Shade's New Blood – Chapter #03
The morning sun, while not scorching hot under its light, was still a fair bit uncomfortable for the unlucky Shade students caught with 'Weapons Training' as their morning class. What was supposed to be a relatively simple class for the new students to run through basic forms, styles, and stances turned into a 'special event' where students from higher years would attend who would test what they've managed to retain from their time studying at Shade. Like a trial-by-fire, the newest batch of trainees were at the mercy of their upperclassmen and, according to their professor, it would help prepare them for a hypothetical situation where they would have to face a more experienced, or an otherwise more powerful foe. It was apparently one of the 'harsher' lessons to be taught to the aspiring Huntsmen and Huntress, sure, but it did both prove a point and bring results. Plus, it showcased who among the new students had the greatest potential, and it made for a fun 'second initiation'-for the upperclassmen.
Shae struggled to keep her footing against her sparring partner: an agile swordswoman similar to herself. She was put under a great deal of pressure by the older student, barely having any time to defend herself, let alone deliver a single, effective strike against her opponent. One block, two slashes hit her, another block, a dodge, repeat. Little by little, Shae was being beaten down and she knew it, but there wasn't a thing she could do about it. 'Now would be a good time for a semblance to back her up!' She sarcastically thought to herself just before receiving an elbow to the stomach. Two more slashes followed up on her, but Shae saw her chance. Pushing herself and using what energy she had left, Shae brought her blade down in a diagonal slash, but that would be the mistake that would lead to her sure defeat. Evading to the outside of Shae's attack, Shae's opponent brough her knee back into Shae's stomach for a second hit that connected with ease. In that frozen second of being winded, Shae felt a hand and its thin fingers clasp around her neck. Her mind was sent into an instinctive panic as her lungs no longer had the clearest access for air on top of already having the wind knocked out from her, leaving Shae gasping for breath. The other girl let out a sigh of irritation mixed with boredom, "I know you are new, but come on, anything better?" The older girl said dismissively, shoving Shae back just a few steps before planting a boot to her chest and giving a simple shove with it. The girl then sheathed her blade after confirming her clean victory, "Probably should switch partners?" She said in a bit of a worried tone for the fallen girl.
Forcing herself to rise to her feet, Shae could feel her legs trembling all the way up until she finally stood, but she was still barely able to catch her breath. "N-No." She wheezed, "I- can still- go on!" She forced out. With the last of her gathered strength, the raven-haired girl lashed out with one last strike. The other girl stood there and took the hit, flinching a little as her aura absorbed the blow, but ultimately using the opportunity to grab Shae and disarm her.
"Give it a rest!" The older girl said, rewarding Shae's determination by not showing any extra mercy to the poor girl in the form of throwing her to the ground. Shae, without an ounce of energy left in her, coughed and panted with exhaustion as her own body betrayed her and refused to move. A familiar feeling, lying in the sand in absolute defeat. However, this time it wasn't by random chance nor would she be given anything for her pitiful efforts.
"Hah, barely a warm-up for anyone!" Taunted an old companion of Shae's, "After our little incident in that mine, I've got to wonder, how did you manage to sneak into Shade?" Lapis, the girl that had abandoned her during their initiation, sneered from the sidelines, "So that makes what? Three for three?" The only response Shae could muster toward the purple-haired girl was to curl her own fingers in the sand angrily as she tried to ball them into a fist.
The older student dropped Shae's weapon off beside her, "Maybe next time." She said with a hopeful smile that took pity on the fallen girl.
Off to Shae's side, sparking an argument in her stead, Toma was the one to speak out again, "That's rich when you're also 'two-for-two' on losses! Not to mention you left her for dead back during initiation!"
"Maybe, but our fights were nowhere near as pathetic as yours have been, plus myself and our heavy hitter have yet to have a turn, but props to you for sticking out among the rabble at least." Lapis returned, "As for that one?" She continued, looking down at Shae who was being helped up by Trya, "Maybe it would've have been better that way. Save us all the trouble." She snickered. Toma closed the distance between the Lapis and herself. However, even as anger built up inside her, Toma opted to try and hold herself back from letting it get the better of her. In exchange, she glared down at the slightly shorter girl who looked satisfied with having now learned which strings she could pull to manipulate Toma. "Go on." She continued to taunt, "We're waiting." The remainder of their respective teams sitting at the sides watched and held their breaths—except the third, older team. They were getting a little excited with the prospect of watching sparks fly and having front row seats. Raising her clenched fist, Toma couldn't help but feel her bottled up fury pop open within her and in the span of a second her fist was already headed toward the smug expression of Lapis. Unfortunately, her fist only slammed into the palm of Lapis's fellow team member, 'Pecane'. The larger boy pulled Toma's arm and flung her over his shoulder and into a neighboring group who was in the middle of a match of their own, prompting swearing and angry shouts. "Nice going, Pec, shoulda' kept in our space though." Lapis complimented him as both watched Toma pick herself up, but then she felt a firm grip on her shoulder.
Maron pulled Lapis back around and delivered a powerful punch into Lapis's stomach, sending the unprepared girl stumbling back a bit. She'd be a hypocrite if she were to call Lapis out on leaving someone to die, and although she wasn't sure whether her team could really call each other 'friends', they were herteammates. Besides, Maron felt they were the only ones she could trust, especially two weeks after their desert encounter. Now, she wanted—needed to earn their trust again after her own mistake and failure as a Huntress. "Consider that a warning," Maron declared, putting on a tough act, "Don't-" She continued, only to be caught off guard by Lapis's stunning display of resilience.
"Ooo," Lapis began, recovering far quicker than Maron had anticipated, "That one wasn't half-bad. But you'll have to do better than that." She stated, retaliating by punching Maron's face sending the blonde staggering back before being tackled to the ground.
As both girls wrestled to get the upper hand. Pecane went on the move to support his team leader, but two sharp punches to either side of his back stopped him. Before the dark-brunette could turn around, Toma delivered a strong a kick as she could which sent the other student toward the ground, but he saved himself by dropping to a roll and popping back up, this time facing Toma. "Oh, don't think I'm done with you, yet." Toma threatened, hand over fist as she then readied her guard. Pecane unholstered the two, single-handed axes from his belt's holsters, rolled his shoulders, and stood tall, preparing himself for what he believed to be an easy match-up.
Maron and Lapis clawed and gabbed at each other in their match until Lapis kicked the other girl off her. Maron didn't let up, falling with her hands in front of her to stop her momentum only to shoot back up and charge her foe. Lapis on the other hand stayed on her back a little longer, waiting for Maron to close the distance before quickly rolling back and using her hands to push herself up and throw out a handstand-like kick. Maron skid across the ground to try and stop herself as the other girl's foot came within an inch of her face. Falling away from Maron, Lapis jumped up and went on the offensive, throwing a right punch which skid past Maron's her left arm which she had brought up to block. A second punch came, then a third, then a fourth! The last two landed against their target, the first smashing through Maron's guard while the second crashed into her side. Recoiling from the hit, Maron failed to see the incoming kick with enough power to send her back until her back hit something sturdy. Glancing a little back and up, she found herself back-to-back with Pecane who had the similar idea which left both of their gazes clashing just momentarily. Ahead of her, Lapis was quick and eager to draw her sniper-rifle/carbine hybrid, kneel, and take aim.
With some quick thinking, Maron rolled around Pecane and shoved him back between herself and Lapis. Unfortunately, she also ran into Toma who had unintentionally delivered a punch of her own into Maron's back, "Ow, Toma!" Maron looked over her shoulder and shouted.
"Dammit, Maron, watch where you're going!" Toma shouted back, both girls' eyes met with a small hint of annoyance from either party, but they were soon interrupted by the dual-axe wielder. Maron retreated behind Toma who, with the aid of her semblance, got in close and stopped the swings dead in their tracks even if they did hit. She was itching to blow off some steam and this would be the perfect excuse to punch someone! Especially when they deserved it. Toma didn't care about the growing crowd of classmates nor did she bother checking what Maron was up to after leaving her alone. What mattered to her right now was getting even with her new opponent and, if she was lucky, drive both of them into the sand. A lesson Toma wanted to teach them personally. She delivered a punch to her opponent's gut, then a second to his cheek, then came the retaliation of an axe striking down at neck level. Toma ducked under the weapon's swing just in time and dashed to the side to get on Pecane's flank, but just as she had put her plan into action, she was spotted the glint of a scope from the corner of her eye before being shot in her own side with a powerful blast from Lapis's rifle. Toma was sent tumbling back to square one by the shot and she was none too pleased. One swing from Pecane's ax came at her, but Toma grabbed the boy's wrist. A second swing came, she grabbed it too, forcing both fighters into a contest of raw strength, one that Toma was barely able to hold. She mentally cursed Maron again for leaving her, but just as if her thoughts were heard, the other girl's voice came up to answer.
"Head, down!" Maron ordered from behind. Fearing Maron would screw something up otherwise, Toma complied without question or hesitation, headbutting Pecane's chin before dropping her head as told. Preparing herself for whatever was planned, Toma unexpectedly felt the sudden weight of Maron stepping on her shoulder. Soldiering through the sharp pain caused by the new pressure, Toma held out just long enough for Maron to ram her heel into Pecane's face, disorienting him for a brief moment.
Maron rose above the crowd with a surprised Lapis kneeling below her. Her bowstring was drawn, a standard arrow was in place, and she was ready to claim her victory! However, something familiar from the edge of her vision caught her attention instead. Unable to keep her gaze drawn away from it, Maron looked up from Lapis but when she did, her blood ran cold as she met a set of distinct, recognizable eyes; fiery orange eyes. That woman, the swordswoman they fought out in the desert, stood by the entrance of the arena which led into Shade Academy's interior. One hand on her scabbard of her sword, her eyes were narrowed as they met Maron's. Fear captivated Maron for a split second, making her lose focus. The arrow she had previously readied had been released prematurely and missed, hitting just in from of Lapis's feet, but a now empty hand reminded Maron of the current battle at hand.
Recentering her attention on Lapis, Maron dropped to the ground and into a roll before popping up. Maron had pulled another arrow from her quiver, this one happened to be a shiny, red-tipped, Dust-arrow. Lapis, scrambled to regain her composure by readying her own weapon, but just when the height of their battle could begin, before either could get another shot off, a third party stepped in and brought it to an early end. Maron's arrow was, once again, snatched away by someone new who also shot Lapis twice with an automatic shotgun.
"This is not what we're doing today! And in case you didn't bother to listen, I'll be so kind as to repeat after the professor again: 'Class is dismissed for today'!" Shouted the new arrival, a young woman with thick, snow-white hair which was just beginning to settle half-way down her back owing to her impressive speed and sudden stop between the battling girls. "Anyone dumb enough to want extra lessons?" She threatened by patting her weapon, but students got the message and started to disperse, not wanting to deal with any painful consequences. Toma and Pecane separated, shoving each other away and sharing hostile glances. "Yeah, yeah, get out. You're done here!" She shouted at the two students. The pale-skinned woman began unloading her shotgun, swearing in annoyance as she put away the shells back into the pouches around her waist which in turn rested over a short, navy-blue half-skirt with dark-grey, spandex shorts underneath. Maron and her team were about to leave with the others but they were stopped when they were called out, "Not you, Amethyst. I believe you deserve a little 'chat'." The tough-looking shotgun-wielder told them. She returned her shotgun to her back before fixing her rather short, light-blue jacket that barely reached past her ribs and looked to be a couple of sizes too small for her. This had the side effect of leaving her torso more or less open—covered, of course, as seen by the small white bandeau, but still open. Meanwhile, the young woman looked back at the girls and underneath the young woman's thick, curtain bangs were a set of furious- and quite intimidating- ice-blue eyes. To say she wasn't happy was… less than an understatement.
Not taking too kindly to being talked down to by a mere upperclassman, Toma stood her ground and was the first among her team to speak up against this newcomer, "Great, you know our name, so what?" Toma said sarcastically, "You don't look like any professor to me, so what do you want?" She demanded from the new girl.
"You're right, I'm not a professor." Came her response, closing the gap between herself and Toma and measuring the younger girl up. Being a solid inch taller than Toma, she gave a quick smile and answered the student, "I'm a Huntress. A professional one at that!" She explained. Those words alone were enough to put Toma in a bit of an uncomfortable position. "So, mind fillin' me in on what exactly happened to cause your little scuffle?" The Huntress asked the stubborn girl in a feigned, polite tone.
Meanwhile, Maron's gaze was still set firmly on the very spot where that fiery-eyed woman stood. It just had to be her! Her mind wasn't just playing tricks on her, was it? If not, then what was she doing here at Shade? If nothing else, it was clear to Maron that woman had an interest in her or all of them, but why did she simply stand by and watch them? Or, a more terrifying question: How long had she been watching them? How-
"Yo, blondie." The Huntress had left Toma to wander closer to Maron, lightly punching her shoulder with the side of her fist, "You payin' attention?" She questioned with a raised brow. Unfortunately for her, Maron barely registered the other girl until she was put on the spot.
"What?" Maron looked back, "I... I'm not... I don't..." Maron started, barely able to form a coherent sentence since her mind was preoccupied with the lingering threat that might still be watching them from afar.
"Tsk, useless." The Huntress said, turning to Toma, "What about you? Ya' didn't answer the first time so I'll ask again: Got any excuse as to why an unsanctioned brawl started in the middle of your class?"
"Pfft, yeah. They threatened our team member." Toma answered a little reluctantly. However, her own words seem to restore some confidence back in her as she continued her story, "Yeah, words and insults were exchanged, then fists started flying, then weapons were drawn, then I'm sure you saw the rest."
"Ah. I see." The Huntress began, giving off a disarming chuckle, "Insults and rivalries lead to eventual sparks, huh?" She put up a fake smile.
"Heh, I'm not sure I'd call them 'rivals', but yeah." Toma said, giving her best, innocent look she could. However, a deft hand had grabbed her and slammed her into the ground. Toma was just about to sit up when the Huntress's boot crashed into her chest and forced her back down.
"I don't appreciate being lied to after, Toma." She told the student, gradually pushing with a little more strength in her leg and shifting her weight on it too. Not too much, but enough to get her point across, Now, tell me again, Toma of Team MTST, when were you gonna' mention you throwing the first punch?"
Still a little stunned, a dumbfounded Toma could only reply the first words that came to mind, "I-I uh- What?" Tome uttered. She was shocked to learn that this new woman already knew their names on top of their team's name. If there was one thing Toma regretted from today, it would be that she didn't get to punch Lapis at least once.
"'I uh', 'I uh'," The Huntress mocked Toma's stutter, "Yeah, I know what happened." She said, putting out an open hand to Trya who stood sheepishly off to the side, quite nervous now that she was being brought into the conversation.
"S-Sorry." The faunus girl apologized with a face and voice full of guilt. The wolf-eared girl held her hands behind her back with her eyes darting away in shame.
"Trya!" Toma shouted from the ground in surprise, half forgetting that she and Shae were probably first-hand witnesses of what happened. Toma couldn't be mad at her though, a little confused maybe, but that was on her having not noticed Trya disappearing during the middle of her fight.
"I-I'm sorry!" Came Trya's response in a fearful tone, flinching a little when Toma called out her name.
"Oh, don't be sorry, hun!" The Huntress told Trya, stepping off Toma and going over to wrap an arm around the shoulders of the smaller girl in an attempt cheer her up, "Without you, that one over there would have gotten a lot of others hurt." She pointed to Maron, "Especially with that Dust arrow she pulled. This place is tough, but not unbreakable, believe me, I'd know." She chuckled, "Maybe we should take away those Dust arrows of yours until you learn some restraint!" This touched a nerve in Maron.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my stuff." Maron stepped back, hand hovering over her weapon. They were her most valuable belongings—quite literally as well—and she'd refuse to give them up so easily.
"Oh?" The Huntress let out, a sinister smirk forming on her lips, "And you think you have the power to stop me? Call me disappointed, 'cause I know full-well what your capable of. And what you lack."
"Since neither of those two idiots is going to bother asking the obvious, I'll do it." Shae suddenly made herself known. She was resting against a wall and slowly regaining her strength from her recent defeat, but that didn't stop her from throwing a glare toward the young woman, "Who are you? And if you're not a professor then what's stopping us from just leaving?" She asked, only to recoil in a bit of pain. Trya broke free from the arm wrapped around her and rushed to check on Shae who promptly tried to play off the soreness.
"How nice of her." The Huntress commented, "But, I suppose our introductions are a bit late. I am a temporary assistant instructor for Shade, but you can just call me 'Blizz'." She introduced herself, placing one hand over her chest, the other on her waist, and giving a proud, smug look on her face.
"Ok, 'Blizz', that doesn't answer what you want with us." Maron reminded, "If this all ends up being a waste of my time, then I'm going back to my room."
"Oh, I wouldn't. Unless you want to face a bigger punishment from the actual professor." Blizz retorted, "I may not be an 'actual professor' but I do still have a bit of authority like advising, teaching, and, not to mention, managing Shade's students where necessary." She explained, "As for you, well, be grateful I even bothered with you four. You seem like your sorry little group is in need of all the help you can get to survive this school. Which gives me an idea! How interested are ya'll in some real weapons training; against real targets?"
"After what we've been through these past two weeks? I don't think we're very interested." Maron replied, "Besides, my team and I need to have a little talk about a... private matter." Maron informed, looking to the others, trying to give a hint as to her meaning.
"Tsk. That's fine, knowing 'fessor Sunnybrook, she'd probably prefer-"
"She actually means that we're interested!" Toma interrupted and made a little amendment to Maron's answer, "But we aren't in the best shape right now, so uh..." She trailed off. It may be a bit of a gamble, but as she had always been told: better was the evil you knew than the one you didn't! Well, 'punishment' in the form of training, but details, details. Also, the team could definitely use some tips from a professional Huntress, anything that could help them grow even by a fraction.
"Wonderful!" Blizz exclaimed with a joyous glee and her arms stretched out, "Don't worry, it won't be today. Do you have any plans this weekend?" She pointed a finger to the girls. The four students answered in unison. Maron and Shae answering with a flat 'yes', Toma and Trya answering with an honest 'no'. The former two found themselves overruled. "Great! I'll swing by sometime in the mornin' so ready yourselves for a day of work!" Blizz said cheerfully, but she then dropped her positive attitude, "Or else." With that, the Huntress turned around and walked away after a farewell wave, leaving a Team MTST all alone in the arena.
"Really? You're just going to trust her like that?" Maron questioned Toma in a furious tone, "We don't even know who she is!"
"Siding with Maron on this one," Shae agreed, "Shade's just been one hurdle after another and I don't think that 'Blizz' has our best interest at heart. And I have an uneasy feeling about her." Shae added.
"Relax, I'm sure we can handle her should the worst come." Toma played off, trying to sweep away her team's concerns.
"Like we 'handled' that swordswoman?" Shae shot back, "We're too weak, like she said. We can't just go around picking random fights like that!" Shae shouted, slamming a fist into the sand next to her.
"Wasn't it you who provoked her first out there?" Toma frowned, shifting to one leg and placing a hand on her hip. The other two girls glanced down at Shae.
There was a brief silence as Shae looked away, a little red at the reminder of her actions, "Whatever. Maron, you found something?" She asked, the first of the group to catch Maron's meaning by 'private matter'.
"Right, but first, we should find somewhere a bit more comfortable. Never know, there might be eyes and ears all around." Maron answered, subtly glancing around with her eyes in a vain attempt to possibly spot the woman again. "Can you walk?" She asked Shae.
"Well, enough." Came Shae's reply with a hint of pain. Trya, who was already at her side, was the one to help her up and supported her in her steps, but it felt like another gut punch, this time to her prided. A simple sparing match was all it took to break through her pitiful excuse of an aura. Her opponent even chose to go easy on her, yet, even if it was a disadvantaged match to begin with, Shae was still crushed so utterly. 'Such a disgrace.' She thought, letting the others guide her. However, she needed to press on and continue to grow stronger, if what Blizz was saying is genuine, then maybe it would be worth participating in whatever game she had planned, but right now, she needed a bit of rest, and maybe something refreshing to calm her nerves.
Shade's midday rush was active with the halls crowded with students traveling to and from class, dorms, or wherever they were coming from/headed to. Fortunately for Amethyst, the other students didn't bother to notice them. Funny, considering their little scuffle, there was the chance that the news spread, but chances were that the rest of the school simply didn't care. Doubly so for students still getting a feel for the academy. Regardless, it wasn't long before the quartet found themselves back in the safety and comfort of their cramped room. Shae just as quickly collapsed to the cold ground and pulled herself over to a comfortable spot against the wall. Trya did the same, isolating herself from the others by once again sitting in the corner of the room. Toma and Maron were the only ones left standing, but after grabbing a few sitting cushions for themselves, the whole gang got to rest some.
"Why's it always one problem after another?" Shae groaned, shutting her eyes and resting the back of her head against the wall. She was tired, and not just from the class she just came from. Shae was drained mentally and could barely be bothered to do anything else but sit there.
"So, we've had a two hiccups, nothing out of hand yet!" Toma tried to cheer her up to no avail.
That wasn't what was one Shae's mind. Not entirely. For her, today was just another disappointment. If stuff like this keeps up, she might not even make it to next year. What was she to do then? Wanting to distract herself from those thoughts, Shae lazily looked to Maron, "What was that 'private matter' you wanted to talk about, Maron?" She asked the girl, looking for something to keep her going.
"She's here at the school." Maron stated.
"Who?" Toma asked, still a bit clueless.
"Who do you think?" Came Maron's aggressive reply, "I told you she might come back. Now? She's around here somewhere! And what do we have to show for it?"
"Girls." Shae, eyes closed once again, called loudly to break up whatever sparks might start up again. She didn't have the energy for this, but of course, who else was going to do it? "When and where did you see her?" She asked Maron, forcing a continuation of the conversation.
"After I jumped off Toma's shoulder-" Maron started before being interrupted.
"Thanks for that by the way." Muttered a bitter Toma.
"Oh, quit it, it helped you out too." Maron shot back at her, "Anyways, she looked right at me while I was in the air. It was… chilling." She explained, remembering the woman's eyes fixated on her.
"And after that?" Shae continued her questioning.
"I... I don't know." Maron admitted. She tried to remember as best she could but failed to bring anything else back up. All she could recall clearly were those eyes of hers silently judging her, "Even after the fight, I looked back to where I saw her and she was… gone. Like she had just vanished."
"Well, what do we do now?" Toma asked, a hint of worry on her now.
"What can we do?" Maron answered back with a question of her own, "She's long gone now no thanks to that Blizz and by now she could be anywhere!"
"And after today's demonstration, I don't think we're capable of beating after her even if we had the chance to go after her." Shae stated, silencing the conversation. There was nothing any of them could do and that fact alone was enough to keep them quiet.
For Trya, the room's silence was heart breaking, but it wasn't her place to speak, nor did she have anything to say about it. She wasn't even sure if she had anything to add, assuming the others would listen. Why did she do this? Why! If she hadn't talked to Blizz about Maron and Toma, they might have had the chance to see that woman again! Ask her why she was after them. Blizz was kind enough to listen to her though, and she was friendly, maybe she could talk to the Huntress about their little problem? Maybe… Maybe that might be bothering her too much. Would she even believe them? Judging by the others' reactions, Trya doubted they wanted much more to do with Blizz than necessary. Maybe, just the once, she could try? "W-We… We c-could ask Blizz to help us." Trya stuttered, her sudden addition having perked the attention of the other girls. More silence. Of course, it was a dumb idea.
"I suppose that's an option." Shae then started, "She may be the only choice we have left."
"As if she's going to care about our problems, let alone belief us." Maron suggested, not too eager to jump on the idea.
"Do you have any other ideas, Maron?" Shae asked back.
"Yeah, and at least we're getting something out of it already." Toma added, "Some training from an actual Huntress and not a textbook!"
"Fine." Maron gave in, "But one of you are bringing it up to her."
"What, afraid of a little talk with a real Huntress?" Toma teased, shooting Maron a smirk.
Maron wasn't too pleased by Toma's remark, but did her best to ignore it, "Even if we're students, we should be able to handle a problem like this on our own. If Blizz takes care of it for us, and we learn nothing from this, then what would be the point of us being here in the first place?" Maron questioned, attempting to voice her reasoning. Yes, she knew they couldn't compete with that swordswoman as they were, but they literally just had a lesson about this: a foe with greater strength and experience. Even if they got help with this one, what were they going to do in the future? Ask someone to do their work for them?
"Relax." Toma calmly reassured her, "We're here to learn to be Huntresses, there's no shame in letting those above us handle things that are far out of our league, right?" She put a reassuring hand on the other girl's shoulder and gave a reassuring pat, "Assuming things work out, we can trust Blizz enough to save us here."
"Right..." Maron knew where thinking like that would get them. With a light sigh from Maron, the group dismissed themselves, Trya and Shae continued to sit idle and rest respectively, and Toma was ready to free herself from the few grains of still clinging sand, muttering something about 'hating this part of living in Vacuo' or whatever. Maron removed her staff from her back and placed it by the door and after returning to a comfortable position on her cushion, she started browsing through her scroll to waste time and to lose herself in thought. End of their rope and they were looking desperate enough to ask a stranger for help. It frustrated her that they had to do it, but she'd be foolish to believe she could really fight off that swordswoman, especially alone. Doesn't mean she had to like the idea though.
"Hey, Maron?" Shae suddenly called.
"Hmm?" Maron glanced over from her screen.
"Why do you want to become a Huntress?" She asked out of the blue.
Maron hadn't thought about it. Scratch that, she had her answer, but she didn't have an answer to give others. From the corner of her eye, Maron spotted Trya who shifted uncomfortably. Rough ship for her too, huh? "Family." Maron answered vaguely, keeping an eye on Trya. That chapter of her life was behind her, and it would be best to leave it that way. Trya shifted again, this time taking out her scroll and browsing through it to distract herself. Maron paid her no mind. 'Best to leave her alone.' Maron thought.
"Family..." Shae repeated as if struck by some eye-opening answer, "Yeah... Guess it's the same for the both of us then."
"More or less." Maron finished, partly correcting the other girl. Oh, if only she knew the half of it. Maron wished she could talk to that upperclassman again, call her a hypocrite for 'trusting' him—not that she did trust him much—but at least he listened and it would be useful to have an ally somewhere around Shade should something happen to them. Plus, she could really use some advice about what to do next. Right now, things just didn't sit right with her even without her team being watched over by the swordswoman. Their regular sparing matches highlighted just how far they were lagging behind other students, even if Maron didn't get her proper turn in. Regardless, in combat rating and rankings they were being pushed further and further down, their entry into Shade was questionable—though at least no one knew how they really got in—then there was that Huntress, Blizz, who was suspiciously willing to just 'offer' extra training lessons to them. Speaking of whom, she knew their names, didn't she? At least Toma's, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say she knew the rest of theirs as well. Something wasn't right there. Chalk it up to serving as an assistant. Maybe she had a roster for who was attending? Likely, but also a bit convenient. Whatever, it made sense for now, so she should leave it there. Maron didn't want herself spiraling into a rabbit hole of paranoia toward everyone around her. Moving on and speaking of the extra training from Blizz, Maron was once again reminded of that upperclassman, she hadn't actually seen him around since her first night here. Shade was a big place, but, surely, she would've bumped into him at some point by now, right? Meh, maybe she'll just have to sneak out to the arena tonight and see if he's there. Who knows, maybe she'll meet some of his team while she's at it! Maron yawned in boredom, blankly staring at her scroll's screen for messages that wouldn't come. They didn't have any other classes for the day, which was nice, but now there was nothing for them to do. 'Maybe the city might have something to offer.' Maron thought as she looked out the window, even though from her position she could only see the sky.
"I-I'm... I'm gonna' head out for a bit." Trya said quietly, just audible enough to pull Maron from her thoughts.
"Oh! You headed out?" Toma piped up from over the bathroom's sink, "Give me a minute, we could all go out and stop by the mess!" She happily suggested, "Those sparing matches really did a number on me and I'm pretty drained, especially after that last fight."
"The one you started?" Maron pointed out, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
"Plus, we can call it a nice get together as friends!" Toma continued, ignoring Maron.
Well, it sure beats sitting around doing nothing. Besides, Maron was feeling a bit peckish as well now that it was mentioned and Shae also noted that she might as well tag along. Maron felt a little bad about wedging herself into Trya's plans. Despite her calm, docile look, Maron had a feeling the faunus was probably hoping to go out alone. Maybe she should treat Trya to something nice later to make up for it? Maybe. Maron sighed and grabbed her things again. What an exhausting day, and it was barely half over.
A. Note: Thanks for the long wait!
As always, enjoy!
~Firetoast312