Tuesday, the 28th of April, 79AGW.

Emerald Forest, Practical Combat, Beacon.

3:22 PM.

“I think Pyrrha is our best choice,” Weiss said eventually, biting her lip. “We should try to accumulate some points first and recruit her as soon as we find her team.”

Lima scratched his chin, considering. The choice they made now might not even matter, depending on how the others moved throughout the forest, but he nodded at her decision.

“Alright,” Lima said easily, “We need to go get more points first, then we can focus on recruiting Pyrrha. No more dawdling then; the longer we wait, the higher the points we will end up needing.”

“Very well,” Weiss huffed, “I wasn’t dawdling—wait for me!”

Lima set himself on a course further north, Ruby had used her speed for hunting down her teammate, but there had been at least half a dozen people between her place in line and his own. Pyrrha had been called sometime after he had, so she was to the south.

He’d made a mental map of the area already, with the northside of the forest being labeled as ‘hunting ground.’ The southside was one giant circle with the words ‘Watch out for Pyrrha’ written in it.

“What punishment did you receive for this morning?” Weiss burst out, apparently unable to help herself.

Lima sighed—he’d been attempting to forget it had ever happened.

“Three weeks of detention, and I have to enter all the entry forms for the festival tournament into the system,” Lima complained. “Then chase up all the idiots who can’t fill out a form properly—I’m practically an unpaid staff member at this point.”

“I would have to leave Beacon if that were the case,” Weiss huffed, and he laughed, “Besides—you deserved worse for attacking another student outside of class.”

Lima held up a hand for her to stop, holding his finger up to his lip, and then silently kicked off a trunk, stretched upwards to grab a branch, and swung onto it. He held his hand below the branch and motioning her to follow him up.

Weiss leaped, grabbed his hand, and he swung her up onto the branch, crouching beside him.

“What the hell do you think Cardin was doing to Velvet?” Lima said quietly, pointing through the trees. “I don’t know about you, but I’d consider that an attack—if you felt so strongly about it, why didn’t you step in?”

Weiss squinted in the direction he was indicating but remained silent; when he glanced over at her to judge her reaction, she looked entirely conflicted.

“I… I don’t think stopping him from picking on her was a bad thing,” Weiss said more quietly, “I think the way in which you did it was inappropriate.”

Lima sighed.

“It was better than standing around watching like everyone else, Weiss.” Lima said quietly, “Sometimes it’s better to do something, even if you get in trouble for it.”

“I know that,” Weiss muttered. “But you didn’t have to destroy half the cafeteria in the process.”

“I did that on purpose; Cafeteria food deserves to be destroyed.” Lima said seriously, “Get ready.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Weiss hissed, bracing herself.

The crunching of leaves on the forest floor approached them, meters below.

“Thank you for saving me,” Jaune said, relieved. “I thought I was a goner.”

Jaune did indeed look like he’d been in a scuffle, covered in dirt and with leaves in his hair.

“Hmph,” Lux huffed, “You were supposed to team up against me.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Jaune said, alarmed, “Gray was trying to beat me up; why would I team up with him?”

“Whatever,” Lux said, brushing his argument off completely.

“Why didn’t you take me out too?” Jaune asked hesitantly.

Lux grinned, passing below the two of them.

“Because I’m going to need a distraction when we go up against a bigger team,” Lux said gleefully.

Weiss turned to stare at him blandly—Lima shrugged and tipped backward off the branch. The white-haired girl’s eyes went wide before she turned and dove off after him. Lux heard the flap of clothing and threw herself into a forward roll, avoiding his heel drop.

Jaune yelped as Weiss crashed into his back, sending them both to the floor in a heap.

“Yes!” Lux cackled, kicking leaves up behind her as she pushed off the ground.

Lima held his stance, breathing out slowly. Lux slammed into his guard, beginning a relentless barrage of attacks that he fended off methodically.

Her fighting style had changed entirely—with her Glaive; her style was based on precision, momentum-building attacks that chained together spinning moves. This was just a wild, all-out frontal assault—and she hit far, far harder than she should be able to—her Semblance lending weight to her fists, so they landed like hammer blows.

Suddenly she moved, circling to one side, and his eyes widened as she struck out with the same leg kick he generally favored—their repeated sparring had led to her picking up parts of his fighting style.

Lima laughed, checking the kick and moving into the assault, deflecting the hits with his elbows and striking through the center. Lux staggered back from the strike, eyes bright as he came after her; she checked his own kick, placed her elbow perfectly to deflect his next punch—and he latched onto her forearm.

He pressed forward, shouldering her while stamping down on her instep, and she fell backward off balance. Lima followed her down, keeping her foot pinned with his own during the maneuver. Lux landed on her ass first, and his knee landed on her thigh. A second later, she turtled, holding both arms up to cover her head as he slipped into a full mount.

“Shit!” Lux yelped.

He struck down, fist crashing into her guard—and then Jaune slammed into his side.

The two of them crashed into the leaves, rolling to a stop with the larger boy on top. Lima grinned up at him, and Jaune looked like he didn’t know whether he was allowed to keep fighting now that he was on top.

Lime punched him in the face twice—Jaunes indecision turned to anger, and he sent a hit crashing down on him. The blows were sloppy but strong and filled with anger—Lima weathered them, watching him from between his arms.

“Come back here!” Lux cackled, giving chase after Weiss.

He moved his head to the side and grabbed Jaune’s forearm on the next strike. He reached up and pulled the other boy down towards him by his neck with his free hand.

Jaune struggled, trying to get free—he let him go, and the blond boy overbalanced as he pulled upwards. Lima posted, bucking Jaune forward and onto his hands—he scrambled to find purchase on the leaves to push himself back up into the mounted position.

Lima twisted hard, and Jaune slammed into his back; their positions suddenly reversed. Jaunes face was red with effort and anger, but Lima just grinned down at him.

“You’ve been practicing with Pyrrha?” Lima asked, latching onto his wrists.

“Yes,” Jaune strained, trying to wrench his hands free.

“Nice,” Lima laughed, “That was a good tackle—you need to keep up the pressure, though; you can’t keep hesitating when you’re in a good position.”

“Like you are now?” Jaune snapped.

“Sorry,” Lima laughed, “I’ll lead by example then—get ready.”

He let go of one wrist and struck him in the face, and the boy’s aura flared up—then they were beating the crap out of each other. Jaune fought valiantly to get back to his feet but failed to break free before this aura ran out. The scroll updated, and Lima got off, holding a hand out for the other boy—Jaune took it after a long moment and let himself be pulled to his feet.

“Good fight,” Lima said honestly.

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Jaune mumbled, “I wonder if I’m ever going to stop losing?”

“Losing always sucks, so I get how you’re feeling, man—trust me,” Lima admitted, wondering where Weiss got to. “My guardian is an absolute monster—I’ve fought him thousands of times since he took me in, and I don’t think I’ve come close to beating him in a straight-up fistfight.”

Jaune nodded sullenly.

“Sparring with Pyrrha feels the same way,” Jaune admitted sullenly, “There is just too much of a gap between us—I feel like a child being taught how to ride a bike; it’s humiliating.”

He knew the feeling.

“I know,” Lima nodded. “Push past it; it’s only humiliating because you’re training yourself to think that way—losing doesn’t mean we’re somehow lesser, Jaune. You’ve only just started learning; no point in comparing the you of today against ‘the invincible girl who’s been training for most of her life.”

“It’s not that easy,” Jaune mumbled, trying to rid the sticks from his hair.

“If you went into a dojo and challenged the master,” Lima said, laughing lightly, “Would you feel embarrassed when he kicked your dick in?”

“Of course not,” Jaune huffed. “I can see what you’re getting at, Lima. I can’t just turn off how I feel, though.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Lima shrugged, “Next time you lose to Pyrrha, and you’re feeling humiliated—notice it, actually acknowledge the thought, and try to figure out why it’s such a big deal—talk about it with her, that’s what I’m saying.”

“That just sounds embarrassing,” Jaune said worriedly.

“What’s five minutes of embarrassment versus months of mental anguish?” Lima shrugged, patting him on the shoulder. “Try it out, or don’t—the change starts when you make a choice. I need to go save my temporary teammate from my permanent teammate.”

“Good luck,” Jaune said, honestly.

Lima caught up to the two—and they were in the thick of it when he arrived.

Weiss was struggling to keep up with the onslaught of wild attacks—Lux’s sheer aggression was difficult to deal with, but she was managing it. There didn’t seem to be any space for Weiss to counter-attack though, she seemed to be locked into a permanent defense.

He dropped down to the forest floor, giving up on stealth and heading straight for the two.

“Finally!” Weiss cried, “Help me, dammit!”

Lux kept up her attack until Lima reached her position, then attempted to combat them both at once. Without her weapon, it was an impossible task; she couldn’t maintain the constant attack when she was being hit from both sides at once. Weiss landed a kick to the back of her knee, and then they dog piled the Faunus before she could regain her footing.

“You suck!” Lux panted, but she was still grinning.

The scroll chimed, indicating the point update from her defeat, and Lima sat back on the leaves to regain his breath.

“What happened to Jaune?” Lux said, looking a bit abashed.

“I’m here,” Jaune called sheepishly, joining them. “Sorry, I lost.”

“Nah—Thanks for the save,” Lux said easily, “Thought I’d lost right at the start.”

Jaune finally found his smile.

“Who else did you two fight?” Lux wondered, sitting up. “I got that kid from Flora’s team.”

“His name is Gray; The one with the sword.” Jaune clarified.

Lima remembered him from the other exercise.

“We got Ruby and Blake,” Lima admitted. “Weiss mercilessly cut down her teammates—I almost cried.”

“I did not!” Weiss said quickly, “He’s lying.”

“Your pretty good princess,” Lux said, stretching her arms above her head and falling back onto the leaves. “I thought I’d be able to take you down before anyone found us—nice defense.”

“You’re a menace; you fight like a wild animal!” Weiss said outright before paling. “I don’t mean—not because you’re a—”

Weiss glanced around at them frantically, desperately searching for understanding, but Lux just started laughing.

“I know what you meant,” Lux grinned, showing her teeth. “Chill.”

Lima spoke up to lighten the mood.

“What a terrible pun,” Lima said mournfully, getting a glare from the girl in question. “I’m gonna bully Teak into kicking you off the squad.”

“Idiot,” Lux glared.

“R-right, of course,” Weiss said before quickly changing the subject. “We have five points now, Lima. We should move on before the other teams grow any larger.”

“Yeah, now we have enough to recruit a team of two,” Lima said, nodding, pushing up to his feet. “Thanks for the warmup, bright-eyes.”

He jogged back into the forest with Weiss hot on his tail.

“Warmup!?” Lux cried, offended. “Come back here!”

“They crept through the woods like ninja, stalking their prey, who remained completely unaware of their presence,” Lima said gravely, staring down at the two girls. “If they had only known what hell the assassins were about to rain down on them, they would have never challenged them to a battle to the—”

“Oh, for the love of—” Weiss said, embarrassed. “I should have just let you eliminate me.”

“Shut up!” Nora complained, pointing up at them. “We can see you dread-ninja!”

“I’m voting for a team-up,” Flora sighed, folding her arms. “We can’t beat that guy—he destroyed my entire team last time.”

Lima remembered the girl clearly; she was the girl that had the Odachi, although her two-toned hair would have jogged his memory regardless.

“Sorry,” Lima said lightly, “We’ve got our eyes on another team-up—”

“Wait,” Weiss said, biting her lip. “Who have you beat already?”

The two down below looked at each other before Nora spoke up.

“Ash is the only person we’ve run into since teaming up,” Flora said hesitantly. “Besides you two.”

Ruby, Blake, Jaune, Lux, Gray, and Ash were already eliminated, and the four present made ten of the twenty-three participants.

“Were most likely the only teams of two remaining at this point,” Lima said, frowning, “There are thirteen people left unaccounted for, and that’s if nobody has been defeated yet.”

“If we fight them here, the next team we encounter will most likely have three or four members,” Weiss added, “One of which may be Pyrrha or Yang.”

Lima knew that was a losing fight—one on one, he liked his chances, but one of them would have to fight the rest outnumbered; they would just end up getting dogpiled.

“Hey, don’t talk about us like we aren’t here!” Nora complained.

“I’ll leave the decision up to you,” Lima said, nodding. “I’ll follow your lead here.”

Weiss looked surprised at being handed the reigns but was quick to pull herself together. She used her scroll to send an invitation to the team in front of them—apparently called ‘Flower Power.’ Which was absorbed into their own team.

“The name was Nora’s idea,” Flora said, amused, grasping at the empty air by her hip and looking down. “Ugh.”

“Welcome to the Lima-Weiss Coalition,” Lima said easily, hopping down to the forest floor.

“Can we change the name?” Nora pouted.

The two of them spent a moment attempting to do so, but the name was locked in—he was suddenly glad that he hadn’t named it something rude as a joke.

“We have two points left,” Weiss said, doing the math. “To recruit a single person would cost 4 points, a duo would be 9 points, and a trio would cost 15.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Flora admitted, “Sorry for ruining your plan.”

“I’m not!” Nora cheered.

“It doesn’t matter; our job is the same,” Weiss nodded firmly before glancing over at Lima. “No more talking to the enemies.”

Hopefully, Goodwitch wasn’t watching—the four of them set off to the south, talking quietly amongst themselves.

“You beat up Jaune?!” Nora wailed, trying to put him into a headlock. “That’s horrible!”

Lima yelped, breaking free and moving to keep Weiss between them—Nora glared at him, making a threatening gesture to ensure he knew she would be watching him from now on.

“What are you going to do if we run into Ren?” Weiss huffed.

“I’ll never let that happen,” Nora promised, with such certainty that Lima almost believed her.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Flora said, amused, “Ren could walk out from behind that tree; how would you stop that from happening?”

“I’d break his legs!” Nora insisted before blinking. “Wait—no, I’d close my eyes; if we don’t make eye contact, we don’t have to fight!”

Lima wasn’t sure if he should be impressed by her dedication to not fighting Ren or confused at the idea of breaking someone’s legs in order to not have to fight them.

“This isn’t Scrollmonsters, Nora.” Weiss said weakly, “When she said eye contact, she was referring to encountering another team, not actual eye contact.”

All four of their scrolls chimed once, and when they checked, there was a notification.

“Only three teams remain,” Flora read aloud. “Damn, this is going to get crazy.”

“What’s our battle strategy?” Weiss said, looking to Lima.

“Walk around the forest calling for them to come out and face us?” Lima shrugged. “You’re the team leader here, Weiss.”

Nora looked intrigued, but Flora and Weiss looked like they’d heard better plans in the past.

“Absolutely not,” Weiss said, eye twitching, “Fine—we’ve had good outcomes with initiating from stealth, so let’s remain in the trees once we’ve located a team, we can attempt another ambush.”

“That sounds like a much better idea,” Flora said warmly, “I’m down.”

“Nora,” Lima said gravely, spreading his fingers into a fan in front of his face. “You’ve spent a lifetime being hunted, and now you find yourself becoming the very thing you hated most.”

“Not this again,” Weiss sighed.

Nora turned her head down and away, striking a melancholy pose.

“The dread-ninja,” Nora whispered. “What have I done?”

“And here I thought my normal team was bad,” Flora laughed.