While Koda hoped that he would be assigned to work with his packmate, he was realistic enough to know that it wouldn't work out mathematically. Thus, there was not even the slightest shock when he turned out to be working with…Shinshida?
Now he just wanted to curl up and hide. It wasn't just his Irakka instincts this time, even if they were the reason he had a problem. Then, he saw how the teams would be arranged, and realized that he was facing Aoyama and Ashido.
He had no strong opinions about the pink girl, but this match-up, with a Pure on his side and another Pure put up against him…would the Angesha stick to the rules, or gang up together to kill off the Forsaken, regardless of Nedzu's warning? Suppressing his panic, he stepped forward into the arena and prepared for trouble.
--
"So, do you know anything about our opponents?" Ashido asked Aoyama warily, nervousness and excitement mingling in her scent.
It made the acrid unpleasantness emanating from her even worse, and Aoyama fought to keep his nose from scrunching up in response. "I know quite a bit, mademoiselle," he smirked. "Our savage Shinshida is indeed a savage, with incredible strength and even more incredible sense of smell in his current state, oui, but it's nothing compared to what he can do if he goes all out with his even larger form."
"Even…larger?"
"Oui, our friend can get stronger and faster if he wants to. However, he has a little difficulty controlling himself. I understand that if he doesn't make a serious effort to attack someone every few seconds, he'll lose the stronger one for his current state."
Ashido was clearly trying to do something with that information, but the act of thinking too much on it looked a bit painful for her.
"Plus, he heals quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I would go as far as to suggest not holding back for anything; go fully lethal, he can handle it."
She didn't seem to take this suggestion seriously. Oh well, it was her loss.
"The other one, on top of being no slouch himself strength wise, can talk to animals. I don't know if it's a second quirk or not, but he also has the uncanny ability to see your weakest points, know where to apply force to hurt you the most."
This whole 'Herd not knowing' thing was more annoying in this particular moment than it had been in a while, but he lied effortlessly enough.
--
Shinshida smiled at the one human in the area, knowing full well that his fangs made the grin more terrifying than a growl. Then he pulled on his Savagery Gifts to extend her natural reaction to his Primal Urge, letting her see the predator in front of her even if she didn't fully understand what she was feeling, and was satisfied when she had to suppress a shiver.
The Forsaken, unfortunately unaffected, looked at him with disapproval but said nothing, focusing his hatred on the Ivory Claw. That suited the Predator King just fine; while he had no problem seeing who was stronger between the Pure spies here, it would probably suit the Confederacy's unity better for him to take on the human and Aoyama to work things out with the Forsaken. It could be the faux Frenchman's Penance for not killing them earlier, he supposed.
And so, when Aizawa-sensei signaled for them to start, he channeled his Strength Gifts and leapt forward, far faster than the girl was expecting, and swung a paw at her more quickly than any normal human could react. To her credit, she moved out of the way enough that it barely hit, twisting out of his path and deftly catching herself before her awkward dodge tripped her up or left her in a more vulnerable position. The girl had excellent footwork. Too bad it wouldn't be enough.
--
Aoyama feared that suppressing his instinct to enter Dalu form and rip the worthless slave of the Bitch-Mother apart would distract him enough to make the fight a challenge, but said slave was holding himself back, not trying to close the distance at all.
On one hand, he looked like he was scoping out the field, but moreover he looked like he was paralyzed by nerves. Without being able to take any of his wolf forms, the boy was a coward. At least, that's what Aoyama gathered from comparing Koda between now, what he had seen in class, and their last fight.
As tempting as it was to speculate on what caused this contradictory character, or wonder why he wasn't using his Nature Gifts to call on any insects or rats in the building, Aoyama instead chose to strike first, exploiting the distance to send a laser beam bursting from the fetish around his stomach and taking initiative in the fight.
--
Koda couldn't get close to the Pure. Whenever he tried, the stories his uncle used to share popped into his head and froze him on the spot. His human instincts told him to run. His Irraka instincts told him to hide. His instincts derived from Father-Wolf told him to go into Garu form and rip the monsters apart, teammate or not. Noting that all three would be worthless for their current examination, Koda was stuck trying to force them down as he tried and failed to come up with a proper plan.
--
Mina had thought that Aoyama was either being reckless or joking when he suggested that Shinshida healed fast enough that he could handle lethal amounts of acid, but as he shrugged off minor spray after minor spray without so much as a wince, she started to think that maybe this fight would have to get a little more brutal. It certainly couldn't keep going the way it was going, with her barely dodging hit after hit and him not the worse for wear.
She was tiring out faster than he was, and he knew it. A war of attrition wasn't going anywhere for her, and unfortunately, thinking up a new strategy on the fly was not her strong suit. She was a doer, not a thinker.
Therefore, what she did was quite simple; leaping out of the way of Shinshida's next swipe, she fell into cartwheel and then used a back handspring to launch herself over to Aoyama's position. If she couldn't handle this fight by herself, then maybe they could fight together.
Aoyama thought differently. "I am handling this foolish peasant by myself, mon cherie!"
"But if I go down while you're still fighting Koda then Shinshida will take you down next!" She argued.
While they had their little spat, Shinshida ran up to do just that, prompting Aoyama to scream "pardon moi" before firing off his navel laser at the hulking Hero student.
--
Koda realized that, as Aoyama was distracted by his fellow Pure, now was the time to strike. Now or never. Hiding was a good thing, but only until it gave the hunter his opportunity.
Reminding himself of what had gotten him into the Hero Course in the first place, he used his New Moon Gifts to find the weakest points in Aoyama's armor and then charged. Feeling the wolf's instinct within, even if he couldn't call on it right now, he felt himself propelled forward far faster than he thought he could run in Hishu form, aggressive, free, devoid of his normal anxieties…and not sure where to charge.
If he could pay attention, he might notice that he was about to rush Shinshida rather than Aoyama, an inexcusable tactical error in this exercise, especially as he felt no hunter's instinct towards Mina whatsoever. No, he tried to think to himself, the pink one and the armored one are the Prey, not the Pure in Dalu form.
That hesitation caused him to halt, which gave Aoyama the opportunity to notice his forward advance and fire.
--
Shinshida would have cursed the Forsaken for not exploiting the opportunity appropriately if he wasn't in the same predicament. Giving into his urge to battle, his bloodlust was rising, probably too much more than was appropriate even for a simple training exercise against a human, but smelling another of the People here and being consciously aware of the fact that he was Forsaken…you're no Zi'ir, you can control your instincts. It's why you're the one on this mission.
Unfortunately, his opponents did not simply wait there and let him sort his thoughts out, as he suddenly found himself with both a laser beam and an outsized glob of acid bursting against his flesh. The frustration of already having to suppress his instincts, the fury of having to work with a Forsaken cur, and the pain of what he just went through because of trying to suppress said frustration, all of them together were about to force him into Kuruth, which he was only able to avoid by partially giving into his instincts and going into Garu form.
--
Aoyama was utterly terrified. A Predator-King in Garu was a horrifying sight when you were its ally; he didn't fully trust in Aizawa-sensei's ability to keep them safe while one was an enemy. That his ally in this fright seemed to be frozen in terror, probably an effect of the Pure's Savagery Gifts expanded, did not help matters, but, luckily for him, his technical enemy was also focused on the Predator-King rather than the enemies he was supposed to be fighting.
Apparently, Shinshida's actions had brought out the worst in Koda's instincts, and the boy had lost all interest in continuing in favor of calling on the rats crawling through the nearby sewers to come to him and protect him from the horrifying monster.
Realizing that the two had forgotten what they were actually supposed to be doing, he grabbed Mina by the arm and whispered "let's run for it and let them handle each other."
--
The rats, understandably, were even more terrified of the monstrous form in front of them than Koda was, but even in his half-thinking state he was able to convince them to charge from the back and latch on as he engaged his opponent. While he couldn't win, at least in Hishu form, maybe with their assistance he could make a worthwhile last stand against the Pure menace and go down heroically like a great champion of old….
"Stop!" Aizawa-sensei's shout was more than enough to break through Koda's stupor, even without the influence of the Azlu within their teacher shutting down his Nature Gifts and sending the rats scurrying in terror without Koda's influence, but Shinshida still swiped at the other Hero student before their teacher's words could register.
--
"Shinshida, if you attack again then you'll be expelled!" Aizawa sighed to himself as he tried to figure out how to process this development.
Thus far, Shinshida had managed to impress him, but if he had that little control over his quirk then he'd be a liability as a Hero. Then there was Koda, who seemed to have some sort of personal grudge against his teammate which, while it was certainly something to deal with, was also something that he had to learn how to ignore no matter how serious it might be. Pro-Heroes had to work with others that they disliked all the time, and people could die if they let that sort of behavior affect their fieldwork.
--
Koda wasn't actually certain as to whether or not he should have been apologizing after that display. His fellow students seemed to be a bit scared of him. Their fear was more directed toward Shinshida than himself, but he could see it nonetheless. Was it so difficult to let past grudges go? Was he really worthy of being a Hero in this circumstance? Looking to Izuku, who merely looked on in concern, he told himself that he had to stay strong for his Pack. Maybe he could talk to the boy later, get some emotional support from someone who really understood.
--
The rest of the students had fights that were more-or-less unremarkable. No one let off an explosion too big for their arena or tried to rip apart a teammate, at least. Aizawa sighed over the fact that he was now stuck with a class holding this many problem children. It was going to be a year, indeed.
--
Nedzu, on paper, had countless administrative tasks to take care of, the kind of absurd paperwork that would bog down a normal human, even a brilliant one. He was bored with its simplicity. Bored enough to notice the shifting of the Shroud.
What's this? He wondered.
Turning his rat-like nose from side-to-side, he tried to smell if anything was off…ah, there it was. Something was gnawing at the Shroud. Creating what counted for a Locus when there shouldn't have been one.
Sighing, he stood up to confront the family. Or himself. However humans wanted to see it; as a Spirit, he understood his relationship with the rest of his former body well enough and didn't need to waste time on their standards.
Urfarah is dead, they whispered.
Irrelevant, Nedzu responded when he was certain they could hear him. We were in the wrong back then. We still are. Gnawing the Shroud apart will only hurt as much as it feeds us.
His words, as expected, had no real impact.
We gnaw. We are Beshilu. The Skin-World is ours to consume.
Nedzu put a paw to his head in an imitation of what he'd seen humans do when they were frustrated, and skipped the regular argument to figure out why now of all times they chose to give him a headache.
The Baleful Hound rides again, they answered, for once surprising the principal.
And that affects us because…?
We will serve him, they answered, until we are in position to usurp him. Then we will be restored.
He was mildly shocked to hear even someone like the rest of his body would serve that monstrosity, but the idea that he deluded himself into thinking that he was crafty enough to exploit the situation, without even having an apparent plan, yes, that sounded just like himself when he was whole. It was led to him getting split apart in the first place.
Did you really think I would rejoin you over something so foolish? Nedzu admonished his…self, kind of.
We offered a peaceful chance, before we chose other methods to force your hand, they answered.
Nedzu wondered about what threat they possibly thought they could pose, until he realized that they were attempting to gnaw their way into his school. He bared his fangs.
I will not let you hurt my students.
They seemed…pleased, unfortunately.
So you wish to protect your vassals? Are you that certain of your strength?
Of course the plan made perfect sense from a Spirit's perspective; the protection of one's vassals was sacred, as how one claim to have vassals otherwise? When one's vassals were threatened by something you couldn't face, you deal with the threat by accepting anything other than harm to those beneath you. You didn't fight suicidally in the way humans might, or abandon them either, you found a way to keep the exact wording of your pact, if not the spirit (ironically), alive.
I suppose that we will have to see, Nedzu answered.
Ceasing communication, he plotted out two separate phone calls. One to Aizawa, to call in a favor he wouldn't really understand (to use the Azlu to seal up what his other bodies had gnawed through, but he could finagle it someway else for his employee's benefit), and the other to Mighty Wolf. And, hopefully, whatever Forsaken still spoke to the Hero.
--
The Bone-Shadow elders rarely met these days. There was so much to learn, so much to explore, and so little resources to do either. Still, even being the Tribe of explorers, they were also the Tribe of maintaining traditions, and in this case that meant the tradition of holding such conversations face-to-face.
"And we are certain that the sprits recognized this boy?"
"Yes, the pup was chosen by spirits aligned with Death-Wolf. He has already been accepted among the Bone-Shadows, as far as they're concerned."
"While we may accept the spirits' judgments, he will be accepted when he has proven himself worthy to us."
After a round of muttering, one finally brought up the matter that truly bothered all of them.
"The boy was bitten and introduced to Uratha society by Mighty Wolf, the same supposed Forsaken who plays along with the humans' profession for Ridden. Wearing a ridiculous costume while displaying Mother Luna's Gifts to us like he was in a dog show…"
"This is not the time to litigate Mighty Wolf's actions. The Blood-Talon elders have already agreed that, so long as the Herd does not know, he is free to continue playing at being a comic book character. Whatever we may think of the matter," his tone of voice clarifying exactly what he thought of the matter.
"But we must bring it up, because we have to decide whether our Tribe should allow the same tomfoolery as Blood-Wolf's children!"
"Are you calling Blood-Wolf a fool?" Another growled at the one who responded.
"No, certainly not, but his values, and the role that his children fill, are different than ours. Whether it's right or not, the role of a so-called 'Pro-Hero' and that of a Blood Talon match up more smoothly than our own. How is he supposed to find the secrets of the Spirit World while he's off fighting mortals infected by spirits in the Skin World? How is he supposed to protect spirits from humanity's actions when humanity is paying him to act solely in their interests? A Blood-Talon may be able to be a Pro-Hero, but a Bone-Shadow certainly cannot. If he wants to join with Death Wolf, then he needs to change his mortal profession."
"But the spirits already approve of him," a fourth argued. "We should give him the same opportunity for initiation we'd give any sincerely seeking Ghost Wolf."
"Sincerely seeking is exactly my point. If he's following in Mighty Wolf's footsteps, then he sees our gifts as tools to be part of so-called 'Hero' society. He hasn't truly embraced the Wolf."
"Then he will fail!" The one who advocated on Izuku's behalf snapped back. "But if he succeeds, then he has shown himself just as worthy as any of us. No matter what we may think of it."
--
Izuku was somewhat disappointed that Koda didn't want to eat with his other friends, but he was also excited by the fact that he was eating with friends. This was so different from his experiences up until now that he couldn't help but eagerly listen in as Iida regaled them with stories of his brother.
"And that's why I always wanted to be just like him," Tenya finally finished.
"Wow," Ururaka spoke up, impressed.
"What's your reason for wanting to be a Hero," Izuku wondered.
"Oh, the money." When they both briefly glanced in surprise, she clarified her family's financial situation and how she could help out with her quirk if she were only allowed to. "It's so strange," she continued, "going from my old place to somewhere like this, where some of the silverware is actually silver."
Izuku almost looked down in terror before realizing that he was using wooden chopsticks, only to be informed she was telling the truth when he heard Aoyama whelp in pain for a second before the flamboyant boy clearly tried to suppress it.
While there continued to only a small amount of love lost between him and his apparent enemy, he was sure this counted as hiding from the Herd and so did his best to keep his friends' attention away from it by desperately bringing up whatever he could before the blaring alarms took care of that problem for him.
--
It wasn't the most subtle way of leaving a message, the old being would admit to that, but it ensured that the message was delivered to its intended recipient. If some others found out along the way, well, he would deal with it as he always did. With the claws Father Wolf had grant him and the fury of Mother Luna.
--
"What the hell?" Someone shouted.
That random student had managed to perfectly capture the mood of the school, as they saw what only be described as a massacre right on their grounds. Many of them were about to lose the lunch they just ate, and the only thing mitigating the horror was that the feathers and bones scattered among the blood and gore covering their field made it clear that there were only animal remains, not human remains.
"Okay, listeners!" Present Mic shouted. "I'm going to need all of you young and upcoming Heroes to get back and avoid this area so your staff can figure out what's going on! By the way, if we find out that any of you did this a prank, you will expelled once we find out, but maybe you can get some mercy if you confess now!"
When no one took him up on his offer, he reissued his demand for the students to avoid the scene and get back to their classrooms. Izuku would normally have joined them, but he was too busy pondering the mess in front of him, largely because he felt that it wasn't actually a mess. There was order to it, as he picked out that the bones were scattered in a way that…
"that means you too, listener!"
When Present Mic pointed him out directly, Izuku only had a moment to feel embarrassed before Iida grabbed him, chastising him for being distracted. While Ururaka in turn chastised Iida for for not considering his feelings in light of the horrifying sight they had just witnessed, Izuku kept trying to fit the pattern he had noticed together.
The slaughter definitely wasn't random, there was some form of message being delivered there. A group of smaller birds had been laid out in a circle around larger one, he had picked up on that even though their bones were scattered too far apart to make it that obvious, and all three of the pig skulls had been facing north. Young circling the old, somewhere to the north? Was it a call from the Elder Uratha, asking them to meet? Or Aoyama or Shinshida, getting a message from the Pure Elders? He had no idea which was more likely, even if he was certain it involved their kind somehow.
Mighty Wolf had passingly mentioned using dead animals to leave subtle messages that the Herd wouldn't understand at some point, though he never elaborated on it. Maybe Koa would know.
Of course, if it was meant to be a message too subtle for the Herd, then he felt that the Elders needed a renewal on their understanding of 'subtlety.'
--
Aizawa was annoyed that 'erasing' a random location on Nedzu's behalf meant that he was absent for whatever caused the mess on the front field. He didn't know whether to be more or less annoyed when he learned that no one else had any information. The cameras and security systems had all conveniently gone on the Frits right when whatever happened happened, meaning that they couldn't look back on the matter either.
UA was targeted, clearly by some freak, and there didn't seem to be anything they could do about it. He was terrified of what the media would do if they learned about this, and even more terrified about what happen if the freak decided he wasn't satisfied with animal blood next time and wanted to show off a corpse from a civilian, or a student…he didn't want to think that way, but whomever caused this was messed up in the head and sneaky. It was unlikely they wouldn't strike again; the thrill, as that could be their only logical motivation, would be too addicting.
"I don't think we have to worry about a repeat," Nedzu spoke up, apparently disagreeing with his own profile.
Frowning, Aizawa pushed back. "This all looks like the actions of a weirdo who gets off on disturbing people and getting away with it or some sort of cultist psycho. Neither are they kind to relent after a single success."
"There's a third option, however, and that's that they wanted to leave a message for a particular person. If said person received the message, then we don't have to worry about it."
"Weird way to leave a message," Vlad King spoke up before Aizwawa could give essentially the same retort. "And either way, such a 'message' implies a threat. That's even worse."
All of the teachers looked at Nedzu, confused by his nonchalance over this matter. While they understood that he had a tendency to grasp things more quickly than they did, and often saw things that they didn't, nothing about his behavior right now made sense.
Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "I'm guessing that you're so certain because you know what the message was, who it was for, and maybe even who sent it."
Nedzu chuckled. To anyone else, it would have come off as reasonably and simply amused, but he had known the rodent long enough to detect the slightest bit of covered nervousness. Yes, that explained it.
"Was the message for you?" Aizawa continued on his line before the principal could regroup and compose himself. It was the only way to outwit the sly beast.
Unfortunately, it turned out he was off the mark.
"No, of course not. I can't see anything there that was meant for my eyes. That doesn't mean that I don't have my suspicions, but spreading mere suspicions at this point will only cause doubt and confusion. Let me know your thoughts, and then we can take the best possible steps forward to prevent this from occurring in the future."
--
"The Bone-Shadow Elders want to meet you," Koda informed Izuku in the First-Tongue as they headed back to class.
"What?" He had to stop himself from shouting out.
"I don't know the details, I'm not that informed with how other Tribes send messages, but that was clearly from the Bone-Shadows, as the pig skulls facing north showed, and the young birds surrounding an older bird were a call for a gathering. There were probably some details in entrails, but I don't know how to read them."
There were so many questions Izuku had to ask, but he started with one of the more pragmatic ones.
"Aren't there more…subtle ways to request a meeting?" "Yes, actually. Most of the times when we use dead animals to communicate, we leave them out in ways that the Herd would identify as a natural death. One would usually have to be in the know to even think to look for a message, nonetheless understand it. I have no idea why they'd do it this way."
Assuming that Koda truly didn't know anymore on that front, he went on to another pertinent question. "Where are they, so I can meet them?"
"I don't know exactly."
Seeing Izuku's frightened face, Koa quickly amended, "I mean, they're somewhere in the woods to the north of here, I think I remember the signs they use to mark their Territory's borders, sort of, I just can't give you specific directions."
That…gave Izuku a little bit of comfort. "And I guess you already hinted that you have no idea what they want to talk about, huh?"
Koda shook his head.
--
After Aoyama and Shinshida confirmed that neither could decipher the Forsaken's code, they instead conferred on what to do.
"The Forsaken have made a move on the Beshilu's territory," Shinshida pointed out. "They have struck. Any claim to neutrality is absurd at this point."
"Yet I suspect he will still claim one, until violence occurs, mon ami," Aoyama answered. "More violence than you've already displayed, at least."
Shinshida had no interest in relitigating this conflict; he had given into the Wolf, as all of Dire-Wolf's followers (and really all Uratha) should, albeit at a somewhat inopportune moment. While the lapse of control was something he could accept blame for, the fact that he had instincts and no desire to suppress them was not something he wanted to argue, especially not with an Ivory Claw. He'd probably blame his grandparents or something equally irrelevant before going on a rant about Purity.
"Does it really serve the Confederacy to sit back and let things happen?" He challenged his supposed comrade instead.
"No, which is why it's essential that we send one of our own. I have reason to believe that the other Beshilu nearby are less concerned with neutrality than our dear principal, and that they might be willing to work us Angesha."
Shinshida had to admit that he underestimated the Ivory Claw; as he listened to the boy lay out his plans, the Predator-King saw more and more value in listening to them. Maybe just enough to make remaining quiet worthwhile.
--
"The Fire-Touched elders will meet with you in a month's time," Kurogiri informed Tenko. "They are…unexpectedly busy otherwise. While we're waiting, there is a matter that's been brought to the Confederacy's attention, by two of our moles in UA. An opportunity for the Pure to make their mark has arisen."
Tenko was paying attention, sort of, but he was mostly thinking about his name. Tenko Shimura was the name of a pathetic slave, given to him by that man who didn't deserve to be called father. If it was his truth that he had embraced a new life, then it should be his truth that he was no longer that scared, pathetic little boy. Not Tenko, not anymore, but…
"Tomura," he answered Kurogiri, much to the latter's confusion. "I am no longer Tenko. With Rabid Wolf's blessing, I know myself now as Tomura. And I no longer recognize myself as the son of Shimura."
"Very well, Tomura," Tomura heard a bit of mockery in that response, but the Ridden kept it subtle. "What will you do with these plans?"
"Enact them, I suppose. When a game gives you a choice, does anyone really go for the 'no' option?" And thus events were put into motion.