A/N: Heyyy~ Time for more Forge :D Please, don't forget to let us know what you think!
~Angel and Hel
Chapter Eight: Emergence Part III
-.-.-
Winter was not dozing, and most certainly wasn't dozing while resting her head on Helia's soft hair and stroking along her wing. Because that would have been both embarrassing and disrespectful. And -
She sighed. She was a mess. Leaping so quickly to protect someone she barely knew, someone irritating, a faunus, no less - and yet…
And yet.
Her confused words about it all being on her. The red path. The way she'd saved her, the feel of her hair against her cheek.
She was just a teammate, right? Teammates could hug and joke with each other. She'd seen that show 'Atlesian Military Badasses' - ok, it had been about as unrealistic as anything could've been and she was convinced the girlfriends they'd shoehorned into the second season had purely been to dissuade any accusations of homosexuality between the squad members, but they'd hugged and talked with each other. One had even cried.
Helia purred a little, or a noise a little like purring as she breathed. Her face was still, quiet. She still had traces of childlike fat in her cheeks, despite her otherwise gaunt appearance. How old was she? What had she been through?
Could Winter ever really be friends with someone who she understood so little of?
A crackle of speakers. "Applicants, please finish preparations for the next Trial. You will be collected and guided to the area within the hour." Instinctively she'd reached to cover Helia's ears, to keep her still and sleeping and, hopefully, happy. To drown out the noise of the world.
She'd only known her for, at most, half a day. It was hard to keep track of time in here, but that was the longest that could have elapsed. Adrenaline? Bonding through combat?
She didn't understand how this was possible. People didn't like her. Didn't like Schnees. Especially not half-starved faunus. Was that all it took to make people like her? Cut her hair, hide her name?
It was too confusing. Gently she shook Helia's shoulder.
"Wake up. The next Trial starts soon."
Her only response was a halfhearted grumble a small shift in position with some light nuzzling before the tension left Helia's body again.
"Helia. Helia." Her shakes were halfhearted. "You need to wake up."
"Mrrhh…" Helia murmured, not even so much as blinking before hiding her face in Winter's jacket.
Winter sighed, then carefully pulled Helia closer, standing as slowly and gently as she could, picking up her spare belt of Dust vials and slinging them over her shoulder. Helia stirred a little, then buried herself further into Winter, curling tighter and closer. Like she was afraid of something outside pulling her away.
Winter brushed a strand of hair from her face, then set off to find wherever the next Trial was.
As she wandered down the hallways, following the path she remembered from the first time she came in, she started hearing footsteps. Loud footsteps. Probably security, or someone wearing heavy armour.
Wait…
She adjusted Helia slightly, fingers ready to form glyphs.
She paused at the next corner as the footsteps became louder, clearer, and accompanied by the rustling of armoured joints. Peeking around the wall, she spotted the berserker… oddly calm.
The giantess, Bastion, stopped before the door to stretch and roll her shoulders, the cracks and creaks of armour echoing menacingly, before continuing on her own journey.
They were letting that maniac monstrosity stay!?
This was - this was unacceptable. She'd attacked fellow applicants, likely severely injured or killed some of them. And they were letting her continue her application? And she was still drunk. She could smell the liquor wafting after the woman like a shield.
Helia started shaking in her grip. Shivering? She took off her jacket and wrapped it over her. Hopefully… Helia slowly relaxed again, settling into a position that was somehow easier on Winter's arms. She… she couldn't have known to do that, right?
"Are you coming?" Bastion's voice startled her.
"With you?" She'd meant that to sound more angry and dignified, and less confused.
"Same Stream. Same Trials." Bastion shrugged indifferently.
Winter didn't scream in frustration because that would wake up Helia. "I'm fairly sure I remember you trying to kill me. That doesn't exactly foster an atmosphere of teamwork and co-operation."
Bastion's helmet tilted to the side a little. "You… froze me?" she asked, before nodding. "You're a good fighter. Smart."
Helia purred some more, nuzzling Winter and tightening her grip slightly.
"Thanks. I guess."
"Come on, we don't want to be late." Bastion jerked her head at the other end of the hall before simply leaving Winter there to decide for herself whether she would follow.
She sighed, and followed. The woman at least seemed to know where they were meant to be going. If Winter was lucky, she'd stay silent, and she could forget that she was there -
"The rage wasn't real." Bastion rumbled, her voice reminding Winter of a bear. "You did well to hold me off as long as you did."
"It felt pretty real to me. The part where you slammed people repeatedly into your shield or threw them through pillars."
"Once." Bastion corrected her, unsurprisingly steadfast in the face of accusation. "The rage... happened, yes, but it was unnatural."
Winter raised an eyebrow. "What does that even mean? Berserker rage is always unnatural. It's not the human norm." Likely the result of filthy crossbreeds father had used to say regarding the legends. Which Winter thought was a little unfair, but there was likely some truth to it. The rage was not normal, by any stretch of the imagination.
Bastion snorted. "How long before house becomes home? I have lived with this. It is natural to me."
"So. What do you mean by unnatural."
"It is like a hunger." Bastion explained as they turned around a corner, one TSO looking up and quickly sidestepping to avoid being trampled. "You can feel it build, until it pains you to fast any longer."
"So you weren't hungry when you ate. To follow your analogy."
"No. Force-fed would be a better term."
"How is that possible?" Winter noted the tone of horror in her voice and did her best to squash it. But the idea of your semblance activating without your will, being controlled externally by some separate force… She shuddered.
Bastion leaned slightly, towering over her as she said in a low voice, "I don't know. But I plan to find out."
Winter was unashamed to admit to herself that her world was a lot less claustrophobic when outside Bastion's shadow. The woman filled space in a way that seemed impossible - her rolling smell of alcohol and metal, her vast plated form, her rumbling voice. To stand beside her was to feel squashed, no matter what.
Even Helia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when they entered the Atrium and parted ways. The other - survivors, she guessed, of Stream Charlie stood around in small groups, chatting amongst themselves. Including her. She was half hiding behind the girl with the guitar.
"Hey, Ice Queen!" that moron Maverick called out to her, leaning against the wall with his group of stragglers. Guitar-girl, her, Watcher, and that shaggy, grey-haired man Winter remembered for wanting to kick Maverick's ass. "And He… hea-li-ah?"
Winter glared and resisted the urge to launch into a kick that would no doubt wake the Faunus up.
"Uh, hi, I don't think we've met yet," guitar-girl waved shyly. "I'm Ash..lyn. Ashlyn." she repeated, sneaking distracted glances at Maverick's 'friend'. He… wasn't bad looking, Winter supposed, but anyone who hung around that lunatic immediately became less attractive. And he just seemed too - hard and harsh for her tastes. To each their own, she guessed.
"Winter."
Maverick's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Schnee?!" he hissed in surprise.
Ashlyn got this odd look of dawning epiphany on her face before she paled slightly… something quite surprising considering her already alabaster skin tone. "Ohhh…."
"What? No, that's ridiculous. Winter Schnee has long hair. My hair's short."
She could feel a heavily muffled snort-giggle from Helia.
"It's possible." Grey-haired's eyes narrowed. Slade. His name was Slade, she thought, she remembered. Or Slate. "You have got the Schnee colouration. The pale hair, the grey or blue eyes…"
Ash shot an exceedingly nervous glance at her as Maverick began laughing his ass off. The prick. "You - oh my god - a haircut and a-" he broke off into choked laughter as his exhaustion seemed to catch up on him and take his breath away.
"My last name's -" Think, Winter, think! "My last name's Eira." Hah, she bet none of them knew the Old Atlesian for snow. "And Winter isn't even my first name, it's my middle name. My first name is… Mary."
Maverick's laughter turned into pained wheezing as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor, unable to breathe.
"Winter Schnee. Eldest daughter of Orion Schnee." Watcher unfurled herself and strode forward, shoving Ashlyn and the others aside. "The sins of the father shouldn't be visited upon the child, but your father's sins are many indeed." She stopped, inches away from her. "Should you be Winter Schnee. Rest assured that the retribution that my people are due will be torn, strip by strip from your screaming flesh."
Winter didn't recoil in disgust… even if she did twist her body to shield Helia from this madwoman. But before she or any of the others could so much as say anything about the outburst, Winter heard a minute shink and Watcher growled, stepping back, or trying to at least.
Winter looked down at Helia, who was definitely awake, no matter how many sleepy noises she made. She frowned. "Stabbing people isn't nice. Even if they threaten me."
"Mrph." Helia grumbled, retracting her knife from Watcher's foot and refusing to open her eyes. It twirled in the air between Winter and her… assailant for a moment, before returning to her… holster, robe… thing.
Titian - that was Watcher's name, wasn't it? - twitched her foot experimentally, then made a noise somewhere between a growl and a harrumph. "Inconvenient. But what I said remains true. Schnees bring nothing but death."
"You said the child shouldn't pay for the parent's sins and then promised to take your retribution from the torturing of the innocent." Slade frowned. "Isn't that a contradiction?"
"I said they shouldn't be. But in the absence of Orion Schnee, sometimes one has to make do."
"That's the kind of attitude that would re-start the Great War." Ashlyn scowled. "Your parents hunted down mine so why don't I grab everyone I know and start hunting down you? Since, you know, your parents aren't here so I'll just have to 'make do'."
"That would be a viable solution, yes. Not the ideal one, but viable." Titian looked around at the stunned group. "Your distaste for the Great War is bizarre. The ideals expressed therein were atrocious, but the fight itself was necessary. To cower back from similar atrocities, toothless, for fear of the slain is the highest level of stupidity. But I see I cannot convince you of that."
Ashlyn's jaw dropped. "Uh, hello? Aphy summons the dead. I have every right to fear the slain!" she exclaimed, sending Maverick into another fit of helpless laughter.
Helia growled. "Death only breeds death. Your plan is to get back at the Schnees for faunus deaths by killing one of them. How, in any way, does this make things better?" Helia hissed at her. "So you kill a Schnee. Then what? You expect him to have a sudden epiphany of guilt and become a faunus supporter? People like you are why we're oppressed."
Titian's teeth bared behind her collar. "No. People like you who sit and -"
"Candidates." General Ironwood, to one side of the Atrium. "I'm sorry it took a while for you to get here. Given the recent incident, it had been decided that you have passed the second stage of the Trials. Fighting a berserker is no easy task. Now, for the final stage. If you could all follow me?"
Titian growled and fixed Helia with a final glare, who responded by sticking her tongue out at the aggressive faunus.
Winter frowned. "Helia, don't antagonise the psychopath."
"I'm only following her example…" Helia grumbled, nuzzling Winter again.
"And you just explained why that's a poor idea." She tapped Helia on the nose. "Don't do it."
The discussion… had given Winter something to think about. Were the Dust Company's policies really so bad that they inspired such hatred? Her father gave Faunus jobs, did he not? Took them from the streets? Mining and refining was hard work, and could be dangerous… but that was explained to them. Right?
She frowned as the stench of alcohol washed over her senses, Bastion re-armed and falling into step beside her. Before she could even ask what she thought she was doing, Maverick, the interrupting prick, hadn't seemed to have filled his quota for annoying her yet.
"So… uhh… berserker lady," he started, putting Winter between himself and Bastion, "No hard feelings?"
Oh of course the moron would use her as a wall for a question like that.
Bastion turned to look at him. Despite the unflinching helmet, Winter could almost see the indignant confusion written on her face. She shook her head and shrugged, shouldering her shield.
"Uhhhhh… good? That is good, right? That's the good headshake and shrug?" Maverick asked, looking around for confirmation.
"She hasn't killed you yet." Winter smirked, just a little.
"She couldn't even land a hit on me." Maverick grinned. "You-"
Bastion snorted. "Say that again when we spar, boy."
"Fair enough. Hey, where did you even learn the Spartan Kick? I thought it came from that Spruce Willis movie… that uhh…"
"Arkos." Winter supplied.
"Yeah, Arkos- wait, you've seen Arkos?" Maverick almost tripped in surprise. Quickly righting himself, he gave Winter an uncomfortably long scrutinising look.
"I was preparing for an Old Valean exam, and I thought it was educational." Winter tried not to sneer. "I was very wrong."
Maverick doubled over, trying to hold in his laughter with shaking shoulders. "Very." he snorted. "Seriously though, Ladybug, Monochrome, or Bumblebee?"
"Monochrome of course. Do I look like a savage?" She did actually sneer then. "I imagine you're fond of Lancaster."
"God no," Maverick recoiled, "Nuts and Dolts all the fucking way!"
"I think that was rendered violently non-canon. Alas." She leant back a little at that, pretending to fall into a half-swoon, then straightening as Helia started to slip.
"You know damn well she never found anyone else." Maverick tried to look serious - and completely failed. It was probably the insane smile.
"I always liked Snow Angels." Bastion rumbled, surprising both of them.
Winter blinked in wide-eyed surprise. Maverick burst out laughing. Helia giggled, nuzzling Winter a little. Winter turned plum-red again as she realised what the pair - no, the trio - were implying. She shot a glare at Bastion, who merely chuckled at her indignance.
"You're all incorrigible. Incorrigible lunatics." She buried her face in a convenient fold of Helia's robes. Wait, no, that wouldn't help!
"Uh-huh." Maverick quipped obnoxiously, his everpresent shit-eating grin in place.
"I don't suppose any of you have seen the sequel or the series?" Slade had a grin of his own.
Winter froze. "O-of course I have. Haven't. Because it's silly. I did know about them though. Definitely."
"Holy shit, when?!" Maverick gawked. "We should- no, we need to-" he waved his arms about, "Y'know. I forgot the word."
"Watch?" Slade's voice was dry. "I've heard that's what you do with films. Watch them."
"Yeah, that's the one," that oblivious moron grinned again. "Man, I hope Baked Alaska never gets off the ground, Freezerburn was way better."
"No. Just - no." Winter shook her head firmly. "The characters have no screen chemistry at all. Except maybe that one scene with them fighting those two people? But compare with Alaska - there's so much tension there. It works better on every level." Under her breath she added, "Moron."
"Aside from that whole intimacy and trust thing they have going on, you mean." Maverick smirked. Oh yes, he'd definitely heard her. Prick. "Special Snowflakes though."
"They're sisters." Winter in no way supported the intense chemistry between them, the surging tension in every scene and line of dialogue, the way their eyes met - "It'd be wrong."
Slade smirked. "Pity."
Winter whipped around and glared at him. "NO!" she yelled, "DO NOT SPOIL IT FOR ME!"
"Eyyyy, you do care!" Maverick grinned madly and threw his arms out in celebration, moments before bumping into someone. Winter, of course, had been paying attention to her surroundings and had no such problem.
"Hey, watch it!" the… astoundingly brightly coloured girl hissed at him, before returning her attention to the front of the crowd, where Ironwood stood on a balcony overlooking the stream.
"Silence, please. You are moving into the last stage of the Trials. For those of you curious, the remaining applicants from your stream are as follows. Aphoth. Ashlyn. Avos. Ciane. Diamant…" Ironwood continued to read out the list of names. Only first names.
Winter breathed a quiet sigh of relief at that.
"Gerard, Helia, Helena…" at the mention of her name, Helia perked up a little, before snuggling back down. "Krypton…"
"That's me~" the colourful brat with the tail almost squealed. Disruptive.
"Lisa, Maverick, Norman…" and there was the moron… "Slade, Titian, Vivian, Winter and Yolona." Ironwood looked up at them. "Congratulations."
Watcher and Bastion had both reacted to one of those last few names. So Watcher was definitely Titian, and Bastion must have been Yolona. She couldn't help but wonder which person Vivian was. Irrelevant, Winter, focus!
"Huh, I wonder what happened to Mary…" Maverick whispered knowingly to her, leaning over just a bit before giving her a cheeky wink and a smirk.
Winter gritted her teeth and did her best not to punch him in the face. Again. Maybe she could get a blow in during the next trial -
Before the murmur of the crowd could gather momentum again, Ironwood raised a hand to quieten them. "This is the last stage. Hopefully there won't be any more… unexpected interruptions, but, well, Hunters are adaptable. Those of you skilled enough will be able to adapt to the situation as it changes - a vital part of any Hunter's arsenal. But, without further ado…"
The room shifted. The walls peeled away, folding up on unseen hinges and springs, the sections of the floor rotating and moving so Ironwood's platform was behind them rather than in front, the walls folding and forming into a long, wide corridor. A long corridor traced with a winding red-on-black path.
"The test is simple. Make it to the end of the corridor without severe injury." Ironwood smiled. "See you on the other side."
-.-.-
R&R?