My mind was not very nice to me that night.
I was a child again, six years old. I found myself standing in my old family kitchen, doing dishes, careful with every single one, I couldn't miss any spot. That would be bad, and I didn't want to be bad.
I finished washing the dishes and immediately set to work on sweeping the floor. Get all of the dirt, make it spotless…
My parents were out, this should have been one of the times I could relax, but the feeling never abated because I knew the consequences that I would face if I did mess something up.
The dull pain of the bruises was enough to remind me of that.
Yet I messed up. I was still just a child, my hand-eye coordination was not the best. I slipped, the plate fell to the ground and shattered. I gasped in shock and terror as I tried to dispose of it as quickly as I could. It was one of my mother's favorite plates too…
The nightmare ended when I saw their car pull up.
I just hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was last time…
I was woken up by Penny shaking me, "Violet." Her voice was soft and hushed, it was a level of volume control I didn't know Penny had. I thought that she should do it more frequently, it sounded like…"Violet…"
I finally began to blink open my eyes, it was still dark outside, "P-Penny…?" I asked softly, rubbing my eyes, "Wh-Wha…?"
Penny was kneeling on the bed, wearing a green nightgown, and she was looking down at me, her face was much too close to mine. It made my eyes widen and my face heat up, but Penny didn't seem aware of what she was doing, "You looked scared, and were tossing and turning!" She whispered, "It is only four thirty-five in the morning, I did not wish to wake the others, but I was also worried for you. Are you okay?"
I took a deep, shaky breath, "I-It was just a nightmare…I'll…I'll be okay."
It was at this point that I noticed that Penny's eyes glowed slightly in the dark, I had no idea why, or how, but they did. I found myself staring into them, her expression of worry became tempered by an emotion I had not seen on Penny before today, embarrassment, or was she flustered? I was never good at these things…"P-Penny…your eyes…"
She tilted her head, "W-What about them?" This was the first time I'd ever heard her stammer, she blinked a few times, "Is there…something wrong with them?"
I could feel the heat on my face rising even more than it already had been, she was so close…"N-No, they look…c-cool."
Penny smiled warmly, "Thank you…" Then she changed the topic back to me, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" The worry in her voice never abated, even when she was embarrassed, or flustered, whatever that was, "I do not wish to leave you alone if you are at risk of having another one. They sound awfully scary…"
I opened my mouth to respond before closing it. I was going to say no, that I'd be fine, but I honestly didn't know if I would be, "Just…Lay here with me. Please." I asked her softly.
Penny nodded, "Of course!" She whispered excitedly, finding her way under the covers. Before I knew it, she had wrapped her arms around me. I did the same thing, and I already started to feel better.
I closed my eyes again and fell asleep much easier than I usually did.
The next morning Penny was already up, I was surprised at how easily she woke up because if it weren't for my alarm I knew for a fact I'd have still been sleeping. I sat up in my bed and looked around, Penny was dressed in her school uniform and standing patiently, waiting as the rest of us were roused by our alarm, "Sal-u-tations everyone! I hope you had a restful night of sleep! It is currently seven in the morning and sixty-eight degrees fahrenheit with temperatures expected to reach as high as seventy-five before the day is over. The average wind speed is two point three five miles per hour and humidity is a very low ten percent! Overall, today is a very average day!"
Penny must have been reading weather reports on her scroll, otherwise I wasn't sure how she could get measurements that accurate, but it was still cool! I got out of bed and stretched, my shirt lifting as I did. I yawned and stopped stretching before placing my hand on my hip and looking over at the rest of the team.
Ruby's pajamas were a matching dark-gray long-sleeved shirt and pants with faded-red polka dots and a white lining at the front and the collar. They were cute! Not too dissimilar to mine. Pyrrha was wearing a black tank top under a red shirt that read 'Dream Come True' and a pair of black pajama leggings. Once again I was taken by how effortlessly beautiful she was, even with her hair down and all messy! If anything, it just added a layer of cuteness to her! It was especially emphasized as she stretched and yawned, and I had to chastise myself, bad violet! It's too early in the morning to be thirsting for your teammates!
Granted, it was hard for me to not get lost in how attractive just about anyone on campus was! So it's not like this was an exclusive thing I had to deal with when looking at Pyrrha. As Ruby and Pyrrha started to get up, I cleared my throat and declared, "Right! Well…Let's uhm…get dressed and go eat breakfast before class! We should have more than enough time for that." Classes started at eight, so I hoped that was the case! I didn't want us to be late for our very first class.
Pyrrha smiled, "That sounds like a swell idea. Our first class should be…"
Penny finished her sentence, "Grimmology with Professor Port at eight! Followed by History, taught by Professor Oobleck, at nine forty-five! Then we have Botany with Professor Peach at eleven fifteen, an hour break for lunch, followed by Aura Studies with Professor Blanca at one thirty, Dustology with Professor Kyros at two-fifteen, and finishing with directed Combat Studies with Professor Goodwitch at four, ending at five. Afterwards, we will perform our own self-directed sparring until six PM! At which point, we will be able to enjoy a well-deserved dinner!"
Well, Penny was clearly not just on top of the weather report, but the schedule as well! Pyrrha smiled, "It should be fun!"
Ruby rubbed the back of her head, "I heard some second years talking about how boring Professor Port is… I hope they're just exaggerating! Starting the morning with a boring professor might make me fall asleep all over again, even after breakfast…"
I grinned, "Come on, Ruby! We are Team Vapor! We need to approach every day with over a hundred percent of our power!" We all went about getting dressed, although I was much too shy to do it around the others, so I changed in the bathroom and once we were all dressed in our uniforms, we headed out.
When we got to the dining hall I was once again amazed at the sheer volume of types of food they had on offer, except this time I was amazed at breakfast foods! Every type of egg, every type of bacon, pancakes, waffles, everything! Needless to say I loaded up on as many waffles as I could along with some bacon. I also made sure the waffles were coated in syrup before I took them to sit down with my team.
The crowd was bigger than it was last time, and it made my skin crawl even more. Still, I managed to hurry my way over to my friends and sat down, that was a huge relief. I sat between Penny and Ruby, with Pyrrha sitting on Ruby's right. We weren't alone, we had Teams VYBB and GRNL sitting with us. That was when I remembered I wanted to ask Ruby something, "Ruby!" I asked, looking at her, "You said you left your friends behind, but I saw you talking with him earlier!" I pointed at the platinum haired boy, who was sitting parallel to Ruby, "Do you know each other?"
Ruby nodded and smiled, "Honestly I didn't know he was coming here too! I was really happy to hear. Apparently he got in on some scholarship. His name's Lunus!"
The aforementioned Lunus smiled, "Hey." He raised his hand, "Good to meet you."
I waved at him meekly, now feeling suddenly embarrassed for pointing at him, "H-Hi!" Then I looked to the rest, the black and blonde haired girl was sitting directly across from me, "And you! You're…Orchid right? Where're you from?"
Orchid, who had been eating some noodles, blinked at me before swallowing them, "Atlas." She smiled, "Didn't want to go to the academy there, figured I'd come here."
Ven, who was sitting not too far away on my side of the table, joined the conversation, "I heard that a lot. Is Atlas really so bad? I have to imagine it takes more than a strict Academy to drive one away."
Orchid gained a strange look on her face that I couldn't place, I wasn't socially adept enough for that! "Honestly? I have some bad memories back at Atlas. Good ones too! Just…some bad ones I wanted to leave behind." She glanced behind us, I think towards where the Schnee siblings were sitting, "Although some of it seems to have followed me."
She didn't elaborate any further on that, I wondered what her problem with the Schnees were? Maybe she was another faunus taken advantage of by the SDC? I heard that was a big problem! It was why I always went to the old man's store, it was locally owned and operated!
I would have said something to the two members of VYBB that weren't talking, namely Blake and Caine, but they both seemed like the kind of people who preferred to listen more than talk! Just looking at them reminded me of how I used to be, granted Blake looked less timid and more stone-faced, while Caine looked downright shy. It was cute!
That was when Nora spoke and pointed directly at my plate of waffles, "I think you made a mistake, Violet! You're eating the inferior breakfast option! Pancakes are far superior!" I gasped in response to her allegations, how dare she insult waffles?
I made my upset known, "How dare you?! Pancakes don't capture syrup like a waffle does, it just slides off! There's a whole different crunchy and delicious texture with waffles that you could never get with pancakes, and I will fight you to defend their honor!"
Nora grinned wickedly at me, "Is that so?! Well, you'd better watch out! Nora Valkyrie takes her fighting very seriously, and I'll make you eat your words as much as you eat those heresies on a plate!"
I squinted at her and pointed my fork at her, "We'll see about that! I'll beat you fair and square, this afternoon, free-form sparring! That will give you enough time to revoke your claims."
For now, though, Nora didn't seem interested in backing down. So be it! I would die on this hill. Ren, who had been watching all of this unfold with a neutral expression, sighed, "Well, this will be interesting."
Yang laughed before holding up her bottled blue sports drink, which I was sure tasted exactly like blue, "I've got ten Lien on Valkyrie punting Violet across the room!" I gasped, traitor! Even if we weren't on the same team, traitor!
Pyrrha, for one reason or another, took more offense to that than me, "Yang! Betting on these things is inappropriate!" There was a pause before she crossed her arms, "I've got twenty on Violet!"
Ruby grinned, "I don't have any money but I still think Violet can win!"
Orchid looked around at everyone and shrugged, "Ten on Nora, as leader I have to support my team!"
Lunus hummed, setting down the burger he had been eating, "I dunno…Kinda unfair, the betting odds are a bit off here. Give me twenty on Violet!"
Ren didn't bet, he just shook his head and sighed, "Does this really need betting?"
To which Yang and Nora both responded, "Yes!"
Nora would learn that she had made a big mistake today, messing with Umber Sha'dow XIV Esquire! She would fear me! Even if I was sweating a bit at the idea of facing the much more muscular girl! That was not sweat of fear, it was sweat of excitement!
The rest of breakfast went by without incident, and thus began our first real day of classes! I was prepared for absolutely anything!
I was not prepared for how boring Port's class was!
I enjoyed a good story more than the average girl, but he delivered them all wrong! He kept going on long diatribes and talking about stuff only tangentially related to the actual point of the lecture, I had to try very hard to not fall asleep, and the only reason I didn't start browsing my scroll was because Pyrrha and Penny were sitting on either side of me and I was sure one, if not both of them would be upset at me if I did that. Pyrrha did seem to have drooping eyes at least, she was weakening, but Penny just watched him with her usual energy and optimism, I had no idea how she did it!
Ruby, for her part, was balancing a pencil on her nose, then she and I got into a contest for drawing Port. I frankly think my anime-ified version of him won, but Ruby was stubborn and swore her drawing was better! I'd have gotten Pyrrha and Penny to judge but at this point Pyrrha was having to slap herself gently to stay awake, and Penny was…being Penny.
The only exciting part of that class was when we watched the Schnee Girl who's name I couldn't remember kill a boarbatusk. I would have loved a chance to fight it myself but I was sure that I'd get another chance some other day!
The next class was History with Professor Oobleck, and if Port was like the human form of sleep medicine, then Oobleck was the human embodiment of caffeine, because he talked fast. The whole team woke up in short order after we entered his class because we needed to pay full attention to catch what he was saying! Ruby asked him to slow down once and he refused, so clearly we were just stuck with a man who seemed to live life on turbo for the rest of the semester!
Professor Peach's class was a lot more of what I expected a normal class to be like, except it was much cooler because it took place in a greenhouse! Sure, the place was incredibly humid and I had to take my school jacket off to cope, but still! I learned about how plants could be used to fight Grimm, how they could heal people in the absence of aura, and more!
We had to pair off for this class, Penny and Ruby ended up working together while I got Pyrrha! The Professor explained swapping partners as something along the lines of not only socially interacting with your assigned partner our whole school careers, which made sense.
Overall, I had to say of the three classes I had taken so far that day, Botany was my favorite, even if my shirt was covered in sweat by the time we were done because of how humid the greenhouse was… At least my shirt wasn't see through!
After that and after a quick shower and change of clothes back at the dorm I was on my way to lunch with the others, that's when something clicked in me, "Wait…You three didn't get sweaty at all! What happened?"
Pyrrha looked confused, "Violet, don't you remember you can use your aura to prevent the adverse effects of extreme temperatures?"
…Oh right.
I huffed and crossed my arms, "...I forgot." That got a smile out of Pyrrha and a giggle out of Ruby while Penny, as usual, just seemed to be having an all around good time as she always did. I had to admire her, she never seemed to be in a low mood! If only I could be like her…
Pyrrha used this opportunity to offer a proposal with her usual confident and kind smile that always made me feel fuzzy, especially if it was directed at me, "You know, Violet, after we eat lunch we have Aura Studies. If I heard correctly, that class should be another where we pair off, I could help you with unconscious aura control. It might even improve your semblance."
I gasped, starry-eyed, "Yes please!" Aura formed a little heart between Pyrrha and I, "I only really have an easy time with Aura, controlling my actual aura is a bit harder! Especially if I want it to do something that I forget I can do…"
I could have sworn Pyrrha's face dusted up red and her smile turned nervous, but there's no way! She was far too cool and composed for that! "We can work on your memory and instinct as well, then. Trust me, it's easier than you think it is!" Her words of encouragement certainly helped me feel a bit more confident.
Meanwhile, Penny seemed to get a similar idea and asked Ruby, "Ruby! Can you help me with my aura? Although I am well aware of multiple uses of my aura, I am not aware of all of them!"
To which Ruby responded with a grin, "Of course, Penny! I know lots of stuff about aura, Uncle Qrow made sure of that!" I wasn't sure who her uncle was, but he must have been one of her mentors, like how I had Grandpa!
Not long after that was settled we arrived at the dining hall and, as expected, the food was amazing! The selection was bountiful, the kind of thing legends were made of! I was convinced there was no way this much food could exist outside of an academy like this, so I was going to take advantage of it as best I could! Bread rolls, chicken, pizza, soda, I gathered it all before going to sit with the rest of my team.
We were joined by team VYBB again, with them sitting opposite to my team. When we all had our food, Yang looked at my plate and grinned, "See, Ven? This girl gets it! Look at all that food, she's getting her fill!"
Ven sighed, sitting on Yang's right as he was, "It's still not healthy! Have you even tried the brussel sprouts? They taste so much better than they used to!" VYBB certainly had an interesting dynamic, considering that two of the team-members seemed very reticent. They were once again sitting next to each other, on Yang's right, with Caine in-between Yang and Blake.
For the first time, Blake offered her input, "He does have a point. You need a well-rounded diet to get the most energy out of your meals." Caine nodded silently in agreement, while Yang just rolled her eyes.
I finally spoke up, "I agree with Yang! It's all gonna get burned off anyway in training, might as well eat my fill! Besides, look at Ruby's plate! That's like…ninety percent sweets!"
All eyes were drawn to Ruby, who did indeed load up on a bunch of strawberries, some coated in chocolate, as well as some cookies and a piece of cake. Her eyes widened, "Violet, you traitor! Don't draw attention to my delicacies as if it's a sin!"
Pyrrha chimed in, her plate was a well-balanced lunch much like the one Ven had, "I have to agree with Ven and Blake, it's important you eat a well-balanced meal! Although Ruby's is the most egregious…Are you sure you don't want me to help you pick out your food next time, Ruby?"
Ruby huffed, "Fiinnneee, if it'll get all these boring people to shush about my diet!" Pyrrha seemed pleased with that, and all attention had been deflected off my plate, perfect! All according to my dastardly plan! They would not tinfoil my plans to indulge in all the food I want anytime soon!
…That was the right term, right? Tinfoiled plans?
I decided that was definitely the right phrase and continued eating while the topic of conversation shifted, with Yang asking, "Have you guys dealt with Team Ashwood at all? They're the walking definition of mood whiplash!" She saw that our looks indicated that no, we hadn't, so she explained, "You have Jaune and Jeanne, who are both pretty cool, if dorky as hell, but then you've got Weiss and Whitley! I mean, Whitley acts at least a bit more relaxed but Weiss is such an Ice Queen! I asked to see her notes for a sec in class once and she scoffed at me!" Yang seemed upset as she crossed her arms, "Hell, I'd love to teach her some manners!"
Caine spoke up for the first time I'd ever heard, his voice was soft and timid, "D-Do you really have to fight her?"
Ven backed him up, "Not everything has to be solved with fists Yang…"
Yang huffed, "I know that! Still, freeform sparring this afternoon is going to be fun, just you watch! If I can get her to agree to fight me, at least."
That reminded me of my upcoming fight with Nora, while I had been heated up and willing to fight her this morning, I was now feeling incredibly nervous. I could fight stupid Grimm, a farmer with no hunting experience and a shotgun could do that! Against smarter Grimm and people though? I had no idea. My grandfather rarely ever trained me on how to deal with human opponents, looking back on it I have a feeling that he probably wasn't so sure himself, which didn't bode well for me!
I kept my trepidation under control though, I was Umber Sha'dow XIV Esquire, Master of the Eight Blades of the Eclipse and future Savior of Remnant! Of course I would come out on top, and if not, then I would just get stronger until I could come out on top!
The rest of lunch went by with the conversation shifting away from fights and diets to upcoming classes and things we were already planning to do on the weekend despite it being Monday! The rest of the team and I were still torn on exactly what we wanted to do, we were thinking maybe a movie, or maybe video games, or both! Saturday was a whole day to ourselves without needing to worry about going to sleep early, so of course we could do several things, a whole day of relaxation and fun!
The next class was Aura Studies with Professor Blanca! She was a nice older woman, very zen, kind of reminded me of those people who loved living in log cabins and meditation. What were they called again…? I think it was either cottage-core or hippies! Maybe both! Cozy, but not my style at all!
Either way, we were directed to pair off again to work on our auras while sitting across from our chosen partner. It was a bit awkward sitting on my knees across from Pyrrha, even sitting like this she was so much taller than me! Luckily I didn't have to worry about accidentally staring, because our goal was to focus on channeling our auras, sensing each-other's auras, and helping with other uses for aura, such as using it as a shield or otherwise.
A lot of those things I didn't need to worry about, Aura did it for me! Yet some of it, like temperature control and other finer skills were things I hadn't made instinctual yet, and they were things Pyrrha fully intended to help me with.
We focused on channeling our auras for the first half of class, with the professor occasionally giving observations to each of us. She found my semblance to be very interesting! Honestly, I thought Aura was cool too! Although unfortunately they didn't do everything for me, not yet at least! Maybe someday I could learn to make them automatically manage everything related to my aura.
Towards the end of the first half of class I was having trouble with the finer aspects of temperature control, and I started to grow frustrated. It was annoying! Just when I thought I was exuding my aura the right way to manage temperature my focus would slip and it'd fall away. It was hard!
The other thing that helped me somewhat, other than Pyrrha, was Aura, who formed a kind of foam finger out of the appendage they made and waved it around at me, trying to get me to feel better. It helped, although I was still pouting over my difficulties. I just closed my eyes again and tried to concentrate.
My frustration must have been clear because Pyrrha, without warning, reached out to me while my eyes were closed and took my hand in hers, causing me to gasp in surprise and for my eyes to flutter open. Pyrrha smiled, "I know you're frustrated…your semblance is potentially part of why you're struggling. Your aura is always on, which means getting it to do things that most of us don't even think about is probably more strenuous for you…Especially because it obeys your subconscious and you have trouble focusing. You just need to relax, okay?"
My eyes widened and I nodded, she smiled, "Okay…now close your eyes again." I did as she asked and she continued, "Think of Aura less as a separate entity, but as a part of you. I know that you're used to considering Aura your friend, but you just need to make it…you."
Make it…me?
It was going to take time to get used to thinking of Aura like that, they were my only friend for a very long time, but I would try. I nodded and Pyrrha continued, "Now simply allow your aura to wash over you…"
I did as she asked, took a deep breath, and released it. As I did I felt my temperature start to change, evening out, rather than the cold caused by the AC, I just felt…Normal. However, once I opened my eyes again my focus was broken as I accidentally locked eyes with Pyrrha.
However, Aura seemed to have gotten an idea of what to do now, in spite of my lack of focus, the temperature didn't change, "I don't know if I can stop thinking of Aura as…different. They were my only friend for so long…" I admitted, looking down, "But…I can at least try to add 'temperature control' to their normal duties!"
Pyrrha's expression briefly downturned, a small frown and a look of…sadness? Took over her previous gentle expression, but soon it was replaced with a smile and a warm look, "That's okay. You're getting the idea. You're really lucky that your semblance can do all of these things without needing to consciously think about it, but you can't expect everything to come naturally to you."
It was still frustrating, although I didn't voice that. Aura control was supposed to be my thing! Aura did everything I wanted them to, and without me even needing to really think about it! So why did some small things like that need training? It made me feel incompetent, like I wasn't good at the one thing I was supposed to be good at.
I looked away for a moment before looking back as I smiled at Pyrrha in spite of the pang of sadness I felt in my chest, "Yeah…You're right. Y-You're really cool, Pyrrha…" Her smile grew and if it weren't Pyrrha I could have sworn she looked flustered, but nah…that wasn't Pyrrha.
The second part of class was a lecture, where she explained what we had been doing and why it was important. How learning to truly project your soul and to guide it to do as you wanted would be important for our survival as huntsmen. You didn't have to tell me twice! Aura was the most important part of me.
A thought passed briefly through my mind. Would I even be here without Aura? If I had a less unique semblance, would Ozpin have thought I was worth bringing in? He did seem very interested in it…
That thought would stick with me even as class ended and we moved on to the next class, Dustology with Professor Kyros. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this class, how much could there really be to dust beyond just using it to blow things up, or as rounds in our guns?
Professor Kyros looked like a fairly relaxed man, dark hair, green eyes, pale skin, he tended to lead students to answers, if he called on a student and they got the answer wrong, he'd just ask them increasingly easy questions to point them in the right direction. It made some of the students squirm under the pressure, like Jaune who tried to say bright orange dust was oxygen dust (where did he even get that from?).
Professor Kyros responded to this by rubbing his forehead and smirking before stating, "...Incorrect. Tell me. What in nature is bright orange that might fit into the context of dust use?"
They went through a whole thing with Jaune eventually getting what he was talking about, bright orange dust could be superheated into a lava-like substance, or it could be combined with fire dust to create explosives. It was also used in industrial circumstances, which I didn't know, but it was cool!
Overall, I had to say that after overcoming the hurdle of Port and Oobleck, the other classes were very interesting and fairly reasonable!
Of course, after all of the regular classes were done, that left the final class of the day, directed combat training! After we changed out of our uniforms and into our hunter gear of course, we couldn't fight in a uniform! Especially since we're not allowed to bring our weapons to class…
Professor Goodwitch was, as I expected, a very serious teacher. She was not afraid to wave around her riding crop either if it meant scaring hapless students into listening to her lecture on proper combat strategies to deploy against both Grimm and humans alike. After all, she said, rogue huntsmen were an unfortunate reality of the job and if we wanted to be prepared to fight them, we would need to learn as much about fighting humans as we did fighting Grimm.
There were some sparring matches done, although I was much too worried about keeping up my strength to fight Nora later to volunteer. We saw Pyrrha fight, and she proved why she was the Invincible Girl by not getting hit once! Yang and Ven ended up sparring as well under Glynda's direction, and man, I expected it to be over in seconds, but it lasted a really long time!
Apparently Ven's semblance was the ability to channel the energy from hits he took into endurance and stamina, the opposite of Yang's! I guessed that made sense, they did grow up together. I wondered who's semblance came first?
Either way, the fight dragged on for a while, Ven's aura flared blue and his hair looked like it was partially made out of water! It was super cool. Yang's aura flared red and her hair burned like the sun, that was also really cool! It was like… a dichotomy or something!
Professor Goodwitch had to call it a draw since neither of them looked ready to give out after fighting for twenty minutes, it was crazy! Most sparring matches were over in a few minutes, not that long at all. We also got to see Blake fight, her synergy with her semblance honestly made me jealous! It also gave me some ideas for new ways I could fight with Aura…
The time I had been both dreading and anticipating finally arrived, we were allowed free reign of the coliseum and told we were free to pair off and spar, the only rule was that everyone had to spar at least once, after that they were free to leave if they wanted to.
Something I noticed is that nobody wanted to spar with Pyrrha, which I suppose wasn't that unexpected, she was Pyrrha! Luckily she was able to spar with Ruby, which was good. I'd have offered to spar with her, or with Penny, but Penny was able to find sparring partners just fine, and I had a date with destiny!
Nora and I took our places across from one another, in our little segment of the coliseum, she was wielding her hammer and I my sword. Aura would be ready to join in at a moment's notice as well!
Nora hefted her hammer and grinned at me, "Last chance to rescind your slander!"
I shook my head and smiled wickedly back at her, "As if!" Aura appeared behind me in their usual ten foot fall version of me, arms crossed, I was more than a little happy to see how off-guard Nora was taken by their appearance.
Kicking it off, Nora and I raced towards each other, I brandished my scimitar and swung at her horizontally as we approached, yet she seemed to see it coming as she jumped to the side and then swung at me!
Aura reached down and grabbed the hammer, it was able to stop the blow from connecting but Nora was able to push through Aura's only semi-solid hand and get free, deciding I'd try out my new idea now, I had Aura retreat into me and gripped my sword tighter as Nora recovered and raced for me again.
I swung at her again, except this time I also had Aura create a shadow of myself as I tried to take advantage of the mirage effect I always had around me to throw her off! It seemed to work, I was able to slam into her side and she grunted in a mixture of pain and annoyance before she swung her own hammer at me and connected with my right side.
When she did, it sent me skidding across the ground. I would have fallen over if Aura hadn't created a charcoal-colored chain that hooked to the ground and disappeared once I righted myself completely.
By the time I had steadied myself Nora was already racing at me, wearing a grin on her face as she let out a battle-cry before bringing her hammer down straight towards my head! It would have connected had Aura not created a shield that absorbed the damage, although I could tell Aura was already getting much weaker.
We entered a rhythm of striking and blocking, although the only reason she didn't land more hits was because Aura had done its part in blocking every strike it could. As I had feared, I was far too slow when fighting another person with experience! Nora was able to dodge most of my attacks, and the ones that hit were usually able to do so because I distracted her with a punch from Aura or something similar.
About five minutes into the fight and I was in dire straits, I had managed to land a hit strong enough to send Nora skidding back, which gave me enough space to try to catch my breath, but there was no way I was going to pull through this unless something changed!
However, for one reason or another, it seemed Nora was ready to put an end to things as well! Did she think I had more strength left than I did? I had no idea, but while I was still catching my breath, Nora took out a yellow electricity crystal and dropped it on the ground. Then she took her hammer and smashed the whole thing! The effect was immediate as electricity surged through Nora's body, anyone else would have been blown back by the force of the electric surge, but she just absorbed it, her grin grew wild.
I heard a voice from some distance away, I recognized it as Ren, "Nora! What are you-"
Yet he didn't have time to finish whatever it was he was trying to say, Nora surged forward with the strength and speed of lightning. It was all I could do to brace myself and send out Aura as a shield in front of me in the same way I did when fighting the Deathstalker.
Nora crashed into them and, to my horror, was able to push straight through, Aura was already weak from all of the earlier stress, now they dissipated and I gasped, left with my twenty percent as she continued to surge forward. She connected with me as I tried to block with my sword, although that didn't do much of anything to stop her. With one final warcry she finally pushed hard enough that she sent me off my feet and flying backwards!
I crashed into the stone wall of the coliseum and gasped as my breath was taken away by the impact, the last of my aura dissipated as I slid to the ground. My vision blurred but I shook my head and tried to come to terms with everything that was happening. Aura was gone again, I felt cold and vulnerable, but everyone that hadn't already left was looking at me, I couldn't let them see Violet, I just had to keep being Umber…
They all called me Violet anyway, but I don't think they understood what the distinction was to me at the time.
I planted my sword in the ground and used it to help me stand as Pyrrha, Penny, and Ruby all ran up to me. Ruby spoke first, "Violet! Are you okay?! That looked like it hurt!"
I managed a grin and tried to play it off, "N-Nope! I'm fine…Umber Sh-Sha'dow XIV Esquire doesn't know p-pain." That didn't convince them, but I knew I needed to get away from here regardless, "I-I'm just gonna…go back to the dorm and put my sword away, I'm done fighting for today."
Penny's worried gaze hurt almost as bad as my body did in that moment, "Violet! You are clearly injured, are you sure you don't need medical attention?"
I nodded and started to stumble my way to the exit, "Th-Thank you, but I'll be fine!" I winced as I kept walking, and I caught sight of Nora, who looked the most worried out of everyone with Ren staring at her with crossed arms as he, for once, had an emotion on his face, disappointment.
I hoped she didn't feel bad! I could totally handle it. I kept walking, and I heard the rest of my team talking as I slowly left ear-shot.
Ruby asked, worriedly, "Should we go after her?"
Penny seemed unsure, "If she wishes to be left alone…maybe we should allow her time to recuperate?"
Pyrrha didn't say anything, at least nothing I could hear, but I felt her eyes on me. She must have been worried, but I was fine!
Really…
I made it back to the dorm without interruption, the second I shut the door I let out a heavy sigh and stumbled over to my bed before sitting down, wincing in pain as I did so. My everything hurt, I was certain if it wasn't for Aura I'd have internal bleeding, but Aura wasn't here right now, so I couldn't exactly thank them.
I still felt cold, even in the temperate dorm room. I hugged myself and squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to push away the dark thoughts encroaching on me, they were always there, waiting for me to be weak, and then they came for me.
I wasn't good enough, I wasn't strong enough, I was weak and afraid and I would drag down everyone on the team.
Weak, childish, stupid, stupid…
Not even good enough to clean the floors, not even good enough to wash the dishes, not even good enough to keep-
That was when I heard the electronic lock on the door disengage. I was sitting facing away from the door, yet I only heard one set of footsteps, and one voice. It was Pyrrha, worry dripped from her voice, "Violet…?" She asked softly, but I didn't respond. I heard her walk closer, "...Ruby and Penny went to grab a couple things, and to ask the Nurse to come check on you."
I didn't need any of that, I didn't want them to stress out over me, but it seemed they were anyway. Maybe if my acting was better, they'd have believed that I was fine.
She sat next to me, I averted my gaze. She didn't need to see the tears in my eyes, but I had a feeling she saw them anyway. I felt her arms wrap around me, then I felt her pull me close to her. My eyes were still closed, and yet even in this state I couldn't stop my cheeks from reddening from the contact, "I-I'll be fine…"
Pyrrha hummed, "I know you will." She responded gently, "But you're not right now, and I want to help you. We all want to help you…" Her voice was like a warm blanket, it reminded me of how I felt when I had Aura. She said in a curious yet still gentle voice, "Aura means a lot to you, don't they?"
I sniffled and responded shakily, "M-Mhm…" I could feel my tail starting to wag ever so slightly from the contact, and it rarely did that, "They were my first friend, they…They keep me safe."
Pyrrha never seemed like a girl to only offer comfort, although she was good at it, she also seemed to always want to help, always wanted to come up with a solution. This was one of those instances, she started hesitantly as she toyed with the idea in her mind first, "Well…" Then she finally seemed to gain confidence in it, "I think the best thing you can do is learn how to be a great fighter without your semblance. It's important to be able to fight with and without it, and if you lose Aura in a battle…"
I knew she was right, I spent my whole life hiding behind Aura. Ever since I found them…Without them I was no longer Umber, I was Violet, and Violet was very, very fragile. I needed to change that…I needed to be all of me, "A-Alright….A-Are you going to help?"
Pyrrha raised her hand to my head and started to run her fingers through my hair, petting me. I'd never been pet before, it felt…nice. Soothing. "I will. I'll teach you how to fight without Aura. We can make it part of our routine."
I asked softly, "...Can it be secret? I don't…I don't want anyone outside of you guys to know how useless I am without Aura…"
Pyrrha responded softly and sadly, "You're not useless without Aura, but…of course. We can train on the roof at night, it's out of the way and nobody goes up there. Since we'll just be training your skill with Suncutter, we shouldn't have to worry about noise."
That sounded like a good idea to me, "...Thank you." I'd had more physical contact with people in the last two days than I had had in most of my life, it was a mixture of overwhelming and addicting. The way my heart fluttered at something as simple as a hug felt good, and with my friends I felt not just safe, but capable. We might not have known each other for a long time, but I didn't need a long time to form attachments. They were already some of the nicest people I had ever met, and that was enough for me to want to do anything for them.
She just continued running her fingers through my hair, "You don't need to thank me. I'm happy to help." I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was being genuine. It made me feel…good.
Not long after that, the door opened again, Ruby, Penny, and the Nurse all entered the room and Pyrrha got up so the Nurse could look me over. It was just cursory, checking my breathing, my heart-rate, asking some questions that I had to assume were trying to ascertain if I had internal bleeding or anything. I didn't, thankfully, however she did worry that I might have bruised ribs, which would explain the really nasty pain I felt in my chest.
She ended up recommending that I stay in bed tomorrow to let my aura completely heal me. I couldn't really fight with her on that, she seemed insistent, and I knew aura healing was pretty slow, especially if you were up and walking around during it.
After she left, it was Penny's turn to fret over me. She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and tried to get me to lay back, "You must rest, Violet! You are in no condition to be sitting, and don't worry, I will bring you a very nutritionally balanced dinner to help you recover!"
Ruby, meanwhile, had her own plans, "Penny can do that, but I'll make sure to bring you all the cookies and ice cream I can get ahold of! You're gonna need it!" I smiled at the two of them.
Pyrrha chimed in, "Penny, you should probably let Violet change before you make her lie down. Sleeping in her huntsman gear doesn't seem like a good idea…" She was right, and Penny obliged. I had rested Suncutter against my nightstand earlier, so all I needed to worry about was my clothes.
I managed through the pain of standing up thanks to Penny helping me, her worried expression and reassuring smile made me feel fuzzy. I'd never been this surrounded with people who cared about me before. I had Grandpa, of course, but he was just one person, who wasn't around anymore, and before that? Well….I decided not to think about that. I wanted to focus on what I had now, not what I didn't back then.
I got to the bathroom and changed, while I was doing so I thought about how embarrassing this whole situation was.
I wasn't normally the kind of girl who thought about how random people perceived me, it just didn't register. I said what I said and did what I did and that was the end of it, however this was different. How was it going to look when people found out that Team VPPR's leader got crushed so badly in a sparring match that she was forced to miss the second day of class?
Not having Aura already laid bare my insecurities and fears, it was like pulling a snail out of its shell! Or…something. I always liked snails, they didn't have to worry about complicated things like people did, and they didn't hurt anyone. They just lived their lives in the slow lane.
While I was changing I inspected my bruises, there were a lot of them, and they hurt a lot, but I knew once Aura came back they'd go away without much fuss. I removed my chestwrap and changed into my usual night clothes before heading back into the main room to lay in bed.
The other three left soon after to get dinner, they said they'd come back and eat here instead of eating in the dining room. That gave me time to read some manga, and think about some other things.
Nora looked sad and Ren looked disappointed, I didn't think that was right. It wasn't their fault, I was the one who provoked the challenge anyway, all over some dumb breakfast food. If anyone should have been apologizing, it was me. If I had known my limits, I might not have ended up in this situation.
I would have to make it up to Nora, maybe I could get her a whole bunch of waffles or something? I could try and find out what her favorite kind is! Then surprise her with that, and her favorite syrup! That would mend this schism.
The manga I chose to read was one of my favorites, the story of a boy with no memories trying to survive being a huntsman-in-training and concealing the fact that he had no memories while he tried to get them back. I liked it, too bad the mangaka was so slow with updates…
Other than that I had a lot of favorites, like the story of the guy with the big sword! Although that one got really depressing and dark sometimes…There was a more lighthearted story about the top students of some civilian academy trying to get the other to confess, that one was fun!
My earlier woes were quickly lost within the pages of the manga I read, as they always were, and I found myself focused on the story so much that I almost didn't notice when I heard the door unlock and everyone else returned.
Sure enough they all had their food in carry-out boxes, same with mine, and true to both of their words Penny had brought a meal that was far more nutritionally balanced than anything I usually ate and Ruby brought me plenty of sweets to counterbalance that.
We all started talking during all of this while we each sat on our beds. Ruby started by asking Penny, "So what's it like back in Atlas? I've heard it's really cold!"
Penny nodded, "It is! However both Mantle and Atlas have systems in place to keep the temperature bearable! Atlas is a wonderful place, very advanced! Mantle is behind in some ways, but it's still a splendid place to live! It's where my father lives, working in his clinic!"
I tilted my head at Penny, swallowing a bite of food before asking, "What's your dad like? You've mentioned him before, I think, but not much."
She seemed more than happy to tell us, "He's a wonderful person! He's always cared a lot about me and wanted me to be happy, he's part of why I came to Beacon! I told him I wanted to come here, and he helped make it possible."
That was sweet of him, letting your daughter go to an entire different continent for school was probably a difficult decision to make. I looked at the other two, sitting on their beds which were parallel to the ones Penny and I had, "What about you two?"
Ruby started to talk with her mouth full, Pyrrha giggled before she interjected, "Ruby…Swallow first."
She did so and smiled, "Oops. Anyway, I grew up on an island not far from Vale actually, it's called Patch. My Dad and Uncle taught there for a while, although my Uncle stopped eventually for some reason. I had Lunus and Yang had Ven, we were all great friends! Nothing could stand in our way." She reminisced nostalgically, "Honestly though I'm glad to have a team with you guys rather than them, at first I just wanted to team up with the people I'd known my whole life but…Yang had a point! I needed to make new friends, and besides! Without anyone looking over my shoulder, I'm free to do whatever I want!"
She grinned, "Yang, Ven, Dad, and Uncle were always super overprotective, I barely got to have any real fun while I was at school! Now, at least, I can try new things and go places without someone always worrying about me! It's nice, and besides, you guys are great! It's only been a couple days but I can already tell we're going to be together for a very long time."
We all agreed with that, and then it was Pyrrha's turn, she smiled an awkward smile, which I began to correlate with her being comfortable. Sure, it seemed counterintuitive to say that her looking awkward meant she was comfortable, but outside of this room Pyrrha didn't show this side of herself! Even in the short time I'd known her, I had seen how she behaved out in public compared to private, and the difference was obvious.
She mused fondly, "Well…I grew up in Argus and went to Sanctum, and…honestly I didn't have a lot of friends back there. I was very…very awkward when I first started out. Then, after I discovered my semblance and trained with it enough, I started to win tournaments, and everyone loved me for it. Mom called me a hometown hero…" She glanced away nervously, as if she was worried she sounded like she was bragging, "They were pretty sad when they found out I was going to Beacon instead of Haven, they had a big party for me and everything…"
That left a question lingering in the air, one that Ruby picked up, "Why'd you decide to come to Beacon?"
Pyrrha chuckled and shook her head, "Ooh I had always had my eyes on this place. If I had gone to Haven I would have just been treated the same as I was in Argus, and I, honestly, wanted to get away from it. I think I've been mostly successful! Before that, well…Beacon won me over because of Vale, more than anything. It felt more like Argus than Mistral did, funnily enough."
With her story finished, she passed the ball to me, "What about you, Violet?" She smiled, "You must have an interesting story."
I had been eating some of my food, I swallowed it and thinned my lips, "Uhm…" I supposed I could tell them a bit, "My parents died in an accident when I was young, I got put in an orphanage, eventually Grandpa adopted me. He's…not my actual Grandpa, but that's just what I call him. He raised me and trained me, and uhm…" I managed a smile, "Now I'm here."
That story wasn't entirely true in some places, but they didn't need to know the whole story. Ruby tilted her head curiously, "Awh, sorry about your parents…"
I shook my head, "I-It was a long time ago. I honestly don't even remember them, really…" That was a lie, "Just…happy to be here!"
Ruby and Penny seemed to take me at my word, although Pyrrha looked at me with that worried gaze again and I wondered if maybe she knew I was lying. If she did, though, she didn't press me on it. Instead she spoke gently, "We're all happy to have you here."
I couldn't tell exactly what but it felt like there was something else she was trying to say with that sentence. Ugh, if only I knew the first thing about talking to people… Luckily, the conversation moved forward as Ruby got an idea, "Hey! What if this weekend we all just…hit the town? It'd be a great way to celebrate! We could…what's the term…paint the town red?"
Pyrrha giggled, "That phrase usually means going out to get drunk, Ruby. We're legally able, since we're hunters-in-training, but I don't think that's advisable."
Ruby's face paled as her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, "No no no, not that! I meant like - going to eat, watch a movie, maybe go shopping, that sort of thing!" Her quick attempt to fight off the idea that she was suggesting we all go get drunk got us to laugh, although I couldn't do that too much because it hurt.
I had always wanted to see what all the fuss was about with drinking, I couldn't do it before I joined this academy, and it seemed like a lot of people loved doing it. Who knew, it might be fun! Still, I didn't think doing it over the weekend in town like that would be a very good idea…Besides! There were tons of fun things we could do without ever needing to resort to that!
Penny added in her ideas, "We could do the things we talked about before! Paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys! Those are the kinds of things friends do the most, don't they?"
She had an interesting idea of what constituted normal friend activity, but there were loads of cute people to talk about, not just boys, so I wasn't entirely opposed to it! Although the mention of clothes did make Ruby remember something. She looked at me, "That reminds me! I have an idea for helping you in fights, Violet!" I tilted my head at her and she continued, "That chestplate you wear, I've seen how it slows you down, it makes you all awkward and rigid! If you wore something else, I bet you'd move a lot faster."
I opened my mouth to respond before I closed it and thought about what she said. I hummed, "Well… I was wearing it because it was my Grandpa's, but…If I'm carrying his sword, then maybe not wearing the armor is fine, since I still have something to remember him by on the field."
Pyrrha added her opinion, "I wear armor, but yours is clearly very rigid and made in a very old fashion…It's the kind of thing that was probably worn during the Great War, maybe it's an heirloom?" She rubbed her chin, "Either way, armor should never slow you down in a fight, that can be the difference between life and death. Maybe we could try to find someone to make you a new outfit when we're in town this weekend?"
I smiled at the idea, "As long as it's not too different! I want to still look as cool as I do in my current huntress gear." Black and red, after all, were the coolest colors available, why would I ever abandon them? If the chestplate wouldn't be there, maybe I could get a new tabard?
We spent the rest of the night talking and making plans for the weekend, with Pyrrha and Penny both wanting to see as much of the city as they could since they'd never gotten a good look around before. Ruby and I were happy to oblige, after all, Vale was our home! We wanted it to be theirs as well.
The others took their turns changing into their night clothes after that, by the time we had finished eating and talking the sun had already started to set, so we knew we weren't going to be going anywhere for the rest of the night. It made me think about how I was looking forward to training with Pyrrha, with her help, then I could truly be the Savior of Remnant I always wanted to be!
While it was still too early to sleep, we ended up having an impromptu night of just reading manga, it was awesome! Penny read with me again, while Pyrrha showed Ruby how reading manga worked since she had apparently never read any before. Once she knew, though, Ruby seemed completely taken by it, another convert to the truly best form of literature!
Before I fell asleep that night, Aura returned. I saw them create a charcoal-colored heart in front of me like they always did to signal their return, and it made me break out into a grin. I would sleep a lot easier having them back.
As I started to fall asleep, I once more pledged to myself that I would improve, I had to! Especially now that I was the leader of a team! The others were all amazing fighters, and I wasn't, but that could change! It had to! If it didn't, then I would just drag the whole team down, and that would be awful.
Umber Sha'dow had big shoes to fill already, but Violet Merino had a whole lot more to live up to.
Grandpa deserved that much, at least.
