“I can’t believe you Weiss, we get our first mission and you managed to almost to get those people kill just because you wanted to be the hero.”
Team Excalibur was currently walking down the hallway to their dorm after a mission, their mission was to help some farmers that live just outside Vale, the people they had some trouble with Grimm and Ebony’s team was send to help them with the problem.
“I told you to help out the people there but no,” Ebony opened the door to their room and walk in, the girls followed her. “you had to go on your little quest.” Ebony turned around to face Weiss. “What’s your problem?” She shouted at the Schnee.
Weiss was as calm as ever as she walk over to her bed. “I don’t see what’s your problem is, the Grimm is gone, and the farmers are safe.”
“No thanks to you, the farmers almost died if it hadn't been for Yang. I’m going to ask you again, what’s your problem?” Ebony was now breathing heavily.
"You want to know what my problem is? It’s you.”
That made Ebony raise an eye brown. “Me? What the hell do you mean? Don’t tell me your still mad that I became team leader and not you.” Ebony couldn’t help but rubbed her face in frustration when Weiss refused to look at her. “You got to be kidding me, that was three weeks ago, are you still sour about that?”
“Yes, I am. I still believe that I should be team leader, I’m the one who is qualified.”
“What? Because you are a Schnee?” Ebony couldn’t help but snort. “Oh please, that only you Schnee are good at is making money and making life miserable for the Faunus.” She told Weiss while crossing her arms.
Weiss wasn’t too happy to hear that. “Hey, my father runs the company, I have nothing to do with that.”
Ebony just snort. “Oh please, you Schnee are all the same.”
While they were arguing, the two sisters was watching the whole thing. “Should we do something?” Ruby asked her sister.
“You know as well as me when those two starts arguing it’s almost impossible to stop them, we just have to wait until they are done.” Yang told her younger sister.
When it came to the arguing couple, Weiss had enough. “That’s it, I had enough that you think your better than everyone ells.” She pointed a finger at her team leader. “Ebony Nox, I challenge you to duel for the leadership to team EYWR.” The entire room became quiet when she said those words.
“Did you just say that you want to challenge me to duel for the right to lead the team?” Ebony asked the Schnee.
Weiss nodded. “That’s right, I’m going to prove to you that I am the better leader.”
Ebony walk over to Weiss so they were face to face. “Alright Schnee if you want to fight then let’s fight. But, if I win you are going to accept that I am team leader and you have to listen to me.”
Weiss gritted her teeth. “Fine, but if I win you have to accepted that I’m the team leader and you have to do it in front of the entire school.” Then they just started at each other.
The next day after classes had ended, the entire school was gather fighting arena to watch Ebony and Weiss fight, Glynda was there to make sure it was a fair fight.
As they stood in the training ground, both Ebony and Weiss had their weapons drawn and ready to fight. When the match began, Weiss made the first move, conjuring a glyph to accelerate herself forward as she lunged for her opponent. Yet, as she got closer, Ebony did not move. Instead, she used her daggers to deflect her attack and attempted to kick her legs to knock her down.
Weiss herself saw the attempt and avoided the kick easily. However, it was second afterwards that she felt as if her legs were pulled out from underneath her and fell forward. As Weiss conjured a second glyph to get her to stand upright, Ebony took the dagger that she had in her left hand and threw it towards her as it lightly scraped her cheek.
"Really? Throwing your weapon away? Is that your plan?" She mocked.
All Ebony did was smirk as she held out her free hand, "Who said I was throwing it away?"
At first, Weiss blinked as she turned around. The dagger she threw was coming back towards her opponent, barely missing her head as Ebony went back on the offensive. Her twin daggers colliding with Weiss' rapier. The Schnee was still trying to figure out what exactly was going on and what her opponent was trying to do. Was she trying to outlast her? Wear her down and force her to use up her strength too quickly? What was her plan?
It was not just a question that Weiss was thinking though. Several of the students were also trying to figure out what Ebony was trying to do. "Come on, why isn't Ebony doing anything?" Ruby complained as she watched their teammates fight while sitting next to her sister.
"Beats me, sis. I can't exactly tell what's going on inside that head of hers." Yang then added.
Though, both sisters were a bit surprised to hear someone that sat next to them speak up, "I would think that she's watching her opponent's movements." They heard Opal from team BBLO speak up. "You know, see what she does and find something she can use to gain the upper hand."
"How though?" Ruby said. "I mean, Ebony looks cool, but all she's got is just a set of daggers."
"Don't forget her semblance too." another student, Tyr from team TRRA, added on.
"Yeah, whatever that might be." Yang rolled her eyes.
"Wait... you... don't know if she has a semblance?" Opal then asked, sounding a bit surprised.
"The conversation never really came up," she shrugged. "The last couple of conversations we had... didn't quite go so well."
"Well then," Tyr replied, looking back towards the arena. "This outta be interesting."
Back on the floor of the arena, Ebony was doing everything she could to avoid the incoming attacks from Weiss as she tried to push her opponent into a corner. However, it was as Weiss prepared to conjure another glyph that something caught her off guard. The Schnee's intention was to launch some more icicles at her opponent. However, before she had the chance, Weiss felt something grab hold of her left arm. She tried to move it, but it was locked in place. Something that made her opponent smirk.
"Caught you." Ebony grinned as she looked towards Weiss' arm. When the Schnee looked towards it, she was shocked to find a claw of darkness wrapped around her arm and grabbing hold of it firmly.
"W-what the-? What is this?!"
All her opponent did was smirk as she looked back towards Weiss, "Since you seem to be using that right arm of yours quite frequently to channel your glyphs, I decided to lock it in place. As long as you can't conjure your glyphs, I say this is checkmate."
Everyone in the stands, especially Ruby and Yang, were thrown off guard by this. Opal though, looked surprised as she turned towards her teammates. "What the hell is that kind of semblance?! What's she doing?"
"She... using the shadows." both sisters now turned to see Blake, who was sitting next to Opal and had put away the book that she was reading earlier.
"Don't you do something like that too, Blake?" Opal asked.
"Almost... but mine's not the same." The Faunus explained, "I conjures shadows of myself, almost like copies. Mainly, I use it to evade attacks and move out of the way. However,... this semblance is more offensive. She's using the shadows to 'lock down' and prevent her opponent from using whatever her shadows grab hold of."
"Like a... Shadow Lock?" Tyr then asked, "That... sounds way too strong."
"Maybe." Blake acknowledged his comment, "But no semblance is invincible."
Ironically, just as the Faunus said that, Weiss used her free hand to grab hold of something in her back pouch and dropped it on the ground. Ebony took a look and saw three dust crystals, two water Dust and one fire. Before she could realize what was happening, Weiss released the grip on her weapon, caught it with her free hand and shattered the crystals. The combination of dust created a smokescreen that she sent towards Ebony, the smoke obscuring her vision as she was forced to release the lock that she had on Weiss arm.
The Schnee thought that she had the upper hand, though, in a surprise turn of events, Ebony jumped upward from the smoke and threw two of her daggers towards Weiss, forcing her opponent to duck as the daggers landed on the ground. The Schnee thought that with Ebony's weapons gone, she was clear to win.
However, that turned out not to be the case. As Weiss lunged for her, Ebony slammed the third dagger on the ground and dashed out of the way and slammed the ground in front of her. Seconds afterwards, the shadows from her weapons darted towards Weiss as it struck her legs and grabbed hold of her. Forcing her down to her knees as the shadows from the final dagger grabbed hold of her arm and Ebony's own shadow grabbed the rest of her. Locking her entire body in place, even though it was forcing Ebony to concentrate as her aura was beginning to slowly dwindle.
"It's not just her shadows?" Tyr now asked, surprised at this recent development.
"Her shadows and the shadows off of objects," Opal said, realizing something, "It's how she had her weapons come back to her so quickly earlier when Weiss thought she threw them away."
"Yet, this is something that's requires more focus. It's why her aura's slowly dwindling," Blake commented as she looked at the screen.
Weiss wanted to find a way out and escape. However, the shadows prevented her from moving even an inch. After several attempts to try and move though, both of them heard another voice interject.
"That's enough," Glynda spoke up, "The winner of the Match is Ebony."
After the victor was decided, the shadows released their hold on Weiss while also pulling the daggers back towards Ebony as she sheathed them away. As Ebony approached Weiss though, that was when she offered a hand to help her up off the ground. "You did well." she complimented the Schnee, "For a moment, I thought I was going to lose. You're pretty strong."
Weiss just knock her hand away. “I don’t need your pity.” She then got up and stormed out.
Her team just watch her leave. “Well, that went well.” Said Yang while rolling her eyes.
Blaze just watch as Weiss left, he couldn’t believe how ungrateful she was towards Ebony. Blake saw that something was up with her leader. “Blaze, is something wrong?” She asked him. He said nothing, he just got up and walk after Weiss.
“Dame it, I should have won.” After her defeat, Weiss had ventured to the garden outside Beacon, she had found a tree and started to hit it with her fist. “I can’t believe I let the bitch beat me.” She hit the tree once more and the tears came. “I should have been the leader.” She wipe away the tears and turnaround to head back inside but she didn’t get very far, right behind her stood Blaze with is arms crossed. “What do you want Faunus?” Blaze said nothing, he just watch her. “If you are here to make me feel better then you are wasting your time.” He still didn’t say anything, and Weiss was getting impeached impatient. “Just say something.” She snap at him.
“Why are you acting like this?”
That question took her off guard. “What?”
“I asked you why you are acting like this? Do you think your better than everyone ells in this school? Because it certainly looks like it.”
“I’m not acting like this, I am better then everyone ells, I’m a Schnee.”
“Yeah, so?” She was about to shout at him, but he didn’t let her. “Here at this school it doesn’t matter who you are everyone is equal, you just think your better. Let me ask you something Weiss, have you even tried to get your know your team in these three weeks or have just ignored them?”
“What have that do with anything?” Blaze didn’t answer, he just gave her a disappointing look. “What? You don’t have anything more to say?”
“I have this, whether you like it or not you are part of a team and you have to live with them for four years. You should get along with them not fight them.” He then turned around and walk away leaving Weiss alone.
“That was awesome.” After the fight, Ebony and the sisters went back to the dorm. “Why didn’t you tell us that you had so cool semblance?”
Ebony who was sitting on her bed with a smirk on her face. “You didn’t ask.” Ruby just rolled her eyes of the answer. “I just don’t like to reveal everything about me.”
“Is because you’re from Vacuo?” Yang asked who was standing beside her leader bed.
“That part of it, the many reason is…” She never got to say it, the door open and Weiss walked in and the girls could see that she had be crying. “Well, look who it is, have you calm down or are you still angry at me for beating you?” Ebony asked her.
Weiss took a deep breath. “No, I’m not mad at you.” That surprised Ebony and the sister’s. “I have done some thinking and I have realized that I was the one who was out of line yesterday and I should have never had challenge you in the first place, I was never meant to be leader of this team, you were and I’m sorry.” Ebony, Yang and Ruby was speechless. They never thought that Weiss would apologize. “Would you please say something, your creeping me out.”
Ebony shook her head. “Sorry Weiss, I didn’t expect you to apologize.”
Weiss rolled her eyes of what Ebony said. “Well, I did. Just laugh it up.”
“I’m not going to laugh of you Weiss, I’m just surprised that you apologize.” Ebony the got up. “Look, I’m not saying that we have to be best friends but let’s at each try and get along with each other.” Ebony stuck out a hand. “What do you say?”
Weiss started at Ebony’s hand and it felt like an eternity, Blaze words play in her head and as much as she hated it, he was right. She was part of a team and she had to get along with them, whether she liked it or not.
She eventually shook Ebony’s hand. “Fine, I don’t like this, but I’ll will try and get along with you and the team.”
Ebony couldn’t help but smiled and before she could say anything, Ruby was between them. “Hurray, they are getting along.” And then she hug them.
Right now, it was awkward for Ebony and Weiss. “Ruby, if you don’t want to go to bed with a black eye, you will let us go right now.”
“I agree with Ebony with this one.”
Ruby let go of them both. “Sorry.” She said with an innocent smile. She then ran back to her sister.
“So, what were you girls talking about before I entered?” Weiss asked while straiting out her dress.
“Ebony was about to tell us about her past and why she dosen’t trust us, I think.” Said Yang while placing a hand under her chin.
Weiss face light up when she heard that. “Really? I would really like to hear this, considering you know so much about us, but we know almost nothing about you, only your semblance.”
Ebony walk back to her bed and sat down. “My story isn’t a happy one, I was left on the doorstep to the local orphanage in Vacuo when I was a child.”
The entire room became quit when she said that, then Weiss decided to speak. “You’re kidding, right? Your weren’t left at the orphanage when you were a child.” Then Weiss saw that Ebony wasn’t lying. “Oh my… you were. Is that’s the reason you don’t like my family?”
“What? No, I just don’t like your family in general but yes, I was left at the orphanage when I was just a child.”
“But, why? Why would someone do that?” Ruby asked.
Ebony just shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know and I don’t care.”
“That’s a bleak way to look at it.” Said Weiss.
“It’s the only way I can look at it.”
“But, don’t you want to know who your parent’s are?”
Ebony got up and look Ruby in the eyes. “Of course I want to know who my parents, at least at first.” That confused her team. “While growing up I want to know who they were but when I was old enough I realised something, if they don’t want me then I don’t want to know who they are. What kind of parents leaves a child in the doorstep at an orphanage?” Ebony had shouted that last part and now were breathing heavily.” You may look at world in black and white Ruby, but I see it as it is, a cruel world.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to take a shower.” She then walk to the bathroom and slammed the door behind herself.
The rest of her team just look at the door, wondering if they real know their team leader better. They weren’t so sure.
Then Yang spoke up. “Now I understand why she don’t trust people, considering what her parents did.” Ruby and Weiss just nodded in agreement.
After a while Ebony came back out only in her underwear, Weiss, who was sitting on her bed reading a book just rolled her eyes when she saw Ebony in her underwear.
Ebony walk over to her bed. “Ebony.” She look over to Ruby who was standing beside her bed. “I’m sorry about before.”
Ebony just waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it.” She then lay on her bed.
“But, there's one thing I'm wondering, didn’t anyone adopt you?”
“Nope, I left the orphanage when I was eleven and I joined Shade academy when I was old enough.”
“Why did you come to Beacon then? Why not stay in Vacuo?” Weiss asked her.
“I wanted to get away from Vacuo and considering how Vacuo relationships with Atlas and Mistral, I chose Beacon.” She let out a tiring sighed. “Look, can we talk about my life another time, fighting and beating Weiss was tiring.”
“Oh ha ha ha, very funny. Let’s just laugh at loser.” Weiss said while closing her book. “If you don’t want to talk about your past anymore, what about your semblance. How does it work?”
“I thought it was obvious, I use the shadow to create shadow claws so I can trap my opponent.”
“Can you use the shadow to your opponent?” Yang asked her.
Ebony shook her head. “No, it’s has to my own shadow or my daggers, I can also control my daggers with their shadow.”
“Sounds a little powerful to me.” Said Weiss.
“Maybe, but when I use it drains my aura so I can’t use it for very long.” She then let out a yawn. “I’m going to get some sleep, it’s been a long day.” The girls look out of the window and saw that night had arrived, maybe it was time to get some sleep.