AN: This is the second of a two-part update. If you have not read the Dragon's Eye segment of Two Stories, please do so.

Year Two: Two Stories; Death's Messengers

Jason's POV

"Okay I am sick and tired of this moping. The two of us are going to have a girl's day, now." Azure grabs Haley by the shoulder and proceeds to drag her out. She glares at me and Rex. "Play nice and don't destroy anything."

Like that, we were left alone. I look at Rex. "She realizes she said that to us, right?"

He shrugs before getting up and walking away. "Meditating on the roof. Don't bug me unless it's important."

Fine, I got better things to do than argue with him. I head out to train.

Rex's POV

I sit facing the sun and let it's glow wash over me as I slow my breathing. Thankfully, there are few students within my Semblance's range, leaving a relative quiet in my mind. I turn my thoughts inward and open my eyes to find the forest of my mind.

This ability... a place I hear nothing but myself. It took a month and a half to return here, but the peace is beautiful.

I stand up and begin to wander through the falling leaves. I place a hand upon one of the trees. This forest feels alive; there is an energy I simply cannot place that fills the atmosphere.

A black blur moves in the corner of my vision. I turn to look at it, but whatever was there disappeared. I move to where it was to see a trail of pawprints. A wolf's call comes from afar. I follow the trail, seeing more blurs, but never clearly.

The trail leads to a cave. The air around it is pulsing with a dark feeling. I step towards the entrance, trying to see what's inside.

I felt ill at ease, but something told me the cave wasn't it. Another day, I will return here. I close me eyes and shift focus back to the real world.

I cast out with my mind for any clue as to what distracted me. Almost immediately I am confronted with a wave of anger that overwhelmed my senses. (I hope he puts up some measure of resistance. It won't be fun to clip the bird's wings if he's so boring.)

That's... I can't let him try anything.

Jason's POV

With a growl I throw Wither hard. The blade impacts the training dummy and lodges into the side of the wooden torso. It resists when I pull the chain so I walk up to it and yank it free. I take a look at my target and wince at the number of gouges I put in it.

"Look here, a little birdie all alone."

I turn around to see Artic looking at me. Judging by the smirk on his face and the hand ready to draw his sword, this wasn't going to be a friendly talk. I adjust my grip on my weapons. "For what do I owe this pleasure?

"I was just in the area and thought just how fun it would be put you in your place."

At least he's upfront about it. An oddly refreshing thing, really. "Let's go then."

I quickly swing out with Blossom, aiming to grab his legs from under him. He jumps over the chain before he begins to walk towards me.

What is he up to? I fire a round at him. He turns his body so it strikes his shoulder, but I wince as my own shoulder starts to hurt. How?

My options were quickly being taken from me. I needed to buy time. I toss Wither out at his head as a distraction, and he ducks underneath it. I move in and slice with Blossom. I slash his arm and quickly feel my own cry out in pain.

It was quickly becoming apparent this was his Semblance. He can barely contain his satisfaction. "So did the bird figure it out? I hurt, you hurt."

How do I fight someone who returns the damage I deal? Still, I had to put a a brave face. "I wouldn't be training to become a Hunter if I couldn't handle some aches and pains." Now I just have to figure out how to beat him... And he hasn't even used his weapon yet.

He steps backwards, confusing me. I have better range. He can't be that stupid. His sword arm flexes and a piece of sharpened ice flies toward me. I barely dodge out of the way to see him resheathing his sword. Perfect, the sword has a Dust alloy.

I fire at Artic, taking the lashback as I move in. I have to take him out before he wears me down. I charge again and lunge for him.

I see his arm twitch before I feel the strike lash across my gut, dropping me to the floor. It hurts, but the cold of his blade is quickly turning that pain into a numbness. He calmly returns the sword to it's sheathe. "I had honestly hoped it would take more than this."

Damn it, he's strong. My fist clenches. I can't give up.

"Boarius, step away from him." I turn my head to see Rex walk into the room. "I am not in the mood to fight today, so it is in your best interest to do so." His white eye had shifted to black.

Artic laughs. "You really think I am scared of you? Hell, I'll make it two for one!" He charges at Rex. From the outside perspective, I manage to catch Artic performing a Iaido strike with his sword. However Rex somehow bends his body out of the way of the slash, making it a near miss. He then walks past Artic towards me.

What the? Considering the way Artic was sputtering, he was as confused as I was.

He offers his hand to me. "Get up Jason. You're not beaten yet."

I grab his hand and he pulls me up, my mind running wild. Did he actually call me Jason? "Careful, his Semblance will hurt you if you hit him."

He nod and raises his fists into a fighting stance. "Just have to make sure each blow counts."

Without speaking, the two of us pincer him. Who is he going to target?

He draws and another bolt of ice shoots towards me before he turns to charge Rex. Rex crouches underneath the strike before springing upwards, his leg glowing with Aura. His leg slams into Artic's face and sends him stumbling back. Rex covers his own face with his hand with a growl. "Damn it!"

Artic had to be hurting badly. I look at him. "You ready to give up?"

He grunts before charging me. This time, I'm ready for the slash and block it with Wither. I slam my fist into his face and wince immediately. That's going to bruise.

Rex draws his sword in preparation for Artic's next move. When Artic tries to attack me, Rex stops him with a thrust into his gut. Artic bends over, but Rex was unaffected.

A predatory smirk grows on Rex's face. "You can't use it while you attack... interesting."

Artic backs up. "I'll let you off today, but both of you better know this isn't over."

I feel like laughing. We've clearly won this. He can't take both of us. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." Artic turns tail and runs from us.

Rex looks at me, his eye returning to its normal color. "Care for a drink?"

Rex offers me a cup of tea. "I used a herb for aches and pains. It should help." He starts slowly sipping from his own cup.

I gratefully take the cup. "I'm grateful for you showing up, but why did you even bother to help?" We're not exactly close.

"Jason," my name from his mouth still sounds unnatural. "I never considered you lesser to me. In all honesty, do you really think I disrespect you?"

I consider all the times he insulted me. He would make a point I never beaten him in a duel, but he never actually suggested that I was a bad fighter. And really... he never insulted my intelligence or personality.

Then I look back at everything else.

Often his rudeness was a response to me being rude to him. We've had plenty of civil conversations when I didn't. Usually with the girls around, but not always.

When Azure went missing, he trusted me to help find her and asked me to use my talent with machines to figure out where she went. He had trusted my work without questioning if it was right and simply assumed it was.

When Haley got sick, he calmly suggested that we keep a cool head and tried to stop my agitation. Hell, I had admitted that he had a point and was more disagreeing on the lines it was Rex suggesting it.

He was also pretty obvious about people he doesn't like. When Artic was brought up, a venomous edge was added to his voice, and considering the death glare he gave Pyrrha the other day, it's clear there's no love there. However, he was tranquil around me...

...I had not interacted with Rex before our first duel. Then, during the fight, he was cruel, dismissed me, and insulted my pride. It had not endeared me to him, and led to my hostility. But had that blinded me to what he really thought?

I smile. "I've been a blind fool."

"In the end, we are all fools. The wise simply acknowledge it."

I chuckle. "And there's the garbage that make me want to punch you in the face."

A smirk appears on his face for a brief second. "I helped you because my nature demanded it."

I look at him. "Care to clarify that?"

He closes his eyes. "I am a wolf. We are pack animals at our very core. A slight on our pack-mates might as well be directed towards ourselves. When I realized what Boarius was planning, my every instinct demanded I had to step in."

I'm part of his pack? "I guess I owe you for that. So, where does that leave us?"

His smirk returns. "I thought it was obvious. Friends." He opens his eyes back up.

I return the smile. "Friends... and rivals." I lift my cup to him.

He nods. "Rivals to the bitter end." He returns the gesture and we tap the cups together.

The two of us sit together, enjoying each others' company, when Haley and Azure walk in. Given the smiles on both their faces, I assume Azure's plan worked.

The girls look at the bruises on our faces and Azure face palms. "I thought I told you two to behave."

Rex shrugs. "Jason and I had a heart to heart."

I nod. "I think the both of us are much closer. You guys?"

Haley chuckles. "She help get my head on straight again."

Azure moves over to Rex. "We had a decent talk ourselves." She attempts to snatch his cup but he moves it away at the last second.

He sighs. "I'll make more." Azure cheers.

WN: AND DONE!

Death's Messengers is not the most apparent combo name for the two. In reality is has to do with their Earth inspirations. Jason is thematically connected to Munin, one of the two ravens who served as messengers/advisors of Odin and entrusted with gathering the souls of those slain in battle. Rex, appearance-wise, is meant to invoke an old, widespread superstition known as the Black Scourge, an unnerving black wolf that is said to foretell the death of its witnesses or their close loved ones. (If you read or watched Prisoner of Azkaban, you know a version of the tale.)

I want to clear up Artic's Semblance as well. His Semblance, Mark of Vengeance, allows him to 'Mark' a single target who will share the pain he receives. He has to consciously choose his Mark; it slowly drains his Aura when active; the damage transfer goes both ways; he has to 'unMark' before he can Mark someone else, and that takes a small amount of valuable time. It works well 1v1 but quickly loses value as more people enter the fight.

Once again, this is the second chapter in a double update. If you have not, please go back and read Dragon's Eye.