#a1s1

“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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Halina goes to give chase, but the tail comes streaking down to strike her- and you dive to her side, trying to deflect the attack with your shield. The tail clatters off of the shield, but it comes back down, once, twice more. You’re trying to hold the shield over you and Halina, trying to block, your eyes trained on the barbs- and then the Grimm whips around again, batting you aside with one paw and knocking Metim to his feet with its tail. The tail wraps around his leg, then the Grimm swipes you so hard you’re bowled right over, knocked off your feet. 

Xia jumps in, and she’s deftly swinging a weapon that consists of a copper ball attached to a lengthy rope. She casts it away, then snaps it back, windmilling the copper head to smash into the Grimm’s tail. It twitches and releases Metim, Xia throws her leg up, allowing the rope to catch on it- and you take the moment to scramble back to your feet. Xia’s technique is mesmerizing, but you have to move. 

The demonic tiger is fighting all of you at once. Even as Xia snaps another arcing attack at the tail, a paw comes in to swipe you again. You duck in time, but then it kicks up a small wave of mud that splashes along your visor. You can still see just enough to watch the Grimm deflect Xia’s next attack. Metim uses his quarterstaff to parry a couple of swipes from the tail to defend Xia, who focuses on regaining the momentum her weapon needs. And then the Grimm pounces on Halina, catching her in its paws. You shout and start running, but someone sprints past you in a flash- Pallav.

Pallav is glowing green, and there’s a sigil traced along the back of his duster. You whirl around to see Ulrich chanting, his eyes trained on Pallav. There’s a scrap of paper floating in front of Ulrich, and it is glowing green with the same sigil that’s on Pallav.    

You turn to Pallav again, in time to see his spear transform and extend. And then he leaps forward, slamming the extending spear into the ground, using it like a vaulting pole to launch himself upwards.

He sails clear over the Grimm’s back, his spear beginning to retract again, and then you hear Ulrich shout. Pallav freezes in mid-air with a flash of green light, then he’s launched downwards, right at the Grimm. He plunges his spear into the Grimm’s back.

It drops Halina, arches its back, and buckles, trying to shake Pallav off. Pallav grabs one of the beast’s bone crests, then his spear retracts further, transforming into a short, dense blade. He starts swiping at the Grimm, pushing off from the crest he’s clutching.

“Metim, Xia- move in, cover me!” You shout, running towards Halina. She’s on the ground, dazed, and Pallav won’t last up on the Grimm much longer. You hear Metim snapping his weapon through another rapid transformation, and he fires off a few shots at the Grimm’s legs. Its tail, about to clobber Pallav, whips around to strike Metim. Xia’s ready to defend, though: she winds her weapon around her leg and casts it with a kick, striking the tail head-on. 

You hit the dirt by Halina, pulling her to her feet. “I’m alright,” she splutters. “My Aura’s holding, but, I’m just a little shaken!”

You hear a shout, and a few yards away, Pallav is sent sprawling and splashing into the mud. The Grimm turns its full attention on Metim and Xia, who are solely focused on parrying it. Xia dances backwards, keeping her weapon swinging in a steady rhythm, casting the hammer at the tiger’s tail whenever it draws close. As the Grimm goes to close the distance between them, Metim, teeth barred, is forced into a flurry of motion.

He reforms his weapon, parries a swipe, breaks his weapon, twists away from the Grimm’s snapping jaws as they come in for a chomp, point-blank blasts its face, snaps his weapon together, jabs its neck, deflects the other paw, breaks his weapon, releases the blade, slices the paw as it comes back, spins, shoots at its face in a desperate attempt to drive it back, and he’s bellowing wordlessly, he can’t keep up, and Xia’s swearing-

Ulrich dives in, swinging a mace with a head composed of whorl of a Dust crystal. He bashes one of the oncoming paws away from Metim, then he throws a scrap of paper into the air and whacks it. Beams of light burst out of the paper, shredding it, then extending and enveloping him, Metim, and Xia. The Grimm slams the light-turned-cage, but the bars hold. Ulrich plucks another scrap of paper out of his bag, then throws it into the air. It ignites, and the light-cage bursts apart. The beams stream outward, then curl back around and wrap themselves around the Grimm’s front-right paw, dulling its claws.

It snarls and tries to chomp on Ulrich, but Metim’s quarterstaff forces its jaws back. It swipes at them instead, batting Xia aside. It twists to avoid Metim’s gunfire, then whips its tail and knocks Ulrich’s mace clean out of his hands. It brings the light-enshrouded paw to bear on Metim, whose shots bounce ineffectively off the barrier that had just protected him. Metim is bowled over, and you can hear a sharp report from his Aura, indicating that he can’t take much more.

The Grimm arches its back and roars at the sky.

You turn to Pallav, shouting, “Reform the groups- get over to Ulrich and get him on his feet!”

He dashes off, and you turn to Halina. “Can you-”

“I can- I’m ready,” she says, her brow furrowed.

“Follow my lead,” you say, “and go for its eyes when it turns!” You run after Pallav.

The Grimm turns to face the three of you. It swipes its dulled paw at Pallav, dead-on. You go to shout, but he doesn’t even move. One second, the paw’s about to clobber him, the next- his entire body flickers, and he passes through the paw unharmed. It must be his Semblance, you think. He shouts with the strain of using the ability, but keeps running. The Grimm, baffled, can’t turn to him again, though- you’re coming right at it. 

You have just enough time to see Pallav slide to a halt alongside Ulrich, grab him under his arms, and hoist him to his feet. Then, you focus on the Grimm.

You light your shield ablaze, then chuck it at the beast’s face. Surprised by the fire, it stumbles, takes the hit- and just as you expected, the shield glows lilac and rebounds away, back to Halina. You snap your sword in two, then dive at the dazed Grimm, slicing at its underbelly as you run underneath it. You keep running, between its hind legs, and reach the side where Metim and Xia are. 

They’re getting back on their feet when the Grimm turns to face you, but you shout, “Scatter- get Ulrich to launch me on go!”

They dash away as the beast rushes towards you. Both your swords aflame, you lunge and slice at its paws, forcing it to step back. You hear a burst of gunfire- weakened as he is, Metim is lingering nearby, trying to distract the Grimm. You hear Xia bellow, “Ready!”

The gunfire stops, and the Grimm darts forward, ready to pounce on you like it did to Halina.

You brace yourself, then shout, “Go!”

The Grimm’s body looms over you, about to drop.

And something crashes into you-

You’re blasted forward-

Underneath the Grimm-

-and you slam face-first into the dirt.

You stagger to your feet, dazed, your Aura weakened. Turning, you see Ulrich rolling in the dirt by you, clutching a scrap of paper. “You tackled me?” You’re shouting, dumbfounded.

“Hhh- winded,” he wheezes. “Can’t just- hh- launch, not how- hh- Semblance works.”

The Grimm, a fair distance away now, is just staring at you, nonplussed. Then, a series of glowing purple darts slice into its snout. Before it can whirl on Halina, Metim and Xia jump in, distracting the beast yet again. You look for Pallav- but he’s already here, kneeling by Ulrich, hoisting him up again. “Sorry, yeah,” Pallav says, “he’s a little useless sometimes, but you can take a real beating, can’t you, pal?” 

Ulrich grunts vaguely in response.

“Anyway,” Pallav continues, “I got him now, so don’t worry- just go.”

You nod, then hurry back towards Halina, who’s waiting for you to turn the Grimm before she attacks again. As you close the distance between you and her, she tosses your shield back to you, shouting, “Here!”

You snap your blades together again, equip the shield, and pop out the concealed blade. Xia and Metim are hanging in there, but they’ve completely given up on attacking. They’re focusing solely on dodging the Grimm’s strikes.

“Everyone,” you bellow, “get back!”

You point the shield’s blade at the Grimm, then focus your mind on the Dust crystal at its core. The gilded woman aids you, and the shield pulses with heat. It launches an undulating globule of fire at the Grimm. The fire connects, splashing over the Grimm, and it howls and retreats from all of you.

You pump your fist and shout, and Halina dashes forward, ready to attack while the Grimm is blinded. She leaps, casting dagger after dagger at the Grimm’s snout. It is too disoriented to block, and each of her throws hits home. The Grimm, its strength finally flagging, roars in defiance. Halina lands and begins to use her Semblance to call her daggers back.

Pallav rushes in, backed up by Ulrich. The former stops short, takes aim, and hurls his spear at the Grimm’s flank, The latter throws several scraps of paper into the air. They all burst into flame, but their ashes multiple and condense, forming several shadowy clones of the spear that Pallav just hurled. Pallav plucks two of the spears from the air, one for each hand, and the rest of the replicas revolve in the air and drive themselves at the Grimm.

Metim and Xia have circled behind it, and they attack its legs as it tries to bat the spears away with its tail and paws. The Grimm lunges at Pallav, trying to snap its jaws on him, but Ulrich swings his mace in a vicious uppercut, slamming the Grimm’s head back. 

This is it, you realize. Everything’s coming together- you go to throw yourself in the fray as well-

-and someone runs past you from behind, sprinting forward towards the Grimm. It isn’t Halina- Halina is still behind you-

-the Grimm rears itself up, trying to rally, and spins to face Xia and Metim, the ones with the least Aura left to defend themselves. It raises its unhindered paw all the way, preparing to crush them-

-and the person- a girl- blasts herself upward, light glinting off of her gold and white armor. She brings a broad blade to bear, and resolutely slashes the Grimm’s paw.

The Grimm roars, and when the girl lands on the ground, a severed paw hits the ground beside her. 

It immediately dissipates into shadows, and the Grimm topples over.

You pull up short, but she turns to you, and yells, “Finish it!”

The Grimm totters to its remaining feet, hardly any strength left.

And the realization hits you- this is it. You can give this fight, this victory, this moment to anyone. And they’ll never forget it.

Who will you choose?

1. Team A- You and Halina.

2. Team B- Metim and Xia.

3. Team C- Pallav and Ulrich.

4. Team D- The girl.

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You can almost hear the grin on the girl’s face as she responds. “Oh, speaking of poison!”

“The cafeteria food?” The other responds quickly this time, their quiet voice underpinned with mischief.

“Yeah! I heard that, this year, they’re finally changing the food company they use.”

“Maybe I’ll bother to dine in the cafeteria sometime, then.”

“Oh, you don’t eat in the caf? No wonder I haven’t seen you around much! What do you do for food, then? Do you go into the city often?”

The response comes just as quickly, but the words fall a little more flatly. “Only when I’m in the mood to throw away money, which happens more often than you might expect.”

“Wow, what? How do you not like Caelis City!? Maybe you should try to explore more, don’t you think? This is our last year here, after all!”

You can’t hear the other’s response.

The girl continues, saying, “Wait, I just realized— where’d you grow up? I mean, I’m from Mistral, like, way south of the capital, so Caelis kinda feels like home, in some ways.”

You miss the other’s response, but so does she.

“I’m sorry?”

“Vale.”

“Oh, Vale! I have some family that lived in Vale! Well, I have a pretty big family, so there’s a lot of us all over the place, heh. What about you? Is your family still in Vale, or did they come to—”

She suddenly falls silent. You stop short, wondering what happened, and then you hear a faint swish followed by a sudden thwock as a flash of silver goes sailing over your head. Your heart is pounding, and you press yourself against a tree and slide downwards into a crouch. Before you can think further, the quiet one calls out to the well-dressed girl, saying, “What did you see?”

“No,” she says, her voice firm. “Heard— something distant, but getting closer— clumsy and large—”

And then, a few yards away from you, an Ursa and three Beowolves come crashing through the underbrush, pursuing the two that you’ve been following. The girl immediately dashes forward to intercept the Grimm, plunging her arms into her oversized coat. Without turning around, she calls out to her partner, saying, “Hold the bear!”

Her sprints forward after her, and you catch a glimpse of him as he breaks away from her path. He’s holding a misshapen quarterstaff, but he twirls it and suddenly snaps and transforms it into two separate weapons: a stout baton and a long-barreled revolver. He snaps off a few tightly-aimed shots at the Ursa, and then he twirls the baton again, and a small blade springs out of one of its ends.

As the Ursa charges towards him, he ducks back onto the path, leaving the Beowolves for the girl. She slams into the first of the wolves, her arms a blur and her hands flashing with reflected light— one second, she’s slashing at it, and then she leaps backwards and hurls a number of daggers at the wolf. It stumbles further away with each impact, and then her hand and eyes glow a soft lilac and the daggers rip themselves out of the Grimm’s torso and return to her outstretched hands. As the other two wolves leap at her, she launches herself into the branches of a tree, gathering herself before she can continue her assault.

You grip your sword and shield, and you feel the presence of the gilded woman rush to the forefront of your mind. Neither the Grimm nor the two students you’ve been following have noticed you. This would be the opportune moment to jump to their aid, potentially earning their favor if you can help ensure a safe victory for the two of them.

On the other hand… they seem to be capable of cleaning these stray few Grimm up themselves, and they can always signal for emergency aid if they’re really in danger. Should you really insert yourself into this battle and make yourself vulnerable? Should you leave them and keep heading towards the campgrounds, so you don’t get caught up in potential series of Grimm attacks?   

Aid them.

Continue onward. 

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