Daniel sat on a rock, facing away from Dakota, who leaned motionless against a tree, staring right at him. Nick was still cleaning his revolver while Lewis quietly played a tune on his guitar.
Dakota was the first to break the silence. "You do realize that there's no getting out of this now, right?"
"Don't know, don't care," Daniel replied dismissively.
Dakota sighed. "At first I somewhat understood your reasons not to look at me, but at this point it's just childish."
"Well, maybe I want to act like a child," Daniel said irritably. "Did you ever think of that?"
"Alright, listen Grigio," Dakota growled. "I'm tired, I'm hot, and I'm hungry. I want to satisfy those needs as quickly as possible and your stubbornness is the only thing in my way. So what the hell do I have to do to get you to turn around and look at me?"
"Well for starters, give me back my stuff that you and your friends took," Daniel replied angrily. "I don't care that it was dirty, I don't care it was torn, what I care about is that it was all I had and you took it!"
"I didn't touch your backpack," Dakota said. "And even if I did, I doubt you'd want it back. Vladimir had one of his goons toss it in the sewer after he was finished with you."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "That's just great. It really warms my heart to know that my only chance of becoming a Huntsman has friends with no respect to others personal property."
"Will you stop calling them my friends?!" Dakota yelled. "They are not my friends! They never were!"
"Then why were you hanging out with them?" Daniel asked. "Because that's what it looked like to me."
there was a flurry of footsteps behind Daniel. He began turning around when two arms wrapped themselves around his neck and threw him through the air. Daniel hit Dakota's tree with a small explosion of fire, knocking the tree down and leaving a splintery stump behind.
Daniel groaned and began to stand up when a muddy boot planted itself on his back. Daniel winced as wooden splinters jabbed into his skin, and Dakota leaned in and whispered fiercely to Daniel. "I'm getting really tired of repeating myself so listen very closely this time. I 'hung out' with those people not because I was friends with them, but out of pure necessity. I didn't get the life most people got. Most of Vladimir's goons had halfway decent home lives. All I got was an orphanage and a jailed serial killer for a mother. I don't know what you got, but I'd like to see it top that."
"I, you, what?" Daniel asked, the anger instantly disappearing from his voice. He didn't know what he had expected Dakota's life story to be, but it certainly wasn't that.
"What? Run out of snide comments?" Dakota jeered.
"No, not that," Daniel murmured.
"Then what is it?" Dakota asked, digging his foot into Daniel's back even harder.
"I just, never thought that I'd come across someone with a worse life than me," Daniel said through clenched teeth as the elbow hit a particularly painful bruise from his beating several days ago.
The pressure released immediately as Dakota stood up. He retreated to the rock and leaned against it. "Alright then, talk," Dakota demanded. "What made your life so miserable that you felt you had the crappiest life in all of Remnant?"
Daniel got to his knees and turned around. For the first time, he got a good look at his adversary. Dakota was slightly smaller and stockier than Daniel. Unlike Schatten's leather jacket, which was well maintained, his black leather jacket was in about as good of condition as Daniel's denim jacket, and his dark jeans had holes in them. A faint stubble sprinkled his face. What got Daniel the most were the eyes. They were cold and dark, yet also filled with pain and suffering. They were the exact same eyes Daniel saw every time he looked into the mirror.
"I'm still waiting, you know," Dakota mentioned. "You still haven't told me your story."
"Hit me," Daniel said.
"What?" Dakota asked, an eyebrow arching up.
"Hit me Goddammit!" Daniel demanded. His outburst was rewarded by Dakota launching himself off of his tree and hitting Daniel with a left hook. Daniel slammed hard against the stump, cutting his cheek open as he slid to the ground.
"Okay, I've hit you. Now will you tell me who the hell you are?" Dakota demanded.
"Have you felt, uneasy, around me?" Daniel panted, wincing at the pain and holding his hand to his cheek.
Dakota shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. What's it to you?"
Daniel smiled mirthlessly. "I'm not surprised. Most people do, considering my condition."
"That condition being?"
Daniel looked Dakota in the eyes. "I can't generate an Aura."
Dakota blinked, then shrugged. "Okay then."
"Okay then? I just admitted to being a freak of nature and all you have to say is 'okay then?'" Dakota asked incredulously. He expected something else. He had expected Dakota to shun him, cuss him out, possibly hit him again. Certainly not shrug and accept it.
"We live in a world with half human, half animals, magical crystals that have all sorts of powers, and creatures that disintegrate upon death and are hell bent on destroying the previous two things, along with humans. Not having a soul is one of the easier things to believe." Dakota replied simply. "Although, I can see why not having a soul would make other people hate you."
"It's not that I don't have a soul," Daniel corrected, "It's that I can't generate an aura. The doctors can't tell if I have one or not."
"Considering your hair color, I wouldn't be surprised." Dakota commented with a hint of amusement.
"Hey! At least I have a bit of color besides black, black, and more black!" Daniel shot back, commenting on Dakota's choice of attire and his own hair.
"At least I won't get a third degree burn whenever I step through a sunbeam."
Daniel shoved Dakota, but it was out of amusement and not of anger. "Shut up man. I don't need that from you."
"Then put on sunscreen next time." Dakota said. "Your neck is lobster red."
Daniel was about to compose a reply when his neck began to feel like it was cooking. He felt his neck to find that Dakota was correct.
The corners of Dakota's mouth twitched. "Need some aloe vera?"
Daniel crossed his arms, his face turning as red as his neck. "Just shut up." He said.
The look on Daniel's face sent Dakota off the end. He tried to fight it, but quickly succumbed to raucous laughter.
"It's not funny!" Daniel argued, fighting down laughter himself.
After a minute, Dakota stopped. "Oh God, I needed that." He said, wiping a tear from his eye.
This was followed by several minutes of awkward silence as the two former foes sat awkwardly. Finally Daniel spoke up. "Hey, Dakota?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry for being an asshole."
"You were a bit of an asshole," Dakota commented. After a moment, he asked, "Are you done being an asshole?"
"Yeah."
Dakota stood and offered a hand to Daniel. "Then I accept your apology."
Daniel took the hand and was pulled into a standing position. "Hey, if you can, don't tell the others about my condition."
"Why's that?" Dakota asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't want them to treat me differently," Daniel answered. "You I trust, seeing how we've both had rough childhoods. But them, I just don't know. I don't know if they'll be like you, or treat me like I'm some sort of monster, or worse, something fragile seeing how I can't protect myself with an Aura."
Dakota shrugged. "Doesn't matter what they think. You heard Professor Ozpin. We have to be able to work together. And part of that means trusting each other with information. It's up to you, but if I were in your shoes, I'd tell them. They seem nice enough not to hold it against you."
Daniel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You, you actually think so?"
Dakota shrugged once more. "You'll only know if you try. Besides, they both saw you today. You're no weakling."
Daniel considered his statement. Dakota had a point. Chances are, the four of them would end up in a team together. It'd be stupid to hold something back that important. Standing up, he made his way towards Nicholas and Lewis. Seeing him advancing, Nicholas snapped his revolver back together and stood up. "'Bout time you two finished up." He said. "Sun's getting' mighty low. We'd best git goin' 'fore the Grimm show up again."
Daniel nodded in concession and the four of them started up the stairs in complete silence, save for Lewis, who was strumming a tune on his guitar. Halfway up, Daniel turned to Nick and Lewis. "Hey guys, there's something-"
Lewis stopped playing and held up a finger. "Sound carries man. We heard every word."
Daniel froze in his tracks, fear coursing through him. Here was the moment of truth. The moment when he found out how his future teammates felt about his condition.
The moment never came. Without another word, Lewis turned back to his guitar and continued strumming. Confused, Daniel turned to Nicholas to seek answers. Nicholas merely smiled and touched two fingers to the brim of his hat.
After that exchange, no further words were spoken while they climbed the stairs. And yet, an understanding had been reached. For better or for worse, they were a team now.
Daniel, Dakota, Lewis, and Nicholas raced down the hallway. They had arrived at Beacon, only to learn that the ceremony was already underway. Not knowing how far it had already progressed, Daniel prayed that they weren't too late. Or that they wouldn't make fools out of themselves.
They threw open the door and raced to the backstage. Several security personnel held up hands and they skidded to a stop.
"You kids the ones Ozpin said would be late?" The head guard asked. Without waiting for an answer, he handed Daniel a rag and a bandage to help the still bleeding cut on his cheek and motioned to where they were supposed to wait. On a screen bolted to the wall, they could see Ozpin on stage with Lunare, Schatten, Tiberius, and Ryler.
"Lunare Nacht, Schatten Schwartz, Tiberius Blanc, Ryler Merriweather." Professor Ozpin announced. "The four of you retrieved the Trident from the temple. From this day forward, you shall be known as Team Luster, led by Lunare Nacht." Behind them, their names faded from a massive screen leaving only the first initials. They shifted into place to form the word LSTR. A glittering stone sat behind the letters. The crowd cheered as Ryler attempted to jump-hug Lunare. Tiberius graced Lunare with a single nod. Schatten offered him his fist, and they fist bumped.
Eventually, the cheer died down and the newly formed team LSTR left the stage. Tense, Daniel led the four to the stage, feeling everyone's eyes on him. This had to have been the largest amount of people focused on him at one time. He wondered if they'd react at all to him. Surprisingly, apart from some murmurings about the bandage on his cheek, the crowd was silent.
"Daniel Grigio, Dakota Harding, Lewis Lemon, Nicholas Ochre," Professor Ozpin announced, "The four of you retrieved the dagger from the temple. Although, I have been told that as of today, it hardly resembles a temple anymore." He said with a slight smile. The crowd laughed and Daniel could feel the back of his neck burning with embarrassment and sunburn. "Nonetheless, you have in fact retrieved an artifact and bonded together as a team. Henceforth, you shall be known as team," Daniel gulped, wondering what team name Professor Ozpin could come up with that used their names. Or more importantly, who would lead them?
"Dandelion. Led by Daniel Grigio."
Dakota swore under his breath as the crowd went wild. Daniel whipped his head around to see their initials forming DDLN with the form of the flower behind it.
"Of all the names he could've chosen, he chose Dandelion?" Dakota muttered.
Daniel didn't hear him. He was too shocked to register anything. He was on a stage. In front of hundreds, if not thousands of people.
And they were cheering for him.
Slowly, a grin crept onto his face. He raised his fists, and pumped them into the air.
So yeah, Team Dandelion. Kind of wrote myself into a corner with that one when I made their names, but I loved the names too much to change them.
So besides that, there's a few things I wanted to address. First of all, team LSTR was in fact created by Croe's real life counterpart. He's been helping me with my stories since HOR when he created Croe for me as well as Arachnoid, and several other character's names. When I began TBH, I remembered a conversation earlier where Croe had mentioned he had an OC team already created. Wanting another OC team to help flesh out the story of TBH, I asked him if I could use his team, and he agreed. Looking back, I really don't know how I could've done TBH without team LSTR.
The second thing is something that you guys may or may not have noticed in the chapter. When Dakota threw Daniel against the tree, it shattered. That takes a lot of force to do that. It probably would've broken a bunch of bones in someone without an Aura, which Daniel lacks. So how did he survive this? Well, it's because Dakota's Semblance caused the fiery explosion and caused most of the damage. Sadly, I can't say just yet what Dakota's Semblance is. All I can say is, I think you guys will enjoy the reveal.
The third thing is, this is the first upload from my College dorm, which I believe I mentioned something somewhere that I was moving in here a while back. Classes started up last Monday, and are the reason I held off until today to upload TBH. I think you guys can expect updates for both HOR and TBH to come on the weekends from now on. I'm studying engineering, and I don't want to have to worry about updating my stories when I should be worrying about studying.
So anyways, I'll see you all in 2 weeks!
-Wrench
ns 15.158.61.20da2
