Sorry about the week delay with this chapter, my finals kinda messed up my schedule so I had to post pone this chapter. Please enjoy and don't forget to follow and/or favorite the story if you did, thanks.
Chapter Four: The Qualifiers
Rouge was standing in her base's meeting room with her back turned away from the table where her allies were seated. Seated around the long meeting table were Rommel Berg and his lieutenants, Albus Wolfe and the captains of his Templar forces, and the Dusk Twins, Jet and Nilah.
"Our forces number over six-thousand, we should launch a full-scale attack on Mistral now, before the Atlesian Military has time to dig in," Albus said.
"Arch Deacon, if we attack Mistral with everything we have, the reserve Atlesian forces will descend upon us from behind and we will be wiped out," one of Rommel's lieutenants said.
"That doesn't matter, we have the numbers, we outnumber them more than two to one," Albus stated.
"If you think numbers are enough to guarantee victory then you are inept as a commander," the lieutenant said.
"Commander Amsel!" Rommel shouted, "you have no right to demean zee Arch Deacon, in zis counsel he holds zee same power as I, und zat is more power zan you."
He looked to the ground and relented, "my apologies Field Marshal."
"Although my subordinate had no right to speak to you in such a manner, he vas right," Rommel said, "numbers are not enough to guarantee victory, especially against a force like zee Atlesian Army."
"Then what would you recommend?" Albus asked.
"First of all, I recommend you read Melia Phloros' 'Thirteen Treatises of War'," Rommel stated, "secondly, ve shall drive a vedge in zee gap Frau Vinter has so graciously provided for us."
"And how do you recommend we do that?" Albus inquired.
"It's simple really," Rommel stated, "at zee same time my forces attack zee city of Mistral, your Templars vill ambush zee reserve Atlesian forces before zey can mobilize und reinforce zee city."
"What happens next?" Albus asked.
"If all goes according to plan, zee defenders vill yield or zey vill die," Rommel said.
"Do we know the strength of the city garrison though?" Another of Rommel's officers inquired, "for all we know most of their forces could be in the city itself and the base could be a facade."
"Our informant in Mistral, Lioness, has reported zat only a single airship is docked in zee city," Rommel replied, "zat is five-hundred soldiers, one-hundred fifty knights und ten specialists."
"No paladins?" Albus asked.
"Zey did not report seeing any, so no, no Paladins vithin zee city," Rommel said, "however, zere are at least one-hundred paladins at zeir base."
After the discussion around the table ceased, Field Marshal Berg turned to Rouge, who was still staring out the window and down onto the base, "do you approve of zis plan mein lady?
Rouge turned her head to the side, "you're the military man Rommel, if you like this plan, then so do I."
Field Marshal Berg bowed his head in acceptance of Rouge's answer. She turned back towards the window and gave a wave of her hand to those in the room indicating that they may leave.
After the incident in the courtyard, Teams BLAC and AYST headed back to their dorms to get their weapons and gear for their qualifiers. Alyssa seemed a bit at ease after everything that happened and the pain in Yin's tail had subsided.
Roy left his team's room after he finished putting on his silver-blue dress uniform-like combat outfit. He walked over to Team BLAC's room and knocked on the door. He waited a few moments for an answer and then Alyssa opened the door. She had on her tight fitting black t-shirt and matching skinny jeans, along with her slate grey combat boots, but not her golden tailcoat.
Alyssa's cat ears perked up, "hey Roy, what's up?"
"I just wanted to know how you were doing after that fiasco back in the courtyard," he said.
"I'm fine now, my ear's a little sore though," she replied.
"That's good for the most part," Roy said, "you know, I was a second from decking that Huo guy in the face."
Alyssa chuckled, "I'm pretty sure Al was gonna beat you to it."
"You know," Roy rubbed the back of his neck, "if you ever need anything just come find me or give me a call."
Alyssa smiled, "I'll be sure too."
The two stood in the hallway for a few more moments in a somewhat awkward silence smiling at one another, neither one really knew what to say to continue the conversation.
"I guess I should let you finish getting ready," he said.
"Yea," Alyssa replied. Before she went back into her room however, she walked up to Roy and pecked a light kiss on his cheek.
The normally disciplined and centered Roy turned as red as Bianca's combat skirt. Alyssa giggled and smiled at him as she stepped back into her room. Once she closed the door, Roy composed himself and smiled lightly as he chuckled. He then went back into his room and finished his preparations for the qualifiers.
"What was that about?" Lucas asked his partner as she walked back into their dorm.
"Oh, nothing," Alyssa smiled.
Lucas chuckled, "there's something between you two isn't there?"
"Possibly," Alyssa teased.
Cyrus watched the brief exchange between his brother and Alyssa while polishing the blade of his broadsword. He chuckled, gaining the attention of the two of them.
"And what's so funny over there in the peanut gallery?" Alyssa asked.
"Nothing, it's just, who would've thought the army brat had a soft side," Cyrus said.
"I thought we agreed to stop calling him that?" Lucas inquired.
Cyrus shrugged, "we're friends, we can give him crap every once in a while."
"Anyway," Lucas chuckled at his brother's words and then turned back to his partner, "whatever happens between you two, I wish you the best."
Alyssa smiled, "thanks Luc."
Bianca tossed her cloak over her shoulders and fashioned it together on her right, she then grabbed her sabers from her bed and slid them into their sheaths on her belt. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the door of her dorm.
"Come on guys, we should get going," she said.
Her teammates nodded in agreement and then gathered the rest of their things. Alyssa put her tail-coat on, Cyrus sheathed his broadsword, and Lucas put on his sword belt. After Bianca slid open the rice paper and wood door to their dorm, they were greeted by the unpleasant sight of Apollo and Oliver standing in the hallway.
"Well if it isn't little miss Pruned Rose and her band of rejects," Apollo said.
"Really," Lucas stated in an annoyed tone.
"Yes, really," Apollo shot back.
"Why don't you just piss off already," Alyssa said.
Apollo snickered, "y'all should just drop out now, you'll never make it to the main tournament, especially if you have to go through my team."
"Is that a challenge?" Cyrus asked.
"Beating y'all ain't no challenge," Apollo boasted.
"That's a laugh, considering both B and I have already beaten you," Alyssa said.
"Pfft, that was just combat class," Apollo stated, "you really think I'm gonna go all out in a damn class?"
"I mean, yeah," Alyssa replied.
"Ha! You ain't seen nothing yet," Apollo boasted. He leaned towards Bianca and got close to her face, "besides, what's a girl who needed mommy to save her in a real fight gonna do?"
Bianca clenched her fist and decked Apollo in the chin, this caught everyone around them by surprise. The blow knocked his head to the side but did little else. Apollo slowly turned his head back in the direction of the now enraged Bianca.
Apollo massaged his jaw for a moment, "apparently the rose does have thorns."
"Don't you ever talk about my mother," Bianca threatened.
"I'll do as I please," Apollo said.
Tawney walked out of the room behind Apollo and Oliver, followed closely by Nikolas, "alright, we're ready to go… what's going on?"
"Nothing Tawney," Apollo said, "come on, let's go."
As Apollo and Oliver walked away from Team BLAC, Tawney and Nikolas faced them. They could see the anger in Bianca's eyes as she watched the two of them walk down the hall.
"Did something happen?" Tawney asked.
"Just Apollo being Apollo," Cyrus stated.
"I see…" Nikolas said.
"Well, whatever he did, we'd like to apologize," Tawney stated.
"There's no need for that," Bianca said, "come on guys, we're gonna be late."
Team BLAC walked through the courtyard on there way to Haven's combat classrooms. The air around them was surprisingly tense. Their leader had an aggravated look on her face and that concerned her teammates.
"Hey, B, are you good?" Alyssa asked.
She was given no answer by her cousin. Alyssa looked to Cyrus and Lucas, all three had concerned looks on their faces.
Cyrus jogged up to Bianca and put his hand on her shoulder, "Bianca, is som…"
Bianca through Cyrus' hand off her shoulder, "yes, something is the matter! I'm sick of Apollo's shit!"
Cyrus took a step back in shock at his partner's pure rage. However, after shouting, Bianca took a deep breath and composed herself.
"When we go up against his team, let's knock him down a peg," Bianca said confidently.
Bianca's teammates looked to one another and then back to their leader. With confident smiles on their faces, they all nodded in agreement.
They walked into the building containing the combat classrooms. It resembled the one back at Beacon in its layout, but like the rest of the buildings in Haven, it contained those ornate oriental stylings. They saw Apollo and his team enter the classroom down the hall from them. Bianca scowled at Apollo as she watched him.
As Team BLAC was about to enter, they were approached by Team SSGE. All of them were in their combat outfits; Yaara with her silver-blue dress uniform and stiff waist cape. Scarlet with her suit of silver armor adorned with golden trim and a matching bird sprawled out across the chest. Electra wore a blue jean vest over the top of a white formfitting t-shirt, with blue fingerless gloves, blue jean pants, and similarly colored skate shoes. Garnett wore a Bronze Lorica Musculata over the top of a dark red long sleeve shirt, with matching cargo pants, and black combat boots. All had their weapons on their back, save for Yaara, who's blades were concealed beneath her sleeves. Electra's weapon appeared to be a collapsible staff, while Garnett's was a large falx.
"Congratulations on making it this far guys," Yaara said.
"Thanks," Cyrus replied, "so, you guys have been here before, right?"
"Yeah, we were selected two years ago," Electra stated.
"You guys have any tips for us?" Cyrus inquired.
"Don't lose," Garnett interjected.
"No, but seriously," Yaara stated, "stay calm in your matches, work together, and play it safe till you see an opening, and you'll win enough matches to qualify for the main tournament."
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Bianca stated.
"Just know this, we may be friends, but when we meet, we won't go easy on you first-years," Scarlet said.
Alyssa punched her fists together, "we wouldn't want it any other way."
Teams BLAC and SSGE entered the classroom along with the other students participating in the qualifiers and took their seats. Team AYST showed up a few minutes after them and sat near Team BLAC in the room. The combat classroom resembled those back at Beacon, raised amphitheater style seating around a central combat stage.
Professor Haze was standing down on the combat stage as the students took their seats. She looked a bit tense and nervous, very different from her normally laid back and lax self. As the last of the students found their seats, a door to the combat stage opened and a dark-skinned woman with platinum blonde hair walked in. She wore a yellow robe with a pair of wide and loose-fitting sleeves with black pants and shoes. She also has white bandages wrapped around her hands, a black belt around her waist, and finally a red sash embroidered with a white "endless knot" across her chest.
"Holy crap," Alyssa blurted out.
"What? Is she supposed to be someone famous?" Alani asked.
"Yea," Alyssa replied, "that's Arslan Altan, one of the best huntresses in Mistral and one of the greatest martial artists alive."
"So, I take it she's a great warrior then?" Alani inquired.
"That's putting it lightly," Alyssa stated, "she's a Great Grandmaster in Mistralese Kung Fu who specializes in the Hung Ga style, she's the youngest ever to reach that rank."
"You seem to know a lot about her," Alani said.
"Why wouldn't I, she's a world-famous huntress," Alyssa said, "besides, she beat my mom in the final match of the 41st Vytal Tournament."
"Which one?" Alani asked.
"My mother Yang," Alyssa said.
Alani looked from her friend back down to Arslan, whom had just stopped walking and was facing Professor Haze. Being from a society of warriors Alani had respect for her fellows, and from what her friend said about this woman, she knew she must be a great warrior.
Professor Haze stood at attention when Arslan approached her. She bowed to her with a fist-palm salute, "greetings Sifu."
Arslan bowed back to Ember with the same salute but said nothing. After she bowed, she began to pace back and forth for a few moments with her hands behind her back while staring up at the Beacon students.
Her gaze stopped on Bianca and Cyrus, "hmm."
Cyrus leaned over to his partner and whispered, "why is she staring at us?"
"I have no clue," Bianca whispered.
Arslan turned back towards Professor Haze, "alright Ember, let's see how far you've come as a teacher."
Professor Haze bowed to Arslan once more with a fist-palm salute. After bowing, she walked to the center of the combat stage, while Arslan stood off to the side.
"Today your qualifiers begin," Professor Haze announced, "over the next two weeks you will participate in a sixteen-team round robin tournament, each team will fight fifteen matches in that time, after which the top eight will advance to the Vytal Tournament."
"That seems like a lot of matches for the given time," Cyrus said.
"I know, how do they expect us to be ready for the main tournament if we're tired from the qualifiers?" Lucas stated.
"Well, the main tournament isn't for another four weeks, so we'll have time to rest and train after this," Bianca said.
"Like your combat classes back at Beacon, all matches will be randomized," Professor Haze announced, "however, you will not fight the same opponent twice, every team fights every team."
Professor Haze walked over to a terminal on the wall and Arslan moved to stand beside her. She activated the terminal, and much like back at Beacon, a screen cycled through pictures of the students, but it was entire teams as opposed to individuals.
The screen began to slow, and eventually landed on two teams, "the first match will be, Teams STON and SSGE," Professor Haze announced.
The two teams made there way down to the combat stage, both looked confident and sure of victory. They lined up opposite one another on the stage as Professor Haze walked between them.
"Same rules as combat class, once your Aura hits the red, you're out, when all members of a team have been eliminated, the match is over," Professor Haze said.
Nikolas leaned towards Apollo, "what's the plan?"
"Pair off for now," Apollo replied, "Nikolas, you take Garnett, Oliver, you handle Scarlet, Tawney, you take Electra, and I'll take Yaara."
"Don't you think we should stick together?" Tawney asked.
"Hey, I'm the team leader, what I say goes," Apollo said.
Professor Haze pointed to both teams, "fighters ready."
The two teams took their stances and drew their weapons. Professor Haze quickly glanced to both teams and then dropped her hand, "begin!"
The two teams charged one another as Professor Haze quickly vacated the stage.
Tawney loosed a volley of arrows at Electra as the distance between them closed. She managed to dodge most of them but was hit by the last, causing her aura to drop slightly.
Electra leapt in the air and thrust the tip of her staff at Tawney, but the blow missed its mark as Tawney sidestepped it.
At this close a range, Electra had the distinct advantage, even so, Tawney managed to hold her own against the older and more experienced student.
Sparks of electricity burst from Electra's weapon as she and Tawney parried each other's strikes.
Electra reared back to strike Tawney, but she left herself open and Tawney landed a strong kick on her belly, knocking her opponent off balance and onto the ground.
Tawney turned and loosed a pair of arrows at Electra's teammate Garnett that struck him in the back.
Nikolas rushed Garnett and punched him with the rim of his shield and followed this by a swing of his sword.
Garnett parried the second blow with his falx and brought it around to strike his opponent.
Nikolas lifted his shield, but Garnett adjusted his swing and the forward curving tip of his sword struck his opponent on the head effortlessly.
Nikolas was knocked back, but he quickly composed himself and charged back in.
Scarlet took a huge swing at Oliver, he dodged the blow and she planted her morning star mace into the ground.
Oliver switched his Kukri sword into its pistol mode and fired several rounds at his opponent.
Scarlet spun her mace around in front of her and blocked the shots, she then pressed a button on the handle and turned her mace into a flail.
She took a long sweep at Oliver and struck him, knocking him to the ground. Scarlet quickly retracted the ball and chain if her weapon and rushed Oliver who was just pulling himself from the ground.
With one final savage strike, she knocked him from the combat stage and dropped his aura to the red.
"Oliver!" Apollo shouted, "shit."
Yaara thrust one of her wrist blades at Apollo while he was distracted, he just barely managed to dodge the blow.
"Focus on the fight at hand first-year," Yaara mocked.
Apollo got an angry look on his face and rushed Yaara, he threw several jabs, followed by a few crosses with his armored boxing gloves. All these strikes were easily parried by Yaara.
Yaara slashed at Apollo, but he managed to catch her strike, and he counted it by throwing a solid knee to her stomach.
Yaara stumbled back as Scarlet charged in and swung her mace at Apollo.
Apollo leaned back to avoid Scarlet's strike, he then caught her with a jab to the face, knocking her to the ground.
Yaara composed herself and rushed to her partner's side, after helping her up, she and Scarlet rushed Apollo.
They traded parries, blocks, and blows with Apollo, but despite outnumbering him, they couldn't take him down.
Tawney continued to fight in melee with Electra, but despite her bow having blades at each end, Electra's staff was far more suited to the task.
Electra landed a thrust to Tawney's belly causing her to keel over, she followed this strike with one to the back of her head, knocking her aura into the red.
Nikolas saw his partner go down and immediately broke off his fight with Garnett, "Apollo we have to regroup!"
Apollo leapt back from Yaara and Scarlet and saw his team's situation. He too broke off his engagement and linked up with Nikolas.
The two stood back to back as Team SSGE surrounded them.
Apollo sighed, "well, I'm open for suggestions."
"There isn't much we can do," Nikolas replied.
Yaara looked from the last members of Team STON and then to her own teammates, "it's time for the horns of the buffalo."
Yaara's teammates nodded. Garnett and Electra rushed Apollo and Nikolas from the front, while Yaara and Scarlet rushed them from the sides.
The two of them fended off the initial attacks from Garnett and Electra, but Yaara switched her weapon into their razor-whip mode and Scarlet switched hers into it's flail mode, their combined attacks were too much for them.
Apollo and Nikolas' Aura's plummeted into the red and the match was over.
"Damn, Team SSGE is gonna be tough to beat," Cyrus said.
"Yea," Ebony replied.
"Maybe Apollo wasn't kidding when he said he was gonna go all out," Bianca said.
"Yea, I can't believe he held his own against two superior opponents," Alyssa replied.
"It didn't matter in the end though," Lucas stated.
Bianca and Alyssa looked to one another and then down towards Team STON who were making their way back to their seats. They both knew, as everyone else did, the competition of the qualifiers would be tough.
Roy stood from his seat and walked over to Yaara once they got back to the seating area, "good job sis."
Yaara patted Roy on the shoulder, "thanks little bro."
As the two teams made their way back to their seats Tawney walked up to Electra, "good match, but did you have to hit me in the head that hard?"
"Sorry," Electra replied, "sometimes I get carried away."
Professor Haze initiated the randomization for the next match, as she did this, Arslan turned to her.
"So, Ember, Team SSGE certainly has improved over the last two years," she said.
"Yeah" Ember replied, "they are Beacon's top students now."
Arslan chuckled, "they are good, but I doubt they could beat Team SLVR."
"We'll see about that," Ember said.
"This Team STON though, they don't seem like they mesh well as a unit," Arslan stated.
"There is a bit of a schism in their team," Ember replied, "Tawney and Nikolas don't exactly get along with their team leader or his partner, and Apollo doesn't make it hard for them to do that either."
"Well, it is a teacher's job to resolve disputes and make sure her students work well together," Arslan said.
"I have been trying my hardest to help them," Ember stated.
"Not hard enough obviously," Arslan rebutted.
Ember glanced at her old master, whom had a stern look on her face. However, she could see through this and sense some disappointment hiding beneath.
The screens in the room stopped on the next pair of teams to fight, and Professor Haze announced them, "the next match will be Teams BLAC and AYST."
Bianca stood from her seat, "well, we're up guys."
Alani tapped Bianca on the shoulder from behind causing her to turn around.
"Good luck," Alani said.
Bianca chuckled lightly, "you too."
The two teams made their way to the combat stage and stood across from one another. As she had done the previous match, Professor Haze walked between the two teams to signal the start of the match.
"Do we have a plan?" Cyrus asked his partner.
Before Bianca could reply Lucas cut in, "I vote we don't do what Team STON did."
"Agreed," Bianca said, "we'll stick together, if we work together we have a good chance of winning."
Bianca's teammates looked to her and nodded in unison.
Professor Haze pointed to each team, "fighters ready?"
Both teams drew and activated their weapons and got into their stances. Professor Haze looked to both teams quickly and then took a deep breath and dropped her hand, "begin!"
The whole of Team BLAC charged forward, they were slightly spread out, but they remained close enough to guard one another.
Most of Team AYST counter charged Team BLAC, while Ebony stayed behind and let loose a flurry of rail rounds from her sniper.
Team BLAC dodged the rail rounds as they charged, so they engaged with the rest of Team AYST in melee combat.
Lucas combined his katana and tanto and formed his yumi bow and loosed several fire dust arrows in Ebony's direction.
She quickly rolled out of the way of the arrows as they hit the ground and exploded. Ebony then returned fire, but she narrowly missed Lucas.
Bianca threw a series of expertly weaved slashes at Alani, putting her on the back foot.
Alani parried one of Bianca's strikes with her spear and thrust it towards her opponent, but her strike was knocked away by Cyrus, whom proceeded to slash at Alani with his broadsword.
Yin jumped over Alani from behind and fired shots down onto Cyrus and Bianca from his revolvers.
Cyrus blocked the rounds with his barriers as Bianca and Alani traded blows and parries.
Bianca and Cyrus stepped back from their opponents and backed into one another, they looked to each other and smiled confidently, before turning their attention back to their opponents. They stood back to back as Alani and Yin rushed them.
Alyssa fired several volleys at Roy from her shot gauntlets, he retaliated by firing bullets of ice dust from his gloves.
The two closed the distance and engaged in melee, both trading heavy blows and stout blocks. They pulled back to strike at one another and Roy's ice-covered fist met Alyssa's armored gauntlet. The force of the blow pushed them away from one another.
"Damn, you hit hard, guess I can't hold back anymore," Alyssa said.
"You better not go soft on me Xiao Long," Roy replied.
Alyssa chuckled, "I'll try not to hurt that pretty face of yours."
Roy snapped his fingers, igniting the fire dust in his gloves while Alyssa chambered the next set of rounds in her gauntlets.
Roy charged forward as Alyssa took a defensive stance. He got in close and threw a flaming jab at his opponent.
Alyssa parried this strike and countered with a jab of her own, one amplified by a shot fired from her gauntlets.
Roy landed an uppercut on her, but as Alyssa flew backwards from the strike, she fired a shot from her boots and landed a powerful kick on Roy's chin, causing him to stumble backwards.
Cyrus continued to block Yin's shots with his barriers, but this dropped his aura significantly.
Yin switched his revolvers into their dagger modes and charged Cyrus, whom subsequently counter charged.
Cyrus parried Yin's quick strikes and was careful not to make eye contact with his opponent or he would risk coming under the effects of his semblance.
The two of them binded their weapons and Cyrus used this to his advantage. He grasped the blade of his sword with one of his hands and wrenched Yin's weapons and arms down. He followed this by thrusting the pommel of his sword into Yin's belly, knocking him to the ground.
Yin's aura hit the red and he was knocked out of the fight.
As Roy composed himself an ice dust arrow hit the ground next to him and froze his feet to the ground.
Lucas descended upon him with his katana raised, but before he could strike his target, he was hit by a shot from Ebony's rail sniper.
Roy snapped his fingers once again and punched the ice at his feet, shattering it.
Alyssa ran up to him and threw a pair of round house kicks at Roy. He managed to dodge the strikes, if only just.
Ebony shifted her rail sniper into its battle-axe mode and rushed Alyssa. She pulled her weapon back and swung down on her opponent with fury.
Alyssa ducked and grabbed the handle of Ebony's weapon, she then kicked her in the stomach and disarmed her.
Lucas ran up and delivered a series of quick slashes from his katana and dropped Ebony's aura to the red and knocked her out of the battle.
Roy drew his saber and charged Lucas. The two of them engaged in a brief sword fight, striking at, and parrying one another before Roy landed a knockout blow on Lucas.
Alani broke off her engagement with Bianca and regrouped with her last teammate. The remainder of Team BLAC did the same.
"What do we do?" Roy asked.
"Divide and conquer," Alani replied.
Alani and Roy charged their opponents, making sure to split them up. Cyrus and Bianca were split from Alyssa and that is who Alani went after.
As she charged Alyssa, she activated the spinning serrated blades of her spear. Alani thrust the spear at her opponent, but it was knocked away.
Alyssa attempted to close the distance on her opponent, but the sheer length of her weapon prevented this. Alani also kept up constant pressure, so Alyssa couldn't get off any affective shots from her gauntlets.
Alyssa slipped up and stumbled over her own feet, this opened an alley for Alani, whom thrust her spear into Alyssa's shoulder and knocked her Aura into the red.
Roy was engaged in a two on one fight with Bianca and Cyrus, but he was holding his own for now.
Bianca sped around him with the help of her semblance, leaving white rose petals in her wake, while trying to strike him, but he expertly parried and blocked all her strikes, due to help from his semblance which slowed his own perception of time down.
While Roy was engaged with Bianca, Cyrus charged in and got a few hits in on him, causing Roy to retreat for a moment.
Roy turned back to face his opponents and they charged him simultaneously. He used both his saber and every element of his dust infused gloves; fire, ice, wind, and lightning, to fend off his attackers, but it was a short-lived stand.
The combined blows from Bianca and Cyrus eventually wore down Roy's aura and knocked him out of the fight.
Cyrus and Bianca turned to face Alani, whom had just knocked Alyssa out of the match.
"We got this," Cyrus said.
Bianca smiled confidently and nodded to her partner.
Alani planted one of the tips of her spear to the ground and held her spear in front of her with both hands. She closed her eyes and her aura manifested itself as a brilliant orange flame surrounding her entire body. She opened her eyes and let out a ferocious battle cry and then bared her teeth and tongue.
Bianca charged forward with help from her speed semblance and Cyrus followed her.
Bianca threw a flurry of lightning fast slashes and thrusts at Alani, all of which she parried and dodged.
With a sweep of her spear Alani knocked Bianca's weapons aside and thrust her spear into her belly, knocking her aura into the red and Bianca out of the match.
Cyrus charged in and exchanged blows with Alani, but the enraged warrior was too much for him to handle, and he met the same fate as his partner.
Alani took a deep breath once the fight was over to calm herself and deactivate her semblance.
Bianca pounded her fist on the ground, "damn, we almost had it."
As Bianca slowly pulled herself from the ground, she looked up and saw Alani standing over her. She stuck out her hand and helped Bianca to her feet.
"Good match," she said with a smile.
"Yea, good match," Bianca replied.
Bianca put on a mask of good sportsmanship, Alani and the rest of Team AYST were her friends after all, but she couldn't help to be bitter in defeat. Each loss only reminded her of her short comings and failures. Ruby's sacrifice to save her shot to the front of Bianca's mind, it was her greatest failure.
Teams BLAC and AYST walked back to their seats as Arslan and Ember watched them go. Ember turned to the console to activate the randomization process for the next match and Arslan looked to her.
"They were good, unrefined, but good," Arslan said.
Teams BLAC and AYST are some of my best students," Ember replied.
Arslan nodded at her former pupil, "you know, the blonde one reminds me a lot of Yang Xiao Long, the fighting style is very similar, and they look a lot alike."
Ember chuckled lightly, "her name is Alyssa, she's Yang's daughter."
"I see," Arslan replied, "I may have to keep my eye on her, if she's anything like her mother, she'll be a tough opponent for anyone in the main tourney."
The first round of the qualifiers continued for a couple more hours as the remainder of the teams battled it out amongst one another. Many of the fights came down to the wire, while others were not as close. Once the last match had been fought the students were dismissed for the day and allowed to leave.
As the last of the students left the room, so did Arslan. Noticing her leave, Ember turned and jogged up to her former master and stopped her for a moment.
"Sifu, can we speak for a moment?" Ember asked.
"Of course," Arslan replied, "what is it you wish to talk about?"
"It's uh… about what happened between us," Ember said nervously.
"I see," Arslan replied, "please, continue."
"I just wanted to apologize for leaving the way I did," Ember said, "I disgraced you in front of Sierra and the others, I know we had our differences, but…"
Ember was cut off by Arslan placing her hands on her shoulders, "you don't need to apologize, the war was hard for all of us, especially you since you were so young and lost so much."
Arslan pulled Ember into a hug, "you are like a daughter to me, we've had our quarrel as all families do, it's time to put it aside and restart."
Ember was in a bit of shock from Arslan's hug, she had never embraced her like that before, but she eventually came around and returned the hug.
They stepped away from one another and Ember bowed to Arslan with a fist-palm salute, "thank you Sifu."
Arslan returned the gesture, "you're welcome my pupil."