[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

578 w./ 578 w. total

d strength| e stamina| e Acrobatics| e Dust

d semblance| e weapon| e martial arts

The day was starting to wind down and she was beginning to feel restless. As the girl lay in her bed, she started to fidget and groan in frustration. The blonde was anxious for some reason...she needed to do something. Anything! The Academy was stifling her and with all of the hectic crap going on it was enough to drive her bonkers!

Rosalia put her hands behind her and pushed, kicking herself off of the bed and into the air before landing lithely onto her feet. Still in a t-shirt and underwear, the girl slipped on a pair of tight jeans carelessly as she headed out the door of her dormitory room.

She hadn't gone to see Rin lately, feeling a bit down recently ever since the tournament. The thought of it sent flares of rage throughout her body that caused her hair to stand up, so maybe a quick jog through town would help to clear her head. It was getting late and curfew would soon be in effect, but rules rarely applied to Rosalia Phoenix...if ever.

The cool and gentle breeze hit her face as she walked outside. Of course she didn't take Rebellion with her, considering it was a simple jog of recreation, but she did take her scroll just in case. So with a soft sigh and a small smile, Rose kicked up a brisk pace through the entrance of the school and into town.

It was quiet out and for a time...there was only the sound of her soft breath on the wind that accompanied her. It felt nice to be alone with her thoughts...and yet it was maddening. She couldn't stop feeling how angry she felt towards Skye and those bastards for what happened to Rin! She let that hatred fester in her heart and mind, remembering her barbaric roots in Vacuo.

So much pain that she inflicted on those who didn't deserve it. They were simply bystanders who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The old Rose was vicious and hurt others without any remorse...she was hoping to change that but the savage within her still came through from time to time.

Rose was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she must have wandered into the ground district of Mistral. Whether this was her body looking for a fight or some subconscious effort to get away from higher civilization...she wasn't sure. She was confused and frustrated, so she didn't pay attention to the alley she ran through. A hand shot out, slamming into the wall near her and blocking the girl's path. A sleazy looking man grinned at her as several more appeared from the shadows. Soon Rose was surrounded by sneering thugs who all had glints of murder in their eyes.

"What's a pretty young thing like you doing out this late, eh? You lost?" The blocking man inquired, a clear stink of booze on his breath.

Rose froze in place. Only her eyes moved as she counted quickly, identifying twelve in the wide alley. Her face was neutral and controlled, though her fists betrayed her calm as they shook with anticipation. But would a fight like this get her expelled from school? No, if it were self defense then it would be forgivable...

So the blonde slowly raised her fists up and cracked them...a wicked grin spreading across her face at last.

"Nope. I'm exactly where I want to be...in the thick of a fight."

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Odin Wolfram]

Night was soon to arrive upon Mistral, and Odin was not likely to be able to sleep again. Nothing had changed since he had joined the Syndicate, aside from working with a group of individuals instead of solely fighting for his life. Still, movements towards finding those he sought with every fiber of his being, Rozalia and his father, hadn't moved forward in the slightest. It wasn't abnormal for Odin to dwell on the past, even more so considering that he believed that he should be dead, but certain nights tormented him more than others.

This was going to be one of those nights.

His eyelids darkened and heavy, due to the growing nightmares and grief from his days in the arena, that only thing that spurred him forward was the need to survive and get his revenge. 

'Rozalia, let's go another round! You can't just expect to beat down the weaker ones to improve, right? So c'mon! Let's do this!', Odin's mind played at him vividly, though when Rozalia turned to look at him with the usual flare of defiance, it was instead a horrid grim that attempted to lash out at him. Odin shook his head as he tried to recollect her voice once more, but only got muffled words of nothing, followed by the wailing and screaming of death from when the arena was finally raided.

Shuffling tiredly and without purpose through the belly of Mistral, he decided against wearing his syndicate provided gear in favor of slightly ragged street clothing. They were fairly new and weren't low quality, as he could afford them now, but considering Odin's style of living, it didn't take long for them to start falling apart. Yet still, Odin didn't dare leave Ragnarok behind, as it was like a tether to reality for him. The bells tied to the savage weapon jingled occasionally upon his movements, ringing faintly upon his ears. 

The man that died that day against Rozalia was gone, and in his place, a specter of rage and spite. Not against Rozalia, but the man that doomed both their fates. His father. The man he'd tear limb from limb slowly and with great pleasure...

The chilled air brushed against his cold skin, a large contrast to the once dry and baking heat of vacuo. A change that Odin has grown fond of, if nothing but because it attempts to mask the past so clearly burned into his brain.

Before long, Odin found himself in an even seedier side of Mistral, though it mattered little to the shade that took the form of a man. People oft left him alone if nothing more than his harsh demeanor and physicality. Some things were unavoidable, and Odin made it clear that he would never lose to any other again, save for the his eternal rival, the blond barbarian queen of Vacuo

"Hey, ya bastard, watch were ya going!", An inebriated individual slurred out angrily as Odin shoved himself past an man, lost in his deep ocean of thoughts. Odin planned on simply ignoring the plastered man, but he was yanked back by the punk. "Are ya deaf, blondie? We are doin' business here! Mind your-"

The man didn't get to finish and Odin quickly spun around with his full force gathered into his fist crashing hard into the man's cranium. A groan mixed with a yelp of surprise escaped the drunk, Odin quickly grabbing the man's baggy shirt before he could stagger away and pulled him back into front of him before kneeing him in the gut.

Slumping over in pain, Odin landed a swift headbutt, collapsing the man before him in a heap. Odin's eye stared down at the punk with a dull disinterest, as if a fly that he simply had to swat away, before readying himself to return to his absentminded meandering. His pace grinded to a halt as he saw a whole herd of thugs blocking his path, now many of them looking directly towards him in confusion and disbelief. 

If they planned on standing in his way, so be it. Odin was extremely restless, and maybe some reminiscing on his glory days within Vacuo was just the thing to silence his weary mind. It was their death wish that they chose to sign. No sense in not giving them what they wanted...

[Rose Phoenix]

❝I Was Lightning,

Before The Thunder❞

313 w./ 891 w. total

d strength| e stamina| e Acrobatics| e Dust

d semblance| e weapon| e martial arts

"I'm not one for playing unfair, but oh BOY did you scumbags pick the wrong girl to ambush!"

She bared her teeth like a predator flashing it's fangs as she took an aggressive stance, widening her legs to steady herself. When the punk charged her with a loud shout, Rose dodged his attack with ease. He swung wide from his right and she simply stepped to the left, ducked down low, and jumped up with her fist to uppercut him.

Rose hung in the air for a moment before landing with ease. She expected another to immediately rush her, but then she noticed a scuffle going on nearby. Her brow raised curiously when the blonde turned to see a hulk of a man was dealing with one of the thugs! Though unlike Rose's opponent...this victim almost looked dead from how hard he was hit!

"Woah shit dude...what is up with this guy?" She murmured.

Though that still left a good ten baddies on the field, so Rose backpedaled toward the big guy and placed her back to his with fists up. The thought of a challenge sent a thrill through her body...she was starting to get excited. But first, she would have to deal with this useless rabble.

"Hey tall, dark and brooding! Let's mop the floor with these guys and see about having a real fight! How about it?"

She flashed a bright and wide grin at him, tilting her head to avoid a blow to her face. Rose followed up with a hard straight punch to his jaw, hearing it make an awful cracking sound as he dropped like a sack. It was almost sad that she had to bust these dudes up! Semblance not required!

"Come on, ya pansies! Is that all ya got!? I've seen arm less kids from Vacuo who put up more of a fight than you!"

© SETHANIEL OF adox 2.0 + WW.

[Odin Wolfram]

As Odin stared down his pathetic opponents with disinterest, he heard another speak forward with staunch confidence. A female, and one that Odin not only missed prior to planning to ignore the group to begin with, but seemed just as read to be done with these pest as he was.

The accompanied brawler stepped up beside Odin, back to back with the unmoving gladiator. His expression remained unflinching; uncaring to her situation and presence. With him or against him mattered little. So long as this was finished without expending too much of his time.

However, as she spoke, Odin's eye narrowed with focused annoyance. The way she spoke. Her very voice. It all seemed so eerily familiar. Uncomfortably so.

"So you have come to mock me again..."

Odin muttered under his breath angrily, thinking the girl behind him just another visage of his shackled past. Glances back towards the figure behind him, he saw Rose flashing he confident grin in a typical fashion, the head of gold hair flowing with her as she turned attention back to the ensuing conflict.

The dead man walking's eye widened in a frenzied state before turning back to face his side of the field himself. A wicked grin stretched across his face before a wild and feral laugh burst forth from Odin. The sudden shift caused a few of the men to step back a pace, making Odin all the more eager to let himself free from this...burden.

"Eager, are you, to see what I have become? An unshackled beast? Possibly a bat out of hell?!"

Odin growled with a sneer of joy to the very night closing in upon the group, thrusting his arm forward to grab the arm of a charging thug.

"Well, I'll be more than happy to oblige..."

Falling back to being deathly serious, Odin threw his other arm at the man's throat, twisting the man's arm to get him to drop his blade. Tightening his grip upon the man's neck before slamming him into a wall. The disoriented thug was tossed towards one of his allies before Odin swiftly removed the hand-axe Ragnarok from his side.

Stomping towards two more of the men that rushed him, it was too late for the men to realize the danger they were in. One tried to step back from the pursuit, but his body had already started to swing his weapon forward. The young man that knew nothing of conflict and fighting to survive saw this attack as insignificant compared to the near death fights he once had to compete for, and curved his opponents blade out of the way with ease using the Ragnarok's edge.

Several Fingers scattered across the ground as the thug attempted to block any further damage, shouting in pain. His friend tried to take the advantage of Odin's distraction, but Rose's mentioning of Vacuo only spurred the Revenant into a further frenzy.

Stepping into the attack instead of attempting to dodge, the movement confused the street rat, allowing Odin to elbow him brutally in the face. Taking the man down, Odin stomped repeatedly upon the man's face, lost in the moment. This wasn't a momentary annoyance anymore. The specter of his past, Rose, dragged out the demon that now inhabited the once hopeful and proud Erikson. 

Slowing his aggression on the now bloody pulp of a man on the ground, Odin slowly lifted his gaze of bloodlust upon any remaining thugs that dared attack him. Lifting his arm heavily, he pointed Ragnarok at a group of the thugs with a tilted glare.

"Live or die...it's your choice..."