Autumn's Call

"I wonder what he wants to talk about," Mydnight shrugged. Normally on one of these short walks he and his partner would be headed up to Ozpin's office but seeing as they were in a foreign land they were wandering through Atlas Academy hoping they were headed in the right direction. Mydnight had asked Qrow to help them get to the room Ozpin had designated but he hadn't been answering his texts.

"Who knows," Ambur sighed. "Probably wants to scold us for how sloppy we were in that match yesterday," she snorted out a short laugh.

"Aw it wasn't THAT bad come on now," he smirked and elbowed her in her side. "Gotta be more positive. What happened to super confident Ambur huh?"

"Huhhhhh," she sighed before standing up straight and sucking in a deep breath. "I guess you're right. It's just all the shit Rosa said. I let her get into my head and now her words are just playing on repeat."

"I'd say don't let it get to you but," he sighs softly. "I know it isn't that simple for you. You've come a long way and for someone to say things like that to you after all the effort you've been through has to feel pretty terrible." He reached out and took her hand, running his thumb over the back of her palm to try and soothe her mood. He saw her expression soften as she let out the long breath and a small smile crept across her lips. She swung their hands back and forth between them as they walked down the grand hallways of the school.

He hadn't failed to notice that she had decided to wear her old Casey Williams hoodie today and while he certainly didn't mind the way the black fabric contrasted her white hair and red eyes he had to wonder if she had worn it because of the sting of Rosa's words or if it was simply because of how cold Atlas was. Not only were they as far north as human settlements went, but Atlas being suspended in the air above the city of Mantle meant it was even colder up where they were near the clouds. "Hahhhh at least she didn't interrupt us after the dance. I might have killed her if she ruined my first time," she blushed.

"Ahah," he laughed along with her for a moment before he leaned over across the space between them and kissed her on the cheek. "I don't think I'd have had any desire to stop you so it's definitely for the best that she didn't."

"Hmm," she hummed happily. "Well, whatever he needs to tell us I'm glad you're here."

"Why wouldn't I be here? He called for me too?" He asked with a raised brow.

"No I mean," she chuckled a little, "I mean here in general," she smiled softly, reaching up and tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Just here with me...Last year you know I...I really thought when you ran away that night that maybe you'd never come back..."

"Wait really?" He thought out loud, a little sorry for his tone. "You really thought I'd just run away and never look back?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" She asked. "You were pretty upset with yourself that night."

"I'm still upset with myself about it Ambur..." he said softly, turning his head toward her and she felt his gaze rest on the scar he had left through her eye. She didn't let her hair show it very often and he knew why of course. She didn't want him to have to look at the mess he made but if there was ever a chance to convince her to stop he would have to take it. "But covering it up isn't going to make me feel any better about it..."

"I don't cover it up for your sake," he felt her squeeze his hand tightly. "I just cover it up so people don't ask questions that we can't answer." He couldn't tell if it was in the way she had hesitated to say it or if it was just the way that the words had come out but somehow he thought that she might be lying. "You don't uh...you don't think I show off too much skin do you?"

He was silent for a long time, trying to come up with the right words. He didn't think that she did, of course, he loved the way she looked but just telling her that she was hot wasn't what Ambur was looking for. They were dating now and surely she knew that he must enjoy the way she dressed normally but that wasn't what she wanted to hear right now. "I think that it's your body Ambur, and you have the right to do whatever the hell you want with it. And it doesn't much matter what anyone else thinks," he smiled across the short distance between them and saw her sigh with a smile creeping across her lips once again.

"You really do know what to say at the right time don't you?" She sighed happily and pulled him closer, throwing her arm around his shoulder and hugging him slightly while they continued toward Oz's room.

"I do what I can," he shrugged once she had let him go.

When they finally came to Ozpin's office they knocked only once and were surprised to find Qrow answer the door. "Been texting you all day man have you been here the whole time?" Mydnight asked.

"Sorry we were a little busy I didn't notice," he shrugged, taking out his scroll and nodding his head. "Yep, it's on silent. Come on in."

When the pair stepped inside they found that their entire group was in the room, Olivier and even General Ironwood included. "Oooohhhkay well this is ominous guys," Ambur said softly as they stepped farther inside and Qrow closed the door. "Did we suck THAT much?"

"No," Ozpin answered flatly. "Your fight was adequate. More than adequate really," he began as he stood from his chair. The room was simple enough. A large dining table in the center with chairs placed around it where the rest of the group was waiting. "We are here to...discuss the next step in our plans to thwart Salem."

"Oh," Ambur said, a little shocked. They hadn't really talked much about their roles to play since Mydnight had accidentally slashed Ambur's face the year prior. It had been mission after mission and Ambur was beginning to think that Oz thought that maybe they weren't ready for the next steps. "Okay well, what can we do then?"

"Please come have a seat," Oz gestured to the three empty chairs at the table. Ambur Qrow and Mydnight took their seats and Oz cleared his throat before continuing. "As you well know, the story of the maidens is true. The four women who wield magic rooted in the seasons. A few months ago Qrow and Mydnight found the Fall Maiden under attack from a group of Salem's followers and were able to repel them and recover her in...mostly stable condition."

"Wait you...you found one?" Ambur gasped and looked over to her partner. "You didn't tell me that?"

"Sorry, he told us not to tell anybody," Mydnight sulked. He had truly wanted to tell her of their find but he knew that it was best that as few people as possible found out they had a maiden in their possession.

"Well, where is she?" Liv spoke up.

"Back at Beacon," Qrow answered before Ozpin took back control of the conversation.

"She is in a kind of stasis. She was injured greatly and Qrow and Mydnight were barely able to bring her to us still alive. Her wounds are all but un-treatable and one of the assailants was somehow able to steal some of her power. We are afraid that if she dies the rest will go to this assassin as well, rather than how the powers usually travel to their next hostess. So in order to curb this possibility we have come up with a device which will move her powers into a hostess of our choice."

"Well that's...incredible," Ambur breathed out in shock, "But who would even be able to accept them?"

"You," he said matter of factually, "Miss Magnaria are the candidate that we would like to move them to."

The room went quiet all at once as all the students looked from each other and back to Ozpin. "You...you think I could...be a maiden?" Ambur sounded truly baffled. "But I'm nothing special like they are? I don't even have a semblance that would suggest that I could do something magical?" She said quickly. "Wouldn't someone like...I don't know someone with a semblance like Rosa be better for that?"

"It is precisely because of her semblance that Miss Avalon has been kept out of our little group in the first place, never mind considered for this transplant."

"She's far too emotional and uncontrollable. If we chose her and she decided to run off then her semblance matched with the maiden's abilities would be almost unstoppable," Professor Goodwich explained. "Besides, not only are you incredibly strong, but you understand the threat that Salem brings to this world. You alone were trusted to watch over your teammate when he needed you the most and despite the accident, you still endure that responsibility proudly. You are actually quite ideal for this Ambur."

She fell silent again, her vision fell down to her lap as she seemed to become lost in thought. "This does not require an immediate decision from you Ambur," Professor Ozpin said, grabbing her attention back. "And we figured it would be best to keep the information from you until after your participation in the tournament was over so as to not stress you out. Now that Mydnight is confirmed as your participant in the finals we decided to give you from now until we get back to Beacon Academy to decide."

"You are not in this alone," Glynda spoke again. "You have your friends here and all of us to help you through it if you decide to accept."

The three students stood and headed for the door. "Oh, and Mydnight," Oz said as they reached the door. "Good luck tomorrow, the competition should get much more challenging here in the final round."

All Mydnight could do was nod. He felt a little sick to his stomach for keeping a secret from Ambur and silently prepared himself for her wrath later when she was feeling a little more talkative. As they stepped out into the hallway and headed back toward their room Liv was the first to speak up. "How could you keep that a secret from us Mydnight?" She sighed.

"He told me to alright? He never told me that he wanted Ambur to be the new maiden. I figured he'd pick Glynda or something..." He sulked. "I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Ambur said softly, grabbing onto his hand as they walked, instantly relieving all of the pressure he felt inside.

"Wait you're...not mad?" he asked as his ears perked up.

"Why would I be mad at you?" She asked in genuine surprise. "You didn't do anything. In fact, you did something good. You saved the Fall Maiden's life!"

"Saved is a pretty strong word," he admitted, considering Amber couldn't leave the tank she was currently calling home below Beacon Tower. "Qrow did most of the work any way I was just there in case he needed back up."

"Wait you...what WERE you doing with Qrow all summer anyway?" Olivier spoke up. Ambur sighed heavily, not having told Olivier much of what the boys had been doing in the two months between semesters.

"He was training me to fight better and to try and...keep my other form in check. That's all."

"Keep it in check?" Liv asked. "What do you mean by that? Like teaching you to control yourself better in your wolf form?"

"No, not really...he was trying to teach me to control the change a little better. But I've developed a nasty habit of transforming when I get angry rather than doing it on purpose." Ambur had known this and to say she didn't approve of the approach was an understatement. The two had talked about it several times over the past few months back at school but no matter how much she tried to convince him she just couldn't get Mydnight to accept that what had happened between them wasn't his fault.

"You would rather not practice it at all than try and get a handle on it?" Liv asked as she raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "And how do you feel about that?" She looked back to Ambur as they continued down the hall.

"Not great," Ambur admitted solemnly. "But it isn't my cross to bear," she shrugged.

"Yes, it is!" Liv gasped in shock and took hold of Ambur and Mydnight's hands, dragging them to a stop and forcing them both to look down to her. "You wear that scar every day of your life! You can't just pretend it isn't there! This is as much your burden as it is his!" She nodded her head back to Mydnight. "Right?!"

Mydnight sighed and ran his free hand through his hair, "Yes."

"Then why won't you let her practice with you?" But before Liv could get an answer Mydnight's scroll began to ring. He fished it from his pocket and once he saw the message his eyes widened and he slapped himself in the forehead.

"Shit it's time for my next match come on we're gonna be late!" He yelled softly took off down the halls toward Amity Arena as the girls chased after him.

/

"And now! The moment we've all been waiting for! The final round of the Vytal Festival Tournament will begin in just a few moments!" The announcer boomed over the cheering crowd. Ambur and Olivier had found Bronzine in the grandstands and sat beside him just before the announcements had begun.

"How is he?" Bronzine asked, "What took you guys so long?"

"Nothing," Ambur answered quickly, not sure how to explain their absence. "He's fine," she sighed, not too sure of her own words.

At first, all the lying to their teammates hadn't really bothered them but the longer they had known each other Ambur and Olivier had found it harder and harder to keep lying to Mydnight's best friend in particular. Bronzine had been such a loyal friend to Mydnight and the two girls and had really solidified himself as a good friend to the two of them and they constantly found it a little painful to keep making excuses to him. Especially after what Ozpin had just dumped in Ambur's lap.

'Why would you pick me,' she thought to herself, looking out over the blank battlefield, getting lost in the plain white tiles as she thought to herself. 'Why wouldn't you pick Glynda or something. She'd be perfect for something like this but...not me,' she thought but soon the announcer's voice shook her out of her thoughts and she saw Mydnight heading out of the tunnel on his side of the arena.

"Your contestants for today's finale are Mydnight Branwen of Team AMBR from Beacon Academy!" He paused, allowing the crowd to cheer for Ambur's partner for a moment. She watched in silence as he walked out to the center of the ring, clearly scanning the crowd, trying to find her. After a few moments, he was able to locate the three of them and touched his pointer and middle finger to his forehead before giving them a small wave and an apologetic smile directly toward Ambur. She couldn't help the small grin that came over her lips.

'It doesn't matter right now...you've got everything you ever asked for so be happy about it,' she convinced herself as she joined the other two in cheering for her teammate.

"And from Atlas Academy, representing the home crowd! We have Xanadu Blackwell, leader of team XNDU!" The announcer finished speaking as the crowd began to roar much more loudly, mostly populated with Atlas students. As she walked out into the arena Mydnight seemed to be studying her closely. They had caught one of her team's matches but hadn't gotten quite a good look at them as the match had gone remarkably fast. Not to mention that, at least for Mydnight, this was as close as he had been to the other student so far, actually being in the ring with her.

She had dark turquoise hair down to her shoulders with exactly matching lipstick and her eyes were only a few shades brighter, a more sea-foam green. While Mydnight was sizing her up as an opponent however, Ambur and Olivier were sizing her up in a much more thorough way. She was in between the heights of the two girls, looking quite short as she finally made her way to Mydnight. Many of her fingers were decorated with black gem-less rings, her nails were painted black as well and she had studded piercings in her right eyebrow and the right side of her nose. Mydnight would be able to see that there was indeed a third stud in her tongue as she got closer to him.

She wore tight and short black jean shorts with a dull green top, the sleeves fraying out at her elbows and it had a very open and low cut on her chest. Her curves were very nearly as large as Ambur's, however they were more defined by her clothing, and she even wore a corset on top of her shirt which faded from black to green as it rose up, the top edge disappearing underneath her bust. The girls wouldn't be able to see if from where they sat but Mydnight thought he could see that she had much more risque piercings through her shirt. She wore a black cloth choker and underneath all of it was a fishnet bodysuit that ended at her throat and the base of her middle fingers. Her boots were just as green as her eyes and Mydnight couldn't help but realize that this girl did not match the description of your typical Atlas Student.

Above everything he noticed though, Mydnight's senses were alight with the smell of Lilacs. Her perfume likely wasn't laid on so thick as it smelled to him, but his wildly powerful sense of smell made it seem like the scent was all around them.

Ambur and Olivier, on the other hand, were noticing far more than just the fact that this girl wasn't in Atlas Academy uniform. She was everything that Ambur had once wanted to be. The way she dressed, the way she carried herself and the brave choice with piercings and her hair color were all things that old Ambur had wanted to do someday before Olivier had convinced her otherwise. Her curves even nearly rivaled Ambur's and the more she watched Mydnight study his opponent she found herself becoming a little jealous. She knew of course that he was just sizing her up to fight her but Ambur had only ever found herself jealous when she saw him looking at other women, sexually or otherwise. It had happened with Rosaria and only a few other girls around school that she had caught staring at him once they had started to hang out more at the end of the last semester.

"These two contestants have risen through every round and convincingly defeated everyone placed before them," The announcer began as their stats were placed upon the large monitor. "Not only that but most impressively, Mydnight has made it here without revealing what his semblance is to the crowd!"

Mydnight rolled his eyes at the fake compliment. Surely the announcers had been informed which students knew their semblances and which did not. He was just trying to do Mydnight a favor to keep Xanadu on her toes he guessed. "So without any further ado! Let the match begin!"

Mydnight readied his scythe and the pair of fighters began to circle each other. "Good luck," he said softly with a smirk, only to receive a similar smirk in return, but the girl did not speak to him. Nor did she produce a weapon of any kind to fight with.

Mydnight hadn't caught enough of their matches to see what kind of weapon this girl used but he was sure he saw nothing anywhere on her person that could be used as one. Perhaps her semblance aided her in fighting so much that she didn't require a weapon like Rosa's did?

He would soon be ripped from his thoughts as she rushed toward him. He was surprised by her speed at first and was forced to dodge the first of several quick jabs coming his way, unable to lift his scythe to guard them in time. As he spun away he let the momentum swing his scythe horizontally toward her chest but she was ready. She jumped up and as the scythe flew under her she touched her palm to it briefly, pushing herself up and over, inside of Mydnight's attack before she jabbed him swiftly in the gut. His aura took most of the hit and in truth, he barely felt the blow but he knew there were more coming and he was still in the middle of his swing. These kinds of opponents were the worst for him. He wasn't slow, not at all, but his weapon was so cumbersome that if he met a truly speedy opponent the scythe would be utterly useless to him.

He felt her foot hook behind his knee and lift and forced him to fall backward, her fist chasing him down to the ground. He let go of the scythe and it flew off a few feet before grinding to a halt on the tiles of the arena. Quick as he could, he brought his open palm back over his chest to catch her fist. As he did he pulled her arm up over his head and stuffed his boot into her stomach, pushing it up and flipping her up into the air behind him. He sat up as quick as he could and spun and watched her land on her feet gracefully. "Hand to hand it is," he breathed softly as the smirk returned to her lips. This time he charged at her, not wanting to let Xanadu dictate the pace of the battle. He may have trained mostly using his scythe but he had sparred with Ambur loads of times over the past year and a half in hand to hand combat and if he could take a hit from Ambur he could take a few hits from this girl. The two exchanged blows, each blocking or letting their aura tank a few hits before Xanadu began to throw more acrobatic attacks at him.

This was something Ambur rarely did. She had almost no need to ever use spinning kicks or anything of the sort because of her insane strength. She could just let the opponent tire themselves out, performing all sorts of combat tricks without taking much damage in the process but Mydnight wasn't so lucky. First, he took a boot to his left cheek, knocking him off balance and taking away a large chunk of his aura, before he felt another land in his stomach, this time it knocked the wind out of him too. He staggered back from her and she paused, clearly giving him a second and he noticed the way she looked him up and down. He racked his brain to find a reason why she would have stopped. She was beating him quite convincingly after all, why not press the advantage?

Perhaps she really was afraid he'd begin to use some crazy semblance that would help him regain control of the fight, but it wouldn't take long for her to realize that no such maneuver would happen and that he truly hadn't discovered it yet. Either way, she had given him a moment to catch his breath. He stood up straight and took in a long drink of air before closing his eyes and re-centering himself as quickly as he could. When he opened his eyes he found her charging him again and he sunk into a ready stance.

'Focus,' he began in his mind. 'Stop swinging wildly and just watch her movements. I can react faster than she can so I just need to focus on responding to attacks, not moving first,' he told himself as he opened up his hands from their balled-up fists and waited for her swing. First came her boot up toward his head again and this time he sunk down a few more inches and the attacks sailed over his head. He made sure to keep his eyes trained on her though and found that she used the momentum to hop and bring up her other boot. This time he grabbed for her ankle, and once he had her firmly in his grasp he turned around and pulled her over his shoulder, bringing her leg down toward the ground and slammed her down onto the tiles and she hit the floor with a loud thud right on her hip.

He expected her to be furious but instead, when she recovered and turned toward him he found her smirking again just as he had before. He couldn't help but smile as well as he realized that they were both genuinely enjoying this fight. He stood back from her and took another ready stance, waiting for her to get up. He watched as she looked up toward the board to find out how much aura she had lost exactly before standing and readying herself to begin again. While she did he reached down and picked his scythe back up.

"This is shaping up to be pretty fun," he smiled across to her and the smile that crept across her lips told him that she was happy to agree.