Mayumi slides the handle of her locker and swings it open, only to have it slammed shut again.
"Are you ready for today Mayumi?" Pixie whispers down her neck, bearing down from behind. Pixie's fingers dig against the metal, planting her arms like sprouting trees on either side of Mayumi, decorated with the pink blossoms of her hair. Pixie's vibrant gaze is searing the back of her neck and Mayumi can almost taste that smile sharp on her tongue.
"Of course, Pixie," Mayumi says, calmly reopening her locker. Pixie hops back, giggling and clapping her hands, eyes aflame with childishness. Mayumi pulls out her swords and sheaths them at her hip, patting the hilt and trying to retain a sense of seriousness. With a glance at Pixie, however, she can't help but smile. Her joy is too much to be contained in one person, it spills over and seeps into Mayumi like the warming rays of the sun. Pixie's next words are like honey:
"We'll be on the same team, surely! You remember how to find me?"
Mayumi nods, patting her pocket.
"I've got my blindfold. I've got to find you by scent, and if I can't, then I just sit and wait until you find me. I remember, don't worry Pixie! We'll be onthe same team!"
"Oh, how wonderful! Pity Narcissa won't join us. It's apparently 'lacking tact' for all four of us all to be on the same team, I think Narcissa made that up."
"I don't know why, you're lovely Pixie. I'm happy to be on your team!" Mayumi says, swiftly shutting her locker and turning around, flashing a smile. Pixie pulls her into a hug, running her fingers through Mayumi's hair. Her fingers brush Mayumi's scalp, gently drifting over each strand as a bird would dip it's wings into passing clouds. Mayumi smiles, pressing her cheek against the softness of Pixie's sternum.
"We'll have plenty of fun without her, eh? Oh, I wonder who'll be on our team! Anyone you're hoping will join us?" Pixie says with a grin, giving Mayumi a squeeze. Mayumi shakes her head, brows furrowing in thought.
"Oh, I'm not really sure I have anyone in particular. I'm sure most people will be nice."
"I'm sure they will, sweetheart," Pixie pauses at the sound of a bell, glancing around with an energetic stare buzzing with vibrance. Her gaze follows the groups of students who are starting to file towards the doors with predatory focus.
"I guess that means it's time to go, come on!" Pixie says, gripping Mayumi's wrists, her fingers like talons. Mayumi allows herself to be pulled after the other students into the lovely weather outside, sunbeams dancing on the skin under her eyes.
Soon the two file into line at the edge of a cliff, stopping in front of Ozpin. Mayumi hesitates before finding her spot, staring out over the hill. The lovely fall leaves flutter delicately under a wind soft as the weakest breath. She sees leaves that rustle with more enthusiasm and wonders what could cause such movements: birds or Grimm?
Pixie breaks hands with Mayumi and the two find a metal plate to stand on, just as most of the other students were doing. Ozpin paces as they settle in, stopping and taking a sip from a steaming cup of something strong in his hands, a yeasty smell mingling with the roasted coffee. Mayumi shakes her head to chase the smell away and glances around for Vira or Narcissa down the line, but she barely has any time to search before the headmaster starts to speak. She abruptly ceases her search in exchange for politeness as Ozpin starts haphazardly. His speech is practiced but rushed, like a pianist who never asked for genius, but had the burden of brilliance placed upon his shoulders, purposefully fumbling over keys just to finish his unwanted masterpiece as soon as possible.
"I hope you all got a good night's rest, because now you'll be facing the first of many challenges to be presented to you while at our academy. You are about to form your teams. First, you will be partnered by eye contact, then you will find your way to the north end of the forest where you will find an abandoned temple with several relics. Your performance today while retrieving the relics will be watched closely, and based upon that, you and your partner will be grouped into teams of four. 'Choose' your partner carefully, as you'll live with them, and perhaps die with them, over the next four years." He takes a swig from his coffee as he finishes.
Mayumi feels her head spin at the contradiction, how could one choose with the prerequisites for partner choosing being so random? She feels like her and Pixie had cheated the system, but surely most people wouldn't be taking matters into their own hands like that! She shakes her head and forces herself to focus on Pixie's instructions and soon she feels the buzz start to settle. She pushes all of Ozpin's words down into the back of her mind; she only has to worry about one thing: getting that blindfold on and finding Pixie. She lets out a shaky breath, her nerves settling. Ozpin pats his upper lip with a dark green cloth and continues his speech.
"Now, everyone get ready. I hope you all have a landing strategy in mind."
Mayumi crouches low.
"On your marks."
The first student down the line is flung from the cliff.
"Get ready."
Mayumi's fingers dig into her pocket and grip the blindfold.
"Go!"
With a fling, the metal plate beneath her springs up and she flies through the air. She twists, feeling the stream of wind flow over her as splinters of cold slice through her skin. She unsheathes her weapon as a tree approaches, digging the blade into its bark. She swings her weight and skids down towards the ground, landing with a soft puff in the leaves. After some digging in her pocket, she unravels her blindfold and ties it around her head, pulling the black fabric to ensure it's secure.
She stands, hearing the crashing of students through the foliage around her. She sways her head to take in the musky scents of the woods that mingle with the sharper odor of human excitement and fear. After a quick moment, she's able to hone in on the familiar sweet, tangy smell of her companion and starts in that direction.
~Scene Break~
Gabriel crashes through the forest canopy, leaves and sharp branches slapping across his face. As the ground beneath him creeps closer, he pulls back his arm. Cybernetics light up with a pale blue glow and seconds before he meets the ground, he punches. Pain spreads through his arm and he yelps, tumbling through the air and rolling onto the ground coming to an abrupt stop at the base of a tree. He lays there for a moment to catch his breath and slowly rises and glances around to get his bearings. His head throbs and he struggles to intake air, but soon the silence of the forest subdues his woes.
Tall, golden-leafed trees rise above his head as glittering rays of sunlight bleed through. For a moment, he revels in how quiet the woods are, standing there waiting for something to shatter the stillness. When nothing does, he takes it upon himself and starts trudging forwards.
Birds chirp and flutter anxiously above his head. His eyes glance up, following them as they dip between the branches. He basks in the momentary peace while knowing full well that at any moment a Grimm could shatter it. He quickens his pace, scolding himself. He shouldn't linger on drifting thoughts like that. His focus, he figures, should be finding a partner and getting to the relics as soon as possible, for there is safety in numbers.
A low growl breaks his train of thought, followed by several ghoulish barks that echo through the trees. He readies his cybernetic arm, eyes glancing up towards the sound as his legs seize. The leaves rustle. The ground beneath him quivers. His heart lodges in his throat as he takes a stiff step back, eyes peeled as he awaits the Grimm that's sure to burst through the tree line.
With a crash, the first of what appears to be a small pack of beowolves breaches the trees. A sharp howl rings through the air, spurring Gabriel into action. Eyes catching on the nearest tree, he springs towards it, fingers wrapping around a low branch. He heaves himself up just as a beowolf charges where he had been standing. One leaps into the air, claws slashing, and he punches through its chest. It falls back with a squeal, landing in a steaming puddle of scarlet. He leaps for the next branch, catching it with his hands and spinning up onto it, bouncing up to prepare for his next attack. Another Grimm leaps up, teeth bared and claws ready. Gabriel poises himself to strike; however, before he even gets the chance, a streak of brown hair and fur flies through the foliage above, brandishing flashing silver, slicing through the throat of a Grimm. Blood splashes, staining the hair concealing her face in steaming red.
She lands softly on the ground below, tail tip twitching. A Grimm charges her but before it's claws tear through her back, she turns and her swords slice clean through the creature's shadowy paws. Steam rises from the blood quickly evaporating from her skin and clothes, and in a flurry of movement she leaps up into the air, her swords flashing silver as she kicks off of the side of a tree, spinning down the spine of another Grimm. She becomes a furious, shimmering, whir of browns tinted with a metallic shimmer, steam from the creature's blood rolling off the gleaming edge, and soon the area lies silent.
Gabriel swings down from the tree, landing easily. His eyes are glued on the back of the head of the girl. His own luck astonished him, the fact that she was able to so effectively hold her own. She was the perfect partner. Highly skilled and clearly just as disciplined as him, even if she was a faunus. Hell, he could probably even learn a thing or two from her! Blissful apprehension rose in his chest as she flicks the last specks of crimson from her blade, and then turns around.
His heart drops. Wrapped over her eyes is a dark brown blindfold, neatly settled over the bridge of her dainty nose, scars peeking out from beneath it. Now that he's able to get a good look at her, he notices that in fact her entire form is dotted with scars. Her arms, thighs, and exposed torso are covered in them, leaving him to wonder just what kind of battles she had fought. There are teeth marks down her wrists, actual teeth marks! It looks as if she had been caught in the jaws of a Grimm, and shaken around, though now she is standing here with subdued confidence, approaching with quick steps.
She sheathes her swords upon approach and extends a hand.
"O-oh. Uh, hello," Gabriel says, stumbling over his words before settling into a formal tone typical of an Atlesian. He takes her hand, which is hot from the fight, and shakes it.
"Hello. I am Mayumi. It is nice to meet you," she pauses, tilting her head. "Aren't you the boy from Clover's house? You used his bathroom," she expresses in a soft, lilting tone. Gabriel squeezes her hand out of reflex, gritting his teeth. Ah, so she was the girl from the strange room! And even worse, she remembered it.
"Yes. My name's Gabriel though. Uh, so… that blindfold?" he asks quickly in a desperate subject change fueled by curiosity. "Is it just for showing off?"
She laughs sweetly, shaking her head as she starts to move away from him, deeper into the woods. "No, no. It's so I get the right partner."
"Oh, so you want to make sure you pair up with someone who's good?" he asks, intrigued by her thought process. She shakes her head again, the tip of her tail flickering with what Gabriel processes as mild annoyance.
"No, I already have someone who I'm supposed to be partners with. She's my friend, so I need to keep my blindfold on until I see her."
"Ah, well I guess that's one way to do it." he says. She speeds up, and he follows suit. The two begin to flutter through the forest, an exotic dance routine between two flashy birds, flickering here and there in an attempt to both catch up and escape. He follows in tight chase, but within a flash Mayumi suddenly darts off the path and within seconds the leaves above his head are rustling. He watches the falling branches, the twigs twirling in the air like tiny helicopters, falling from the canopy like his hopes for a good partner.
~Scene Break~
Vira is quietly weaving a thin string through the end of a beowolf fang, her blindfold pulled over her eyes. Since she couldn't smell with the keenness of her faunus companions, she was instructed to sit and make herself easy to find. However, sitting is boring so she busies herself with making jewelry from the beowolf that had been unfortunate enough to come across her. She feels the smooth surface of each bone beneath her fingers, fumbling with each piece as she finds the hole, and then with a satisfying slip she pulls the string through. The muscles know the action so well it feels as easy as breathing. So easy, in fact, she begins to hum, weaving to the rhythm of her dainty song.
Her song is soon broken by the crunch of a stick, and her head snaps up.
"Hello? Narcissa? Are you there?" she calls in a voice softened with nerves. The crunching stops and the air feels as if it's suddenly frozen as both parties cease to breath.
"No, no it's not Narcissa. I'm, uh, Clover." A male voice that most certainly wasn't Narcissa responds.
"Oh. Clover, huh, well, do you want to sit with me while I wait for Narcissa?"
She hears a hesitation, but then he approaches and sits next to her, leaves crunching as he sits.
"Do you want me to show you how to make beowolf friendship necklaces?" she asks, holding out her hand to show her current work. The smallest of the beowolf's teeth, white and gleaming, seem to wink like gleaming eyes from the soft skin of her palm. Clover extends his own hand and she dumps some into it cheerfully, grateful for the companionship.
"My name is Vira, by the way… I don't think I've ever met you. My friend has though! You remember Mayumi?" she asks, starting to dig the tip of a spiralled dagger into the base of one of the larger teeth. She holds the fang steady as she drills.
"Yeah, I know Mayumi. Hey! I can make the holes, you can't see you might cut yourself!" he warns, leaning closer. Vira pulls away sharply, holding the dagger and bone out of his reach. She stuffs her hand into her pocket, procuring another dagger with a similar spin on the tip.
"I will not cut myself, and even if I do it doesn't really matter that much. You can do your own holes, and I'll do mine," she explains curtly. A nervous hesitation flickers between them before Clover takes the dagger. Within moments, the soft sound of scraping fills the small clearing.
"Please don't cut yourself."
Vira turns to face him, squinting into the black of her blindfold. "Oh, alright Clover. I won't cut myself, just for you." she says with a smile. He laughs nervously.
"Thank you, Vira. I appreciate that."
~Author's Note~
Posting every day has been really fun! I'm glad to see people reading and keeping up with the chapters, even if it's just a few. I hope that you guys are enjoying it, so let me know what you're thinking! Honestly, reading back to what I wrote so long ago is both nostalgic, and makes me wish I had done some things differently. Overall, I'm still happy with it though! What do you guys think?
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and all future ones!