Without hesitating, you yell, “Halina, let’s go! Everyone else, step back!”
You sprint forward, Halina right behind you.
The Grimm, unsteady on its feet, snarls weakly at you.
You leap towards its face, stretching your shield-arm towards the Grimm. You activate the Dust crystal at the shield’s core, then unleash a gout of flame from the shield. It gushes over the Grimm, disorienting it. But then everything around you glows with a soft lilac light. You feel your momentum halt, reverse, and you’re dragged backwards at a rapidly-increasing speed.
You’re hurtling through the air, and then you realize that Halina has used her Semblance on your entire body. You’re flying towards her, but just as you’re about to collide, she sidesteps out of the way and cuts off her Semblance. You fly past her, picking up speed, and then-
You see her grit her teeth and set her stance, and then she shouts as she triggers her Semblance again. She yanks you back hard, reversing your direction, tugging you through the air back to her.
As you pick up speed, you realize what she’s doing.
You hurtle back towards her.
At the last moment, she once again sidesteps you and cuts off the connection, hurling you back towards the Grimm at a speed you could never have achieved on your own.
You ready your blade-
You’re about to strike the Grimm like a bullet-
-and you plunge your blade and body forward, piercing right through the Grimm in an explosion of lilac light, flame, and shadow.
You corkscrew and slam into the ground on your feet, flame dancing along the trail of your trajectory.
Behind you, the Grimm erupts, spitting globs of shadow into the air.
The husk of its body collapses and dies, dissipating into the ether.
There’s a brief moment of pure, impossible silence-
-and then everyone erupts into cheers as you and Halina drop to the ground in triumphant exhaustion.
The new girl approaches you, smiling and shouting along with everyone else. She reaches out her arm to help pull you up, and you wrap your arm around her shoulders, letting her support your weight. Xia and Ulrich are both supporting a rather-battered Metim, and Pallav is helping Halina to her feet.
You all gather together, laughing and chatting eagerly.
“Your blocks during your duel with the Grimm were pretty on-point, dude,” Xia says to Metim, playfully slugging his shoulder. He rolls his eyes, but there’s a genuine smile on his lips. “-and when you dodged through its paw, that was like, I thought you were dead!” Halina exclaims to Pallav, who inclines his head in thanks, while Ulrich says, “Yeah, I mean, his timing gets better and better every year-”
The new girl turns to you, grinning, and says, “And how about that last attack? That was pretty flashy, wasn’t it?”
Halina laughs and joins in, saying, “Okay, maybe we were a little extra-”
“Yeah, but it was definitely worth it,” the girl finishes. “Really smart use of your Semblance, I think.”
“Wait, I’m sorry,” you say, turning to her. “We haven’t met-”
“Oh, I’m Ghislaine,” she says, smiling. “Corouille is my last name. Are you one of Xia’s friends?”
“Oh, uh,” you say, unsure of how to answer. Xia cuts in, lending you a hand. “Nah, we just met. I don’t think I’ve even seen you before?” She ponders, turning to you.
“No, I’m a new transfer to Aphelion,” you say, beginning to realize exactly how many times you’re going to avoid explaining your background to other students.
Ghislaine and Xia look surprised, but Ghislaine doesn’t press you for details. Instead, she says, “Oh, sure. Xia and I have been in a few classes together-”
“And we’ve helped each other train in combat classes,” Xia finishes, grinning.
“But that might end this year, if we’re placed on different teams,” Ghislaine quips.
“Teams?” You feel a brief flicker of worry in your gut, cutting off the glow of triumph. It really begins to hit you that you’re going to have to embed yourself in this school, in established groups of friends, in classes where teachers and students already have a working dynamic.
“Yeah,” Ghislaine says, shrugging. “Aphelion tries to make us more attractive to Huntress academies by having us form teams, since that’s what they do, I think.”
“And...how do they form teams?” When you ask, your voice is quiet.
“Probably based off how people have interacted in the previous years,” Xia says. She looks at you knowingly. “I wouldn’t worry about it, if I were you- I mean, when you fight with teammates by your side, you kinda all come to trust each other pretty quickly, you know? You’ll be alright.”
“Especially after all of this,” Pallav calls out, gesturing with his hand towards the scorch marks that you’ve left on the trampled field.
“Let’s just savor this for a bit, yeah?” Xia says, nudging you with her elbow.
“Can we savor this as we start walking to the campground?” Metim interrupts, continuing, “Some of us are a little more ragged than the others, and would prefer to reach our goal before any other really fucked-up Grimm show up.”
“Alright, alright,” Ghislaine says. “Let’s all head up together, then.”
Everyone turns, ready to resume the last leg of your journey. As you start walking, Halina steps quickly to your side, just like she did at the start of all of this. She smiles brightly at you, and in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, she says to you, “Hey, Ceri? Thanks for trusting me at the end, at that last moment.”
You nod vigorously, bouncing your curly hair around. “And thanks for trusting me at the beginning, when I jumped into your fight.”
She stops talking for a second, then she looks up, towards the sky. “You know,” she says, slowly, “I’ve been worrying about this year. About what comes after it, too. But, after all of this, I feel- I feel like I’m starting it the way we’re supposed to.”
“Yeah,” you say. “I feel like I have a bit of a direction now.” A bit of a direction, you think, and some people who know your name.
“By the way, Ceri?”
“What?”
“I have a good feeling about the team thing, for what it’s worth,” she says, turning to look directly at you.
You give her a little laugh, and nod. “I think I feel the same, Halina.”
You continue your walk, together.
By the time you all reach the campground, the sunset is streaking across the sky, smoothing crisp orange hues along clouds immersed in pink. There are dozens of students laid out in front of you, in various states of repose- some are napping, some are striking up conversations with strangers, some are boasting of their exploits, some are tending after wounds or weapons, and some are just staring skyward. Everyone is waiting for the event to officially begin, for your instructors to arrive.
As you stand at the periphery of the campground, Pallav and Ulrich turn to face the rest of you. “Well, everyone,” Pallav says, clapping his hand on Ulrich’s back, “it’s been a pleasure, but we’re supposed to meet up with some friends.” The rest of you nod, quiet, and you feel like there’s sadness lingering in the air- the imminent departure means that your group has served its purpose, and will now disband.
Ulrich is looking at his feet, but Pallav keeps talking. “This turned out to be more than any of us bargained for, in a great way, you know? I’m sure we’ll see each other soon- seriously, I don’t.... even though we just met, I don’t want us to just all drift away.”
Ulrich looks up. “Yeah. We’ll, uh, we’ll keep an eye out for all of you. We’ve got your backs, especially if we end up in classes together.”
Pallav smiles. “Exactly. All of you, take care, and see you soon.”
You all wave, murmuring goodbye as him and Ulrich walk away, picking their way through the crowd, in search of their waiting companions.
“Well, we’re all free to go wherever we want, then,” Xia says, looking at Ghislaine.
Halina speaks up, saying, “Then, do you mind if I go check in on a couple of friends? I mean, if anybody wants to come with me, I’d be glad to introduce you!”
Ghislaine shakes her head. “Xia and I were gonna catch up a bit, so we don’t really want to join another group, you know?” Xia nods in agreement, but then Ghislaine looks at you. “But if anybody else here wants to chill with us, that’s also cool.”
You look at Metim, who just shrugs. “Quite frankly, I’m so tired, I could just sit right here and be happy. That being said, if you don’t mind, I’m willing to tag along with you, Ceri. It isn’t like anybody’s waiting to see me.”
You tilt your head and consider.
Who do you want to spend a little more time with?
1. Go meet Halina’s friends, and bring Metim.
2. Stick with Ghislaine and Xia, bringing Metim.
3. Just plop yourself on the floor with Metim.
Vote on what to say here!
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