"I will not." With her arm crossed over her chest, Baren narrowed her eyes at Kagami and her friends.
"Just try it!" The jadette gestured towards the box Nihilus had sent. "He made it for you! And it's not like it's some fancy Atlas made thing." She crossed her arms. "It's all made in Mantle in the middle of nowhere. Just how you like it. So try it."
"No." Her eyes narrowed more. "I am content with how I am."
"Hey guys..." With a chuckle, Gurin peered over the dining table. "You can do anything you want when you're... physically disabled!" With a chaotic grin, the young girl held up a prosthetic arm made of wood, metal and string and spun it around.
"And that's the last time I let you borrow my scroll to watch memes." Kuro sighed as he reached over to snatch his little sister by the hood of Kagami's hoodie.
Grumbling, she went to hit her brother with the arm. Before she could, Cheyenne quickly reached over and carefully snatched the prosthetic. "Both of you be careful! This is probably really fragile." She pulled it close.
"I highly doubt Nihilus would make something fragile for someone like Baren." Elise pointed out. "It would need to be durable enough to hold up against her strength when fighting."
"It doesn't matter!" Baren snapped. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her shoulders. "It does not matter. I'm not going to use it anyway."
"But why not?!" Kagami turned to face her. "You always said you were content with how you are because you didn't deserve something fancy from Atlas. Well this clearly isn't some science fiction laser arm!" Snatching the prosthetic from her Faunus friend, she waved it around a little. "It's literally wood carved to look like a human bone!"
"I still don't want it." Her nostrils flared as she took a step towards her.
"Why don't you two stop bloody arguing. My Gods..." Aza groaned as he put his chef uniform on and got ready to leave for work.
"Stay out of this!" Both Baren and Kagami snapped while looking over and glaring at him.
Blinking, the blonde man stared for a moment before holding up his hands and stepping back.
"Okay." Sliding over, Aero placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I think we've ALL been under a lot of stress recently. How about we take a deep breath and think about visiting one of the bajillion places there is to visit here. Yeah? There is this really cool forest we could-"
"Forest!" Elise perked up with a grin.
"Ugh. Nature." Kris grumbled as she faceplanted on the table next to a cup of coffee. "Can't we go shopping or something?"
"Did that yesterday." The bluette waved her hand. "This place is really cool. I think you guys would like it. It has a spooky history." She wiggled her fingers around.
Still glaring at her mentor, Kagami softly exhaled before looked over. "What makes it special?"
"It's officially called The River of Trees." Midori chimed in as she patted down her clothes. "It's a giant forest with no wildlife and no Grimm. It's very peaceful and quiet. Not to mention beyond beautiful with all its floral."
"Buuut," Aero held up a finger. "It's grown infamously known for being Grimm's Forest. A lot of people walk deep into the forest never to return. It's like a Grimm has eaten them, but with none there it's painfully obvious what happened to them."
Raising her head, Kris blinked. "Okay. Morbid much?" Her head cocked to the side.
"You know," Gurin smiled. "There's a super old story about a super old Grimm that has been around since before people existed. And it sleeps underneath the waters around Vytal. And it's so old and wise and powerful that its presence scares away all other Grimm. That's why there is like none here."
"You've been reading too many fairy tales." With a smile, Kuro reached over and ruffled her hair.
"I think I'll stay here today. With Gurin and Kuro." With a quiet exhale, Eleanor walked over and sat down at the table with a cup of tea. "I've been sight seeing a lot this past week. I'm tired and my back hurts."
Sighing, Kagami slowly nodded. "Okay. It sounds fun. But we're not done talking about this though." She pointed at her mentor before turning around and placing the prosthetic arm back in the box Nihilus had sent it in. "You deserve to be whole again..." She mumbled quietly as she closed the box back up.
Out in the popular forest many tourists would visit, Elise practically skipped down the path with her arms out. "I haven't been out in the middle of the woods in forever! And Mantle's tundra doesn't count! It feels wonderful here and I'm not freezing!" With a bright smile, she trailed off the path a little. With a small burst of smoke, she jumped up and grabbed onto a high branch. Hauling herself up, she quickly began to ascend to the top.
"Is... she going to fall?" Aero starred as she scratched at her neck. "Should I draw a net with gravity Dust or something?"
"She'll be fine." Cheyenne waved her hand a little. "Pretty sure she'll be fine."
"At least there's no bugs out here. I appreciate that." Kris mumbled quietly as she looked around the still and quiet forest. "I still don't like how humid it feels."
"I pray you never end up stranded in Vacuo." Baren half chuckled as she eyed her. "You wouldn't make it."
"I would be fine." The young redhead pointed towards her face. "My makeup wouldn't. And then I would need to stab a bitch."
Hearing a branch snap from above, Kagami softly smiled as she took a step to the side. Looking up, she held out her arms and braced herself. With a small grunt, she caught Elise who had several leaves in her hair. "Maybe we should try to stay on the path?" She tilted her head with a smile.
"Naaaw!" Squirming out of her leader's arms, the dark brunet scrambled on the ground before rushing ahead again. "What fun is that??"
Watching her, the jadette shook her head and calmly walked after. They came here to relax after what they had been through. She shouldn't yell at her too much. This was what Elise's life was before Beacon after all. The calmness of the trees. The quiet roaring of the wind. The aroma of flowers and grass. This was Elise's dream world.
The group made their way to a bluff that overlooked a vast sea of green trees that rivaled the blue ocean beside it. Resting there, they set out a large blanket and began to eat boxed lunches Aza had quickly made them before leaving. While everyone else had rice, steamed vegetables, boiled eggs and sliced Mistral sausage, Kris had fried tofu in place of the meat. The chef had also kindly given Elise double the sausage than he gave everyone else.
They took their time with eating for once and talked amongst each other once they finished. They spent the afternoon just sitting and talking for the first time in forever. No schemes. No plans. No bad guys to stop. For the first time since they had become a team, team MACE was having a normal day. Nothing crazy was happening. It was wholesome and the perfect slice of life adventure they needed. What they all needed.
Sitting on the edge of the bluff, Kagami let her feet hang off as she stared out across the horizon. Slowly, she breathed in. The warmth of the sun radiating through her body. Lowering her head, she glanced at her gauntlet. The sunlight glinting off the clean metal.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Elise asked as she walked over and took a seat beside her.
"Just Baren." She sighed. Leaning back, she used her arms to prop herself up. "I know it's different with how she lost her arm but..." She shook her head. "It's nothing really. I just hope someone can get through to her since I can't. She deserves to have both her arms again after everything she's done."
"Yeah..." The brunet trailed off with a slow nod. "She does. I know that and I haven't even known her that long."
"I guess everything will somehow work out in the end." Taking a deep breath, Kagami glanced over her shoulder to see the others packing everything up from their picnic.
"I'm sure it will." Reaching out, she placed a hand on her knee and smiled. She stared for a moment at her leader. The afternoon light illuminating her jade hair. "Hey, Kagami...?" She quietly let out.
"Hmm?" Quickly looking back over at her, she raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What is it?"
Softly exhaling, Elise let her shoulders drop. "I, um..." She blinked a few times. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Leaning over, she wrapped her arms around her. "Thanks for being such a great friend. I mean it."
"Uh..." The jadette blinked confused. "Okay. Thanks. I guess." Reaching her arms around her friend, she lightly patted her back. "You're a pretty great friend too."
"But you're still the best." She mumbled while squeezing her tighter. "The absolute best. And I mean it."
"Um, right." She nodded with a smile as patted her back more. "Thanks. Again." She quietly laughed while oblivious to the obvious.
On their way back from their relaxing day out, Kris kept towards the back of the group. She was scrolling through a few pictures she had taken on her scroll. "Hmm." Her head tilted as she looked at one of the pictures of the bluffs. "You know, I guess this wasn't so bad." Looking up, she blinked a few times and quickly looked around. No one was around her. She knew she wasn't walking that slow.
"Oh I hate nature..." She grumbled as she looked around some more. A bit off the path, she spotted Cheyenne standing. "Hey! Chey!" She quickly rushed over. "What's going on?" Not getting a response, she stepped in front of her. Seeing her friend staring off in the distance, her brow furrowed.
"What the hell is..." Following where she was looking, she stared for a moment. She saw nothing. "Chey! Hey! Hello!" She waved her hand in front of her face. Again, no response. Taking a step away, Kris scanned the trees. Seeing Baren, she exhaled and sprinted towards her. "Baren!" She shouted before skidding to a stop as the old warrior unsheathed her weapon and slashed it through the air at nothing.
"Someone explain what the hell is going on!?" The redhead shouted loud enough that her voice cracked. Hearing a shout from behind her, she whipped her head around as she saw Aero collapse to her knees with her hands over her face.
With wide eyes, she stumbled back as her breathing began to grow ragged. "I hate nature. I really hate nature." Spotting Elise, she gritted her teeth as she had the same distant look in her eyes that Cheyenne did. "Damnit." She clenched her jaw. Taking a deep breath, she quickly began to look around more. "Find Kagami. Find Kagami. Find Kagami." She mumbled to herself over and over.
Seeing a bright green amongst the forest's greens, she sprinted towards it. Panting softly, she slowed down as she came up beside her leader. The jadette was sitting on the ground with her eyes closed. "Okay..." She took a deep breath. "I know you can't hear me but..." She trailed off and took a step back as her leader's left arm began to glow.
Reaching up, Kagami placed her fingertips on the side of her head. Using her semblance, she softly exhaled while lowering her head and shoulders. With a few deep breaths, the glow on her arm faded away. Looking up, she exhaled as she eyed Kris.
"Kagami... what... what just happened?" The redhead quietly asked. She sounded close to panicking.
"I... I don't know." She shook her head. "I don't know."
"You and the others, you all sorta just walked off." She gulped. "It was like you weren't even there. Or you were looking at something I couldn't see."
"There was... some sort of mind games." Taking a deep breath, she flexed her fingers on her left hand. "I need to go help the others."
"Um, right." Kris nodded. Hearing rustling behind her, she snapped her head over and narrowed her eyes. Glancing at her leader, they both silently nodded. As Kagami headed towards the rest of her friends, Kris quickly followed after the sound and most likely whoever was behind all of this. She had some choice words for this person. And some violent actions.
"Just one normal adventure..." She grumbled. "That's all I wanted."