Chapter 7

Cold Ember

Today, Berde and Sameko left to shop for some groceries for the team, leaving Naraka and Indigo in the dorm room. Naraka usually spends her time doing things alone, and prefers solitude. She's usually away from her team, training, or studying. It had been two weeks since they formed the team, and Naraka's solitude worried Indigo. Indigo had to wait a while until he could cook. Naraka was missing, probably studying alone.

Indigo put aside his X-Ray and Vav comic book and grabbed his scroll. He phoned Naraka, checking on how she's doing.

"Hello?" Naraka said.

"Hey, Naraka, how's it going?" Indie asked his partner.

"I'm tired, but I need to get this done," she grumbled.

"How about I-"

"No! I can handle this. Goodbye."

Indie sighed, concerned of how she's usually working alone. If he tried to pry, she might immolate the nearest person.


Grimm Class

Berde just finished killing a Beowulf brought in by Professor Port by doing the Muscle Buster, tearing off its legs. Port applauded Berde's display of strength.

"Bravo, Mister Bazahka," Professor Port praised, "You showed absolutely no fear against that beowulf. In the face of Grimm, we must show no fear and have confidence in our own abilities."

Indigo sat beside his partner, who was focused on writing notes of the class. She had eyes on her bag, but still fought to study. Indigo's already deep worry became deeper.

"Indie, what's with Nara?" Sameko asked, concerned for her friend.

"I don't know. She won't fully explain."


Sparring

Naraka lost to Blake by a huge difference. Not only did Naraka's skills dwindle, but her Aura control also dwindled. According to Sameko, Naraka would have won against Blake, but Blake would never have beat her as if she was in another league. Berde came to Naraka, angered by her overwork.

"Naraka, you've gotta stop being so Kantian," Berde said, "You could have beaten Blake!"

"Beaten?! Are you expecting me to always beat EVERYONE?!" she outbursted, "She's LEAGUES ahead of me."

"How are you so certain?" Berde responded.

"I'm not training hard enough," Naraka exclaimed, "She trained more than me."

In truth, Blake had actually been studying most of the time. She rarely trained as studies flooded her time schedule. Team BISN didn't know this however.

"Stop blaming your loss on others," Berde said, "You lost because you're overworking yourself. I've seen your Aura level before, and with your aura diminishing this quickly, it's like your soul is diminishing."

"Oh, so NOW you know everything?" Naraka replied, "Why am I even in your team?! If I was alone without thinking of you guys, I would have beaten Blake easily!"

She stomped away from Berde, going past her other friends. Indigo groaned from her behaviour and decided he should confront her personally.


After class

Naraka stayed at the dorm, doing the reading on Professor Port's class. Indigo had enough of her partner's stubborn attitude. He stomped toward her and swatted the book away much to Naraka's anger.

"Give that back!" she demanded.

"You're being what Berde said you were... Kantian," he said.

"Kantian?!"

"Don't be Kantian, it will ruin your soul, Nara," Indigo said.

"Don't talk about ethereal crap with me, Indigo," Naraka spat back, "What the hell is a Kantian?!"

"You just work with no end goals or emotion. It's like being an empty robot..." he said, worried about her, "This little overwork thing with no end goal is just diminishing your soul, which probably resulted in your Aura diminishing."

"End goal?! I'm doing this to be a Huntress!"

"Why did you want to become a Huntress?!"

Naraka sighed. She looked at her lance.

"... I wanted to avoid something my family wanted me to do," Naraka confessed.

"Avoid what?"

She shook her head.

"Being a guardian of a single kingdom..." she said as she twirled her weapon, "Do you hate it when your parents decide everything for you?"

She looked at him with a sad look.

"Are you okay with me telling you this?" she asked, worried about what he might say.

"... Of course. I'm your partner," Indie said, comforting his partner, she sighed and smiled for a moment before frowning again.

Indie looked at his brooch: a wolf head with icicle-like spiky fur. He knew it symbolized himself, but he also remembered a certain symbol that his father gave to him before he left.

"But, to answer your previous question: Yes. As a former royal, they decided what I should do," Indigo replied, "You can tell me, and I'm sure I can relate, Naraka."

Naraka was being difficult in Indigo's opinion. She didn't want to tell him yet. Sure, he's a good partner, but she feels it's too early to tell him this much. Being with her partner made her feel a bit alive. He makes her stay in BISN worthwhile. He's kind, courteous, outgoing, eccentric, as well as dependable. She smiled at his virtues, but just having that isn't enough. She needed a deeper trust.

"I'm sorry, but I'll tell you sometime else," Naraka said, her face lightening up a bit, "also, I'm sorry that I'm being a bit Kantian. I feel like a portion of myself was lost and um..."

She blushed and looked away.

"Guess I need a push once in a while," she said nervously as a small amount of explosions formed around her.

"Gaaah!" Indigo backed away, scared of the explosions, "H-how?"

She chuckled nervously.

"I was born with a mutation that made my sweat consist of more concentrated oil. The sweat makes my explosions more potent."

Indigo chuckled.

"Whenever I get nervous or sad, my Semblance makes the area around me called plus..." Indigo wiped his brow, "Is it hot in here, or is it just me."

Naraka karate chopped him for his flirting.


Tomorrow After History Class

Indigo came to school with a bandaged head. Naraka, however, looked more upbeat, determined, and purposeful. Sameko noticed that her work ethic not only increased, but her "difficult-ness" had decreased. She's usually alone (she still doesn't like Berde too much, and is still quite fond of Sameko), but she seemed to find more solace from Indigo's company.

"Naraka's personality sure had become better," Berde said to Sameko, noticing her great change.

"I know, right?" Sameko said, grinning that her friend was happy, "Though, I don't get why she started to be so difficult. What do you think we should do, B?"

Berde thought for a moment and shook his head. He wondered if Naraka needed a confidant. She seemed VERY lonely, and though he knows that feeling, Indigo seemed to handle the situation a lot better than him.

"I think it's best we shouldn't pry too far," Berde said, "She'll open up in time, but she'll open up to Indigo much more earlier. As a leader, I say we should continue being her friend, but we should give her some ample space."

Though Sameko was about to make a rebuttal, she nodded, noticing that Berde's observation of her personality holds merit.

"Well spoken, captain."

"Just drop the formalities, please?"

"Whatever, Berde."


Sparring

"Okay, class, for the Vytal Festival Tournament, there will be Doubles Round for whichever team wins the round," Glynda announced, "So for today's sparring, I want each team to pick two people to fight another two."

Berde really wanted to battle, but wanting to test Naraka's change, he told Naraka and Indigo to participate.

"Come on, Berde, don't you want to fight?" Indigo groaned.

"Yeah, Mister Fighter Leader is usually eager to participate in sparring," Naraka said, crossing her arms, "Why us?"

Berde sighed.

"I um... I don't know. To be honest, I'm feeling confident that your positive change might make you a lot better in fighting."

"Do you really believe we could win?" Naraka said, unsure of herself.

Berde put his hand on her shoulder.

"I believe. What's a leader who doesn't believe in his own team?"

"Elaborate," she said, breaking the moment.

"Look, Naraka, I believe you can do it. A leader's job is not only to become a shining example of doing the right thing, but to also have faith in his own team. Right now, I have faith that you can do this."

Naraka wanted to make more excuses, but then Indigo put his hand on her shoulder.

"I have faith in you too," Indigo said.

"What if I don't have faith?"

"Why don't you?"

"..."

She looked at her fist and had a look of determination. She and Indigo went to the locker room and changed into their combat gear. Both of them walked slowly to the stage as they both slowly brandished their weapons. Their opponents were Ruby and Weiss of Team RWBY. Naraka's cynicism was replaced with determination and confidence, while Indigo's cool head retained, but a sternness awoken.

"Let's have a good match, guys," Ruby said to her opponents as she unsheathed Crescent Rose.

Weiss silently pointed Myrtenaster at her opponents as the cylinder rotated.

Indigo rummaged through his pocket and showed Naraka special kinds of cannisters that he made last night.

"This will help you," Indigo said, "One of them can freeze opponents, form rocks, or make explosive bursts."

Naraka checked the cannisters. She loaded the ice cannisters into her weapon and ejected the casing, locking the cannister into her guns. Naraka smiled calmly.

"If Berde is right, Ruby and Weiss are quite a duo," she said, "I'll not doubt my leader's battle knowledge."

"Neither will he to you," Indigo said with an adventurous smile as he faced the two girls.

"aaaand Begin!" Glynda announced.

Weiss summoned a glyph underneath both of their feet. Indigo and Naraka hopped over it, but was in the mercy of Ruby's aim. Indigo went in front of Naraka and shielded her by freezing the air in front of them, creating a wall of ice. Naraka exploded the ice wall, raining both of them in ice shards. Weiss and Ruby dodged, going underneath the two. Naraka pointed her lance to the bottom and shot Weiss with a blast of ice from her gun, making her have to defend it with a glyph. Indigo dropped down with a descending stab, making Weiss have to dodge with a backflip.

"Okay, we'll have to split up," Indigo said, "Keep close."

"Got it."

She dodged the sniper bullet and closed in quick. Ruby, surprised with her speed, impulsively blocked with her scythe. Both of them clashed. Naraka noticed her attack speed is near Ruby's, but continued to attack. She noticed that her only option in close range is to swing, so she decided to play a bit dirty. She threw an ankle slice, which Ruby managed to guard. Her blade was caught in the wedge between her blade and base. Naraka smiled as she shot a burst of icy fire on to Ruby's feet.

Weiss noticed Ruby's peril and summoned a heat glyph underneath Weiss. The glyph turned red.

"Good thinking," Naraka said dryly as she did a flip kick on Ruby, jumping away from the glyph as well as bursting a pillar of flame underneath Ruby, launching her away.

She landed on the ground. Weiss leapt up high and grabbed Ruby in the air then landed on the ground with Ruby getting up a moment later. Weiss charged at Naraka, creating a trail of icicles in her wake. Naraka split her spear into two and engaged in combat. Indigo charged toward Ruby.

Naraka noticed that while Weiss is definitely skilled, her attack speed is low compared to Ruby, but her Dust usage makes her unpredictable. Her graceful swings were precise, but practice with Indigo made him used to fighting skilled opponents. She suddenly felt a sharp pain on her left arm, making her drop her left blade. She looked to the Weiss's right and saw that Ruby managed to parry one of Indigo's strike precisely to a position that would aim at her.

"Smart..." she used her Aura to close off the wound, but couldn't move. Weiss did a short combo before knocking her away.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, as she saw Crescent Rose flying away from her.

Indigo attempted to swing at her, but she sped away to her weapon. Naraka wondered why she didn't try to faze Indigo with the absence of her weapon. Naraka reloaded her lance and pointed her lance at Crescent Rose and shot a grey bullet that formed a stone tower that linked to the ground whilst holding Crescent Rose in place. Weiss increased the amount of ice covering Naraka, encasing her whole body in ice.

"Nara!" Indie exclaimed.

Weiss put a glyph underneath Ruby's feet, boosting her to her weapon. While distracted, Indigo threw a powerful greatsword swing that swatted Weiss to her partner, knocking her away from Ruby's weapon. Weiss repositioned herself, making a glyph that faced Indigo. He also noticed multiple glyphs manifest around him. Before he could react, Weiss already slashed through him, then started darting from glyph to glyph, slashing him. As she was about to make a final strike, she made the mistake of glancing at his eyes 1 meter away from him. She felt her body freeze. Indigo rushed to her frozen body and launched her with a rising upward slash. His combo was interrupted by a massive swing from Ruby's scythe, knocking him away from Ruby's partner. He was about to fall off, but he formed a platform of ice underneath his feet and returned to the stage. He landed near Naraka's frozen body. He started to huff, but he wasn't fully out. Naraka's body heated up and her frozen tomb exploded. She was enraged as her dark hair burned with fire. Despite this, no single strand burned out.

"Indie, let's go!"

"You got it!"

Indigo stabbed the ground, creating pillars of ice, forcing the two girls to jump over it. Indigo then threw a powerful swipe into the air, shooting out crystal globes. Naraka detonated the crystals, making them explode. Ruby and Weiss's momentum were interrupted by the shards. Indie closed in with the help of Naraka's explosions and grabbed Ruby's weapon off her hands while tossing her far from it. Weiss tried to use her glyph to save her, but her cast was interrupted by Indigo whacking her with her own partner's weapon. Naraka detonated an explosion that shot Weiss down further then closed in and threw a powerful swing that launched Weiss out of the stage.

"Weiss is out!" Glynda said.

"No!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran toward Indie and attempted to throw a punch at him. He simply moved his foot away from her then watched her fall.

She then got up and darted far back and then dashed toward Indigo, then launch into the air while spinning, creating a whirlwind that threw her opponents off balance. In the midst of the whirlwind, she dashed toward her weapon and threw a slash at Indigo, tossing him off the stage.

"My Semblance is about to freeze my ass off," Indigo said to himself before looking at Naraka, who was about to fall off the stage, "This is the last of my power, Naraka!"

Naraka was about to fall off, but Indigo pointed his sword at her, launching a beam of ice that formed a platform behind her, causing her to bounce off the icy platform and near the stage. As soon as the whirlwind ended, Naraka regained her composure and then created an explosion to propel her back there.

Both of them landed on the stage; both of them nearly out of Aura. Naraka realized that her body heat was rising, causing her to breathe a lot more. Ruby changed into gun form and attempted to shoot at her. Naraka strode to the left, noticing her dexterity. Ruby noticed her direction then immediately changed into scythe mode and dashed toward her using her Semblance. She threw a powerful swing at Naraka, which she guarded. Naraka noticed that her cannister was empty, so she ejected the old cannister, letting her auto-reload do its job. When the casing ejected, she saw the fire dust symbol then pulled the trigger. She split her bottom blade away from her spear and sliced Ruby's exposed torso with an explosion enhanced slash. She got fazed by the sudden slash. Naraka then began to slash her multiple times with her two blades then she finished it off by pointing both of her lance at her stomach and launching her away with a fiery explosion. Ruby was knocked away from her, but nearly fell off the stage. She groaned in pain as she struggled to get up.

"That's enough!" Glynda shouted.

The Aura meters were displayed. Ruby's Aura had entered the red area; Naraka's was close.

"Team BISN wins!"

Berde and Sameko jumped for joy, celebrating in victory. Indigo, who had now recovered, ran up to Naraka and embraced her. She chuckled jovially from his company and spun him around. She let go as soon as she stopped spinning and smiled at her partner.

"We did it."

"Yep."

Naraka suddenly started to blush, forming small explosions around her. Indigo didn't seem to mind, though in truth, he held on tightly to her as to not get hit by the explosions. Weiss and Ruby walked up to the two. While Weiss crossed her arms in anger at first, Ruby bunted her shoulder.

"You're a good duo," Weiss said.

"You were good too, Snow Angel," Indigo said in a suave voice, earning a punch from Naraka. Weiss merely groaned from his flirt.

In the crowd, Jaune groaned from Indigo's advances on the girl of his dreams. Pyrrha comforted the blonde klutz.