[Theloria Shadecloak]

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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE’LL RECLAIM OUR DESTINY

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[attr="class","nikki102"]WE’LL SET OUR FUTURE FREE

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[attr="class","nikki109"]This particular environment was much more like the situation encountered on the Argus Limited than the other ones, and that was on purpose. This was one of the larger scenarios, which was also on purpose. It was a larger and more difficult version of the VIP Protection variant of training, where one trainee was selected as the objective. The Escort Team had to get them from the beginning to the end of the training area with their aura intact, while the Ambush Team simply had to shatter their aura. Overall, it was a pretty unbalanced exercise that was much easier for the Ambush team because their win condition was so much easier. [break][break]

The Ambush team had the high ground and time to set up however they wanted without being seen by the Escort team. Most of the trainees had one or two combat missions under their belt at this point alongside months of classes. There were some newer faces in this lineup that Shade hadn’t interacted with all too much yet due to the fact that her missions kept her occupied and away from the school for weeks even before the assault on the bandit camp. The unique… joys of having a semblance uniquely suited for missions against people, she supposed. [break][break]


This was the experimental first exercise for a lot of them, then, to basically see how they performed under pressure. There were other faculty members who thought that providing even teams was the way to go when it came to drills like this, but Shade never bought into that. Skill levels were disparate and so were the skills themselves – and frankly the scenario could be changed around to make any outliers better or worse depending on the circumstances. That was easy to do with known quantities, but with the new trainees it was harder. [break][break]


Yeah, she had their files and their test scores and their histories… but quite frankly when it came to combat ability those things tended to be misleading. There were people who on paper should be powerhouses with exceptionally strong semblances but somehow fall flat in person, like Elena Thorne frankly. On paper she should be able to crush most other trainees, but lack of actual combat experience and formal training made her underperform rather consistently compared to what others might guess she was capable of. On the flip side, there were students that far exceeded what their file said about them to make a splash that nobody could have predicted. [break][break]


Ruqa Reyes was a double amputee and had a recent history that could charitably be called delinquent and not so charitably called barely above criminal where she was essentially a street urchin picking street level fights for years rather than having the training that a lot of others had. Shade had seen the tapes, though, because everyone had seen the tapes. She and Carmim were the clear standouts in that regard from the Argus Limited mission, overperforming their usefulness on paper by a wide margin and being the reason why the supplies got to Argus safely in the first place. Real overachievers, them, and they deserved the bump in recognition they got on their return trip. [break][break]


For today’s scenario, Shade had manually assigned the teams. The way she did so stacked the deck on the side of the attacking team by giving them a whole slate of manipulators that would be able to abuse the terrain to its fullest extent on one side. The people she had picked to be part of that team wasn’t an accident, either, because forcing a bunch of trainees she wanted to evaluate together was a good way to see if assumptions were true or whether they would under- or over-perform those expectations. [break][break]


Carmim Clover was one of the standouts from the Argus Limited mission, but there was the chance that her performance there was just a fluke. If she was competent but average, like Kishka, then that was not ideal but more than fine and just meant that she overperformed under pressure. That, frankly, was a great trait to have and earmarked her for leadership potential if nothing else. If she managed to stand out even amongst her peers here, though, she could be another blue chip prospect without the same attitude baggage of someone like Colton. Out of everyone there today, Shade was most excited to see if Carmim would match up to her newfound reputation. [break][break]


Erytheia Hellebore was an interesting case, but skill wise the faunus fully anticipated her to be almost entirely equal with Kishka. The latter was there basically as the ‘average’ bar meaning that if anyone excelled against her they were better than average, but if they fell to her they were mediocre. Sanctum Academy churned out good students, but years away from it all would dull that training and any skill gained from it. It meant that whatever performance she showed today was not indicative of her peak potential, as she would naturally get more into the swing of things as she re-learned how to fight over time. Out of everyone there, Shade would likely be the kindest to the blonde when it came to her evaluations because she had the most mitigating circumstances that would prevent her from operating at full potential. [break][break]


Evangeline Verre was the lucky one in this exercise, mostly because her and Aegle weren’t in opposite positions. The girl completely lost her nerve in the briefing of a mission, so frankly Shade’s hopes weren’t very high. The administration currently had a policy of keeping people on until the second year regardless of what happened, but thankfully the faculty were able to veto mission placements for people who would just get themselves or others killed along the way. Nice girl, impressive underdog story, but probably not huntress material. This was basically just seeing how she fared in what amounted to be optimal conditions and would be the absolute ceiling of what she was currently able to accomplish. It was essentially Shade stacking the deck in her favor in order to have as close to an honest evaluation as possible to see if the personality defects were worth trying to salvage for her ability or not. Evangeline would be judged the harshest out of everyone there, as literally everything about the scenario was set up for her to succeed. If she failed even in optimal conditions, that was a severe problem. [break][break]


The defensive team, likewise, was not an accident and each person was put there for a specific purpose. They were supposed to lose, sure, but they had enough firepower to put up a fight and pose a threat. If the offense decided to fuck around, they would be rolled over by the manipulators on the other side so long as they didn’t immediately give up. [break][break]


Kishka Burzanova was put there as a barometer. She had two more years of records than most people, and someone who had a sustained period of six years at a similar level were unlikely to ever leap forward in any significant way after that. She was essentially the average trainee at this stage in training, and anyone who she could crush was not cut out to be part of any missions skill level wise. She was the VIP largely for the same reason, because a truly outstanding performance by any in the offensive team could take her out very early on. A truly terrible performance would have her make it to the end, and the expected outcome was somewhere in the middle. There was a chance that she was some kind of misunderstood prodigy that was simply held back for two years due to the incompetence of the Sanctum administration… but somehow that seemed pretty unlikely. It would take a strong performance one way or the other in order to change the six years of paperwork Shade had been given on her background and skill level. [break][break]


Colton Deraine was put there for threat and nothing else. Shade already knew his skill level was blue chip, and he was there to ensure that the offense simply couldn’t brute force their way through. The deck was stacked against him to ensure the opposite wasn’t also true, but if the offensive team managed to fuck up enough that wouldn’t exactly matter. If he was able to roll over the entirety of the other team by himself, Shade would have vastly overestimated both Erytheia and Carmim. Out of everyone there, Shade cared the least about how Colton performed here specifically. He was a known quantity, frankly, and he was consistent. Barring a complete implosion, her opinion of him wouldn’t change in the slightest – he was a blue chip prospect with attitude issues. [break][break]


Aegle Verdant was there for the opposite reason that Evangeline was. Reports from the perimeter defense mission that she was assigned to was… less than reassuring. Given that the only records of the day were from other students, any decision to be made about the matter would need corroborating evidence. In order to get that evidence, Aegle was assigned to the worst case scenario that was designed to expose her skill floor – or the worst she could ever be predicted to perform in a given situation. Colton and Kishka’s respective personality defects would almost certainly prevent them from attempting to emotionally help their teammate, which was the entire point. Shade wasn’t going to evaluate Aegle’s combat ability, but rather her level of bravery or cowardice. Lack of talent could be worked on, but lack of nerve was something that others couldn’t exactly fix. Some people just collapsed under pressure, and that was that. [break][break]


It was a fucking crime how much some of the other academies coddled their first years and doing so to trainees who have both seen combat and would see combat again was the height of stupidity and recklessness. If Aegle and Evangeline were a danger to themselves or others in the field, then they didn’t ever need to see the field until they resolved their personal defects or got their papers to leave Haven. There was absolutely no shame whatsoever in not being cut out for the job of a huntress, but that failure didn’t need to manifest in a violent death on a mission somewhere in the wilderness. Really it was far kinder for it to happen in a classroom where there would be no permanent physical injury or death rather than having them get ripped apart by Grimm… or even worse, allowing others to do so because they were cowards at heart. [break][break]


Being a coward didn’t mean that they were unfit to live, in fact there were many businesspeople or scientists and ordinary people all across Remnant who were craven to the core and yet contributed greatly to society as a whole. It did, however, mean that they weren’t cut out for this line of work and for the safety of both themselves and of everyone else around them the safest measure would be to keep them away from any situation where they could cause the injury or death of someone as early as possible. Due to the strict need of trainees at the moment, they wouldn’t be immediately put on probation or expelled like any other Big Four Academy would do depending on severity… but Shade would absolutely block their placement in just about everything outside of the walls of the school from then on until they proved their assessment wrong.

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[attr="class","nikki103"]1910 words

[attr="class","nikki103"]SCENARIO

[attr="class","nikki103"]1910 TOTAL WORDS

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NOTES

3v3 Escort

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Colton Deraine]

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Bravery is believing in yourself, and that's one thing nobody can teach you.

This was bullshit.

It didn’t take a fucking genius to figure out what was happening here, and it pissed Colton off. The teams were stacked in a way that random generation of teams couldn’t explain, frankly, and it couldn’t be any more obvious. Literally everyone who worked best at range was on the other end with the terrain giving them a massive advantage, forcing the defense team to literally run up a hill eating semblance attacks and gunfire the entire way in order to close the gap.

Both sides were manipulator-heavy, but the difference in the average quality of those manipulators was huge. Erytheia and Kishka were both Sanctum Academy trained like him, but frankly Kishka was a reject who was held back multiple times for sheer incompetence. She was bad even by the averages of the Academy, and was an absolute nobody compared to the star of the school during her tenure which happened to be Colton himself. Erytheia was a bit older and was even the one-time classmate of the last phenom to come out of Sanctum and Colton’s idol growing up, Cressida Fox. Her tenure at Sanctum wasn’t notable enough to really be remembered, but then again that was what happened when you were unlucky enough to be in the same age group with Remnant’s next prodigy.

Colton always considered himself the best of his year both in Sanctum and at Haven, but the gap between him and the second best was never as large as it was with Cressida and literally everyone else. She absolutely crushed the competition in the Mistral Regional Tournament in ways that weren’t even close and made it to the grand finals of the Vytal Festival her very first year at Haven before she had ever mastered her semblance. By her third year… well, he had access to some of her combat tapes and there was no question that she would have absolutely demolished anyone put in front of her with the level of power that her semblance had alone – not to mention the fact that her martial arts ability were a cut above even the professors of the Academy by that point.

A Beringel was an extremely powerful type of Grimm that was typically fought in pairs by even licensed Huntsmen, but Cressida was so far above the rest by her third year she beat one without even getting scratched. Some people were born with elite genetics and talent, and she was one of them. A semblance like Gravity would be absolutely disgusting on anyone, but the fact that it took her years to get stable control over it meant that she fought for years without her semblance at all and had become elite even for huntsman standards at literally everything else. There’s no shame at being in the shadow of a once in a generation ace huntress, frankly, because Colton was three years younger and was still in that shadow. The fact that he had deliberately copied her martial arts style but was worse in every aspect of it didn’t help, but frankly speaking stealing everything he could was the reason he was able to stay ahead.

If Erytheia was even average, there was an enormous gap in between her and Kishka. Between Carmim and Colton, he was obviously better but the ways in which he was very likely better were minimized due to the setup. He had never seen her do anything notable in close quarters, but that didn’t exactly matter if he couldn’t take advantage of that weakness due to being at the literal bottom of the hill while attacks rained down from above. Given the constraints given by the scenario, the Argus native couldn’t confidently say the gap between himself and Carmim was as big as the gap between Kishka and Erytheia very likely was. If any of them were dumb enough to fight him up close he would cut them down in an instant, sure, but the fact of the matter was that it would take a colossal moron to even think for a second that rushing down the hill to close the gap against the student widely known to be the best martial artist in the school was a good idea.

Admitting someone like Kishka was proof that standards slipped, but admitting someone like Aegle was proof that they didn’t seem to exist at all. In any other time admitting someone without a semblance would be considered dumb as fuck at best and reckless endangerment at worst unless there were some serious skills in order to back up that huge disadvantage, but the simple fact of the matter was that the girl seemed to be terrible at everything. The clips he had seen of some of the classes held while he and the others were back at Argus were flat out fucking embarrassing, because it showed quite plainly that the girl was some random picked up literally from the street and given a spot because some quota or another needed to be filled.

Someone like Kishka was incompetent but received top of the line training for six years, so was at the very least passable with some potential if she managed to ever not be completely shit with her in theory pretty powerful semblance. Someone like Qiu’li was incompetent but had an extremely powerful transformation type semblance that largely made up for his own lack of any positive qualities whatsoever due entirely to fortunate genetics. Someone like Ruqa had a complete shit semblance but were extremely capable as a person as a way to not rely on shitty genetics, so it balanced out. Colton was the rare case that was both extremely capable as a person and with great genetics that resulted in a powerful semblance... and Aegle was quite frankly the opposite that should have never been admitted in the first place: someone who was completely incapable as a person and had no semblance to speak of to even begin to make up for personal shortcomings that amounted to literally everything.

Aegle’s counterpart on the other team was Evangeline, who frankly Colton didn’t bother to do research on because he never even considered her a potential threat after the whole debacle with her losing her nerve completely in the briefing for the Argus Limited mission. Unlike the others he didn’t know her semblance or really much about her, but at the same time he was both sure of the fact that she was more capable than Aegle – though that was like saying eating dirt was better than eating acid – and that she would pose little to no threat by herself. If there was anyone on the enemy team he saw taking an early step too far and getting eliminated in an instant, it was Evangeline. While he expected her to largely be dead weight, the fact that he didn’t know her semblance meant that it could be one of those cases where a useless person was given a spot due to a powerful semblance like Qiu’li – which would make the imbalance between her and Aegle even more severe than it already was.

In terms of head to head by itself, it wasn’t that bad. Colton considered himself moderately better than Carmim individually, and Erytheia was probably only a little bit better than Kishka. Evangeline doing literally anything made her an order of magnitude more useful than Aegle, though, and if she happened to have a powerful semblance it was the equivalent of having a moderately good teammate and having to carry around a squealing piglet and keep it safe in addition to everything else you needed to do in a fight.

The fact of the matter was that becoming a huntsman wasn’t like most other jobs. It didn’t matter how nice you were, because no matter how nice Evangeline was as a person it didn’t mean that she was entitled to a spot when she would shrink from any real danger. It didn’t matter how much you wanted to be one, because the fact of the matter was that someone needed either natural talent or decent genetics to be anything more than dead weight. Simply wanting things to be different and going into full on reality denial and applying when neither genetics nor talent was on their side like Aegle was simply not sufficient. It was a nice thought, but the Grimm didn’t exactly give a shit about how hard you tried or how nice you were when they ripped you to shreds. No civilian would really care how nice or how hard the huntsman tried if they got ripped to shreds too because the huntsman assigned to save them was incompetent.

They were given some time to set up, but the fact of the matter was that setup time benefitted only the attacking team because it let them get into whatever weird position they wanted. The defense team had to go this predictable line that forced them to be surrounded by high ground that would house a bunch of trainees more than capable of inflicting constant ranged attacks from behind the cover of trees and other such makeshift walls of nature. It was bullshit, really, and basically made it impossible for them to win when combined with the fact that everyone on the opposing team had ranged weapons and semblances in order to take advantage of the terrain advantage.

Short brown hair and intense brown eyes were immediately visible to his classmates and normal, but today he adopted a more militaristic battle uniform than most. An iron cuirass adorned the boy’s torso, and his left arm was covered from the wrist to past the middle of his arm with a white metal vambrace that was his folded-up shield. His right arm was covered up in a similar manner with manica-style armor that covered the outer half of his arm with curved and overlapping segments of metal plates. Combat missions meant combat gear, and the more metal that Colton had on his body the more versatile he was in a pinch. The usual bracers and greaves he wore were good when heavy combat wasn’t expected but had some severe limitations in regards to what they were capable of. With this much metal on, though, he could basically use Polarity to do whatever the hell was needed. In today’s case, that would probably entail dodging more than anything… which was boring and efficient.

His head and hands were left completely uncovered while his legs and feet were protected by what looked to be an unbroken line from the gray iron boots to greaves that went up to his mid-thigh. Beneath that were dark jeans to complete the ensemble of gray and white. His sword was sheathed on his left hip, kept in a gray and navy-blue scabbard made of steel. A gray hooded cloak was across the Argus native’s shoulders as well, loose fitting and held together with a metal clasp around the neck. He didn’t normally wear the cloak, but given the enormous disadvantage he was given both in teammates and in objective he was willing to milk out any little advantage he could get. Covering his weapons and his arms meant that nobody could just look at him and know what he had left to fire out, and either had to remember (impossible, since most of the trainees had the attention span of a goldfish) or look around to count and waste time.

To be frank, he didn’t think it was possible for them to actually win this exercise. This attitude was reflected in the complete lack of effort in the planning stage, with his only contribution to the strategy being that he would run close defense on Kishka since she was the VIP of the scenario. Just because he didn’t think they could win didn’t mean he wouldn’t try, because at the end of the day all it took was one too many creeping up a bit too far and getting a bit too cocky to get instantly blown away by Polarity. If and when that happened, any advantage that the enemy team had over them was gone and they could run away with the win so long as his and Kishka’s aura levels held up.

From where they were temporarily camped out at, the trainees had absolutely zero view of the surrounding area… and even if they cheated and looked around the corner onto the road the raised earth on either side was too high to really see anything of note. The scenario was supposed to start at 1200hrs sharp, and it was currently 1155. The area was opened up around 1130, which meant largely that the other team had thirty productive minutes to prepare and arrange their deployment… while the defending team got to wait around and do jack shit because there was nothing, they could do with the time they were allotted. That was why Colton didn’t bother to hurry up while getting ready and only rolled up at 1145hrs when he saw the roster and the location. Working smarter and not harder meant that the extra time needed to change into his actual armor was a much more efficient use of time than getting out there early, because that armor might actually make the difference between winning or losing because he was given tomato cans for allies.

Joy.

※ 2230 total words ✎ 2230 words ✉ D rank semblance, E ranked martial arts, D ranked durability, E rank weapon enhancement, E ranked weapon, F rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Aegle Verdant]

So far as pre-battle preparations went, picking at one's scabs was probably not the most productive, not that Aegle had been left with many other options. While the exercise had technically started at half past eleven, the only thing her team had been allowed to do for the first half hour was sit and wait. One of her teammates hadn't even bothered to show up to the field until ten minutes ago. He was the smart one, she reckoned, it had been a tedious wait, though thirty minutes was better than seven hours.
'And five is less than sixteen,' she thought, 'It doesn't make the waiting any easier'
Aegle flicked away the dead skin she'd tugged off her knuckles, and watched a tiny bead of red well where she'd torn it off.
'Wasn't quite ripe, that one' She pressed a swatch of cotton down on the spot with as much force as she was able, soaking up the little bit of blood, knowing that was only the first to fall that day. Their mission was hopeless, everyone seemed to believe; It hadn't sounded so when it was first explained to Aegle and her classmates, but every time it since had been spiced with that same pessimistic flavor. And she supposed she must see the sense in that too, as unwilling to do so as she was.
They were to walk in a straight line, a distance no greater than a couple hundred meters, not even a hike by a highlander's reckoning... And yet it promised to be next to impossible, and Aegle was part of the reason why; She'd understood that, almost as soon as she'd known who her teammates were, and who her opponents would be. Seeing the terrain itself had merely cinched that certainty tight in her mind.

Aegle knew little and less about her two teammates. Left to her own devices, she would not have presumed to so much as speak with either of them, and it was only by their shared classes and, in Kiska's case, their one shared mission that she even knew their names. Nor did she think either one of them would ever have troubled to speak to her, save the few words circumstances had forced out of them.
From Kishka, those few words had been barbed as a Goliath's trunk. Her tongue was sharp as a lash, and Aegle had felt it's bite often since their shared guard duty. The Mistralian had not been shy about telling Aegle exactly what she'd thought of the smaller girl's performance, nor had she been especially shy about telling the professors and instructors too.
'With everythin' else that's wrong with me, why not craven too?'
Somehow though, Colton's silence was worse. Well built and handsome, Colton was the single strongest fighter in their entire class, everyone said so, and everyone knew he would be a great huntsman one day. Before the class listings, he could not have even known she existed, no more than a god in the clouds would notice of a worm crawling through the dirt. When he was made her teammate however, when she was inflicted upon him, that had changed. His cold detachment had turned soon to frustrated and barely restrained fury. If he could have gone on pretending she did not exist, Aegle did not doubt he would have, but instead it was his contempt which Aegle received. The few times he'd spoken, it had been at her, not to her, and those times were well eclipsed by his brooding, seething silences.

Aegle could not blame either of them. Kishka had seen exactly what mettle Aegle had to offer and Colton... She wasn't his teammate, she wasn't even an annoyance. Rather, she was an anchor, tied about his neck. Useless baggage intended to hold him back and slow the both of her teammates down. Except she was even worse than that; Colton could have actually made use of an anchor. She'd seen him do it, seen him turn metal into missiles, seen him stop a great sword with his bare hand. Because it wasn't enough that Colton was the single best fighter in their class, he also needed to have one of the most useful and powerful semblances that Aegle had ever seen.
If he had been given anyone else as a teammate, someone actually capable of protecting Kishka, it would barely have been a contest. If he could have unleashed himself and his semblance with impunity, it wouldn't have mattered how much of a disadvantage the terrain put him at.

Instead, Colton and Kishka had been given Aegle. The new girl, the cripple, the craven, not to mention the only person in the class who was helpless at range. Even the big, black haired bruiser could throw things, passing well. Aegle could not even do that much. Her hands could not hold a gun, and anything she threw was not likely to carry much force. And their opponents were all capable at range, from what Aegle understood. Colton had seemed to think so, at least, if one of his terse comments could be believed. Erytheia was on the other team though, and Aegle was sure she used a sort of spear, not a gun or bow. It had not seemed like a good idea to mention that though, so Aegle had kept it to herself.

So what use was she then? She'd seen the way they needed to walk, had seen the high cliffs to either side, and knew that the opposing team must use those vantage points to have any hope to keep out of Colton's lethal sphere of influence. She might stand in front of Kishka, when the arrows took flight, but there was little else she might do. Kishka, with her umbrella, and Colton, with his metal and his mind, could at least answer their attackers, like for like.
And Aegle? More than likely they would not even bother shooting at her. She wasn't the objective and she wasn't a threat. So long as they were up high and she was down low, she was no more of a danger to them than she would have been to Colton.

Aegle glanced at her at her wrist, where her watch was strapped.
'11:55' it told her, only five minutes to go. Dabbing her knuckles once more, she started wrapping her hand back up, swaddling it in layer after layer of thin stripped linen. It was a grim sort of realization, to find your best use was as a handicap for your betters. Kinda funny, in a way. Maybe once they failed this test, and Aegle could bounced out of Haven, she could have a nice long laugh about it.
Done wrapping her hands, Aegle wiggled her fingers and examined her handiwork. Within a few flexes, a bit of pink started to show through where the cloth covered her knuckles.
'Lookit that,' She thought, grinning, 'Don't even need a bag to bloody my hands from boredom'
Tittering, she pushed herself, whirring, back to her feet and stretched her arms achingly over her head. She didn't look at either of her teammates, not wanting to see the looks they might answer with, and scraped her fingers back through the stubble of her scalp.

"S'almost time." She said, finally, with another glance at her watch, where the red numbers '11:59' blazed. That was about as much preamble as was necessary, and likely more than would be wanted. They didn't have a plan; How could they?
'A plan is only good till someone opens fire.' As Aaron was fond of saying; With the odds stacked so high against them, it would have been foolishness or madness to think otherwise. Still, Aegle was all foolishness, and a case could be made for madness as well.
"D'ya want me t'go first?" She asked, not looking back, "Might be I could trigger whatever surprises they've gone and set up f'us, y'know?"
It would't work for showing them where their opponents were hiding, they'd need to be stupid or crazy to blow their cover on Aegle's account, but it might work to take the sting out of any traps they'd laid by.
'And, mayhaps, keep me from bein' entirely useless...'

words - 1,383

[Kishka Burzanova]

KISHKA BURZANOVA

This school was starting to be a real pain in the ass. Unfortunately for her, Kishka had been drafted for Professor Shade's wacky experiment, for reasons she couldn't begin to fathom. She could be out killing Grimm, or fighting bandits, but noooo, instead she's stuck in a dumb, pointless, class. Sure, the premise of the class looked good on paper. And considering her cousin's absolutely hilarious fail in the recent train mission, she could see why rookies would need extra special training on ambush survival tactics, as well as the reverse, knowing how to stop ambushes. But why was she there? She was unarguably a genius tactician, and a prodigy combatant in both melee and ranged combat. Sure, she was still shaking off some rust, but only because Haven never let her do anything useful. Hell, she didn't even want to do heroic stuff anyways, but it would sure beat the hell out doing this garbage. And so soon after she got sent on that stupid guard tower bullshit with that bullheaded dudebro, the shit tier garage rocker, and- Oh. Speak of the useless waste of an Academy roster slot, and she will appear. As she stepped up to the starting area for the Defense team, she spied Aegle immediately. Had she really been sitting here this entire time? What a fucking loser. Seriously, did she have nothing better to do than hang out and wait for this dumb shit to start? Kishka's plan was to be in and out as quickly as possible. No nonsense, no games, just get it over with and go. Fortunately, her team would be lucky that she was the designated VIP for the "mission." Anyone else would have been hopelessly out of their league. She checked her Scroll, curious to see who else was signed up for this class, and zipped through the list. Evangeline, who she immediately pegged in her mind as not a threat at all. From what she'd heard, the girl nearly had a panic attack at the idea of getting sent on the train mission. Why she had been selected to attend the briefing over Kishka in the first place was beyond her- an administrative error, maybe? The kid had no combat experience whatsoever, she was more a liability than an asset, frankly. She didn't even know what her semblance was, but unless it was Suddenly-Being-Good-at-Being-a-Huntress, the Mistral native didn't care. She'd be an easy target; just poke her head in her general direction and say, "boo." Kid would probably have a damn heart attack on the spot, and her team would be busy dealing with that while she waltzed across the finish line. Then there was Hellebore, whose name was stupendously fitting. In that she was hella boring. God, the girl reminded her of her sister. She hoped they would get within good melee range, so she could beat the snot out of her nose and the stick out of her ass. Just looking at her picture next to her name made her a little sick. Prim and proper, and undoubtedly a goody two shoes asshat. From what rumors she'd heard about the girl, she came from money, and wasn't a single-celled organism on the battlefield. Good. She liked a bit of challenge, no matter how pathetic it would undoubtedly be. Next, Clover. Arguably the strongest contender of the three, based on what she'd heard about the train incident. And she was in a pretty good spot, being a ranged combatant. She also reminded Kishka of her sister. She would be punching the red right out of the little pygmy's hair, eyes, and clothes. Hell, she'd hit her so hard she might grow a few inches. Maybe then, she could finally reach the bathroom sink without a ladder. She was a ranged specialist? Good. That's exactly what Lucky 13's cannon was for. And obviously, herself, of course. The clear and apparent winner-to-be. She would be pulling most of the weight, she imagined, since scaredy-dwarf over there would probably kick rocks at the first little warning shot from the Ambush squad. If she pissed herself over a measly Beowolf, Kishka could only imagine what a team of Manipulator-specialized Huntsman trainees could do. All she knew is she wanted to be far away from the girl when she inevitably lost her shit. She was at Haven to become the world's greatest supervillain, not a free babysitter for kids that can't hack it. She had no doubt in her mind the kid would be out in a year, tops. Fortunately, Aegle had the purple-haired bully on her side. She'd at least catch a second W in her time at Haven, even if she would have to carry her all the way through it. Her expression cold as ice, she looked Aegle over. "Alright, kid, let's see if you're actually useful here. My money is a hard no. But by all means, prove me wrong- if you can." Just as she said her words of encouragement to the small punch gremlin, she could hear footsteps coming from behind, and turned around to be greeted by a face she absolutely loathed. Her eyes widened a little, and her already-agitated facial expression turned to a snarl. "Deraine." Of all the assholes she could have been paired up with... They put him on her team? Colton fucking Deraine? If she wasn't on thin ice as it was, she'd have walked out right then. That bastard was a pain in the ass back at Sanctum. Always stealing all the glory, just like her damn twin. He even cost her the Mistral Regional Tournament- knocked her out in the fourth round, with a damn cheap shot (Well, she thought it was a cheap shot, anyways. The judges disagreed.) He was an asshole and she hated him. More than she hated most people, which was frankly impressive. She swung her umbrella over her shoulder as she glared daggers at him. No doubt, he barely remembered her name. Figures, the cocky bastard. "I think I'd have rather been stuck with Nik than with you. Honestly, I'm a little surprised you're here; shouldn't you be off fighting Nevermores, like the big bad prodigy everyone always makes you out to be? Guess Shadecloak must think you're in the same boat as the rest of us. At least I know I'm here because of my shit record. What's your excuse?" God, it felt good getting all that off her chest. Aegle was too easy a target to be much fun, at least she knew Colton would bite back. Fuel to the fire, more than anything else. She glanced over at the dopey-looking baldie, then back at the King of Heroes, with a sigh. "I guess it could be worse. At least one of my teammates isn't a total good-for-nothing." She shot her former Sanctum classmate a wicked smile and leaned as she leaned a bit closer, the devil drawn across her face. "Don't worry, though. I'll make sure you don't lose your winning streak, tin man." Aaaaand a haughty laugh for good measure. God, it felt so good to be this bad sometimes.

Notes// Oh ho ho ho ho | Tagged// Aegle Verdant Colton Deraine | WC// 1206

✬

[Erytheia Hellebore]

The noble warrior stood, and the people looked to her.
For she was a beacon - hope given form, yet still only human.
Within that truth there was great promise.
If one could stand against the night, then so too could anyone - everyone.

In her hand the warrior held a Rose. And her aura burned bright.

❝

Something was not right.

That was Erytheia Caelestis Amaranth Estrella Hellebore’s first thought when she received the lesson plan. It lurked in the back of her mind like a smudge of graphite remaining on white paper after one had erased lines that had been previously penciled in, bothering her for quite some time before she could finally pin it down and figure out where it was coming from.

The matchup was too slanted in the favor of the ambushing team. From the terrain, to the Semblances of those who composed it, to the fact that those on the other side had to travel down a predetermined route with no variation allowed what so ever, it seemed like Professor Shadecloak was almost angling for the odds to be stacked as against the defending team as possible. For a time, Erytheia had pondered the possibility - nay, the likelihood of her mother once more pulling strings behind the scenes, though for what purpose she could only guess. A demonstration to the rest of the school that a Hellebore would excel in Haven, even if pitted against the most powerful student they had to offer? It was a course of action that she would not have been surprised if it was revealed to have been taken by the elder Hellebore, but her mother didn’t often resort to such means - and when she did, they were usually more subtle and long reaching.

Deraine. She had heard of him, of course, but only within the context of the school itself. The most powerful trainee, one who’d won the Mistral‌‌ Regional Tournament before even coming to Haven by virtue of being a Sanctum graduate, just like herself. The heiress wondered if he’d been there when she concluded the year, or if he’d come in after her time, but eventually put that aside for another time. Deraine’s skill with his Semblance and obvious ease in combat outstripped her own by far, as diminished as she was from her stay away from combat schools and huntresses in training and everything she’d focused on for the past few years. That made him the biggest threat out of everyone on the entire opposing team, but more than that, there was something familiar about the way he fought, something that tickled the back of her head like an old wound aching on days when it rained. Perhaps one of her classmates had mentored him personally enough that some characteristics crept through.‌ In any case, a threat worth keeping an eye on.

The second name was one she recognized from her time at Sanctum and in the social sphere she was forced to interact with at public events that needed a Hellebore present. Burzanov. Erytheia was never really all that particularly involved with being up to date on that family’s situation - something of a scandal involving their son, she vaguely remembered - and so Burzanov was just one of the few dozen names she was expected to recognise the significance of while interacting with the elite. Kishka. The first name didn’t really ring a bell for her either. She was a Sanctum graduate as well, albeit one that had been held back for a while before doing so, though the Hellebore wasn’t privy to the exact minutiae of the story. What she did know, though, was that the other female hadn’t provided anywhere near as noteworthy combat footage as Deraine, and was in general considered to be somewhere a class below the aforementioned man, despite them both graduating from the same combat school.

And the last one on the other team, her one time dinner companion and acquaintance, Aegle Verdant. A smaller girl, possessed of determination and grit to have volunteered to put herself through the Hunter training at Haven despite being lacking in the physical skills department. No ranged weapons, preferring to do things the old fashioned way, or so it seemed. Erytheia did not think she was a priority, if only because Burzanov and Deraine seemed to be so far above her that it was probably necessary to pick them off first. It did make her feel somewhat bad to have to face her in combat, but that was how Haven worked. Perhaps Verdant would be amenable to another luncheon at a cheaper and more casual restaurant when all this was over by way of apology, one where she would be more at ease. Erytheia made a mental note to herself to not to forget to ask.

On her own team, there was Evangeline Lys de Verre, another name on a Scroll to be memorized for it’s significance but not of any noteworthy personal stakes in the matter. A Semblance with a wide area of effect that could heal and/or hit all within said area of effect with a discordant note that would reduce their battle effectiveness. And Carmim Clover, one of the standouts of a recent mission that had come back victorious. The mission was one that Erytheia had not been present on - not for lack of trying, but because she had not been allowed to attend the briefing due to her medical history and the possibility that as fresh as she was from her malady, she would not be anywhere near a sensible choice to defend on of Mistral’s most valued assets. It was a logical decision.‌ Erytheia had to agree, after a while.

“Good morning,” she would greet the two other girls with a polite smile as they grouped up to enter the area. Gone was the ornamented dress she usually wore when seen outside of the classroom - in its place Erytheia wore the Haven Academy combat uniform, a black, long sleeved affair that would serve her until she had one of her own design custom tailored to her. Over this she wore a dark purple hooded cloak, one that would keep her blond hair from flashing out into the surroundings and giving away her position, and it was with this hood up that she performed a small curtsy before they started walking.

“You must be Miss Carmim Clover,” she said to the redhaired girl, before turning her small smile on the blond. “And you must be Miss Evangeline Lys de Verre. A pleasure to meet you both. My name is Erytheia Caelestis Amaranth Estrella Hellbore, but as it can be a mouthful in combat, please feel free to call me Theia if you should so prefer.”

They walked along as she talked, in the morning sun that was starting to show its’ rays more strongly now that it was closer to noon, where the sun was brightest in the sky. Or would have, if it wasn’t overcast with storm clouds that seemed to roil in the heavens, with glaring sunlight lining their edges. It wasn’t raining yet, but strong winds were blowing through the trees and causing the leaves and underbrush alike to ripple with every gust. That was good - it would hide their movement and presence with both visual and auditory background noise in the thick vegetation. The heiress wondered if Shadecloak had planned for the weather as well, or if it was just another variable that just so happened to be swung in their favor today.

“I hope you do not mind my presumptions, but I have drawn up a rudimentary plan that will take advantage of all our abilities to give the best chance of success with this mission. If you will allow me to show it to you, I would be happy to change to another strategy if you already have something else that would work better.”

Pulling out the map of the area that each of them had been given, Erytheia motioned for the other two to gather around them as she showed the markings she had made atop the waxed plastic in erasable marker. Circles denoted the locations where and how they would set up their ambush, and arrows showed how their attacks would hem in and destroy the target. Finishing her explanation, Erytheia would hand over said map to the other two for them to peruse for a while, explaining any issues that might come up as she did so. Finally, when a few minutes had passed, the heiress cleared her throat and looked at each of her teammates with a slightly hopeful expression.

“Well, what do you think? I believe it is workable, but I would like to hear the thoughts of my team members on the matter.”

@ ● 1408 words ● 1408 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover Erytheia Hellebore -x- 1198 words -x- its a croissant knight!

This was it. Evangeline's first real foray into an actual combat lesson! She had been both looking forward to this and dreading this a little bit. Mostly looking forward. After all, she did want to get better at combat, so she could become a good huntress who was good at fighting and not just healing other good huntresses. She didn't want to play second fiddle after all, and wanted to accomplish something on her own part. So this was a great way to learn. This class provided all the hectic danger and exertion of real combat, without any real danger! The perfect way to improve. Still, there were some nerves present in the girl's gut from going out to fight after such a long time. Unlike some of her classmates involved, Evangeline wasn't very keen on strategy. Yet, even she could see that the team she was in, the ambush team, had a clear advantage over the escort team. So it wouldn't be too difficult, and hopefully Evangeline would come out on top!

She had heard a little bit of her classmates for this exercise. A few names stood out of the crowd obviously. There was Carmim Clover, her best-friend-forever-and-ever and music buddy. Carmim had recently come back from an event, victorious, with a lot of praise to her name. Apparently she had partnered up with that storm eyed, white haired boy... Just remembering the man gave Eva shudders. Just looking into her eyes, she had panicked. So much pent up hate and anger... Anyway, she had partnered with him and had apparently saved his life, along with Qiu'li... Ah, her knight in shining armor, saving people regardless of who they were...

Distracted yet again. Focus girl.

The event had ended in a success and Carmim had played a good part in it, so Evangeline was ecstatic about it. Aside from her, there was Erytheia, with a very very long name. It struck Evangeline's head as something of nobility, and something to keep in mind. Evangeline had not heard or seen the girl in any other capacity so she was quite lacking there.

Aside from those two, who were on her team, their opponents had the infamous Colton Deraine. Rumors were big about him, the big metal man of Haven. She had of course run into him once before, but she had never really paid attention to his face during that time. Not the way she managed to when she was going through the records.

Colton was an absolute spitting image of Hickory Greene, aka the actor who played Mark in the super popular romance drama, "You are the Dust of my Heart." Aside from the short hair compared to Mark's very long hair, the similarities were staggering. Evangeline wondered if Colton's biceps were just as bulging. Things to ask about later.

Aside from him, there was Aegle Verdant. Evangeline had met Aegle once and absolutely adored her. She had showed Evangeline the first steps on how to box and Evangeline had loved Aegle for sparing the time to do so. They had yet to meet once more, but Evangeline was adamant about it happening soon.

And finally, a name that didn't entirely ring a bell for her, and yet chilled her. Kishka Burzanova. The first name was a complete mystery, but the last name? Burzanov was an infamous name in the school's rumors, and not only from her. It belonged to Nikolas, after all. Was Kishka a sister? A cousin? Goodness forbid, his wife? Only time would tell, but Evangeline sorely hoped she wasn't as... damaged as Nikolas was. Perhaps she was completely unlike him, and perhaps she was a lovely delight to be around! All sunshines and rainbows, and terribly painted in a bad light because of the bad reputation of her brother/cousin/husband? Yes, very possible. Evangeline was not one to judge books by their covers after all.

Evangeline walked to the location they had been assigned to meet at, waving brightly as she approached with one hand, holding Lis Fleurissant in the other hand. Unlike her usual bright, pastel colored feminine dresses, today, Evangeline was dressed for combat. A white tabard with a subtle golden border that covered her down to her thighs, sleeveless while black sleeves from her shirt underneath covered her arms. Black pants that were fitting to her legs, similar to ones used for riding, with dark brown leather boots that came up all the way to her knees. Strapped to her back was a quiver holding 40 white metal crossbow bolts, 5 of which were Whistlers. All in all, Evangeline looked very much unexpectedly like a small womanly knight, minus any armor. There was even a sheath at her hip, although closer inspection would reveal that it was actually her violin bow, covered in a black case of its own.

"Carmim! My love! How are you doing, you beautiful person!" Evangeline greeted, rushing over to Carmim once she got close enough to capture the redhead in a one handed hug, first pressing her right cheek to Carmim's left cheek then shifting the embrace to meet her left cheek to Carmim's right, both times making a "Mwah!" sound.
"Did you see 'zee man on 'zee other team? He looks exactly like Mark from 'zee show!" Evangeline whispered conspiratorially, with a quiet, high pitched squeal at Carmim's answer. Evangeline then stepped away and looked at the taller blonde, who definitely looked like nobility. "Pleasure is all mine, Lady Hellbore. And yes, I will call you 'Zeia if you would call me Eva." Evangeline said in a way that was politely friendly, giving the woman a short curtsy, using the edge of the front flaps of her tabard in lieu of a skirt to hold as she did so. Being from a higher social caste herself, Evangeline knew how to dictate her actions and interact with other members in the same class. Miss Wilkins had taught her well after all.

She began to walk with the girls as Theia outlined her plans, pulling out a paper map as she did so. Wow, at least one of them was tactically capable. "Oh, 'zat is very much appreciated, 'Zeia." She said in an impressed tone as she walked right next to the girl, leaning over to stare at the map as Theia outlined her plan, nodding along to her instructions. Finally, she said, " 'Zis sounds like a good plan! I am in!" Evangeline said with a grin displaying her perfect white teeth, blue eyes gleaming with excitement at the two girls. She pulled a pocket watch out of her pocket, seeing that there were only 5 minutes left until the class began. "We should probably take our positions before it starts so 'zey do not just walk up to us standing here." Evangeline said in good humor.

Following any other discussion points to be made, once their conversation was over, Evangeline would hurry over to take her aforementioned ambush position, making sure to hide herself by the virtue of viewing angles. She deployed Lis Fleurissant into it's Crossbow form, slotting a bolt into it and keeping it at the ready. Now, the wait began.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1750 TAG: Wolfe Erytheia Hellebore Evangeline Lys de Verre Colton Deraine Aegle Verdant Kishka Burzanova NOTES: B I G S T R A T HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS A class set up as an ambush? So soon after the train mission? Carmim had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't a coincidence. And after seeing the names of the students involved, her suspicions were doubly confirmed; both herself and Colton had been on the train, and it seemed as though they were on opposing sides for this class. That just felt off to her. But, not in a necessarily bad way- she was excited for the challenge, even though she was a little disheartened that her roommate was on the opposing team. But that wouldn't stop her- a bit of friendly competition was always fun! She'd just have to try not to hurt her if they came to blows; she'd been practicing her semblance a lot more lately, after almost failing to punch through the steel ceiling of the train. That kind of blunder couldn't be repeated. Decked out in the Haven Academy combat uniform, as opposed to her ordinary suit and tie, she was hoping for a little camouflage, considering she had been assigned to the ambush team. Bright red hair was fairly easy to see, so she had on an old dark green cloak over her uniform, with a hood she could throw over her head if needed. Fortunately, her weapon wasn't nearly as flashy as most of her peers' equipment. Simple wood and earthy dark rope would fit in well against the backdrop. As she walked to the location, she thought through her classmates who would be participating, and what she knew of them. There was, of course, herself, a long-ranged specialist with a very loud and powerful Manipulator-type semblance. That would definitely make this much easier, considering her designated starting point was on a cliff. It almost seemed unfair to the defense team, come to think of it... Though she wouldn't let herself get too cocky just yet. Colton Deraine was the standout of the defense team, in combat skills. She had fought alongside him just recently, so she knew that he was a very skilled fighter, especially at range. In close combat, she hadn't seen him do much, but given his weapon of choice was sword-and-shield, she could only imagine he was just as strong in melee, if not stronger. His semblance in particular was very powerful- moving around pieces of metal with his mind? That was awesome, she had to admit. And he was ruggedly handsome, and an absolute dreamboat. But that was neither here, nor there. On her team, she was excited to see Evangeline's name. Her BFF, and the first person she'd met on arriving at Haven, she actually hadn't seen her in any sort of combat situation, so she was very excited to see what would happen. She knew the blonde girl had a musical semblance like hers, but one more geared towards healing, which would be very useful to have if they were to fight against Colton and his group. Then there was Kishka Burzanova, the VIP of the defense team. Carmim didn't really know much about her, but she did know Nik, so when she had first seen the list, she went to her friend and asked him about his cousin. He just said she was "crazy like a goddamn fox," and to, "watch out for her sneaky tricks." Apparently her semblance was similar to Akon and Colton's, in that she could also move things telekinetically, though in her case, it was significantly weaker than either of theirs. But from what Nik had told her, her real strength wasn't in her semblance, but in melee combat. Easy enough- she would just try not to get too close to the girl. Or any of them, for that matter- she had the furthest range of any combatant besides Colton, to her knowledge, and her attacks had a slightly larger area of effect than his, since she produced a cone-like blast of air, compared to flinging metal at things. If she stayed back and watched for his projectiles, she shouldn't have to worry much about getting hit. Next up was Erytheia Hellebore. She didn't know much about this girl at all, which made her grateful that she was on her side. Apparently she was a Sanctum Academy graduate, from what Carmim could gather, and was a bit older than most of the students at Haven. Going off of the rest of her team so far, though, Carmim assumed she was a ranged fighter as well. She'd just have to wait and see. And finally, her roommate, Aegle Verdant. She knew she was a melee-focused fighter who specialized in unarmed combat, like boxing. Considering 2/3 of the enemy team were close-combat specialists, having the high ground would be very useful. Of course, she also knew that Aegle was more than just someone good at punching things. She had a strong will and a fighting spirit that Carmim just knew would help her excel. Honestly, even though she was on the other team, the little redhead was rooting for her friend. This was her chance to shine and do really, really, well! Of course, that didn't mean she'd be going too easy on her. She couldn't earn her win if it was just handed to her, now could she? As she finished thinking through her classmates, she approached the arena. It seemed she had gotten there first, which was okay with her. Just gave her a moment to stretch out before the fighting started. And of course, to have a quick snack- reaching into her pocket, she withdrew one of those small little wax-wrapped cheese wheels, and popped it into her mouth after freeing it from its waxy prison. No sooner had she done that, however, than she spied a gold and white figure approaching, exuding radiance and beauty. No doubt, it was her friend, Eva, a thought that was confirmed by the girl's cheery greeting. Carmim smiled widely, and returned the hug, including the fancy Atlesian kiss thing Eva was so fond of. "Evangeline! My friend! I am so happy to see you, and so happy we were put on t'e same team!" It was quite exciting. Friendship really did make everything much more fun. She stifled back a giggle as Eva whispered in her ear about Colton. Finally! Someone else who could see the resemblance. "I know, right!? He is such a beautiful man..." With a mischievous grin, she flashed Eva a wink. "You should see him in action." So cool... As the two whispered to one another like chattering school girls, Carmim saw the third and final member of their trio arrive. She was so pretty! Flowing blonde hair, and a regal appearance. She beamed brightly at her, and responded to the girl's dainty curtsy with her best imitation of one. It was... lacking, to say the least, and she nearly stumbled and fell over, but managed to hold her balance with a sheepish grin. Unlike Erytheia, she was definitely not nobility, in any way. But that didn't mean she couldn't try to pick up a little culture, no? "Yes! I am Carmim Clover. It is very nice to meet you as well, T'eia!" It seemed the gang was all there. Good. Now it was time to begin! Erytheia withdrew from her pockets a very well-marked-up map, which Carmim leaned closer to look at, before smiling up at the taller girl. "T'at is so cool, you must have spent a lot of time working on t'is plan! It looks very good to me, I am sure we can use t'is well." She looked over it in further detail, carefully examining the markings and strategic placements. Hmmm... This was well-thought out, and from her perspective, it seemed like the best possible plan. "Right! T'en let us not waste any time!" She grinned excitedly at her teammates. Let's go and win t'is match!" Time was ticking down, so Carmim quickly made her way over to her designated areas to begin making the preparations. First step was about a quarter of the way down the trail, right at the start of the cliff. The plan was to set up a chokepoint here, so she was going to knock down a tree with her semblance so that it would block off the path, forcing them to slow down as they climbed over it. With a decent bang of her drum, the sound filling the air, the tree presumably went down easily, which delighted her- seems her semblance really had gotten stronger since last time. With urgency, she then moved further up the path, to a second tree, about halfway up the trail, on the left side. With a few much weaker blasts from Storyteller, her goal was to batter the tree a bit, so that when the time came, all she had to do was give it a hard kick or another shot of air, and it would come crashing down, right when she needed it to. It was a rock-solid plan- Theia wasn't kidding when she said it would be a good strategy to use. And with any luck, they would come out of this on top, because of it. Quickly, she flipped her hood over her head and dashed to the west of the second tree, up onto the cliff, where she crouched low in the taller grass there, watching and listening for the first sign of the other team. From where she was positioned, she should have a pretty good shot at the second tree if they came in too fast, and if not, she would be able to move a bit closer in range, so rain hell on them from above, out of everyone's range but Colton's. Which was fine by her- even he couldn't fend off three ranged assailants at once, and all they had to do was distract him and Aegle long enough to knock out the target. Once that was accomplished, they would be the victors. She had to wonder, though, what Professor Shadecloak was trying to do here, pitting a strong offense against a mostly ineffective defense... Who knew, really? Either way... This was going to be fun. SPOILER: Click to show Handy map for easy visualization. Dark green is the first tree, bronze is after Carmim knocks it down Green is the second tree, and red X is Carmim's current position

LAIKA OF GS!

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

Bravery is believing in yourself, and that's one thing nobody can teach you.

The warm welcome he received from his former classmate was quite frankly almost as amazing as the conniption that the chronic underachiever sent herself into at the mere sight of Colton. Kishka immediately went into a rant, showing that her absolutely garbage attitude hadn’t changed in the slightest. Within that rant, though, was the perfect opening to assert dominance once again while making it look completely effortless.

Kishka, frankly, seemed to have a bit of an inferiority complex going. She felt inferior to him the same way she likely felt inferior to her much more successful family member, and constantly sought attention and recognition like a neglected child or a cat. The best way to deal with someone like that, frankly, was to not give them what they wanted and let them completely implode. If she felt inferior to him, that was fine. A lot of people felt inferior to him because he was the fucking best, it wasn’t new. If she was going to throw a hissy fit about it, though, the least he could do in return in amplify that feeling to make her try harder to prove herself.

As the girl talked, brown eyes stared blankly at her. His body language was completely relaxed and apathetic, and when she finished her rant the Sanctum graduate’s left hand moved to scratch his cheek as he asked politely and with a trace of concern in his voice: ”I’m sorry, do I know you from somewhere?” He just pretended to have no idea who the hell Kishka was for the express purpose of winning the war of words before it even got the chance to really get started. She could fume all she wanted, frankly, because they were going to lose anyway and at least this way he’d get some enjoyment out of the exercise.

The clock soon struck 11:59, as Aegle pointed out, so it was time to go. The girl volunteered to go out first, but the Argus native immediately waved off the suggestion. It was unnecessary, first of all… and unlikely to be effective for more than the first couple of steps.

”I’ll send my scabbard out first to poke around. It’ll trigger any wires and show any pit traps or anything like that. I can rinse and repeat a few times until my aura burns out about halfway through.” frustration was seething in the teenager’s voice as he all but spat out the words. ”I can block their semblance spam until around then, but after that you’ll be on your own.”

The fact of the matter was that aside from the enemy team losing all motor control and brain function for thirty seconds at the start of the match, it didn’t seem like there was a way out of this. They were going to be coming from three different directions unless they were completely braindead, which would make it next to impossible for Colton to actually deal with more than one at a time even if they did poke their heads out. The bright side was that target priority was completely obvious, so there was that.

”Target priority is Carmim first, then Erytheia and then Evangeline. If we take out Carmim before my aura breaks, we should win. Hold up on actually going out there until I try to trip any traps.”

Frankly, that wasn’t even necessarily a true statement. If his aura was really low and a fresh Erytheia and Evangeline were still up… well, that would pose a pretty big issue. It was important to set a win condition early on, though, because it at least made people go through the motions and attempt rather than give up completely at the beginning. Aegle’s mental note of him talking at her rather than to her was correct, and this trend continued now. To be frank, Colton didn’t consider her to be reliable even as a meat shield so was more than willing to outsource that job to him and his gear.

The shield on his arm, Omen, unfolded into a concave circular shield roughly 76 centimeters in diameter and the boy undid the strap that kept its folded up form attached to his arm and activated his quirk to fan the shield out to full diameter before moving on to draw his sword. Regret was a longer backsword that had a blade roughly 89 centimeters long with a single potent cutting edge with noncutting ‘back’ of the blade being thickened up to provide extra strength. The blade had a knuckle bow hilt and a spear tip to make thrusting a distinct possibility, as well as making it quite the effective improvised javelin when the situation called for it.

When the clock struck noon, true to his word the Argus native would free his scabbard with his shield hand and send it flying over the corner as it would drag across the ground moving vertically and putting a decent amount of force into the ground as it went. Ideally, any tripwires or anything of the sort within around a fifteen meter range would all be triggered. Assuming that the scabbard was not trapped by anything along its route, it would return to its previous position on Colton’s sword belt now covered in dirt.

”Good to go.” he would note, swallowing his frustration for the moment and turning the corner as he reverse gripped his backsword in preparation to toss it at the earliest opportunity at the first gremlin that decided to pop their head out to harass them in the open. He, frankly, expected to be attacked right as they started so at the first sign of a semblance blast from the opposing side Polarity would move his shield in the way to block the attack. Initially, he would try and save aura by letting the force of the attack knock the shield backwards and not bother to force it to hold in place. If there was only one attacker, he might be able to get away with it.

The second there were two, though, or a flurry of attacks coming from one then Colton would expend the extra aura needed to not only block the attack but hold his shield in place as it did so to prevent anyone from getting blasted. The first tree that blocked their path was completely obvious, but too far away to really do anything about from their starting position to do anything about right away. His sword could similarly be used to block impacts in a pinch, though it wouldn’t be as effective in doing much more than blunting the worst of the impact. Really the important part now was trying to figure out where exactly the enemy team was hiding, because trees and foliage weren’t a problem when they could simply be cut through. He didn’t have the area of effect type attacks like Carmim did, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t needle a few shots in during this exercise.

※ 3393 total words ✎ 1163 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, D ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, F rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Erytheia Hellebore]

The noble warrior stood, and the people looked to her.
For she was a beacon - hope given form, yet still only human.
Within that truth there was great promise.
If one could stand against the night, then so too could anyone - everyone.

In her hand the warrior held a Rose. And her aura burned bright.

❝

Erytheia couldn’t help but flash a quick smile at her two team mates as they each hurried to their positions before she moved to her own perch upon the overhanging cliffs that bordered the path as it dipped into the valley, making sure to keep out of sight of any possible angle of view the defending team might have from the starting point as she did so. It seemed like they were both competent young women and already had a pre-existing friendship that would no doubt increase the battle effectiveness of them as a team, which was an unexpected bonus. Here, she was the outsider - as she always had been.

The Hellebore heiress slowed to a trot, and eventually came to a stop, stopping beside a tree that would give her eyes on the path while also covering the majority of her body from view. She was aware that her blood red eyes in particular would stand out in the undergrowth that was dominated by hues of green and brown, and so would only watch until distant figures started moving into view before she would duck back into concealment. Carmim’s first action would signal the beginning of their ambush, and there would be no missing that - or the sounds of combat if she should be spotted first. Settling in beside her chosen tree, the Sanctum Academy graduate thought - not of the plan, and how it might fall apart, for that was needless worrying now that all the pieces were set in motion- but of Colton Deraine, and how she’d finally figured out what had been bothering her.

To say that Erytheia‌ Hellebore had been particularly close to anyone at all, whether at Sanctum Academy or not, would have been a lie. Her mother had espoused two views - either to have such great strength at your side that you would never need to worry about them, or to stand alone at the top. The masses needed a leader, and Erytheia was to be that leader, she would proclaim. And while no great leader stood alone, Alramadi had been adamant that Sanctum would not provide her daughter with the teammates that she sought. A playground, she said, for children to gnaw safely on the scraps that true warriors let them chew on without being overwhelmed. Her daughter’s own inability to dominate that “playground”, of course, had been the subject of many a discussion, which usually ended in shrieking voices and broken furniture as fire was tossed around the house in the throes of Alramadi’s rage.

This is the lowest of the low. You should be clearing this hurdle with ease, and yet here you are, struggling to cope while others surpass you. This is nothing. You are nothing. A disappointment. A failure. A waste of space. A useless sack of meat that is barely fit for fodder or Grimm bait.

You are nothing.

Her mother was right, of course. Failing to achieve what generations of Hellebores had accomplished before her was not only nigh impossible, it was also completely and utterly disgraceful. She was nothing. No, worse than nothing. She was a shame to the Hellebore name, a stain on their impeccable reputation and good conduct. Erytheia exhaled quietly and closed her eyes for a moment, letting the familiar feelings of inadequacy wash over her and settle into a comfortable state of equilibrium, like the sea foam that was carried atop the crests of waves slowly dissipating into sand as the tide retreated.

But that is why I am here, is it not? To right past wrongs. To claim my birthright. To prove to everyone and myself, once and for all, that I am worthy of this name, this title, this glory.

But even if she did not have friends that she could trust with anything serious, the young heiress still had acquaintances that she interacted with on a daily basis and the company of whom she would prefer over the rest of the school. Knowing that your Semblance would come but not being able to use it until that time came was something she and a few other girls had shared in common, and they often trained together to push each other to greater heights than before. Of course, that group slowly dwindled as each one discovered her Semblance and how to use it, but they still remained in contact for the duration of their studies at Sanctum, and more than a few from that group had come to visit her at the estate when she’d been removed from the ceremony in a sorry state and check up on her wellbeing. Cressida Fox had been one such acquaintance, one that even Alramadi had grudgingly admitted was a one of a kind prodigy among aspiring Huntsmen despite being from a common family with no nobility in their blood to speak of. Erytheia had hoped that she might be able to work together again some day, that all of them could, if not serve with her, serve under her banner…

And then, in the flash of an instant, everyone was gone.

The first few days after the Fall had been a whirlwind of disbelief and denial. Scroll calls made in desperation, hoping against hope to hear a friendly voice likewise mired in grief - only to go unanswered, or to be picked up by devastated friends and family, or worse - a calm and dispassionate digital voice telling her that the number was unavailable or no longer in use. And then there had been funerals - funerals that she had pushed herself to attend, dressed in mourning black with her hands still aching from the damage Airtafae had done to her bones. So many friends reduced to nothing but names on a tombstone. Closed coffins, the better to hide the mutilation of the dead that had occurred - or the fact that said coffins were empty, never having managed to recover the bodies. It was a stark reminder that talent and effort, no matter how much, would not be enough to fend off the vagaries of fate.

Hands that had been scarred by the Semblance within her flexed quietly, feeling the sensation of the fabric rubbing along upraised scars. A tiny red spark flashed between her fingertips for a moment, and then was gone. Airtafae paced like a caged beast within her flesh, wanting to be let out. It would have its time soon enough. A fickle Semblance that tossed and raged like a wild beast, one that was all too easy to let go out of control until she was spent. It was almost like it had a will of its own, one that did not entirely appreciate her strength in controlling it.

One might even say, thought the heiress in one of her rare flights of dark humor, that it is my hell to bear.

She smiled to herself, and almost laughed.

Almost.

@ ● 1149 words ● 2557 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Kishka Burzanova]

KISHKA BURZANOVA

The absolute nerve... The sheer gall of some people! Do I know you from somewhere? She started to snap at him, to rebut his remark with some kind of stinging insult, but she knew better. Kishka Burzanova was no idiot. Her name wasn't Nikolas, dammit. She knew exactly what he was trying at, and it wouldn't work. Hell, even if he was being honest, replying would only worsen the matter. So, her mouth slightly agape to combat his moronic attempt at undermining her, she deigned against speaking, closing her mouth over gritted teeth. Smug bastard. She would give him no such satisfaction. Instead, she turned to Aegle. In all her haste to take jabs at Colton, she had almost missed what the girl had said before. Her going first? How bold of her. Bold, but stupid. "No, don't go first. There's no sense in sending out a single target for them to pick off, no matter how useless your abilities are in this challenge. I can-" Mid-sentence, she was cut off by Colton's lazy excuse for a strategy. And to make matters worse, it was the same thing as her strategy, but stupider. His semblance was the only ranged weapon they had besides her own semblance and her cannon. And he was going to play minesweeper with it? She scowled at him. If your plan is to wear yourself out well before we get to their ambush, by all means, be my guest. I think we both know that your semblance is the most useful of the three of us, by a large measure. I can use mine to scout ahead for traps, as mine is far less suitable for combat than yours." Hmph. She hated admitting that he was better than her at anything, but the fact of the matter was that his semblance was more valuable than hers. She could afford to use hers so long as he had enough aura to protect her from attacks. She also hated to admit that he was right about the target priorities. Carmim was the highest priority target, considering she was the strongest ranged attacker on the enemy team. Hellebore was next, and blondie was their team's Aegle, to put it bluntly. Not that Aegle was by any means useless, of course. Kishka was a strategist, and she knew very well how to use every piece at her disposal. Including Iron Man over here. Not content to let him be entirely correct, she did chime in as he expressed confidence in taking out the main target. "Not true. Taking down Clover will take effort and concentrated firepower. And it's completely obvious that they will be attacking us all at once, not individually. If they come at us one by one, a la gauntlet style, then yes, shooting down little red first would be easy. But that won't be how they attack. It sure as hell isn't what I would do. And if you're half as decent at tactics as you are at being a pompous prick, I doubt you'd do that either. All three of them are threats, and we could come down to just blondie left, and still have our asses handed to us if we get careless." She turned to face the cliff, before glancing back at Colton, then at Aegle. "So don't get careless." That said, it was time to go, so she reached down and picked up a decently hefty rock. Lightly, she tossed it forward, in front of her, and with her semblance, it floated next to Colton's scabbard. Seems he was insistent on using his aura anyways. Fine, then. Two minesweepers were better than one anyways. She trudged forward silently, shifting her rock to and fro, feeling for any traps and tripwires, her umbrella ready in her other hand. They were not going to lose. She would not allow it. She had way too much riding on this- if she lost because of Colton, she'd never let herself live it down. Not to mention Nik would have some smartass shit to say. ... Time passed, as they maneuvered their way down. It was quiet. Too quiet. She was looking into the trees on the cliff face, when she felt it. Her rock had hit something up ahead. Turning, she saw it, up ahead. A fallen tree. Right across the path. There was no way in hell that was an accident. It was a trap. And they had walked right into it. Her eyes scanned around for cover. There was little to be found. Shit. "Aegle, Deraine, positions! We just waltzed right into their ambush!" Son of a bitch. This wasn't going to go very well. Prepared for anything, she pressed the smaller button on her weapon, the umbrella opening with a mechanical click, as the chainmail mesh, freshly shined, fanned out to provide what minimal defense it could. Hopefully, she was wrong. But hope killed people. Hope made people like Aegle do stupid shit like yelling at Grimm. She was not very hopeful for their chances of winning this.

Notes// IT'S A TARP | Tagged// Wolfe Aegle Verdant | WC// 844

✬

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover Erytheia Hellebore Kishka Burzanova Aegle Verdant -x- 851 words -x- ITS A TRAP

Evangeline was laying on her belly, waiting with the patience garnered from years of propriety tutoring. A proper lady could wait for hours on end, after all. Even then, she could not help but imagine humming to herself in her mind in various musical notes, remaining silent in reality aside from her head rocking slightly left to right with the rhythm. She was hidden from view atop the cliff to the west of the passage, directly across from the cliff that Erytheia was hiding on. Lis Fleurissant stayed deployed in her hand in front of her, a bolt cocked and ready to be fired. 4 more bolts were stuck into the ground in a line to her left, perpendicular to her prone position.

Time passed, only indicated by clouds above lazily floating across the sky, until she heard approaching movement. Or rather, very soft scuffing noises. She frowned, not willing to peek out, instead tensing herself and focusing on the sound. It could've been anything, like a wild animal or just the wind, and if she jumped out now, their surprise would be given aw-

The knocking of the solid object against the wood of their fallen tree. That was definitely not an animal or the wind. Evangeline instantly lunged up, rising into a crouching position and aiming, taking a split second to visually identify her targets. Her eyes instantly found Kishka, with VIP who was easy to spot given her odd colored hair, and as soon as Kishka was done saying the word 'position', Evangeline had fired off her first crossbow bolt, aimed directly for her chest. Not a regular silent bolt, but one of her Whistler bolts, which was almost the same as a regular arrow except it made a keening whistling noise as it flew, to draw attention and distract.

At the same time, Evangeline heard a bang, a groan as the weakened tree behind the Escort Team they had set up fell down behind them, closing them into this narrow chokepoint with barely any cover. And, from the other cliff, out of the corner of her periphery, she saw a flash indicating that Erytheia had fired off what looked like a lightning bolt, also aimed at Kishka from an entirely opposite angle. Carmim was also supposed to follow up by firing off blasts with her drum from behind them once she got above the tree.

Evangeline had gotten to her feet after the first shot, her left hand shooting out to her left and grabbing one of the bolts embedded in the ground. Nock and fire within heartbeats of the first shot, Lis Fleurissant's clever mechanics drawing it's string back after every shot saving precious time between firing as Evangeline dodged left, both to reposition her shots from differing angles and to prove a harder target to hit with any ranged fire that came at her. She continued this leftward motion, picking up the bolts as she went and firing them from an increasing angle towards Kishka, all except the third shot, which had been aimed at Aegle's solar plexus instead of Kishka. No doubt the sudden ambush and focus fire at Kishka would make everyone scramble to defend the VIP, so that one errant shot was Evangeline's brilliant idea that she had come up with while waiting, to take advantage of the focus and get a surprise shot off at Aegle.

Once her five bolt strategy had finished, Evangeline would lunge back towards the right, both to get herself away from the left edge she had closed the distance to, and to suddenly change her angle, which would work for both her firing and to dodge incoming attacks. She didn't know what Kishka had aside from some ranged capabilities, but she knew Aegle had no ranged weapons to fear, and Colton could throw his sword. So she couldn't stay still or risk getting shot or skewered herself.

If the situation stayed as it were, she would quickly draw out 3 more bolts from the quiver at her back, a delay of two seconds from her previous barrage, holding 2 between her fingers and using her fore finger and thumb to nock the third one. And then she fired off 3 more bolts at Kishka once more at rapid pace, this time at a decreasing angle as she moved the opposite way, keeping her eyes open for any incoming threats.

But if someone would attempt to climb her cliff, Evangeline would quickly draw her violin bow, and strike it across the strings still usable in Lis Fleurissant's crossbow form, beginning to play a fast paced tune with the exception of every single note being a single-note off key, the Nausea effect from Mélodie de l'âme activating and hopefully causing any would-be climbers to fail their climb and slip back down due to the vertigo, still maintaining her movement to the right. Anyone outside the 10-12 meter range of Mélodie de l'âme would not be affected by the effect, but would still hear a skillful, yet terrible sounding rendition of the song with every note off by one.





[ Bolts left: 35-32 / 40 ]

[Aegle Verdant]

The walk down the canyon may well have been the longest of Aegle's life, each step seemingly fraught with peril and dread promise. In traveling that path, she thought she understood another side to this class beyond what was most blatantly obvious. It wasn't merely a matter of one team trying to take down Kishka while the other team tried to stop them. The three of them, Colton, Kishka, and herself, knew they would be attacked at some point along this road and, though the could guess the manner of weaponry which might be used against them, they could know neither when nor where the ambush would take place. The smart thing, the sensible thing, would have been to change routes; If they hadn't been forced down a central path, they could have bypassed the ambush site entirely. Denied that course of action, they'd no choice but to march blithely forth, step after step, knowing one of those steps must lead them right into a trap.
Aegle wondered if Shadecloak had intended it to be so damned terrifying, or if that had just been some added bonus atop the professor's humbling of Colton and humiliating of herself. Whatever the huntress' intentions had been, Aegle was terrified. Even knowing that their ambushers would be classmates, knowing that they would not truly hurt anyone on her team, even if they won, could not lessen the mounting tension, the dreadful anticipation, of waiting to be attacked. It turned every curve of rock into a hidden face, every mineral sparkle into light dancing off a blade, every sound into the furtive rustling of a would-be-attacker. It all made Aegle want to scream.
It returned her, quite unwillingly, to those stretched out moments atop the walls of Mistral, when every one of her instincts had cried out for action, whether it be a suicidal attack or a cravenly retreat. It turned the few minutes they spent in the canyon into what felt like hours of exhausting waiting. Even combat and pain would have been preferable; At least then Aegle could have done something.

She wondered if her teammates felt it too. Looking at Colton, she would not have thought anything could pierce through his armor of confidence, training, and ingrained superiority, and it seemed she was correct. He had done just as he'd said he would, and did not seem at all bothered by the threat of impending violence, at least no more bothered than he'd been when he'd learned she was on his team. Kishka did not appear comfortable, but if she was feeling even a portion the anxiety roiling in Aegle's guts, the smaller girl would be well surprised.
'Just me,' She decided, 'I'm the only one freaked out by this.'
It was hardly a comforting thought, but then she already knew she was the weak link in this chain. Like lead, she weighed the other two down, to soft to be useful and actively harmful to be near. They should have let her go first; She'd have been more use as a minesweeper; What was she even supposed to do now? She didn't have a shield to defend Kishka with, and she didn't have any sort of ranged capability to attack the opposing team.
'Yeah, and going first worked so well on the wall, too.' Some bitter part of her laughed. It still shamed her to remember how she'd acted, how her first brush with the creatures of Grimm had seemingly turned her body over to a madwoman's care.
'At least that was doing something,' Another part retorted, 'Better than this waiting, this helplessness.'
They were little more than cattle in a chute, being lead towards a slaughtering block. If this were a real mission, Aegle did not think she could have endured it.

A dull thud came from up ahead. Rounding a slight bend in the canyon wall, they all saw the tree at pretty much the same time. It had fallen right across the canyon, blocking off the route ahead in a briar of twisting branches and leaves, half again as tall as Colton. It took Aegle a moment too long to see the import of that, and to understand that a tree, fallen right across their path, was just a little too convenient.
Kishka was not half so slow, "Aegle, Deraine, positions! We just waltzed right into their ambush!"
Aegle's gaze flicked to the taller girl, eyes wide in her pale face, uncomprehending.
'Positions? What position is that?'
But before she could ask, something above them started to scream. Aegle looked up in time to see something long and silver flash by, headed straight for Kishka, but it was moving too fast to do anything about it. Her heart was hammering in her chest, a painful ache behind her ribs, as she turned about, looking for where the screaming bolt had come from. She spotted Eva easily. Dressed in white, her blonde hair was made a halo of gold in the light of the westerling sun, a beacon a blind girl could have spotted, even without the horrible shrieking of her first shot.
Then everything seemed to happen at once. Eva was moving, a golden mote dancing on the light of the ridge, raining silver rays down upon them, as a earth shaking bang came from the road behind, followed by the tortured groan of splintering wood. A second tree fell across the road, right where they had just walked, sealing the three of them in. And there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.
'Trapped.' Was the only cogent thought that managed to penetrate Aegle's surprise.
Something sizzled through the air, reeking of ozone and burnt hair, just as something else slammed into Aegle's stomach, tearing her hoodie and punching the wind out of her in a single stroke. She staggered, gasped, broken from her bemusement by the pain, and rushed to try and put herself between Kishka and the incoming fire. It was a pointless gesture though; Even if Aegle had been of a height with their VIP, all the attacks were coming from high above their heads, raining down upon them. Aegle could hardly interpose herself between them.
'Useless,' She despaired, holding her side as she spun about, looking desperately for something, anything she could do. It was no good though. She was an lump of lead, nothing more than dead-weight; Her sole purpose was as a place holder, an anchor around Colton's neck, and added insurance that their team would lose.

She should just give up, and save them all the embarrassment, they couldn't hope to win after all.

They were all around them now. Flashes of gold and white betrayed Eva's movements on the western cliff, while the crackle of energy seemed to have come from the opposite ridge. Now, Aegle could even see flashes of bloody red in the sunlight, and hear the incessant beat of Carmin's drum. More bolts were flying, and Aegle scrambled to get out of the way, no longer even thinking of trying to defend Kishka, interested only in not getting hurt herself.
'This is crazy!' Aegle thought, and 'I should have gone first.'
But an anchor was still an anchor, no matter where it lay, and her presence in the midst of the ambush did not hurt her team any more than her absence would have helped. Her heart was hammering in her ears, beat-beat-beating in double time with Carmin's drum, with the shrill metallic scrape of Colton's armor, the whistling hiss of Eva's bolts, the crackling lash of Erytheia's lighting. She looked around, wide eyed, feeling faint, feeling useless, feeling weighed down by all the pointlessness of her futile existence.
'I'm just an anchor... Worse than even. Colton could throw an anchor.'

For a moment, it all seemed to stop. All, save the flutter of Aegle's heart, which still throbbed with sonorous insistence in her ears. That thought resonated with the dull roar that filled her head, amplified by that agonized beating, repeated back to her again and again and again.
'Colton could throw an anchor.'
"Throw me." Aegle whispered, as a wild exultation eclipsed her bonewhite face. It was so obvious, she could not believe she'd not thought of it sooner. Colton could stop a greatsword with his semblance, and send his opponents flying, so why not her? She was more metal than girl, or near enough as to make no matter.
"Carmin, up there," She squawked, voice shrill with sudden excitement, as she rounded on Colton. Had she seen a flash of red on that ridge, or had it been her imagination? "I can hear her!"
Carmin was the biggest threat, they'd all agreed.
"Throw me! THROW ME!"

words - 1,466

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1264 TAG: Colton Deraine NOTES: BOOM BOOM TRAPPY TRAP HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS It wasn't especially interesting sitting in the bushes, waiting. Frankly, compared to her teammates, Carmim wasn't one to sit patiently in silence, at all. So this was especially difficult for her. In the wake of actual action, her mind was just buzzing with thoughts, constantly bombarding her from every angle. Everything from what she would have for lunch later (probably cheesy toast with pickled cactus. She was pretty excited to have found a shop that sold imports from Vacuo, and pickled cactus was one of her favorites) to overthinking the plan they had set in motion, to thinking about Colton's abs again. It was hard to stay focused without being able to drum, or even tap her fingers. Even fidgeting would give away her position, so she fought the urge to stretch her fingers out. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to sit for long... But the time she did have to sit? Was far too long. She glanced over at Eva's position. She could see her in shimmering gold and white from where she crouched, and her mind crawled to thoughts of her friendship with the girl. She was the first person Carmim had met since coming to Haven, which was definitely a big plus in her book, not to mention they had bonded over so much on their very first meeting. It was a friendship made in heaven, and one she definitely appreciated. She was excited to see her friend's abilities in combat, though- she still had to beat the hell out of Nik for costing her that chance on the Argus Limited, though she did suppose it was perhaps a good thing that Eva hadn't been aboard the train. She didn't have the combat experience any of the other trainees who had gone had, which may have gotten her hurt. Hell, Nikolas probably had the most experience, shy of Colton, and his ass was still in the hospital. This was a much kinder place to see her best friend show her stuff, honestly. Not nearly as dangerous. Scarlet eyes danced over to Erytheia. The girl seemed sweet. Carmim automatically liked her, but then, she made friends faster than any normal human was capable of. She definitely gave off some very regal vibes. If Eva was like a princess, Theia was much more like a Queen, commanding awe and attention from her subjects. Or well, she assumed her subjects would be in awe and admiration, if she had any. Did she have subjects? Carmim wasn't sure how Mistral's elite upper class functioned, so she had no clue if she had subjects or not, but if she did, she bet they were enamored with her enchanting beauty and grace. And from what she had recently learned of her semblance, she was excited to see the girl's electrifying presence in battle. She didn't used to be very interested in fighting, honestly. But with her Uncle Jabari gone and all, she had taken up his mantle. She thought back to her lunch with Aegle, before her mission. The green-eyed girl had given her a lot to think about, and a new perspective on her uncle's sacrifice, even if she had had no way of knowing she had impacted Carmim so much with her words. He had been a world-class Huntsman, and a true champion of the people, traveling all across Vacuo, helping people and serving justice wherever he went. When he had first taken her on for training, she just enjoyed hanging out with such a strong-willed, good-hearted, man. But the actual combat, she hadn't paid as much attention to. Now, though... Now, she was following in his footsteps. The great "Desert Shield." They were huge shoes to wear, for sure. All her training and practice had paid off on the Argus Limited, but she wasn't entirely satisfied with her performance. She felt like she had gotten through it riding a wave of luck, not by her own merits. And she was going to prove herself, for real, now. Her uncle hadn't gotten to be as strong as he was through pure dumb luck, and neither was she. Her first step would be winning this match... Speaking of which, there they were... Being closest to the Defense Team, she could see them as they approached, well before they got to the ambush location. Part of her wanted to just unleash her best flurry on them now, but she knew she had to be patient. Patience was hard, dammit. Slowly, ever so slowly, they hobbled forward. Seemed Colton and Kishka were being cautious, checking for traps as they walked, and Aegle was just trailing along. She felt a little bad for her friend and roomie- this wasn't a good arena for her to showcase her talents. More than anything, she just wanted to see her friend succeed. She always seemed a little off in space, a little too far away, and what she wanted more than anything was to pull her a bit closer. She just knew Aegle was stronger than she let herself believe... No one could have that much inner strength, surely, without matching it with outer strength! The professors were just overlooking her and her skill set, because she was so small, and so frail-looking. She could empathize with that- up until the Argus Limited, she doubted anyone had considered her much either. She was abysmally small, with an unorthodox weapon, and hardly any skills aside from her endurance and her drumming. She had no doubt in her mind that she must have looked pretty weak to her professors at first glance too. But she had found her place at Haven- surely Aegle would find hers? No more time to think about that. Her sharp ears picked up the clunk of a rock smacking into the tree, and her face lit up in a bright grin. She stood, her small figure barely standing out against the tall grass. Throwing her leg back, she struck up her signature position, hand held high over her head, drum to the side. This would be a smaller blast, just the absolute minimum needed to spring the trap. She caught the sound of a loud whistling, signalling her next move in the trio's simple, but very effective, plan. Tak. A single shot of solidified air slammed into the weakened tree, sending it lethargically crashing down, sealing their prey into a tiny box, walled off on both sides. Electricity crackled in the air, and she saw more bolts launched from Evangeline's position as she took point by the stump of the newly fallen tree, using the hunk of wood as a bit of cover as she fired off a big shot at the umbrella-wielding girl, which collided in midair with what seemed like a cannonball. Her semblance, of course, was stronger than the girl's weapon, and smashed through the projectile, with some force, though unfortunately it was too spread out by that point to do too much damage. So instead, she turned her attention to the opposing team's standout, the absolute dreamboat, Colton Deraine. A quick volley of shots from her drum flew at the metal-clad man, fully intent on distracting him from the VIP- he'd have to either tank the hits, or defend himself at the cost of exposing Kishka to the other girls' assaults. However, as she strafed to the right, she couldn't help but notice that Aegle was doing.,.. Something? Oh boy. Her eyes widened just a bit as she realized exactly what her roommate was doing. This was about to be... Very interesting.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

Bravery is believing in yourself, and that's one thing nobody can teach you.

An ambush between two trees, making use of the environment to trap them in position while they all just spammed their ranged attacks until they won. It was a simple but effective plan, and one that was likely good enough to get the win given the circumstances.

Three different attacks, three different patterns, three different angles. Carmim was shooting from behind them, so it was at least somewhat possible to body block the shots even coming from above. It rattled the metal of the Argus native’s armor and staggered him with every shot, but his aura was still healthy after just getting smashed in the back with a few shots. Between which of the other attacks to block with his shield, there wasn’t exactly a question. Each lightning bolt was caught with Omen, Colton’s shield that was flared out to full length even as he absorbed hits from Carmim. His sword was up along the teenager’s shoulder pointing backwards to the redhead, waiting for the moment she stopped attacking him and got greedy so he could turn around and launch it. ”Kishka, focus on the arrows.” he would bark, with Evangeline being the only one he couldn’t neutralize for the moment. He could have tried to use his scabbard to block the arrows, but that risked fucking up his shield defense and not being able to react instantly to the barrage from behind stopping to punish it. It wasn’t worth the risk, frankly, so he didn’t even try.

He couldn’t do all of that and be precise with his scabbard, too, so he just propelled it towards Erytheia’s general location in an effort to get a lucky hit in. It would launch bottom first and completely tear through the first tree it ended up hitting as well as bursting through for some more collateral damage if nothing else, hopefully bringing up a spray of splinters that would lessen the barrage of attacks for a few seconds. One of his possible weapons was gone with that low percentage attack, but he was more than willing to take a risky play to attack rather than to defend.

He was focused entirely on keeping them in this scenario for a few seconds longer, so it took Aegle screaming for Colton to notice. She wanted to be thrown at Carmim, it seemed like, and it wasn’t like the brunette hadn’t noticed the whirring noise from something metal on the girl’s body on the walk over there. Someone that was concerned for the safety of their classmate might have had objections to the idea of tossing them by yanking the metal on – or perhaps in their body hard enough to make them fly but the fact of the matter was that it wasn’t like the Argus native had any better ideas. Wordlessly he would move his right hand to where he assumed the brace was to make contact and then lift the girl up off the ground before throwing her just as she requested. Forty percent of Aegle’s aura would be burned immediately from the metal being forcibly yanked hard enough to achieve flight, but her durability made sure that she was still in the green.

As for Colton himself, his aura levels were down to about half already between the strain of tossing a person full force and absorbing Carmim and Erytheia’s attacks. For the first time in the exercise, though, a smug grin flashed across his features because Aegle’s launch would likely provide at least a few seconds of distraction. ”Kishka, you’re next. Hold out your umbrella.” he would order, ”I’ll make sure it’s just you and Eva for the finish.”

His aura would take another hit by launching Kishka out there, but hers wouldn’t due to just hanging on as the metal was yanked. Erytheia was close enough to where he could force a fight, so that was positive. He probably wouldn’t win, but if he could at least not lose for long enough for Kishka to win it wouldn’t exactly matter. Having Evangeline break his aura would be fucking embarrassing, and having Carmim break his aura would just lend credence to the whispers that he wasn’t top dog any more. There was no other option, and the fact of the matter was that he wasn’t exactly confident that Kishka would win in a duel against Erytheia anyway like he was about Evangeline. If Kishka couldn’t finish with the blonde Atlesian being her only opposition, it was her own damned fault and no one else’s. Aegle was punching above her weight class to give Kishka an easier matchup, so the least Colton could do was take the stronger of the two remaining to ensure the best one for the MVP.

Assuming Kishka didn’t refuse the plan, Colton’s aura would drop a few points further to around forty-five percent as he would continue to use his shield to block any bolts of electricity. After the purple-haired girl was launched, though, his sword would go horizontal and be sent spinning through towards Erytheia in order to tear down as many branches as possible to rain down at once. Unlike the earlier toss with the scabbard, this time the sword would come right back to the brunette’s hands after it completed its mission, hopefully buying him time to use Polarity to give him a roughly eight meter boost upwards in a jump that would make it easy for him to at least threaten to close the rest of the distance to Erytheia and force her to focus on him rather than Kishka. His aura would drop to thirty-five percent due to the jump, but the goal was to stall rather than to win. His shield would hover around him to block any lightning blasts without being connected to his armor to hopefully prevent one from slipping through, but his sword would stay in his hand in order to constantly threaten a toss should the blonde decide to completely ignore him and turn to help Evangeline.

Should she engage him in melee, Colton would play defensive to the point of only moving to attack when it was free. Slashes at the hands and feet in any missteps, but not any offense for the sake of offense. The Argus style was one based off of locking up the enemy weapon and getting free attacks from that lock up – or deft parries into savage counterattacks when the enemy weapon is knocked out of the way. The essence of the style was reaction and letting the enemy show their hand first in order to flourish the perfect counter, and that was exactly how the former champion fought when in a melee. If the enemy refused to engage, then Polarity would attack them instead. If they preferred to cross blades, then they would have to make the first move and get in close to do it. Allowing the enemy to attack first amplified any skill gap that existed between them and made the defense oftentimes look effortless – especially because Colton could cheat by moving his backsword in ways that a flick of the wrist couldn’t to catch people off guard even in the event that someone was his equal or better.

Not that he thought Erytheia was his equal or better, just that she was good enough to probably beat Kishka and Colton had to hold the fort until that was no longer a problem – that was all.

※ 4631 total words ✎ 1238 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, D ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

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[Erytheia Hellebore]

The noble warrior stood, and the people looked to her.
For she was a beacon - hope given form, yet still only human.
Within that truth there was great promise.
If one could stand against the night, then so too could anyone - everyone.

In her hand the warrior held a Rose. And her aura burned bright.

❝

Erytheia didn’t look over her concealment until the assault started, but she didn’t need to, for fear of her blood red eyes exposing her position. The slight winds from earlier had died down. The skies still remained stormy, but perhaps they would clear up soon. She didn’t mind - there was a wild beauty to the roiling of the clouds and the rumble of the lightning, but there was also a more gentle softness to the sun’s gaze when it peeked out from behind those selfsame clouds. Time passed in this manner, considering the scenery, until the faint sound of occasional footsteps echoed up from within the small valley that she and Evangeline had set up their positions on. The Hellebore heiress pushed herself to her feet, another slight red spark coming from her fingertips. Airtafae was hungry and waiting.

Despite the fact that her Aura flared gold when struck, Airtafae, when it blossomed out of her, was red. It was always red - had been for the past few hundred years, despite multiple users and regardless of which element it manipulated or what color the original user’s Aura was. That was something of note that didn’t pan out with what others had known about Semblances in the early days of it being discovered, and what had eventually led to it being classified as a hereditary Semblance. There were many theories - some said that there was a virus in the Hellebore line that manifested itself in a female host’s Semblance. Some said it was a curse or blessing from the gods, for those that still believed in gods. And yet others thought that all those with Semblances that could be passed down from parent to child were a third race, one that had remained hidden on Remnant in the midst of humans and Faunus. Whatever it was, there could be no denying of the raw power it afforded the Hellebore line - and the consequences that it could have if allowed to run unchecked.

The whistling of Evangeline’s arrow was the signal for them to begin their attack, and Erytheia heeded that signal, spinning out and around as red hued lightning gathered in her palms, bare inches away from her flesh. She saw the three of them, heard the crash of the tree that Carmim had sent collapsing to the ground. Burzanova was spinning around to warn her teammates and Deraine was already seguing into combat mode, while Aegle was still unresponsive and hadn’t yet managed to gather her wits about her. For a moment, Erytheia felt bad about what she was about to unleash upon her acquaintance once again, but shook off the feeling in favor of unleashing twin bolts of lightning right at Burzanova.

And then she was throwing them out one after the other, watching Deraine move into position and bark out orders, her attacks now smashing against his shield and not the vulnerable Aura of Burzanova’s body. That was to be expected, and she started to move along the ridge so that she could get a better angle on the target when a flying sheathe slamming into a tree by her side sent splinters spraying out with great force. It was nowhere near as much as a direct hit would have been, but the blast still buffeted her enough for her to stop firing and cause her to duck away instinctively from the explosion of wood. Her Aura took the hit, dropping around ten percent from the splinter shower, and by the time she’d gotten back around to resuming her firing Aegle had been sent flying by Deraine’s Semblance off towards where Carmim had been positioned, and the Hellebore heiress only managed another double bolt off at the target before Deraine’s second weapon slashed through the canopy of the trees around her to send branches and leaves falling about the area - and then Deraine had leapt up to confront her, brandishing his sword and shield floating around him in order to take the hits from her Semblance without it conducting through to him proper.

He was smart, that was for certain. Erytheia couldn’t say if she had anywhere near the same level of battlefield tactical acumen that he did, but she had seen him fight. The whole school had, in fact - and it was clear that Colton Deraine’s strength with the Semblance of Polarity was hard hitting enough that enough the smallest of objects could fire off at great speeds to damage whatever - or whoever his target was at the moment. Moreover, he was just as capable in close combat, his swordplay a cut above even some of those she had seen during her time at Sanctum Academy. Were she to guess, a single hit from his Semblance would drop her Aura by more than half, and getting in close to him would only allow him to turn her weapons against her. A single brush of the hand would let him take control of both Irkalla and Arali, and that control would give him the openings he needed to cut her down without hesitation.

She blasted him as he came to a halt with another burst of lightning just so that he would be forced to defend himself instead of launching all the metal on him at once. She had seen the armor under his cloak, knew that at least some of it was detachable and likely to come at her the moment it had the chance to, so her only option was to never give him said chance in the first place. Airtafae sparked bright in the space between them, flaring a bright red as a continuous stream shot from one of her hands towards Colton as she backed away rapidly towards the cover of the brush and undergrowth, while the other fired off intermittent bolts of the same to stagger the timing of her attacks and make it so that he wouldn’t be able to predict what was coming next.‌‌‌ The floating shield would block most if not all of it, but what mattered was that the constant stream of electricity would lock down Deraine’s shield from becoming an offensive tool for fear of getting directly hit by her Semblance, and the bright lighting from the stream of energy would mess with his ability to properly aim his metal projectiles at her.

Well, that was the plan, at least. Hastily concocted as it was and then acted upon, there were bound to be some hiccups.

Erytheia’s retreat into the treeline surrounding the ridge was quick and decisive, taking barely a few seconds, and she immediately put the cover of the trees between her and Deraine at the first available opportunity, on the lookout for flying swords. However, that did not prepare her for the sheer speed and power with which said sword came smashing through the tree with much like it’s scabbard predecessor had done before it. Unlike what had happened before, however, the tree exploded in a shower of embers as the sword went through, and for a moment Erytheia thought she could see the edge going from a red glow to the normal dull steel of a regular blade before it slammed into her shoulder in a glancing blow and bounced off into the underbrush.

Forests in Mistral, wouldn’t you know it - full of leaf matter and other small, easily flammable items. The embers started up small fires where they lay, and those fires would probably grow later on, but for now,‌ the‌ Hellebore’s attention was focused solely onto the other trainee before her, albeit on the other side of the trees in front of and all around her. Her job now was to hold him off as long as possible so that her team could finish the mission, and she intended to do just that. While her Aura had dropped by more than half from that single encounter, currently sitting at around 45%, Deraine only had so many weapons he could throw, and so she kept ducking in and out of cover around the trees, blasting him with bolt after bolt of lightning and ducking down and away whenever his Aura would flare enough to signify that he was about to launch another metal piece at her, ignoring the small fires that were flickering at her feet. If she could just hold out here long enough, then the others could finish the job.

If she could, for once, just do one thing right…

@ ● 1409 words ● 3996 total words

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