Ch 24: Vytal Flaws

Fall flew by. Spadix was enjoying her new book between studying for exams. Indi was constantly complaining about being forced to enter the Vytal Festival. Jin was shoving snacks at her to get her to shut up while Sterling ignored her. Spadix reached over, grabbing Jin's wrist to get her to stop provoking her friend while speaking, never looking up from her book, "Indi, you and Sterling just have to get me and Jin through the pre-qualifiers then you both can relax. It's one match."

Indi was eating the pudding cup, grumbling, "Easy for you to say. You don't get your face bashed in almost every match we have in a tournament…"

Sterling slid over a set of notes, "Stop being so good at what you do and they wouldn't target you so much."

The two began to squabble. Jin growled, "Doesn't matter! We are already signed up and it's too late to back out so that's that. Get over it. I'm not missing it again this year just because you don't want to. We're a team Indi, everyone else wants to. Can't you just do it for us?"

The raven haired girl sighed heavily annoyed and took the last bite of her snack before giving in, "Finnne but only because Spadix wants to! Not because you asked me to you big stupid lizard!"

"What did you just call me!?"

"You heard me!"

Spadix slammed her book closed, the two growing silent, "Could you both stop? Seriously, this is ridiculous."

She got up, Jin about to follow, "No, you stay here! I want to go read by myself. I'm over this noise right now!"

When Jin sat back down pouting, Indi chuckled, "Ooooo someone's in trouble."

"Shut up, so are you!" Jin whined.

Indi shrugged, "Yea but I'm not the one who shares a bed with her."

Jin groaned, poking around her food. When they finished eating, they headed to meet Spadix at the next class. "So Sterling, since your birthday is on Christmas I guess we'll just have to send you happy birthday wishes huh?"

Sterling shrugged, "Well, I'll probably see Jin this time now that my Mother is actually around for Christmas and everything seems to be on the mend. But yea probably you and Spadix will just have to message me. Christmas is strictly a family thing."

"That must have been boring as a kid," Indi wondered aloud, thinking about not having friends for parties and things growing up.

He shrugged, "Not really, Mom always did those things right before the holidays. And I stopped liking parties once I became a teen anyways. Felt really boring."

Jin shrugged, "I still had to go see your face though."

They got into class and sat with Spadix. Yang had the teams just practicing for the festival. She paired the teams up within themselves for now. Jin and Spadix teamed up against Indi and Sterling. With the disarray within the team currently, the unease had them all out of sorts. Nothing seemed to go well and quickly things fell apart. Sterling ended up accidentally shot with a fire bullet from Indi. Jin accidentally took an ice arrow to the face from Spadix.

Yang shook her head and walked over, breaking up the arguing teammates, "Hey everyone cool it! What's going on with you guys!?"

The teammates all looked annoyed. Jin heated up her body, melting the ice on her face rapidly. Spadix hid her face, embarrassed she shot her girlfriend like that. Sterling was trying to cool off the intense burn from such a close range shot while trying to get Indi not to touch it with her profuse apologies. Yang sighed, "Ok can one of you tell me what's going on? You all are way off today."

Jin, mouth finally free, growled, glared at her apologetic owl, causing her to switch to defensive and glare back. The dragon furious, "Indi keeps trying to back out of the tournament just because she doesn't want to work on getting better at watching her own damn back. We aren't even going to send her to the second round! The rest of us just want to participate this year! Spadix and I are going to be the ones to proceed if we qualify. But all she fucking cares about is her damn self!"

Indi grit her teeth and shot up, fists clenched, "Excuse me!? Listen Miss Hot Fucking Mess! Some of us can't solve everything by throwing our bodies at it! Some of us actually have to use our brains in combat! And I'm tired of being the first one to be knocked the fuck out while Spadix is the only person who even bothers to fight with me while you and walking Sinking Ship here run off to play hero!"

Sterling frowned at her, yanking away as he stood up. Spadix was about to try to break things up when Yang's aura burst like an explosion among them. The fire was intense and they all went quiet. She turned to the rest of the class and dismissed them, turning her red gaze back to the childish bickering, "That's enough all of you!"

They all sat back down. Yang stared at all four of them, red eyes blazing as hot as her hair, "For one, the festival is a TEAM effort. It is also way too late to back out now. At this point, you all need to find a way to be supporting one another. That said, you all sound like there are things you have bubbling under the surface that you need to talk about that you just won't and that isn't helping any of you! Before this goes any further, we are getting down to the bottom of this. I don't care if you don't want to. It sounds to me that the real answers here are pretty simple. All of you have weaknesses you should be working on as a team. But instead, you are throwing them at each other as insults and refusing to help each other!"

Jin grunted and looked away. Indi stared down into her hands. Yang sighed, "As your teacher, I'm going to say I could do better here too. I watched you all work during the bracket games and thought you had sorted out a lot of issues but I guess I was wrong. Indi, you really do need to work on being better at combat one on one. Your teammates can't always be there to save you and be a shield for you. Let your semblance down sometimes and work on being better at your awareness. It's not good to depend so heavily on a semblance anyway. Those things will also help your team be stronger at not always relying on you so that they don't end up slacking and becoming codependent like when my team fought all of you and Spadix freaked out. Your team is there for you but you also have to be able to save and support them too, in more ways than just from afar, otherwise you are just baggage no matter how much they love you."

The girl nodded, glancing over at Jin. Yang looked at Sterling, "You already know your aura is your enemy. It would do you good to stop always following Jin head first into fist fights in battle. You need to start learning to gain some distance and use that powerful rifle in your weapon. It's not for decoration. It'll allow you to hold off on using your summons and stretch your aura further, take less hits, and make you much more useful to your team when it really counts. It will also allow your team to be able to focus more on their own safety so they don't have to constantly keep an eye on you while they are also getting beat into, specifically Jin."

He sighed out his frustration and leaned back on his hand, Indi setting a few ice bullets from her magazine against his burn. Yang turned her red eyes on Jin, "You! You are the leader. It's your job to watch out for them. To help guide them. This mess, you can't let this happen. You need to be able to see this coming and redirect all this tension. But you also need to be able to notice when you can't handle it or when you are in over your head and ask for help. You are surrounded by teachers here to help you. Stop yelling at your teammates! All of you stop insulting each other's faults. You especially can't as the leader. All it will do is tear your team apart. Cool down your hot head and think first. Stop enabling them. And stop always throwing yourself and your teammates into trouble. Listen to their concerns and think about how you can help them rather than how you can make them feel guilty or how you can try to make it their own problem. That's not how a team works. Like it or not, they are your responsibility."

Jin snorted but relaxed, muttering, "yea yea ok…fine…"

Yang turned to the tiny faunus, watching her tense up, "And you? All I have for you is that you need to stop enabling Indi and stop stretching yourself so thin. You are running yourself ragged trying to fill all the gaps they are leaving all the time with all their mess and it is clearly getting to you and making you distracted and wearing you down. Learn to use your voice to tell them they are wrong. And stop hurting yourself trying to make all their issues work. It'll end up getting you seriously injured. I constantly watch you saving all their asses and it wears you to the bone and none of them even notice it. They don't appreciate that you are basically the glue holding this disaster together and it's killing you. It's your own fault for doing it and even more so for letting them. Stop doing that. And definitely stop being a doormat about it before you grow to hate them."

Spadix just stared at Yang. It was an inevitable truth she didn't really want to face but knew very well. She felt her team staring at her but she refused to look at any of them. Thinking back on the matches, she had really saved them in several cases due to many misgivings of her teammates and said nothing. In many cases, her teammates didn't bother to acknowledge her efforts either or if praise was given she was glossed over. She could feel her face heating up, a frown spreading. She had spent so much time just being glad to be moving forward she hadn't bothered to worry about it until it had been slammed in front of her so plainly. She felt Jin reach out but slapped her hand away, "I need space."

Yang stepped aside and let her go. The others just watched her leave. Jin glanced over to her Mother. Yang checked her scroll, eyes returning to their lilac color, "We still have about an hour of class left. Let's work on some of these problems alright? Jin, since sparing with you would be a rather advanced step, why don't you go take a seat and work on some focused breathing techniques your mom taught you? Sterling, head over to the targets and practice your shots. Indi?"

The girl looked up at Yang as the woman shed her duster with a grin, "I'm going to teach you some hand to hand."

The raven haired girl gulped but braced herself. To say Yang gave her a run for her money would be an understatement. 30 minutes in and Indi felt like she was bruised all over and broken down but she kept putting in the effort, unable to get her mind off of how much she had been putting on Spadix all this time and refusing to be that much of a burden any longer.

Jin was only able to calm her mind for so long, slamming her fist down after the first 20 minutes before going to watch Sterling practice. He had gotten worse over time, his role on the team had caused him to become out of practice and rusty. After 40 minutes he was shooting bullseyes and was bored, sighing and resting into Petal Thorn, looking at Jin, "Couldn't concentrate any longer huh?"

She sighed, "My brain wouldn't stop long enough after a while. All I kept hearing were my own failures."

He nodded, the both of them watching Indi fight Yang, or rather watching Yang beating the crap out of Indi. "She's really trying though," Sterling said.

Jin nodded, her gears turning, "When you have a shot, take it."

At first, he didn't understand until he saw Jin run for it while Yang's back was to them. A smirk spread across his face, shifting his weapon back into its rifle form. He locked in, aiming down the scope. Indi was on a knee, blood in the corner of her mouth, breathing hard, body covered in dark bruises and coughing.

Yang would not relent until Indi was ready to tap out, willing to continue so long as the girl wanted to. A dark shadow came over Yang and as the women turned, Jin came down with a sharp fist into Yang's blocking metal arm, her recoil forcing Yang to a knee as Jin flew over her and next to Indi, reaching out a hand to her.

Indi glanced at it, looking up at the grinning dragon teeth and taking it. Jin yanked her up to her feet, "I gotcha."

Indi wobbled a bit, her aura low and her body tired, feeling Jin's hand holding her shoulder to keep her stable. Both of them readied their fists. Yang cracked her knuckles and neck smiling before she felt a powerful shot into her shoulder, her aura deflecting it from being piercing but the blow still knocked her to a knee and sent a shimmer of yellow across her shoulder slightly. The woman turned her head at Sterling and smiled, "Class dismissed."

Indi killed over into Jin who caught her, "Whoa."

Sterling walked over, Yang throwing her duster back on, "I think towards the end there, you guys might have started to get it. I'll continue to work with you guys in class and anytime you want to outside of class. Your owl faunus is actually really good. If anything the only training she needs is with you Jin to be ready for the doubles round and maybe just a routine so she continues to excel. But the rest of you really still need to keep up this effort. Indi will get there, she's just not used to it and basically starting from zero. Sterling might be an easier opponent than me but I might get her there faster. You guys only have until spring. Now go on."

Jin picked up Indi and carried her back to the dorm, settling her into her bunk. Spadix wasn't in the room but somehow they all expected that. Sterling opted for the first shower while Jin went to grab food for everyone. She spotted Spadix sitting alone with a plate and her book. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

The owl sighed, "Sure why not? You will end up doing it anyway."

Jin felt stung but sat across from her anyway, "I'm sorry. I was being selfish and stupid. I'm sorry I'm a shitty leader sometimes and it ends up falling on you to take care of everyone. I'm also sorry that I keep making things tense for you when I fight with your friend."

She watched the owl read quietly unresponsive for a while before Spadix gently closed the book, rubbing her tired face, "Jin, did you learn anything today?"

She watched the dragon nod. She rested her chin in her hand, "Who got all the praise when we won the bracket games Jin?"

Jin's eyes fell to the table as she whispered, "Sterling but… his mother…"

Spadix nodded, "I wasn't talking about her. I was happy for him that she noticed him and praised him. But your mother is right. The only person who said anything to me was your Mother. Everyone else adorned you and the others. But who actually won us that match Jin? Who got rid of Indi's aggressor? Who got rid of yours? Who's idea saved the game?"

Jin closed her eyes, "You did."

Spadix nodded, "And you didn't say anything. You instead, absorbed it as our team did it. Which is fine under normal circumstances but not when we are all barely holding it together like this. Sterling even absorbed it as we did it which again would be fine but not when I'm never acknowledged and you all are always falling apart and I'm always left to save everyone. Do you understand?"

Jin nodded, glancing back at her, "I'll do better, I see you I do.."

Spadix interrupted her, "I am not looking for notice or glory Jin. I just want to be part of my team and know we are all a contributing part of a whole. I don't need praise or reward, I just want us to function." She grabbed her book, getting up.

Jin gently reached out and stopped her as she passed by, turning in the seat to face her. Warm arms gently looped around her, a soft whisper speaking against her side, "Little Bird, we all feel awful for what we have done. We spent the last of class getting pummeled trying to get better and we will continue to put in efforts until we are better. We never want to keep doing that to you or each other."

Jin let out a breath and continued, finally sharing her own sad secrets with her beloved, "I was always by myself until I got here. Even with a home full of love and siblings I kept away from others and recklessly used my semblance because it can't be turned off anyway. When my brother was little and we were playing, my semblance unlocked and he was rushed to a hospital because I cut through his chest all the way to the bone when my recoil threw him over the loft down off the second story into a glass table. I was so guilt ridden and scared of things I never depended on others or trusted myself again. I went through combat training, scaring everyone away and refusing to work with others because people get hurt around me and they made sure I knew it. Now all I know how to do is rush in and focus on smashing through things because trying to be anything else is scary and scary makes me angry. I deflect onto others when I'm scared and angry and I'm sorry. But I swear I'm going to do everything I can to do better no matter how hard it gets. For you, for Sterling, for Indi. for Bao."

Spadix stood there listening. She reached gently and ran her talons through Jin's hair, "You are so hopeless."

She felt Jin relax and reached, grabbing one of the plates, "Want help?"

Jin nodded, grabbing the rest and walking with the owl back, "Jin, what I want the most is to see you change into a better leader. If the rest takes more time to happen than that's fine but it will never get there if you can't get there. Ok? I just need you to be trying your best alright?"

The dragon nodded and smiled, leaning over and kissing her cheek. When they entered, Indi was still passed out. Sterling was out of the shower taking a plate. He set Indi's in the mini fridge under the desk and sat on the floor, "Hey Spadix? Thanks for doing your best with all of us. Sorry we have been such a pain for almost two years. We are going to work on it."

She nodded and sat on the edge of her bed, Jin sitting in front of her on the floor with her plate, leaning back into the owl's legs to eat. "You'd better. I didn't save you all at the bracket games to be put through all this hell."

The team laughed and Sterling tossed her his chicken, thanking her for that in hindsight and apologizing.