Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of the Roots and the Rock. Enjoy the 2500-word chapter. I don't own RWBY. Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth do.
Atem blocked Elm's hammer with sparks flying from their weapons as he did so. He dodged to the side while Timber shattered part of the ground and almost threw him to the ground before he nodded.
"Hmm," Atem stated while he frowned to himself. "This ends to end today," Atem said while he leaned on his sword while glancing towards her.
He managed to recover before he started to think while he pondered what to do next. Atem slowly started to ponder what to do next before he sighed to himself. Atem watched as Elm rested her hammer on her shoulder.
"How are you holding up?" Elm asked before she rushed forwards towards him with her hammer held high. "Nobody has managed to hold their own in a fight this long," Elm said while she tried to smash Atem's arms with Timber.
He dodged it and rolled to the side as he did so. Her hammer smashed where he was standing into pieces. It reminded him that she was still stronger than him despite the extended battle both had. That he was still outclassed in terms of raw power. He had still managed to score a slice across her spine which had damaged her aura at least slightly.
"Well. I'm at least glad that I'm not this bad at combat still." Atem stated while he flipped around one of her swings and elbowed her in the back as he did so.
The fact that he had been able to dodge or at least parry a few of her hits at the second. Atem took that at least as a sign that he had been able to stand against her for a few minutes.
"We only have a few minutes." Atem heard from Clover stated while he frowned to himself. "There's little time to handle this. We need to wrap this up before too long. This must end for now." Atem stated while he leaned to the side and frowned to himself.
He sighed and prepared to end this battle. Elm twirled Timber on her shoulder before she rolled towards him as he sighed to himself. This battle was all too real when it came down to it and he sighed to himself before he started to sigh and glanced around at his surroundings as he did so. There was far too little on his end to show that he was winning
"And this doesn't exactly mean I'm in?" Atem stated while he frowned to himself. "There are plenty of soldiers in the Atlesian army," Atem stated to himself as he raised an eyebrow towards him.
"Ace-Ops need more than to be good at combat to be effective. Still? There's some promise." Clover stated before he crossed his arms as he paced back and forth in his tracks. "Elm? Stay here. I need to speak to the general and see what the next assignment is. I'm sure he'll be fine that there's another battle going on before the mission." Clover questioned to which Elm nodded while the others started to depart.
It only added to ponder what to do next. She had to ponder what to do next. She was aware of what bothered him as this was reduced to a simple brawl between two people. It was not simply as one-sided as she had made it.
Atem simply sighed while he frowned to himself. It had simply made them perhaps a little easier. Yet it didn't stop him to ponder what to do now. She had more people than him and it bothered him to no end that he had still to ponder how to consider an end to this.
She had a lot more to consider at the end of the day as this was a lot more interesting. He had a lot to consider at the end of the moment. He watched as the rest of his possible teammates departed into the next possible. He was interested in how this ended. Elm tapped her hammer into her hand.
"Hmm. So, I consider the fact this is now a one-on-one brawl." Elm stated while she leaned on her hammer and stared at the rest before. "There's still a fight to finish with all due respect," Elm stated to which she prepared to battle Atem once more.
He leaned on the sword as well and tapped on it to bother it when it came down to it. He smiled at her despite the fear he had on his mind. This battle promised to be interesting enough that it shattered at least some of the fear in his heart. It did grow. Yet it was sated at least some of it. He was rather amused as he wanted to spin the blade in his hand and leaned towards her once more.
He flipped the blade into his hand and faced the woman down once more. She hopped from one foot to another with the hammer seeming to be little more than a tiny paperweight rather than a giant hammer. It was rather a fun idea despite the fear in his heart. He hadn't once backed down from it. He was honestly terrified in the rest of his mind.
He battered her hammer aside with a giant lance of pain dancing across his arms as he did so. He grinned despite the pain and glanced at her once more before he retreated to let her chase after him.
"Ow. Simply ow. It will still not stop being painful no matter how I try and stop it." Atem stated while he frowned and rolled his bones. "How are you the second-best fighter on the team if you can do that?" Atem questioned while he frowned to himself.
Atem seemed to roll to the side while he glanced at her with hum to himself. He spun on his heel in time to parry a hit which would probably shatter his head if it had at all connected properly. He wasn't to bother with trying to match her power with his own. He hadn't at all the strength to handle her in a real battle.
Another kick threw him back and almost damaged his aura. He sighed to himself and slowly started to pace himself to stop her from doing it.
"It's been a good fight," Elm stated before she rested her hammer on her shoulder. "Yet I'm well aware of how one-sided this is," Elm added before she seemed to be interested when it came down to it.
"I'm not going to do when it comes down to it," Atem said before he leaned on his hammer before he hummed to himself. "He had a lot to handle when it came down to it," Atem said while he leaned on the sword before he glanced towards her when it came to it.
She seemed a lot more on the edge of collapsing, yet he we weren't aware of if it was simply because she had been pressing him to such a degree. She wanted more than anything that she wanted to properly fight and beat him as much as she was capable of. It seemed a lot odder when it came down to it. A lot weirder than he was capable of countering.
"This isn't going as well as you expected, is it?" Elm questioned as she went to swing her hammer at him only for him to dodge it and try and circle to strike her in the small of her back.
"Not entirely, no. I wasn't expecting it to backfire this badly if I'm 100% honest. Isn't as bad as I expected to be honest. The sooner I break out of here. The sooner I get to enjoy myself against training droids." Atem said while he sighed and cracked his arms which were aflame with pain.
"They don't break my aura in one good hit, and it isn't like I expected to be handling the entire Ace-Ops team at once. That's just nuts if I'm 100% honest. Doesn't help when it comes down to it, but orders are orders." Atem said while he sighed before he rolled his eyes.
"No fight is going to be as easy as you think it is if you're honest. You can't predict which fights are going to work out for the best and which won't." Elm said as she tried to slam Timber into Atem only for him to flip backward. "Your fast for someone who can't take a hit. You were impressing Clove if that counts for anything." Elm stated before she seemed to gaze around with an interest at her friend and watched as he rolled his eyes.
He flipped backward while she chased him. She twirled Timber and activated its rocket boosters. Atem spun around the hammer and elbowed her in the small of her back. She was forced back a few steps which made her blink. She rolled Timber to her other hand as Atem rested his sword
"Well, if my aura isn't up to par? Speed is the best. You're a walking Paladin and you think I don't know that? That hammer would have decapitated me if I hadn't dodged it, to begin with. It isn't exactly a fair fight when it comes down to it." Atem said while he parried another of her hammer swings to the side with his weapon.
"The sooner I manage to hold my own. You'd just overpower me and rip me apart. It won't be fair at the time, and it isn't as if we can expect to hold our own anywhere else. Your stronger, I need to be much faster and that's why I'm moving 200 times faster than I usually am." Atem stated before he sighed.
Elm either seemed to take this entirely as a challenge, or she was bothered by it as of now. She didn't do more than raise an eyebrow at him.
"And? How do we handle more work as of now? We still have a lot more planning on our plate." Atem stated before he stated while he seemed to dodge her strike. "And I don't know what to do more," Atem stated while she seemed to ponder how to do next.
He leaped backward before she seemed to question what to do next. She watched as he shifted his weapon into its gun form and fired a bullet at her, she deflected it to the side and prepared for what to do next. She started to question how he lasted so long before she leaped into the air.
Atem rolled to the side before he watched at Timber which almost crushed the grass under the head of the weapon. It had been a lot more interesting. Still? She could handle him while Atem sighed and spun around her before he shifted his weapon into its sword form and blocked the hammer with some interest.
"This is fun, I'll be honest. It will be interesting. I'll lose. It will be fun, but I don't think I'll lose at the second. Not without a good fight at least." Elm heard as Atem started to backpedal.
He glanced at her once more as she prepared to chase after him. She considered simply firing a rocket and destroying him entirely. One rocket would shatter his aura, but it would also be easy to dodge if it didn't hit its mark head-on. He wasn't one to also allow the projectile to hit him which meant that she could be in trouble if he threw it back at her.
"Are we going to finish this?" Elm heard from Atem as he raised an eyebrow at her with an interesting raise of his eyebrow. "Cause I'm ready and I don't think we're able to do anything to help at the time," Atem said as he hefted his sword from his shoulder.
Elm rushed at him as he turned and dropped to a knee, sliding under her feet as she planted Timber on the ground to slide around on her heel and try to plant a kick on him. Atem was able to bring his arm up enough to stop her as he hummed and looked at her with a sigh.
Both of them clashed once more as he seemed to ponder how to stop her. She was driven back a step by a gust of wind from him only to raise an eyebrow as she realized that he was avoiding her so he didn't have to
"Not going to try a head-on fight, huh?" Aace heard as he shrugged and seemed to slowly climb to his feet a few seconds later. "Not exactly the smartest in a real fight," Elm said to which Aace seemed to hum and raise an eyebrow at her as he did so.
"Not to be rude? You're stronger than me and able to turn me into a pancake if you hit me with any real force. I'm not stupid enough to fight someone who has a real advantage over me in a head-on fight. Not stupid enough to try something that bad when it comes down to it." Atem stated as he cracked his fingers and seemed to grunt in pain.
Elm seized the chance to advance on Atem only for him to level his sword at her in a way that forced her to stop as he slid down the hill. This had become more of a game of chicken than a real fight and if he even tried and backed down? She'd cut him in half faster than he was able to react and respond. It wasn't impossible to fight her, but she had an edge and it seemed as if Elm had realized that he was outclassed by her attempts to try and stop him. It didn't stop him, but it pressed him to the edge of his attempts to stop her at the time. He was honestly ready to snap at the time before he advanced on her once more.
"This is fun, I'll give it that If I'm not going to lie. This is fun to the point where I become a pancake. That's where the fun kinda dies out." Atem said as he turned to look over his shoulder at her. "C'mon, I'm still waiting to see how I'm going to lose this battle," Atem said while he rolled his eyes.
Elm leaped down after him as he backpedaled down the rocky terrain. He slid down it and seemed to stare at her as she chased after him. This had become a lot harder to maintain the distance. He'd honestly be more terrified if her hit had managed to hit.
And as he was contemplating how to honestly deal with this? Atem felt the hammer slam into his back, breaking his aura and throwing him down the hill.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show both Atem and Elm talking at the moment. The next chapter will be 900-6500 words at the moment. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!