The sun had barely begun to rise over the world of Remnant when Adam forcefully woke Velvet from her not-so-peaceful slumber. She awoke to see him standing over her with a set of tattered training clothes and the same grimace that he always wore. His mask was already over his face, so she could not see the likely annoyed gaze that Adam was giving Velvet. The only method he chose to awaken her was a heavy-footed nudge in her ribs.
"Get up." He said curtly, throwing the set of clothes onto Velvet's stomach.
"What are these?" She asked groggily, maneuvering the clothes in her hands to get a better look of them in the near pitch-black room. She was distracted by an annoyed sigh from Adam, before he offered his usual form of a cutting reply.
"Just get dressed. By the gods, you talk too much. How hard is it to simply follow directions and stay silent while doing it? Not everything has to have an answer. Just do what you're told."
With that, he stepped out of the tent that had been assigned to Velvet just before High Leader Khan made her escape in the dark of night. She changed out of her sleepwear (also assigned to her. It was nothing more than a tattered tank top and a pair of worn black shorts) and into the clothes that had been violently thrown at her by Adam. The condition of the training clothes were in no better shape than that of the sleep wear. It was but a white, loose-fitting vest that had the emblem of the White Fang over the back, much like the ones that she saw members around the camp wearing. The only difference between theirs and the one that she wore now was the condition.
The vest had seen better days. There were several holes in it, the most noticeable one being a gash that was over the area that was supposed to cover the lower abdomen of the wearer's body. The color showed that whoever had previously worn it had done a considerable amount of bleeding during their internment in the cloth. Velvet tried not to think about the possibility that whoever had worn the vest had suffered the fate that had threatened her for however long she had been outside the walls of Valkryite (so much time had passed, Velvet had forgotten just how much of it had indeed gone by.).
After slipping it over the tank that she already wore, she quickly inspected the pants given to her by Adam. The pants were common sweatpants, in about as good of condition as the vest. The knees were faded and almost nonexistent. Several stains littered the fabric, and, once again, Velvet tried not to concern herself of their origin. She slipped them on, accidentally putting one of her feet through the kneeholes on her first attempt. She corrected herself, then subsequently rushed outside of the tent where Adam was waiting with his arms crossed.
"It took you long enough. I don't have time to wait on you. There are other, more important matters that require my attention, and your sluggish way of moving about only keeps from doing that."
Velvet felt the urge to apologize, but refrained. She had the slightest notion that apologizing would only escalate the small disagreement into a full-blown confrontation; one that she could not hope to win. In lieu of such action, she began to follow Adam when he shook his head and walked off into the woods. As their previous encounter, she had not been previously informed of where she was going, and was simply expected to follow.
Velvet stroked her hands across the trees that they came across absentmindedly, trying to find other thoughts that would take her mind off of what her current predicament had become. The efforts were in vain, however, as she felt herself become lifted off the ground and violently slammed onto her back. She began to rise in a daze when Adam's sword blade inches from her throat.
"To become detached in the battlefield can only result. Do not lose focus from what you are trying to do. Losing sight of your goals and surroundings make you blinded, and I have yet to go up against an enemy that would hesitate to kill someone who is blinded in any way. I wouldn't, and if you waste my time by doing that again, I may just be eager to prove that about myself." He sheathed his blade, then began to walk away without helping Velvet to her feet. Knowing that staying still would be a disastrous move, she rose up and began to follow Adam once more. Her back was sore, but she dared not complain. Velvet knew that it would only be more difficult on her should she make it more difficult (or even inconvenient) for those who she was charged under.
They soon came to a stop in a large clearing, riddled with stumps of trees gone by. It was apparent to Velvet that the training grounds were hastily constructed by a group that was more concerned about taking over the world than preparing a proper area for their members to hone their skills. She couldn't help but grunt in a condescending manner, just loud enough so that Adam could turn back and glare. He said nothing however, only walking onto the clearing. Velvet followed, immediately feeling a third presence behind her. She turned on her heels, where she saw a woman dressed in the common White Fang garbs, almost identical to Velvet (with the exception of quality). Velvet's eyes were immediately lowered to the stranger's feet, and, more specifically, her black, worn ballerina shoes.
"How do you like my shoes, kid?" She asked with the smallest bit of sarcasm. Velvet stuttered to formulate an answer, making the woman lower her head for a small chuckle. "I'll take that as a yes." To Velvet's surprise, she extended her hand towards Velvet for a handshake. As a result, Velvet couldn't help but eye her hand warily for any traps.
She removed her Grimm mask, revealing a face that managed to glow in spite of the darkness around them. Her hair and skin were the color of honey, and they seemed just as soothed and warming as any such delicacy. Her hair was cut to the nape of her neck, a strawberry blonde color. A small scar, hardly visible, ran from the bottom of her right eye and her cheek. A nose ring glittered in the moonlight, to Velvet's surprise.
The first impression that Velvet had of this new stranger, aside from her strange choice of footwear, was her bubbly, all-around enjoyable vibes and the sharp contrast that it had with everyone that she had since associated with in her short time in the White Fang. It caught her off-guard, but she said nothing. The stranger put her hands on her hips and cocked her head in the direction of Adam and Velvet, smirking a small confident smile.
"Ah, don't worry. I'm not like Ol' Sourpuss over there." She joked, throwing a thumb towards Adam. He grunted and looked away. "Being in here hasn't taken the fun out of me. Name's Kandase. Kandase Bellerini." She informed Velvet, her smile growing as she took Velvet's hand in her. "Now, I know what you're thinking," She continued, morphing her voice to one of a more high-pitched nature. "'Wait. That doesn't sound like any kind of color!' Well, you're right. My family…well, let's just say that during the Great War, they weren't exactly on the right side through all of it. They listened to the wrong people and, as a result, they almost got burned pretty badly for it. I believe it was my…" Kandase paused for a second as she looked up, trying to recollect what she was trying to say. Finally, she looked back at Velvet and snapped her fingers. "Grandparents. Slick bastards. They fought like crazy, trying to destroy individualism and what-not like the moronic tools they were, and always did what they were told. They didn't wise up until the very end. Nothing says 'unwinnable war' like seeing all of your friends die before your very eyes like they did. That was when they decided to sneak out. From what they said, they posed as refugees. In those days, there was no CCT, so there was no way for anyone to ID who the enemy was if they weren't actively causing trouble. So…yeah. That's the gist of it. Fighting Big Brother just…runs in the family. That includes not sticking to traditions that they back. Instead, they named me after my grandmother. So…I suppose you could say that it's our own form of the name tradition. " She said with a laugh. She looked towards Adam. "It's alright. I can take her from here. You go do what you have to do."
Without so much as a word, Adam walked off into the woods from where he came. Velvet and Kandase both watched intently until he disappeared from both of their views.
"You know," Kandase began, attracting Velvet's attention. "You're not anything like Ol' Sourpuss said you'd be. What's up with that?" She said.
Velvet felt a rush of annoyance as she came to the realization that Adam had indeed gained a negative first impression of her, he also now struck her as the person who hung onto first impressions for dear life. She couldn't stand obstinate people like that.
"I don't know. Maybe he was quick to judge." She said, perfectly aware of how risky that comment was. For all Velvet knew, that could be the tipping point for a previously kind and amicable girl to pull a knife or gun and kill her.
"Yeah." She said, alternating weight on the balls of her feet and her heels. She looked to the ground then grasped one of her arms with the opposite hand. "It wouldn't be the first time. Adam can be a stubborn ass like that. You just learn to roll with the punches on stuff like that. You'll find out soon enough that there are a lot of people around here like that. The news channels aren't completely wrong about that aspect about us." All of a sudden, Kandase jerked her head up, wide-eyed. She startled Velvet to the point of involuntarily jumping back a little. Kandase laughed and snorted into the palm of her hand at the sight, immediately apologizing. "It's just that I totally forgot why we were out here in the first place. Okay, Okay, Okay." She said, clapping her hands with each "Okay". She stopped rocking on her feet.
"That's quite alright. We all forget things sometimes." Velvet said, hoping she could assuage any feelings of self-consciousness that may have plagued Kandase. She curved her mouth in a smile and laughed a small one that someone with Velvet's ears would not have been to pick up on. Velvet reciprocated the gesture, and Kandase beckoned Velvet to move to an area between the stumps. The two turned to face each other. Kandase bowed, giving Velvet to do the same.
"Rule number one of fighting in combat; if it won't kill you to show kindness to your opponent, then for gods' sake, do it. Just because you're in a tournament doesn't mean that you have to be an ass about it. In a life-or-death situation, however—"Kandase threw an elbow in Velvet's direction, causing her to almost lose her balance and slam her face into a stump near her. She quickly regained her footing by performing a handstand on said stump and performing a backflip, making sure that she wouldn't land with her back to Kandase. "All bets are off. You should try to kill your opponent as hard as they're trying to kill you. In other words, stun when they're trying to stun you, and don't hold back when they want nothing more than to put a bullet through your pretty teeth. I've lived a short time, and I've seen too many polite people on the battlefield. The only ones who should be polite are the dead ones who try to stay out of their comrade's ways. Got it? I know it's a little morbid, but it's the truth of a life like this."
Velvet nodded, now fully aware of the gravity of her training. She now understood that, while Kandase would be kind off the training grounds, there was no time to be silly. She comprehended that there was one lesson she was to be taught, one that should have been taught to her months ago: how to not only survive against trained killers, but how to effectively triumph over them.
"Ok. Show me your stance." Velvet did as she asked, slightly spreading her legs and bending her knees. Her hands were balled into fists, arms bent as she placed her hands in a defensive position over her face. She slowly slid her right foot forward, as she was taught at Signal. Unlike many of the Huntresses-in-training there, she excelled in Hand-to-Hand combat and could hold her own for a short time against opponents. However, she couldn't help but feel a tad bit diffident at the way that Kandase was looking over her stance.
She placed her hand under her chin and cocked her head, as if she was looking for any faults. After a few more seconds like this, Kandase's eyes met Velvet's, nodding approval. "You're doing everything right. Low to the ground, right foot forward, fists over your face to make sure that you don't get decked. It all looks good."
"But?" Velvet asked, growing over the past month (she assumed) to distrust any aplomb or anything good in general. She had come to believe that anything good would not stay so for long. Anything that could go wrong would go wrong.
This only elicited a look of sass from Kandase. She laughed and straightened her head, placing her hands on her hips instead. "Why does anything have to be wrong, Velvet. Learn to take a compliment."
"I'm sorry. It's been…a while since anything good has happened to me. I suppose I'm just getting into the swing of feeling like that again."
Kandase placed her hand up and closed her eyes. She pursed her lips, smiling again. "Preaching to the choir, hon. No one ever comes into the White Fang with a resume from some country club in Atlas. We've all been through hell."
Velvet felt tempted to further inquire about Kandase's own story, but she thought against it. She felt it rude to ask such a personal question to someone she had not even known for a full day. Biting her tongue, she allowed Kandase to continue with her training exercise. "Just because something is good, or even great, doesn't mean that you're allowed to stay there. Our enemies are getting stronger every day, figuring out new, fun little ways that they can kill us. If we become lulled into complacency, then we just make it easier for them, and that's no fun for anyone. Alright, so let's say that I have a gun." To Velvet's shock, she pulled out an actual pistol. Velvet jumped back as Kandase pointed it in Velvet's direction. "Let's say that I'm one of those Atlesian pricks. I'm having a jolly old time killing some 'terrorists', having a power trip, and, in the middle of the fun, I run into you. Obviously, I want another notch on my belt, so I set you in my sights. What do you do?" She asked. Velvet looked at the ground, trying to recall she had done the previous times that someone had tried to shoot her. Finally, she formulated the only response that she could think of.
"I would use my Semblance to disarm him, then make sure that he posed no further threat to me." Her response caused Kandase to quickly bow her head, nodding in the slightest.
"Okay. Try it then." She said, pulling her index finger up on her free hand and curling it towards herself.
Velvet nodded as well and raised a Hard-Light copy of her father's weaponry. She threw the blade as a javelin towards Kandase, then raised the shield to protect her vitals and head. Not knowing whether the gun was loaded or not, she would not take the risk of dying during a training exercise or of placing too much trust in a stranger. Velvet heard Kandase chuckle, easily sidestepping the javelin. It sailed past her, shattering into nothing against a far-off tree.
Realizing that she was nearly depleted of options as a result of her foolhardy attack, Velvet impulsively threw her shield towards Kandase, forgetting for a split second that it could be a fatal move. Once again, Kandase sidestepped the assault with ease. She had yet to squeeze off a shot, and Velvet was beginning to wonder whether or not the weapon was even loaded. Regardless, she summoned a copy of a Mace, swinging it in a slightly reckless manner. Being but a few inches between the two of them, Velvet realized far too late that she had left herself vulnerable to an attack. Deep down, she knew that Kandase knew too.
Kandase's expression went grim then. With no further hesitation, she squinted one of her eyes near closed, then adjusted the barrel of her gun. A small smirk became evident on her face, and Velvet knew as much as she did that she had won.
Oh hell. Velvet thought with a grimace about her. Kandase pulled the trigger, and the bullet whizzed across Velvet's shoulder, close enough that the heat of the bullet sent her nerves there into a frenzy. She looked over her shoulder to see the extent of her injury, taking her eyes off of Kandase. For this, she was repaid with a sharp pain to her temple and a bright flash across her vision. Velvet fell to the ground, taking a moment to regain her bearings. Once she was fully coherent, she caught sight of Kandase's hand reaching down to help her back up. Velvet met her gaze, and was unsurprised by the pursing of Kandase's lips and the subsequent breath of air that passed through them.
"That was gutsy. I'd say 'ballsy' but…" She quickly gestured down to Velvet's midsection then giggled a small bit before sighing and then returning to a more stern expression. "Anyways…it was stupid. If we were shooting to kill, you wouldn't have even known how screwed you were from the beginning until you had a piece of Dust between your eyes." Velvet took her hand and felt herself lifted up to her feet. "The raw talent is there, yes, and you're damn lucky that you have one of the best fighters in the Four Kingdoms to grab a chisel and help chip away until you're one of the best as well. Before that, we have to work out a few things. First thing I gotta say is, what the hell were you thinking throwing your shield at me? Other than your reckless charge towards someone with a damn gun. Doesn't matter what good your shield would have done. This thing probably could've taken it out before you would've been halfway over. Even then, what little protection it gave you was pissed away when you threw it. So…yeah. Gutsy, but stupid. Those two are a bad combo on the battlefield. Those two are ones that'll get you dead, and that's no fun for anyone, aside from the people who want you dead, I suppose. Let's try to see if we can shape up your tactics, alright?" She said, moving her gun up to Velvet once more, handing it to her. Velvet uneasily took it, unsure of what was to happen.
"First, take note of who your opponent is. If it's a dude, try to hit them where it hurts first. I know, not the most 'noble' type of fighting, but if they're pointing a loaded gun at an unarmed person looking to kill, then they kind of have that coming to them. If they manage to be more…resilient in that particular area, then you do this." Kandase had been pacing around Velvet, twirling her hand when she felt that such words needed added emphasis for effect. This was why it caught her off guard when she violently clutched Velvet's wrist, twisting her arm until she was in so much pain that she was forced to let go of the pistol, letting it clatter to the ground. Kandase raised her free hand and was primed to send it down over Velvet's elbow in a chopping motion. Velvet winced in what she thought would be a quick and extremely painful injury inflicted upon her. After a time, she opened her eyes to see Kandase looking down at her. It wasn't until then that Velvet realized she had been brought to her knees.
"Easy. I'm not gonna break your arm in two. I'm glad you recognize the technique, though. Just goes to show me that you haven't totally wasted all those years in a combat school with the prim and proper of fighting. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do, even if you don't come out of it feeling so hot. At least it means that you're gonna be the one who comes out of it at all. Savvy?" She said. Velvet nodded as Kandase released her from her grip, and helped her up to her feet once more. "Good. Now, let's see how you fare in hand-to-hand, eh?" Velvet replied in the affirmative, bringing a smile to her handler's face. It now became apparent to Velvet that fighting was the one thing that truly made Kandase happy. She had never met someone like that who had lived long to tell the tale.
Kandase wasted no time in initiating the sparring match. She swung a right hook, which Velvet awkwardly avoided, nearly falling as she did so. She was unable to get into a proper fighting stance, and was disoriented as a result. "The enemy isn't going to wait for you to be ready to fight," Kandase said, as if being able to read her mind. "They're going to want every advantage that they can get, and if they see an opportunity to get the jump on you, you bet your ass they'll take it."
She swung once more at Velvet with the opposite hand, Velvet used the palm of her hand to disrupt the flow of the fist. She used this as a chance to run her own fist into the abdomen of Kandase. It connected, and was met with a large plating of metal. Velvet's hand stung, and she felt a wave of confusion flow through her.
"Plate of metal had to be put over my stomach when I was 14. I was out dancing, funny how I fell for that, and I tripped over a log. I fell stomach-first and landed on an Aura-Piercing Land Mine left over from the Great War. A gut-full of shrapnel and a lot of blood loss later, doctors stitched me up as best as they could. So much of my abdomen was torn to shreds, there was nothing to replace. Organs, easy donations. No graft could put that back together. Just a little FYI." Kandase said, not sounding short of breath at all. It shocked Velvet, but she was determined to not let her show those emotions.
Kandase raised her knee to Velvet's stomach, where it connected. Velvet winced and fell backwards, the nape of her neck hitting a stump. Had she not activated her Aura previously, she certainly would have suffered a concussion and possibly died. Otherwise, she was able to roll back onto her feet, crossing her arms in a 'T' in front of her to take the brunt of a drop-kick that Kandase delivered upon her, hoping to catch her off-guard once more. It failed, and Velvet pushed her feet off of her forearms, the only cost of such an action being forced back to where she had just advanced from. Kandase did not relent, running towards Velvet again as soon as she was on her feet. She swung her leg towards Velvet's head, giving Velvet enough time to analyze the threat and push it away, momentarily knocking Kandase off-balance. Velvet advanced, clasping her hands together to swing them towards Kandase. She raised her head, caught sight of this, then grabbed both of Velvet's wrists. She swung her up, in the air, and flung her over onto her back. Velvet regained her footing, seeing Kandase too late for her to react against the impending assault. She was given a flurry of punches to her chest and face, sending her flying back, the recession only halted by a set of nearby stumps that Velvet violently found herself being thrust into.
She felt a sharp pain, but ignored it. Velvet charged at an expectant Kandase once more. She jumped into the air and swung her leg, connecting against her target's neck. She was pushed back, and Velvet used her momentum to perform a somersault just inches from Kandase, catching her chin with her toes as she performed the flip. When she was righted once more, Velvet saw Kandase rise from the previous assault once more to come sprint at Velvet again. She powered up an attack in the air with a closed fist, then thrust it down towards Velvet. The attack was narrowly avoided, and Velvet watched with simultaneous awe and fear as Kandase's closed fist left a small crater in its wake.
The smile she saw on Kandase's face equally terrified her, but her own adrenaline kept her from letting such emotions get the best of her. Velvet, waiting for Kandase to come within striking distance, threw a punch towards her face. Kandase avoided it once more, shoving Velvet to the ground. Quickly turning to her back, Velvet saw Kandase attempt to deliver another one of her punches while she was down. Velvet awaited the moment when Kandase's fist was close to her, then she clutched the speeding fist. She pushed it away with almost all of her remaining strength, and simultaneously kicked Kandase off of her. Kandase was sent flying over and landed someplace that Velvet did not see. She rose to her feet once more, turning to face her opponent.
Kandase swiftly rose to her feet and charged Velvet as she had done so many times before. She attempted to mimic an earlier attack of Velvet's, closing her own fists as she had done before. Velvet backed away, watching as Kandase struggled to keep herself on her feet. She spat a small bit of saliva out of her mouth, then wiped the edge of her mouth with her thumb. Without any quips or some kind of joke, she ran at her once more. Kandase swung at Velvet, which she ducked away to avoid.
Velvet realized all too late that this was a trap in which had ensared herself. The first indication of such was the slamming of Kandase's knee into the bridge of Velvet's nose, knocking her back into two stumps placed near each other. One of the rooted tree remnants dug into the small of Velvet's back while the other went just several inches higher into the base of her neck.
She found it difficult to rise up once more after that assault, and was unsure if she would be able to fight further. Velvet got onto her hands and knees, her eyes facing the ground. It was there, under the light of the rising sun, she was able to watch herself cough a small pool of her own blood underneath her head onto the ground. In what she later saw as reckless, she rose up once more, her pride getting in the way of reason. Velvet was sore in more places than she cared to acknowledge, and she did not wish for this woman to have the satisfaction of knocking her unconscious on the first go-around between them.
Velvet raised her fingertips up to her nose, where she could feel a set of abnormal ridges that were not previously there before. This enraged her, but Velvet knew that fighting much longer like she was would certainly leave one of them dead soon enough. As she had learned at Signal Academy, Velvet took a more conservative approach and assumed the position of her naturally defensive fighting stance. Kandase put her hands on her knees, let out a long breath, then stood erect once more, only able to utter one word.
"Damn."
Velvet couldn't help but laugh, which led to a sharp pain as she clenched her abdomen to do so. She fought the urge to sit down, out of apprehension against showing weakness to her sparring partner. Instead, she stood in place, waiting for the match to have officially ended. Kandase just stood there, however, laughing to herself in small gasps. She looked around at the trees and the sun that had since risen up, evidencing the world around Remnant was now in full swing, ready to give new challenges for human and Faunus inhabitants alike and grounds for them to throw themselves at each other.
"Well, I think that was a fine training exercise. Despite that, I do have other duties aside from training. They realized that I'm not good for anything other than fighting, so they put me as a guard. I gotta say, though. You did quite the number on me, and I'll admit that I'm not exactly at 100% here. Sure, you looked just as banged up, but I can use this as an excuse to show you the ropes, who's who, and what-not. Sound good? Good." She said, not waiting for Velvet to verbally reply. "First things first, though…we got to do something about that nose of yours." Kandase said with a chuckle, slowly advancing. Velvet couldn't help but nervous as she watched Kandase pick up two short sticks off the ground.