Chapter 17: Re-Evaluated Risk
Sundays in Team VIEW's dorm were similar to the typical Saturday. Winter and Eckhart being the first to rise, but still taking their time getting out of bed. Viralious and Ifiral unsurprisingly slept until 11. Yawning, Viralious gets out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom of his suite. Taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth, and changing into his one of two 'lazy' outfits: a simple black tee shirt with a logo for a band his mother loved and a faded pair of gray jeans. Entering the common room he's not surprised to see Winter and Eckhart already up, currently running through some basics when it comes to treating Centinel acid burns.
"Morning, good to see you're up and early." Viralious says half cocking a smile.
Eckhart rolls his eyes, "Figured we should do something productive while you and Ifiral sleep the day away." he says in a shallow tone.
Viralious rolls his eyes, "Yeah I get it, but some of us actually enjoy the concept of sleep, Eckhart."
"Then why are you not giving Winter shit for waking up early?"
"Because I was making a joke. Lighten up Eckhart." Viralious says.
Ifiral then walked into the common area, his hair it's normal mess but for once his clothes looked completely proper. Seeing the last member of his team walk in, Viralious clears his throat, "So did you two eat already?"
Both Eckhart and Winter shake their heads. Viralious nods then speaks up, "Well then, I'll explain the plan over lunch. Come on, if we hurry, we might be able to pick up some of the non-Murt and Lute touched breakfast food." Viralious says while motioning to the door.
Ifiral shrugs following Viralious out the door. Winter dog eared the page in her text book before closing it and following Ifiral out the door. Eckhart sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose thinking.
It's really that fucking easy for him, huh?
Before following the rest of his team to the cafeteria.
Their late brunch was typical of their normal meals at Atlas, food was shite, conversations were sparse but focused and jokes were exchanged. However, what was different was Eckhart had actually stayed, something that was still an oddity. When they had nearly finished their food Viralious began to discuss the plans until 3.
"I assume everyone remembers the plan?" He says before glancing to the rest of his team. Each gave a curt nod. "Good. So, for the next three hours I just expect basic weapon maintenance, light warm-ups, and simple tactic drills. I trust all of you to think of something, so you don't have to wait on a command from me to get started. That being said, I would recommend that Ifiral focus on feints, Winter you should focus on casting multiple types of glyphs at once, and Eckhart focusing on opening gates without the aid of your drones would be worth investing in." He says in a simple commanding tone.
Winter gave a small nod, Ifiral placed a small thumbs up. Eckhart however looked Viralious in the eye and asked, "So you just are giving suggestions, but not commanding us to do these?" his tone is confused.
"Yeah, pretty much, I mean oftentimes we are our own worst critics and I trust each of you to know what you need to work on. I just figured I'd give some basic things that might help later today." Viralious says shrugging.
Eckhart was at a small loss for words, it was different, unheard of… the opposite of what he did.
He's doing this unlike any leader I've ever seen or read about… He's normally more hands on than this though… What's his angle?
Viralious took a sip from his drink and read Eckhart's face knowing he was questioning his method. Smirking, "I'm doing this as even though I'm the leader of this team currently I don't know everything about you guys just some basics… OK more than that, but my point stands I could try and guide you or I could leave you all to your own devices and actually get some work done."
Eckhart rolled his eyes, Of course, making it seem so simple…. Still, I can maybe see the reasoning.
With that Viralious stood up grabbed his tray before mentioning to his team, "I'm going to get a head start on training. I need to make sure I can move quickly if I'm going to get around Delphi's shield. If you need me I'll be in the training room." He then turned on his heel and moved to place the tray on the carousel, exiting the cafeteria.
Viralious jumped over the simulated Boarbatusk watching it roll underneath him before he shifted his weapon back to its SMG form and fired a volley of shots at the simulated Grimm. Landing in a slight flip, his hair tangled in front of his face blurring his vision for a moment. That split second, he was distracted to wipe the hair out of his face; the simulated Boarbatusk took advantage to roll towards him. Caught slightly off guard he swaps his weapon back to dual blades and blocks the rolling Grimm. Sliding back a good 2 meters in the process, he pushes upwards, throwing the Grimm slightly up before driving his left weapon into the stomach of the simulated Grimm, killing it.
Viralious gave a deep sigh, before fixing his hair. That was the fifth time that his hair had gotten in the way… Maybe Eckhart was on to someth- no I really don't have the money to get a haircut… I should try to read something about it on my scroll… This is going to be like the time mom cut my hair to a bowl cut, isn't it?
"Quite a marvelous display of rising action, Viralious! Though I must say, the point of letting your hair nearly trip you up is a little overdone." A dramatic voice booms from the doorway.
This got Viralious to do a small jump before turning and seeing Beryl standing in the doorway. Sheathing his weapon, he speaks up to the green haired professor, "Well, glad my performance was to your liking professor." he finishes with a small bow.
This earns a small smile from Beryl as he walks. In his hand is an old bound book. "Well then I'm glad to see you are still practicing even when rehearsal is days away!"
Viralious looks at the book for a moment before coughing, "So professor, what's with the book? Is it a collection of fairy tales?" His tone is curious.
Beryl gives a small laugh, "No my dear understudy, it is no script for fairy tales but a historical drama of the styles of Pole!" he then hands the book to Viralious who just reads the cover
The Anthology of a Twin-Bladed Hunter
Written by Lady Maria Rustrivire
In Memory of Ser Jacke Rustrivire
Viralious glared at the cover before speaking, "A collection of hunting tales?"
Beryl shook his head, "No, you see long ago there was this… Affliction that struck Remnant, and somehow normal animals were being twisted by Grimm matter. It is also said that there were greater beasts other than the Grimm and eventually they were hunted to extinction." He speaks in a scholarly tone. "See, this was LONG before the Great War and the huntsmen academies. All that they had was the Hunter's Guild, which really wasn't a guild at all, but more of a loose collection of people who worked in the villages and fledgling cities posting requests for brave individuals or Hunters to fulfill."
"So, kind of similar to the council today?"
"Yes, but in the fact that Hunter's Guild ONLY dealt with hunters and clients, they were never government agencies. In fact, they were surprisingly politically neutral. Well, except for Pole but you should have seen that from class." Beryl says, continuing in his scholarly tone.
"Alright so what does it have to do with the book?" Viralious questions
"It has everything to do with the book! This is the collection of the Hunting techniques and stories from one of Pole's greatest hunters! Ser Jacke Rustrivire, he basically coined the dual blade arts that have been adapted into common dual weapon training for huntsmen and huntresses!" Beryl says in increasing enthusiasm.
Viralious blinked for a second wondering how much of this was really true… He had never heard of this person before… then again, he really didn't study dual bladed techniques at Signal… Probably would have helped a SHIT ton now if I did. He then spoke up, "That's great and all professor but If I may ask why you are showing me this?" his tone is still curious.
Beryl beamed. "Well, I was going to give it to you of course! The knowledge within might help you improve your style!"
Viralious shook his head. "What!? Why? Wouldn't a more modern text be better and why single me out?" He says, not understanding the professor's thought process.
Beryl gives a theatrical laugh, "I'm not singling you out! In fact, I have plenty of texts like this to hand out to the students. Besides, what you are holding is a replica transcribed by me so no need to give it back. As for it instead of a modern text, there are a few techniques that Ser Jacke used that are not taught today for they are dangerous for the user. I was thinking a certain student that misted the stage with poison while he and his professor were dancing, without a care for safety would like to make use of them." Beryl says with a smirk.
Viralious feels a small heat creep up his neck and lets out an "erk" sound, "I… Alright fine you got me there." He then smirks, "Alright Beryl, thanks for the book I'll see if I can incorporate it into my style somehow."
Beryl gave him a small smile and bid him adieu, leaving Viralious with the book. Flipping it open he reads the preamble and smirks. This would do nicely. Closing the book, he moves and puts it back in his bag before glancing at his scroll.
1:16 PM
2 C Cloudy
One alarm set for 2:00 PM
Closing the scroll, he grabs his bag and shuts down the training room. Before exiting the room and making his way to join Winter in the Dust lab.
"Oh, you're on time today, should I be offended?" Eckhart says in a slight smirk.
"Oi, Eckhart. Shove it." Russet responds.
Viralious shook his head while helping Delphi get their team's scrolls connected to the scoreboard. He notices small bandages wrapped underneath her gloves but figures it's just a small injury and nothing he should bring up. He decided to stall the extra minute just as a joke.
At 3:02, the eight students stood across from each other. Team VIEW had lined up in the same positions that they had yesterday, an idea to throw Team CARD off and maybe get one or two lucky shots in.
Viralious unsheathed his weapon and looked at Celica, smirking further playing into the deception. Team CARD looked absolutely battered, like they had just gone through something harrowing. It almost made him feel bad and gave him the mental note to ask them if they were ok after the spar.
The countdown began and Viralious let out a long sigh. He spun his weapon in his arm once before righting it in a 60-degree angle.
2…1…0: BEGIN!
The fight began immediately with Viralious copying Winter's semblance and rocketing towards Delphi. His blades connect with her shield but pushes her back slightly. She's a little shaken from the surprise assault but has managed to block the damage. Celica moves to intercept before she is dragged down to the ground. Her arms and legs feel heavy, it's hard to move but she's able to lift her head enough to see Winter Schnee summoning the glyph under her, a smirk plastered on her face.
Ariel blocks Eckhart's opening shot and rolls to the left to dodge what she expects to be another coming from her rear but instead rolls directly INTO Eckhart's gate leading her to stare down the barrel of his weapon. Luckily for her he was caught slightly off guard by this and jumped back meaning the shot that connected with her wasn't exactly pointblank. Russet however wasn't having nearly as much luck. As soon as the "B"in "begin" flashed on screen, a screaming flurry of burning flak shot flew at him. He was barely able to dodge it before he had to shift his weapon to the right to block Ifiral rushing in like a bat out of hell. Russet grits his teeth, things were already going swimmingly.
–
Character Change: Viralious - Winter Schnee
Location: Atlas Academy: Combat Training Classroom
–
Winter gave a smirk; this fight was already going much much better than yesterday. Celica really couldn't do much while Winter was focusing everything on using her gravity glyphs. Celica was currently trying to right herself and throw her chakrams towards Winter, in response she simply increased the pull causing Celica to nearly drop to the floor. It was almost sad. Winter shook her head, while a fair fight is normally what she would go for she really needed to keep Celica out of the fight, or she would easily distract one of her teammates putting them on the backfoot.
Celica probably thought that outlasting her gravity dust supplies were going to be her only options. She was going to be waiting a while as Winter had forgone multiple forms of dust in her arsenal for more gravity dust… And even still Viralious had given her his normal reserve of the dust… She questioned what exactly gravity dust would do for his weapon. Sure, he could just use her semblance, but it seemed like a lot of effort to keep someone in place.
Winter let out a sigh and unsheathed her parrying dagger, she made sure to keep her saber focused on the location where the current gravity glyph was stationed. Placing the dagger in her off hand, she creates a small glyph above Celica and uses it to create a small but thick icicle above her. Dispelling the glyph, she allows for it to fall onto the fox faunus.
"This is the most humiliating way to fight someone, Winter." Celica says in a huff.
"Sorry Celica, normally I would like to have a fairer fight, but the risk of you interfering with Viralious or Ifiral is too great. Besides, it keeps me from having to go against Russet. So keeping you restrained is one of my highest priorities right now." Winter responds curtly.
Celica gets an evil smirk before speaking in the sultriest tone she can manage, "Ah, I see how it is Winter. I've got to admit I wouldn't have expected that from you. Then again, it's always the quiet ones."
Winter sputters, "What?!... Are… are you talking about?"
"I mean seriously, the glyph is a great restraining device. It's definitely nicer than the typical leather cuffs or metal chains. So how about instead of doing this here and now we go back to your place?" Celica says in an evil smirk.
"What… are you … what are you talking about?" Winter responds, a slight heat going up her neck.
"Oh, you don't have to be shy, Winter, it's normal to explore one's sexuality when they get to the academy. Don't worry I'll be welcoming. So we should make a safe word… How about Snow Fox?" Celica's smile widens.
"I… Er... Eh…"
"Afraid I'm not experienced enough to satisfy you? I mean you can just ask Viralious' sister. Zel was always a fan of the whips and chains." Celica snickers.
This comment gets Viralious to freeze, giving Delphi a chance to stab him with her halberd, knocking him away slightly. Winter is doing her best to keep focus on the gravity glyph but.
I… ER… What is she saying… Does Celica want to… I mean she's kind of cute… Wait, why would I think that? I've… looked at girls that way? Father says it's an abomination but… is it?... Wait this is a fight, she's trying to get in my head. This is all a joke; one I can use to my advantage.
"Ok Celica, I'm down… My room, 1700. Wear something sharp." Winter responds coyly.
This time, it's Celica that sputters slightly before a smirk reappears on face, "Oh you! Winter I'm surprised, I would have never expected you to take up the offer. Honestly I'm surprised you didn't ask for me to buy you dinner first. So then, who's going to be the sub and who's going to be the Dom? Also, just so you know, I'm VERY much a rope bunny kinda gal. So, you're getting a lot of points there already."
Shaking her head, Winter refocuses "I… I… I'm sorry Celica, I'm not interested in sleeping with you."
Celica's smirk falls slightly before it returns full force, "A shame, you're really cute and I wouldn't mind exploring with you. Though you seem pretty good at this whole bondage thing. That being said, I can give you a few tips so you can really rock Viralious' world…." her smile grows to one as evil as can be.
Winter stares in horror, unable to focus, her mind going blank.
I ER… WHAT… THE- FU- … IS…HAPP… AM I A… LESB… NO? GAH THE FU…
has crashed.
Please try again after the beep.
Winter suddenly flicked the gravity glyph into overtime, flinging Celica out of the arena. She then creates an ice wall between her and the rest of the battlefield. She collapses onto the ground and starts shaking just as the buzzer sounds.
Her mind simply replays a memory from her childhood. The one time her father was the harshest in his scolding.
Character Change: Winter Schnee- Viralious
Location: Atlas Academy: Combat Training Classroom
"A shame, you're really cute and I wouldn't mind exploring with you. Though you seem pretty good at this whole bondage thing. That being said, I can give you a few tips so you can really rock Viralious' world ..." Celica's comment echoes across the arena to Viralious and Delphi, for a moment they lock blades and shield before hearing the fox faunus' comments. Both get a little red in the face.
"The fuck, Celica?!" They both say in unison getting them to meet eyes.
"Jinx." Delphi says innocently, getting an eye roll from Viralious in the process. Viralious pushes off her shield before moving into a helix spin with his blades hoping to catch behind the shield when he suddenly is interrupted by the sound of the elimination buzzer going off.
Viralious takes his eyes off of his target for a split second. Just long enough for Delphi to block his attack, but Viralious is no longer focusing on the fight. He was able to glance over and see just as Winter put the ice wall up and collapse to the ground. His heart sank.
Delphi pushed lightly against his blades, but it was half hearted, she was also looking at the wall of ice that was suddenly erected.
They both let out a sigh, "I think-" They start in unison before stopping.
"Do yo-" again in unison.
Delphi closes her eyes and stops pushing so hard with her shield she then nods giving Viralious the floor to speak.
"Do you mind If we call a quick ceasefire to have a… discussion with our teammates?" He says looking back at the ice wall.
Delphi coughs, " I… er… well… I… Yes… I would like to speak to Celica about what just happened." she says sending the fox faunus a glare.
Viralious then turned to the battlefield as a whole, "Do you think we should-"
He's interrupted by an explosion from both Ifiral and Russet.
Delphi gives a quick chuckle, "I don't think we'll be able to stop them without giving another a cheap shot."
Viralious nods, "Right." He then brings his weapons off the shield and ejects the magazines onto the ground, "Once we're both done with our chats, reconvene here and act like nothing happened, I guess."
This gets Delphi to nod and do the same with her weapon's magazine… hers is noticeably bigger than his. They both then turn and walk towards their respective teammates.
Viralious walks around the ice wall and upon seeing his partner his heart drops. She's sitting on the ground, visibly shaking and muttering something to herself, in the middle of a panic attack.
Winter Schnee, heiress of the most powerful corporation on Remnant… My partner and teammate… Is sitting on the ground having a panic attack….
Viralious closes his eyes and tries to remember what his mother would do whenever he or Raven would have panic attacks… Before quickly trying to forget what, she would do with Raven when they thought he wasn't around.
Letting out a sigh, he crosses the distance between him and his partner and takes a seat on the ground next to her. He eventually is able to hear what she's muttering to herself.
"Abomination… Good heiress produces a heir… Abomination…. My feelings don't matter, it's the company that matters….. Abomination…. Think of your image…. Abomination…. Think of your image…. Think of your Image…. Abomin-" Winter mutters to herself slowly shaking on the ground sinking into herself and digging her nails into her arm.
She's suddenly cut off by Viralious holding three fingers out in front of her. She warily glances up to him.
"Here, follow my lead." Viralious says before closing the fingers back into a fist. He's sitting directly across from her and looking straight into her eyes. He then slowly breathes in and counts to three on his fingers as he does. Upon reaching three the breaths out and counts back down to zero, "Inhale counting to three, then exhale counting to three again and repeat. It seems silly but It always helped ground me during a panic attack." he says, giving her a welcoming smile.
Winter blinks once or twice before taking his advice. Viralious joins her counting to three on his fingers as they go. After a minute, Winter stopped shaking.
Slowly Winter looks up into his eyes, "Th… Thank you Viralious… I don't know what came over me." She says in a tone that seems too rehearsed to be natural.
"It's nothing Winter. Honestly everyone has anxiety, and I don't doubt that Celica got under your skin with her comments. It's perfectly reasonable." Viralious says comfortingly.
Winter shakes her head, "No I'm fine, really it's just-"
"People aren't normally 'fine' when they collapse and shake uncontrollably, muttering something to themselves." Viralious says deadpan.
Winter stares into his eyes for a moment before turning away, "Don't you have something more important to be doing right now… What about the match?"
Viralious shakes his head, "I would forfeit the match, helping you is more important."
Winter is about to respond but sees the look in his eye and she lowers her head and says, "Alright." Her eyes look at the floor.
"Do you want to talk about it?… You were muttering something almost like a mantra." Viralious says in a sympathetic tone.
"I…No." Winter responds, looking away.
Viralious sighs, "I'm not going to force it out of you Winter, if you don't want to talk about it then I'm not going to make you. But I do want you to remember I'm here to help you, as a friend and a team leader. Besides, you've heard about how messed up my family is… was. I'd be happy to return the favor." Viralious says in a neutral, sympathetic tone.
Winter looks up and meets his eyes, he seems genuine but behind her she can feel the looming gaze of her father, his expectations and his…. Balling her fists, she looks at Viralious and finds a resolve.
I've let him control me all this time but… I… No, It's time I take some action for myself.
Winter sighs, "When I was nine, I came to my father and asked for advice. I had been studying under a female tutor for a long time but that year she brought on an assistant who was older but… I had found myself…Entranced, falling for, enamored … attracted to her. I came to him seeking advice as I'd never felt that way before… looking back, it was stupid and completely illogical… but he didn't calmly explain that these feelings were natural or that they were a simple quirk of growning up. No, that was the first time he hit me." Winter says looking down at the ground not meeting Viralious' eyes. Upon hearing what Winter was saying Viralious sat there shocked, confused, and eventually balled his fists in anger wishing scorn on his partner's father. He's about to say something but Winter continues, "He then grabbed me by the arm and threw me into a cold shower… He told me… 'Winter, those feelings are an abomination', that I should remember that a good heiress produces a strong heir… that I should forget my feelings and do what's best for the company… That I'd do well to remember my image and not sully it with… that sickness." Winter starts shaking again as she finishes, this time Viralious places a comforting hand on her shoulder and extends his other hand and counts down to three. The two just sit there for a few moments breathing in for three then out for three until Winter had calmed down.
Eventually Viralious dares to speak "Winter… I'm sorry that you had to go through that… But you should know that everything your father said is wrong." His voice is a mix between compassionate and resolved.
Winter looks up and meets his eyes. He continues, "You're your own person, Winter. Jacques Schnee can't decide who you are, only you can. He can't tell you to not be a lesbian or whatever and to put the needs of the company over yourself. He's a fucking abusive asshole." He stresses the abusive part out, "Winter, it's your life no one else can decide it, just know that no one is going to judge you here for your choices. If you are a raging lesbian no one is going to bat an eye. HELL, no one is going to care, I mean come it really doesn't matter." Viralious says waving his arms around to get his point across.
Winter looks at him and gives a small smirk "I… I th… thank you Viralious." she says blushing and turning away.
This gets Viralious to smirk and give a small laugh, "Ah, well you can get whoever you want I bet I mean come on, you're you."
Winter's smirk drops hard, and she sends him a death glare, "Is it because I'm a Schnee?"
Viralious cringes and leans back slightly, "N-no, it's because you're Winter. Smartest, most attentive, hardest working person I know."
Winter drops her glare, and it changes to a look of confusion before she turns away to hide the small red creeping up her neck and cheeks. She doesn't notice Viralious doing the same.
Eventually Winter coughs bringing them both back to reality. "I..." She suddenly hears a loud explosion on the other end of the ice wall. "I think we should get back to the fight. Viralious."
Viralious nods before standing up, he holds a hand out to help her up. Winter is hesitant for a second before taking his hand and is pulled to her feet. Viralious smiles for a second before his expression changes to a serious one, "Alright, back to the fight… Winter, if you want to talk about this afterwards, just ask." He finishes with a smirk and starts walking back toward where him and Delphi left off.
Arriving Viralious kneels down and reloads his weapon, glancing he sees Delphi walking back. While she reloads her weapon, he decides to take a look at the scoreboard.
Viralious: 94%
Ifiral Phenrix: 74%
Eckhart Slate: 85%
Winter Schnee: 97%
VS
Celica Rhulk: ELIMINATED
Ariel Arc: 45%
Russet Ghermain: 76%
Delphi Amethyst: 88%
Time Elapsed: 244 Seconds
He then turns back to Delphi and smiles getting back into a fighting stance. Delphi mirrors him before speaking, "I talked to Celica, she didn't mean to push Winter over the edge and well, she's going to apologize or else she's sleeping in the student lounge until she does." Her tone is compassionate.
Viralious rolls his eyes, "That's good, but let's make sure that this doesn't happen again." He shakes his head, "I guess they never said being a leader was going to be easy… they really should have a class for it."
Delphi smiles and nods, "I agree." She then does a small shield bash into Viralious, he's surprised by the cheap shot but manages to right himself. Using one blade to rip the shield from Delphi's front he lightly stabs the deer faunus in the gut with his other blade. Just like that the fight is back in its earnest.
–
Character Change: Viralious -Eckhart Slate
Location: Atlas Academy: Combat Training Classroom
–
Eckhart fired his weapon to the left pushing him in the opposite direction to dodge a blade of aura that was coming down towards him. Shifting midair, he opens a gate in front of him and flies through it. Spitting him out near the ground he tucks into a roll before coming to a stop and aims his weapon lower, shooting at Ariel as she's running towards him.
Smirking, he looks through his headset and sees that Viralious and Delphi have started fighting again.
What could possibly be more important than focusing on this fight! Seriously, they were busy for nearly two minutes! That's a long time.
He grimaces and dives to the left, firing off three quick shots, two flying straight, another through a gate that will cause it to fly from the left. He then orders his drones to fire on Ariel.
His drones don't respond to the order. Eckhart smirks and yells, "VIRALIOUS!" getting his leader's attention. He then opens a gate on Viralious' left leading to above Ariel, watching his leader dive through it he opens a gate below his feet that's behind Delphi and fires 4 shots.
He hears Viralious' SMG fire rain down on Ariel's position and smirks. The plan seems to have actually worked despite how crazy it is. He reloads his weapon quickly and stares down the deer faunus before him. She was only able to block the final shot. Smiling he fires three shots in quick succession but the last two fly through a gate he opens part way through slamming them into her side instead of her shield.
Delphi grimaces knowing she's not going to be able to track each and everyone of his gates. She simply decides to go into a turtling stance and slams her halberd onto the ground not aimed at Eckhart, but at Ifiral. She fires all four rounds she has chambered.
Eckhart's smirk falls hard, he's seen her load those magazines, the shells are nearly as large as his hand and Ifiral isn't going to be able to dodge those since he's currently stuck fighting Russet to a stalemate.
Bracing for the worst, Eckhart pulls out a white cartridge from his bag and throws it towards his left. He then fires one shot straight on towards Delphi.
Suddenly, an ice wall is erected in the space between Eckhart and Ifiral. Delphi's rounds slam into it, shattering the ice but blocking the attack. Delphi and Eckhart both turn to see Winter standing off to the side getting back in the fight. Delphi's face drops into an even further grimace, Eckhart's shows a look of surprise figuring she would go rush to help her partner.
Winter summons a glyph behind her and uses it as a springboard to launch herself towards Delphi before she's suddenly in front of a blue shatter. She flies through it and comes to a stop next to Eckhart. She turns and gives him a death glare.
"Why would you not allow me-" Winter says in a huff.
"I've got a plan to eliminate her, like it or not, we're not breaking through that shield. She's also been doing better than I expected with blocking my shots. We need to fight smarter, not harder."
Winter gives an eye roll before dropping to a fencing stance, "Alright, then what's this smart plan of yours?"
"I'm going to throw her off balance with that cartridge of wind dust." he says pointing to his left where a small white cartridge lays, "Next, you're going to throw her in the air, then open a gate and dive through it. Afterwards I'm going to chain open gates until we are both thrown out of the arena."
"That's a half-baked plan, we should come up with another." Winter says with a frown.
Eckhart laughs "What plans aren't half-baked. Besides, it confirms her defeat and gives you an opening to help Viralious and Ifrial."
Winter shakes her head, "No, how about I summon a glyph and throw her out of the arena without eliminating yourself."
Eckhart grumbles, "Fine, but when it fails I'm continuing with my original plan."
Eckhart runs to the left while Winter stabs her saber into the ground, summoning a small glyph underneath the deer faunus who was in the middle of reloading her weapon.
Eckhart fires three shots each trailing slightly behind as he runs parallel to the deer faunus, he then drops into a slide and grabs the cartridge on the ground as he's going. Coming to a stop, he chucks the dust as far as he can before opening a gate that it flies through. The gate opens between Delphi's legs, throwing the cartridge out when one of the stray shots connects with the cartridge. This causes a large updraft of wind to form which causes Delphi to lose her balance. Taking advantage of this Winter activates the glyph to fling Delphi into the air.
Delphi was a sight to behold, in the air she froze like a deer in the headlights before suddenly another gate appears in front of her with Eckhart diving through, the momentum of them colliding sends them flying towards the edge of the arena, quickly shifting Eckhart separates himself from the deer faunus before Winter summons a glyph that attracts Delphi into the stands causing for the buzzer to go off.
Eckhart opens one last gate and lands next to Winter. She's giving him an 'I told you so' smirk. He glares back, "Not one word about it."
This gets Winter to roll her eyes and is about to speak when another buzzer interrupts her. Both her and Eckhart turn to the scoreboard.
Viralious: 77%
Ifiral Phenrix: 54%
Eckhart Slate: 76%
Winter Schnee: 96%
VS
Celica Rhulk: ELIMINATED
Ariel Arc: ELIMINATED
Russet Ghermain: 66%
Delphi Amethyst: ELIMINATED
Time Elapsed: 289 Seconds
Eckhart turns and sees Viralious has just finished off Ariel and is offering her a hand to get up. Viralious after helping her up walks over towards him and Winter.
"Good work team, one more left." Viralious says with a small smile on his face. Midway through crossing the distance Viralious is knocked down by the Ifiral flying into him. The two fall to the ground in a pile.
Eckhart shakes his head, "God damnit Ifiral."
–
Character Change: Eckhart Slate - Viralious
Location: Atlas Academy: Combat Training Classroom
–
"Brothers damnit Ifiral." Viralious says while on the ground with said teammate on top of him.
Ifiral gives a small groan but pushes himself off of Viralious. He dusts himself off before offering a hand to help Viralious up, "Sorry, wasn't expecting him to detonate a rocket AND his wind dust at the same time. Ballsy motherfucker, I like that." Ifiral says smugly.
This gets everyone except for Ifiral and Russet to roll their eyes. Viralious gives a cough recentering the conversation, "I-" He's interrupted by Winter summoning a wall of ice to block an incoming rocket. The wall explodes and shatters raining shards of ice onto the team. Viralious gives Winter a nod before continuing "I have an idea, but we're going to have to work together."
"What's the plan, Viralious?" Winter asks.
"How about some team techniques?" Viralious responds.
Ifiral and Winter give a nod. Viralious stares at Eckhart who's standing there motionless.
Eckhart rolls his eyes, "I'll follow your orders Viralious."
This gets Viralious to smile. "Alright, Reverse Spontaneous Combustion!" He yells. Instantly, Eckhart and Ifiral know what to do. Ifiral rushes forward, summoning the fire around his blade. He crashes into Russet's axe. Instead of pushing down onto the axe he pushes forward, shoving Russet backwards. He then slams the edge of his blade into the ground and activates the rest of the Dust causing a large explosion to go off. Suddenly, a gate appears below him causing him to dodge a bit of the explosion before Eckhart tosses a cartridge of Ice dust through the gate causing it to go off at Russet's legs. This creates a large block of ice locking him in place.
"Double Snowfall!" Viralious calls out.
Quickly, him and Winter summon five glyphs each at different angles around Russet who's locked in place. The two rush forward between the glyphs and are striking in reverse of each other. If Winter comes from the 45-degree angle, Viralious is coming from the 135-degree angle. Their attacks give Russet no time to dodge so he decides to go with the Hail Mary play. Aiming his rocket launcher at his feet, he fired. This attack knocks both Winter and Viralious back. Suddenly as Viralious digs the weapon in his left hand into the ground he hears Eckhart shout before his drones slam into Eckhart's stomach and are in front of his gun preventing him from getting a shot off.
"Assassin's Teapot!"
This gets him to smile, and he shifts his blades into their SMG form. He performs a short backflip firing sixteen shots towards Russet before a gate appears that he enters. The gate spits him out above Russet where he empties the rest of his magazine before shifting his weapons back to its dual blades form. Flipping them to be held in reverse, Viralious forms a buzzsaw attack striking Russet and spinning until he is behind. He then does a quick dash backwards giving a quick cross slash to his chest.
Russet manages to knock Viralious away after this but it's obvious he's on his last legs in this fight. He's about to strike back when a shot connects with his head knocking him to the ground. The elimination buzzer rings out.
Eckhart smirks holding his weapon pointed behind his back. Russet never expected that he would have shot through his drone to reach a gate. The drone drops to the ground and dies after a small sputter. Eckhart curses slightly knowing it's basically scrap metal now before smirking looking at the scoreboard with his team.
TEAM CARD ELIMINATED: TEAM VIEW IS THE VICTOR.
A small cheer echoes through the room from the team. Viralious looks at the rest of Team CARD moving towards them and nods.
"Alright great work Team and thank you Team CARD for allowing us to spar against you guys yesterday and today." Viralious says in an upbeat tone.
"Yeah, well you were a lot better today." Russet says, rubbing his forehead, a small red spot in the center. Upon seeing this Ariel bursts into laughter.
Viralious smirks, "We simply adapted to the situation and used teamwork. You guys did good as well." He says before sending a death glare at Celica. The fox faunus takes a step back and lightly hides behind Delphi, "I will have words for you Celica later." His tone is bitter.
The fox faunus looks down at the ground before giving a small nod. Viralious continues, "Alright then let's all hit the showers then we'll vote on the leader of Team VIEW."
"Actually, I think we should just vote now. It's obvious who the right choice is." Eckhart says.
Viralious raises an eyebrow before turning to the rest of his team, they give a shrug or a nod of approval. Sighing, Viralious says, "Fine if everyone's fine with that then we'll vote. Ifiral, you're up first."
Ifiral acts like he's thinking for a moment before snapping and replying, "I think the leader should be Viralious."
Viralious nods before turning to Eckhart. "Alright, that's one zero. Eckhart, who should be the leader?"
"The leader should be you, Viralious." Eckhart says instantly.
"Okay it's one on- WHAT!" Viralious says doing a double take.
"You're the better candidate, Viralious. No beating around the bush." Eckhart says calmly.
Viralious blinks once or twice before turning to Winter, "Alright, Winter who should be lead-"
"You." Winter interrupts him.
"Well then, it's decided. Viralious is going to continue to be the leader of Team VIEW." Delphi says, clapping her hands together.
Viralious shrugs before nodding, "Well then, I'll continue to lead you all. That being said, go hit the showers we'll meet and go over this back in the dorm." He says waving Team CARD off and heading towards the locker room.
Winter gave a smirk and followed behind. Ifiral cracked his neck and was rolling his shoulder walking with her. Eckhart stood there for a minute before smiling and following behind.
Team CARD, however, stood in a semi-circle around the fox faunus. Suddenly, Celica had a bad feeling about the rest of her day.
–
Character Change: Viralious - Kairi-Tsugumi Basil
Location: Atlas Academy: Professor Basil's office.
–
Professor Basil closed the scroll with a smirk. Viralious had managed to fix the issue in only two days sooner than her estimates but not by much. Standing up from her desk she turns the lights off in her office and closes the door behind her. Walking a few meters, she stops in front of Cinnamon and Makoto's office.
She curls her fingers and is about to knock before her hand overs for a few moments.
Basil just stands there afraid not knowing what to do or if she really should do it.
I… R-really shouldn't bother Makoto and Cinnamon… I mean they must have a lot to grade… I should just come back later, yeah that's right. Okay time to-
Her thoughts are interrupted by the door opening. The squirrel faunus looks at the mouse faunus with confusion upon noticing the hand outstretched.
"So, Basil, you need something?" Makoto says curiously.
Basil freezes, "I-I-I w-w-was wo-wond-wondering if y-you would l-li-like to t-t-take a b-b-break and… go shopping?" Basil says timidly.
Makoto examines the Mouse professor for a moment before shifting to a bright smile, "Yes I would love to, it beats making these stuffy lesson plans anyhow."
Basil gives a small smile before nodding, "I-I was thinking w-we could look at that new home im-improvement store. I w-was hoping that they would have some new unique plants for my office… I-I me-mean you d-don't h-have to if y-you don't w-want to!" Basil stammers out, starting confident and fading near the end.
Makoto just boops Basil on the nose and says "I'm fine with going… Just as long as you're willing to look at the sweets nearby… Oh and we can look at dresses for Cinnamon!"
Basil gives Makoto a small smirk and watches her grab her coat and close her office. The two walk through the halls of the academy talking about nothing important.
For once I'm glad they don't know. Basil thinks to herself a smile brimming across her face.
–
Character Change: Kairi-Tsugumi Basil- Winter Schnee
Location: Atlas Academy: Team VIEW dorm Common area
–
"Mint or chamomile?" Viralious says looking at the tea bags in the box.
"Chamomile." Winter responds curtly. Viralious nods his head and hands her the tea bag. She undoes the packaging and places it into the warm water allowing for it to seep throughout. Winter and Viralious were currently sitting in the common area of their dorm prepping tea, Eckhart had excused himself to quote, "Fix these gods damned pain in the ass drones" while Ifiral said that Kaine wanted to talk with him… before reiterating that he didn't think he was in trouble… or he couldn't remember what it could be for if he was. That didn't fill Winter with confidence.
Taking advantage of their privacy, Winter asked if they could possibly continue their talk from the fight. Viralious simply nodded before handing her a mug filled with warm water saying, "It's better to talk with something to drink and well tea always seemed to calm Mom and Zeliska so there's something there." after she gives him a confused look.
Viralious takes a seat on the couch next to her holding his mug and placing a small handful of sugar packets on the table. He leans back on the couch and turns to Winter, "So what do you want to talk about?" His tone is neutral.
Winter closes her eyes for a moment and responds curtly. "I… I really don't know where to start. I… I'm not the best at this." She looks down to the floor
"No one is." Viralious says nodding, getting Winter to look at him, "Feelings are just one of those things that no one is good at. If you need a place to start, why don't you talk about what Celica said." he says, reaching onto the table and grabbing two packets of sugar.
Winter gives a deep sigh, "Like I said before, my father… strongly encouraged… me to look for a male suitor. He… was very dissatisfied whenever I was hesitant or uninterested."
"So, he abused you to conform with his worldview is what I'm hearing." Viralious deadpans.
"No, he… Simply encouraged it." Winter spat back.
"No, Winter, he abused you! You said it yourself he HIT you, he struck his child! That's abuse and it's not okay! Then he ingrained in you that you should focus on the company instead of what you want!" Viralious says in a commanding tone.
Winter is taken aback slightly before meekly saying, "I… Viralious please … I… Please don't push the subject. I…I-"
Viralious gives a deep sigh, "Alright but just know I'm here for you. Let's skip over your father for now. Go on whenever you're ready."
Winter nods before putting one packet of sugar in her tea, "I really don't know what I like… Romantically I just know that his… words echo in my mind." Winter says.
Viralious hums before responding, "Well I can't help you with that. Just give it some honest thought and be yourself. I know it sounds cliché but it's true."
Just then there's a knock on the door. Viralious gets up and opens it. Standing there is Delphi and Celica. Viralious gives a scowl. "How can I help you?"
Celica steps forward, her head hung low, "I… I would like to apologize."
Viralious looks at the fox faunus his scowl kept firm. He then turns to Winter and gives her a look of 'you pick.'
Winter sighs before saying, "Come in."
Viralious nods and steps to the side allowing for Celica and Delphi to enter the room. They take a seat on the two chairs opposite of the couch. Viralious sits back on the couch and is glaring at Celica.
Viralious takes a sip of his tea before speaking, "Two things: first, fuck you Celica for putting that image of Zeliska in my head." This gets the fox faunus to blush and sink lower in the chair. "Second, what you did wasn't fucking cool and if you do it again, I will pull Vacuoan street justice on you."
Celica nods and looks at the floor. It isn't until Delphi elbows her she glances up to Winter.
Winter sighs, "I forgive you." This catches everyone off guard, "No really, I do. You simply were trying to unbalance and distract me in the fight. It worked… Just a little too well. So please don't do it again."
Celica gives a weak nod before speaking, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I really did take it too far. See I… I didn't realize that it would be such a soft spot for you. It's something so normal back in Vacuo I never thought it would make others that uncomfortable. If it's any consolation, I'm willing to make it up anyway I can." She says in pure sympathy.
Winter gives a weak smile and places her free hand on her chin, "Alright, I know what you can do to help me."
Everyone raises an eyebrow at this. Viralious is giving Winter a small side eye.
"So, what can I do to help?" Celica asks innocently.
Winter coughs, "You can help me figure out… my feelings." she says with a small blush.
"EH?!" everyone else in the room yells.
"I… well, want you to… help me… figure out my feelings on… men and women." Winter says in a blush.
"I cannot fucking believe this is happening." Viralious mutters under his breath.
"I… I don't really understand what you're asking, Winter?" Celica says puzzled.
Viralious gives Winter a look and she shrugs with a sigh. Viralious rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, "She wants you to help her figure out her sexuality. Hopefully without crude comments."
This gets everyone to stop dead and get a little pink in the cheeks. Winter coughs "Yes… that's basically it."
Viralious starts to get up before Winter stops him, "Actually, if you don't mind, I would like… Yours and Delphi's unbiased input." She says, looking away.
Viralious stands there for a moment and says to himself, "This is not how I envisioned my day going but what the hell." before sitting back down on the couch.
Celica surprisingly looks squeamish and is glancing around the room. Delphi just has her jaw open in shock. Eventually Winter coughs, "So how does one exactly know that they're not… straight."
"They just… kinda do." both Celica and Delphi say quickly.
"Oh." Winter says, hanging her head down.
Viralious sighs, "Winter, no one else can tell you what you're attracted to."
"I… know it's just I really don't know these feelings."
Celica snaps her fingers for a moment, "Ah I have an idea. Viralious, could you go to Delphi and I's dorm and ask Russet for his 'Cyan Rain' album."
"Uhh okay?" Viralious responds with a raised eyebrow looking at Winter who just gives him a shrug.
Shrugging back, he exits the room closing the door behind him. As the door shuts, Celica leans over the table, "SO, from what I can tell with you getting flustered by my comments you're at least interested in women, right?" Celica says with a smile.
"I… I guess… I think so?" Winter says questioningly.
"So, you'd be willing to date either me or Delphi?"
"WHAT! Since when am I dragged into this?" Delphi asks
"Shh Delphi, I'm helping Winter come out of the closet." Celica paws back.
Winter blinks once or twice before responding, "I… yes?"
"Alright, what about Ariel or Opal? Any teachers you've got the hots for?" Celica pushes
"I… I wouldn't be against it with Ariel… Opal seems a little stuck up… why is this relevant?" Winter says, ignoring the last part of the question entirely.
"Checking if you have a fetish for faunus women, good job on being equal in that regard else it might have gotten messy given your family's history." Celica says with a shrug. This gets Winter and Delphi to go bright red.
"Celica, I thought we agreed you would tone it down." Delphi coughs
The fox faunus winces slightly, "I'm sorry… I got a little carried away." She then coughs redrawing Winter's gaze. She then gives a sympathetic smile before asking, "Do you still want to continue."
Winter gives a small nod, "Yes but… please don't phrase the statements like… that."
Celica nods before continuing, "So we know you like girls but what about guys? Anyone caught your eye?"
Winter ponders for a moment, "One or two… but I'm not really sure about romance."
"Oh, don't worry, I can help you wow the pants off any-" Celica starts before getting cut off by Delphi smacking her in the face with a pillow.
"Ahem, I believe you were to keep suggestive comments down to a minimum." Delphi says
"Right, sorry." Celica responds muffled through the pillow. She then pulls it off her face and looks back at Winter. "Well, I can safely say that I have an idea of what you are, Winter." she says in a fake scholarly tone and moves to sit next to Winter.
"Wait, really?!" Winter says in small excitement.
"Yeah, welcome to the bisexual club! Population at least two people in this room." She says throwing an arm around Winter.
"Umm w…well th… there's 3 actually." Delphi responds with a small blush.
Just then Viralious reenters holding the album. He looks around the room with confusion before his eyes land on Winter, smiling slightly. His grimace raises to a smirk.
"Do I even want to know what you talked about?" he questions.
"Just some girl talk. By the way, are you bisexual?" Celica says in a neutral tone.
Viralious blinks once, "No… I'm 99 percent sure I'm straight."
"Thoughts on a bisexual girlfriend… if you had one… dating a woman?" Delphi asks coyly.
"As long as it's not at the same time I'm cool with it… I mean my m-" Viralious responds.
He's cut off by a loud cough coming from Winter. All eyes turn to her. "As much as I would love to talk about this all day. Team VIEW is supposed to have a team meeting and I really don't want this to drag onto Celica trying to get me to dinner." Winter says calmly.
"Oh, come on, you admitted you were interested not five minutes ago." Celica whines.
"Celica don't…. push the…. snow queen." Delphi says.
"For once I agree." Both Viralious and Winter say. This gets both the faunus to nod before waving goodbye, Celica before exit says to Winter, "This album is actually really good I would give it a listen." she says with a wink before leaving.
Viralious places the album on the coffee table and sits back down in his seat. He breathes in for a moment before turning to Winter. "So, bisexual?"
Winter is shocked for a second but nods. Viralious gives a small chuckle, "Picked it up through context clues with Delphi's reaction. I'm glad they were able to help you out with that… I know I said that I would help but the truth is I'd have no clue."
Winter nods "It's okay Viralious, I'm just glad that you offered… and helped me realize that I'm not an abomination for thinking Delphi's a little cute." she responds, smirking.
"Can't fault you there." Viralious says smiling back.
The two just sit there talking about small subjects such as family, gifts for younger siblings and honestly just life they don't even notice when the clock strikes 6.
Character Change: Winter Schnee- Viralious
Location: Atlas Academy: Team VIEW dorm: Common Area
I just dodged a fucking bullet today. Is all Viralious thought. Truth is he had no idea how he was going to help Winter, he had never really dealt with something like this before. He honestly was happy that Celica and Delphi came in clutch helping her figure it out. Almost enough to fully forgive Celica but that was up in the air based on how Winter felt about her still. That being said he was just happy that Winter seemed happy, and he didn't find a way to make that any worse.
Considering that's all you're able to do. Make things worse.
Viralious shakes his head before glancing to the door and Seeing both Ifiral and Eckhart walking in. Both look dead.
Eckhart coughs, "First things first, Ifiral, Viralious. My mother Shiva Slate would like to meet you, so you will be attending the gala on Wednesday. Don't worry about clothes. I know Ifiral has a set in there and Viralious you can use a spare tux of mine. We will leave around 5:30 to go to my home and pick it up." he speaks in a neutral tone.
Everyone raises an eyebrow to this Winter looks somewhat confused, Ifiral is indifferent and Viralious is stunned. Coming to his senses Viralious speaks up, "I appreciate the sediment but I kind of wish you gave us some forewarning."
"I would have if she didn't just tell me." Eckhart deadpans.
"Oh… Should we be worried?" Viralious ponders.
"Hopefully no. We've hashed out who the leader is. Speaking of which, you wanted us to have a team meeting to go over that, correct?" Eckhart says in a simple tone.
"Right." Viralious says standing up, "Okay so we've all agreed that I'm going to be the leader of this team. So, I'm not going to run this as a dictatorship, hell I would appreciate it if you guys make calls. I might be your leader but I'm not your master."
This confuses Eckhart who responds, "The leader's word is final, what do you mean have us make calls?"
"In the field I cannot account for 100% of every situation so I want you guys to feel comfortable making suggestions. So that's why I want you all to be willing to give suggestions, make calls, suggest tactics!" Viralious says calmly.
"Then what's the point of even having a leader? Why not just have everyone do their own thing?" Ifiral proposes.
"Total anarchy fails. Besides, I think we all want to actually become huntsmen." Viralious retorts.
Ifiral nods. Ekchart still looks confused, Winter smirks and replies, "So you want us each to give suggestions and call ideas out, but at the end of the day Viralious is the leader and will take their input but will take charge of the situation."
Viralious nods and snaps his fingers together, "Bingo, each of you has great ideas and can make good plans." He then turns to Eckhart "In all honesty Eckhart, my plan today shouldn't have worked. It only did because Celica fucked up eliminating herself early." Viralious says getting a silent thanks from Winter for keeping her breakdown a secret.
Eckhart knows Viralious is hiding the fact that him and Delphi stopped fighting for two minutes but realizes that he must have a reason. He nods before crossing the distance to Viralious and puts his hand out. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot Viralious, I can't say I truly understand your style of leadership but I'm willing to put the past behind us and give it a shot. That being said, I will still call you out on your insane ideas." He says with a smirk.
Viralious stands up and looks at the hand and smiles, "I expect you too. I mean some of my ideas are not even a quarter baked." He then grabs Eckhart's hand, and they shake hands. "It's good to have you on the team Eckhart."
"Likewise."
They reach an understanding, neither is the best leader but they're going to work as a team to improve… and maybe that was Ironwood's reasoning all along. Suddenly they are pulled from the handshake by Viralious' highlights shifting to match Eckhart's dark hair and his eyes shifting to match his dark green eyes. Eckhart stares and sees it's like looking in a mirror that's got longer hair.
Winter is the first to respond, "Um, Viralious your hair and eyes they've…"
"I realized it Winter, I think… my semblance is tied to reaching and understanding and bond with someone. That allows me to copy their semblance." He says looking at his hand. Viralious breathes in slowly, "I'm going to try something stand back." He imagines a tear in time and space opening between him and the mini fridge. Looking in front of him a purple tear opens that when he steps through, places him right in front of the small fridge." This gets him to smile.
"I will admit, I wasn't expecting this as a possibility." Eckhart says with a smile growing on his face, "The new tactics are going to be exhilarating."
"I agree, but that can wait until tomorrow, for now let's get something to eat. We can push the limits of my semblance later." Viralious says perking up.
"Good, I'm starving. Kaine simply wanted to pass a message on from my brother. It should have taken 5 seconds… It took 2 hours." he says with an annoyed look on his face.
"Well, hopefully the message was good news." Winter replies.
"That depends on the definition of good… I'd say it was just news." Ifiral deadpans.
This gets a small laugh to escape them. They exit the dorm and actually run into Team CARD also heading to dinner. From there they eat the same kind of food that Murt and Lute had been serving up until that point but for some reason it seems better. The mood is overall relieved as if Team VIEW finally had their shit together and nothing would go wrong now.
If only that could have been true.
A/N
Holy fuck that chapter was long. It clocks in at over 10k words before we reach this author's note. It honestly might be longer than chapter 9! Not that that is a bad thing, in fact, I'm mostly happy with how this chapter turned out. It also breaks two important milestones in writing, 100k Words and 300 pages on my Google Doc! Now then let's break down what happened in this chapter.
Starting with the morning into breakfast, it's just to show a contrast of how Eckhart and Viralious lead the team. Eckhart is very hands on and micromanaging while Viralious is more laid back and hands off, he gives guidance but trusts his team to do good. The crux of a good leader is trust so that's why I wanted to show that.
The short training and scene with Beryl are actually just some hints at a future plot point with Viralious' hair (Yes really, it's actually kind of important surprisingly) and a soft synopsis of my Grimm Hunters Oztel fanfic. So, the book and characters named in it are all from that. I would like to get the first chapter posted but I'm running into a conundrum… What monster hunter weapon should Oztel use! I was thinking sword and Shield, but Longsword would also work, Insect Glaive would also be interesting GAAAAAAH why is so hard to decide! Once I have that I can actually write the story in full especially since it revolves around HUNTING! Just keep an eye out for that. It will probably be marked as a cross-over even though I'm going to write it in a way that it only borrows elements from Monster Hunter. The book itself is just meant to start building onto Viralious' style to be similar to the point we hear about in Chapter 0 you'll read some passages as the story continues.
Onto the fight itself. I honestly wasn't originally planning on it going that way but I think it was for the better. If I had truly followed my planning document to a T this chapter would have been shorter and a lot more boring. Instead, we get a LOT of character development and get to smack you all with a curveball. So, I really don't think I had originally done a great job showing how abusive Jacques was supposed to be in chapter 5 and I really couldn't go back and edit that chapter without making Willow look like a blind deaf and mute person. So we have Winter experiencing something that luckily is becoming less and less frequent these days: parents forcing them to suppress their is Bisexual, the reason I have her as bisexual is current plans is she is going to pair up with one of the characters in this story, so keep my options open and the other one is her two most common ships being with Qrow and Robyn. I know some people might not like this but, once again, to quote Walt Disney 'Goddamn you, this is my circus!'
I think I did an okay job showing Winter's breakdown… considering it's based on a real one. Something many of you might have picked up is personal experiences of mine tend to find ways to bleed into this story and this breakdown is no different. Someone I know had a breakdown over this exact situation (albeit less stressful time) her actions as well as what calmed her down were ported directly into the story. Context was just changed slightly. Now I will say that she is doing a lot better (in fact I have an invite to her and her girlfriends wedding sitting on my desk… I really wish it wasn't during finals week though. *Sigh* the perils of being stuck in college.) Anywho, that breathing technique Viralious uses' is actually how I try to calm myself and others down during panic attacks or when they are overly stressed. The focusing on counting to three on their fingers with breathing seems to help but it might just be a me thing.
This brings me back into the fight, we were originally going to hear Celica get reamed by Delphi, but this chapter was running long already so that is why it was moved to the end of the chapter as well as not break up the fight too much more. So Eckhart vs Ariel into vs Delphi went similarly to how Viralious' plan was described in the previous chapter. I had Winter jump in to help so she wasn't benched on the side lines as well as give Eckhart a more flashy way of dealing with Delphi. As for the part against Russet, I just wanted to show off some team attacks. Reverse spontaneous combustion is exactly the team attack Viralious came up with in chapter 13. Double Snow is a mirror of the attack Weiss performed on the White Fang lieutenant during the train fight but doubled between Viralious and Winter striking from opposite directions. Lastly, assassin's teapot is a new one that I came up with for this chapter mixing Monster Hunter Rise's Demon Flight finisher with Eckhart's portals. With that we come to the vote and let's be honest did you expect it to go any other way? No, it was obvious Viralious was going to Win but we needed to show Eckhart come to that understanding, hence why Viralious did things so differently and I tried to show that Winter and Ifiral preferred his methods. It also came down to what Eckhart would be thinking. Viralious had made a plan that in truth was an adaptation of his and led the team to victory, he also seemed to take suggestions into account during the fight and was willing to sacrifice victory to HELP Winter. Don't forget Eckhart KNOWS about Winter's breakdown he's just not going to say anything about it as Viralious seemingly had it under control…(Not really). He's figuring that it's going to be the path of least resistance.
With that Viralious is the leader and it brings us to the small Basil and Makoto section. I might remove this as it really accomplishes nothing like at all it's just fluff.
Next is the weirdest thing I have ever written (If I had a nickel for everytime i've said that in an author's note for this story I would have two nickels. It's not a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.) I will say, it was hard to write not because of the content but just getting into the head space to write it. I have no idea what a person who has been forced to repress their sexuality has gone through, so I ended up spinning it lightly comically and I hope it didn't come off as offensive. If it did, please PM me and I will change it Immediately. I really don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, especially with something I'm not the most informed on.
AmoebaHewdraw's Note: As a member of the Alphabet Mafia, I didn't think it was horrible. For some people, questioning is a rough part of discovery, and it's good that Winter had support here. Heck, it took me a while to figure it all out myself.
That leads us to the conclusion of the chapter. Viralious and Eckhart reaching an understanding, the Gala portion will be addressed next chapter don't worry. Viralious' semblance is the ability to copy other's semblances after he has formed a bond with them. BUT the person has to have an understanding of that bond. So once him and Eckhart shook hands and established that bond he could call upon Eckhart's. This is going to open the door a lot more with Viralious' fighting style and make choreography both more fun and more of a bitch to write… Oh well this was in my notes for the Alpha of the story so no matter what it was happening… I should maybe release my Alpha notes at some point as they are VASTLY different from the version you are seeing right now.
Overall, I am satisfied with how this chapter ended up. It's the halfway point for the second arc and the end of the Eckhart portion officially. So we're going to focus a little bit more on the last member of Team VIEW: Ifiral. Winter, Eckhart, and Viralious WILL continue to develop but it's Ifiral's turn to be in the spotlight and I'm excited to show that off. So be prepared as things are just starting to heat up!
This is where I would like to thank my editor AmoebaHewdraw for making this story readable and coming up with team attack names… they are… okay.
AmoebaHewdraw's Note: I'm still disappointed, albeit not surprised, that you vetoed my suggestion of "Testicular Torsion."
Until Next Time Xcom Out.
