_____________________________

The clashing of titanite and steel, coupled with the weighted sounds of armor filled the amphitheater. A boy dressed in simple but effective armor lept backwards, his axed-polearm being held at the ready against his foe. His breathing was labored, and each draw of air cruelly tempted him with the idea of allowing his guard to drop.

Yes, Sky Lark was a fool, but even he knew better than to give in.

His foe however, closed the distance once more. They were long accustomed to seizing each opportunity they had the chance for, this being no exception. After all, a tired opponent was as good as an opponent recovering from a missed strike.

Sky doubted his own skill, playing it safe by jabbing his weapon into the predicted course of the enemy. But of course, the attack was easily flicked away, causing Sky to lose his balance. And much like before, the attacker rushed in to deliver a riposte.

Before the pushing books could be delivered though, the halberdier recovered, only being able to block the first strike before another three broke, shattered, and dutifully ruined his defensive stance. As the final blow came closer, Sky pushed from his feet, backstepping just barely out of reach from the curved blades.

And as expected, Sky's partner blitzed once more. But the grey haired boy would never forgive himself if he allowed a repeated exchange so easily. With a final surge of strength, Sly rose and swung his halberd in a diagonal direction, swiftly rearing the weapon backwards from a thrust.

The unkindled one dropped the entirety of his body forwards, rolling just under the first attack. And as the following thrust drew near, he pushed off his left leg, his right leg lying flat; effectively causing him to slide in position...directly under Sky's guard. Like a flashing round of lighting, the ashen one stood to his feet, twirling his two blades into place.

'Asche' now held a blade to the other boy's throat, the other firmly locked with the halberd's handle. In the blink of an eye, the sparring had come to a conclusion. 'Asche' had claimed his victory.

"S-Shit…" Sky panted. "You win… again."

After a moment of pause, the blades withdrew. Sky threw his sweat drenched head upwards, letting his chest rise and fall. Soon after, he heard the sheathing of two blades and eventually felt a pressing weight on his shoulder.

Sky then stared at the masked student, who patted his sore shoulder, conveying he had done admirably.

But their moment was shattered by a familiar voice.

"Final score: Asche twelve, Sky three." Cardin announced, pressing the timer of a stopwatch. "And forty two minutes and fifty six seconds all together."

Sky closed his weary eyes, thinking the timer had been broken. If anything, the session felt like it lasted three hours at the minimum. His body ached, his lungs screamed, and his aura was soundly depleted. After all that time...he only managed to land three official hits on the other boy, if the rules of Atlas fencing were applied.

"Alright you two, go shower. You look like hell. Me and Dove are gonna stick around to practice our engaging strikes." The leader said, Dove stretching behind him for their own practice duel.

"Cardin… you'd b-better not… overwork yourself." Sky murmured between his huffing.

"I'll be fine, 'mom'." Cardin grunted. "I can't be a good Huntsman without dishing out some hard work."

"You should uh, probably focus on… being a decent human being first…" Sky mumbled.

"What, did you say something?" Dove innocently asked.

"N-nothing!" Sky defended, waving a denying hand. "I- uh… I mean… we are going to shower now… uhm, bye?"

"Cool. See ya around boys." The leader waved, turning to face his own partner.

Sky could only nod, knowing a nice cold shower would wash away the sweat and ease his torn muscles. And so, the two left together, making haste to the locker rooms.

Once there, each disrobed to nudity before stepping into the showers together. 'Asche', discarded his mask, seeing as it made no sense to wear it currently.

As soon as the chilling water sprang to life, Sky had a change of heart. In the midst of his shivering, he turned the showerhead's dial to the hottest setting. And after waiting for what felt like minutes, the boy was greeted by the scorching, but familiar water.

'Asche', across from Sky, mindlessly cleaned himself. Completely unaware of the curiously fixed eyes on his turned and exposed back. A back that was...well defined, to say the least.

In fact, 'Asche's' entire body was well defined. It was by no means bulky, but it was undeniable he was jaw dropping athletic. His sleek jet tinted hair only reached past his shoulders, almost as if it could easily tickle the boy's skin. His face, while generally attractive enough, would not have been the most noticeable feature.

No… it was the vibrant and almost proud violet eyes. The serene mixture of scarlet and

aquamarine. Eyes like his own, were a maze begging to be lost in.

With features like 'Asche's', Sky was baffled at just why the boy chose to hide away behind the silver mask. Sure, he was far from being the most attractive, but he was fairly average. Almost… perfectly average with unique and bolder detailing. Was he self conscious? If so, how or why would he be?

Sky shook the observation and accompanying question from his mind, returning to the chore that was cleaning one's self.

The two had finished their shower, drying themselves off before dressing in more casual clothing. Sky wore a simple blue shirt with dark red pants, while the unkindled one preferred to wear a nondescript long sleeve shirt and jeans, both being faded black and deep grey respectively. And of course… he adorned his silver mask and hat once more, after cleaning it obviously.

After exiting the locker room, fully dressed of course, the duo were met by a familiar man. Who did no favors for himself, considering it seemed like he had awaited their exit.

"Mr. Lark and Mr. Embers. I trust that your time in Beacon has treated you fairly so far?" The headmaster said, holding a cane and mug in either hand.

"I- Headmaster Ozpin… We're doing okay uh… I think." He responded, nearly mouthing the last half.

Ozpin studied each boy thoroughly. Sky seemed hunkered and wary, likely sore and recently exhausted from team CEDL's rather extensive session in the amphitheater. It was anticipated though, seeing as the first combat class matches would happen tomorrow.

'Asche' though, seemed relaxed and comfortable. At least, when compared to his first day in Beacon. He wore casual wear, the mask and hat excluded. And though it was only a small step with integrating the champion in Remnant's customs, Ozpin felt relieved. As expected, the man took a drink from his mug.

"Hmm. Well, I would hope so." He replied, being sure to sip once more from his aromatic mug. "But I'm afraid I haven't come to make small talk, that would only waste both of your time. Mr. Embers… I have yet to see a registered student profile under your name. Could you please hand over your scroll?"

'Asche' cocked his head in confusion. But regardless, he wouldn't complain. After reaching into his bottomless pouch, which he always wore to his side, he produced the item Ozpin requested. And Ozpin promptly deadpanned.

"Mr. Embers… I meant the scroll I gave you yesterday. Not…" He said, twirling the strange totem of sorcery in his hand before handing it back to the rightful owner. "...a literal scroll."

The champion facepalmed, quickly storing away the Sage Scroll. After a brief moment of ruffling through his gym bag, which was over his shoulder, he gave the correct item. The shabby and foreign device he had nearly forgotten about.

The headmaster looked over the device. After turning the scroll on, he noticed the absence of change in its contents. Not a single change had been made. The wallpaper and lockscreen both remained the same, the already registered number being left as it was before the swap of ownership.

"Hmm.. Mr. Embers, you still have yet to make the device your own. Do you... not know how to use one?" The headmaster asked, his eyes scanning over the slightly shorter man.

The boy shook his head. He had honestly forgotten about the object all together. In fact, he had barely used the scroll outside of accidentally turning the screen on after dropping it the day prior.

"I see…" The professor almost murmured.

After an awkward amount of time, Ozpin tapping away at the scroll, 'Asche' was greeted by a near blinding light. During this, he heard a distinct "clink" followed by a mother flash. Ozpin, while 'Asche' blinked away the newly formed spots in his eyes, tapped away at the screen one last time. And finally, the scroll was returned to its owner.

"There. Now your scroll is properly registered. I've taken the liberty of creating your profile, but I've left your profile description up to you entirely." Ozpin added, the champion glancing over the aforementioned profile.

The screen showed a digitized page. And the page of course, contained a synopsis and overview of his information. His "name", year, assigned team, and several other texts of information that listed his weaponry.

The section that read "Semblance" was strangely titled "Aura Crystallization". Reading further, he raised an eyebrow under his mask…

"Asche Embers directly hardens his aura into a near solid state, being able to strike out with crystal like projectiles. As a result, it appears that his aura does not act as a shield or provide regenerative properties. His hands seemingly glow and distort to red and black in color before each use of his semblance, suggesting the aura is pulled directly from his inactive reserves."

Incredible...everything this passage had just theorized was wrong. He had no aura, that source of power had been his focus and willpower alone. There had been no semblance, that was only his novice sorceries at hand. The crystal line upset him much more though, considering he lacked the intelligence to even imbue his magic with the famed crystal arts of Seath and Old Big Hat LLogan. Oorbeck of Vinheim, the champion's mentor, would no doubt be rolling in his grave at the uneducated reasoning.

But hey, at least they had the right idea with the Dark Hand's convoluted appearance.

After skimming through the rather uninteresting data, the champion found himself back at the top of the profile. Just under his profile picture, lay the word "Bio". And underneath that, a keystroke, prompting him to type in his own description.

A description… Perhaps a brief summary would suffice? Maybe a quote that meant a great deal to the owner? Or even the lyrics from a song or poem?

For a moment, he allowed his thoughts to wander aimlessly. Maybe he should use an expert from a great tale of old? Or perhaps he should use a joke? But then he shook these thoughts away, seeing as there was another option, a carving he had memorized from a fellow and previous champion of ash.

After a moment to familiarize himself, he typed away at an incredibly slow pace. But eventually, he had seemingly finished his sentence. And once he had finished looking over for spelling mistakes, he pressed the "confirm: yes/no" prompt.

A circular shape twirling in a still motion then portrayed itself, confirming his choice was in the midst of rendering. Soon, it had been replaced with a "check", accompanied with small words of completion. Under his photo, the blank bio now read thus:

||| "Jolly Cooperation Required Ahead. Therefore, Try Praise The Sun." |||

Satisfaction was the sensation 'Asche' now held. Lothric and it's many horrors were an experience he was bound to never forget. But even with it's many monstrosities, there had been slivers of hope and light, this commonly found phrase from the soapstone carvings being one of those so fewer yet fonder memories.

"Ah…I see you're quickly catching on, Mr. Embers." The headmaster said, looking over the boy's shoulder. "Good. Very good."

The champion of ash bolted upright in being startled, nearly jumping away at the headmaster being so close. Sky on the other hand, awkwardly glanced between the two. And as for the headmaster, Ozpin adjusted his spectacles with a hand before speaking again.

"Your student profile appears complete. As time carries on, changes in text will be made to further elaborate on your information. If you have any questions or concerns about your scroll, do not hesitate to ask either Doctor Oobleck or your dear teammates."

With a meager nod of the head, and a hesitant finger circle of approval, 'Asche' sent a message of understanding. Still though, he was spooked at Ozpin's supposed ability of teleportation. But the headmaster had already left, rounding a corner with a distinct yet very distant sip from his mug.

"That was… unexpected. Uh… where did he even come from?" Sky questioned.

"Do you think… he waited here? W-while we… showered?" The boy continued, his face paling at the next occurring thought.

"Oh Oum… Is our headmaster a pervert?"

And sadly, 'Asche' would not answer his question. For, painfully obvious reasons of course.

Later that night, when everyone had drifted to sleep, 'Asche' fiddled with his newly reconfigured device. He lay in his bed, atop the covers as always, the curtains to the bunk pulled so as to not disturb his slumbering teammates.

So far, he had made adequate progress toward understanding how the tool worked. He knew how to turn it on, turn it off, and how to swipe through the homescreen.

Excellent progress indeed, if he "said" so himself.

But other than that, he was still quite lacking in knowledge. He had tried pressing on the various icons to the screen, only opening into their even more convoluted applications. But currently, he was scrolling through the "photo gallery". An application he silently insisted was far more easy to use than the others before it.

After fiddling with the screen, he swiftly grasped the concept of the app. By clicking, he could view an image and by scrolling, he could view a collage of miniaturized variants. Much later though, he found images he considered were...risqué.

Various women in either revealing or exposing positions. Scrolling further only garnered photos of more women in various stages of undress. The champion was appalled to say the least… and that was if one left out the saved video footage.

He was disgusted by the contents. The sheer amount alone was absurd and nearly comical, reaching a number his soul count would be envious of.

These… perverse depictions littered the damned and infernal gallery. And for several hours, he painstakingly went through the task of deleting the photos.

But these photos and videos were not the only thing he found…

Every so often, he would come across images of a boy. A boy with a shabby dull green mohawk with the battle attire of a delinquent. And gazing further at these specific images, revealed the file name being stated in various strings of words...the phrase "Russel Thrush" always accompanying the file text. But the most recent photo intrigued the champion more than the others.

The photo showed a familiar forest. "Russel" lying sideways on the green grass, just barely in view of the camera. And standing above the boy, who was revealed to be bloodied and battered after closer inspection, was an unfamiliar figure.

A stranger who wore a red cloak, a bone white mask, and a set of leggings and gauntlets with metallic guarding on the elbows and knees. In their hand, they held a crimson stained dagger...causing 'Asche' to expect the obvious…

This scroll he held now…had belonged to this boy, this "Russell Thrush".

CEDL's original and missing member.

_______________

BONFIRE: LIT

_______________

||| "Don't You Dare Go Hollow..." |||