[IC] ANKL. Part I: Awakening

[Twinwolf]

[Lexi smiled at Alva. "Oh, it wasn't a big deal, Miss Alva. My breathing was acting up is all." She said dismissively, "I didn't notice because I was distracted by a tree." She didn't look Alva in the eye, instead looking past her to watch the teacher that would direct them to start and remaining poised to dash towards the center.]

---------------

Alva

 

While Alva does get ready to sprint as well, she continues talking. "Are you sure you're well enough for this? The nurse said to say it was alright and everything?" she says, the concern still there. "If you feel like you're gonna have trouble again just tell me and I'll carry you to the nurse again!"

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

Arya's attack, for all the emotion behind it, simply shattered when it came in contact with Kindle. "Well isn't that something." Kindle said with a smirk. A deep cut had been made in the ground where Arya had been moments before, the grass at its edges burnt or burning. "I wasn't aware Helen was keeping pets with the power of heretics. If you knew what you were doing this might actually be interesting. Too bad it seems you're woefully unaware that the past has no power over the present." She took a couple of steps back and spun her scythe around a few times, finishing her flourish with the head pointed at Arya. "Why don't I show you something a little more modern?"

 

Spoiler

Arya's music is good, but Kindle needs the BGM back

 

Kindle's eyepatch burned away, revealing the bright blue-white flame that had replaced her eye. The burning spread out across her face and to her hair and clothes. Her hair flared out into a long side ponytail held in place by a large black bow, the tips gradually shifting color to bright blue. Her clothes burned away into a semi-transparent blue dress that ended well above her knees, through which could be seen a plain black bikini (or perhaps her actual underclothes?). A black choker circled her neck, with her eyepatch's flame symbol emblazoned on the right in blue. Her hands now had black gloves with a pair of long thin ribbons colored in fiery orange hanging loosely from them. Her boots had shifted to be totally smooth and grown small heels and more pointed toes. Her lower arms and what little was visible of her lower legs were covered in a red triangle pattern, as well a large red triangle occupied her cleavage. Flames danced along her fingertips and up the handle of her scythe to the blade, giving it an aura of fire.

 

"You'd better get back to running." Kindle sneered, "If you go now, I'll kill Nayru first and you can have another couple of minutes alive." She didn't waited for an answer to pull her scythe back and spin it beside her with her left hand. She charged Arya with the whirlwind of death at her side. No longer did it simply drag through the earth, it tore up clumps of dirt and grass and loose rocks, tossing them towards Arya with enough force to bruise if they hit.

[Sutoratosu]

"'Nani? Did those rounds just.... fucking shatter on impact?" She shook her head, glancing at the gun before tossing it to the side. Before it even hit the ground, it had shattered into hundreds of glittering motes. For all the motivation dad's words had given her to get her ass up and fight, she once more found her mind racing as to what the hell to do. Hell, she didn't even really know what she was already doing, or how, she'd just... thought about mom's old sidearm in the heat of the moment. It'd been something, anything to potentially turn the tables, and well... boom, there it'd been, right in her hands. Just like those times she'd showed it to her as a kid...

      She could only scowl as the bitch mocked her. The part about the "Past having no power over the present" gave Arya something to think about- if those two shots she'd squeezed off did nothing... would anything else she bothered trying? The gun had felt real, in her hands, and so too was the recoil as she fired it. Even when she cast the damn thing aside, it fell with all the same weight a pistol of it's make should've. She once more focused her thoughts on the memory, and it was right back in her hand, formed out of a crystalline aura that surged over her finger tips. What the hell had she meant? If the stuff she called by remembering them couldn't just be empty illusions, so...

12 hours ago, Clownpiece said:

 

"You'd probably get back to running. If you go now, I'll kill Nayru first and you can have another couple of minutes alive."

"Whoa, wait, WHAT? Nayru!?" She asked, but instead of an answer, what she got was a nice view of the maniac showing off yet again, this time spinning the scythe like it was a goddamn helicopter blade. Almost instictually, she raised a gauntleted hand to protect her face, as a wayward stone about the size of her fist came hurtling in. The shock wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it beat the alternative. 

    "Why are you here!? Who the fuck are you!? What are you!?" She called out, dodging the debris as it hurtled towards her and beginning to backpedal... only to quickly realize from the speed of the woman's charge that backpedaling would do shit and quickly diving to the side and rolling away before she could be made into mincemeat. Her mind grasped at something, anything to use in defense as she got back up, and like that, the memory of a shabby old pipe that could've belonged in any alleyway anywhere came to mind. Her mother's sidearm, obviously useless her, shattered, the motes of light crystalline, glowing dust it produced forming into the long profile of that lead pipe. knowing full well the psycho wasn't done and would just charge again, She almost felt silly, as she held it at the ready. Especially considering she'd given up a goddamn gun for this peice of shit, but well.... the damn gun had failed it's one job, and the pipe had a far better chance of swatting away some of the crap this chick was slinging.

[Shamitako]

Lexi

 

"No worries, I'll be fine." Lexi assured Alva. Just then, the teacher in charge finished starting the next group over and came over to their group. Lexi tensed up in anticipation of the upcoming whistle, they'd start any moment now.

 

Haley

 

"Aislin! Hill! Back up, you can't run from four feet away!" The teacher called out the pair, who obediently backed away.

For the most part everyone was some degree of ready and waiting, but there were some exceptions. Cici was still playing her game, and it didn't seem like the teacher was planning to stop her. Lilith was hiding in the back and clearly would rather be anywhere else. A strangely glasses-less Naya was pouting in a corner. And Kaede was... something, Haley couldn't really tell what was up with Kaede.

 

The whistle finally blew and they were off, or at least some of them were. Lexi was the first to grab a ball, immediately boucing it off the the Laylite girl who had gone for the same one and catching it again. It was sort of cheap, but it worked. Sharp also shot forward and successfully retrieved a ball, though she simply retreated backwards instead of throwing it at Riley, who had been opposite her. Cici, whom Haley couldn't help but dedicate some of her focus to, remained in place and kept playing her game.

 

Kindle

 

Arya's answer was the scythe blade cleaving through the pipe immediately after it formed. The edges of the cut were smooth and glowed with a dull red heat. The slash was followed up instantly by Kindle's palm striking Arya's sternum, knocking the wind from her lungs and forcing her to stumble backwards. Before Arya could possibly hope to regain her balance or breath, Kindles fingers grasped the fabric of her dress.

 

"The answer, to all of your questions, is written in flames." The look in Kindle's eye burned itself into Arya's memory. It was filled with a cold and deadly passion, bordering on fanaticism, that told Arya no matter what, the girl with the scythe would not quit until she was dead. An aura of red flame erupted around Kindle, licking at Arya and threatening to burn her alive.

[Twinwolf]

Alva

 

Excitedly sprinting forward, Alva was also quick to grab a ball - not as quick as Lexi but quick enough to get there third. She dodged one ball and tossed it back at her aggressor, scoring a hit, and then retreating to grab another one...

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia made a halfhearted attempt towards obtaining one of the balls in the center, but she wasn't the quickest by any means and she was more concerned about not getting hit by the girls that were. After she (predictably) failed to obtain a dodgeball, she drifted backward toward Kaede again while trying to keep half her attention on the other team. "Anyway, yeah, it's a fantasy series. I'm on the fifth book so I can give you the first couple."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

"Ah, l should've guessed. lf l recall correctly fantasy is your favourite genre." she said for once some hint of emotion in her voice. Arturia would note, that if there was anything that got a response out of Kaede, it was talking about books. She wasn't exactly bouncing or brimming with energy, but, her features perked up slightly. lt was more than any other person would manage to get out of her. The most of a positive emotion for certain. 

 

However, they were in the middle of a game of dodgeball... it was only inevitable that one girl from the other team would try and get wise and try to hit one of the two of them and lo and behold it was that time. lt was one of the girls Kaede didn't know... who she was wasn't really important but she threw one of the balls straight for Arturia. Kaede only managed to catch the movement out of her peripheral vision as her back was mostly turned. However, she turned like lightning. ln a flash she'd casually caught the the ball with only her left hand. She just looked at the girl who had thrown it with a blank cool expression. Her typical face. She said nothing before winding up and letting loose her own. lt flew like a bullet easily hitting her target before the girl even had time to react. The iconic sound of a rubber ball smacking into one's stomach and the following sounds of someone hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Where were we...?" she said returning her attention to Arturia as if what happened never occurred.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

Once the game began, Platinum... Actually didn't move, for a bit, already knowing that she wouldn't be able to run up and grab one of the balls before anyone else could. So, she simply waited for the carnage began. At least, for those that were actually participating. Even when the rubber balls were being thrown around Platinum didn't exactly move except for a few steps to the side from time to time, and for the fact that she had unfolded her arms. More or less, she was waiting for someone to throw one directly at her, then catch it. It felt better to play defensive rather than offensive, after all. 

[Sutoratosu]

Arya's futile fight for survival

 

She visciously grabbed at the hand out of instinct, bare nails digging into flesh as she tried to wrench herself free, adrenaline again kicking in. Much like when she'd been pinned the first time, her cries were more like that of a cornered animal, not caring of the licking flames that had begun to emanate off the fanatical wench or the pain she could begin to feel as her palm heated ever quicker.

     But in her desperate, almost instinctual struggle, as her own storm grey eyes met the pyromaniacs, there was one thing and thing only that Arya could see; it was madness. Pure, and utter. The same type of madness that drives this world. And it only made her body struggle harder to free itself, the exhaustion beginning to eat at her be damned, the normal limits of her strength be damned. Even as some rational part tried to tell her it was hopeless, that this was a struggle she could not win, the cornered animal shouted with everything it had, focused just as much at Kindle as it was her own nagging self. And loud enough to cloak the subtle *click* from her gauntleted hand...

 

"SHUT UP!"

 

And in the same moment, she took every once of raw physical strength she had, further bolstered by the second burst of adrenaline she'd felt today, and focused it all into one viscous knee kick with her armored leg, bringing the metal clad limb flying up towards one target, and one alone- right to Kindle's clams. simultaneously, something dropped from her hand, and rolled along the ground along with it's pin. Yellow and Black markings along its side and some very apt print "stun grenade" gave it's function even before the blast could go off- which Arya had already braced herself for in her desperate state, knowing from past experience exactly what one felt like.

      one eye was squeezed shut, though to any onlooker, it could've easily be from the pain of the heat slowly licking at her. The mil-spec plugs she'd conjured from memory in her ears at the same time wouldn't fully stop the blast, but they'd be better than nothing... and unlike the first time, her screaming served more than just frustration. pressure and light. It was all about mitigating the internal pressure in one's ears on detonation, along with the light the eyes were exposed to...

Quote

"Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor..."

     Her mother's words echoed this time, in the back of her mind. She knew this was a futile fight... she'd never entertained delusions of trying to win- only delusions of escaping to live another day. And delusional or no, the only way that had even a remote plausibility was for their to be an opening, and from what she'd already seen, the chances of the cunt punt doing the job was minimal... she could only hope it would distract the bitch enough as the Stunner went off.

[Shamitako]

Kindle

 

Kindle's eyes widened in pain from the groin attack. It wasn't enough to loosen her grip, but it still hurt plenty. The stun grenade very nearly went off, but Kindle managed to recover enough to kick it, causing it to shatter like the earlier bullets. "I have to give you credit." She hissed through gritted teeth, "It takes a lot to piss me off." Anything more and Kindle would have simply ended things with Crimson Reaper, but Arya's futile struggling only drove her to anger. This proved to be a mistake a moment later.

 

A head appeared just next to the two clashing girls. An upside-down head wearing a straw hat. A red-haired girl had suddenly appeared, walking on the air above them, with her clothes and hair acting as if gravity were pulling them upwards. "Do you need help?" She asked, though it was unclear whether she spoke to Kindle or Arya.

 

Kindle released her grip and jumped back, her flame aura vanishing. She watched the newcomer warily. This had to be an illusion of some kind, but it didn't fit with Arya's power, meaning another combatant had managed to sneak up on her. While she could handle multiple opponents with ease, this new foe was a wildcard. Until she knew how powerful they were, she would be trapped on the defensive.

 

The upside-down girl seemed to ignore Kindle's response entirely, instead speaking to Arya. "Time moves forward. So many splashes of color, so much purple. Purple fire burns in love. Burn it down, make it purple. Make her pay in time. A snap of the fingers, a snap of the neck. Mend your heart, make it bleed. Love is disaster. Pretty purple penguin. Time moves forward, make her spill the purple." Kindle didn't understand a word of her gibberish. Perhaps it was code? Yet more uncertainty. This situation had gone from a sure success to a potential failure far to quickly. Kindle cursed herself for letting Arya get to her. Had she simply cut the Time Eye in two the instant she gained an advantage, this would be well past over and she could be inside killing Nayru.

[Sutoratosu]

Arya had never been so relieved to have something so bizzare occur before in her life, when the girl appeared and fire-bitch backed off. Trying to catch her breath, she eyed Kindle and the scythe for a moment, before giving a confused glance to the upside-down girl as the she began to spout a riddle

Quote

"Time moves forward. So many splashes of color, so much purple. Purple fire burns in love. Burn it down, make it purple. Make her pay in time. A snap of the fingers, a snap of the neck. Mend your heart, make it bleed. Love is disaster. Pretty purple penguin. Time moves forward, make her spill the purple." 

Time.... time... memories? Arya supposed in a way, one could interpret memories as just... the imprints of time, plus it the fire-bitch herself had described it in similar context earlier. Perhaps that was how she was doing any of this, just calling forward things from their places in the past, based on the imprints she had of them? The stuff about purple and fire was lost on her for a bit, but at the mentions of 'love' and 'penguin' made her momentarily blush, as the memory of the day before crept to the forefront of her mind... Natalie always had thought of the little birds as cute... but, how did any of this mess relate to her? Make her spill the purple? What the fuck did 'purple' even mean in this context? Make her pay in time? Well, it was pretty damn obvious her chances of winning here will jackelin and shit, and jackelin just left town on the last train... so what, run away for now, come back after she'd done...whatever the girl was saying? Yeh, that was definitely a plan arya could get behind... 

      Whatever the answer was, she didn't have time to sit here and ponder the intricacies of the girl's words. Still panting, she managed to get together a rough inkling of what the girl wanted, nodding profusely "Time fuckery....Purple fire... Love...Penguins... more purple...spill the purple....something to do...with Natalie maybe? either way... got it. And yes, Please. I'll take.... any help I can get here...."

[Shamitako]

Trick

 

The strange girl turned away from Arya and began to walk towards Kindle, shifting her angle slightly with each step until she stood on the ground. Kindle raised her scythe defensively. The girl stopped about two yards away. "Hi there, I'm Trick!" Trick announced cheerfully.

"I don't give a damn who you are, I have a task to complete." Kindle replied. She pulled the scythe back and charged. "And you're in the way!"

Trick raised her hand, her fingers ready to snap. For a moment the confusion and insanity she carried vanished. Arya and Kindle saw a glimpse of something far, far more powerful than a simple ghost. Trick spoke, her voice barely above a whisper but menacingly clear in Arya and Kindle's ears, "Don't let your heart die." Her fingers snapped and a loud crack, not unlike a tree collapsing, echoed around the three. Trick vanished, rapidly burning away like a sheet of paper cast into a fire.

 

In the same instant, Kindle froze in place with her scythe mid-swing. Shock filled her features, the scythe fell harmlessly from her fingers, and she reverted to her original outfit. For a moment she just stood their, her body still swinging her scythe at her now-vanished foe. Then she animated again, rapidly dropping to her knees and letting out an inhuman sceam of pain. She clutched chest as though trying to tear something out. She ripped open her top and bra, clawing at the skin with such desperation that her nails tore into her breast. Blood spilled over her fingers and covered her chest, but neither her clawing nor her screaming stopped.

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

 

Seeing as there were only four balls, Esyllt decided to wait patiently for an opportunity to come towards her. With this many people, she would be better off just playing the long game and conserving energy. Esyllt retreated over to a less crowded section of the playing field to observe. Deep down, she hoped that someone would strike her out so she could take it easy on the sidelines.

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

 

She watched for a few precious seconds as one girl vanished, and the other proceeded to lose her goddamn mind. The sane, rational part of her wanted to pick up the scythe she'd dropped and end the bitch now, remove the threat she posed before she could recover.... if she would recover. But the scared chimp part of her mind wanted nothing more than to turn heel and get the fuck out of there while she had the chance... 

    And as the assailant began to tear her top off and claw at her own tits, the scared chimp won out over the rational part of her mind, and Arya was gone around the corner and dashing back towards the side door. Natalie, had to get her and get away from here, find someone, anyone, and pray that they wouldn't put her in a damn institution for this story, though even as she reached the door, she doubted it. Not even she herself could fully believe what she'd just lived through.

    Battered, bloody, singed, and out of breath, she didn't even notice as the layer of crystal formed over her skin again and shattered into millions of grey motes that faded in the wind. As she turned the handle and pushed her way inside, she was again dressed in normal attire, though the gash on her calf and the burns on her palm remained.

    "NATALIE! We....we.... we HAVE to get out of here!" She practically stumbled into the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind her as she called out. Her breathing was still haggard "Miss Bates... she's Dead, some psycho outside was waiting for me... still out there.... we gotta go, find someone, anyone...don't know how long she'll stay down..."

 

She knew she was going fast. That she was frantic, panicking, but she prayed she'd just trust her, or at the very least take her current state and the injuries she bore as proof something was very wrong here...

[Shamitako]

(OOC: I swear I will dodgeball soon, I've been busy with Christmas and Arya's scene only has one PC to worry about so it's easier.)

 

Natalie

 

The dishwasher was just finishing its main cycle when Arya re-entered the building, its loud rumble dying down to a dull swishing. Natalie didn't fully register what Arya was saying, partially due to the noise but mostly due to an inability to process the news. Even Arya's injuries weren't enough to spur her to action. What did cause her to act was the appearance of Arya's psycho bitch in the doorway. Kindle had her right hand half buried in her exposed chest and left was dragging her scythe along behind her. Seeing that, Natalie grabbed a pair of kitchen knives and ran towards her.

 

"Nayru." Kindle seethed, "I found you." Despite her injuries, she managed to raise the scythe to strike at Natalie.

Natalie instinctively raised the knives to deflect it. Purple energy ran from her palms, covering the knives and allowing them to stand their ground against Kindle's blade. "Arya, get ready to run." She said, "I don't know how, but I've got this."

"There... won't be any need for that." Kindle hissed. She pulled back her weapon and retreated back to the door. "You've beaten me... today. But I always complete the tasks... I'm given. This isn't over." She shoved her way out the door, leaving Natalie and Arya alone once more.

 

Natalie dropped her knives to the ground and turned back to Arya. "So, this is crazy." she said, "Can I suggest we move talking to my mom up to immediately?"

 

Elsewhere

 

A middle-aged woman in a simple tunic stood before a large mirror, seemingly made of ice. The mirror was devoid of any reflection, showing only pure blackness. There was a burst of flame and Trick suddenly appeared between them, flying backwards from the mirror to be caught in the woman's arms. "You've overexerted yourself, little ghost. I was able to catch you easily." The woman said.

"Turn it off or face despair. Green is lost to void." Trick answered.

"Your little riddles won't fool me, I know who you are. I'm the one who brought you back, after all."

"Foolishness does not drive us, only life and dogs."

"Oh, you can't help it? Has the ghost really overpowered you? How far you've fallen, little godling." The woman released Trick, though the redheaded ghost remained floating as though still held.

"Trapped in purple, what does the wind matter? We seek blue. Don't fly to the sun."

"And why would I tell you that? I have all the power here, there's no reason for me to give you anything."

Trick raised her hand. "Fingersnap?"

"As if you have enough power left to take me on even when you haven't just wasted all of your energy."

Trick shrugged. "Fingersna-"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" The woman's otherwise inscrutable composure broke for a moment. It seemed she wasn't quite willing to bet on Trick's weakness. "Ahem... There's no need to rush to violence, we can make a deal."

"The night accepts echoes of orange. Also, pancakes."

"Now you're just screwing with me."

"Judgement is left to the wicked." Trick shrugged.

"Anyways. I'll give you Alexus, in return I want your word that you will refrain from interfering with one of my flock."

"The chains shatter under the strain of false testimony."

"I trust you."

Trick thought for a moment. "The Soul is bound in the devil's contract. The red river runs with regret. There is none in the kaleidoscope. I'm dead people." She rotated to be upside-down, sitting cross-legged on the air.

"Glad to hear it, her name is Makaylin Argos."

"Give me the map to the maiden of the ocean. Draw it red with purpose."

"Yes, yes, Alexus. When your ghost relocates next, I can redirect you to her the same way I brought you here." The woman pointed to the mirror.

"Who can change the sky to sea?"

"Call me Her."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Trick!"

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

 

She had whirled on her heels the moment she heard the bitch's footsteps, and nigh immediately, the adrenaline pumped anew. Beaten and exhausted though her body was, it had once more began to manifest a thin coating of memories- shifting grey crystal that danced and shimmered with the waters of time. Slow...too slow, she'd already spent so much energy just getting away from the bitch, and she practically had to fight to try and get back into the state she'd held before.

      Thankfully, or bizarrely, She didn't have to win that fight. Natalie had already rushed forward and met the killer herself, and with the exchange of words that followed, something finally clicked. And yet all Arya could do as the psycho finally gave up and retreated was stand there, shaking her head in disbelief as she let go of something she didn't even know her mind was clinging onto... and with it, the spreading coat of memories receded and vanished.

      "Natalie... is Nayru? But... how? I knew this had something to do with her, but fucking hell, what's even happening here!? First my old math teacher gets gutted, then some scythe weilding bitch comes after me and I start... fucking with time I guess... and now the goddess of reason and the mind is apparently... my girlfriend. You can't... can't..." Her leg began to throb. So did her palm. lot of things did, actually. Now that her life was out of immediate danger, slowly but surely the pain of her ordeal trickled back in. Tiny pin pricks and pulses of stinging, searing discomfort in her palm and along her calve, and a much duller throb around her sternum. Before long she was bracing herself against the kitchen counter, fighting to keep the world from spinning "Can't make this shit up...none of it makes any... goddamn sense. Am I.... losing it?"

On 12/28/2017 at 12:16 AM, Clownpiece said:

"So, this is crazy. Can I suggest we move talking to my mom up to immediately?"

It took a good half a minute for her to snap back to reality, shaking her head "Huh? Oh...y-yeah...We should...How did you...?"

 

And she stopped herself there. There were no end of questions burning at the tip of tongue, but as it was she already felt just shy of falling over. Launching into a deluge of inquiries wouldn't help. Besides, hopefully the answers would come to her on their own... just as she had earlier, she heavily doubted Mother Opium was oblivious to... to whatever had gone on here today. 

[Shamitako]

Natalie

 

Natalie looked down at the knives and back to Arya. "I have no idea." She answered. She couldn't think about it too much, it was just to crazy. If she tried to process what just happened she would probably pass out from shock. Instead she headed for the main door, leading Arya towards their visit with her mother.

 

Haley

 

Haley hadn't lasted long on the field, being taken out pretty rapidly and letting the other girls get back in first. Despite this, her team had a pretty handy lead. Cici hadn't so much as glanced away from her game, but she had still effortlessly dodged every ball that flew her way. Sharp was proving to be quite the athlete, launching balls with an intense fury. Lilith was a small enough presence to avoid notice in her corner. The other Laylite that Haley didn't know were collectively average, one constantly being hit and requiring retrieval, but the other managing to hold her own. The other team wasn't doing near as well. The unknowns were easily disposed of, Naya hadn't even tried, Esyllt's wish had been granted by Sharp, and Lexi's aggressiveness had gotten her a dodgeball to the knee. Riley was completely focused on Kaede, almost entirely refusing to target anyone else. Haley wasn't sure how that had happened. She still had no clue what was up with Kaede, and Riley didn't seem the type to go after someone without a reason.

 

Kindle

 

Kindle sat against the wall that she'd burnt the elderly teacher's innards to, her own innards spilling over her chest and legs. The pain was gone, replaced by a dull numbness. Her fingers ached with a need to scratch at her chest more, which she unwillingly obliged despite the stings of renewed pain it brought. A figure approached her from the nearby treeline, a figure she knew quite well. "Katherine." She said with a half-chuckle.

"Inquisitor." Katherine replied.

"Here to finish me off?"

"You know better than that." Katherine extended her hand and a bubble of orange energy formed around Kindle. Her wound began to close up, though the aching in her fingers refused to quit. "I'm surprised Arya was able to do such a number on you."

"Arya? The pet? She didn't do this. Some upside-down, straw-hat freak snapped her fingers and everything went to hell."

Katherine raised an eyebrow at that, it seemed she knew something Kindle didn't. "If she hadn't, I would have intervened."

"Please, the pet would be long past dead by now." Kindle decided not to push the matter, she was at Katherine's mercy and didn't want to push her luck.

"I'm sure it would have worked out."

"Whatever, are you almost done?"

"I'm finished." The shield vanished.

 

Kindle used her scythe to push herself up. Her achy fingers wound their way to her exposed and bloodied chest, mindlessly scratching at it. "Thanks for that, Katherine."

"You could stay." Katherine said, almost pleading.

"Stay? Here? With you?"

"We used to be friends."

"Friends? Maybe. But I'm not the one who betrayed the church. And I don't intend to be." Kindle started to storm past Katherine, but Katherine reached out to stop her.

"Kindle, please."

"Katherine, one of your allies is a rotting corpse four feet away from you. I did that. There is no 'please' between us."

Katherine opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again. She lowered her arm and let Kindle past.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia hadn't been paying much attention, in all honesty. She took a few stray hits and didn't deal many out herself, but managed to hold up just enough to not find herself a total dead weight for the team. Which was impressive, given that her attention was split between talking to Kaede and attempting to process the slowly-dawning existential crisis while also figuring out how to tell Lilith she was the Goddess of Power without actually doing that because apparently it could be very bad. "Uh, by the way Kaede, weird question, but do you know Lil-" PING! It was probably a good thing that Arturia had swapped to contacts after pressure from her mother a couple years ago, because any pair of glasses she had been wearing would have likely suffered more than a bit at the impact they just took at the hands of Riley. It was enough to send her staggering, partially due to the total lack of preparation, though she less-than-gracefully managed to recover before she fell all the way over. "Ow. . ."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

 

Kaede had turned to look as Arturia began speaking to her again but... that was abruptly cut short as a ball flew in undetected this time. Kaede suddenly felt a heat she never really had before rise up in chest and face. Everything just felt... hot. lt only got worse when she saw the culprit, the one who had been throwing balls at her this whole game. Riley... she just felt intense amount of heat when she looked at her. She grit her teeth, and grabbed the ball that had hit her only friend. And she used everything to throw that ball straight at Riley. She didn't care if the girl got hurt... in fact, she wanted her to. She wanted her to feel pain for her transgression. Kaede... afterwards seemed as if she wasn't really sure what had just occurred. Was this... anger she was feeling?

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

For the most part, Platinum was... Rather surprised to realize that there were only 3 people left on the field, including her. At least, on her own team. She had at least thought they would be able to last longer, but apparently, she was wrong. As she went over that fact though, she lifted her hands, catching one of the balls thrown at her by Sharp and throwing it back at the opposing team without much hesitation, aiming for the same person that had thrown the ball at her.

 

Apparently if she stayed on the defensive for too long here she'd be the last person left standing.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia wandered off the field, rubbing at her face and her expression twisting a bit, her nose moving about. She touched her finger to her nostril; it'd hurt, but she wasn't bleeding. She took her place off the main playing area, leaning up against the wall with an exaggerated sigh. It was a little unsettling, watching Kaede; the girl was usually utterly unreadable, but this time she was pretty clearly angry. It was almost . . . touching, given the target of her anger and what had incited it.

 

Lilith was still over there, so it's not like she could start a conversation with her. . . she still didn't know what to do even if she could, but she was pretty good at winging it once she had her foot in the metaphorical door. It was still crazy to think about. Miss Katherine being Kallisto? She had been fairly certain that if the goddesses were real, they must be cruel or uncaring. . . Or more limited than you'd think, which seemed to be the case. And now one goddess had her on a mission to try and protect another one, who apparently couldn't be told she was one for. . . reasons. She'd have to ask about that at some point. 

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

 

Esyllt had gladly walked off the field, and walked over to Lexi to join her on the sidelines. Her remaining two roommates were still on the playing field, playing with such focus that she couldn't help but silently cheer for them on the sidelines. She made herself comfortable and sat on the grass, resting her head in her palms. "Everyone's really into the game, aren't they? It's a little intense," Esyllt said with a laugh. She was referring to the apparent rivalry that was going on between Riley and Kaede. Maybe they were really good friends, competing with one another like that. "Excited to get back out there, Lexi?"

[Shamitako]

Natalie

 

Natalie texted ahead asking her mother to meet at her cabin. So it was no surprise that when the girls approached Staff Cabin 1, Mother Opium was waiting outside the door. She was on her phone, but the instant she saw Arya and Natalie, she ended to call and rushed over. She  embraced Natalie tightly, tears rushing down her face. "Oh Natalie I was so worried and I'm so glad you're okay! I don't know what I would have done if the Inquisitor had hurt you. I sent help right away but Syv wasn't able to warn me until Kindle was already here and I was so scared until I got your text. And then I was still scared because you didn't say if you were okay and what if-"

"Mom!" Natalie had tried to interrupt several times; finally succeeding. "You're embarrassing me in front of my girlfriend."

"Oh, sorry." Mother Opium released Natalie, smoothed out her dress, and wiped her eyes. "Hello Arya. It seems we have a lot to discuss."

Though Arya wouldn't be able to pick up on it, Natalie could tell her mother was surprised. It seemed she wasn't quite all-knowing.

[Sutoratosu]

Arya

Letting the... moment pass as the two embraced, Arya nodded with a deep bow once she was finally addressed, a gesture reserved for so few people in her life, she could count all of them on a single hand. Well, she tried to bow, at least. In her current state she didn't manage more than a slight inclination before she winced and stopped, the spot on her back where the fire bitch drop kicked her beginning to throb anew, along with her sternum- wouldn't surprise arya if both had bruises.

   "Hello to you as well, Mother Opium," She responded in an almost formal tone, utterly devoid of the snark she so often showed her instructors and peers  "I suppose we do. Inquisitor...? I presume that's whatever title the bit- girl who killed Miss Bates held?"

 

It reeked of something vile, the word did. Simply hearing it uttered was enough to give her a bad feeling, given the context of what she'd just experienced. The little fire bitch had mentioned being assigned a task and all... and she'd been quite fanatical about it at that. For fuck's sake, she'd started tearing apart her own chest, and had still come after them despite the injuries. She should've killed the bitch when she had the chance. Taken that Scythe and gutted her like she did Bates- but no... the stupid monkey part of her brain only concerned with survival had wanted to run, and she'd been impulsive enough to listen to it. 

   "Well, that choice is definitely gonna come back to bite me in the ass now." She couldn't help but think "I'm probably on someone's shit list now just for doing.... nothing. Fucking hurray, just my luck I guess... still don't understand why nothing I tried before that managed to even scratch her though..."

 

 

[Shamitako]

Lexi

 

Lexi was most certainly excited to go back out as Platinum retrieved her with a catch. Answering Esyllt with a curt, "Yep!" She dashed forward in an attempted to grab the ball flying towards Riley from the air. Being a terrible catch, it instead rebounded off of her stomach, knocking her out of the game yet again.

Riley laughed jovially at Lexi's failure. "You know I would have caught that."

"I mean yeah..." Lexi answered, "But it would have been cooler if I'd caught it."

"Good point, try again next time."

Lexi walked back over to Esyllt. "So... Are you excited to get back out there?"

 

Haley

 

Haley winced when Arturia got hit, it looked pretty painful. "Are you okay?" She asked as Arturia exited the field. "My friends and I usually make headshots not count so less people get hurt."

 

Kaede's retaliation didn't hit its intended mark as a returning Lexi intercepted it with her body. Haley couldn't help but giggle at the girl's ridiculous show of self-sacrifice, especially since Riley looked to her friend and said, "You know I would have caught that." With her own bit of laughter.

 

This was followed by Sharp and the second unknown joining the sidelines. Haley hadn't seen what had happened to them, but it left both teams with only a few members in time for the teacher to blow her whistle. "We're almost out of time! No more ins!"

It looked like the final leg of this fight would be Riley, Platinum, and Alva against Kaede, Ceci, and Lilith. Or more accurately just Kaede, seeing as Ceci was still ignoring the game and Lilith was still cowering in her corner.

 

Natalie

 

"Before we get to questions, come inside." Natalie's mother said, "We can speak more freely and Arya can use the first aid kit." She opened the door to her cabin and ushered the two inside. It was furnished much like Arya and Natalie's, though her desk was clearly getting more use and it had a rather ornate rug in the center. Mother Opium grabbed the promised first aid kit and handed it to Arya. "I can summon a nurse if you need, but with how much there is to discuss I'd appreciate if you could make do." She sat cross-legged on the rug, she'd always found the floor to be her most comfortable location so this was no surprise. Natalie joined her, equally accepting of the ground as her seat.

 

"Since you've both been through a lot, let's start with what I know and you don't." Mother Opium began, "The Inquisitor, Kindle Hope. She's a living weapon trained by the church to carry out its less savory wishes. More specifically, she answers to the women in the shadows who control the church, not the devout who serve as its public face. She's technically a secret, but her existence is known and feared among the higher classes. If it weren't for my friendship with Estole Syv, I'm certain they'd have sent her to silence me by now.

 

"As for why she's here... Some in the church believe that the goddesses have been reincarnated. And Kindle's masters stand to lose their power should the goddesses awaken to their identities. They think that I've gathered the goddesses here and am protecting them. And though you may find it hard to believe, they're correct on all counts."

Natalie's jaw hit the floor with a resounding, "What?!"

"The goddesses are real, they are here, and I'm trying to stop the politicians behind the church from murdering them."

"Mom, that's insane. Actually crazy talk."

"Perhaps so, but surely you saw Kindle's power? Not the scythe, the power of Inheritance. It's like magic, far beyond anything human. Only the presence of a goddess can unlock such power in someone."

Natalie looked at her hands. She hadn't seen anything like that from the crazed lunatic that attacked her and Arya. But what of the strange power she exhibited to defend them?