Birds twittered and sang in the morning air, as sunlight warmed up the dorm room that KRME now lived in. Stirring from her slumber, Gayle sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stretched the stiffness out of her shoulders while mumbling a slurred "Morning."
"Morning," Gayle heard Azure say.
She looked over to where the boy was laying on top of his bed, hands laced together behind his head. His white hair was a bit unruly, as was his sleepwear.
"You seem rather awake," Gayle pointed out, yawning. "How long have you been up?"
"...A while," Azure replied.
Gayle quirked an eyebrow and shrugged, preoccupied with wrangling her hair into a more manageable form. Azure got off his bed and grabbed his battle gear, which was hanging over his bed frame.
"You should get ready soon," he told Gayle, walking towards their bathroom. "We've got classes this morning."
Gayle nodded silently, intent on untangling the waves of ginger hair cascading across her sheets. At that moment, Rember awoke with a loud yawn, pulling back the hood on her onesie to reveal disheveled orange hair.
"Gooood morning, team!" Rember greeted brightly.
Gayle giggled. "Doesn't take long for you to get up, does it? Love the hair, by the way."
Rember raised a questioning eyebrow before mischievously grinning. "I could say the same for you, hurricane hair," she said wryly. Gayle stuck out her tongue in return.
Rember laughed. "Anyways, you know what the first class is today?"
"Ummmm…" Gayle looked pensive for a moment. "I believe it's Professor Goodwitch first period for the four of us...yep. And I think I remember hearing that we're supposed to wear our gear for that class, and bring our school uniforms to change into after."
"Alright then, best get ready," Rember said, getting out of her bunk and doing a quick sweep of their room.
The dorm was still very empty; the team had elected not to unpack the night before. But they still had everything they might need or want in their small quarters, including a bathroom, a small kitchen with a fridge, a changing room, and a small television in one of the corners. The four beds actually took up most of the free space, and Rember had been thinking of ways to rearrange them for more breathing room since the night before.
Rember and Gayle's attention was grabbed by a loud snort, drawing their attention to the only bed that was still occupied. Jad was fast asleep, sprawled out on his bunk with a pillow over his head. He made a series of snores and grunts, prompting the girls to giggle in amusement.
"Yo Jad!" Rember said as she walked over to where the boy slept. "It's time to get up!"
The tall boy made no response, aside from continuing to snore.
"Jad! Wake up, Jad! Jaaaaaaaaaadd!" Rember whispered in Jad's ear as she lifted the pillow, proceeding to poke the back of his head repeatedly.
This time, the boy's body started glowing dark green, intriguing the faunus.
Gayle snickered at the fox faunus's attempts to stir her partner.
"I think you should stop now. I'm pretty sure he got the message," she said as she watched the glow intensify.
"Not. Un. Til. He. Gets. Up," Rember replied, grinning, each syllable punctuated by another poke.
The light surrounding Jad continued growing darker and darker, turning into an almost black-green color. Shifting slightly, Jad gave the girls the best death glare that he could muster.
"You should have let me sleep…" he hissed, grabbing his pillow and placing it over his head again, falling back asleep while the black light faded.
Naturally, Rember resumed trying to get Jad out of his bed.
"Hah! Like hell we will," she said as she used her semblance to cool the area around Jad's bed. He clutched at his sheets, trying to stay warm. "Gayle, could you get me some cold water?"
"Sure thing, Rember!" the lizard faunus complied, rushing over to the sink and grabbing a glass.
"Feel free to just call me Ber," Rember said as she debated her next course of action.
Taking the glass from Gayle, Rember tapped into her semblance again to cool the water just above freezing and perched it above the sleeping boy, a devilish grin on her face. Hehehe...this is going to be great… she thought as she grabbed a loose corner of Jad's blanket, the glass ready to spill. Pulling the cloth back slowly, Rember's grin widened when she saw that Jad wasn't wearing a shirt, guaranteeing a priceless reaction. Inching, she tilted the cup of glacial water.
"Hold it."
Pausing, she looked back and saw Azure standing behind her, dressed in his gear with a blank look on his face.
"But why?" Rember asked, eyes still dancing mischievously.
"Because..." Azure explained, taking the glass away from his now disappointed partner, "he'll never forgive you if you do."
Walking over to the fridge, Azure opened it to find that it was actually stocked with a good selection of food. Not only that but they had cooking pots and pans, impressing him. Convenient, he thought as he grabbed a small pan and started up a burner. As he waited for it to heat up, Azure pulled out a packaged pound of bacon, opening it and placing a few strips on the heated pan. Within moments, the room was carrying the aroma of cooked bacon.
Jad also caught the scent and slid out of his bed, hitting the floor like a sack of potatoes. Shambling like a zombie, he slowly crawled towards the smell.
"Bacon...bacon...baaaaccoooonn..." he moaned, clawing at Azure's pant leg. "Must...have….baaaacoooonn…"
"Go get ready," Azure stated, not fazed in the slightest by Jad's behaviour.
"Fiiiiiiiiine..." Jad droned as he got to his feet, grabbing his hat and gear before plodding towards the shower.
"Anybody want anything else while I'm here?" Azure asked the girls.
Rember was quick to answer.
"Ooh! Ooh! Cheese and mushroom scrambled eggs with chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice!" she exclaimed eagerly. "And make the pancakes look like little Grimm!"
"I'll have what she's having," Gayle said as she went to work on the last bits of her tangled hair.
Nodding, Azure went back to the cold storage to see if they had everything needed. Sure enough, there was practically anything that they could ever want, with the notable exception of two items.
"...We don't have any mushrooms...or chocolate chips," he announced.
"What?! But...but DUUUUUDE! Cheese and mushroom scrambled eggs! And chocolate chip pancakes! How can we not have either of those two things?" Rember wailed with disappointment.
Azure shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "We just don't. Guess you'll just have to make do without them."
Triangular ears laying flat, Rember sighed irritably. "Give me a sec, I'll be right back."
Without another word, she stalked out of their room still in her pj's, leaving Azure and Gayle sharing very confused looks. Rember was back in a few minutes, holding a few mushrooms and a small plastic bag with chocolate chips. As she entered the room she saw that Jad was now seated at their small table eating a plate full of bacon, and Azure was still cooking. Gayle wasn't anywhere to be seen so Rember figured she was in the washroom.
"...As I said, you still make awesome-oh hey foxy! Where'd you run off to?" Jad said as he noticed Rember back in the room.
Azure eyed the food that his partner held suspiciously.
"Where did you get those?" he asked, his tone carefully neutral.
She just smiled mischievously and handed the items to her partner.
"If I don't tell you, you don't have to lie if you're asked," she smirked. "But don't worry, there weren't any witnesses."
Azure watched her walk gracefully away before shrugging and adding the ingredients to the food he was making.
The rest of the morning went by fairly smoothly for the team. They all ate, cleaned up, and were ready for their first day of classes, with a bit of time to spare before needing to leave.
"Aaaaaaaah...Gotta say Azure, you're a really good cook!" Rember said with satisfaction, reminiscing happily about breakfast and rubbing her full stomach.
"Thanks," Azure said, eyeing his school uniform.
It was unlike anything he had ever worn. It was a black suit lined with gold, a blue vest, and a white dress shirt, completed with a red tie.
"So we have to change into these after class? Ugh, this will get tedious if we're constantly switching clothes between lessons," Jad grumbled as studied his own uniform.
"It'll be fine. They give us enough time to change and get to the next class," Gayle informed them. Her hair had since been tamed and sorted back into her usual braid.
Jad continued to gripe to himself while the rest of them checked out their new getup. The girls' attire consisted of a red plaid skirt and a brown jacket over a white shirt and a tan vest. Rember also chose to wear long socks with her outfit while Gayle didn't.
"Hey, anyone know the time? I don't want to be late," Gayle asked.
Pulling out his Scroll, Azure checked the hour. Each of them had been given one of the holographic tablets from the school to act as their own personal multi-purpose tool while at the academy, as well as acting as an electronic key to their dorm.
"It's 8:45."
"Classes start at 9:00!" Gayle exclaimed. "Though I do hate to leave our room unpacked…" She glanced at the suitcases still huddled in one of the room's corners, barely touched.
"Eh, we'll just get everything organized later," Jad said dismissively. "It's not like we'll be moving out anytime soon anyway."
"He's right, Gayle. It'll be fine," Azure added. He turned towards the door and held it open for the others. "C'mon, we should go."
With varying levels of enthusiasm, his team filed out to their first lesson. It was a rather short walk from the dorm building to the academic structure, specifically the amphitheater. When they arrived, they saw that many students had arrived before them and were seated in the bleachers surrounding a circular arena. The class chatted as they waited for the professor to arrive, most of them seated with their new Azure leading them, the four members of team KRME casually made their way to an empty area in the stands.
"So this is some kind of...dueling class?" Jad asked Gayle curiously.
"I assume so. The class is called PT and Dueling, so I would have to say that, yeah, it's probably a dueling class," Gayle replied dryly, smirking.
"Heh, smart alek," Jad quipped, giving Gayle his own grin.
"You kinda walked into that one, Fedora boy," Rember grinned.
"Quiet," Azure stated flatly, sitting back with his arms folded and his eyes were closed. "Teacher's almost here."
As he said the words, Professor Glynda Goodwitch entered the room, stopping in the middle of the raised stage below to address her students.
"Good morning, students. Before we begin, is everyone in attendance?" she said, looking over her class.
"Hold on!" a voice shouted.
The audience turned toward the sound. The shout came from team AMBR, the four of them running up to the stands and taking a seat by team KRME.
"Sorry we're late," Valerie said apologetically.
"Nice of your team to join us, Miss Ashe," Glynda said, staring hard at the four latecomers. "Now, to begin. Welcome to PT and Dueling class! By now, most of you have been honing your physical prowess and fighting talents for a long time. Let me just say to all the first years here," she continued, surveying them seriously, "you have all chosen to be here, so I expect everyone to put forth their best effort in this class. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Professor Goodwitch," the students chimed, bobbing their heads in understanding.
"Good. While your main duty as a Huntsman or Huntress will be to protect the people from any force outside the four kingdoms, it is also imperative to be adaptable. You must know how to handle threats with more...complex strategies," Glynda announced, her gaze still firm. "You will learn how to battle thinking opponents, as well as how to make smart, in-battle choices on the fly. You must do all this while monitoring your Aura levels and remaining aware of anyone else around you, be they friend, foe, or someone in need of protection." Pulling out her scroll, Glynda browsed through the list of students. "Now, I would like to invite Flavia Enro and Inigo Versailles to the floor to give our new students a demonstration."
As she said their names, an extremely pretty girl with long golden hair and orange eyes, and a handsome boy with light lavender hair and dark brown eyes got up and made their way onto the raised stage, the lights dimming. While walking there, some of the male students wolf whistled at Flavia, while some of the females whispered excitedly about Inigo. To Azure's mild amusement, Rember snorted disdainfully as her keen ears caught snippets of conversation.
Taking their spots in the pool of light below, Flavia and Inigo pulled out their weapons and took ready stances. Flavia wielded two pistol-swords, while Inigo held an intricate looking two-handed blade. Above them, the students saw two monitors appear with a profile shot of each duelist, a green bar visible underneath their pictures.
"Alright then, Flavia, my dear…" Inigo said to his teammate, his large weapon resting against his shoulder. "Let's give them a show!"
"After you, twinkle toes," the blonde replied smugly, firearms up and ready.
The battle started with an audible countdown, and the second it hit zero the combatants were on the move. Though the minutes ticked away, there was nonstop action in the ring. The duo were evenly matched, blow for blow, executing moves with expert precision. Flavia dodged the wide swings from Inigo's blade, while the boy simultaneously deflected incoming bullets with the broad side of his sword.
Up in the bleachers, Jad was on the edge of his seat, eyes wide as he took in the bout.
"Man, this is intense! I didn't think that guy could move so fast with that big of a sword!"
"Flavia's doing really well too. They're both skilled, that's for sure," Rember added, green eyes watching the match with studious interest.
The competition was close. Both combatants had now exchanged blows, the green meters on the screens slowly shrinking and turning yellow. Flavia charged at Inigo, looking to force an opening in his defense. Her swords came at him from opposite directions, hurtling towards his midsection. To Flavia's dismay, Inigo blocked her with a smirk and turned the hilt of his sword against her, landing a blow to her gut. Air rushed out of the blonde's lungs and she slumped to the ground. She still had her wits about her though. Gasping in a breath, she rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a downwards strike from her opponent. Fresh air flooding her lungs, Flavia leapt to her feet, guns at the ready.
Frustrated that he hadn't ended the duel when he thought he would, Inigo snarled as Flavia unleashed a hail of bullets at him. She was a crack shot, and most of the projectiles hit Inigo straight on. He winced, his aura taking hit after hit. Above them the crowd cheered and booed, some shouting encouragement while others talked smack. With a quick glance up, Inigo saw that the bar monitoring his aura was nearly empty and grimaced.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Flavia lunged forward. Inigo tried and failed to defend himself from the flurry of sword strikes she unleashed upon him. His aura depleting, Inigo's body fell to the arena floor and remained motionless. The screen showed only a sliver of red under his name and Flavia put her weapons away with a smug grin.
"Fancy footwork didn't save you today, loverboy!" she crooned.
The lights were coming back around the amphitheater. Flavia walked up to her teammate and helped the boy to his feet, laughing.
"Hehe, it just wasn't my dance is all," Inigo said, grinning lightheartedly.
"And the winner is Flavia Enro," Glynda announced, addressing the students. "Now students, can you tell me a few things that you noticed from that scuffle?" she asked, her green eyes scanning the attendants.
Wasting no time, Gayle's hand shot up first. "The meter under both fighter's pictures corresponded with how fit for battle they were!" she replied observantly.
"That's correct, Miss Mensthe," Glynda agreed. She then pointed to the duel results. "As you can tell, each meter shows us the aura level of its designated individual. Mr. Versailles' aura turned red, and in a tournament he would be considered unable to continue. Anything else?"
Rember answered next. "Flavia used her superior mobility to outmaneuver her opponent and stay ahead of his attacks. Inigo clearly has more strength, but his larger weapon slows him down. Each one had to account for the other's different combat style and adapt their own accordingly."
"Very good, Miss Autumn. I can see you're quite observant," Glynda complimented. A few more students contributed their thoughts until she dismissed the rest of the raised hands and returned her attention to her Scroll. "Moving on. I will be picking from a random list of first years and putting them in one-on-one scenarios, as has been demonstrated by Miss Enro and Mister Versailles."
The rest of the class went by fairly quickly. Two students would fight, Glynda would ask the students that weren't competing what they saw done well and what could've been done differently, and they would move on to the next duel.
"Seems we're almost out of time, but we can fit in one more match." Glynda said, looking at the clock. A good number of students had already performed, the bouts relatively short for the first day, but her eyes soon rested on an individual that had piqued her interest since initiation. She picked an opponent at random, curious about the potential outcome of the final bout. "For this last battle I would like to invite Valerie Ashe and Azure Knyte to the floor."
Valerie's eyes widened in surprise, glancing over at the white robed boy. I have to fight Azure? she thought nervously. Getting to his feet, Azure quietly strode past Valerie and down the steps, the silver haired girl following close behind. They went to opposite ends of the training floor and readied their weapons. Waiting for his opponent, Azure observed Valerie with a neutral stare, his green eyes unreadable.
"Alright…" Valerie told Azure, raising her sword and shield. "Gimme your best!"
Azure continued to stare evenly, pulling his hood up over his head and obscuring his face in shadows. Grasping his bow at the center, he separated the weapon into dual blades and took his stance, holding the weapons in a reverse grip.
In the stands above, teams KRME and AMBR amiably debated the outcome of the duel, each backing their respective leaders.
"I got 15 lien on Pasty," Jad offered with a confident smirk.
"Hah, I don't think so! Val-Val will win!" Sonara retorted, poking the boy's nose.
"Val-Val? Seriously? How old are you again?" Kyra mumbled in regards to her teammate's childish behavior, to which the short brunette responded with a heated glare.
"Both are capable fighters, as we have all seen," Rosalie pointed out, taking the middleground. "So it's best that we just wait to see the outcome."
"Nah, Pasty has this in the bag," Jad insisted, his conviction strong.
"That's rather presumptuous," Gayle said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
Jad just continued to smile, his confidence unwavering. "Trust me, if he still fights like he did when we trained together, this ain't gonna be pretty." He turned his attention back to Sonara. "Still want to take that wager?" he asked, stretching out his hand.
"You're on, Hat Man!" Sonara agreed, shaking the proffered limb vigorously.
Down below the two combatants mirrored each other, walking around the edge of the ring. Anticipation hung heavy, everyone waiting for one of the duelists to make a move. Though his face was obscured, any competent fighter could tell by Azure's body language that he was loose and composed. Valerie, on the other hand, was stiff and nervous, and there was an uncertain look on her face.
Valerie made the first move, rushing at her opponent. She unleashed a series of slashes at Azure, but missed as the boy effortlessly blocked them all with his own swords. She tried bashing him with her shield but Azure nimbly sidestepped the attack, throwing her off balance and creating an opening. Pain shot through Valerie's torso when Azure dealt three quick blows to her ribs. She staggered back and held up her shield instinctively, surprised when no follow up attack came. Peeking out, she saw Azure standing quietly waiting for her to recover.
Ow… Valerie thought as she waited for the pain to subside. For one so lean, he sure can pack a punch where it counts...
Readying her shield again, she charged once more. She eyed Azure closely as the distance between them shrank, anticipating evasion on his part. She slashed at the hooded boy, and he did as she suspected, just moving out of the way. She tried using her momentum to bash him with her shield, but somehow Azure was able to duck away. She released an onslaught of swings and blows but none of her attacks landed, Azure dodging each of them with irritating ease.
In the stands above, Rember sat with a puzzled frown, green eyes narrowed suspiciously at the duel.
Gayle saw the look on her face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Well, this might sound crazy, but I can hear all their movements and they sound...weird."
"What do you mean? Everything looks normal down there."
Rember's triangular ears twitched. "Well, I can pick up even the smallest sounds if I concentrate. I can hear the swishing of Valerie's sword, the rustling of her gear every time she moves, all of her footsteps," she explained. "But if I focus on Azure, I get nothing."
Gayle's eyes widened.
Out of breath, Valerie stood a good distance from Azure. She stayed there, perplexed that she hadn't landed a single scratch. Her arms shook from her efforts, though she fought to hide her vulnerability. There is no way,she thought. He's barely made a move, and I've used all of my energy just trying to hit him. I'm going to have to be smarter about this.
Stationing her shield in front of her, Valerie gestured for Azure to approach. The hooded boy lifted his chin and moved slowly in her direction. The girl tightened the grip on the hilt of her blade as Azure's pace quickened into a light jog. The distance between the two got smaller and smaller, and Azure broke into a full on sprint. Valerie braced herself, using both arms to hold her shield up. Azure's attack came in the form of a flying kick, right into her barrier. Valerie held fast, but was once again taken by surprise as she realized the boy wasn't trying to attack, simply to maneuver past her defenses. When his foot made contact, Azure used it as a springboard, jumping over Valerie's head with a flip. While airborne, he slashed at her back, the force sending the girl sliding across the floor on her shield.
Heaving herself to her feet, Valerie turned to her opponent with tired determination. She had next to nothing left, but the match wouldn't end until one of them couldn't get up. She gathered her strength, and positioned defensively again. Azure decided to step on the gas without warning and rushed Valerie, the girl barely registering that he was right on top of her until they were mere inches away. She tried to counter but the boy got behind her and whacked her upside the head, her body slumping to the earth.
"And the winner is Azure Knyte," Glynda announced.
"...WHAAAAA?!" Sonara exclaimed, her jaw hanging open in comical fashion.
"Told ya," Jad replied smugly, a superior smirk spreading across his face as he sat back and laced his fingers behind his head. "Pay up."
On the ground level, Azure loomed over the unconscious Valerie, his blades hanging limply at his sides. He stared intently at the girl, waiting to see if she would wake up soon. Eventually her body started to twitch, and Azure tensed up when an old voice sounded in his head.
Now. Finish it now.
Shaking his head, Azure deliberately returned his swords to his quiver. The bell rang, and Azure walked away from the arena, the rest of his team following after him. Valerie opened her eyes in time to see the white haired boy leave, another wave of blackness threatening to overtake her again. The rest of Team AMBR went to their leader's side, helping her up.
"You alright?" Rosalie inquired, holding her leader's left arm to steady her.
"Yeah...just a little dizzy…" Valerie mumbled sullenly.
"He totally mopped the floor with you. That's got to be embarrassing," Kyra grumbled with a frown.
Valerie looked at her partner with a small smile. "Nah," she said, "Azure's a really good fighter. It just shows me how hard I have to work." She shrugged off Rosalie and Kyra's support, ready to stand. "C'mon, we've got other classes today," she said brightly, leading the way out of the amphitheater.
"Azure! That was amazing!" Gayle praised as they made their way to the next class, her eyes bright with excitement.
"Yeah not bad," Jad stated, giving his friend a respectful nod.
"Thanks," Azure replied evenly.
Behind them, Rember mulled over her own thoughts privately. She knew that Azure was talented, but that fight had been a farce. Completely one sided. It didn't sit well with her. Besides, the inconsistencies that had taken place unnerved her slightly. The thing she'd left out when talking to Gayle was that she had heard small sounds during the fight, but they didn't originate from anything visible.
He was pretty intense during initiation, but his focus during the match was insane. And the silence. He didn't make a sound! No grunts, or noises of exertion. It doesn't matter how skilled you are, no one is that quiet. Puzzled as she was, Gayle's voice snapped her from her thoughts.
"Hey, Ber! You coming?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Right behind you!" She replied, breaking into a light jog to catch up with her team.
She would ponder this later. There was something a little weird about her partner.