A/N- A new chapter!? B-but it hasn't been several months! Could it be that I've finally reached a point where my followers can expect updates in a reasonable time frame?
...
No, we both know that'll never happen. This is a fluke, nothing else.
Enjoy more awkward flirt- er, I mean, training!
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It was a much more relaxed -but still long- jog back to the marketplace. Ilia was impressed, despite clearly tiring herself out earlier with her surprise race, the rabbit faunus had still managed to keep up relatively well. The chameleon girl just wished she'd been able to work up the courage to try socializing a little on the way back, but again, Ilia's nerves had gotten the better of her. The spontaneous run had been nice little icebreaker between them, but Ilia was still just too cautious around the new faunus. She wasn't sure how to approach this situation, opening up to people and getting them to open up to her, it was not her strong suit. So they just kind of wandered back into the now crowded market in a comfortable silence.
After grabbing the gear they'd hidden away, the two teenagers made their way to a nearby park where they managed to find a secluded spot to get to work. It was a small clearing, obscured from the rest of the park goers by a ring of trees and covered in thick, green grass. The perfect place for a little sparring.
Once they got settled, Ilia turned to the brunette and said, "Alright, show me what you can do."
The bunny eared girl cocked her head to the side. "Umm... what?" she asked, genuinely confused.
"Come at me," Ilia clarified, beckoning her training partner with a finger. "It's the only way I'll know what I'm working with here."
"Oh... right, of course. Are you gonna, you know, get ready too?" the rabbit faunus said, then pointed at Lightning Lash, still clipped to her teachers hip.
The spotted girl couldn't resist a chuckle. "Tell you what," she said with a hand on her hip and a cocky smile, "how about you try and make me have to use it."
The long eared faunus looked surprised at first by the blatant taunt, but then puffed out her cheeks in indignation. "Oh-ho-ho, I'll make you alright," she said, pulling her shock spear and shield from her back with a competitive smile spreading across her lips. The same smile that'd appeared during their "run" earlier.
All Ilia did in response was cross her arms and smirk, possibly having a bit too much fun pushing her students buttons. It was obvious this girl was eager to test her instructor as well, and honestly, that sent a tiny tingle of excitement up the lizard girls spine.
Without another word, the rabbit faunus rushed at Ilia, shield out in front and preparing a strike with her spear. The pony tailed girl found herself impressed yet again at the other faunus' speed, even with the heavy weapons in her hands. However, just as the long eared faunus went to swing, Ilia leapt to her right, the side the brunette was holding her shield in. The bunny girls attack hit nothing but air as her momentum carried her past Ilia, who gave her opponent a small shove on the back as she went by, almost making the inexperienced faunus fall flat onto her face.
The rabbit girl regained her footing quickly enough, then spun around quickly to see Ilia still standing nonchalantly, hand still on her hip. The chameleon faunus smirked before again beckoning her opponent with a finger. The other girls honey colored eyes narrowed as her grip tightened on her weapons handles. She ran at Ilia again, though this time at a much more controlled speed as she tried to anticipate the other faunus' dodge this time.
She adapted, not bad, Ilia thought, finding herself even more impressed.
Still though, even as the rabbit girl got in close the reptilian faunus was easily able to avoid the quick series of jabs sent her way. Then Ilia saw her opening, and using her forearm she pushed aside her pupils weapon as it rushed toward her face. The other faunus' eyes went wide as the pony tailed girl rushed past her offense, aiming the point of her elbow for a strike to the side of the brunettes head. Though, surprisingly the bunny eared faunus managed to raise her shield and actually intercept the blow as Ilia's strike bounced harmlessly off the metal.
Hmm. Pretty good reflexes, the pony tailed girl thought, before crouching low and effortlessly sweeping the legs out from under the rabbit faunus and sending her to the ground.
The downed teen groaned as she stared up at the blue sky in a bit of a daze. "Not bad," Ilia said, leaning over so her head was in the rabbit girls view. "Better than I expected, for sure." That was actually an understatement. It had been a brief match, but already the lizard faunus felt like she'd learned a lot about this girls abilities.
The brunette looked up from where she laid on the grass, spread out like a squished bug. "I just... how'd did you...? You're so fast," she stammered out, staring in disbelief.
Ilia smiled at the praise. "I told you; practice," she said with a shrug, before offering the rabbit eared girl a hand to help her stand.
It was eagerly accepted, and the reptilian faunus pulled her pupil to her feet. "Still, there's such a big gap in skill between us, huh?" the short haired faunus said, Ilia picking up on the discouraged tone and how the bunny girls ears seemed to sag as she spoke.
"Not necessarily," the spotted faunus said quickly, trying to continue to sound nonchalant, but also worried she'd been a bit too rough on the other faunus. "I think you've got plenty of potential, we just need to work on honing it, is all."
The other girls long ears perked back up and she smile appreciatively. Ilia smiled back, until she realized she was still holing the other faunus' hand after helping her up.
This was usually the part where Ilia lit up like a burn dust crystal, but she didn't this time. That was the result of something the chameleon faunus had come to realize during their quiet jog back; That if these little tutoring sessions were going to get anywhere, she couldn't turn into a blushing mess every time this girl breathed in her general vicinity. Not only was it counterproductive to the rabbit girls training, but it was also completely unnecessary. She just didn't see the point in torturing herself anymore, moments like these weren't awkward or emotionally charged or anything, or rather, she realized they didn't have to be. It was just a moment, between a student and teacher. She didn't have to put herself under so much pressure. Ilia was so worried about how this whole scenario seemed romantic on paper, that she didn't realize that it was up to the people involved whether or not it really was. So why not just put away those inconvenient feelings for now?
It wasn't necessarily that she wasn't interested in the other faunus, she just didn't have to rush things, let this progress naturally. Maybe for now she could just focus on the training the other faunus had asked for, and after, they could see where things stood, maybe even try being friends? That wouldn't be so bad. For now though, they could keep things simple between them, and somehow, thinking about it that way helped make things easier for Ilia. She could do casual, she had years of practice at hiding her true feelings, after all.
So the spotted faunus calmly let go of the other girls hand, no fuss, no light show on her body, but at the same time couldn't resist an awkward laugh. Ilia rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, and that was when she noticed the line of crimson traveling down the rabbit girls left forearm.
"Umm..." Ilia said in mild alarm, pointing at the small trail of blood coming from her pupils elbow.
The rabbit faunus looked down, then bent her arm, revealing a small cut on the back of her elbow. "Oh..." she said in a tone that almost sounded nervous. "...I... must have fallen on a rock or something..."
The spotted girl studied the wound, it didn't look bad or anything, it was just odd that it hadn't healed yet. "Doesn't look too bad. You're aura should take care of it in a minute or two."
"Y-yeah! Definitely!" the rabbit faunus said way too eagerly, before wiping away the blood with her other hand. Then, it might have been Ilia's imagination, but it looked like she was holding her arm slightly behind her back, like she was trying to hide her injury for some reason.
"What's-"
"So!" the brunette interrupted loudly, almost making Ilia flinch in surprise, "You've uh... seen me in action now, any tips?"
Ilia wasn't stupid. She knew when someone was trying to change the subject, but decided against pressing the issue, for the moment anyway. "Well... first of all I think you should lose the shield."
The rabbit girls eyes bulged. "What!? Why!?"
The chameleon faunus studied the thrown together piece of scrap metal. It was a small wonder it hadn't fallen apart during it's first use, but aside from that... "Honestly, I think it's only slowing you down."
The long eared girl gave her teacher a skeptical look. "So, just to clarify, you think carrying something that will keep bullets from tearing through my soft flesh is 'just slowing me down?'"
"Definitely" Ilia replied in a matter of fact tone. "I can tell. It's like your body wants to move even faster than you do now, but you're carrying too much to do it. You could probably use it more effectively once you build a little more muscle, if you're really that attached to it, but I'd be willing to bet that by then you'll be so used to not using it you'll want to keep things that way.
The bunny faunus nodded slowly in understanding. "Besides," Ilia went on, "quick footed fighters like us? We're always better off just trying to be where the bullets aren't, rather than trying to stop them."
The brunette took a minute to look at her shield. She lifted it up and down on her arm, testing the weight with a thoughtful expression, then looked back to Ilia. "Wow, you're... actually really good at this." the rabbit girl said suddenly.
The pony tailed teen gave her student a strange look. "You... don't have to sound so surprised when you say that."
The other faunus' face lit up in embarrassment. "Oh no no no no, I didn't mean it like it that, it's just- I mean I knew you were amazing- ARE, I meant are amazing, but I never meant to..." the clearly floundering girl took a moment to breathe before trying again. "What I meant is, I couldn't have chosen a better teacher, so thank you, I guess is what I was trying to say."
The sudden compliment, combined with the adorable blush on her students face, caught Ilia completely off guard and her mind was sent reeling. Her spots went pink without even giving the poor girl a chance to resist the change this time. The pony tailed faunus looked away from her pupil, trying to play it cool like she'd suddenly noticed something to the side, and attempting to hide the pink display until it faded by brushing one of the strands of hair framing each side if her face with her hand. Just because she'd decided to avoid any romance here doesn't mean Ilia was completely immune to this girls obvious charms.
"L-like I said," the flustered lizard girl mumbled out, "It's not that big of a deal, this is just stuff I've picked up over the years." She cursed herself for her own stutter, hoping the other faunus hadn't noticed, but the small giggle and the smile she saw when Ilia looked back to her student made it clear she had seen everything.
The whole 'trying to keep it cool' thing went out the window as the lizard faunus quickly took out her water bottle and took a long swig, anything to break eye contact again. After wiping her lips, Ilia said, "So... um, yeah, why don't you go ahead and try again, without the shield this time."
The long eared girl gave her hastily made shield one last, almost longing, look before gently placing it against a nearby tree. For some reason she seemed oddly attached to the piece of scrap metal, but Ilia couldn't put together why. Then the short haired faunus took her stun spear in both hands and gave it a practice twirl, followed by a satisfied nod.
Ilia let the other faunus mess around with her weapon a bit longer to get used to the change in weight. The lizard faunus wasn't one to brag, but she really was confident that getting rid of the shield was the right call to make. Already the rabbit girl looked much more comfortable and quick in her movements. It made sense, a longer weapon like this was better suited to having two free hands to wield it.
Two hands... hm... Ilia continued to study the brunettes movements. The beginnings of a design began to construct in the teenagers mind. She'd never consider herself much of an engineer, but she did manage to make Lightning Lash herself, so you couldn't say she didn't have a bit of an interest in subject. The other faunus' weapon was looking better, but Ilia couldn't help but start to imagine something she felt would suit her student even better...
But before the thought got too far, her student spun around to face her. "Okay! You ready!" the excited looking rabbit girl asked.
The pony tailed faunus blinked a few times as her mind returned to reality. She stored the idea away for a rainy day, and focused on her soon to be opponent. "Go ahead," she said, an eagerness in her own voice as well.
The long eared teen bounced a little in place as she gave her spear a few more twirls, having gotten pretty good at it in just a few minutes of practice. She took the long weapon in both hands and put on a determined expression before finally bolting at Ilia yet again. The chameleon girl still didn't reach for her whip-blade at her hip, confident she wouldn't need to use it, but almost found herself caught off guard by how quickly the other faunus managed to close the gap in between them. It was just like Ilia had thought, this girl had clearly had more training than just what the militia had provided, and now, without the heavy metal shield hampering her movements, the rabbit faunus was like a completely different fighter.
As the other teen began her assault, her blows were quicker and more precise than before, even her balance seemed better. It was amazing what such a small adjustment could do. However, the skill gap between the two faunus was still all too apparent, as the spotted girl leapt over a low sweep aimed at her legs and nimbly swatted away thrust after thrust with nothing more than her bare forearm and aura. Keeping up with her student was a little moire difficult now, but still easy enough so that the pony tailed faunus could gauge her opponents offensive abilities. Then, after a few more blocked strikes, she decided to switch to testing her defense.
When her opponent went for another low sweep, Ilia stepped down on the end of the spear, pinning it to the grass covered earth. Then she leapt up and aimed a high kick at the long eared faunus' shoulder. She made sure to telegraph the kick with a loud, completely unnecessary, yell to give her student enough of a warning to act.
The brunette let out an, "Eep!" of surprise, but still managed to get her spear up to block the blow, but the impact still sent the long eared faunus sliding back a few feet. To her credit, that didn't slow her down for long though, as she quickly regained her footing and ran right back toward Ilia, barely missing a step.
The pony tailed faunus lowered her stance, expecting another round of attacks coming her way, but at the last second she noticed the familiar mischievous smirk on her opponents face. Suddenly, the rabbit girl slammed the head of her spear into the grass in front of her, letting the sudden stop in momentum carry her into the air, and pole vaulted over Ilia.
Time seemed to slow as the chameleon faunus watched the brunette soar above her, looking fairly amused with herself as she did. Ilia definitely hadn't been expecting that, and was caught so off guard that all she could do was stare dumbly at the surprising display of agility. The rabbit girl landed on her feet, then quickly spun with her spear out, putting all her strength behind the blow, which was aimed right for the still flabbergasted, pony tailed faunus.
Ilia only barely managed to get her arms up in defense, but when the hit connected there was a flash of pale blue light as her aura took a heavy hit in the process. The spotted girl reeled from the attack, stumbling back to avoid her opponents relentless follow up swing, suddenly finding herself forced on the defensive. The long eared faunus leapt towards her teacher, ready to press the advantage she'd gained, but it would be short lived.
Ilia narrowed her eyes, deciding to take things up a notch. After all, this girl had earned it.
She sidestepped the charging rabbit faunus, gripping her arm as she passed, and twisting it behind her students back. Then with a push to the brunettes back, sent her to the ground, face first onto the grass with Ilia on top of her. The long eared girl was shocked to find herself in the same arm bar she'd seen Ilia use on the White Fang member at Haven two nights ago, although not nearly as tight. Ilia was just trying to retrain her, not hurt her.
The rabbit faunus tried to grab her spear, which had slipped from her grip in the fall, but it was just out of reach. After squirming futilely for a few more seconds, the brunette sighed in aggravation before slapping the ground with her free hand, finally "tapping out".
Ilia got up off her opponent, who groaned miserably, her face still in the grass. "Ugh... I totally thought I had you." the rabbit girl moaned into the earth.
Ilia chuckled. "Honestly? You almost did there for a second," she admitted. "I never thought you'd pull out a move like that." The spotted girl rubbed her left wrist, still a little nervous about prying into her students past, but she wanted to at least try, and this was a good a time as any. "Have you, um... trained before? Before what we did for Haven, I mean."
The rabbit faunus rolled over so the other girl could understand her better, "Yeah, a little I guess. With my brother." She sat up, cross legged, looking pretty happy despite the grass stains covering her shirt and shorts now. "Nothing like this though, this is... intense, but like, in a good way!"
"Told you I wouldn't go easy on you," Ilia replied with a smirk, and offering her pupil a hand for the second time that day. Again, it was appreciatively accepted, and the caramel haired faunus was pulled to her feet.
This was... nice, at least Ilia thought so. It was hard to believe that this morning she'd been dreading what this day might bring. Now though, things were actually going pretty well, she'd even manged to learn that her student had a brother. It wasn't much, but the chameleon girl couldn't help but celebrate what felt like it a step in the right direction. The pony tailed faunus bit the inside of her lip thoughtfully. Would it be too much for her to ask about him? The newfound optimism growing inside Ilia gave her the confidence to keep trying to learn more about this girl.
"So... your brother, what does he..." the spotted girl was stopped in her query when she noticed something on the long eared faunus' face.
The brunette gave Ilia an odd look as she stared back. "Um... what-" she started, but was cut off when the other faunus suddenly reached up and cupped the left side of her chin with her hand.
The rabbit girls eyes went wide at the sudden surprise contact, a hint of redness in her features, but Ilia paid it no mind. The reptilian faunus gently turned her students head to the side, getting a better look at what had truly gotten her attention.
There was a cut on the long eared faunus' cheek, not deep, certainly not life threatening, but still a few drops of blood were beginning to surface. Ilia studied the wound curiously, still gripping the -now getting quite flustered- brunette's chin. Just like earlier, the fact that such a small wound persisted was strange. Usually even a weak aura would be able to heal a cut like this in a minute or so, but this one didn't seem to be going anywhere. Unless...
Ilia finally released the long eared faunus, but only so she could grab the other girls left wrist and turn her arm over. The still fresh looking wound there as well confirming the chameleon girls suspicions. The brunette seemed to gather where her teacher was going with this as her eyes sunk low in shame.
"Have you activated your aura?" Ilia asked in a serious tone.
The rabbit faunus pulled her arm away from her teacher. "... Oh hey, would you look at that..." the caramel color haired girl replied in an uneasy tone, "I guess I forgot to..."
"What!?" Ilia said a bit sharply, "Why wouldn't you..." The lizard faunus stopped herself as she noticed the guilty expression on her students face. The pony tailed girl took a breath, her surprise starting to slip into irritation a bit too quickly for her taste. "Sorry, I just... I guess I assumed you knew to do that before we started." This girl had proven to capable that Ilia never would have thought to need to cover something so basic. Luckily she'd noticed this before there were any serious injuries. "Okay, well, go ahead and activate it and get healed up so we can keep going."
The rabbit girl gave a look like she was standing in the middle of the road with a truck bearing down on her. "Um... right! On it! Just uh... give me a second."
The long eared faunus closed her eyes and held her hands out in front of her. Ilia gave a perplexed look as her student furrowed her brow and clenched their jaw, like they were trying to force open a stubborn jar or something. This went on for a while before the girl cracked open one of her honey colored eyes and gave her teacher a nervous smile.
The final piece of the puzzle snapped into place then, and the lizard faunus finally realized a truth so impossible and irrational she had never even considered it.
"You haven't unlocked your aura!?" she asked in bewilderment.
The long eared girls arms fell to her sides and her posture slouched as she looked away, an obvious, "No".
Ilia was floored, although maybe she shouldn't have been by this revelation. It wasn't that uncommon for someone to not have an unlocked aura. Hell, less than a year ago the world had been in a "time of peace" as many put it -though the bitter chameleon girl would prefer to dub it a "time of complacency". The kingdoms had been secure, all the CCT towers were active, so many people didn't see any reason to push themselves to get their aura up and protecting them. Also for even more people it just... never happened, their natural armor never manifesting itself at all. Aura was a fickle thing, some people were born with tons, others, not a drop, that was just how things were in this world.
But what really surprised Ilia wasn't that this girl hadn't activated her aura yet, but the fact that someone without an unlocked aura would even want to bother with training in the first place. Any fight between a person with an aura and one without usually only went one way. Not to mention what a Grimm could do to an individual without the benefit of their souls protection. If you didn't have an aura, you didn't fight, another cruel rule of this world. Things like "spirit" and "determination", pushing yourself above and beyond your bodies capabilities in a battle, were all excellent, romanticized ideas on paper in novels and comic books, but in the real world that kind of thinking only got you killed.
And yet, despite all of this, the girl in front of Ilia had still wanted to learn how to fight? The pony tailed faunus supposed it was a bit admirable in a naive kind of way, wanting to get stronger no matter the obstacle against you, and she'd never label the other faunus as weak, not from what she'd witnessed so far. The rabbit girl had already gone through so much, and had proven tough enough to withstand the training she already had for the Battle for Haven without any-
That's when the lizard faunus came to a second, much more horrifying realization;
"Wait, did you go into the Battle for Haven without an aura!?"
Again, the other faunus' silence was all the answer Ilia needed.
It felt like the ground beneath Ilia crumbled away to nothing. The idea that all it would've taken was one stray bullet in the thousands that were fired that night to end the life of the girl in front of her made the pony tailed faunus' knees go weak. Unfortunately, while the chameleon girl's go to reaction may have been concern, it was quickly overtaken by an indignant anger at the foolishness of the girl before her.
"What were you thinking!?" Ilia practically yelled, her tone harsh and loud. "Do you have any idea how dangerous and ignorant that was?! Does you life mean so little to you that you'd-"
The spotted faunus stopped as she noticed the tears starting to gather in the brunettes eyes. She felt the fire in her chest fizzle out instantly at the sight of the trembling girl she'd just shouted at. Ilia looked down at her hands to see her skin was a fiery orange, her spots yellow. The chameleon girl took another breath, the anger she felt being replaced by a guilt steadily growing inside her, which may not have manifested through her faunus trait, but instead sunk like a stone inside her gut.
"Hey..." Ilia started, but honestly didn't know what she could even say right now, or rather, she didn't want to say what was apparent; that she couldn't train this girl anymore.
The risk was just too high, and the last thing she wanted was for someone to get hurt. However, she also knew that saying this would cause the other faunus even more pain. The rabbit girl wasn't even looking at Ilia anymore, and for a moment the reptilian faunus was afraid the other teen was going to run off, never wanting to speak to her again, and after the way Ilia had just yelled at her, she couldn't blame her.
The lizard girl knew she had to say something at least, and she noticed the still fresh cut on the other faunus' cheek. "We should get those cleaned up," she said, desperate for an excuse to keep her company from leaving.
The rabbit girl nodded silently, her gaze still elsewhere. Ilia stepped back towards the edge of the clearing where she'd left her bag, not taking her eyes off the depressed faunus, as if she'd disappear if she did. The reptilian girl reached into the small pack and pulled out her first aid kit, which she was now thankful she'd brought.
As she fished out the supplies she needed from within, the young faunus dared to look back at the rabbit girl just in time to see her wiping her eyes on her glove covered wrist.
Way to go, you rainbow colored jerk, Ilia thought to herself. She shouldn't have lost her temper like that, it never helped anyone when she did. The chameleon girl wanted to be better than that now. This girl had asked Ilia to teach her, not berate her, even if what the rabbit faunus had done was incredibly reckless. The ex-White Fang member gathered a few pieces of cotton, some bandages, and a small bottle of peroxide from the kit before stowing it away and returning to her patients side.
"Can I see your-" Ilia barely even had to say it, before the rabbit girl rigidly extended her arm without a word, her face still a mask of guilt and sadness.
The chameleon girl didn't show any acknowledgement at the uncharacteristic silence, she just gently took the outstretched limb like it was as fragile as a butterflies wing. After applying the peroxide to the cotton, Ilia tenderly dabbed the wet material on the dried blood covered wound on the rabbit faunus' arm.
The long eared girl let out a quiet gasp as the liquid made contact, making Ilia curse herself under her breath. She sorta forgot to mention the sting this stuff could cause if you weren't ready. "Sorry," the pony tailed faunus mumbled quietly as she quickly finished cleaning the wound.
The rabbit eared girl remained hushed as Ilia wrapped the bandage around her arm. The chameleon faunus couldn't bring herself to look at the brunette's face, but now that the first injury was taken care of she didn't have much of a choice as the only one left was on her patients cheek.
Ilia reluctantly raised her gaze and as soon as she did her heart felt like it cracked down the middle. The usually cheerful, over flowing with life, honey colored eyes were puffy and red, the remaining wetness making them shine even brighter than normal. The two only made eye contact for second before the rabbit faunus turned away again.
Ilia's immediate thought was that this was done out of disdain, but then she realized it was probably just so the chameleon girl could get a better view of the wound she needed to clean on the other faunus' cheek, or maybe it was a mixture of both? Regardless, the spotted girls guilt was unbearable. The socially inept chameleon faunus didn't know what to say, but figured an apology wouldn't be a bad place to start. After all, she seemed to be handing out a lot of them these days.
"And I'm sorry I yelled, too," Ilia said as she delicately wiped away at the still fresh cut with the soaked cotton.
The rabbit faunus flinched a little at the sting of the antiseptic, but then softly mumbled, "It's okay..." A sad smile snuck onto the edge of her lips. "I'm sorry for getting all emotional like that." The smile grew wider and more sincere. "You're uh.. actually pretty scary when you're mad, y'know?"
This was probably an attempt at humor, and Ilia knew that, but still felt the weight in her chest grow heavier. She didn't want to be the kind of person who used fear and intimidation as a weapon anymore. It wasn't even that the spotted faunus was mad really, Ilia had just been worried about this girl, and she'd shown it in the worst possible way.
Still, despite the accidental jab at her psyche, Ilia did her best to smile back at the other faunus before returning to the task at hand. At least the tension in the air seemed to have dissipated a little. The chameleon girl grabbed the smaller adhesive bandage she'd taken to cover the wound on the girls cheek. As she struggled with the packaging holding it, the rabbit faunus kept talking. "Besides, you'd think I'd be used to hearing things like that by now..."
Ilia turned her attention back to the other faunus and saw the melancholy look on her face had returned. "... I'm not stupid, you know?" The lizard girl cocked her head to the side, "I know that... it was a bad idea to come to Mistral, to fight the White Fang, I mean." Her look saddened. "And I know that without an aura there's really no point in learning to fight, but... this was my only chance."
The lizard girl had abandoned the package holding the bandage as she continued to give the other faunus a look, urging her to continue. "All my life, I've wanted to fight for something bigger than myself, just to... I don't know, feel like I made a difference? Gods, that sounds so lame when I say it out loud." Ilia remained silent as she contemplated the brunettes words. "And it's not like my life means nothing to me. I don't WANT to die, but sitting behind a produce stall on Menagerie and doing nothing just never felt right to me, not when I know I could do more. And if I hadn't come here, and things with the White Fang had gone worse? If people had died? I think... that would have hurt worse than anything that could've happened to me... So I had to try, aura or no aura, I just... believed it was a cause worth fighting for, even if no one thinks I can."
Her rant over, the rabbit faunus bashfully brushed her caramel colored hair behind her ear. "So... I probably sound crazy, don't I? But-"
"There's nothing crazy about fighting for what you believe in," Ilia interjected, finally tearing open the pesky bandages packaging. "...Even if people say you don't belong..." Now it was the long eared girls turn to give a look urging the other faunus to elaborate. "I guess I kinda know what it's like; wanting to help a cause, but the people you're fighting for say you have no business standing with them. Though, in my case, I can't really blame them since... well, just look at me," the chameleon girl just kind of shrugged, gesturing to... pretty much all of herself. Not quite human looking, not quite faunus, always stuck in between.
"I... I'm sorry," the rabbit faunus said sadly, "I had no idea you felt that way."
A look of sudden shock came over Ilia, as if she'd just realized what she'd disclosed. "It's fine," she blurted out, "I... don't even know why I brought that up..."
She really didn't. It wasn't like her to talk so openly about her own insecurities, but hearing the brunette faunus spill her guts like that had seemed to have loosened the spotted girls lips.
"A-anyway," Ilia said, trying to quickly change the subject, "the point is, it's no one's place to tell you where you belong, not even mine." Ilia unpeeled the bandage, "I'm not going to say what you did wasn't reckless, but if you knew and acknowledged the risks going in then... I guess I shouldn't chastise you for it. Just try to think things through next time."
The rabbit girl smiled fondly and nodded. "I will, I promise."
The pony tailed faunus gently pressed the small adhesive strip on her patients cheek. "A-and... I'm glad you're okay..." she mumbled as she ran her finger over the bandage one last time to ensure it stayed put.
The rabbit girl looked like she was caught off guard for a moment by Ilia's words, but then smiled brightly, a small giggle sneaking out. Due to how close the two were standing at that moment, the reptilian faunus could easily tell the brunette was blushing and Ilia's heartbeat skyrocketed.
"Thanks, Ilia," the beaming girl said.
"No problem... um..."
It was at that moment that a freezing cold panic set into Ilia's entire being as a mortifying thought finally dawned on her.
Oh my god, I never learned this girls name!
The pony tailed faunus', "Um," hung in the air for what felt like forever as her mind tried and failed multiple times to think of a way out of this incredibly awkward scenario. Ilia had met this girl several times now! She'd spent all morning training with her! How had asking her name never crossed the chameleon girls mind!?
While Ilia faced an internal breakdown, the confused rabbit faunus just stared at the mentally malfunctioning girl in front of her. Then her honey colored eyes lit up in epiphany. "Oh right!" she said in surprise, "I never introduced myself, did I? Sorry about that."
The spotted girls poor brain was in the middle of a metaphorical reboot when the other faunus' hands wrapped around her own. "I'm Carmella," the long eared faunus continued, shaking the chameleon girls hand, her warm yellow eyes gazing deeply into Ilia's blue ones. "Carmella Lindt, but my friends just call me Carm."
All that talk about "not making all this about romance" seemed to dribble out Ilia's ears and onto the ground. Her heart was beating so fast at this point she barely even made out the rabbit faun- Carmella's words. The hold this girl had on her was overwhelming, holding off the emotions swirling inside of her felt like a losing battle, but Ilia knew it was one she had to fight anyway, at least for the moment. Unfortunately, in the end her overwhelmed mind was only able to put together about a quarter of what could be considered an actual thought.
"I'm Ilia," was the best Ilia could do in that moment.
Carm giggled again. "Yeah, I know that."
"I'm... I'm Ilia"
"What?"
"Uhh... nothing..." the reptilian faunus replied, embarrassed, as her senses seemed to finally return to her.
The two shared a nervous laugh, but then Carmella's expression turned sad. "I'm sorry I lied to you about my 'aura problem,'" the brunette said, "I totally understand if you want to stop training me-"
"I never said I wanted to stop," Ilia responded, perhaps a bit too quickly. She cleared her throat before continuing, "I mean, I wish you had just told me you didn't have an aura yet. You know, before I beat the crap out of you."
Carmella crossed her arms and gave her teacher a playful pout.
This made Ilia smirk. "But, like I told you, it's important that you understand and accept the risks of this kind of training, and if you do, then I see no reason for us to stop. We'll just have to take a few... precautions going forward."
The rabbit faunus seemed a little put off by that. "You're.. not gonna start taking it easy on me, are you?" she asked.
The pony tailed girl scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You wish," she said earnestly, putting a hand on her hip. "If anything I think I'm gonna need to get a much bigger first aid kit for starters."
Both girls laughed at that, although Carmella's laugh seemed to show slight traces of worry at her teachers intentions. "And who knows," Ilia continued, "maybe your aura will kick in on it's own if we keep this up."
The long eared girl looked doubtful. "I hope so, but I've been trying to get it to activate for years now." She looked down at her hands with a hint of frustration. "No matter how hard I push myself I just can't get the stupid thing to work. I just wish there was an easier way."
Ilia opened her mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it. Truthfully, there... might actually be a way to awaken a stubborn aura, but...
No, it was too risky to even mention that. Also it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you did with someone you've just met. Don't get her wrong, Ilia didn't necessarily distrust this girl anymore, at least not as much as before, there was just that ever present feeling of anxiousness the chameleon girl couldn't get over when it came to new people. Like she'd said, trust was hard for her, no matter how much she might want to try.
But that didn't matter, there were other way's of coaxing an aura to life, ways that Ilia had picked up over the years. "Well, I mean, there are... other things we could try to unlock it," Ilia said, making Carmella's long ears perk up. "You know, it's not always about physical exertion. It could be a mental block or something. If you want, we can try a little meditation or something, that might do the trick."
A small glimmer of hope returned to the rabbit girls eyes. "Okay... yeah! Let's do that!" Carmella bounced happily at the idea of finally accomplishing what had seemed forever out of her reach.
"Alright then, now that we've settled that," the lizard faunus said, "why don't we get back to work, um... C-Carm..."
As soon as the abbreviated name left Ilia's lips she felt... weird. It had just kind of slipped out, she hadn't been thinking. Carmella herself had said herself that "Carm" was what her friends called her and the constantly over thinking faunus couldn't help but feel like she was being presumptuous. They weren't really "friends," they barely even knew each other, but at the same time even someone as guarded with her feelings as Ilia couldn't deny the connection she felt towards this other faunus. She told herself it didn't matter what kind of relationship this was -which it didn't!- but a part of her still kinda, sorta, maybe wanted to see if there was a chance they could try the whole friendship thing, but still she worried about overstepping.
Thankfully, Ilia didn't have to torture herself long waiting for an answer, as Carmella, without missing a beat, gave the other faunus another brilliant smile. "Yeah! Let's do it!" the rabbit girl replied excitedly, not even batting an eye at the spotted teens use of her nickname.
Again, Ilia felt a warmth wash over her, but this time it didn't feel as tainted by nervousness or awkwardness, and for once she actually felt okay with herself enjoying the feeling for once. She could definitely see herself getting used to that.
"Okay then," the chameleon faunus said, as the two of them got ready to go again, "come at me."
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A/N- There you go, our characters are now on a first name basis and it only took me just under 70,000 words.
Why are people following this story again?
Just kidding please don't go I base all of my self worth on what strangers online think of me.
In all seriousness, this is where the story really get rollings. So please follow and review! I have at least one more chapter in this batch and hoo boy, is it a doozey.