Chapter Thirteen; The Tournament, Finalists
Winter, Ember, and Marcus were gathered together with Neptune in his office, while Oscar and Nebula were attending this meeting via video call. Winter was pacing back and forth incessantly whilst Marcus stood at attention and Ember leaned against one of Neptune's bookshelves.
"Winter, you need to chill," Ember said, "we haven't heard anything from the maiden since her little display in the lower district."
"That's the point!" Winter snapped, "she's gone too quiet for my liking. And on top of that, a squad of my men have gone missing."
"You did set up your base in the middle of the forest, anything could've happened to them," Ember replied.
Winter scoffed and shook her head, "you don't know the gravity of the situation we're in, you didn't even know about the Maidens until two years ago. No disrespect, but I don't know what Professor Pine saw in you."
"General Schnee, that's enough," Oscar said through his video screen.
She huffed and ceased her pacing, taking her place next to her second-in-command.
Neptune entered the conversation, "I understand your concern General, but it may not be what you think. Your men could've fallen victim to Grimm or the remnants of one of the rebel factions from the civil war."
"We should still take all possibilities into consideration," Winter stated.
"As much as I don't want to jump the gun, I'm inclined to agree with General Schnee," Oscar said.
"As do I," Nebula added.
"So then, what's our next move?" Neptune asked.
"We should keep our current plan of action," Ember stated, "the festival and tournament only have three more days left. All the performers and students will be out of the city within the week."
"We can't just do nothing," Marcus said, "we should concentrate our forces within the city, just to be safe.
"That would get people talking, and possibly create a panic," Ember replied, "and we all know what comes knocking when people panic."
"Ember's right, we don't want a repeat of the fortieth festival," Oscar interjected, "but, Major Stallion is also right, we can't sit idly by and do nothing."
"Well, what do you suggest?" Ember inquired.
Oscar rubbed his chin as he thought, "Major, how many more specialists do you have available?"
"Fifty," Marcus replied.
"I see," Oscar nodded, "very well, deploy the rest of your specialists to the city and have them on alert, but lay low. As for the remaining Atlesian soldiers, place them on high alert for the remainder of the festival."
"Yes sir," Winter and Marcus saluted in unison.
"So, I take it that's meeting adjourned?" Nebula asked.
"Why?" Neptune inquired, "got some where you need to be?"
"I've got a lot on my plate right now," Nebula sighed, "on top of everything I normally do, I've been asked to mediate a dispute between a couple tribes of nomads and go over some plans to expand the city."
"Go on ahead Nebula, and best of luck to you," Oscar stated.
"Thanks, till next time," the screen displaying Nebula's face deactivated and disappeared.
"Yeesh, being Headmistress of Shade is a rough job," Neptune said.
"She is her kingdom's de facto head of state," Ember added.
"That's Vacuo for you," Marcus stated.
"Alright, everyone, we'll reconvene if something comes up, you're all free to go," Oscar said.
Winter and Marcus saluted Oscar and turned to leave the room. They were followed by Ember, who gave a casual wave to Oscar and Neptune as she left.
"Neptune, before I go, I wanted to ask you something," Oscar said.
"What's up?" Neptune inquired.
"Why haven't you chosen some people to aid you at Haven?" Oscar asked. "I mean, Winter has Marcus and Nebula has her old teammates."
"I haven't really thought about it to be honest," Neptune replied. "I've never really had the need to."
"Why not bring your old teammates, Sage and Scarlet, into the fold?" Oscar asked.
"Hmm," Neptune thought, "I guess I could, I do trust them with my life. Although, Master Altan might be another good choice as well."
"I couldn't agree more," Oscar said. "Arslan is a superb huntress, besides, one of her former pupils is already with us."
As Oscar and Neptune continued to talk, Ember caught up to Marcus and Winter outside his office. The two soldiers stopped and turned to her as they heard her hurried footsteps approaching from behind.
"Hey, Winter, can I talk to you for a sec?" Ember asked.
"It's General Schnee… And you may speak," she replied.
Ember looked past Winter, at Marcus for a moment, before redirecting her attention. "In private," she said.
Winter turned to her subordinate, "Major, contact Commander Soleil and inform her of our new orders, I shall reconvene with you at a later time."
Without saying a word, Marcus saluted the General, about-faced, and marched away.
Ember waited till he was out of earshot before she spoke, "I don't know what your problem with me is, but you should drop it. We're on the same side here."
"I don't have a problem with you," Winter replied. "I have a problem with Oscar choosing you to join his inner circle."
"Am I not good enough or something?" Ember inquired. "I've been a huntress for two years, taught at an academy for two years, and on top of that, I was the first academy student to win two Vytal Tournaments. So tell me, how am I any less skilled than anyone else in Oscar's circle?"
"This isn't about skill," Winter stated. "I don't doubt that about you. Master Altan taught you well, and Beacon trained you even more so. Your two victories in the Vytal Tournament are indeed commendable. What this is about, is maturity and experience. Most everyone in Oscar's inner circle has at least ten-plus years' experience as huntsmen. Others, including myself, have nearly or over twenty years under our belts, while you have merely two. On top of that, you have shown yourself to be immature, with your heavy drinking habit and your overly relaxed personality."
Ember didn't reply, she knew Winter was right about her, even if she didn't want to admit it.
"If that's all, I must be going." Winter about-faced and marched away from Ember.
Elsewhere, Rouge's base was rife with activity. Final preparations for the attack on Mistral were being taken; going over mission assignments, battle plans, and distributing Valean Defense Force uniforms to the men. For their plan to work, Rouge and her army needed to remain anonymous for the time being.
As she made her rounds, Rouge ran into Field Marshall Berg as he was talking to a squad of soldiers. None of them were wearing uniforms of Vale, but rather that of the Atlesian Army. She waited for her associate to finish addressing his men before she approached.
"Something you wish to tell me?" Rouge asked.
"Ah, hello mein lady," Rommel turned and gave a cordial bow to the maiden. "I vas just making a slight alteration to our plans."
"Oh, and what would that be?" She inquired.
"Vell, some of zee men ambushed an Atlesian patrol earlier today, and rather zan leave zeir equipment to rot, I zought of a vay to use it." He paused as he pulled out his scroll and opened a holomap of the Atlesian base. "I tasked zose men vith infiltrating our enemy's base und sabotaging it. Specifically, zeir airships, armory, und paladins."
"Hmm," Rouge thought for a moment, "have you decided when they are going to carry out their orders?"
"Yes," Rommel nodded, "zey vill strike just as Albus und his templars launch zeir attack on the Atlesian base. After zat, zey vill join zee assault, striking from zee inside."
"I like it," Rouge said. "By the way, have you seen Albus? I must discuss something with him."
"I believe he is near zee training grounds, vith his men," Rommel replied.
"Alright, thank you. I won't take up anymore of your time," Rouge said.
Rommel bowed respectfully to Rouge before the two then parted ways.
Rouge made her way to where Rommel said Albus was, and sure enough he was there. He was overseeing some of his templars training; some men were sparring with arming sword and kite shield, while others were doing target practice with their blaster-rifles.
"Albus," Rouge said as she approached the silver-mask wearing priest.
He quickly turned and bowed, "your grace."
"I need to discuss with you our plan of attack regarding the Atlesian base," she replied.
"What is it you wish of me?" He asked.
"Under normal circumstances I would never order this of you," she sighed as if it hurt her to say this. "There are to be no survivors in your assault. Put even those who surrender to the sword."
"Your Grace? That… that isn't like you," Albus said.
"I know," she closed her eyes and exhaled, "Atlesian Soldiers are loyal to their kingdom, even if they were to surrender, they wouldn't betray their home and join us. Besides, we don't have enough supplies to disguise all of your men. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to have this many for our assault, and we can't afford to be exposed."
"What about the Field Marshal?" Albus inquired, "he and his officers are former Atlesian soldiers."
"They were an exception," Rouge replied. "They saw the true colors of Atlas during the final days of the Mistralese Civil War, and resolved to join the side of good. The soldiers in the base are not the same as Rommel and his men."
"I see," Albus said. "Well, if it is your will, I will see it through."
"It is," Rouge said.
Albus bowed his head, "Deus Vult."
After the doubles round concluded, the remaining tournament participants were given a few days to rest and decide who of the winning duos would continue onto the singles bracket. The final three rounds of the tournament would be held over the final two days of the festival.
The woman who had directed Beacon's competing teams into the arena for opening ceremonies led Yaara, Bianca, and Alani down a hallway below Amity Colosseum's main stage. The hallway itself was unremarkable, however, hanging on the walls were portraits and photos of all the forty-nine previous champions. Golden plaques were bolted to the wall below the pictures, they displayed the names and which tournament, or tournaments in Professor Haze's case, they won. Like the video during opening ceremonies, there was nothing commemorating the fortieth tournament.
At the end of the hall was a set of double doors that led to a medium sized room. In it were a few comfortable looking couches against the walls, and in the center of the room was a table with six chairs around it. There were a pair of large television screens linked to the tournament broadcast.
"This is where you and the other finalists will wait before you make your entrance. You have about an hour, so please, make yourselves comfortable," the woman said.
As they entered the room, they saw four faunus boys dressed in black. Three of them were making beats on the tables with their hands, while a fourth was rapping. It was something about cruising down the street in a 6-4.
The woman walked up to the boys, "Mr. Coal, need I remind you that your teammates cannot be in here. This room is for finalists only."
The man had been rapping seemingly rolled his eyes, it was hard to tell since he was wearing dark sunglasses. "Do as the lady says, I'll catch y'all after the matches."
"Knock em' dead Easy," one of the boys said.
The three of them walked by Yaara, Alani, and Bianca as they left the room. The three boys looked them up and down as they passed. "Hey lil' mamas, why don't y'all swing by our dorm for a good time tonight," one of the boys said.
Bianca was a bit flustered initially by the boys' advances, but when she looked to her companions, she recomposed herself. Yaara was unfazed and didn't respond. She must've heard it all before and payed them no mind.
Alani crossed her arms and sneered, "ufa!"
Bianca didn't know Alani's native language, but from the way she said that, what she said must be an insult of some kind.
After their advances were ignored, the boys headed on there way out of the room. The woman who had escorted Beacon's finalists left with them to make sure they didn't sneak back into the room.
Yaara turned to the boy at the table, "why is it you always have to bring your posse with you Flynt?"
Flynt Jr. laughed, "what can I say, you can't keep Team FRSH apart."
He stood and walked over to the three of them. Flynt Jr. was fairly tall and lean looking, seemingly almost as tall as Cyrus. His jheri curled hair hung from under his black cap which had the word "Mantle" embroidered in white on the front. He also wore a black nylon staff-jacket over a white t-shirt, baggy black jeans, and black shoes.
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced." He extended his hand to Bianca, "the name's Flynt Coal Jr., although, you may know me as Easy-F."
"Bianca Rose," she shook his hand. After Bianca shook hands with Flynt, he turned and shook Alani's. She introduced herself as well.
Flynt Jr. turned back to Yaara after shaking the other girls' hands. She remained in her upright posture for a moment, before then cracking a smile, grabbing Flynt Jr. by the hand, and pulling him into a one-armed hug.
"Long time no see old friend," Yaara said.
Flynt Jr. chuckled, "we saw each other at the dance, I don't know what you're talking about 'long time'."
They separated as Yaara spoke, "I wouldn't exactly call waving at you from behind your wall of fan-girls 'seeing you'."
Flynt Jr. chuckled once more, "I get your point."
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other?" Bianca inquired.
Yaara turned to the younger girl, "my father was stationed in Mantle when my brother and I were kids. Flynt, Roy, and I went to the same primary school. The two of us were in the same grade and class."
"Yeah," Flynt Jr. cut in, "we would've gone to the same combat school too, but your daddy sent you and your brother to that prep-school in Atlas."
Yaara snickered, "don't act like you were worse off than me. Your parents may not have been specialists, but they were both full-time huntsmen, I'm sure they could've easily sent you to the same school as me."
Flynt Jr. shrugged, "mom and dad were never too fond of the prepier institutions anyway."
As Yaara and Flynt Jr. continued to catch up, Bianca and Alani sat at the table where the faunus boy had once been sitting. Other than him, there were only two other people in the room before them. On one side, a large dark-skinned man in a gold and orange flannel sat on one of the couches while he sharpened his oversized pickaxe. A red stubble beard adorned his face, making him look quite scruffy. Even though he was sitting, his bulk indicated he was nearly six-foot-nine and pushing two-sixty. Leaning against the wall at the other side of the room was a woman, she had tanned skin, but was slightly darker than Alani. Her black hair was beautifully straight and had an eagle feather hanging from the right side, and the skin across her eyes and the upper part of her nose was painted bright red with a horizontal stripe of white below it. Her green and purple clothing had small tassels hanging from the edges.
"Hey, you in the red," the girl called out.
Bianca turned to her, "me?"
"Yes you," she replied. "Thanks for beating Slick, he was always so full of himself." As she spoke, Bianca could see the large predatory canines in her mouth. She was a faunus.
The large man looked up from sharpening his pickaxe, "I don't know why you're thanking her Olivine. She just made it harder for your academy to win by beating Slick, all the while making it easier for Beacon."
"Umber shut up and go back to sharpening that oversized tool of yours," Olivine replied.
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Alani cut in. "What happened to respect between warriors?"
"This is a competition," Olivine stated. "The prestige of our academies are at stake. While I do respect my opponents, I'm not here to make friends. Especially not among humans."
Flynt Jr. overheard Olivine and joined the conversation, "you know, attitudes like yours are what makes humans dislike our people."
"'Our' people?" Olivine raised an eyebrow, "you mean 'my' people, half-breed."
"Come on, there's no need for that," Flynt Jr. said.
"Oh really?" Olivine snickered, "you were born in Atlas with a silver spoon in your mouth. You and that hip-hop group you're a part of claim to be spreading the faunus cause through your music, but you all are just exploiting our struggles for fame and fortune."
"I was born in Mantle, not Atlas. Both my parents may have been huntsmen, but we weren't well off enough to live in that city," Flynt Jr. glanced at Yaara. "Being half human counts for exactly shit in my home kingdom. As long as I have this cat tail sticking out of my lower back, I'll only ever be seen as a faunus. Nothing more, nothing less."
"There's no need for all this, if we're gonna fight, we might as well save it for the arena," Bianca said.
"Agreed," Yaara added.
"I thought Vacuo was friendly to the faunus?" Alani inquired.
Olivine looked to her, "only if you're from the City of Vacuo itself or one of the few other city-states in the region. If you're from one of the nomadic tribes, like myself, you're looked down upon. While they don't discriminate against us, there is a stigma attached to our way of life, we're looked at like we're savages."
"Savages huh?" Alani's voice went low. "I've been called that quite a few times since I've arrived in this kingdom. All because my home is wholly independent of the four kingdoms and that we live in harmony with our faunus brothers and sisters."
"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Olivine said. "You're that princess from the 'utopia' off the southern coast."
"I wouldn't exactly call my home a utopia, but our people and society are far kinder to one another than what I've seen in this kingdom," Alani replied.
"Well, let me tell you something about how the world works," Olivine stated. "Humans and faunus can't live together in harmony in the kingdoms, the cities of Vacuo and the Kingdom of Vale get close, but still. My people were enslaved, raped, and murdered by humans for millenia before the Great War. If you think events over the previous one hundred years can change that, you're as naïve as the Belladonnas."
"But we can live together," Alani said. "My home is a perfect example of that. We care for each other like family. Like brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles, even if we aren't related by blood."
Olivine laughed, "isn't that sweet. If the humans of your islands really gave a damn about my people, they would've opened up to us after the Great War. They could've spoken out against our segregation and concentration on Menagerie or aided us in the Revolution. But that didn't happen, you sat on your petty little islands in near isolation for over a century."
Alani's shoulders dropped, she knew Olivine was right. Her people, brave and kind as they were, were afraid of what the rest of the world would bring to them; disease, strife, even Grimm, and they mostly shut themselves off because of it.
"I cannot apologize for the inaction of my ancestors," she said. "But know this, if I were alive back then, and were I equipped with the knowledge I now have, I would've done at least something."
Olivine sighed, "hindsight is twenty-twenty."
"If you dislike humans so much, then why did you decide to be a huntress?" Bianca asked, "it's a job that would undoubtably require protecting and aiding humans."
"I'm only doing this so I can protect my tribe," Olivine replied. "A nomad's life is hard, especially in the Vacuo desert. When I finish my training, I'm looking out for me and mine, the rest of Remnant can be damned for all I care."
"That's rather selfish don't you think?" Alani inquired.
Before Olivine could rebuttal her, Umber spoke up from the back of the room. "Everyone has their reasons for choosing this line of work. Some are less noble than others."
"I take it you have some high and mighty reason for becoming a huntsman then?" Olivine inquired.
"No," he stated bluntly. "I simply grew up in the projects of Mantle and wanted a better life for my family. But along with that, I know I have a responsibility not just to them, but to the rest of Remnant as well."
Olivine shook her head and turned away from the others, "whatever."
"And here I thought huntsmen and huntresses were the noblest and most selfless of all warriors," Alani said.
"Sadly, it's not always like that Al," Bianca said.
"Umber said it best," Flynt Jr. stated. "Everyone has their reasons, if you want to be come a huntress because you see it as a noble pursuit, then so be it. Personally, I'm doing it not just because I have the ability to do so, but because I want to follow the example of my parents."
Alani sighed, "you're right. I guess I can't hold everyone in this line of work to my own expectations of what it should be."
Flynt Jr. half-smiled and nodded in agreement with Alani.
As their conversation died down, the doors of the room swung open and Huo walked in, followed closely by Sierra. He sneered at Alani, Olivine, and Flynt Jr. as he entered the room, but said nothing.
"What's his deal?" Flynt inquired.
"Don't bother him," Sierra interjected. "It'll be better for all of us if no one speaks to him right now."
"Why?" Alani asked. "You finally put him in his place?"
"In a matter of speaking," Sierra replied.
The woman who escorted Sierra and Huo was still standing in the door, it was the same woman who had escorted Yaara, Bianca, and Alani.
"You have thirty more minutes before the beginning of the round." She glanced at Huo, "Professor Vasilias wanted me to remind you all that any 'extracurricular' confrontations will lead to all parties involved being disqualified from the tournament."
Huo scoffed, gaining the woman's ire. With a disgruntled look on her face, she shut the door and left.
As the door shut, Huo looked from Alani to Olivine. "Great, more savages."
"Excuse you!" Olivine shouted.
"Enough! Save it for the arena!" Sierra looked to Huo, "need I remind you what Professor Vasilias told you?"
"Yeah, yeah. He 'doesn't agree with my views and I should keep my mouth shut and not antagonize the other students'," he spoke in a mocking tone.
"Don't forget that you're our academy's number two student," Sierra stated. "You represent Haven just as much as I do. So, do as Professor Vasilias says and… Keep. Your mouth. Shut."
Olivine chuckled at Sierra reprimanding Huo, but she earned the ire of the silver-eyed faunus.
"As for the rest of you, I'll ask that you don't antagonize my compatriot," she said.
"All I'm gonna say is that he better hope we don't face each other, or I'll destroy him in the arena." Olivine stated.
"No," Alani said, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Olivine asked.
Alani smirked and then stared down Huo, "he's mine."