Chapter 12: Counting Cards
A/N
Sorry this chapter is a little bit later than normal, but at least it was posted same day. One other thing, if you haven't already seen, I've updated the synopsis (Chapter 1) to include a Chapter 0 which is a small lead into the story. Without further ado, let's go on to seeing this dumpster fire of a team bonding session.
–
Character Change: Ifiral Phenrix- Viralious
Location Atlas Academy: Team VIEW common area
–
Viralious and Winter walk back from the dining hall was fairly uneventful and eventually they made it back to their dorm room. Stepping inside Viralious takes a seat on the couch while Winter sat on the weathered armchair across from the coffee table. A short silence hung in the air before Winter spoke up.
"So Viralious, during Dust class today you threw a vial of poison to Basil… Why did you have poison?" her voice is a little hesitant.
"Oh, when I was redesigning my weapon, I was thinking of ways to make it more… Mine. So, I took inspiration from my name and decided to work it into the design." He responds calmly.
"Do you use lethal ones? Is it also even allowed?" Winter says in a slight quick pace.
"No all paralytic, I only use ones that Basil has approved… That being said, I only carry about one or two cartridges compared to the normal four or five for each type of dust." Viralious said calmly.
"Oh, well I guess it's okay then" Winter says in a tone saying that definitely told it wasn't ok with her. Viralious picked up on it immediately.
"Winter, I understand that poisons are not a typical tool for a huntsman but having a non-lethal option for taking down non-Grimm targets is useful. I currently don't plan to use it in sparring classes considering I would prefer to just improve on my martial and marksmanship first." Viralious said with a warmer tone.
Winter looked Viralious in the eyes, not speaking for a minute but noticed the sincerity in his eyes. She slowly smiles.
"Alright Viralious, I can't say that I like the idea but I trust you." she said in a neutral tone.
"So Winter, mind if I ask you a slightly personal question?" Viralious says in a curious tone.
"It depends on what type of question it is but go ahead" Winter responds.
"You said you were the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, why did you come to Atlas Academy? Don't you have a definite future paved for you?" Viralious said with a slight hitch as if he really didn't want to ask it but curiosity won out in the end.
Winter took a long and deep breath in starting to speak then stopping multiple times. Finally, after a few moments she speaks up, "My grandfather started the Schnee Dust Company and he was a huntsman when he started it. He actively used the company to try and help people, human or faunus, rich or poor… It just didn't matter. I have always looked up to him and when my father took over the company he… tarnished the reputation of the Schnee Dust Company. I chose to become a Huntress for two reasons: first is to be able to defend myself instead of waiting on someone else, but most importantly I wanted to be more like my grandfather. I want to reshape the Schnee Dust Company to be more in line with his vision, not my fathers." Her voice was stern and true. Viralious simply looked on in a simple tone before rising from the couch and approaching winter sitting on the arm chair. Once he reaches her he stops for a second before extending his right hand.
"Sounds like it's going to be a long road, Winter, but commendable. So if you ever need any help just ask. Even if not I'll be rooting for you." Viralious says in a resolved look on his face. Winter simply looks at the outstretched hand with a look of confusion on her face.
After a moment or two she looked Viralious in the eyes to see any deception, but she didn't see any. "Viralious, what are you getting at planning to help me? Are you expecting a position in my company or just want a favor from a Schnee?" Her tone is slightly cold and hostile.
Viralious doesn't flinch or remove his outstretched hand, he simply looks Winter in her eyes before speaking "Winter, I mean what I said while we were hanging on the edge of that cliff. I don't care about your name, your title or anything else. We're partners and I agree with you so I'm going to support you however I can." He spoke with conviction and slight annoyance.
Winter stared at him for a minute or two before taking his hand and shaking it. "Alright, I'm sorry about…" she trails off.
"Don't worry about it, Winter, I understand." Viralious finishes.
They are suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Viralious says a silent prayer to no deity in particular as he approaches the door hoping that it's either of his two missing teammates. He opens the door and is met by two long antlers sticking up and a fox faunus looking at him. Glancing down he sees the small leader of Team CARD standing there with her hand raised to knock on the missing door.
"Hey guys what's up?" Viralious says trying to break the awkward silence.
"Oh well we were waiting on you so our teams could meet, remember the team bonding activity you mentioned?" Celica says
Viralious draws a blank before remembering that yes in fact he was supposed to meet them after classes so the two teams could get to know each other better… He had forgotten after, well… everything.
"Oh, sorry I had forgotten about it… Ummm I don't know if Ifiral or Eckhart will be joining us if that's ok." Viralious says slightly embarrassed
"Oh well… I think we could um... Well…I-I… That's okay, Viralious." Delphi replies
Viralious then turns to Winter and motions for her to follow. The two exit the dorm room and are led by the two faunus to the floors lounge where there's a large kitchenette tucked in the corner of the room. Inside there's also a large TV with three couches surrounding it. Seated on the leftmost couch are the two final members of Team CARD, Russet and Ariel who seem to be engaged in some kind of discussion.
"I'm telling you Ariel, there has to be something else keeping Atlas in the air! It doesn't make sense that gravity dust is the only thing keeping Atlas afloat, the amount needed for even a day is massive!" Russet says while waving his arms around.
"Okay, Russet and what do you think is keeping Atlas afloat? Some magical relic?" Ariel responds in a huff.
"Of course not, magic doesn't exist! I personally believe that trapped underneath the school is a large form gravity generator that is being used to keep it afloat! The gravity dust is just a cover or a stabilizing element!" Russet responds confidently.
"That's the craziest thing that I've heard! Even more so than the idea that there is a witch that is secretly controlling the Grimm!" Ariel responds while punching Russet in the arm.
"Personally, I would like to think that's true, I mean after all it gives us a definite target to get rid of them after all." Viralious says while taking a seat on the middle couch, Celica and Delphi take a spot on the right couch and Winter ends up sitting next to Viralious.
"Well sorry to burst your bubble, Poison, but the world isn't a fairytale, the Grimm are just a force of nature that we have to deal with." Ariel responds looking him in the eye.
Viralious raises and eyebrow "Poison? Please don't tell me that people are actually calling me that." He says in a dejected voice.
"Nope, just me. You said your name was Viralious at lunch right, I'm Ariel Arc."
"Nice to meet you… Again, I guess. Yes, my name is Viralious."
A curt silence followed up afterward. No one knew what to say to each other. Eventually after a long awkward silence Ariel pitches in. "So uhhh what did everyone think of classes today?"
"Wow, that's the best question to ask Ariel" Russet scoffs.
"I-I- I thought it was a good question..." Delphi squeaks out.
"I… I thought classes were fine… Grimm Studies is fine, History is honestly more interesting than I expected, Applied Sciences is a little confusing but I think it will be informative. First Aid I… hope that it is going to be better than today" Winter speaks out and this comment gets a laugh from everyone in the room, before she continues "Combat is the class I am most excited about and Dust Applications is going to be the perfect class to show my mastery over Dust." Winter finishes in a scholarly manner.
"I agree with Winter, although I will say I think Grimm Studies is going to be a bitch." Russet jumped in with.
"Yeah yeah, we all know that classes are interesting but that's not the greatest question to get to know each other with." Viralious cuts in and places a hand on his chin thinking for a second, "How about we all say where we're born or from. I'll start, I was born in Vacuo and…Spent a long time barely scraping by all around Remnant with my mother lived in Patch."
Winter picks up on what Viralious didn't mention Mistral, further confusing her considering he was willing to talk about it less than an hour ago. "Well, surprising no one, I'm Atleasin born and raised. Actually, I've never left."
"Yeah, that's honestly to be expected. So Viralious you mentioned you were born in Vacuo right. Does the Rhulk tribe ring any bells?" Celica Interjected.
Viralious thought for a moment before snapping his fingers "Yes, actually, they took in my sister after my father abandoned her. Why do you ask?"
Celica clapped her hands together "I thought you matched his description. I'm the prodigy of the tribe. You're Zel's twin, aren't you?"
"Yeah, Zeliska's my sister, it's a small world after all if you know her." Viralious says with a smile forming on his face.
"Yeah, we met a couple times and Almigo did have me spare against her once or twice. But I thought she mentioned that she was going to be going to Shade with her, what brought you here to Atlas?" Celica says in an inquisitive tone.
"Complications with a professor there, what about you? I doubt a Vacuoian free woman would want to come to Atlas."
"Eh, honestly, I threw darts to see which ones I applied to. Atlas was just the first to respond."
"Wow, anti-climactic don't you say? So, jumping back to the original question, I'm from Vale. I chose Atlas as I figured it would be the best place to get a job based on my semblance." Russet jumps in with.
"Figures you would have some reasoning like that Russet. I'm from Ansel, it's a small colony near the upper regions of Vale, it's got a deep history with the Atlas Military and has been nicknamed the 'Argus of Sanus'. I chose Atlas as my father recommended it."
Everyone then turned to the small Deer faunus who hadn't said a word since sitting down. Viralious could tell it was making her nervous "Hey. Delphi, where are you from and why did you choose to come to Atlas?"
Delphi breathed in for a second and closed her eyes for a second in a bid to center herself. "I…I'm from M...Menagerie, I came to Atlas be…because well… I wanted to try and make a difference and Professor Cinnamon specifically recommended the school to me…" she responded meekly
"You know Makoto and Cinnamon from before?" Ariel says.
"Y-yeah, she- they would teach the school children in Menagerie… She helped train me so I could become a huntress." she said with a little more confidence.
"Well then now that we know where everyone's from, does one have other questions to ask the group or each other?" Viralious says leaning back slightly,
"Yeah, actually I have a question for you Viralious. Where's the rest of your team?" Ariel says, raising an eyebrow.
"Your guess is as good as mine, we kinda got separated when me and Winter went to eat, they weren't in the dorm when we got back so I'm assuming they're either training or studying." Viralious lied
"Huh, maybe you should message them and tell them to get over here so we can really-" Ariel continues before Winter interrupts them.
"No, I think it's fine with just the two of us. Eckhart isn't really in a … bonding mood and Ifiral seems a little anti-social so maybe it's better if we let him come on his accords" she speaks a little quicker than normal.
Ariel just shrugs before Delphi turns to Viralious and says, "Um… Viralious… If you don't mind me asking… What do you think about being a leader?
Viralious looks down for a moment before meeting her eyes "Honestly, I didn't expect to be leader of a team when I came here. It's definitely going to be a challenge and out of my comfort zone but It's an important position and Ironwood made us the leaders for a reason. Just remember that whenever you doubt yourself Delphi." He responds, answering her next question before she could ask it.
Delphi is flummoxed for a second wondering if she was really that easy to read. Ariel then turns to the group "So, does anyone else have siblings? I'm probably in the minority as I've got six sisters and one brother."
Everyone's eyes go wide at that before Celica belts out, "Are your parent's rabbit faunus?" Everyone pauses for a second and looks at her "Oh snuff it. You're all thinking it and if anything, I'm the best person to make the joke." she says pointing at her ears.
"Honestly I don't want to think about my family being secretly rabbit faunus or having sex for that matter." Ariel responds.
"Only child here." Russet responds
"I've got… one younger sister she's still on Menagerie." Delphi pipes in.
Celica rolls her eyes before responding, "Well not counting other children in the tribe, I'm an only child."
"I have two younger siblings, one brother and one sister… You all probably knew that though" Winter responds.
Viralious glances around the room for a second before speaking "I've got a twin sister, a half-sister, and a stepsister." He even surprises himself when he refers to Yang as a sister.
"Damn, the X chromosome got some strength around Remnant" Russet responds. Before getting a shove from Ariel knocking him off the couch onto the ground causing everyone to give a light chuckle.
From the floor Russet looks at Winter and smirks "So Winter, speaking of your family, your youngest sibling, Whitley, is rumored to be a child between Willow Schnee and James Ironwood care to confirm or deny these rumors?"
Everyone in the room goes Silent, Viralious looks over at his teammate and can see the anger brewing on her face. He is about to say something when Winter erupts.
"No, Whitley is not a secret child between Ironwood and my Mother, and I don't appreciate you insinuating it, Russet!" Winter's shout echoed throughout the room catching everyone off guard from the normally reserved heiress… that being said it's perfectly understandable.
"Not a nice question to ask or to insinuate Russet." Ariel says while placing her foot onto his chest getting a rough oof sound to escape his lips. It takes a moment for everyone to recompose themselves and Winter lambasts Russet while he's on the floor, Ariel never takes her foot off his chest.
Suddenly the door opens, and everyone turns to see who it is. Entering the door is Ifiral, he turns directly to his two teammates sitting on the couch and says two simple words.
"I'm sorry." His tone is low but resolved.
Viralious clenches his fist for a second before releasing the tension and looking him in the eye while jumping over the couch. "Look I understand what Eckhart said was uncalled for but jumping to decking him in the face was childish and… well it was…. Ah fuck, I'm not good at this! it was the worst fucking thing you could have probably done in the situation!"
Winter looks at her partner with worry, half expecting this sequence to end with Ifiral or Viralious punching the other but is pleasantly surprised when Ifiral responds.
"I know… I know it was but… I just got angry and saw red… Look, the scar and semblance control are sore spots for me so, if possible, please don't bring it up again. Honestly, I'm not trying to make excuses for what I did… I know it was wrong and I did it anyway. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for fucking everything up." Ifiral spoke with sympathy and honesty.
Viralious looked at his teammate for a minute trying to find any deception or alternate meaning in his words. He found only sincerity and honesty. Sighing he places a hand on his shoulder and says "Alright, Ifiral, I understand… But me and Winter are not the one you need to apologize to. So, you should probably-"
"I tried before coming here… He doesn't want to accept it and put on a facade to try and… get it dropped. Ifiral interrupts.
Viralious thinks to himself for a minute before responding "Well then, just be ready to apologize when he is ready to accept it… That being said, you can't just walk away scot free after that… So in return you're going to sit on this couch and answer our questions… if you want to I mean, if it's too personal you don't have to." His tone is stern before fading into one of less confidence.
Ifiral looks at Viralious for a moment stunned before he turns to Winter who is still sitting on the couch. She simply gives him a small shrug before he turns back to Viralious and nods his head. Viralious returns the nod and returns to his spot on the couch with Ifiral following behind.
"Alright then, let's get you caught up to the current point Ifiral, firstly where are you from and next do you have any siblings? Also, what made you choose Atlas?" Ariel says to the Auburn-haired boy.
Ifiral just smirks for a moment before speaking "Well, I'm from Atlas, but spend most of my time down in Mantle. I've got an older brother who is about eight years older and I chose Atlas cause it was either in the same town or above me."
With that the seven of them continued asking questions to each other and the sounds of laughing could be heard down the hall every few minutes unbenounced to everyone inside one figure stood outside the door waiting and listening in.
–
Character Change: Viralious - Eckhart Slate
Location Atlas Academy: Outside first year lounge.
–
Eckhart stood next to the door to the lounge listening in to the conversations going on inside. He could hear them all laughing, yelling, and joking around. It was annoying. Eckhart clenched his fist while thinking.
The next soldiers of Atlas, huntsmen and huntresses of the future protecting the world from the Grimm… and yet they are not taking it seriously and are sitting around talking about trivial matters!
From the inside Viralious' voice could be heard "So, there was this one time where Zeliska was trying to get the upper hand on me during a sparring session, so she decided to fill her weapon's ammo with sand. Hoping to blind me or something but the wind that day ended up blowing it right back into her eyes and mouth! It was probably the stupidest win I've ever had." His tone was joyful and reminiscent after he finished speaking the chorus of laughs echoed again.
Viralious. He's not fit to lead a team like VIEW, he's not a leader, he's a vagabond who chanced his way here. He got lucky with the Geist, after all, my plan was similar. I just didn't account for his semblance!
Eckhart pushed off the wall and looked at the door. Something in him urged him to join his teammates and get to know them better… but in the end he simply turned on his heel. "It's a waste of time, getting to know them better is worthless. After all, I don't need them, they need me." His tone was strict and cold. Reminiscent of Ironwood.
He walked back through the halls towards his dorm, ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut.
–
Character Change: Eckhart Slate- Viralious
Location Atlas Academy: first year lounge.
–
Eventually, after it reached 11 PM, Viralious and Delphi declared that it would probably be a good idea for everyone to get back and get some sleep before classes tomorrow. Russet and Ariel gave some protests but followed along.
The walk back was filled with small questions between the teams of inconsequential things such as favorite food or video games. Eventually when they reached their Dorms both teams wished the other a good night before entering their respective ones.
Viralious wished Ifiral luck with sleeping tonight as he walked into his side of the suite, Ifiral just shrugged and closed the door behind him. Once again, Viralious gave first shower to Winter.
Eventually after Viralious finished showering and was changed he climbed into bed and contemplated on what the hell had happened today.
Ok so first day of classes… Could have been better but could have also been worse I guess. Classes themselves seem fine… unique but fine. Food here is shit really hope the pay dispute is resolved soon. Team CARD is nice, more functional than us but still eccentric… Then there's Team VIEW, a dysfunctional mess… How the hell am I going to get Eckhart to understand and fix this mess? Well, If mom could do it with Raven of all people then so can I!
With that line of thinking out of the way, Viralious closed his eyes and drifted into the realm of dreams.
A/N
A bit shorter of a chapter this time… I say that but it's still about as long as the first couple chapters. Overall, it's mostly just moving the plot forward while sharing a bit about each character. I want to actually set up and explore team VIEW and CARD so having chapters like this I thought would be a good way to somewhat organically implement parts of their backgrounds into the story. Overall, I think I did a decent job.
For once I think everything is basically self-explanatory so It's a short author's note… Never thought I would see the day.
Here's where I would like to thank my editor AmoebaHewdraw. Without him, every other word would probably be capitalized.
AmoebaHewdraw's note: He originally capitalized "thank" and "editor" in this note. I don't know if he did it on purpose just to fuck with me, or if it was unintentional.
It's unintentional I swear.
Until next time, Xcom Out.