Straddling a chair on the side of the lowest bed, Elise had her arms resting on the back as she pressed her chin into her arms. She was staring at the bed in front of her with concerned and narrowed eyes. While growing up on her family farm, she never had the stress or fear of having someone close to her being hurt. With having what happened to Kagami, her mind was running around in a million places at once. Her heart was still beating rapidly.
On the bed in front of her, Kagami was completely out cold. With an arm over her chest, her other was laying straight by her side. She was snoring loud, loud enough to wake a herd of Grimm even. While underneath the thick blanket ontop of her, she was wearing a pair of Elise's comaflauge sweatpants, her neo orange whool hunting socks and as always, Kagami's signature dark green hoodie.
Aside from a few bruises here and there and a small cut on her upper left side of her lip, she was fine from the waist up. There was no broken bones and no fractures, there wasn't even a heavy gash anywhere on her body. The only problem though, was her knees.
Bruised and swollen, Elise could even feel how tight the muscles in the back of her team leader's knees were. She had them checked, once again and thankfully, there was no broken bones or fractures either on Kagami's kneecaps.
Elise took a deep breath, hearing the door handle turn open. She leaned back some, lifting her head up in the direction of the door. "Took you guys long enough." She muttered in a hushed tone. "And be quiet. She's out like a light."
"'Out like a light', what does that even mean?" Kris raised her eyebrows, walking in with her hands in her pockets and Cheyenne behind her. "You know," She shook her head some, looking down at the ground. "I won't argue right now."
"Good call." Cheyenne's voice was much lower than usual as she walked up next to Elise and looked over at Kagami with worry. "How's she doing? What the nurse say?"
Elise gave a faint smirk, leaning back down ontop of her arms. "Like I would take her to a place where the inject her with who knows what. She's from Vytal so her body probably isn't use to any of the medicines Kingdoms have created. She's lucky I was taught to use what nature provides to help her." She pointed over fo a desk which had a tea brewer with steam coming from it setting on it. "I found some herbs and started making a tea with them for when she wakes up."
Giving a slow nod, the Faunus let out a yawn and stretched her arms. "I don't blame her. I'm pretty tired myself. It's been... a really long day and its probably been longer for her."
"I think I'll hit the hay too." Kris muttered, suddenly laying on the bed above Kagami. As Cheyenne rapidly blinked and looked around for how Kris got up there, the red head rolled around a bit to get comfortable under her blanket. "You should sleep as well, Elise."
The brunet glanced up for a moment, lifting her head ever so slightly before sighing and lowering it back down to watch Kagami. "I will. Don't worry."
"You know," Cheyenne reached over, placing a hand on Elise's shoulder. "There is no point in draining yourself. We're all mortal here and we all need rest. She'll be fine."
"I know, but-" The young farm girl was cut off.
"No buts." She pulled her arm away and crossed her arms. "You need your rest just as much as Kagami. You know if she was awake she would yell at you for not sleeping."
There was a small moment of silence between the two before Elise finally sighed deeply and stood up. "You know, it would have probably been easier if I just shot you the first day." She gave a small smile, yawning as she moved her arms around.
Cheyenne smiled back, rolling her eyes. "You're an awful shot anyway. Probably would have missed if I didn't use my semblance."
"Aw, can it!" The brunet grumbled, climbing up to the third bed. "And you have to climb all the way up. Try not to hit your head."
Smiling just a bit more as she started to climb up, she chuckled softly. "You mean like you did?"
With a soft groan, she rolled over and hid underneath a blanket. "Wake me up when the sun sets. Or whenever Kagami wakes up."
"If any of us are awake, we will. Right, Kris?" The deer Faunus glanced down as she rolled into bed. When the response was simply soft snoring, from the three people below her, she gave off a small laugh and rolled up into her blanket. "Night. Or morning. I'm not sure." she gave off another yawn, shutting her eyes.
This team may not be perfect, in fact, it was a far cry from it, but this team was something else. It definitely wasn't the family Cheyenne always dreamed about, but it was a family she would not trade for the world. Her blood family was gone, at least half of it anyway, but now she had another family, one created by an unbreakable foundation of loyalty and trust. This team, team MACE, this academy and everything was her new home. It wasn't perfect, but she loved it none the less. So she smiled, slowly drifting off into some well needed rest.
Kagami opened her eyes to find herself shrouded in darkness. She turned around, looking all over only to see an endless blackness sweeping across in all directions. When she glanced down at her feet, she lifted them and moved around, only to realize she couldn't even see what she was stepping on.
"What... the..." She spoke softly, her voice echoing all around like she was inside a cave. This made her head snap in every direction,whether it was up or down or left to right. The words she spoke just kept coming back until they were hushed up and swallowed by the darkness as well.
She took a deep breath, pushing her chest outward as she looked around. Even though there was total blackness around her, part of her was still trying to see some sort of color in the abyss filled with nothing.
Just then though, as her mind started to wander far off, there was a distant voice, at the moment inaudible, slowly creeping up from every direction around her.
Kagani raised her eyesbrows, her heart starting to thump a little louder. "Hello?" She asked, taking a step forward. Though, when she did, she took a step to the right. The voice still seemed like it was coming from the exact same spot though.
"Hello?" She called out again, this time freezing in place as she looked around. The voice, even though she still could not make it out yet, was getting loudercwith each passing second and now sounded more like mumbling.
Taking a deep breath, the young girl repeated herself once more. "Hello?" This time, her voice came off more demanding. She gritted her teeth, hands turning into fist. "Show yourself." She pushed a single foot forward. "Right now."
The second the voice became clear, Kagami immediately regretted the decision to demand for it. It did not even take her more than a second to recognize the demonic voice. She would never forget it. Right now, that voice was permanently etched into her brain with gold.
"You..." She trailed off, taking several steps back even though it did not help at all. With her heartbeat sounding off like drums inside her ears, she gulped as her hands started to tremble.
"What's wrong?" The female voice of her captor echoed, making Kagami go stiff. "You're not going to escape. There is no way out." There was a second of silence followed by chuckling.
Kagami suddenly felt something strike her back. She stumbled forward, her head whipping around only to see complete darkness behind her. She gritted her teeth, her head turning around as fast as she could to try and catch of glimpse of something, of anything really. "Only cowards fight when the other is blind!" She snapped.
"Only the strong live and only the weak... die!" The beginning of the sentence started off hushed, the last word sounding off like a gun shot. It was enough to make Kagami jump, jerking herself all around.
A second later, Kagami quickly sat up in her bed with very heavy breathing. She felt sweat dripping down the side of her face. After a few deep breaths, she groaned and laid back down onto the bed. She stared up at the bed above her before she softly sighed and shut her eyes.
"It's... just a dream..." She slowly reached up, rubbing her face a bit. She shook her head some before groaning as her arms fell down to her side. "Just a dream..." She took a deep breath, her nose twitching just a bit. She opened her eyes, blinking just a bit. She slowly braced her palms on the mattress, pushing herself to sit up some. She inhaled as deep as she could, smelling the fumes of something overcome her. "That smells like..." She sniffed the air once more, her head snapping towards the desk that had a tea maker on it. "...tea." She gave a soft smile, staring at it for several seconds before she started to move.
Just as the dusk of the day started to set in, Elise shifted around ever so slightly in her bed. She rolled over onto her other side, yawning as she began to curl up once more. She then groaned, clearly uncomfortable in her position. She rolled over in the same direction, her eyes snapping open as she felt nothing below her. She didn't have time to say a single word, instead there was a yelp followed by thud and a groan.
"You fell."
Elise groaned softly at the voice, slowly sitting up as the blanket around her fell down to the floor. "Shut up..." She reached up, rubbing her face. Her head then snapped upward, her mind finally processing who had just spoke. "Kagami!"
Looking back, the jade haired girl gave a soft smile while holding a small white cup which had steam rising from the top. "Elise." Her eyebrows quickly raised before lowering.
"You're awake!" The brunet shot to her feet and she scrambled forward.
Softly chuckling, she shook her head. "And so are you."
Rolling her eyes, Elise pulled up a chair next to her leader and sat down. "Not the point." She leaned back a bit, taking a deep breath before she crossed her arms. "How's the tea?"
"It's really good." She nodded softly back, bringing the cup close to her face as she inahled the fumes. "It was cold when I found it so I had to heat it back up. Other than that, it is really good." She brought the rim of the cup to her lips, taking a small sip. "It's a lot like the healing tea my mom would make for me. It may be exactly the same..."
"Well I'm happy to help." The farm girl sat back with a smile. "Mama use to make this tea for me when papa would get a nasty cut while working. It's suppose to push out all the toxins in your body and numb pain and speed up your body's healing process."
Kagami slowly nodded, eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the cup of tea. "My mom use to say the same exact thing..." She blinked a few times before shaking her head slightly. "You know," She turned to look at her teammate. "I bet our mothers would get along pretty well. They have a lot in common."
"I wouldn't suggest that." Elise gave a faint chuckle, reaching up and rubbing the back of her head. "Mama is pretty insane. She's... very controlling and needs everything in order. If there is so much as a cup out of place in our shelves at home, she loses her mind and with lecture papa for hours. It's insane. She is insane."
She gave a soft laugh back, slowly nodding. "My mom is realy laid back and calm. I wasn't the best at doing chores when I was younger but she was always calm and helped me along. I remember this one time I had to go and brush off some snow from the top of our house because it was getting heavy which could mean our roof would collapse." She chuckled a bit. "While I was cleaning it off I slipped and fell and she caught me. She simply smiled at me and helped me clean the rest of it all off. I can't lie though," She set the cup down, rubbing the back of her head. "I almost slipped and fell at least ten more times after that. I had zero balance as a kid."
Elise could not help but softly laugh as she leaned onto the desk. "When I was little, I decided to jump in a pond and kill this duck with my bare hands." She started to laugh a little more. "I came back home soaking wet and covered in mud. Papa couldn't have been more proud thiugh, we had roasted duck for dinner, but mama went insane. I apparently tracked mud up and down the front porch which she had cleaned earlier."
Kagami shook her head softly, looking over at her. "Mothers are crazy."
"I fully agree with you on that." Elise smiled, pausing for a second. It then slowly started to fade as she leaned more onto the table. "I know it hasn't been long, but how do you feel?"
She took a deep breath, looking down at the cup of tea. She slowly reached out, grabbing the warm glass with both hands. "I still ache all over. Expecially my torso and..." She trailed off, looking down at her legs. She gave a sigh, bringing the tea up to her mouth as she took a sip and shut her eyes.
"That bad, huh?" The brunet gulped ever so slightly.
She simply gave a small shrug back. "It's not bad, not super bad at least. They're just sore and it makes it a little more difficult to walk. I think I was stumbling at first when I stood up. But, you," She looked over with a smile. "I think I have enough time to heal up before the tournament."
"Wait..." She blinked a few times, eyebrows raising. "You still want to compete? Are you insane!"
Kagami shrugged, taking another sip. "I can at least fight one round. I'm sure I. The double rounds though, if we win, you and Kris should move on. If we win that, I guess you should move onto the singles."
"Wait..." Elise trailed off again. "You think I am the strongest of our team?" Her eyebrows raised as she burst into laughter. "That's funny! Really funny!" She reached up and rubbed her eyes, shaking her head softly. "That's no where near true!"
"Yeah it is." She gave a nod. "You're definitely the strongest of us."
She simply shook her head more, looking up at hear leader. "Kagami," She gave a smile. "You're for sure the strongest of us. Trust me. Alright? Trust me." She smiled a bit more.
"I-" Kagami started and then was cut off by a finger on her lips.
"No arguing." Elise slowly pulled her hand down. "Just trust me."
She gave a sigh, letting her shoulders drop down. "Fine. Fine." She gave a slow nod. "Fine."
"Good." The brunet smiled, leaning back.
She rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath as she pulled her cup of tea back to her mouth. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, insanity wise..." She mumbled into her tea cup before taking a sip.
"What?" Elise's head lifted up as she blinked.
"Nothing." She muttered, taking another sip. "Nothing at all."
Several days later, after the breach on Vale City, Kagami was panting softly while in the sparring room. She held her sword up high, hands clutching it tight. In front of her, Kris was smiling and panting just as much as Kagami. The red head was holding both her canes by her sides as she shifted her weight around.
"Hey..." Kagami spun her blade around, taking a few steps. Underneath her shorts were bandages wrapped around her knees to keep them more stable. "Are you sure we're aloud to be in here when it's after hours?"
Kris shrugged, twirling her weapons. "Like I care. If we get caught, we get caught." She flashed an epic smile, readying herself. "Or are you afraid of being caught?"
"Please." She rolled her eyes, suddenly bolting forward towards her teammate. "You'll kick my butt before I become afraid of being caught! Rules were made for a reason!"
Grinning more to herself, the red head bolted forward. "And that reason is because they were meant to be broken!" She jumped up, raising her arms above her head. As she came downward, she drove her weapons downward.
Kagami gave a soft chuckle, skidding to a stop. She brought her blade up, blocking the duel canes with a smile. "You've done this one twice already." She pushed upward, launching Kris up a bit. "You need mkre moves! You're becoming predictable!" She jumped up herself, back flipping before she drove her heels towards her.
Kris grunted, barely having enough time to bring up her weapons to block Kagami's feet. She flew back and once she hit the ground, she nearly crossed over the out of bounce line. The only reason she didn't pass the boundary was because she kept her heels up.
"Yeah, I know." The red head smiled. "I was hoping you would catch on so I could do this." She held up the cane in her right hand, grinning. The top of it was off as the chain in it slide out like a snake.
Kagami blinked once, trailing down the chain until it stopped and wrapped around her ankle. "Shoot." She muttered and looked up.
"I won't throw you if you surrender to me now." Kris grinned, readying herself to pull as hard as she could. "I will send you flying."
She bit her lip, eyes narrowing. She the eased up, twirling her sword. "Do it. I dare you."
Groaning, she stood up and took several steps forward before pulling back. Kagami's leg lifted up, sending her flying straight towards the red head. Kagami chuckled, suddenly tossing her blade straight into the floor. It rang through the air and as she passed it, she caught the chain on the edge of it.
"Hell!" Kris shouted, suddenly being jerked forward. She gritted her teeth, growling softly as her leader passed by her. She simply growled more as she saluted her.
Kagami rolled a bit as she hit the ground, grunting slightly. She quickly reached down to her foot, grabbing the chain and jerking Kris in the other direction. Ignoring the small girl's screams, Kagami quickly untied her ankle from the chain's grasp. Her eyes then widened as she laied flat on her back, the red head flying straight above her. She chuckled, standing up as she started to walked towards her sword. "I think you're out of bounce!" She called out, just as Kris struck the boundary wall.
There was a soft groan coming from Kris as she slowly stood up. She rubbed her head, drawing the top of her weapon to the main part of it. "Okay. I quit." She muttered, putting her weapons away.
"Aw, come on." She chuckled, sheathing her sword as she started to walk back towards Kris. "I'm still crippled. Don't you think you should beat me?"
"Shut up!" She snapped, quickly turning on her heels as the two started to walk out. She then gave a sigh, looking up at her leader. "But you are getting better. The first round of the tournament is totally in the bag."
"We can't get cocky though." Kagami gently nudge her. "If we do we'll lose. We still need to remember there are people stronger than us."
"No kidding." The red head sighed, looking down. "There is a lot more people stronger than us."
"Yeah..." She gave a sigh, glancing up before she shook her head and looked forward again.
Back in the MACE dorm room, Cheyenne had her eyebrows raised as she watched Elise use a screwdriver on some pieces of wood. "What... are you even doing?"
"Something that will help us with the tournament." The farm girl mumbled. She set the screwdriver down and picked up what she was working on. At the moment, it was nothing more than a fully functional arm. She tossed it onto a pile of wooden limbs and a torso before she picked up a block of wood and turned around to face Cheyenne.
"It looks like you're making yourself a boyfriend." The Faunus said, crossing her arms.
Elise flinched at the words, grimacing ever so slightly. "I don't need to make a boyfriend. I can go get anyone I want. This is for Kris, just don't tell her."
"So you are making Kris a boyfriend." She slowly nodded. "I don't think she will like it."
"It's not a boyfriend!" The brunet shot to her feet, waving her arms around. She quickly tossed the block of wood on the pile and covered it with a blanket when she heard the door opening.
"Why are we yelling this time?" Kagami sighed, shaking her head softly as she stepped inside with Kris behind her. "I was gone for like two seconds."
Kris suddenly popped up behind her, holding up a finger. "It was actually about an hour and a half."
The jade haired girl groaned softly before she started to walk towards their set of beds. "Same thing." She glanced out the window, staring at the broken moon and stars shining in the night. "It's getting late. We should get our rest." She turned around to face her team with a smile. "We have a big day tomorrow. The tournament won't win itself."
"I agree with this." Kris grinned. "I'll always vote on going to bed early." Before anyone else could say anything, she was suddenly underneath the blankets of the bottom bed. "Good niiight~!" She smiled, rolling over.
Elise rolled her eyes, looking over at the wood pile covered with a blanket. "You guys go ahead and sleep. I have something I need to finish."
Kagami softly chuckled, climbing up to the top bed. "Alright, alright. Hurry up and finish whayever you are doing and get to sleep." She crawled into her bed, smiling a little. She knew exactly what Elise was making for Kris and it was going to be awesome. She yawned, faceplanting into her pillow as she shifted around to get comfortable.
That's when it happened.
"Don't try her." Cheyenne chuckled softly, looking down at Elise with crossed arms. "Kagami may very much throw you out the window if you don't sleep."
Kagami didn't even hear anymore of the conversation. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the wall next to her bed. She gulped, slowly moving her head to look down at Cheyenne and Elise. She quickly looked away and went back to staring at the wall.
'Don't try her.'
She remembered those words clearly from the night she was saved from her team. The woman who had kidnapped her, her daughter, the mole in the school, had said exactly that. And now, so did Cheyenne. It sounded exactly the same. Exact same tone and exact same voice.
Kagami gulped, eyes wide as she stared at the wall and slwoly curled up in her bed. It would make so much sense. This was why that woman's daughter did not want her dead and instead wanted her to be set free. Not to mention there was probably no time between Elise rescuing her and the conversation they had. Cheyenne had to be her kidnapper's daughter and the mole in Beacon. She had been apart of the White Fang too. There was no doubt about it. Her teammate, her friend was the one behind all of this. But who in all of Remnant could she tell?
She gulped once more, squeezing her eyes shut tight as the main lights were turned out. There was still that voice though. That voice and the feeling of betrayal.
'Don't try her.'