Ch 30: Take Me To Valhalla

Jin sent her team along ahead from the locker room, wanting a moment to look over her tongue alone without any of them there to worry over it. They left though Spadix was a bit reluctant, giving a squeeze to the dragon's hand before leaving, "We'll wait for you out in the stands."

When she was gone, Jin peered into the small mirror inside the locker, sticking out her tongue and truly observing the mess in the bright lighting. The awkward flat left side, the scar, the now split tip with the left side slightly shorter than the other, left her feeling a strain on her spirit. It looked a bit gross to her even when fully healed.

She could hear the sound of someone leaning against a locker behind her, hear the slight electronic noise of a screen being swiped along, but the real reveal of who it was exactly was confirmed when the onlooker spoke, "You know, it almost suits you."

Jin closed her eyes, stilling her suddenly trembling hands and took a deep breath, closing the locker and turning to face Dove. The woman was as always buried in something on her scroll but when the locker closing rang out in the painfully deep silence between them she looked up. Jin's brow furrowed. There was none of her usual high and mighty air around the woman, eyes looking almost sincere, "What do you want Dove?"

Jin thought she had sounded stern, strong, but in reality, it came out weakly from a soul too worn to deal with anymore this woman had to give her. Dove shoved the scroll in her pocket with a burdened sigh and folded her arms, "I didn't know she was going to do that to you, you know. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

For deep seated reasons Jin would need time to really understand, she felt a sudden fury blaze inside her, teeth bared, "Oh…you're sorry huh? You?! Why the hell would you give a damn?!"

Dove held back her anger and frowned, "I've never maimed you have I? Hurt you sure but I've never done a damn thing to you that damaged you permanently like that!" Her voice lowered, "You're still my family even if I can't stand you."

Jin was a bit surprised by this. Thinking back, sure Dove had hurt her, injured her badly, but nothing even left any scars, well beyond the emotional ones. Suddenly, the woman across from her seemed uncomfortable, vulnerable even. her eyes were looking everywhere but at Jin. Jin couldn't help it, the words leaving her pitifully as if she were losing this battle of wills, "You know I didn't know he was your dad right? I wasn't trying to take anything away from you."

Dove stared at Jin now, mouth opening with a stern face as if she was about to throw some sort of retort but then stopped. Slender pale fingers ran through her own two toned hair, briefly exposing the icy blue eye under that white swoop, "Yea… I know… but you could never understand how much it hurt. How could you? You had two parents who loved you and loved each other and an uncle that showered you with love that felt stolen from me. It was so unbelievably unfair how much it hurt, how much you had all I ever wanted."

She was staring at the floor. Painful silence again. Jin didn't know what to say to that. Even if it wasn't anything anyone did to hurt Dove, it was probably gut wrenching how true it was. That strong, confident woman who was always a nightmare of pain to Jin was standing there bare of a facade, revealing her own pain.

Something that started as children when they were both too young to work through these emotions that had evolved into a grudge that couldn't be stifled inside of Dove and Jin was simply the face that reminded her of it, of something taken from the woman that could never be given back. When they were little Dove had seen Qrow around them.

She must've figured it out alone based on the little she did know but what could a child really do? Especially one that listened to her mother so loyally and with so much respect. The stretch of silence was starting to make them both ache. Jin reached to rub her own neck, "dove I.."

Dove cut her off, recovering to her usual aloof distant persona, "I might it when I wished you luck Xiao Long. You're going to need it, especially if we match each other. I'm not going to go easy on you you know?"

Jin could only nod as Dove left, scroll in hand again. Jin waited a while before emerging with her teammates, Spadix looking her over a bit panicked, "We saw Dove leave, are you alright?"

Amber eyes stared into pools of swirled color lit with concern and she nodded, easing the owl, "It's fine. She just wanted to talk. I'm fine really. It's ok. thanks for checking though."

Spadix stared a bit longer until she could see in Jin's eyes that it was honest, relaxing, "Alright, I just don't want you to go hiding inside yourself on me again ok?"

Jin felt the soft slightly calloused fingers on her cheek and placed her own hand over them, nuzzling into them, "I know, don't worry I'm still here."

The moment was torn by Indi screaming behind them as a match they had been watching concluded, excitement laced in her hollering, "Damn that was an epic fight! Hey we should all go celebrate with some food yea?! We are going to the second round!"

Sterling placed a hand on her shoulder trying to settle her with no success. Indi dove towards the faunus pair and grinned wickedly, "You two better do great we are counting on you! Try not to get too distracted with each other!"

Jin could only smirk and laugh as Spadix raced off after Indi towards the exit yelling at her partner. By the end of the evening, Indi had snapped a photo of the team at the fairgrounds, a skewer of grilled chicken in Spadix's surprised mouth at being glomped by her partner, Sterling leaning down from her pulling him by the neck into a shoulder hug his face forcing a smile and Jin grinning wildly behind everyone, caught in a laugh at the owl.

Indi sent it to everyone despite Spadix's protests to get it deleted. They were all settled in bed now, Jin still awake staring at the photo on her scroll with a soft smile as Spadix curled into her warmth asleep beside her. She could hear the even breathing of the others slumbering, could see in the darkness the still form of Indi across the room slumped in her weird way as usual.

Spadix stirred lightly, mumbling as she looked up at the dragon, clearly able to see her in the dark even without the glow from the scroll, "everything ok?"

Jin smiled and set her scroll away, snuggling in and kissing the owl's forehead, the soft hair tickling her lips, "Everything's perfect. Come on, let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

She watched those eyes slip closed and listened to the soft whispers of love off tired lips before Jin also returned them, closing her own eyes, the massive dragon plush sitting along the foot of their bed.

—-

The next morning went by swiftly. Jin and Spadix ate through breakfast, a mess of excitement and nerves. Team LVDR was also eating a few tables over but Jin didn't seem bothered and the team relaxed. Many Haven students were flocked around, fueling Loki's ego. She had traded her shorts for tactical black pants and boots with loops for Ragnarok to hang from for the festival. Dove looked the same as she did when she got to Beacon with a folded scythe on her back.

Jin knew all about Reaper. Simple in design but very effective. Like Jin, Dove's weapon did not have a ranged form. Instead, it had chambering within the staff that used gravity dust to shoot Dove around instead. Dove's hand to hand skill was also very, very exceptional. Reaper, her weapon, could fold into a more compact version if too close to an opponent, though no less lethal in her hands. Both the top and the bottom of the blade were sharp, allowing her to thrust through Grimm rather than needing bullets. Jin knew it was really because Dove had always been an absolutely terrible shot, adjusting her style to compensate.

Dove was on her scroll, a frown at all the attention around their table as she leaned her head in her free hand. Loki was standing on a bench and showing off while their teammates just seemed to add fuel to the fire really with praise. Jin rolled her eyes a bit, "I wonder what is always so damn important on her scroll anyways?"

Indi was spooning cereal into her face and swallowed, speaking very matter of factly, "When I ran into her the other day and caught a glimpse it was an article about that huntsman Qrow. Looked like a mission report or a file of some kind. The date was pretty old though."

Jin stared at Indi blankly, causing the girl to frown, "What? what'd I say?"

Jin shook her head, "Nothing. Come on, let's finish so we can go."

It was the realization now that Dove was constantly reading about her own dad, trying to learn everything he had done before she knew him that made Jin feel a bit sad almost but now all she wanted to do was forget she brought it up. It made her feel like she was messing into something personal that was none of her business.

—-

The day rolled on and as evening approached, to the couple's dismay, Jin and Spadix were matched with Loki and Dove. Jin could feel that trembling return to her fingers but this was more a mix of worry and anger. Spadix just nudged her softly, "Come on Jin, we got this."

They entered the arena, Loki and Dove across from them. Loki was grinning like a mad man, "Ah… so it's the pigeon and the lizard huh? This is going to be so much fun."

Dove frowned, pulling Reaper off her back and unfolding the weapon as Loki pulled Ragnarok off her hips, "Cut it out Loki, you're being a menace."

Jin flexed tensely, Fang Fists at the ready as Spadix set Nox Oculus into its defensive bladed form. She wasn't really sure how to fight against a scythe, having never had the experience before, but she was trying to patch ideas together as she heard the arena morphing its shape.

The arena ended as half ocean with a wrecked ship and half broken down town. Before the buzzer sounded, Jin warned Spadix, "Don't let Dove touch you."

The owl nodded as the match started. Spadix quickly darted for a place to nest into to shoot from but Loki was hot on her trail, words painfully echoing into Spadix, "Wimp get over here!"

When Jin tried to intervene, Dove clicked the palm flat plate trigger on Reaper and was launched into Jin, the sharp bladed top of the scythe crashing into Fang Fists as Jin countered just in time. "Don't forget I'm coming for you hot head."

At first, Jin wasn't sure why Dove wasn't thrown back by the dragon's semblance but then she felt those cold fingers on her elbow. As Reaper took its smaller close combat form, some sort of mix between a sickle and a sword, Jin could feel that cold ice on her elbow that clearly meant there was a glyph there.

She was clearly less coordinated in hand to hand without her semblance, having never really not had it before to aid her fighting style. "Shit…" Jin panted after blocking another crash from Reaper, Dove ever removing her eyes from Jin. Jin caught the blade in the talons and tried to spin her but Dove just smirked, palming another plate trigger and Jin was thrown towards Dove as the gravity dust slung the weapon back and Dove used the momentum to spiral out, slinging Jin hard to the ground.

Loki had easily stayed on Spadix's tail, Spadix having to block a few attacks to keep from being hit before dodging into a building to hide and catch her breath. In her ears she could hear that haunting hollow echo of Loki's taunts, "What a pathetic like thing you are. It's almost sad really. Are you so dependent on that bitch that you can only run away? Why don't you come out and let me play with you a little huh? Show you what a real woman is like."

It always was tacked on with that dark laughter. Spadix squinted her eyes shut, trying to ignore how it dug into her head. Was she feeling helpless? No, she couldn't let that set in. But she was running away wasn't she? Pain shot through her entire chest, so forceful it smashed her through the wall behind her and sent her flying to the ground outside.

Loki had found her while she was distracted and had brought the backs of Ragnarok into her chest with such force that Spadix had to fight the blurry vision in her eyes as she recovered, gasping to get the air back into her lungs and feeling the intense pain in her head that had caught her landing first.

From the dust and rubble Loki was darkly chuckling and climbing out, that wicked smile there, "Gods this is way too easy. You are so fucking weak too. No wonder, you two are made for each other."

Spadix fumbled to fire an arrow at Loki but she couldn't focus her bleary eyes let alone use her semblance. Loki smacked the arrow away with her weapon, approaching the faunus. As she swung the blades down hard at the figure still recovering on the ground, Spadix threw her blades out into offensive mode and metal met metal in an almost ear piercing clash.

Her already concussed head swirled painfully at the sound so close to her face. Loki placed a boot on her waist and stepped hard, getting the owl to squeal some as she forced her blades down harder, pressing Nox Oculus closer and closer into Spadix, "Oh you still have some fight in you huh? HAHA let's fix that."

Jin was recovering from another throw from Dove, having landed on her feet this time, when she heard Spadix's cry. Her eyes jerked around the city rumble trying to see her, Dove's weapon clocking the side of her shoulder hard, "You can't help her. Loki has two glyphs amping her aura and her semblance and you can't even get past me."

Jin stepped out of the way of another blow. Her body was getting tired. She couldn't even pull a protective aura with this glyph on her elbow cutting her off from herself. The score boards were showing she was quickly approaching her limit. But she was even more worried when she noticed the meter steadily draining on Spadix's aura. She took several more hits, anger heated before she finally took a breath and reminded herself of the things that calm her. Centering herself, she was able to start blocking and dodging, returning counter blows at Dove who took a few hits but dodged most of them. Their two different levels of skill were easy to see. but no matter what she did, she couldn't get around Dove.

Spadix threw Loki off of herself and flipped the blades into an offensive position, blocking the next few hits but the loud noise and the vibrations alone were rippling through her body violently, painfully. She still couldn't clear her vision enough to see straight, head still dizzy and now noticing the trickle of blood on the side of her face. She hadn't really realized she couldn't use a protective aura. Now the fear really sank in.

This woman staring into her with vivid pink eyes and that crazy smile had no fear. Spadix stood on shaking legs and tried to be ready for anything as Loki laughed. She threw her right ax out, easily knocking away Spadix's blades before the left ax shifted to its gun form as she thrusted her shoulder hard into Spadix's chest again, hearing a gentle crack of bone. She stepped on Spadix again, pressing her foot down into her chest and listening to that angry fractured rib crack more as Spadix's talons cut into her boot while the faunus squirmed wildly.

Jin had managed to slip past Dove enough to at least see as Spadix was shoulder rammed into the center and being crushed, the gun pointing right at her point blank. Loki fired and the dust shot blasted into Spadix hard enough to finally knock her unconscious.

Fire, it burned and boiled so hot it was like lava in her veins as her body was set on fire inside from the seething pure red hot anger in her body as Jin growled with more aggression than she had ever felt in her entire life. As she was rushing Loki, that dark grin turning to her, everything went black. Dove had sent Reaper into the back of her head with tremendous force from her dust, instantly sending the dragon into a blacked out state.

—-

When her eyes opened, she recognized the infirmary. She and Spadix lay there, aura recovered now and healing them easily. Spadix would be sore but the fracture was hireline and healed over fairly quickly with her aura replenished. Jin could see she was disappointed and also hurting but her body was too tired, and wouldn't respond to her brain trying to force herself to move to get to her owl.

Everything went dark again. She had strained herself into another black out. By the time they were both released, it was the next morning. Technically, Loki nor Dove broke any rules so they were sent ahead into the next round. As the two left the infirmary, Spadix whispered softly, "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough…"

Jin turned her chin to look at the dragon gently, "Don't be, they are years ahead of us and just better than we are. It isn't your fault."

Spadix leaned into her girlfriend's warm touch on her face, "But we lost…"

Jin pushed forward, her free hand moving bangs away and her lips placing a soft kiss on the owl's forehead, "There's always next year Little Bird, it's ok."

They spent the rest of the event watching it on their scrolls from their room. Indi and Sterling would watch with them from time to time but most of the time would go for food runs or go watch it in person to give the two space. In the end, the final match came down between Scarlet and Loki. It was an intense and long fight with both draining each other almost completely but in the end, Loki landed the final blow for the win.

Neither faunus was surprised, Spadix whispering softly, "And I was actually rooting for Scarlet…"