Chapter Five: Double Days
Bianca tossed and turned as she slept, memories flooded her mind and kept her from resting, voices of the past shouting in her head. "Why are you even here?" "You're not good enough to call yourself a Rose or a Schnee." "Hey… sweetie…" "Mom! Mom no!"
Bianca's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up whilst breathing heavily. Her brow and neck were drenched in sweat, causing her loosely dangling hair to stick to her skin. She looked around the room to her teammates, none of which were awake, she felt relieved that she hadn't woken them up. Bianca quickly wiped the sweat from her brow and laid back down to try and sleep, but as soon as she closed her eyes those memories came flooding back to her.
"It's all my fault," she thought to herself as a few tears fell from her closed eyes.
Bianca felt a warm presence come over her. She opened her eyes, but when she awoke, she was not in her room, she was in a black void. When she looked around, all she saw was darkness in every direction, except for one. Against the dark back drop radiated a woman in a bright white cloak, much like her own. This woman resembled her mother, but she knew who it was.
"Grandma Summer?" Bianca asked.
The woman smiled, "don't cry child, it doesn't suit you. I know you're sad about Ruby, but you mustn't dwell on it."
"How can't I?" Bianca shot back, "it's my fault she's paralyzed and in a coma."
"You are young and going through a trying time in your life," she said, "but if she never wakes what will you do then? You have to accept reality eventually, both she and your aunt did when I died. Yes, they, your grandfather, and great uncle mourned me, and some didn't take it as well as others, but in the end, they moved on. Never dwell on the past, you should always keep moving forward."
As Bianca dreamt of her grandmother, she began to mumble broken phrases of the conversation in her sleep. Cyrus awoke to this and rolled over in his bed to face his partner's.
He placed his hand on Bianca's shoulder and lightly shook her, "hey, are you ok?"
"But how do I move on?" Bianca asked her grandmother, "your death wasn't either of your children's fault, it's because of me that my mom is in the state she's in."
"I can't answer that, you must find that road and walk it yourself," Summer's body began to disintegrate into thousands of white rose petals, "thus kindly I scatter."
Bianca awoke, and Cyrus ceased shaking her, "huh? What's up Cyrus?"
"You were mumbling in your sleep," he whispered, "everything ok?"
The dream ran through Bianca's mind for a moment, "yea, everything's fine, sorry for disturbing you."
Cyrus tiredly nodded and rolled back over to sleep. Bianca laid on her back and stared at the ceiling for a while as she contemplated what she heard in her dream. "Keep moving forward," the phrase echoed in her mind and drowned out her other thoughts.
Almost a week had past since the first matches of the qualifiers. With the exception of the few teams who had no victories to this point, the field was wide open for entry into the main tournament.
Team BLAC plopped back down in their seats after a hard-fought win. The last week's worth of fights had taken a lot out of everyone, but endurance was a quality all hunters had to possess.
Lucas dropped into his seat while breathing heavily, "I can't believe we have to do two of these today."
"At least we get a break and the next set isn't till tonight," Cyrus said.
"True," Lucas replied.
"Hey," Alyssa huffed, "what's our record at after that match, I've lost track."
"Four wins, three losses," Bianca replied, "at least four more wins and we should qualify."
"That's good to know," Alyssa said.
Professor Haze stepped to the center of the stage to announce the next match, "ok, we've got one match left for now. Teams AYST and STON, you're up."
The two teams headed down to the combat stage and took their places opposite one another as Professor Haze made ready to begin the match.
"You're going down princess!" Apollo shouted at Alani.
"Apollo please, quit boasting," Nikolas said.
Alani pounded the tip of her spear to the ground, "bring it… prince!"
Ebony poked her team leader with her elbow, "it's just princess, it's supposed to be an insult."
"But I am a princess, why would I be insulted by that?" Alani inquired.
"Not the time," Roy stated.
"Right," Alani and Ebony said simultaneously.
Professor Haze pointed to both teams, "fighters ready?"
The two teams activated their weapons and made ready for battle.
"Fight!" Professor Haze announced.
Team STON charged forward at their opponents, but Team AYST held their ground for the most part. As Team AYST was being charged, Ebony and Yin widened out their positioning and got on Team STON's flanks.
Ebony charged her rail-sniper and fired a shot directed at Tawney, but the round glanced off the steel pauldron on her right shoulder.
She quickly turned to face Ebony and loosed several arrows at her in quick succession.
Ebony returned fire with her rail-sniper, her rounds collided with Tawney's arrows causing a magnificent explosion between them.
Ebony switched her weapon to its Battle-Axe mode and charged Tawney.
Tawney loosed arrow after arrow at Ebony as she closed the distance between them in an attempt to stave off her opponent.
Ebony skillfully dodged and parried her opponent's arrows as they flew towards her. Once she reached Tawney, she took a huge swing at her.
Tawney gracefully dodged the swing and put some distance between herself and Ebony before then knocking another arrow in her bow.
Yin quickdrew one of his revolvers and fanned the hammer, sending a volley of shots towards Oliver.
Oliver dodged the barrage and returned fire with his pistol as he charged Yin.
Yin drew his second revolver and began rapidly firing both weapons at his opponent, both his and Oliver's shots collided with one another in the air.
Oliver switched his weapon to its Kukri mode and took a huge swing at Yin.
Yin barely dodged his opponent's swing, as he did so, he switched his revolvers into their dagger modes.
Oliver took another swipe at Yin, but he blocked the blow. The two boys pressed their weapons against each other, and Oliver made the mistake of making eye contact with his faunus opponent.
Yin's eyes changed from their normal green color to look like Taos. Oliver's eyes then flashed into Taos before they returned to their red color.
Oliver took a step to push Yin back, but he slipped on his own foot and fell, allowing Yin to strike him several times.
Roy and Alani fought near back-to-back against Apollo and Nikolas. While they guarded each other, their adversaries' attacks were relentless and surprisingly well coordinated.
Roy shot bullets of ice dust from his gloves at Nikolas, but the shots bounced off his heavy round-shield.
From behind his shield, Nikolas thrust his short sword at Roy, in response, Roy drew his saber and parried the strike.
Roy snapped his fingers on his left hand and shot a fireball at Nikolas, but again, he blocked the shot with his shield.
Alani thrust her spear at Apollo as he advanced on her. He side-stepped the strike, and when she slashed at him with her spear, he ducked under it.
Apollo got inside Alani's weapon and delivered a pair of hook punches to her stomach. He attempted to uppercut her, but Alani dodged the blow and delivered a powerful kick into Apollo's bare stomach.
Alani twirled her dual tipped spear around and then presented one of the ends towards her opponent as he composed himself.
Nikolas put Roy on the defensive, as he was unable to get passed the warrior's shield. Roy slowly backed up until he was nearly touching backs with Alani. The two teammates looked to one another and nodded as their opponents charged forward.
Oliver was still under the effects of Yin's semblance, and his misfortune kept mounting.
He hacked and slashed at his wolf-faunus opponent, but all his attacks either wildly missed or were perfectly parried by Yin.
Yin ducked under one of Oliver's strikes and swept his feet from under him with his daggers. As Oliver fell, Yin slammed him to the ground with a powerful strike from both his daggers, dropping his aura into the red.
With his opponent knocked out, Yin deactivated his semblance, but the fight had left his aura very low.
Yin switched his weapons back to their revolver modes and took aim at Nikolas and Apollo.
Tawney noticed Yin taking aim at her teammates, she needed to act quick before they were attacked. She dodged the swing of Ebony's battle-axe and landed a punch to her face, disorienting her for a moment.
She knocked an arrow into her bow and took aim at Yin. Her shot was true, it struck the wolf-faunus in the shoulder and knocked him out of the fight.
Tawney turned to see a composed Ebony switch her weapon back into its rail-sniper mode and charge up a shot.
Tawney knocked another arrow and loosed it, just as Ebony fired her rail-sniper. The two projectiles nearly collided as they passed by one another, but instead they continued on their way and hit their intended targets.
Both Ebony and Tawney were knocked out of the match. Each team was down to their final two fighters as the bout continued.
Nikolas punched Roy with the edge of his shield and knocked him back. As he fell back, Roy fired a volley of ice bullets from his left glove, but they were again deflected by Nikolas.
Roy lifted his saber and slashed downwards at his opponent, he in turn lifted his shield and blocked the blow. Nikolas followed this by thrusting his sword into Roy's belly causing his Aura to drop into the red.
At this time, Alani overcame the defense of Apollo and struck him with several quick thrusts and slashes from her spear, knocking him out of the fight.
The two warriors turned to one another after they finished their opponents. Alani twirled her spear around and held it behind her back and Nikolas pointed his sword towards her. They began to circle one another.
They stopped, Nikolas banged his sword and shield together three times, while Alani presented the tip of her spear towards him.
Alani charged, "Kia Mate Toa!"
Just before she reached Nikolas, Alani leapt and thrust her spear into his shield, the force of the blow knocked him back a few steps.
Alani pulled her weapon back and thrust at Nikolas once more, but he parried this strike with his sword.
Nikolas advanced on Alani from behind his shield as she spun her weapon around and slashed at him with the opposite tip.
Nikolas blocked the blow and thrust his sword towards Alani, she quickly pulled her spear back and caught his arm between her side and spear.
Alani wrenched the sword from Nikolas' hand and flung it across the combat stage.
Nikolas took a step back and gathered himself. After a moment he charged forward and threw his shield at Alani.
She knocked the improvised projectile away, but just after, Nikolas grabbed hold of her spear and headbutt Alani, causing her to let go of her weapon.
Alani composed herself and looked at Nikolas holding her weapon. He tossed her spear aside and raised his fists. She smiled confidently and the two advanced on one another.
Just before getting into fist range, Nikolas took a hard step with his right foot and lifted his left leg, he planted his heel squarely into Alani's gut, causing her to keel over for a moment.
She tried to compose herself and throw a jab towards his face, but he grabbed her by the wrist and bicep and turned his back to her. Using his back as a lever, Nikolas flung Alani over is shoulder and to the ground.
He attempted to end the match by striking her in the head, but Alani fought her way back off the ground, however this wasn't enough.
As soon as they were even somewhat upright, Nikolas grabbed Alani under her arm, lifted her in the air, and slammed her to the ground. This last blow utterly shattered her aura and knocked the wind out of her.
"That's it, Team STON wins the match," Professor Haze announced, "that's it for now, go get some rest, I will see you all again at the end of the day."
"Yea! Suck on that AYST!" Apollo boasted.
Nikolas looked back to his team leader in disgust. He turned back to Alani who was still lying on the ground, trying to catch her breath. He helped her up as Yin and the rest of Team AYST ran over to them.
"Alani!" Yin shouted, "are you ok?"
Alani couldn't speak, but as she attempted to catch her breath, she smiled and gave her boyfriend a thumbs-up. Yin took her from Nikolas and slung her arm over his shoulder to help her walk.
"Breathe slowly," Nikolas said, "in through the nose and out through the mouth."
Alani followed his instruction and slowly she began to catch her breath. After she did so, she let out a bit of a pained laugh as she looked towards Nikolas.
"Good match," she said.
Nikolas bowed respectfully, "it was an honor, your highness."
Alani painfully chuckled, "you don't have to call me that, Alani or Al will suffice."
"Very well, Alani," Nikolas replied.
After the matches, the students headed back to their dorms to rest and recuperate for the next round of matches that would take place later in the day. Teams BLAC and AYST took some time to hang out in Haven's courtyard, in a different spot from last time. They managed to find a patch of grass overlooked by a large tree. The eight of them laid down in the cool shade to rest.
"Ow, ow, ow," Alani said as she sat down.
"Are you alright?" Yin asked with concern.
"I'm fine babe, just a bit sore from the match," Alani replied.
"You think you should go by the infirmary?" Cyrus inquired.
"I'll be fine, my aura is starting to recharge," Alani said.
"If you say so Al," Cyrus stated.
"So, what's your guys' record after that last match?" Bianca asked.
"Five and two, we're one match ahead of your team," Ebony said.
"Yeah, but we're even with Apollo's team now," Roy added.
"I can't believe that asshole, showboating after Nikolas won that match for him," Cyrus said, "I really hope they end up not qualifying."
"Apollo and Oliver are bad, but what about Nikolas and Tawney?" Alyssa asked, "I'd hate to be in their position right now."
"Yeah, if anyone deserves to qualify for the tournament, it's them, especially Nikolas." Alani said.
"I'll say," Cyrus said, "that guy really can fight."
"He might even give you a run for your money," Roy said.
"Maybe," Cyrus replied.
"I need to learn how to fight like that, we don't have anything like it back in the isles," Alani said.
"If you want to know, that fighting style is a martial art called Pankration," Ebony said, "it's not like the other martial arts from around Mistral, mainly because it's not Mistralese."
"What do you mean it's not Mistralese?" Alani inquired, "isn't Nikolas from Sanctum, and isn't Sanctum part of the Kingdom of Mistral?"
"Just because you're not from a certain area doesn't mean you can't learn that area's martial arts," Bianca said, "I've never been to Vacuo, but I picked up Vacuan Saber Fighting from manuals and a couple of my teachers back at Signal."
"It did originate here on Anima, but when it did, Mistral wasn't the only kingdom on the continent," Ebony said, "Sanctum was once its own kingdom, in the north and west of Anima, it had a separate culture from Mistral and a very martial one at that. However, about four-hundred years ago, the first Emperor of Mistral conquered Sanctum."
"Interesting, so where would I learn that fighting style?" Alani asked.
"Personally, I don't know any dojos that teach it around here, but I'm sure if you went up to the City of Sanctum you could find plenty," Ebony replied.
As Teams BLAC and AYST hung out on campus, their professor headed into the middle-class district of Haven. Ember walked into one of the few unsegregated restaurants in the city, as soon as she did so, a familiar voice greeted her.
"Hey Ember, over here," the voice called out.
She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Sierra sitting at the end of the bar with an open seat next to her.
Ember walked up to her friend and gave her a hug, "hey Sierra." She returned the gesture and then Ember sat next to her.
"I can't believe it's been almost two years since we last saw each other," Sierra said.
"It has been a while hasn't it," Ember replied.
The bartender walked up to them, cutting off their conversation, "what can I get for you ladies?"
"Saké," Sierra said.
"Scotch, on the rocks," Ember stated.
The bartender nodded once and poured their drinks before then heading off to the next customer. The bar seemed rather quiet for a Saturday, especially during the Vytal Festival.
"So, tell me Em, why didn't you come back to Mistral after you graduated Beacon?" Sierra asked.
"I was considering it for a while, but then I remembered this place was still pretty much a warzone," Ember replied.
"You probably should've, the war ended by the end of 102 V.E." Sierra replied.
"I know, but there was another reason on why I didn't come home," Ember stated.
"Oh really, and what was that?" Sierra inquired.
Ember nonchalantly held up her left hand and revealed a gold diamond ring as she took a drink from her scotch. It took Sierra a minute to process, but it soon hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Oh my god, no," Sierra said in disbelief.
"Yes," Ember replied with a smile.
"Wow, first I found out you're a professor, something I thought would never happen, and now you tell me you're getting married," Sierra said.
"I'm more than you expected, aren't I," Ember chuckled.
"Yea," Sierra giggled, "so tell me, who's the lucky guy… or is it a girl? Are they a huntsman? Older or younger? Human or Faunus"
"Ok, calm down there, you sound like a little kid," Ember said, "what happened to that composed 'too mature for her age' girl I remember?"
"Sorry, this is just really exciting and I'm happy for you," Sierra replied.
"It's fine," Ember said, "but to answer your questions, his name his James, but most people call him Jaime, he's human, we're about the same age, and he's the owner of a bar in Vale."
Sierra chuckled, "leave it to you to fall in love with someone who works in a bar."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ember joked.
"Oh nothing," Sierra giggled, "so, have you told Sifu this? I'm sure she'd love to know."
"I talked to her briefly the other day, but no, I haven't told her," Ember replied.
The conversation turned a bit awkward once Ember and Sierra's master was brought up. Ember seemed a bit hesitant to speak and Sierra took a sip of her saké during the awkward pause.
"You really aught to tell her," Sierra said, "Sifu's really beaten herself up over what happened between you two, and that argument you two got into at the last Vytal Festival certainly didn't help much either."
"I spoke to her about it, I tried to apologize, but she said there was nothing to be sorry for," Ember said.
"That's progress," Sierra paused, "but I can still tell it's bothering you."
"It's just, Sifu was never this forgiving in the past, even two years ago she wasn't this forgiving or willing to welcome me back, I wonder what changed," Ember said.
"Six years is a long time to hold a grudge," Sierra replied, "I'm sure she's thought about not only what you did, but also what she did in that situation. Trust me, as a third party I can tell that both of you hold the blame for what happened."
"I guess you're right," Ember stated, "do you mind if we change the subject."
"That's fine," Sierra said, "actually, there is something I've been meaning to ask you."
"And what's that?" Ember inquired.
"Two of your students, the ones with the Silver Eyes, what are their names?" Sierra asked.
"Silver Eyes…" Ember thought, "oh, that's Bianca Rose and Cyrus Grey."
"Ok, thank you," Sierra said, "I've run into them a couple times, but I never got their names."
"No problem," Ember replied, "why did you want to know that?"
"One reason really," Sierra said, "Do you know if they have harnessed their powers?"
"I don't think so, although there was an incident a couple months ago when Bianca's activated," Ember said.
"Oh, how did this happen?" Sierra inquired.
"It's rather sensitive and not my place to talk about, you should ask Bianca," Ember said.
Sierra nodded, "right, of course."
The time flew by for Teams BLAC and AYST as they hung out in the courtyard, much like how they did back at Beacon. Eventually they left their spot and got lunch in Haven's cafeteria. After eating, they returned to their spot, which luckily no one had taken. Alani's recharged Aura had begun to soothe the pains she had from her last match and by now, all of both team's members had seemed refreshed.
Alyssa dropped onto the ground and placed her hand on her stomach, "that ramen was oh so good."
"Are you sure it was wise to have eaten so much though?" Yin asked.
"I'll be fine," Alyssa patted her belly, "I've got a strong stomach."
As the two teams began to relax, they heard a rapid series of footsteps that continued to get louder the longer they went on.
They were getting closer and closer, then the voice of a young woman called out, "Ebby!"
Ebony looked in the direction of the voice and she went wide-eyed before a large smile came to her face and she took off running, "Kim!"
The girl had a slim build and was just as tall as Ebony and possessed a pale-gold complexion. She had shiny jet-black hair arranged into a bun on the back of her head that was held in place by a pair of chopsticks, and bangs that slanted down to the right above her amber eyes. She wore a yellow tank-top with white bellbottom pants, and white sneakers. She jumped at Ebony and knocked her to the ground as Ebony caught her. The two broke out into laughter as Ebony's teammates and Team BLAC looked on at the sight and then to one another in confusion.
"I missed you Ebby," the woman said.
"I missed you too Kim," Ebony replied.
The two girls stood up from the ground and Kim grabbed Ebony's face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Ebony was surprised for a second before she began to kiss back. Ebony's friends walked up behind her and Kim as the two girls separated from one another.
"So, what took you so long to get up here?" Ebony asked, "last I checked, it doesn't take a week to get to Haven from the middle districts."
"Things have been busy at the shop, we were backlogged almost an entire week," Kim replied, "anyway, I should ask you the same thing, you can't take some time off from training to save the world?"
The two girls giggled at one another for a moment before they noticed Team BLAC and the remainder of Team AYST standing behind them. They quickly turned to them and Ebony motioned to introduce Kim to her friends.
"Guys, this is Kim Hoàng, she's my girlfriend," Ebony said, "Kim, this is my team, Alani; our leader and Princess of Kamehameha Island, Yin; Alani's partner and boyfriend, my partner; Roy, and Team BLAC; Bianca, Lucas, Alyssa, and Cyrus."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Kim said.
"Likewise," Cyrus said.
"Ahem," Alani stepped forward and looked at Ebony, "don't think we're not going to address the Goliath in the room."
Ebony and Kim looked at Alani in confusion as she walked up to the two of them, and everyone else stood back and had nervous looks on their faces.
Alyssa leaned over to Roy, "this isn't going to go down well is it?"
"I don't believe so, no," he replied.
Alani walked up to Kim, "I know we literally just met, and we don't know each other at all, but I need to tell you something about your girlfriend."
Kim had a very confused look on her face, "Ebby, what's she talking about?"
Ebony shrugged at her girlfriend's question. Alani snapped to her, she had a somewhat angry and definitely serious look on her face.
"Kim," Alani took a deep breath, "Ebony has been cheating on you."
Kim looked from Alani to Ebony as an awkwardness fell over the group, everyone fearful of what was about to happen. Kim looked back to Alani, the confusion on her face broke and she started laughing hysterically. Her reaction only brought confusion to the situation as everyone other than Ebony were wondering as to why Kim would laugh at such a serious accusation.
Kim wiped a tear from her eye as she composed herself, although she couldn't keep herself from laughing a little bit, "that's rich, I can't believe she hasn't told you."
"Told us what?" Alani inquired.
"Let me clear some things up," Kim fully composed herself, "we have an 'open' relationship."
"Oh," Everyone except Alani, Ebony, and Kim said in unison.
"I don't quite understand," Alani said.
"That's fine," Kim placed her hands on Alani's shoulders, "Ebby and I know we were made for one another, it's just, we both enjoy the occasional encounter with a stranger, maybe even repeat encounters."
Ebony walked up next to Kim and slung her arm around her shoulder, "see Al, told you there was nothing to worry about."
"Wouldn't that still lead to problems though?" Alani asked.
"Not if we're straight forward about it and don't lead people on," Kim stated.
Ebony clapped her hands together, "well, now that that's out of the way, would you guys mind if Kim joined us?"
"I guess I should apologize," Alani said.
"You're fine, it's not the first time that's happened," Kim replied.
With what seemed like a disastrous situation avoided, Kim sat down with the members of Teams BLAC and AYST. There was still a bit of awkwardness over what had just happened, but it was slowly going away.
Bianca broke the silence, "so, Kim, how did you and Ebony meet?"
"It's kind of a long story," she replied, "but the quick version is that we grew up together in the lower city. Neither of us were shy when it comes to love or admitting our feelings…"
"That much is apparent," Roy cut in.
"Anyway," Kim continued, "one day Ebby here asked me out, which took me a bit by surprise, but I wasn't overcome with emotion or anything, and we've been together ever since."
"That's sweet," Bianca said.
"You know, I'm surprised Ebby didn't tell you all about me sooner," Kim said as she turned to her girlfriend.
Ebony shrugged, "they never asked."
"Are you training to be a huntress too?" Alani asked.
"Oh, heavens no," Kim giggled, "I wanted too, but my aura never unlocked."
"So, what is it you do then?" Yin inquired.
"I'm a tailor's apprentice," Kim replied.
"And a damn good one at that," Ebony added.
"Daww, Ebby, that's so sweet of you to say," Kim nuzzled up to her girlfriend.
"It's the truth," Ebony stated.
The nine of them hung out for the remainder of the time they had before Teams BLAC and AYST's next set of matches that day. Kim accompanied them back to Haven's combat classrooms. She bid them farewell once they arrived at their destination.
"Good luck in your match Ebby," Kim smiled, "win it for me why don't ya."
"I'll try babe," Ebony pecked Kim on the lips.
As Kim was about to walk away, she stopped and turned back to Ebony, "oh, I almost forgot to tell you something."
"What is it?" Ebony asked.
Kim pulled a small necklace, the shape of a Teutonic Cross, out of the breast of her shirt. It had a different symbol on each end; a bushel of wheat at the top, a blazing sun to the right, a golden leaf at the bottom, and a snowflake to the left.
"I've found the light Ebby," Kim said, "you should come down to the amphitheater tomorrow night, his holiness, the Arch Deacon, gives his sermons there."
"I thought you weren't into all that religion stuff?" Ebony said, "but ok, I'll meet you there."
"Wonderful," Kim pulled Ebony into a hug, and she returned it, "blessings of the maidens upon you."
Kim and Ebony separated after a few moments. With one final kiss, she departed, and Ebony joined her friends and teammates. However, as Ebony walked into the building with them, a strange feeling came over her, but she had to stay in her right frame of mind for her match, so she shook it off for now.
The two teams were among the last to enter the room and as they did normally, they sat amongst one another. Professor Haze walked to the center of the combat stage and waisted no time getting the matches started. Team STON was among the first teams to face off. Despite the lack of coordination between the two halves of the team, they absolutely demolished their opponents. A few matches passed and Team AYST was called up. Their match was a close one, but they won it on the back of Yin's gun slinging. The matches continued until there were but two teams left.
"Teams BLAC and SSGE, you're up," Professor Haze said.
As the two teams headed to the combat stage Yaara tapped Alyssa on the shoulder, prompting her to turn around.
"So, I heard you and my little brother are a thing," Yaara said.
"Kinda," Alyssa replied, "we're taking things slow for now."
"Well," Yaara threw her arm around Alyssa and smiled, catching the blonde faunus off guard, "don't you do anything to hurt him, or there will be hell to pay."
Scarlet inserted herself into the conversation, "she's not kidding either."
Alyssa chuckled nervously, "you got it Yaara."
After they descended the lift, the two teams took their positions opposite one another on the combat stage.
Professor Haze walked between them, "alright, last match of the day, lets make it a good one," she pointed to both teams, "fighters ready?"
Both teams took their stances and activated their weapons as their professor looked to them, "begin!"
The Two teams rushed each other, and a melee quickly ensued with everyone pairing off with one another.
Garnett swung his heavy falx down on Cyrus, whom attempted to block the blow, however the forward curve of Garnett's weapon allowed him to strike Cyrus nonetheless.
Cyrus shook off the blow and rushed back into the fray. He quickly parried a thrust from Garnett and threw a false-edge counter cut which struck his opponent in the shoulder.
Garnett reared back a heavy swing and brought it down upon his opponent, but Cyrus managed to dodge it.
Cyrus threw a quick thrust at Garnett, but the blow glanced off his lorica musculata breastplate.
Garnett caught Cyrus in the arm with a slash from his weapon and sent him skidding across the combat stage.
Garnett rushed Cyrus, but as he got close Cyrus stood with his weapon in its shotgun mode. He fired three shots, the first two Garnett dodged, but the third hit home.
Garnett was knocked back as his aura absorbed the blow, but as he began to compose himself, Cyrus rushed in struck him across the face with the pommel of his broadsword and knocked him to the ground.
Cyrus then leapt at Garnett in an attempt to finish him, but as he was in the air he was struck in his breastplate by Scarlet's morning star flail, sending him flying away from Garnett.
Scarlet retracted her flail and returned her weapon to its mace mode just as Alyssa fired a volley of explosive dust rounds at her from her double-barreled shot gauntlets.
Scarlet spun her mace in front of herself to block another volley from Alyssa, and then advanced on her. She took several swings at her opponent, but Alyssa managed to dodge them.
Scarlet once more activated her mace's flail mode and swung it at Alyssa, putting her even more on the defensive.
Scarlet retracted her weapon and Alyssa rushed her. She took a swing at the charging cat faunus with her mace, but her opponent ducked under the swing and landed a right hook to Scarlet's face.
Scarlet quickly recovered and smacked Alyssa in the shoulder with her mace, knocking her across the combat stage.
Alyssa quickly gathered herself and charged back in.
Lucas slashed at Electra with his katana and she skillfully blocked and parried his blows with her staff.
Electra landed a strike on Lucas, causing him to stumble and fall backwards. She fired a bolt of lightning from her staff as he lay on the ground, but Lucas saw it and rolled out of the way at the last second.
He quickly drew his tanto and combined his weapons to form their Yumi bow mode, he then loosed several arrows of fire dust at his opponent.
The arrows exploded as they hit the ground around Electra. The shockwave knocked her off her feet and her aura took a big hit.
Lucas hit himself with a speed glyph and charged Electra as she stood. She saw this and took a swing at Lucas as he got close.
He shot a glyph under his feet and jumped high into the air above Electra and loosed an arrow of ice dust.
The arrow exploded upon impact with the ground and encased Electra's feet in Ice, immobilizing her. Lucas split his weapon and sheathed his tanto as he landed.
Electra tried to break free from the ice by hitting it with her staff, but it was to no avail. Lucas placed a speed glyph under his feet once more and charged Electra.
She lifted her staff to defend herself and took a swing at Lucas as he passed. Both their blows connected, Electra's aura was dropped to the red, while Lucas' took a big hit from the electric shock of Electra's weapon.
Yaara disengaged with Bianca as she saw her teammate go down, she switched her wrist blades into their whip modes and cracked one at Lucas.
He barely managed to dodge the blow as he composed himself.
"Lucas! Hyperdrive!" Bianca shouted.
Lucas shot a speed glyph below Bianca's feet and she activated her own semblance, combining their effects. She shot forward at Yaara leaving a flurry of white rose petals in her wake, while Lucas leapt into the air and made his Yumi bow once more.
Yaara quickly turned and swept one of her whips in a wide arc toward Bianca. Bianca was unable to dodge the strike as she charged and was knocked to the ground.
Yaara quickly turned and smacked Lucas with her whip before he could get a shot off from his bow. He hit the ground as his Aura was dropped into the red.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that," Yaara said.
Bianca shot behind Yaara with blinding speed, catching her by surprise. She slashed her opponent with both of her sabers and knocked her to the ground.
Garnett swung his falx down onto Cyrus, but he caught his opponents weapon with his cross guard and parried the blow.
Cyrus then smacked Garnett with the pommel of his broadsword and then flipped it around, grabbing it by the handle and slashing Garnett across the shoulder, knocking him out of the fight.
Cyrus turned from his fallen opponent and rushed to aid Alyssa against Scarlet.
Yaara noticed him running and broke off from her fight with Bianca for a moment, she cracked one of her whips at Cyrus and wrapped it around his leg, causing him to fall.
Cyrus' momentum caused him to slide across the ground and stop just behind Scarlet. As he stood, he was smacked across the face with the backswing of Scarlet's mace, knocking him out of the match.
"Well that was anti-climactic," Professor Haze said as she took a drink from her metal calabash.
Alyssa dodged the swing from Scarlet and swept her legs from under her, she then jumped into the air and landed a heel kick onto Scarlet's chest, sending her into the ground and dropping her aura to the red.
Bianca and Alyssa regrouped, it was them against Yaara.
Yaara's aura glowed its golden color and a pair of her clones manifested next to her, one to either side.
Bianca and Alyssa charged Yaara, in response she cracked her whips at both her opponents and her clones mirrored her attacks.
The myriad strikes of not two, but six razor whips were too much for Alyssa to dodge, even with her sensory projection on overdrive and she was quickly knocked out of the match.
Bianca's speed and agility allowed her to duck and dodge through the attacks of her opponent, and a few well-timed parries with her sabers allowed her to get close to Yaara.
Bianca struck both of Yaara's clones, shattering them and forcing her opponent to retreat. Yaara brought her whips back into her sleeves and wrist mounts, she transformed them back into their sword mode.
The combatants charged one another and engaged in a dance of blades. They blocked and parried one another's strikes as they seemingly danced around one another.
Bianca moved like a flower petal in the wind as she weaved her sabers around her body and parried or dodged Yaara's attacks. Yaara seemed a bit surprised to be having this much trouble with Bianca in close combat.
Bianca thrust her saber at Yaara, but she parried it with one of her blades. As Bianca's saber slid across Yaara's blade, she pushed her arm up and managed to trap Bianca's.
Yaara slashed at Bianca with her other blade, but she blocked this blow with her free saber, Yaara then headbutt her opponent, knocking her back and causing Bianca to drop one of her weapons.
Bianca was in a daze from the headbutt. As she began to compose herself, she saw Yaara activate her weapons whip mode once again. Yaara cracked her whips at Bianca, and she managed to parry the first strike and dodge the second.
She cracked her whips once more, one of them wrapped around Bianca's wrist and prevented her from using her saber. Yaara then struck Bianca in the belly with her second whip and knocked her aura into the red.
"Good job students," Professor Haze said, "That's enough for today, get some rest and I'll see you all tomorrow."
Yaara walked over to Bianca and helped her up, "good match," she said with a smile.
Bianca smiled back, "yeah, good match."