Colors of Remnant

Forrest's first loss in the tournament was certainly a sign to him; he felt he was slacking and needed to train more. Forrest didn't hesitate to use the combat training room to the fullest on this day. He had also been training intensely for the past couple days, especially focusing on strength training. It would do him no good to remain weak at this point. He figured that today he would focus on practicing his Semblance, the breaking of his wooden parrying sword in the tournament made him realize that his Semblance needed work as well.

Forrest reserved a wide square area of the combat training room for practicing his Semblance. Walking over, he found himself at the edge of the empty space. He crouched down, placing his hands on the ground and focused his Semblance on the entirety of the open square, causing roots to manifest like a wave of wood across the empty square space. Starting this "wave" of wood was simple, but it took skill to maintain it. Forrest held this maneuver for a while before the strain became too much to bear.

Thirty two seconds... I need to do better than that... Forrest thought to himself, taking a quick breather before repeating the same exercise again.

Vlithra stepped into the training building, looking forward to another day of fruitful excercise and practice as she tended to do so in an almost daily manner. Her performance had been stellar so far at Beacon, at least concerning combat, but that still didn‘t mean that she could slack off. No, if anything her encounter with that masked freak had reminded her that the gap between her and a fully fledged huntress was still too wide. Back then only the timely intervention of Professor Copperfield had saved her and it spurned her on.

She walked past a combat training room only to halt in place, pondering, when she saw a familiar silhouette inside. She recognized them as Forrest Waldstein, her latest opponent in the pep rally and arguably the one that had given her the most trouble so far, though arguably only. Every opponent had it‘s fair share of unique challenges. Aster was a close quarters fighter like her, but had to be outsmarted since he could match and counter her attacks. Castor was a tricky fighter, due to his summon needing constant attention. And Forrest, he had arguably the fighting style that worked best against her… keepaway and wittle down, but couldn‘t do so forever. He seemed to be training his semblance, so he was possibly working on the latter.

With a grin she stepped into the room, her weapons clattering against each other with each step, announcing her presence even before she spoke a word.
“Well, you seem determined today.“ she remarked in an almost amused tone as she approached.

Forrest was in a flow state, focused on the extending the duration of his Semblance throughout the exercise. His efforts seemed to be yielding results, albeit small ones. Another presence had entered the room, but Forrest maintained his focus on keeping the exercise up. This time, he could keep the wooden waves going for thirty five seconds before he had to tap out. Then he heard the voice of someone familiar. It was Vlithra's voice. Forrest stood up and turned to face her.

"Y-Yeah, I guess you can say that..." Forrest replied with an adorkable grin, feeling some color reach his cheeks as he placed a hand on the back of his neck. Given her tone, she came off as slightly less intimidating than she used to in previous interactions. It was... refreshing to see a more amicable side to Vlithra.

“Hm.“ Vlithra only muttered as Forrest sort of confirmed what she had said. She was by all means not blind to the guy‘s demeanor. It was clear as day that he was being rather reluctant, which the tigress didn‘t know wether she should chalk that up to the guy being the shy sort or not. He was getting red, so maybe she wasn‘t that far off with that assumption? Then again… with how their interactions went at the beach… maybe he was just less comfortable when in the spotlight of things? She couldn‘t tell yet. If there was one thing the tigress knew it was to never assume something without clear proof. Maybe she should inquire about his excercise… to give him something to talk about.

“Alright. So, what is your plan here?“ She asked inquisitively looking to the area that Forrest had used for practice so far. “Are you planning to strengthen your semblance? I can tell that much, but I‘m curious about the intricacies of your excercise.“ She looks back at him, paying extra attention to the subtleties of Forrest‘s behaviour to see if she could pick up on any other social cues.

"I'm, uh, making 'waves' with the trunks of wood. Constantly moving the wood like that requires concentration and a steady flow of my Aura to maintain. It's, um, harder than it looks. Doing it for extended periods of time becomes challenging..." Forrest explained.

Vlithra's focus on his body language displayed a few noteworthy things. First, Forrest had difficulty maintaining eye contact with Vlithra. His gaze often drifted towards the ground for a moment before trying and failing to hold eye contact. Second, when Forrest did manage to make eye contact, his pupils dilated slightly. Third, Forrest continued to rub the back of his neck. Fourth, Forrest's cheeks seemed to maintain a slight blush as he spoke.

"I've also been strength training for the past couple days. I, um, could really feel the difference in power between you and me in the Tournament. So yeah, I need to improve my strength too... I'm no good if I'm too weak..." Forrest admitted bashfully.

“I see.“ Vlithra nodded along as Forrest explained the excercise, taking note of his behaviour all the while. It made her wonder… was she being too forward here for Forrest to still act this shy around her? Sure she wasn‘t the friendliest of faces, but he should at least look at her when he...
It was then that her eyes widened for a brief moment as she came to a sudden realization. How did it take her this long to realize? The signs are all there. No wonder then, he might actually…

She stopped her train of thought just in time for her to listen to the rest of Forrest‘s explanation. Though, her cheeks felt warm for a moment. Now she was the one needing a distraction. “Then... how about we train together? As a matter a fact, I‘ve got an idea for an excercise if you‘re interested.“ With that she slowly walked towards the area Forrest had been previously using.

“Your goal is to catch and restrain me using your semblance. I in turn will try to get to you while avoiding and resisting to the best of my ability. No weapons or dust allowed.“ She explained, turning around once she got the far end of the area. “Does that sound fair to you?“ Not only would they both mainly focus on their respective semblances in this excercise, Vlithra could also get her thoughts in order. It was a win-win for her, she gets some much needed excercise and gets to hide her lightly flustered face on top.

As it turned out, Forrest couldn't hide anything from Vlithra. He noticed her eyes widen, leading Forrest to believe that she realized something. Forrest instinctively tried to correct his body language (albeit not effectively), despite the fact that it was likely too late. However, Forrest did detect just a hint of flustering from Vlithra.

"Y-Yeah, that sounds fair to me." Forrest replied with a nod.

Wait, does she... Please tell me she does... Forrest mused as he prepared himself for the exercise proposed by Vlithra. He stood at the opposite end of the arena, prepared for anything.

"Ready when you are, Vlithra." Forrest spoke.

Vlithra got into a runners stance, her thoughts still a bit jumbled from the fact that Forrest most likely had a crush on her.
Calm yourself. He isn‘t the first one to fawn over you. At the very least he is not like Bartok about it. She thought as she inhaled and exhaled deeply, loosening up some of her joints and jumping up and down on the spot while she was at it.
“Right.“ she answered as she readied herself, staring down the boy. There was a moment of utter silence, neither of them moving an inch, until...

“Here I come!“ she declared before bursting into a full on sprint, her powerful steps carrying her body forward with great speed. Slowly but surely lightning started dancing across her body as she prepared her semblance for defensive purposes. She didn‘t want to go full tilt just yet. It was better to get herself warmed up before pulling that stunt.

Forrest waited patiently for Vlithra to run as fast as she could towards him. In the meantime, Forrest was formulating a plan as to what exactly to do when Vlithra does end up running at him.

Roots could be a good choice, but they might be too slow. Vines have the opposite problem of being faster but fragile. I'm tempted to go with the vines, but Vlithra might not be holding back. Hmm... he mused as Vlithra jumped up and down in place, readying herself to run at him.

Vlithra broke out into a sprint, her Semblance slowly charging, but not at full throttle. Forrest noticed this and made his decision. Vines came up from the ground, winding around Vlithra's shins to restrain and pull her back. Forrest doubted that this would be enough to stop her at this point, but he decided to wait and see what would happen.

Vlithra‘s steps carried her body ever closer, until Forrest decided to act.
Wasting narily a moment to look, Vlithra saw the vines grasp her legs, putting her to a momentary stop. Good thing she had noticed and braced herself, otherwise she would have probably landed flat on her face. The vines certainly had a bit of a pull on them, but not nearly enough for them to drag her away as she resisted, diggin her heels in as best as she could.
Neither were they strong enough to hold her for long, as Vlithra yanked her legs forward, one after the other, ripping the vines apart.
The tigress immediately went into a sprint again.

Come on, this is meant to be training. Make me struggle a bit here! she thought to herself as she shot an almost taunting and confident grin at the boy.

Forrest waited, wondering if the vines would be enough to stop Vlithra. It didn't take long for her to break free of the vines that attempted to restrain her. She dug her heels in successfully, and with great gusto, ripped free of the vines. Clearly, the vines were not enough to stop her. It was time to manifest stronger materials with his Semblance.

Time for plan B! thought Forrest as he manifested several roots that would hook around Vlithra's limbs in an attempt to stop Vlithra's advance.

Surely the roots will hold, right? Forrest mused, knowing full well that the roots were able to take much more punishment than the vines.

This time around roots shot out of the ground, trying to secure the tigresses limbs. Vlithra pounced forward and rolled, dodging the first few. More came, so she dashed to the side to evade. With each time Vlithra dodged a group of roots, she lost speed and momentum. And eventually…

There we go. These are tougher! she mused in her mind as the roots found her ankles as she recovered. She was immobilized for the moment with her trying to break free with her pure strength for the moment. It did not avail her at first, a fact that had shiver going down the tigresses spine for the moment, until she decided to use her own semblance and charge the energy she had amassed so far into her legs. Her limbs extended with the additional power, strong enough to rip apart the roots and allowing her to pounce forward once more, but not with the strength and speed she‘d usually have. After all, she didn‘t want to use that much for this first round.

Damn! she cursed as she staggered upon landing, having lost a lot of momentum. She quickly picked herself up and started sprinting for the final stretch. She was getting really close, so Forrest only had one more chance.

Vlithra proved triumphant once again against the onslaught of flora Forrest had at his disposal. Vines proved too weak, and the roots, although stronger, did not hold either. This put Forrest in a bit of a pickle, trying to think of a final plan before she reached him.

I've got it! Forrest mused as the plan came to him. Instead of conjuring roots to restrain Vlithra, which were too slow, Forrest could produce a leg-sized tree trunk where Vlithra stepped. That being said, it required more precise timing and use more of his Aura to pull off. Forrest had to wait for a brief moment, tracking when Vlithra's feet hit the ground while she was running. However, her Semblance was enhancing her physical capabilities. This was a risk he had to take, otherwise he would have squandered an opportunity to stop her. Focusing on Vlithra's feet, he waited for the right opportunity to put his plan into action.

Wait... wait... NOW! Forrest thought, creating a leg-sized trunk surrounding Vlithra's leg the moment her foot hit the ground. Forrest hoped that this was enough, as Vlithra was just out of arms reach by now.

Gotcha. Vlithra thought when she was just out of arms reach of Forrest. Just one more step and… suddenly Vlithra staggered as her foot got stuck. Looking down she got to see the full extend of what Forrest had done, her legs encased in an entire trunk of wood this time around. She tried to rip her leg free, to no avail with the realization making her uneasy. She was certain she could probably break free with some more power from her semblance, but she instead started relaxing her body.

“Alright, you got me good with this one.“ she begrudgingly admitted. “Can you free me now though? I want to give it another go, if you don‘t mind.“ she requested, with a hint of embarassment in her voice.

Forrest waited, listened, and enacted his plan. The trunks managed to surround Vlithra's legs when she was just out of reach. He hadn't expected that plan to work, but was pleasantly surprised when it did work.

"Y-yeah." Forrest replied as the trunks disintegrated into nothing, freeing Vlithra's legs. Forrest remained where he stood, readying himself for the second attempt.

Vlithra almost got me that time, I don't think she'll go so easy on me now though... Forrest mused.

As her legs were finally freed from their wooden prison, Vlithra felt genuinly relieved to be able to move again, letting out a corresponding sigh.

“This time, there‘ll be a stipulation. I‘ll give you a five second grace period.“ she declared as she held up her hand with all fingers. “During that time I will focus purely on dodging. Once that time is over however, I‘ll be coming straigth for you. You got that?“

With that question Vlithra turned around, not even waiting for an answer as she walked back to her starting position. Once there, she fiddled with the chain of her jacket, unhooking it and letting it fall of her shoulders as she straightened her back and rolled her shoulders. Sparks started flying cross her body more and more. The lightning gaining intensity by the moment. Her hands balled into fists as her hair started glowing and rising slightly, pushed up by the force. She took a wide stance and gritted her teeth.

“RHAAA!“ she roared with all her soul, as her semblance chanelled into a figurative storm around her body with a thunder clap. She looked like an active tesla coil that somehow got pissed off. And she did feel like one. Her muscles and aura actively working against the outward force she applied to herself, just to keep her in place was exhausting. With that it would be no surprise that she wasted not time.

“READY!“ she growled out with audible strain as she slammed her knuckles into the ground, easily splintering the ground and taking something akin to a runner athletes starting position.

“GO!“ she only yelled as she shot forward in a flash of neon green. As if she was going to disregard her own ruling she shot straight to Forrest as if she intended to crash into him. But a few meter before she was going to, her foot stomped onto the ground. Her foot strained by the intensity started aching already as she shot to the side away from Forrest, now dashing about the arena zick zacking and taking sharp instant turns in an almost random frequency. One thing was for certain, the aches after this were going to be… painful.

Forrest barely managed to make a reply before Vlithra had turned around. He waited patiently for Vlithra as she removed her jacket and increased the power of her Semblance, noticing sparks fly off her body. She definitely wasn't messing around anymore...

Did I piss her off?... Forrest pondered before Vlithra and her Semblance surged with fury. Her Semblance sparking to life, Vlithra seemed to be pulling out all the stops for this one.

... I think I did... Forrest added mentally, noting the massive difference in effort between the first time and now. She dug her knuckles into the ground, amping herself up before shooting towards Forrest at breakneck speed.

OH FUCK! he thought, flinching as Vlithra stopped just before slamming into him, she seemed to be changing directions all over the training area at insane speed. She was certainly too fast for the roots, the vines would have trouble keeping pace at that speed, and creating a tree trunk to surround her legs required a lot more precision and patience to work. How was he going to stop her at this speed?!

She's too fast! I can't pinpoint a good position to stop her! Forrest mused, following Vlithra's path to the best of his ability. At this rate, his Semblance couldn't effectively keep up with her. Using his Semblance and leaving it to chance probably wouldn't work either, she definitely had the strength to break whatever stood in her path. He had to try something before his grace period ran out. Tracking her position for a few seconds, Forrest expended a moderate amount of Aura to quickly form a thick wooden wall in her direct path, hoping that it would slow her down at the very least.

1…2… Isn‘t he going to...? Just as Vlithra thought that Forrest was too stunned to act, a wall of wood suddenly burst forth from the ground blocking her path. Even she couldn‘t react to it with the speed she was going at, so she simply braced for immediate impact by crossing her arms in front of her and tucking her legs in. Her body easily crashed through, obliterating the obstacle but in turn robbing some momentum from the tigress. She immediately starting running again, despite her body now starting to ache all over. Her enhanced body quickly accelerating her again, though not as quick as before. She was now less a bolt of lightning and more a speeding car instead.

She was sort of glad she was going at this pace now, since going at such breakneck speeds her vision was mostly a blur, needing her to irratically change her momentum just to get a clear picture of where she was and how far she went. Additionally it impacted her body less and allowed her to save up some strength for when that grace period ran out.

3…4... Vlithra counted in her head as she still moved with random bursts of speed into different directions, grunting with each step launching her a significant distance ahead. Sometimes more, sometimes less. In the meantime her legs felt like they were aflame, a feeling similar to when someone ran a marathon that Vlithra was hellbent on to endure until this was over.

It certainly didn't stop her, but Vlithra definitely slowed down after crashing through the wall. Since slowing down, she seemed to be more aware of her surroundings. This would ultimately make things more difficult for Forrest, as she would likely dodge another wall at the speed she was going now. Forrest had to think of another plan quickly before the grace period ran out.

Think, dammit, think! Forrest mused anxiously before he managed to formulate a plan. Noting her raised awareness, Forrest figured that taking advantage of that would be beneficial. Forrest conjured up a few threatening, tendril-like roots that threatened to grab Vlithra. However, their purpose was not to grab her, but to push her back and away from him. Hopefully, Vlithra would decide to take the bait and fall back.

Roots suddenly sprouted in front of Vlithra, reaching towards her to try and get a hold of her. He's planning something. Prolly shouldn't wait to find out what. she mused as she did an instant sharp turn away from the newly created obstacle, back to the outer edge of the arena. She was slowly approaching her limit here. Her breathing through the teeth was becoming more irratic by the moment and the initial shot of adrenaline that came with this use of her semblance was wearing off. Now it was a matter of her enduring the strain as long a possible and it was getting to the point of unbearable, ...but not yet,s he couldn't give in yet.

Five… Vlithra announced in her head as the electricity around her body seemed to intensify in that moment once more. It was the only warning Forrest was going to get, as within an instant, Vlithra did another sharp turn and ran towards Forrest. But she didn‘t do so in a straight line, no, she kicked her legs against the ground in a way that let her shoot to the side in a diagonal. It drastically increased her travel time, sure, but she did so in varying intervals as to befuddle Forrest as best as possible.

It seemed that the roots managed to buy Forrest some time, but his grace period had already ran out. Keeping an eye on Vlithra, she had become alight with emerald lightning. His time was even more limited, so Forrest had to think quickly on his feet. Maintaining the roots that had pushed back Vlithra, Forrest created another root. This one was large, long, and especially thick and gnarled. As Vlithra zig-zagged her way towards him, the root sprang into action, sweeping across the arena, threatening to sweep Vlithra as well.

Hopefully this will keep pushing her back. At the very least, I can just make it annoying for her to advance easily... Forrest mused. He knew full well that the large root's bark was worse than its bite, but the intimidation of a large object was what he needed Vlithra to worry about. His observation of Vlithra revealed that she had been straining herself quite a bit, the longer she exerted herself, the more likely Forrest would succeed. Like always, he ended up playing the long game, which was his path to success in this training exercise. Keep Vlithra away for as long as possible and wait for her to tire out, that was his strategy.

She first shot to the right, then to the left and again to the right and then…a thick root sprouted, threatening to blindside her. Her pained visage seemed to twist further into anger and rage, as she reeled back her arm and shot with the next step straight at the interloper.

“GRAAH!“ she roared as her swing, unrestrained under the influence of her semblance, crashed into the root. The energy in the arm shot through and out into the opposing object, ripping it apart from the inside and pulverizing it on the spot just as the discharged energy faded into nothing. Yet she doesn't let up as the storm rages further around the tigress. Vlithra‘s arm felt numb, but she kept her momentum as she then angled herself for the finish, glaring at Forrest with simple minded intent.

There was no announcement, her mind had grown hazy from the strain with no further thought, only one goal… Get him! The tigress gritted her teeth as her right foot slammed down onto the arena floor, the floor in question cracking as she put all her power into that step and shot towards Forrest, arguably even faster than before. Her other arm reached forward to grab him once she got close to him.

... Oh, great, just what I needed... Forrest thought sarcastically as Vlithra crushed the large root effortlessly and advanced towards him. She was clearly exerting herself, and yet, showed no signs of stopping. It almost seemed impossible to stop Vlithra once she sets out to do something. Regardless, Forrest had the chance to act once more before Vlithra could reach him.

With Vlithra getting a little too close for comfort, Forrest conjured a wide, thick wall. Figuring she would likely make a dramatic entry through the wall, Forrest sidestepped to the opposite side of the wall. He then readied himself, prepared to conjure more roots to restrain Vlithra from below if she broke through the wall.

Another wall came up. Vlithra shielded her face with her arms as she braced for impact. There wasn‘t even time to ponder on wether or not this was a last ditch effort of sorts, as Vlithra crashed through the thicket with no issue. Idealy she should have went around it, but that was simply impossible with the speed she was going. Besides, she had to keep momentum.

Where? WHERE? she thought just as she crashed through, her boots careened and slid across the ground as she looked around frantically for Forrest.

Forrest kept an eye on where he expected Vlithra to bust through the wall. Sure enough, she burst through the wall, sending splinters and chunks of wood outward. Forrest had been prepared for this, and called forth roots to envelop Vlithra's limbs as she skidded across the floor.

Gotcha! Forrest mused as he actually felt that this would end in success. Having gotten the drop on her, it might just be what he needed to stop her in her tracks.

Just as Vlithra saw Forrest she suddenly felt something tug at her limbs as she skidded forward. There were more roots grasping at her, trying to immobilize her, a few of them breaking as they latch on but couldn‘t keep up with her momentum.
It did slow her down, little by little, and eventually Vlithra was brought to a complete hold as the roots managed to entangle her limbs to restrain her. With frantic and pained breath through her teeth she struggled against the bindings, looking upon her limbs with concern. Her arms easily ripped themselves out of the bind as they had not been aching as much, yet her legs wouldn‘t budge, no… they felt like they couldn‘t budge.

There was a creeping feeling of futility setting in as she seemed like she was caught. The storm raging around her seemed to die down, as if she had been accepting defeat. Yet her body didn't seem to think that way as her arms kept struggling.
Suddenly her breathing stopped, as a matter of fact… she couldn‘t even say anything. There was this feeling in her throat, a feeling that dissallowed her from speaking.
Was she out of breath? Definetly, but this wasn‘t the same feeling you get when you were gasping for air after excercise.
Was she being choked? Not actually, but to Vlithra it definetly felt like it. It was a feeling just like back then… when it all went to hell. The first thing they did… choke her out...

Air… need…air... Her pained mind only managed to think as she felt the rest of her thoughts fading. Her vision was becoming blurry and her mind was growing hazy evermore. Vlithra fell onto one knee, the strain from her semblance finally having caught up making sure her muscles were slowly giving out as she attempted to keep struggling.

Forrest's plan seemed to be working, albeit a little too well. Then again, keeping his eyes on Vlithra, something wasn't right. She seemed to be asphyxiating despite the fact that none of the roots were even close to her neck. His worry immediately shifted to Vlithra's safety, the roots disappearing as quickly as it took for him to rush to her.

"VLITHRA!" Forrest shrieked as he did his best to make sure she was alright. Despite his rising anxiety, he tried his best to at least appear calm. He was ready to catch Vlithra in case she would fall to the ground. She still wasn't breathing. Why wasn't she breathing? Nothing appeared to be wrong on the outside at least...

"Breathe with me, okay?" Forrest continued, breathing slowly, deeply and serenely in an attempt to soothe Vlithra.

As soon as the roots receeded and Vlithra pulled her arms in she grasped at her neck as if she tried to break a chokehold. Her digits found nothing but air until they touched upon her neck. Upon this realisation that there really wasn‘t anything or anyone choking her, the pressure around her neck slowly but surely subsided, fully vanishing as the tigress finally drew a deep breath of air, straightening her body reflexively, before going limp momentarily as she took hastened breaths.

What the hell? she asked in her mind, surprised as well by the experience she just had. It is only then she noticed Forrest right next to her with a more than just worried look upon his face. Ain‘t this embarassing. She mused before looking away in embarassment, her breath calming down into a rythm not dissimilar to Forrest‘s own breathing pattern. She did however not dare to look at him at the moment, she felt shameful that the guy had to witness something like this. She slowly raised a hand, almost as if she needed a hand getting up… only for her hand to firmly grasp his cloak.

“Got you… hehe.“ she playfully claimed just before coughing towards the ground a few times. “Hells... that was… not planned.“ she then exclaimed, this time letting go of the cloak and slowly but surely straightening her posture. Even with all of it over… it still hurt beyond anything.

Forrest was intently focused on Vlithra's wellbeing in this moment. His breathing exercise seemed to work, as Vlithra began to breathe in unity with him. As Vlithra raised her arm, he nearly took it before he realized that she grabbed his coat instead.

"Anyway, I think we're done for now... You look exhausted." Forrest spoke, seemingly not caring about the fact that she did end up getting him in the end. He carefully helped Vlithra to her feet before speaking again.

"I'll bring you back to your room, okay?" Forrest added.

“I‘m alright… Don‘t wor...“ just as Vlithra was about to wave off Forrest and took a first step forward, pain jolted into her leg. She let out a pained hiss. Yeah no, there was no way she was getting to her room with her legs like that... and getting carried wasn‘t an idea she was particularly fond of either. If anything, she wouldn‘t want anyone on campus to see her in such a weakened state. She had somewhat of an image she wanted to keep. Resting here should be fine, she wasn‘t exactly taking up much space afterall. Besides, could be an opportunity to learn more about the guy.

“Scratch that... I need to rest my legs for the moment. If you don‘t mind, I‘d rather stick around for a bit until I can walk again.“ she quickly exclaimed as she sat herself onto the floor.