Belka did everything she could to appear nonchalant as she stood in the middle of the arena, examining herself in her makeup kit and pretending to admire the tan she'd gained over her months in Vacuo. The act didn't work, even Goose saw right through her bravado, stealing uncertain glances at her partner as they waited for the machinery underneath them to bring up the ice covered arena they'd be fighting on. Then again, it wasn't like it would matter how good her act was in a few minutes, there wasn't much to hide her nerves when she was about to be trading blows with the one person she dreaded having to face. Deep down, she knew it was a possibility that things would end up this way, especially with how few teams were left, but it just felt like a cruel joke that of all the people she could have had to face, it had to be her.
"Now this is a surprise! The little tart is fighting her own battles for a change, I am just so darn proud." Alaska taunted from her edge of the arena, cracking her knuckles in a brutish display obviously meant to intimidate the smaller girl. "And no ginger attack dog at yer side? Someone's feelin' awful brave."
Belka stared down her bully, trying to hide how nervous she was. Alaska had beaten her senseless out of view from everyone, and now that the brute was allowed to beat her, she wondered just how much harder the hits were going to come down.
Taking another glance at her partner, Goose saw her leader standing stock still, her arms trembling as she held Morgan close to her chest in a defensive stance.
"Don't let her get to you Belka, we can do this." Goose said reassuringly, doing a little fist bump of encouragement to try and raise her spirits.
That was right, Goose believed in her. Frankly, she was probably the only one in the entire school that did. She couldn't show weakness, not now, not when everything rested on her shoulders. Not when this was her one chance to prove everyone wrong, to show that she could be the leader BGEL needed to succeed, or at the very least, that she could pretend to be.
"Hmph, what do you take me for? A helpless damsel waiting to be rescued? So long as we stick to my plan, we'll put that stupid bitch in her place." Belka said confidently, holding her head up high and tightening her grip on her naginata, exuding confidence as best she could.
"Oh, okay, cool." Goose trailed off, waiting for her leader to continue. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to explain said plan, she leaned in and whispered. "You just um… haven't told me the plan yet."
"It's simple, you handle Vera, that Semblance of yours and her whip is an accident just waiting to happen. Until you bring her down, I'll keep Alaska busy."
"Are you sure? Do you think you can beat her?"
"No." Belka answered through gritted teeth. Despite her training, there was no chance she'd be able to match the bully just yet. "But I can try and wear her out a bit before I go down. Just try and focus your Semblance on her like you did with Ken."
"I don't know about this plan Belka, that's not really something I can do on purpose. Are you sure that's what you want to do?"
She was absolutely sure, because that was the only way they were going to beat their opponents in a fight like this. She turned, looking Goose dead in the eyes, keeping her gaze firm and confident.
"Goose, I have faith in you, so give yourself some credit and have some faith in me."
The taller woman saw right through her partner's act, she knew exactly what this was, a do or die gambit in which she was the pivotal piece. She swallowed hard, not having expected Belka to put so much weight on her shoulders, but at the same time, had no intention of disappointing her. She gave her a firm nod as the arena solidified into place around them, signifying the imminent beginning of the match.
As soon as the platforms were elevated, the contestants all assumed the arena must have been misnamed. The icon that the system had landed on was marked as 'Tundra', and depicted such an environment, but what rose into place around them was more like a glacier, most of the arena being composed of solid ice. The majority of the snow rested where the default platform met the expanded stage, the rest of it being small paths of rock surrounded completely by floes of ice. Just off to Belka's left was a decently sized hill that looked like a death trap to navigate, the foundation formed from tall, jagged bits of rock, but most of its mass was made up by ice. Rather than being intimidated by the mini mountain, Belka saw an opportunity there. If the whole arena was an icy death trap, she may as well try and use it to her advantage. Smirking, Belka swapped the Wind Dust vial she'd planned on using out for Fire Dust, already forming a plan of attack.
"Don't look all smug, a home field advantage ain't gonna do you no good." Alaska called out, cracking her neck with a satisfying 'pop'.
Belka let out an irritated growl at the cowgirl's taunt, her smile being wiped right off her face. Thankfully, a moment later, the buzzer signifying the start of the match rang out, giving her the go ahead to attack. Readying Morgan in a split second, she sent the beam of super heated Dust at her face without hesitation.
With less than a second to react, Alaska couldn't think. On instinct, she activated her Semblance, and as she did, her sky blue eyes began to glow as the world around her suddenly became more… clear. She never really knew how to describe her Semblance in another way, as, contrary to what most thought, her perception didn't really slow down, it was more akin to a fog lifting, or if she'd put on glasses. For example, the exact angle she needed to raise her blade to deflect Belka's attack became obvious, but bringing Jacinta up fast enough to meet it was still a challenge. The beam hit the edge of her blade, deflecting off to her left, going right past Vera's head, shocking the blonde.
"Hey! Watch it! You almost seared my hair off!"
Ignoring her partner's complaint, Alaska stomped forward, rolling her shoulders. She'd been waiting months for this, and she wasn't going to let a golden opportunity slip out of her hands.
Goose ran in, meeting the older teen halfway, swinging Glücksfall and locking blades with the bluennette. For a brief moment, she pushed against her upperclassman in hopes of driving her back, a plan that quickly went out the window as Alaska started to overpower her very easily, pushing her back with enough force that her boots were left sliding along the arena floor as she tried to gain ground. The exchange was short-lived, as a second blast from Belka ended the lock, hitting SLVR's leader right in the gut, the pain making her drop to her knees. She swore as Goose slipped past her, growling at the realization that she'd been played.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, I'm your opponent here." Belka declared, activating the hard light blade of Morgan before swinging down with the naginata.
Alaska rolled to the side, avoiding the blow and firing a shot of her own that was easily deflected. Seeing her opponent get to her feet, Belka shifted into a defensive stance, watching closely as Alaska pointed her gun sword her way, but didn't fire, instead just tilting her head as if amused.
"You really want to go at me that bad? Fine, your funeral."
As Vera swung her whip, Goose was forced to try and bat the weapon away with Glücksfall, only for the whip to simply curve around the new weapon, ripping along her shoulder as the spiked chains that made up the whip continued with their momentum. The first blow having landed on her was a sobering moment for the red-eyed girl, realizing that the matchup wasn't exactly going to be a simple fight. She had to get in close, but the whip-wielding woman had no choice but try and keep her at a distance. This fight, more than anything, would be about control, something Goose unfortunately didn't have much of in her life.
Doing what she could to try and keep her opponent from keeping her down, she aimed Glücksfall and unloaded Gravity Dust laced buckshot at the woman. Successfully blocking one shot with a weapon like a whip was tricky, successfully blocking eight pellets all moving in unison and hitting with the concussive force of raw gravity embedded into them was all but impossible, yet by some stroke of luck, Vera, moving on instinct, swung her whip in the perfect arc to catch all of them and successfully repel the shot.
Goose didn't swear often, but seeing her own Semblance work against her like that made her come close. Well, what else did she expect? Of course the one time someone believed in her was when her Semblance decided to start mimicking her dad's. She let out a little whine, fearing that this was just the start. It wasn't the first time her Semblance had decided to go out of control, but thankfully, no one had ever been seriously hurt before because of it. However, this was a combat zone, things could very easily be different this time. She swallowed, thinking back to what Belka said, to have some faith in herself, like she was trying to have in her leader. So with a deep breath, she decided to play the odds, focusing hard on Vera as if trying to will her Semblance on the woman. Not that she was even sure it worked that way, but it was all she could really afford to think about.
Thankfully, the second shot proved more successful, Vera trying to repeat her previous performance, but ending up taking the brunt of the shot, staggering back in pain. The third shot was evaded entirely, with Vera dodging to the side and trying to come to a stop, only to go sliding on the ice as she failed to notice they had wandered outside of the stable flooring of the arena.
Off balance but still determined, the faux blonde swung her whip once more, the barbed links of the whip's chain wrapping around the shotgun sword hybrid. Smirking, she tried to rip it out of her underclassmen's grasp, but all she ended up doing was pulling Goose towards her, as she'd also wandered onto the ice by this point. She swore, but kept her cool, and, seeing her opponent off balance, readied a kick to try and knock her onto her back so she could create more distance.
Unfortunately, as she raised her foot to strike, the younger woman stumbled, falling back onto her rear with a soft 'oof' and sliding right under the blow. Now off balance and with the chain being pulled by her opponent sliding right past her, Vera fell onto her stomach, groaning as she slipped, trying to get back to her feet.
Seeing her opening, Goose decided that untangling her weapon could wait for a moment, running in just as Vera got her feet. Undeterred, she swung Glücksfall down, but her upperclassman was ready, catching the weapon with Grimm Killer before wrapping the chains around the weapon, tangling it even farther and forcing them into a lock. Neither girl relented as they each pulled and pushed at their respective weapon, Goose trying to untangle her own while Vera just tried to keep herself in an advantageous position.
As Goose focused harder, trying to force her Semblance to activate and let her slip through the chains, something happened that she didn't even realize, her eyes started to flicker. It was a split second moment that Vera almost missed before it happened once again, her eyes fully shifting to lilac with a faint glow. Not knowing exactly what was going on, the tanned woman just scoffed, assuming it was some sort of intimidation tactic. She could see her opponent thinking light purple was an intimidating color, she was childish enough for that.
"Pfft- what? Is your eyes changing color supposed to freak me out or something? What a total cliche, maybe it would be a little scary if your eyes weren't usually red to begin with."
To Vera's surprise, Goose didn't react the way she expected, pausing and tilting her head as if she was confused.
"Huh? My eyes? I'm not doing anything with those." she said, tilting her sword so that she could use it like a mirror, and noticing the way her eyes had shifted colors. It reminded her of her cousin Yang's Semblance, only in reverse.
However, she also saw something more concerning, as the ice from the mountain on their side broke apart, an avalanche heading right for them with the pair still tangled together by their weapons.
"Shit! Get us untangled!" Vera shouted, trying to unwrap Grimm Killer from Glücksfall, only to gasp as two of the chains had hit a snag.
"I can't!" Goose shouted as she fruitlessly pulled, turning back to see that it was already too late and bracing herself for the impact.
A moment later, the ice and snow barreled down on them, covering both of the girls under several feet of snow and ice.
The strikes from Jacinta came down hard on Belka, hitting even harder than she had expected. Even when she raised her own weapon to block the strikes, the impact sent tremors down her arm that left her sore. She hardly had enough room to breathe, let alone retaliate, so she elected to play defense, avoiding and blocking strikes as they came. Unfortunately, on the icy terrain, that proved to be easier said than done. Raising Morgan to defend herself once again, she tried to deflect Alaska's blow, only to get knocked off balance and stumble. Panicking, she swung the hard light blade at the larger woman's neck, but, being in the middle of falling, Alaska didn't even need to move for the attack to wiff.
Instead, Alaska grabbed Morgan as Belka tried to steady herself, waiting for the weaker girl to try and pull her weapon free, only to force it back, slamming her own weapon into her nose and stunning her, leaving her open for her to thrust her sword into her guts. Were it not for her Aura straining to protect her, the blade would have easily ran right through the Atlesian, instead just sending her sprawling back. The Vacuan woman sighed as she watched Belka scramble back onto her feet. She hadn't been expecting all that much to be fair, but this was just pathetic. She couldn't even enjoy this, but maybe that was her fault for expecting a proper fight out of the freshman.
Getting back to her feet, Belka took a few more steps back, coming close to the edge and looking down. It was a long drop, not long enough to break all her Aura, but enough to do significant damage if she were to be pushed off. Good, she was right where she wanted to be.
"Nice goin' there, genius." Alaska said, her tone more disappointed than taunting. "Nowhere left to run now."
In an instant, Belka's whole demeanor changed. The woman stood up straight as she stared her tormentor down, a smug look appearing on her face that looked just oh so punchable to Alaska.
"Bold words considering I have you right where I want you."
"You want me here? Cornering you against a drop higher than your ego?"
Rather than answer the woman's smug taunt, Belka decided to show her what her plan was. Flipping Morgan in her arms, she stabbed the blade down into the ice below, the superheated blade easily melting through the ice. Narrowing her eyes, Alaska activated her Semblance once more, seeing that there was no rock underneath them, just solid ice, so why on Remnant would she even consider using fire dust on a glac- oh… oh shit.
Belka smirked as she saw her opponent realize her gambit a moment too late. The Atlesian pulled the trigger and held it down, sending a continuous beam of concentrated heat into the ice. The Dust beam effortlessly carved through the ice and bored down into the miniature mountain, and within moments, the entire structure became unstable, cracks forming from all throughout. Moments later, plumes of steam burst out, the added heat making the cracks yawn even wider, and within seconds, the structure started to fall. Alaska ran forward, trying to stop this crazy plan before they both ended up smashed under the ice, but it was too late, and just the added weight of her running over was enough for the edge they were on to collapse.
The two women hit the ground hard, blue and purple Auras flickering from the damage of hitting the ground so hard. Alaska got up first, forcing herself up just before Belka, who was clearly worse off, stumbling and using her naginata to help herself up. Seeing that her opponent was getting ready to attack once more, she aimed Morgan and fired, needing to keep her in place for just a few more seconds.
Just like last time Alaska, activated Angel Eyes, seeing exactly how she'd have to position her blade to deflect the incoming laser away, only this time, she saw something that was more advantageous, a section of ice that had fallen with them that was in the perfect position to reflect back at the little tart, the only problem was this time it wasn't just a simple blast. Belka once again shot a continuous stream of searing light at her bully, only for the results to be even worse than before. Just as Alaskahad planned, the beam was deflected from her blade and into the ice, striking her in the side, which, while weakened from the ice absorbing some of the heat, was still more than enough to burn away at what remained of her Aura. The pain getting to be too much, Belka let go of the trigger, collapsing to the floor and covering her head and neck with her hands as the elimination buzzer rang out.
Alaska huffed and puffed, letting go of her own sword and waving her hand to try and shake off the pain from holding onto the superheated blade, which now hissed against the frozen ground. For a moment, she didn't notice Belka's position, but when she did, it just left her confused. Was this some sort of tantrum she was throwing because of being beaten so quickly? She wouldn't put it past her, but the fact that she was still and tense like she was expecting a hit made her second guess that thought. Looking back up at the ice, Alaska's eyes widened as she realized that they hadn't fully escaped the collapse. A moment later, bits of ice pelted her, dropping her to her knees before she could dodge, before a massive chunk landed right on top of her, dropping her Aura well below the elimination threshold, nearly emptying it, and signaling a second ring of the buzzer at her elimination.
As the debris cleared and the chaos slowed down, Belka got to her feet once again, winded, but oh so satisfied. It was a feeling that was compounded when Alaska crawled forward, shoving chunks of ice off of her back, her Aura flickering as it struggled just to stay up. The bluenette was just as worn down as she was, but unlike Belka, she held a look of pure hatred as she looked at her underclassman. She didn't expect much from Belka, not as a fighter or a huntress, but if that wasn't the most underhanded bullshit she'd ever seen, Alaska didn't know what was.
"So how's it feel? Going down to the weakling you pushed around all year?" What's wrong? Nothing to say? Or is your dumb hick mind still processing that you couldn't beat me?"
Who the hell was this girl? What kind of pathetic little brat always needed to stack the deck in her favor? She hadn't worked for that, if that was a real fight, they'd both be dead right now. If she couldn't fight on her own, then what damn business did she have trying to help others? And she had the audacity to stand there like what had just happened was a win, to smirk and gloat. No, no she didn't think so!
"I fucked your boyfriend." Alaska growled bitterly, her eyes widening for a brief moment as she realized what she'd just said.
"W-what?" Belka recoiled, shaken to her core at those words. After her kneejerk reaction faded, she shook her head, rationalizing it as just another taunt that had unfortunately gotten under her skin. "Bullshit!"
Alaska thought about it for a minute. She hadn't intended on spilling her little secret at that very moment, but now that it was out in the open, there was no putting it back in the bag. Whatever, if Belka wasn't going to have a real fight on her own, then she would force one.
"A bit on the short end, has his hair done up like a lollipop, real smooth talker at Junior's, and fucks like a stallion. Oh wait, did you not get there yet?"
"Th-that doesn't prove anything! It just means you know who Sherbet is! You're not going to fool me!"
"Yer right, but your Semblance can read minds, right? That's the only way you can be certain, right?"
"I see memories you ignorant-" she trailed off into a growl, too angry to even speak. Her face turned red in anger at the obvious lie. Yes, that was it, she was just mad that Alaska thought she was that gullible to begin with, she didn't doubt Sherbet, not one bit!
"Even better." Alaska smiled cruelly, getting to her knees and holding out her hand for Belka to take. "C'mon, put 'er there partner. You got nothing to worry about if I'm lying, right?"
It was a lie, it had to be… so why was she so afraid to confirm it? Swallowing hard, Belka reached out, grabbing Alaska's hand and starting the connection once again.
She saw… Sherbet, panting, his face flushed with exertion from the unmistakably lewd and intimate act he and Alaska were taking part in. She felt like she was going to vomit, but unfortunately, it didn't end there. It just kept going and going, the kissing, the panting and moaning, the sound of Alaska calling out a name she didn't recognize. Romeo? Who the fuck was Romeo? Had he given her a fake name? Had he given Alaska a fake name? Did she even know who this man was? Her heartbreak solidified as she saw them in countless different positions that lasted what felt like an eternity, culminating in her looking deep into those mismatched eyes as he pressed his forehead against Alaska's in an intimate moment that went far beyond anything the two of them had shared.
Something snapped inside Belka that moment. She didn't know when she'd pulled her fist back, let alone swung her fist into Alaska's face, but by the time Alaska hit the ground, she was beyond caring. There was another buzzer, louder, and with a harder tone, but she failed to find any significance in that fact. Blinded by rage, she acted without thinking, kicking the recovering woman square in the face resulting in a crack when the cartilage of her nose shattered under the force of her kick.
Alaska laughed, ignoring the gasps and boos that came from the audience from the blow she'd just taken. Spitting blood onto the arena floor as she got to her feet, her fists were clenched and more than ready to throw down now that the kiddie gloves were off. But, before things devolved into an all out brawl, security Knights moved in, dropping from above and wrapping their mechanical arms around the girls, restraining them.
"The match is over!" The voice of the announcer shouted from the speakers overhead. "Due to unsportsmanlike behavior, BGEL is hereby disqualified!"
"What!?" Belka shrieked, already at the end of her rope from realizing she had been cheated on by an utter bastard who may have not even bothered to tell her his real name, and now she had this damn bucket of bolts holding her down like she was some psycho!
"Wait, huh?" Alaska questioned, similarly shocked at the results, but more frustrated than anything else. She'd wanted a real fight, not to accidentally oust Belka and her team out of the tournament altogether. "This is between us. What the hell are you all butting in for?"
Alaska's complaints fell on deaf ears as the officials moved in, getting between Goose and Vera as well, even as the two were too busy climbing out of the snow to even consider fighting. The match officially came to an end as the four women were escorted off of the arena as it started to lower, both pairs hurtled towards their respective entrances and forced back into the depths of the airborne stadium. As she and Goose were led away in silence, Belka looked down at her bloodied knuckles, her heart sinking as she realized that she'd just made the biggest mistake of her schooling yet.
What the hell had she just done?
"Damn it!" Lavender spat as the stacked pile of cans next to hers tumbled down after Nick's wooden cork hit the middlemost can at center mass, sending the whole triangle shaped stack tumbling down with a series of clangs.
With a sigh, the young Faunus set down the model rifle, regretting having challenged the young man in the first place. She had never been known as a graceful loser, but this was different! As a soldier, he had a huge advantage with that kind of gun! Her aim was never the best with traditional firearms, just pointing her arm and letting a volley of rounds loose with The Queen's Servants came so much more naturally, something she only remembered after missing her third shot in a row.
"Maybe next time, don't challenge an Atlesian soldier to a shooting contest." Nick teased, shifting the model gun so that the barrel was pointed upwards before handing it back to the stall operator, who in turn pulled down one of the many prizes, a simple blond tabby cat plushie.
He wandered back over to Lavender as she pouted against another stall. It was surprisingly cute from a woman who looked ready to cut him open less than an hour ago. He was no stranger to helping someone with their wounded pride, Lumi was an especially sore loser growing up, and gods help him if he didn't let Alexandria win.
"Whatever, if I was allowed to use my guns, you'd be eating your words." she huffed, looking back to him and scowling at the plushie. Her eyes widened for a moment when he offered it to her, before narrowing at the obvious consolation prize. "Try and give me that thing and I'll sting you."
Okay, not like his sisters then, now he had a plushie he had to find a way to get rid of before someone from his unit saw him with it. Looking around, he searched for somewhere that he could set it down and conveniently 'lose it' when he met the eyes of a small child, a young Faunus boy with blonde hair and two cat ears atop his head who, even with the ears, didn't even come up to Nick's waist. The boy looked to Nick, then to the stuffed animal in his hand, and with a smile, Nick knelt down and held out his prize. The child's face lit up as he grabbed it from the soldier and held it tightly to his chest before running over to his father to show off the cat that matched his own features.
Lavender looked away guiltily as he handed the stuffed animal to the child. He'd gone out of his way to help her get her mind off of everything going down and this was how she repaid him? It wasn't like he was a bad guy or anything, naive yes, but it was refreshing to see someone so genuinely nice for the sake of it. But that just confirmed what she already knew, that she couldn't stay around him. It was better for both of them this way, if he got close, she'd just get attached, then she'd screw everything up, find a way to make him hate her, then they'd both end up hurt. So instead, she tried to give him a reason to go, to realize she wasn't worth it and to take the first out he had.
The only issue was that he's apparently just as stubborn as he is nice. Even as she walked off without waiting for him to finish, he jogged back up until he was walking with her once more. She couldn't decide if this was annoying or endearing, but either way, it didn't make sense, he didn't know this girl, and whatever debt he thought he owed her had been long repaid, so what was his deal?
"Why are you putting up with me?" she asked abruptly, spinning around on her heel to look him in the eye.
"What?" Nick asked, confused. "What do you mean? I'm having fun."
"Bullshit, everyone gets sick of me sooner or later, it's just how I am, and unlike my siblings, you don't have a good reason to feel responsible for me. So why are you still around?"
The look on his face said it all, It was subtle, well hidden behind a mask of worry just like with Romeo, she wasn't sure at first, but she knew it well. It was a look that assumed she was unwell, that wanted to leave her behind, but knew she was too screwed up to be left alone. It was a look she'd gotten a lot lately from her own flesh and blood.
"See! You have that same look my brother gets when he's sick of me but can't say anything because he thinks I'm his problem to fix!" That… had come out a bit more specific than she had intended for it to.
Nick paused, realizing what this was about. The comment about her mother earlier made it clear there were some family issues at play, but he didn't need to be a licensed counselor like his father to know that thinking her own sibling resented her when he looked worried meant there was something deeper at play. He thought he had been helping her by giving her a distraction, an opportunity to think about something other than the problems clearly eating away at her, but it seemed even now they were all that was really on her mind. He didn't know exactly what was going on with his new friend, but he wasn't going to just sit there and ignore it anymore.
He turned and motioned for her to follow him as he walked away from the crowd.
"Has he ever said that?"
"No, but I'm not stupid." she muttered, looking away as she mumbled, murmuring as if she didn't want to hear her own words. "I'm an obligation, he loves me because he feels like he has to, not because he likes me. I've always been his problem, now I'm just terrified that I might finally be giving him the excuse to give up on me."
The thought terrified her, even though she knew it wasn't fair. He may have been a walking reminder of how differently their mom had treated them, but at the same time, he was still her big brother, possibly the only real family she had left if his thoughts about Henna were confirmed. Part of her wanted to think that he really would be there for her no matter what, but the more realistic part of her understood that even he could only put up with so much before she drove him away. And then, she'd be alone all over again.
"I'm sure that's not true. Yeah, little sisters can be difficult, trust me, I'm probably Remnant's leading expert on that."
Nick winced as Lavender turned and shot a glare at him, his attempt at humor going unappreciated in the current circumstances. Quickly realizing his mistake, he cleared his throat before continuing in a more serious tone.
"But trust me, being family isn't a good enough excuse on its own." he said, glancing over at the screen that replayed the end of his aunt's match, a close up shot of Bleka kicking Alaska in the face playing in the background as commentators gave their opinions.
The truth was he didn't know much about his aunt. She wasn't some off limits topic, it was just that his mother was distant from that side of her family, to put it mildly. He could see that, even all these years later, just knowing that his grandfather had it in him to be a loving father to his children, but simply chose wealth and status over being a proper father to her, hurt his mother on a level he couldn't even understand. Regardless of the reason, the distance between them was clear.
Lavender paused, his words ringing true. Their mother probably needed more help than the both of them combined, yet he did nothing to hide the fact that he wanted nothing to do with her. He hadn't hesitated to cut the woman who had raised them off, but he wasn't just writing her off completely. It didn't fix everything, but it was proof that she still had a chance.
"What's wrong with me?" Lavender asked, letting out a laugh that even she didn't know if it was genuine or not. "I try to bring my siblings together, and I end up ruining everything. I try to push a complete stranger away, and I end up spilling my guts to him."
"Have you tried that with them? Just talking, telling them how you feel?"
"Not unless starting a screaming match and then having a nervous breakdown when I start losing counts." she muttered, looking up at the sky as a pair of colossal humanoid shapes flew by.
Nick watched as well, the Atlesian mechs meant to serve as a deterrent moving gracefully overhead. He hoped she took his words to heart, or at the very least, that he'd actually said the right thing. Without much experience with what she was going through, it was hard to tell if he'd been helping or just talking at her, but at the very least, she looked to be thinking about it. Whatever happened next was up to her.
Once again realizing how heavy the conversation had gotten, he took the opportunity to inject a bit of levity now that she was at least considering his words.
"You want to know a secret?" he asked in an obviously leading manner, almost like a little kid eager to show off, but who still wanted to make her guess.
"What kind of secret?"
"I'm going to be piloting one of those soon." he said pointing up at the sky, following his finger her eyes went wide as she realized he was pointing right at the war mechs. "There's still a minimum amount of time I need to serve as infantry, but I've already met most of the requirements. Really, the rest is just a bunch of paperwork."
An unexpected conflicted feeling washed over Lavender. She was happy for him, especially since the boy seemed genuinely excited about the prospect of flying one of the mechs, but it didn't take a genius to know that you don't send military machines into run of the mill operations.
"Isn't that dangerous? I thought Atlas's mechs were built for dangerous missions and frontline combat?"
"Being a soldier is dangerous, if I wanted some cushy office job, I'd have just had my mom and uncle show me how to run the family business."
"Just don't get yourself killed." she scoffed, more playful than dismissive as she tried to act casual.
She knew it shouldn't have bothered her, but the idea of Nick, one of the few people who'd been nice to her just for the sake of it, willingly taking on more danger for some naive sense of duty made her stomach drop. The irony of her having done the same thing wasn't lost on her, but if anything, that just made her worry more about the boy.
"Is that worry I hear?"
"I don't have a lot of friends, Princy, you don't get to complain about me caring when you force your way into being one of them."
A friend… it was weird to think of him that way with all their differences. If he knew what she was a part of, she doubted he'd give her the same treatment. But, she supposed it didn't matter, she'd probably never even see the boy again, so what was the harm in letting him be her friend for just a little while?
"Nick? Nicholas!"
A voice called out suddenly, closing in as someone approached. Turning around confused, Nick filtered his head, not expecting his own father to track him down in the middle of his patrol.
"Dad?"
Lavender's eyes went wide once more. Carefully looking around Nick without giving herself away, she immediately recognized the tall built figure of Jaune Arc. Her heart started to race, if she didn't act, the man would absolutely recognize her, Nick would realize who she was and what she had done, and their friendship, however brief, would be over in just a few words.
"Nick, where have you been, you haven't been checking in and no one's seen you on your route." Jaune asked, concern clear on his face as he finally reached his son.
The young man's face went pale as he realized he had unintendedly abandoned his post, he slapped his forehead and groaned, realizing there would be hell to pay once he got back to base.
"Shi- I mean crap, I got distracted with La-" before he could finish speaking, he turned, realizing that Lavender had suddenly vanished. "Where did she go?"
"You were with someone?" Jaune asked, looking around cautiously.
Nicholas frowned as he looked around, he would have at least liked to have said goodbye before she left. If nothing else, he just hoped that things turned out alright for the young woman.
"Yeah, a girl… She just needed some help."
Lavender watched the conversation play out from around a corner, having made a break for it before Jaune was close enough to recognize her. Guilt welled up in her gut seeing the disappointment on his face, she had intended for things to end like this, but in the end, it really couldn't go any other way, she supposed. Maybe this was for the best, after all, it was only a matter of time before her lies started to raise some suspicion within him, at least this way, she'd be remembered as just an unwell girl instead of a manipulative psycho who tried to get close to him for her own gain.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth to not say goodbye, but she had no choice. She pulled her hood up and lowered her head, walking away before she could be seen.
"Well obviously this was motivated by something deeper. No sane person throws away a chance at winning the Vytal Festival over something small.", one of the talking heads on the holoscreen speculated. The station was currently set to some big news network from Atlas that claimed to be an independent outlet. Across from the woman sat a well-known politician currently campaigning against Jaucqes, and while Scarlet didn't really know anything about the man; his smarmy grin and holier than thou demeanor made her hate him right off the bat.
"Oh please, we all know who her parents are, are we really supposed to pretend a Gele being ruthless is abnormal? If this is how that man raised his daughter, how has he been running our city?"
"Ugh, turn that shit off." Scarlet grumbled, having heard enough.
It was bad enough to hear people talking about her friend like she was some savage, but to hear them speculate on what made her snap like it was a mystery in one of her mom's soap operas and then use her personal problems as ammunition against her father made her want to put her fist through a wall.
"This is nothing new, paparazzi and journalists desperate for a headline have been harassing my family since before my mother was born." Lumi spoke matter of factly, though while her tone was steady, the look of disgust on her face as she turned off the screen revealed her true feelings about the journalists making a profit on her aunt's outburst.
"Almost sounds like you feel bad for her."
"It's not like I'm incapable of sympathy just because we don't get along." Lumi said, her jaw shifting as she considered her next words carefully. "Still, it does show a level of carelessness, pulling a stunt like that in the middle of the Vytal Tournament."
"Oh please, like you wouldn't crash out worse if you found out your boyfriend was fucking your bully."
Lumi paused, unable to really argue against her leader's point. Silence grew between them as she properly gave thought about being in Belka's shoes. Just the thought caused her grip on Crocea Mors to tighten. Well… perhaps it was somewhat understandable.
"Let's just focus on the exercise, can you still form the summon?"
Scarlet nodded, holding her hand out and focusing, the blood from her Semblance gathering just a few feet in front of her, and slowly starting to form a familiar shape. To the surprise of both girls, the creature began to stretch its legs before it had even finished coalescing. She watched carefully as her summon started to look around, hesitant but nonetheless curious, even acting like it was sniffing the air as it looked around. Despite its appearance being vaguely dog-like it moved more like a cat, examining a new environment. What was even weirder was that Scarlet wasn't commanding it to move at all, she recalled how Lumi theorized it might be based on instinct, but what instinct was it going off of to do this?
Lumi, similarly curious about the blood-born beast, knelt down in front of it. It looked more solid than its previous manifestations, almost like that gross looking middle point between a wound and a scab, the ichor that composed its form gluggy and partially coagulated. As she leaned in, it tilted its head curiously. She smiled, as despite its gross appearance, the creature was kinda cute in a morbid way, sort of like Sebastion when he would practice sneaking up on her. A moment later, it leaned in, a wet, viscous tongue slipping out from its maw and dragging itself up along her face. Lumi immediately jumped back, falling onto her rear as she spluttered and spat as the summon left a thin trail of blood on her lips and cheek.
"Ack! Scarlet! That's disgusting on so many levels!" Lumi spat, using her sleeve to wipe her face clean with a disgusted groan, only to become mortified as she looked down at her sleeve and realized she had just stained her shirt.
"Woah, hey I am not doing that!" Scarlet said, raising her hands up in defense. Though, despite her words, Scarlet couldn't help but to laugh at the sight of her partner so flustered.
Lumi took a deep breath, centering herself, reminding herself that it was just a shirt and that she could get 20 more when they went back to Vale. Focusing back on the task at hand, she walked around the summon, appraising it as it continued to look around its surroundings. She glanced over Scarlet, humming as she pondered what exactly had changed that was now allowing Scarlet to consistently summon this creature.
"Perhaps it was some subconscious block before? The first time you summoned Icarus, it couldn't have been a pleasant experience."
Scarlet looked away, remembering the first time she had summoned the creature. That was a dark day for her, maybe the darkest of her life so far. It was hard to imagine her willingly raising her weapon at her dad like that again. Even just the idea of being that angry at someone was hard to fathom after everything was set and done.
"Yeah, it was ha- wait, Icarus?" Scarlet asked incredulously, realizing that Lumi had just named her summon.
"It's from an old fairy tale my father used to read to me. A poor birdlike creature of wax that could neither stay in the sun, lest it melt, nor hide in the shade, lest it harden."
"Eh, I dunno, I like how it sounds, but it doesn't really match my vibe."
"I suppose you could name it something like 'Bloodhound'."
Scarlet opened her mouth to protest, but stopped upon realizing that she actually really liked that name. There was just one problem though, if she went with that, not only would she still be letting Lumi name it, but she'd be proving her right about the edge lord thing. Eh, she just remember that for some other attack she'd come up with down the line.
"Hmm… okay I like that, but…" Scarlet trailed off. She actually did like how the name sounded, but it was just.. distinctly Lumi, though if she changed the name just a bit… "I got it! Ichorus!"
"That's what I said." Lumi pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"No, you said Icarus, think spelled similarly but with 'ichor' instead of however you spell what you said."
"That's… surprisingly clever for you." Lumi said with a smile. While it was just as on the nose as the name she had suggested in jest, she had to respect the wordplay to some degree, especially since it wasn't something she'd expected out of her leader. "I like it."
As the two settled on a name, the newly dubbed Ichorus let out a low growl that almost sounded like a hum, the creature laying down on its side to rest while the two women both turned to stare at it, wondering how a creature with no vocal cords or even a throat was making noise.
A moment later, the door to the training room slit open as Sarasvati hurriedly walked in, looking around for just a moment before her eyes landed on the girls. She didn't look well, her hair was noticeably unkempt and frazzled, and there were heavy bags under her reddened eyes like she had lost a lot of sleep. The two women of SJJL shared a worried look, immediately something clearly wrong. Sarasvati was never the sort of person to be so debilitated by something minor, or at least, in the brief time they knew her she certainly wasn't. By the time they turned back to ask what was going on, she had already closed the distance, having speed-walked over in just a matter of moments.
"Um, excuse me." Sarasvati spoke up, her voice small and hoarse with a clear edge of worry in her tone. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but could I please borrow one of your Scrolls for just a moment? I think something's wrong with mine."
"Of course." Scarlet said, casually handing over her Scroll. "Is yours broken or something?"
"I don't know, I've been trying to call Mom for the last couple of days, but it won't go through." The tanned woman explained as she waited for the Scroll to stop ringing, only for her to be met with the same default voicemail message as with her own scroll. "Damn it! Sorry, she's probably just in an area without reception… It's just… She said she'd stay in contact and… something just feels wrong."
"Here, try my Scroll, it's a bit more advanced so if it's a range or reception issue, it might help." Lumi offered, the pair walking off with hopes of finding an area with better reception, preferably not hindered by several layers of stone.
Scarlet watched as the two walked off, her stomach dropping with worry. She shook her head, affirming to herself that it was probably nothing, just a lack of reception like Sarasvati had said, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of worry. She knew that feeling, the gnawing desire to call her parents, to just hear their voice for a moment when she couldn't… No, that wasn't right, she could call her parents whenever she wanted, she was just too angry to do so. Guilt started to eat away at her, how long had it been since she talked to her mom or dad? It had to have been a few months at least, since she left home for a second time after confronting her dad. Gods above, that was over half a year ago, she'd been so busy that she had never bothered to keep track of how long it had been.
Still holding her Scroll, she opened it up, heading to her contacts and opening up her mom's message history. Months of unanswered messages stared her in the face, all attempts to reach out or just to simply talk that had stubbornly gone ignored. Scarlet bit her lip, any of those calls could have been the last time they'd spoken, what with the cult coming after her, or even just a freak accident during training, and she'd ignored it. She didn't know why she was thinking like this, as realistically speaking, she knew that she wasn't going to kick the bucket anytime soon, and her parents were safe on Patch, but Ruby's words and Sarasvati's inability to reach her mother couldn't help but to place the idea in her head that at any point, they could lose each other, that any conversation could be their last… and she wasn't going to let her last memory of her mother be pushing her away.
With a heavy sigh, she swelled her nerves, pressing the call icon and pulling the Scroll's speaker up to her ear. There wasn't too big of a time difference between the part of Vacuo she was in and Patch, a fair few hours behind, but certainly not enough to be too late for a call. After a few moments of ringing, the call was answered, and for a moment, silence fell between Scarlet and whoever was on the other end, their nerves stopping both women from being the one to start talking.
"Hello? Scarlet?" Cinder eventually asked, her voice shaky and quiet. For the first time in what might have been her entire life, she realized her mother sounded afraid.
"Hey Mom, it's me… How are you?" Her own voice proved to be just as wavering, the flood of emotions suddenly hitting her harder than she had expected. She wiped the tears out of her eyes, even though no one was around to see them, not wanting to get overwhelmed just from talking with her mom again.
"I've been… Good." Her mother's tone grew more measured as she responded, and while Scarlet couldn't see it, it was obvious even just over the call that a lot of tension had just lifted from her shoulders. "How are you doing?"
"I'm great, I just…" Scarlet caught herself as her voice broke, more tears flowing down her face as it hit her just how badly she'd wanted to hear her mom's voice. After taking a moment to compose herself, she continued. "I missed talking to you, and Dad."
"I missed you too darling. We both did."
There was a pause after that, the pair each reminded of the distance between each other. Cinder wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around her child, the girl who had become her sole reason for the way she lived her life, and now she was so far away that she couldn't even comfort her. They each took a moment to compose themselves, simply missing each other, feeling so close but so far away at the same time.
"Is he still at work?" Scarlet asked upon finding her voice once again.
"He should be back soon. If you're busy, I can let him know you called."
"No, it's okay, I want to talk."
There was a brief, uneasy sigh of relief from Cinder the moment Scarlet's words left her mouth. Guilt welled up in her chest once again, the realization of the stress and worry she had put her parents through filling her with regret.
"I saw your fights on the broadcast, you seemed to be enjoying yourself." her mom said, trying to start the conversation casually.
"Well duh. A chance to get some good sparring in and look badass in front of the whole world while doing it? What's not to enjoy?" Scarlet asked with a small but genuine laugh.
"You haven't changed a bit." Cinder said warmly, Scarlet practically able to see the smile on her mother's face even over the audio call. A smile that wasn't common, but one she knew all too well.
"Guess not. How about you guys, anything new since I've been gone?"
"Well, your father's been taking his training more seriously, I think your friend putting him in through his own back door hurt his pride a little more than he wants to admit."
The pair shared a laugh at that, each imagining Adam brooding as he practiced swings because a teenager had gotten the drop on him once. It occurred to Scarlet that she hadn't even taken the time to poke fun at her old man for that, a mistake she decided she'd immediately fix once she got done crying from hearing his voice again.
"Enough about us though, Emerald told me Jet took you to the dance. Has that gone anywhere, hmm?"
"Ugh, Mooom!"
Scarlet groaned at her mom's teasing question, though despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but smile. It had been more or less expected between the families that she and Jet would become an item sooner or later, and while how far that was going currently was kind of nebulous, it was clear it was leading somewhere, even if she wasn't sure where exactly.
"Because, while I do want grandchildren, you need to wait a few years. Protection is important, especially at your age."
At her mother's blunt declaration, Scarlet's face went…Well, Scarlet hadn't even shared a kiss with the boy, so it went without saying that the topic of children caught her just a teensy, tiny bit off guard.
"M-MOM!"
Goose was silent as she sat at the edge of Belka's bed alongside Whiskey. The blunt, nibbled off edges of her nails dug at the soft fabric beneath then as she fought between the urge to pull Belka down onto the bed and hug her until she smiled, and the equally strong desire to lift her up and shake her until whatever was wrong with her leader either fixed itself, or until she was too worn down to argue against common sense! It was a very close call, but it was clear how much learning about her boyfriend's betrayal had hurt her, so she held her tongue for the moment.
Belka didn't notice the constant looks of concern from her partner whatsoever, too preoccupied staring down at her Scroll as she paced back and forth in her room in an almost mindless loop. The constant stomping of her dress shoes against the fabric of the carpet created a sort of white noise that set the current mood of their temporary room, and was starting to cause visible wear on the flooring.
She wasn't technically restricted in her movements to any meaningful capacity, though she was warned not to step out of line during her remaining time in the kingdom. No, the reason she was confined to her dorm was her own shame. The knowledge that everyone would be watching her, whispering behind her back, it was a feeling she was all too familiar with, and one she knew she'd be going home to. Even if her little outburst didn't get her kicked out of the school, the other students would all be watching her, judging her, so she chose to just stay in her room and avoid it while she still could.
So, she isolated herself, only letting in a few people as she processed the shame of her behaviour, and what's more, the betrayal of her so-called 'boyfriend'. Despite knowing one of her friends was talking to her, she couldn't hear them, as in that moment, all that mattered was that name in her contacts mocking her, the word Sherbet with a pair of pink and green heart emojis staring back at her. Gritting her teeth, she shushed whoever was talking, either Goose or Whiskey, it didn't matter to her, she needed silence for this. She tapped the call icon and raised her Scroll, her pacing getting faster until the click of the call being answered stopped her in her tracks.
"Belka? Hey what's up?" The bastard answered casually, like he hadn't been playing her, like he didn't let her kiss him after he'd fucked her tormentor!
"Don't you 'what's up' me you fucking asshole!" she exploded into vitriol the moment her mouth was open.
She hadn't even really meant to swear at him. In fact, she didn't have a plan at all. All she really knew going into this was that she had to hear it from him. She hated that part of herself, and truthfully, she didn't even really know what it was. All she knew was that, however small it was, she had to snuff it out.
"Woah, where's this coming from?" Romeo asked, actually sounding blindsided.
While there was a small bit of satisfaction at the fact that she'd pulled the rug out from under him, it was quickly buried as in her mind his shock further confirmed that he really thought she was so stupid that she'd never figure out his little game, bringing her right back to her righteous anger.
"I don't know, you tell me Romeo." While she couldn't see the look on his face, she was able to take satisfaction at the sound of his breath catching over the line. "Oh? Missed my match? I should have known, it's not like anything else about you is real, so I guess I should have known you wouldn't keep your word for either of us."
She could feel her heart quicken as the silence between them lingered. Despite having him cornered and springing this on him out of the blue, the small pit of anxiety that made her hesitate to confront him at all kept her tense, a hint of fear of some sort of reprisal lingering even just over the phone.
To her surprise, he didn't yell or make threats, but somehow, the lingering silence he left instead was worse than that, knowing that the man was clearly thinking over his options on how todeal with her. A small part of her hoped he would just hang up, that she could write him off as a coward who fled with his tail between his legs the moment she figured out who he really was. That hope was soon dashed.
"Okay, okay. Yeah, my name is Romeo, I just go by Sherbet with friends, it's like a nickname."
"A nickname huh? And it had nothing to do with keeping me from looking up how long Romeo Torchwick's rap sheet is?!" she asked with a dry, bitter laugh at his half assed excuse.
Her anger started to boil over once more at just the thought. What would have happened to her if it got out that she was dating a known criminal? Did he care? Did he even consider the consequences? Probably not, he probably didn't care about anything so long as he had his fun.
"I mean, that's not really the reason. I mean, you didn't catch Malachite eith-." he rambled, catching his mistake just as she started to wonder what was supposed to be off about the surname of Malachite. However, the slippery little rat had a faster mouth than her, continuing with his excuse. "I- look, this is just a misunderstanding, just tell me what you heard and I'm sure we can figure ou-"
"Oh shut the fuck up! We're done. Have fun with your whore, you two deserve each other!"
"Don't call he-" She hit the end call button on instinct the moment his voice started to raise.
He was going to defend Alaska… the woman he knew had made her life hell, she had to cut the call short. There was so much more she wanted to say, even if just to yell at him, but she wasn't ready in her current state, and she couldn't let him see just how weak he had made her feel.
"Are you okay?" Whiskey asked, reaching her hand out to try and pull her friend down onto the bed, to take a moment to just breathe and calm down, however, Belka brushed right past her, not even noticing the gesture.
"No…" Belka muttered, unable to look up from her feet, the shame returning at falling for an act that now seemed so obviously fake, and for losing control over that pig to begin with. "Damn it, I can't believe I was so stupid!"
With the last of her composure shattering like glass upon stone, Belka dropped down onto the bed, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes as a strained, painful wail escaped her. Whiskey pulled her into a hug, just comforting her as she let out her pain.
"Maybe I should call Liz and Lao back to the dorm." Goose said gently from off to the side, not yet looking at her partner as she was still thinking over her words, trying not to say something that could be taken the wrong way "I'm sure if you apologize, the-"
Before she had even finished, Belka had stood back up in a surprise bout of energy as she once again shifted moods from sadness to fury.
"Why are you even here? You're not the one who's going to be mocked and harassed the moment you step outside. If you'd rather spend time with your niece and her partner, then go!" Belka snapped, ready to tear Goose a new one for implying this was her fault. But, as she opened her mouth to continue, she faltered. It was her fault. "I'm sorry I just… damnit, I need a minute."
Without waiting for a response, Belka hurried to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and leaving the two other girls alone in the room. The moment they were alone, Goose let out a long shaky sigh, letting herself fall back onto the bed and stare up at the ceiling. A moment later, Whiskey reached out and gave her a pat on the shoulder with a reassuring smile.
"Don't take it personally, she just needs a minute to cool down." Whiskey explained, having been on the receiving end of Belka's outbursts more than once herself.
"It's not that, it's just… I'm just so mad at her." Goose sighed, her mask crumbling as her eyes furrowed, tiredly glaring up at the ceiling. She had expected Whiskey to defend her friend, to remind her that 'it wasn't her fault' and that 'it wouldn't be right to get mad at her at the moment'. But when that didn't come, and the Faunus kept her hand gently on her shoulder, she felt comfortable enough to vent a little bit more. "I tried to tell her this was a bad idea and she didn't listen… but I don't want to be mean about it, certainly not right now."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, she's always been like this. Hopefully, whatever fallout comes out of this knocks some sense into her."
"Really?" Goose asked, turning her head over to look at the brunette who was still sitting calmly. She chewed her lip, trying to remember a time when Belka had talked about how she had been before Beacon. Coming up with nothing, she hummed in curiosity. "Belka doesn't talk about home much."
"That doesn't surprise me, there's not a lot of happy memories to talk about."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not just her best friend, Goose, I was her only friend up until Beacon. You should have seen how she begged me to come to Beacon with her." Whiskey revealed, her tone wavering between a mixture of melancholy and nostalgic. "She thought it would be her fresh start, her chance to not be known as a 'scandal baby'."
"But aren't her parents politicians? I thought you had to be well liked to get elected."
"Maybe in Vale, but in Atlas… it's more about knowing what hands to grease, and her parents knew exactly how to play the system. When they were done, they burned a lot of goodwill, and that just kinda fell onto her. Belka's not that bad when you get past her flaws, she's just never had to really look at those flaws because everyone really was against her for no good reason." Whiskey said, looking out the window as her ears began to sag, absentmindedly reaching up and stroking a small scar along her left ear. "Trust me… I know the feeling."
Goose tilted her head as she tried to take in what Whiskey had just said. Like many things, Belka didn't talk much about her parents, but she did remember the few times she did often resulted in Elizabeth or Lumi jumping on her over her father. She had heard what kind of man Jacques was from her mother, and while she wasn't going to defend someone who had hurt her mom the way he had, it just didn't feel right being mean to Belka over it. After all, she knew her own dad had done bad things in the pastand sure, it wasn't exactly the same, but she knew she wouldn't feel good if someone wouldn't stop reminding her of his mistakes, or blamed her for them.
She hoped Whiskey was right, that this happening as a fault of her own would be a wake up call Belka sorely needed. If not, she didn't know how much longer their team would last.
A moment later, the bathroom door opened up once again. Belka stood straight, her body language trying to exude confidence, but the undeniable tension of her overly straight back and stiff shoulders gave away the act. Even if they didn't, her eyes were red and puffy, giving away that she'd been crying to herself. She walked into the room, not saying a word as she contemplated what to say. Whiskey and Goose both looked at one another, wondering if they'd been speaking too loudly. They hadn't meant for it to feel like they were talking about their friend behind her back, especially not about something so sensitive.
But, rather than go on another tirade, Belka looked down, shame clear on her features as she cleared her throat.
"For what it's worth… I'm sorry."
Goose paused. She knew the apology didn't take away everything that had happened, let alone how she had treated their team. But, looking at Belka now, she saw a woman who knew she had done wrong, and even if it was too late, she wasn't going to be the one to give up on her partner just when she was starting to turn around.
"I think you should have hit her harder." Goose said, shocking the two women with her.
Belka couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement at Goose trying to sound mean. It sounded so forced, so unnatural, so… un-Goosey? Like someone with a mimic Semblance trying to make her sound edgy. For some reason, that was comforting, both the fact that it sounded so wrong coming from her, and the fact that she was willing to say it to try and make her feel better.
For the first time in days an honest smile graced her face.
"Who was that?" Lavender asked from her spot on the bed, currently occupied with tightening the strap that held her gauntlet on her right forearm.
As usual, the pair were being kept in the dark about specifics, but they had been summoned along with Henna and a small contingent of the cult back to the compound. Romeo seemed convinced this was their perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of things. Really, she knew it went deeper than that, he was hoping, probably even praying that they'd find something unforgivable, any excuse to get her to cut ties and drag her out. Before the thought would have angered her… but now… now she feared he was right.
The tension of the moment had petered out as Romeo flinched away from his Scroll. Lavender, being able to hear a woman cussing him out on the other end, could easily assume what had happened, but it was more fun to make him say it out loud.
"My self proclaimed girlfriend." Romeo said, ignoring the giggle from his sister at the explanation. "I just got dumped."
"The Beacon girl?" A small impish grin crept its way up her lips, unable to resist the opportunity to tease her brother just that little bit more. "What, did you ask for a threesome with her and the cowgirl?"
"Ha ha." Romeo said dryly, tossing her a magazine for her gauntlets which she easily caught.
Sliding the magazine into position, Lavender flexed her arm, pulling the mechanism to test the blade's release, smiling as the curved pincer styled blades sprung into their active position. Then, with another flex, they folded back into place, functioning as smooth as ever. Watching from the side, Romeo suddenly turned serious once more,
"Are you ready? Whatever we find in there could be worse than what you're expecting."
The young Faunus nodded in silent response, acknowledging what lay ahead. She didn't have the luxury of pretending this time, as upon seeing whatever they'd find below the veneer of faith she once thought as truly right and just, there would be no pretending that there was nothing wrong or that she didn't know. Everything she knew could, and likely would, be flipped on its head once again.
"I dragged you into this, I'm not letting you go alone." Lavender mumbled, heading towards the door. After everything he'd done for her, she owed him that much.
Romeo lingered a minute longer in the room, just long enough to pull out his Scroll and type a quick message to a contact simply labeled RR.
Get some people ready, I should have info for you tomorrow about our mutual problem.
A/N: Okay, BIG NEWS! as many of you know the team behind this AU has made some content outside of writing, such as art which can be found on our Tumblr and DA accounts. But now we're also sharing the music made by two of our talented composers. The links will primarily posted on our Youtube channel but updates will also come on our Tumblr. DA will get them in the descriptions but the site has no method of music sharing so that will still stay focused on the art side of our project.
as usual FF.n doesn't like links but you can find the profile names for each are.
Deviantart: rwbysv
Tumblr: rwby-soh
Youtube: SOHSOTPMusic