Staring at your partner from the opposite side of the field, you can't help but match her savage grin. Carnwennan is read in your hand as you relax yourself to a stance, watching in anticipation as Eli cracks her knuckles, hunching forward in a way not unlike a prowling wolf. By the side of the field, Ruby and Penny stand, acting as both referee and cheerleaders.
Ruby raises her hand. "Ready?"
You raise Carnwennan up to your chest—your heart beating impatiently, drumming blood into the canal of your ears. Breathe. A shifts slightly to the back, and you position yourself into a half-crouch, pumping power into your muscles and legs.
Penny drops hers. "Commence the fight!"
The loud horrible shrieking noise that follows announces the meeting of Carnwennan with Eli's right claws. Its impact is so powerful that you could feel your bones vibrating, and it's all you could do not to buckle under the weight. Your eyes meet hers, and the smile on your face widens.
Your free lashes over her right shoulder, gripping tightly like a boa constrictor. She makes a noise of surprise, but before she could do anything more than that, you pivot your legs—and using her weight as leverage, you manage to flip her up, and slam her down onto the ground hard enough to send fractures over said ground.
You laugh madly, bringing Carnwennan down in a horizontal slash onto her guts—inches through the motion, you note Eli's shrunken hand, and then at her mess of a grin. There's a moment of realization, and you abort Carnwennan, shoving your body to the side—but it's too late, and you find the air sucked from your lungs as her wolf leg hits you by the stomach, sending you careening through the air.
You grunt in pain, gritting your teeth as your body leaps towards the ground, causing fractures and cracks upon it with each hurdle. Chest. Spin. Back. Twirl. Legs. Flip. Head. If it's not for Aura, you're pretty sure you would be a broken mess by now. Carnwennan whips out, buying purchase towards the ground, and slowing Eli's painful game of Stone-Skipping to a stop.
And just in time to, Eli stands before your crouched figure, her large red wolf claw aiming to swat your significantly smaller body like a fly. Acting more on instinct, you flat yourself onto the ground, feeling the displaced air just above you. Glancing up, you quickly roll to the side just in time to dodge the foot that would've stomped your head.
Pushing yourself off the ground, you backflip several feet away from your sparring opponent. Her grin is outright dangerous, and you're probably wearing the same smile as her. Your eyes meet her ardent red eyes, and you begin to think a way to defeat her. She's much stronger than you in the case of firepower, so the usual brute-force is right out. But she fights like a wild animal, more instinct and less discipline.
You could use that.
You dash, meeting once more in the center of the field. Carnwennan clashes against her claws, sliding and deflecting them harmlessly away from your body, as you dodge from her manic assaults. You're not a stranger with fighting someone stronger than you—Neo is an evidence of that fact, and Eli is much less faster than the ice-cream loving slob.
Still, it doesn't mean you could stay like this forever. Even without any meaningful strike hitting you straight, even the glancing blows are enough to flake your Aura bit by bit. Even if Carnwennan does a much better job than Eli's claws, slicing and cutting her limbs, and taking advantage over her overreaching attacks—it's obvious that your opponent and partner is simply superior in the endurance department, and you would definitely lose in a battle of attrition.
You need to end this quickly. There, an overreached claw. You duck inside her space, Carnwennan's pommel deflecting her other arm away, and you check her to the ground—putting as much power as you could into it. There's another choked noise of surprise coming from her as she hits the ground, cracks forming under her as you pin her down.
Her wide meet yours, and then down at Carnwennan's barrel. Another bead of sweat forms on her forehead, trailing down with another beads of sweat. Belatedly, you realize that you're breathing rather hard. You grin, she replicates—
And you suddenly lose balance over her body, Carnwennan skewers to the side, and you berate yourself for not reminding that yes, your partner could turn her own body into that of a giant wolf. Then it shrinks, and you find yourself backpedaling as her fist burrows deeply into your stomach—you ignore it in account to block her other fist.
And then the fist in your stomach turns into a wolf, and you find yourself lifted up to the air. Your eyes meet hers, and then to the blue sky as she slams you into the ground—wracking your body in pain, your lungs out of air, and depleting what's left of your Aura.
You groan, hacking and coughing. There are shouts from Penny and Ruby, and the gigantic wolf arm shrinks into its original size. Eli enters your view, giving you a cheeky smile and a thumbs up.
"I win."
And then she promptly collapses besides you.
You cough out a laughter. "You did."
She breathes, chest heaving up and down. "Best. Fight. Ever."
You blink, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow. "Really?"
She nods. "Yeah. Most of my fights are normally one-sided—this is the first time I ever exerted my power, and won." She raises her fist to you, and it takes you a moment to realize what it means.
Tiredly, you bump her fist.
()_()_()
"Aha!" The girl on your side exclaims, head swivelling all and about Vale, and her grin unsettlingly wide. "So this is what 'hanging out' feels. Is that correct, friend Cyan?"
Daytime in the city of Vale is too different with its nighttime counterpart that you couldn't help but smile. People frolick about by the side-roads without care, going in and out of stores, talking and laughing over their scroll or with the person with them—not the singlest sign of fear within them. Passively, or perhaps actively ignorant of the world under them.
Towers and buildings act as a cheerful reminder of how far Humanity has come—the subconscious bastion of safety, not unlike the horrors they are seen at night. The relatively busy street plays its own unique tune for the bystanders; that of honking and occasional expletives.
You shrug at Penny's answer. "I don't know." You answer honestly. The closest thing you could think of being 'hanging out' was the time where Neo would drag you all over the city for parlor-hopping.
Penny purses her lips, head jittering left and right either in her own tic or thought. You're starting to get used with it. "What should we do, then, Cyan?"
You frown in thought. You suppose, if you try to see it through blurry lenses scratched and stained beyond what is normal, and strip it off the general flavor of Neo-ness, you could see 'hanging out' as taking a friend into some sort of food establishment and… enjoy? The thought makes you want to grumble; this is the sort of thing Roman should do, not you…
But you suppose it doesn't mean you can't try.
Your eyes flick to the side, catching the sign of some coffee cafe. "How about we go in there?" You offer.
"Oh!" You think you could see stars behind her eyes. "That's a sensational idea, Cyan! Let's."
The bells above the door jingle at your entry, wafting the pleasant aroma of coffee into your nostrils. Across the room, the barista stands behind the wooden counter, giving you a nodding smile. Some contraptions are line on the counter, alongside with several containers containing various contents—beside the, there's also a rack of snacks; ranging from candies to cookies. The counter behind the barista is much more filled with other contraptions, racks, and also a sink.
Pressed against the counter's side, there's a freezer of sorts, showing all sorts of desserts and cakes. Some expensive, some cheaper. The somewhat dim light sets off a warm mood over the cafe, and the patrons simply glance at you before returning to whatever it was they were doing.
Penny drags you towards the barista.
"How can I help you lovebirds?" He asks, smiling and leaning somewhat against the table.
Penny blinks, tilting her head to you. "Birds? What birds?"
You shrug your head. "I don't know." Turning to the barista, you note the bemused look on his face. "Can I have a cup of black? Penny?"
"Hmm?" She taps her chin, looking at the menu board on the ceiling. "I suppose I could have what my friend ordered? I certainly do want a slice of the Angel Dust Cake, please?"
The Barista leans back, giving you a lazy salute. "Sure thing. Please take a seat, you… couple." He gives a defeated sigh at that.
So you do. Finding an empty table isn't particularly hard when the place isn't packed in the first place. As you take your seat, however, a series of clattering and thumping noise resounded across the room. The patrons jump up to their feet, before glaring at the source of the disturbance.
A pair of wide-eyed Malachite Sisters standing up from their table, chairs strewn on the floor. Said wide-eyes are looking at you. And then at your friend, and then back at you.
You give them a short look to prevent any better idea, before you raise your hand to wave at them—but they're already gone halfway through your motion. Some waitress shakes her head, and picks the bill left on the Malachites table.
Penny peers over curiously. "Are those your friends, Cyan?"
You shake your head. "Just some acquaintances."
-=-=-=-
The rooftop of the dorm offers little, if any, form of privacy, but it does offer a good view of the down below. Beacon's courtyard statue, a man standing atop of some dead Grimm creature, with a woman facing facing its dead maw shines dimly in the night, alighted by a series of lamps around it. The stars above the sky twinkle about, and you look down at your petite-sized team leader.
She finds the concrete floor much more interesting as she twiddles with her thumbs, fidgeting hither and to. "So…" she starts, before trailing off.
You raise an inquisitive brow. "So?"
She nods meekly. "So."
You scrunch your eyebrows. "So…"
Ruby takes a deep breath, before rising to meet your eyes. Silver eyes looking resolutely. "So." She reaffirms.
Squinting your eyes, you tilt your head. "I don't get it."
She exhales a breath, before finding the generator across the rooftop much more interesting. It's orange in color, artistically trimmed with black—interconnected with pipes that would supply electricity across the whole building. If you're an engineer, you would probably appreciate the work put into it, but you're not.
"I'm…" she says after a long moment, looking back up at you. It strikes you for the nth time that Ruby looks younger than should be in Beacon—but then again, so is Neo. "I think you already know that I'm much younger than you are—Headmaster Ozpin had me skip Signal Academy to get straight here, you see... " she pauses once more, taking in another breath. "And I know that as a team leader, I barely know you, but you're awesome—and cool. And did I say awesome?"
"You did."
She smiles, looking more animated than before. "Right. You're awesome. Eli's awesome. Penny's awesome. Me?" she shrugs, frowning. "I don't know. I mean, I think I'm fairly awesome, and my sis is definitely awesome. But..." she waves at the air vaguely, sagging. "I'm not sure."
You don't either. You like to admit that you're not socially blind, but you're not that great as well. After a while, you simply shrug and pat her shoulder. She looks up sharply.
"Well," you try for a smile. "I'm not exactly picky—"much"—with whom I work with, but you're our leader, and I trust Headmaster Ozpin's—"to a degree"—decision, so I'm sure you're, uh, awesome yourself."
"You think?" She smiles.
"Yes." You nod. "Just go ask Eli for a spar—she likes to spar, and if you could do well, I reckon you're plenty awesome."
"Yeah." She bobs her head cheerfully. "Yeah!" She repeats. "I think I'm going to ask Eli for a spar!" She lightly punches you chest. "Thanks, Cyan!"
-=-=-=-
The sun shines brightly in the sky. Today is Sunday, and it's the day for Ruby's 'Inter-Team Bonding Exercise'.
You stand with your team, not quite keeping the anticipatory grin off your face. Glancing at your partner, she's pretty much doing the same—if wilder. Across the field, Ren gives you a smile and takes his own stance. Yang thumps her gauntlets together, giving you a cocky smile, and Nora is hopping by the balls of her feet. Burgundy's Team Leader, Blake, stares warily at your partner.
"So," Ruby whispers to you and the others. "What should we do?"
[] Write-in
()()()()
Note: So, here's how this will go: You're not the Team Leader, ergo, you're not the one making the call. You could suggest, but whether Ruby would take that suggestion is up to her. Technically, you could take the rein of Team Leader off her or force her to do your suggestion, but that's just a dick move, and simply OOC. In a way, Ruby's plan is the usual 'it's crazy, but it works' plan, which may or may not true on the last part. So there's that.
You could make your own personal move, I suppose—not listening to Ruby's plan. But that's also another dick move. If you want to make your own personal move, then add it into the vote.
Extra Note: Not rightly satisfied with this update. Tell mr if there's anything shit about it, yeah?
Vote Example:
[] Plan Dot
-[] Suggestion Eins
-[] Suggestion Zwei
-[] Suggestion Drei (What you could do)
---[] Personal Move
----[] Do Stuff.
UTUTUTU
Relationship with Eli, Penny and Ruby increased.
The Malachite Sisters and Junior now know that you have a 'girlfriend'.
Ozpin is dancing in high heels.
Glynda is searching for her high heels.
Qrow is a hobo.
Ruby's future is to be a murderhobo. With a band of murderhobos. Ho!
QM is getting tired of writing Fight Scenes with every update. Awesome choreography idea will be appreciated.
