SLVR

Seymour's worry was sweet, but Sylvia was grateful he let her just move on from talking about any traumatic experiences. She smiled and shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine. I've been wanting to visit for a while and bringing you here for a date seemed a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone!" She threw some berries to the koi as Seymour noted how he wished to meet her relatives. She choked down a laugh, adjusting so she could sit comfortably with Seymour's horns on her head. "Ha, yeah I don't think you're ready for that quite yet. My parents are huge dorks so you'd probably be fine with them. My other relatives... Granny Tenko would love you." She smiled before going on to imitate the older woman. "She'd probably be so ecstatic, 'Via, you found yourself a good Mistral boy! He's so soft and respectful! Oh I think he would definitely be fitting of the Tenko name!'"

Sylvia chuckled before nudging Seymour's shoulder. "If you get to meet my family then I definitely want to meet yours. It'd be cool to see where you grew up. I haven't been to Mistral since I was very little so it'll be cool to see how it's changed. My mom's actually originally from Mistral. She and Dad lived there for the first bit of their marriage before moving to Vale where Dad's family was. Granny Tenko was so mad. Mom was always the rebel so marrying Dad and taking on his name was a huge insult to her. Moving away from Mistral and to Vale was just the icing on the cake. She still visits us though, coming over for birthdays and things like that." Sylvia threw another berry to the koi, taking a moment to look at her skin, the olive color that was just a shade lighter than most of her Mistral family. She wondered how everyone was doing, what they thought of the tournament, what Granny Tenko thought of everything. She closed her eyes before turning back to Seymour. "Tell me a bit about your family. I know you come from a line of soothsayers, but other than your dad giving the same philosophical wisdom as you do I don't really know much. I wanna learn more about you, starting with who you grew up with." Sylvia smiled, ready and hoping Seymour would open up and actually focus on himself for once.

~~~

Vance slurped up his noodles as he listened to Reyna talk. Everything seemed semi-interesting when Reyna revealed the reason she had learned sign language in the first place. His ears perked up as he paused mid-slurp at the new bomb his partner had just dropped on him. A wolf faunus? Reyna had been friends with another wolf faunus before him? A swirl of emotions slowly started to spin in his chest as he quickly swallowed his noodles and blurted out, "There are other wolf faunus?" Immediately, it felt like a stupid question. Of course there were other wolf faunus! Vance had just never met another faunus the same species as him. Immediately, he wondered if maybe this Ferris and himself where related. Probably not, but Vance couldn't stop the thought.

Realizing Reyna was probably looking for more, Vance tried to come up with actually good questions. "I-I mean, I've just never heard of other wolf faunus before. I mean, I just... I only grew up with my family so I didn't really know that there could be other faunus like me out there. A-anyways, what do you mean I'm a dope? And what was Ferris like? Are you still friends with him? Do you still like him?" Vance bit his lip and tried to resist clutching at his chest. While his mind was pounding with questions needing to be answered, he felt a familiar horrible feeling he hadn't felt around Reyna in a long, long time. He hadn't felt this way since Reyna had decided to spend all of her time with Uriah. Vance frowned a bit, unsure what exactly this meant as he waited for Reyna to speak more on this mysterious faunus friend who happened to be the same kind of faunus as himself. ​
 
Seymour let himself laugh at Sylvia's imitation of her grandmother, focusing more on the silverette now that his hands were empty of berries. "I never thought of myself as soft and respectful before." the gazelle began, a smirk coming to his lips that only grew as Sylvia gave a bit of her history. At her request for his reciprocation, he gave a brief nod, and continued his statement.

"...indeed, perhaps you will not believe me, but I was once a very rambunctious and disobedient boy." Seymour laughed, as if he didn't believe the statement himself. "My father and mother worked as a pair, and traveled to many villages in order to provide service. Where father would speak, mother would spend her time nursing wounded, assisting in building efforts, or lending a listening ear to the gossip of others to comfort them. When I was born, they stopped their work for a time...but only for a time." Seymour worked his tongue around the inside of his mouth, getting used to the feeling of a reminiscent frown on his face before moving on.

"No matter the land, work is work! I will not fault them for what they had to do. I spent many a day in the care of a young couple from my home village." At this, the gazelle's smile came back with resolve, looking back with fondness at the next memories to come. "Their daughter was a very excitable sort, and because I was not so well honed as I feel I am now, we fought often, and had many disagreements that resulted in vicious wrestling matches in the mud and dirt. I remember...she force-fed me marsh grass, and in retaliation, I tied her hair to her bedpost as she slept!" Seymour gave a good-natured laugh, though the events he recalled were anything but. "...I suppose it is easy to guess the identity of my age-old enemy. Abigale was, indeed, the worst of my tormentors, but my father was adamant in each of his visits home. Until my strength showed, I could not travel with him... I was confused at first. I had bested Abby in battle plenty of times! And wits even more-so! If she was to be the test of my strength, then I was sure I possessed more than enough..."

Seymour's face grew somber as he went on. "...then my semblance awakened on its own, and unlocked my aura as well. I like to compare it to heartbreak...it hurt, and made me feel dizzy, and nauseous. I remember falling from my bed that morning, and that Abby reached down and picked me up, only to shove me to the floor again. I remember feeling...well, like how it must feel to be an overly excitable, young, confused and in-love lioness..." The gazelle paused, then looked at Sylvia with a chuckle. "Imagine! Abby having such strong feelings, and I was never the wiser until that very moment! ...well, a bit after that moment, actually. In truth, I mistook my semblance's effect as my own heart for a time. I thought myself mad!"

The gazelle faunus found Sylvia's hand as he spoke, and happily wrapped his fingers between hers before continuing. "....ah, but my father, when he found out, was so joyful. I could feel it! The pride and love of a father for his son...it was terrifying! Such pressure, when all I thought was that he was too busy for the likes of me...but from then on, we travelled. High, low, far, wide! He, me, and mother three! And so it was until I chose to attend Beacon. Imagine my surprise when I caught Abigale's presence in the forest on our first day!...ah, but I have droned on. You asked about family, yet here I am with fairly little to show for it. Truely, I am a simple village boy. My grandparents have passed on, and I have no siblings or cousins to my knowledge. We are a very closely knit family, I would say!" Seymour finished with a beam.

-

At Vance's reaction to her friend's identity, Reyna couldn't hold herself back. She snorted in laughter and very nearly tipped her bowl of noodles off the table. It took a lot of flailing to recover everything before it spilled, and eventually she calmed herself down to dig into her partner's questions.

"Well first of all, yeah there are other wolf-faunus! I guess it's hard to find any one specific kind considering how many there are, but I'm sure there are plenty around the world, y'know? Anyways, I mean you're a dope, ya dope! You're cute and innocent, you ask harmless questions, get curious about all sorts of stuff, you make this sorta...I dunno, lost expression sometimes...yeah! It's dopey! But dopey doesn't mean bad, it just means a different kind of cute!"

Reyna, confident in her explanation of Vance's unique charm without extrapolating on how many times she called him cute, proceeded straight into his next questions without hesitation. "But yeah, Ferris was a really quiet sort...and I ain't saying that just because he had trouble speaking! He just...just hovered around corners. A real wallflower, y'know? I was like a traveling pot for his rooted butt, so unless I was around, you wouldn't even know he was there. I had to drag him out of the bathroom way too many times, and let me tell you, boys don't like girls going into their bathroom at the school I went to. But that's besides the point."

The pinkette nibbled at her thumb in thought before coming to a conclusion on her friend's character. "He was the shy sort, sure, but he was a loyalist. If you had his attention, you weren't going to lose it anytime soon. Anyways, we keep up with each other every now and again, but I haven't heard from him since I got into Beacon. It's a bit of a shame that he hasn't reached out in so long, but I'm kinda holding out hope that he finally got comfortable around some other people. Much as I liked the guy, I was always worried he wouldn't be able to move on once I left. I had dreams of being an awesome huntress, after all! He was just...well, just the wallflower, y'know?" With that, Reyna finished up her noodles, waiting to hear what Vance had to say about her blast from the past.
 
Sylvia looked at her boyfriend, incredulous that Seymour of all people had been a trouble maker as a child. Hearing more about his past, the silverette couldn't help but smile. This was the most she had ever learned about the gazelle boy in all of their chats. It was refreshing to hear that once upon a time Seymour had been just like everyone else, playful, a little mean at times, and utterly confused about any and all social interactions. It made her feel a bit better about things, offering her a side of him that wasn't the always perfect, always ready to assist boy she knew. He was just a regular guy who could feel other people's emotions. She couldn't help but laugh along with him as he told the story of how he first discovered his semblance. Vaguely she wondered if Abby still had a crush on him. Most likely not. After all, she and Lev were a thing, weren't they? But then Lev had a crush on her so...

Sylvia stopped that train of thought right then and there. Lev had already talked to her about it and they'd mostly figured themselves out. This was time for her and her boyfriend, not for the weirdness that was her and Lev's relationship. So instead she smiled along as Seymour finished up his story, scooching a bit closer to him and nuzzling up. "Goodness, that explains a lot. I'm glad you're so close to your family, even if it's just you and your parents. Honestly, your parents reacted a lot differently than mine did when I got my semblance. God, I can remember it like it was yesterday..."

She threw her last berry toward the koi as she recounted her tale. "I was pretty young. My parents have a shed where they make different things like weapons and tools for hunting. I was utterly fascinated with all of the weapons they made. I'd try to follow them into the workshop all the time, but they kept me out. It was too dangerous for a little girl! They were right, of course, but I was absolutely frustrated. I just wanted to see my mom and dad make the cool weapons! So one night, I snuck into the workshop and started to play around. It's a miracle I didn't get hurt. I actually managed to disassemble a simple knife my mom had been making, one that could hold a round or two of dust. My parents found me, scared out of their minds since I was currently surrounded by many sharp objects. I was scared because oh God my parents just caught me and I ruined one of their weapons so I freaked out and next thing I knew the knife was glowing green and fixing itself. At first my parents thought it was a fluke but then a few months later I managed to disassemble our microwave and fixed it the same way. Got grounded for a good 6 months for that one but it was worth it because my mom and dad started letting me work in the workshop-under their supervision of course."

After the little story, Sylvia let a nice silence fall over the two. She couldn't believe she was on a date-a real actual date!-with Seymour of all people! She was finally getting to see other sides to him, see him surprised and laugh and talk about things other than her own worries. She didn't want this little date to end. A small part of her-a traitorous part that had no reason being there-wanted to demand answers. Why her, of all people? Why go out with regular old Sylvia? What was so special about her? Why choose her to share these memories and thoughts with. She squashed that part down as much as she could. This was their date. She didn't want to ruin it for Seymour by bugging him with her own stupid insecurities. So instead, she gathered up her courage to peck him on the cheek and continue to watch the koi.

~~~

Vance couldn't help but blush as Reyna laughed at him. Of course his question was stupid. The familiar weight in his chest just grew as he waited for Reyna to berate him and tell him how horrible being a dope was. Reyna proceeded to smash all of his insecurities and ended up calling him cute. His blush rose as his ears flattened. Him? Reyna thought he was... cute? He could feel his heart beating faster. His chest nearly burst with just how giddy that made him. But why? She was just his friend... Usually he only felt this whenever Gabe had managed some kind of romantic gesture so... why did he feel the same when Reyna had admitted he was cute?

He pushed that pit of confusion aside as he listened to Reyna's explanation, his blush slowly subsiding as he learned more about the mysterious Ferris. He felt an unwelcome sense of relief as he realized Ferris was just a friend and they hadn't even talked since Reyna got to Beacon. However, it made him curious. He fidgeted before speaking, "Well why don't you text him? I mean, if you're that curious then maybe you should take the first step and ask him how he's doing? That way you'll know if he's managed to get new friends or if he became less of a wallflower." He shifted in his seat, playing a bit with his noodles as he looked anywhere but Reyna's face. "I mean, he seemed really important to you so I'm sure checking in would be nice." He wondered if maybe he was now that replacement for Ferris. Sure he wasn't a wallflower, quite the opposite actually. Was it because he was a wolf faunus that she decided to actually start being friends with him? Surely it wasn't. They had become partners by chance after all! She couldn't have been drawn to him because he was a wolf faunus... Right?
 
Seymour listened closely as Sylvia reciprocated with a story of her own, giving small chuckles as she reminisced about her parents' reactions to her semblance.

"Goodness, to have such cautious parents, I never would have guessed your roots were in Mistral!" the gazelle commented with a grin. "Being left for a right of passage was the natural way of things in my home, so finding yourself in dangerous environments was a common growing environment." Seymour tapped his chin as if deciding whether to say more when the silverette gave him a peck on the cheek. The touch shocked him just enough to readjust his focus, capturing the lingering doubts butterflying in his girlfriend's heart.

"...Sylvia, you treat me well. Should there be another reason for me to enjoy your company?" the faunus blurted out his opposition to his date's unspoken feelings as if he had heard them come straight from her mouth. "Significance is not the birth of a grand leap, but rather, the culmination of so many small steps. When we met, we enjoyed our meeting. From there, so much has happened to bring us here! You are the one I speak to now because, after so much time, I find you favorable!" Seymour paused for a moment, letting his head catch up to his mouth, and finally caught on to the fact that he had used his semblance.

"I...I am sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It is just instinctual for me at this point, reacting so actively to negativity. My apologies." the gazelle settled against Sylvia with a sigh, returning his gaze to the fish in an attempt to redirect his focus before he could delve further.

-

Vance's intense interest in Ferris finally stopped making Reyna crack up, and started to reel her in to a more serious state of mind. He was right. She hadn't really reached out to many of her friends since unpacking at Beacon. Honestly, it had been an age since she'd seen them at all!

"Well shoot, Vance! You're right! I've gotta introduce you and the rest of SLVR to the gang! Maybe we can hook up in the CCT or something cuz, well, Ferris being deaf n' all. Man, I wonder how Copper's doing after all this time...it really has been forever, and that means that Tinny is just getting his start in all this hunting business! Man, you would not believe what a mess that kid was, what with Copper and Caxton always being this...uh..." Reyna caught a glance at Vance's eyes, and immediately slowed her roll to a stop.

"Um, sorry. I got carried away. I mean, I haven't seen the fellas in so long, and we used to be as close as close could get, y'know! Ferris wasn't the only one I hung out with, after all. We were our own little squad of crusaders!" With that, the pinkette whipped out her scroll and got to texting, sticking her tongue out in intense focus. "Thanks again for the idea, Vance! It'd be sweet if we could pull this off."

-

"...and then when she used his weapon?! It was so passionate, I could hardly breathe! What did you think, Ellie?"

Ama wrapped herself down from Ellie's shoulders, popping an upside-down kiss on the cow-faunus's cheek as they walked out of the theater. Ellie was unable to struggle against the blush that rose to her face as she thought up an answer. "I mean, everyone did some mighty sweet-talkin', that's for sure. I dunno, I liked it when that one feller with the hat 'n mustache went all psycho and burned down the village for the funsies, y'know what I mean?"

"Ellie, that scene caused so much controversy that entire news articles were written against it." Lev chimed in. "Sure, it set up for the antagonist's role really well, and was basically the platform for the whole climax, but-"

"GODS, you're all UNBEARABLE!" Abby followed behind everyone, barely holding onto Lev's hand as he guided her disheveled form from the doors. "Ell, tell your nerd girlfriend and MY nerd boyfriend to get a room. I'm gonna hurl if I have to think about any of those damn kissing scenes again..." Abby paused, waiting for the retort, but all she got from her three companions was silence. After another moment of waiting, she lifted her head to find that everyone had stopped walking to stare at her.

"E-Excuse me?" Lev gave a hard swallow.

"Come again?" Ellie followed up, fighting the massive I-told-you-so grin spreading on her face.

"Yes! Say it once more!" Ama cheered from atop Ellie's shoulders, smiling from ear to ear.

Abby took a second to look at each of them, then tilted her eyes to the floor. Slowly and thoroughly, she recounted every word that left her lips after the movie had ended. "...gods, this is terrible...I'm gonna...Rabbit, I'll kill you if....uh, nerd girlfriend and my nerd-" She stopped before the word everyone was looking for could come to her lips again. Looking back up, the lioness couldn't hide the self-induced fear of the statement she had made from crossing her face.

"Yeeessss!" Ama cheered as Abby showed her expression to the group. "How cuuuute! Ellie! Ellie! It's just like our show! You were right!"

"W-Wait, no, I really need to understand what just happened." Lev broke in before Ellie and Ama could start celebrating, but before he could insist further, Abby stepped up to him, giving the ravenette a solid poke in the chest.

"B-Boyfriend!" she sounded off, uneasy, but determined. Then she shoved a thumb into her chest. "G-Girlfriend!" The lioness's lips clamped shut, creased in a flat, uncertain line, as if waiting for Lev to give an answer. After being taken aback by the statements the red-head seemed to be making, Lev pulled himself together just enough to nod his head in some sense of agreement. In response, Abby shoved him to the side and rushed away, semblance screeching as she faded from view.

"C'mon Lev, we'll meet up with your girlfriend at the hospital." Ellie teased, leading the way back as if nothing unexpected just happened. The ravenette, still confused about what he just agreed to, simply followed along as best he could while wrapping his head around everything.
 
"Seymour, you live in the boonies. I lived near the city. The city life in Mistral is a lot different than what you and Abby did in your village." Sylvia quipped as they settled together. She blinked when Seymour proceeded to analyze and address all of her hidden little insecurities. She wasn't sure exactly how to react at first as he apologized, not wanting to intrude and explaining how it was habit to take such an active role, to try and take care of any troubles before they morphed into uncontrollable monsters.

After taking a moment to find her words, Sylvia sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Seymour... It's fine. You can't help your semblance. I just... I thought I had dealt with those stupid little thoughts a while ago. I didn't want you to have to worry about them because this is a date. You shouldn't have to deal with all of my problems when we're both just here to have fun and do coupley stuff. I'm sorry I set off your semblance I just... This is my first real relationship, ya know?" She looked out at the koi, chuckling a bit. "Heck, this is my first date, period! I've never done anything like this before so I don't wanna mess it up... You're always helping me with all of my worries and fears and making me feel ten times better. I just wanted to make you feel happy for once. Of course, nothing really goes my way, huh?" She threw Seymour a smile before standing up.

Turning to the gazelle boy, she held out her hands before pulling him up. "Seymour, you're really important to me. I like you a whole lot, and I want to be able to go on dates with you without you feeling like you have to soothe all of my worries. I'm really new at this so just... bare with me, okay?" With that she gave him a smile before leaning down for a kiss. She dared to let this one linger longer than their previous kisses, slowly exploring what felt good and what felt awkward. Sylvia fumbled a bit at times, but made sure to make up for it as she learned how to kiss Seymour. Her hands never strayed from his, still too nervous to try and pull him to her like lovers would. Once she had her fill, Sylvia pulled back and grinned at Seymour. "Now, I've got one last thing to show you before we head back."

With that, Sylvia led Seymour up the hill, towards the beginning of the falls. She kept his gaze on her, chatting about everything and nothing as she pointed out different spots her parents would bring her when she was younger. Once they reached the top, Sylvia stepped aside to reveal a new sight. From the top of the falls, the koi swimming in the pond below looked simply like a myriad of colors swirling around dots of green. The mist from the falls dusted the air, creating rainbows and dampening the duo just slightly. Sylvia grinned as she pulled Seymour almost towards the edge, just a step from falling off into the waters below.

Closing her eyes, Sylvia said, "I used to jump off of here and swim down with the koi. It felt so exhilarating feeling the rush of the wind and the cold shock of the water. I can't really do that nowadays, I'd completely ruin my legs and risk screwing up my ports, but I appreciate having the memories."

~~~

Vance smiled as Reyna went off on a tangent, talking about more friends she had had before coming to Beacon. The snarling feeling still settled in his chest, dampening Vance's mood a smidge, but he refused to let it bring down Reyna. So he smiled brightly and gave a thumbs up. "Of course! I really want to meet your friends! It'd be cool to hear from them what you were like before you went to Beacon." Vance felt a bit... he didn't really know. It was a similar feeling to when Reyna had spent all her time with Stupidhead McFartFace. Though, it wasn't quite as intense. Was it because she had had friends before Beacon and he didn't? It wasn't for a lack of trying, mind you, but keeping up with his scholarships certainly didn't give him much free time.

Slurping up the rest of his noodles, Vance stretched out and tried to ignore the bad feeling in his chest. "Thanks for hanging out with me, Rain!" He said, settling back into his chair. "We should do this more! Maybe we can go to a park next time! We could play catch! Or we could run around and play tag! Or look at some trees! There's lots of things we could do! I'll have to make sure I leave time in between dates with Gabe... But it'll be great! I really like hanging out with you, Rain!" He smiled, bouncing a bit before pulling out his wallet. "Now let's go meet up with Lev and Sylvia and Seymour and Ellie and Abby and the rest! I wanna hear how Sylvia's date went!"
 
"There is no need to be sorry, Sylvia. Nobody is without insecurity." Seymour began. "You would never guess by a simple glance, but that is my lot in life. I will try to be more aware of your feelings as we spend time together. And I will say," the gazelle chuckled as Sylvia picked herself up, "that for a first date, you have been remarkably composed."

Seymour smiled as the silverette drew him up and leaned in for a kiss. Once again, he willingly met her lips with his, and extended his stay while she was comfortable with it. After pulling away, the gazelle faunus took a deep breath, exhaling with interest as his date mentioned one last thing to show off. Up the hill they went, Seymour keeping his hold on Sylvia's hand as she chattered about this and that, drawing his attention to all sorts of wonderful wildlife before finally reaching their destination. At the top of the falls they had only recently been at the base of, Seymour took in everything with a sweep of the eyes.

"You honor me, Sylvia..." the gazelle began, awestruck at the scenery before him, "...with such an incredible end to an incredible date. I hope I can prove worthy of your affections as time goes on. But know this." Seymour turned from the view and dug deep into the silverette's eyes with his own, "Just as spending time with you makes me happy, lending my assistance to your troubles, as long as it helps, also makes me happy. You have not failed simply because your emotions escaped your desires! That is a trait of humanity, and you are human, Sylvia. As am I..." Seymour eyed his horns, then laughed, "...more or less. Let us be human together, Sylvia! We have a long time to enjoy our mistakes."

With that, the gazelle faunus gave Sylvia a peck on the lips. "So, shall I close my eyes for the trek back?"

-

"Ohmygods, yes Vance! I'm so excited to introduce you." Reyna squealed, wrapping up her text with a satisfied grin. "It'll be great, I know it!" She would have droned on again, but Vance finished up his food faster than she expected. Picking herself up, the pinkette motioned for Vance to put away his wallet, took care of the bill, and began leading the way back towards the hospital.

"Oh yeah, totally! We should definitely hang out more when...you're not...y'know..." Reyna slowed her roll just a bit, realizing that the only reason Vance must've been indulging her was because Gabe wasn't occupying his every thought. "But yeah, we could go to a park sometime! I know a killer ice-cream stand we could check out, and there's a pond, so we could, like, skip stones or something like that! Whatever. We definitely need to do this again." She smiled, filing a sort of passive aggressive jealousy away for some other time. The hospital was coming into view anyways.

-

So your name is Abbigale? Dearheart, that is precious! Tell me, have you seen a boy about so-so tall, with...

Reyna and Vance walked into the hospital lobby to see a red eyed and black haired lady shooting the breeze with a rather irate and unprepared Abby. As soon as the partners took their first step into the room, the lady's gaze shot towards them.

"Hello there! It's me, Belle!" She waved, trotting over to Reyna and Vance as if Abby had already answered her unfinished question. "Ah, you'll have to excuse me, but we were never properly introduced. I never forget a name, you see, and I certainly never forget a face! So have at you! I'm Belle, as you know, and you are..."

"Uh, R-Reyna and Vance?" The pinkette spat out in a half-panic, completely forgetting where she had seen this lady before.

Belle's smile grew unnaturally, but she retained her sweetness as she responded. "Beautiful names! Reyna and..." She looked at Vance and froze for a moment, but it was more like a moment of lag rather than a tensing of emotion, and soon she was back on track, "...Vance, lovely to meet you both! Now I was wondering if you happened to know where-"

"Hey, uh, Abby! Ellie and Ama ditched me, so...oh, hey guys." Lev strolled in, greeting everyone with an awkward wave. After the lioness's outburst, he remained dazed to most of the goings-ons around him, even to the point where he didn't catch when Ellie suggested he go back to the hospital to lie down. Abby, meanwhile, looked like she was fighting an extreme urge to run away again. It was apparent by her face that she was losing that battle, but for the moment, she stuck around. Reyna was still unsure what she was walking into at this point, her gaze torn between all four people in the room...

But Belle's eyes were on Lev alone. It seemed she found what she had been looking for.

"Lev, dearheart! Lev Castor! That's a name I could never forget." She hummed with success, leaving Reyna and Vance in much the same way as Abby while sauntering over to the black haired boy.

"...Just Lev, actually. That other bit doesn't...doesn't legally apply. I-I'm sorry, who are you? And how do you know me?" the ravenette questioned, suspicion coloring his features.

"Oh? Shame...but you are him, aren't you, regardless of the stipulations! I've been dying to have a chat with you, dearheart. After I snatched you away from the Emerald Forest that day, I've been fraught with worry! How have you been? Are you healthy?...oh, but let's chat in private, dearheart. I would hate to trouble your sweet friends from motherly musings. I've just been so-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay! I get it. Uh, lead the way Ms..."

"Herzrot, dearheart. Isabelle Herzrot!"

And with that, the two settled further into the lobby, just out of earshot of the totally confused Reyna, the oddly intimidated Abby, and Vance, who's emotions nobody could guess.
 
Hearing Seymour's awe, Sylvia counted the date an official success. As he asked if she needed him to close his eyes once more, Sylvia chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. This place is still a family secret after all. Only Slaters are allowed to know how to get here. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't bump into anything on the way back." With that Sylvia led Seymour back to the hospital, feeling proud of herself as she replayed Seymour's compliments over and over in her head. The walk seemed a lot shorter heading back than it had first going to the falls. Before either of them knew it, they were back at the hospital where the rest of SAGE and SLVR awaited them.

Sylvia smiled as she saw her teammates, greeting them when she noticed a familiar raven haired woman talking with Lev. "Oh! Ms. Herzrot!" Giving Seymour's hand one last squeeze, Sylvia headed over to the duo. "It's so good to see you again! We haven't seen you since the Vytal festival. What did you think? I know we never got a chance to talk after the match like you said you wanted to." She tilted her head, unaware that she might have intruded on something, simply wishing to see what the woman had in mind.

Vance, meanwhile, was put on edge. While the woman seemed to hold no ill will towards him, something about Isabelle Herzrot put him on edge. She exuded this sense of fake kindness that had Vance thinking back to the worst of the bullies back in his hometown, pretending they were fine with everything about him and his family, but in reality despising him. He stepped closer to Reyna without thinking, watching Sylvia waltz over to Isabelle and Lev without a care in the world. Maybe he was being paranoid. After all, if Syvlia was fine with everything, then he should be too, right?
 
"Oh, Sylvia! Darling child, how nice to see you again!" Isabelle exclaimed with a wide smile, "Your timing is impeccable, dearheart! Lev and I just finished having the most engaging conversation. I confess, I truly wanted to get to know him more. After all, relatives don't grow on trees! Not to say I didn't want to say congratulations for doing so fantastically at the tournament, though, so congratulations! You truly were a treat to watch: You and the-" Isabelle paused as she caught a glimpse of Seymour, reacting in the same way to him as she had to Vance, before continuing as if nothing had happened, "-cutie over there. A power-couple, hmm? The rest of Remnant should watch their backs!" Herzrot trailed off with a laugh.

"Uh yeah," Lev picked up to add a bit more detail, feeling uncomfortable around Isabelle's unsettling enthusiasm and wanting to clue Sylvia in on his most recent decision. "I decided to make Ms. Herzrot my primary emergency contact. She's wise on my dad's medical field, so she can help with any hiccups on the stuff I've been on. Plus, the old man only gave me enough for a year, so Ms. Herzrot said she'd handle it."

"But of course, dearheart! Anything for family! Especially someone in your position, Mr. Lev." Isabelle mocked the formality with a chuckle, then picked herself up and dusted herself off. "I am so glad that we got to chat. And Sylvia, congratulations again on a bang-up job in the tournament! You are a fine fighter, and just as fine a leader! I'm sure you'll be a smashing huntress one day, just like your own parents!" Herzrot glossed over the finer points of what she just implied as she excused herself from the hospital. "I'll be in touch, dearheart! Good evening!"

And with that, Isabelle left the troupe of hunters and huntresses. Abby had a grimace plastered onto her face, and it only seemed to grow more intense as she looked at Seymour, then at Sylvia. Quickly, she made her way to Lev's side and plopped herself as close as she could to the ravenette, doing her best not to look her silver-haired rival in the eyes. It was clear by the conflict in her expression that, as much as she wanted to lift Lev over her head and declare him as hers, she was in need of some comfort after interacting with Isabelle. Lev tensed up at Abby's presence, but after taking note of the current setting, he relaxed and gave Sylvia a half-grin.

"Oh, check it out! I'm officially Abby's ball of yarn forever now."

"...I will bite you, Rabbit..." Abby retorted, turning her head away, but simultaneously scooting the rest of her body closer to Lev.

Reyna, meanwhile, was in a raw state of dumfounded-ness. It was only after Isabelle left that she noticed Vance hovering closer than usual. She quickly wrapped her arms around him and gave him a squeeze. "H-Holy crap, dude! That was terrifying! Why was that terrifying!?" the pinkette laid her feelings out bare to her partner, shivering for a moment before releasing him. "I mean did you see how huge her smile got? Unreal..."

Then there was Seymour, who had watched everything go by in a blur. Once everyone seemed to calm down, he walked back to Sylvia's side. "Gracious, what a strange woman." he began, scratching his chin before returning his hand to Sylvia's, "It felt like she had a sort of...denial, I suppose, concerning faunus. When she looked at me, Vance, or Abby, there was a lapse in all feeling on her end, like the skipping of a record." the gazelle boy took his other hand and scratched his cheek, continuing his thought process with a deductive expression. "I have seen the sort of behavior before, but never to such a strong result. I suspect she has a lengthy history of therapy to combat a phobia of faunus. Regardless, it seems to have worked for her. She is quite vivacious outside of those brief hiccups." he concluded with a smile, but then picked up how close Abby and Lev were.

"Ah, so did you two fall into Ellie's trap?"

"I did NOT fall for it!" Abby quickly snapped up Seymour's bait to defend herself, "Some cheesy, lovey-dovey movie with a bunch of dopes, cruddy popcorn, and this...this..." the lioness batted at Lev's bangs with a huff, "This, is not a trap that I would ever fall for!"

"So...if you didn't fall for it, then I guess Lev finally had the guts and the courage to finally-" Seymour pressed with a wily grin, knowing exactly what would pressure a confession from the stubborn red-head.

"NO! I did it! I asked, no wait, I TOLD him how it was! We are b..." Abby had gotten so close, but the moment she tried to say "boyfriend," her lips pursed up, her cheeks burst into red, and her voice grew as quiet as a kitten trying to meow. Lev nearly tried to speak up for her, but she pawed at his face to shut him up, determined to show Seymour that she was the confident one, and she was the gutsy one!

"W-We are b-b-boyfriend a-and..." Abby swallowed, contorting her face in all manner of strange expressions to try and find the one that worked best with the words. "...g-girlf-friend! I am..." the lioness took a deep breath, then another, and then opened her eyes wide with her trademark natural confidence, "I'M HIS GIRLFRIEND! HAH!"

"...Well congratulations!" Seymour clapped, completely shutting down Abby's show of force with his simple patience.
 
Sylvia couldn't help the bit of blush that rose up her cheeks as Isabelle made note of her relationship with Seymour. "Ah, yeah, that's a new development. Thank you for the congratulations though! I know my team and I worked really hard to get as far as we did!" She smiled as Lev told her of the new development, looking between the two relatives. "That's great, Lev! It'll definitely be great to have someone who actually cares about you as an emergency contact." If she could, Sylvia wanted to avoid anymore hospital incidents if she could. She blushed under Isabelle's praise though her last statement threw her off. "Wait, how do you know my-?" She didn't get the chance to finish the statement as Isabelle trotted off, leaving the rest of them to deal with Lev's new relationship status with Abby.

Vance could still feel the residual paranoia as Reyna shared how unnerved Isabelle had left her. The wolf boy squeezed Reyna back just as hard, refusing to let go of her hand when she pulled away. "I don't know... Something about her seems off... fake. I don't like it." He mentioned. The group's feelings about Isabelle were quickly blown away as Lev and Abby revealed their new relationship status. Vance perked up, smiling his congratulations though he was curious if Lev truly liked Abby or was using her as a rebound off of Sylvia. He'd have to ask the boy later. For now, he just gave his support how he could.

On the other hand, Sylvia was pleasantly surprised to find out Lev had solidified his relationship with Abby. "Look at you, you sly dog! Congratulations!" She teased, punching Lev's shoulder playfully as she looked over the happy couple. "I didn't think you'd have a thing for the feisty type! Maybe Abby can pull you out of your shell a little more!" With the new relationship status settled, Sylvia brushed all of Lev's confessed feelings under a rug. Surely, if he were dating someone else, he had gotten over her. Besides, she wasn't that much of a catch. Anyone could move on pretty quickly from her, and clearly, Lev had moved on.

The rest of fall break flew by, Sylvia sneaking off occasionally on more dates with Seymour and Vance sneaking some video calls to Gabe once in a while. Overall, SLVR had fun going on different adventures through the woods around Sylvia's house and walking around Vale. They even managed to have a few cuddle piles together, despite Flint's protests. All good things, however, must come to an end. On one of the last days of break, Sylvia had taken Lev and Reyna with her to a local parts shop, rambling about all of the new ideas she had for their weapons that she wanted to try out (with their permission of course). While they looked over possible materials, Sylvia had sent Vance off to a local dust store to pick up dust for the team. "Since most of my ideas revolve around dust," she had explained, "I want to make sure we have a bunch when we get back to Beacon. So make sure to get some of every kind!"

With his mission set, Vance had set off toward the closest dust shop... only to be sidetracked. He had been trying to do what Sylvia asked, honestly, but then he smelled some fresh baked pastries and found himself heading towards the market. It was bustling with even more people than usual, the farmers must've brought in fresh produce, and stalls with different fresh made sweets and delicacies were spotted along with the usual groceries. Vance couldn't help but be drawn to a stall with different cookies and sweets, his eyes glittering at the sweet aroma of sugar that permeated the stalls.
 
Lev was doing pretty well considering the attention lavished on him. Abby wasn't not welcome, and he appreciated the congratulations even though he hadn't done anything special. But something Sylvia had said hung on his mind, throwing him for a bit of a mental loop.

"Someone who...actually cares?" He whispered under his breath, his heart violently skipping a beat at the assumption. Doing his best to let the comment slide, he eased back into a chuckle as Abby huffed and puffed.

Before long, everyone was back to Fall Break business. Nothing exciting on the whole, at least on Lev's end. Having a girlfriend turned out to be a lot less interactive than he thought. Meanwhile Reyna was setting up something or another on her phone. It seemed like she was getting messages left and right after her time with Vance. Then, at last, the break came to its final moments. Lev and Reyna went with Sylvia to look into weapon-work, one reluctantly, the other distracted, and Vance was sent shopping for supplies. However, getting sidetracked, Vance found himself walking absentmindedly. Unluckily for him, someone else happened to be doing the exact same thing. With a clunk of the heads, the mystery walker and Vance both ended up rear-down on the ground, books and papers scattered in the wake of the collision.

"Ow! Owowow, my head..." The voice belonged to a girl who didn't look much older than Vance. Her hair was drawn up in a sleek, silvery-blue bun, and her skin had a soft tan to it. She looked normal enough except for two facial features. First was her lipstick, a reflective, metallic color. It was like polished steel was painted on her mouth. Then was the color of her eyes: As she recovered from her daze, two perfect mirrors faced Vance, catching every detail of his face and showing it back to him, down to the amber of his eyes. The girl sat there for a moment, looking over her obstacle with curiosity before scuttling to her feet and extending a hand.

"Hi, I mean, um, hi! Sorry, really, I'm sorry for that! I should've been, I mean, I really ought've, er...yeah, I should've been paying attention, and I wasn't and I'm sorry. Are you okay, or are you hurt or something? Can I- Oh gosh, my papers!" The girl spoke quickly before coughing out her final exclamation, watching a few notes from her collapsed pile of books fly away. "Please! No! Come back papers, pretty please!" She huffed, breaking into a semi-jog to try and catch a few notes that had been caught on the breeze. She gave up two seconds in, hunching her shoulders in defeat before stepping back to Vance and extending a hand once again.

"Man...that just...d'aww man! That really stinks. Hey, do you think you could tell me where Beacon is? I was supposed to be there, like, some time this morning, and I just, I got sidetracked, and kinda, well, mostly lost, and I could really..." The girl once again spoke rapid-fire, but slowed down once she gave Vance a closer look. Taking his hand and pulling him up seemed to confirm something to her, and as if to make that clear, one of her eyes became a bright amber, same as Vance's. "Woah, you're a hunter! Please take me to Beacon! I really, really need to get there ASAP. Man, I'm gonna be in so much trouble..."
 
Vance was about to see if he could spare some money on a sweet when something rammed into him. He groaned before looking over at a girl who had silver lips and mirrors for eyes. He blinked, completely stunned for a moment before he noticed her papers flying off. Scrambling, Vance went to grab the papers with the girl, successfully collecting them as she pulled him fully back to his feet. He could only blink further as she asked about Beacon, correctly guessing that he was a hunter (in-training) and begging him to take her there. At first Vance wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He clutched the papers in his hands, just staring at the eye that had changed to match his. Just who in the world was this girl?

After a moment or two, Vance realized that he had to say something and floundered. "Ah, I mean, yeah! I'm a hunter! Well, only in training... I'm a first year so ya know, still got a long way to go! But I can help you get to Beacon! Just, here, let me help you pick up your stuff." With that, he bent down to help the girl pick up her belongings, his previous task to get dust all but forgotten.

Once the girl had her papers and books in hand, the duo started the trek to Beacon. Vance turned a smile her way. "My name is Vance, by the way! Vance Faolan! I'm a hunter in training at Beacon! What's your name? Why do you have to go to Beacon anyways? I've never seen you anywhere around her. Your eyes are super cool though!"

~~~

Meanwhile, Sylvia was trying to explain to her two teammates the ideas she had for their weapons, but they just weren't listening. Reyna seemed to be checking her scroll every couple minutes while Lev looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where Sylvia was. They'd been acting like that for nearly the whole of their break, and Sylvia was getting sick of it. Sick. Of. It. Huffing, the silverette set down a pipe she had been trying to show the two and rounded on them. "All right, what's going on? Reyna, you've been distracted since we got here! You aren't even listening! You just keep checking your scroll and texting someone! And Lev you look like I'm about to bite your head off! You seem like you're gonna run off at any moment! If you guys really weren't that interested in coming with me, you could have said so!" She frowned, waiting for some answers from her two teammates. ​
 
The mystery girl took her things from Vance with a sigh of relief. "Thank you soooo much! I was about to start crying, I swear." The girl returned to a quick pace of speech as they began to walk. "Like, sure I didn't write it all by hand, but carpal tunnel is a thing, y'know, and staring at a screen all day is just the pits dude, no joke. Also, the books? Like, so many books, and it's all like ber-ber-ber, reference this, citation that, blah-blah history blah-blah, right? Not to mention how heavy it all is, like I swear man, I'm gonna be ripped before the end of the year, and just..." The girl went on for a bit longer, seeming to let Vance's questions slip through the cracks, until they reached Beacon.

"Ah! This is it!" She exclaimed before turning to Vance with a grin. "Well Mr. Vance Faolan, my name is Loblolly! Loblolly Lee! It's like, La-Blah-Lee-Lee! Like that, but most people call me Lili, so I guess that's cool. As for why I'm here, I was recruited! Why else?" Lili giggled nonchalantly as she stepped forward. "But if you're a first-year, I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you, and you must have a team too, huh? We should totally hang out sometime! You're kinda the first friendly face I've met in Vale, so hey, maybe you could show me around!"

Lili turned from Vance and was about to head further into the school, but she pivoted to face the wolf faunus one more time. "Oh, and yeah, I get that about my eyes a lot. Thanks for noticing!" By that time, the amber in her eye from minutes before had faded back to the strange, mirror-like color. Before any questions could be raised, the energetic girl hopped off towards admissions.

-

"Oh man," Reyna was shocked out of her texting by Sylvia, and began digging her toe into the floor sheepishly, "sorry Sylvia, I just...Vance gave me this good idea, so I've been getting in touch with some friends, and I guess I've just been hooked on catching up is all. Sorry about that."

Lev, on the other hand, was far less apologetic. "I mean, you're biting my head off now, so can you say I was wrong?" He grinned, but his eyes betrayed him, looking to the side rather than meeting the silverette head-on. "Besides, Abby'll floor me if I start getting cozy with Pinky and the Brain here."

Reyna narrowed her eyes at the statement, and quickly reared back to sock the ravenette in the arm. Lev's eyes bugged out, and he clutched his arm in pain for a moment before correcting himself under Reyna's watchful glare. "...jokes aside, I haven't seen Abby since she decided to make things official. I think I'll just bow out now. Have fun shopping, ladies."

With that, Lev took his leave, leaving Reyna to sniff in dissatisfaction. "What a weirdo."
 
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Vance blinked the whole way to Beacon. He hadn't really met anyone who talked more than he did. So this strange girl, who didn't even answer any of his questions, left his head spinning with all she spoke. He tried to keep up with all of the info she was spouting, something about research? What even were all of the books and papers she was carrying? When they finally made it to Beacon, Vance couldn't even get a word in edgewise as the girl rambled on about apparently seeing him again. Was she a new student? Why were they getting a new kid so late in the year? What was going on? Vance tried to ask his questions, but the girl-Lili, she said to call her-was already out of sight.

Sighing, Vance turned and headed back toward the market. He'd have to talk to Rain and the rest of SLVR about his weird experience. Just as he was planning on what to say, he remembered exactly why he was being sent out in the first place. "The dust!" He gasped before running toward the nearest dust store. Sylvia had mentioned planning something cool with their weapons! He couldn't just leave her hanging!

~~~

Sylvia frowned as Lev deflected her questions. While Reyna easily admitted that she was indeed distracted and apologized, Lev just tried to avoid the problem altogether before running off to go spend some time with Abby. As he left, she couldn't help but huff as she paced in front of the display. "I just don't get it, Reyna! It's like every time I think I'm making progress with him, he freezes up! For every one step forward I take five steps back! I just-I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It feels like I can't do anything without upsetting him somehow. I just... Argh!" Sylvia threw her hands up, fingers twitching as she refrained from pulling at her silver locks. No matter. They'd just have to make due without Lev for now. So Sylvia continued shopping with Reyna, focusing on her weapon and all of the possible ways they could enhance it.

~~~

It seemed just like that Fall Break was over and SLVR was back to their old routine. Sylvia immediately filled her desk with her new goodies before they had all trudged off to class. Vance had managed to get her and the rest of the team a ton of dust for them to incorporate into their weapons, leaving the silverette bursting with possibilities. Vance filled his team in on the strange encounter, happily snuggled up with Gabe at breakfast that morning. The wolf boy had nearly tackled the poor panther when he saw him, gushing about how he missed him and all of the adventures he and his team went on during the break. Vance only let go of Gabe once they actually had to take their seats for class, pouting just a bit but happy to be back in their usual routine. Sylvia sighed as she pulled out her notes for Dr. Monarch's class, hoping that maybe getting back into things would help Lev with whatever his deal was right now.
 
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It was like the clock started ticking again. Fall break had ended, and SLVR went back to their old routine. Gabe returned from Atlas exhausted, but pleased with himself. While Vance was clinging to him, he quietly linked a silver bracelet around the wolf boy's wrist. Figuring he'd see it on his own time, Gabe sat back at breakfast, looking rather accomplished. Meanwhile Seymour seemed to be a bit on edge. Every so often he'd look over his shoulder, or flinch at a sudden or unexpected touch from his teammates. Otherwise he was fine, acting the part of paragon as always, but for someone who was never nervous, it certainly was strange to see him so jumpy.

Lev and Abby, despite officially getting together, remained on separate sides of the table. It was painfully clear that neither one of them had a clue how to initiate any sort of romantic gesture. Abby looked like she was holding herself back from outright crushing Lev under her foot, and Lev looked...well, how he usually looked: Unenthused, but willing to make conversation. For most of breakfast, the ravenette and redhead simply stared into each other's eyes. Ellie watched the two with a beam, getting a ludicrous amount of satisfaction simply watching the result of her and Ama's "work."

Then there was Reyna, who finally stopped her non-stop texting at the most inopportune time. Everyone was absorbed with something or other, and there was her, just trying to eat her bagels and have a nice morning. Every once in a while her face would heat up. Whether it was from embarrassment at being the only person at the table without a significant other, or anger for being forced to sit through all the ogling and whatnot, was unclear. Either way, she remained quiet at the table for the most part.

Finally, the first class of the day rolled around. Dr. Monarch had started off that semester the same way as the last, and with the way he went about lectures, students couldn't help but trudge their way to class in pain.

"Class..." Monarch let out a breathy sigh at his call, rolling his eyes long and hard before returning his gaze back to the students. "I have a surprise for you-" The statement queued a collective groan from the room. Test. Quiz. Worksheet. Exercise. Book work. A mock paper. Any of these, or all of these could have been in store. For a man who spent every second on a roller-chair, Monarch was a major stick-in-the-mud. The doctor raised his hand for silence. "I have a surprise for you, but it seems like it hasn't arrived yet. Let's open our books to-"

BANG

Half the class's hearts stopped, Monarch's included. There was a drawn out silence, then a muffled voice from outside the room started to sound off. Thanks to the heft of the door, it was impossible to make out what was being said, so the doctor, after regaining his composure and taking a brief draw from his pipe, rolled over to the door and opened it.

"-oc Monarch! Oh my gosh, thank you, I'm so sorry about that! I forgot you said you kept your door locked, and I tried to get here early, I really did, but have you seen this place?! Like, the gardens are gorgeous, and everyone is super-nice, like- oh my gosh, Vance?! Hey! Hey Vance, it's me!"

Loblolly Lee, as perky and excited as the day she and Vance met, stood up from her crash with the door and gave the wolf faunus a big wave and an equally big smile. Monarch heaved another sigh and rolled back to the center of the room before motioning for Lili to follow suit, which she did after gushing a bit more about the campus.

"Class..." Monarch began again, clearing his throat and, to the class's surprise, not doing anything about the late-comer, "this is Professor Lee, of..."

Monarch looked to Lili as if to prompt her to begin introducing herself, but the moment she got the hint, the doctor slumped back in regret. "Hm? OH! Oh, well see, I'm technically from Vaccuo, but I was living in Atlas until, like, a week ago, and oh! I was in Mistral once for a vacation because grammy says I've been overworking myself, and it was sooo pretty! But I've never really been to Vale, and I was telling gram about it, and-"

"-You may note Professor Lee's age." coughed Monarch, forcing himself to interject before Loblolly could go further, "She is a student of Atlas's Ministry of History, and is here to finish her doctorate. She is also here by my invitation...regrettably... Professor Lee will be handling you all for the rest of the semester while I take a brief sabbatical. Next year she will undertake her own course regarding field research and archaeology, which I'm sure will be...thrilling..." The doctor droned, listing off things that he seemed less inclined to care about. The class, on the other hand, was still trying to wrap their heads around what was happening. This mirror-eyed, steel-lipped, peppy, nineteen-to-twenty-something year-old was going to be their teacher? At Beacon?

"Vance, is this the girl you met?" Lev nudged his teammate, focus still dedicated to the girl.

"Holy cow, Vance, did you know she was a prof?" Reyna joined in on the whispering.

Before anything else could be said, Monarch rolled out of class, leaving Loblolly front and center. She shifted her weight from one foot to the next, then pulled out a paper, skimmed through it with a nod of her head, and returned her sights to the class. "Okay! It's nice to meet you all! Let's go ahead and-"

And so class began. Despite preconceived notions, Lili proved to be a very efficient teacher. The shift between casual and professional was easily spotted. She slowed her speech intentionally, utilized the whiteboard for definitions, graphs, and examples, ran through questions with genuine care, and made sure to look out for students that looked like they were struggling. It was almost the antithesis of Monarch's usual lectures, and the class left the room looking all the better for it...except for Lev, of course.

"Class was too slow." he complained, "I don't see why she had to go on so many tangents. Most of the stuff everyone asked was in the book anyways. They would've gotten it if they had done the homework. At least Monarch was a good challenge for the morning. It feels like I'm going to be bored for the rest of the semester now..."

"Can it, Lev!" Reyna bumped into him, "If you scare her off just because she's a good professor, I'll personally see you buried up to your neck in gravel. For the first time this semester, it felt like I could actually keep up! In a Monarch class! Don't take this away from me!"

The two would have continued bickering, but a circle had formed in the hall, blocking up traffic. In the center of it all stood Seymour and Azule. It seemed like they had just been talking, but rabble-rousers took their own spin on the situation. Now there were whispers of a fight, and bets being thrown around. Azule heaved a sigh before giving a nod to Zeppah, who was standing behind him. At the confirmation, the hyena stepped into the center of the ring and cupped his mouth.

"Grudge match between Azule of AZUR and Seymour of SAGE in Arena #1 after class!"

Gasps of confirmation echoed through the throng of students before they began to disperse, leaving Seymour to be tended to by his team. Catching Sylvia's eye, the gazelle boy chuckled and turned to her.

"So...would you care to come watch me get pulverized?"
 
Vance gaped at the newcomer. Things had went along as normal when class started, Dr. Monarch gearing up for what seemed to be some horrible torture when none other than Lob-freaking-lolly Lee bounced into the classroom proclaiming herself student teacher. The wolf boy could vaguely hear his friends asking if this was the girl he had met and if he had known she was a professor. "No, I, she just complained about books and papers and seemed weird." The wolf boy muttered, unsure how to feel about this new turn. However, things quickly turned for the better when class got going. For once in his short time at Beacon, Vance could actually understand Monarch's material. He didn't have to struggle to keep up his notes, he didn't have to ask Sylvia or Reyna a million and one questions, heck he probably wouldn't even need his usual tutor sessions from his team to understand the material! For once, he felt comfortable in his knowledge.

When Lev complained about how slow the class was, Vance was right with Reyna in defending their new professor. "Reyna's right! Sides, even when I do read the book, the letters get weird and jumbly and I can't understand it even when Monarch explains it! When Lili explains it I actually understand so don't make the rest of us suffer just because you're bored!" He huffed, blinking when he finally noticed a strange weight on his wrist. He looked down, vaguely remembering that Gabe had snapped something onto his wrist during breakfast. Vance's face burned, unsure how to deal with this gift.

Sylvia didn't want to mention how she agreed with Lev, so she just smiled at her teammates as SLVR finally seemed to get back into their groove. Their walk to their next class was interrupted by an argument between the two people Sylvia least wanted to see arguing. Hearing the call for the grudge match, she could feel a chill run up her spine. What a way to get back into the swing of things. Despite the apprehension crawling under her skin, Sylvia couldn't help but laugh at Seymour's offer. "Last I remember, you're the one who beat Azule so we'll see who really gets pulverized." She wound her hand in Seymour's. Her eyebrows scrunched up in worry. "That being said, what the heck is going on Seymour? Is this why you've been so off all day?"
 
The hall cleared up quickly, leaving Ellie to fill most of SLVR in on what was happening. Meanwhile, Seymour kept close to Sylvia, closing his eyes and breathing slowly as he gave thought to her question. Seymour's nerves from that morning finally stopped beating around the bush, and made themselves known in these new behaviors.

"I am glad you have so much confidence in me, Sylvia!" Seymour braced his teeth in a smile, but it quickly wore down into a hard-worn grin, close-lipped and on the concerned side. "...Azule is upset about our fight during the tournament. Before we drew the crowd, the intent was to have a small duel in our own time to settle the score without bias. Now, though..." the gazelle faunus adjusted his jaw and tried another smile, this one coming across more convincingly. "Well, as long as Azule isn't glaring daggers into my back after this, I'm sure it'll turn out fine!"

And with that, the day progressed. The hype about Loblolly petered out for Seymour's sake, as most of the school was prattling on about the grudge match later that day. Even teachers took notice as the match's notoriety grew, and by the day's end, Arena #1 was a pit of cheers and shouts surrounding a solitary stage. On that stage stood the two top-dogs of Beacon: Azule, the Azure Emperor, and Seymour, the underdog who took the throne away. Both fighters received massive amounts of support, and if it weren't for the teachers that showed up, it likely would have continued into the match. Instead, the arena finally fell into silence as a moderator stepped into the ring, raising his hands in preparation to unleash the combatants.

"Azule, at the ready!"

The grim reaper, true to form, showed his scythe in full form to the crowd. It wasn't his usual sleek, black, simple one though. This weapon was thick with mechanisms the eye could only hope to see. Its massive rod of a handle shone with a chromatic glint, offset by a blue glow from internal workings. The blade was no different in that respect. It was a much steeper crescent, and its segments were made more plain, but something about the openness of the design was all the more off-putting. To top off that feeling, Azule stood proud, chin high, and addressed Seymour himself.

"I made a mistake underestimating you before, Shen. You might have the title, but I'll make sure you know how little you had to do to earn it!" Azule's call-out earned a few "ooh's" and a whistle or two from the crowd before teachers could shut them up again.

"Seymour, at the ready!"

The gazelle boy simply nodded, dedicating focus to Azule's uncharacteristic grandstanding. Whatever message the leader of AZUR was trying to deliver, it was clearly being branded into Seymour second by second. Tonfa at the ready, SAGE's leader got into a combative stance, and awaited the call to arms.

"Fight!"

The moderator's arms flew down, and not even a second after he was out of the ring, the two fighters flew from their marks, clashing against each other without mercy. Watching their first bout on a screen was one thing, but with the seats that SLVR and SAGE managed to procure (with a bit of help from Reyna and Ellie's crowd-shoving know-how), this was an entirely new experience. Up so close, Seymour's lithe body showed incredulous muscle tone as he strained against Azule's scythe. His eyes, normally so calm and collected, were piercing and wild, like a feral animal looking for the one window to its prey's neck. Where his fight with Sylvia was a match between friends, this Seymour was entirely different. He acknowledged Azule as an enemy. The intensity only grew from there.

Clash after clash, the two met and retreated, making little headway against the other. Azule's semblance only did so much, and after a time of battle, it seemed he decided not to bother with it anymore. Seymour stayed in close, finding the chinks in his strategy just as last time, and Azule adapted, finding the chinks in Seymour's offense, just like last time. Just as they were nearing their aura's half-way point, things finally started to change. With a hefty swing, Azule forced Seymour away and took the opening it left. With a flick of the wrist, his scythe began to segment into it's whip-like shape. However, unlike the old model, it didn't stop at the blade. It wasn't long before the entire weapon had turned into a giant cord with chunky segments interspersed along it, forming a large ring around a surprised Seymour. Another flick of Azule's wrist, and each segment turned inward towards Seymour. The thicker scythe build finally saw its purpose as dozens of gun barrels made aim at the gazelle.

Seymour's next step was taken out of pure, instinctual fear, and it was the most costly wrong step he'd taken that match. The moment his foot touched the ground, Azule lashed out to finish the job, just as intended. The whip struck at Seymour one one end, and fired a terrible barrage of ammunition into the other, hammering the boy into the ground until dust cloaked the field. Mercifully, Azule left him at the minimum percent of aura to count as a victory, but it didn't change the fact that Seymour was no longer mobile.

From there, everyone kind of just...left it at that.

"Oh, that's just par-for-course when it comes to Azule"

"Yeah, don't mess with the Grim Reaper!"

"Gods, that guy doesn't let up for a second. Good thing he won't be around next year!"

"Poor Seymour...at least he had a good run of it in the tournament. Beginner's luck, I guess."

Students left in their cliques and groups until a few stragglers, namely a ludicrously concerned SLVR and SAGE, and a celebratory AZUR, were left. A medical team was pulling Seymour to his feet, and though he was noticeably beaten, he had already begun minor recoveries. Perhaps the only thing more notable than his physical injuries was the damage to Seymour's pride, as even his team couldn't tear his eyes from the ground. Meanwhile, Azule kept watch on the gazelle and his friends from the midst of AZUR's celebration. Even Zeppah's jumping around didn't detract from his intensity, as though Azule was daring another victim to rise in rebellion to his rule.
 
Sylvia frowned at Seymour's explanation. "It sounds to me Azule's just being petty. You beat him fair and square in the tournament. He's just got a bruised ego." She squeezed Seymour's hand, hoping to provide some form of comfort. At least this explained his off-kilter behavior. If fighting Azule would fix it, then Sylvia would just have to support her boyfriend how she could.

The rest of the day was a blur for SLVR. Talk of the fight seemed to be all the school wanted to rave about, putting Sylvia further on edge. She had hoped that she and her friends wouldn't have had to deal with Azule for the rest of the year (or forever, if she was completely honest). Once everyone was gathered around, even teachers coming to watch the match, Sylvia finally felt some of her anxiety calm, only to be replaced by a new wave.

Azule's new weapon drew Sylvia's eye. Her inner weapon's nerd squealed at the sight, eager to see what that baby could do. However, the rest of her shivered at the idea of Seymour facing off Azule with a fancy new weapon. Clearly, AZUR's leader had been doing some training while everyone else was on vacation.

The fight didn't last that long. Vance winced at how one sided the whole thing was. Seymour was by no means a weak fighter, Sylvia winced at the memory of some of the bruises from their tournament fight. Azule must have improved a ton if he could go from losing to Seymour to beating him so completely. Sylvia didn't want him anywhere near her team.

Once the medics started to help Seymour up, Vance hesitantly headed toward the rest of SAGE, Sylvia following. The wolf boy nudged his boyfriend with his shoulder, sliding a hand into Gabe's to try and show his support. He didn't say anything, not wanting to intrude after SAGE had witnessed their leader go through such a total defeat.

Sylvia was a bit slower to reach SAGE, managing to catch Azule's gaze as she walked. She frowned, her disgust and begrudging respect clear in the wrinkle of her brow. She didn't approach, looking away when she and her team reached the rest of SAGE. She wasn't sure what to say. How do you comfort someone when they were so completely outclassed by someone who had so much more experience? "... We're still learning. He'll be fine. This just means there's still something to improve." Her words sounded hollow to her ears, but Sylvia couldn't just leave them in silence.
 
"O-Of course!" Seymour's grim expression forcibly twisted itself into a smile for Sylvia's sake as he responded. "I suppose I would have wanted to prove something to myself as well, were I in his position..." the gazelle boy trailed off, stretching his arms and hands with a wince. It wasn't as brutal an ending as the tournament match, but it sure felt worse. Seymour was about to motion for his team to head out, hoping to get to bed early to make up for such a hectic first day back, but the voice of a girl sounding off in the arena hall's entrance. The afternoon light hid her features, but from the silhouette, one could tell she was of an average height, and gaunt, holding a rather unhealthy hunch in her stance.

"That was almost cute, Azule. Does baby feel better after beating the big bad fweshman?" The form chided with a stiff cackle. Azule, meanwhile, lost every ounce of intimidation, breaking into a cold sweat and backing into members of his team for support. The rest of AZUR followed suit, seemingly terrified of whoever was standing in the door frame. She didn't give Azule time to swallow the lump in his throat and respond, stepping within the even lighting of the arena to reveal herself in full.

"Don't act so surprised, worms. I'm here on business. Jeez, it hasn't even been a year yet." The olive-green haired, grey-green eyed, boney-faced, pasty-skinned, glasses-wearing girl spoke with superiority that went even further than Azule. Here was a grim-faced girl in a t-shirt that was a little too big for her slim frame, old and frayed jeans, and flats, acting higher than the Grim Reaper of Beacon. Who did she think she was?...naturally, Reyna was the first to answer that question. Grabbing Sylvia and Vance's wrists and wringing them tightly in her monster grip, she squealed through her hyperventilation,

"I-It's Jade! Guys...guys, it's Jade! Oooohh gods, guys, look, l-l-look, it's Jade!" The pinkette seemed fixated on the girl at center stage, and unlike most of the people Reyna called out, Jade seemed to take notice of the attention, passing by AZUR to stand among SLVR and SAGE with a more relaxed grin.

"'Sup freshies." Jade hummed, pushing up her glasses and stretching out her back, only to hunch over again to observe the faces of the group. Up close it was obvious she was their elder, with stress-wrinkles decorating the bridge of her nose and sides of her eyes. A small mole under the left of her lip only added to her maturity. Reyna was caught off-guard by her acknowledgement, and quickly hid behind Sylvia to avoid direct contact. Jade laughed, and was about to pry, when Azule regained his cool composure, and approached to make an inquiry.

"Monster," he addressed Jade icily, "what are you doing back here? They sent you to the field right after graduation. And where's your...your team?" He seemed to hesitate at the last bit, but he didn't back down, even when Jade turned her whole body towards him, hunching over his tiny form as if a scientist over a mouse.

"Hmm? I still haven't worn out that old nickname, have I, little boy?" Her grin spread eerily as she continued to take up space in Azule's personal bubble, "I'm back to report to the headmistress, duh. What's a huntress if she can't report on a mission? Why don't you siphon some of your lip-service to your head for once, clod?" With a snarl, she shoved him back and returned her attention to the freshman teams. "Ah, but I saw everyone grouped up 'round here, and figured she'd be in the crowd too. Now I gotta go to the office, huh? Lame..."

Needless to say, SAGE and SLVR were both left in the dust in terms of what exactly was happening. Seymour's eyes were narrowed studiously at the newcomer. Abby had herself shoved into Lev's personal space, but she was observing Jade just as intensely. Gabe, holding Vance's hand tight in his own, was tense and nervous, his eyes darting towards escape routes out of instinct. Ellie was dumbfounded, standing alongside Seymour, but forgetting that she was tending to his injuries. Lev was holding onto Abby for his own sake as well as hers, for some form of familiarity in the strange social setting. Finally, Reyna peered over Sylvia's shoulder, eyes bugged out in equal parts awe and terror. While she was going on to Azule about her business, she found enough confidence to whisper into Sylvia's ear.

"She's the one, Sylvia...she's the one who's taken first four years straight...and her team... H-Her team!..." The second Reyna mentioned Jade's team, her eyes seemed to spark to life, locking straight onto the pinkette like a demon finding a prime soul to devour.

"Speaking of," the green-haired girl hissed, then placed a couple of fingers to her mouth, blowing out a shrill whistle that scraped at the back of everyone's heads. What followed was silence...silence...and then-

Bark! Bark bark! Barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark!!!

Three massive dogs, dressed and armed with their own unique gear, came through the door. The first, a Leonburger, made a b-line to Jade's side and sat itself down as loyal as could be. It wore white plate-armor to protect its joints, and a sword and shield were mounted on its back, both decorated with regal silver and blue detail. The second was a Tibetan Mastiff, booking it through the door and making several rounds of both the arena, and the multitude of people therein, growling and glaring at anyone who chanced a look into its eyes. It was less armored than the former, only wearing paw-guards colored in gold and red. Its weaponry, on the other hand, was extensive. On each of its thighs and shoulders lie axes with no clear end to their potential utility. The last of the three came in slowly and steadily; an Irish Wolfhound that simply stood by the doorway, waiting. It wore what seemed to be the standard armoring for a dog, colored in a shadowy grey. Aside from the unique helmet it wore, the wolfhound didn't seem to have a weapon, not that it stopped it from looking intimidating.

Reyna wasn't even being subtle anymore as she shook Sylvia's shoulders in excitement. "Aegis! Dahl! Egress! Team JADE! Sylvia, it's team JADE! Oh my gods, ohmygods! Can you believe it? I can't believe it! Ohmyg-" she went on until Ellie pulled her away and calmed her down. Meanwhile, in all of the chaos, AZUR slipped away at Azule's lead, clearly far beyond frustrated with Jade's presence at the academy, no matter her business.

After Jade had a laugh at the ruckus, she corralled her team at her side, and finally stood facing SLVR and SAGE with a less chaotic atmosphere. After giving them all a once-over, she nodded with a sigh. "...even good worms are still worms, I guess. At least you don't scare easy. Now which of you is going to take your senior to the headmistress? Or do any of you have any spunk left after seeing a toddler cram a scythe down deer-boy's throat? If so, I'd be glad to work some of it out for ya's." Jade gave a crooked grin to the group of eight. It was hard to tell if she was a better version of Azule, or worse. Either way, she waited for an answer with unflinching dominance. If AZUR was the ceiling of Beacon, then Jade was making it clear, here and now, that she was the sky.
 
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