Chapter 3 – Family and Fellowship
- ASH -
Ash watched the fight from the sidelines. It was a new kid he's never seen before facing up against Cardin. He was already rooting for the new kid. He wore a sleeveless orange shirt, made of silk by the looks of it. He had a beaded saphire necklace that clashed against it. He wore bulky looking bracers which attached to round domes where his hands should be. He banged them together and cracked his neck. Ash wasn't entirely sure what to make of this fighter, he just hoped he'd be able to enjoy the viewing of Cardin being humiliated. Cardin looked smug.
"The fight may begin." Glynda said firmly, she quietly stepped out of sight.
Cardin lunged, he swung his mace upwards,. The fighter simply sidestepped out of the way, Cardin staggered a few steps. He quickly saved and spun around swinging. The fighter blocked the mace with the round domes. He swung a punch and hit Cardin square in the chest. Cardin staggered back clutching his chest, it took a few seconds for him to catch his breath. Cardin lunged again. The man sidestepped and punched, the dome collided with Cardin's face and he dropped. Cardin hopped back to his feet, they started circling each other. Cardin took a few steps back.
Cardin started swinging, keeping his distance from his opponent. The fighter couldn't seem to get close enough and simply hopped from foot to foot. Cardin started to slowly close the distance. The fighter backed up banging the domes together. Cardin readied his weapon, leaving himself completely open. The fighter took it, he swung his right arm, it was followed by a loud bang. The 'dome' was actually a perfectly round ball tied to a chain. The ball flew right at Cardin, who quickly swung his mace and smacked the ball out of the way. The fighter swung violently to his right, he punched with his left hand out, launching a second ball. He rotated rapidly, swinging his second ball right into the side of Cardin's head, he flipped almost comically and dropped. The fighter retracted the balls back into his gauntlets.
"The winner is Cheng Lei Hu." Glynda announced, walking back into view. "I do hope Cardin will do better when he is representing Beacon in the tournament."
Cardin stormed off the stage and back to his team. Ash smirked and returned his focus to Cheng, who was laughing with a familiar face. Leon, wearing his usual colorful ensemble. He figured they must have been teammates, he didn't see the rest of their team however.
"Now, let's have a more in house battle here." She announced. She adjusted the display. On one side was another familiar face. With ragged brown hair and a surprisingly thick beard filled with twigs and leaves. Orin Rhosyn, Gwyn's brother. He stepped up dressed in his usual armor over robes with his gnarly wooden staff swung over his shoulder. He snapped a saw blade to the end of his staff. Ash gazed back at the screen, there was another familiar face now. His own. "Orin Rhosyn and Ashton Gray."
Ash let out a long sigh, he climbed from his seat and stepped up in front of everyone. He studied the crowd. Gwyn gave a thumbs up, he wasn't sure if it was for him or Orin. Who was he kidding she was obviously supporting her brother. He looked over at Orin who simply smiled.
"No hard feelings Orin?" Ash asked. Orin gave a polite nod.
"The fight may begin." Glynda said stepping out of view.
Orin swung down fast, Ash didn't expect it so quickly and barely dodged out of the way. He swung Silver Faust, it collided with the staff. He felt his legs sweep out from under him and suddenly he was on his back. He rolled out of the way as the saw axe came down at him. He hopped to his feet and swung, his blade slid off of the armor. He stared into Orin's eyes, time for some backup. Orin swung at him, he flipped out of the way. He was confused, why wasn't Orin distracted, did his semblance kick in yet? He lunged. He was somehow flipped up into the air, over Orin completely and onto his back. He barely rolled out of the way in time. He tried to swing but Orin was already swinging back, Silver Faust flew out of his hands.
Ash liked to think of himself as a skilled fighter. He has trained since he was a kid, he's fought his fair share of fights. He's fancies himself a skilled swordsman. He's not very good at fighting without his weapon. Most of his recent bar fights have ended with Calico dragging him out. He watched the axe swing down at him, he raised his arms in panic. He closed his eyes. The axe never came. He opened his eyes to check if Glynda stopped the fight but the Axe was stuck right in front of him. He smiled slightly, so that's how you use Aura. He pushed and Orin's axe swung back knocking Orin off his feet. He rolled towards his weapon. The axe came swinging back and he blocked it with his aura, swinging his sword. Orin simply punched him in the face, he staggered slightly and felt his legs sweep out from under him. He was staring up at the ceiling, Orin held his axe to his throat. Ash let out a sigh. So much for his Aura.
"An interesting strategy Mr Gray. Deplete your aura and leave yourself completely exposed." Glynda said with the usual amount of venom. She had a smug look on her face. He was seriously getting sick of her. "How do you come up with such riveting strategies. The winner is Orin Rhosyn!"
A hand was floating in front of his face. He looked over to see Orin smiling down at him. "I'm awfully sorry about that. I hope I didn't hurt you." He said with a very soft and pleasant voice. His smile was incredibly sincere, almost tranquil. Ash took his hand.
"No problem." Ash smiled. His gaze turned and Gwyn gave her brother a big hug. A little voice in his head was berating him for once again not realizing what could have happened if he said he was hurt. "Hey Gwyn."
"You did good Ash, that was a clever move with your aura." She said enthusiastically. He couldn't help but smile, she never ceased to make him feel great about himself, even after getting his ass kicked at least three times in front of her.
"Shame it didn't work." Ash shrugged.
"Maybe next time." Orin said in his soft voice. "Took me by surprise, that's for sure."
"Anyways, it was good talking to you but we have to go." Gwyn said, motioning to her team. "We'll catch up later?"
"Sure!" Ash practically shouted. He felt his face turning red and he hurried off in the opposite direction. He found his seat. There was one more match. He couldn't wait to see who Glynda would pair up. There was a wicked smile on her face, he swallowed hard. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Now we've seen students from different academies fight, as well as different teams fight." She began. She was trying and failing to hide a sinister smile. He really wondered why she enjoyed picking on certain students. She didn't seem like an unpleasant person by nature. "At Beacon we try to prepare our students for every possibility, to be capable of battling any opponent under any circumstance. So today we will have two students from the same team battle one another."
The crowd exploded into confusion, teams whispering to themselves nervously. Ash glanced over at his team, Billy looked downright terrified. Ash glanced back to Glynda who was adjusting the display. Two faces appeared on the screen. Morgana and Lyra. They stepped up in front of the class, he tugged on his collar nervously. They never really liked each other at the start, while they seemed to have moved past it, he wasn't really sure if they really did. On top of that, Lyra was still the weakest link of the team, her very minor and not entirely noteworthy victory against him excluded of course.
"The fight may begin." Glynda said with another smile before stepping off into the shadows.
Morgana drew her long stiletto and flicked it around. Lyra pulled out Maibaum and twirled it in it's baton form. The room was suddenly quiet, everyone seemed interested in this fight. It wasn't exactly a common thing to fight ones own teammates. Lyra lunged, Morgana casually stepped out of the way, Lyra tripped over he own feet. Ash could hear a couple of students laughing. Lyra climbed up to her feet and cracked Maibaum into it's full size. She twirled it a bit. She swung, there was a bright flash and several black bolts were flying at her. Lyra staggered trying to block them with her weapon almost falling over in surprise. Green gas seemed to seep out of the floor under her feet. She rolled out of the way as it exploded into green flame.
Lyra was being pelted with more black bolts. She tripped over her own feet and was hit square in the chest with another bolt. She flew up into the air and landed on the ground with a loud thump and a yelp. Morgana continued to launch bolts at her, she seemed as if she was glowing at this point. Lyra was still on the ground trying to block them. There was something very odd about Morgana's motions, it almost looked like she had zoned out. A bolt hit Lyra square in the face with enough force to send her hood flying off and she went limp. Morgana quickly sheathed her knife and ran over. Ash jumped out of his chair, Billy wasn't far behind.
"The fight is over. The winner was Morgana Umber!" Glynda announced. She trotted over to Lyra and knelt beside her. She placed a hand on her forehead and gently brushed her hair with the back of her hand. It was probably the most gentle he's seen her. She actually seemed concerned. "Get Miss Tawny to the infirmary. Class dismissed. Miss Umber?"
Ash knelt down next to Lyra, she was mumbling quietly. He felt a wave of relief. He glanced over to Morgana but couldn't find her anywhere. Glynda couldn't seem to find her either. She gave him a look, she didn't even need to say anything. He nodded. He picked Lyra up, she was surprisingly light. Billy gazed hesitantly.
"Billy have you seen Morgana?" Ash asked. He tried to find her but the class was emptying fast.
"I think I saw her leave." Billy said nervously. He scratched his head.
"Alright, I'll track her down." Ash said, he gazed down at Lyra. "Here, take Lyra to the infirmary."
Billy scooped Lyra up and very carefully walked out. It was like he was carrying something made of glass. Ash decided not to make anything of it. He hurried out of the class and started searching the halls. It wasn't exactly easy with the crowd. It was completely by fluke that he found her, he looked out one of the windows and just happened to see her sitting alone under a tree. He was nearing her tree when he noticed two things. One, she was crying and two, she wasn't alone.
He hopped behind a nearby tree and listened. He wasn't sure what to do in this situation. He didn't exactly have experience with crying women, nor did he know what to do when they had company. He figured eavesdropping wasn't exactly the answer but who would know.
"It's okay." Said a calm voice, a man's voice from behind the tree. "It isn't your fault."
"It was, I hurt her." She said with a soft whimper. Ash wasn't used to this side of her, normally she's calmer and, well, meaner. "I didn't stop myself until it was too late. What if I..."
"Hey!" He said sternly. She hiccuped. "Don't think that way, she's going to be fine."
"How do you know that?" Morgana asked. Her voice was quivering. Ash was really feeling uncomfortable.
"Because, I'm older, I know things." He said calmly.
"You're such a condescending prick." She said with a half chuckle half sob.
"There's the Morgy we all know and love." He exclaimed. He heard a loud smack. "Hey, what was that for?"
"I told you not to call me that!" She replied. He chuckled slightly. Ash was starting to piece together the scene.
"Oh you know you love it." He said with a confident laugh. He could hear her giggle slightly. Ash started to back up quietly. He was definitely intruding on something private, he's never heard Morgana cry, let alone giggle. He took another step and there was a loud crack. He muttered some choice swear words. He figured it'd look better if they found him walking their way rather than the alternative.
"Ash?" Morgana asked, quickly wiping her face with a handkerchief. "Is that you?"
"Morgana, there you are." Ash said, he put on a fake smile and strolled their way. He hoped they'd buy him just happening by. She was red faced and hiding behind her handkerchief, quickly trying to cover up runny makeup and puffy eyes. Sitting beside her was a familiar face. He had short orange hair and a matching chin strip along his rather chiseled chin. Arthur, ALGT's team leader. He'd only met him briefly, however he knew he was Morgana's brother. Though he couldn't quite see the resemblance.
"Ash was it?" Arthur asked. He gave Ash a stern look, Ash wasn't exactly sure why. He held out his hand, Ash reached over to shake it. He wished he hadn't, the handshake was agonizingly firm. "Arthur Breninaur, pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure." Ash said, trying to hold back his pain. There was something familiar about his surname, he just couldn't place it.
"Is Lyra okay?" Morgana asked. She hiccuped. Ash smiled.
"She's okay, Billy took her to the infirmary. I was going to go see her but I noticed you were missing." Ash said. She hiccuped and pocketed her now smudgy handkerchief. "You alright?"
"I'm okay." She said quietly. "I'm not really used to holding back in fights."
"It's alright Morgy." Arthur said with a broad and shining smile. Morgana blushed and berried her face in her hands. "She's going to forgive you for this, friendships are resilient like that."
"Want to go see her?" Ash asked. Morgana hiccuped and nodded. He held out his hand and helped her onto her feet. She adjusted her skirt and pulled out a mirror and checked her makeup. Ash saw his reflection in it, he saw his dead eyes looking back, he quickly turned away.
"Alright." She said with a big smile, her makeup was back in place and Arthur gave her a firm bear hug. She turned bright red and slapped him again. He strolled off laughing. Morgana readjusted her dress and her posture. It was as if she was about to go up on stage. "Let's go."
The infirmary was usually crowded with students, no surprise there. Given this student's curriculum he was surprised they didn't have to schedule an appointment. Billy was sitting next to the bed, the look on his face was a little worrying but Billy always over reacted to things.
"How is she?" Ash asked. Billy scratched his head.
"They say she's going to be fine but she hasn't really woken up yet." Billy said. His eyes were to his feet.
Morgana sat down quietly next to Lyra and brushed some of her messy and really frayed hair off her face. Ash noticed this was one of the few times he's seen Lyra without her cloak, which hung on a rack next to her bed. She seemed almost naked without it. Her mouse ears twitched. Her hair was noticeably longer than he remembered. Then again, he wasn't exactly one to notice a women's hair. He sat down at the foot of the bed.
He leaned back against his chair and looked at his team. It was only a day or two ago that they all hated him and today things were much brighter. Only a few months ago Lyra and Morgana were at each other's throats for something, he never even knew what they were fighting about. They were now much closer. Arthur was right, friendship is resilient. He smiled slightly. Before he went to Beacon he didn't really have many, if any, friends. He only now realized how sad that is.
They stayed until the sun went down, the nurse told them that visiting hours were over and she was certain she'd be awake come morning. With that they resigned to their quarters, a little hungry but a little closer. Even if no words were really uttered.
- CALICO -
Calico was lying in the beach, sun fading over the horizon. He felt the bottle in his hand and poured the contents into the sand next to him. A picture of a girl, smiling at him. Drowning in whiskey. Tears were dripping down his face. He rolled over and crawled up to the picture. He could barely move, he could barely see at this point. That was his third bottle. He placed his hand on the picture. He smiled feebly as he wept.
"I'm so sorry." He sobbed. He fumbled with the picture and ran his fingers along the girls hair. "I wish you were here, you were everything."
He shambled to his feet. He grabbed the bottle and threw it at the wall, it shattered across the sand. He shouted up to the sky. He tripped over his own ankle and slammed back into the sand. His entire body hurt, he curled into a bottle.
"I know you wouldn't like how I am." He said, his voice quivering. "But I'm a huntsman now, just like I said I'd be. I'm not the best, but I make do."
He heard footsteps approaching him. A hand touched his shoulder. He swung. The man caught his fist. Rojo smiled down at him. He lifted Calico back to his feet and pulled him in for a hug.
"I couldn't protect her." Calico sobbed. Rojo patted him firmly on the back. He felt so numb. "I just wanted to keep her safe."
"I know you did bro." Rojo said softly. He began walking to the hut. Calico walked with him. "You did your best, she's proud of you. Somewhere out there, she's looking out for you still."
"I want to believe." Calico said, he fell back onto his hammock. Rojo threw a blanket over him. "I really do."
"Then believe it brother." Rojo said with a firm pat to the shoulder. "You're a huntsman, you turned your life around. Just not everyone get's to be here to see it. Doesn't mean they aren't proud. Doesn't mean they aren't watching. We can't all watch from here."
Calico smiled, he felt himself drifting off. Rojo always said nice things. His mind drifted away from that night, towards happier times. He felt everything fade. He missed Hazel. He missed her smile, he missed her laugh. He missed the way she skipped when she walked. He missed the way she would smile even when things seemed bleak. When she died, a piece of him died with her.
