Chapter 12
September 21st. Wednesday.
City of Vale. Late evening.
It was a terrible thunderstorm through and through. Even rain was a force in itself; coming down so hard and unforgiving, it basically created a white curtain, which had city of Vale completely in its wrap.
However.
"Just...keep…going!" Nora roared almost as loud as the mighty thunder booming in the background. Running in the rain, she was soaked to her damn bones, cold and uncomfortable. Her legs and lungs were burning and aching, but even all that didn't stop her. Nothing did. And even though she couldn't possibly see more than an inch in front of her, she kept her eyes open and focused.
As if there was something she could see that no one else in the world could.
Maybe she did.
…
September 25th. Sunday.
Beacon training room. Early into the night.
"2,000 swings…I have to...I have to do 2,000 more swings!" Nora readied herself, her trusty Magnhild tightly clenched in her sweaty hands.
Her blisters were aching quite terribly now.
…
September 26th. Monday.
JNPR dorm room. A short while after the classes.
Jaune glanced at Ren with bits of uncertainty written in his blue. "So, uh...is she out, training again?"
"Yes." Ren's reply was short and concise; just as Jaune expected it to be. He sighed.
"Why?"
"...She said she was going though her training arc."
Jaune stared at him dumbfounded. Before he sighed again, and then shook his head with a wry smile etched in his lips. "Did she tell you how long it'll take?"
"No."
"...Okay." He replied, and decided to stare outside the window for a bit.
He then saw her, and noted she was warming up for a run.
...
September 29th. Thursday.
JNPR dorm room. Early morning.
She groaned as she struggled to get out of her bed. Her whole body felt like a building about to collapse, and she so, so badly wanted to crawl back under her warm blanket. But. An image of a girl who easily bested her was enough to remind her; why she was going through this hellish training in the first place. That's why, instead of giving in to her frivolous desires, she mustered up the courage to face another day of grueling training.
She wasn't done yet. She didn't know if she truly-
"Good morning." Ren's greeting caught her completely off guard. So much so, that she even froze for a moment. Before she quickly came to, and then greeted him back.
"Mornin'." She smiled, no, beamed at him with a grin.
He fixed himself into a sitting position. "Going to train again." He more so stated than asked.
"Yea."
He sighed. "Don't you think you're overdoing it?"
"No." Her reply was as straightforward as it could be, and he saw no argument he could make to convince her otherwise.
"…"
Hence, for a moment he thought to himself, and then gently exhaled, and stretched his neck. "Let me make you some breakfast then," He said, and was once again thankful that every floor in their dorm was equipped with a big, modern kitchen.
She cracked a cheeky grin. "Aw, a little token of love right in the morning. I appreciate that. Thanks."
He wasn't fazed in the slightest. He merely hummed and then got up and decided to change from his pajamas into a casual wear. "What should I make you?" He asked just as he exited their room. And he of course knew that she followed after him.
"Oatmeal. Lots and lots of oatmeal with strawberry jelly. I mean, we still have some right?"
"We do."
She grinned, but moments later, her grin turned into a hopeful, tiny smile. "And a pinch of love, please."
"…"
A moment of brief silence. Before he smiled smallest of smiles, and his eyes softened just ever so slightly. "I'll see what I can do," He said, and a moment later, he felt how she slowly, shyly got hold of his hand.
September 30th. Friday.
Combat class.
"Woah!" Weiss gasped as she barely dodged Nora's swinging hammer. Taking a couple of paces back, she then used the blue dust in her rapier to freeze over the floor-but much more importantly-Nora's legs with a solid layer of ice. "I've got you now." She uttered, but then...then, Nora gave her the stare which spoke of defiance. Perhaps even knowledge that she was far from defeated. Or that she couldn't be defeated here.
"Sorry, but I've got bigger fish to fry," She said, and then broke free from the ice with nothing but sheer strength!
"What!?" Weiss struggled to believe her eyes, and in that moment of disbelief mixed with bits of worry, her reflexes failed her, and she only reacted to Nora's next swing a moment too late. "Ghaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Her cry of defeat followed after her as she was launched though the buildings ceiling and into the open sky.
Nora turned to face the body of students.
She saw her. Of course she did. Her rival was standing right next to Jaune. She could challenge her right here and now if she wanted to, but...no. No! This was not the place to do it, neither was it the right time just yet. That's why, the name which she voiced was a completely different one.
"Yang!" She barked her name, her aqua now focused on her.
"Um...yea, s-sure, let's fight!" She tried to be excited, but seriously doubted if she was.
Thud!
That had to be the sound of Weiss slamming into the roof-top on her way down. From the roughness of it, it didn't seem like she employed any sort of landing strategy.
Yang audibly gulped.
Nope. She wasn't excited.
…
October 3rd. Monday.
Late into the night. Somewhere on the streets of city of Vale.
She was ready.
After doing thousand swings in the morning, besting ten guys in a row in an arm-wrestling match during the dinner-time, launching Weiss into the open sky once again, accumulating hundred tons of lifted weight in the training room in the evening, and then finishing her day with hundred push-ups, hundred sit-ups, hundred squats and ten kilometer run, Nora Valkyrie knew that she was in top shape. And to her, that meant one thing, and one thing only.
"Penny Polendina." She uttered that name with a sense of finality to her voice.
Tomorrow was the day.