AN: Welcome back. I've been looking forward to this chapter, and given the release of Season's and Lessons in Phoenix Rose, the stories synced up well.

Year 2: Semblance of a Pack

Haley's POV

A powerful hit lifts me from the ground and sends me flying. I turn the landing into a roll and grab my footing, Ivory and Ebony ready. I charge in, only to get launched over my opponents head and hit the floor hard. I lay on the ground, panting slightly.

"You're telegraphing your attacks. Again!" I turn my head to face Rex, his arms crossed.

"Give me a break there. That last round hurt."

He shrugs. "You're the one who asked me for help practicing for the tournament. I agreed because you seemed serious about it."

I stand up, rubbing the shoulder he used to throw me. "That's before I knew what you considered a warmup."

"So you're just calling it quits? I'm surprised Haley, I never took you to be a beta in our friendship."

There is a line you just don't cross, and Rex just blasted over it. My instincts blaze up. Challenge, fight, prove!

"I belong to no one!" I start slicing at Rex with my scythes, weaving an intricate pattern into the air and forcing Rex to back up under the force of my assault. One strike forces his sword out of line, and I begin to follow through when my left arm starts feeling like it was set on fire. Dropping my weapons, I clutch it and scream in pain.

"Haley, what's wrong?" There was panic in Rex's voice.

Fire, Pain, Run, Flee, Find Water! My vision starts to blur and I pass out.

Azure's POV

I sit down next to Haley, who was laying unconscious in the infirmary. "Rex, what did the nurse say?"

"Well, first she assumed it was my fault. Once I made it clear it wasn't-"

Jason comes rushing in. "I got here as fast as possible. What did Rex do?"

Rex rests his head in his hand. "Why is everyone's first thought that I caused it?"

"Our first fight- you knocked me down and then proceeded to smash me in the forehead with your pistol. They had to check I didn't get a concussion."

Rex nods. "Fair enough. Anyways, Nurse Grey said she's physically okay."

I raise an eyebrow. "Haley passes out in the middle of sparring and is still out from it. How is that 'physically okay'?"

Rex shrugs. "According to her, there was no reason for Haley to fall unconscious. Minus some bumps and bruises, and I admit that's my fault, Haley has a clean bill of health." He shakes his head as he looks at the time. "And of course, we have a couple more classes today."

Jason nods. "We can check on her afterwards."

Jason's POV

Now's not the time, brain. I try to focus on Prof. Dusty's lecture, but keep finding my attention drawn back to Haley. Azure and Rex are similarly distracted. Still it's the last class of the day and it's almost over.

Focusing back on the professor I catch the tail end of the assignment. "-hand in the papers in two months."

Essay, great. Finally the class ends and we head back to check on Haley.

Nothing had changed. Azure starts rubbing her wrist. "Anyone else worried about her?"

Someone doesn't simply pass out for a couple hours. I nod. "Whatever happened is big."

Rex sits down, closes his eyes, and starts to meditate. "All we can do is wait until she wakes up. Worrying too much will only make things worse."

How can he treat this so casually? "So you're just going to sit there?"

He opens his right eye to look at me. "Do you have a medical degree? We can't do anything productive, so let's avoid doing things that will do harm, like fret unnecessarily."

Azure steps between us. "Can you two not fight right now? For Haley's sake if nothing else."

Rex nods and closes his eye again, his body stilling. I walk out of the room to clear my head.

After a minute, Azure comes out. She sighs and I look at her. "Worried about Haley?"

She rubs her wrist again. "This is new to me. What is someone supposed to do when this comes up?"

"Rex was right on this one. We watch out for her, and wait for something to change. I just wish he'd show more concern."

Azure punches me in the shoulder. "You know him better than that. He's the one who got her medical attention, and he's the one staying at her side right now. You don't any idea what today is to him. Instead of focusing on his own problems, he worries about Haley."

True, there are more ways to be compassionate than simply acting worried, but... "What's so big about today to Rex?"

"It's his-"

Rex calls out. "Haley's awake." At that cue, we both rush back to the room to see her sitting up and rubbing her head.

In a heartbeat Azure was simply there at her side. "Are you okay?"

Haley looks around. "I have the mother of all headaches, my arm hurts, and I apparently was brought to the infirmary. I am obviously fine." She notices the clock. "I was out for that long?"

"Whatever happened, not even the staff here knows."

"Miss Raptor, I would get your facts straight before you make such claims." I jump at the sound of Nurse Grey a mere foot behind me.

How did I not notice her? I ask the obvious question. "So you do know?"

She gives a smile. "I had a hunch and went looking into her records. Miss Onyx's student register has her Semblance listed unknown. On very rare occasions, when a Hunter first taps into his or her Semblance, the body reacts violently, causing them to pass out. My only advice is to get a good night's rest and she will fine in the morning."

A bright smile appears on Haley's face. "You mean I can use my Semblance now?"

"Not till tomorrow unless you want to risk a relapse. Now scram kids."

The four of us leave, relieved that nothing serious has occurred.

Rex's POV

I walk into the room carrying several cups of tea to here Haley waving us off. "Seriously guys, you can relax. If Grey said I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

I hand her a cup. "We're friends. All of us are going to care for your sake. Haley, I put some extra stuff in yours to help with the headache."

Azure greedily snatches her cup, and immediately starts to drink it. I hand one over to Jason and set down the plate to drink my own.

Azure looks up from her cup. "So, Haley's Semblance... What do you guys think it's going to be?"

Haley sets her cup down. "We just have to find out. My family may have a theme for Semblances, but the specifics vary."

I nod. "Maybe that's part of the appeal to them. You never know just what strength you soul will call forth."

Azure nudges my arm. "Just because we're drinking tea doesn't mean you have to start with the zen stuff." She's chuckling while she says it. "The power of dragons... fuck, that just sounds amazing."

We talk for a few more minutes as the pills I slipped into Haley's tea start to take effect and she falls asleep. Together the three of us place her into her bed before calling it a night.

When I get to bed I pull out a picture and look at it. My strength deserted me as I stare at Morganna's smile. A tear rolls down my face. Happy birthday, sis.

Haley's POV

With a bright new day, the four of us start trying to figure out what my Semblance is. Unfortunately, I can't seem to recreate the feeling that triggered it yesterday. "Why isn't it working?"

Azure starts to look contemplative. "Well, Nurse Grey said that the reaction was your body responding to your Semblance, right? From what I remember, you said it was specifically your arm that hurt. Maybe we start there?"

Jason nods. "That might work."

I lift up my left arm, and focus on it. Closing my eyes, I slowly apply extra aura to it. For a brief second, my arm begins to itch. Azure suddenly gasps. I open my eyes to see two dragons floating in front of me, one black, one white. Looking at my arm, I notice my tattoo was gone.

Not gone. I look back at the dragons and realize that they were my tattoo. "My Semblance... makes them real."

Rex slightly tilts his head before reaching out to touch the white one. It allows him to close and he starts to pet its head. "Amazing. And no doubt devastating in battle."

The black one lands and presses up against my leg. I kneel down and run my hand down its back. "How do you feel about fighting alongside me..." A name appears in my mind and I grab hold of it. "Ebony?"

The newly named dragon looks into my eyes. A soft growl emerges from its throat as it nods in agreement. The white one -my mind conjures the name Ivory- turns around and rushes over to me, wrapping around my legs. "Looks like we're going to be a team."

AN: This was a fun chapter. Interestingly enough, when I first came up with this idea ~1 year ago, it was a much more traditional sick day, with Rex using his experience raising Morganna to good use. However as I wrote it, it developed in a much different direction.

Another big thing was I actually checked with CPF12 on some details on how I should portray Ebony and Ivory. Good thing, because the Commander and I were working on a much different scale (Yangdammit) size with the guys than CPF12 was. I was thinking something housepet sized due to reading The Girl Raised by Dragons written by CPF12 themselves. The Commander had a similar scale, but CPF12 was thinking car-sized. Cue the three of us spending a hour post-midnight (for me anyways) setting up a balance through PMs, where I was acting as middleman for messages. We found a solution that all three of us enjoy, so no worries on that front.