Chapter Summary: As the first semester of a new year at Pharos stretches on, the freshman are put up against each other in duels to practice real-world fighting techniques. How will our characters balance their struggles with Semblance, aura, and school with this new arena to challenge?
Meanwhile, they push forth and forge new friendships, and slowly break out of the dregs of their prison.
Lily slowly started to shift towards awareness. The fuzz of the blanket rubbed against her cheek as she pulled her head up off the pillow, layers of sleep sloughing off of her like snowdrifts off the back of a bear come spring.
Her eyes fluttered open. The room was dark, a single beam of moonlight slipping in through the curtains and washing the room in a faint light. Lily's hand rubbed at her eye as she pulled herself up. From across the room she heard the slight scuff of blankets rolling and shifting, muttering rising up from among the folds.
Lily rose, padding softly over to the mound of blankets. Olive's breathing was quick and light, each breath scraping away at the inside of her lungs as she tossed and turned.
"Olive?" Lily spoke softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. A hand reached up, clutching and clawing, fingers twitching as sweat beaded upon Olive's brow, and gravel continued to drag around in her lungs.
"Olive." Lily said, this time a little more firm. The hand fell down, clutching the sheets in a white-knuckled grip. Olive's breathing was getting hoarser, coursing up out of her in violent puffs of air.
"Olive!" Lily shook Olive's arm, gripping against the desperation that coursed through the sleeping girl's form.
As Lily went to speak again, Olive sprung awake. She jolted up, eyes snapping open and hands clutching at her chest. "Just a dream just a dream just a dream" she chanted quietly, even as she struggled to draw in gulping lungfuls of air.
"Olive, are you okay?" Olive jerked her head to the side, staring wide-eyed at Lily before slowly folding towards her. Lily reached up and around Olive, pulling her into a hug as her breathing slowed.
"I had a dream. A dream where I–I hurt people. I lost control of my fire, and it just…" Olive trailed off, burying her face in the folds of cloth, hands clutching fistfuls of it. Pearly dew drops stained the fabric of Lily's shirt.
"It's okay now. Your okay." Lily rolled her head back. They sat like that for minutes, time slipping slowly away as silence overtook them and muffled the room.
Eventually, Olive spoke. "I'm just worried I'll hurt someone unintentionally. What if when we do sparring in class I lose control? What if I'm not paying attention while I'm practicing and I set fire to a building? What if–"
Lily cut her off. "You won't. The fact that you're worried about it shows how hard you're working to control it. To master the power within you." She pulled Olive up by the shoulders to meet her gaze.
"Besides, all the students here have their auras. Even if you do hit them, they'll be protected. They're stronger than us– than me, at least. So you don't have to worry about hurting them." Lily leaned forward, brushing her forehead against Olive's.
"Thanks, Lily. But don't discredit yourself! You've gotten way better." A tinge of pain and worry peaked through the words, but the core was still genuine. Lily's gaze slipped away, eyes wandering across the wall behind them.
"I'm just worried about the upcoming duels." The two girls fell into silence again, lying down beside each other. Lily stared up at the ceiling, and Olive faced towards her.
Worries plagued them, images of fire and pain dancing through their minds. They could not convince each other that everything would be fine; they could not convince themselves, either. But slowly, their thoughts melted away, leaving behind a shared melancholy. Through that closeness, they drifted off into a dreamless sleep, minds too addled to spark new terrors into being.
Lily sat on the bleachers, leg bouncing beneath the surface. In the sand pit below, Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina fought, throwing fists and mock weapons between them, aura slowly depleting.
Olive stood to the side, hand gripping the shaft of the spear she had selected. It was cool to the touch, still free of the heat that crept through the classroom. She wiped across her brow, beads of perspiration slipping forth again all too quickly. Velvet's aura shattered, and Professor Moss stepped forward to end the duel.
"Coco Adel wins. Good work to both of you. Now, next combatants – please step forward." He stepped back, ears twitching as he did so. Olive pulled herself forward, dropping back into a fighting stance once she reached the center of the ring.
Her opponent was a tall, orange-haired boar faunus that she didn't have time to learn much more about. They held a longsword, shifting between their feet as the two stared each other down. Professor Moss's hand came down, signaling the start of the match.
The faunus sprung into action, leaping towards Olive. Time seemed to slow as Olive pulled her spear up. She pushed forward, muscles drawn taut as they threw the weight forward in a jab.
Her opponent ducked, hair flattened by the wind of the metal passing overhead, and slashed at Olive's side. Dodge, she thought. But her legs were a second too slow, and the sword glanced off the corner of her aura as Olive shimmied away, leaping back out of reach.
She brought the spear back, gripping it in two hands. Dancing forward, she threw a whirlwind of jabs out. Most were dodged, a few deflected, and even fewer found their mark. Then, the faunus shifted backwards, away from her strikes. Their blade slashed out a wide arc, forcefully dissuading approach.
They pulled up their hand, and their aura flashed green. Olive ran forward, but her movements felt sluggish, air whipping around her as she struggled forward. Grinning, her opponent dashed back, lancing sword strikes all across Olive's form. Her sword felt sluggish, heavy.
Her mind whirled miles ahead, but her body couldn't catch up as it was pushed back by the winds. She could feel her aura breaking, as she slowly lost focus and it flickered. She pulled back, using the staff of her spear to block two questioning blows.
I can't use it. She felt the wind tighten as her opponent flung towards her again. I can't risk it. The clang of metal rung out as she deflected one, two, hit hit hit, three blows. Her sides ached, her left arm felt weak. I refuse.
The sword flashed towards her again, edge snapping up towards her face, and she felt her aura spark. Fear set in, and the winds picked up around her. The sword struck as her opponent was blown back, air coming to her command.
Rise, and she rose, feet lifting an inch off the ground as she began to summon a storm. "And that's the match! Ms. Spring's aura has fallen below critical levels." Professor Moss stepped forward, putting himself between them as Olive looked to the display screen.
Her aura was a hairsbreadth below the bar, flickering an ugly, angry red at her. The winds died and she slumped to the ground, gasping as lead set into her limbs, making them impossible to lift. Her opponent stood, and offered their hand. Olive returned to the stands feeling drained, and unsure.
Lily had no time to consider what Olive had done, much less what Olive could do. Her own match loomed. Lily lifted her sword and shield, eyes meeting those of her opponent. He held a warhammer, thick metal head positioned low to the ground, and was grinning nervously against a backdrop of spiky black hair. If it was any solace, the rules of these duels meant he wouldn't have unlocked his Semblance yet.
Professor Moss stepped back, and the match begun. The boy rushed at her, hammer dragging behind him. She steadied herself, sword singing to his side and glancing off his aura.
She sidestepped a strike, and started driving into him. Flashes of steel bounced of hammer and aura, as she dodged the slow retaliatory strikes. She drove the point by his shoulder, and the hammer came again.
Shield up, she thought. Their was a sharp crush of metal pounding in metal. Pain, sharp, jagged, sprawling, stars, spinning. Lily crawled to her knees, just in time to see the hammer flashing for her again.
The shield, protect something. She dragged the metal slab up, heavy, heavy, heavy. Her arm buckled, and the metal slammed into her chest as she flew back. She saw the metal crumpled into her arm, spikes digging at her flesh. Her sword was gone, discarded among the sands.
The hammer came again. Gavel striking stone once, twice. Lily collapsed, concentration fading as her aura broke in a glittering shower around her. Her hands fumbled at the straps on the shield as Professor Moss stepped forward. "Match over, Lily are you okay?"
She nodded, finally unclasping the metal. It slid off slowly, caved in metal grinding against her arm leaving trails of white with hints of red trying to claw their way up. She winced and clenched her teeth, bleary eyes slipping up towards the stands. They washed over snickering faces until settling on Olive.
Olive leaped down the steps, landing next to Lily and pulling her up. "Are you okay?" Concern and caring flowing to her, Lily smiled.
"Yeah." Then, under her breadth, "No. My entire torso hurts. Help me to the stands?" Olive nodded, pulling Lily along with her. They reached their seats and Olive started inspecting her, hands running over as she checked for blood or bruises.
Violet watched from below, a slight scowl adorning her features. That fourth hit was unnecessary. She didn't think the boy had meant any harm; nerves had been running high all day among the first years, after all. But Moss could have stepped in.
She heard her name called, and had to take the stage. She pulled a hammer forth from the rack, flipping it over to inspect the edges. Hers was smaller, held in one hand as it dangled past her belt. Across from her stood a girl in bubblegum pink, sporting a trident.
"Did you see her? That was so pathetic." Violet tensed, eyes narrowing to slits. She didn't know Lily well, but still she hazarded that she knew Lily better than this girl. The first years were, of course, quick to discredit those they disliked or didn't know, without taking much time to peer beneath the surface.
How can we judge our classmates at all, when we've only been here a few months? Violet thought to herself. It felt cold to look at someone and judge everything about them from such a small moment. If Cyll and Char had done that to me, I wouldn't be here today.
"She fought fine. The early part of the match was in her favor." Violet flipped the hammer up, settling into a modified boxer's stance.
The girl let out a laugh. "Really? She got demolished! It was kinda sad, honestly."
"Alright, enough talking! Begin." Professor Moss interjected, and Violet happily obliged. Her aura flared to life, settling around her as she breathed in deep.
Her opponent advanced slowly, spiraling slowly closer. Violet released her breath, and began to swing her hammer. The pull appeared, coiling and deepening until it became unbearable. Her opponent was just ten feet away now, still circling.
Forward. She flashed towards miss bubblegum, hammer snapping up and in. Violet spiked it forward to pink-gone-head. Air whistled through her ears as she leaned back, away from the retaliating trident, as her hammer exploded just millimeters above bubblegum's head.
Sound crackled from it, and bubblegum staggered sideways as the air was sucked back into the hole she had created. One one her fist flashed into stomach. The trident swept towards her, and she danced away.
Violet let a grimace settle onto her face, as she threw mock punches out towards her foe. She dashed forward, low to the ground. The trident swept towards her again. Down. The hammer hit the ground, and Violet braced herself on it, before exploding out of her crouch and punching up into bubblegum's stomach.
"Arhg" came a strangled sound as the air left bubblegum's form and she fell back, trident slipping from her grip. Hammer, punch, hammer Violet swung at her, pounding until the pink shield dissolved under her blows.
"Hmph." Violet blew hair from her eyes. "Not so tough yourself, eh?" She returned to her seat, staring daggers at those who had snickered as she passed. Most seemed oblivious, focusing more on her power than the words they had littered in the dark. She couldn't lie; it felt good to win a fight, and more so with someone like that. But it couldn't make her feel strong, and it didn't make her feel right.
That weekend was spent dancing through a training hall. Time fell away, as sweat and focus blended minutes into minutes, hours into hours, seconds stretching into themselves and moments blurring.
Lily and Olive slipped through form after form, switching between weapons until their arms grew sore. They burned through aura like matchsticks, Lily practicing pulling out layer upon layer until nothing was left.
Olive took the time to explore the new avenue her Semblance had opened. Wind whistled through the hall, picking up sand and dust as she became lightning in the storm. Sometimes, they had partners. Violet practiced unarmed combat with them, and Dr. Faultou wove new strands of knowledge between their blades.
The next week was much the same. Every afternoon, as soon as classes finished, they went to study. Sometimes the location changed, sometimes the content; one day was spent in the gardens, another reading about sword-styles in the library, another on a patch of open roof. But mostly, they went to the training hall.
They began to find a sort of solidarity with those who trained near them. Each of them danced through their own rhythms, but they danced in the same space. Aura and blades whirled in constant motion, and the nameless faces grew familiar as the days stretched on into weeks.
Lily began to find her own rhythm. She focused her attention on the hammer and the sword and the shield. As she honed her chosen weapons, she grew more and more accustomed to coating them in aura, taking control of the flow of the stream. Soon, she took that stream and her understanding of aura began to slip quietly from concentration into nature.
Olive trimmed away weapon after weapon until all she was left with was the pike. It gave her the ability to dance, using her wind to supplement speed and her fire to supplement power. Of course, fire still came haltingly; pieces rose forth, but she could rarely bring herself to risk the red-orange lick of flame with the concentration it required.
No matter how many hours they spent training, each duel was still grueling. Each student only had to face one per week, but that one duel was a mountain. Those few minutes were enough to burn through days worth of energy. Violet's winning streak was lost in her second duel, but her skills kept her high in the minds of their classmates.
Soon, the collection of such mental pictures led to a loose, unofficial hierarchy; each match helped to develop their complex web of relations and push it farther forward. Olive and Lily were both near the bottom – Lily's first victory came in her third week, right before the class took a one-week break. Olive, however, lost both her matches – once to Violet, and once to Coco Adel, widely considered the best first-year in the arena (and out of it, but that part wasn't quite as important to Olive).
Two weeks later, they returned to the dueling arena. The class had taken a week off for exams. But now, they returned. I return, Olive thought. It was a self-important thought, she knew, but everyone needs a few of those once in a while, and Olive had few to none. Besides, she had to make some form of impact this week. Her skillset was growing ever more refined, but each match felt like an uphill battle with so little control over her Semblance.
Matches began playing out down below, students throwing themselves into the ring until their auras were spent, flickering and cracking like half-shattered vases left with spiderwebs spreading across their face. Olive was still, trying to stay calm, trying to stay prepared.
Sound was difficult; clashing metal and swirling sand blurred everything else away, but Olive still heard her name through the haze. Picking down through the stands, she reached the locker and drew out a pike.
This one felt good. The weight was perfect, and the staff wasn't too thick. Some of them had an extra half-inch at the end; this one didn't. She tested it, swinging it to plop quietly into her hand and sliding into a waiting stance.
Soon, Olive stepped forward. Across from her stood Velvet Scarlatina. Uses a wide range of weapons with high levels of proficiency, also excels at hand to hand combat. Olive settled into her stance, pike pointing out.
No singular style, Semblance unknown. She breathed in, and let her aura flicker up to blanket her form. At this point, the thoughts were a ritual. It hadn't done her much good against her previous opponents, but Olive wasn't going to stop just because of that. Today, Velvet held a pike.
"Ready… begin!" Professor Moss's voice rang out, but neither of them moved. Velvet shifted on her feet, adjusting her stance without advancing. Olive shifted her foot forward. Velvet's ears twitched. Olive's past defeats flashed through her mind, silent tension building as she dug her feet into the sand. She dropped down, tensing to prepare to move. Velvet's only motion was to bring the tip of her pike up slightly.
Olive shifted forward into a run, leading with her pike. Ground pounded out below her, passing in the wind as Velvet's form approached. She pierced forward, but the weapon was deflected to the side. The thud of wood on wood sent a shudder up Olive's arm, as she used the staff of her own weapon to deflect a riposte.
Olive cut, Velvet danced back, Velvet cut, Olive parried. With every motion, Velvet seemed to imitate Olive's attacks, and so their blades danced always just out of reach. Olive could feel herself slowing ever so slightly, as each impact robbed a little of her stamina.
I have to do this. Olive breathed in and held it, gathering her aura. She felt a slight tingle set in, sparking in lines up her arm and gathering wind to push her faster, harder. She sunk her head down, eyes narrowed, and bared her teeth.
Sucking in air through the gaps, she felt the tug of a mighty gale form behind her, a tailwind blowing her onward. Thrust, cut, parry, thrust. She allowed herself to increase the pace of the dance, sneaking in between the bars Velvet had put up.
She still felt the sting of the pike as Velvet's burred into her skin; her speed felt sloppy, and the wind did little to push Velvet back. It's not enough. Olive felt the tug at the back of her mind, and finally gave in. I can do this. I have to. The words repeated as air slipped from her lungs in a steady stream. She let flames lick over her hands, coating the steel of her weapon and sputtering hungrily at the edges.
Velvet fell back one step, two, three as the winds and flames picked up, spreading until they blanketed Olive's arms. Olive's staff was starting to burn, but so too could Velvet's. With a final yell, she let her blade sweep in a wide arc, smashing into the pike at breaking clean through it, as the ashen marks gave way to the pressure.
The tip caught Velvet even as she tried to dance back, and her aura shattered. Olive's pike crumbled to ashes, the metal spike thudding softly into the sand. Slowly, slowly, the wind and flames died down, and both sat, breathing heavily.
"Olive Spring wins! Excellent fight by both of you, but especially Olive – that was a creative way to use your fire." Professor Moss spoke, and the two girls left the ring. Olive felt her heart racing, stress and adrenaline colliding now that the bout was over.
"Olive that was amazing!" Lily exclaimed. "The way you controlled and used your Semblance was– was– it was incredible!"
"Thanks, Lily." Olive leaned against the wall in the hallway. "I feel exhausted, though, to be honest. I really hope I didn't accidentally hurt her too bad."
"Who, me?" Came a voice from behind them. Lily jumped, spinning around to face Velvet Scarlatina. She was leaning against the door frame, wincing slightly as she stood up and strode towards them. "Not the most painless fight ever, but I feel pretty much fine."
"I'm sorry." Olive said sheepishly.
"No, no – it was a duel, after all. I'm Velvet, by the way. Would it be alright if I walked with you for a while?" Lily and Olive nodded, and the three fell into step as they padded out towards the gardens. With little to tie them together except the recent match, their introductions quickly gave way to a post-match dissection.
Olive gazed up at the sky for a moment, before switching her gaze to Velvet. "The way you fight is incredible – the adaptations that you made to my style, and the way you seemed to play off of it was honestly very difficult to deal with."
Velvet shrugged. "It's mostly my Semblance – Photographic Memory. It allows me to use and copy other people's techniques once I see them."
"Still, the level of physicality and control that those changes require is impressive. The mental clarity to switch between styles and forms in the rush of battle." Lily gestured aimlessly into the air as a continuation as Olive nodded along with her.
Velvet blushed slightly. "Well, thank you." After a moment, she turned to Olive. "Your Semblance is amazing! And the way you use it to control areas and speed and to add impact – basically minimizing aura use while maximizing the impact it has."
"Thanks; really, I'm just worried about using it at all." Olive started rubbing her fingers over her knuckles with a slight chuckle.
They went on in this manner as they snaked through the gardens, resting on benches and against trees. The three turned from skills to weaknesses to favored weapons and beyond, and soon the sun was slipping down below the horizon, casting the gardens in a purple-orange haze.
As the light began to fade, the three forms allowed a rare silence to stretch out between them. The coming evening had driven most students to dinner, leaving a lazy haze spread out across the gardens. Murmurs drifted through the air as the breeze stirred flowers and lent a softness to it all.
Eventually, the silence stretched on just a little too long, and Velvet stirred. "Well, I should probably be getting back. It was wonderful talking to you two!"
"Would you like to train with us tomorrow?" Lily burst forth, rocking back slightly as she said it.
"Sure, I'd love to." With that affirmation, Velvet faded back into the buildings, leaving Lily and Olive alone, but elated.
The next few weeks were a relentless barrage of activity after activity. As finals approached, Lily and Olive found themselves spending more and more time on their coursework and studies. As these periods stretched later into the evening, so too did training.
Exercises, sparring, aura control work – each piece added a small weight that bundled up and up, leaving them hunched over desks or letting steel clang on steel later and later into the nights. Sometimes, they allowed themselves a brief respite. Sometimes, they spent time watching a movie (which was somewhat of a novelty for them both) wrapped in blankets in bed. Sometimes, they borrowed board games from the library and played with Velvet or Violet. Sometimes, they just sat, out in the night watching stars spin across the sky or curled up onto chairs blanketed in darkness or listening to their friends' chatter stir through the halls.
But most days, they collapsed into bed covered in aches and bruises, muscles searing after hours of training. Most days, they fell asleep quickly, to the deep hunger of a body that required energy, rejuvenation, or at least some small measure of rest.
It was painful, but no pain could match the constant ache of that place. It was hard, but nothing could match the difficulty of those things. It required diligence, but no action required the diligence born of fear of those people.
Perhaps because of this, they found themselves slowly outpacing their classmates. Not quickly, of course, but a few more strides every day allowed them to close the gap born of knowledge and time. Every week, that gulf got a little smaller, and soon finals were upon them.
That week laid itself out in a web of stress, cracks spidering out and threatening to engulf Olive and Lily. They didn't have many practical exams, leading to hour after hour and day after day of writing. It was refreshing to step away and duel. To step away and burn their minds into the fever and focus of it, to sway and dance with such single-minded intensity.
At the end, they sat exhausted. Mentally drained away despite their physical energy, the first days of break stretched lazily on by. The snows settled around them, herding them to the warmth of blankets and tea.
Most people had gone home for the break. In a sense, so too had Lily and Olive, for Pharos was as much a home as anywhere to them now. Soon, though, they got their grades back, which melted away the slight buzz at the back of their minds. The lingering stress born of waiting for something to happen. They hadn't done perfectly; both had a few B's here or there. But the collection of final grades was good.
They had a meeting with the headmaster, and given congratulations for their work. "Good work!" and "Keep going strong." echoed after them into the break, where they took the words to heart. With the teachings they had gained, their training was twice as fruitful, and so they pushed on into the new year.
Author's Notes: Welcome back, everyone, hopefully you enjoyed the latest chapter of Spring's Flower. This chapter, I experimented with a method of time passage, by weaving in basically written "training arcs" and the like. Next chapter will be similar in content to this one, but I'm going to again experiment with a different style, and then use whichever works best to explore the next few years at Pharos.
As always, please leave any feedback that you might have, and have a wonderful day!