[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

The winds up here were much stronger and colder than below. Winter was coming, and it was definitely making its presence felt before it arrived. Breath that should have manifested in puffs of cold was snatched away by the wind before it could coalesce., and Argent could feel it tugging at his clothes, biting at the exposed skin on his face. It was cold, very much so - but he was bundled up enough that it didn't affect him as much as it should have. Aura was supposed to protect one from anything and everything up to and including extreme temperatures... but this wasn't really extreme enough to warrant that, just discomfort if he remained outside too long.

The snake Faunus thought about the server rooms of Haven and at the factory where he'd worked, remembering how the temperature was kept as low as possible to keep the machines from overheating and corrupting data or causing errors. The errant thought crossed his mind that said issue was not dissimilar to his own problems with keeping his temperature down, and he mused to himself that maybe he would perform better by tossing himself into the occasional snowbank when he was starting to overheat. Probably wouldn't work, and he'd probably end up with thermal shock rather than anything resembling a functioning and combat ready body and a fist to the skull from Doctor Haragitanai for being a complete idiot, but it was nice to imagine himself rising from a cloud of steam like an avenger from a comic of old, ready to keep fighting regardless of the limitations of his body...

Argent paused. He really had been spending too much time around Kishka, enough even her comic book fantasies were rubbing off on him. He couldn't say it was a bad feeling, though - it reminded him that she was a constant in his life, and thinking of her put a small smile on his face, one that faded away quickly enough when the memory of why he was standing on a Haven rooftop intruded into his thoughts. The metal of the Scroll in his hand was as warm as the rest of his body, though it was rapidly cooling now that it was exposed to the elements. The same, unfortunately, could be said of his fingers. A double tap of his thumb on the screen, and the conversation history came up.

Aegle Verdant. If you have the time, I'd like to speak with you at the earliest possible opportunity. Let me know where and when, and I'll be there.

The door to the stairwell creaked open behind him, and he turned, slipping the Scroll back into a pocket in his pants. There she was - Aegle Verdant, the leader of Red team, and one who'd managed to cause him no small amount of trouble in the first day of her appointment alone. He suspected that there would be more trouble coming down the pipeline in the coming years, and wanted to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. If that was at all a possibility, after what she'd done.

"Hello, Aegle," he greeted her in a neutral tone as he approached, putting his hand up in a small wave of greeting before putting it back into the pocket of his jacket. It was something he'd taken to wearing over the normal Haven uniform now that the days were getting colder, and particularly useful at keeping his hands warm.

"Sorry to drag you away from the stuff you're doing. I'm sure you're busy, so I'll make this quick. There's just a few things I want to clear up as much as possible, going forward."

He paused, then sighed, scratching at a scale on his cheek.

"Did I manage to offend you personally, somehow?"

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK F]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK F]

@ ● 630 words ● 630 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Aegle Verdant]

Aegle grit her teeth, hands stuffed into her pockets, eyes set on the flight of steps before her, a tightness in her chest making it hard to breathe, and not just from the four similar flights she'd just climbed. Since her second day at the academy, Aegle had been familiar with this particular climb of stairs, because it lead to one of the few rooftops accessible to students in the entire academy. She'd found it while exploring the academy that second evening, and had been making almost nightly visits ever since. A haven within Haven, a place away from all the people, from the other trainees, free of expectations, where she could remind herself, on the whole, how small it all really was. Not just the Academy, nor the city of Mistral, but the mountain upon which it built and the kingdom in which it was stood. All of it was small from that rooftop, insignificant, dwarfed by the huge expanses which ranged in all directions, but a single mountain in a sea of mountains, a slice of civilization among a savage wilderness. It reminded her of the highlands of Solitas where she'd been born, where plateaus opened up to sweeping vistas of empty, windswept space, where the deep forests were shot through with high hills, where one could look for hundreds of leagues in any direction without seeing another sign of human habitation.

It had reminded her of the rooftop of the hospital in Atlas too; Few places in the city where higher, and most were upon the flying academy. It reminded her of days spent staring out over the expanse of steel and stone, across the City of Tomorrow, where the dust burned even at night, and pining for the windswept crags and dense mountain wilderness she'd grown up with. She'd gone up to that roof her first winter in Atlas, to watch the snow fall, and spent so long up there that a nurse had come looking for her. Aegle had been found making snow angels from the dusting on the arm of her chair, fingertips blue from the cold.

A different sort of coldness was coming down the stairs now. Not the wintery chill of an Atlesian night, but an altogether more bitter and brittle frigidity.
'Why here?' she wondered, not for the first time, 'Why this place. This place is mine.' but she had nobody to blame but herself; She'd chosen the meeting spot after all. She was the reason there needed to be a meeting to begin with. Was it a punishment? Some self inflicted penance, to taint the one place in Haven where she could feel like she wasn't so far away from her family and her home.
'I'm a self destructive sort, and that's a fact.'
Aegle couldn't pretend she didn't deserve to be punished however, could delude herself into thinking this all wasn't her fault.
'All of it, my fault. Always my fault.'
She had a habit of making people miserable. Usually it was entirely by accident, or by circumstances beyond her control. More recently however, she'd taken a much more active hand in the pain she inflicted upon others. The whole of the draft was a ticking time bomb, after all, an inevitable disappointment for everyone involved, engineered by none other than Aegle Verdant. Then there was her involvement with Carmim, which made Aegle's chest feel tight whenever she considered it, knowing the only way that could end. And, of course, there was what she'd done to Kishka and, by extension, what she'd done to Argent. That she'd not intended to hurt Argent didn't change the fact that she obviously had, that she could not but hurt Argent with her careless vindictiveness. With her pettiness...

"You're a coward, Aegle Verdant." She hissed at herself, teeth gritted against the coldness, the bitter chill, which filled the stairwell and the landing, colder even than any Atlesian Winter. But it was done, and there was no going back. She'd felt that rush, that bitter satisfaction, and now she must pay for it.

Aegle put her shoulder into the exterior door, hands kept out of sight in her pockets, and stepped out into the autumnal gloom, to find Argent already there, waiting for her. She'd never spoken to the faunus before, and had barely ever heard him speak in return. Her impression of him, before the draft, had been one of quiet calm, the polar opposite of his girlfriend. He seldom stood out, not for want of any exceptional qualities, but for some sense of disaffection. Like he was content. His expressions were mild, often oblique, and his voice soft. The few words he had spoken to her had been polite, if uninterested, and he'd never given Aegle any cause to dislike him nor suggest he disliked her.

"Hello Aegle," Argent said, his strangely beautiful eyes flashing gold beneath his silvery brow. Spoken with his usual impassivity, but was there a hint of stiffness to the greeting now which hadn't been there before, or was that merely Aegle's imagination? He proffered a wave, a wave which Aegle did not return, and crossed the rooftop to meet her. Aegle would have sooner gone to him, sensing in his approach the shrinking of the rooftop around her, like he was penning her in. Her eyes flicked to the door she'd just come through, as though to ensure it was still there.
"Sorry to drag you away from the stuff you're doing." His voice, gentle, polite, amicable, containing no trace of offense or anger, "I'm sure you're busy, so I'll make this quick. There's just a few things I want to clear up as much as possible, going forward."
"Yeah, sure." Aegle allowed, as if she had any say in the matter. As though, after answering his summons, she might still deny him his say. Argent didn't need her permission. Still, there was enough of a pause for her to wonder if he had been waiting for her assent. Raising her eyes from a study of the faunus' shoes, Aegle found Argent scratching his neck speculatively.
"Did I manage to offend you personally, somehow?" He asked. It was like being slapped in the face.

Actually, having been slapped in the face, Aegle was sure it hadn't hurt as much as that question. Grimacing, the crooked girl looked away again, her uneven shoulders hunching up higher around her ears, already turning rosy in the chill evening air. She stuffed her hands deeper into the pockets of her own haven blazer, a boy's uniform like Argent's, and swallowed noisily. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she regretted what she'd done. That, were she able to take it all back that she would have. She wanted to beg him for forgiveness, because she'd already spent enough time hating herself for what she'd done, and wishing she hadn't done it. Because some part of her didn't think it was fair that she should keep being punished for one mistake, and that same part wanted to escape this conversation as painlessly as possible.
"You? Nah," Aegle said instead, flippant, as if she didn't understand why he had asked, "You've never been anythin' but polite to me."
'Go ahead,' she thought, stomach rolling, chest tight, 'Here I am. Unrepentant. Hit me with all y'have.'
She tried, small though she was, to give him as big a target as possible, to give him all the reason to swing that he could possibly need.
"Reckon you're a decent sort, aye? Though I don't know ya too well."
'I don't even know what I did wrong, don't even know how much it hurt you. Y'just happened t'be caught on the backswing,' Aegle studied his shoes, wondering, half hoping, he might actually hit her, thinking how getting punched would hurt less than listening to that quiet, calm, polite voice, belonging to one of the most inoffensive people she knew, 'Come on, come on! Hit me...'
words - 1,342
total - 1,342

[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

Argent nodded quietly when Verdant replied in the negative. He'd thought so, and certainly hoped so, but it was somewhat of a relief that he hadn't been put on the human girl's bad side.

Despite what some others might think, the snake Faunus was neither stupid nor ignorant. He knew that the relationship between Kishka and Verdant was nowhere near cordial, and that most of it had been caused by Kishka herself. He also knew that Kishka's original interest in the girl had quickly soured and turned to actual dislike quickly enough, and he definitely knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Kishka's attentions, which usually involved a lot of verbal and not so verbal prodding. Before they had reached anything resembling a friendship, she had taken great pleasure in singling him out for duels in Shadecloak's training classes, with the result easily predictable for anyone who knew the extent of training a Sanctum graduate had gone through. He didn't personally experience what Kishka did to the other girl, but he knew from hearsay and rumor that it had been just about as bad for her as it had been for him. Perhaps worse - as much as Kishka had ragged on him, she'd never questioned his moral fiber, nor encouraged his expulsion.

"That's good to hear."

He couldn't deny that some part of him had wanted to lash out and blame Verdant for all that had transpired. That some part of him wanted to use the sharp tongue that he'd gained from hanging around Kishka to dismantle the girl's psyche and tear it apart until it was shredded to nothing but bloody scraps in the wind. An uncommon chill had come over him back then, helping Kishka to her room and comforting her, wiping her tears away. It was a bitter cold and icy resolve, wanting to find the person who had caused one of his few friends to become as she was then.

Argent hadn't given in to that temptation.

He'd waited, forced himself into a state of calmness and steadied his mind, just as Shin had taught him. Anger was corrosive, and giving in to that corrosion would bring only further pain and grief. Just like how human and Faunus, locked together in a cycle of hurting each other and being hurt in return, had gained nothing but pain and suffering, retaliating against Verdant for the pain she'd caused Kishka would do nothing but deepen the wound, and cause even more strife. Beyond that, Kishka having done what she did, and responded in the way that she did, meant that stepping in at this point wouldn't change anything.

He had silenced that part of him quickly, ruthlessly, and quieted his feelings on the matter to approach it with logic. But even if that hadn't been the case, standing here, looking at Verdant with her crooked form and her downcast gaze, her grimace, body language clear that she was uncomfortable, and didn't want to be here - he found that he really didn't want to do anything to her after all.

"Then I'll proceed under the reasonable assumption that separating me and Kishka, and keeping us from being on the same team, was intentional on your part, and directed at Kishka instead of having anything to do with me. Retaliation, basically, for everything so far that's happened between the two of you up to that point."

The snake Faunus' voice did not waver at all during his breakdown of what had happened - no change in volume or his polite demeanor to be noted. For all the emotion he showed, he could have been talking about the weather, and Aegle could have been any other student in Haven, rather than what had transpired between them by proxy. He exhaled quietly, tilted his head slightly to consider the much shorter girl, gaze neutral as it settled on her.

"Unless, of course, you'd like to correct me now, Aegle. Otherwise, I have a request I'd like to make. Well, more than one, actually - if you don't mind hearing me out, that is."

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK F]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK E]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK E]

@ ● 683 words ● 1313 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Aegle Verdant]

Argent didn't hit her though.
'An more's the pity...'
Instead, he studied her with this speculative eyes, glittering golden pools in the marble hollows of his face. Glancing up at him, Aegle felt sure he must be as cold as she felt. Ludicrously, she was suddenly sure he must be even colder than she was, though the roof really wasn't all that cold to begin with.
'He's so pale...' Thought Aegle, looking away again, looking out to the outline of the city which rose majestic and mysterious about the academy grounds. She wasn't sure why his pallor should have impressed her so, not when she had to be thrice as pale as he was. Perhaps it was because she expected him to be ruddy and red, incandescent with some righteous and well justified anger. Perhaps she even wanted him to be angry, because his calm was hurting her far more than any punch.
"That's good to hear." Argent said in his sedate and somewhat stiff fashion. Where Aegle had determined to play the fool, to make herself that much easier a target to the faunus wroth, Argent was evidently angling for a more level and reasoned approach. He was the bigger man, the calmer man, the logical and pragmatic man. That he had every right to be angry and somehow wasn't, that he was taking this all in stride, only made it that much harder for Aegle to maintain her own charade.
"Then I'll proceed under the reasonable assumption that separating me and Kishka, and keeping us from being on the same team, was intentional on your part, and directed at Kishka instead of having anything to do with me." Argent did not raise his voice, nor even change his tone. With clinical calm, he outlined the facts as though they held no bearing upon him, as though they did not matter to him one bit. Aegle did not raise her eyes this time. Had she really been the ignorant fool she was pretending to be, she would have looked up in shock at the accusation, with an expression upon her face to suggest that she'd never even considered how her actions might have impacted the faunus. Aegle could not bear that bit of theater though, not when she knew that, by raising her face, she would only show Argent the stricken expression there, built for self loathing and regret.
It wasn't necessary for Argent to continue but, with Aegle making no move to answer not to stop him, continue he did.
"Retaliation, basically," He observed, still with deathly, wholly inhuman calm, as cold and bloodless as a Atlesian peak, "For everything so far that's happened between the two of you up to that point."
Aegle weathered that blow worse than anything Kishka had thrown at her, during their exhibition bout. She felt something, frozen cold, coil about her heart, to hear her motivations states so plainly, so blandly, and with such evident dispassion.

"Unless, of course, you'd like to correct me now, Aegle. Otherwise, I have a request I'd like to make. Well, more than one, actually - if you don't mind hearing me out, that is."
Aegle could barely breath for the icy coils constricting her chest. She felt anew the flush of shame she'd felt as soon as the draft was over. It had changed the way she thought of herself, that one act of selfishness. Some part of her had still been able to believe she was some kind of underdog hero in some pulpy comicbook story, whose tenacity and good nature would win out in the end. Perhaps it was that very mentality which had rendered her so resistant to the notion of being a captain, because the heroes in comics were never captains. Their talents were never valued, their potential never recognized. And, though Aegle knew well her potential, or lack there of, she had still labored under the assumption that she was anything like the protagonists in fiction.

Now she knew better. She was just as cruel as Kishka was, and twice as careless. Kishka's barbs had probably come from some twisted sense of obligation, and a not unwarranted superior opinion of herself and of the sort of liability which Aegle was. Aegle, on the other hand, had set forth to swat a fly with a bufflehead, and no care for what else got swatted down in the process. Nevermind how protagonists, when put under pressure, buckled down and redoubled their efforts, and grew stronger as a result. Nevermind how she'd done the exact opposite. How, the moment she'd have the opportunity to hurt someone who'd hurt her, she'd done so, even using a power and authority she didn't actually want in order to do it.

She was scum, pure and simple. Not some comicbook underdog, but a vindictive idiot who was bound and determined to ignore the consequences which, though absent in fiction, must surely exist in real life.

Consequences such as the severe young man stood before her, watching her with his calm golden eyes.

"Y'know," Aegle said softly, fists clenched tight in her pockets, head bowed between her uneven shoulders, "I reckon y'just 'bout have the right of it, aye?"
She suddenly felt quite angry. At herself, of course, but also at Argent.
'Why is he so calm? Why is he drawin' this out?' But she could sense the strike coming, the hardness beneath his velvety words. More than ever, she wanted that hit, for Argent to lash out. Not because she wanted it, nor because she deserved it, for she did not and surely did, but because she could feel her own nerve starting to crack. It was the waiting which was killing her, the wondering of when it would come and what form it would take, and the certainty that, if it did not come soon, she would not be there to receive it.
"When I had the chance t'hurt Kishka, I didn't even stop t'think 'bout who'd be hurt in the process." Aegle shrugged, as though it weren't a big deal, as if it didn't matter to her and shouldn't matter to him. In effect, she said exactly what she'd been thinking, a novelty for Aegle Verdant, while affecting an indifference she didn't feel. Perhaps it was some part of her wanting to hurt Argent the way he was hurting her, play-acting the way she was sure he must be.
"But go ahead and ask whatever it is y'wanna ask. I'll do my best with it, I reckon..."
words - 1,002
total - 2,344

[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

"I am aware."

The reply was tinged with the slight bite of sarcasm, just a little more dry than the words that had come before it. There was a flash of mingled amusement and irritation in the snake Faunus' golden eyes - but it was just that, a flash. Here in one moment and gone in the next, like the descending snowflakes melting on one's skin. Two steps forward, shrinking the distance between them - if the small girl so wished, she could close the gap in a single bound and plant her fist squarely into his stomach. He didn't think she would, but it was a gesture of good faith from him. As someone who fought primarily from range, it was tactically suicidal to step into a melee fighter's reach where his bow was useless - not that he had it on him at the moment. Neither were the usual holsters filled with knives strapped to his thighs. He was unarmed, and not looking for a fight.

He hoped that would be enough to keep her from trying.

"As you've no doubt noticed by now, I am a Faunus. Unlike some others of my kind, I cannot hide who I am. Neither am I so fortunate to bear the traits of an animal that humanity finds endearing or useful. Snakes are generally treated as pests and vermin, and don't have a lot of good points visible to the average person on the street."

There was a pause then, golden eyes looking the small human up and down, trying to see if his words had had any effect. If they were going through, or bouncing off deaf ears. Even so, he continued, this time transferring his gaze to the floor, voice quiet despite the memories flickering through him.

"Before I came to Haven, I traveled with a pair of Faunus for a while. One Huntsman, and one Huntress. They mentored me, and brought me along on their missions. Even though they were there to help, more often than not their work was thankless, and once the very people they risked their lives for treated them just like the Grimm they'd just vanquished - monsters to be put down, or put away. Stones hurt, even if you have the protection of your Aura, especially when a crowd throws a lot of them at once."

His right hand rose up and squeezed gently at his shoulder, remembering how it had felt to beat a hasty retreat among a hail of flung debris. The worst part of all was that Shin and Jade hadn't even seemed surprised - just disappointed and tired, their faces lined with fatigue. As if such things weren't all that uncommon, and that they'd already gotten used to it long before he was ever by their side.

"I thought things would be different at Haven, what with it being a Huntsman Academy and all that implies. And yet, on my first week here, I was beaten down by a group of humans who decided to teach me my place. I fought, of course - but I'm sure you know what it's like to face a foe stronger and faster than you, especially when outnumbered four to one. It was before your time, but I'm sure you can find records if you look hard enough. Someone took a video of the beating and posted it on the group chatrooms. It was removed later, but I'm sure some of the oldest students must have copies on their Scrolls."

The smile he offered now was thin and unamused, the tightness of his jaw a clear indicator of his feelings on the subject. Argent's voice, which up until now had been steadfastly neutral, now held a slight venom, though it, too, faded after a deep breath and slow exhale to recenter himself.

"I apologize if this narrative seems like the ramblings of someone entirely detached from reality, but I feel like context for my concern is important here. In any case, Kishka was the one who helped me to the infirmary afterwards, and made sure those four, as well as any of similar inclination, kept away from me afterwards, on threat of bludgeoning by umbrella. Her reputation and talent at dispensing violence were key in this, allowing me to train and improve in relative safety. Without her interference, my life here would have been significantly more difficult, and with a great deal more pain."

Those golden eyes fixed now upon Aegle, seeking her gaze if possible, a hardness in them that hadn't been there before. Not quite angry, but certainly grim. It showed in the set of his shoulders and the slight angle of his feet, braced against the snowed rooftop as if waiting for some attack to come.

"And today, we have you. Due to that very public combat match, Kishka's reputation has no doubt diminished significantly - and the implied threat of violence with it. I can now defend myself, but... there are others less equipped to deal with such a situation. Others who may be in the same position now as I was then.

Those four left Haven in the time between then and now. Not for their actions, but because their skills simply weren't up to par. Which is to say - Haven Academy did not think such actions were enough to warrant disciplinary action. Mistral is not kind to Faunus - those four might be gone, but there are still people in this school with similar inclinations. Similar thoughts.

There is one class with the majority of, if not all the Faunus students, led by a Faunus professor. There is another class, the majority of which are humans. When the leader of the human majority class, on being nominated for the position, instantly uses her authority to target another for past slights, that is bad enough. When said target happens to be close with a Faunus, and that authority is used to separate, target, and inconvenience the two of them, in your own words, without stopping to think who would be hurt in the process, then it sends a message to these men and women - that such actions are acceptable. That the Faunus do not belong, that they are not welcome here, and that they can be targeted with impunity as long as you have personal strength or a position of authority."

Finally, those golden eyes turned away, and closed as the snake Faunus let out a long breath. Suddenly, he felt very tired, and very old. He wondered if Shin had ever felt the way he did, despairing at what might come - what was to come. He wondered if Shin had ever felt like the bad guy, ever been in a position where even the words that needed to be said left a bad taste in his mouth.

Argent hoped not. It wasn't a feeling he would wish on anyone else.

"I understand you come from Atlas," he said at length, turning back to her. The steadfast neutrality he'd nurtured was gone now, replaced by a contemplative quiet.

"I've never been there myself. Things might be different there, with regards to how your kind treats mine - I don't know. But this is Mistral. Things are different here. And while I don't think you're the kind of person who would endorse such a message, humans - people, are like that. They'll use whatever reasons they can grab at just to justify their actions. And if you don't put a stop to it now, nip it in the bud before it grows - then sometime down the road, what you've done so far will be their justification. Especially now that Kishka's threats will be far less effective at keeping such people in line with the hit in reputation and perceived strength she's taken recently."

He looked at her then, and waited until she looked up before he spoke again.

"I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from. Don't you?"

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK E]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK E]

@ ● 1319 words ● 2632 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Aegle Verdant]

"What d'ya want from me, Argent?" Aegle asked. She'd weathered his repeated blows as best she could, not wanting to think about Kishka and the good she might have done others, least of all when she'd spent so much time recently doing her naught but harm. Which wasn't to say that Aegle didn't deserve the rebuke, and wasn't aware she deserved it. Gods, but she deserved far worse for her cruelty and her pettiness. She deserved a punishment so severe, she'd never again think to use what little power she'd been given just to hurt someone else, even if that person had done seemingly all in their power to hurt her. Part of her wanted Argent to be that retribution, and that same part still hoped he'd called her up here to for a fight. It was obvious he hadn't though. His style of fighting was done from a safe distance, and hers from as near as it was possible to get, and he'd actively closed the distance between them since her arrival. Either he didn't account her fighting capabilities enough to give her a wide berth, which was sheer folly coming off of her fight with Kishka, or he didn't expect things to get violent between them.

"Little as we both might like it, the fact remains that Kishka was representin' Team Red, and you and I both know what would've happened if she'd gone to fight Colton." It seemed flimsy justification, especially when those now slated to fight the Man of Iron were a half-mad cripple and a man who'd already lost to him once. Perhaps the fight between Kishka and Colton would be less humiliating than losing to Aegle had been. Certainly, it would have damaged her reputation far less, but Aegle struggled to see the difference. Even if Kishka didn't seem to realize it, Aegle saw what a terrible disadvantage the Burzanova would have been at, facing an opponent like Colton. In terms of ranged fighting, Kishka would have lost almost immediately. She was a good shot, with a powerful weapon and a useful semblance, but Colton had her beat in all three categories. He would take her apart before she so much as got a shot off. And if she did opt to take the fight in close quarters, those melee skills which had so surprised Aegle during their fight would avail her little against a man who could dismantle an Ursa Major without drawing his sword.

The fact was, Kishka was never going to win against Colton, and the defeat he gave her was never going to be anything but a blow to her ego. Now, at least, with Qiu'li in the running to face Green Team's captain, they might merely have a repeat of the outcome everyone already expected. Qiu'li's reputation wouldn't be hurt by losing to a man who'd already beaten him once. And there was always the chance that Qiu'li might win. Then if would only be hubris which hurt Kishka. She let Aegle win and nobody who saw the fight between them would think otherwise. True, it still made her look a fool for letting an exclusively melee opponent get close enough to start punching, but nobody could doubt how the fight would have gone if she'd kept her distance.

Irritated at herself, Aegle averted her eyes.
"If y'want my promise that I won't go on doin' petty things to Kishka, that I can give ye, but I can't promise not t'reign her in from playin' a fool." She heaved her twisted shoulders up in a tired shrug, "S'one thing when she underestimates me, and lets me beat her. It's another when she underestimates a bandit or grimm, or somewhat else what won't stop hittin' her when her aura fades. Kishka ain't invincible, and she need t'know it. Whatever she's done t'help ye, that pedestal y'have her on is just further to fall when it gets kicked out."

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Aura - 100% || Words - 658 || Total - 3,002

[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

For a few moments, the gold of Argent's irises gleamed through the narrow slit of his closing eyelids as he closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling growing frustration into the chill air. He knew Verdant, if not particularly noted for her intelligence, was no fool. To avoid and dance around the subject he was addressing by focusing on the conflict that had transpired between them, and insult him by implying that he didn't know what Kishka was like - that was enough to spark a momentary flare of anger within, like a shovel stabbing deep to unearth buried coals from a campfire.

But being a Huntsman was more than flaunting power over others, be they Grimm or Faunus or human. It was also about control, and focus, and acting for the greater good, and when Argent let out the breath he'd taken, his rage dissipated with it into the wintry air.

"That's not what I want."

He opened his eyes again, and stared straight at her. Emotionless and controlled, as analytical as any of the machines that kept Haven connected to the rest of Mistral and everything running on time.

"I am not blind to her flaws and problems. I know what she is like. And I know what she has done. But I also know that she is brave, and strong, and smart. That she cannot abide injustice. That she will not stand idly by while innocents suffer. I know more of her than you, Aegle Verdant, and I will not ask you to leave yourself defenseless when she gets into one of her moods, or to ignore the distaste she throws your way at every opportunity. But this discussion is not about her. It is about you."

"Whether you like it or not, you are in a unique position of influence at the moment. Van Sange is more interested in resting on his laurels than motivating and training Red Class as a whole, as Shadecloak does. That means that as the class leader, people will be looking at you, and taking their cues from you, and following you. And so far, in the eyes of those humans who cannot stand my kind, what you've done is made it easier for them to justify any actions they might take against a Faunus. You've also humiliated and removed the one person who would very publicly keep them in line under threat of a beating with the skills to back up her threats. What do you think happens next?"

The more he spoke, the more emotion started to leak into his voice. It was hard to keep the memories of humiliation suppressed, and it was just as hard to imagine anyone else going through what he did. The helplessness and resignation, the knowledge that even fighting back with everything he could muster wouldn't be enough, the thought that the next few days, the next few weeks, the next few months, would be like this - a life lived in pain - it boiled up and over, into the heat slowly suffusing his voice.

"What I want is for no Faunus student to suffer like me when I first came here. What I want is for those humans who sees my kind as nothing but animals, and more than willing to act on those beliefs, to be told that that isn't okay - that that isn't acceptable. What I want is for those people to be kept in line, one way or another."

The snake Faunus took another breath - another exhale, another moment to center himself before he looked at the other again.

"Step up. Take control. Something needs to be done, and you're the only one who can do anything about it. That is my request. Nothing more, and nothing less."

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK C]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK E]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)[RANK F]

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK E]

@ ● 627 words ● 3259 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Aegle Verdant]

It wasn't exactly fair, most of what Argent said. Aegle knew that. She couldn't be blamed for what people, in their ignorance, did to the faunus of Haven. She wasn't even sure she had removed Kishka as a credible threat. She'd certainly humiliated the Burzanova, there could be little doubt on that score, but she'd done it while explaining exactly why. Not merely the why of why she had done it, but of why Kishka had lost at all

Yet, even knowing that. Even knowing it shouldn't be her fault, that no one could reasonably call it her fault, she still felt guilty for it. She'd felt horrible about what she'd done to Kishka for so long that it was an ingrained reflex, no matter how unreasonable the provocation. She averted her eyes from Argent, jaw tightening and hands squeezing shut, and thought about all the venomous things she could shoot back at him. All the poisonous words she could have had with this vanguard for Kishka's bloody damned well-being. It didn't seem especially fair, that she could be so stricken with remorse as to feel ill and angry with herself whenever the subject of Kishka came up. It didn't seem fair to continue having what she'd done used as a cudgel against her, but she'd bought this, and paid for it with words and blows.

The fact was, unfair as she knew it was, she believed in her responsibility for all the ill that Argent forecast. That dissonance between her thoughts and her feelings infuriated Aegle. She hated herself for being so irrational as to credit even a word of what Argent had ascribed to her. At the same time, she knew it was because she wanted to believe him. She wanted to be responsible. She wanted to feel awful. She wanted some kind of punishment, some kind of recompense, for the things she had done. Argent was not the scourge she would have chosen, but he was laying her bare in his own way, so what was the difference?

Aegle smiled. It was a bitter, crooked sort of grin, one showing far too many teeth. She still didn't look at Argent, as she started to chuckle quietly to herself.
"Y'wanna know somethin' funny?" She asked, in a tone which suggested whatever she had in mind wasn't really all that humorous.
"Y'are the first person t'even think I could take control, aye? Or, least ways, the first t'say so t'my face." Aegle cut Argent a sly glance, crooked grin growing sharp at the corners, then turned to regard Haven and fully turn her back on the faunus.
"Maybe Van Sange reckons I could, aye? Or, more likely, this is all some joke he's playin' on the lot of us. A bit of comedy and chaos t'make his watchin' a bit more lively, y'know? Fact is, he's never said why he chose me, so I'll let you be the judge."
Aegle shrugged, "S'not like I've done much t'credit his choice, is it?"
Turning sharply around, Aegle let her head hang to the side, and peered at Argent with feverish emerald eyes. Muscles twitched along her neck, where the weight of her skull pulled them taut, making her head bobble loosely in place. She knew it was unsettling to look at, and she wanted to unsettle the faunus. Like Kishka before him, she wanted to hurt him. Aegle was aware of this motivation, aware of how it contradicted her own earnest desire for punishment, and how it closely mirrored how she'd felt when she'd hurt them both during the draft. Even recognizing her own emotions, Aegle found it difficult to stop. She wanted him to see how wretched she was, so he could appreciate the absurdity of what he'd bade.
"Let's say I agree t'your request, aye?" Aegle mused with her marionette grin, "Let's say I try and take control. What then, y'reckon? How many in Red d'ya reckon are wont t'listen t'one such as me?"
Aegle shifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug, and her limply hanging head bounced softly with the motion.
"Some twisted, weak, cowardly, mad little freak what don't even belong here, tryin' t'take charge of a bunch of able and strong fighters? Fact is, I reckon what y'are askin' ain't possible. S'not a single person with have a handful of sense what'll take my say so. Not a single capable huntress is gonna give a bloody damn what I think. D'ya want I should promise ye the moon while I'm about it, aye?"
Aegle giggled unevenly and shook her limply hanging head.
"So why not, aye? S'not like what y'are askin' is any less possible than the task I've already set for myself. Aye, Argent, seein' as y'asked so nice like, reckon I'll 'take charge' like y'say. Let's both of us see how well it takes."

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Aura - 100% || Words - 803 || Total - 3,805