Ruby was standing besides her new classmates on the field of Thors Military Academy. It was their third day here and she slowly started to accept her landing here. The teachers were strict and the subjects pretty demanding, but the zemurian part of the class quickly agreed to help team RWBY in their studies. They even came to their extra lessons, which awoke a feeling of acceptance inside of the young girl.
And she couldn't ask for better help. During the lunchbreak of this very day the academy had posted the scores of the midterm exams. This allowed the young huntress to see the individual score of each of her classmates as well as the overall score of Class VII. The team from Remnant was caught by surprise when they saw, that their class scored the highest out of all classes and that the three highest scoring students were their classmates now. For the first time Ruby felt hope that she wouldn't be left behind regarding her studies.
And now she would experience her first practical exam. Thankfully it didn't include any theoretical knowledge, so the silver eyed girl was pretty confident in her abilities. Letting her eyes wander about the weapons of her classmates, she found them all to be simplistic. While she herself enjoyed the classics, many huntsmen wouldn't bother using a single close range or ranged weapon instead of combining the two.
Her hands touched the blade of Crescent Rose. Like the other students she had obtained a plastic shell for her weapon, which reduced the cutting power and was meant to prevent any serious injury. Another strange thing to think about, since she and her teammates had their Aura to protect them. There was no need for bigger safety measures for them. But it was just another reminder that they were in another world.
With a light hum Instructor Sara, who had up till now enjoyed the achievement of her class and her ability to rub it into the teacher of Class I, turned towards the new girls. "Well, since they already did their job, how about you show us what you can do?" She raised her finger and snapped, which lead to the appearance of a mechanical puppet.
"What? How? When?" Ruby eyes sparkled when she saw the being appear. She hadn't really expected to see a technical machine on that level in this world. "This is so cool!" Forgetting her place she rushed towards the puppet and started investigating it from head to toe.
"Well, it is a magic trick." Sara answered, not bothered at all by the hyperactive girl. "All I do is say the magic words 'I'll marry my foot to your face' and my little companion appears ready to kick some butt."
"It is voice controlled? That's even more awesome." the girl with the red cape didn't even stop to think about the words of her Instructor.
"Well, doesn't this seem like fun?"
A male voice was heard from the stairs leading towards the ground. At the top stood four male students dressed in white, all having a look of superiority on their face.
"Class I? What are they doing here?" Machias asked.
Blake didn't miss the undertone in the spectacled boy's voice. They were told that Class I and II were for the nobles of Erebonia while Classes III, IV and V were for commoners. Their own Class, Class VII, was a mix from both classes. It also wasn't the first time the Faunus noticed the dislike of the class vice-president for the upper class. It reminded her of a certain someone.
"Class I's combat training isn't until tomorrow."
The voice of Sara pulled Blake back into reality. The white clad nobles had come down towards Class VII and stood now on the opposite side of their Instructor.
"Instructor Thomas' class has been changed to a self-study period." the blond boy who had interrupted them the first time spoke again. He was apparently the leader of the group. "So we decided to do some cross class exchange with the ever so popular Class VII." He pulled out a rapier from his side.
"Cross class exchange my ass." Yang murmured. The intentions of Class I was pretty clear, revenge for being beaten by Class VII in the midterms. There was no way Instructor Sara would fall for that.
"Seems like I found my entertainment." the teacher simply replied and let the puppet disappear with another snap of her fingers, much to Ruby's disappointment. "Rean, you will be class captain, so choose your team. It will be a four vs four battle with arts allowed. And no exchange students."
"What? But why?" Ruby whined.
"It seems Class I wants their chance to repair their reputation after being beaten by Class VII in the exams." Sara answered towards Ruby, ignoring a 'Nonsene!' intervention by the blond member of Class I. "So, I thought it would be fair if they will only challenge those who have beaten them. Which would exclude you four." She pointed at the four girls.
"Are you done chatting around?" the blond boy sounded annoyed. "Choose your team, Schwarzer."
The named boy stepped forward. After a few seconds he spoke "I choose Emma, Laura and Gaius."
His three classmates stepped forward, just to be interrupted by the member of Class I. "Didn't your parents teach you any lessons? It is a men's duty to protect women. So, it would be for the best if this battle would be only between men. And you plan on fighting with someone whose place should have been in Class I to begin with? Choose a new team, now."
Yang's fist shook. Who did this boy think he was? Men protecting women? This view would get you killed in combat, since you couldn't choose your opponent on a battlefield. What shocked her however were Weiss next words "He got him."
Seeing the blond bombshells confused look, the white-haired girl explained: "By preventing Rean from choosing any female classmates, he basically puts his choices down to Elliot, Gaius, Machias and Jusis. And with his last words about the initial placement of the classes, he also excluded Jusis, who would be in Class I with Laura if it wasn't for Class VII. This means, that Rean has no choice for his team. He has to fight together with Gaius, Machias and Elliot."
Before Yang could ask another thing, Rean called out these exact three names.
"Instructor, you can't agree to this?" Ruby yelled. "Why does Rean have to follow the rules set by another student."
"Silence." the blond boy spoke up. "You apparently don't know who I am, so let me introduce myself. I am Patrick T. Hyarms, heir of one of the four houses of Erebonia. You better treat me with respect, commoner."
"Jusis is also the heir of one of these houses. And you don't see him going around making demands on others." Ruby replied.
"That's enough." before the situation could escalate more, Rean's calm voice forced Patrick and Ruby to stay silent. "Patrick is the one challenging us. And while I may not like his demands, it would be impolite not to fight by them." The black-haired boy pulled out his tachi. "As representatives of Class VII we accept you challenge."
Machias chuckled. "Don't cry when you get hurt by my bullets." he spoke up, pulling out his orbal shotgun. "They are mere plastic projectiles, but believe me, they hurt."
Elliot didn't seem so confident. "I will give my best, too. Even though I don't know how much that will be." the musician spoke while readying his orbal staff.
The last one to speak up as Gaius. "We will face you will all our might." his voice was a calm as Rean's had been, when he raised his spear. "Will the wind and the goddess look upon this match and let the better team win."
For a moment Patrick's friends seem to be scared by the unity shown by their opponents, but the young noble managed to get them in line quick. "We will see, which class really is the strongest!" his optimism encouraged his friends, who all pulled out their rapiers. "Do me a favor and don't loose to quickly."
"Teams, take your positions." Instructor Sara stepped between the two classes. Wasting no time, both classes took a battle formation and waited for the signal. "With the trash talking done, let the cross exchange class battle between Class I and Class VII begin!" Following her words, she gave the signal and jumped out of the line that marked the battlefield.
Two lines sprung to life around Class VII. They connected Rean and Elliot as well as Gaius and Machias. Then Patrick and two of his friends moved.
In the middle of the ring Rean's tachi met with Patrick's rapier. The two sons of noble houses exchanged a few strikes before bringing some distance between them.
"Not bad Patrick." Rean complimented. But his opponent just scuffed.
"Don't think you can beat me, Schwarzer. I'm proficient in the art of court fencing and taught by the best of the best." energy gathered around his weapon, forcing Rean to sheath his own blade.
"What are they doing?" Ruby asked confused. She could see the energy, but she couldn't make head or tails of it.
"A clash of strength." Laura explained. The blue haired girl stepped next to the leader of Team RWBY, her eyes never leaving the fight. "Patrick thinks he has an advantage, but Rean is no slouch. Underestimating him will be a mistake."
"Arc Slash!"/"Lightning Bird!"
Both fighters moved at the same moment and shot two energy waves from the steel of their weapons. The techniques collided mid-air, throwing up lots of dust.
At the same time, Gaius was holding off against two of Patrick's friends. His spear gave him superior range, but he was unable to go on the offensive himself.
"Give it up, commoner." one of his opponent spoke mockingly. "You can't defend yourself against both of us."
But the boy from Nord didn't seem bothered. Then in one swift movement, he turned his body sideways, letting the attackers passing by, before a loud shot was heard and multiple projectiles hit them straight on.
"He is not alone." Machias reloaded and took aim. "And if you wouldn't have been so careless, you may have seen this coming. Limiters released: Break Shot!" The gun was covered in energy for a moment, until the vice president pulled the trigger.
Still disorientated the targets had no real way to defend against the attack. Buckled over, they had to form a new plan. "Regroup." Falling back to the last member of Class I, they waited for Gaius and Machias to attack them now.
"Don't think you have beat me, Schwarzer." Their techniques had cancelled each other out, so both boys had begun to clash once more. "I will show you the true power of a noble." He catched the black-haired boy of guard with a kick, which send Rean a few feet back. "Now!"
The last member of Class I moved. Or better, he used what he had prepared. All students in white were covered in a fiery aura for a moment.
"Now I'm stronger than you." Patrick opened the fight again. He only focused on Rean, having faith that his other team members could handle the other commoners just fine. But the boy he faced was the son of a baron, adopted as he may be. And that meant, that he was most likely the strongest of this group. But he wouldn't be able to hold up to a true noble.
"Let's go everyone." The combat shout was heard clear over the sound of battle. Even Ruby could feel that it was more than a simple encouragement. "Is this too an ability like these sword beams?" she turned towards Laura.
The heir of the Arseid school nodded. "It's called 'Motivate' and it's awakens the fighting spirit in the allies of the one using it." The blue haired girl explained. "He basically countered Patrick's strategy with one simple move."
Ruby listened closely before she returned her attention back to the fight. In her mind she saw herself using all these flashy skills and techniques, saving humans and Faunus from Grim. But then her attention was drawn towards Elliot. "What is he doing?"
The red-haired boy was standing still, his body engulfed by red circles.
"He prepares an art." It was Emma that spoke now. "Just like Patrick's team used one to boost their strength, Elliot is preparing on of his own."
"Do you have any idea what he is casting?" Weiss asked.
The president shook her head. "Unfortunately it isn't possible tell what kind of Art an enemy uses until he casts it. The stronger the Art, the more time it takes to cast it. This leads me to believe, that he will use one of his strongest."
At the same time, Patrick finally noticed the absence of the last member of Class VII. His strength advantage was lost thanks to Rean's 'Motivate', but he still had the upper hand. Pushing the young son of a baron back once more it took him only one glance to overview the situation. "Everyone, scatter!" he called towards his team.
But this was easier said than done. Gaius had been a more formidable opponent than the two nobles had anticipated, keeping them in place even though he was outnumbered. And their third member was now to close to try to use another art.
The situation was made worse by Machias, who had a keen eye on the fight and every time one of Gaius opponents tried to outflank him, he was quickly forced back by a shot from his orbal gun. But with Patrick's warning their eyes to found the casting Elliot. And just like their leader, they connected the dots.
Gaius and Machias had only stalled them long enough for Elliot to use his strongest art. And since the three were all pretty close, there was a high chance, that they all would be target. Since it would be important, that they could still continue the fight, they disengaged and tried to follow Patrick's order.
"Not on my watch! Whirlwind to me!" Predicting the enemies move, the boy from Nord whirled his spear above his head and unleashed a small tornado upon the nobles, trapping them inside. With his job done he withdrew, giving Elliot all the space he needed.
"HYDRO CANNON!"
Massive amounts of water rushed forwards. And the timing was perfect. Once the wind of Gaius' attack faded, the three nobles saw themselves faced with Elliot's art. No way to dodge or to block, they were thrown out of the circle, marking the end of their fight.
Patrick could only watch in horror. His plan just went down the drain. He was confident in his abilities, but a four vs one match up was something even he couldn't do. "No," he thought to himself, "Don't panic. Think."
Energy gathered around his blade once more.
"Give it up, Patrick. You are all alone now." Even though Rean tried to reason with him, his body was still prepared for an attack.
"I can still fight, Schwarzer. THIS FIGHT ISN'T OVER! LIGHTNING BIRD!" Instead of firing his technique at Rean, he aimed at the ground. The resulting blast threw up lots of dirt and dust, taking the sight of every fighter in the ring.
"This coward." Laura was furious. Using the opportunity to perform such a dirty trick was far from what a noble should do.
Yang laid her arm on the blue haired nobles' shoulder. "He will get what he deserves." she calmed her down.
Inside the cloud Patrick moved and turned his body around. He had memorized the position of the red-haired boy. One 'Lightning Bird' should be enough to take him out of the fight. And when the other team was still disorientated, he could take out that spearman.
Energy gathered around his blade. Just one attack.
"Autumn Leaf Cutter!"
Before he could perform it however something passed by him. And then he felt multiple hits all over his body. It all happened so fast, he didn't recognize what had happened until his body hit the ground. Before him, his back turned towards him, stood Rean Schwarzer. How? How did he find him inside the dust cloud? He had paid extra attention that he hadn't been standing still.
Instructor Sara's voice was heard clear over the now silent battlefield: "The winner is Class VII!"
xXx
And welcome back to a new chapter of Trails of the Huntress. This time it was about the fight between Class I and Class VII and I hope that you enjoyed the fight scene.
I'm sorry for the long time it took for this chapter to come out. Real life got me good and I had to rewrite this chapter multiple times since I simply wasn't happy with the way things turned out. I also planed on writing more, but decided to split the chapter in two. It's easier to write for me in smaller packages than trying to get one big chapter out.
Other news: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is finally out, yeah! Let's see how the story of Class VII continues. I like everything about this game so far, the VAs are great, the new combat system takes some time to adapt to, but are still fun.
It also gave me some ideas for future pairings, so for those of you, who wanted some crossover pairings I have a surprise: The first three crossover pairings I'm planning on taking into this fic:
1. Jusis x Weiss: Two heirs with troubled familie. I also think that both can learn a lot from each other.
2. Machias x Blake: I simply like the idea of Machias becoming Blake's safe heaven, while Blake can keep Machias more human.
3. Qrow x Captain Clair: Just found one scene in Cold Steel 3 that makes this pairing actually quite intriguing. Because of spoilers I will not say more. For anyone who wants to know more about it and doesn't fear spoilers, send me a PM. I can give you the details there.
As always thanks for reading, I'm happy about all reviews and I wish you all well
ZMusok
