Arslan contemplated using her rope dart, she really did. But she decided that she was far too fucking angry to let her wrath be diluted by a weapon. She hadn't had a chance to vent in months. Months! Like she would dare let this chance be impeded. She always preferred using her aura augmented fist technique anway. She knew that it's name was "Fist of the Blazing Lion", but that sounded like something some poor weeb would say before flailing his arms around like a fool.
She let her aura flow like lava, slowly coating her limbs. The familiar blazing bright glow was comforting to the martial artist. It meant she was strong. She snapped into her stance, her eyes locking on to her unfortunate victim. The beowulf ran forward, unaware of just who it was picking a fight with. Arslan took a deep breath in, her muscles tensing.
Two, one, She counted off, measuring the distance. NOW! She lunged forward, her first fist swinging with the full force of her body behind it. It made contact, snapping the grimm to the side and sending it tumbling. Arslan spun, dropping an ax kick onto it's neck. The very important bone structure shattered under the blow. Arslan looked up as a shadow crossed over her. A beowulf reared up on its hind legs. Slamming down, it brought its claws upon the lioness. Arslan raised her hands in a cross block, letting her aura tank the heavy blow. She actually buckled under the force of the beowulf. WIth a grunt that bordered on a roar, Arslan pushed back, knocking the wolf's guard wide open. Arslan pounced, unloading a flurry of blows into the monster's underbelly. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten blasts of aura infused knuckles pulverised their way through the monster grimm.
It was dead by the third blow, it's large intestine bursting under the impact. The grimm's eyes bulged as it fell over, kneeling in its death.
Arslan pulsed her semblance again, keeping track of the battle. Four signatures of grimm, two approaching on her left. Jaune was engaged with one, his strange aura a solid anchor point for her semblance, given its uniqueness.
Arslan was about to turn to engage the two flankers when a flash of silver cut past her eyes. Arslan turned briefly to see Jaune land on his feet, clearly having just thrown the knives. Arslan raised her eyebrows in surprise, before turning around to kick another bastard in the face. It's snout crumpled under the blow. The martial artist decided that that amount of damage wasn't enough, so she proceeded to wrap her arm around the beowulf's neck, snapping upwards. Arslan let out a sigh, recentering herself.
A growl came from behind her, causing her to snap to the side, looking at the charging beowulf, frothing at the mouth. Arslan back pedaled, taking her basic, instinctive combat form. Hands up, feet wide, center lowered. She ran the pattern in her head in a moment, her body following the command. Damn it, I'm so used to having Bolin or Reese right next to me. She thought, metnally berating herself for not adjusting to the scenario at hand
The beowulf was almost upon her, just within striking range of its massive paws, or equally large maw of teeth.
There was a small popping sound? Yeah, like the kind in your ears. There was a popping sound as a shadow suddenly appeared over her. Bits of debris and organic plant material that seemed like moss fell from the shadow, like a small bomb of moss was detonated. Jaune had suddenly appeared, his sword descending down with a reversed grip as he fell. The beowulf looked up, rearing onto its hind legs to meet its foe. Jaunes blade cut through an arm that dared to impede his deadly descent. The beowulf screamed, reeling back from the ranger. Jaune landed with the softest little thud. His blade cocked back and grunted as his sword bisected into the grimm's stomach, the full swing of his body powering the strike. The grimm collapsed, gripping it's bleeding stomach.
Jaune turned to Arslan, breathing just a little heavily and his face full of concern. "Are you ok?" Jaune asked his friend.
Arslan let out a breath, nodding. "Yeah, I'm good." She said, closing her eyes. Her semblance pulsed once more, turning the whole world black and white. All of it became monochrome except for her strange companion, bathed in the dull, sunless yellow glow. Next to it, the grimm's gaping pitch black form suddered. Arslan leapt forward, her fist absolutely demolishing the monster's skull. Jaune turned, calm and collected, as though the sudden attack was expected. "Thank you, Arslan." Jaune nodded, his voice even and smooth as water.
HOLY SHIT, DID YOU SEE HER ABSOLUTELY TOTAL THAT BASTARD! A yelled, his head getting whiplash from the blurred melee fighter's lunge. Jaune agreed, turning to look at the carnage.
That. Jaune started, looking at the splattering that had plastered itself onto the nearby trees. That was impressive.
That is concerning. B corrected. We didn't even see her move. Just imagine if that was aimed at us.
A gave a snort at the idea. Pffft, like we would have to fight her. She's our ally. A sniggered. Jaune blinked, a myriad of color themed people flashing behind his eyelids. Red, white, yellow, green and bronze.
We thought that they were our allies too. Jaune countered solemnly. Look where we are now.
A shut up, his mouth souring with the presented argument.
Jaune turned to his companion. "Are you ok?" Jaune asked, his voice betraying nothing of his internal battling. Arslan nodded, letting out a huff with a shudder.
"Yeah." She breathed, taking a moment to regain control of her breath. "I'm good." She let out a sigh of contentment. The bright glowing aura around her fists dimmed and faded away into nothing. Jaune sheathed his sword, letting the blade disappear into the miraide of handels in his quiver/ duffle thing. Arslan's head tilted to the side as the handle became indistinguishable from the dozen or so completely unique and somehow equally indistinguishable set of handles. The quiver it seemed was a cylinder of some material wrapped in two layers. A thick burlap material, blotted and grey covered the entirety of the quivers frame. The top half had a fur wrapping, a deeper grey that almost seemed to match his cloak. Arslan blinked, calculating the length of the quiver. It was only about two feet long, maybe shorter. The sword that she had seen Jaune use was certainly longer than that, by probably a foot or so. Arslan opened her mouth, only to close it again. How does his sword fit in there? She wondered, confused. By all accounts, it defied every law of physics she knew of. Perhaps it's a semblance?
Jaune looked around, scanning for a second wave of grimm. He noticed Arslan's confused staring.
"Is something the matter, Ms. Arslan?" Jaune asked in his eternally calm manor. Arslan shook her head.
"No, nothing's wrong per say. I was just wondering how your sword fit in your, uh, I'm going to call it a quiver?" Arslan said, pointing to the handel and arrow-filled hoster strapped to Jaunes' back. Jaune turned his head to look at the object in question. Returning his gaze to Arslan, he shrugged.
"To be honest, I have no clue." Jaune admitted. "It's bigger than it looks, I suppose."
That's… that's not how space works. Arslan thought to herself, taking a moment to consider just exactly what Jaune must have been carrying. She saw several sword handles that betrayed rather long blades, at least two spear handles and what could have been a double handed ax? She wasn't entirely sure, but had spend enough time around weapons to recognize what the handles might belong to. With a quick count, Arslan could point out about seventeen unique handles, but it was like trying to follow a rock under a shifting set of bowls: easy to lose, as the handles shuffled and rearranged themselves with every movement of their wielder.
That just posed another question for the lioness. "How many weapons do you have in there, anyway?" She asked the ranger.
Jaune refocused his attention. "I-" He stopped, pausing to think on the question. "I've forgotten." He admitted after a moment, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I suppose I can count them once we get back to your room." Jaune said, turning in the opposite direction of the town. Arslan stared at him, her confusion only being fueled more and more.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
Jaune turned. "I was going to go find some food…" he started, trailing off. Arslan snorted, crossing her arms with a smile.
"Really?" She asked, a wide grin on her face. "You were going to find some food."
Jaune shrunk under the scrutiny. "I mean, yes?" He asked.
"In the woods?" She probed, her eyebrows raising. Admittedly, this was funny to her. She was trying very hard, and failing, to not smile. Sure she was confused, but at least it was kind of funny. It was like her fellow blonde had forgotten that there was a town less than a five minutes walk away from them.
Jaune at least looked a little abashed. "Right, I knew that." He said, stopping in place for a moment. "Do you still want to go on a walk?" The blonde asked.
That's something normal people do, right? Jaune asked.
B shrugged. I have no idea. I think so?
A looked around at the dark forest, only glinting dully from the recent rain. I dunno He questioned. Offering to take a girl you've just met into the dark forest? That sounds kind of sus to me. A said. B took a breath in.
I cannot express how much physical pain that you put me in, you know that right?
A laughed, and Jaune, seeing that they were not going to be any help, turned them out. Arslan considered it. A walk through the forest might be peaceful, and lord knows that a few moments to herself would be beneficial. Jaune seemed quiet enough, as though he didn't even exist half the time.
"Sure, why not?" The lioness answered with a shrug, walking up to Jaune. "Well?" She asked, looking the scarred blonde in the eyes.
"Lead the way."
Jaune gulped, his eyes locked in on those sage green-grey orbs. They were an odd color, at least for green eyes. A dullish green, similar to the shade one might find on a rock like Chorite, or epidote, flecked with bits of lion's gold. Jaune hadn't ever seen that particular shade of eye color, and he had seen a wide, wide variety. From Cat yellow to pink to lilac to silver even.
You should start moving. She's staring at you. B commented, not even looking up from his newspaper.
Jaune nodded, startled at the realization that he was, indeed, staring. That's probably a little uncomfortable. And strange. Jaune thought to himself as he mechanically turned to face deeper in the woods. He forced himself to take one step in front of the other, letting the stiff awkwardness ebb away with the movement. He heard Arslan walk next to him, her feet making wet squelching sounds as she stepped through the mud and wet ground.
Arslan couldn't help but look at Jaune's feet, just to see if they left bookmarks. They did, which was odd considering that they made no sound to indicate he was even touching the ground.
Arslan let her gaze drift up to his face, taking in the sheer absurdity of his garb. Painted whites gave way to ashen plaster and worn dulled metal scrapped together from clearly different sets. Steel enforced pants, bronze vambraces and pauldrons, a cracked breastplate, all poorly hidden by a weathered cloak.
"So, How long have you been on your… exodus?" Arslan asked, tentatively. The lioness watched Jaune's expression carefully, seeking answers that he might not say out loud.
Jaune stared ahead, his gaze losing itself in the deep greens of the forest. He thought on that question. Surely it could not have been more than two months, perhaps a quarter less that. But Jaune felt… Old.
No, not old. Old was not the right word. Old implied age, experience, growth.
Have I grown? Jaune asked himself. How old have I become, in my endless dreams? Or have I even aged at all?
Neither A or B had an answer for that question. Jaune cast his eyes down, looking at his scratched and weathered armor.
I cannot deny that I am not the same, but have I aged? Have I changed? Surely I must have.
You have. B said, standing up from his stool. A basic thing, worked from wood. Change is undeniable, so why question it?
Jaune chewed on that, his attention turning to a great old tree next to him. It had cracked down the center, growing and splitting into two separate trunks. Surely it had changed. No tree grows like that without some extreme trauma. Perhaps lightning? Or something equally as sudden and destructive.
It was an ugly tree, to be sure. But yet it stood, scarred and perhaps even broken.
Because I fear what I may become. Jaune answered after a while. Turning away, he faced his cocoa colored companion.
"It has been a long time. At least a month, but it has felt like much more." he answered, as honestly as he could.
Arslan watched her companion's face with great interest as she posed her question. His face shifted to something akin to loss. Pain, and she could see the lines in his face that belonged to someone much older than him. Somewhere with her observation if shifted, softening and unfocusing, it spoke of confusion and questioning. His lips moved without sound, his mask of a face seemed almost untranslatable, and it was only with the movement of his mouth that Arslan would have even noticed the other little changes in his face
How old have I become-have I even aged at all? Arslan made out, stringing the words together. Arslan watched him as his eyes dulled and became downcast. The expression was so similar to his standard resting face that it might not have changed at all. Even Arslan, a veritable expert at reading people, struggled to make out the subtle shifts in his eyes, the tightening of his jaw. It was unnatural. No human
Had he forgotten? Arslan thought, mournfully bemoaning the thought. Had he forgotten how emotions felt on his face? That was concerning. Eventually he seemed to settle on an answer to her question.
"It has been a long time. At least a month, but it has felt like much more." He said, the croak in his voice betraying exactly how much more it must have felt like. Eons of strife were laced, hidden in the weaving of his words. Weight that could collapse buildings, much less spirits, veiled in a cool misted tone. Arslan's jaw clenched as her eyes momentarily widened. OK then. She thought, turning away to look ahead at their path. Changing topic, because that is something I'm not touching with a ten foot stick.
"Why do you ask, Ms. Arslan?" Jaune asked in return, turning his head slightly to look at the dark skinned blonde.
"Curiosity." Arslan admitted shamelessly. "Small talk. And a bit of a desire to know at least a little more than just the name of my new school mate." She said with a shrug. "Speaking of which, why Haven? Most transfers between Beacon often go to Atlas."
She's wrong, but ok. B said, looking through his newspaper with the sound of a flipping page. Most Beacon students go to Haven, and vice versa.
Jaune nodded, remembering the research he had done. It wasn't a vast majority, but some 40-50% of transfers were between the two schools. Now, admittedly, there were very few transfers, so one student could completely change that statistic.
"Most students go to Haven, not Atlas." jaune corrected, his voice monotone. Arslan turned to him, partially startled that she was corrected, and partially interested that he had decided to correct her.
Not many people dared or bothered to correct her, and more often than not, she did not need correcting. She was smart enough to be right most of the time.
"Is that so?" She asked, her voice hiding the anger and embarrassment at being called out like that pretty well. Jaune looked away, refocusing on the path ahead of them.
"It is." he said after a moment, as though he was weighing his words. "But if you must know, it was on the recommendation of a professor of mine."
Arslan nodded, returning her gaze to where Jaune was looking. Ahead. They walked, Arslan's boots padding through the wet, compared to Jaune's silent footsteps.
Arslan was about to ask about the strange phenomena when jaune suddenly stopped. Arslan raised an eyebrow, turning to see what had intrigued the stoic ranger so much. Jaune had turned to a tree, gently reaching out to the tree.
Arslan's head tilted as she walked up to peer over the blonde's shoulder. "What is it?" She dared to ask.
Jaune peeled something from the bark, tutting softly, like he was coaxing some wild animal out of its den. "Tuck, tuck, tuck, Easy." He said, his fingers dexterously removing the… whatever it was from the tree. "Easy does it now."
Jaune carefully removed the thing from the tree, cupped and hidden in his palms. He was smiling slightly, the faintest etching of a curve in his lips.
They looked cracked and dry to the lioness. Jaune opened his clasped hands to reveal a patch of blooming moss, beautiful teal blue color dots, almost like a mold blanketed the green stuff.
Arslan smiled, relaxing at the sight. "It's beautiful." She admitted. Her eyes met Jaunes, looking away from the moss. "What is it?"
"Blooming Trollskin." jaune answered. "My sister liked growing it on the oak tree." Jaune smiled, looking down at the Trollskin. His smile faltered as he remembered that Rose was an Arc still. "Well, not my sister. Not really, anymore."
Arslan took note of that. Anymore. That had some concerning implications. She opened her mouth, about to ask if he was a Thrys, Abandoned Child. Not quite the same as orphan, which was Tryllogh, which also translated to abandoned child. But Thrys was closer to bastard, or disowned. She managed to bite her tongue before the words spilled out of her mouth. It was probably not best that she brought up that topic yet. For a later date.
"So," Jaune said, changing the subject and tucking the Trollskin away in a pocket somewhere. "What happened in the Inn?" he asked.
Arslan sighed, giving his a stink eye. "Do you really want to know?" She asked, crossing her arms and squaring up her shoulders. Jaune considered his options.
Option one: Dare to ask, and possibly get his ass punched by the big strong scary monk lady.
Option B: Say no, drop the topic, and hopefully go back and eat some actual food.
ONE! A practically yelled from his couch. I want the strong scary monk lady to kick my ass
Jaune gave A an unimpressed look. A, it would be my ass she's kicking, not yours. He corrected. And B,
Yes? B looked up from his newspaper.
Not you. Just listing. Jaune waved him off. B nodded, looking back down at his paper. And B, we can still go and eat at the inn.
But Strong Monk Lady! A countered, gesturing from the couch at Arslan.
Jaune let out a breath, exasperated at his mental renters. "I'm going to regret it." Jaune said with a sigh. "But sure, I want to know."
Arslan gave a huff at that, her face breaking out into a grin that was somewhere between relief, exasperation, amusement and sarcasm. "Alright, but you got to sit through the entire rant. No running off half way through." she said, uncrossing her arms and walking to meet Jaune at his shoulder. The two walked side by side as Arslan moved her head to the left and right, cracking her neck with a pop. "Just remember, you brought this on yourself."
Jaune nodded in difference. "I know," he said. He had spent enough time with his sisters to know when to shut up and listen. This was one of those times.
Arslan took in a deep breath, and let it go through her nose. "Where do I start?" She asked, shaking her head. "Well, I suppose the start is a good place."
"My team, team ARBN, consists of me, Reese Chloris, Bolin Hori, and Nadir Shiko. They're… fine i guess." Arslan admitted.
Green Skater Girl, Blue, and Pink. jaune identified in his head, giving a hum to indicate for Arslan to continue.
Arslan made a face, as though she was chewing on a particularly harsh fact. "Reese lacks drive and ambition." She said after a moment. "She had an abundant amount of energy, but just goes with the flow, never really taking initiative to do anything. I have to tell her to do everything. Go do your homework, Reese. Come train with me, Reese. Reese, let's go outside into Mistral. I mean, she never complains about it. Never puts up a fight about it, but just wouldn't ever do it if she wasn't told. She's either at the skate park or on her scroll playing some stupid game!" Arslan ranted, her steps becoming heavier as she let her anger seep out.
Jaune nodded sagely. "And the rest of your team?" he probed. Arslan groaned, burying her face in her hands. "You have no idea." She grumbled, her hands pulling down on her mocha skin. "Nadir is equally as bad, just in a different way." She started. Her face played with several emotions, mostly anger and frustration, but also relief that she had a chance to release her woes upon someone. "I feel really bad about complaining about Nadir, because I'm pretty sure he's autistic or something, but god damn! The boy is the most insecure control freak I've ever met!" She practically yelled into the sky, her voice reverberating around the trees and sending a flock of bush pygmies flying into the sky. "His room is perfectly organized, down to the pencil shavings, and even moving the smallest things sends him into a spiraling panic, scrambling to fix it. He wakes up every day at seven fifteen, goes to the common room, flips the light switch six times, and then organizes the bookshelf. He spends hours, heck, days even locked up in his room after that doing god knows what." Arslan continued. "He's just so… strange. Half his actions make no sense, he's constantly on edge and shaky, particularly when he's out in public. I feel really bad bad mouthing him like this, I really do." Arslan assured Jaune, putting her hands to her chest. "But Nadir drives me up a wall some days. He doesn't mean to, and he is the nicest boy, but still." Arslan groaned. "He manages some days. He really does."
Jaune nodded again. "And Blue- I mean Bolin?" Jaune dared to ask.
Arslan groaned loudly. "He is, by far, the worst of them." She growled, seething with rekindled anger. "Bolin has been with me since the beginning, since the day i first went to the Monestary." Arslan rememniced, her face softening upon thinking about those better simpler days
Jaune blinked, his brow furrowing. He gave Arslan a once over. "That really shouldn't surprise me." He muttered. Arslan turned to look at him.
"What?" She asked, making sure that she hadn't missed anything the ranger had said. Jaune shook his head. "Nothing. Continue?" he asked of the lioness. She nodded, continuing her rant.
"He managed to end up in every one of my classes, and later on my team. I suppose that should have made me happy, knowing that a friend was with me. Or at least someone i know was on my team." Arslan surmised with a sigh. "But he is the most infuriating, hypocritical person I have ever met." She said, the sentence turning into a growl as any kindness from strolling down memory lane dissipated into the air. "He constantly, constantly questions my decisions, thinks that his ideas are better than mine, constantly tries to prove his dominance over me, ever since our monastery days. Gives these passive aggressive remarks to everyone that I'm sure that he thinks are helpful. He gives out "advice" constantly-" Arslan said, putting hand quotes around the word advice. "In this stupid phrasing that sounds like it was either pulled straight out of a fortune cookie, or some old kung fu movie by the old dude."
Jaune raised his eyebrows, his head tilting in interest. This team sounds kind of dysfunctional. He thought.
To be fair, this is Arslan complaining, so she naturally wouldn't tell us about the good parts of her teammates, which I am sure there are. B reasoned.
Jaune tilted his head, considering the logic. Yeah, that checks out. Mom never had anything good to say about Dad after they had a spat.
"And even worse he doesn't even take his own advice!" Arslan yelled out in frustration. "If you're going to model your entire speech pattern after the old wise men trope, you could at least take your own advice!" Arslan let out a breath, shaking her head.
"Deepest apologies, Jaune." Arslan said, her face forming into a calm mask. "I'm normally not this unprofessional, particularly around acquaintances, but this week has been…" Arslan searched for the word. "Taxing." She decided with a breath. It seemed that the lioness had finally run out of anger fueled steam, her shoulders relaxing from their tense state.
Jaune chewed on his words for a moment, carefully forming them in his mouth. "Understandable" he started, looking ahead at the dimming forest. "They sound like a handful, to say the least." he admitted. At Least his team meshed together pretty well. Or at least he thought they did. But apparently not well enough to keep him around. Jaune looked up, seeing the sky was turning red. "Would you like my advice, or are you satisfied with merely letting it all out?" he asked, looking back down at the lioness. Arslan blinked.
Do I really want some strangers' advice? Arslan questioned herself. Am I that desperate, willing to throw away my pride? I've already made a bit of an immature fool out of myself in front of him. She thought, mentally giving a groaning deflate at that. Best that I don't lower his respect for me any further.
"No thank you, Jaune." Arslan smiled. "Your advice is not necessary right now."
Jaune gave a nod, deferring to her acquiesce. "As you wish." The ranger said. "Now, it is growing dark, and I was promised a bed?" He said, giving a small joking smile.
"I did." Arslan smiled. "And you look like you need it."
Jaune gave a well mannered snort. But mentally cheered in his brain.
YES! He cried out with a fist pump. We actually carried an entire conversation with out fucking it up! And with a girl no less!
A whooped at the success. Huston, we have lift off! WE HAVE LIFT OFF!
B smiled, giving a light clap, a minor congratulations compared to A's celebratory mood. Congratulations Jaune. He said. Now, can we please go to the Inn and, if possible, get some food and sleep?
Jaune nodded, pointing at B. That, he said approvingly, is a fantastic idea.
Welp, another chapter done, and Finals are finished!
A little fighting, a lot of talking, and we see Arslan's viewpoint (at least her complaints) of her fellow members of team ARBN. Also, speaking of ARBN, my dumb ass thought that they were team AMBR, which they are not. I don't know why i thought that. I've also been spelling Reese's name wrong this entire time. This is what happens when you don't have a Beta, kids
on a completely different note: I have been work shopping Nadir's character in particular, but Reese as well. I have decided, which has been kind of hinted at here, to make Nadir Neuro divergent (namely OCD + something else). A thought has just struck me: I don't know how to write Neuro divergent people, so please forgive me. But back to the important bits
Nadir and Reese need semblances. Nadir's shouldn't be combat oriented, but I'm just not sure what it should be. Suggestions are apricated,
Again, please comment as to what you think happens next, scenes or events that you think should be written in, and or constructive critism. It fuels the my ability to continue this story.