"Who's a good girl? Whoasgoodgirl? You are! Yes you are!" Weiss cooed as she gave the dog a belly rub, who which the bog barked happily and wagged its tail. It turns out the heiress had quite a soft spot for the pooch, and had been quite affectionate to the dog in the half hour that had passed since Colden and Rickel were dragged off by their headmaster. The pair still hadn't returned to retrieve the dog, which they didn't know the name of, as it didn't have a collar or any tags on it. All they knew was that it was a girl, and very well trained. It didn't bark or bite at anyone, and barely did anything she wasn't told to besides following Team RWBY wherever they went.

"Do you think he's even coming back? Or did we just get ourselves a dog?" Blake asked, voicing her concern as she stood on the opposite end of the hall, on edge due to the canine presence.

"He seemed like a good type of guy. I'm sure he'll pop up sooner or later." Yang said, the team having finished their lunch and traveled to Glynda Goodwitch's classroom, now waiting for the bell to ring. Not even a full minute after Yang spoke, Colden slid around the corner, Rickel not far behind her partner. Both slid to a stop in front of Team RWBY, Colden stepping over his own feet a few times to prevent himself from falling flat on his face. The pair stopped and bent over slightly to catch their breath, Rickel giving a weak wave and an apologetic smile.

"Okay, we did NOT mean to take that long to get yelled at, but Moony decided it would be a novel idea to drag us to the other side of this place so "nobody would be disturbed" or something like that." Colden said between deep breaths, swallowing hard as he tried to smile. Rickel stuck a finger into her ear and twisted it around a couple times, which spurred Colden to speak again.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention he can yell REALLY loud? And that I call him Moony due to his moon-shaped mustache?" Colden added, his dog finally turning over and stand up, going over to her master to sit beside him.

"Well...no. But that is pretty funny." Yang, one of the few who appreciated Colden's sense of humour, replied, watching as the dog walked back to her master

"So, has Fangdred been any trouble? And could you also possibly tell me the location of the classroom for combat training?" Colden said, Rickel nodding as she held up a scroll and tapped the electronic schedule.

"Lucky for you guys, we have that same class. So you're just outside it. And your dog has been just fine, surprisingly." Blake replied in a slightly cold tone, still being wary of the dog, and the boy who owned it.

"Thank you. And I don't find it surprising at all; we had alot of time to train her during our first month of schooling." Colden said, crouching slightly to scratch the dog behind the ears.

"Kind of an odd name for an ordinary dog, don't you think?" Yang asked, stealing a glance at Weiss and Ruby. It seemed that the dog leaving so abruptly had comically depressed Weiss, and Ruby was busy comforting her teammate, speaking in hushed voices.

"No loyalty..."

"Don't be sad Weiss; I'm sure she'll come back if you call her!"

"Nah. You'll learn that everyone from our school, the staff, the students and the pets are pretty damm odd." Colden, keeping a casual demeanour as he recovered from his run

"...I'm saying it again. People from Atlas are weird." Blake said, shaking her head a couple of times in something between annoyance and disgust.

"Eh, I can't disagree with that. We are rambunctious and crazy, and probably have too much snow on the brain, for that matter." Colden said with a shrug, the bell ringing not even a second after he finished speaking. There was a general shared shrug before the group entered the classroom and took their seats above the arena where the actual combat took place. Colden and Rickel moved to the opposite side of the room, joining a small group of students that seemed to be from Atlas Academy. There was a boy who sat next to Rickel that had strands of hair that seemed to be burning orange, standing out against his dark red hair. He grabbed her hand shortly after she sat down, planting a gentle kiss on it, making it clear to those in the room that they were in an intimate relationship together. On the other side of Colden was a couple that seemed completely opposite of one another. There was a brown-haired girl who was dressed much akin to a warrior princess, and carried herself as such. She wore dark brown boots with blue and golden shin guards, her legs bare until her combat skirt, which was armoured lightly and bright blue. A black corset covered up her stomach until her chest, a breastplate coloured blue and orange red and separate halves rested on her shoulders, the breastplate reach just to the end of her ribcage. Sitting beside her was her boyfriend (as they'd find out later), who was the exact opposite of her. He brown hair was spiked up, his demeanour much more laid back and relaxed, and he was dressed in a simple outfit, which was a mix of greens and reds. In addition, there was a very pale, black haired young man dressed in an equally black kimono and grey pants. In total, there were roughly 25 of them stuffed into the seats, a rainbow of hair colours among the small crowd of students that spoke amongst themselves until Glynda Goodwitch entered the room, tapping her riding crop against her side twice. The tapping resulted in all the students falling silent, as if her weapon had temporarily silenced them.

"Thank you all for arriving on time. I'd like to extend a greeting to the students from all arriving schools, which will be joining our ranks for the Vytal Festival, and for the rest of the school year. If you weren't currently aware, I am Glynda Goodwitch, and will be addressed as Ms Goodwitch with no exceptions. Are there any questions?" The blonde woman asked while bringing up her scroll in her free hand, activating it with practiced ease. When she was met with a general silence, Glynda continued as she began to tap something on the holographic screen that she cradled in her arm.

"Good. Since you're all most likely eager to see new weaponry, we won't waste any time. Asmund Academy students, your weapons are right over here." She added as she used his riding crop again, morning to the wall. A compartment then separated itself from the walls to reveals stacks upon stacks of rectangular, gray boxes…which then proceeded to tumble onto floor, due to how they were stacked. An audible wince was heard coming from both student bodies as the coveted and precious weapons fell to the floor.

"…My apologies. Feel free to come down and check the condition of your weapons, and then I will assign partners for two-on-two matches. Students of Beacon, please retrieve your weapons as well." She had barely finished her apology as the students of Asmund Academy quite literally left out of their seats and over the low railing, falling the short distance onto the ground. After that, it turned into a brief free-for-all as each student searched for their name in the mess of boxes.

Rickel was first to find her weapon, pulling out a pair of ice blue pistols which she looked over, twirled them on her fingers a few times, and then smoothly set them into holsters that were attached to the belt she wore. Despite the cowgirl theme to her, which she affirmed by running her index finger and thumb along the edge of her hat and grinning, her pistols actually looked to be quite modern. The barrels were smooth like ice, rectangular in shape with a single iron sight at the end of each pistol. The hammers were curved to allow easy fanning if need be, or simply to make it easier to pull it back after firing. The holsters dipped at the front, allowing for a quick holstering and an even quicker draw. Next was the flaming-haired boy who had sat next to Rickel shortly after she had entered the room, who from his box retrieved a blade that he was able to sit against one of his shoulders, with one hand on the black and red handle. It was a fairly standard short sword, with a blade that was roughly three feet long from blade tip to handle, which predominantly black in colour, with silver accents where the blade flattened out, giving it its sharp edge. Then the tanned, brunette boy who was dressed in rags founds his weapons, which were a pair of simple golden gauntlets that stopped just before the knuckles, and had multiple layers of thin metal. After smashing them together his fists were surrounded with a golden aura that acted like a fire, leaking off his hands. Shortly after Mr. Hand-to-Hand founds his weapon, the combat skirt-wearing, brown haired girl was able to retrieve hers. Her weapon could only be described as a lance of some kind, with a blade on one end being much larger than the thin blade on the other end said larger blade was thick, much akin to a spearhead, and had glowing golden engravings running down the middle, until the blade met the equally golden handle. How she was able to heft such a weapon was a mystery, but then again, how did any of the students in Remnant walk around with large weaponry?

Finally, after hammers, swords, spears, guns and many other weapons were liberated from their cases, Colden Managed to find his weapon; rather, his weapons. He had two blades, both of which seemed to simply stick to the sleeveless brown vest he wore, as he had taken off the grey jacket and left it up on his seat. Even now the wired apparatus on his grey shirt was still beating; the headphones placed around his neck clearly still playing music. First was a three and a half foot blade...or at least what was left of a blade. The notches and dips, and the rounded top of the sword, made it look more like a big silver key rather than a blade, and one that would fall apart at the slightest contact at that. The handle was shaped like a large trapezoid, with two purple hand guards linking to the silver and black hilt, the actual handle of the blade itself being a dark red more than anything.

"Now, before any of you ask, no, I'm not compensating for anything." Colden suddenly said as he pulled out his second weapon, kicking the box closed behind him. Having to hold it with both hands, Colden hefted a massive sword that could only be described as a butter knife that been assembled by someone with an affinity for steampunk culture. And for some reason, the smith who assembled the weapon had decided it would be a smart idea to add 10 massive black chainsaw teeth onto the black of the blade, between a chunk of metal that made up a majority of the battered, dark gray blade and a chunk of rusted green metal rived onto the back of blade, giving them no space to move. The rusted green metal led into the hilt, which consisted of a rusted silver circle haphazardly placed one side, before leading into a simple handle, which seemed to be wrapped in an ornate red fabric. As Colden finally stuck the blade onto his back, it became clear that a few wires were sticking out in odd places, and that the handle had a small button on the very end. His joke garnered a few snickers, and a harsh look from Miss Goodwitch, but nothing more than that. The students of Beacon left and returned with their own weapons, mutual whistles and sounds of admiration coming from the students of Asmund Academy.

"Now that we're all prepared, we will get right into two-on-two matches. First up, Blake Belladonna and Ryu Jin Mifune versus Weiss Schnee and Colden Winters. After that, Ruby Rose and Rickel Hailstorm versus Lie Ren and Lario Evans. Following that match..." Glynda's assigning of mixed teams went on, but Weiss eventually tuned it out while she gripped Mrytenaster tighter in one hand, the other coming to lightly smack her forehead.

"Great." She thought to herself "Stuck with the nutty swordsman. At least the cowgirl wouldn't talk back." Weiss had a sneaking suspicion that this would be very similar to her first meeting with Ruby, trying to keep her in place and oh...SURVIVE their entrance exam! Except this time, it was for bragging rights and dignity, something she held in a very high regard. Weiss was suddenly aware of a presence quite closer to her, looking to her left hand. Colden was crouched down, his gaze focused on Mrytenaster, his mouth actually shut for once.

"Mind telling me what you're doing down there?" She asked, sass dripping into her words as she spoke, one of her eyebrows rising.

"Checking out your weapon. What else would I be doing?" Colden answered as he stood back up, stretching out his arms and cracking his neck softly. Weiss paused to lean to the side, trying to see what was keeping Colden's weapons in place. They couldn't be just stuck to his back like in video games.

"Okay...you have a point there. And I have two quick questions. One, how are your swords stuck to your back like that? And two, what exactly was wrong with Mrytenaster?" The latter of Weiss' questions was justified, as if her weapon was in poor condition, it would be unusable in battle.

"Oh yeah...well...they're held there by a powerful magnet that I have hooked up on the back of my shirt, just under my vest. I had to fine tune it so only my swords can attracted to it. Otherwise, I'd be carrying pretty much every weapon in the room on my back. And I was admiring the workmanship of the blade. Exquisite detail on the prongs encasing the dust chamber...and okay. Maybe it needs a wee bit of maintenance." Colden replied putting two fingers a short distance away from each other, his eyes slightly squinted to prove his point.

"I guess that's the reasoning for the pulsating wires. And what do you mean 'maintenance'?" Weiss shot back, her temper flaring up just a bit. She always kept good care of her sword!

"Nothing too bad. Just a few scratched and chips that can easily be fixed. I'm a bit of a freak about sword maintenance, so I can't help but notice." Colden explained, taking a step back to get out of the rapier's reach.

"Yet you fight with a sword so badly damaged, it looks like a key." Weiss observed, her voice deadpan.

"Yes, but there's a story behind that, so I think it's justified that I use Glacier all I want." Colden replied, sticking a finger up to add another point to his argument, but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"If you're quite finished introducing yourselves, I would like to begin. We have quite a few combat practices to get through today." Glynda said, causing both Weiss and Colden to turn different shades of red as they stepped up onto the small platform, embarrassed at their mutual distraction.

"Oh, real quick. What's your fighting style?" Colden asked, taking the key-blade known as Glacier off his back, holding it in one hand, the dip on one side allowing it to rest on his shoulder perfectly.

"It's a rapier, so you should be able to guess from that. But if you must know, I prefer fencing-based techniques." Weiss answered, readying her blade as their scrolls activated, showing a health bar.

"Hm...Lots of long straight strokes then. I'll make sure to stay out of your way. Now, Mifune has that Katana, which limits his range. If you can attack from outside or inside that set range, you should be good." Colden replied, twirling his blade after raising it off his shoulder. Weiss was surprised, to say the least. Despite his distracted and hyperactive personality, he was willing to quickly adapt in a fight. Okay, so maybe he wouldn't be as bad as Ruby. Then again, Ruby learned quickly too.

"Thanks for the tip. Blake...is a powerhouse, to be frank. Keep up your guard and watch out for her Semblance. She might crop up somewhere behind you." Weiss muttered back, giving Colden the same courtesy of a tip, albeit a less specific one. There wasn't a second to waste, as small alarms dinged on their scrolls.

And just like that, the first fight was on.

The Heiress and the Samurai were first to clash, meeting in the middle. The edge of the long-haired boy's katana clashed with the tip of Mrytenaster, her blue eyes meeting his dark brown ones, each determined to win. Mifune pulled back and began to slash again, which caused Weiss to, in turn jump back to avoid the slash, and then move inward again. Mifune was able to get his blade facing upward just in time, as their blades clashed once more .However, Weiss had the upper hand, and was able to push Mifune back a few steps before kicking his feet out from under him. Meanwhile, Colden and Blake were moving around the outside of the ring, the former of the two on the defensive, using both hands to hold the blunt blade, blocking the blows from both the razor-sharp sheath and the even deadlier blade that made up the Gambol Shroud . Blake was currently spinning like a top as she delivered blow after punishing blow to the boy who put her instincts on edge, not letting up for a moment. Why wasn't he using the bigger sword? Was he saving it or something? It worried Blake that he was relying on the much smaller sword for whatever reason, but she couldn't focus too much on it. This was a fight, after all. Blake blinked, and suddenly realized that her target was no longer in front of her, but rather behind her, brining his blade down vertically. Blake quickly sheathed the Gambol Shroud again, returning it to its default state to block his blow, but also causing her to fall to one knee.

"How did you get behind me?" She asked through gritted teeth, trying her best to push herself back upward again.

"Timed your spins, used your sheath as a stepping stone and jumped. I'm surprised that-WOAH!" Whatever Colden was about say was cut off as Mifune and Weiss caused him and Blake to jump backward, the other pair broke through them practically without noticing Mifune was on the defensive, blocking the rapier's thrusts with precise skill, but still being forced back as his fictional health bar was depleted. It was a simple matter of practicality, sadly. A katana was a slashing weapon, and wouldn't stand a chance against a stabbing and thrusting blade, like what Weiss wielded. Blake saw an opening and took within seconds, leaving a Shadow clone behind. And due to it being in a defensive position, Colden foolishly slashed at it and only realized his folly was Blake was bearing down on him again. This time, she used a running leap, and was slashing downward at him. In reply, Colden moved Glacier to his right hand and grabbed the long handle of the blade on his back with his left, moving it upward. A loud CLANG sounded throughout the room once Blake made contact. It turned out that Colden had used the long handle of his weapon to block the Gambol Shroud, stopping it and by extension, Blake dead in the air.

"If you're trying to slice through Hope's End, you may want to reconsider." Colden said simply, his thumb pressing the button on the hilt of Hailstone. The gray circle suddenly began to glow, but only for a split second before a sound that could only be described as a "wub" came from the blade. It had played a loud, pressurized beat that got Blake to move back upon impact, giving Colden the space he needed. Colden moved Hope's End back into its proper place and grabbed the headphones around his neck to put them on. He started bobbing his head to the beat that was still playing before engaging in combat once more, holding Glacier in both hands again.

Weiss, meanwhile, was just finishing things up with Mifune, easily tearing through his small and weak defences, landing multiple small hits that chipped away at his health bar rapidly. He might have had a powerful attack with his katana, but sacrificed any defensive measures to do so. There was also the fact that Weiss had superior speed, and when combined with her light attacks, made his bar disappear in the matter of minutes, paying little heed to the boy and the Cat Faunus . Weiss, going for a flashy finishing move, pulled back the hammer on her weapon and squeezed the trigger twice, using one cartridge of Light Blue Dust and one of Green Dust in rapid succession. The blue dust allowed her to slash low to create a sheet of ice that tripped Mifune up, while the latter Green cartridge built up and pressurized wind within her blade and released it to send Mifune flying backward. Out of the blue, Colden used her outstretched blade as a stepping stone and with one hand, did a handstand on her shoulder for a few seconds, twirling on her shoulder before jumping off again. Weiss would later be told that he had used her as a pivoting point to avoid shots from Gambol Shroud, now in pistol form, before jumping off again. Somehow, he got a very large jump by pushing off her head, having enough time to grip the key blade in both hands and raise it above his head. Using the momentum from the fall, he brought down his keyblade onto a defensive Blake and...

Slashed right through another one of her Shadow Clones.

"...Crap." Was all that Colden was able to say as the shadow clone dissipated in front of him. Within seconds the Hailstone buster was on the floor behind him, and he was wrapped completely in Ribbon of the Gambol Shroud, now being used as a whip. Colden could only grunt as his vision was covered by the whip. The only thing he felt after that was lots and lots of spinning, followed up by a swift kick to the gut. Within a few short moves, his entire health bar had been depleted. The dizzy teen ended up on the floor, looking a little green, but no worse for wear.

"Hm. The first match seems to have ended in a tie. Well done all combatants. Please put away your weapons as the next teams take their places." Ms. Goodwitch said after a moment of silence that signaled the end of the fight. While Colden went over his container and put always his toys, Glynda quizzed the class on what Mifune and Colden could have done to turn the course of the battle.

"Okay Colden. Why exactly did you not use the huge sword? That could have won you the watch from the start. Seems like w waste of a weapon" Weiss stated firmly after stowing her weapon, leaning against the wall behind Colden waiting for him to finish up.

"Use brings Wear, tear, and rust. And that, Miss Schnee, is the real waste." Colden said in reply, the phrase sounding almost practiced or known by heart when he spoke.

"So you made really, really big sword...only to not use it. Is that what you're saying?" She asked, slightly ticked She WOULD have much preferred victory over a tie.

"...In a way, yes. It's a long story, which I will explain later, alright? I want see Rickel kick some ass." Colden replied, slamming down the top of the container, locking it tight.

"Don't count out Ren. He's quite formidable, with a strong control over his aura." Weiss interjected, finishing the conversation as Colden simply shrugged in reply. He just didn't have much to say as they return to their seats. By the time Fangdred had placed her head on Colden's lap, and Weiss had join Yang and Blake back at their normal seats, Rickel and Ruby had taken their places opposite Ren and Lario, a young man with short green hair that dress mostly in brown and wielded a bow, his quiver slung at his waist.

"Alright! R&R Connection has got this in the bag!" Ruby cried as she drew the Crescent Rose, keeping it in its Inactive form for the time being. Rickel offered one of her fists, which was holding her un-named weapon, and Ruby promptly bumped it, the Team Name approved by both members.

"Hah! I think Mr. Uh...Mr. Kung fu over here and I will come out on top in this fight!" Lario said, his voice scratchy, yet cocky at the same time. It was like he was just going through puberty over and over again. There was a collective face-palm from Rickel, Ren and most Asmund Academy Students that knew Lario. He was never one for remembering names.

"Remember students. Keep it civil. These are SPARRING matches, after all. Now, Begin!" Glynda said, once more setting up the health bars for each combatant.

For the first few seconds, there was nothing but projectiles flying through the air. The Crescent Rose, Rickel's guns, Ren's StormFlower and Lario's bow spat out bullets and arrows as the foursome slowly advanced toward the other, meeting in the middle as the bangs of bullets soon turned into the clicks of empty chambers. While Lario jumped back to pick of up some deflected arrows, and to avoid the generous reach the fully-formed Crescent Rose had, Ren and Rickel collided like two unstoppable forces, quickly moving into hand to hand combat. Ren slid StormFlower back into his sleeves to give him an advantage, while Rickel used her ice-coloured pistols to block his carefully-placed blows. In addition, she used the barrels to catch his wrists and momentarily pin his hands, moving in for a head butt that get Ren to stumble backward for a moment. It was a meeting a precision versus brute force, and both gunslingers took the moment to reload: stepping back as Lario, holding his bow like a club, jumped backward and then swung to meet one big swipe of the Scyther Rifle he was tasked with defeating. Finally, he picked up one of his arrows and within a few seconds, had drawn the string back and fired an arrow, with a Blue Dust tip. It was split as Ruby used the blade of the Crescent Rose to defend, though it was slightly leading to her downfall. The blue arrows hit the ground at her feet and froze her feet in place, rendering her immobile.

"Yes! See, I told ya we'd pull it off!" Lario said, twirling the bow once before starting to take a leisurely walk toward Ruby

"Uh...Rickel? Little help?" Ruby squeaked out, getting the cowgirl to finally break her blocking streak and turn to face her. She simply nodded, ducking under a round house kick before sliding on her back. She then pushed off the advancing bowman's legs and slid right through Ruby's, firing two bullets that weakened the ice enough for Ruby to escape.

"Thanks!" Ruby replied, to which Rickel simply tipped her hat in reply and kept moving. However, Lario had slung his bow in such a way that he had hooked the Crescent Rose right at the base, where the blade met the extending part of the weapon. And in an incredible display of strength, he actually pulled the Crescent Rose and Ruby over his head and slammed her into the ground, the weapon ending up upside down along with its face-down user.

"Ha! Gotcha again Red!" The clicking of a hammer and a small amount of pressure being put on Lario's Temple signaled that one of Rickel's sapphire-coloured guns was pointed right at his temple, making him freeze as he had the nigh-indestructible bow raised over his head. However, a similar clicking revealed that Ren had done the exact same thing to Rickel, shifting the gold-brimmed hat just slightly.

"It seems that we are at a stalemate." Ren said in a very calm voice, each student taking a moment to check their health bars. While Ruby and Rickel were both at half health, it was clear they worked together much better, and promptly after the Mexican Standoff began, they showcased it. Because while the three were frozen in their standoff, Ruby was able to get up again, and boy, was she ready to go.

"Not for Long. Rickel, DUCK!" She cried, hefting her massive scythe, spinning around once and flipping it so the bowman and the martial artist were caught against the shaft of the weapon, sending them across the room. Rickel, of course, ducked in time, leaving her hat to spin in the air and land on her head when she stood once more. Rickel only gave Ruby a short nod as a means of communication, raising one of her pistols to fire two blue bullets that made contact with Lario and Ren, who were tangled up with each other on the other side of the ring. Within a matter of seconds, the battle had been turned around in favour of the self-named R&R Connection.

"Gah! I'm not going to lose! Not today!" With a sliver of health left on his bar, the impulsive easily angered bowman rushed forward again, holding his bow like a club again. Ren was only a few steps behind him, the team going for a final charge. It only took Ruby and Rickel a shared look before their plan was formulated, and put it into action a second later. Ruby planted the tip of the blade of her weapon into the ground behind her and took a short hop before pulling the trigger. With a burst of Rose petals, she flew forward to kick Lario in the face, riding his body like a surfboard across the smooth tiles. Ren simply ran around the obstruction in his way and kept running toward to Rickel, who looked at him for a moment before closing her eyes Ren tensed and jumped into the air as Rickel pointed one of her guns at him and fired, the other being pointed straight upward. Ren, of course, jumped to dodge the bullet and then, without even looking, Rickel fired a shot from her upraised gun that hit Ren solidly in the chest, depleting the last of his health bar and sending him upward to hit the ceiling before falling back down again. Had Ren been given the chance, it was likely he would have drawn StormFlower once more, peppering Rickel with a hail of bullets.

"Exceptional work Miss Rose, Miss Hailstorm. Good communication and levelheadedness. Please return to your seats as we review and prepare for the next fight." Glynda said as Rickel and Ruby helped their opponents up, to which Ren gladly accepted and Lario rejected, storming back to his seat.

From then on, the fights were either even or one-sided entirely. For example, a match that had Juane and the combat-skirt, armour wearing girl, who was named Rina McAllister paired up against Yang and the boy wearing scraps of cloth, who went by Dilma was one sided. Despite the advantage the spear and swords gave them, they quickly fell to the up-close and personal tactics of the brawler and the hand to hand to fighter. It also didn't help that Rina was distracted by the fact that Dilma was flirting with her, Yang, AND Juane for the duration of the fight, fuelling her rage against her on and off-again boyfriend. Some fights were won or lost simply due to the matching of weaponry and fighting styles, while others came down to which personalities clashed with which. And all fights were fairly long, with the balance of power sliding back and forth between sides many, many times.

...Well, ALMOST all of them.

"Hey Winters! You and me, one on one!" Cardin said, coming back from a fight he had just finished, cracking his knuckles. Colden, however, looked to him with a yawn, his eyes fluttering open. It seems he had fallen asleep sometime during the class, and Cardin had woken him.

"Cardin, please, there's no time for-" Glynda began, only to be cut off and talked over.

"Owl allow it. Since he's so Pheasant toward his classmates. Plus, it will take all of two minutes, tops." Colden said, shifting Fangdred's head off his lap, causing the dog to murr and curl up on Rickel's lap instead, still tired.

"Oh, you are so freaking dead!" Cardin said, following Colden over the railing as he jumped down over the railing once again.

"Gentlemen, I insist-" Glynda tried to interject again, but was once again spoken over.

"Miss Goodwitch, with all due respect, just let me do this. I'm going to need to swing my sword once. It'll be over before you know it." Colden was the one to speak over her again, taking out Hope's End, once more sticking it to his back as he walked into the arena.

"I'll warn ya Cardin, from Heron out, I'm not going easy on ya."

"UURRRGH! Do you EVER shut up!?" Cardin roared, grabbing his mace in one hand, taking a swing that Colden ducked under with ease, and come back up giggling in glee.

"Nope! And that's strike one!" He said as he popped up again, grinning like a maniac. The then thrust his waist backward as Cardin took a two handed swing that just barely grazed his stomach.

"Whoa, Whiffer!" He added, a third, overhead swing causing him to roll to the side, taking his blade off his back, holding it in both hands.

"And that makes three. So, Cardin, you're out." He said, flipping his blade so the blade faced downward, the speaker still facing out. Cardin let out a wild cry and charged him, attempting to use the red dust tip inside of his mace. But he really shouldn't have come into Colden's range. With one might swing of his word, and a little push from the hidden abilities of his weapon, he had mirrored Ruby's move from earlier. Swinging like a batter at home base, he knocked Cardin clean across the room, right into the wall. There was a small silence and a few seconds before Cardin slid off the wall and hit the ground with a dull thud. A few cheers erupted from the crowd, but were quickly silenced by Glynda who held up her crop to silence them, stalking over to Colden, who was once more putting his weapon away. The bell rang as she slapped her hand down on Colden's shoulder, and in a low, dangerous voice said...

"Mr Winters, see me after class..."

So...ALOT has happened since I posted chapter one last year. Like...ALOT. Like getting some followers. Hooray!

Not that anyone reads this, but this chapter is a late memoriam/tribute to the great Monty Oum. Godspeed you wonderful man.