[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

Well, this latter part of the exercise did not really go as expected.

Rose needed to find one other person to go help in order to pass, so it made sense. Both Ameli and Colton needed to finish the event in a group, so they stuck together for the most part until they encountered a rather big continent of Grimm that just so happened to be dicking around in the area for some fucking reason. They got separated when Colton got flung down a hill and Ameli got pushed to the other end and hadn’t been able to find each other since, which was a drag.

It didn’t help that Colton was slow as shit to begin with, so got dragged around at will by the much stronger Ursa that took forever to kill. Stabbing one of those things to death while literally being in its jaws was not an experience he would like to repeat at any point during the rest of his natural life, and the experience took a decent chunk of aura from him to do. Between the beowolves and the Ursai, his aura had dropped to five percent of its original total. This had gone up to six percent in the time since, which was indeterminate largely because he was too tired to actually check what time the fight ended and certainly wasn’t paying attention to the time in camp.

At the present, though, it was five in the morning and one hour before the end of the exercise. That meant that he had one hour to either find Ameli or literally anyone else so that he didn’t finish the exercise alone. If he did, despite the fact that he had helped Ameli get her quota and Erytheia get her Grimm kills the result of the midterm would still be a fucking failure. There were cameras all throughout the damned forest, so it was pointless to try and lie about it after the fact. He was about thirty minutes away from panic mode, frankly, but was mostly keeping it together.

The downpour of rain had washed some of the dirt and debris that had gotten on his usually pristine uniform off but soaked him completely in the process. Cold, miserable, and alone was the order of the morning and it was not a good one. He had spent most of the exercise completely uncontested and without a care in the world only to be smacked by reality right at the end by another fucking Ursa Major. What were the chances of encountering two in the same day? Did he just accidentally run into every single strong Grimm in the entire fucking forest? If the entire forest was filled with Grimm of that caliber like Alphas and Majors, how many of his useless waste of space peers ended up biting the dust in the past day?

There were lots of questions here, and not a lot of answers… at least not yet. It was very possible that he just picked the absolute worst possible places to be that housed the strongest Grimm, and it was also very possible that this midterm was harder than everyone had anticipated and there were a lot of failures. That would definitely be something Shadecloak would do, though he doubted she would just straight up let half the class die to make a point. Be terrified out of their wits and saved at the last second, sure, but not die.

Ameli probably wasn’t that fast either, what with her armor and all. Colton wasn’t exactly the best wilderness explorer type, so truth be told he had no idea where he was going. In case the blonde did, though, he had out his backsword and was slashing a mark into every tree he passed so anyone would be able to follow his rather slow path forward. He was in no hurry, after all, because he had no destination.

He had no idea where he was, so he couldn’t really have a destination. He didn’t know how to get back to the remnants of the camp even if he wanted to, which while not ideal was just the reality of the matter at this point. In the torrential downpour of rain with no shelter, with the clothes soaked all the way through and boots sloshing with each step due to the water buildup inside he would just continue to trudge forward and slash a mark into every tree he passed. It wasn’t a lot, and in the darkness and the rain it might even be impossible to spot…

But if nothing else, it was a task to focus on when he had nothing else. It was a way to keep moving forward and at least be actively doing something rather than attempting to hide beneath one of the woefully inadequate trees and wait for the Grimm to come again. He was tired, sure, but not exhausted. He was walking at a pace that was too slow to incur much of that and had plenty of time to catch his breath. The only question, really, would be if his immune system was up to the task of preventing a cold.

That would be a cruel little joke, though. Mother nature doing what Grimm and the most dedicated opponents among the student body couldn’t – take him out of action, even for a little while. Fuck, that would be something wouldn’t it?

※ 905 total words ✎ 905 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

610 w./ 610 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

If Rose was anything, she was an over achiever. Hell, she went out on that day to find someone and boy howdy did she find people! Grimm had assaulted her, leaving her clothes torn and aura weakened. It didn't help in the slightest that her constant bad mood was like a giant beacon for the Grimm and the blonde was being perpetually hunted by the beasts. Her sword arm was growing tired as the day wore on, but after helping out Glasses and Patch she was confident that her goals had been met. A rose...what a joke.

She had connected with two people out there though. Far more than she had initially intended, in fact! Colton was initially a hated rival who had humbled her twice now, but getting to know him made Rose grow to perhaps appreciate his attitude a bit better. Enough to form a partnership as Hunters! Hell, with just the two of them, the Grimm were pretty fucked.

But the unexpected crash landing of Ameli was an unprecedented surprise. A bit stuck up and rigid, but tolerable. Rose saw potential in her resilience and strength...perhaps Colt saw it too? The blonde left the two with the intention of passing the midterm, otherwise she couldn't do jack shit, right? She promised that she would find them again before the exam was over...and Rose never backed down on her word. Especially if these two were her potential future comrades in arms.

Though after the day she'd been having? Rose was ready to rip the head off of every single Grimm in the area! There wasn't much time left in the day and the rain hadn't let up for a few hours now...it was unnatural. The girl was soaked to the bone and showing signs of shivering, aches, and fatigue as she jumped from tree branch to tree branch high up in the trees. They were slippery from the rain, but her active semblance was keeping her moving fast enough that she was akin to a feather in the breeze even if she was starting to breath a bit heavier.

Rose had learned her lesson and kept the anger simmering under her clammy skin as she searched the forest below. Hell, there were a ton of Grimm! Just what were they all doing anyway? The blonde finally got her answer, however, as she spied a haggard figure through the misty downpour! She leaped down from the trees and allowed gravity to do it's thing, tucking and rolling in the muddy grass below to break her fall with the cushioning of her pack.

Coming up to stand next to Colt, Rose wrapped a lending hand around his drenched shoulder. He looked like he had been put through the ringer and...Ameli was nowhere to be seen. What had happened since she left them? Holy hell, this was bad!

"Colt...hey man, hold on. It's me, Rosalia. Gonna um, well I'm gonna get you someplace safe." Half dragging him along, her own strength wasn't particularly up to par, but Rose's aura was definitely stronger than Colt's at the moment. "Might be a cave nearby, I'm sure. What happened to Ameli? She still out there?"

It wasn't a good situation. Not only was Colt up shit creak, but Ameli was missing. Even if she had survived, which Rose had no doubt since the girl was built like a fucking tank, Ameli would fail the exam if she wasn't with someone!

"Gonna get through this..." She grunted in desperate fatigue. "Get through this together as a team. Hear me? Fuck this school, the Grimm can suck it, and Shadecloak can burn in hell too while I'm at it! Yeah, this is all bullshit!"

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

Conditions as they were with the downpour and the poor visual conditions, he heard the impact with the ground before he saw her. Indeed, the blonde would touch him before he saw her which led to a near miss of something bad. There was an instinctual reaction to being grabbed in the dark after a loud crash in a Grimm infested forward, and that instinctual reaction was to attack. Turning and forming the start of a slash, Colton was skilled enough and comprehended quickly enough the actual situation to divert the angle of the slash that was already in progress harmlessly to the side as he moved back to his previous task of slashing every tree he passed with his right hand.

”You look like shit. You end up getting what you needed to pass?” he’d note, because she did. She was covered in filth with her clothes torn – suggesting her aura had been broken at some point since they last met. He’d slip out of her grasp pointedly, not wanting to get any more covered in filth than he already was in addition to not being the most touchy feely sort of person to begin with. The fact that it was just slipping out rather than him slapping the arm away was noteworthy in and of itself, especially considering current circumstances.

”What’s your aura level? I’m at five.” he’d ask, wanting to get an idea of how vulnerable they were at the moment. Despite his observations about Rosalia, though, he wasn’t much better in the filth department. His hair was streaked with dirt and bits of grass that was slowly but unevenly being washed out by the downpour. There were inevitably some bits that clumped together enough to stay in there, which would be immensely irritating later. His clothes were completely intact, though they were so thoroughly covered with the remnants of filth that he may well just throw them in the garbage when he got home.

When Rosalia told him her current plan, it seemed surprisingly sensible. More so than what he had been doing, surely, and something that Ameli had likely also thought of. It was annoying to admit, given that Colton had been doing the opposite of what was smart for only God knows how long now, but what the blonde was saying was right. They needed shelter, and they needed it as soon as possible.

”Got separated when the camp got overrun. I got launched down the hill by a Major, it dragged me along for a good while before I finally killed it.” he’d explain, tone emotionless. ”I dragged as many as I could with me, she should be fine. Her aura was at least half recovered, probably more by that point and it was only beowolves left after the Major focused on me.”

While he refused the offer of help moving around, it was clear that he was more sluggish than usual and noticeably so. ”I’ll keep marking the way in case she’s in the area. As soon as the rain lets up we’ll go out searching – you’re right, it’s stupid to stay out here.”

He wouldn’t comment on the muttering the blonde did on the way over. Whatever got her through this was good enough, frankly. It was clear both of them were completely exhausted and were running very low on aura reserves. If any Grimm showed up at this point, they wouldn’t be able to put up too much of a fight if it was a Major or an Alpha or something on that level. The objectives, at least, were simple at this juncture. Find Ameli, finish out the last hour, and then take a goddamned shower and go to sleep.

※ 1525 total words ✎ 620 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

639 w./ 1249 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

The fact that he wasn't accepting her help was actually a good sign that Colt wasn't too banged up. Though his aura was definitely low and he wouldn't hold up too well if another fight were to break out. It was literally coming down to the wire for the exam and luckily they had found each other. Wait, just what the hell was she saying? Was Rose actually starting to care for the well being of these people?

Snake boi, Glasses, Patches, Ameli, and Colt...they all helped her out in some way or another. In her own way, Rose was starting to make friends at this lame excuse of a school and she'd be damned if she would let it beat her down. After all, a little rain never hurt anybody, right?

"Us savages love to roll around in the mud, city slicker. It's not as bad as it looks...I'm the one who fucked up and got my aura trashed, but I can still fight."

Rose did blink at him oddly at the mention of how low his aura level truly was. Holy shit, five as in like...5 percent? The blonde may have gotten knocked around, but it wasn't that low! How many Grimm were hunting him down right now? That just meant that Rose would have to do the fighting if they were ambushed. She kept silent about this and just kept walking with her gaze set straight.

It was smart of Colt to lead the monsters away from the already injured girl, but now he was suffering the consequences of such a strategy. Though Rose would keep her mouth shut from any berating, since Colt already looked like complete shit. They needed to find shelter and hunker down, recover their strength, and then find Ameli. It was a sound plan and she was getting really tired of this constant rain that would most definitely lead to a bad cold on her part. God damnit.

Yet as they traversed the forest, cutting a trail with knives out on the trees, Rose took Colt's hand gruffly at the sight of a cave. She bolted in the direction of the sanctuary with a giddy feeling in her gut, laughing in between her huffs as she pulled her comrade along. The natural outcropping looked quite wide as well!

She rushed in without any care, only looking to escape the cold rain...and then heard a growling sound. In the darkness of the cave, she saw three pairs of glowing eyes stare back at her...beowolves. Small ones and it looked like momma was either dead or away. Yet in her current state, Rose didn't show any fear. No backing away. No...in fact, she was starting to snicker.

The snicker turned into a low laugh and, as she let Colt go, she unsheathed her blade. The blonde was done. She had checked out long ago and her mind was starting to snap at how fucked this forest was. She just kept laughing as one of the wolves charged at her with a snarl. As it leapt at her, Rose arced the blade up from the ground and slammed the creature against the wall of the cave with a hard crash.

Dark gore splattered all over, covering the girl in filth as she burst into a terrifying cackle. Red lightning illuminated the darkness and blackened blade yanked from the corpse as she stepped menacingly toward the remaining two.

"Heh heh...hold tight Colt...I'll have dinner ready in a jiffy. Heh heh, here boys. You know what my favorite trick to teach to doggies? PLAY DEAD!"

Rose charged with crazed, furious abandon with blade in hand ready to tear the Grimm apart with the last of her strength. She didn't care. She just wanted to get a fire going, grab a bite to eat, and find her other friend. God damn this forest and all the Grimm!

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

”That’s not what I asked, Rose. I asked if you passed or not.” would be the response to her first comment. ”You can roll around in the mud all you want after this is over, but I’m taking a nice long shower and tossing these clothes. I’m mostly concerned with if we need to find another person for you to help or if we can just focus on finding Ameli.”

When the blonde would grab his hand with all the gentleness of a starving hyena and yanked him forward, he’d voice muted protests that he knew were pointless. ”What are you--?” he’d sputter, unable to do anything about the immense strength gap between the two without shattering his own aura in the process. ”Could you just wait for two goddamn seconds, come on…” he’d whine next, taking care to continue to slash marks into every tree they passed with the blade in his right hand. When he finally saw what she was running towards, though, a smile crept across his features as he understood the purpose. ”Okay, I take it back. Thanks.” he’d admit easily and thankfully, glad to finally have an opportunity to get the hell out of the god forsaken downpour outside.

Of course they wouldn’t be lucky enough to find an unoccupied cave. That would be too easy, after all, and life decided to be extremely difficult the last few hours. Thankfully, at least, they were smaller beowolves and didn’t pose much of a threat. That was good, frankly, because otherwise it might have been a huge issue. Two of them charged at the blonde, who slammed one against the wall and twisted the blade to finish off the kill, but one wall ran much higher up along the wall and leaped at Colton.

Beowolves resemble the traditional, bipedal forms of the werewolves in myth and legend. They stand on their hind legs, albeit with a slouch, and are extremely muscular. They have pitch-black fur and red eyes. On their face is a bone-like mask with red markings, and they have bone spikes protruding from their arms, back, and knees. Their fingers and toes are tipped with long, sharp, white claws.

They appear to have protrusions made of bone along their back and arms. They have long, sharp claws that both present great danger and inspire great fear in their victims. Beowolves can vary greatly in size. The average Grimm of this type is about the size of a normal human, and these beowolves were about that size. They got much, much bigger and they were lucky that it wasn’t anything stronger in the cave hiding in wait. This was doable, maybe not with style, but very doable even with very low aura reserves.

He didn’t have enough aura left to bother using Polarity to stop his tired body from falling to the ground from the impact, but that was fine. Movements were more sluggish than usual, and that allowed the beowolf to wrap its jaws around the teenager’s neck and chomp down with all of its might. Colton’s gray aura would flicker, sure, but it wouldn’t break. The issue, in plain terms, was that the Grimm didn’t have the power to do much damage to shatter the teenager’s aura even with a perfect and uncontested hit. It simply didn’t possess the strength required to threaten him, even in this state, unless he had several other Grimm backing it up. Colton started with five percent of his total aura remaining, and even with a chomp to his throat it only dropped to four. Colton’s blade would decapitate the creature a moment later, before it could try again, and the monster would fall limp over him until it dissipated away into dust.

If he saw aura flickering on Rose’s end, he would then just use Polarity to skewer and instantly dissipate one of the other ones. If not, though, he wouldn’t risk using the aura and would just stick the tip of the blade into the ground to help him up like a makeshift cane. He wouldn’t comment on the… overenthusiasm of his counterpart largely because he didn’t have the energy to spare getting into an argument at this point.

”That’ll do.” he’d note, rolling his shoulders and sheathing his sword. ”Hopefully that’s the last of them for a bit… I’m down to four.” the brunette would add, referring to his aura. Even a few more small fry like that would eat at the last few percent he had left, and then things got a lot more dangerous. With any luck, though, this would be the last of them and everything would work out without a hitch the rest of the way through.

It wouldn’t happen, but it was nice to have hope when things were going so badly.

※ 2327 total words ✎ 802 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

414 w./ 1663 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

Her blade ripped and tore through the flesh of the creature...it proved to be no threat to the girl at all. Rose did her best to hide her trembling hands behind her bravado as red lightning died down all around her. The girl was spent. She looked back at Colt as he dealt with his own threat, but even the tired Hunter couldn't be taken down the beast's assault. It brought a tired smile to Rose's face to see how strong her partner could be in such dire conditions. It was a good thing...because Rose didn't want to admit how weak she was. How her aura had worn out hours ago. How her rampant emotions had attracted so many Grimm that tore and crushed her aura to nothing.

"Yeah..." She breathed out in exhaustion. "Yeah, I think that's it."

She was shaky and her vision was starting to blue, but Rose held her ground to hide her fatigue from Colt. There was no way that she would give him the satisfaction. To prove that he was better than her? To hell with that. There was still a little bit of time left in the exam. She would take a quick breather, make sure Colt was okay, and then head out to find Ameli. No big deal...

She moved to help Colt move further into the cave...and then she heard it. Heard it before she could react in her sluggish condition. The roar echoed in the cave and just as she turned to raise her sword, the large Beowolf was on top of her. It was smart to let the smaller ones attack first and to weaken the prey. Catch them off guard.

Rose felt something warm leak down her face and her neck as she struggled to keep the monster at bay, distracting it's attention from Colt. She had faith her would finish it quickly with a coup de grace, but Rose was losing strength fast. She was sloppy and careless...the jaws digging it's way around her head as the claws raked at her stomach. Pain shot into her and the blood leaked out. The only thing keeping the Grimm from swallowing her head whole was the disgusting stink of vomit that she poured into it's gaping maw as it attempted to devour her.

Her world was pain. Everything hurt and only her stubborn nature to survive kept the blonde girl conscious enough to fight back. Darkness tried to take her, but the pain wouldn't allow her to sleep.

"C-Colt..."

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

Truth be told, he wasn’t paying as much attention as he should have been.

He had trusted the blonde’s word that she was good to go and didn’t even attempt to look at any evidence to the contrary. There was nobody better to gauge their own ability to fight than the individual themselves, after all, so there was no reason to believe it was a lie. He took his time getting up from the ground to preserve energy, which ended up being a mistake. Beowolves were fast, and in the time he wasn’t paying attention one of them came out and attacked his companion who had been vastly overselling her combat readiness for some fucking reason. The roar was only a split second before the attack, so that didn’t give the Argus native any time to react. Rosalia was farther in the cave than he was, so she was hit first.

Polarity tossed Regret point first into the monster, but it was already mid-attack and the Grimm didn’t immediate dissipate when killed. There was a small delay depending on the strength of the creature, and even the weakest ones had a delay of a split second that was more than enough to complete an attack that was already in progress. Shield followed a second afterwards to cut the second one in half before it made its way to the girl, and the third and hopefully last one was torn asunder by the backsword Regret as momentum carried it farther into the cave to meet the fucker before it even got close.

Rebounding the weapons back to their rest positions with the sword in its scabbard and the shield on Colton’s left forearm followed a moment later as he trudged over to try and do some damage control. He had three percent aura left and would attempt to catch the girl before she literally fell over. ”You fucking idiot.” he’d start, annoyance clear in his voice as he would set the blonde down in a sitting position before taking off and opening his jacket as well as pulling out one of his boot knives to cut out some of the much cleaner interior of the jacket for makeshift bandages. ”If I had known your aura was already broken I would have gone first. I’m stronger right now you fucking dipshit, let me take the hits with aura instead of rushing in like a fucking Neanderthal who can’t rub two brain cells together to make a coherent thought.”

Toward the end of that section of his rant, he finished sawing out the left side of his interior jacket and moved to secure it to her head to keep constant pressure on that. Once done, he would start cutting out the right interior of the jacket for Rosalia’s stomach. The puke, unfortunately, did not dissipate along with the Grimm and both of them would have to deal with the smell for the foreseeable future. ”I want you to listen close, you dumb mother fucker. If you want to be on my team you need to stay alive, yeah? I don’t give a shit about your ego or need to look tough to the literally nobody looking right now because they didn’t install cameras in every random ass cave. I don’t know who the fuck you’re trying to impress here, but it’s going to stop right fucking now because I’m not babysitting you for the next few years – got it?”

”I wanted you on my team because I thought you could help me. If you run off like a dipshit roided up past the point of reason, you’re not an asset – you’re a fucking anchor around my neck. I can’t fucking help you if you won’t let me – you hear me you fucking dumbass? I cannot help you if you do not let me. Stop trying to act tough, you don’t have anything to prove you fucking moron. You’re a fucking national tournament winner and your stupid face is plastered around in every grocery store in the country for the rest of the year. You don’t have anything left to prove, so stop fucking trying. You can’t get stronger if you’re fucking dead – you hear me? You hear me you fucking Neanderthal? Death stops progress. You need to survive to get better, and sometimes you need to swallow your fucking pride to get better.”

The second makeshift bandage was done, and Colton tossed aside the filthy and now stripped jacket as he moved to put pressure on the wound on the stomach if nothing else. It wasn’t a lot, but both of their backpacks had been lost at some point along the way so neither of them had any real medical supplies for this sort of thing. They were stuck with the very limited resources they had available, and the insides of the jacket were the cleanest material they had available.

”Now because you decided to go off and be a fucking Neanderthal, I have to risk my life to sit here and shield you with my body for however long it takes for your body to stop fighting the suicidal dumbass piloting it and maybe even for the rest of the exercise. I can’t go look for Ameli because you’re fucking defenseless and I don’t have the energy to carry you around the forest right now and have to body block for you – which I will. I have no problem getting gnawed on for a bit if it comes down to that, but the situation wouldn’t have gotten this bad if you had been less of a suicidal dumbass and slowed the fuck down. We could have helped each other walk over here all slow like and been completely fine, but you decided to go fast and look where we are blondie? Puke on the floor there we both have to sniff and smell for the next god knows how long and you’re sitting there painting the wall red like a retarded child who just discovered finger paint. You’re better than this, holy shit.”

※ 3338 total words ✎ 1011 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

406 w./ 2069 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

She coughed painfully, feeling the blood leaking down her chin to drip on her uniform shirt. The red was already beginning to spread but she held on to fight back angrily. The beast had caught her off guard and like hell she would give into such a cowardly tactic. Her body shook slightly, but the weight of the monster dissipated just as she expected it to. Colt had pierced it's body and it vanished into the air to release Rose. Colt's caught her easily enough to set her down on the cave floor...and tended to her wounds.

It was a strange feeling to be cared for by another. Her entire life was a series of selfishness, after all. She looked after herself or she looked after others. No one ever bothered to show any care towards the girl. In a way it both hurt her and made her feel warm despite the cold of the permeating rain water.

He was yelling at her and berating her, but Rose didn't argue the fact. He was right about everything. The blonde was reckless because she felt invincible all the time. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though. Rose had been through far worse than this and she would keep going. She needed to keep going.

"I pushed myself because of you and Ameli. The Grimm followed my feelings...not because I was angry. But I was scared. I was worried...damnit it sounds so fucking stupid to say."

She rested her head back against the hard wall of the cave and let out a very long, somber sigh of sorrow.

"I've never had friends in my life. Only those who wanted to stab my back or kiss my ass to stay alive. No equals or those I'd want to watch my back. Yeah, you're right though. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to add more worries while we thought of Ameli...didn't see that Grimm coming. Heh sorry."

As he bickered and complained about Rose, the girl gave him a smile as she reached out to grasp the back of his neck and pull the boy close to her. Rose planted her lips softly against his, allowing her body to melt against his. It lasted for a few minutes so she could express her gratitude to her leader...to the one she would offer her sword to before releasing him.

"You talk too much...just rest. We'll find Ameli and get the hell out of here together."

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

The blonde’s first response didn’t elicit an angry response like she might have expected, but an almost uncharacteristically gentle one. His tone was much softer, and the bite was completely gone from his words.

”Hey, you idiot. Part of being a team is being able to trust that the other people in it aren’t going to trip over a twig and kill themselves. Ameli literally walks around in a suit of armor that’s a pain in the ass to chew through even if her aura is down, yeah? And I’m stronger than you are, so don’t you insult me by thinking you need to worry about my safety. Don’t do this shit again, yeah? It’s a pain in the ass saving you, and I don’t wanna do it too much.” he’d joke drily at the end, the tiredness he felt seeping into his voice more and more. ”If I need saved, you’ll fucking know it ‘cause I’ll be screaming for you to help. You owe me one, yeah?”

When Rose kissed him unexpectedly, Colton’s immediate response was to move away. ”No.” he’d rebuke, firmly. He spat towards the puke pile as some of that had gotten into his mouth because of that, and continued more gently: ”Not now, not with your mouth still filled with that vomit.”

A smile crept along the edges of the brunette’s lips as he continued, ”We’ll just pause that for now and we can pick back up after both of us have had a shower and aren’t covered in filth, yeah?” He’d double check the makeshift bandages tenderly, and then just sat down Indian style in front of the blonde after adjusting his sword belt so his scabbard didn’t slam across the ground. He took out his second boot knife and placed them on the ground leaning against his outer thighs so that they still had physical contact in case any more Grimm came. Polarity required touch, after all, so maintaining that indefinitely was the way to ensure he could act as fast as possible in the case of an attack.

”I’d ask what you ate earlier, but I already know. That’s a waste of good food.” he’d complain in an exaggeratingly whiney tone to lighten the mood a bit so emotions weren’t running quite so high. ”You still got that deck of cards, or did that get lost too?” he’d offer, figuring that it would be a good way to pass the time if she still had the damned thing.

It was likely that all the Grimm in the cave were wiped out, but without patrolling it there was no way to know for sure. That meant that any attack would likely be the way they came, but he would still steal glances further down the cave every so often just to be aware of it. Ears were peeled, as well, but with the sound of the rain outside being omnipresent his sense of hearing was anything but reliable in a situation like this unless the Grimm inside the cave were heavier than beowolves.

※ 3848 total words ✎ 510 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

468 w./ 2537 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

Rose had indeed kept her deck of cards. It was one of the fews things left over from her days as a bandit, cheating many of her crew in blackjack and poker. The case in her shorts was a little worse for wear, but the deck inside still held up well! The two were able to keep their minds off of their worries for some time and luckily there were no more attacks from the Grimm. Most likely because they had already exploded enough to allow emotions to melt away.

Rose was strong enough that she recovered quick enough. The blood stopped long ago from both her Vacuo upbringing and the careful wrapping that Colt provided. It felt nice to just sit and take a breath after the countless hours of running and leaping she had done to find her comrade, not to mention the sudden attack from the Beowolf.

But after a few games of cards, she could feel her strength return and the blonde was beaming with a large grin on her face. She clutched her hand into a tight fist and pumped it furiously into the air as she jumped up onto her feet. The movement made her go woozy for a second and there was still a pounding headache from the chomp, but there wasn't much time to sit on their hands.

"Alright! I'm hella hungry, but fuck food for now!"

She turned to smile at Colt and hold her hand out to him. Was he really...her first friend since Erik? Had it been so long since Rose had trusted someone enough to have her back? It made her smile grow even wider as she swung her sword onto her shoulder.

"Things here are so different from Vacuo. I'm...not used to others showing anything besides selfishness and greed. So, I guess what I'm saying is that yeah...I owe you one. I won't let it happen again. A broken sword is no use to anyone, after all."

Her emerald eyes steeled themselves as she nodded solemnly to Colt. To be tired enough for a basic bitch monster to catch the Vacuo Queen off guard? How pathetic. Luckily there were no cameras to catch her stupid slow reflexes and Colt wouldn't me lame enough to tell others about it. There was no gain from him doing so. It was one of the things she liked about him. Colt only did things rationally and for his own gain.

"We ain't got much time left, bud. You think you could stomach my reckless ass long enough to find our armored princess?" She winked at him. "You can do what you want to me afterwards. Now come on...let's see what we can find and maybe save her from failing this stupid exam. Because I did NOT go through all of this just for Ameli to fail."

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

”Oh, don’t get me wrong.” he’d start, a smile playing at his lips as he grabbed the hand offered to help him up to his feet after sheathing his knives. ”I’m just as greedy and selfish. If we swapped childhoods, I have no doubt I’d be a bandit too and probably would’ve never tried to be anything else. The difference is that I have an ego big enough to override that greed and selfishness. I don’t do this shit for fun, I do this shit to be the best. If you’re part of my team, I’m going to make you work your ass off and be the fucking best because I’m not settling for second place in this lifetime.”

He wasn’t saying that for her benefit, either. It was something that he honestly believed. With his talent and pedigree, he could have decided to go on to do anything. He chose this path because he could, with the initial intention of becoming good enough to essentially be Cressida’s sidekick. There was no way in hell he was going to close the gap between their skill levels, because he just didn’t have the skill ceiling that she did. He didn’t have the genetics to get the picture perfect semblance with enough power to make even the strongest enemies kneel. He was good, great even by most standards.

Colton was what many would consider a prodigy, someone so far and above what could be expected for someone of his age. He came into the school equivalent to an average second year student, and by now had improved to the level of a third year student. Measuring the truly average against someone like him was pointless and an exercise in futility, because he had every advantage stacked in his favor from much earlier than they did. Better and earlier training, better diet, lots of resources, four years of training at the best primary combat school in Mistral, the list went on and on.

Had he not enrolled, Rose might have taken his spot as the clear strongest out of the pack. She was what one might consider a prodigy as well, but to a lesser extent. Despite not going to a primary combat school herself, she was about a year ahead in skill level than the others. She could very conceivably catch up to Colton, and with proper technical training in combat would almost certainly reach the point where she could beat him at some point in the not too distant future. He would take that loss with pride, though, because it was never about making it three years without losing. It was always about forming the best team possible and being able to honor the memory of someone very dear to him by taking up their life’s work in their stead.

Colton himself couldn’t do it, he wasn’t strong enough and would never be. If Rosalia got as strong as he was, though, then combined they could do a lot more than that. Find two other people who could amplify the raw power that both of them brought to the table, and it was a done deal.

His smile widened at her next declaration, indicating she was ready to go look for Ameli. ”Yeah, let’s go find her. And just so we’re clear, you’re taking a shower and using some mouthwash as soon as we get back.”

He’d draw his sword with his right hand and then pause for a second before using Polarity to flare out his shield to its full length. ”Hey, Rose, take this for now.” he’d order, holding the grip out to the blonde. ”Your aura is still down, and this is a hell of a lot better than taking body shots. The edge is also pretty sharp, you can slash at things with it.”

Parting with weapons wasn’t something that Colton really ever did, because it would be a giant pain in the ass to replace anything except for the knives. Both his shield and sword were custom models with very expensive dust injection kits attached made with parts that Haven likely straight up didn’t have available for the most part. Custom ordered parts from Atlas took weeks to arrive in the best of times, so it was no small gesture of goodwill to hand her his shield even if his aura wasn’t also extremely low.

”I’ll take the lead at first, until my aura breaks and I’m beat up a bit more. Then we can take turns until the end or we find Ameli.” he’d continue as he started the rather short walk out of the cave and back into that god forsaken rain. ”Then, if she has any aura left she can be the meat shield for a while. Put that armor to good use and all, yeah?”

※ 4651 total words ✎ 803 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

535 w./ 3072 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

She nodded happily to Colt at his change in attitude. Both were once again on the same page despite the horrid weather conditions outside. Finding someone who thought like her was a rarity and someone as skilled as her was unthinkable. It was like two similar people separated at birth and raised differently. The girl chuckled at the notion, but it was pretty accurate.

"I'm never shy of hard work, so I'll give it my all. We won't stop until we reach the very top! I want to find the biggest, strongest Grimm that anyone has ever seen and obliterate it from existence! I won't ever quit until this blade right here becomes a legend in the annals of history and you can believe it will."

In a world of powerful weapons and state of the art technology, her parents were no names with natural talent. Their skill and love had forged the one that Rose wielded in her grasp and she had paid for it in blood. This was no hand me down or fancy gizmo ordered from a major manufacturer. Rebellion was the result of one family's strength to climb above the masses and rule with an iron fist against.

Rose looked at the shield as Colt handed it to her with a curious look. It made sense, considering she was the one with no aura. But that also left Colt himself with lower defenses...still Rose accepted the shield with a nod.

"I'll keep an eye out, but as long as we keep calm then we can soldier on. Heh heh, made a funny."

The idea of a shower was sounding pretty nice about now and food was beginning to sound really good. Rose hadn't eat since the previous night and throwing up had only exacerbated the situation. So she would definitely make a beeline for her dorm immediately with a candy bar in her mouth.

She kept a few steps behind Colt as he led the way back into the miserable downpour, but this time Rose was feeling better about it. Because she had reunited with her friend and they both had a clear goal of finding their other one.

"Hey, you asked why I became a Huntress in training? I tell most people that I was bored. That I wanted a bigger challenge...but that's not entirely true."

The girl let the rain be the only sound heard between them for a few minutes before she decided to continue.

"I was tired of the loneliness. Tired of always waiting for the other shoe to drop and have one of my men stab me in the back...seeing children look at me in fear. What I'm saying is...I don't want to be the bad guy anymore. I just want to help people and grow stronger as I do it. Complacency is a real bitch."

It was true to her that she cared about Colt, that she was grateful to Argent, and that she felt something for Ameli. Like she was feeling things that she would have felt if Vacuo hadn't tried to eat her whole.

"Do you think maybe Ameli would join our team? You have versatility and I have speed, but we lack a tank. It would make sense but what do you think?"

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

When the blonde accepted the notion of working hard to become better, Colton suddenly had a smug smile creep across his features for the briefest of moments. ”Great, we can start with your sword technique after this, then. Teach you how to actually parry and hit things properly with it and you might just become terrifying yet.”

She accepted the shield without issue, which was good. He was half expecting her to take some convincing that would waste time and valuable energy from the both of them, so he was glad that didn’t happen. It made more tactical sense for her to have it at the moment, at least until Colton’s aura was actually broken. When they were back out in the rain, the blonde would start a thought about an earlier answer she gave when asked why she wanted to be a huntress. She paused, though, and fell silent for a bit. Colton wouldn’t push, largely because he was fucking exhausted still and felt like a shell of a human being just being piloted along by sheer force of will more than anything else. He was caked in filth, too, which was a feeling he was certainly not used to, and the sensation actively disgusted him. He would have happily fought a hundred Grimm in that moment for the right to go back thirty minutes earlier to shower, because the prospect of death was much less concerning than the prospect of being stuck in this state for a minute longer than he had to be.

When Rosalia shared the real reason why she wanted to be a huntress, Colton replied enthusiastically. ”That’s not a bad reason. Hell, if you want, I’m sure there’s a number of people who could teach you to clean up enough to blend in those public relations type events and you can go and do all that fancy partying shit for the team. You can even accept all the awards on our behalf and get your picture taken like all the cereal boxes. Hell, if you do well enough you might even get some action figures or be put into some of those scroll games.” The smirk on his face along with his tone betrayed that he wasn’t entirely serious in that excitement, but he was more than willing to play along in an exaggerated way to hide just how tired and unable to feel much of anything he was at the present.

On the topic of asking Ameli to join, there was a pause of several seconds before he replied slowly. ”I’m certainly not opposed.” He’d pause for another couple of seconds, there, mostly to think it over. ”She’s a transfer from Atlas, after all, and their admission standards are uh… Shall we say a bit higher than Haven’s are right now.” There was another pause, then, this time longer as the brunette would start once again marking the trees that they passed in order to make them easier to follow.

”Surprised you like her though. She’s got a bigger stick up her ass than I do, and that’s saying something. Then again, maybe you have a thing for those aristocratic types. Must be novel for you, since Vacuo doesn’t have any of those yeah?” He was teasing her, sure, but he certainly did find the fixation odd. The fixation on him, he could understand because he was obviously the greatest and had zero flaws whatsoever. He could see how someone could become infatuated with a ruggedly handsome, extremely talented, extremely stable genius who was confident as hell to boot. That part made sense.

What didn’t make sense to him was the immediate acceptance of someone so unlike her. Ameli was socially inept in a much different way than Rosalia who seemed to refuse to follow societal conventions simply to be contrarian. Ameli followed them to a tee and reminded him of a former classmate in Sanctum in that way. Flower was considered very much a robot more than a normal and functioning human being like during their time there, and the blonde from Atlas gave Colton very similar vibes. It wasn’t bad, per se, but not the first personality type one might think of when assessing future teammates.

Relentlessly stiff and proper, though, was a form of predictability in and of itself though. Predictability was a very important trait to look for in potential teammates, because it allowed one to plan forward with the expectation that loyalty was present and unwavering. A funny thought that was, loyalty. Ameli was probably the type, much like Colton was, to sit there and actually believe that old saying about how your word was your bond to the point of being constrained by the concept of honor like a good little soldier. The fact that the brunette saw the limitations of chivalry didn’t change the fact that he saw it as his duty as someone who considered himself an aristocrat to do it anyway in situations where it was expected. Trustworthiness, after all, was something hard to regain once the perception of it was lost. It was much better, then, to never lose the perception of being trustworthy in the first place by breaking your word as little as possible even on the small stuff.

※ 5529 total words ✎ 878 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

518 w./ 3590 w. total

E strength| F stamina| f Acrobatics| f Dust

e semblance| F weapon| 

She couldn't quite tell if he was being genuinely enthusiastic or being a smart ass. Either way he was stroking her ego and it was working...she didn't care. Anything to keep her mind off both the obnoxious rain and the sense of dread that came with having no aura. Like, dying during some stupid midterm exam? How lame would that be?

"Alright there, bucko." She grumbled. "I said I wanted to learn about talking, not get more endorsements. Fuck all that posing bullshit."

The girl did let Colt take the lead, but she was also feeling a sense of...what was it? Emptiness? Loneliness? So the blonde picked up her pace to match Colt's stride side by side.

"I-It won't do if we got separated. Don't need to lose you the way you lost Ameli, yeah? Focus on the left and front while I watch our right and flank."

It was a sound enough strategy in her mind and if any Grimm did attack, then they could easily team up to take it on. But really? She felt a tinge of weakness and Rose hated herself for it! She chalked it up to the rain and getting her ass kicked by literal monsters and getting yelled at by literally EVERYONE! Fucking forest.

At the mention of Ameli though, Rose raised a curious brow. Sure, she was worried for the knightly girl but why? She was nice, but who gave a shit? Lots of people were nice and they got their face stomped in...so why was that girl different?

"Well, I fell in line with you easy enough. Maybe I'm just getting sick of taking charge and want a break from it? Push me around and give me orders, Boss man."

She cracked a sarcastic grin, feeling a bit better in Colt's company. He had a sense of inspiration about his matter of fact attitude that Rose found endearing. If she had perhaps been raised in a normal city, then maybe she would have had more girlie feelings for him. But as it stood, she felt a strong sense of camaraderie from him...a strength that she could respect. A rare individual who she would readily allow to guide her sword arm.

"I guess I dig her tenacity. Anyone who can take a beating like that and just chill is cool by me. I dunno. This place is already starting to mess with my head, so I guess I'm just spewing shit from my blowhole."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked down to study Colt's shield and recalled both of their duels. He wasn't the strongest person she had met, but he had clear control of his weaponry. Not only that, but his environmental awareness was top notch. Hm...could she possibly learn a thing or two from him?

"Hey Colt, when we get out of this shitty forest of shit...you think you could help me with my form? Being strong doesn't really do much if I can't hit the broad side of a barn, ya know? I mean, if that's cool with you and what not. I'm always training, but a sparring partner would be nice every once and a while."

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© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[/div]

[Colton Deraine]

[googlefont=Open+Sans]

[attr="class","firstfriend"]

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

At the first comment, the brunette just grinned. ”Great, that means I get to be on the cereal boxes again. Maybe get a shoe sponsorship. Get some sweet gray and red sneakers or something, that’d be neat. Maybe some canned food, too. Something that lots of people buy… like corn. Yeah, corn would be sweet. Oh shit, it could even be sweet corn! That’s fucking genius, I need to write that shit down…”

If it wasn’t clear before that the teenager was not entirely there mentally, it should have been clear then. Scatterbrained wasn’t something that Colton normally was at all, but with enough exhaustion and sleep deprivation and it started happening to anyone. When the blonde went up beside him and explained her plan for each of them to focus on either side to scan for threats, the brunette just nodded wordlessly and followed the suggestion. It gave him something to focus on, and brown eyes would scan the empty left and front as the rain soaked through all of his clothes and chilled his muscles and bones underneath in a way that just felt fucking awful.

When Rose spoke up again, the grin returned wider than before. The comment about wanting to be given orders and pushed around was amusing, frankly. ”Be careful what you wish for.” he’d reply cheekily, in an offhanded way he certainly wouldn’t have done in a more stable and grounded state of mind. The prim and proper training didn’t stick as well as it maybe should have, but elements of that still remained. The parts that he deviated from that, frankly, came down to issues of pride. He had the theoretical obligation to treat those less than him with respect as a noble but ignored that if the lesser party was a piece of shit. Respect among any sparring opponent was a thing that was expected but ignored if the opponent was human refuse and wasting everyone’s time and energy. Teasing in this manner wasn’t something he did, frankly, at least not that casually. Exhaustion did funny things to people’s brains, though, and Colton was no exception.

When the blonde mentioned her head getting all scrambled due to the forest, Colton just laughed. ”Sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and a broken aura. Nice recipe for going a little nuts, yeah?”

With Rosalia so close, Colton would switch his blade to his right hand to make sure she wasn’t hit by any back swing. One of the things he was thankfully taught how to do was to fight with either hand effectively, even though he still absolutely favored his right. It was his dominant hand and the one he was best at, but he could fight with his left at around eighty percent of his skill level with his right – and the fact of the matter was that eighty percent of Colton’s skill level with a sword was better than anyone else in the school already. He was the best swordsman in the school by a large margin and was very proud of that fact because as a manipulator type semblance that should not have been true at all. He had turned a traditional weakness of his ilk into a strength that few knew how to deal with, and that was an accomplishment in and of itself.

”Yeah, that’s what I said didn’t I?” he’d shoot back at the last comment that the blonde would make about training. ”It helps me because it forces me to play perfectly, and it helps you because it teaches you how to aim.”

”Once you get good enough to take some wins off of me, even better. You’ve come closer than anyone else so far, and I need that push to get better. If you’re on my team, it just means even if you do learn quick and start winning it still benefits me since you’ll just carry my sorry ass through missions yeah?”

He’d laugh again, except a cough with interrupt and stop the laughing almost as soon as it began. ”Fucking rain.” he’d grumble, spitting to his left in a useless gesture to try and make his mouth feel a bit cleaner. ”We could try yelling or something.” he’d offer, ”Unless you have something hidden that could make a decent amount of noise. Maybe bang on the shield a bit or something – I dunno.”

They didn’t have a lot of time left, frankly. If Ameli didn’t find anyone by the end of the twenty four hour period, she failed and Colton failed as well since she was the second one he had helped. He didn’t want to fail, frankly, because that outcome would be fucking unacceptable. Rose might still be good, which would honestly make the entire failure concept even more frustrating because she’d be eligible to go off and do Huntsman missions while he’d be stuck at Haven with his thumb up his ass waiting for the second round of testing to begin. Who even knew how long that would take – months, years? There was no schedule for this sort of shit, and it could only be assumed that the length before the next round of testing would be a really fucking long time. If he passed, though, he wouldn’t have to worry about shit like that.

Which meant that they needed to try something to ensure that happened, and soon.

※ 6423 total words ✎ 894 words ✉ D rank semblance, D ranked martial arts, C ranked durability, D ranked weapon, E rank weapon enhancement, E rank stamina

MADE BY MIZO