This fight isn't over yet.
Kenneth and Ellis readied their weapons at the arrival of a new threat as I did the same. Nathan, however, stood motionless in the shadow of the Grimm, still frozen underneath its imposing presence. What does he think he's doing?! I called out to him as the tall creature brought down one of its stone cleavers, snapping him out of his daze just in time for him to roll forward and narrowly avoid the makeshift weapon as it dug into the ground. Back on his feet, he unsheathed his blades and went in for a stab, aiming at its thigh. It was a useless attempt since its tough hide didn't allow him to cut very deep, and so the majority of the daggers stuck out of the unfazed beast like it was some nightmarish pincushion. Another loud screech roared through the forest, and the creature took hold of him with its now free hand just as he tried to get away and regroup with us. Nathan struggled to free himself from the Grimm's crushing grip, only to get his wish by being thrown in our direction. I conjured a powerful gust in his direction to try and slow him down, a soft clunk coming from the guard as it ejected the now-empty Dust cartridge. Oh c'mon! Why'd you have to run out now?
It seemed to be enough, though, as he began to lose momentum little by little When it seemed he had slowed down enough, I raised a barrier in his path to act as an improvised landing pad. Nathan curled up into a ball as he crashed into the amber wall, fell to the ground, and then quickly sprung back on his feet, flashing me a grateful smile. I nodded back and then we turned our attention back to the Grimm, who had just pulled out its cleaver and was letting out another loud screech.
"What the hell is a Minos doing here?" Nathan yelled as he sheathed his daggers, his voice trying to hide his fear, his eyes betraying him .
I raised an eyebrow at his outburst, "You know what that thing is?" How come I've never heard of this type of Grimm? I reached into my coat and pulled out a cartridge of wind Dust, replacing the one that had just run out.
"Enough to know that we're better off getting out of here. Now!" There was no missing the meaning behind his warning. I shifted my gaze towards the tall creature, which was staring us down, as if patiently waiting for us to make a move. Something that struck me as rather strange, considering one of us had just attacked it. Whatever kind of Grimm this Minos is, it's definitely acting unlike the other Grimm I've seen before.
"Oh c'mon, are you kidding me?" Kenneth huffed out as he nonchalantly stepped forwards, the Grimm growling as he approached. "I'm not about to turn tail and run away like some weak little loser! If this thing wants a fight, then I'll be more than happy to provide." he grinned as he flicked his yo-yo down in a circular motion.
"You'll what?" Nathan grabbed his shoulder and turned Kenneth towards him, "Look dude, I don't care how good you think you are, but that isn't your average Beowulf, okay? We need be smart and get away from it." I'm not exactly sure why he kept stressing that we avoid fighting this thing. Both Kenn and Ellis are exceptionally skilled fighters, and he isn't exactly some amateur either. Plus, it's all alone against the four of us. I looked over at the Grimm once more; its large size and haunting appearance sent a chill down my spine. Its glowing red eyes met with my own, my body unconsciously taking a step back. A loud, horrifying shriek rang out as it began storming its way towards us. Looks like it's done waiting around.
"Oh, shit..." Nathan muttered out as the beast charge towards us.
"Everyone, get behind me!" I called out as I positioned myself in its path, stretching both arms forward. I cleared my mind and took a deep breath as I projected a larger amber barrier between us and the Grimm. The beast pummelled the barrier mercilessly, my face wincing as I felt the force of each strike. Just how strong is this thing?! Little by little, I felt my defenses crumble away from its strikes, finally shattering as it brought down both its weapons in a mighty swing. I tumbled to the side, miraculously avoiding the attack, only for it to lash its tail at me. I thought for sure that was going to get me, when it was parried by Ellis's greatsword, saving my skin for the second time. She gestured at me to move away before focusing on her opponent, tightening her grip on the sword. I took her advice and moved back, feeling my body become sluggish as I began to struggle to breathe. I didn't think that thing would take so much out of me so quickly.
After registering the new threat, the Minos wound up its arms for a wide slash, but was interrupted by a sudden strike to the face from Kenn's yo-yos. Ellis took the opportunity and began her attack, her sword leaving light cuts as she mercilessly struck its abdomen. All the while, Kenneth continued to ram his weapons onto the beast's exposed back, taking whatever opening he could use. The two continued their individual assaults into the Grimm, which was having a hard time keeping up with the different fighting styles. The creature seemed overwhelmed by their attack and it felt as though this fight was about to be over. This wasn't so bad. What was Nathan so worried about?
Ellis brought down her sword on the Minos, who in turn caught it by forming a cross guard with its own weapons. The two began to push each other in hopes of breaking the other's guard, the Grimm's overwhelming strength beginning to show as it began to push Ellis back, who kept her form despite losing ground. Things weren't looking good, the beast's push moments away from overtaking her, when Kenneth kicked the back of its knee, causing the Minos to rear back and lay off Ellis. The swordswoman didn't waste the opportunity and quickly took a wide slash at the Grimm; an idea that Kenn also had in mind as he stepped to its side and swung at its chest. Their weapons met halfway, the yo-yos colliding with the greatsword, wrapping themselves around the blade and stopping both attacks before they could reach their intended target. The Minos lashed out, twisting its body, slamming Kenn away with the back of its cleaver and swiping up at Ellis with its tail, hitting her directly at her core and sending her reeling back towards where I was standing.
The Grimm continued its attack on Ellis, closing the distance with a hop and bringing down its weapons right above our heads. I quickly raised my hand in its path and formed a barrier between us, putting everything I had into keeping it up. As soon as it made contact, I felt my knees buckle slightly inwards and feared that my shield would shatter with just the initial force of the strike. It was able pull through, and the cleavers slid off, crashing at our sides. Ellis quickly sprang forward, swinging her sword down at the beast's head to gain some ground between us as it blocked her charge with its weapons. I followed in suit, taking advantage of its distraction to thrust my sword at one of the unarmored segments of its chest, piercing the skin with almost no resistance and leaving a deep wound. The beast howled in pain as it stumbled back, the blade slipping out just as easily as it went in, and then hastily covered its chest by crossing its weapons. Something which Ellis had accounted for, striking the crude cleavers away with a wide swing of her sword, breaking its guard before going in for her own thrust attack.
It was an easy hit, but as soon as she started moving her sword in, two lighting spears lodged themselves in the Grimm's back, causing it to flail its body in pain. The sudden shaking caught Ellis by surprised, and she immediately jumped away from the monster, swinging her sword so as to protect herself from any wild attacks. As the spears dissipated, the Minos looked over where they came from, quickly bringing up one of its cleavers to swat away an arrow which exploded a few seconds after being deflected.
The Minos now had his sights on Nathan, turning its back on me and Ellis to charge towards the archer. He began firing his arrows in quick succession, most of which just bounced off the beast's hard flesh. Once it was close enough to him, the Grimm began to slam its crude weapons on the ground, forcing the brunet to take drastic evasive action. After dodging the first few strikes, he closed his bow and made a mad dash toward the gap between its legs. The Minos swung down in front of its legs in hopes of crushing him, but luckily, he was able to tumble through without getting hit.
The Grimm's tail shot after him, but two strikes at the back of its neck caused it to shrink back. When it looked over it shoulder, the beast was met with a solid uppercut, courtesy of Kenneth's yo-yos.
"I'm not finished with you, pal.", his eyes were cold and dangerous. Looks like he didn't take being swatted away very well. The Minos snarled as it turned to him, letting out a powerful scream once it faced him. He, however, wasn't intimidated in the slightest, catching both yo-yos before falling into a fighting stance "Let's go!"
Kenneth charged at the beast, side stepping its first attack and slammed one of his yo-yos on the monster's wrist, releasing its grip on the stone cleaver. The Grimm tried to grab hold of him, but he jumped out it's reach, and continued to strike all over it's body. The beast picked up its weapon and began swinging left and right trying to rid itself of its pest, but Kenn was just too fast for it to land a hit on him. It was an impressive sight, but the way he danced around the Minos and the speed at which his weapons were spinning made it almost impossible for either me or Ellis to help. The Grimm eventually brought down both its cleavers with a loud roar in hopes that Kenneth would at least back off. But all that bought him was a second as, after he jumped out of the attack, he quickly jumped onto the cleaver and swung both his yo-yos across its face before jumping off again. He went in for another strike but before he could attack, an arrow aimed for the beast's chest collided with his one of his yo-yos, causing both of them to get tangled before it detonated just a few feet above him.
The force of the explosion sent Kenneth tumbling towards where Ellis and I were standing, with a few bumps and scratches. The Minos took the full force of the blast, standing in the flames as if they were nothing and then snarled at the archer, charging off towards him. I brought back my right arm, bent both my index and pinky fingers and thrust my hand towards the creature, blasting it with a powerful blizzard, encasing its body in a layer of ice. Sweat dripped off my face as I began to catch my breath, placing my hand on my chest to try and calm down my heartbeat. The Grimm seemed motionless inside of its icy prison, but the small, hairline cracks that were quickly forming said otherwise. Even though it was frozen from head to toe, the Minos struggled to free itself from the restraints, which were already starting to give way from its sheer strength. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve. That ice isn't gonna hold that thing for long. We need a plan, and fast. I opened my mouth to ask if anyone wanted to discuss some sort of tactic, but it seemed like teamwork was the last thing in their minds right now.
"Watch where you're shooting, jackass! You could've killed me!" Kenneth yelled at Nathan, who had just made his way over to us.
The archer's face dropped, "I'm sorry? That shot was perfect until you decide to spin your yo-yos right in its path!"
"Riiight. And I'm sure that almost getting the amazon killed was also 'a perfect shot'? Give me a break, dude." It looked like they were one insult away from things getting violent. I should stop this.
"Um, guys…" I tried to to get their attention, but was completely ignored by both of them, much to my annoyance.
"Maybe you should practice what you preach, Kenneth." Ellis spoke up, staring at my partner with the same cold eyes as before. Not you too…
"Hey guys…" I spoke a bit louder, but was once again totally ignored by everyone. This is really starting to get on my nerves.
The anger on Kenneth's face rose as he switched his gaze to her, "You wanna go too, princess?" he said, as if challenging her.
Her cool expression contorted with rage. "Bring it on!" she spat out as she dug her sword into the ground and brought up her fists, ready to put him in his place.
I grit my teeth in anger as I brought my fingers up to my mouth and let out a loud whistle, "That's enough, all of you! I've had it with all this stupid arguing!" The three of them shared a look of shock at my outburst, "In case you all forgot, we are in the middle of a fight and our attacks are just barely hurting this thing. We don't stand a chance to win unless we stop going at each other's throats and figure out how to work together."
"But-"
"Upupup. I don't wanna hear it. None of us can take on this Grimm in a one-on-one, it's too strong. But that's why we have teammates. To work together and even our odds of winning." A loud screech and the sound of ice shattering caused us to turn back and see the Minos, which had freed its head and one of its arms from the icy prison. It raised up the stone cleaver to break the rest of the restraints when two light blue arrows flew towards its arm, freezing it once again. We all looked back at Nathan, who let out a sigh as he lowered his weapon.
"Rory's right. This thing isn't going to back off peacefully now that it's all riled up. If we work as a team, we'll stand a better chance of beating it." he stared at the Grimm before looking over at us, a grin on his face, "And, hey, if this goes horribly wrong, at least getting killed by a Minos sounds a lot better than dying to an Ursa."
My lips curved upwards as I shook my head, "A bit morbid, but I appreciate the spirit. Thanks, Nathan. And I told you, I'm not gonna let anyone die. Not on my watch." We shared a brief smile before another loud screech brought our attention back to the frozen Grimm, the ice covering it about to give way. Nathan and I got ready to fight back when Ellis and Kenneth placed themselves in front of us.
"I think we can put aside our problems and fight together. Ain't that right, buddy?" she said, giving Kenn a "playful" punch on the shoulder, causing him to stumble a bit.
He glared daggers at Ellis before swallowing his anger, rubbing his arm, "Yeah, whatever. Let's show this thing what it gets for picking a fight with us."
The tender moment was broken by a scream and the sound of ice shattering. The Grimm had finally freed itself from most of its icy restraints, the arm Nathan shot being the only thing still frozen. It let out another scream as began to thaw out the frozen arm with its other cleaver.
As it tried fully free itself, Ellis centered her sword, aiming it at the struggling beast, "So, any ideas, anyone?"
I cupped my chin with my hand. How do we beat something that we can barely hurt? Wait, my sword went through its chest no problem that one time so... "Maybe... "
"Got something, Rory?" Ellis asked, looking at us over her shoulder.
"I'm working on it." my eyes shifted over to the frozen arm of the Minos, the ice quickly giving way under the hammering force. "Ellis, Kenn, could you two keep that thing busy for a bit? I need a little more time to think."
She glanced over at Kenneth, who gave her a reluctant shrug, and sighed, "I think we can manage." The Grimm had finished thawing out its arm and began making its way over to us, its red eyes lit with rage. The two exchanged a quick nod before charging over to keep the beast distracted while I came up with a plan. I took a deep breath and turned my head over to the last of my teammates,"Nathan, what exactly do you know about this thing?"
He moved his hand away from his quiver, exhausted of all but two lonely arrows, "Well for starters, the Minos are a very advanced species of Grimm, capable of more than just basic thought. They like to observe their prey and adapt to them, which makes fighting them more and more difficult as time draws on. On top of that, their hide is ridiculously strong, almost as tough as tempered steel. But like everything else in the world, they aren't perfect. Minos are generally impatient and will charge wildly at their prey if they aren't fighting back. The flesh on their chest is very tender, it's the best way to do some serious damage," That explains why my sword went through so easily. "So I'd say our best bet is to aim all our attacks at the gaps in its armor and hope we hit a vital."
"Is it possible to break through its armor and hit one directly?"
"What?", he looked over at me, visibly confused at my suggestion, "The armor on its chest is just as tough as the rest of its body, if not tougher, and we barely scratch its skin as is! What could… we... " his train of thought seemed to have stopped and a smug grin began to creep onto his face.
"You have an idea, don't you?" A series of nods answered my question. "Well, what is it?
He took the quiver off his back and stood it on the ground "So, I wasn't wrong. So far our weapons haven't been able to pierce through its hide, so trying to crack its armor sounds like a really stupid idea, right?" Okay. Rude? He could've at least humored me.
"Yeah?", I nodded at him to continue.
"Well, I just remembered something that just might make it seem a lot less stupid." He pressed down on the black centerpiece of the quiver and from it, a large arrow extended out from it. He pulled out the rest and presented it to me, his eyes twinkling.
I looked over the massive projectile. Roughly 3 feet in length, it was longer than my sword or any of his other arrows, and had an arrowhead unlike his other arrows. Instead of sharp, flat blades, the tip had a spear-like look about it. I remembering reading about this type of tip before. It's a bodkin point, an arrowhead that was extremely effective at piercing armored foes in battle.
"You think this can break through that Grimm's armor?"
"It's definitely worth a try! I made this arrow with piercing the hull of an airship in mind, so there's a good chance it'll work here. But I only have one, so I'm going to need an opening to land the shot." I raised a finger to question why he would want to shoot down an airship, but gave up before asking. There's probably a better time to ask that than in the middle of a fight.
"Okay, I'll go let Kenn and Ellis know." I handed back the arrow and placed my hand on his shoulder, looking straight into his eyes, "We're gonna be counting on you."
"But no pressure, right?" he teased as he spun the arrow in his hand before nocking it on the bowstring and extending its stabilizer. I rolled my eyes at the comment and then started running over towards the rest of the team. Let's hope this works.
As I got closer to the fight, I noticed something strange about the Minos. Unlike before, it was keeping up with its two opponents, easily blocking and dodging most of their attacks despite Ellis's raw strength and Kenn's speed. Did it already figure out their attack pattern? I grit my teeth; if that's the case, we won't be getting anywhere if they keep attacking it wildly. Once I was close enough to the Grimm, I stretched out my right arm and took aim at its face. We need to regroup.
"Kenn! Ellis! Fall back!" I called out as I fired a bright red orb at the beast's face, which burst into an intense light as soon as it made contact. The Minos was temporarily blinded by the sudden increase in brightness, allowing for both of my teammates to make their way over to my position. The Minos shook off its daze, and roared at us, but didn't charge. Instead, it stood still and stared at us, waiting for us to make the first move. I felt my hands tighten into fists. This isn't some mock field practice or hypothetical scenario. What I say now could decide whether we win or lose this fight as well as the fate of three other people. I took a deep breath and unsheathed my sword, "Okay, here's the plan. Nathan's going to shoot this thing in the heart with a piercing arrow. But to do that, the three of us need to make an opening for him to hit his mark. So here's what I got: We're going to bait the Minos into charging at us. When it does, Ellis, you meet it halfway and keep it busy. Try to keep it focused on you, no matter what. While you're doing that, Kenn, you and I are going to go around and flank it from both sides. Use your speed to get some hits in and get out before it hits you. We'll keep at until I give Nathan the signal. Are we clear?"
Ellis raised her still heated sword up towards the Grimm and tightened her grip on the hilt, "Understood."
"Hit and not get hit?" Kenneth pressed a button on his yo-yos, a light humming noise now coming from them, and smirked, "You got it."
"Good. I'll try to shield you guys as best as I can." I locked eyes with the Minos for the second time, standing firmly as I pointed my sword at its form. Let's do this.
There was a stillness in the air as the three of us stood our ground, quickly trying the Grimm's patience until it snarled and dashed straight towards us. Ellis took point in our charge while the rest of us followed behind. As the Minos swung its cleavers down on us, she blocked its attack with her sword before pushing in with one of her own, locking the Grimm's weapons with her own. We took the opportunity to get behind and strike at its backside. I projected a barrier in front of my partner as the beast's tail shot out towards him, successfully getting both of us behind it. Once in position, the two of us began striking at the Grimm with everything we had. Kenneth mercilessly slammed his yo-yos on its spine, stopping its tail from doing anything while I aimed my attacks its knees, causing the Minos to lose its balance against Ellis's push. The beast tried to push her off so it could deal with us, but the moment it showed the slightest bit of disinterest in her, she took a small jump back and brought her sword down with a loud cry, bringing its full attention back to her as it crossed its weapons to block the strike.
The Grimm, however, didn't want to continue its stalemate against her and attacked her with its tail, which, despite Kenneth's constant efforts to keep it still, powered through the pain and lunged at her. I attempted to block it with a small shield, which was broken as quickly as it was made, the tail striking her abdomen her shortly afterwards.
Ellis held her ground as she skidded back, dirt rising from the ground like a fire trail from her feet, the Minos took a swing backwards at Kenneth. I instinctively rose a barrier in its path, but as soon as I did, the Grimm twisted its body and turned the weak slash with its cleaver into a massive, wound-up strike headed straight for me. What the-!
I placed a barrier in front of me as quickly as I could and braced myself for its attack, but the cleaver stopped before it hit me. Looking down its arm, I saw Kenneth's yo-yos, wrapped tightly around the Grimm's arm.
"Whenever… you want… babe…" he managed to spit out as he struggled against the Minos's strength. A smile crept on my face as I took in Kenn's gesture before I took aim at the beast's hand, letting go of my sword to hold my right arm steady. "Hurry!" My partner called out as his hold on the arm began to slip. Here goes nothing! I bent my ring and middle finger and blasted the Grimm's hand with a large amount of heated shrapnel, causing it to pull back its arm as well as drop the cleaver. With the Minos now down one weapon, Ellis rushed in to resume her attack.
The beast swung its remaining weapon in hopes of pushing her back again, but its attacks were all parried by her massive sword. Once she got close enough to strike, the Minos brought its cleaver up to its chest to block her, but as she prepared to swing her sword, the blade began opening up, switching into its gun form . She gripped her weapon tightly and fired as she brought it up, absolutely destroying the Grimm's guard as well as sending the the second cleaver flying. That's it!
I turned my head over to where Nathan was and screamed out, "Now!" As I looked at him, I noticed the bottom of his jacket flapping in some very strong winds. Which was weird, considering there was almost no wind blowing, especially not that strong. His arrow came not even a second after we broke the Grimm's guard, breaking right through its armor like wet paper. The Minos let out a loud scream of agony before toppling forward, snapping the arrow and almost taking Ellis along with it if she hadn't gotten out of the way in time. We… we did it. I lowered my arm, the now depleted cartridges falling from my sleeve, and let my body fall backwards. We managed to pull it off without anyone getting hurt. I'm glad.
I closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling of the warm sunlight in my face, but was soon interrupted by a series of shadows covering me. I looked up to see everyone standing around me with confused and worried expressions on their faces. Heh, I guess me dropping like that freaked them out a bit.
"I'm fine guys, just wanted to soak in the sun a bit." I let out a giggle as I sat back up, hugging my knees to stay upright, "Sorry for the scare."
Kenneth rolled his eyes at my half-hearted apology and offered me his hand, "A little warning next time, alright?" he pulled me back to my feet and place his hand on my shoulder, a legitimate smile on his face.
"Will do." I said with a small smirk before turning to face the others as well, "Let's get going." The three exchanged glances before responding with a nod each. I chuckled to myself as I began walking back to our objective. Maybe this team won't be so bad after all.
After making it back to the cliff, we handed back the relics we had grabbed and waited for the headmaster to address the team formations. He made his way over to the mic and, after a few short words, began the ceremony.
"Ellis Turm. Kenneth Kenway. Nathan Forrest. Rory Aedus." And it looks like we're the first up. We made our way up to the stage and stood in the order he called us. "The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RKNE," The room filled with some clapping and cheering as he said our team name. Looks like I was right about the chess pieces. "led by... Rory Aedus!" My eyes widened as the crowd applauded again and I looked over to my now official teammates. They all gave me a smile with a nod; not one of them seemed to be against the decision of leadership. I flashed them a quick smile of my own before turning over and bowing at the headmaster. We walked off stage and watched the rest of the ceremony in relative peace.
After all the teams were announced, we were dismissed and sent off to our newly assigned dorms. The room looked like what you would expect from a boarding school: a work desk for studying, small bookshelf, closet, and enough beds and chests for those living there. Two of the beds were close together, next to a window in the furthest wall, while the others were on completely different ends of the room. The first thing we had to address were the sleeping arrangements, and, after a short talk and listening to Nathan's request to sleep next to a wall, we decided that the Ellis and I would get the beds closest to each and the boys would get the beds off to the wall.
"Alright," I strode over to my bed and clapped my hands together to get everyone's attention, "today's been quite the day, so I say we all turn in for the night. Any objections?"
"No ma'am." Ellis said as she set her stuff down next to her bed and plopped down on it.
"Same here," Kenneth said as he pulled out a pair of blue pajama pants and a teal t-shirt before tossing himself on his bed.
"Um, actually, I kinda wanted to unpack my stuff." Nathan chimed in, earning a pillow thrown at his face from Kenn.
I sat down on my bed and crossed my arms, "Well, if you can promise to keep it quiet…"
"Done. You won't even notice I'm here." He sounded very sure of himself as he put his bags down and opened them up, probably to get the loud zipping and unlocking noises out of the way. I looked over to Ellis and Kenn, who just shrugged in response; didn't thinkthis would be one of the first times calling the shots as team leader. I gave Nathan a shrug as well, his lips curving up to a smile as he got to unpacking.
The rest of us got in our beds and shut off the lights, Ellis and Kenneth falling asleep a few moments afterwards. I sat up and took one last look at the room and my teammates, Nathan waving at me when he caught my gaze. I waved back before laying on the bed again, thinking about today's events. Meeting Kenn and Ellis, our fight against the Grimm, seeing everyone's strength and abilities, beating the Minos, being put in charge of a team. A smile grew on my face the more I thought about it. I still can't believe it.
"My team." I whispered the words to myself. They felt so unnatural, but filled me with excitement as well. I need to work harder now. Not just for my sake, but for them as well. I'll do whatever it takes to become a leader that my team can feel proud of.
(N POV)
I carefully pushed my bags underneath my bed before resting my head on its side, letting out a sigh. Unpacking without making any noise is harder than I thought; who knew hanging clothes could make so much noise if it's not competing with anything else? I pushed myself to my feet, grabbed a small box from the ground, and placed it inside a large, hollowed out Game Master's manual in the bottom of the bookshelf. This should work for now, until I find some better spot. I looked over to my sleeping roommate's to see if I had woken any of them up to see the three of them sound asleep, only making noises when they shifted their positions. The room was in complete silence, until the blaring sound of my ringtone began to fill it with mediocre alternative rock lyrics. I quickly shut off the ringer and was about to send the call to voicemail until I read the caller ID. It was my dad. Did I forget something?
I answered the call and brought the phone up to my ear, whispering as low as I could manage, "Dad?"
"Hello? Nathan? Are you there? Hello?" Unfortunately, the other end of the call wasn't my dad, but my little sister who didn't seem to catch my hushed tone, her voice resonating through the silence as she practically yelled into the phone.
"Shhh! Jennifer, I'm in the dorm room and my roommates are asleep, keep it down." I said a bit louder as I walked out into the hallway. "Okay, I'm out of the room."
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect college students to go to bed so early."
I let out a sigh, "It's fine. I'm also a bit weirded out by it, to be honest." she let out a small giggle at the comment. I started to walk around the halls aimlessly . "Anyways, what's up?"
"Well, I wanted to tell you about my course placement tests."
"That so? Your weapon give you any trouble?"
"Nope. She's as good as the day you made her. I'd even say a bit better because of my modifications." A smile formed on my face as I heard Jennifer's very proud affirmation.
"Well, don't leave me in suspense, What'd you get?"
"I scored above average at ranged combat and average in melee." She said, sounding rather confident about her achievement. Above average at ranged, huh? Maybe it's in our blood...
"It's a bit sad that the school won't have another AP ranked student from our family, but at least you aren't a remedial case." a smirk formed on my face as she let out a huff of annoyance. "In all seriousness, I'm really proud of you. Keep working hard and you'll be a fantastic huntress."
"Thanks! What about you? How was your first day?" Uh-oh.
"Well," my voice raised in pitch as lied back on a wall and switched the scroll over to my other ear, "Let's just say, it was more eventful than I thought it would be… But I'm totally fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Besides, I've had crazier days, like the time you, me, Kaz, and Seth went out to get lunch and you guys ended up at the police station picking me out behind a one way mirror. Remember that?"
Hehe, yeah. I was scared because one of the officers wanted to ask me some questions, so you kept telling them that I had nothing to say and to leave me alone. You were so persistent that they thought you had something to with the crime and they took you in." we shared a laugh over my misadventure, and then there was silence. "I miss you, Nate."
"I miss you too Jenny." I looked over at a clock on the wall; it was getting pretty late. "Hey, I gotta go. Classes start early tomorrow, so I should try to get as much sleep as possible."
"Oh. Well, goodnight. I love you, Nathan."
"Love you too, sis." with that she hung up, and I made my way back to the room. I tiptoed my way over to the bed and managed to get under the covers without making any sort of noise. I stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling; I'm not sure what to expect out of the next couple years, but I need to remember what dad said. This isn't my dream anymore. Whatever happens from here on out…
This is my reality.
A.N. And with that, team RKNE is finally formed. It took me quite some time to write these last couple of chapters, but I'm glad with how they turned out and I hope you guys enjoyed them as well. I also want to take this chance to address the team name in relation to Monty's color rule. RKNE and its members, as well as any other team I create during the course of this story will not follow Monty's rule. This isn't to be disrespectful to the creator, it's only because I personally think the rule really limits just how creative one can be with a team and its members. Instead, any team I create will follow his other trend; each team and their members will have a certain theme that will be prevalent in their names, personalities, clothing, or fighting style. RKNE's theme is the four basic Elements. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out who is who, although some might be easier than others. That about does it for me here, as always, take care and I hope to see you all in the chapters to come.
P.S: To those who have been keeping up with the fic so far, I updated the first chapter because I felt it was a bit lacking, so be sure to check it out.