I don't own anything.
"-And it is through this combination of Gravity and Lightning Dust that we can create magnetic fields. This combination is often applied to power all kinds of machines, from microwaves to military equipment." Professor Trudeau explained, carefully mixing some of the yellow and black powder in a small container.
He placed it under a small table he had brought out for the demonstration, which was laden with iron shavings. After making sure the mixing of the Dust was done right, the foppish looking teacher activated it with a flicker of aura before putting it under the table. Instantly, the shavings began to move, and quickly settled into elliptical patterns spread all over the table, getting wider the further away it was from where the Dust was.
It was actually pretty cool to watch, and even if it wasn't a very strong magnetic field, it also wasn't a lot of Dust. It was only meant to be a demonstration of the concept, to show us how to mix the types of Dust and what effect it had exactly on a small and safe scale.
Next to me, Weiss was diligently taking notes, even drawing a small diagram of the experiment with the intended results as the professor talked. Blake didn't seem quite as excited about the lecture, but she was taking notes, so there was that. And surprisingly, Pyrrha was paying rapt attention to the experiment being held. Not that it was unusual for the redhead to pay attention in class, she was a great student after all. But the intensity with which she stared at the iron shavings was a little odd.
Gently, I nudged her leg under the table with my own, and her emerald eyes snapped over to me. "You okay?" I whispered, making sure to keep it quiet enough that Trudeau wouldn't hear. The man might have been a great teacher, and quite well liked for his willingness to give practical demonstrations like today, he was also quite fanatical about his subject. So, whenever he caught a student who wasn't paying attention, heads rolled. It was kind of like Oobleck, but with less caffeine.
Pyrrha just smiled at me and nodded, before writing something on the corner of her notebook. The experiment is very interesting. It read. Taking a blank page out of my own notebook, I placed it in the middle of our shared bench and began writing my own note.
It is pretty cool, isn't it?
Yes, I've always liked magnets, they're quite fascinating.
With a quirked eyebrow, I turned to the girl again. For a championship fighter, a passion for magnets was more than a little random, but who was I to judge. When she caught my intrigued expression, she ducked her head down and continued to take her notes with rosy cheeks.
I get why you're interested, you have a lot in common with them you know. What, with such an 'attractive' and 'magnetic' personality.
I wrote down the silly joke, and wiggled my eyebrows at her when she looked up. She tried to hide it, but I could see the way her lips were twitching, trying to stretch into a larger smile as she resisted and tried to hold it in. After a moment, she gave in, and a little huff of laughter escaped.
That was horrible.
And it was horrible. So bad, in fact, that it went right back around to being funny. If only for how dumb and ridiculous it sounded. Or maybe she was laughing at the eyebrows, that was also a possibility. Nevertheless, laughter was laughter, and that was all that counted.
"That's all we have time for today, students. For homework, two pages on a Dust combination of choice – excluding this one – by Monday. Enjoy your weekend!" The professor shouted, as he started gathering up the material from the experiments.
I couldn't quite resist a groan at the thought of the homework, and I wasn't the only one. Even with at least eight extra hours in a day, homework on a weekend was a pain. Honestly, it should have been outlawed. Standing and stretching my legs after the long lecture, I began gathering up my stationery and put my notebook into my bag. When I reached out to grab the little page, I'd used to write my notes to Pyrrha, I noticed it was absent. Had I put it in my notebook?
For a moment I contemplated checking, but then I'd need to take the notebook back out and look for it. It wasn't worth it. It was probably in my bag, and even if it wasn't and it had fallen to the floor somewhere, it wasn't like it had anything important on it. It didn't have our names either, so Trudeau couldn't even get us in trouble for writing notes in class if he somehow found it afterwards.
Out in the hall, BASN walked together as we headed to the dorms to go dump our bags. Chemistry had been the last class of the day, so we didn't need them anymore.
"Hey guys, I was wondering if we could do some team sparring this weekend?" I asked, drawing the girls' attention to me.
"Are you alright?" Weiss replied sarcastically, holding one pale hand up to my head as if to check for my temperature. With my own little smile, I ducked down rather obviously, allowing her to reach my forehead. Evidently, the girl recognized the little jab at her height and withdrew her hand with a scowl. Hah! Take that!
It was a somewhat new development between us. Ever since Weiss had calmed down and become an actual teammate, I had found that she had a pretty sarcastic sense of humor. What she hadn't been expecting, was that I would give as good as I got. Honestly, what did she expect, I had seven sisters.
Anyways, it had become something of a ritual for us to try and one-up the other with our little insults and comments, much to the amusement of both Pyrrha and Blake. Both of whom were trying, and failing, to hide their mirth at the frequent exchanges.
So, with a satisfied smile, I brought the conversation back to my original question. "So, sparring this weekend?" I repeated.
"What brought this on?" The usually quiet Blake spoke up, glancing up from the book she'd been reading even as we walked. How she didn't constantly bump into people, I wasn't sure, but it was pretty impressive.
"Hm? Oh, I've been getting stronger, but I'm still not very good at fighting people, so I was hoping to get some practice in." I explained, thinking back to my chat with Port from earlier that week. I'd spent some time thinking about how exactly I could go about practicing against people, but this seemed like the best solution. I'd get some practice in during combat class, but it never hurt to put in some extra work. And besides, all three of my teammates used a sword in some form, and all of them were more skilled at using them.
"Well, I think it's a wonderful idea!" Pyrrha chimed in.
"Great minds think alike, eh partner?" I held a fist out, and Pyrrha bumped it with a bright smile lighting up her face.
"I think it's a good idea." Blake looked up from her book as she spoke, and her golden orbs met my own over the dark-red cover. For a moment, we just looked at each other before I almost bumped into another student who'd stopped in front of me. With a little cough, I glanced down and tried to ignore the heat that flooded my cheeks.
"I have to agree. I'd hoped to head down to Vale for the first Vytal competitors, but who am I to stop Bastion from improving." Weiss finally gave her own thoughts on the matter.
"We can always go to Vale on Sunday if you'd like?" I replied, and I had to admit, it sounded kind of fun.
The Vytal festival was a big deal. It had started as a collaboration between the four kingdoms after the end of the Great War to celebrate the diversity of cultures on Remnant. The last one had been in Vacuo, and Jade had even made it to the semifinals with her own team that time around. Hell, Saphron had won the whole thing when she'd competed in her final year.
The festival actually only took place at the end of the school year, but the teams from other schools actually arrived at the start of October, to make sure that the different cultures had as much time as possible to mix and get to know one another. The first of the foreign contingents would be arriving this weekend, ready to start the next week fresh on Monday.
And, as much as Weiss might make it sound like she wanted to go see the preparation for the festival and tournament, we all knew that she just wanted to scope out the competition. None of us were rude enough to point it out, though. The girl in question nodded absently as she thought about it, and I grinned.
"Alright! So, sparring tomorrow, and then Vale on Sunday."
"Don't forget Trudeau's essay." Weiss chimed in, ever concerned about the accursed homework.
"Why do you have to ruin everything." I cried out dramatically, letting my head fall into my hands as Pyrrha gently rubbed my back. The effect was ruined when I could see the way her eyes crinkled as she silently laughed at my suffering.
It was the next day, and despite various protests, I had dragged the girls out into one of the various training rooms that could be found around the campus bright and early. The room was large, with a small running track around a sparring ring that looked a lot like the one in Goodwitch's class. Dotted around the edges of the room were benches, one of which was currently occupied by the sleepy duo of Weiss and Blake.
In front of me was Pyrrha, my partner was decked out in her full bronze armor holding Miló and Akoúo in hand. The girl had a little glint in her bleary eyes that made me nervous. Even with Crocea Mors and my shield held out in front of me, I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was not going to end well for me.
"We'll go with the regular sparring rules. Ring out, surrender or aura dropping to 30% is – aahn – a loss." The Weiss said, letting out a dainty yawn in the middle of her explanation. Pyrrha and I both nodded, though, and squared up, holding our swords and shields at the ready.
There was no signal for the spar to begin, but we didn't need one. My partner and I just circled one another, before suddenly, Pyrrha was upon me.
Miló flashed out in a slash, the golden edge sailing towards my neck. I adjusted my feet a little to allow for a more solid defense and brought Crocea Mors up to block. Pyrrha didn't let that faze her, and simply let her Xiphos slide down to the cross guard on my own blade before twisting one of her feet back and stabbing forward.
If I hadn't had that miniscule moment's notice of her footwork shifting, she would have hit me. Instead, I brought my shield to bear, and slammed her weapon between the edge of my shield and my sword. Both moving the stab to the side and trapping Miló for a brief moment. Unphased, my partner simply smashed the edge of her shield into my jaw, and I wasn't fast enough to get my own shield up in time with the awkward spot it was in.
I quickly took a step back to assess the damage, but Pyrrha didn't let up. She stepped with me, almost like a dance, and followed up with another stab. I turned it aside on instinct, guiding her blade to the side with Crocea Mors, bringing my shield up into the guard position even as she brought her own up for another shield bash.
CLANG
White met gold with a mighty crashing sound, but I didn't buckle, instead pushing Pyrrha back ever so slightly as we were locked in a contest of strength. She was fast, and undoubtedly skilled, but I still had the upper hand in pure strength, even if my advantage wasn't as large as I'd like.
As I focused on pushing her back, though, the girl suddenly let up completely and stepped back. I was so surprised by the lack of counterweight that I nearly unbalanced, but that single moment of shock was enough for Pyrrha to take advantage of. Miló snapped out in a lightning quick slash that took a little chunk of my aura before I could defend against it.
My counterattack was blocked with contemptuous ease, as Akoúo batted it aside, leaving my left side open. Pyrrha's sword shifted suddenly into its spear form, the extra length allowing it to tag me in the arm before I even had a chance to raise my shield.
And so it went. Pyrrha attacked, I tried to defend and failed miserably on the counterattack. To be honest, Pyrrha fought with a similar style to me, though she wasn't quite as defensive as me. Instead of waiting for an attack to defend against, the girl would bait out counters which she blocked like she'd known that they were coming before I even began moving. It was seriously impressive.
But, as I saw my aura dwindle down to about half, only having managed a single glancing blow on the girl, I decided to try and give her a taste of her own medicine. As she approached, I took the initiative, and stabbed out with Crocea Mors, the tip of my blade lancing out towards her throat. Naturally, her golden shield intercepted the blow, and my sword skittered off of it in a shower of sparks.
I already knew that Miló would be coming at my biggest opening, my shoulder. My shield was already moving before Pyrrha began her strike, and as I batted her spear-tip to the side, I pushed. I'd never be fast enough to bring Crocea Mors back up for another strike before Pyrrha recovered, so I took a step forward instead. Taking advantage of the fact that my partner's weapon was in its spear form, and thus pretty useless if I was standing this close.
To be fair, Crocea Mors wouldn't be much help from this range either, but I wouldn't be relying on it anyways. Instead, I used my superior strength in a situation where Pyrrha's speed wouldn't be enough to get her out of harm's way. I put my left shoulder behind my shield and rammed it into my partner's shield as hard as I could, following through on the blow, knocking her over.
I brought Crocea Mors down onto the prone girl as hard as I could, but I only hit dirt. Pyrrha was already moving, and had rolled to her feet as fast as lightning. I managed to block another hit from Miló but took her shield's edge to the face again before a stab to my leg brought my aura down to 28%, ending the spar.
Even as the buzzer sounded, I couldn't help but smile. Not because of the loss, that kind of stung, even if I hadn't expected to win. No, it was the feral smile on my partner's face that made me grin. A far cry from the sleepy-looking girl who'd started this spar off, she looked alive in a way that I hadn't seen from her before.
"I've never been knocked down like that before." She said excitedly, the smirk on her face not dimming at all as she spoke. My own smile dimmed a little as I realized that these spars – cough beat downs cough – would probably become a pretty regular thing if they excited her this much.
A/N: Hi guys! What did you think of the fight scene? I was wondering how I'd tackle an actual sword fight, but I think I did a pretty okay job. Let me know what you think.
Anyways, have a good one!
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