Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter!
And hello to everyone who reviewed last chapter!
Csshadow349: I knew that it sounded like Azula, but if anything it was a reference to the show itself. And here is the hyped chapter!
SuperKaiokenGoku: One on one, he has a pretty good chance at beating either of them. But if it is two on one, he would have a lot of trouble with and probably would lose unless he surpassed himself.
Masso2010: I got it planned out already, and it is similar to what you just wrote, but of course with my own charm. I know everyone is going to be wanting to see the battle, so I am not going to spend too much time on the new clothes thing, 2-3k words at most. Don't worry, the tournament starts this chapter, and it kicks off really quickly in the next one.
Guest 1: Thank you! Your vote will be counted!
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Supportive Guy: Can't promise anything there… but you don't have anything to worry about… yet.
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Arctech: I admit, it was a bit slow paced, but after the story being fast paced for the last few chapters, I thought it wouldn't have been too bad, sorry if it felt bad for you to read. I understand what you mean about Kai being so trusting of the spider woman, let me explain. Kai is young, and naive, he is like Ruby in a sense. When he heard information broker, he didn't think that she was a criminal. I mean, we don't even know if her gang is violent or anything and does illegal things. To put it simply, if she was a criminal, he didn't know, and simply saw her as a stranger whose occupation was broking information. It is an actual job IRL by the way. Kai is simply too kind hearted to have thought that she was a criminal and that she could have done any evil, she certainly didn't act like it anyway. That is all I can really share with you from the top of my head anyway. I hope you enjoy this chapter more than the last!
The Legend 47: Your vote will be counted! Welcome to the story as well.
Thank you all for the reviews!
Current Poll results:
Ruby Rose- 37
Yang Xiao Long- 27
Weiss Schnee- 18
Orchid Rosa- 15
Blake Belladonna- 11
Neo- 10
Pyrrha Nikos- 9
Holy shit, Neo actually got moved up a spot! Hooray for everyone's favorite mute! Ynag is catching up slowly but surely, and Orchid shot up from second to last to fourth place. Things are finally looking up for the underdogs!
With all of that out of the way, I kept it shorter this time or at least I tried to, because I know all lot if not all of you are looking forward to the first round of the triple threat matches for the Tournament arc here. A little treat for you all!
Also, just letting you all know now, this story will follow the cannon. I might have said that before, and if I did, then I forgot, so I am reminding both you and myself.
Now let's get straight into the story!
RWBY: The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 18- Volume 0, Episode 16
The Burning Dragon
"Nope." Orchid, and her mom shook her head at the same time, saying no to the fourteenth outfit that they chose out for Kai, it looked too childish was their excuse for making him change in front of them once again.
His mother was of little help, agreeing with them most of the time, and looking at some jewelry, and other accessories that she is too poor to buy herself. Speaking of money, the phrase 'The Spider Lurks' that Kai spoke much too casually scared the owner, and cashier half to death, and they get everything there for free. Of course, the naive young teenager that Kai is, even with his incredible sensing skills, couldn't whether or not they were excited or scared, and of course went with the former.
Kai turned back around, this time with a pearl white headband around his eyes, just a little longer than his older black one that Marron has wrapped around her right wrist for safe keeping. It somehow blended well with his dark black and brown hair too. Along with a dark silver colored sleeveless hoodie, the bracer still on his arm just stopping before it touches his elbow. Instead of shorts, which took a lot of convincing mind you, he now wears dark black loosely fit thin jeans meant for monkey faunus like him, so it saved him from having to poke a hole through his pants to give him room for his tail to move about and breathe.
The reason for their thinness was to let Kai be able to feel the air blow against his legs, or if air was displaced nearby, he would be able to sense it much easier. It felt odd for Kai to be wearing pants down that low to his feet, but he will get used to it. He also still has his feet bare, with no protection on them besides his aura.
"Well, how is this one?" Kai asked with the slightest hint of irritation, the only person catching it being his mother, and even than she only scoffed in amusement at the sound of her son trying so very hard to be kind and polite. She wonders where she got it from because Malikai nowadays is different in a lot of ways when she briefly compares him to their son in her mind. "Is it good?"
"Hmmm." Orchid and her mother hummed as they both circled the young man, one going clockwise and the other going counter clockwise, while also bending over and standing on their tippy toes to get multiple angles of Kai's new look that they picked out for him.
The fact that his well sculpted arms after years of training and exercise are revealed in a much more interesting fashion making them both inspect him just a bit longer. "I like it." Orchid's mom said with a nod. "How 'bout you Marry?"
Marron was already looking at her son, and had her hands clapped together with an ear to ear grin on her face, and twinkling eyes. "I love it!" She exclaimed as she used her semblance to pull her son and herself together into a tight embrace. "You look so badass, and more importantly, adorable!" She said as she ran her hands through his hair.
Orchid and her mom step back with shocked looks on their faces, that was the first time they saw Marron use part of her semblance, it really was nearly identical to Kai's, except for the fact that Kai has much more control over it because of his huntsman training. That makes them wonder, if Kai can control air and stone to the ability that he is able to now, than if Marron actually trained like a huntsman…?
Malikai would have had nowhere to hide at that point.
"T-Thanks, mom." Kai said with a thick blush on his face, and with his new white headband, it was very visible on his cheeks. He hugged her back as well as he could, wrapping his arms around her midriff.
"Well, what do you girls think?" Marron asked as she broke away from her son, but kept an arm wrapped around his shoulders.
Orchid in whatever personality she was in at the time, currently looked like she was in a trance with drool slowly dripping out of her mouth, and beside her is her mother with her scroll out taking a picture. No doubt keeping it in order to blackmail her daughter some time in the future, or just to tease her when she felt like it.
"Orchid, why is your heart beating so slow, are you okay?" Kai asked with concern and worry in his voice. Not seeing the hidden meaning behind it all.
The sound of his voice snapped her out of it, and she stood up straighter than a pencil. "It looks great!" Shy Orchid came out, and said with a trembling voice. "Haha, with your weapons on you it would look even better!" She exclaimed happily, saluting for some reason on top of that.
Kai's face reddened again at the praise. "Thanks." He said as he scratched at his forehead, the headband still fitting itself onto him snugly. "The pants feels weird, and my feet feel weird since my legs feel weird, and my feet are still bare. Didn't you guys have something in mind for my feet?"
"Oh! How could I forget? Be right back." Orchid's mom said as she disappeared from the room in a flash of magenta.
"Uh… where did she just go?" Kai asked out loud.
"Just give her a minute." Orchid said with a wave of her hand. "She'll be back."
"When-"
"Im back!" Orchids mom exclaimed as she re-appeared in the room, now holding a white shoebox wrapped up in a ribbon and handing it to Kai before he could realise what was happening.
"WAGH!" Kai shouted as he fell backward, only to be barely saved by his mom wrapping her tail around his waist, and hoisting him back up on his feet just before his butt hit the ground. Something she could be called an expert at because of all the times she had to save him from a fall back when he wasn't able to sense properly.
A memory of her son nearly walking straight off a cliff only to be saved just in the knick of time when she just managed to pull him back with her tail. She smiled at the memory, though at the time she panicked so hard that she whipped him toward her and crashed into her body, knocking both of them to the ground.
'Ah, the memories~' She thought with a smile.
"Thanks." Kai said with a warm smile. "Also, where did you come from!?" He asked his best friends mother, who is standing so close to him he can smell her fragrant flowery scent.
"Semblance!" She happily answered as she patted him on the head.
"That's not-" He cut himself off, not wanting to open that can of worms again. "Whatever, what is this?" He shook the box, hearing something softly thudding against the cardboard.
"It's a gift!" Excited Orchid answered instead of her mom.
"We got you socks!" Orchid's mom added, and the two of them linked arms with one another and gave him the peace sign.
"Very special socks."
"Don't use it all in one place!"
"Mom, that's not how it works-"
"Use it in every place!"
Kai and Marron laughed together at their interactions. After they both recovered from their fit of giggles, he fumbled with the box trying to find a way to open it, flipping it on it's side, than upside down, and then on it's other side, before stopping pensively tapping a finger against the box, he wouldn't want to rip it open, because that would be rude… but he doesn't know how to open it any other way.
Marrons just continued laughing like the great mother she is, while Orchid and her mother come to a sudden realization.
"Agh! I should have fed him more carrots!" Distraught Orchid's mom exclaimed as she pulled at her hair in a panic.
"Yeah that- wait no!" Equally as distraught Orchid exclaimed, being distraught for a much different reason. "He can't see the knot mom, we have to open it for him! The poor baby is blind remember?"
"..." Kai didn't say anything this time, he honestly doesn't know if they are doing this to him on purpose or not anymore. So he just goes along with it or tries to ignore it entirely.
"I'll get that for ya son." Marron grabbed the box from his hands gently, and untied the knot in a matter of seconds. Stuffing the red ribbon in her jacket pocket for safe keepings. "Oh my." She whistled an impressed tune upon seeing the very technologically enhanced socks.
"What is it?" Kai asked as he reached his hands out, not aiming for the box but waiting for his mother to give it to him, something that they established together long ago so that Kai wouldn't keep waving his hands around in the air blindly to find the damn thing.
Marron carefully took out both black, and white mechanical socks, and handed it to Kai. The fabric felt very soft in his hands, but also very metallic, it was an odd feeling, but certainly not an unpleasant one. He put his hands in one of them, and marveled in the feeling of how comfortable they were.
"Those aren't for your hands Kai." Teacher Orchid scolded with a stifled giggle.
"I-I knew that!" Kai claimed with an embarrassed flush on his face. "You can't tell me you haven't done that ever."
"You're right, I can't. But it's way funnier to see you do it." Orchid snickered.
"Urgh." Kai growled lightly as he sat down on the cushioned bench he sensed against the wall. He memorized how far it was after every time he had to pull his pants on.
Kai than holds his new socks in his hands, debating to himself how exactly he is supposed to put them on. He eventually goes for the way of lifting one leg and resting his foot on his other knee, and holds the opening of the metallic sock around his toes.
Marron, Orchid, and Orchid's mom all stand back in anticipation as they witness Kai putting something on his foot for the first time in their lives. Well, Marron has seen them on him, but only when he was a baby. It might actually be safe to say he hasn't worn anything on his feet ever since he unlocked his aura at a very young age thanks to his father.
He put it on backwards first, causing all of them to slap their faces in disappointment.
Kai realizes his error as soon as he hears their physical display of disappointment. Then adjusts the sock in the correct way to fit around his foot perfectly. This time, it went on without any resistance or difficulty, and Kai actually widened his eyes at how comfortable and warm that foot now was. He placed his foot back on the ground, and was even more surprised when his seismic sensing ability was not hindered in the slightest, if anything, it might have made it just ever so slightly easier to sense things around him. He slipped on the other sock with ease, and with just as little difficulty as the last, and revels in the lovely feeling he has from actually wearing something on his feet for once.
"How?" He asked excitedly. "What are these things made out of?"
"Something very special I got from an associate of mine in Atlas that I didn't know I had! Someone by the name of… Dellon? Dellawn? I don't know, it was something like that. It was definitely from a dude though, and his name definitely started with a D." She said as she thought to herself with one hand around her chin.
"What she means is that it is made out of something that none of us are smart enough to understand." Marron translated for him. "These socks are meant for hunters, and they are actually named S0K Version 1.75034, don't try to remember that because I already forgot it. They are to act like combat shoes or boots, but lighter and less interfering on your movements. They are very expensive, but it seems like the funding was already handled." She said as she read the note on the inside of the box that explained what it was made out of exactly. "That guy must have had a lot of money, or had people that owed him."
She would read the rest of it on her own later, there was just way too many details to list out in the little time that they had left.
"How's it feel?" She asked instead, though her answer was written all over Kai's face as he tested out his new footwear.
"It feels great!" He happily replied. "It feels like I am wearing nothing at all."
"Mmm, I like the visual~" Flirty Orchid said with a smack of her lips.
"What was that?" Kai asked stupidly.
"Nothing!" Shy Orchid came out and blushed, shifting her tone so fast it was a miracle that she didn't tear through the space time continuum. "Oh look at the time, the first round is starting in fifteen minutes, we should get there now!" She said loudly as she walked like a robot toward the door, only for her mother to catch her by the collar, and lift her up with one arm effortlessly. Her feet still dangled beneath her, and moved like she was still walking out of the store.
"We'll meet you guys there, Taiyang messaged me, and said that he and Ruby are waiting for you two at the entrance to lead you to the reserved seating." Orchid's mom said as she threw the still stiff Orchid over her shoulder and walked toward the door backwards while waving at them.
"Wait, you have Tai's number?" Kai asked before she could fully exit the store.
"Yuh huh! Also, Yang is fighting in the first round, better make it in a quickie!" She said as she dashed away to do her own things. Why she decided to take her and her daughter away to do their own thing is beyond him.
Kai doesn't think too much of it, but the thought of missing Yang's fight terrified him. So he strapped his weapon holster around his waist, sheathed Silver Ebony, and practically dragged his own mother toward to exit to the store.
"Thanks again!" Kai shouted before they left the room.
The scared stiff owner waved back, before letting out a sigh of relief so hard that he nearly passed out.
"How could a kid so kind be associated with the Spiders?" The owner asked with a huff as he wiped the countertop of all smudges left behind.
Marron lead Kai the rest of the way once he realized that he had no idea where the colosseum in Mistral was. Even though she knew that Kai could handle himself better than probably herself, she linked their tails together so that they wouldn't get separated from each other, she knew where to go because of the address sent to her by the headmaster of Signal herself. Fortunately, there was really no rush for them to get their early, since the fight itself starts in about another twenty minutes, but knowing her son, he would want to be there for one of his best friends, so there was a rush between the both of them.
Luckily, after a few more minutes of rushing through crowds and going through the shady back alleys of the lovely kingdom of Mistral, she spotted the unmistakable head of Taiyang, and Ruby who was already leaving a trail of rose petals toward Kai.
Sensing her dashing toward him just in time, Kai braced himself for a hug that was slammed into him at approximately three hundred miles and hour speeds.
"Matsu!" Ruby cheered as she pushed the side of her face into his chest.
He didn't notice it, but he has gotten even taller than he was before. Just about an inch, but it was still enough to make Ruby look even more adorably small from the third person perspective.
"Hey Ruby, didja miss me?" He asked with a laugh, as he hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"Hehe, nope." She said with a wink, earning a light smach on her shoulder as they pulled apart from each other. "I like the new blindfold by the way, looks good on you."
"Thanks." Kai said with a cheerful smile.
"Sup kid." Tai greeted as he held out his fist for a fistbump.
"Hey Tai." Kai greeted back warmly as he missed his hand completely, but recovered when Ruby pushed his arm in the right position, and aftering muttering a quiet thank you, bumped the older man's fist with his nose.
"You look stronger, the ladies must be all over you right?" Tai teased with a smile.
"I-I mean, m-maybe?" Kai stammered.
"Heh, well I can tell Ruby is literally all over you at least."
"DAD STOP!" Ruby whined, jumping away from Kai and ending up beside her father with a flushed pouting adorable face.
"Im kidding, Im kidding." Tai laughed. "Anyway, as good as it is to see you again, if you miss out on wishing Yang good luck than I am afraid that not even I will be able to save you from that girls fury."
"I won't!" Kai declared. "Where is she?"
"She's in a sort of waiting area, you should be able to go see her if you're quick, I'll show you the way." Tai looked to Marron, who stands behind her son with a hand on her shoulder yet with a smile on her face toward the slightly older blonde man. "Do you mind if we trade kids for a few? Mine is getting a bit annoying."
"Hey!"
"Sure, no problem. I could use a break from all the… monkey business." She quipped with a knowing smirk.
"Ha! No worries, all Kai has to do is tail me."
"Please stop." Both Kai and Ruby begged.
"I was just having fun though!" Marron laughed. "No worries, Ruby'll show me to the seats right?"
"Yup!"
"Good girl." Taiyang rewarded Ruby with a pat on the head of which she hates. He then tapped Kai on the shoulder, and the two of them started walking away. "This way Kai, just follow my weight."
"Yes sir."
"Oi! What'd I say about calling me that!?"
"S-Sorry!"
Marron and Ruby giggled at their interaction with each other, it was so much like an uncle-nephew relationship. The way Ruby waved bye to 'Matsu' just added to the adorableness.
"So how does Yang feel about all of this?" Kai asked her father as they grew closer to where Yang is waiting to enter the arena.
"She's excited, but I'm her dad, so I can tell that she is very nervous about this. She has never been in a tournament in front of so many people before." He said. "Not to mention that this is probably being broadcasted on top of that, so most of the world is going tobe seeing this tournament because of the celebrities taking part in it, sound familiar 'Blind Huntsman'?"
Kai looked down and flushed. "It's not like I meant to become famous or anything, I am literally only famous because of the fact that I am blind, and that I am striving to become a huntsman."
"Well, you sorta left out the part where you're also the best fighter at Signal in pretty much all years, might even give some kids from Beacon a run for their money if you give it your all in a spar." Taiyang pointed out.
Kai remained silent, he has been told this already by nearly all of his friends.
"But yeah, you probably already know that." Tai almost read his mind perfectly, and realized that he probably heard that excuse plenty of times before. He sighed and thought of a way to turn this into something inspirational or something of the sort. "The world sees things that it hasn't seen before, if it is bad, we try to destroy it, but if it is good…" He let that last word hang in the air for a while, making sure that he has Kai's full attention. "Than we let everyone else know about it."
In a way, he was completely right, the world was like that. If there was any new Grimm, that would be bad, and people would want it destroyed. And if there was something positive, like a festival, or a tournament like this one just about to begin, than everyone would want to know about it. It was an interesting analogy, and it has flaws, but it was good advice.
"You are one of those good things, Kai." A new voice interrupts. Kai instantly recognized it as the headmasters, and grew slightly tense at his presence. He hears his footsteps, and the tapping of his cane as it hits the ground with each step, all the way until he is right beside him and Tai. "You are blind, and yet you strive to become a huntsman. I have heard much about you Mister Matsuoka, it was hard not to with Team CFVY practically throwing their recommendations for you to become a student at my school in the near future."
"Headmaster Ozpin." Kai greeted, and couldn't help but crack a smile at the mention of his friends attending Beacon, he wonders how Fox is doing. "I would love to stay, and chat, but my friend is about to fight, and I want to wish her luck in person before she goes."
"Not a problem, the first round has been delayed another couple of more minutes because of a technical issue with the aura gauges. Wouldn't want to not be able to tell how close the competitors are to losing their aura now would we?" Ozpin asked rhetorically with a chuckle.
"I'll go tell Yang about it." Taiyang said.
No! Don't leave me alone with him! Kai begged him from within in his mind, hoping he had telepathic abilities that he didn't know about would come out to save the day for him.
"I'll leave you two alone for now, see ya later Kai." Tai said as he stepped away and entered the room where Yang has been waiting.
Traitor.
After a few moments of one sided awkward silence, Kai noticed that there was literally no one else around, there was just a few minutes ago. But now it was just him and the headmaster. He can't sense anyone else besides Tai and Yang in a room just ahead of them. With a gulp, he faces the headmaster.
"Is there a reason for you wanting to speak with me alone?" He asked, doing his best to hide his subtle fear. Remembering the warnings he got from Falcon, his father, and Albedo himself. He can't trust this man, no matter what he offers him.
"Cutting straight to the chase are we?" Ozpin rose an eyebrow, but was more amused than anything. "Your father did the same when he was my student."
Albedo said almost the same thing a while ago… Kai mentally noted. "Yeah, I've been told I am a lot like him in some aspects."
"Well, I certainly hope you did not inherit all of his traits."
What do you mean by that? Kai wanted to ask, a bit offended by his statement. In the end he remained silent
"But I am glad to see that you are most certainly his son, I like the new look by the way. For a blind person, you have a better taste in fashion then most." He complimented.
He's dodging my earlier question… he's trying to distract me. "Thanks, but I had a lot of help from my mom and partner. What is it that you are here to offer?"
"Who said I am here to offer anything?" The headmaster countered. Kai couldn't help but twitch involuntarily in surprise from his retort. "I simply wanted to meet the boy I have heard so much about, I trust that you have committed the reward for the winner of the tournament to memory?" What was so odd about that sentence, was that it felt so odd that Kai could not tell if he was lying or not, the signs told him that it was the headmasters genuine feelings, but there was another part of him that told him that it was all a trick. He didn't know which side to believe, if it was the truth it wouldn't be a bad truth, and if it was a lie it wouldn't really even be a bad lie since he has already been told by two people, three if you count his mother, that the headmaster is going to try and get him into his school. But then that would pose another issue… if it was a lie, then the headmaster must have been very good at lying if he has been able to do it so long that he could suppress his own heartbeat and other natural occurrences when a person lies.
"Y-Yeah, I remember." Kai said finally after a few awkward seconds of silence. Accusing him would gain nothing, and it would only make Ozpin suspicious of him. Which would only lead to bad things happening.
"Fantastic, there is tough competition for such a prize. Then again, I am sure you already know that." Ozpin said as he inhaled softly through his nose and adjusted his glasses. "Anywho, I will not hold you any longer."
Wait… that was it!? Kai was once again surprised by the headmasters actions, not at all expecting this sort of outcome from their meeting.
"Surprised?" The smug headmaster must have read his mind. "As I said, I simply wished to meet you personally." He reached out his hand, and leaned down to grab Kai by his own. He weakly shook the headmasters hand, and he didn't say anything else as Ozpin whisted a catchy tune and walked away to whatever observation post he was given. "I wish you luck in the tournament Mister Matsuoka." He added just before he got out of range.
As if this was all planned, he started sensing a crowd of people coming from either side of him, talking and mingling with one another, and with his enhanced hearing he can tell that they were in fact not speaking about passing the headmaster of Beacon Academy just a few seconds ago.
He snapped himself out of his stupor when someone bumped into his shoulder, and he rushed to the room that he sensed had Taiyang and Yang in there. He knocked on the door three times, and before he could even take his hand back he found himself already pulled into the room.
"Kai, thank god you're here!" Yang exclaimed as she held him by his shoulders. "I need your advice."
"Uh…" Kai didn't what to say. "About what?"
"How do I not care that half of the world is going to be watching me fight?"
"I mean… I can't really answer that, because I can't see how many people are watching…" In his defence he was trying to help.
"I like your new look by the way." Yang said suddenly, ignoring his answer entirely.
"Thanks…?"
"So?"
If Kai's eyes were visible, they would be seen looking around the room as if there was someone there who could help. He heard Taiyang sigh and mutter something about irony, and that was all he got.
"Do your best?" He said stupidly, not knowing what else to say to the blonde brawler holding him by the shoulders. Some other guys his age might have been excited to be in his position, but no, Kai is not like most guys.
Yang laughed and let him go, patting him on the shoulder and stepping back to let herself fall into the bench that was built into the wall. "Do my best, he says… that's all there is to it huh?"
"I-"
"Just let her get over this on her own, she'll be fine once she gets into it." Taiyang cut him off and grabbed him softly by the shoulder, hinting to him that it is about time to leave. "Whatever you wanna say, say it now, because we literally only have about ten seconds before we have to leave the room."
"Oh shi-" Kai caught himself, not finishing the curse word. "Yang, I know you can do this! You're the dragon of Signal, and no one messes with her right? Some crowd isn't going to scare you. So go out there and kick some ass!" He cheered quickly as he closed the door behind him.
Yang laughed boisterously upon seeing him leave the room, they only had about a minute together, but that was more than enough for her. No sexual innuendo intended.
"You know what? You're right!" Yang said as she slammed her fists together, and a flare of bright yellow flames flared up in her hair for just a second.
"Time for me to go kick some ass!"
"We have front row seats?" Kai asked as he sat down next to his mother, who quickly greeted him with a hug and told him how much she missed him despite it only being just a couple of minutes from the last time she saw her own son.
"Yup! We get the best view in the house!" Ruby cheered as she sat down in the seat beside her.
"Yeah… best view." Kai said emptily, not wanting to ruin her mood by reminding her that he can't see.
"It is definitely a sight to behold Kaizy." Marron teased, reading his body language perfectly, even adding more to his embarrassment by calling him by the nickname that the Rosa family has become keen calling him by.
"Yep, definitely is." Tai weakly agreed.
"Hello people of Mistral! Thank you for coming to this stadium to watch yet another championship tournament! That's right ladies and gentlemen, Pyrrha Nikos will once again be defending her title for the third time!" The announcer yelled into the microphone, and thunderous cheering nearly deafend Kai a a result.
"I thought this was a colosseum?" Kai whispered to Ruby, and she somehow heard him.
"This place has a bunch of names, just go with whatever they call it." Ruby whispered back, and Kai tuned himself back in to what the announcer was saying.
"This is the very first time that the tournament will be holding triple threat matches! You heard correctly folks, it is going to be a one on one on one!"
"Say that three times fast." Tai joked, earning a giggle from his daughter and a chuckle from Kai.
"Please be patient for just a little while longer as I read out the rule simplicities of the bouts." The man who enjoyed his job a little too much cleared his voice with a few forced coughs. "Each competitor will continue to fight until forfeit, get knocked out of bounds, or their auras get into the red. And that's all folks!" He yelled, you could faintly hear the sounds of flapping papers scattering all over the room he is in if you focus hard enough.
Kai heard it, and Ruby wondered why he started laughing randomly.
"Now it's time for me to announce the first three fighters of the first round! Let's give it up for… Yang Xiao Long! The Burning Dragon of Signal Academy!"
Ruby's ear piercing scream was her way of cheering her sister on.
Yang made her entrance by allowing her semblance to flare up, running out into the arena stage while waving her hands. Bright yellow flames bursting up from her body and red eyes scouring over the crowd to find her family, and she does so quickly. She blows a kiss their way, but aimed it at Kai, only for everyone in that general area to think that it was for them. They cheered louder for the brawler.
"Now that was a hot entrance! Eh, eh?" The announcer got booed for his pun. "Bah, whatever, up next we have-"
The next two fighters were names that Kai did not recognize, though one was boy from Haven, and the other, also a boy, apparently all the way from Shade in Vacuo. One had dual swords, and the other with a large mace like weapon. Similar to Cardins, but not as big.
Kai was from Vacuo technically, even if he did live in Vale now. He was a bit conflicted on who to cheer for. But that was all blown away when he thought about how angry and hurt Yang would be if he cheered for the one from Vacuo, so he wisely decided to cheer for his blonde friend who is known for punching the groins of boys who tried to test their luck with her.
"Im sure you kids know the rules already, and if you somehow forgot. That sucks. Because the fight is starting in…"
The many aura gauges lit up all over the arena, showing Yang, the boy from Haven named Melone, and the other from Shade named Tommie. All in the green and healthy. Overlapping their names was a countdown starting from ten, the crowd all counted down with the timer. Kai got the timing down after three seconds, and counted down along with everyone else.
Yang cocked Ember Celica and got into her fighting stance, eyes returning to their usual lilac color and her hair darkening down back to her golden blonde hair. Not looking any less beautiful than before.
Melone, the one with the dual blades, crouched down into a low position, with his blades in a backhand grip. Ready to pounce at either of his opponents, who all together form a triangle.
Tommie enters a basic stance, with his mace held with both hands in front of his body, and his legs in a strong position to defend against any opening attack.
They all look at each other, with smirks on their faces, as the countdown gets to four. They dissapear and they tense up as it grows ever nearer to zero.
3...
2...
1…
BEGIN!
Yang started off by firing her Ember Celica in the direction of both of her opponents, which at first is easily dodged by Melone, and batted away by Tommie. She was forced on the defensive when Melone, who seems to be more agile and fast than the other mace wielding huntsman in training, and closes the distance between the two of them.
This one was almost fast for Yang to keep up with, if it wasn't for the training with Ruby and Kai, she might have not been able to keep up long enough to start learning his actually pretty linear attack pattern. That was the case at least until their little scuffle was intensifying as green sparks crackled off of his body, and he slowly began to get faster and faster, leaving green trails behind each blade as they intend to hit home.
Luckily for Yang, they were both reminded that this was a triple threat match when a mace slammed in between the both of them, uplifting parts of the arena and forcing them apart. Yang was surprised at first but quickly snapped herself out of it when there was a dark steel heading right toward her face, reflexes being the only thing stopping her from getting her head hit clean off. Before she could even think about counter attacking, the other one already drop kicked himself into the other boy, making him skid back about thirty feet. Then when his feet hit the ground, any electricity coursing through his body fickle out, and when he went right after Yang after the surprise attack he was right back to where he started at the beginning of the bout.
He has a semblance that needs to be charged up. Yang realized as she forms her arms into an X to block his next attack. In the short time that she has been fighting him, she can see that he uses his blades primarily, but the real damage came from his kicks, and his semblance charges up as he fights, and when he attacks, he needs to recharge again. She decided that she can't let this fight last too long or else things are going to get really messy really fast.
With a roar, she parried his blade, causing sparks to fly between the two of them and an wide window of opportunity to be made. She counters by grabbing that arm and twiliring him around in a circle a few times to disorent him before she tossed him toward the incoming mace wielder like a missle, who bats him away with unintentional teamwork, taking out about ten percent of his aura, and another four percent when he lands ungracefully on his shoulders and tumbles across the other side of the arena.
He almost fell off, but he managed to catch himself on the edge of the ring just in time to start hoisting himself back up.
"Ooo, so close! And that is what I call a home run." The announcer turned commentator cheered with laughter.
Yang smirked as the one with the mace nodded at her, and aimed his weapon at her at the same time. The other more agile one was out of commission for now as he was recovering from the flashing stars he is now seeing.
The two standing fighters clash at each other, Yang nullifying the force of his mace with an aura empowered fist, than blasts it off to make her opponent spin uncontrollably just as planned. What didn't go to plan was how Tommie used the momentum she gave him against her and spun with the force to deliver a crushing blow to her side, knocking her away and making her tumble across the ground, grunting each time she bounced.
"Oh no! Yang!" Ruby cried.
Kai wished he could see what was going on, but all he can sense are constant vibrations, rendering him completely blind to the show before him. However he cheers anyway, because that is what is expected from him.
Yang flipped herself up to her feet, and cocked her Ember Celica, while that last hit hurt pretty bad, even with her aura, even if it took a considerable chunk out of her aura it only added more to her overall strength and speed. Her eyes flicker red for a second before blinking in surprise and turning back to purple when a green blur rushes past her.
He could barely hold his mace up in a defensive position just in time as the faster warrior came out him like a storm, much too fast for him to keep up with. How he managed to charge up so fast was beyond him. Eventually, his guard broke completely, then Identical blades cut an X at his torso, which is quickly followed up by a kick crackling with green electricity, knocking the larger teen back until the backs of his feet are slightly over the out of bounds drop.
"Ooo, semblances already. Looks like he needs to charge that up with speed before he can pulls something like that off!" The commentator briefly explained what his semblance was.
Melone twirls both his swords in a flourish, much more confident in his ability to win now that he has the upper hand against one of his opponents. He thinks that since one is so close to the edge, and the other is so far away, with another short sprint he can knock him out of the ring with another lightning kick!
"Hey! That guy is copying us!" Rick yelled angrily from the other side of the stadium.
"Be quiet!" Cyan snapped, putting the blue wearing teen in a headlock while holding his other hand over Bricks mouth.
Not hearing the two twins by a longshot, Melone crouches down to begin his explosive sprint, and explodes off his feet he does. He breaks the stone up from behind him, pushing past his usual limits as he charges straight at Tommie, who has no hope of dodging the attack, and can only hope that he can block in perfectly, and even than if he does get it he would just falls off anyway.
Instead he widened his eyes in surprise when it was a flaming fist of yellow pushing itself straight into the jaw of Melone, causing him to lose all of his momentum, taking twenty percent of his aura out, and sending him spinning and flying out of the ring until he hits an invisible shield, which halts him from flying into the spectator seats.
"Woooo. Our first elimination of the tournament! Must suck to become a pending meme already though, can someone go see if he is alright?"
Thunderous applause followed when they saw Yang standing where Melone once was, an angry look on her face with bright red eyes.
"God! That guy was getting annoying." She said like a badass, making the crowd laugh. To the other hunters in the stands, they could understand why someone like Melone could get obnoxious if the fight lasted too long.
All except Kai of course, he couldn't see a damn thing.
"Thanks for that." Tommie said with a sigh of relief as he quickly made his way back into the center of the arena stage. "Why do that though? Now it's just you and me."
"Oh, don't flatter yourself tomato." Yang laughed at her own joke. "I did that because that guy was getting on my nerves, and unlike him I can actually hit you."
The young boy blushed at the tease, which only made her laugh even louder.
"Ha! You even look like a tomato now." She taunted, rubbing salt into his fresh wound.
"Shut up!" 'Tomato' yelled with anger and embarrassment as he charged blindly at her. The taunts got to him and now his movements are sluggish and sloppy. All according to plan.
"Heh, that is such a Yang thing to do." Taiyang spoke his mind as he cheered for his daughter who expertly duck under his wild horizontal swing and countered with a liver punch, a move that he drilled into her for months. It is clear that in this now one one one bout, Yang would win with little issues unless she screws up big time, and even then she has her semblance that she can fall back on. The other kid's young emotions are getting to him, and his former calm demeanor and confident attitude has been swept under the rug, and when Yang punched his hand so hard that it forced him to drop his mace, his chances of winning dropped even further, hand-to-hand combat was Yang's forte, the only ones who can beat her age who could beat her would be Kai, and maybe a few others in the world besides professional huntsman such as himself. But, that was only the case at least if Yang was fighting seriously and focused on her skill rather than her brute strength.
"What was that?" Kai asked him suddenly, he must have overheard his thoughts or something, no idea how but it was better not to think too much on it lest he get a headache trying to figure it out.
"Huh? I don't know what you mean by that but it definitely looks like Yang is going to be winning this one. Damn shame to, the fight didn't last as long as I thought it would."
"Why would that be a bad thing?" Ruby asked him with an angry pouty face that looked way too adorable to actually be intimidated by.
"It's not." He quickly dug himself out of the shallow grave he just made for himself. "Just… you'll understand later in life Rube's, just watch the rest of the fight. It looks like Yang is going to finish the poor kid off now."
"Really!?" Ruby exclaimed, snapping her silver eyes back to the fight so fast it was a wonder how they didn't pop out of her head.
"Hm." Kai hummed, silently agreeing with Ruby. He would start cheering again once the fight ended.
The match did end, and it ended spectacularly. The poor boy stood no chance against Yang and her expertise in hand-to-hand combat, and he himself didn't seem to have much experience in that field either, which only made it worse. That's not even considering the fact that the teenage boy's ego is going to be in tatters after this match is over because him being beaten by the girl. Even if the girl had much more experience then he did at fighting.
She blocked the weak punch, and with a wink that made him gulp, buried her fist into his stomach, draining his aura into the red as his eyes bulged out of his head and the air in his lungs being blown out in a quick heave. His body was launched up into the air about ten feet before he came crashing down unconscious, thus ending the match.
"Matsu, did you see that!?" Ruby asked in a squeal as she stood up and clapped for her sister's victory.
Kai covered his mouth and nose with his hands, and sighed deeply into them before standing up with Ruby and clapping on his own. "Still blind Ruby." Is all he said as he clapped for Yang's victory.
Yang threw her fist up in the air and jumped in excitement, which made her… assets bounce along with her. It definitely made a few of the hormonal male teenagers happy, and even some girls too. But the sounds of applause and cheers drowned that all out as Yang squealed happily.
"There you have it folks! Yang Xiao Long takes the first round of the Tournament! And will be moving on to the quarter finals! Which I regret to inform you all, are not triple threat matches." The announcer explained as Yang jogged happily back to the room she came out of. "The next match will begin in fifteen minutes! If you are called up, you will know… right now!"
Kai's scroll vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out and traced the buttons to find the answer key, once he did he received a robotic vocal message.
'You are going to be in the next round, proceed to waiting room number 4-8-7, good luck in your match.' The voicemail ended, and Kai heart was beating hard when he sensed pretty much every person within a three meter radius turned to look at him.
Ruby didn't help at all of course.
"Matsu! You're up next!"
A barrage of questions, and calls for autographs followed short after.
Man, what a chapter this was. There was a lot that I just couldn't leave out and it ended up turning into quite the lengthy chapter. I hope I made up with it for the first round of the tournament! And no, of course the Kai's round is going to be very interesting to read through. I can promise you all that much.
Not much to say this time, you guys no the drill more or less. Next chapter is going to be a ot of fighting, with some lines for some characters on the side every now and again, with maybe a shadow plot or two. You guys and girls should be able to find it.
No Malikai and Vernal's wonderful relationship this time, but they will come back. They're just hiking right now, not much going on with them. They're just complained about why Raven didn't give them a portal there so they wouldn't have to walk the whole way there.
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Please review, and tell me what you think of the story so far!