Close Quarter Quarrels [private/M. Haze]

Without the slightest of hesitation Haze hand shot up and over the incoming blade, her herself taking a good step forward as she grabbed the assaulting arm and pulled the girl toward her. As she did so she swung with the mace in her left, primed and ready to bash in the girl's temple but... she didn't do that. She wouldn't waste her polishing before they sparred, perhaps not at all over the course of this lesson.

She released the girl and drew back from her, "Seeing how much you'll whine and moan if I hit you here and now, claiming it will disadvantage you later, I'll spare you the goddess' rapping on the side of your head... for now... be thankful," She turned away, once more removing her glove.

Purple miasma exuded from her fingertips, summoning forth once more the purple shade version of Averia; armed with a toxic purple rapier. She replaced her glove and turned.

"As you have now seen the best way to parry a lunging blow is to sidestep the blade and respond with a strike of your own, standing within your opponent's reach but outside the area their weapon can. From there it's just a matter of being quick, stylish and efficient. With your weapon you'll have to respond to the sudden attack with a more short range jab, maybe this would be a case when you're unstylish sledgehammer swinging could come in handy," She smirked, flexing her fingers; causing the puppet to take a few practice swings.

"Prepare yourself and counter," Then, with little warning save for a flick of her wrist, the gas girl lunged forward, sword out in front and aimed directly for the girl's heart.

Averia lost her stance and staggered forward as the grab managed to pull her off her feet. Following the grab was the striking motion of the mace. Averia noticed the movement at the corner of her eye and immediately pulled her right forearm up to the side of her head in a desperate attempt to shield herself against it. Fortunately though it didn't connect. Averia wouldn't appreciate that... at all. That mace looked like it'd leave a bruise for a week.

The girl glared at the snake faunus as she was released, rubbing her wrist in the process. "All this talk about unstylish when you're the brute grabbing people's wrists using the excuse that it's a counter," she whispered.

"And seriously, was that it? That was the counter you speak of? That's like the basics of dodging. Not even a fundamental. It's just plain common sense," Averia said with a scoff. Indeed she might lack skills in melee weaponry but her hand-to-hand was decent enough for self-defence. The concept might not be that different after all.

She took her stance against her smoke counterpart, her eyes shifting for a brief moment at the woman before back at her target. "Let me show you how it's done properly."

As the smoke lunged, she side stepped to the right, her blade hung low before she swiped it up, cutting the smoke's rapier hand from the wrist. Right after, she twisted the handle of her own rapier on her fingers into a reverse grip so that the end was directly pointed at the centre of the smoke's neck.

"Of course I would've blocked my leg against hers to knock her balance off, which by the way is more effective than just pulling her towards me leaving me open for her own counter attack. However, seeing as this smoke is your filth, I don't like getting myself dirty," she said as she lowered her blade. It's true. She hadn't touched the smoke throughout her manoeuvre.

Madam Haze rolled her eyes, this brat really had wanted the beating didn't she? Alright. Haze had decided, she'd give the cooler one at the soonest convenience... ironic that she was a cooler yet far less cool than Madam Haze. A smirk quickly formed at this thought, letting out graceful chuckles at the following realisation that the student was simultaneously less hot as well.

As the girl prattled on, going on about how her apparent close combat technique was far superior to that of the goddess. A low hiss emanated from under the perfect woman's breath, the word dirty being used to describe something of hers... "Which of us have engaged in close quarters combat with grimm and students more often, ice-cube, is it me or you? The hunting goddess who has won awards, both for combat with others and for combating grimm with her close quarters weaponry? Or is it you, who uses guns and before today could hardly lunge at a dummy. Besides, no germs can persist within a meter of my toxins, both I and it are cleaner than you could ever be."

The red in her eyes grew violent as she began to walk passed the girl, "Do not disrespect your superior. The style and grace of the grab and counter comes from the rhythmic beatings that follow the initial weave and clutch, I could have shown you in far more brutal detail... but I thought you'd rather wait for the end of the lesson for your dose of brain damage. One, such as I, can make it an elegant dance, so close to your opponent but out of their weapon's reach. Rather than I, the Elegant Goddess Madam Haze, beating you senseless with perfect powerful strikes, alike I so easily could have, I decided to spare you out of the syrupy goodness in my heart... I now see that this little insect beneath my shoe wishes to be crushed. Perhaps this pathetic worm gets off on it." The Goddess lectured, the harsh clicking of her heels stomping against the imperfect ground.

She kept her ears open, prepared in case the stupid girl decided to do something she would most surely regret and strike back at it. She arrived at her handbag, turning back toward the ice-beetle, " Am I correct? Do you wish to properly spar and be beautifully bludgeoned or would you rather learn how to parry like a good girl? Or perhaps you wish me to demonstrate the counter in full, for someone with no time to waste you do moan and whine a lot."

Madam Haze called the toxins back toward her, making sure they would fly just over the girl's head... this however gave the goddess and exquisite idea. "Seeing as you see so deathly afraid of my toxins, how about I teach you to dodge properly? Fail and you may get poisoned, don't worry though... I won't make it so rich a concoction  it will wipe you out in a single inhalation.

Then, without warning, Madam Haze formed scimitars from her petulant poison and with the use of four of her fingers sent them to attack the girl. The first blade came in alone, a simple thrusting spear aimed for the girl's head. The second, taking advantage of the most obvious sidestep manoeuvre to dodge the first, came in as a horizontal slash; aimed for the girl's waste. The third and forth however came in as a cross slice attack, leaving an X of poison in their wake as moved as if to tear down and meet at the girl's heart and go on their separate ways from there.

HP/AURA:

Averia snickered at the woman's tale of being a hunting goddess and her long explanation of grab and clutch to which of course the girl simply heard from one ear and let out on another.

"Dear Haze, your techniques are ancient. That might have worked in the past but not in the present where people have developed better ways to fight. So do me a favour and save me the lecture and your outed ways, old hag," Averia said with a lazy shrug.

"I give respect to people who are worthy of it. A worse-than-worm like you, a simple dirt, don't deserve any of that. And I whine a lot? Funny coming from someone who hasn't kept her mouth shut continuously trying to defend herself. Why so defensive by the way? Every time I say something, you go into long lengths trying to establish yourself as a goddess. It makes you look insecure and such a try hard, Hazey~"

Averia took her stance as she faced the woman. With the first scimitar, she used a simple step of her right foot to the side as the most effective way to dodge. The second blade she used her left foot to jump back to avoid the horizontal slash, using as minimal movements as possible. For the last batch, her right foot pressed hard against the ground and pushed herself to the side with a little more force than before to avoid the descending cross slash. Averia placed a hand on her hip lazily as her other one twirled her rapier. Projectiles were easier to dodge for her especially when she could see them coming from a far.

"Are we done yet? These are all basic common sense. Can you show me something useful for a change?" She asked in a monotone. "If this is all that is of Madame Haze, I would only need one day to be in equal standing of this 'goddess huntress', then another day to trample all over her."

"You know what. Perhaps you're right for once," Madam Haze paused, "Maybe I should show you something slightly more complex... like the bottomless applications of dust when it comes to close quarters combat..."

"Oh wait!" She exclaimed in mock shock, "You've been utterly useless with dust since the day you first arrived on this rock, haven't you? I doubt you even have any on you, do you? Oh, so I can't do that then. Well, perhaps I could show you how to craft and manipulate your weapon as you use it, seeing as yours is elemental weapon formed from your semblance it would give quite the advantage. Expanding a rapier to a heavier broadsword or reducing it to a dagger can-

She mocked shock again; "Oh wait, you lack creativity to the point of throwing an icy rapier rather than forming a simple spear. Oh dear, what a shame. Well, I suppose I could teach you proper parrying technique, how to conserve energy, use of body parts and the odds of them being used against you, the weak points on the body, the element of surprise, transition between long and close ranged fighting, how to draw out an opponent's fighting style and semblance, and how to fight dirty, which practically guaranties a win in this age of overly honour-bound fools. That sounds doable..."   

"But now you've incurred the wrath of a goddess. I have no other option but to show you the perfection you've been so blind to in the most primal, yet efficient, way possible." Madam Haze deadpanned, red eyes locked right onto the student's own blue ones.

She took her mace in her right, drawing three dust crystals in her left hand as the large toxic cloud hovered over it. She gracefully sung her bag away, it landing upright next to the wall to her left, before positioning the three red crystals between her middle and index finger, middle and ring finger, and her ring finger and pinky.

"Come at me cold-sore, you brought this upon yourself."

Madam Haze had stilled her mind, overcoming the insults, through the use of her memory. The memories of her as a young huntress, all she had done. She couldn't see an iota of herself in this broad, there was no effort nor raw talent in this one. The goddess had defeated many hunters with many accolades more important than this one, dispatching them with ease. Dusters, Warriors, Extremists, Gadgeteers and Researchers. No matter what kind of base fighting style they followed her Eminence had surpassed them all.

This would be child's play.

At the mention of dust application, Averia froze in place. The professor definitely hit a mark there. Dust was her one major weakness, far worse than melee weaponry. She glared at the woman as she continued to rub salt on her injury. She rolled her eyes however when she was accused of being less creative with her semblance use.

"You're not only stupid, you're blind as well. You must have been too busy clutching your painful leg to see that I used a rapier to stab you instead of sending a projectile. Why would I even throw something at that distance when I can secure a direct hit?"

Averia was definitely bored, that was until she looked up at Haze and noticed the seriousness in her eyes. The girl blinked. Her stare shifted to the mace, the dust crystals and the purple smoke which the woman all armed from her arsenal.

"I have no other option but to show you the perfection you've been so blind to in the most primal, yet efficient, way possible."

A shiver ran down her spine at those words, a smile managing to form at the corner of her lips. Was it really? Was this woman really going to take her on seriously? Averia's eyes sparkled with so much life. What is this feeling? She was anticipating it. Deep inside she wanted the professor to take her seriously as an equal even if she knew of course, that their level was was so much different.

Show me the Madame Haze I once respected. Averia parted her lips as she exhaled and took position. It was hard for her to hold back throughout the training, but now that Haze might show her true colours, it's about time she showed her versatility as well, how ever risky it would be.

"Take care not to break your back this time, granny. I'm not going easy on you even if you're an elderly." The right hand positioned on her back had began to form an ice rapier identical to the one on her left. "And you see, I'm feeling cautious, or in your words, 'scared', at the moment with all those dust and smoke you have there while all I have are these sticks. So why not come at me instead~"

Stats:

"Granny...Granny...Granny..."

The word burned within Haze's callused, cold, heart. The flame, a spark of fear. Age, loss of beauty, the loss of all that made her a goddess. The flame of fear drove her blood to boil, the loudest hissing the vengeful goddess could produce emanated from deep within her oesophagus. The image of the huntress she once was enflamed her mind, her head pounded and her teeth grated. Then it happened.

Madam Haze's jaw, in an act of pure rage, unhinged. As the jaw hung low the hissing, that had been muffled in her throat, burst forth like a jet of compressed air.

Averia had insulted a goddess and now she would pay. She was faced with a demon.

But the demon paused, her jaw reverting. No. No. Simply no. She would not allow her emotions to overpower her. She retook the image of her younger self in her mind, she had only gotten better since then. Matured like a fine wine, while this girl was raw chicken. She would go off in a moment and in her current state was entirely poisonous.

Madam Haze channelled her former self, forming her venom cloud into the shape of a rather crude looking snake head, having a rough radius of 2 meters. This wasn't how she had practiced using her semblance, at least not for many many years. In fact the only reason she had formed scimitars over straight swords earlier in their confrontation was that they were easier to make, what with their bendy form.

With a thrust of her dust filled hand the gargantuan head flew toward Averia, the goddess who had briefly turned demon in it's pursuit. As the snake would lunge for the girl, biting where she had stood and choking and potentially poisoning the student before disipating, Madam Haze, a little behind the head, tossed the dust crystal between the pinky and her ring finger before herself and battered it with her mace. The mace's end briefly caught alight before it's golden head glowed bright red. Boiling to the touch.

The snake itself was a half feint, yes it took some aura to form and would deal damage as well as potentially poison on inhalation, but the snake in close proximity would completely obscure the girl's view of Haze as she ran at it's right hand side.

Hit or miss; the instant the head met it's destination Haze charged through the remnants of her snake, her mace imbued with the burning dust, and stuck. She lashed first with a backhand smash up and to the right, aimed for the girl's face; immediately followed by a forehand down and to the left, primed to strike her shoulder. Both with the dust fuelling their damage, an intense heat give off both strikes. Hissing as she ignored her body in it's attempted to reject the recent pressures put on it; almost telling her to stop as this girl wasn't worth it, the goddess felt this brat needed to be taught a lesson.

In the middle of her second swing her Eminance recalled the poisonous gas that remained to her dust filled hand, ready to use it in the unlikely event of a total failure.

HP/AURA:

Goosebumps ran down Averia's spine as she witnessed the woman's jaw unhinge from its sockets, revealing a guttural hiss that emphasized her snake-like characteristics. This made the girl swallow the nonexistent lump on her throat in alarm. For Madame Haze to lose her elegance like that and show aggression meant she had said something that triggered this reaction. What, that she was old? That I'd trample all over her? Is she that shallow? Fortunately, the woman went back to her calm state much to Averia's relief as well. Who knows what the freak was capable of doing in a berserk state?

A snake made of toxic gas soon emerged and lunged towards her. Averia narrowed her eyes as her concentration was at best, her feet planted well against the ground for quick manoeuvring. She waited until the snake was near her head before dodging it like she would a projectile - moving to the side. Because of its larger size and smoke characteristic however, Averia had to drop roll to the right instead of the usual side step. Then she jumped back a couple of distance as it dispersed into thin air to avoid any contact with the smoke.

Much to her surprise, Madame Haze herself emerged from the smoke. A feint?! Her situation of recovering from a back jump prevented her from reacting to the mace strike and it collided with its target. Her head violently turned to the side from the force of the mace, her vision spinning as well. Due to this, she could barely register as another strike came to her left shoulder, burning through the layer of her skin-coloured armour. She winced, her left hand dropping the rapier due to pain, but she knew she needed to recover. She needed to take advantage of this hit and pay the woman back. Oh look, the counter you taught me would be effective after all.

Her now free left hand shot to grab the woman's forearm holding the mace, pulled the woman towards herself and attempt to stab her on the belly with the sword on her right hand. Of course the end was blunted so it wouldn't go through but would significantly bring pain if it connected. Thereafter, she would let go of the forearm to create a small dagger (blunted as usual) on her left hand, holding it on reverse grip. Because of the pull, the close distance, and Haze' height, her left hand would be on the woman's blindside and she would then attempt to stab her right thigh with it before jumping back again to gain distance in case the woman releases her poison gas.

Battle Log:

Haze confidence regrew tenfold when the insect grabbed her arm. Not only had the goddess teachings been ingrained into the silly mortal's mind but she had attempted to use on the perfect woman who had taught her... how foolish.

"Do you really think I don't know how to counter my own attack?" Haze jested, a smirk on her lips.

While the dust in the mace had unfortunately lost it's energy Madam Haze did not plan on injuring with it. Instead she used the mace's arm extension like property to push against the girl's chest, pushing her just far enough left that the rapier didn't touch the tutor, she shifted her body right slightly as it came in of course to aid in the dodging.

But now she was in close quarters with the girl, feeling the icy-brat release her forearm, the mace wielding hand shot behind the girl. Once again this was not to harm... but this time it shot across her back diagonally, to brace the girl's back and hold her in place for the oncoming firestorm.

Without a moment of thought she cracked the dust crystal between her middle and ring finger. This time however she let the dust's flames manifest around her glove, a magma-like texture overtaking the once plastic-coated hand. She clenched the magma covered hand into a fist, stepping sideward as threw a sideward blow toward her opponent's right cheek; all while she would be locked in place by her mace. Now begun a dance of flames... or so it would have. But Madam Haze felt something hard and cold hit the center of her right thigh, sure to leave a rather accurate red bruise.

With a hiss she aimed one more flaming punch, straight for the girl's nose, with all her might, removing her mace from the girl's back at the last second in an attempt to knock her backward and away from the goddess; this did seem to however be just as the girl tried to jump backward herself.

Haze to reversed away, taking a small and elegant leap backward; but with an extra flourish. As Haze jumped backward she threw the left fist forward, the magma like texture that had coated her glove turned into an all too real fireball; careening toward the brat at a high velocity as the glove returned to it's prior black smooth self... the toxic mist still surrounding it.

HP/AURA:

A hint of smile curved at the corner of Averia's lips as her initial blow didn't connect. Yes. This was what she wanted, going in par with the professor at a serious note. The moment she released the forearm, she felt the cold length of steel against her back and realised Haze had placed it diagonally behind her to lock her in place. The woman's height advantage and limb length proved it possible to do so. However, Averia used their difference in size to her advantage as well. At the incoming punch, a simple bend of her legs and she was crouching low on the ground. She moved to Haze's left side to slip off the prison-like range she was in. Long limbs also meant a longer distance from Haze's shoulder to the ground which provided a big room for Averia to slip off easily especially with Haze's arm raised for a punch.

After slipping off, Averia planned to attack Haze's exposed back but the woman had jumped backward a good distance and released a fireball from her gloved hand while leaping. Because of how short their distance was and the velocity of the ball, Averia was too late to dodge and it caught the side of her lower torso, burning through her clothing and armour. Averia bit her bottom lip to suppress the scream that had threatened to come out. Freaking dust. It didn't matter if it was her main weakness, she still wouldn't give the woman the satisfaction of thinking she was in pain.

She sped forward while Haze was still in the air from her leap. A simple swipe of her left hand and she had sent an ice sword speeding through the air towards where Haze was supposed to land. At a glance, it looked like any other sword just with a wider and broader blade summoned through semblance. However, it was made of highly concentrated ice - an ice bomb. The moment it neared the opponent, Averia would 'detonate' it, shattering the sword into several tiny shards of ice blades that would harm anyone in the proximity. While the blades were indeed blunted, it the force of each shard would be quite painful.

Averia herself was still speeding forward, her sword now on her left and wherever Haze would be after the initial attack, she would lunge towards the center of the woman's chest, only to skid into a halt at the last second and jump back to draw a movement from the opponent. For her real attack though, she would simply throw her rapier - which had now transformed into only its blade without the hilt in order for it to have faster mobility - towards the woman.

Battle Log:

As Haze's launched flame impacted she felt her younger self return, more than she had for the entire earlier segment of the fight. The wince in the girl's eyes, the joy of inflicting pain upon another. It brought on a nostalgic burst of euphoria. The girl's attempt to control her pain made it all the more satisfying, her mother's letters hadn't lied; the girl was weak to dust... especially the flaming dust the Goddess planned to purge with. She supposed that came with being an icecube.

Seeing an ice sword rocket toward her Eminence she threw her last dust crystal, meeting the icy sword and combusting upon collision; melting it and leaving a small sun-like orb in it's wake. Madam Haze pounced forward the instant she landed, going mace first. She stopped and plunged her weapon into the mini-sun; allowing it to absorb the dust. Her eyes widened as the girl burst toward her, just after all the fire had been absorbed. The goddess prepared to parry, only to feel a cool blade rush passed her shoulder and leave a glancing hit.

The tutor glowered, feeling a raw red mark beginning to take shape. She would not let the rage overwhelm her however. She would channel it into bashing this broad in a tactical and swift manner. She spun the mace in her right hand, appearing as an orange sun at her fingertips as she charged.

Time to see if this brat really has learned anything, The goddess began to judge, smirking to herself, Then again... I guess I ought to teach her a little more while I'm at it.

Madam Haze brought the spinning mace passed the girl's nose, perfectly mirroring the feint she had shown the girl during the feint lesson. She once again lurched her free hand forward, going for the girl's throat... but this was yet another trap. As the hand lurched forward to jab the girl's throat the mace returned in backhand form, to smack to sear her face. Her Eminence stretched her arm out slightly further than required for the burning smack, just in case the girl would try to back-step or sidestep to avoid her unarmed jab. Well, even if she didn't, she'd get battered by the mace's hot shaft. It was only due to her thick gloves that the goddess could bear to wield it in this state anyway.

She felt sweat on her back and trickling down her chin... this was unacceptable. This was not nearly perfection. It was worthy of an opponent of this calibre... but... she should not be so tired after a mere few minutes of assault. She should not grow tired at all. She was a goddess, the personification of the perfect huntress... yet her arms felt so weary. Her head was light. Her legs were aching.

Outraged, as the image of her younger self escaped her she forced a massive body of smoke to shoot out of the jabbing hand; still extended toward the girl's throat. Admittedly, this was more difficult than doing such gloveless, but she could still do it. The goddess had forced her miasma through a gloved hand in the class she had first seen this blonde bug... she thought no more of her then than she did now. The wave of toxic gas burst through the gloved tips, heinous gas aimed directly for the silly girl's face to poison and choke.

HP/AURA:

Averia was once again faced with a mace going towards her face though judging from the distance, it wouldn't hit. She moved her head back a little for precautionary measures as the mace swung past missing her nose, then came the hand strike. Did this person really think she'd get caught with the same trick twice? The only reason she was caught in the first place was because she wasn't paying attention. But now that her tunnel vision has expanded, Averia simply backhanded the slithering hand away to the side with her right hand, rather roughly with her strength.

The mace came swinging back and she ducked, effectively dodging it by a wide margin. However, she couldn't do anything about the poison gas that escaped from the woman's fingertips. At the very least, she didn't catch the full blast since the woman's hand had flown to the side. This freak's close range arsenal is ridiculous, she thought as her eyes started to tear up from the smoke, but she knew she couldn't close them lest miss the target in front of her.

However, Averia was now on the advantage due to her lowered position and Haze was wide open what with both arms now spread apart. Averia's left hand extended forward, producing a broad ice pillar that shot from her hand and towards Haze's torso. It was big enough to cover from the woman's chest area to her hips. Averia planned to do another attack, but exhaustion finally caught up to her and her knees almost buckled had she not regained her bearing. Her eyes widened. It can't be...

It was the first time in forever that she was pushed to her limit and she had almost forgotten the feeling until now. One last attack. That was all she's left. She scoffed to herself. Might as well end it in a very Averia-like finish.

Wherever Haze was whether her hit landed or not she would close the distance between them, pulling back her left fist in an attempt to deliver an unarmed attack, only to stop at the very last second, as usual. She took a casual step back, her head lowering and her shoulders dropping in exhaustion. A final snap of her fingers and a large glyph - a family symbol and representation of her semblance - would expand in the sky a full 10m around her and rain down ice blades on the area. Averia was immune to her own semblance and thus the ice simply melted when it touched her, as though a simple rain drenching her defeated frame.

Averia finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed on her knees, catching her breath rapidly. Her vision was spinning, perhaps from the effect of the poison. She clutched a hand on her side and winced at the sting from her burn earlier. My god, is this woman brutal. She closed her eyes and sighed, not having the energy to look up to her opponent as her head hung low.

Battle Log:

The toxic goddess smirked as the smoke hit it's mark, admittedly she would rather have landed either the return swing or the jab but seeing her eyes water would suffice. The perfect huntress attempted to raise her leg to block, both seeing and feeling the cold pillar's formation, but a combination of her wardrobe and her fatigue prevented such. The formfitting nature of the dress seemed to halt her leg before it could be competely raised, as such she could only bring her arms back so far before the block smacked into the goddess chest; pushing her a good few meters back before she could bring her mace around and smashing the frozen body to pieces.

As the girl bolted toward her Madam Haze could see the intent in her eyes, the silly girl had tried this trick one too many times. A feint could only aid her so often, that was a lesson she'd have to learn. As the girl stepped backward Haze prepared to batter her... only to notice a brightness radiating from above. She took a good leap back, raising her mace and staring toward a tacky looking symbol.

...What a wasteful attack... so far from perfect...

Madam Haze's mace swung like a propeller blade in her hand. The golden tool was a little wider goddess herself, her slender frame being incredibly beneficial in this circumstance. She switched the mace between hands every couple of seconds, daring not to let her fingers lie on the upper side of the mace's shaft, as she turned what were meant to be icy swords into mere ice-cubes. It couldn't have been to long to endure, just around ten seconds, but by the end the goddess could feel her fingers in their staved state... she feared she may have chipped a nail. She dropped her mace to her side, drenched in icy cold water in sweat... honestly, the girl's final attack had done more to annoy her than hurt her. She would have to spend hours redoing her hair this evening.

Heavy clicks rang out across the sodden floor as the goddess pace over to the blonde brat. Without a moment of hesitation she brought her heel down upon the back of the bowing girl's head, aimed to push her snout into the ground.

"Such an imperfect attack, have you learned nothing?!" She cried out, raising her foot; "You wasted so much energy spreading that last attack over a wide area, had you focused your attack you might have beaten your foe... well, most foes... some foes. Not me basically, but you might have chance against a creep caught off guard."

The goddess swept her hair back, ignoring her stinging red pains and pulled muscles, removing her foot from whence it had been placed and taking a few steps backward.

"Is that it then? Is that all there is? You have so, so, so, soooo far to go. To even possess an iota of my perfection... why, you'd have to train for years straight without breaking. I achieved all this, and more, in a mere month. FuFuFuFuFuu~" The goddess smirked, bringing her empty hand to her thigh... n-not to support her tired upper half or anything, just to appear that little bit more... condescending. Naturally. Yes.

HP/AURA:

Averia heard footsteps coming her way but she lacked the energy to comment as she was still trying to recover her strength. The next thing she knew a painful heel came to the back of her head and pushed her down to the ground. "...!" Her left cheek burned and stung as the rough surface grazed her skin. The sudden slam had also caused the side of lip to bleed from the impact. She unconsciously whimpered at the pain and humiliation she was put through by this... snake.

But she was too tired to do anything. Helpless even. She loathed that feeling. Something she hadn't felt before.

As the woman moved away from her, Averia struggled to pull herself back up. Surely she could conjure one last attack? A devastating one? But no. It's not worth it. At her current state, it would only damage her already broken pride and she wouldn't allow herself to push past her consciousness. The girl gingerly brushed her fingers against her stinging cheek before gently wiping the blood from her lips.

"You must be awfully proud of yourself, old hag, beating a student with everything you have while all I got was my semblance on top of lacking in close range combat. I'm even surprised a newbie like me was able to hit you, seeing as close range is your expertise." she said, her eyes still lowered.

After that she didn't know what else to say. There was no real excuse to her defeat really, but she wanted to keep what's left of her confidence to stand back up in her feet... both literally and figuratively.

"As was I at one point, but even as the cherished cherub that I was, I did better than you. You just lot to a teacher, did you really expect a teacher's full effort? Your step-mother herself told me specifically not to harm you to harshly, had I given in to my desire when we first started sparing I may have beaten you senseless... but I viewed that as the less profitable option." The pinnacle of perfection informed the worm, her posture wavering slightly. She internally cursed the additional weight of the water that hid within her clothing.

"It took me three months of training without a single break to achieve this, and that was me. One born into this world to be perfect had to try so hard... in all honesty I should just lay into you. If you really do want to get better it'll do you more good than any lecture," The Goddess raised her mace, priming a backhand strike to smite the girl... only to feel her arm jitter in pain, her eyes feel heavy and her stomach demand protein.

"...I suppose you're not worth that though." The mace was brought back to her side, "You're not permitted to leave however, without performing a final lap around this training hall. You will run. This is the price of perfection, not even that... the price of becoming a mere huntress; years upon years of excruciating pain. Ascension is the one thing money can't buy."

Haze turned, collecting her handbag returning to her stolen chair; "Naturally as I am the only perfect being. For there to be two would be absurd. A fallacy."

The tired goddess pulled forth her magazine, wincing slightly as she lay, and looked over it toward the girl; "You will not just leave now... we have not concluded this lesson. Complete your lap and come sit at my feet, we have important matters to discus. Probably more important than this whole fiasco."

As the woman raised her mace for a backhand strike, Averia could only lower her head to braise herself for another painful blow, only to be told she wasn't worth it. Her jaw clenched due to pure hatred for this woman, but mostly for herself. Her self-loathing was so overwhelming she began to doubt her true ability for the first time. Why was she feeling this way? Her first defeat? No. An overwhelming defeat... to someone who had greatly insulted her even.

Thinking everything was over, Averia was proven wrong once more for the snake wasn't done with her yet, instructing the girl to take one more lap around the arena in her injured state. This time Averia had to look at the woman, searching for any signs that the latter was just toying with her. None. She was serious. That irked her even more. How sadistic could this woman be?

"For your.. information.." Averia paused as she stood up catching her breath, one hand clutching her aching side. She finally stood straight, flipped her hair back and glared at her. "I'm doing this because I want to and not because you told me to! Tsk."

And the girl stormed off, grumbling to herself. Since she was still dripping wet, she used a little of her semblance to freeze the water, leaving her completely dry then moved them all to apply a thin layer of ice on her burnt part. Now that she was somewhat okay, she started to increase her pace but her knees were still unstable underneath her. Every step was a dagger to her side, a shock to her body and a burn to her lungs.

Halfway the lap, Averia felt like passing out. Darkness would've been better than this hell. Where was she getting this determination anyway? She was that type of person who always got what she wanted and thus never had the patience for anything. But she did. She did complete the lap.

She stood in front of Haze with a rather unpleased expression, her glaring eyes never leaving the woman's gaze. She refused to sit on the ground as well. "I'm done! Now cut the crap and just tell me so I can leave this filthy place you're dirtying with your presence."

Haze smirked, it would seem this girl did a lot of things the goddess had ordered and claim she was doing it by her own accord... perhaps she was simply to afraid to admit the perfect woman was right. Although... Haze assumed it may have been some sort of mental manipulation the goddess had gained over low intelligence lifeforms, tricking them into doing what she wanted without even trying. Such a thing didn't surprise her too much as she flipped from page to page, ignoring her ringing calves.

She chuckled to herself as she watched the pathetic broad stumble as she ran, Haze knew this was good for the student... but mostly she just wanted to watch someone bellow her suffer. A simple look at that burst lip struck her with a bout of nostalgia... though Her Eminence wasn't quite sure from when. When the girl finally returned, looking awful, she seemed to drone on about something... but the girl's withered and tired state seemed to make her word incomprehensible. That or the goddess had simply turned deaf ear to her ranting.

"If you don't sit you'll end up falling, and you know I won't help you up Bloody-Ice," The higher being reminded the insect, noting what to many would appear and angered glare to be but a tired stare, "It matters little to me but it'd injure your unearned pride even more so. It would be best to sit, the goddess has demanded your presence for a period. She will decide how long said period is, think yourself fortunate to be in her presence let alone hearing her voice."

She replaced her magazine within her handbag, jostling her hair back and hardly looking toward the girl, "Now... how serious actually are you about this hunting business? Because from what I can gather, with your parent's wealth, you've got no reason to really be here. Could doze the days away on a private island or such... it's quite strange of you not to do so. A mind-set and a semblance like yours? You could cool your own drinks while relaxing on the beach... yet for some reason you've chose to come somewhere you'll be shot at and beaten."

"In short, how do you think you'll get anywhere without motivation? Without a drive of sorts you'll lose motivation and end up giving up. Mine is retaining my perfection, naturally, but I think that may be too high a bar a set for you." The goddess paused, "You do have some sort of motivation, don't you?"

Averia had just heard the hag insist on making her sit down when as if on cue, her knees quivered, threatening to collapse again. She bit the inside of her cheek in annoyance, hating the fact that the woman was right once again. With a wave of a hand, she produced a royal ice chair and sat down, grumbling as she adjusted on her seat to a more comfortable position. She crossed her legs, rested an elbow on the arm of the chair and leaned the uninjured part of her chin on her fist while listening to the snake blabber in front of her.

The faunus asked about why she was in the hunting business in the first place. This was all just repetitive talk to Averia for she heard the same thing from both her parents and peers when they convinced her to stay in Atlas. She didn't have a definitive answer as usual, thus Averia tuned out all of the woman's words. Until the final statement hit a mark.

"You do have some sort of motivation, don't you?"

Her eyes narrowed and lowered to her lap. Motivation? What's that? Everything she wanted, she could get either with money, talent or skill. There was no challenge that she hadn't gotten past easily, either that or deemed something impossible and simply worked her around it - like how she used guns instead of rapiers and dusts. Motivation was something that never existed in her vocabulary. Now that she thought of it, she had no real goal in life. All she had done so far was simply for her own satisfaction - for fun.

"No. I don't," she murmured truthfully. Her eyes quivered in indecision and chose to close them. "I don't know. I'm confused as to what I want. I became a marksman without this 'motivation' you speak of, so I know I can improve even without it. But..." she paused and didn't know what else to do. For the first time in a while, she questioned what she really wanted. In order to have motivation, she first needed to have desire and a definite goal to fulfill.

Once more the girl did what she apparently did not want to do, simply because Madam Haze had demanded it... this only further confirmed the idea that the goddess had gained some sort of mind control over this weak puppet, "How long do you think you can keep that chair up? You'll have sunk through it by the end of this conversation, won't you? Fu~Fu~"

"FuFuFuFuFuuu~ So, your motivation is to become a huntress without having a motivation to do so? That's quite the paradox, is it not? It would take someone like you to come up with something so ridiculous." The goddess smirked, reaching into her bag and pulling forth a cigar; which she proceeded not to light and simply hold in her lips... though the simple act of doing so did bring a new level of pain to her arm."Without a drive I wouldn't have achieved my perfection, that should be reason enough to at least have one."

The goddess rested her hands in her lap, confident that she had finally caught her breath; "My motivation was simple. Though I doubt you'll believe this... there was once a time where everyone didn't love me, nor did they praise me for the goddess that I was." She deadpanned; "Shocking I know, how one could have feel the slightest iota of hatred or loathing toward me... jealousy would be more realistic to think; that which you seem to feel a lot of. Well, everything happens for a reason, so I channelled the hell they put me through into become the perfect being that I am now. A fair trade off I do believe... and I got to grind them all to dust."

The goddess smirked at the memory of a young snake cleaning the floor with students who had done her wrong... the praise she had received... such an amazing time to have been alive.

"Shooting targets doesn't take the same mental capacity as drinking wine while fending off a pack of six Ursi in front of a live audience, nor is it nearly as glamorous."

Averia ignored the woman's comment about her chair. As if she's gonna sit down on the dirty floor and by the faunus's feet for that matter. Instead, she scoffed lightly and switched her crossed legs. She didn't have to 'keep the chair up'; she only needed her semblance to create the object. The natural properties of ice to keep its shape until melted would do the job.

The girl continued to listen to this woman's words despite the strong urge to sleep on her comfy chair. She felt a little weird that she was having a decent conversation with this woman. Ever since she met her, she had seen the woman as shallow and ignorant - oblivious to the outside world as she could see nothing but herself. Well, technically she was still as such but Averia realized the snake faunus had a tiny bit of substance to her after all.

"So your motivation is not perfection. You simply want to be praised as well as prove to yourself that you're stronger than them. If perfection is your motivation, you wouldn't be here right now," Averia said in a soft voice. "And for a person who doesn't dual-wield rapid fire guns, I don't think you know what it takes to hit a moving target from a distance on top of recoil and wind resistance. On the other hand, any unskilled brute can bash something with a weapon. It is crude and savage, not to mention uncivilized."

She sighed and looked away, thinking of her own desires. What did she want to do, really? Did she want to be like this woman - strong enough to earn recognition? To be undefeated? But then what? It sounded hollow and a dead-end goal. But then again, every goal is a dead-end.

Averia stood up from her chair. "Is that all you have to say? Motivation doesn't make someone succeed. It's talent. A less-motivated genius is still better than a hardworking idiot. I don't intend to surpass you as well because with the rate of my growth, I will naturally do that even without thinking. Now if you excuse me, I have more important things to do than continue this pointless conversation."

"What? FuFuFuFuFuuu~ Being perfect is not my motivation for a single simple reason... I already am perfect. I fufiled that motivation and moved on to the next. My motivation now is showing the blind people, alike yourself, that I truly am superior. And as for ranged combat, well... I suppose a mind like yours could never comprehend the limitless applications of dust coupled with a goddess such the goddess that I am." She smirked, examining her once flaming glove, "You won't surpass me period, with or without a motivation. What I'm telling you is simple; you're approaching a wall. Eventually you're going to realise; what's the point trying to knock it down? Why am I going to such lengths? Then you'll walk away from the wall, backward, undoing all you have learnt. An unmotivated genius never gets any better at anything, they have a limit, the idiot who works hard will learn things they do not, they can surpass that wall. This much is obvious. With proper training they'll get better for certain... they'll never be the goddess I am but... better than the lazy genius."

"As big a part as DNA plays, it should be clear by comparing us that you lost-out there to." The goddess rose, replacing her bag over her shoulder, "You're short, have a crippling weakness to dust, and you're a bit of an eyesore to be frank. You mock my fighting style, but why would a teacher ever use her all against a student? Not only that but while I can make my movements elegant and stylish... you can hold a gun at a slightly different angle. That's it. Quite a bore, no? Well, fitting for a boar like you FuFuFuu~"

She placed her mace in her bag, debating why she was even bothering to do this. This runt wasn't worth the goddess time, this runt wasn't worth anyone's time. But... perhaps if she could understand why Her Eminence Haze was superior she would accept that she was a goddess and thus abandon all hope of surpassing her... and kneel as she should.

"You seem to dodge the idea of a motivation... I find it as foolish as your prejudice against my fighting style; you simply haven't experienced it... so how can you judge it? Fufufuf~ I've beat many hunters like you, I know your type silly girl. Get some kind of motivation, perhaps you'll feel less useless when you fight. Maybe you'll fight a little better and harder... then again that'll potentially inflate your undeserved pride, so perhaps motivation is wasted on you."

She let out an elegant yawn, covering her mouth with a clove covered fist; "Oh, would you look at that. My boredom seems to have burst forth from me, Fu-FuFu~ I suppose I can allow you to leave now,  unless you have something else pointless to say, though I do believe your mother has planned more of these outings... perhaps I'll use tennis next time. If there is one... I'll be sure to ask for more pay next time. But tennis will build some stamina and show you a thrashing of a different sort."

Perhaps it was her naturally stubborn personality or that the woman's words didn't make sense or a combination of both.  Whatever the case was, Averia would never admit to herself or to anyone else that the snake had a point. All her life Averia had no source of guidance or anyone to rely to other than herself. Her skills were self-taught and thus she never had the viewpoint nor the guidance of someone with more experience. So now that she was hearing this from a person who had gone through much, her perception started to change even just a little.

The woman started talking about motivation again to which Averia just couldn't understand. It wasn't like she avoided the idea of it. She simply didn't have a goal. She still didn't know what she wanted - like a runner who kept going despite not knowing where the finish line was simply because he enjoyed running. Averia's hand went to her choker and fumbled with it in a moment of trance. That was until the woman said something again that made her eyes furrow and her head snap to the snake.

"I do believe your mother has planned more of these outings..."

"She WHAT?! Excuse me?! Why am I not informed of this? In fact, why do I not have a say in this?!" Her venting might have spent quite the energy for she needed to hold onto her ice chair for a moment to steady herself. "No! You hear me?! NO! I'm not playing any of your stupid games! Go play tennis by yourself since that's all you're ever going to be. Alone. By yourself. Good luck dying with no one in your funeral. Tsk. Stupid snake."

With what little strength she had left, she stormed out of the training arena grumbling to herself as usual. Once she reached outside a good distance away from the woman's view, she leaned against a wall and sighed. What a tiring day. She was so spent she could barely walk back to her dorm. But was it worth it? Averia closed her eyes to recall everything that happened during the training before opening them softly and proceeded to walk.

Che. Maybe.

[Exit]

The goddess released her syrupy laugh as the icicle-girl stormed off, presumably to go back to her dorm. With another yawn the goddess decided it was about time she should return to her home... but upon her first step she fell to her knees, her body ringing and her eyes heavy.

"W-Why am I so dam tired?" She wheezed, head toward the ground, "Sh-She didn't really believe what she said... right? She was just boasting and taunting, I-I'm not old. I'm twenty six! I'm glamorous, I'm beautiful, I'm perfect!"

The goddess was glad the girl had left, so that she could not observe the goddess' breakdown. Her jaw unhinged as she consoled herself, letting loud panting flow through her body. A whimper... she was a goddess, goddess weren't meant to whimper! W-Well at least she had done it perfectly?

Her fist pounded the ground before her, leaving a crack in the floor's panelling, this was not good enough. Even if she had beat the girl and showed her general superiority; she had not shown her the perfection of a goddess. That was not good enough. She had her large, yet fragile, ego briefly shattered... she needed something. Something to fix it. A glue of sor-

Something to her left had caught her eye, attached to the chair that had been so graciously donated. Taped at the chair's foot, was a picture of the Goddess herself. She rose, walking over and plucking the image. She looked to be around nineteen, judging by her sense of style. To he honest little more than that had changed about her since them, she had her long legs even then... only other real difference was a lock of gold on her person. Perhaps this was before she had won her tiara, it fit the timescale. It was signed in a red marker, hand writing was still impeccable. She must have signed quite a few photos by this point. The signature simply read; "Madam Haze," as it rightfully should. She didn't have time to take requests and spell other people's names.

A smirk grew on her lips... she knew exactly how she would regain her spirits. She noted the boy, still seemingly sniffling, seemed to hitch in the doorway. Without much thought she pulled a pen from her bag and paced forward, the boy closing his eyes and attempting to stand tall and proud as he stepped out the way. Without a word Madam Haze took her permanent marker and signed the boy's forehead, continuing to walk by and out the door. She assumed he'd be ecstatic at that.

She quickly made it to her car, throwing her bag in the passenger seat and taking off; not toward home but towards a well known seamstress' establishment. She approached the desk, a spider faunus she had recently come to know neigh bowing at the sight of the Goddess, her eyes seemed a little wide though for some reason. Perhaps shock at an unannounced visit, the goddess figured. A smirk graced the perfect woman's face; "I do believe it's time for a new outfit, are you capable of making this?"

"O-Oh my, quite a change from your usual style but it really does suit you," The Faunus, named Charlotte, graciously received the picture, "B-But what is the occasion? I-If you don't mind my asking. I-I-It'll just help me understand what to make it out of."

"FuFuFuu~ You're always so nervous, calm yourself," The Goddess calmed, her ego gaining a massive boost, "As for the occasion, well; you know I am an amazing huntress. I have simply elected that it would be best to, when it is called for, wear something more suitable yet stylish for fieldwork. That and I can't have your marvellous designs ruined by some trashy grimm can I? The prior ones have been elegant and stylish, designed to frame my body in a most perfect light. The challenge of this one is that it must also do so, but be able to withstand wear and tear as well as be easily repairable if it were to be damaged. This outfit be replaceable and effective, with a hint of the style and sophistication that my other clothes were entirely about. I take it you can handle this?"

"Y-Yes, yes of course Madam Haze! I won't let you down, I promise!" The woman seemed to beam, "C-Come with me into the back, I'll close up and take your measurements in private, w-w-would it be okay if I had it completed by tomorrow evening? I believe I have all the necessary materials in stock, i-if not I'll rush around an-and get them as quickly as I can."

"No no," The goddess tutted, "Take your time on this one, I want it to be perfect. You may have a week to complete it."

"Th-Thank you Madam Haze," The spider beamed, taking scribbled notes with one of her hands; "J-Just go to the backroom and prepare, I-I'll be there to measure you in a jiffy!... B-But may I keep this photo?"

"FuFuFuu~ Of course Charlotte, I'll call you when I'm ready," The Goddess walked around the desk and toward the dressing rooms, this was going to be PERFECT~

[Exit]

Haze's Picture (Seen with a large snake she once kept as a pet):