A/N: And we're back everyone, with the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy some cool fighting scenes I had in mind, as the tournemant finally approaches. I'll see you all next chapter.
The moment their registration passed sucessfully, team JPLL spent as much time as they could on the battlefield, training and working on their teamwork in order to improve as much as they can. The tournament was approaching steadily, and they didn't have a lot to make prograss in, after all. A few days into their training, teams JPLL and ACMM stood one against another in Beacon's arena, facing one another for a spar. There weren't many people around, as it was after school, and while a student or two watched the fight out of boredom, for the most part they were along.
As for team ACMM, they didn't join the tournament. While Undine did mention this to the group and suggested they go for it, Melody and Copper both argued that they still had ways to go before they could compete in such a tourney, leaving them with a lot of time on their hands, since most lessons got canceled the sooner the tournament approached.
For the most part, they agreed that first, they should have one on one matches with one another to test their individual skills in combat. After all, only the first round included all of them as a team, and they decided it was far more efficient time wise to focus on each of them individually.
Ash stared at the group, grinning. She drew the shortest straw from team ACMM, meaning she got to go first and choose her partner for the spar. Eyeing team JPLL with a smirk on her face, she pondered her options lightly, before raising her hand and pointing at the dust giantess standing across her. "Alright, Jinny, let's do this." She stepped forward, drawing Blind Justice from its holster, readying herself.
Jin, on the opposite end of the arena, walked cheerfully towards Ash, getting into position. So far, when it came to fighting other auras, her ability to see them coming was quite uncanny, and hitting Jin proved far harder than people initially thought. She got into position, her arms falling a bit and the claws on her hands showing, smiling cheerfully at Ash while the two of them stood against one another silently.
Perci, who acted as the judge for the sparring matches, walked between the two. She paused for a bit, raising her hand upwards while letting the silence drag on, building some tension for everyone in the arena, before dropping her hand sharply. "Begin!" Her voice rang out, loud and clear, and she jumped back, giving the two of them ample space to fight in, while the rest of the teams got up to the stands, watching them with anticipation.
The first to act was Ash, raising her gun and firing a single shot, right to Jin's face. Jin's instincts kicked in, and she rolled to the side, still smiling, before making a B line towards Ash directly. Her claws already sparked with lightly, getting close to her rather quickly, raising her hand to deliver a primal blow straight to Ash's head.
The detective, however, was already leuges ahead of her. Her semblance proved itself quite useful in situations like these. She quickly rolled to the side, out of Jin's reach, getting behind her and drawing Quick Justice, as the baton quickly got charged with lightning itself. She brought it down on her head, and while Jin managed to get away in time, jumping back, Ash quickly drew her gun and shot her back, hitting Jin directly. The powerful blast from the pistol sent her flying, though Jin managed to recover mid-air, landing on her feet.
She spun in place, still having quite the stamina and aura to go. She took a deep breath, as Ash's Guts already warned her about what was to come, and as Jin unleashed her fiery breath, dashed away, in an attempt to get away from the fires. Regardless, they managed to reach her to a degree, burning her lightly, though it was far better than just standing there and taking it head on.
From there, Ash pulled out Quick Justice, firing a couple of shots at the dust infused faunus. "Let's see you dodge THIS!" She called out with adrenaline rushing through her, keeping her rather calculative mind in check. The first few shots were quick obviously a diversion, only to make Jin run in a specific direction. Seeing Jin run to the right, she quickly readjusted her aim, going slightly before Jin's movements, and predicting her movement, took another shot. The bullet flew sharply, making the air around it break as it hit its target once more, a small explosion covering most of Jin's hair.
Jin stopped, turning towards Ash again. While her instinct told her to run, she tried to go against it, running directly at Ash with a primal bellow rising from deep within her stomach.
"So you wanna go like that, eh?..." Ash grinned, pulling her baton out and preparing herself for the close quarters clash, imminent at this point. "Then bring it!" At the end of the day, this training session was for Jin after all, and just aiming at her from afar wasn't going to do much for her combat experience.
Jin brought down her claw against Ash's face again, flailing her arm almost brutally strong. Ash reacted just in time, raising her baton to protect herself, but even that wasn't enough to block out the Brute's sheer strength. It felt Ash flying, spinning midair as she hit one of the walls, dropping to her feet a second after. She sighed, getting up, giving Jin a smirk.
"Man... You sure to pack a mean punch, don't you?" She cracked her neck. spinning her baton in hand. "Well, guess I should have kept my distance, eh?" She ran back into the arena, coming directly at Jin again. The giant brought her claw forwards, but Ash jumped above her, pulling out her pistol and aiming for her head again. Jin, however, saw her aura move, and reached out, grabbed her palm, slamming her back into the ground.
There was a loud thud as Ash hit the floor, coughing up lightly before getting up. She was still staggered for a bit, but it didn't bother her much, readying both her weapons again. "Alright, let's have it then!"
However, despite her enthusiasm, Jin only stepped back.
"N-No more fighting." She explained, in her own crude way. "You're hurt. I don't want to fight anymore." Turning her head to the side and crossing her arms, Jin made her stance clear on the matter. True, she saw the good in it, but even then, fighting was still not something she enjoyed.
"Aww, come on." Ash, trying to coax her into resuming their spar, stepped closer, flexing a muscle playfully. "See? I'm fine. Sure, I lost some aura, but you don't have to worry about it, alright?"
"No!" Jin called, pouting and turning away from her fully, showing Ash her back. "I don't wanna!"
Ash tried to convince her some more to go back to it, but nothing she said worked. Jin was far to stubborn for her own good to be convinced, and so, the spar ended on a rather anticlimactic note, with Jin walking back to the stands, and Ash following suit shortly after. From there, the rest of team ACMM picked out who would go up next for the spar, playing one out of three to see who would go at it.
"One, two... Three!" Copper, Melody and Undine each raised her hand, either upside down or straight up, to see who would be the odd one out. Unfortunately for Melody, however, she came up the odd one, and thus, was forced to choose a partner to spar with. She eyed the remains of team JPLL, considering who she wanted to go up against, though for the most part everyone else already knew who she would pick. Finally raising her finger, she pointed at her girlfriend, to no one's surprise. "I pick... Perci!" She called out, trying to sound brave.
Perci huffed wordlessly, grinning as she got up from her seat. "Alright then, Love. You got it." Cocking her head to the side, she turned her head in Ash's direction, seeing as her spar was already over. "Mind refereein' for us Detective?"
Ash nodded, standing up again, and going down to the arena. Perci and Melody followed her soon after, Melody looking a tad nervous, and before long, the two of them stood facing one another. Perci raised the Anarchy Melodica, putting it over her shoulder, while Melody sheepishly held Swan Song in her hands, pointing it in Perci's direction. Ash made sure the two of them were ready, and swung her hand. "Go!"
Melody tried to take the initiative, running towards Perci. But alas, with not much experience in close quarters combat, relaying on her long range projectiles far more than she should have, her stance was all wonky and weak, and before she could swing her weapon in Perci's direction, Perci blocked her blade, gently guiding it away. "You're doin' it wrong." Perci noted, looking over her form. "Want me to show you how it's done?"
Melody gazed at her rather embarrassed, but regardless, nodded once. "A-Alright..." From there, Perci walked around her, bending her over a bit, using her cane to direct Melody's body around. While she didn't know that much about fighting with a sword, she did see others do it enough to get the basics, and for the next five minutes, all she did was to explain to Melody how to use her weapon properly.
"See what you wanna do here is stay low." She continued her brief explanation, Melody trying to keep still. "Legs bent, arms strong, so on and so on." Here and there, Perci sent a slightly heated glance in her direction, partway teasing her lover and partway actually seducing her, though Melody just got rather flustered and confused, blushing heavily. After trying to keep up Perci's instructions for a bit, she keeled over, not having that much stamina in the first place, falling and dropping her sword.
"C-Crap..." Melody muttered, trying to get up and keep going. This was a spar, after all, and she at least wanted to try. "W-Well... Here I go, Perci!" She called out, giving another swing, this time putting more emphasis on the momentum she got from her movements, letting her whole body swing with her.
Perci blocked the strike, going to the side, judging her lightly. "Hmm... Better, but you still have a lot of work to do. Like this!" Perci focused some of her aura on Melody, bringing down a strike against her side. However, what she lacked in strength she made up for in mobility, and Melody jumped out of the way, doing a summersault above Perci and landing on her other end, trying to deliver another strike to her side. The sword hit, though Perci clearly didn't care. Trying to carve through the massive amounts of aura she weilded was like trying to but a slab of steel with a kitchen knife, and almost nothing got through. Perci chuckled again, spinning in place and grabbing Melody, pulling her close and giving her a wink. "Well now, you managed to hit me. I wonder what I should do now..." She dragged her words a bit, clearly having way too much fun from this, making the rest of her friends cringe a bit to the sight of Perci being this cheesy and romantic.
"W-Well... You know..." Melody looked to the side, blushing still. It was clear from her face, however, that being held like that by her beloved was not something she disliked. "I-If you want..." Her voice came out as a whisper, but it was all that Perci needed.
"Then I give this victory to you, Love." She cheerfully decreed, lifting Melody into a bridal hold and carrying her back to the stands. Melody herself was quite surprised by the sudden movements, still holding her weapon tightly, sheathing it right away as she wrapped her arms around Perci's neck, to make sure she couldn't fall over. After putting Melody back on one of the seats, Perci walked back to take her cane, which she managed to drop when she swiped her lover away, walking slowly and spinning it in place, only to meet everyone's slightly disappointed gaze at her when she sat back. "...What? Oh, like any of you guys would do any different in my place." She rolled her eyes, Leaning on the seat. "Anyway, who's next, eh? Better be a good fight too."
Before they could resume their fights, however, the door to the arena opened up. A simple delivery man, carrying about two or three crates, each seemed to be a few feet long, entered the arena, addressing the students who were there, holding a note in his hand. "Is there a Leila Heavenward here? I have a package for her."
Leila stood up, raising an eyebrow. She didn't order anything from any store, not that she knew how to regardless, stepped down towards the man, eyeing him suspiciously. "And who is the package from, if you don't mind me asking?" Before she signed on anything, she was taught to always make sure it wasn't someone playing a trick on her. As far as she knew, Perci ordered something in her name to play a practical joke on her or something of the sort.
The man, clearly in his early twenties, picked up the piece of paper he held in his hand, trying to read the name inscribed on it. "Hyac... Hiasi... I don't know how to say this one, just take a look, will you?" He showed her the note, and the moment Leila read the name, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Hyacynthia..."
She quickly signed the packages, taking the crates he carried off his trolley, and sending him off. Opening one of them, removing the wooden top of the crate, the insignia of her church laid bare over a velvet box inside it. Leila's smile grew wider, and as the rest of them, Jin included, went down to inspect what she got, she pulled out of one of the boxes a long, rather slim rod of what seemed like silver colored dust.
"Oooh..." Jin gasped in awe, hey eyes glued to the rod, which was easily about two thirds of Leila's height in total. It was rare of Jin to show interest in something that wasn't auras or people directly, so seeing her look at the object so intensely only piqued the others' curiosity.
Perci was the first to speak after her, coughing lightly. "You got a... Rod?" She couldn't help but ask, half regretting that decision by the large breath Leila took to explain what it was.
"Oh, this isn't just a rod..." She smiled, taking her blade and extending it to full length. "These are rods made of silver dust and prepared by my mother herself!" She actually raised her voice to a slight cheer, before catching herself overly emoting and taking a deep breath, calming herself down. "Anyway... My mother sent me these in preparation of the tournament." She pulled a note from inside the box containing the rod, showing it to her friends.
'My dearest daughter,'
'I have sent you these rods of Silver dust for use in the Vytal Festival tournament.'
'Please, handle them with care, and remember, they are not to be taken lightly. Use them only in emergencies.'
'Good luck in your battles,'
'Hyacynthia Halcyon Heavenward.'
The others looked at each other, and then at the note again. The writing was handmade, though from the looks of it it could have easily been mistaken for a work of art, as each letter was hand drawn and emphasized with plenty of unneeded, but fancy looking additions. Regardless, the contents of the letter left very little to the imagination, and Perci shook her head lightly. "So... What? Is that mother of yours like a celebrity or somethin'?"
Leila nodded, lifting her blade and spinning the barrel, while pressing a button on the hilt. This time, in addition to the spinning itself, each half of the blade split to one side, revealing that the blade was, in fact, hollow in the inside, but more importantly, had a hatch for the rod in the middle. "In a way, I suppose. My mother is the current guardian of our village, and a true angel." She mused, sliding the silver dust rod down the hatch, and spinning the blade again in the opposite direction, closing it up. "She is a great warrior, and a revered member of our church, as well as a personal idol of mine." Every word Leila spoke was filled with admiration to her parent.
"But is she powerful?" Undine chimed in, seemingly doubting the strength her mother wielded. "Cause I betcha I can kick her ass if I got the chance." The tiny fish faunus seemed far too eager for her own good, feisty and gutsy as ever.
Leila, on the other hand, simply nodded. "So far, none have managed to challenge her and come out victorious. We have had several sparring sessions in the past, and each time she has defeated me or held back by a very large margin." She spoke coldly to a degree, certain of her mother's strength and skill.
Undine, on the other hand, was having none of it, taking out her trident. "Well, all this power talk has me itchin' for a fight. What do you say Leila, wanna try and defend your mother's word? I mean, you gotta be strong if you say she trained you, right?" She winked, clearly trying to goad Leila into fighting her. Copper, as usual, didn't show any real objection to Undine taking her spot for the upcoming match, instead stepping back and looking at them from afar.
Leila closed her eyes, letting a small smile come to her lips. While her mother did mention using it only for emergencies, one use wouldn't hurt, if it was for training purposes. "Very well, Undine. I shall accept your challenge. Perci, do you mind?" Turning to her partner, now judge once more, she walked to the other end of the arena, raising her blade and preparing herself.
"Fine, whatever..." Perci shrugged, taking her position as judge. Undine raised her weapon, grinning, looking as cocky as ever, just eager to see what the nun was capable of with this new power of hers. "Just fucking start or whatever I don't care..." Perci threw her arm about. A rather crude way to start the match, but it did its work.
Leila started the fight headstrong, running towards Undine with her blade already drawn. Undine just stood there, not trying to get away, and as Leila got close and swung her blade fiercly, Undine's smirk grew a few levels, as she triggered her semblance, quickly sinking into the ground.
Taking her weapon with her.
She worked hard, tuning her semblance out and practicing it. If the fight with the Eldritchans taught her one thing, is that she had to work harder on mastering her semblance, and tournament or not, this was what she was going to do. Leila stared at the patch of ground that used to be Undine, before the redhead rose up from behind her, sending Oceanline forward with a single, powerful thrust, sending Leila flying.
Leila hit the ground, using the momentum of launch herself up again, landing on her feet. "I see... Then have at you!" Resorting to her more iconic style of fighting, she spun the barrel and hit her gravity dust, sticking the blade into the ground and creating a large, weight increasing gravity field, keeping Undine pinned to the ground. Raising her blade, Leila spun her barrel to wind afterwards, sending a whirlwind right towards Undine's direction, with the gravitational field strong enough to keep her at bay.
"...Shit!" Undine called out, attempting to avoid it using her semblance, planting her feet firmly into the ground to make sure the wind couldn't move her. It worked, to a degree, and she managed to avoid being blown away, though when she came to raise herself up to the floor and run off, she realized something.
The gravity field kept her from going up.
She struggled, fighting the increased pull of the earth on her, while Leila picked up her pace, running at Undine again, the thrill of battle evident on her face. Undine, without any other choice but to defend herself, shifted her weapon to its harpoon gun form, blasting Leila with a powerful, ice elemental shot, aiming for her abdomen. Leila raised her blade to defend herself, and as the shot hit the bronze directly, it exploded into a heavy, rather massive ice flower, slowing the nun down just long enough to let the gravity field pass, as Undine plucked herself out of the ground, dashes away to catch some distance. Spinning a dial on her gun, she aimed it at Leila again, this time firing a lightning bolt instead, powred by one of the three large cells filled with dust to the side of the gun form.
Bashing the ice against the ground to break it, Leila barely had enough time to react to the lightning bolt, hitting her dead on and making her yield for a second, falling to her knees. She panted heavily, raising her head and staring at Undine with determination to win, deciding it was time. "Alright... Time to use it." She muttered to herself, spinning the barrel again and opening the blade in half, showing the internal structure of the bronze plates. Still pressing the trigger on her blade, she poured her aura into the silver dust, as it sparked to life, light erupting from the center of the blade and filling it up.
From the stands, Jin's eyes sparked with awe, watching the spectacle happening from afar. The light stretched out, forming a longer blade from inside the space in between the bronze, effectively doubling Caliborn's length. Leila charged again, spinning in place while jumping in Undine's direction, a blade of light guided by her hands falling on top of Undine's head, as the nun screamed out a fierce battle cry.
Undine looking up in shock, morphing Oceanline back to trident form and coming to dodge her attack, rolling to the side. Despite successfully avoiding the actual blade, the shockwaves that came after it, as pillars of light erupted from the ground around Leila caught her off guard, a few of them hitting Undine dead on. Suffice to say, they felt burning and searing, and she flew off, weak enough and low on aura, keeling over. "A-Alright..." She managed to utter, slowly getting back up. "Y-You win..." It was a bit hard to admit defeat, especially after acting so cocky, but it was a lesson to learn nonetheless.
Leila smiled triumphantly, closing her blade back to it's normal form, collapsing it and placing it on her back. She then walked over to Undine, extanding a hand and offering her help to fully get up. "Are you alright? If you're hurt anywhere, I'll heal you." Despite acting as rightous as ever, she was low on aura herself. Using those dust based skills still took a rather hefty toll on her aura pool, despite having a rather large amount compared to the average huntsman. Of course, it didn't matter to Leila, as the nun prioritized others' wellbeing above herself, waiting to see Undine was fine entirely before letting herself return to the stands.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry..." Undine uttered, slowly walking back. The last thing she wanted was Leila's pity, even if it came from a well intentioned place. She gruffed a bit, but nevertheless admitted defeat.
The others, meanwhile, all nodded impressed. "...Well, then." Ash managed to speak up after the two of them finally made their way to the rest of the group. "Remind me not to get on your bad side again..." She gave a light chuckle, snickering to herself, Leila rolling her eyes. "Anyway..." The detective continued, looking over at Copper and Hue. "You two ready for the spar?"
However, surprisingly enough, Copper shook her head. "I would rather not spar at the moment. I am feeling under the weather, and would like to rest some more." She sat back down, laying a bit and trying to close her eyes.
Hue, just as disinterested as Copper in the whole charade, didn't even bother lifting her eyes from her book. "Agreed. I do not think any more practice is gonna be needed for me, all things considered. I have a rather comprehensive mastery of my semblance, my weapons have been sharpened and prepared, and we have practiced before. I am ready." She spoke in one breath, resuming her reading and occasional writing.
Perci and Ash looked at one another, shrugging shortly after. "...Whatever." They spoke at the same time, neither seeing any point in trying to convince them any further that they should fight. If Copper was sick, might as well let her be and take her to the nurse.
Leila, however, approached Perci, looking rather nervous. "So, Perci..." She started, her voice trailing a bit. Even if she herself held not a small amount of power to her, she still felt unsure to some degree. "Are you sure we can pass the first round?"
Perci took one last glace at the rest of her friends, smiling gently. At this point, worrying about it didn't do anything good, as the first round would begin the day after anyway.
"Don't worry about it Leila." She spoke calmly. "I think we'll do juuuuust fine..."