Chapter Fifteen; The Tournament, A Bittersweet Championship
It was early morning, and the sun was barely over the horizon. The last day of the Vytal Tournament and the Festival as a whole was here. Within the next few days, all the performers and visitors would head home, including the academy students representing Atlas, Beacon, and Shade.
Royal Princess Haukea Kamehameha gazed out the open window of her penthouse suite, her orange nightgown swaying lightly in the morning breeze. She had a troubled look on her face as she thought of the day to come. There was a knock at her door.
"You may enter," she said as she turned towards the door.
A man with a lizard tail, the commander of her guard, Captain Keone stepped into her room. He bowed his head and placed his right fist over his heart, "aloha."
"Aloha," Haukea replied.
"You sent for me your highness?" Captain Keone inquired.
"I did," Haukea stated as she turned away from the captain.
Captain Keone stood there perplexed for a moment. "Might I ask why you require my presence? Trouble sleeping? Is there something I can do for you, your highness?"
Haukea took a deep breath, sucking in the cool twilight air, "you've been a soldier for how long Captain?"
"Roughly forty years, your highness," he replied.
"In all your years, have you ever gotten a feeling that something is about to happen, and you don't know what?" Haukea inquired.
"Occasionally, it's a feeling that comes with experience in the profession," the Captain replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I have a bad feeling about today," Haukea stated.
"I see," he said. "In that case, what do you wish of me, your highness?"
The Royal Princess turned towards the Captain, "once everyone is awake, I want them to begin packing their belongings. The children and elderly are to be ready to leave the city at a moment's notice, everyone else is to ready themselves for any eventuality."
"It will be done," Captain Keone bowed his head and placed his hand over his heart.
"Oh, one more thing," Haukea stated, gaining back the attention of the Captain. "I need you to wake my brothers, I have to speak with them immediately."
"Yes, your highness," Captain Keone bowed once more and began to exit the room. He paused for a moment and turned back towards the Royal Princess, "what of your sister, the Princess Alani? Should I have my men retrieve her as well?"
"As much as I'd like for you to, we can't," Haukea replied. "As of current, she's the responsibility of Beacon Academy, not us. Besides, my sister is a warrior and can handle herself."
"Very well, your highness," Captain Keone bowed and left the room.
As the final day of the Vytal Tournament was about to begin, Teams BLAC and AYST were outside Amity Colosseum wishing their leaders the best of luck in the final two rounds of the tourney. Both teams were off on their own for the time being. AYST's members were laughing and joking quite a lot, whilst BLAC was a bit quieter and more serious.
"The semi-finals," Bianca said. "Who'd think I'd make it this far?"
"We did," Lucas stated.
"You don't give yourself enough credit B," Alyssa said. "You were awesome the last couple rounds."
"You gotta stop doubting yourself," Cyrus added. "You're amazing. A great fighter, an awesome and intelligent student, and an even better person. You deserve to be here, competing on this stage, this late in the tournament."
"Th-thanks," Bianca blushed lightly.
Alyssa sensed her cousin's emotions and then turned to Lucas. "What do you say we give these two a minute?"
Lucas chuckled lightly and nodded to his partner. The two of them then headed inside the colosseum proper, leaving Cyrus and Bianca in relative privacy.
When the two were out of sight, Bianca threw her arms around her partner and gripped him in a tight hug. This caught Cyrus a bit off guard, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms lightly around his partner.
"Thanks for everything," Bianca said as the side of her face pressed against Cyrus's muscular chest. "You've been a great partner, I couldn't have asked for anyone better."
Cyrus smiled, "neither could I."
Bianca took a nervous deep breath, gaining the worry of her partner. "You ok?" He asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she paused for a moment, but then continued. "I was wondering, when we get back to Vale after this is all said and done, would you like to go to Sonny's Diner, just the two of us?"
Cyrus pulled away slightly and looked down towards Bianca, "y-you mean like a date?"
"Yeah," Bianca replied shyly. "A date."
Cyrus chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, "if it's not too late, you wanna catch a movie afterwards?"
Bianca blushed lightly, "s-sure, I-I'd like that."
Cyrus smiled lightly, a light blush came to his cheeks, "It's a date then."
A voice then came over Amity Colosseum's intercom, "would all remaining finalists please report to the assembly room, thank you."
"Looks like it's time for me to go," Bianca said.
Cyrus touched Bianca's shoulder gently, "good luck, I'll see you after the selections."
Bianca smiled lightly, "thanks, I'll see you then."
Bianca turned to walk away, but she soon stopped for a moment. She turned back towards her partner and walked up to him, gaining his attention. Bianca felt her heart flutter for a moment, but she quickly composed herself as she stood on her tip toes and placed a light kiss upon Cyrus's cheek. She then jogged off to catch up with Alani as they made their way to where they had to be.
Cyrus's face turned the darkest shade of red it's ever been. To say he was surprised by Bianca's action was a severe understatement. He lightly smacked himself on the same cheek Bianca had placed the kiss. After he recomposed himself, he smiled and chuckled.
"She really is amazing," he said.
Alani noticed the happy look on her friend's face. She then turned back to see Cyrus's flustered expression. She felt glad for the two of them, after all, she did see a few similarities to her own relationship with Yin in theirs.
"I see you're starting to open up to him," Alani said.
Bianca blushed, "y-yeah."
Alani giggled at her friend for a moment, "anyway, I wanted to say, if we don't face each other this round, let's make it an all Beacon final."
Bianca looked to her friend and fellow leader, "let's." They exchanged a fist-bump.
"Just know this," Alani stated. "I won't go easy on you."
"Neither will I," Bianca replied.
The four remaining finalists waited for a time in the assembly room before the upcoming matches. What seemed like hours of waiting to them was in reality only about twenty minutes. When the time came, they were escorted from the assembly room to the arena, where they were greeted by the announcers and roaring crowd.
"Alright everyone, welcome to the final day of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Scarlet announced. "Today we will be conducting our semi-final and championship rounds of the tournament, and in just a few short hours will crown the champion of the 52nd Vytal Tournament."
"Ah yes, and it's been a great tournament hasn't it?" Sage stated.
"Yes, yes it has," Scarlet replied.
As the round was about to begin, Professor Haze made her way over to where Haven's students were sitting. As she approached them, she saw Huo sitting at the end of an aisle. His right hand was covered in bandages and they extended up under the sleeve of his shirt, indicating the whole of his arm was covered in them. She then got the attention of Arslan, who was standing near the edge of the arena. She turned and walked up to her former pupil.
"Good morning Sifu," Professor Haze bowed to Arslan.
"Good morning Ember," Arslan bowed back.
"Sifu, I've been meaning to ask, what's going to be done about Huo and his dust tattoos?" She asked.
"There's not much we can do," Arslan replied. "The council lifted the ban on Dust Tattoos earlier this year, so he can't be punished from a legal sense."
"Why would they lift the ban on it?" Ember inquired. "It's far too dangerous of a practice, especially for students."
"I don't have a seat on the council, so I don't know most of the details. But from what Professor Vasilias tells me, it was something about it being religiously and culturally significant," Arslan replied. "Only he and Councilman Taiji, Luke's uncle, opposed the lifting of the ban."
"Is anything being done then?" Ember asked.
"He's being put on academic probation for the rest of the year, that's about all we can do." Arslan stated. "Also, Professor Vasilias and I have spoken with Huo's combat professor, he's said he didn't know about the tattoos, and I'm inclined to believe him. And finally, once the tournament concludes, I'll be paying the monastery where he was raised a visit. I have a feeling the monks there are behind his having those tattoos."
Ember sighed, "can we have his tattoos removed at least, for his own safety?"
"Removing tattoos isn't a simple procedure," Arslan replied. "Besides, it would do no good anyway, the dust is already in his system. There's no getting it out I'm afraid."
As the two women talked, the voices of the announcers came back over the colosseum's intercoms and speakers, "and our first semi-final match will be… Sierra Nahla of Haven, verses… Alani Kamehameha of Beacon!"
Arslan looked towards the arena, "we should get back to our students don't you think?"
"Yes," Ember bowed. "Thank you for your time Sifu."
"Anytime," Arslan returned the gesture.
Just after the combatants were announced, Bianca and Flynt Jr. made their way back to where their classmates and professors were sitting. As they did this, Alani took her spot opposite Sierra and awaited the match countdown. She looked up to where her elder siblings were normally situated, but the five seats sat empty today. Her shoulders slouched, and she sighed as a feeling of disappointment made its way through her body, but she quickly shook it off and readied herself for the coming fight.
Sierra pressed her fist to her palm and bowed to Alani. She returned the gesture by placing her fist over her heart and bowing her head respectfully. The stage rose from the ground and the countdown began.
"3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Sierra opened the fight with a volley from her SMGs. The bullets ricocheted off Alani's spear as she spun it in front of herself to deflect them.
Seeing that her ranged attack had no effect, Sierra deactivated her SMGs and charged Alani. The young orange-clad warrior dropped her spear forward and counter-charged.
Alani thrust her spear at her opponent several times, before pulling back and throwing a wide arcing slash at the tiger-faunus martial-artist.
Sierra effortlessly dodged and parried all of Alani's initial attacks. She connected a raking slash of her claws across her opponent's face, followed by a swift and powerful kick to the stomach, knocking the warrior back.
Alani quickly composed herself and zealously charged back into the fight. Engaging in melee once more, she managed to block and parry some of Sierra's attacks, whilst landing a few of her own.
As Alani swung her spear down upon her opponent, Sierra reached up and grabbed the weapon by its shaft, stopping its attack. She then landed a powerful punch to Alani's face, disarming her.
Sierra held her opponent's weapon in hand and inspected it, she admired its fine craftsmanship. After a moment she looked back to Alani and tossed the weapon back to her. This action caught Alani by surprise, as she'd expected Sierra to toss the weapon over the edge of the arena, forcing her to fight hand-to-hand.
Sierra took her low, feline-like stance, and with her forward hand motioned for Alani to 'bring it'. Alani smirked. She spun her spear around and held it behind her back, and then charged her opponent.
Sierra's aura began to glow as her opponent got close. Alani swung her spear down upon Sierra, but she disappeared as soon as it made contact. Alani quickly swung her spear around, catching Sierra by surprise as she pounced on Alani from behind.
Alani turned and leapt in the air as she thrust her spear at Sierra. The tiger-faunus parried the weapon and her aura began to glow once more. Alani slashed at her opponent once more, but as she disappeared, Alani found herself being uppercut by Sierra.
She stumbled back as Sierra reactivated her SMGs and fired off a long burst. Alani attempted to block the rounds with her spear, but a few of them hit home.
Sierra rushed Alani, engaging her in melee once more. She attempted to parry and block the attacks of her opponent, but her semblance coupled with her skill at hand-to-hand fighting forced Alani onto the backfoot.
Sierra swept Alani's legs out from under her, forcing her to fall to the ground. She then leapt in the air and descended upon the warrior in an attempt to strike her.
Alani saw this and quickly rolled out of the way, before then jumping back to her feet. She was breathing heavily now, not out of exhaustion, but instead anger and frustration. With a loud war-cry, Alani activated her semblance and charged back in.
This wouldn't turn the tide of battle however, as Alani's berserker rage blinded her of her opponent's semblance. As she swung wildly at anything that moved, Sierra simply used her semblance to tire out Alani.
She struck the berserking warrior several times, only adding to her anger and frustration. However, Alani got in one huge strike on Sierra, sending her sliding away.
As Sierra recomposed herself, Alani leapt in the air with her spear reared back to strike. As she reached her opponent and her spear made contact, Sierra disappeared. She was behind Alani and landed a powerful roundhouse kick to the berserker's head.
Alani hit the ground as her semblance deactivated. She attempted to pick herself back up, but she collapsed to the stage floor as her aura dropped into the red.
The crowd erupted into a thunderous cheer and applause.
"Wow! What a match! Sierra Nahla wins!" Scarlet announced.
"And for the second tournament in a row, she'll be advancing to the championship round for a shot at the title!" Sage added.
After a brief celebration, Sierra walked over to Alani and offered her a hand in standing. Alani graciously accepted the gesture of her former opponent.
"You fought well and honorable. You may have lost, but you've done your people proud today," Sierra said.
"Thanks," Alani replied. She then looked to the five empty seats where her brothers and sister would normally be sitting, "I just wish they were here to see it."
"I'm sure they had their reasons for missing the match," Sierra stated.
Alani chuckled lightly, "the duties of royals never stop."
"Indeed," Sierra smiled.
As the two former opponents made there way back to their seats, Scarlet addressed the crowd. "Alright, and with that, we'll move on to our final semi-final matchup; Bianca Rose of Beacon, verses, Flynt Coal Jr. of Atlas!"
Bianca took a deep breath as she left her seat and made her way down to the combat stage. As she left the stands, she passed by Alani who stopped her for a moment.
"Sorry I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain," she said. Alani then put her hand on Bianca's shoulder, "win one for Beacon."
Bianca nodded confidently.
"Well, one of our underdog first-years has been knocked out this round, do you think young Ms. Rose will fair any better?" Scarlet asked.
"I still have faith in her, like I said last round, I've been rooting for them," Sage replied.
"You really think she can pull off the upset against one of the tournament's top competitors?" Scarlet inquired.
"She's done it before," Sage stated.
"True, but this is Flynt Coal Jr. we're talking about," Scarlet said. "He's a Vytal Tournament veteran, and now that Yaara has been eliminated, he's a frontrunner to make it to the championship round."
Flynt Jr. was already on the stage when Bianca took her place opposite him. He cracked his knuckles as the two of them stared each other down.
Flynt Jr. smirked, "once I win, I'll be sure to give you my autograph."
Bianca chuckled, "thanks, but I'm not a huge fan of hip-hop."
"Ok," Flynt Jr. shrugged. "I see how it is."
As Bianca drew her sabers, her friends and teammates noticed something different about her. She wasn't the least bit nervous, rather, she was oozing with confidence. She looked to finally be coming into her own.
The countdown started, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Flynt Jr. fired several fire-dust disks at Bianca. She quickly dodged the projectiles with the help of her semblance as they exploded where she had once been standing.
With blinding speed, she rushed her opponent, catching him off guard. Flynt Jr. quickly activated the dust blade in his weapon and parried Bianca's sabers as she swung at him.
Bianca landed behind her opponent in a crouched position, white rose petals descending around her. She pushed off the ground and spun like a typhoon as she struck Flynt Jr. several times.
Flynt Jr. threw a slash with his blade and smacked Bianca in the belly, shattering it and sending Bianca sliding away. She soon stopped herself as he took aim at her with his weapon.
A hail of dust disks flew towards Bianca. Fire, lightning, ice, various elements exploded around her as she bobbed and weaved through them. She was quick, too quick for Flynt Jr. to hit.
She moved like a petal in the wind. Bianca narrowly, yet gracefully avoided her opponent's projectiles as she closed the distance between he and her.
Flynt Jr. quickly switched back to his dust-blade when his opponent got close. The two engaged in an exciting melee. Bianca interweaved her slashes at Flynt Jr. as he attempted to parry and block them, while throwing his own strikes.
Bianca shattered her opponent's blade several times during the engagement, but each time he created a new one to replace it. They were slowly and steadily whittling away at each other's aura.
Flynt Jr. parried away one of Bianca's strikes and thrust his blade into her chest. She was sent tumbling and rolling across the ground as her aura dropped fairly low.
Before Bianca could even pick herself up, Flynt Jr. was upon her. She cross-blocked the slash of his blade with her sabers and kicked him away, giving her ample time to stand and recompose herself.
Bianca glanced up at the holo-screen, both her and Flynt Jr.'s auras were far below half. She had to end this match quickly. She took a deep breath as she pressed her sabers together and formed her scythe.
Flynt Jr. switched his weapon to rapid-fire mode and let loose a full-auto salvo of dust disks at Bianca. Using her semblance, she blocked and parried the flurry of projectiles. Then she charged.
As Bianca charged, her opponent activated his weapon's dust blade and counter-charged. Flynt Jr. swung his blade at her with intent to end the fight.
Bianca slid down to her knees and leaned back to the point where her heels were touching her butt. She quickly jumped back to her feet as Flynt Jr.'s blade passed harmlessly over her and struck him with a slash from her scythe.
Flynt Jr. quickly turned back to strike his opponent, but she was too fast for him. Bianca easily parried and blocked all of his subsequent attacks, whilst striking him with blindingly fast slashes from her scythe. Flynt Jr.'s aura plummeted, and before he knew it, he was eliminated.
The crowd roared as the match had reached its conclusion.
"Are you kidding me!?" Scarlet exclaimed. "Bianca Rose has just scored her second stunning upset of the tournament! First against Slick Grease and Alban Sandford of Shade, and now against Flynt Coal Jr. of Atlas!"
"That's right," Sage added. "And with that, she'll be advancing to the championship round, where she'll face off against Sierra Nahla!"
"Alright everyone," Scarlet said. "As it wouldn't be best to jump straight into the final match, we're going to give our contenders a rest before the championship round. We'll be back in an hour and a half."
Bianca wasn't halfway back to her seat when she was swarmed by her friends. Her cousin nearly tackled her when she gripped Bianca in a congratulatory hug.
"That was awesome B!" Alyssa said.
"Yeah, you were amazing out there!" Ebony added.
"Flynt Jr. didn't know what hit him," Lucas stated.
"Thanks guys," Bianca replied with a slight smile." It's not over yet though, I've got one more match."
"She's right," Cyrus cut in. "Give her some space and let her rest and recuperate. We can celebrate afterwards."
As time past and Sierra and Bianca were resting before their final match, Rouge and her forces were beginning to make their moves. Most of the two-thousand soldiers taking part in the main attack on Mistral dressed in the Vale Defense Force uniforms they were given. They loaded their troop transports, while the rest manned single-seat fighter and attack aircraft which were painted with VDF colors and insignias.
At the same time, all of Albus's Templars who weren't participating in the main attack, roughly four thousand of his original five thousand, rode out of their base, towards the Atlesian forward operating base. Their job was to rout and utterly annihilate General Schnee's reserves before they could be mustered.
Rouge was standing on the balcony overlooking her base as her soldiers prepared for battle. She was approached from behind by two of her followers; her Field Marshal, Rommel Berg, and one of his lieutenants, Commander Amsel.
"Mein Lady," Rommel Berg and Commander Amsel saluted.
Rouge turned to them, "hello, is there something you wish to ask of me?"
"I vanted to know if you hand any other orders for us before ve left for battle," Rommel stated.
"No," Rouge shook her head, "there is nothing I can think of that we haven't covered."
"Very vell, mein lady," Rommel bowed his head respectfully.
"I actually had a concern my lady," Commander Amsel spoke up.
Rouge turned her attention to the man. He was slightly younger than Rommel, although not by much, and wearing a pilot's G-suit and carrying a helmet under his arm. He froze slightly when Rouge looked at him.
"Yes? What is your concern?" She inquired.
"What are we to do about the civilian population?" He asked. "I know you're unyielding on your orders that no civilians be harmed, but what if they are caught in the crossfire?"
"I understand that war is an ugly mistress," Rouge stated. "I know things happen, and certain instances can't be avoided. However, my orders stand, no civilians are to be intentionally harmed unless they take up arms against you. If they happen to get caught in the crossfire, be sure to keep their losses to an absolute minimum, these are the people we're trying to lead to salvation after all."
"Understood, my lady," Commander Amsel bowed his head.
Rouge pulled out her scroll and opened it, on the screen was the Vytal Tournament broadcast. "The final match is about to begin, we should get going."
Rommel and Commander Amsel nodded to Rouge as she walked past them. They proceeded to follow her off the balcony and down to where the airships were docked.
Back at Amity Colosseum, Bianca and Sierra were about to walk out to center stage and face off for the Vytal Tournament Championship. Sierra was meditating at the edge of the arena with the rest of her team and Master Altan around her, encouraging her for the coming fight. Meanwhile, Professor Haze was coaching-up Bianca as she stretched and readied herself for the match. Around them were Bianca's teammates.
"She's just sitting there," Lucas said. "She's not stretching or warming up, nothing."
"She's meditating, getting in the right frame of mind for the fight," Cyrus stated.
"I understand that much, but nothing else? No stretching or anything?" Lucas said rhetorically.
"Fighting is just as much mental as it is physical, you should know that by now," Cyrus replied.
"I won't lie, if I was fighting her, I'd honestly be intimidated," Alyssa interjected.
"Hey!" Professor Haze raised her voice. "Now's not the time for that kind of talk."
She turned her attention back to Bianca, who was crouched down, doing a side lunge to the right. Bianca had been growing more and more confident since her doubles match, and it was showing. Despite witnessing the insane skill of her upcoming opponent, she didn't seem the least bit fazed.
"You remember what I told you about Sierra?" Professor Haze asked.
"Yea," Bianca switched her stretching to her other leg. "She uses two main forms of Mistralese Kung Fu; the Tiger and Leopard styles, and has near mastered both. Her semblance is an illusory one, allowing her to trick her opponent into thinking she's somewhere she isn't."
"And?" Professor Haze raised an eyebrow.
"And she'll either toy with me at first, like a cat playing with its food, in order to find my weaknesses. Or she'll go all out from the start," Bianca replied.
"Good," Professor Haze crossed her arms. "Now, Sierra's quick, but not as quick as you. With that being said, you'll want to use your speed to your advantage. I'd recommend avoiding any protracted melee and engaging her in a 'hit and run' manner."
"Would our contenders please report to center stage, thank you." Scarlet said over the speakers and intercoms of the colosseum.
"Alright, it's time," Professor Haze said. "Are you ready?"
Bianca ceased her stretching and affixed her belt which held her sabers. She nodded to her professor and then began walking towards the combat stage.
"You got this B," Alyssa said.
Lucas smiled and gave his leader a thumb up.
Bianca stopped for a moment as she walked past Cyrus. The two silver-eyed warriors gazed into each other's orbs silently for a moment. They briefly took each other's hands and squeezed lightly. Bianca knew she had Cyrus's confidence, he didn't need to say a word, not even nod. They separated and Bianca made her way to the stage.
"Alright everyone, we're back for the championship round of the 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament!" Scarlet announced. "Who will take the crown? Bianca Rose of Beacon, or Sierra Nahla of Haven?"
"I will say this," Sage interjected. "Even though I've been rooting for Bianca up to this point, I can't pick against the academy I teach for, let alone it being my alma mater. I'm gonna pick Sierra in this final match."
"As am I old friend, as am I," Scarlet replied.
Bianca wasn't surprised by the announcers. For one, she knew that anyone in her shoes, be it from Beacon or either of the two other academies, would be the underdog in this Tournament since it was hosted by Haven. And two, she couldn't hold it against either of the announcers, since they both graduated Haven Academy and competed in both the 40th and 41st Vytal Tournaments for the academy.
Bianca soon reached the combat stage, as did Sierra. As the stage raised off the ground, the tiger-faunus pressed her fist to her palm and bowed respectfully to Bianca, before then taking a feline-like predatory stance. The silver-eyed warrior drew her sabers and nodded in acknowledgment of her opponent.
"Now, lets get this thing rolling!" Scarlet said. "Everyone, please join me for the final countdown!"
The crowd was thunderous, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Sierra fired a long burst from her wrist-mounted SMGs. Bianca quickly dodged the attack with the use of her semblance and shot arcs of fire and ice dust from the blades of her sabers at her opponent.
The silver-eyed tiger-faunus leapt in the air and spun over her opponent's attack. She hit the ground with feline grace and charged Bianca, alternating fire from her SMGs as she did so.
Bianca bobbed and weaved through Sierra's bullets. She took her professor's advice and rushed in and threw some inter-weaving slashes at Sierra, attacks the tiger-faunus easily parried. Bianca then quickly put some distance between herself and her opponent.
Bianca stopped on a dime and redirected herself back at her opponent. Sierra smirked as she took her stance. Bianca then swung at her opponent, but as soon as her blades made contact, her aura glowed, and the tiger-faunus disappeared.
Sierra was besides Bianca. She slashed at her with her claws, knocking the silver-eyed warrior down to the ground. However, Bianca quickly jumped back to her feet as Sierra pounced.
Bianca jumped away as Sierra slashed the ground with her claws. The two girls then stood for a moment and faced one another.
"I see you're trying to keep your distance," Sierra said. "And you're using your semblance to do so, but how long can you keep that up?"
Bianca knew Sierra was right. She glanced at the screen showing their aura's, hers was already at three-quarter strength, where as Sierra's was barely touched.
"I guess I'll just have to end this quickly then," Bianca replied stoically.
The two combatants charged one another. Against her professor's advice, Bianca engaged Sierra in melee. The two traded blocks and parries, and to her own surprise, Bianca was holding her own. Bianca's fluid weaving of her sabers was able to fend off the disciplined and precise strikes of her opponent for a time.
As Bianca swung her saber once more at her opponent, Sierra ducked under the strike and delivered a powerful leopard paw upper-cut to Bianca. She stumbled back before quickly recomposing herself.
Sierra believed she had her opponent on the back foot as she rushed her. Bianca held her ground, and once again engaged Sierra in melee. This time however, she intermixed the weaving slashes of her Vacuan Saber Fighting with the pinpoint thrusts of her Atlesian Saber Fencing.
"Would you look at that!" Sage exclaimed, "Sierra's aura has just dipped below the half way point."
"Not even Yaara Stallion got her aura that low," Scarlet added.
Bianca kept attacking Sierra with her lightning fast strikes, she believed if she kept this up, she could win. Then, however, Sierra's aura began to glow.
Bianca landed what seemed like the finishing blow, but her opponent disappeared the moment her blade made contact.
Bianca whipped herself around to see Sierra right behind her. The tiger-faunus knocked away Bianca's sabers when she attacked. She then landed several devastating punches to Bianca's midsection as she tried in-vein to defend herself.
Bianca connected with a slash from her sabers, but once again, Sierra disappeared when it made contact. Before she knew it, a roundhouse kick connected to the arch of her back and shattered her aura and knocked her to the ground.
"That's it! Sierra Nahla is your 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament Champion!" Scarlet announced.
Sierra threw her hands in the air in celebration before falling to her knees as the combat stage lowered to the ground. She was soon swarmed by the remaining members of Team SLVR, her Sifu, and several of her classmates as they celebrated her victory.
Bianca pulled herself to a sitting position, her knees pulled to her chest. She let out a sigh as her shoulders slouched. She was disappointed in her loss, as anyone would be, but she didn't feel ashamed of it as she had of prior defeats.
"There's always next tournament," the voice of her partner called to her.
Bianca turned to see Cyrus standing next to her with his hand stretched out. She graciously accepted his gesture. Behind him was the rest of their teammates along with Team AYST and Professor Haze. Cyrus then threw his arm around Bianca in a side-hug, causing her to blush slightly.
"Hey Bianca," Sierra called out as she broke away from her teammates, friends, and Sifu. She extended her arm, "well fought."
Bianca turned to Sierra and gripped her arm in a forearm-handshake. "Well fought," she replied.
"It will be an honor to work with you one day," Sierra stated.
"Alright, would our eight finalists please make their way to centerstage for the awards ceremony, and we ask everyone else to please return to their seats." Scarlet announced.
Everyone did as Scarlet asked. The woman who had been overseeing the finalists then arrived on stage as three pedestals of varying height rose from the center of the stage. She directed the students where to stand in preparation for the ceremony. Sierra took her place on the tallest, followed by Bianca on the second, and Flynt Jr. on the third. The remaining five finalists; Alani, Yaara, Umber, Olivine, and Huo, stood in a line in front of the pedestals.
Scarlet David and Sage Ayana were on the stage soon after. The two of them began to speak.
"Thank you all for joining us for the 52nd Vytal Festival Tournament," Scarlet said. "We hope you enjoyed seeing these promising future huntsmen and huntresses battle it out for your viewing pleasure, along with bragging rights among the academies and kingdoms."
"Now, if you'd join us," Sage interjected, "we'd like to introduce the headmaster of Haven Academy, Professor Neptune Vasilias!"
"Professor Vasilias will be presenting the awards to our finalists," Scarlet added.
Neptune entered the arena, he wore his typical sharp all red suit with his blue hair slicked back in it's neat undercut. He had a bit of swagger in his walk. Just behind him were three individuals, tournament officials by the looks of them. One held an ornate tray with five colored ribbons, another carried three metals on a similar tray; Gold, Silver, and Bronze, the third person carried a trophy made of mahogany with a golden face in the shape of the tournament's logo.
Neptune made his way down the line of the five finalists in front of the pedestals, presenting each one with a ribbon; brown for Huo, purple for Olivine, pink for Umber, green for Yaara, and yellow for Alani. He pinned each of their ribbons on them before moving onto the last three finalists.
He placed the bronze metal around Flynt Jr.'s neck and then shook his hand. Next, he shook Bianca's hand as he presented her with the silver metal. Lastly, he presented Sierra with the gold metal and the trophy, before then giving her a congratulatory hug. As the victor hoisted her trophy in celebration, Bianca looked down at the silver metal suspended from her neck by a red ribbon. She smiled as she found it oddly appropriate.
Bianca looked back up towards Sierra, she was still holding up the trophy triumphantly. After a few moments however, her expression changed to one of bewilderment, and she began to look around.
"Do any of you hear that?" She asked.
Back in the stands, Alyssa's ears perked, and Yin began to look around, both hearing what Sierra had. Several other faunus reacted similarly. The sound slowly got louder and louder until it was unmistakable. Emergency sirens. Mistral was under attack.