#seeing this is like a beacon of light on a rainy day (its literally raining over here lmao)

[driftsart]

... Have I told you that I LOVE your artstyle, character design, and au? Like really badly. I want to hug Rung and all.

I might finish this another time, but have it anyway :D

KSJDSKLSKDSJS TY!!! THAT LOOKS SO GOOD!1!!!!11!

I was actually gonna work on Rung's reference right after I finish Terminus ksjksjsks this was good timing ;D

[razorblade180]

Revving up

It was a stormy day in Patch, typical for this time of year. Storm clouds rolling over heads and thick mud under their feet. Normal people would stay inside to avoid such messy weather. Jaune Arc unfortunately wasn’t in the category known as normal people, or at least his family wasn’t. The man walked down a dirt road in a drenched rain coat with a tightly sealed boxed lunch. Each muddy foot step brought him closer to bright white-ish flames that blazed a little ways away. Being a supportive father wasn’t that hard of a job, but he really wished his darling daughter Yujin wouldn’t get such insane ideas on how to train. Preparing for Beacon entrance exams was important, but using a downpour as an excuse to push her limits with fire moves was ridiculous! Jaune was thankful though. At least he was walking to a warm place. A lucky game of Rock Paper Scissors sent Tai in the opposite direction towards endless lightning strikes. Dealing with Tenzen while wearing armor was not a thing Jaune wanted to go through, again.

Finally, Jaune reached the area where cracklings flames and the heat was the most intense. “Yujin has to be somewhere over here. With this much fire she has to be having a ball fighting something.”

“Woooohooo! Come and get some!!!” Yujin shouted from several feet away, the loud noise of roaring coming from behind some shrubbery.

“Called it.” Jaune poked his head through to find a forest clearing transformed into what looked like a gladiator arena set on fire from a fierce battle. In the middle was the girl of the hour herself, and she wasn’t alone. Five huge Ursas circled her among countless disappearing smaller grimm of various types. Immense steam radiated off of her glowing hair and sword that was set ablaze. Even her trench coat sizzled the water off of her body except for the drops that made contact with her face. Yujin didn’t look worried about her odds. In fact, she was smiling the same way Yang did in a fight like this. Right now, Yujin was in her element.

“None of you want to pounce? Fine, guess I will!” Yujin unleashes a circle of flames with a spin attack to ignite the beasts’ fur. She then ran directly to the one in front of her. “I’ll start with you!” The Ursa rose up on its hind legs to slash her but Yujin stabbed Tempered Steel right into the paw. She then slid it through its arm as the sword remained ablazed, going all the way up the body then finally out through the shoulder; a short lived moment of freedom for the Ursa before Yujin’s blade took its head off. The entire body seemed to burn away by the pale flames. The ground began to shake as the second Ursa charge at incredible speed. Yujin turned around to see it was already lunging at her, it’s mouth wide open to crunch down on her entire body. Long, sharp teeth tried to force their way through tender flesh, but didn’t. It couldn’t. Instead, the predator's teeth cracked and crumbled, causing the Ursa to reel back in pain.

Jaune nearly had a heart attack for a second watching it happen. For years, Jaune tried to get Yujin to learn to use a shield but it never took. Who would’ve thought her semblance would’ve fixed that by numbing and fortifying Yujin’s body? Now she was the shield herself! To top it all off, the transition from blue eye to lilac was beyond heartwarming to him.

Yujin put the Ursa straight out of its misery taking her blade and stabbing straight down into the skull. The added weight in this form was still a little off putting to her but man did it do a great job to adding more umph to her attacks. The remaining three took a different approach from their fallen brethren by attacking all at once, charging from three different sides. “Teamwork? That’s new” Tempered Steel’s blade retracted into its hilt then split in half. Each band of metal wrapped around her wrist that she flexed to engage them. Gauntlet time. Yujin took her right fist and punched straight down into the ground. An infusion of her aura and fire dust erupt up like geysers of flames. One Ursa was unfortunate enough to be right on top of them, getting a whole burned right through its body. The second one was trapped by the ground caving in by the impact and the grimm’s weight. The third was unaffected and kept barreling toward Yujin. The girl quickly acted to dispose of the trapped one before its backup came. She ran it with her semblance off to get as much speed as possible before leaping into the air over it. Yujin did one midair front flip to position herself directly with her right leg raised to the sky for an axe kick. The reactivation of her semblance sent her falling like a brick, plunging her heel right into the Ursas face.

The impact kicked up debris and the loud snap Jaune heard made it clear that Ursa’s bone armor stood no chance. He watched Yujin roll out of her attack towards the final grimm and spring upwards into an uppercut that launched her opponent sky high with her. Yujin then set off a flurry of blows to the exposed underside to keep it juggled in the air higher, then grabbed it. Yujin rotated it to be on its back as it fell. She used it as a platform to jump higher while sending it crashing to the ground like a meteor.

From above, Yujin clicked her wrist together, reconnecting the metal bands back into a hilt. The blade reappeared in all it’s glory. The metal reignited as Yujin spun downward in a pinwheel of flames that was aiming right at the Ursa. A combo attack that perfectly drew from the skills and fighting styles of both her parents. If it wasn’t for the roaring of the grimm and flames, Jaune might’ve been bales to hear the words his daughter uttered as she went in for the kill.

“Dragonslayer…”

The attack landed right on the mark and the biggest pillar of flames yet was created, shooting upwards past the trees. The spin on the move didn’t just add force. It was to get out of the blast zone. The attack ricocheted off the ground and a rapidly spinning Yujin was hurled to safety. Another midair flip set her upright and sliding backwards on her feet and one hand. Just like that, no more grimm. Yujin stood up and let out a sigh while her hair and sword finally flickered out. That was rough! She was tired and her ribs hurt from the bite she was now completely feeling. “Phew! Talk about a workout!” She boasted.

“I’ll say!” Jaune chimed in, revealing his position to her. “You were literally on fire. If that isn’t entrance exam worthy then I don’t know what is.”

A red blush of embarrassment came over the young girl. If she knew she didn’t realize her dad was watching at all! She started scratching her head. “Oh, you saw all that? Like...all of it.” Her father happily nodded. Yujin started to laugh nervously. “Wow, really glad it wasn’t the attempt where I spun out like a race car.”

“Is that why there’s all this extra fire?”

“That’s why there’s still flames burning in general! I was trying a few things out and missed a lot, like, a lot. Really glad it’s the rainy season and all the way out here.” For once, being a country girl with plenty of unclaimed land was rewarding. Yujin noticed the box in her dad’s hands and extended her own. “Food?”

“Yes fatty, food. But how about we call it for now and you eat at home? Food tastes better dry.”

“Hmmm, fair point. Not really comfortable with leaving this fire though. The flames contain them but a few I actually have to put-” Jaune handed Yujin her lunch and pulled out Crocea Mor. Yujin watched him point the sword to the sky as his aura ran through it to make it glow white. Jaune jumped back and slashed the air horizontally. A strong pressure came of the attack that swept the area and snuffed out the flames. Yujin was more than a little shocked as she finished her sentence. “Out…”

Jaune put his sword away and took back the lunch to keep it as dry as possible. “Okay, let’s go! I’m sure your grandpa is trying to get Tenzen to come back too. We’ll all eat together.”

Yujin slowly started moving, still amazed by her dad. Now she had a goal beyond exam training. Next time, she’ll make her flames harder to snuff.

xxxx

On the other side of the forest was an equally impressive light show. A full pack of beowulves howled to the shattered moon in constant agony as electricity ran through their veins; their body wrapped in orange and pink aura. Tai followed the wispy flow of it all the way back to its source, Tenzen. The boy stood on a tree limb, his eyes a semblance activated orange with pink hair dripping wet. His body was crackling with lightning of the same color. Tenzen’s right hand clenched tight and he raised in the air. The sound of thunder started growing louder and the energy in the air started to build. Tai wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he should say something before Tenzen continued.

“Uuuuummmmm, Tenzen?”

The boy looked down to see Tai on the ground. Tenzen’s eyes got really big with concern that didn’t make Tai feel safe. Good, because he definitely wasn’t. Being on the ground was the last place Tai needed to be. “Mr. Xiao Long!? Uhh, why are you here!?”

“Is that really the thing we should be talking about right now!?” He shouted. The sight of Tenzen’s hand sparking wasn’t a calming sight. “Do I need to move-”

A flash of lightning came crashing down on Tenzen. The massive strike traveled around him, changing to the color of his aura as it raised down the tree. Each trapped grimm was immediately fried as the volts went through his aura. Tai barely saw the attack coming at him. He jumped up as high as he could in an attempt to avoid it.

“Hey, Catch!” Tenzen said, pulling out his father’s dagger and throwing it at the tree near Tai.

It was fortunately in range for Tai to grab and he stabbed the tree in order to hang safely out of reach from the light show happening on the floor. “Phew! Thanks kid.”

“I’m sorry!” Tenzen frantically said as he bowed. “I should've told you what kind of training I was doing!”

Tai laughed and waved off the apology. “It’s fine.” He couldn’t help but notice the slight burns on Tenzen’s hand. His eyes and hair turned back to their normal color and he hunched over. The lightning finally stopped and Tai dropped to the ground. “You okay?”

Tenzen hopped down and stumbled forward. “Just a little crispy.” He noticed the boxed lunch. “I hope whatever is in that is also crispy?”

“Hehe, why don’t we go back to the house and find out? I bet Jaune and Yujin will be there.”

Tenzen smiled and nodded. “Then What are we waiting for? Let’s mosey on over!” He said, marching with renewed energy.

Tai didn’t bother to mention how beaten up Tenzen actually looked. Oh well, Yujin will definitely get on him about it. Yes indeed, just another rainy day in Patch. However, not once did the budding heroes and guardians think it possible of a storm outside of their own. Far far away, another storm downpoured with its own hero taking their steps to greatness.

xxxx

No matter how harsh the weather, Menagerie would always have it harshest. The raindrops were heavy and unrelenting on the desert plains. Wind howled and blew fast enough to cut skin. Sand was turned to mud. Paradise turned into a natural disaster, and yet despite all that, Jael remained untouched. The Oasis itself was untouched. A pocket of relief shot through the storm towards the dazzling star scattered sky, shining down on the peaceful blade. The moon light radiated Jael’s poised blade and glistening body as three tiered warriors stood before her. A less than energetic Sun Wukong breathed heavily with gun-chucks tightly in hand on Jael’s left. The warrior on the right was none other than her own sister, Sienna, who let fatigue finally overcome her knees, dropping to the ground. Blake Belladonna stood in the middle proudly. Even she was catching her breath as her gun was trained on Jael and the many drops of water that orbited around her.

Jacquelyn watched from the roof, analyzing everything. The way Jael's hand shook, the struggling rise and fall of her chest as her weak heart tried its best to beat normally. Most importantly, the absolute cold stare in her eyes that fixated itself on Gamble Shroud. It had to be at least four hours since training started. Any longer and Jael was liable to drop dead. But she trained anyway. One more go around. One more try. Extreme conditioning for a person with an extreme condition. Jael loved it, craved it. She was going to be the best no matter what.

“Close it…” she uttered to her mother. Jacquelyn reaches at the hole in the sky and closes her fit in tandem with the clouds that made the eye of the storm. Light once again dwindled slowly into nothing, Illuminating faunus eyes in a world where the only sense that mattered was instinct. Darkness came once again with the promise of a rageful storm to dull all senses. And the sound of raining bullets. Yes, another day of training.