RWBYFanon v5
RPG World of Remnant => The Vale Region => Beacon Academy => Topic started by: jjb2158 on November 21, 2016, 09:53:46 PM
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The Beacon Arena.
Though there were many different areas, including an indoor and outdoor arena, it was nonetheless a massive building. It was in the outdoor Arena that Oberon found himself spending his morning as he waited for his class to start. Normally he would be in his own classroom teaching a large class of students, but twice a week he would pick a team and have them undergo rigorous training to sharpen their teamwork and strategy building abilities. Looking down at his scroll, he took note that it was Team ASPN that he would be training today. Reviewing their overall grades in his class as well as how they did in their initiation, Oberon smiled as he saw their grades. A well rounded team with decent fighting abilities. This team will go far he thought to himself as he took a puff from his cigar.
Letting out a cloud of smoke into the air, Oberon looked over the Arena as well as the "items" he would be using in today's class. Overall, the Arena was roughly three hundred feet in diameter with rows upon rows and seats surrounding it.Within the fighting grounds stood four large pillars that stood roughly twenty feet high, each one spaced fifty feet from the center. Besides that, there were two extremely large cargo crates that sat parallel to each other, one on the east side and the other on the west side as well as a few mid-sized boulders and tree trunks dispersed throughout the entire arena.
Finishing up his review of the items in the Arena as well as his assessment of the team that was to show up, Oberon reviewed the curriculum of today's class. With there being two main parts of the drill, Oberon was sure that the chances of the team succeeding both parts was extremely slim. However, today wasn't about succeeding or failing; today was all about working together to accomplish the mission. Even if the mission was not accomplished, their grade would be determined on how well they worked together. Taking another puff from his cigar, Oberon walked over to one of the crates and placed a hand on it. Time to see how strong and sturdy this tree is he thought with a smile before turning to lean against the crate as he waited for the others to show up.
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"Should be in here guys..." Sherwood says walking through the tunnel into the arena popular. While everyone does one on one lecture with professors eventually, he wasn't sure if it was lucky or not ASPN would be the first team to do so. Hopefully it's not something remedial. That would be embarrassing.
Apprehensive as he may be, Sherwood knew he was excited beneath it all. The leadership thing definitely had blind sided him. Sherwood had worked alone all his life, as game hunters are wont to do. Even working with his mentor while training him for Beacon's entrance exams doesn't really count as team work. Beacon couldn't be using past experience for leadership selection. Closest thing to a leader Sherwood was familiar with back home in the village was the town mayor, and he was not much of one at that. Always blustering on about this or that, paperwork or some other thing that the hard working people in town had absolutely no time for. It went for Sherwood as well, any hour doing paperwork could translate to another deer to feed the people in town. With any luck, the others won't need him to be so aggravating.
Still, Sherwood was in it for the team. Last words the old man said to him before leaving were 'trust your team', and Sherwood would be damned if he didn't listen to his mentor. He may not know what being a leader means yet, but he'd figure it out; either through class, through experience, and through careful thought. This team meant more to him than, if he's being honest, even he expected it to. And they deserved the best leader, whatever kind of leader that is.
Sherwood rolls his shoulders with a sigh, stopping his train of thought. Hopefully classes give him a leg up on where to start, cause figuring this out is already a daunting task. And that's not even considering there will be homework to be done too.
"Definitely the place." Sherwood says with a whistle. The arena was as large as some of the clearing they'd come across in the Everfree. Leave it to the top Huntsman schools to go all out. He straights up as he approaches who he can only assume is the professor.
"Good morning sir. We're team ASPN, and if Ah read the schedule right... We're supposed to be meeting you here." he says, making sure to have some form of proper posture, unsure if professors in the big city were strict about that kind of thing.
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Noctis quietly made his way to where his scroll was leading him to his first class. This was a large school and the last thing he wanted to do was get lost on his first day of class. He kept his right hand resting in his coat pocket and the other held his Beacon issued scroll. Getting to his destination Noct was a bit intimidated by the Beacon Arena, the one back in Mistral was nowhere the size of this one. Still he kept calm following the smell of cigar. Noctis covered his nose with his shirt, but immediately dropped it when a older gentlemen came into view along with his team leader Sherwood.
"This must be the instructor,"Noctis told himself.
He half smiled at Sherwood giving as his crappy greeting. "Hey Sherwood."
"I'm Noctis Quartz," He said to the instructor in a it of a monotone. "A member of team ASPN"
He shoved his scroll in his ammo bag. As habit, he stood in front of the man standing up straight with his hands at the small of his back. This is the one habit from Atlas that never seemed to die. He decided that staring his instructor would give off the impression that he was spacing of or had really bad bitch resting face, so he focused on studying the arena incase he wanted to draw it later.
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Argent was carrying a water bottle and a bag containing his coat and his weapon as he walked into class. "I'm Argent Grae, sir." The faunus looked toward the teacher, then took a gulp of the little water he had left, then threw the bottle in his bag after putting the cap on it.
He looked toward Noctis and Sherwood with a smile. Argent had already picked up the smell of the cigar ages ago, and was able to follow it here, though he knew here the arena was (It was kind of hard to miss it).
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Even with his hood up, Persimmon did an over-dramatic motion with his hands to keep the sun out of his eyes as he stepped into the outdoor arena. Shading himself with his hand, he scanned the area and found it very much not to his liking. Wide open spaces, limited shade, the stands that, even unoccupied, made him uncomfortable... this was not going to be a pleasant lesson.
Regardless, this early in his first year was not the best time to pick a fight with Beacon administration. At least for now, he would play nice with the teacher. Letting out a private sigh, he pulled his hood back and joined his teammates (only moments before class was to start). With a bright, cheery smile and a painfully friendly voice, he addressed the teacher.
"Persimmon Burhan of ASPN here, sir! Pleased to meet you!" He even considered offering his right hand for shaking, but decided that may be taking the act too far.
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OOC: I'm not all for playing multiple characters, but in order to keep it simple and easy to manage, I'm just going to use my own characters to fulfill the rest of the needs.
Looking over to where the four students made their way over, Oberon activated his semblance and began "Pinning" each of them. "Good morning Sherwood, Noctis, Argent, and Persimmon." he said, looking at each one glow a light orange from his semblance as he said their names. Without them realizing what he had done, he moved forward to face each of them. "Glad to see each of you here and on time. Without further ado, let's begin, shall we? My name is Professor Oberon Falcov..." he said, gesturing to himself. "And I am the Team Strategy teacher here at Beacon." Taking a puff from his cigar, he blew the smoke out into the crisp morning air. "As I'm sure many of you may be wondering, this doesn't seem like a normal classroom. That is because it is not. Though I do have a classroom where we discuss tactics, I have found it much more beneficial to put a team's teamwork ability to the test by actual live simulations." Taking another puff, he finished his cigar and proceeded to put it out by extinguishing it on his calloused hand before throwing it to the side. "This is why you are all here this morning. Team ASPN has been chosen to undergo various simulations which will put how well each of you work together as a team to the test. You will be graded on how well you work together as well as whether or not you accomplish your objective. Now, rest assured, each of these test will more than likely not kill you" he said, chuckling softly. "However, this will push you to the extreme. Remember, this is a team effort..." he said, looking at each student one by one. "That means that you must know your teammates well: what their strengths and weaknesses in combat are and work around those to accomplish the goal."
Pausing for a moment to let everything sink in briefly, Oberon looked over to the entrance of the Arena. Where in the world are they...? he thought before continuing. Let me make one thing clear to each of you: Your team is your family while you are here at Beacon. They are your brothers in arm with one single objective: to become huntsmen for the good of Remnant. And just as many of you have ones whom you care about, whether it be friends or family, your team is to become part of that list. If there is one thing to take from this lesson, it is this: find something worth protecting, something worth dying for, and nothing will be able to stop you." Looking around at the students briefly, he turned to glance at the entrance and smiled slightly. "And it looks like the last of the helpers are here as well"
Walking down the hall into the outdoor Arena, Savas squinted slightly at the morning sunlight beaming onto his face. Under normal circumstances, mornings were a joy and blessing for him. However, the loss of his team had left a bitter taste to mornings and all he could do was grimace as he began walking down the steps, his footsteps making a loud thump each step he took, to where Professor Oberon and four other students were standing. "I wonder what team is going through simulation today? Did Obi tell you which team it was Vashie?" a cheerful voice sounded beside him. Of all the people he had to pick...why her? he thought, sighing slightly. He had nothing against Suntalia, and even smiled from time to time due to her spunk, but there was nothing worth smiling about nowadays for Savas. "Nggrh...I told you to not call me that Suntalia. And no, Oberon did not tell me which team is going through the simulation, only that it was a first year team." he said softly, his deep voice resonating through the empty seats.
Making their way down the steps and into the Arena grounds, Savas continued to walk towards the center, where Oberon was standing. "A first year team? This should be fun to watch!" Suntalia beamed, skipping alongside the hulking giant in order to keep up. Were anyone to look at the duo, they wouldn't help but stare at the sheer difference between the two: one being a rather short and petite girl in bright orange and cream colored clothing while the other was nearly twice the height and girth of the first and wearing a crimson colored full lamellar armor suit. Stopping a few paces away from Oberon and the students, Savas nodded his head in acknowledgement to the Professor while Suntalia busied herself by waving cheerfully at the students and giving them her best dimpled smile.
"Now that the others are here, we can begin." Oberon said, gesturing to the two newcomers. For those of you who may be wondering, I have asked that two of your upperclassmen come and assist in your simulation. Here is third year Suntalia Lyn Ryker" he said, pointing at Suntalia who was continuing her dimpled smile and wave at the students. "And here is fourth year Savas Carnelian." he said, gesturing to the scowling, towering behemoth. "They are here to assist in anyway needed should anything go awry. Now, I've done enough talking so let's get straight to the action. However, before we begin, do any of you have any questions?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at each of the students.
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As Professor Oberon spoke about their responsibility as Huntsman, Sherwood felt pride rise inside him. Certainly, it was only a first step but for Sherwood, this was enough. This and all the other classes on Grimm, combat, and how to live up to the ideal that defines the term Huntsman. Getting to these halls is an achievement in itself, and not one to undervalue. What he'll learn will take him as far, and that's an exciting prospect.
And when the Professor moves on to today's class being a team effort and knowing one's teammates; Sherwood frowns slightly. He'd forgotten his appointment in the last few minutes and the Professor's words bring that back to the forefront. He steels his resolve to do everything he can to live up to the title. Even if... he wasn't sure how.
Sherwood tries to come up with a wording for his concerns, to ask the Professor's advice. Not much comes to mind as he nods to the upperclassmen when they're introduced. Even after Professor Oberon asks for questions, what he actually wants to ask eludes his grasp.
Instead, he asks "One Professor. Should we... approach learning each others strengths and weaknesses any particular way? Ah'd... rather do this right from the start."
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I agree with Sherwood," Noctis says.
Noctis as a matter of a fact. has little to no knowledge about any of his team members other than their appearances. He did learn a handful of things about them during the initiation and really the only thing the team learned about him was that he was clumsy/accident prone- which is a bad thing now that he thinks about it. Maybe he should just keep to himself until he feels comfortable with talking freely. He mentally smacked himself since this was so unlike him to be so nervous.
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Persimmon smiled and waved at the students that entered behind them, but quickly regretted it as he was told that the girl was his upperclassman. Yeah... he had no chance.
But hey, team building exercises. Woohoo?
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Argent looked up to the professor waiting for his answer to Sherwood's question. While he was doing that he unzipped his bag and took out his weapon; Silber Brecher. He kept the weapon in its neutral form, for now.
He gave a nod to the upperclassmen that him and his team were introduced to. He also thought it bad that his team didn't know their strengths and weaknesses as well as he had hoped, though he guessed that was what this class was for.
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"A very good question, Sherwood." Taking out another cigar, Oberon lit it and took puff from it. Making his way over to one of the large crates, he placed a hand on it. "Learning about a person's personality and quirks is best spent outside of class. To learn someone's strengths and weaknesses however..." With a slight twinkle in his eyes, he pulled out his Scroll and turned to face the first years again, a smirk crossing his face. "Those things are best learned in combat." Tapping his Scroll, both metal crates made a loud buzzing noise as the doors to each of them swung open. "Your first lesson for Team Strategy: You must always be prepared for anything, whether expected or unexpected." Shooting Savas and Suntalia a look and nod, he turned back to the first years. As soon as he did that, a loud roar came from one of the crates. Freed from its cage, the large Beringel jumped out into the open Arena. "Consider this to be a review of what happened in the Emerald Forest!" Oberon yelled as he made his way over to the stands to observe.
Taking his cue from the Professor, Savas nodded and turned to Suntalia. "Time for us to take our positions. I'll guard the entrance and you take the high ground" he rumbled, looking down at the petite woman beside him. "Aye aye sir!" was all he heard as he turned his back to her. Moving quickly, he proceeded to the entrance and, taking out Sandalphon and Metatron, he turned and faced the Arena.
Saluting to Savas and giggling to herself, Suntalia ran quickly over to one of the pillars. Picking up speed, she deftly ran up the pillar and took her seat at the top. Smiling at the first years, she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Go team! You guys got this!!!" she yelled, her vibrant voice echoing through the battleground. As if annoyed by her voice, the creature in the second metal grate made a hissing like noise and scrambled out. Opening and closing its massive pincers, the giant Deathstalker moved to position itself better. "Errrr...you guys still got this!!!" Suntalia exclaimed, watching as the two giant Grimm flanked the first year team. This should be fun to watch she thought, a dimpled smile crossing her face.
Watching the Deathstalker come out, Oberon took another puff. "The Deathstalker is an added bonus. Don't want you guys thinking this will be a piece of cake after all!" he yelled. "Don't worry! Should any of you be in any mortal danger, just call for help and either myself or one of your upper classmen will be there to help. Just remember what you learned in your initiation and use each others weapons and semblances to your advantage. Your learning process starts now!" With that said, Oberon pulled out his canteen and took a sip of the still warm coffee that was in it.
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"Woah there..." Sherwood says as the Berlingel jumps out of it's cage. "Ah don't mind, but Ah do wonder if all of our classes will be this... engaging." Sherwood mutters. He drops his school bag and grips Tristram, the limbs sliding into their place from the bow's resting form.
He scans the field quickly, not sure what exactly he's looking for. "... Alright, Argent, get Persimmon to high ground, launch him!" he shouts, assuming he was supposed to be giving direction. Knowing the team's strengths is his job right? He has to make their skills mesh, know their moves before they do... Hoe-boy. That's a catch twenty-two; he needs this lecture to survive this lecture.
"Noctis, you and me go north! If we're out of sight by the wall, maybe they'll... fight each other, Ah guess! Argent, you catch up!" Sherwood finishes and sprints towards the wall, nocking an arrow as he runs. Hopefully... This will work. Or else Sherwood really wasn't sure what he'd do. They'd do.
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Noctis sighed, another Beringel? Really? He has had enough of those things- he only fought one, but that was one too many. Well I suppose this would be the second one he had fight against. Hopefully this one didn't want him as a prize like the last one did. The male sighed as he drew his sword awaiting Sherwood's orders. Thank the maidens that Sherwood's plan didn't involve him to go off alone against any of the grimm as a distraction; not like that was an issue or anything like that.
"Yes sir," Noctis says with a half hearted salute with his right hand then proceeded to follow Sherwood.
He glanced at the deathstalker trying to avoid direct contact because whenever he makes eye contact that clearly ment "take me I'm yours". Noctis moved his gaze to Argent biting his lip, awkwardly checking out the faunus from afar. Way to be inconspicuous Noctis, A+ for the day. Looking back forward Noctis didn't even try to hide his blush as long as Sherwood didn't look back to see it or anyone else for that matter.
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"Woah, woah, alright big guy, hands off," Persimmon protested before even giving Argent time to lay a finger on him. "I'll find my own way to high ground... one that doesn't make me the most obvious target on the friggin' battlefield!" He darted off in the opposite direction from where Sherwood and Noctis had gone before anyone could protest. As he looked for a good perch, Persimmon mentally scolded himself for getting legitimately flustered.
He also noticed there really was no good perch. The pillars were too high to climb without any external gear (at this observation Persimmon noted that he should probably add climbing gear to his kit at some point in the near future) and he doubted he could fight from the stands without automatically failing the assignment. Anywhere he set up would at least have a good view of the battlefield, but conditions were far from ideal.
Ultimately, he settled for climbing on top of one of the boulders, which would at least provide cover if not vantage.
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"As you wish.." Argent sighs as Persimmon dashes away from him. The faunus was happy it wasn't a King Taijitu, but he had never encountered a Deathstalker before. In his hands, his weapon transformed into its cannon form, and he was ready to fire his ice dust at one of the beasts.
He thought that Sherwood's prediction may come true, but he looked up for a confirmation to fire anyway.
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Moving around slowly, the Deathstalker proceeded to move back towards one of the walls instead of attacking the first years. The Beringel, however, was quite the opposite as it worked its way into a frenzy. letting out a loud roar, the Grimm proceeded to charge headfirst at Argent, it's mouth frothing at the thought of a quick and easy kill.
"You best move quickly before the Beringel aggravates the Deathstalker!" Suntalia exclaimed, clapping her hands out of sheer delight as she watched the other students spread out in hopes of catching the Grimm by surprise. Dangling her legs off the edge of the pillar, Suntalia proceeded to hum to herself as she smiled down towards the fight that was to ensue.
Rolling his eyes as he heard Suntalia yell advice to the others, Savas proceeded to shake his head slightly. Don't tell them what to do... he thought irritably though kept his mouth shut as he continued to stand in defense of the only way in or out of the Arena. Though...they would do best to listen to her advice he mused, clenching his fists around Sandalphon and Metatron. Despite his efforts to remain calm during this session, he had to resist the urge to go down there and kill both Grimms. After what had happened to his first team, to Auburn, he had made the decision that he would do everything in his own power to not let anyone else fall to the same tragedy that befell him. Cracking his neck, Savas proceeded to rolling his shoulders as he warmed up his joints, in case he was needed to save the team down below.
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Sherwood winces as the upperclassman girl shouts out advice. He was dead wrong, Grimm aren't animals, they're smart enough to not attack each other. He shakes his head slightly, dismissing the little voice pointing out his first call as a leader was wrong. He can't dwell on these things, he's got to keep at it. The team is expecting him to make calls and lead and do this, and one mistake can't be grounds to quit.
"Might be some sort of cheating, but Ah'd say follow her idea! Noctis and Ah can keep the Deathstalker away while Argent and Persimmon take out the Berlingel!" he shouts. Hopefully it didn't sound any less confident. He turns to Noctis.
"You're not as heavy a fighter as Argent right? So flank the Deathstalker. I'll attack it from one side and you attack it from the other. We'll keep peppering it to keep it's attention on us while the others do their part." He says to Noctis. His eyes flicker with a moment of doubt, but in the space of a blink he focuses.
Sherwood jogs to the north west, expecting the Berlingel and those fighting it to head south. Close to the wall, Sherwood sets his stance and lets a steel arrow fly, aiming for the largest, if most armored part of the Deathstalker, just in case it moves. If he could get Tristram to the maximum draw weight he might be able to crack through, but he knows he doesn't have the time to spend on it. Not to mention staying mobile is a very good idea.
At least with this he isn't barking commands anymore. Nocking another arrow, Sherwood sheepishly smirks. Dangerous situation this may be, shooting is still helps calm his mind.
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Well shit there goes the initial plan. So they needed to keep Harambe and little ol scorpio away from one another. Noctis knew that this couldn't be that easy. He heard Sherwood tell him to play distraction again and maybe that might be his permanent job on this team. He drew his right handed gun that was preloaded with fire dust to get the Death Stalker's attention.
Noctis broke away from Sherwood's side to send a sea of bullets to the white armor on top of the grimms body. He did his best to keep from falling thanks to the logs toppled over on the ground.
"Hey there fake scorpion king come play with me!" Noctis called continuing his onslaught sea of red bullets. He knew he'd run out of bullets eventually, lets just hope the grimm was distracted enough by the puffs of red and his obnoxious motives.
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"Guess it's up to me to bail you out, huh?" Persimmon said this into his scroll, but avoided using too smug a tone of voice in case Argent couldn't hear him. Not that he wasn't feeling smug. So much so that he would use his least favorite ammo type just to make a scene. He loaded a gravity dust shot and took aim directly in front of the Beringel, hoping to at least stagger it with the intense shockwave effect.
He took the shot with a loud boom heard throughout the arena. He had long ago learned not to even bother trying to silence these monsters, and also not to bother trying not to wince with pain at the ridiculous recoil. Hopefully, however, he had stayed steady long enough to hit his mark.
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As he saw the Beringel and Persimmon load and fire his gun, in one quick blur he shifted his own weapon into its hammer form and readied himself for the beast that lay before him.
Argent hoped his timing was better than his failed spin attack in the initiation as he lifted his hammer and was aware that he'd need to charge his aura soon enough if he was going to do some damage to the Grimm.
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With a hiss, the Deathstalker reared its tail and charged straight towards Noctis, his bullets merely ricocheting off of the hardened exoskeleton of the Grimm. With the Deathstalker distracted by Noctis, the Beringel took a direct hit to its chest from Persimmon's shot. Letting out a roar as its charge was halted, the Grimm leaped over to one of the large pillars and let out another roar as it held itself halfway up the pillar. Jumping from one pillar to the next, the creature jumped down and, picking up one of the large boulders, it threw the boulder straight towards Persimmon and proceeded to picking up a nearby log and tossing that towards where Sherwood was standing.
"Ngggrh...amateurs..." Savas snorted. He wasn't too surprised by it, however. Were his past self in their position, he would've done nearly the same. Splitting the team up into two groups to address both problems was a good idea, but it drastically cut their firepower to take down one of the creatures in half by doing so. They would've been better off addressing only one of the beasts first before engaging the other, but that was something they would learn as they progressed through the coming years. Finding himself taking an involuntary step towards the team below, Savas had to stop himself. I must remain here and make sure neither creatures escape. That is my objective here he thought, planting his feet and keeping his grip on his weapons. Besides...Suntalia should be more than enough to take down both creatures if the need arises he thought, smirking slightly to himself.
"Well, that's one way of doing this" Suntalia remarked quietly to herself. Rattled slightly as the Beringel jumped to the pillar that she was sitting on, Suntalia gripped and held herself in place, while readying herself just in case the Grimm decided to go for her. Letting out a sigh as the creature jumped off, she had half hoped it would've gone for her so she could have a little fun, but decided it was better this way. "Hope you all know how to dodge!" she yelled as the large Grimm began throwing debris at the other team members. Letting out a light jingle of a laugh, Suntalia continued to watch everything happen from the safety of her perch.
That was an interesting way of approaching this Oberon thought over the light flickering of his cigar. Taking a puff, looked down to his Scroll and continued his assessment of the team. Sherwood certainly does possess the values and mentality of being a leader by pulling a quick strategy together despite the quickly escalating problems around him. The others show a mutual trust and respect towards his leadership abilities and are also quick to action to follow through. Smiling slightly to himself, he knew that this team would be a fairly well-made team and would certainly go far. However, taking a quick look over to Savas, he knew that those two traits would no be enough to protect a team from tragedies. He did not hear the full details of the event, but knew enough that it had left a huge scar on the giant's heart that would take a long time to heal. Watching your teammates get killed right before your eyes and not being able to do anything about it is enough to break any man he thought, pulling his gaze back to the first year team before him. This is what will make this lesson all the more valuable, for both Savas and this new team. Taking another puff, he continued to assess the team's abilities and teamwork capabilities.
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Sherwood hears the Berlingel roar and flicks his head between the beast and Noctis, who was now the primary target of the Deathstalker. His timing was off ad he flicks back from the latter, seeing the Berlingel toss a boulder at Persimmon.
"Awh hell, watch out!" he shouts, unable to stop the rock. Persimmon would live, even he couldn't escape, but Sherwood couldn't help feeling like he should have been able to warn him. Sherwood's mind was being pulled into too many directions, and because of it he wasn't doing anything at his best. He grimaces slightly.
Sherwood flicks his head back to the Deathstalker, making sure poor Noctis wasn't about to be sliced in two. "Get some space Noctis, I'll try and pull it my way!" he says, launching one arrow at the Grimm and nocking his next. The poundage of the base strength is nothing to sneeze at, nor the iron arrows, but Deathstalkers have thick skin and Sherwood would feel much more comfortable with more weight behind his weapon. He doesn't have the time though, nor the piece of mind to shoot how he would as a hunter.
He flicks his head towards the others between arrows. "Argent, knock down the pill-" Before Sherwood could get out the words a log is mere inches from his face. He twists with all the energy he can muster and keeps the log from hitting his face. It does however plow into his chest and torso, knocking him back into the wall with an audible slam. Thankfully, the angle the log was thrown at prevented it from pinning him to the wall, it smashing to the ground right nearby Sherwood.
"Augh..." He groans. His aura felt that. With a small tsk and a wince he works his way to his feet. "Okay... Keep track of allies, enemies, tactics, and myself. Don't forget the latter. Give myself orders too." He mutters on the way up.
Grasping his bow, he fires the arrow that fell out of it when he was hit at the Deathstalker, subconsciously shooting in just the way he wasn't supposed to. He had been stunned for a few precious seconds, and who knows how the field had changed. Hopefully the others are fairing better.
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"Yes sir," Noctis says putting his gun away and taking off to another section of the area but away from the other two to keep the Grimm away from one another.
Noctis paused to look at his sword's dust chamber to double check if he wanted to use the thunder dust that he had left in there. As long as I don't hurt myself again I should be fine, he tells himself. When he looked back the Death stalker was a little too close for comfort and he didn't have much time to get himself out of the tight spot. He watched one of Sherwood's arrows hit the deathstalker giving him time to escape.
"You alright Sherwood?" Noctis called once he had felt comfortable with the distance between he and the grimm.
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Persimmon noticed the boulder coming his way and ducked behind his own boulder at the last possible second. Strange that years of this kind of behavior made it a reflex for him to play it close like this, but maybe this time it was advantageous. Maybe the Beringel would think it killed him... and maybe that was wishful thinking.
Whatever it was, Persimmon's movement didn't turn out perfect for himself. He watched the thrown boulder crash over his head, launching rock debris all over. He tried not to breath with all the powdered boulder in the air, but a few stray fragments struck him in the head and made that easier said than done. As soon as his vision cleared enough to orient himself, Persimmon rushed out of the rubble and inhaled sharply, causing him to cough. Several moments later, once he could breath well enough to sound calm, he lifted up his scroll and checked in with Argent.
"Yo! Sorry for the break there- I was kinda stuck between a rock and a... bunch of broken bits of rock. You ready to take this overgrown chimp down?"
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"When you are, yes, I am." Argent was getting annoyed now, as he back-stepped to get a feel for the situation. When he thought he had a good enough picture in his mind his grip on his hammer tightened and he looked up to Beringel with determination in his eyes, and shouted,"Persimmon, back me up!" and the large faunus began to stride over to the Grimm, almost without thought.
The head of his hammer opened and Argent was ready to fire gravity dust from it, though he knew he would have to get close for it to even have an effect on the Beringel.
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Letting out a roar of frustration at not killing off anyone, the Beringel continued by throwing another at Sherwood. Noticing Argent running straight towards it, the Grimm slammed the ground a few times with its massive arms before grabbing two small, head-size rocks and throwing those at Argent. At the same time, the Deathstalker continued its pursuit of Noctis, all the while taking an arrow into one of its legs. Letting out a hiss, the Deathstalker changed its target to Sherwood as it quickly closed the distance to where Sherwood was standing.
"Poor guy" Suntalia remarked, watching as both Grimm attacked the same student one after the other. Resting her chin in both her hands, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her legs as she continued to watch. "He's definitely gonna be feeling it tomorrow" she mused. Smiling down at the other students, Suntalia proceeded to swinging her legs as she continued to watch and wait. "You should probably go for the unarmored sections!" she yelled, laughing lightly as an after thought.
There she goes again, running her mouth... Savas thought, shaking his head slightly. They will never learn if you keep spoon feeding them the solution. Finishing with his light warm up, Savas placed the hammer head of Metatron on the ground, while standing Sandalphon on its tip. Holding both weapons steady, he finished up by trying to crack his neck again, letting out a couple more cracks as he loosened himself up. Despite what Suntalia was saying, she had given them the one advantage they can have if they were to take down both creatures. Regardless of how strong their armored skeleton was, there were always holes in their armor, which were to be heavily used to their advantage if they were to take any of them down. Should they use that to their advantage, then the fight will be over fairly quickly and they could move on to the next portion of the lesson.
-
Sherwood blinks at the Deathstalker spins around with more speed than he thought the large Grimm could muster, in any kind of fair world. His only concern as it charged towards him was why Noctis hasn't complained more about being the distraction. He'd be justified to do so. He also feels justified in focusing on him right now. He can only hope the others won't mind him not saying anything while he gets himself out of trouble.
As the Deathstalker approaches, Sherwood fires a single arrow into the ground, towards the center of the arena. Activating his semblance, he channels a bolt of electricity into the arrow, and links the arrow in a circuit with the one embedded in the Deathstalker. The lightning forms a chain between the two points, and hopefully that will be enough of a distraction for the beast because...
Sherwood dives to the ground, the only way he can feasibly avoid the thrown log with the time he has left to dodge it. It'd go over his head and everything would be fine. At least, assuming that the electricity slowed down the Deathstalker enough that it didn't end up literally on top of him, as at it's current pace, it'd have the speed to do that before he got up.
And hopefully nothing happens to the team too. He'd have been hit by something if he didn't give all his attention to himself, and he did not want another log to the face. Hopefully the others won't mind that he took his attention from the team for a moment. They're expecting him to call out trouble for them and such, but with any lucky nothing will happen while he's distracted and it won't matter that he was. Hopefully.
-
Noctis jumps back seeing the link of thunder strike the deathstalker. He draws his gun again to switch to his ice dust clips to pin the Grimm down to the ground. Noctis hates lining up shots with his non dominant hand but it would have to do since he may need to use Divine sooner than he thinks. With Scepter in his hand Noctis fires the ice dust at the Grimm legs and ground. Hopefully that didn't interfere with Sherwood's semblance since ice is a poor conductor of electricity.
-
Persimmon wasn't really clear on how exactly Argent intended on him backing him up, but one thing was clear: Neither enemy gave a shit about him. With this in mind, his next "perch" was just an overturned log that he decided to kneel behind. From here, he took action in two different ways:
First, he loaded an ice shot and took aim at the ground between Sherwood and the Deathstalker. Hopefully the ice spikes that emerged from the point of impact would provide him with some kind of cover. Second, he turned to the Beringel and started repeatedly firing impact shots into its head and neck area as quickly as he could. He estimated that the ten meter range at which his muffled shots could be heard did not encompass either enemy.
Suntalia's obvious advice wasn't, well, useful per se, but Persimmon certainly noted it. Awww, she cares about our well being. How nice, he thought to himself, sarcastic even in his own mind.
-
"Oh, sh--" As soon as he sees the rocks being hurled toward him, Argent began to dodge, side-stepping to his right. He managed to dodge one completely, the other hit Argent right in his chest. Argent felt that his aura depleted a good bit, as he suppressed a cry of pain. He heard Persimmon open fire on the Beringel, and that was his sign.
Argent began to run at the beast, as fast as he could with his large hammer in his hand. When he got close enough he was going to raise his hammer and charge his Semblance. Hopefully he wouldn't get another rock thrown at him.
-
Hit by the electrifying current, the Deathstalker hissed and staggered from being stunned by the damage. Shaking off the electricity as best it could, the Grimm proceeded to slowly make its way towards Sherwood, but was slowed to a stop once more by the ice that began to form around five of it's legs as well as the huge spike that formed in front of it from both Noctis and Persimmon's shot. With a hiss, the Grimm began flaying its giant pincers to and fro while it's poisonous stinger stabbed the ground repeatedly trying to break the ice that had formed around it.
Picking up another rock to throw at Argent, the Beringel was stopped by three shots from Persimmon. Getting knocked over by the impact of the shots, the Beringel let out another roar as his eyes turned to gaze upon Persimmon and then towards Argent. Moving quickly, the beast began to do its best to get out of the firing range of Persimmon by jumping up to grasp one of the giant pillars and then into the middle of the Arena, breaking the arrow that Sherwood had fired as well as cracking some of the ice that had formed around the Deathstalker's legs, allowing it to break free from the ice. With both Grimm next to each other, the Beringel let out another roar as if giving an order, in which both of them proceeded to go straight towards Persimmon, the Beringel quickly closing the distance in great strides and the Deathstalker following closely behind.
"Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!" exclaimed Suntalia, clapping her hands with glee and kicking her legs. The fight had definitely turned interesting and she couldn't help but grow excited at the thought that the first year students could possibly pull off the fight and win. Leaning forward again to watch the fight below, she had to catch herself from falling off the edge. "You better take one of them out soon! Or else you may turn into a pancake!" she yelled, letting out a laugh at the end of it. Regardless of the outcome, Suntalia found that she was enjoying this and was looking forward to talking to the first years in hopes of making them her new friends. The sheer thought of new friends was enough to bring a dimpled smile to her face and her eyes to sparkle with delight.
-
Sherwood rolls away from where the Deathstalker was charging from, coming up to a crouch facing the creature. Much to his surprise, he wasn't nose to nose with it. It only made about half the distance. Between the ice and the electrici-THUMP!
The Berlingel crashes onto his arrow, somehow managing the crush the solid iron arrow. Dust help him if that thing lands on him. Grimacing, he takes stock of the team. It seems he owes Noctis and Persimmon for the ice and aw heck, Argent got nailed while Sherwood was on the floor. "Sorry Argent! Thanks guys!" Sherwood yells as he watches the Deathstalker and the Berlingel... plan? He couldn't help but think that was too smart, even for Grimm.
Sherwood can almost feel the air rush past him as the Berlingel and Deathstalker charge for Persimmon. They both have decided to ignore him, it seems, and maybe he can make use of that. "Ah'm going to try to get my bow up to full draw! Persimmon, sorry, but try and keep them by you! Argent, cover Persimmon when they get close, see if you can get the Deathstalker after you! Noctis, wait for my signal and get the Berlingel to face us!" He says, and then takes a single deep breath.
Sherwood focuses on his shot, on the mantra he uses to get the strength to pull the fully unlocked draw of the bow. As his shooting is true, the shot is inevitable. His arm extended and the string pulled back, the muscles in his arms relax as his back takes on the weight of the bow. The weight starts ratcheting up as his stance and form become fall into place, the muscle memory of millions of arrows shot guiding him as he focuses only on his mantra. Each time the weight increases, he steads the bow again, held against his left palm with the ever increasing tension. Just as the pin settles its quivering motions, the action repeats again. Still, the only truth in Sherwood's thoughts were that the shooting would be true, and making the shot is inevitable.
Just a bit of time, and maybe he can put a hole in the Berlingel head.
-
Noctis smiled. "Not a problem"
He quickly sheathed his sword- seeing as he wasn't really going to need it anytime soon, to switch to his precise copper pink gun pre loaded with Fire dust. He then reloads his other gun with the same dust and holds his position with the guns pointed up and his arms tucked waiting for Sherwood to give him the signal. Easy enough he thinks tracking the Beringel movements.
Noctis glances over to Persimmon then Argent. Maybe he'd need to patch them up after they were done here or at least until the session was over. He couldn't help awkwardly check out Argent again while he waited.
-
"Oh yeah, thanks, fearless leader! Let's have the sniper of the group serve as a distraction! That's just great!" Persimmon quickly turned and dashed towards the wall while transforming Sunset into its staff form. For the five seconds it took to transform, Persimmon mumbled under his breath about how he needed an upgrade and this was seriously impractical for combat. He finished not a second too soon, as he turned around to find the Deathstalker in stinging range and a very unhappy gorilla looking menacingly at his gun. With a noisy blast of gravity dust, Persimmon got the hell out of there. He vaulted to the side, towards Argent.
-
"Cover Persimmon, eh? That can't be too hard.." Argent mumbled as he shifted Silber Brecher to its hand-cannon form. With a click, the dial on the cannon went to 'ice' as the tall faunus raised his arm up at the Deathstalker. "I'll try to freeze the Deathstalker. That's sure to make him angry, take some heat off you, Persimmon."
Argent steadied himself as best he could and fired three shots of ice dust at the Deathstalker, then shifted his weapon to its hammer form and dashed around to the side of the Grimm, hoping they would still be fixated on Persimmon. He was going to try to flank the Deathstalker as best as he could.
-
Stabbing the ground with its venomous stinger, the Deathstalker barely missed Persimmon as he retreated towards Argent. Letting out a hiss, the Grimm turned to go after Argent, but was hit soundly by all three of Argent's shots, freezing the large Grimm's left pincer, tail, and two of it's legs to the ground. With the Deathstalker stuck to the ground, the Beringel ignored its fellow Grimm and, letting out a huge roar, jumped the distance between itself and Argent. With it's large fists raised over its head, it landed next to the students and swung down a heavy blow at Argent.
Letting her mind wander at the thought of eating pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, Suntalia quickly brought her attention back to the fight as she watched the students effectively free the Deathstalker to the ground. "Nice!" she cried out, clapping excitedly as the fight looked to be slowly ending. Observing Sherwood standing there with his bow drawn, she concluded that it looked like he was either waiting for the right time to fire or was using his semblance or something to possibly affect the arrow. "You may want to..." was all she could manage to say as the Beringel jumped straight towards two of the students, intent of taking one of them down. Ahhhh...well, maybe they will be fine she thought, her legs swinging lazily over the edge of the pillar she was on.
Continuing his observation of Team ASPN, Oberon continued to take notes of all four students as he took a puff from his cigar. Overall, this team had the makings of a well organized team by the end of their first year if they continue to learn more about each other. Seeing that they had the Deathstalker held down, their best option would be to take down the Beringel while they have the open window to face off against only one of the creatures. Looking over at Sherwood, Oberon smiled as it looked like they had planned to do just that.
Closing his eyes to think for a moment as he planned the next session, Oberon could still make out all four students due to his semblance still being active on each of them. Opening his eyes, he began making notes as he prepared the next session for Team ASPN. Heh...if they think this was difficult, they won't know what hits them for the next one he thought with a smile. Everything that was to be done in this class was to be a learning experience for every student. Even if losing is one of those experiences he mused, looking at the battle that continued to ensue in the Arena.
-
Tristram pulls on Sherwood's back and shoulders, desperately trying to release the tension between the magnetic string and the riser. The weight ratchets to the final weight, the magnetic properties of the bow trying to reunite their poles with all the gusto of the natural force. Almost as if it was a triggered action, Sherwood says in a distant tone, "Signal."
Not paying attention to Noctis's action, Sherwood's vision focuses down only on the pin to Tristram's sight. Even as he follows the head of the Berlingel, the pin doesn't quiver with the subtle motions it should, despite the strain of the high tension. That tension eliminates all the unsteadiness of the body by with the force of it's pull.
With the Deathstalker flailing around, Sherwood couldn't guarantee it wouldn't get in the way of the of arrow mid flight. They needed the Berlingel to be out of commission, and he was taking the time away from acting as leader to attempt it. He had to make it worth that. He owed the team that. When the Berlingel comes after him and Noctis... He'd put it down.
-
Noctis doesn't need to be told twice. Immediately Noctis began to push his finger against the triggers of the gun, making sure that he was hitting the Berlingel's chest and that the dust was puffing up in the grim's face. While Noctis' left gun stayed hitting the same spot, his right gun kept wavering since it was not his dominate hand and Scepter wasn't made to hit exact targets like Rose was. It was more to cause damage not kill.
"Hey hey Harambe, come here and look at the pretty archer!!" Noctis says obviously being covered up by the guns sound.
-
Persimmon wasn't even going to try to help Argent here. Guy looked like he could take a hit, after all; what's a sniper to do? Using his semblance to prevent being tracked, Persimmon dashed off to safety behind yet another boulder. Hopefully this spot lasts longer than the last two, he thought as his weapon reverted to its rifle form. He took aim at the Deathstalker and waited, not wanting to open fire until after Sherwood took his shot.
-
Argent's eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the Beringel jump toward him. "I hate my life." The faunus sighed as he blocked the hit as best he could, though got pushed back, barely managing to stay on his feet, stumbling backwards. He was now getting tired of getting hit and his attacks interrupted. Argent tried to draw from his experience in the Emerald Forest and remembered how he had slain the Beringel back then.
With determination in his eyes, Argent looked up at the beast before him, and with his hammer in his hand dashed toward it with his weapon raised. He had charged his Semblance for the time required and swung it down with all the force he could muster, hopefully getting a good hit on the Grimm.
-
Landing a hard hit against Argent's block, the Beringel gave what looked to be a wicked smile as it prepared to follow through. However, before it could proceed, it was suddenly barraged by numerous bullets from Noctis. Not enough to damage it, it raised its large hands to block the bullets that were hitting its abdomen and face. Letting out a roar, it began to lower its hands, but was immediately hit by Argent's hammer, causing the Grimm to get pushed back with a crack in its harden exoskeleton. Letting out another roar, it lowered its arms to its side as it glared first at Argent and then turned to glare at Noctis in turn.
Flailing madly, the Deathstalker slowly cracked its way through the ice. Hissing out of frustration, it continued to flail as its tail broke out and, using its tail, began to slowly leverage itself as it continued to nearly crack the ice off from its pincer.
-
"..."
Sherwood watches Argent slam his hammer into the Berlingel in almost slow motion. He watches as it steps back from the force, and raises it's head to roar in Argent's direction. And Sherwood watches as the Berlingel toward Noctis on his left. There's an old phrase that's used for shooters; do not shoot until you see the white's of their eyes. Sherwood made eye contact with the Berlingel, and his bow releases. When the form is perfect, the shot will be true.
The solid steel alloy arrow flies from the rest of the riser, whistling with the speed towards the space between the Grimm's eyes. At this poundage, the arrow is a kin to a ballistic shell. The air warps around it as if the arrow was drilling through it as opposed to parting it. Sherwood doesn't look at his shot, holding his form as if it will continue to affect the arrow's flight. He doesn't need to, because he believes in the mantra he recites each time he makes this, or any shot.
-
Noctis stopped firing as soon as Argent took the beast down. He looked over to Sherwood to see if he would give any further instructions.
"What's next boss?" He asked loud enough.
-
Persimmon, unable to do any real damage in the current situation, decided instead to fire a series of four ice shots at and around the Deathstalker's feet to help keep it distracted while they finished off Harambe.
-
"OH MY GOSH! Argent shouts as he notices Sherwood fire his arrow at the Grimm. In an instant, his hammer shifted into neutral form and was hanging on his waist, as the tall faunus broke into a sprint. He didn't know if the arrow had destroyed its target, but he ran in the opposite direction of that Beringel.
"I could continue with my plan of flanking that Deathstalker. Argent suggests, looking to his leader; almost coming to a stop on his sprint.
-
Taking the fully charged arrow straight in its scarred area by its head, the arrow blew a large hole through its lower head and neck. Looking at Argent run off, the Grimm made a face of what could only look like surprise before it fell to the ground and began to disintegrate. Meanwhile, taking the extra ice damage, the Deathstalker continued to struggle against the increasing ice that formed on its legs. Breaking its pincer free from the ice, it continued to crack its way slowly through the ice around its feet, all the while flailing around.
"Nice!" exclaimed Suntalia, clapping her hands out of excitement. "Just one more to go!" she yelled, letting out a jingle of a laugh. Humming a soft tune to herself, she continued to swing her legs lazily over the edge of the pillar. Seeing that the first years would probably not need her help with the fight, she reached into her small pack she wore around her waist and pulled out her Scroll and sent a message to her brother. Will probably be done here within the next hour or so. We should do some sparring if you're free? pressing send, she put her scroll away and continued to watch the conclusion of the fight, a warm smile as she awaited both for the fight to end and for her brother to respond.
"Ngggrh...not bad" muttered Savas as he watched the Beringel go down. Guess I won't need to stand up here any longer he thought as he made his way down the stairs and towards Oberon. For a bunch of first years, this team showed a lot of potential. Though they were rough around the edges, they had a lot of strengths as well as a lot of long range capabilities. If there was one thing Savas would note, it would be their lack of close combat capabilities. However, if they were able to take the target down from afar, then close combat wouldn't be necessary. It'll be interesting to see how they handle the second scenario he thought as he reread the instructions that Oberon had sent him prior, a smirk crossing his face slightly.
-
Sherwood blinks finally with an audible exhale. He rolls his shoulders once before nocking a new arrow into Tristram. "No... No one died while Ah wasn't paying attention right?" he murmurs, looking around. Seeing no dead bodies, he exhales again, this time in relief. He notes Argent and Noctis asking him what to do.
"Right, ah... Ahlright. Sorry guys." he responds. His eyes narrow as he scans the scene in front of him, trying to make a plan. The Deathstalker was big sure, but Persimmon was doing an amazing job at keeping it pinned down. His shoulder kindly informed Sherwood that he wouldn't be launching another Full Draw shot with a soreness in his muscles.
"The... The underside of the Deathstalker is weak right? All we have to do is get... underneath..." Sherwood's trails off as he realizes they couldn't flip the Deathstalker while it was frozen. He winces, realizing his orders cut them off from the creature's weak point. "Ah guess we won't be doin' that... "
"Way Ah see it, we need a hole in his armor. How about it Argent?" Sherwood asks. "Noctis, partner up with him and take a stab at that hole when Argent makes it. Persimmon, keep doin' what your doin', if that thin' gets loose we're in for ah world of hurt." Sherwood says.
Sherwood sets up again to shoot from where he's at, since this is well with in his comfortable range. Without enhancing the poundage he pulls the bow and focuses on his mantra. This time, his shot wasn't going to be an easy shot, with an enemy that had frozen in place. He was going to see about pinning the flailing tail to the wall, and for that he had to accurate. He'd need all the help from his mentor's mantra as he can get.
He stands, muscle memory relaxing his body into the right tension level for his shot. He watches the tail flail, hoping to see some kind of pattern, or maybe just something that gave him the feeling to release the arrow.
True shooting leads to Certain hitting...
-
"Poke a hole" He said quietly trying to figure out how to do it.
If he used Divine with the fire dust in it then have Argent hit it maybe that would be enough to break through since heat makes things expand, however if Noctis proceeded with that Idea Divine might break and he would have to go get it repaired which last he checked wasn't cheap. It also depend on how hard Argent hit the sword too. If he got luck maybe only the handle would break.
"Alright, well I guess that's my only choice huh?" He tells himself as he put away his guns.
Divine had a dust change to fire. Now he just needed to get across the arena.
"Hey Foxy mind stunning that grimm for me near it's fleshy parts?" He asked. Then he turned is attention to Argent. "Hey big guy I need you to get to a high spot over the death stalker. You'll have to hit my sword when I tell you with your hammer."
After giving his orders Noctis made his way on the Deathstalker's back without getting poked by the singer or tripping over any of the fallen logs. He activated the sword's dust function then smashed the tip into the white armor that covered the grimm.
"Alright Argent, don't hurt my pride and joy," Noctis called signaling Argent to hit the top of Divine's handle.
-
"That's a definite no, Sher," Persimmon said as he fished through his ice dust pocket. He pulled out one more shot and fired it right under the Deathstalker, hoping the ice that emerged would hit its sensitive bits, before deciding to hold on to the remaining four shots in case of emergencies.
Just then, he heard Noctis yelling instructions to him as he charged forward like a madman. "Hit its fleshy parts?" Persimmon asked with skepticism while looking upon the Deathstalker's fully armored body. As he loaded an electric shot, he responded, "You've come to the right guy. Get ready to be amazed." He took aim at the ice spikes he had just created and fired at a slight upward angle, hoping for a one-in-a-million ricochet into the beast's underbelly. If successful, the shot just might be potent enough to stun it for a second or two.
-
"A high spot? Well, the high spots are sort of..far away. My Semblance should provide the same amount of force as me from just above the Deathstalker.." The faunus mumbled, preparing himself for his attack. Silber Brecher shifted to its hammer form in his hands, and he began to breathe deeply. With a battle-cry, the tall man dashed toward the Deathstalker.
"HYAAT!" Argent shouted as he charged his Semblance and jumped. When he had counted roughly a second, he released his hammer down in a terrifying speed toward Noctis' sword. The best case scenario was that the sword got lodged in the beast without any trouble, worst case is that the sword breaks and he hits the Grimm's armour.
-
Ricocheting off of the ice, the lightning dust round from Persimmon grazed the beast, enough to half stun it for a brief moment. With the moment gone, the Deathstalker began thrashing around violently the moment Noctis landed on its back as it tried to throw the student off. However, it's thrashing was short lived as Argent landed his blow squarely on the bottom of the hilt of Divine. Combined with the heat of the fire dust, the momentum of Argent's attack was enough to smash the blade through the strong exoskeleton armor. Letting out a hiss, the creature continued to thrash around, but it's flaying slowed down as the creature died and began to disintegrate away.
Reaching Oberon, Savas continued to monitor the first year team as he stood beside the professor. "Is the second scenario still going to happen?" he inquired, looking down at the teacher as he put Sandalphon and Metatron back into their harness. Hearing a loud thud, Savas quickly turned his attention over to the battle as he watched the Deathstalker get taken down. "They may not be ready for the next round" he added, his voice rumbling deeply in his throat like a volcano ready to erupt. Folding his arms, he looked back down at Oberon, arching an eyebrow as he contemplated the next round.
Watching the Deathstalker go down, Suntalia let out a cheer and clapped enthusiastically as the Grimm slowly disintegrated. "Well done! Well done!" she cheered as she jumped down from the pillar. Skipping over to where Oberon and Savas were, Suntalia beamed a big smile up at the giant faunus. "Guess they did better than you had anticipated, huh? Was Vashie concerned about the wittle fiwst years?" she asked, giggling as she nudged him softly, though not noticing the giant rolling his eyes. "So, Obi, what's next? Huh? Huh? Surely there's more, right? Maybe a pack of Beowolves? Or how about a herd of Goliaths! Yeah, that would be great! Though, I don't know how you would get a herd of Goliaths into Beacon. How would you do that Obi?" she asked, a flurry of questions flowing vibrantly towards the teacher.
Finishing his notes as he watched the Deathstalker go down, Oberon put his Scroll away just in time as Suntalia began asking a plethora of questions. Smiling slightly, he raised his hand, which caused Suntalia to go quiet. "The second round will still take place, Savas" he said first, looking up at the hulking behemoth of a faunus. "As for your questions, Suntalia, I don't know how anyone would be able to get a herd of Goliaths into Beacon and I don't think anyone would want to try that. As for what's next, follow me." With that, he stepped down into the Arena and walked over to where the students were with Savas and Suntalia following closely behind. "Nicely done team. You handled this simulation very well." Taking a puff from his nearly done cigar, he proceeded to put the cigar out against his calloused hand before tossing the remains aside. "Now, before we begin in the next simulation, I would like to give each of you a short break as well as ask to see what you learned through this experience?" Clasping his hands behind his back, he looked at each of them as he assessed how they were faring. Overall, each of them looked to be in good shape, though Sherwood appeared to have taken the most wear and tear out of the team. They should be ready to go another round once they get a moment to breath he thought, smiling slightly under his gruff beard.
-
Sherwood sees the strike by Argent out of the corner of his eye, but with his focus on shooting it takes him a few moments into the beast's disintegration before he begins to let down the bow. In those moments he still follows the tail as if to shoot as it begins to flail less and less as the creature of Grimm begins to disappear.
He blinks a few times. "... Alright.". Sherwood sighs to himself. "Props Argent. Don't hit me with that thing." he says with a nod in his teammate's direction. Seeing the professor coming, Sherwood frowns, assuming he won't be able to pick up his arrows for a bit. "Everyone did great." Professor Oberon then asks the team what they had to say about their performance.
Well, there was a lot of being bait and running away. Probably a waste of time, energy and resources. Persimmon seemed to have actually run out, keeping the runners from being minced or smashed to bits. Sherwood himself got whaled on, and the others were either on the verge of being whaled on or did get hit as well. Accolades are probably in order, since no one flinched when they got hit. The Grimm were not hard to kill either; sure the Deathstalker had a fair bit of armor but all in all they're well equipped for both of the Grimm they just fought. They probably could have finished this in a third of the time they took. Sherwood's shoulders slump.
Can't really nitpick the team for that. He took time out of directing to shoot, a selfish move he supposes, and he was the one who kept giving 'distract it' as an order. Maybe it's because it worked in the forest, but that's not the only thing a leader should command, nor should it be ever a command for a good leader. A good leader would know the Grimm inside and out, the team inside and out, and know just how to use the latter's skills to destroy the prior in short order. And even more than that, an entry level scenario like this one shouldn't cause injury. He needs a lot more practice to do this job right.
"It wasn't great sir. Ah could have directed in ah more aggressive manner than 'distract 'hem', wastin less time an resources. If we were more aggressive, we could have split them faster, prevented injury, and saved resources. We wouldn't have lasted in ah seige or horde style encounter. Sir." Sherwood says. Since Oberon said they were also resting in this break, he figures it's okay if he doesn't straight up his posture for the professor.
-
Noctis heard the blade's handle crack a little bit, nothing he can't fix himself but maybe the dust chamber would need to be changed out. No problem since he had the extra parts if Divine's dust function got damaged. It was satisfying to see the deathstalker disappear which is why Noctis was now on the ground. He slumped back and Divine followed to land very close to his head. Thank the maidens that the professor granted them a period of rest before entering the second battle he had planned for the day. Hearing Sherwood praise everyone made Noctis lift up his left with half assed thumbs up.
"Thank you for not breaking my sword Argent," Noctis says with a light smile.
He stood up to sheath his sword and further assess it before they enter the next battle along with counting how many clips he had left of each dust type. Noctis walked to where the professor was standing. Of course he would ask what they learned from the brief simulation.
"I figured that sometimes plans are half assed thought out," Noctis says as he shoves his hands in the white coat's pockets. "Sherwood, you did fine. Don't be so hard on yourself. After all this is new to you. Don't sweat it."
-
Persimmon holstered his gun, closing his cloak and brushing off the remaining dirt and chunks of rock before approaching Oberon. "Gotta say, you found a way to get me out of my element. Nothing I can't handle, of course." A playful smirk crossed his face. "Even these guys managed to do alright. Give us somethin' a bit more challenging next time, eh professor?"
He considered saying something to Sherwood, something like, Come on man, as long as you can hit a target you're fine by me, but decided against it. He was more curious to see how this would play out than excited to see its conclusion. Might as well let Sherwood hang onto his emotional conflict or whatever for now.
-
Argent interjected, "But, Sherwood, when you did plan things; we done good. And you deserve a pat on the back." The faunus strode over to the rest of his team, his weapon shifting into neutral form and Argent sheathing it.
"Anyway, it's better to under-plan and have to wing some of it, rather than over-plan and have the whole structure of the shabang fall apart." Argent stated, giving a smile to each of his teammates especially Noctis, since he was prepared to sacrifice his weapon to kill the Grimm.
-
Listening to the four students give their opinions on the last fight, Oberon nodded slightly in acknowledgement of their opinions. "You are right in being critical of yourself, Sherwood" he said. "There will be times where plans do not go according to what you hope for. Fighting Grimm is a sure sign that plans could fail" he added, glancing over towards Savas. "However, your teammates are right in saying that you did good when you planned everything out. What you learn here today and at Beacon will help you grow into a stronger leader and one who will be able to guide your team towards success with each mission."
Looking at the other members, Oberon smirked at Persimmon's remark about having something more challenging. "Each of you did well in this fight. You were able to think quick in the short amount of time you were given and able to take down two large Grimms that you'll come to face regularly after you leave the Academy." Taking out a cigar as he talked, he lit the new cigar and took a puff. "However, as Huntsman, you will not always face off against Grimm. This world is a dark world and, amidst the chaos that the Grimm cause, there are other threats in Remnant. Banditry still runs rampant and even the White Fang have taken on a more violent approach and have begun harming the human race." Taking a look at each student, Oberon let his message sink in for a moment. "That said, you must learn how to not only fight against mindless Grimm, but against other humans and faunus. People who are able to plan and strategize just as much, if not more than you. And so...just for you Persimmon..." he said, looking over at the first year. "Your next opponent will be these two" he added, gesturing towards Savas and Suntalia. "The situation is this: You have just completed your mission of taking down two large Grimm that have been terrorizing the area. Upon finishing, you run across two wanted criminals, known throughout Remnant for murdering countless travelers. Your choice is this: stay and subdue these criminals to take them into custody, or to retreat and get reinforcements." Taking another puff from his cigar, he blew the smoke out into the air. "Should you choose to retreat, then you need but run out through the single Arena doorway" he said, pointing to the entrance behind him. "However, if you choose the fight, then you will need to get both of them to yield. Now, you will each start on the Southern side of the Arena, farthest from the entrance. I will give each of you a moment to talk amongst yourselves and devise a strategy. Do know this: both Savas and Suntalia will stop at nothing in making sure none of you are able to leave this Arena and, should they subdue each of you, then you will lose."
Smiling to himself, he turned to face both Savas and Suntalia. "You've heard your objective. You will need to not let the four students leave here. How you do that is up to you, but please..." he said, giving Savas a hard look. "Try not to kill the first years or destroy the Arena too much." he added, smirking at the giant. "If neither of you have any questions, the go ahead and get yourselves ready for the fight." With that, Oberon began to make his way towards the entrance of the Arena, a trail of smoke following behind him.
Snorting at Oberon, Savas unharnessed Sandalphon and Metatron from his back. "Ngggrh, seems a bit unfair, but whatever" he replied, his voice rumbling softly. Turning towards Suntalia, he looked down at his pint-sized "partner in crime". "Let's go Suntalia" he said, walking towards the Northern side of the Arena to where the entrance lay, Suntalia following closely behind. "I'll take on the faunus kid and make sure he doesn't get close to you. You go for the archer and immobilize him. Without their leader, this should be over fairly quick" he said, checking his armor and making sure it was nicely set before tightening his helmet on. Turning towards the first years, he stabbed Sandalphon into the ground with his right hand and rested Metatron on his left shoulder, waiting for the session to start.
Letting out a squeal of delight at the thought of sparring with the other students, Suntalia gave a beaming smile to Oberon. "Aye Aye Obi!" she chimed, lifting her hand to a salute, which got a small smile from the teacher. Following Savas, Suntalia skipped to keep pace. Upon listening to Savas' plan, she simply nodded her head in agreement. This team seemed to rely heavily on Sherwood so it would make sense to take him down first. Checking Dynami and Areti to make sure they had ammunition set inside of them, Suntalia placed herself a couple paces to Savas' left as she pulled out Firestorm. Transforming it into its spear form, she spun it effortlessly for a few moments before resting it diagonally against her back as she stood upright with her left foot forward towards the other students and with one tip touching the ground behind her. Letting out a delighted laugh, she looked at her opponents. "Ready when you guys are!" she yelled, her vibrant voice singing across the battleground.
-
Sherwood nods politely at Oberon's praise of his planning. He refrained from stating the planning pulled him out of the action, got him hit, and had him miss important things on the field. No matter Professor Oberon's reputation, Sherwood found it hard to accept the praise as a good thing. Especially since this was in fact exactly what he's supposed to be doing. If the rest of the team is satisfied with his work though...
Well, that's a line of thought for when they weren't about to face off with a junior senior tag team. Sparing a look at the arrows he hadn't picked up, he jogs to the south end when the professor indicated the team was to start. He still has more than half of them, but he does hate to leave them loose.
"Alright boys. Ah know the escape with one person option seems easier, and Ah bet a lot of teams go for that. But... Ah do not want to make a plan like that, nor do Ah think Ah can. Ah am sure we aren't a match for a junior and a senior, so Ah say we stick together, and all get out. Ah suppose we could talk objections, but Ah don't think we have the time. So here Ah go.
Okay. Argent, ah think you're the only one who can go mano-e-mano with Savas. You go on up after him, fight him in the mid ground. Don't let him around to me and Persimmon, he'll crush us like compost. Ah'll cover you from a ways back, help keep in in your range. Persimmon, you're covering Noctis, doin' the same thing. Noctis, you're the fastest of us. You've got the best chance of keeping Suntalia pinned down. No stalling, no baiting required, go all out.
While you two keep the enemies centered, we'll be covering you and moving around the outside of the arena, loopin back to the entrance. The we can cover you as you get to us and we all escape. There's the plan."
Sherwood rolls his shoulders to try and relax a moment, feeling tired from just talking so much. But with any luck, this plan might work and they can be spared a good knocking. Glancing to the other end of the field, he sees the new opponents in ready stances and Sherwood sighs. He nocks an arrow and falls into his own ready stance. "And Ah'm pretty sure we don't have time for adjustments. Ready up ASPN." He says quietly.
-
Noctis sighed hoping he would just be distraction again but apparently not. Suntalia was a short girl however Noctis knew better that to judge someone based of their size. He remeber that she is an upperclass men and could easily pinn him down. Noctis held his sword, feeling the slight crack aganst his fingers, for sure the dust function wasn't going to work so he needed to do this the old fashion way.
"I'm gonna get my ass kicked by a loli. Thats gonna hurt my pride," Noctis mummbled.
Going all out huh? Sherwood was one to try and impress the professor. They are so fucked.
"Heya Persimmon, try not to accidently shoot me."
-
"Hey..." Persimmon put his hand Noctis' shoulder. He took a deep breath and looked as concerned for Noctis as possible. He even ignored the remark about shooting Noctis, which seemed to him like an insult to his marksmanship skills.
As he continued to speak, Persimmon's worried look gave way to a mischievous grin."You're gonna need a secret weapon to stand a chance. I don't know if your sword's in good enough shape to withstand dust after that hammer came down on it... but you could always use this. I've always wondered what would happen if you just, y'know, broke it open." He slipped one of his two remaining gravity shots into Noctis' hand, discreetly so as to hide it from the enemy. "Give it a go for me, hm? If you get into trouble, of course." He lingered just long enough see the look on Noctis' face before dashing off into position.
-
"That faunus is a monster. Well, I'm in, Sherwood. I trust you, and your plan. " Argent states with a grin, cracking his knuckles. Though, Argent knew if he actually fought Savas, Argent would probably die, but the tall elephant knew that he could hold him off. Maybe. If he was lucky.
He slid the heavy weapon off his belt and transformed it, so it was in his hammer form. As soon as the fighting started, Argent was going to transform it, hopefully throwing the enemy off-guard.
"So, that whole time they were just making notes of our abilities, huh. That's..Unfair. I guess team ASPN will pull through, like it always does. Well, I say always, kind of just two, no, three fights. That's three more than zero, anyway." Argent chuckled, and began to hype himself up.
-
Watching as both sides prepared, Oberon took out his Scroll to take some notes down. Despite not being in his class anymore, this would be a chance for Savas to finally get his feet back into doing missions and, hopefully, finding a new team to be with. Suntalia, on the other hand, would be graded on her performance today and, depending how she does, would have her grade in his lecture affected by it. He had no doubt that she would do well, considering her experience and fighting capabilities. However, today she would be slightly out of her comfort zone in that she wouldn't be working with her teammates, but rather a friend. Seeing as how both sides looked ready, Oberon took another puff from his cigar and blew a couple smoke rings out. "Everyone ready? Very well, you may begin now" he yelled before continuing his observation.
Exhaling slowly, Savas calmed his mind and prepared himself for combat. He did not want to kill any of the first year students, but he also wanted to fulfill his objective. This is to educate the future so that they never face the horrors of watching their teammates die he thought, letting his mind wander over to Auburn as well as Vigdus. Opening his eyes as he watched each student get into a ready position, Savas pulled his necklace out and, kissing the ring that he was to give to Auburn, he hid it back under his armor before got into his ready position. "Actually, go and scatter them" he said quietly to his petite comrade. "I'll follow behind and make sure none of them escape" he added, gripping both weapons in his hands as he went into his warriors stance that he learned back from home right as Oberon shouted that they may begin.
Hearing Savas change his plan a bit right before Obi shouted that they may begin, Suntalia smiled broadly. "Sending in a woman to do a man's job, eh?" she remarked, giving the giant a warm smile before laughing lightly. "Very well, I'll go, but I can use a boost" she said, cocking her head up to look inquiringly at Savas.
Taking the hint from Suntalia, Savas let out a soft chuckle before getting serious again. "Ngggrh...very well" he rumbled as the short girl proceeded to take a few steps forward. Using Metatron, he took a step forward, his arm raising Metatron to do a horizontal swing. Fully prepared, Suntalia jumped backwards straight on the head of Metatron as Savas swung it hard, hurling her straight towards the opponent.
Leaping as high as she could, Suntalia followed through by being hurled straight at Sherwood. Holding Firestorm in her left hand, she quickly drew Dynami with her right and proceeded by letting out four shots: two aimed at Sherwood, one at Noctis, and one at Persimmon as she quickly closed the distance between her and the others.
With Suntalia flying over at the others to distract them, Savas activated his semblance. As a deep crimson red aura slowly encompassed him, he continued to think through his options. For now, watching the first years take on Suntalia would allow him to gauge their fighting capabilities as well as if they would even survive an onslaught from the happy go lucky girl.
-
Sherwood shouts as he dives out of the way of the speeding upperclassman first, then twisting just enough to be only grazed by her two shots. When he felt forced back by the mere grazes, he wrote it off as impact when he had no contact with the ground. Thankfully, instinct took him towards the group, and not away from the party. Getting to his feet, now on the other side of ASPN, he sees Savas hasn't moved, but he only files that observation away for later.
Sherwood sets his feet and launches two arrows towards the upperclassman. Even without increasing the weight of the draw the arrows should still give her pause, given they're solid steel alloy.
"Noctis, go for it!" Sherwood says with urgency. Something in the back of his mind tells him they're flanked, but he can't be pressed for a plan with Suntalia so close. He shrugs it off and take a half second to aim instead, hoping for at least one hit.
-
Noctis is a bit taken back by Suntalia's sudden aggressiveness, but nothing that would stun him from dodging the girl's bullets. His hand gripped Divine feeling the slight crack from the previous fight. He didn't really have time to dwell on how to fix it since his leader was urging him to go and keep Suntalia distracted.
"Let's go Foxy!" Noctis called after he drew his sword and began to go after the short upperclassmen.
Once near Suntalia Noctis gave a bit of a mocking yet gentlemen gesture. With his right arm, he draped it across his chest and bowed slightly as a sight of respect. He was fighting a lady, and she was far more skilled than he so might as well show the respect for her right?
"Hey there," Noctis smiled. "I'm ready for you to kick my ass."
-
Persimmon was, simply put, troubled by the speed and efficiency at which Suntalia moved towards Sherwood. Her speed was impressive, and the quick communication between her and the quiet titan was surprising. While observing this, Persimmon almost forgot to dodge her bullet; it grazed by his ear and left a ringing noise behind. To track a target like this, Persimmon was going to need a good position. He was going to need to narrow the arc of her movement across his field of view... in other words, he would need distance.
He glanced over at Argent, remembering the first round, the instructions he had ignored, and the stunt his opponents had pulled. This wasn't going to be fun.
Sprinting towards Argent, Persimmon yelled, "Hey, hammer boy! I need vantage, now! You know what to do!" He pointed up at an angle towards one of the pillars as he ran.
-
"I..sadly do know what to do." With a sigh, Argent lowered his hammer and prepared to send the sniper flying. He began to lift his hammer up with great force, hoping that Persimmon could reach his destination safely enough, as the elephant faunus began to make his way over to Savas, as Argent wasn't occupied with the small warrior or her bullets. If he could hold Savas off his team might be able to get past Suntalia and make it to the exit together.
When he got behind Suntalia at a safe distance, he would prepare to face the hulking faunus, but he would have to be real lucky if he were to stand a decent chance against Savas.
Argent was surprised that he was not met with a bullet from Suntalia, though he guessed it was her wanting Savas to fight Argent. Suddenly, he had a worse feeling about this whole thing; and he hadn't even made it past Suntalia, yet.
-
Closing the distance quickly, Suntalia came to a halt only a few paces away from the group and quickly used her spear to swat one of Sherwood's arrows away while dodging the second. Looking over, she caught Noctis' attention as he bowed to her and made his quirky comment. Beaming a big smile at her opponent, she pointed Firestorm at him with her reply. "Hi!" she said cheerfully as she pressed the button on Firestorm, sending a large wave of flames directly at Noctis. Following through with it, she simply aimed Dynami at Noctis and fired two more shots at him, using the flames as a distraction.
Using Suntalia as a distraction, Savas was able to finish his charge. Glowing a deep crimson, he let out a huge roar as his semblance activated and his aura flared up around him. Watching Argent walk towards him, Savas grinned wickedly at the faunus. The poor lad won't even know what hit him he thought, feeling himself come to life as his semblance surged. Gripping Metatron in his hand, he slammed it full force onto the Arena ground, causing the ground around to crack and break as well as the entire Arena to shake as if an earthquake had struck. Letting out another roar, he lunged full force at Argent with an upward swing from Metatron.
-
Sherwood nods as the pairs split up. This wouldn't work if he and Persimmon got knocked out at the start by the melee capable upperclassmen, leaving Argent and Noctis alone to fight. Staying roughly behind Noctis, Sherwood trusts his teammates to warn him if Savas is approaching behind him and focuses entirely on the girl he's to face.
Sherwood sets up and draws the psuedo string back, watching Noctis and Suntalia with narrowed eyes. As soon as Suntalia tries to get around Noctis, or over him, he'd fire an arrow to force her back to the melee. He can cow her in by leading the shot in the direction she decides to dive around in; preventing her from dodging forward in that direction. She'd have to take the full force of the arrow or retreat back into Noctis's reach.
A few thoughts nag at Sherwood's mind, tactical information that seems to need attention. He doesn't dare divide his attention from covering Noctis in combat though; not until he has a better idea of Suntalia's combat skills or he gets more distance on her.
-
"Trying to set my on fire already?" He teased jumping out of the way of the flame.
Escaping the flame was easy, but the bullets afterward wasn't that easy. Noctis blocked one with divine and the second made a hole his white hoodie. Well now I need to fix that, he tells himself. He needed to pay closer attention to Suntalia's movements, if he doesn't he could cost the team to fail. Noctis drew out his silver gun. Whatever dust he had it it would just need be used since he would not have time to switch clips out. His finger began to spam the tiger making note to shoot at the third year's feet since his flame dust exploded upon impact.
Once the gun let off the clicking sound of an empty magazine Noctis sprinted forward to Suntalia to attack her head on with Divine. This by far was a really bad idea, but he just needed to kill time.
-
Persimmon braced himself just before being launched, and took off into the air as gracefully as a douchey teenage boy in a full body cloak can be expected to do. I sure have been in the air a lot lately... What am I, a circus act? he mused for the few seconds he was in the air. The force of a few impact shots fine-tuned his trajectory (though the shots themselves went nowhere useful) and he was soon atop the northeastern pillar, an excellent vantage point to see how fucked his teammates were.
Persimmon didn't know or want to know what Savas was doing. He came up here to deal with Suntalia more easily and that was what he would do. A series of light, silenced piercing shots came in turn with Noctis' gunshots, hoping at least a few of the shots from one of the boys would connect, until Noctis got bored and dashed forward. What a guy.
-
"Oh my---" Argent exclaims as the large faunus began his assualt. As soon as he saw the large warrior's aura flare, Argent began to prepare to swing his hammer, without using his Semblance. When Argent saw that Savas was lunging his strategy of hitting him went away, and Argent just tried to lessen the damage he would take from the blow he would surely not dodge.
The blow hit Argent hard in his side, and the faunus got knocked quite a few feet back, struggling to keep on his feet. His weapon immediately transformed, as Argent point the hand-cannon at the hulking faunus, not sure of the damage that had been done to him. He knew that he was probably low on dust, but Argent fired gravity dust, hoping it would throw the faunus off enough to give Argent a second to think of a plan.
His arm flew back, tired, as he pulled the trigger.
-
Landing a clean blow on Argent, Savas quickly glanced over at Suntalia. "Stop fooling around!" he yelled at his comrade before proceeding to charge towards the other faunus. Watching as Argent transformed his weapon and fire a round at him, Savas raised Sandalphon to help block the shot, though was temporarily halted in his advance. "Ngggrh....not bad kid" he said as he lunged forward, holding Metatron behind him in a lowered stance. Once within range of Argent, Savas swung another upward swing. "This is how you hit someone!" he roared, putting every single ounce of his semblance enhanced strength into his swing at the boy.
Sliding Dynami back into its holster, Suntalia deftly dodged Noctis' shots by jumping backwards a few paces, only to take a shot to her side, her aura protecting her from any serious damage. Looking over and taking note of Persimmon on top of the pillar, Suntalia was slightly startled by Savas yelling at her. Play time is over, I guess she thought as she gave both Noctis and Persimmon a smile. Activating her semblance, she twisted Firestorm, causing it to come apart into two pieces, though attached by a chain. Continuing her steps backward, she watched as Noctis charged forward towards her. Pointing one spearhead towards the sky, she activated the lightning crystal in it as it was struck due to her semblance, while pointing the other straight at Noctis when he was only a pace or two away from her. Activating the fire crystal again, she sent a massive wave of lightning and fire directly at Noctis.
-
Sherwood winced as Suntalia shot fire at Noctis. At the very least, she seemed to be focused on him. Persimmon had setup to cover Noctis as well so the next thing would be to see how Argent is doing. Dropping his readied arrow, he spins to see Savas about to slam his teammate with that massive weapon of his.
Sherwood shoots out a snap shot arrow at Savas, with any luck it will distract Savas enough to give Argent time to dodge. Nocking another arrow he waits for Argent to get a bit of space from Savas before shooting again.
-
"Oh Fu-" Noctis began to say as he saw the flame and lightning coming straight for him.
If he didn't move he was going to have a hell of a burn mark, so he opted to just running around. Maybe playing cat and mouse with Suntailia was his best bet. He knew for a fact that eventually Suntalia would get frustrated with Noctis dodging and moving around. Noctis was trying his best to stay on his toes, but a little voice in the back of his skull was telling him to check up on Argent. He glanced over for a moment to the Faunus then back to the loli.
"Hey hey, missed me little lady," Noctis teased moving out of the lighting and flame. "I know you can do better then that!"
Noctis was digging his own grave.
-
Persimmon rolled his eyes at Noctis and his blatant lack of any self-preservation instinct. Whatever Suntalia was doing with those, it couldn't be good for his teammate. Loading one of his four remaining ice shots, he took a shot at the ground in front of Suntalia right before Noctis could reach her. Not a moment too soon, either, as the resulting ice could only delay that deadly torrent of firepower for a fraction of a second, long enough for Noctis to move aside.
"Hey snowy, there's a time and a place for taunting. Maybe I'll give you lessons sometime, but for now just try not to die, eh?"
-
Argent tried his best to dodge the attack done by Savas, trying to get away whilst Sherwood attacked Savas himself, though the enemy's Semblance was proved to be much faster and stronger than Argent. After a large sidestep to the left, the faunus felt the hammer's head connect to his left arm. There was a sharp pain as Argent jolted his arm away as fast as he could, letting out a shout and stumbling away. "Sherwood, now, take the shot..!" Argent gasped, looking toward his leader with a smile, despite his pain. He really hoped Sherwood could distract Savas before the hulk could finish him off.
Argent continued to walk away from Savas, his weapon shifting in his right arm. He knew that if he had to, he could use his Semblance to get a decent amount of force into his shot; even with only one arm.
-
Feeling Sherwood's arrow glance off of his plated torso, Savas connected his attack on Argent, knocking the lad back a few paces. Glancing over to assess the situation again, he took note of the two students taking on Suntalia, keeping her from her goal of taking down their leader. Ngggrh...how problematic he thought. Watching Argent slowly backing off and with his semblance still active for a little while more, Savas used the opportunity he was given to sprint straight towards Sherwood. Slamming Sandalphon's hilt into Metatron's head, he transformed his weapon to its final form as his huge lunges quickly closed the gap between himself and Sherwood. Leaping high into the air with Halvanhelev, Savas did a downward swing at Sherwood with enough force that would destroy nearly everything within a few paces of the area.
Smiling slightly, Suntalia was pleasantly surprised by the speed of Noctis. Being able to dodge an attack that close would be difficult for many. "Not bad!" she said gaily at the first year as she took a few paces back and activated her semblance once more. Hearing one of the others yell at Sherwood, Suntalia glanced over to note that Savas had fully entered the battle and was going for their leader. Guess I really should get serious she thought, looking first at Noctis and then at Persimmon. Pointing her spearhead at Noctis once more, she smiled at him. "Ready for the next round?" she inquired as her semblance activated. Last minute, however, she quickly pointed her weapon at Persimmon, sending a massive wave of lightning towards the ranged fighter before lunging forward at Noctis. "Dodge this!" she exclaimed happily as she sent a flurry of quick attacks with her spears towards the first year.
-
"Ahw heck...!" Sherwood exclaims, panic rising in his voice watching a lot of faunus and cold steel coming for his person. In the exhale of his gasp, he steadies and shoot the arrow he'd been holding waiting for separation between Savas and Argent to widen. Aiming was only a split second, given Sherwood had a pretty good idea where the faunus intended to land.
Loosing the arrow, aimed right for the monstrous upperclassman's chest, Sherwood throws all the energy he can muster into a few step and a dive underneath Savas. Rolling and letting Tristram collapse to it's secondary form, he frantically gets to his feet to turn around and face Savas. With any luck, Sherwood gained enough enough ground that when he turns around he won't be face to face with the upperclassman.
-
Noctis really didn't know what to do at this point, but one thing for sure he couldn't really go with dodging everything like he had planned to do. He heard Persimmon basically tell him to take everything seriously and he was just he had no idea where to go from here. Suntalia's attack was fast making Noctis have a delayed reaction to block with Divine. The initial first attack Noctis blocked but the rest he failed to keep up. He could feel something slide down his face. "Shit" he mutters bringing his right hand to join the left on Divine's handle. Noctis gave up on trying to block and thrusts forward in a stab like motion to at least graze the shorter girl. Taking damage never seemed to bother him anyway he'd just heal himself.
-
Persimmon ducked to the back of his pillar as the only form of cover available, which thankfully was pretty good given the extreme angle of Suntalia's attack from the ground. Unfortunately, all good things must have a catch, and the pillar itself was, to put it plainly, toast. A huge chunk including Persimmon's foothold was blasted from the top of the pillar, and Persimmon had a nasty fall ahead of him. Diving towards the north side of the arena, he tumbled to the ground in a very inelegant manner, knocking the wind right out of him. He lay there for a good five seconds contemplating the situation before groggily rising to his feet.
Persimmon staggered out of the dust and debris and took cover behind a boulder midway up the west wall of the arena. "I've had enough dirt in my lungs for today," he muttered under his breath. "Sorry, Sher, but your little game plan doesn't really jive with me. Time to do what I do best." With that thought, Persimmon gathered himself and prepared for excessive use of his semblance in sneaking to the northern exit of the arena.
-
As Argent was walking away he turned to see Sherwood rolling under Savas. Seeing that Noctis was taking on Suntalia, Argent began to make his way back, hoping that Sherwood would be able to keep Savas' attention long enough to get a hit on the girl, who, Argent imagined, would not be expecting his attack. His hammer rested on his shoulders as he tried to sneak around Savas as quickly as possible. He knew that if Savas did turn around, Argent would be able to strike him.
Nocty, just you wait on me, partner. Argent thought as he made his way toward Suntalia, not yet past Savas. As soon as Argent got to Suntalia he was going to keep attacking her until Noctis was out of her range. The faunus had no clue what he was going to do after that, though.
-
Landing a few hits against Noctis, Suntalia halted her barrage briefly to dodge below his stab at her. Utilizing his momentum, Suntalia stabbed one of the tips of Firestorm into the ground, using it to push herself behind her opponent. Quick drawing Areti, she felt a quick pang of sympathy for what she was about to do. No point holding back... she thought as she fired a few rounds of molten hot glass at the backside of Noctis.
Taking a direct shot from Sherwood's arrow, it did little in stopping Savas' momentum as he landed his blow, destroying a huge portion of the Arena ground. Seeing that the lad had dodged to be behind him, Savas simply pivoted his feet to turn around, Halvanhelev held behind him. Using the opportunity he was presented, Savas followed through with another vertical swing, Halvanhelev making a half-moon arc as the blade would land directly where Sherwood was standing. Even if the poor student was to dodge this attack, the momentum and force of the attack would be enough to sufficiently damage him.
-
Time seems to slow around Sherwood, crouched on one knee in front of Savas, as everything goes haywire. He sees Argent turn around and run towards his partner, a heroic move to be sure but an ill timed one. He sees out of the corner of his eye Persimmon leap off his pillar, and seemingly disappear. Persimmon certainly stuck to team play longer than Sherwood thought he would, and can't say he's surprised Persimmon bolted. Just another case of poor timing.
Poor timing because at this very moment, with his bow in the hand supporting his ground on the ground, and no other weapon with in reach... He had no way to truly escape the mighty blade mere feet from his skull. Time speeds up again, if only in his mind, as he makes a futile effort to dodge the attack. The massive sword slams onto Sherwood's left shoulder, and the force of his rips him off of his knee and flat on the floor. He shouts in pain, and before his breath is knocked out of him he shouts "Help-!".
-
Noctis could feel the wave of fear as he felt something hot pass by and then push into his skin. He didn't even bother trying to get back up once his face met the floor. His coat was shredded along with his entire back. Realy Suntaila gave Noctis no time to even try and evade the shots of hot glass, so he decided to just take the damage.
"I'm done," Noctis says to Suntalia. "Any Idea's how to get the shards out of my back?" He smiles as he tried to fake that he was fine. "Yo teach, I'm done for the day! Sorry boss."
-
As Persimmon dashed from cover to cover, his semblance covering his tracks, he glanced over to see how the others were doing. Noctis took a nasty blow... that was gonna take some recovery for sure, but it would be useful for Persimmon later. A good talking point. Easy to pull the "we had no chance and I knew it" card. That said, were this not a simulation, would Noctis have died? More importantly, could Persimmon persuade Oberon that Noctis wouldn't have died?
These questions would have to be answered later. For now, he just needed to focus on covering the rest of the arena. A good seventy feet still stood between Persimmon and freedom.
-
Argent ran past Savas and made it to Suntalia, and with the help of his Semblance, swung his hammer downward toward the back of the small third-year. Argent had just got to the girl when her attack made contact with Noctis' back, so Argent couldn't stop his own attack from continuing toward the girl. though, the faunus dis manage to at least slow down his hammer.
"Noctis!" Argent called out, looking toward his partner with concern in his eyes.
-
OOC: Deleted old post and will redo the post tomorrow.
-
Watching Noctis go down, Suntalia shot a worried glance at the first year. However, her worried was short lived as she heard another one yell out the fallen teammate's name. Turning quickly to face the descending attack on her, she quickly threw Areti behind her as she parried the attack with Firestorm. Dodging the initial damage, the attack was still enough to push her back a few paces from where she stood. "Talk about power" she remarked, laughing slightly as she raised Firestorm in preparation to face off against Argent.
As his attack landed against Sherwood, Savas took a moment to assess the situation. Suntalia had effectively taken down another opponent and was currently being attacked by the third while the fourth was nowhere to be seen. Concern painted Savas' face as he quickly looked over the terrain to try and find Persimmon. Ngggrh...let one out of my sight and he may have just escaped he thought as he considered whether he would search for the missing opponent or assist Suntalia. It was at that moment that an image of Auburn flashed before his mind: her warm smile that could melt a cold heart, her laugh that could always bring a smile across his face...
And her eyes that stared at him as she was eaten alive before his very eyes...
Letting an angry snarl break across his face, Savas suppressed the memories and did the one thing he wished he could have done months back when he faced the large Grimm that took his meaning of life away from him.
Using the final moments of his semblance, Savas grabbed Sherwood by the leg and, spinning once, threw the lad straight towards Argent. I'm sorry Auburn...I'm sorry I couldn't help and protect you... he thought bitterly. I promise I won't let that happen again...I will always protect my comrades...no matter what. With that, Savas' semblance came to an end and, letting out a huge breath, he took a moment to recover.
-
Sherwood blinks a few times.
With a shake of his head, Sherwood tries to remember what just happened. Judging by the limbs he can see under him and the evenly spaced sharp pains in his shoulders, he was on top of Argent. Being thrown by Savas comes back to him in a hurry, and Sherwood's daze falls away back into combat awareness.
Not quite aware enough. Rolling off Argent Sherwood gets to his feet, only to be a few feet from the other upperclassman, her spear already at the ready. Sparing a glance at Argent, sill down (and hopefully not out), Sherwood sighs.
Sherwood grasps Tristram tightly, the limbs in their collapsed state and the sharp point between them facing outward. The thought that Tristram's collapsed from looks like a broadhead arrow floats through Sherwood's mind, and his face twerks in morbid amusement at his own observation. Grabbing an arrow from his quiver with his off hand, he strikes a pose. Not an intimidating one, just one that looks like he might know what he's doing. If Suntalia isn't paying attention.
"Ah suppose this is tha part where Ah say ah witty one liner." Sherwood says, voice as dry as leaves in a drought, reluctance obvious in tone and expression. "Ah hope you won't be disappointed, but Ah got nothing." he adds with a shrug of his brows and shoulders.
-
Noctis blushed slightly hearing Argent get upset over his injury. Once Argent had pushed away Suntalia and her devil gun he sat up on his knees. It hurt to do that simple action, the shards of glass dug in deeper after every exhale.Mistakes were made. Noctis tells himself. He cringed in pain as he stood up to walk towards the side of the area where he would be out of the line of fire. Divine was being dragged behind its wielder then dropped on the ground.
-
By the time the others were all down, Persimmon was moments away from reaching the exit. He looked back and saw Suntalia standing over Argent and Sherwood. As he viewed this scene, Persimmon knew there was one thing he had to do. A quick glance around verified for Persimmon that as far as he knew, Oberon wasn't watching him personally. With this reassurance, he pulled out his scroll and spoke to Sherwood in his best mockery of Sherwood's accent.
"Ah know this feeling all too well... stuck between a mad bull and a fat cow, just like back home with ma..." He snickered. "Thank me later." With that, Persimmon turned to leave the arena, mentally preparing the lines he would feed Oberon later.
-
Argent was already low on aura when Sherwood was thrown at him, so Savas' attack lowered Argent's defence even more. His eyes wide open; confused about what had just happened, Argent lay there on the ground. After a few seconds the faunus used his hammer to help him get up, looking at Suntalia as he did.
As he saw the third year's spear pointed toward him and Sherwood Argent began to chuckle. He knew that he could do very little before getting hit, so he just decided that he'd try to protect Sherwood for as long as it took for an exit to appear, though his odds were beyond scary. Argent took a few steps forward his hammer in his hands in a defensive pose.
When he had an idea. With a long swing towards Suntalia, Argent pulled the trigger on his hammer, firing some of the remaining gravity dust out only a small way away from Suntalia. If this attack caught her off-guard, Sherwood might have a small window of time to get away.
Silber Brecher flew back in recoil from the dust.
-
Ready to face off against Argent, Suntalia was caught slightly by surprise when her opponent was knocked away by the leader of the team. Watching as both of them slowly came to their feet, Suntalia beamed a dimpled smile in response to Sherwood's remark as she activated her semblance again in anticipation of finishing this fight. Turning to focus her attention on Argent, she quickly retreated a few paces away as she barely dodged the heavy attack from him. "That would've been unpleasant" she said, laughing lightly as she leveled one of her spearheads at Argent. "Let me repay the favor" she said gaily as her semblance activated. Changing her target in the last moment, she pointed it directly at Sherwood, hoping that he was hurt enough from being thrown to not be able to dodge her attack.
Feeling better after a few breaths, Savas re-assessed the situation. Taking note that one of the first years had conceded and made his way to the side, he watched as Suntalia deftly continued making work against the two others near her. Noting all of this, it was then that a thought dawned on the giant. Where the hell is the fourth one? he thought, looking around quickly. It was then that his eyes fell upon the fourth student as he made his way out of the Arena. "Ngggrh...sneaky little bugger" he said quietly, knowing that it was too late to stop him.
It was at that moment, that another thought passed through Savas' mind. So...the bastard decided to leave the rest of his teammates behind in order to save his own skin? It was at that thought that the gates of Savas' rage seemed to have opened up, causing the giant to see nothing else but Auburn and the fact that he was too powerless to save her and, in a sense left her to die.
Unable to control himself, the only thought that crossed Savas' mind at that moment was to destroy. With his adrenaline and bloodlust taking over, he could only think of destroying everything that moved around him. Laying his eyes upon Argent as he attacked Suntalia, Savas let out an angered roar as he charged straight towards the first year, transforming Halvanhelev back into two separate weapons. Growing closer to where the first years stood, Savas threw Metatron directly at Argent,, intent on complete obliteration.
Watching the fight slowly come to the outcome he had expected, Oberon continued to take notes of both Team ASPN as well as Suntalia and Savas. Watching with both his physical eyes and his semblance eyes, Oberon took note of Persimmon stealthily making his way out of the Arena as well as Noctis slowly making his way over to the edge of the fight. The fight should be almost done he thought, noting Suntalia focusing her attack on Sherwood. It was then that he caught eye of Savas. The giant faunus had been looking around at the first years for awhile, but had a huge snarl suddenly on his face. What is Savas thinking... he pondered as he saw the fourth year suddenly charge straight towards the last two. There seems to be a lot of anger emanating out of Savas...did he notice Persimmon leaving? he thought, making note to check back with the fourth year on his mental state. "This could turn real ugly" he murmured, cracking his neck and knuckles as he focused most of his attention on Savas instead of the others.
-
Sherwood had seen plenty of Suntalia's semblance at work during this fight, but now that it was pointed it at him he dryly realized he had no counter in mind. The only thing he can do is let instinct take over and hope his survival sense can get him out of the way, or grounded, or something.
Instead, instinct guides him to throw up his own hand and target Suntalia's spear with his own semblance. Lightning of his own arcs from his palm, the arrow he'd been holding dropped, the arc hellbent on reaching the conductive metal that Suntalia's own lightning conducted from. Lightning always travels along the fastest path to it's destination, and that path is directly through Suntalia's attack.
With a thunderous crack the two arcs collide, and a brilliant flash accompanies the explosion of electrical energy from the colliding forces. Sherwood is thrown from his feet, blind and deaf as he tumbles backwards. If his aura wasn't in the red before, it probably was now.
Sherwood comes up to a knee clenching his bow in his left hand. He blinks rapidly and rubs his eyes with his right, trying to regain his eye sight. Sherwood's heart pounds in his chest, nervous to be blind and deaf on a battlefield.
-
Argent back-stepped as he heard the girl threaten him, but was surprised when she turned to Sherwood. Now that Suntalia was occupied with Sherwood, the faunus began to scan around for Persimmon, with no luck. His eyes did glance upon the fuming giant that was throwing a weapon at Argent, however; before Argent could react, he heard a loud crack with a blinding light. Then, nothing. Argent was blown away, falling to the ground, unable to see.
"Sherwood!" Argent called out, not being able to hear his own voice. Argent went to stand up when he realised he had no weapon in hand, as he began to feel around for his weapon. Not being able to find it, Argent stood up and held his head and guard high. The fatigue kicked in with Argent, as his balance faltered. The faunus rocked back and forth before falling to the ground.
-
As Suntalia's attack was released, the last thing she was ready for was what happened next. Blinding light flashed before Suntalia's eyes, followed up by an explosion, knocking Suntalia away. Flying a quite a few feet away, she tumbled to a halt, Firestorm laying nearby. Blinking her eyes and shaking her head to get the ringing out of her ears, she couldn't help but laugh. "Woah! I was not expecting that!!!" she exclaimed, slowing making out a few images before her. Not wanting to be caught off guard, she did the one thing she could think as she slowly got into a kneeling position and activated her semblance once more. Won't be able to do much more of this she thought, knowing that her aura would've taken a heavy hit from that explosion. Making out what looked to be one of her opponents moving from afar, she hoped for the best and shot another bolt of lightning aimed at where Sherwood was kneeling.
Raging forward, Savas was stopped in his tracks as he saw the two lightning attacks arc against each other. Instinctively raising his hand up to guard his eyes, he was still blinded briefly by the light as he was pushed back by the force of the explosion. With the sheer force of the attack pushing him back, it was enough to knock him out of his bloodlust phase that he had just experienced. Ngggrh...what happened...? he thought, his head feeling groggy and he blinked the bright specks that danced in his sight. Looking around as his vision came back, he saw another flash of lightning pass ahead of him, which caused Savas to instinctively pull of Sandalphon to act as a shield in case another arc happened once more, while preparing to move in for another attack.
Watching the fight progress, Oberon smiled slightly. Despite their efforts, team ASPN was losing the fight as Oberon had predicted. However, they had lasted a lot longer and did much better than he thought, which he took note of. It was at that moment, however, as he was writing it down that a blinding flash and explosion occurred, causing Oberon to look up to see what just happened.
Looking over the battleground, he saw the last two fighters of Team ASPN were effectively blown away and were barely able to get up. Even Suntalia was knocked away and Savas was stopped in his tracks. Looks like that's a wrap then he thought as he prepared himself to go down. It was then that his eyes caught Suntalia activating her semblance. Just doesn't know when the fight is done, huh? he thought as he swiftly launched himself from the stands and sprinted straight towards Sherwood. Moving as quick as he could, he transformed both Contego and Hamia and jumped in front of Sherwood just as Suntalia launched her attack. Activating his aura, he pulled both shields together, forming a wall to protect the first year student. Despite the protection, he could feel the electricity go through his shields and hit him in the process. God..she's got a powerful attack... he thought as it finally came to an end.
Standing straight from where he had braced himself, Oberon looked first at Sherwood and then at Suntalia. "Stand down Suntalia. The fight is over. You too Savas!" he yelled, looking at the giant who seemed ready to face off again. Turning to face Sherwood, Oberon gave the first year a smile through his bearded face. "Take a breather. The fight is done." he said as he transformed both shields back into their bracer form and offered a hand to Sherwood to help him stand.
-
It takes a moment for Sherwood to register the words 'The fight is done' in his mind. Then all at once his shoulders slump and relax, his death grip on his bow releases, and he rocks slightly on in his crouch. His professor's outstretched hand is the only thing that keeps him from falling to the floor in exhaustion. Falling over isn't the polite way to respond to a helping hand after all. Sherwood takes it, and comes to his feet.
He takes a step back, to give the professor some breathing room. At the time, he takes stock one final time. Argent is only a few yards away and he seems fine all in all. Noctis had managed to gain some space on the fight once he surrendered, Sherwood could spot him fairly easily. And finally...
Sherwood lost Persimmon earlier, though by choice. It may have been a little petty, but when Persimmon shouted he was ditching the fight Sherwood gave all of his attention to Noctis and Argent. He wasn't really mad. It just didn't seem right to be trying to keep aware of someone trying to leave the group.
Sherwood sighs. He picks up his bow and stops his mental review, distracting his train of thought by tallying all the arrows he has to retrieve before leaving the arena.
-
Noctis sighed in relief hearing that the fight was over. He glanced over to his teammates but he only spotted Mr.Hella cute and Sherwood. With much struggle, Noctis stood using Divine as support. The glass dug a bit further into his skin as he stood straight. Looks like he'd have to treat his teammates, Sherwood looked like he was going to faint at any moment.
"Hey, Sherwood. C'mere," Noctis calls."Don't faint, I don't think Argent is gonna have fun carrying you."
Speaking of which, maybe he should attend to him first.
-
"Hey, everyone's still alive. Nice cheap shot at the end there Sher. Real crafty," Persimmon mocked from right next to Sherwood. He could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that he had some explaining to do, but that was part of the fun. One last time he reviewed the facts of the scenario in his head and came up with a justification for what seemed like cowardice on his part. Ideally, he would be able to prove to everyone that his unannounced retreat was the smartest decision tactically. Worst case scenario, he could always just suck up and apologize, say he learned from his mistakes. Though he tried to suppress it, a sly smirk crossed his face for a couple seconds as he imagined that.
He turned to the professor. "So, Mr. Oberon, was our performance satisfactory?"
-
Coming to his senses, Argent began to rise. As his sight began to return to him, Argent picked up his hammer, which was just out of his reach when he was on the ground. Using it as a walking stick, he proceeded to make his way over to Noctis. At Noctis' side, still half-deaf with sight having barely returned to him, he calls out to his teammates, "We did great, guys! Minus the fact that I was almost killed by the 'elephant' in the room. Well, I say elephant.." Argent chuckled, trying to lighten the situation.
"We would have done better had..well, maybe he'd like to explain himself."
-
With Obi saying that the fight was over, Suntalia relaxed significantly as she went over and picked up Firestorm. Transforming it back into its storage form, she put it away, making a note to go pick up Areti after all was done. Speaking of Areti, Suntalia quickly made her way over to where Noctis was trying to attend to Sherwood. "Hey, stay still and let me tend to your injuries before you look to the others" she said, chiding Noctis' action by pulling him to take a seat. "Sit down so I can remove the glass shards" she said in a professional tone, but with a warm smile. "You're not the first person that this has happened to" she remarked, taking out a few bandages and a pair of tweezers from her first aid kit in her pouch. "Definitely not the last either..." she added with a soft jingle of a laugh.
Seeing that the fight was over, Savas simply harnessed Sandalphon to his back and walked over to pick up Metatron, which lay a few paces away from where everyone was standing. Looks like one of them escaped while the others were taken down, making it so that Suntalia and I have technically failed our mission he thought as he picked up Metatron. Listening to the others talk, he harnessed Metatron as well and then stood over by Oberon, his arms folded in front of him and he glared down at the others.
With Sherwood back on his feet and the others either being attended to or listening, Oberon turned to face first Persimmon and then to Sherwood. "Your performance was adequate. You did last longer than I had imagined, but it was satisfactory overall" he said simply as he pulled out another cigar and lit it. "I believe the real question would be this: amidst the whole fighting, what made you decide that it was the right decision to disobey the orders of your team leader and to retreat, deserting your entire team in the process?" he asked quietly, arching an eyebrow as he stared at Persimmon behind the smoke that floated in front of his face.
-
Persimmon looked upon his allies and determined their injuries were survivable. He pondered how much longer they would've stayed alive had this fight been the real deal? Could they have survived long enough for his so-called "plan" to be effective?
In a diplomatic voice, Persimmon addressed Oberon. "The scenario was this, right? We fight some Grimm that were 'terrorizing the local population,' or something like that, and then before we can leave we are ambushed by wanted criminals. Is that about right?" He paused for just a brief enough moment to pretend he was leaving an opening for response, but not long enough to actually respond. "Well, after assessing the threat and our already exhausted state, I came to realize that the battle was hopeless; without backup, we were doomed. With that in mind, why would I stay behind and let all of us die? According to the setup, there must be people nearby. Who's to say I couldn't get help?
"As for why I, erm, retreated unannounced, that one's fairly simple. There was no way to convey my intentions to my allies without also revealing myself to the enemy. Rather, I chose a convenient time to slip away unnoticed." That made sense, right? Much better than, "If someone has to die, better three than four" at least.
-
"..." Sherwood looks over Persimmon as he speaks. His story now doesn't exactly line up with what he said over his scroll during the fight. Something seems off, and it causes Sherwood to raise an eyebrow for a moment.
But it's not something that matters to Sherwood, and he cracks his neck with a twist. Instead of looking for things in between the lines Sherwood thinks over what Persimmon did comment on. While it's probably too convenient to assume backup will be just around the corner, the idea of outside help isn't terrible.
If the battle was hopeless, it should have been on him to make a plan for that support. That's battlefield and battle status awareness he should have when leading the team. Looking back, he was much more focused on the individuals in the fight than the larger status. Something to note down later in review, assuredly. He also spent a lot of time focusing on his own battle, which while lamentable he can't fault himself for. The upperclassmen could have knocked him out in no time flat if he didn't focus.
Letting Tristram reattach itself on his back, Sherwood slides his hands into his back pockets and relaxes into a more comfortable posture. All in all, what's worth saying now is...
"Don't say the battle was hopeless. We had ah fair chance as anyone could, and it coulda gone either way. Ah have faith." He says with an easy smile.
-
Hearing Argent's cheesy joke made Noctis laugh. "Good thing you weren't killed, I'd hate to have to bury you."
Noctis let himself be dragged by the shorter girl. He was just going to tend to his team even though he was injured too. One of these days he was going to get himself killed. Slowly he sat down on the ground then peeled off his now torn up white sweater away. Removing his shirt was hard to do, moving his shoulders as little as possible Noctis got the gray V-neck off to expose his back.
"It's good to know you treat everyone the same," He laughed again for the second time today then smiled.
-
Listening to Persimmon give his response, Oberon simply stood there and let the smoke from his cigar dissipate into the air. At least it was somewhat thought out he thought as Persimmon finished stating his reasons. Taking a puff from his cigar, he continued to listen as Sherwood tried to state that it wasn't hopeless. Well...he's got a point... he thought, taking another puff as he let the silence hang in the air for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he looked first at Sherwood and then towards Argent and Noctis before giving his attention to Persimmon.
"You've made some valid points, Persimmon." Oberon stated, acknowledging the student briefly. "You're right in saying that there could have been people nearby and that you could've gone and gotten help. You're right in saying that there was no way to let the rest of your team know your intentions without letting the enemy know. Yes, you are right on those aspects." Letting those comments sit for a moment, Oberon looked at the others again before setting his gaze on Persimmon again over his burning cigar. "However, you did not answer my question. I did not ask you why you retreated unannounced. I asked why you knowingly went against your team captain's order and left your team to die? " Walking over to where Noctis and Suntalia were sitting, Oberon gestured to him. "You're right in saying that you could've gone and gotten help. However, given how long the fight lasted and when you retreated, every single one of your comrades would have been dead long before you would've returned." Walking back over to where Persimmon was standing, Oberon gave the young lad a stern gaze through the smoke in the air. "You see, Persimmon. The problem here isn't simply that you deserted your teammates. No, no, no. The real problem is that you're just a coward who knew that the fight would end like this so you decided that it would be better to save your own skin by leaving your comrades behind to die." Moving closer so that his face was mere inches away from Persimmons, Oberon gave the young student a hard, penetrating gaze with his brown eyes. "And their deaths will be on your hands and conscience for the rest of your life." he said quietly, not blinking once as he continued to look straight into Persimmon's eyes.
After a moment, Oberon moved away from to address everyone standing before him. "I will say this, though. Being a coward is not necessarily a bad thing. Better a living coward than a dead hero, right?" he said, looking over at Persimmon before gazing at the others again. "Persimmon did choose the right option in the end. Retreating would've meant that most, if not all of you, would've made it out of there alive or at least within closer proximity of getting help." Looking over at Persimmon once more again, Oberon continued. "Let this be a learning lesson for you, Persimmon: you show to have decent judgment in assessing a fight as well as a good head for common sense. Use it to your advantage by discussing plans with the rest of your teammates, even if it means contradicting and going against them. For one simple comment can change a deadly situation into a more advantageous circumstance."
Turning his attention over to Sherwood, Oberon gave the young man a hard, penetrating look. "Let this also be a learning lesson for you Sherwood. Being the leader of the team means that the lives of your teammates are in your hands. That means that the decisions and plans you make will ultimately decide if they live or die. With that in mind, be ready to lay out your plans, but also be willing to listen to your teammates and ask for their opinions on the matter. Use this fight as a lesson to build you into a better leader, comrade and friend to the others here."
Taking another puff, he let the smoke linger in the air briefly before blowing it away. "Lastly, I will say this to all of you: look at each member here beside you. They are your comrades in arms and your family during the duration of your stay here at Beacon. Just as you want to protect your family from dying, treat each other as your brother and be ready to do whatever it takes to keep each other alive. You have the potential to become a great team here at Beacon, but it will only go so far as to how well you trust and can rely on each other. Let this be a stepping stone in the direction of making the four of you into one of the greatest teams that Beacon has seen."
Letting his words echo somewhat through the Arena, Oberon turned his attention to Suntalia and Savas. "As their upperclassmen, perhaps you'd like to add something?" he inquired?
Hearing Oberon bear down upon the other students, Suntalia tried her best to focus on what was before her than on what was going on over there. Hearing Persimmon's remarks about the fight had left a foul taste in her mouth, but she couldn't quite go against his judgment. He had decided to fulfill the mission and at least try to go and get help so she could understand why he made the decision. However, Obi made a lot of valid points and only validated why Suntalia didn't quite agree with Persimmon. Using the tweezers to slowly dislodge the glass from Noctis' back, she did it as gently as she could so as to not have any of it break inside. "Once I remove the glass, your aura should be able to heal the wounds. Just be still a little bit more" she said in a motherly sort of tone.
Upon hearing Oberon ask if she had anything else to say, she simply shook her head before focusing on her work. "You guys did good! I had a lot of fun!" she exclaimed happily, giving each of them a dimpled smile. "If it makes you guys feel better, Obi did the same thing to the team I'm on and we didn't even last nearly as long!" she said, laughing lightly. "OOOH! How about we do dinner tonight? My treat!" she inquired, darting a glance at each person quickly. "This includes you too, Vashie! Obi, you're welcome to join if you want." she added before going back to her work as she continued to pull more glass out.
As Persimmon gave his reasons for why he left the fight, Savas couldn't help but feel a sense of anger build up within him. Even as Oberon began to explain everything, it did little to stop what was going through his head. Memories of Vigdus began flashing through his mind: of days spent sparring against each other to see who was better to sitting next to each other laughing as they had both gotten accepted to Beacon. Even the years at Beacon were flooded with memories from the day that Vigdus was chosen to be the leader to nights where they would all be studying together. All those memories came crashing through as they hit the pinnacle of the moment Vigdus was slashed to death before his very eyes.
Trying to calm himself down, Savas tried to suppress the memories, but was unsuccessful as he heard one name echo through his mind...
...Auburn....
Immediately. his mind went to work as he remembered the day he was first paired up with her as well as days spent helping train her to become a better warrior in exchange to her helping him with his studies. The warmth of her smile to the tears of joy she cried the day he confessed his love to her. Every memory of her flashed quickly through his mind as Oberon continued to address team ASPN: the warm feeling of her head resting against his arm as they watched the sunset over the Emerald Forest, the sweet smell of her just washed hair to the soft caresses of her hand against his cheek that was enough to make him face an entire army of Grimm. As each memory played through, it came to an end as he pictured her tear-streaked face as he watched her get eaten alive before his very eyes.
As the memories faded, Savas came to the realization that Oberon had asked if either Suntalia or himself had anything to add. Hearing Suntalia try and uplift the mood, Savas clenched his fists tightly, causing his metaled gauntlets to creak slightly. Walking over to where Persimmon was standing, Savas simply stared down at the first year. Suppressing every desire to slam the boy into the ground, Savas simply unclenched his fist and took a breath. "If you only care about yourself, then you will never truly live" he said quietly, his voice rumbling like a volcano about to erupt as he glared down at Persimmon. Turning around, he walked back to where Oberon stood. "Ngggrh...that is all" he said, resuming to stand like a lone tower against the waves of hell that came from the world.
-
"Understood Professor.".
Sherwood was impressed by Oberon's lecture. His mouth slides into a slightly awe struck smile, and then comes together as his brows do as he becomes thoughtful. His own advice had been fairly short, but there was much to mull over. He had always considered his new role a matter of life and death, and had been taking that part rather well. But he was under the impression he had to shoulder the load of the role himself. That he would be expected to be the 'man with the plan' all the time. Instead he should be freely discussing? Sherwood is torn at that idea. While he'd certainly prefer not being the only one making plans, would it work? Council's in government spend most of their time disagreeing, and things get done by sole leaders such as mayors or headmasters. Oberon surely knows what he's talking about, but for the life of him Sherwood can't wrap his mind around the concept.
Maybe the textbook would have something about how to be a leader...
"Dinner sounds fine to me, Ms Suntalia." Sherwood says with a simple smile her direction.
-
Noctis winced slightly feeling a particular piece of glass be pulled out guessing that it was one of more deeper embed ones. He stayed quiet as the professor gave his lecture on Persimmons actions. He would have to agree that Percy's actions were cowardly, but Noctis can't go out to make such a harsh judgment especially since he had done something similar. For now, he'd keep his mouth shut. Sherwood's was a bit easier on receiving a lecture, again Noctis was throwing his own too-sense where it wasn't needed, even if no words came out of his mouth. If anything he should be receiving a lecture for taking it like a bitch and backing out of the fight so soon.
"Hey Professor," Noctis spoke, "Why aren't you nitpicking at me? I'm feeling left out you know. Aren't we forgetting that I prematurely let myself get harmed so I wouldn't have to keep fighting?"
-
Knowing he would be safe in this situation, Persimmon was undaunted by Savas addressing him. He glared right back into Savas' eyes and responded, "How about I keep on living then, until I can find something worth caring about?" He glanced meaningfully over his worn out teammates while saying this, and brushed a little bit of dirt off the shoulder of his cloak.
Persimmon then walked over to Noctis. In one quick motion, he produced the gravity shell he had offered the snowy-haired boy earlier for protection. "I'll be taking this back, if that's alright." He smirked as if revealing a royal flush. "I guess what help I can offer isn't wanted, anyway."
-
Going off of what Savas said, I guess I have to care about something. I think I have a pretty good idea of the recipient, then. Argent thought with a smirk, looking toward his partner. He was staring at Noctis' back the whole time, barely taking in the professor's lecture. After a few seconds since Suntalia asked her team about dinner, Argent responded, "Yeah, sounds great.."
Looking up to Savas, Argent said no words to him, though seeing how worked up he got in the fight and his words of advice; Argent took it that he lost someone in the past, and gave Savas a look of pity.
-
Turning to look over at Noctis, Oberon gave the lad a slight smirk through his beard. "Not much needing to be said to you Noctis. You went ahead and followed orders and, in spite of the odds against you, you still held your ground and kept Suntalia distracted for a good amount of time. If I can say anything, it would be to pick your fights wisely and know when retreating is the better option. Other than that, good job." Turning to look at Suntalia as she carefully pulled the glass out of the wounds, Oberon shook his head slightly. "Thank you for the offer, Suntalia, but I will have to decline. The wife is waiting for my return so I will be taking my leave here to enter each of your grades."
Turning to face everyone, Oberon bowed his head slightly to them all and slowly made his way out, stopping briefly to put a hand on Savas' large arm. "Give it time, lad" he said quietly so that only the giant could hear while still keeping his gaze ahead. "It was not your fault, but you must press forward. Come to my office tomorrow so we can have a talk in more detail" he said gently before walking out of the Arena, a trail of smoke following behind him.
Watching Oberon leave, Savas let the professors words resonate within his mind briefly. He knows nothing... he thought angrily, though he knew deep down that the professor was right. Though he knew that there was nothing he could do in that situation to stop the deaths of both Vigdus and Auburn, he still cursed his lack of strength for not being strong enough to prevent the outcome. "Nggrh...thanks, but I will pass also" he rumbled in response to Suntalia's offer. Taking this as an opportune moment to leave, he turned and began to walk away, rolling his shoulders briefly before cracking neck. I must get stronger so that I'll never have to watch a tragedy like that again he thought as he made his way over to one of the side rooms that was connected to the Arena. It was a room that was all too familiar as he had often practiced in it with his former teammates. Looking down at one particular spot on the ground, he smiled slightly as he saw that the large scratch through the pavement that he had made in a sparring match against Auburn months ago was still there. Pulling both Sandalphon and Metatron out of their harness, he took a deep breath to calm his mind before he began to do his weekly routine workout.
Pulling one of the remaining glass shards out of Noctis' back, Suntalia made a pouting face when she heard both Oberon and Savas decline the offer. "Well, I guess it was expected, right?" she replied with a tinge of sadness in her voice. She had heard what had happened to Savas' previous team so she had hoped that he would want to spend time with other people, but it was apparent that he was still harboring some pain from the loss and wanted some time alone. "I guess it's just us then!" she said happily, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Anywhere in particular you guys wanna go to? I honestly would love to go anywhere so long as there's food to be served!" she exclaimed happily as she pulled the last piece of glass out. "You're good to go!" she said, patting Noctis on the head as she stood up. "Oh! And call me Talia. No need to be polite!" she added, giving Sherwood a dimpled smile before looking at the others to see what they felt like eating.
-
"Thank you very much Professor." Sherwood says to the retreating Oberon.
Despite it all, Sherwood could only half listen to his teammate's responses. The exhaustion was pulling on his attention, fogging his thoughts. He felt optimistic, he knew that much. As for about what exactly about, he'd figure that out later doing the reading for this week.
"Yes Ma'am." Sherwood says obliviously. "Ah couldn't tell you, Ah haven't had the chance to explore the campus much. Ah'll follow someone else's lead." He shifts on to his back foot and relaxes his posture. He tilts his head in thought.
"Ah reckon we could just meet somewhere around dinner time? 6 o clock or around that."
-
Noctis shoved his shirt back on feeling his aura heal his back wounds. He was never going to do that again, Noctis didn't expect that to hurt so damn much but, how does that saying go? It doesn't hurt to be wrong? Clearly, it did hurt to be wrong. Now that he was healed up he could attend to his team. Percy's little comment to didn't go unnoticed, Noctis doesn't mean to ignore his teammates it just kind of happens, he just gets distracted way to damn easily. Since Argent was right next to him Noctis healed him first. He needed to be careful not to get too handsy with him- even though there was no way of knowing where he was hurt 'cause of Argent's coat.
Noctis touches were soft and gentle as he examined the elephant Faunus. So far no broken anything, maybe just bruises. With his purple healing barrier he healed Agents bruises and cuts. Before moving on to the next, Noctis picked up his sword to place it back on his hip. He moved on to Percy who basically looked unharmed. Noctis didn't bother even touching him, he bubbled him for a few minutes just to remove any aches and pains. Last was his team leader who looked like he was going to fall over and die any second. A much bigger bubble was placed around Sherwood making him look like bubble boy.
"Don't worry about the bubble, it won't pop so easily. It will wear off in thirty minutes. Any more questions just ask."Noctis tells Sherwood.
-
Persimmon's recovery had pretty much entirely finished by the time Noctis came to help him out. Still, the boy's medical attention did seem to relieve something for him, lifting some tension from his body. "...Thanks, Noct," he said, lifting a little more.
Dinner with Suntalia certainly couldn't hurt... and they'd be more on Percy's battlefield than hers. A bit of that trademark asshole smile of his crept around the corners of his mouth as he addressed Sherwood. "Don't worry about telling me where to meet up. I'll find you." He started walking away, but couldn't resist turning back to say, "And uh, nice bubble. Hopefully it's adequately soundproof, eh?"
-
"Hey Noctis. Thanks." Argent smiled widely, transforming his weapon back to its neutral form and letting it rest on his hip. The faunus took off his coat and threw it onto his shoulder, sighing in the process.
Argent turned to Sherwood, "And uh, you did especially well, Sherwood." He told Sherwood before walking over to his bag, grabbing it and stepping back a bit. Argent took the weapon from his hip and his coat and threw it into his bag. After letting his hair down, Argent stood waiting for Noctis and Sherwood. Argent struggled to hold in laughter at Sher's bubble.
-
With mostly everyone agreeing to the dinner plan, Suntalia let out a quiet squeal of glee at the thought of making some new friends. "Awesome! I'll go ahead and message you the location later." Skipping over to where Areti was lying on the ground, she picked it up and holstered it before turning to the others. "Until then, I look forward to hanging out with all of you!" Giving the three remaining guys a dimpled smile, she skipped off out of the Arena.
Humming quietly to herself, she walked past the room that Savas was working out in and stopped herself. Watching the hulking giant from the doorway, she quietly made her way down to where he was practicing. "Practicing alone, I take it?" she asked cheerfully, taking a seat nearby as she watched him swing his weapons that surely weighed more than her own weight. "Ngggrh..." was the only response that the fourth year gave, causing Suntalia to purse her lips. Moving closer to the giant, she timed her step carefully and deftly jumped on top of his weapon as he swung it down. Looking up at the at the man, Suntalia put her fists on her hips. "I know you don't like being around people, but that doesn't apply to me. So either you answer my question, or I will barrage you with a plethora of questions until you do." Watching the man take a deep breath, he merely let go of his weapons and turned his back to her.
Using this moment to her advantage, Suntalia took a step back and, using Metatron as a stepping stone, leaped up and sat on Savas' armored shoulder. "I heard about what happened and I'm sorry for your loss" she said quietly, not looking over at the giant's face. "You know you can always talk to me, right?" she asked, finally glancing over at the stone hardened face that Savas hid behind. "Ngggrh...I suppose I could..." she heard quietly as she smiled slightly. Settling herself into a better seat, she merely sat there and listened as her friend began to speak quietly to her in the quiet room within the Beacon Arena.
- End of Thread -