So Explaining time. To answer Ethos The ET's question: I did mean just for the Blake pep talk because in my head that specific part of the story holds little significance to my actual plot and I figured that I'd just get that part out of the way early without having to actually revisit the whole theme of moody Blake. Timeline wise, since I'm playing god with the timeline and it's operating to fit my plot points, the dance is in like a two weeks. So not to spoil anything but major stuff is about to happen between now and that dance.
How I name the weapons is complicated, it's not really a feeling more like I literally changed the names of all my OC's weapons except for Asura and Galaxia maybe four times. If I explain the meaning behind them it might give some idea on how I name stuff.
Asura: It's a Ninjato(Yeah apparently a straight edge katana is called a Ninjato)/Semi-Auto Sniper/Scythe . It's a weapon of war and a weapon of death and it's named after Asura as in the deity embodiment of wrath and war.
Galaxia is named as such because of Luna's special powers, which everyone knows exists but I haven't explained them as yet so feel free to speculate. Also if you've ever played Terraria and know of the Calamity Mod then the weapon name should be familiar.
Loki and Eres: Norse god of trickery and deception, and Eres is the goddess of chaos and discord, which are references to Hex's style of fighting.
Atomizer is a reference to the destructive potential of Nitro's abilities combined with his weapon.
Hex and Nitro's names are self explanatory: Hex is a tech wizard and Nitro is speed incarnate.
Nova Alexandrite and Luna Sapphire, explaining their names might be giving away too much so again, feel free to speculate.
Chapter 7: Red Headed Fury
It had been a couple days since the incident with the robot, team RWBY, and ASHN did their best to hide their involvement but a certain red-headed prodigy couldn't shake the image of a masked Alexandrite in her room at an ungodly hour. She might've chalked it up to him grabbing a late night snack and accidentally walking into their room, but team RWBY had been acting rather strangely as well. No one had reported seeing either team that afternoon and for some reason, when she asked them about it, they all acted suspiciously.
Questioning Alex, he told her they were just out hanging out in Vale. Ruby told her they were working in the forge helping Yang with her motorcycle. Weiss straight up dodged the topic twice, Sapphire would blurt out something incoherent and run away, Nitro could never be found and Hex was always in the dorm. They were hiding something, now she was sure of it. She trusted team RWBY, she didn't trust ASHN. As far as she could tell, since day one they've been keeping secrets, the only team never to be around campus, stuck in the dorms, the heavy curtains, and team RWBY even told her about the weird precautionary measures that ASHN took with their dorm. The tech sweeping, the soundproofing, it was unnerving, to top it all off it seemed to be flying directly under Ozpin's nose. She wanted to trust them, she really did, her instincts told her they weren't a threat... but the secrets they were keeping might, and whatever it was, team RWBY was being roped into it. She was the voice of reason, the Alpha Female of her team, it was like an instinct, the strong could detect the strong, and were wary when the strong were keeping secrets.
Team JNPR sat together at the cafeteria, Nora gorging down on a stack of pancakes as per the usual with Ren in his constant state of disassociation, Jaune trying to figure out where Nora stored it all and Pyrrah just drumming her hands on the desk nervously, observing ASHN and RWBY.
"Guys something is up, with ASHN," Pyrrha said in a lowered voice as she beckoned her team to draw in closer.
"What do you mean? They seem normal, well about as normal as two ninjas a boxer and a tech master can get but that's just huntsman bizz," Jaune commented, stuffing his face with mashed potatoes, desperately trying not to look at the pancake massacre.
Pyrrha shook her head, "No I mean don't you think it's weird, ever since they got here, I haven't been able to read their auras, well Nitro and Hex are fine, they aren't hiding it, but Sapphire and Alexandrite," she clasped her hands and rested her chin on them thinking deeply, "Those two siblings... I can't read them at all, I can't even sense they exist, if I didn't know any better I would say they didn't have any aura, but the fact of the matter is, they do or at least I think they do."
"Pyrrha don't you think you're overreacting? I mean they said they were ninjas, they have their own secrets, what did they do something to make you suspicious?" Ren was attempting to be a voice of reason.
The red-haired prodigy shook her head again, "Not exactly... Alex accidentally wandered into our room a few nights ago, at three in the morning."
"And? He probably went out for a late-night snack and accidentally opened our door, his dorm is literally right next to ours. Wait... why wasn't our door locked?" Ren returned trying to shake off her suspicions.
Jaune blushed, "I may have forgotten to lock it back after I went to grab some water.." The rest of JNPR just groaned.
"Look, if you are dead set on finding out what's up then we can go talk to them, simple," the golden-haired team leader tried to reassure his friend.
"Yeah, but how are we so sure they will tell me what I want to know? I'm willing to bet that even their looks are a lie," she said a little exasperated. It was strange seeing the usually calm and all knowing Pyrrah Nikos devolve into a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
"Pyrrha you need to chill out if Ruby and the others trust them then so do I, and I think it's the same for all the others, they seem like capable huntsmen," Jaune tried calming the girl.
She just couldn't shake this feeling of suspicion. "If I could just read their aura, I could tell, everyone's aura reveals something about them... but how..." she began muttering.
"Well you can figure it out after combat class today, we don't have much time left to get there..." Ren said as he got up from the table.
-At the Arena-
Pyrrha deflected several strikes from Sky as he made a desperate attempt to go close-quarters combat against the spear wielder. Pyrrha's weapon Milo was capable of transitioning from spear to short sword to rifle, making it capable to short, medium and long-range combat, allowing her complete versatility and her shield Akouo paired perfectly with it allowing her to deflect and parry simultaneously. Her defence was impenetrable and her offence even deadlier as she was able to use her shield as a throwable weapon.
She juggled the four members of team CRDL effortlessly, parrying and countering flawlessly. Their weapons were like molding clay to her, moving exactly how she wanted them to, her flexibility and agility gave her complete combat area manipulation, utilizing her surroundings by bounding off of walls and ricocheting her shield for blindside attacks. Cardin, whose entire existence was fit to purely tank and dish damage was knocked around like a football. Pyrrha had essentially demolished an entire team, single-handedly, taking minimal damage, her aura barely reading below 90%. The match would have gone a lot faster if she wasn't partially distracted by team ASHN, who was just standing off to the side with RWBY.
"Well done Miss Nikos, you will have no problem qualifying for the tournament." Professor Goodwitch said striding up to the champion.
"Thank you professor." she returned nodding her head.
"Well I know that was a tough act to follow but we have time for one more match, would anyone like to volunteer?" Glynda said addressing the students. "Miss Belladonna? You've been docile for the past few classes why don't you..." Blake, as well as the rest of RWBY, flinched, they were still sore from their fight against the mech, mostly because they did take a decent beating. Thankfully, a hand shot up before the professor could finish, "I'll do it."
It was Mercury.
"Very well... let's find you an opponent..."
"No thanks. I want to fight... her." He said pointing to Pyrrha. She just blinked incredulously, "Miss Nikos has just had a match, I'd recommend you chose another partner..."
"No! No! I'm fine. I'd be happy to oblige," the redhead said turning to Mercury.
The two fighters approached the stage, Mercury getting into a boxing stance. With a smirk, he launched himself at Pyrrah with a flying kick, she blocked it instantly with her shield, a resounding clang echoed off it, just as he dropped to the floor Pyrrah countered by sweeping Milo under his legs causing him to trip and fall. In response, Mercury angled his fall to land on his hands, using the momentum to spin kick and then backflip to disengage. An impressive feat, being able to fight evenly with the champion.
Smirking again, Mercury rushed her again, this time in a flurry of kicks, all blocked by her shield. He then rotated to roundhouse kick knocking away Milo.
"Wow, your friend's really good!" Ruby said, speaking to Emerald who just had her hands folded.
The grey-clad boy continued his assault, just as he rotated his kicks again, his leg was blocked by Pyrrah's hand, a solid clang was heard, like metal being struck. Pyrrha's eyes widened momentarily, this sensation, there was metal in his legs, implants? prosthetics? she couldn't exactly be sure. The only reason she could tell was because of her semblance, polarity, allowing her to manipulate magnetism with metal.
Mercury let out a curious hum as he attacked again, another roundhouse kick, this time, instead of blocking it, Pyrrah used her semblance to deflect it causing Mercury to stumble to the floor. Well that's interesting... he thought before getting back up.
Pyrrha was ready to strike again but he raised his hands, "I forfeit." causing Pyrrah's assault to stop.
She was confused, "You don't even want to try?"
"What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter, we're obviously leagues apart."
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, he was clearly holding his own in the fight, they were pretty even, even if she did have an advantage with her semblance it still didn't garner reason for him to forfeit.
Glynda cleared her throat, "In that case, again, Pyrrha Nikos is the winner of the match. Next time you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent." she said eyeing the boy.
Pyrrha glared daggers at him. He was definitely suspicious, and unlike ASHN, she could feel the uneasiness, a clear, distinct unsettling feeling. She hadn't picked up on it before, not until they fought could she feel that this man was dangerous.
"Wait... that's it!" Pyrrha exclaimed causing everyone in the room who had just been about to leave stop momentarily.
"Alexandrite!" the boy in question who had originally been observing the match intently was now focused on the red-head. "Alexandrite, I challenge you to a duel, you, me right here, right now." She gestured her finger at him and herself while speaking.
"What? Out of the blue?" Alexandrite was a little more than alarmed, the way she spoke, it felt as though this challenge meant more than just friendly competition.
Jaune was quite alarmed, "Pyrrha what the hell?! Didn't you just fight five people?"
"I must share Mr. Arc's concern, Miss Nikos. Not only is class dismissed but your sudden desire to fight Mr. Lucius seems rather... well... sudden," she said pushing up her glasses.
"Yeah your aura isn't even fully recovered yet. Pyrrha, what's brought this on?" Alex questioned.
Pyrrha just blushed, the realization that her declaration was out of place and lacked explanation. "I... just really want to fight you, and that last match with Mercury left me feeling a bit empty since he forfeited. You seem strong, you'd give me a good fight."
Alexandrite eyed her confused, her aura right now was around 70%, given that she'd taken no injuries, it around fifteen minutes to recover... Well, he couldn't deny the spirit of a warrior.
Nitro and Hex shared a look that silently spoke, something was up, while Sapphire was nervously glancing back and forth between the two huntsmen, she could feel the tension in the air. They were practically locked in a staring match, Pyrrah deliberately letting her aura flare forcing Alexandrite's to challenge it. Alexandrite knew he couldn't back down, whatever was going on with her, he needed to settle it. Why was there such animosity being directed from her? He didn't know why she was acting this way but he'd rather have her on his side than against him and if dueling her is what it took then so be it.
"I accept," he calmly said, his gaze never faltering. "I'll give you time to recover your aura."
Glynda just gawked, as if they were carrying about without her consent. She wanted to berate them for this unsanctioned challenge but seeing the two glaring daggers at each other, she figured they'd just fight even if she didn't referee it.
"Alright... I'll allow this duel, however Miss Nikos, you have twenty minutes to recover your aura." She said looking at the champion.
"Professor WHAT?! DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM!" Jaune was flailing. The three seemed to disregard his existence and Ren placed a hand on his leader's shoulder, "Let them," he said. Jaune backed down.
The students filed into the room, apparently word spread fast when it concerned the school's number 1 prodigy and the mysterious transfer student from Mistral, people had signs with 'We love you Pyrrah' and... surprisingly enough, there were a few signs with 'Go Alex!' and 'Marry Me', much to Ruby's displeasure. Alexandrite himself was taken aback by the support from people he didn't even know, and slightly mortified that he apparently had a fan-base, when did they even get time to make those signs? Team RWBY filtered into the room taking a seat in the front row next to JNPR.
"What's going on Jaune, why are they fighting?" Ruby questioned, nervousness evident in her voice. Weiss looked concerned as well, she may not show it but she was attached to the masked boy. Yang seemed to understand the situation, she folder her arms and leaned back against her seat "Pyrrah's been kinda suspicious toward Alex since day one. Alex hangs out with Jaune, Nora, and Ren but when it comes to Pyrrha, she's almost never there. She might think he's a threat.. and when an unknown wolf wanders into your pack and smells suspicious, as a pack leader you need to assess him, judge him and find out how much of a threat he poses."
"I don't get it why would Pyrrah have suspicion for Alexandrite? He's really kind and a super nice person," Ruby couldn't wrap her head around it. Blake understood better than anyone, Faunus can usually tell each other apart even under a disguise but Alexandrite and Sapphire did extra to ensure not even a Faunus could spot them. She didn't know why they would go to such extremes to hide their identities. Pyrrha is the strongest one of all the members of their year and close friends with everyone. Alexandrite and his team popped into their lives suddenly, bypasses initiation and was already growing close with everyone. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but they were hiding a lot, Pyrrah's aura control was above everyone else, she picked up on their auras or lack thereof, constantly hiding their faces, their auras, she could respect privacy but call it a sixth sense. Something was up and she needed to know that they weren't a threat. She needed to get a feel for who they were and she decided the best course of action was to go for the head.
"They'll be fine, this isn't the first time Alexandrite has had to deal with this situation," A new voice spoke up beside Blake. JNR and RWBY turned their heads to see Nitro, Hex, and Sapphire walk in and take up seats next to team RWBY. "What do you mean this isn't the first time?" Weiss asked raising her eyebrow. "Back at Haven, when these two were new students, I did the same thing."
The two teams looked at him wide-eyed. Hex spoke, "Yeah back then, Alexandrite and Sapphire were part a two-man team, they joined the semester late and normally the standard was four people but the academy made an exception, saying they couldn't split them into two five-man teams and there weren't any more students left to form a full team."
Sapphire then joined in, "The headmaster told us that we could operate as a duo if we worked with a full team on operations," her voice was calm, her eyes were transfixed on the arena.
Nitro continued, "Back then my team, THRN (Thorn), Thorian Callous, Gale Rouge Ebons, me and Hex were the team assigned to operate with them. Thorian, Gale, and Hex were getting really close to two newcomers, as team leader, of course, I was willing to carry out my duties as a huntsman but back then I was a little…. Over the top..."
Hex burst out laughing. "Over the top? Dude you were like general overbearing, you were super protective of us," she fake wiped a tear from her eye after calming down.
Nitro blushed in embarrassment, "Yeah I was also a little arrogant, felt I was in charge of protecting my team and treated them like kids sometimes anyway I saw those two as a threat, they hid their identities, they never joined us when we offered to hang out. I felt like they were deliberately plotting something and I feared for my team when Alex was appointed team leader after... an incident... I challenged Alexandrite to a duel to test his mettle, determine if he was trustworthy... also I was still hot-blooded from that 'incident'. As the old saying goes, a man can lie through anything except his fists. Long story short, I got my ass kicked but I made the most loyal friend a person could ask for." His eyes looked distant as if reminiscing.
Nora looked in awe, "That story was" she sniffed, "So MOVING!" She burst into tears and clung to Ren who looked slightly uncomfortable but humored his orange-haired friend.
Jaune felt a sweat drop. "Wait you said you had an old team, those other two, what happened to them? Alex became leader... how did that fit in?" Jaune asked.
Nitro turned to him, his normal carefree face was dark, "That... incident... was big...Another long story, one that I'm not inclined to share sorry, but what I can tell you is that Thorian and Gale are dead."
Everyone looked mortified, an incident that cost the lives of two team members? That was very heavy news to deal with, it would explain why they don't like talking about their pasts.
"Oh look the match is starting!" Ruby said pointing to the arena.
Pyrrha and Alexandrite stepped into the ring, both standing at the center face to face. It was like a staredown.
"Don't take this personally Alexandrite," she said, in her eyes, she was going to win.
"What's this really about Pyrrah, if you just asked me I would tell you, at least if it's within my power to." He said calmly his tone even, trying to appeal to her.
"Humour me if I don't take your word for it," she said as she turned back to her side of the arena. Alexandrite followed suit both reaching equidistant from the center, drawing their weapons.
Pyrrha readied Milo and Akouo in combat stance while Alexandrite held Asura's scabbard in a drawing stance.
Professor Goodwitch stepped onto the scene, the aura meters of both fighters appearing above her head on the display board. "Combatants ready?" She glanced at them, both were locked in the staring match. With a deep breath, she yelled out, "FIGHT!"
Neither duelist dare move. The atmosphere in the arena was thick with tension, so much so, one could cut it with a knife.
Alexandrite waited patiently. Taking on her fighting style by rushing in was suicide. If he hoped to fight her on even ground she would need to make the first move. Ruby felt her breath hitch in her throat as she looked on from the stands.
"If you won't come to me, I'll just come to you!" Pyrrha yelled as she rushed into him. Exactly as he wanted, he readied his stance, pulling the trigger on his weapon, the blade shot out with incredible speed, Alex caught it and parried her oncoming thrust, deflecting her to the side with the sheer force behind the swing.
She was momentarily stunned, her semblance refused to work on the blade, whatever it was made of, it wasn't traditional metal. Using the momentum of the deflection to pivot on Milo, she launched herself back against him. Pyrrha ducked low and threw her shield with deadly accuracy, aiming for his head. Alexandrite used the flat of Asura's scabbard to block the shield causing it to ricochet skyward, in that moment Pyrrah had already closed the distance, catching the shield and uppercutting with Milo in its sword form. He reacted almost instantly dodging backward, the tip of the blade narrowly missing his chin as he stretched his head back to avoid it.
Alexandrite was shocked, was this the power of her semblance? Was the accuracy and masterful manipulation of her weapons the result of some force? He didn't have time to rationalize it as Pyrrah launched herself to meet him mid-air as he was falling, slamming the shield into his chest sending him crashing to the floor in a crater. She landed at the edge of the arena, staring at the bruised boy in the center, knocked flat on his back. The crowd gasped in shock at the level of brutality being displayed, Alex's aura was, at first being taken down by a solid 5% with each blow, now it had crawled, that last hit, however devastating it looked, barely did 2%. His aura was currently sitting at a clean 88% while Pyrrah had taken only 10% damage.
"This can't be all the power of team ASHN's leader is it? Come on, stop holding back and come at me!" she practically yelled, her aura radiating off her. She was furious, how could he be holding back? Did he underestimate her? Was he holding back because he looked down on her? Whatever his reason, if he wanted to make it out of this duel in one piece then he needed to go all out.
Ruby couldn't understand the sight before her. Alexandrite flat on the floor, the normally calm and cheerful Pyrrah, practically steaming with anger. She looked over to the SHN of team ASHN but all three pairs of eyes were glued to the fighters, not one of them looked worried.
"How can you be so calm, Alexandrite is getting tossed around like a bag of wheat!" Ruby practically shouted. Her teammates looked at her quizzically, "Ruby it's just a duel if he loses, that's all there is to it," Weiss tried to rationalize with the young leader. "BUT HE IS GETTING HURT! FRIENDS SHOULDN'T FIGHT LIKE THIS! It's like Pyrrah is actually trying to kill him..." Ruby was frantic, perhaps she and Yang were the only ones that felt the emotions embedded into the duel, that it was far more than 'just a loss'.
"Are they friends? Ruby, we might be friends with Pyrrah, and Alexandrite may be friends with us, that doesn't necessarily extend the relationship. Pyrrha hasn't talked much to team ASHN and they aren't nearly as close as they are with us." Blake's input was sound. The young leader looked like she wanted to argue again but Sapphire stopped her. "Just watch, Alexandrite is our leader because of more than just his charisma."
Back in the arena, Alexandrite slowly got himself off the floor. "Pyrrha you're right, I am holding back, but not because of what you think, I just wanted to feel the fight without pulling out all the stops" he coughed out. He knocked his chest with his fist a few times then brushed the dirt off his clothes. The hoodie he wore up all the time had come off, his black hair and mismatched eyes were now in full display, if one looked closely enough they could see a little bit of white just above his ear, but you had to be really close to see it.
Most of the girls in the crowd squealed at how cool he looked, getting up from that crater and stretching himself. Ruby just rolled her eyes, "When did he even get fans? As far as I knew, no one even knew he really existed." she said rather irritated. Yang and Hex just shared a look and snickered, "Ruby, are you really jealous right now? And to answer your question, I think our class has secretly had a fan club for him since day one, I mean, most teenage girls lose their minds when they see a tall, lean and muscular edgy guy. His mysteriousness just adds to the glamour." Yang said chuckling.
Ruby instantly turned her namesake, "Pfft, me? I'm not jealous... why would I be jealous? It just pisses me off that a bunch of strangers are going bananas over him and they don't even know him, he's not some piece of meat you can drool over." she huffed causing everyone to just facepalm at her denial. Sapphire felt a sense of pride knowing that there was someone out there, that wasn't in their tiny circle of ASHN, that respected her brother so much that they'd be willing to get angry on his behalf.
"Thanks, Ruby, that means a lot." the blue girl said hugging her friend. Red in question awkwardly returned the hug, "Uhh no problem?"
"Quit it guys the match is still going on." Nora chirped causing everyone to refocus their attention.
Back in the arena, Alex had gotten back into a battle stance.
"Are you finally ready to stop pulling punches then?" she asked raising her spear and shield.
"You have no idea …" Alexandrite's aura suddenly spiked, his aura drained slightly. He got back into drawing stance again and closed his eyes.
This move made Pyrrah angrier, "If you don't wanna fight then I'll just end it quickly."
Alexandrite inhaled deeply and let out a slow exhale. His hand gripped around the warm handle of Asura before opening his eyes again, and staring down the sights of the raging tempest that was Pyrrha Nikos. Holding the sheathe in his left hand he got into a stance unfamiliar to those outside of Menagerie.
Pyrrha came at him full force, her spear at the ready. Alexandrite waited until she was exactly two arms lengths away before pulling the trigger on his weapon. The blade shot out with tremendous speed, the vibrating ninjato humming through the air at lightning speeds, the air practically burning with heat as the sword connected with the red-head. Pyrrha was caught off guard, she tried to block with her shield but the strike was just inhumanely fast. It caught her in the side and she was rag-dolled across the arena like a smooth rock on a calm lake, scorch marks on her shield.
"Was that too much for you?" he taunted.
Pyrrha stood up a little shakily, her aura had gone down a whole quarter in that one strike. She smiled a battle-hungry grin, "Not even close to enough!". Her actions were instant. They met at the center of the arena, both moving faster than anyone had ever seen. Incindium clashed with magnetic steel, both fighters not missing a single breath.
Jumping backward into the air Alex unhinged Asura's trigger and shot several rounds of the semi-auto sniper at the champion who just deflected them effortlessly with her shield.
"So your bullets aren't made of the same metal as your sword," Pyrrha said noticing her semblance's effect. Alex flinched slightly, "You would be correct in that, though it's a family secret what the metal composes off."
"Unique alloy? Well, that makes sense why my semblance won't affect its polarity." She returned. The mood between them had lightened greatly. Pyrrha was beginning to thoroughly enjoy the fight. He just unloaded the rest of his clip.
"Useless!" she yelled as her shield easily deflected the bullets.
"The bullets were a distraction!" Alexandrite retorted as reared Asura in its scythe form and came down hard with added acceleration due to gravity. Pyrrha blocked with her shield but still sustained damage, she countered while he was stationary against her shield by thrust her spear into his unguarded side. They traded blows for a while, Alex poured every ounce of his spirit and earnestness into each strike. They both jumped away to reset. Their auras around 20% each now.
The crowd watched in utter amazement as the battle between the two expert fighters was reaching its endpoint. Their performance reminded Blake of two expert fighters dancing to the sound of war, their movements were sharp and precise yet graceful and purposeful.
Their aura's were both sitting at around 20% now.
"Pyrrha! I'm really having fun here!" Alexandrite called over to her, his breath labored and panting.
"Let's end this!" She replied. The crowd held their breath in anticipation for the final strike, a clash of blows, the deciding hit.
Alexandrite reared Asura in a reaping stance, a style that Ruby could swear she'd seen before... but where? Just then his blade began to whir with a vibrating him as Alex revved the trigger, this caused Pyrrah to snort in amazement.
"Just full of surprises aren't you!" Pyrrha smiled, looking rather battle-hungry.
"I have a lot, and honestly for the sake of the peaceful lives of my sister and I, I'd like to keep them hidden," his words held the full truth, the weight behind it held the prodigy in an iron resolve. Pyrrha recognized him and nodded.
The two ran at each other both exhausted, their breathing labored and ragged as the two fighters clashed. The spear came down and scythe curved up. In what seemed like a standstill moment, the sound of clashing metal rang deafening in the silence of the stadium. The audience whose breath they had not realized they were holding came out near simultaneously as the two warriors were flung backwards onto the floor in a double knockout.
Ruby who sat white-knuckled grip against her seat stood up, her hands covering her mouth.
After what seemed like a moment in eternity, the two fighters rose from the dust, both aura meters blinking red. Glynda, who had been silently observing this time, was in absolute shock at the battle that had just happened before her eyes, never in all her years as a teacher, had she seen such a viscously beautiful display of skill and precision.
"I-I declare, that the match between Pyrrha Nikos and Alexandrite Lucius is... a draw!" she stuttered out in disbelief.
As if someone had rung the imaginary stopping bell, the arena erupted in cheer, the members of team JNPR, RWBY and SHN rushed onto the field.
"You goddamn idiot!" Sapphire screamed as she launched herself at her brother and wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Ah! Woah calm down kid, I hurt all over and then some," he ruffled her hair.
Jaune and Ren helped Pyrrah to stand properly. "Honestly, was it necessary?" Jaune was exasperated, but the relief in his voice didn't go unnoticed.
"One day you'll understand Jaune, as team leader, you will learn eventually," she said before turning to her rival. "Alexandrite!" she called, the young leader turned to her, "That was an outstanding match, you're an amazing fighter and anyone who fights with as much spirit and resolve as you has earned my respect," she smiled a tired smile.
The teen flashed her a grin, though she could not see it behind his face mask, his eyes said it all. "You to Pyrrha, the same goes here," he nodded.
Ruby couldn't hold herself back, she ran up and smacked Alexandrite over his head. "Ow! What part about injured person do you people not get?" he rubbed the area sorely.
He was about to complain further when Ruby hugged him tightly. "You idiot, friends shouldn't fight like that, that was way too scary," she said almost too quietly. The shocked team leader was at a loss for words.
Ruby held onto him, her face buried in the crook of his neck. Alexandrite was finally easing into the embrace and was about to return the hug when Yang coughed loudly. "AHEM!". Ruby's eyes opened wide and immediately separated from Alexandrite as if he were hot coal, not that he wasn't hot to her.
"Ummm yeah haha….you should uh…go to the infirmary or whatever," she blushed furiously as she tried to recompose herself. The bewildered boy could only swallow hard and nod as he was led away by his team. As ASHN left the arena, Hex turned back to Yang and nodded, she caught the silent exchange, something was up between Alexandrite and Ruby even if they didn't know it themselves.
The last set of people to leave were none other than Emerald and Mercury, who had been observing the match very...very closely.
-In a dorm room in Beacon-
"So... anyone else?" A female voice spoke as she observed Emerald and Mercury who sat on the floor of the dorm room. The voice belonged to none other than Cinder Fall.
"Pyrrha Nikos." Emerald returned looking to her leader.
"Ah, the invincible girl."
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible," Mercury added in. "Her semblance is polarity, though you wouldn't be able to tell just by watching her." Emerald input, the fact that Cinder was paying so much attention to this girl was bothering her.
"When she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But... she only made slight adjustments. She doesn't broadcast her powers thus putting her opponents at a disadvantage. You should be able to take her no problem." Mercury finished.
Cinder smiled devilishly, "Interesting, everyone thinks she's fated for victory when she's really taking matters into her own hands..." she pondered for a moment looking thoughtful. "Is there anyone else?"
"The Lucius siblings. Specifically that 'Alexandrite'." Mercury said snorting. "If you ask me their masks are so last year."
"Ah the one who went one on one with Nikos. He was quite the powerhouse... and something tells me he was still holding back." Cinder said remembering the account of their match. "He's hiding something big... and what about his sister? What's on her?"
"No idea, but what we do know is that anyone capable of wielding an axe that big and getting into Beacon Academy at the age of almost fifteen, is pretty noteworthy," Emerald said speaking highly of someone for a change.
"Well... let's make an effort to find out those secrets then hm?" Cinder said slyly. At that moment, across campus, Alex felt a cold shiver run down his shoulder.
Well, it's a lot shorter than the last chapter, I really did want to make this longer but I figured this would the best place to cut it off without divulging into another plot of interest. Next chapter is already under edit so I'll try to push that one out soon...hopefully.
