Yin detached his staff from his back, holding it with a single hand while he used the other to draw the handgun from the holster on his thigh.
Pyrrha, weapon in its sword form, held her shield defensively, a majority of her mid-section and the bottom half off her face blocked from his view.
Their eyes met. Even at the center of the arena, weapons drawn, and moments away from the fight starting, her hesitation remained. Reluctance to go against her teammate? It could be a question of skill. While he had shown himself as resourceful back in the Emerald Forest, in terms of raw combat skill he'd done nothing to give her any reason to think he might be some extraordinary fighter.
Whatever was going on with her, his objective was clear.
"Begin."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yin fired a trio of shots the moment Glynda's declaration filled the arena. The first two, aimed center mass, were blocked, Pyrrha's shield already in place to intercept them, but she was forced to raise it to block the final shot.
High enough to block her view of him.
He shot forward in that split moment, managing to close the distance and prep a swing with his pole by the time her shield lowered and her eyes found him. The smack was easily deflected despite the small window to react, a dull clang filling the arena as metal hit metal. She redirected the smack while stepping in, slash aimed for his mid-section. Yin used the barrel of his handgun to deflect the blow, backstepping.
The little space he tried to put between them was instantly closed, Pyrrha on him the second his feet hit the ground.
Left, right, a stab. He had little issue stepping around the string of slashes and stabs she launched at his chest, leveling his handgun at her head as he weaved her around latest attack.
He pulled the trigger.
Resistance.
It was for no more than a fraction of a second but there was an unusual weight to the trigger that slowed the pull. His bullet whizzed past Pyrrha's cheek as she stepped in again, slamming her shield into his face.
He allowed himself to stumble back with a flinch, aiming his gun again as Pyrrha advanced.
Resistance again.
She avoided his delayed gunfire with minimal tilts, slashes, stabs, and bashes sent his way.
The work of the same semblance that allowed them to meet up so quickly during initiation. Some form of telekinesis. It was either very weak, capable of only minor interference, or her skill with it was so well honed she was able to make precise use of it in ways her opponent would barely register.
Either way, his handgun was nothing but a liability against her.
He avoided a stab and stepped in, Pyrrha defending against his shoulder check with her shield. It served its purpose, packed with enough force to send her sliding back while he put away his gun and adopted a two-handed grip on his staff.
Pyrrha lowered her shield, adopting the same defensive stance she started with, the two of them circling each other.
XOXO
Pyrrha Nikos: one of the huntresses she'd admired, a world renown fighter, and now her teammate.
Yin: a cool guy that was good at hunting Grimm, weirdly good at tic-tac-toe and also her teammate. Plus, he had cute fluffy ears.
What kind of cruel world would make her watch her teammates fight during their first official combat class together? How was she supposed to cheer on anyone in this situation?
"Come on, Ruby. Shouldn't you be cheering on your boyfriend?"
"Ugh, please stop it, Yang. We've known each other for like two days." Ruby groaned, giving Yang a side eye. She always did this. The moment she saw her talking with any guy there'd always come a whole bunch of stupid teasing even if the conversation had been about nothing but directions or something like that.
At least everyone else was too focused on the fight below to listen to their conversation.
"Haven't you heard of love at first sight?"
"Yeah, and I had mine when I finished building Cresent Rose. Everyone knowns you can't have more than one love at first sight moment."
"Awww, you are just too cute." Yang ruffled her hair despite Ruby's best attempts to keep her hand away. Yang smiled teasingly as she pulled her hand away. "I don't know though. You two look like you get along really well. Usually, you're so awkward around people."
"Yeah, well, that's because-" Now that she thought about it, Yang was right. Her perfectly healthy interest in weapons, the rambling sprees she tended to go on, and plenty of other small things. Usually, things got awkward with strangers quickly, her habits putting them off. Nice as Pyrrha was, it happened with her and definitely happened with Weiss.
She'd yet to be on the end of one of those looks that might as well yell she was being a weirdo or annoying by Yin. It was weird. Even her few friends at Signal had looked at her like that pretty often before they reached the friend stage.
"-Yin is easy to get along with." Ruby found herself saying. She'd definitely gotten lucky getting him as one of her teammates. Compared to the Pyrrha freaking Nikos who was the most popular girl in the school by now and Weiss Schnee an apparent heiress, she didn't feel so out of her depth with him filling the final spot on the team.
"That's great but not everyone is going to be, you know. You need to get out of that awkward shell of yours if you want to get along with your whole team."
"I do not have a shell and if I did, I wouldn't have to leave it." Ruby huffed. "I'm getting along just fine with my team."
"Really? You're getting along with your whole team? Every single member?"
"Y-Yes." Ruby insisted. "We all decided to go to city as a team this weekend, so take that."
"Only because you practically ordered it." Weiss grumbled from her seat in the row behind them. She only looked away from the fight to give her an icy glare before they flicked back.
"Huh? My baby sister is abusing her power to make friends already?" Yang questioned, a judgmental look spread across her face. It disappeared just as Ruby opened her mouth to deny it, Yang using one arm to hug her while grinning. "I'm so proud of you. Maybe you really are coming out of your shell."
At first she'd been happy to see they had classes with Yang's but maybe that wasn't a good thing. She was so embarrassing.
Some cheers filled the room and they looked back to the fight.
Now that Yin had put away his gun, he was actually defending himself against Pyrrha's attacks but with the bars on the flatscreens above displaying their aura levels, Pyrrha's still in the green while his was already in the yellow, the one currently winning was obvious.
"He better get in one hit at least." Weiss muttered to herself, judging his entire performance.
Maybe she should cheer for the underdog? Everyone was already talking like Yin's loss was a guarantee.
There's always a chance, right? Ruby thought, fully focusing on the fight.
XOXO
Even his staff was on the menu for Pyrrha's semblance.
As she side stepped a downward swing from his staff, an invisible force joined his momentum, the force of the blow far stronger than anything he intended. As his staff created a faint crack in the arena floor, the force remained, slowing his ability to pull the weapon back for another swing. He had no other choice but to go back on the defensive once he brought it back.
That too came with minuscule interferences.
Between blows his staff felt heavier and heavier, his slowed swings unable to take advantage of the few openings Pyrrha had between her attacks. It didn't help that some of her hesitation faded as she hit her stride, different weapon forms mixed into her attacks. One minute he'd be trying to put distance between the restlessly aggressive attacks of her sword only for her to switch to javelin form to keep him in range. Even more distance and that rifle made an appearance as she closed back in.
He understood why it was she had her reputation firsthand now. Anyone would be hard pressed to deal with her in a fight like this.
And that's while she was holding back.
Either way, he learned what he needed.
He lashed out with a swing, Pyrrha blocking it with her shield, the blow redirected to the side as she closed the distance. He could feel a stronger pull on the end of his weapon ensuring he wouldn't be able to pull in back fast enough to defend himself.
A slash closed in on his shoulder,
Yin dropped his staff and ducked, mirroring Pyrrha's step forward.
"You've got this, Yin!"
His fist slammed into Pyrrha's armored stomach. He'd met to get most of the power by turning her forward momentum against her but put a touch too much force behind the punch, Pyrrha sent skidding back, surprise and pain in equal measure contorting her expression.
Hearing his name over the cheers people were making for Pyrrha must've distracted him. Said cheers had also come to a stop after his surprise blow not that Pyrrha seemed to care.
He didn't bother picking his weapon back up, standing unguarded as she raised her shield and sword.
Her eyes, now narrowed and focused, had lost almost all of that hesitation.
She took slow, tentative steps towards him.
Yin began to raise his hands.
She rushed him, intent on catching him before he could form a proper guard.
"I give up." Yin said, hands raised beside his head in surrender.
Pyrrha lost her momentum, stumbling to a stop beside him. "W-What?"
"Pyrrha Nikos is the winner!" Glynda announced without missing a beat. "For those of you who believe that defeating your opponent is the most important aspect of this class, I encourage you to take a page out of mister Coalson's book. He assessed his situation, determined he was at a disadvantage and acted accordingly. Situational awareness is a skill all of you should strive to build."
Glynda dropped her gaze down to them, giving them a satisfied nod. "The two of you may return to the stands."
Yin stepped on the edge of his staff, sending it his open hand. He slipped it back onto his back as he left the arena, Pyrrha following after him.
"Congrats." He said as they stepped into the dimly lit stairwell built into the base of the stands, looking at her from the corner of his eye as they ascended.
"Thank you." She said. That would've been a good sign if she hadn't absent mindedly given him the same polite smile she gave Weiss whenever she was listening to one of the girl's complaints.
Pyrrha was a talented fighter. That slight slip up with that punch must've given away how little force he'd been putting behind the rest of his attacks.
Why it bothered her? He couldn't say for sure yet, so it was better not to poke the subject until he had a better understanding of her.
By the time they made their way back up to everyone else another pair of students were already taking their places in the arena.
"Good job you guys!" Ruby exclaimed, waving for them as they got closer. "You were both awesome down there." Similar compliments came from the others as they retook their seats.
"You did better than expected." Weiss said, giving him a glance. The first words she'd spoken to him after watching him slack off with Ruby.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Take it however you want." She retorted with a faint huff. It looked like a bit of her attitude was coming his way but not exactly in a negative way? She appeared more satisfied than anything else.
The rest of class was spent watching several fights between other students. Short, long. Even, unfair. Strangers against stranger, friend against friend. There was plenty of variety among the matches. Once they were all over, Glynda was left standing in the center of a sufficiently damaged arena.
"Good work today, class. I hope that your enthusiasm extends to all of your courses." Despite being far below and surrounded by students, her gaze found him as she spoke. "I'm sure the more diligent among you are aware but there is a tournament being held for first years at the end of the month. Those who sign up must do so as pairs as fights will two against two. For those interested in team rankings or those looking to improve teamwork between specific members it is an invaluable opportunity. Though it is optional I suggest you all at least take the time to discuss it amongst your teams."
Weiss will probably demand we participate. Yin thought as Glynda dismissed them, everyone shuffling out of the stands.
This class marked the end of their first day of classes.
XOXO
(A/N: You all who kept sending powerstones despite me not touching this story in forever are crazy. And I got bad news. Going further on ice. Been doing reading and I want to try writing something in first person. Started exploring a different idea I had with RWBY with that in mind so that might take precedent. Assuming I write that at all.
If you read my other story and look through the author's note then you know I've started undertaking a programming course between my usual work. Writing will be downgraded to an explorative thing I do from time to time. Well, more explorative.)