With her arms raised up and hands behind her head with fingers interlocking, Kagami had her mess of a hairstyle in a ponytail with a few strands and layers draping down across her face. The sun had risen only an hour earlier, but she was wide awake as she stood in the small apartment bathroom Elise's parents were renting along with the brunet's mother, Eleanor. Her black and green shirt was currently off, leaving the jadette in her black sports bra as Eleanor checked out her old battle wounds.
"You know, your husband's name, Klein, it means small, right?" The younger asked with a slightly puzzled gaze, feeling her elder press her palm gently against the right lower set of rib bones. No sharp stabbing pain following the action despite the bruises still there.
"Yep." Eleanor gave a nod, brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear with a faint smile. "He was the youngest of his brothers. And also the smallest of the bunch." She slowly made her way up, feeling for any swelling or signs of pain. "And he was still the smallest the last Elise and I met them. Which... wasn't that long ago."
Kagami blinked once, dead panning as her eyes widened ever so slightly. "You're... you're joking right? He's practically seven feet and has arms as big as a log."
"I'm telling you the truth." The older dark blonde pulled her arms away as she held them up and closed her eyes for a split second as she tilted her head. "He's the runt in his family. Just, don't tell him I said that." She waved her hand in front of her neck horizontally.
"That's... remind me never to anger his family." The green haired girl mumbled, feeling a set of soft hands go over towards her left rib cage with a slight wince.
"Sorry." Eleanor quickly shot, retracting her hands as fast as she spoke. "Still sensitive over there, huh?" She ask, placing her hands back across the damaged area much softer.
"Yeah." She gave a nod with a sigh, lowering her head down a couple degrees as she shut her eyes. "The right side feels perfectly fine though. And when I move they don't hurt at all. It's just mainly when a pressure is applied hard enough on the left."
"Hmmm..." She crossed her arms, tilting her head to the side a bit as her hair arched over her shoulder. "Well, it's definitely healing up nicely. You're lucky you have such a strong aura to help your body speed up the process." She gave a soft nod, smiling ever so slightly as she grabbed a roll of compression wrap. "A few more days with this and those bruises should be gone completely."
"That's good to know." Kagami nodded back, inhaling deeply as her chest was wrapped with care and precision by the soft fabric. "I'm sure you're tired of having to do this anyway."
"Nonsense." She waved her hand off, chuckling a bit as she moved the roll of compression wrap firmly around her torso.. "When I was little I would get hurt on a lot of my adventures. And when Beacon came along, it was kind of nice to help someone else out who was injured." She finished up, grabbing the jadette's shirt from the sink and tossing it to her with the shake of her head. "Well, you know, after we stopped completely hating each other and trying to out class one another. THEN everything was fine." She smiled, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
With a soft scoff, Kagami shook her head as she slid her shirt back on. "I guess all Huntresses and Huntsmen teams start off with a few bumps." She paused for a few seconds before adding with smile. "Or a lot."
"Indeed." Eleanor's smile brightened as she crossed her arms once again. "So what do you four have planned anyway? More stopping crime raids or bandit groups?" She raised an eyebrow. "Though I'd prefer if you'd wait till you're older and more experienced, but by now I know there is no stopping any of you. So I might as well just learn what dangerous shenanigans you four are jumping into." Her head tilted, eyes blinking. "What do I have to worry about this time?"
"Well..." The leader of team MACE blinked, glancing down as she rubbed the back of her head. "This time, it's not really dangerous. Aside from the normal threat of encountering Grimm on a journey. But we can handle those soleless creatures on our own."
Tilting her head to the other side, Elise's mother blinked as her left eyebrow rose upward. A curious yet slightly relieved expression coming across her face as she let out a breath of air.
"Wait, we're doing what?" Cheyenne asked, reaching up and scratching at the base of her antlers. Her brows were furrowed as she shifted the position of her head towards the jadette. Wearing an oversized light brown shirt along with a pair of dark brown pajama pants, she was sitting on the right side of the couch, Kris on her left.
The redhead herself was holding the remote to the television in her right hand with her elbows digging into her thighs. She was wearing a loose green shirt along with a pair of red athletic shorts. The remote itself nearly falling out of her hand due to how loosely she was gripping it. "What..." She blinked a few times, bewilderment spreading across her face. "What do you mean we're going to go visit the person that taught you how to fight...?"
"Well, see," Kagami let out a sigh, scratching at the back of her head underneath her hair. "Since they live alone in the middle of the woods they spends a lot of time combining and messing around with Dust. And the two rings they gave me for emergencies finally ran out of the black Dust they makes. So I kind of need to refill them. And I need them to do that." She smiled.
"Wait." Elise pointed up at her leader as she sat on the floor with crossed legs. Her other hand gripping her ankle tight. She was wearing Kagami's hoodie along with a pair of brown short. "So those rings... aren't magic?"
"No..." The jadette glanced down at her, trailing off a bit as her eyebrows rose. She quickly looked over at the other two who seemed just as confused and as shocked as Elise. "No, guys, no." She let out a heavy breath of air, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Not everything about me is magic." She lowered her arm back down. "These rings use a special black type of Dust that we calls Matter Dust. At first when you're creating it, the Dust is in a liquid form. And as it cools it turns into a vapor. That's what was put inside the rings."
She held up her left hand, showing it to the three girls in front of her. "The cool thing is, when one puts their aura into the black Dust to charge it, the vapor becomes a solid. And with enough practice, you can learn to mold shapes from your aura with the Dust."
Elise, Cheyenne, and Kris each stared back at her, blinking rapidly. As the Faunus tilted her head and the redhead finally let the remote fall, the dark brunet slowly raised a hand with her finger extended. "Okay... okay. Wait just a minute. Okay. I'll take that but..." She blinked rapidly, her head tilting to the side as her face scrunched up. "Someone picked you up... and trained you after you left Vytal? You didn't just go out on your own and become... you?"
"No?" She looked back at her puzzled before shaking her head and looking at the other two. "Wait, hold on. Did all off you think a thirteen year old girl who had no clue how to fight, let alone use a sword, went and raised herself in the middle of the woods WITHOUT ANYONE'S help?" Her head cocked to the side, her shoulders dropping.
"Well when you put it like that, you make us sound stupid..." Kris mumbled quietly while looking down with a small pout.
Staring at her three friends before her, Kagami blinked as they each shifted their gaze away from her and grew silent. She sighed heavily, reaching up to rub her face with the palms of her hands. "I can't believe..." She let out a heavy exhale before breathing in deeply. "Do you three want to come or not?" She finally asked, smiling with a soft scoff as she heard her answer in unison.
Watching as the door shut behind as his daughter and her three friends left, Klein held on to two of his sons as he gently bounced them up and down to calm them. "So, you're just letting them walk out towards a random destination? That's so unlike you."
"I know." Eleanor nodded back, sitting on the couch as she held and fed the third triplet. "And it's taking every nerve in me to stop me from stopping them, but I trust Kagami. She's Midori's daughter after all."
"Your old leader. Huh." He cocked his head to the side, shrugging it off as he turned around and started towards the kitchen. "You're going to need another bottle. He's devouring that one."
"Yeah, I know." She rolled her eyes with a sigh before staring into her child's eyes. "You have your papa's stomach. I bet all of you do. So you better get a job or learn to hunt. Because I'm not dealing with having to feed four giant and hungry bears." She waved her finger at him, to which the small child simply giggled and laughed at with his tongue out.
Walking down a dirt path to what literally felt like it was headed to the middle of nowhere, Kris let out a deep groan. Her boots crunching heavily against the ground below her feet. "How come I have to carry a backpack this time?" She whined, pouting as she regripped the straps on the large backpack over her shoulders. "I don't like carrying this!" She hissed, blowing strands of her hair out of her face as she jerked her head upward, letting the fedora on top of her head move from her eyes.
Chuckling quietly to herself with her hands behind her head, Elise grinned with her eyes shut as she carried hers and Cheyenne's weapons. "Well Kagami and I carried them last time when we went to meet Chey's family. Only fair you carry them this time." She glanced back, sticking her tongue out. "And the next time we travel we'll carry them again!" She began to chuckle more, hearing the small redhead let out a muffled scream.
As the two began to bicker once again, because sometimes, some certain things will never change over time, Cheyenne quickly stepped up next to Kagami, keeping her arms tucked inside the pockets of her vest. "Sooooo..." She glanced around a bit, looking between the trees. "Do you know where we are going exactly? We've been walking since noon. How much farther do we have to go?"
"We shouldn't be too far off." Kagami mumbled, glancing around. Along with her sword, she was also carrying Kris' duel candy cane weapons. "But we um..." She looked over at the deer Faunus, chuckling with a soft smile. "We kinda need to go that way." She raised her hand, pointing towards the tree line.
"Um, what?" The brunette let out, blinking rapidly as they stopped walking.
"Yeah." The jadette nodded some more. "They literally live in the middle of nowhere. And they stay perpendicular from the road from that rock." She pointed over at the other side of the road, a large rock the size of a car resting there.
Blinking a little more, Cheyenne shook her head with a shrug. "Okay. I've seen enough to where this isn't that unbelievable. Let's go." She twisted around on her heels, walking straight into the treeline. Kagami following behind with a chuckle as she grabbed Elise and Kris, pushing them in the new direction.
A while later, Elise let out a yawn while scratching at her back. The sky beginning to turn a bright shade of pink. "As much as I love hiking, I am starting to get tired." She yawned again, stretching her arms. "Are you sure this person didn't move?"
"Positive." Kagami muttered, moving her shoulders around. "Though I can honestly say I'm starting to get tired as well." She brushed back her hair, tilting her head to the side in slight confusion. It wasn't that far away, was it?
"Dido." Cheyenne quickly raised a hand, moving her jaw around as she swallowed thickly. "My legs are really starting to get tired and could use a break and some rest."
The three then went silent, waiting for the usual snappy and sassy response from the fourth girl on their team. Though, it never came as the sound of a branch snapping in the distance echoed throughout the air. Each of the girls went still, adrenaline overcoming exhaustion as their eyes grew sharp and narrowed at their surroundings.
"Did you guys hear that?" The deer Faunus quietly whispered as she looked around.
"Yeah." Elise nodded back, handing the brunette's weapon over towards her. "Here. It could be trouble."
"Yay. Grimm fight in the middle of the woods." Kris rolled her eyes. "Just like initiation. Did anyone remember to bring parachutes for the landing strategy this time? Don't need that blonde and scraggly boy almost dying again."
As Elise and Cheyenne both rolled their eyes, Kagami blinked slowly as she handed off the duel weapons to the redhead. "Sorry, Kris, but that's definitely not Grimm." She mumbled, her right hand reaching up to grab the hilt of her sword as she saw a blur of pink flash by in between a pair of trees. In one swift motion, she drew her sword, her right hand going towards her left hip as her other hand rose up to hold the blade steady as she barely had time to block a long ninjato blade.
"Crap! We've got a bandit!" Elise shouted, loading and cocking her air compressed rifle.
"Bandit?" The woman holding the ninjato blinked, glancing back at her with a disgusted look on her face."Who the hell are you calling a bandit?" She had a large mass of deep pink hair, probably three times as much as Kagami had, tied into a ponytail with a strand of hot pink fabric. Her unevenly cut bangs wrapped around her face, strands hanging down across her pink eyes. There was a scar down across her right jawline, showing signs of a clean cut many years ago.
She had on a pair of handmade wooden geta, braided string keeping them attached to her feet. Along with that she had on a white hakama with a hot pink trim sewn on with golden thread. A long white scarf tied around her waist to hold it up, the ends hanging just right from her symmetrical axis point. Though, her body was far from symmetrical
Over her traditional outfit, she had on a large and loose pink leather jacket. The front fully undone as the back and arms had a few scuffs from old battles long forgotten. What made her stand out most of all wasn't the sheath attached to her left hip, it was the fact her right arm, or where in fact her right arm should have been, was completely limp. And the fact she was holding the pink fabric wrapped handle of the ninjato solely in her left hand and equal strength to Kagami.
"Um, you?" Elise raised an eyebrow before she narrowed her eyes. "Ugh Whatever!" She gritted her teeth, taking a split second to aim before firing.
The woman gave off a soft scoff, eying Kagami with a questionable expression before shoving the young girl backwards. Tossing her blade into the ground, she tilted her head to the side as she snapped her left arm up near her neck. Opening the fist she made, she held Elise's dart between her thumb and pointer finger. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that, sweet cheeks."
Smiling, she flicked the dart to the ground as she dropped her body down low to dodge a blow from Kris' duel weapons. Placing her left hand on the ground, she spun around, raising her right foot in the air to roundhouse kick the redhead away. This gaining an aggravated groan from the short girl as she caught her balance and slid across the forest floor.
At the same time, the woman spun back around, snatching up her ninjato blade in a reverse grip to block a red blast from Cheyenne's rifle. A puff of reddish smoke caressed around her body like a fluid, a soft wind blowing at the strands of her loose hair.
"Now, if you don't mind." She spun her blade back into a hammer grip, jumping back and into the treeline just in time to dodge a second blast from the modified Atlas rifle.
Back where Kagami had been shoved away, the jadette quickly shook her head, rubbing it with her left hand as she held her sword in her right. Letting out a huff of air, she quickly raised her sword, locking it with the straight edge katana that came slicing through the air in front of her.
The pink haired warrior gave a small but noticeable smile, easing up on the pressure she was applying to her weapon. Kagami did the same, only she smirked as she took a step back. Nodding back, the two both exchanged small and quick taps between the sword and ninjato before they both spun around, Kagami striking from above as the woman brought her blade from below. The cold steel clashing with loud strikes of metal against metal.
Locking blades with Kagami once again, the woman held onto the handle of her own in a reverse grip. Both their feet gently slightly across the ground from the sheer force the two were putting against each other. As a faint cloud of smoke began to trail behind the pink haired woman, she raised an eyebrow, glancing behind her right shoulder to see the full cloud along with a slim figure appearing inside.
She gave a scoff, raising the hand a little higher before releasing the ninjato. With a solid chomp and teeth flaring, she bit down on the handle, keeping the pressure up against Kagami's sword as she twisted her body to the side. Blocking Elise's baton with her left forearm, the woman gave off a soft grunt, letting a breath of air escape her mouth as she looked into the angry brunet's rageful eyes.
Before the young girl could withdrawal, the woman twisted her arm around, grabbing the stick. Keeping her head in place and jaw locked tight, she jerked the melee weapon away while bringing her foot up and kicking Elise square in the chest. The blow knocking her backwards and tumbling across the ground before she caught her balance and slid back while crouched.
In the action, Kagami took it upon herself to push harder on the woman's blade, consequently disarming her. The handle of the weapon flying from her mouth and jabbing into the ground below. She let out a huff of air, straightening her body to attack again only to feel the baton strike the side of her head.
Watching her stumble back dazed and disoriented from the strike, the woman jumped into the air, landing both feet into Kagami's torso and launching her backwards. Hearing the crunching of leaves behind her, she spun around, bringing the baton downward across Elise's head. The brunet heavily grunting as she fell to the ground.
The woman gave off what was almost like a disappointing sigh as she tossed the baton next to Elise. She then stepped over, gripping the handle to her ninjato as she jerked it out of the ground. Not a moment after she did so, the sounds of chains rattling behind her made the hairs on the back of her neck stand as her shoulders squared. She twirled around, twisted her blade into a hammer grip as she narrowed her eyes.
Two curved edges of Kris' candy cane weapons wrapped around the straight edged katana blade, the chains clinging on and tightening with a loud click. Grinning, the young redhead went to jerk the weapon away, only to stumbled as the woman stabbed her blade back into the ground. Keeping a firm grip on the pink handle, the woman brought her right leg up, wrapping it around the chain with smirk back at Kris.
"Oh shit." The young girl muttered under her breath, her feet leaving the ground as she was sent flying through the air and up into the sky, still holding onto her duel weapons. Just before the woman went to release the chains from her weapon, a large red blast shot through the air, coming from the second barrel on Cheyenne's rifle.
The woman looked over her left shoulder, blinking at the blast before giving a small sigh as she lowered her head down, shutting her eyes. The strike hitting her dead on. Power Dust exploding around her and picking up and pushing back small debris. But, as the area cleared, the smile on the deer Faunus' face faded as the woman was left standing as she was before. Only now with a few scuffs on her leather jacket as her hair waved back and forth.
"You'll need a higher setting if you want to do something." She let out, grabbing the chain attached to Kris' weapons, the smaller girl started to fall from the sky. With a solid jerk and a heavy grunt, she pulled the chain down, sending the redhead at a much faster speed towards the ground.
"Look ouuuuuuuut!" Kris screeched, closing her eyes the second Cheyenne came into her view of impact. The Faunus blinked, standing up on the tree branch she was on and trying to get away. Though it was too late. The younger collided with her, breaking the branch as the two crashed into the ground.
Snatching her ninjato from the ground, the woman slid the wrapped chains off before jumping back and into the treeline. Growling deeply, Elise rubbed her head as she slowly pushed herself to her knees. Her body swaying a bit still from the blow as she glared in the direction the woman went.
Hidden inside the trees, the woman jumped from one to another, eyes darting all across the place. Finally, she froze in place, her feet skidding across the ground. "Where are you..." She uttered before quickly moving her ninjato behind her back and smirking as metal struck metal once again. "You're getting fairly good at being silent now." She smiled, glancing over her shoulder.
Kagami smiled back, pulling her sword away as she headed in for another strike, the woman spinning around and blocking. A small shockwave rushing past the two. "I think my swordsmanship has improved more." She tightened her grip.
The woman rolled her eyes, twisting the ninjato around the two sided celtic sword to loosen her grip before pulling back and sending a foot against the jadette's hands to disarm her. Her sword clattering softly against the ground. "You wish." She stabbed her blade into the ground, lunging forward without it. "Now what about hand to hand!" She called out.
Kagami quickly lowered her head, tilting it to the side to avoid contact with her left fist. She then quickly crossed her arms, blocking a kick before jumping back with a clenched jaw. The woman gave out a long roar, sprinting forward. The jadette blinked, gulping slightly as she glanced around. She then smiled, looking up. Jumping, she latched onto a tree branch, swinging herself upward and on top of it in a crouch. "Can you still climb trees, old lady?" She smiled with a soft chuckle.
The woman deadpanned for a second before she slowly narrowed her eyes. "What did you just call me?" Her left hand slowly balled up into a fist.
She paused, a slight silence between the two as she debated her next choice of words very carefully. "I... called you an OLD lady." She taunted before jumping up into the higher branches.
She blinked softly, lowering her head just a bit as her right eyebrow twitched. "I'm going to kill her." She spoke to herself, jumping up and grabbing the branch as she pulled herself up with her sole left arm.
As the two jumped between branches, heading higher and higher up, they each traded off blows. And despite the fact Kagami had an extra arm on the woman, the each were striking with the same amount of punches as well as kicks. Near the top of the tree, as the two were exchanging punches and kicks, Kagami seemed to have misplaced her footing. While she did in fact land on a branch, it was far too weak for her weight. As her feet shifted across it, followed by a soft crack which made her glance down. The second she did, her body dropped.
Blinking at where the young girl once was, the woman gave off a sigh while rubbing her face. She quickly jumped back off the branch she was on, her hakama and hair flailing upward as she fell.
On her way down, Kagami hit a few branches, her body spinning and disorienting her as she tried to catch herself to no avail. About halfway down, she gave off a soft grunt as her body came to a stop. Blinking softly, she looked up at the pink haired woman who was holding her in her left arm.
"Call me old again, and I will drop you." She narrowed her eyes.
The jadette chuckled softly, glancing down at the ground below. "Yeah, please don't do that." She rubbed the back of her head, watching as her teammates rushed up.
"Guessing those are your friends, huh?" She asked, tilting her head a bit. "They're a bunch of pussies. Not going to lie."
"Shut up. They are not." She reached up, punching her in the shoulder. "You're just too... too... too mean." She grumbled.
"You mean to strong?" She smiled.
"Shut up." She quickly shot back.
She chuckled back, grinning down at the three girls searching below. "Fine, fine. Let me see how well they do just a little bit more." She held onto Kagami tighter, jumping down. As she landed, a large thud filled the air along with a small uproar of dirt across the ground. Cheyenne, Kris, and Elise each turned around, taking a small step away as the pink haired woman stood with one foot on top of her ninjato shoved into the ground.
"You were looking for me, right?" She raised and eyebrow, tossing Kagami to the side with a smile as the jadette gave off a faint grunt. "Well here I am." She continued to stand on her weapon, her other leg slightly raised as she held up her arm in a taunting posture. "Come at me with everything you got."
Kris blinked, glancing between Cheyenne and Elise who were on either side of her before shrugging. She held up both her duel weapons, placing her fingers on the triggers. The two marksmen doing the same as the took aim.
The pink haired woman simply smiled, her arm stretching a bit as she tilted her head. As Kagami sat up, she chuckled softly, shaking her head as she rolled over, picking up her sword and cleaning it a a barrage of bullets, darts, and Dust blasts struck the woman. A thick cloud of smoke forming around where she stood. As it started to clear, Kagami sheathed her sword, standing up slowly as she stretched her body.
"Is that the best you can do?" The woman's voice calmly slid through the air, making the three girls each flinch. As the smoke dissipated, she was still left stand on her ninjato with one foot. Calmly, she held out her fist, opening it as a handful of bullets and darts fell out. "Doesn't matter. My turn." She jumped down, her left hand snatching up her blade as she darted forward. The loose right sleeve flapping in the wind.
Blinking once, Elise threw her arms down in aggravation. "What the actual fuck!" She hissed, jumping back to miss the sharpened edge of the weapon. Cheyenne did the same as Kris softly growled. He spun her weapons around, changing her grip and holding them like a set of tonfas.
The two began to clash, and despite the woman having one less weapon and one less arm, she was pushing the redhead back with each footstep and movement they took. Seeing this, Elise tossed her air compressed rifle to her back, taking out her baton as she charged forward.
As the three of them began to exchange blows, the woman couldn't help but smile a she had to struggle to hold her ground against the two of them. Even taking a few steps back to regain her footing. Giving a faint approving nod, she jumped back, tossing her ninjato into her mouth with a heavy chomp as she placed her left hand against the dulled side. With that, she darted forward with a wicked smile at the two girls.
Blocking one of the cane weapon and the baton with her blade, she reached over, grabbing the second cane weapon. She pressed a button on it, releasing the curved edge from the straight edge by the chain. Grabbing a hold of the straight edge, she jumped back as she prepared to pull. Remembering what happened last time, the redhead quickly let go of the weapon, letting it fly from her hand. "Ha! Not falling for that again!" She called out.
Smirking with the handle of the blade in her mouth, the woman glanced up, seeing a blast of blue come hurtling at her feet. Sliding one foot back, she let her left foot be encased in ice as she tossed half of the chained weapon into the trees where the blast came from. Cheyenne quickly yelping as the woman tugged back on the weapon, pulling her out.
Seeing her foot frozen to the ground, Elise charged forward, her baton clenched tight in her right hand. Eyeing her, the woman shifted her head, blocking a strike from the baton with her blade. As she did so, she brought her right foot up, wrapping it around her body and sending the brunet straight into the ground with a thud.
Watching the deer Faunus stumble to the ground and stand up next to her left, she retracted the chain on the candy cane weapon, moving her head again as she pressed the tip of the blade up against Cheyenne's throat. As she did so, she brought the heel of the wooden sandal she wore down acros Elise's neck, holding her place as she raise the caned weapon, taking aim to her right as the barrel stopped centimeters from Kris' forehead.
Each of the three girls froze. Neither of them daring to take a single step or more a single muscle. After a few seconds, she scoffed, dropping the cane weapon as she took her foot off Elise. Reaching up and pulling the ninjato from her mouth, she stabbed the ice around her left foot, shattering it as she turned around and started to walk off. "That was fun." She nodded, putting away her blade with a soft click. "Come on, Kagami! I'll make some tea and dinner!"
Still spooked, Elise shook her head while rubbing her face, Kris and Cheyenne both helping her up. "You... you know her?" She asked, greatly confused as her lead stepped up towards them.
"Yeah." She smiled, rubbing the back of her neck with a soft chuckle. "She's the one who taught me how to fight. That's Baren." She smiled a bit more, watching as her three friends stared blankly at her before falling backwards onto the ground with their leg up and slightly twitching.
The jadette simply chuckled some more, closing her eyes as she continued to rub the back of her neck. "Should I have mentioned that first?" Her smile growing.
A little further into the woods, in a small clearing, there sat a wooden table large enough to fit several tools and several different bottles of Dust along with a brewing stand, a tipi with a nearly thirty foot diameter base with thick and heavy hide covering it, and a fire in front of the two. The ember red logs tucked neatly inside a circle of stones as smoke danced of them. Above the heat, several sticks aligned as one stretched across the top, a dark teapot hanging from it. Baren tending to the water inside of it.
"So you... grew up... here? Like here?" Elise asked, pointing at the ground for emphasis. "Like right here. This spot exactly. In the middle of the woods. In a tent. With no one else around you. And no store for food or water." She moved her hands around.
Calmly looking over at her, Kagami gave a solid nod. "Yep. For nearly four years."
Giving a slightly disgusted look, Kris held up her hands as she backed away from the tipi. "Yeah, that sounds completely-"
"AWESOME!" Elise bounced up and down a bit, smiling from ear to ear. "Man, I thought living with papa and mama was awesome on the farm. But living out here!" She waved her arms and outstretched them as far as she could. "That sounds so much better! Minus the Gimm."
"I was going to say awful." Kris held up a hand. "There's no air conditioning. Or mirrors for my makeup. So wrong choice of words there." A shiver went up her spine. "Never will I ever."
"It seems nice and cozy." Cheyenne mumbled quietly before grinning. "You know, as long as no one tries to shoot me for game." She glanced over at the hunter on the team.
The brunet simply rolled her eyes, crossing her arms with a faint pout. "One time. It happened once and now I never get to live it down."
Letting out a chuckle, the jadette shook her head as she made her way over to Baren. "So I bet you're wondering why I'm here." She stood up on her toes, holding her hands together. "You see, the past year and couple months there has been a lot of fighting and weeeeell..." She trailed off, lowering her head some as the woman stood up from the teapot. "I kinda need... more black Dust." She quickly smiled, holding up the two black rings. "You think you can refill them? Pretty please? Baren-Sensai?"
Blinking a few times, the pink haired woman shook her head with a sigh. "Kagami, I swear. I thought I clearly stated emergencies only." She snatched the two rings away, grinning slightly. "You're going to owe me one... therefore, we're going to play our special game."
Blinking once, she deadpanned as her face went pale white. "What." She stated, more so than asking a question. She quickly looked back at her friends before the woman who trained her. "What! No. No! I am an adult now! You can't make me play this game anymore!"
"What game?" Cheyenne asked, her head tilting to the side in the most confused yet also concerned way. "What do you mean by game?" She restated herself.
"Nothing!" Kagami quickly hissed, glaring back at Baren. "You shut up!" She raised and finger and pointed.
"Aw, what? Am I embarrassing you?" She chuckled back. "Oh what ever shall we do. Baren is embarrassing Kagami in front of her friends." She raised her hand up against her cheek, gasping.
Groaning softly. The jadette suddenly started to blush a bit before she lunged forward at the pinkette. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
As the two disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Kris reached up, scratching the side of her head. "What... is actually happening?"
"I have no idea." Elise shook her head, trying to hold back her smile as she watched the actions of her leader.
Cheyenne, doing the same, tilted her head to the side. "I think, they have a very special relationship. But I am greatly confused on it too."
Grunting as she was suddenly pinned with her right arm behind her back in Baren's grip and the woman's knee pressing her down, she shifted around slightly, her left arm trying to push her up and failing. "Get off me!" She shouted.
"Nope." She shook her head, leaning down. "Now you're going to have to say uncle AND play our game." She smirked, watching the jadette let out and scream for a second, even kicking her legs around before she sighed and let her face fall into the dirt.
"Fine... fine." She groaned, rolling her head to the side. "I'll play, I'll play."She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "And uncle..."
"Good." She stood up, releasing her as she picked up a stick. She tossed it around a bit, weighing it as she flipped it around. After a few moments, she nodded and took a single step back before she chucked it as far as she could. Tree branches breaking as it hit them and continued on flying. Looking over at Kagami, she smiled. "Now go get it."
"I literally hate you." The jadette grumbled, glaring at her for a second before she turned around and walked in the direction the stick was thrown. "I'm a freaking adult..."
"Hehehe..." The woman let out, going over to the table as she set the rings down. "You three can sit around the fire if you want. Sorry I don't have chairs. I don't get much company out here." She turned around, watching the three girls each take a spot. After a few seconds, the woman tilted her head. "So you three are Kagami's friends, huh?"
"Yes ma'am." The deer Faunus gave a nod. "I'm Cheyenne. You... you can call me Chey if you want."
"And I'm Kris." The small redhead waved off her hand.
"I'm still confused on who you are-OUCH!" She winced, the redhead nailing her in the side with her elbow. "I mean, I'm Elise." She grumbled, her shoulders slouching.
Baren gave off a small scoff, reaching down and grabbing the teapot off the fire despite it being hot. "I see." She nodded, pouring four cups of tea. "The three of you aren't that bad of fighters, you know." She set the teapot back over the fire, calmly handing out the cups of tea. "I haven't had trouble fighting someone in a long time."
As Elise tried to drink the hot liquid, only to flinch and try again on an endless cycle of failure, Cheyenne let hers rest in her lap as it cooled off. The steam rolling across the sides of the cup. "And why is that?" She quietly asked.
"Well, you see," She sat down by the fire, crossing her legs as she took a sip of tea. The brunet in green glancing at her before glaring down at her own cup. "My semblance is a little special thing." She sighed, looking up at the trees as they blew in the wind. "It makes my skin completely invulnerable. Nothing can cut through it. Nothing can burn it or damage it. It's indestructible." She slowly looked down, eyeing where her right arm should be. "That gives you a big head. And you think you can't lose. That's until you stop watching your aura and it runs out. And you lose the ability to control you semblance as well as a part of yourself."
There was a long pause, the girls each going silent as they stared up at the woman. "But, you know, that doesn't matter." She waved her arm, speaking loud enough to make the three of them flinch back.
"So you're a warrior." Kris slowly nodded, glancing down before quickly glaring up. "Well where were you during the Attack on Vale and the Battle of Beacon?!"
Sighing, Baren simply looked down and took a sip of tea. "I don't fight anymore."
"Then what the hell was that back there when you were FIGHTING us?!" The redhead's voice only rose.
Still as calm as ever, the pinkette shook her head. "That was me making sure Kagami isn't hanging out with a bunch of pushovers. She needs people who are strong and who can stand by her side when things get dark."
"Huh?" Elise gave up on trying to drink her tea, her head tilting to the side. "What do you mean? She's the strongest out of all of us."
Giving off a soft chuckle, the woman raise her head to look at the young girls. "You may think that, but it's not true. She's still a weak a broken little girl. Like the day I found her laying next to a small Ursa and saving her from a much larger Ursa that was trying to attack her on the shoreline. She may put on a brave and bold face, but someday she is going to snap, and she's going to need the best people she can get at her side."
The three girls each glanced at each other, blinking a few times before looking back up at her. Baren slowly shook her head, leaning back. "She's a good kid. Don't get me wrong. And I would never turn down teaching someone to fight." She grinned a bit, chuckling to herself. "Even if that means teaching someone to use a katana in one hand and another in the other." She looked up. "But that doesn't mean I can protect them for life. That's their friends jobs." She raised a finger, pointing. "And I'm not letting Kagami have some pussy ass friends who can't watch her back."
Staring back at her, Elise's head slowly tilted. "I... still don't know how I feel about you."
"You're not the only one." Kris muttered, blinking rapidly. "I have very conflicting feelings about you. You're wise and ol-"
"Don't say it." The pinkette warned, narrowing her eyes.
Gulping, the redhead nodded back. "You are a very wise person, but you act completely crazy and I don't even know." She shook her head.
Slowly raising her hand, Cheyenne nodded a bit. "I agree with everything said."
Chuckling, Baren shook her head as she stood up. "Just don't tell Kagami we had this talk. She'll be returning soon. She's gotten fairly well at finding and retrieving sticks I throw." She turned around, setting down her empty cup as she stepped towards the Dust she had. "And... maybe tell her she could visit more. I don't get much company out here."
Glancing at the two next to her, Elise slowly nodded to them while looking up at the woman with a soft smile. "Of course. We'd gladly."
The following day, as team MACE made their way back to the city of Vale, Elise had her hands behind her head as she walked next to Kagami, both Cheyenne and Kris behind them. "So, why exactly doesn't she just get a prosthetic arm? I mean, think about how much damage she could do if she had two arms." She chuckled a bit, flashing her teeth.
Rolling her eyes, Kagami walked with her hands in her pockets. "It's because she doesn't want to forget the mistakes she's made. She wants to remember them forever as a reminder to herself how badly she messed up. And every day she wakes up an sees her right arm gone..." She trailed off, giving a small sigh before nodding. "It reminds her of that. It also is a way of proving to herself how strong she is. She overcame something very few people can and learned to live with it without any replacements."
"Plus she taught herself to wield a blade like that one handed. Which is kinda super cool." Cheyenne raised a finger, quickly adding her comment to the conversation.
Glancing back, her leader gave off a soft chuckle, shaking her head as she held out her arms and flexed her fingers. "I'm just happy to have these back." She glanced at the two black rings on her fingers. "The come in handy in a pinch."
"Saaaaaay," Kris slid up next to her, her green eyes sparkling as she smiled up at the green haired girl. "You want to, I don't know, teach me to manipulate this black matter Dust whatever?" Her smile only grew as she pushed upward on her cheeks with her hands.
Pausing for a moment, Kagami was hesitant to speak as she looked at the younger girl questionably. Before she could utter a single sound though, she stopped walking. Looking across the edge of the city from a small mountain, several red and blue flashing lights filled the streets as smoke rose up from one of the buildings.
"What in the world happened...?" Cheyenne's shoulders dropped as her brows furrowed.
Reaching for her air compressed rifle, double checking to make sure it was loaded, Elise turned to her friends with a smile. "Why don't we go find out."