call… a professional. Someone who has the skills to get things done. Things that people would never have the courage to do."
"You mean… like a hero?" She asked as she relaxed more. The name 'professional' reminded her of the stories of Huntsmen her mother told her. Heroes who fought with amazing skill and strength against an army of monsters and lived. Could this be what he was talking about she wondered. Of course, it had to be… right?
"In a way… yes." He answered, though with hidden crypticism. "So then…" He stood up and extended his hand out to her. "Do you wish to stay here and wallow in misery? Or will you come with me. And become something more?"
She looked at the hand given to her. She did not want to trust him, but again it felt like she did not have many options to choose. All she wanted was a roof over her head, but more than that she wanted to go home. She knew she could not, however, for she knew there was no way back. After a bit of consideration, she reached out and accepted her new fate.
"A wise choice," he said as they soon walked together hand-in-hand out of the alleyway, and under the pale moonlit night. "From this night on, you will be my apprentice. Until the day you surpass me."
She opened her eyes, blinked a few times and casually got up into a sitting position. She went into recollecting as she thought back to the dream she had, pondering as to how she ended up that way, living in one of the city alleyways wearing dirty rags. She then thought about the stranger, who offered her to live with him in exchange for being his apprentice of all things. Apprentice to what she wondered. He looked vaguely familiar yet her memory was foggy on the details, with the walls and the dark of night shadowing his face. All she could tell visibly, if barely, was the red eyepatch he wore over his left eye. She still had to wonder though, when did this—
Beep, Beep—
The blaring noise of the alarm clock jolted her by surprise to see that it was 7 A.M. She growled under her breath for the interruption and turned off the alarm. She sighed, there would be a time for such thoughts on that later. She had a job to do and had to get ready. So she got herself out of bed and, as she resisted the smell of the delicious breakfast being cooked, did her usual morning exercises, getting herself ready to greet the new day of classes.
A/N: Okay, it's finally done. Sorry for taking a long while to do this, but my job got in the way, and I was transferred to help out with preparations for a grand reopening, and I had an idea for a new fic that had been going on in my head for some time, so I had to write most of it down. Trust me, I'm not going to lose this story out of lacking interest.
Anyways, Ella on her first day of class, though she had to take over for the first hour of course. Plus her interaction with Weiss. What do you think of the conversation? Did I put in her character correctly, or was I off character with her?
It's been a while since Ella had a dream/memory, so I figured it would a good a place as any to write this in. Now another piece to the puzzle of Ella's past, but now even more questions pop up than there are answers. How did she end up this way? Who is this mysterious stranger who took her in? And what profession is he referring to (although you probably might guess it)? All will be revealed eventually through the chapters that will come.
Recently I had a thought. Since I've written several story ideas for later on in the future after I'm done with this story, I had begun to think that perhaps I can take another step and write two stories. If you're interested let me know in the review. I have several of them, but I will only pick three for you to read and decide. If need be I'll set up a poll for you guys to vote which story interests you the most, and whichever the three has the most votes becomes the second story.
Credit goes to CruxMDQ for his proof reading and suggestions. I recommend you check his story "Starwatch", a crossover between Mass Effect and Overwatch that has good detail in tactical battles, drama, and a good storyline in general. So if you got the chance check him out.
This is Kyro2009, signing off.